New World

We come upon a dark hallway, with the floor decorated with a crimson red carpet and windows adorned with a multitude of trinkets of various designs. the hallway was big—bigger than anything one could imagine. the walls were built from black stone, giving it a sinister vibe. suddenly, a loud roar and bang were heard muffled behind a gigantic door made of gold and iron before it was suddenly broken open as a humanoid figure got smashed through them. gusts of wind were blown through the hallway as the torches that were lined up on the walls to light the area were blown out, leaving only the red-tinted light to illuminate the halls.The humanoid figure skidded to a halt right next to the debris that came from the now-broken doors before an even bigger figure came into the red-lit light. Its figure was monstrous in nature. horns protruding from its forehead with fangs so big, it couldn't help but hang out its mouth. They adorned themselves with an inverted look as the white took on the color of their pupils, with their outer parts drenched in a deep black. "You humans are always so eager to be the heroes," the monstrous figure said in a booming voice. almost demonic in a sense. "But none more so than light users," it says as they clench their enormous hand into a fist before a dark mist begins to ooze out like a fog, which then takes the form of a large battle axe. "Logan, hero of humans, user of light... I shall relish killing you here and now," it proclaimed before raising the dark and misty battle axe to attempt at cleaving the human before them."To think I was played for a fool... I cannot let this stand!" the human, however, was determined as they stood up to face their adversary. "By my fate and honor, I will destroy the darkness that you wield, Demon! by my light, I will hammer down divine justice!!" Logan shouts with a roar as he clenches his fist similar to theirs and begins emitting a blinding light as it takes the form of a great hammer. "You carry on to be foolish... very well, then die a foolish man's death!" the demon exclaims as it prepares a big wind up before slamming their weapon down. Logan was quick to the call as he used his hammer to bust open the wall into the outside before hastily jumping out just in time as the axe smashed the floor, sending strong gusts of wind that blew him and multiple pieces of debris out into the open hole he had made.Logan fell a few feet from the air and landed very harshly on solid ground as he rolled into his side, sustaining even more injuries. though he quickly got up and transformed his hammer into something different. the light splits apart and reforms itself into a bow made of light. he winds up a quick shot and aims it right at where he had jumped out and shot out an arrow that was also made of light. the arrow zips through the air and lands on target as a blinding light explodes from it, which causes more damage to the building as more rubble falls from it. Logan took a moment to assess his attack and saw how little it had performed as the demon made a mighty leap from the area and was on a trajectory to land on Logan. the demon grunted as his feet smashed onto the floor, causing yet another explosion of dust and debris. the dust blinded Logan as he preemptively tried to retaliate with a flash attack as he pointed his hand forward, which flashed a bright light that could blind and burn opponents."Weak!" the demon cried out before swatting Logan away with the broadside of his axe, sending the man flying several feet and smashing into a statue made in the demon's image. Logan spat out blood as his vision blurred. fortunately, it wasn't too blurry to see for him, as he could see the demon menacingly walk out of the dust plume that it had created and slowly march its way over to him. "You dance at the edge of death. All you can do is watch as the darkness inches ever closer to you," the demon says as it belittles Logan's futile attempt at retaliation. With clenched teeth, Logan says, "You will... never win," but he is cut short as the demon's big hand grabs his entire head and slowly raises it into the air while his body hangs limp in its grip. "Your words will mean nothing once my purpose is fulfilled," the demon says as a smile forms on their faces as it increases its grip on Logan's head. slowly crushing him to death. "If you kill me, another will take my place, and I guarantee that they will be the ones to destroy the darkness," Logan said, which amused the Demon."I doubt your words hold weight," the demon responds. "If my death is assured, then I shall let the next user fulfill my purpose," Logan says as he raises his hand and flashes the demon right into its eye as the light burns through it. the demon screamed in pain as it clutched its eye with its other hand. black blood began dripping down from their eyes as it injured beyond repair. "You, Insolent Wretch!!" the demon shouts as it begins to tighten its grip to finally crush Logan. but as it did so, Logan began to mutter his final words. "As doom encroaches upon this wicked land, be the light that guides their way," and as the words were uttered from his mouth, his vision quickly snapped to black as his head was