Chapter 1: Prologue

(This chapter was uploaded on Friday 12/January/2024 8:00 PM, timezone GMT+3)

Go read the auxiliary disclaimer chapter. Some of the important things to know are written there.

And you (Yes, you, a very specific person. You know yourself), I dare you post another pie GIF! Of any flavor! I will send squirrels after your pies! I do not want to feel hungry anymore... I just want to write in peace...

Happy reading.

(Line Break)

('1), ('2), ('3), etc. means that there is some explaining for the thing in the notes at the end of the chapter.

"..." small moment of silence

"Talking"

"He-" Someone was interrupted.

'Thinking'

[Skills' names, chanting, spell keys and spells' names]

(PoV)

(Flashback)

Don't shy from commenting on typos and/or inconsistencies. That and/or suggesting a modification to certain things that didn't make sense to you.

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

(Line Break) (3rd person PoV)

"Pie?" A harpy eagle awoke in a place other than her nest. 

She gazed about with her keen avian eyes. She had no trouble spotting things from afar because she was an eagle. 

Because she did not recognize the place she was in, her instincts urged her to start flying around and inspecting the surroundings. 

She extended and flapped her wings. She flew over the sky, inspecting every little thing that moved about underneath her. 

She was hungry, so she dove at a poor rodent that had ventured out of its burrow in search of food, only to become hers. 

She ate everything, skin, hair, bones, and all. Nothing of the prey was wasted. Her parent made certain that this was done to all of their prey. 

After finishing her little snack, she resumed her quest. 

She awoke in the midst of an open field, but she was now soaring above a forest. She wasn't happy with the height of these trees, but they would suffice for a temporary nest. 

She soared around the forest to find the finest location for her temporary nest. She wanted to select the highest tree in order to build a nest that would provide her with a better vantage point of the forest. 

Her keen eyes caught sight of something exceedingly peck-worthy as she flew through the canopy. She descended and came across a sleeping man. She took a step closer, taking care not to wake him up. 

When she was close enough, she prepared her beak and... 

(Some time ago) 

Birds chirped and flew around in the forest while sunlight seeped through its thick foliage, illuminating it. Small animals were scaling trees and digging tunnels and other holes, going about their daily lives. 

There was also a human m- Humans do not naturally sleep in the forest like that... 

A young man leaned against the trunk of a tree. He was there for a few minutes, where he appeared out of thin air. 

"Ughh" The young man groaned as he began to groggily stir awake. The sun's rays were dropping right upon his eyelid. 

"Where am I?" While sitting on the ground, he took a look around. 

"Yep. This's clearly a nightmare. Yes, Norman, it was definitely one nasty dream" With his elbow, the young man covered his eyes. He recalled the last thing he saw before waking up here. It was not pleasant. 

(Flashback) 

The young man awoke to see his pal sitting backwards on one of his cabin's chairs. The young man rightfully strangled the guy for a few moments, and then proceeded to get ready for the morning. 

"You refuse to learn, Norman" The young man muttered as he drew a chair to the breakfast table. 

"Piiee!" The cabin was broken into by an eagle. 

"Henryk, is Fey really the only harpy to break into the cabin? Every morning?" Norman inquired as he moved his plate of bacon out of their reach. 

"Oh! I take back what I said. It'd seem that you're able to learn, after all. Although, that's if it relates to food" Henryk taunted him with a gleeful smile. 

"I start to wonder, who among us's the annoying one?" Norman was well aware of how he was viewed by others. He was well aware that he was obnoxious to most people. But in this case, he perceived them as more unpleasant individuals than he is. 

"You, Norman, you're the annoying one. You've been breaking into my cabin while I'm asleep for the last few years" Henryk's hand found its way to Norman's plate and took the largest bacon out of it to feed Fey. All of that happened without Norman noticing. 

"Piee!" She savored it. 

Norman looked into his plate to find a piece missing. He looked back and forth for a moment. 

"HEY! THIS'S THE MILLIONTH TIME YOU'VE STOLEN FROM MY BREAKFAST!" He was not giving up his breakfast to either demon today. 

"But it was purchased using my money this time?" They took turns restocking the fridge. The last one was Henryk's turn. 

"You showboat!" Norman grabbed one of Henryk's slices and leapt away from the table, plate and rightfully stolen slice of bacon in hand. 

"Come sit down, Norman. And don't call me a showboat" Henryk gestured for him to sit back on the other chair. 

"Yes, your majesty" Norman got hit for that. 

