Part 1 Chapter 1: The Beginning
Nothingness. Absolutely nothing surrounded him. A void completely hollow. Was it empty? Or was it full of nothing? Curiosities such as this leaked into his mind, about as full as the space he was in was empty. "Where am I?" He thought, a voracious confusion developing inside his mind. But, as he stared into the abyss, he found soon that it would stare back. His mind was immediately cleared, a throbbing headache coming over him. He could feel his mouth opening to scream out, yet no sound emerged. His vision filled with purple swirls, feeling almost nauseous as he was rocked around by what seemed to be nothing. A heat enveloped his body, a heat that didn't go away even once his vision returned and his head stopped hurting. Though he thought he should be scorching, the heat was nullified against his skin, yet constant. Finally, his eyes shot open.
Finally, his eyes were greeted with something other than a suffocating darkness. It was a ceiling of reddish-brown stone, cracked yet staying in formation. He stared up at it for approximately 2 minutes, his mind full of nothingness. Finally, he thought to pull himself up from the ground. Though he still sat, he now looked around himself. There was more of the stone that the ceiling was made of, fully surrounding him. In fact, it was much like a tunnel. Except, there were no torches to light the area. Yet, he could still see everything so clearly, like light was slipping through the cracks from all sides.
Finally, he fully pulled himself up off the ground, landing on his feet. It felt like he hadn't used them in days, as they were so stiff. However, every other part of his body felt normal. How incredibly peculiar. Why, he soon realized something else unusual. He didn't remember his name, or really ANYTHING from before this moment. Who was he? Why was he here? WHERE was he? Despite all these being good questions, he didn't feel inclined to answer to any of them, really. Actually, he was more concerned about making something of his current environment. A split path, it would seem. Two tunnels led in front of him, one to the left and one the the right, then one right behind him leading upward. Decidedly, he went for the one to the right. Lucky for him, the tunnel wasn't necessarily all that long. In fact, he reached the end of it in mere seconds. Looking to the left, he found another exit to the tunnel, likely meaning the the tunnel on the left of the split path would have led outside anyways. Well, that certainly made the choice seem much more pointless.
He looked forward, seeing a multitude of trees… or, were they just large fungi? He truly couldn't tell. Crimson vines littered down the trunks, which appeared to be of something wood adjacent. He touched it, feeling the texture against his palm. The wood felt very frail, strangely so. In fact, he was certain that he could break it easily with his hands. He wound his arm back, preparing to strike the tree with all his strength. When his fist connected, he found himself to be correct. The tree-like plant fell to the floor. He was left wondering if he was always this strong. Before his foreseeable memories, I mean. Furthermore, although his fist was very clearly scratched, he couldn't quite feel it at all. He thought back, remembering how the heat that this entire area emitted, although feeling that it should be burning through his skin, was actually rather tame against his tender flesh. Was he just feeling much less? Then again, he didn't have much to compare it to, did he?
He tried to pull the trunk of the plant back to the entrance of the tunnel. Perhaps he could form some sort of barricade? But, as he pulled the trunk back to the tunnel, a thin piece of its wood was pulled apart. Although he didn't think the stick would be useful, he placed it into his pocket just in case. He took the crimson vines attached the trunk, though they seemed to have some sort of sticky material all over them, tying them to the reddish-brown rocks around himself, hoping to make an effective barricade. As he finished it up, he thought for a moment… why? Normally, he didn't think this would be his normal course of action. Most of all, he didn't even know or think he would need barricade. Something just… came over him. Strange.
However, this barricade proved to immediately be useful, as something showed itself from the behind a corner, beyond the tree-like plants. It had pale pink fur, much like some sort of animal. Yet, it stood on two legs and wore clothing. It's tusks were small, yet it's face was fearsome. But, it was also followed by about six more of the same species right behind it, seeming to be scavenging or exploring. He thought it was fine as long as they didn't notice him. However, one of them made a gesture for the rest of them to stop, smelling something strange in the area. It sniffed around with its large snout before looking to it's left. It's eyes made direct contact with him, the both exchanging glances for what felt like an eternity. Yet, in reality, it was only a few mere seconds, as the group soon began to charge at him, slamming violently into the barricade. They were equipped with an assortment of swords and crossbows, the swords seeming to be made out of some yellow metal.