finally crushed......Darkness... pitch-black darkness was all there was. though the words that had echoed within that darkness were fully clear to me, I didn't know what they meant. the space around me was vast but I was unable to feel like It was, maybe because I couldn't feel anything at all. what was this? where am I?... who am I? I questioned, but nothing came back to me. no one was there to answer me, which contradicts what I am experiencing. I felt lonely. as if it were me and only me existing in the darkness. that was, until a light began to shine In front of me. It was bright... and is also very warm. It was comforting. soon enough, the warmth I felt began to spread throughout my body as I slowly began to feel again. then, the voice began to repeat the words It echoed the first time around. but this time, It didn't sound like a mans voice... It sounded more female and more ethereal. It repeated,As doom encroaches upon this wicked land, be the light that guides their way." That was all that was said before the light fully enveloped me, and I finally awoke as my eyes opened to a new world.....Day one. My eyes adjusted to a new sight. an unfamiliar sight as I gazed right at the leaves of a tree. the leaves were unnatural in color, as they adorned a deep purple color. "woah..." I muttered out loud as I was slowly processing things. then suddenly, a firefly flew across my vision, which intrigued me enough to sit up from my laying position and finally get a good look at my surroundings. I had apparently woken up in a mystical-looking forest where trees of large proportions were everywhere with different colored leaves from each other. small critters of weird proportions Inhabited the grass. "where... where the hell am I?" I questioned as I finally stood up from my spot and dusted my butt from any dirt or grass that might've stuck onto It. I looked at myself and found that I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt that had a picture of a puppy on it with the words "You are Pawsome" at the bottom."Huh..." I didn't go to question my taste In wardrobe but something definitely seemed off to me. somehow, the shirt I had on didn't feel unfamiliar, but at the same time... I couldn't remember why. In fact, I couldn't remember much about anything at all. especially about how I got here In the first place. "Okay, that's going to be a problem," I declare, as I couldn't wrap my head around this predicament that I'm apparently in. soon enough, I began to really try and remember anything about my situation but all that did was hurt my brain as I unneededly strained myself trying to. "Okay, I don't think that's working out for me. Guess I'll put that on the back burner for now." I say as I have other fish to fry, that being what to do now.One thing is for sure: I am totally lost and stranded in this forest. luckily, this memory loss issue of mine is not too severe since I can speak my words pretty normally, which means I haven't forgotten how to talk or walk. so simple deduction would lead me to believe that It's selective with what I remember and don't remember. so surviving in this unfamiliar, mystical forest should be possible. so without much to do or where to even start, I began walking. In a direction. probably something you aren't supposed to do when lost In a forest but It was a start for me. I pranced around, trying to get a feel of the place. It was definitely a sight to behold. with the fireflies flying around and different colored leaves falling gracefully to the ground, you could almost mistake yourself for being inside a storybook about fairytales. I head deeper In. the trees were tall. like really, really tall. and had a lot of leaves, so it provided a lot of shade, which limited sunlight from lighting the area much. there wasn't much to find aside from some bushes and creatures that ran away from me as soon as I got close enough to get a good look.I soon found the dark part of the forest, as the trees there were packed much more tightly together than the rest, leaving no spaces or gaps for sunlight to beam through. the only thing that illuminated it were the fireflies. I looked at the darkness. "I'm definitely not going to go through there any time soon," I say with certainty, as I feel like it would be quite the death sentence to wander into pitch-black nothingness. but as I continued to gaze Into that part of the woods, I began to see a figure far Into the distance. I squinted my eyes to really make sure I saw what it was. the figure was shrouded in darkness, with only its silhouette visible to me. "Is that a wolf?" I say as I make out its shape to be so. then suddenly, the wolf-like figure turned their head in my direction, and I saw its eyes as little white dots staring right at me, which spooked me heavily. "Oh, jeez!" I say as I quickly hide behind a tree. "That just made eye contact with me, for sure," I assumed as I cowered. being lost In a forest Is one thing, but being lost with wolves around Is another.Luckily, the sound of grumbling as I peered at my stomach soon dispelled my fears of being mauled to death. I was hungry. "I guess I should find something to eat." I assess as much. Lucky for me, I noticed some