Chapter 2 : A Fateful Meeting

After having walked for a while, looking at the passing scenery and small wildlife still in a confused state over my circumstances, I came upon a small clearing with a spring of water as clear as crystal. Being attracted to it I stopped and walked there, putting my hand in i felt it was cold. I cupped my hands together and scooped up a handful.

It was refreshing and I felt as if every fiber of my being was cheering as if that single handful of water was the greatest elixir in the world and I felt a surge of euphoria like never before.

Calming down, I started to feel a burning sensation, at first it felt just slightly irritating but over a span of what felt like 4 minutes it got worse and worse.

It felt as if molten lava was flowing through my veins, I couldn't breathe and felt that I needed to get whatever this was out of me. I struggled for a good while trying to puke the water out but no matter what I tried, it didn't work.

As I lay there on the grass in the clearing I stared at the sky, was I going to finally die now? Was this all just a dream before the eternal darkness? "NO!" I screamed as I tried to resist, I couldn't stand being helpless again.

That feeling of acceptance turned into rage, a seething boiling rage over the fact that I was helpless. I clenched my teeth and with every part of my will resisted the urge to pass out "I AM NOT DYING TODAY MOTHERFUCKER!" as i screamed out a shock-wave erupted from my body, rustling the leaves on the large trees all around me.

I stood up, drenched in sweat and dirty from the grass I was laying in, swaying from side to side. I felt out of energy and dehydrated. An intense urge to keep drinking from the spring came from the depths of my soul as I slowly inched my way towards the spring.

Lying face down at the bank of the spring I started madly drinking the water as if I had lost all reason. When I came to, the spring was gone and in its stead was just a regular clearing in the woods. With no sign of there ever having been a spring there.

Perplexed over what had just happened I tried to get a feel for my body by patting myself down, as I did that I felt something strange. I was never an athletic person but I was fit and in relatively good shape.

But when I felt myself all over I had bigger muscles than I used to, kind of like switching from the body of an average 30 year old in good shape to being in the body of ryan reynolds. It was magical, for a second I couldn't believe I was in my own body. I wanted to go to the spring to check my reflection only to remember that it's gone.

I thought to myself for a bit and decided to try to punch the tree next to me. "THUNK" I heard as I punched, then I felt pain in my knuckles "Ow! Motherfucker!" I said out loud. "What did I expect? Im punching a tree for gods sake" i said as i repeatedly shook my hand trying to cope with the pain.

"Fucking hell, for a second i thought i might have some godly powers or some shit, maybe im just hallucinating and all but damn its realistic" i said to myself while looking around for the, what felt like, hundredth time.

"First thing is first, how do I get out of this forest?" I asked myself. I didn't have to wait long for a response as I heard a low growl from behind me.

"uhhh, that does not sound friendly…" I turn around and see approaching from the treeline, a HUGE bear, and I'm not talking huge as in as big as a car, I'm talking as big as a house! A freakin house!!!

"Oh fuck…" It stares right into my eyes as it approaches, for a few seconds I'm frozen in fear not knowing what to do. After about 2 seconds which for me felt like eternity, I bit my tongue to break me out of my trance, I turned around and started running like my life depended on it. Well, it probably did but I sure as hell was not turning around and asking that bear to confirm it.

And that brings us to the present, I'm running for my life with a bear the size of a house on my ass, "well, this is quite comical if you think about it, I'm running from a bear the size of a house god knows where probably not even on earth anymore!" I think as I keep running trying to keep my pace through the shrubs and branches.

"Okay so I'm quite fucked over here, the bear is catching up and i have no clue how long i have to run before i get somewhere safe, if there is even a safe place to go to in the first place!" I think out loud as I try to figure out what I could possibly do to escape this precarious situation.

I look behind me and see the bear is still hot on my ass, it even looks like it's drooling from its huge mouth imagining me as his midday snack. "OH FUCK, WHAT IN GODS NAME IS THAT!" I scream out loud as an icicle, the size of a fridge! Forms in front of its mouth as it opens it up as if it is doing the Kame-hame-ha from Dragon Ball.

"SHIT!" I scream, as the icicle is fired at a speed I can barely see, towards me. I try to jump out of the way and barely dodge it, well atleast i thought I did. I look down at my legs and see that everything below my left shin is gone "Oh shit!" I manage to squeak out before the pain registers.

"Why is this happening!?? First I get in an accident in the subway and presumably die, then I wake up in a random ass forest in the middle of nowhere just to get chased by some supernatural bear the size of a house to chase me down and kill me!!!" I scream in frustration and anger.

I look up and see the bear walking towards me slowly with a smug look on its face, as if saying "Look at how running away ended up for you human". I think to myself "This has to be a hallucination, I'm probably still in the subway station dying and having this absurd dream as my last thoughts"

As I finally resign myself to my fate and the bear is looking at me from straight above, I hear a whistling sound as if the air is being torn apart. Me and the bear look at the source of the noise at the same time, but all I hear is a boom and the head of the bear explodes, covering me in blood and brain matter.

As I'm still registering what just happened, the bear's humongous body starts falling towards me as I look wide eyed, unable to move or even speak. I feel as if everything is moving in slow-motion as I try to get my body to move but I cannot move no matter how hard I try, as it is only a meter away a transparent, shimmering blue bubble forms around me and protects me from the impact.

I am still stuck in shock looking around in the darkness under the carcass of the bear with only the small shimmer from the bubble to light up the fur mountain around me. I feel my surroundings tremble around me as the bear's carcass rolls off the protective bubble around me, exposing me to the sunlight once again.

As the, what i would assume is the mid-day sun, blinded my eyes. I see this silhouette of a man walking towards me, as he comes closer I see the clothes he's wearing, a ragged bearskin hung around his shoulders and a leather vest and pants that are roughly made but seem sturdy at a first glance.

He finally walks right above me and I see his face. A chiselled jawlike unlike any other and a pair of blazing red eyes with a scar running over the left one, his hair is long and wavy and reaches his upper back. His frame looks very muscular but not too much as if to not hinder his speed and agility.

After he has looked down at me for what seems like ages he offers his hand to help me stand and I take it. As I take his hand he says to me in a language I don't know but somehow completely understand. "So, what's your kind doing in this part of the forest, human?"