"Sadly, it's broken now. I can't hit him with it anymore" Henryk shed an internal tear as he stared at his trusty broom, broken in half. 'Your sacrifice won't be wasted, comrade' 

"You said something?" Norman could not believe what he was hearing. His pal was more concerned about a broomstick than he was about him. 

"Nothing to be concerned about. Anyway, you should stop coming here for a while. That grizzly decided to return for more" A grizzly bear assaulted the two of them a year ago. It had to be chased away, the process left clear marks that they would recognize the bear through. 

"Oh! Really?" Norman continued to butter his bread and put together a sandwich after adding a few more ingredients. He was completely nonchalant about the bear returning. 

"I found some of its traces around. For more than some years now, it was the only bear that actually got this close to where we are. I'm sure it's the one, especially with that paw we accidentally blew up last time" The injury was caused by a grenade intended to scare the bear. 

But the bear, in all its beary great wisdom, opted to inspect the most curious of things. It attempted to nudge the grenade as it exploded. Following the incident, the bear's right paw was missing. 

After being done with breakfast, they went about their business as they had for the previous few years. They went out to hunt. 

They eventually heard rustling in the bushes. 

"BOOUUGGH!!" The bear returned to exact its vengeance. It charged at them, hurling itself at the nearest target. Norman happened to be the target. 

He backed away, but its claws cut him in the chest. The wound was large yet superficial. What alarmed Norman and Henryk was that the bear's claws were covered in mud and other filth. They were concerned about possible infections. 

In dread of losing his one and only friend, Henryk panicked and fired at the bear's eyes. However, his arms were shaky, causing the bullet to pass through one of its ears instead. 

Henryk scaled a rope and cut it over the bear's grasp. 'That's one escape rope gone.' He bemoaned the loss of one of his escapes for a moment. 

"BOOOUUUGGGHHH!!" The bear was fuming at Henryk for injuring it. And the irritation of not being able to immediately approach its adversary made it grumpy and enraged. It started climbing the tree Henryk was dangling from. 

"Norman! Go call someone for help! And go to the hospital to treat that wound!" Henryk intended to buy Norman some time. He acted as bait to allow Norman to leave safely. 

"Henryk! You bastard! You better survive this! I won't have anyone else to bother if you don't!" Norman yelled as he ran off. 

He knew better than to let his emotions influence his decisions. The better option was to go seek help while he could. Norman would help Henryk by bringing more people if Henryk was able to live until then. 

Norman, on the other hand, would continue his life while remembering Henryk's sacrifice if Henryk did not survive. He did not want that to happen, but he was thinking realistically. 

'Not everyone's a Hugh Glass. Not everyone survives a bear attack with survivable injuries to the throat' Norman was moving as quickly as his legs could take him. He wanted to get help as quickly as possible. 

"Now, let's start by taking your life" Henryk noticed the bear climbing the tree cripplingly slowly with only one front set of claws. 

Henryk went up the rope until he reached the branch to which it was tied. He adjusted his aim and fired his second shot. 

"BOOUUGH!!" It landed on the bear's shoulder. Henryk was able to swing to the next tree because the bear staggered and stalled. 

"SLOWPOKE!" Henryk taunted it, despite the fact that it did not grasp the word. 

The fight lasted a few more minutes before disaster struck. Henryk stumbled to the ground. Despite the fact that his fall was broken by a bush, one of many he planted beforehand, the bear was on him before he could stand. He did not bother switching to standard bullets, despite the fact that they had higher raw firepower. Time was not on his side. 

"BOOOUUUGGHH!" The bear opened its jaws to bite off his face, but he chose the best option he knew. 

'If I can't live, you'll perish with me!' He pointed the rifle in the bear's mouth, exactly underneath the bear's brain. Henryk's fearful expression vanished at that time. He was a man who had given up on survival. If you saw his expression, you would think he was insane. 

Unfortunately, Henryk took one more hit before the bear collapsed. The bear's one surviving claw retained enough momentum to gash him across the neck. He blacked out after that, never knowing how the fight ended.

(End of flashback) (Henryk's PoV) 

"Haah" I sighed. 

I should sleep more now that I'm in the afterlife. I could soon wake up in a new body, a baby's body, with no memory of who I was in a former life. 

I closed my eyes and fell asleep soon after.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter 2 is a continuation to this chapter, a "Prologue (Part 2)" of sorts. It would be better to read it now, or so I think.

Have a nice time, ladies and gentlemen.