of the bushes were growing berries for me to eat. So I quickly made my way over to one and squatted down to do some berry picking. I began plucking from one bush, then plucked some from another, and then another, and before long, I had piled up a pile of various different berries for me to choose from. "Alright. That should be enough. Now to find something to wash these in," I say as I look around for any bodies of water to wash my berries in. but such a thing wasn't anywhere close to what I saw. "I guess Its more walking for me," I say begrudgingly as I tear off a big leaf from a plant and wrap it around the berries so I can comfortably transport them with me. And so I started to roam once more in search of water.I roam quite a bit this time around. I was searching left and right, up and down, but somehow I couldn't find anything. not even a pond or a puddle. "Come on, there's got to be at least a river around here!" I complain as I bump my head on a tree to try and jog my brain up for a plan. I've essentially explored most of the well-lit areas of the woods... which leaves me with one place left that I hadn't checked. "Oh boy," I say with a nervous gulp as I face the darker regions of the forest once more. The thought of being wolf chow wasn't great, but neither was starving to death out in the wilderness, so I had to take a chance and venture beyond the light's edge. once I placed my first foot beyond the line, I began my quest into the dimly lit part of the forest. with things much darker, my mind began to race as to what lurked behind the bushes and trees. besides the wolf, anything could come out and jump at me at any moment.But alas, I pressed on. I ventured deeper and deeper into the depths of the woods. I kept trudging along as my feet grazed the grass over and over with each step and stride I took. Then, to my surprise, I heard it. the sound of flowing water was filling my ears. It was close. I quickly followed where the sound was and made my way through before finally stumbling upon it. a flowing river filled with crystalline water that glistened with the little light that touched it. "Jackpot!" I merrily skipped on over to it like a whimsical child and began washing the berries I had picked, being quite careful not to let the stream take them away. I kept washing each individual one, carefully scrubbing away any dirt with my fingers. things are going well right now. once I'm finished washing them, I will finally be able to eat my fill. It is what I initially thought. As I was washing them, I failed to notice a figure sneaking up behind me. the moment that I noticed that there was something up was when a shadow cast over me.But the peculiar thing about this was that... the shadow was big. Too big, in fact. it was so big that it reached a few feet away from where I was, and with little sunlight in the area, a shadow that big could only mean one thing. "Please don't be what I think it might be," I mutter as I pray for my survival while slowly turning to look behind me to see what was there. and lo and behold, standing at a whopping 13 meters, a gigantic, enormous wolf stood before me with its teeth bearing death in my direction as I gazed at its sheer size, both in awe and terrified horror. "Please don't," I say to it as if it were going to matter, since right after I did, the wolf tried to lunge at me with its maw open to swallow me whole. I quickly ditched the leaf and just scooped the berries with my shirt before making a run for it. "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" I screamed instinctively as I ran for my life with the wolf tailing behind me. I took a risky glance back at the wolf while I ran, and I saw it lunge at me again.Oh crap!" I yelled as I made a sharp turn to avoid its attack. the wolf skids on the floor at its failure to eat me but makes a quick recovery to continue chase. I was not going to outrun this thing for sure, which means I have to find another way to lose it. luckily, I remembered the trees. this area is dense, with the trees much closer together. and considering the size of the wolf, there's definitely less room for it to maneuver through, so all I had to do was weave through the tight spaces of the trees. as the chase continued, I enacted my game plan as I started weaving through the trees left and right while the wolf struggled to keep up. the beast was slowly losing me from its sight, and before long. I had seemingly disappeared. it looked around for me, trying to get my scent. but no dice. the wolf, having lost its target, began to walk away. as soon as it had exited the area, I jumped up in relief, as I was now covered head to toe in mud. Luckily, when I squeezed through the trees, I managed to trip and fall on a mud patch, which helped mask my scent after I basically scrambled to hide behind the tree while the wolf passed by. "Ugh, well, so much for staying clean," I said as I made my way back to the lighter part of the woods to finally reap the spoils of my hard work...."At last, peace!" I exclaim, taking a seat on the grass after using Mother Nature's kindly provided leaves to wipe away the muck. unfortunately, my clothes were still stained with mud, but nothing a