He was cowering behind the barricade, fearing that he may die. Or… at least, he THOUGHT he was. But, he soon noticed that… he didn't feel anything. No fear, no distress, no anger, just… calm. It was as though he was in an eternal state of level-headedness. He remembered that the other end of the tunnel led right next to them. But how would that be helpful in this instance? He thought hard before concocting an idea. He slinked away from the barricade, leaving towards the other tunnel, which was slightly longer. When he reached the end, he was on the other side of creatures, watching as they slammed into the barricade without noticing that he was behind them. Soon, he saw a seventh creature that looked highly similar to the ones slamming into the barricade, much more confused.
In a sudden flash of brilliance, he remembered the stick in his pocket. He threw it, surprising the creature that stood alone, looking at him as he lured it towards him individually from the other creatures. However, his stiff legs hindered his movement, as he stumbled onto the floor while being chased, becoming immediately vulnerable. He turned around, still on the floor as the creature stood above him, swinging its sword down. But, he narrowly managed to catch the blade, clasping his hands together in order to stop it. His hands were cut, but he easily ignored it. Despite the leverage the creature had on him, he found himself able to fling it off of him, keeping hold of the sword. He IMMEDIATELY got up, jumping and plunging the sword into the creature, instantly killing it before it could get up.
He hadn't realized the depth of what he just did. The creature clearly showed some sign intelligence, so perhaps he SHOULD feel bad for bringing an end to its life. But, it was as if it were second nature to him, like he was used to it. Yet, he felt it was for a reason unrelated to his current numbness. He shook his head, clearing his mind of it as he grasped the sword's handle. This was mostly what he planned, excluding the falling over and being cornered part. But, it's fine. The important part was that he now had a weapon. He went back through where he came from, looking from behind the creatures, as the barricade looked as though it were about to give way. He immediately jumped into the air from where he stood, attacking them in rapid succession. The first one he used the momentum of his fall to slice the back of, plunging the sword straight into the hips of the second one right after. Then, as the third was turning, his sword was stabbed straight into its stomach. Before he could get to the fourth, it was already preparing an attack, slashing down upon him. However, this time, he was able to dodge back before being struck. Now, he was stuck against three of them at once, one with a sword and a helmet, another with a sword, and one with a crossbow. The one with the helmet came first, slashing horizontally across him. He ducked under the attack, kicking upwards at its arms to detach it from its weapon before getting back up and straight up impaling it on the sword of its ally that rushed towards him by kicking once more in that direction. Right after, as the other one fell to the ground, he CRUSHED its skull with a powerful stomp, a crunching sound being heard. The last one frantically shot its arrow at him as he ran towards it, the arrow cutting across his cheek before the creature was impaled on his blade.
He let the creature's body fall to the ground, taking deep breaths as that was a rather large effort. But, he wasn't done. The one he stabbed the hips of wasn't dead, although it couldn't walk anymore. It shot one last desperate arrow at him, catching him of guard as it gashed his right arm. He looked in its direction, surprised that it was still alive before grabbing the crossbow of the one he just killed and shooting it straight in the head with an arrow. The creature's body fell limp. He looked at his own self, as he had sustained quite a bit of damage. The harsh cuts on his hand, the blood leaking from his cheek, and quite a large gash in his arm.
But, although he expected his breathing to continue to get lighter, it only grew heavier and worse as it passed. His vision was becoming blurry, the throbbing headache from before returning to his body, the pain being worse than the injuries he sustained during his battle. A multitude of images flashed through his mind as one word repeated over and over. Or… rather, it was a name. HIS name. "Vin… cent?" He repeated the name, holding onto the wall for support. A few seconds later, he saw… himself in his current state. He had long, crimson hair, as red as the stains left by his enemies. But, his eyes were equally crimson, blending well with the plants he found earlier. His bangs were unnaturally messy, slightly obstructing the vision of his left eye. He wore a black vest with white sleeves, a red waistband, and black pantaloons. As for shoes… well, he had none at the moment, his feet bare.
The throbbing of his head finally ceased without warning, disorienting him greatly. Finally, he caught his breath as he regained his vision, slowly, he turned around himself, looking at the scene he just made. Then, right behind him, he found something else that wasn't there before. Another creature. Except, this time… it was smaller, seeming to be a child. He-… no, sorry; Vincent looked at the small creature, grasping his sword tightly in his hands. Just what did he plan on doing?
TO BE CONTINUED…