little washing work can't fix. that is, if I can get to that river again without dealing with the beast of the woods that's roaming around. but never the matter, all I wanted to do now was eat, as my stomach reminded me to do so by grumbling again. "Alright, guess I should start chowing down now." I go to pick up a berry that has an odd look to it. it was bulbous in shape and purple in color. Normally, one wouldn't try to eat random berries from a mystical forest, but desperate times call for desperate measures. "Bottoms up!" I quickly said before dropping it into my mouth and chewing. its juice was released as my teeth chewed it thoroughly.Once swallowed, I braced for any sort of side effects that might've come with it. but nothing happened. I then ruminated on the taste. it was sweet, but also citrusy, which was pleasant. "Huh, not bad," I say with not much of a reaction. "I was honestly expecting a little more." Then, as soon as I uttered my words, I quickly ate them back up as a feeling hit me like a truck to the face. my vision started to swirl, and the sounds of everything around me started to sound deeper than they should be. "What the heck?" I questioned, raising my hands up to my eyes to see them and hallucinating them as stubs. "Uh, oh," I mutter in a worried tone before falling to my side on the ground as I began tripping out in the forest.....Moments have passed since the first berry. to recap the events that unfolded after the fact, i began testing the other berries for their side effects in order to make sure i can find the right one to pick next time around after going through a massive trip that lasted not too long. the berries varied in effects. some induced hallucinogenic properties, while others had more physical effects, like temporarily increasing the size of a random body part. that one I'll save for later... soon enough, I was able to get through all of them as I sat against a tree, exhausted after having to trip out multiple times in a single session. "Jeez, the berries here are brutal," I comment as I pop a berry into my mouth. Luckily, I managed to pick a berry that had no affecting properties and was purely fruit that I could eat. solving my starving issue. I look up at the sky in thought, but then notice that things have gotten a lot darker now, which is not good for me."Oh shoot! I completely forgot about shelter!" I yell, having completely slipped my mind on the other most important thing to my survival, which is the literal necessity of a roof over my head to keep safe from predators. "Awoooo!" then i heard its call. the wolf from before howled as the moon rose from the horizon and took its place in the sky as the stars shone along with it. "Shelter! You gotta find shelter! I need shelter!" I say in a panic as heavy footsteps begin to sound out from the distance, which I assumed was the wolf going around for a nightly stroll for its dinner. I frantically look around for anything to hide under—anything that is enough to shield me from the outside forces. though there weren't any viable options available to me, an idea had popped its way to my head as i thought of a solution. I fashioned myself a quick rope by grabbing vines that were growing around the area and twisting them with each other to increase its tensile strength. I then rushed over to a tree and had my makeshift rope hug the tree from behind while holding both ends across it.I take a moment to look to my side to see if the wolf was closing in. bad idea. the wolf was already closing in as the thumps were getting a lot louder and closer. "Oh crap! oh crap!" I then began scaling the tree by placing my foot on the base of the tree and walked up before moving the rope higher up the base, then repeated the process until I reached the top. It took some work, but I was able to get to a branch high enough so that I could lay my weary body down like a koala on it without the wolf snagging me. I peeked down from the branch and saw the wolf finally arrive as it walked right under me. with the top-down view, I was able to gaze at its sheer size a lot more clearly than the first time. the sheer size of it was majestic in person. it didn't stay too long, however, as it continued to walk away into the distance, leaving my sight as I lay on a branch, multiple feet in the air."That was a close one." I exhale as my body releases tension and I melt into the branch. the day was finally over and the next was soon to come. with this time to myself... I began to finally address my situation with sound mind. Firstly, I had a memory problem. I close my eyes and see what I can remember and what I can't. The earth. Oxygen. Fire. Trucks... my mind went through word after word of things i can remember. so far so good. I remember important details like the rules of survival and other more trivial stuff like the concept of cars, which explains why I see a lot of things in this forest as unnatural. which brings me to a certain conclusion... I am not from this world. "No, that's stupid." I openly dismissed my thought out loud, but a part of me believed that to be the case. I knew berries that can make some body parts big weren't normal, and the creatures that lived here were definitely not like the ones I remember, because I'm pretty sure a frog with chicken feathers isn't something one would see often, if not at all.The thought was intriguing for sure. if i am from another world, then how did i end up here? I try to remember my old life. the life that I had left behind, apparently... but i drew blanks. I couldn't remember anything at all. not how, when, by what or who, nothing. i scratch my head in frustration. i was clueless as to what I'd do about it too. do i find things to jog my memory? pretty hard, considering I'm stuck in the literal middle of the woods. and as my mind wandered and asked a nonexistent being for answers, my eyes slowly flutter shut before sleep overtook me, as the last thing I saw was the night sky.....As doom encroaches upon this wicked land... be the light that guides their way....Day 30. a whole month has passed since I last woke up in the forest. I've done a lot since then. I spent a few days gathering a lot of materials to make myself a proper house to live in, which would just be some thick sticks stacked against the base of a tree with leaves over it. it wasn't much, but it'll have to do. I wasn't going to plan on staying too long since all 30 days were spent sharpening up my survival skills and becoming quite the forest man. One of the bigger improvements was my food supply. no more having to trip out on forest berries; I have found another source to really make a meal, and that is chicken frogs, which I started calling them because of their feathered features and froggy bodies. at first, I wasn't too sure about eating them, mostly because I wasn't the type to kill anything, but when you run out of berries to pick... a man has to adapt. And on an unsurprising note, the frogs tasted like chicken when cooked under a fire.Another thing I've also gotten good at is sneaking around. with the wolf roaming near the river, which was the closest water source to me in the area relative to where I set up my makeshift shelter. there were a few close calls here and there, but I surprisingly managed myself well. I have also been chopping away at a tree. the reason? I'll save for later. Last but not least, I've made a new friend to accompany me throughout my 30 days of living in the woods. by that, I mean I literally made one. his name is Listening Rock. and he's a rock that I drew a little face on to make it look more personable when I talk to it. it may be a useless addition, but when you're stranded somewhere with no other people to converse with, you either go insane or you make one yourself. but back to my first point. I don't plan to stay in this forest and live out my life as a monkey man. all of my efforts from these 30 days have built up for day 31. my escape.You see, every time I go to sleep for the day, I hear an ethereal voice tell me the phrase. but it never explains why and how, but it is repeated over and over again to me like a daily reminder of what I'm supposed to do. it was weird, for sure, but then I thought about it. maybe that was the thing that could bring my memories back. "As doom encroaches upon this wicked land, be the light that guides their way" is pretty cryptic, but how hard could it be? and that's why I stand before my dinky little house, a determined look upon my face with my materials and supplies laid before me. if I'm going to get my memories back, I was going to have to get out of this forest... and I'm determined to get out of here alive.....Day 31. the day of my great escape. once I woke up, I quickly grabbed all of my materials and things and set out on my journey. but not without dealing with a little something first. I make my way to the edge once again, where the forest transitions itself into its darker region. I take one big inhale and one long exhale as I prepare my nerves and body for what I'm about to do. "Here goes nothing," I mutter before cupping my hands around my mouth and screaming with all of my chest. "HEY!! COME AND GET ME YOU BIG UGLY MUTT!!!" my voice echoed throughout the forest as birds flew away into the sky. then silence. I waited, anticipation welling up inside me as I stared into the abyss of the darkness that the forest in front of me contained. then, it stared back as I saw the glowing white eyes of the giant wolf coming towards me with thumps getting faster and faster. "Alright, time to run!" I exclaim as I make a full 180 and book it the other way while a giant wolf begins barreling towards me at a speed I have not encountered yet. with the number of times I've encountered them and escaped by a hairline, this wolf was out for blood.I continued to run and run as the wolf got closer and closer. I then finally reach the place where my scheme will come to fruition. I mentioned cutting away at a tree before, but now its revealed why I was doing that. I figured that I obviously couldn't get away without dying to the wolf, so I made something to keep it at bay while I escaped. I chopped the base of the tree just enough that when the tripwire I set up gets triggered, the tree will fall on the wolf and pin it down. and as I hid and watched, the wolf tripped the wire, and the tree fell on it. the wolf was finally down! "GOTCHA!!!"