*Whwip*
*Ptck*
Dead Center.
'I finally got it, I finally.. *pant* got it!'
Daniel sat down in exhaustion.
After practicing a few hours of non-stop shooting, grabbing, knocking & repeating, he finally got the arrow to hit the dead center of the bullseye at five meters.
His chest filled with emotion as the sense of relief got the best of him.
He sat there dazed.
'I've never worked so hard for something before. Achieving something in this manner fills me with a lot of satisfaction.'
After a moment of rest, Daniel stood up & looked around him, quickly noticing that the two suns were setting.
'I can't hunt now, but I have to find shelter quickly.'
Daniel looked up at the tree which had branches that weren't too high nor too low for him to reach, just enough that he could climb up & sleep in the trees comfortably.
While taking deep breaths, Daniel could hear the life and death struggles around him. The nocturnal creatures searching for an opportunity to satisfy their hollowed hunger.
Daniel backed up about three meters from the tree & then sprinted forward.
Using the momentum, he was able to step twice up the tree, just barely reaching the lowest branch.
He hung there with one arm for a moment before latching on with his other hand. He slowly pulled himself up to his chest, just enough to wrap his right leg around the branch to sit on it. Grabbing another branch with his hands he lifted himself up, now standing on the branch.
He looked down and noticed a tiger prowling a few meters from the tree. 'God damn, that tiger is silent..' He thought to himself.
Fortunately, it didn't look up at the tree while it continued searching for prey.
Daniel released the breath he was subconsciously holding after the tiger was a safe distance away.
*Sigh*
'That was fucking close, wasn't it?' Daniel wiped off the bit of nervous sweat from his forehead.
He climbed a bit higher for safety, almost falling in the process, but he made it to about half the height of the tree, approximately thirty-four meters, average size.
Fortunately, Daniel was a brick when he slept; meaning he didn't move whilst asleep.
He got comfortable on a few branches that were shaped in a triangle, with just enough room that he could practically sit on them & not fall accidentally.
As Daniel thought about how hilarious he probably looked, he passed out.
His dreams carry him into a fantasy about saving the world, gloriously.
...
*Snore..*
*Snore....*
*CAWCAAWWWWW*
"AHHHHHHH" Daniel yelled at the top of his lungs!!
He was startled awake as he looked around, his poor heart pumping ferociously.
'What the actual ffff..' Daniel rubbed the crust off his eyes & looked around.
'Where are my gla-...' He had a sudden realization.
He could see perfectly fine, but his old habit of looking for his glasses after waking finally made him realize that!
'That's.. crazy..' He was numb to the surprises. After passing out due to life-and-death situations, injuries, or extreme fatigue, he finally got to sleep because he wanted to. Making him realize he had no glasses.
He had every right to, I mean, being able to see without using glasses like one would have needed before versus seeing old crusty weapons and armor suddenly looking new was honestly nowhere near the level of a shock compared to traveling between worlds.
Step by step these crazy aspects of his now new life had numbed him to some of the slightly less crazy stuff that had occurred around him.
Daniel slowly started to climb down the tree, his legs were not fully aware of the activity & so he came close to slipping a few times.
'God.. dammit.' He giggled a bit, his legs tingling from the numbing sensation that was receding.
When he finally reached the ground he sighed.
He shook his body a bit to wake himself up. Quickly dispelling the laziness & the bit of soreness that crept throughout his musculature.
He looked up at the two suns that were rising from the east and thought to himself.
'Cool, I'll use this day to practice the other ranges and after I'm able to hit the bullseye from 45 meters away, I'll go hunt.' He thought to himself, smacking his dry-ass lips.
...
After several hours Daniel was left panting. His arms were numb as he set down the bow. He had gotten to the thirty-five-meter mark but so far had failed to hit the bullseye.
'Looks like I'll have to make do with this, I really can't go on any longer without food or water.' Daniel licked his dry lips.
He wiped off the sweat & grabbed the two arrows he had been using. The surfaces were scuffed but the edges weren't damaged at all, their craftsmanship was definitely top-grade.
He held the bow in his right hand & the two arrows between his fingers on his left hand. After making sure he'd be able to quickly knock & shoot an arrow he crouched & started moving west slowly.
'I'll head west as I look for food & water, it's been about two days with no water, so I'll need to find a source soon.'
He kept prowling slowly, the hunger giving him an aggressive edge.
After forty-five mins of walking, he spotted a deer-like animal.
The only difference was its color, it was black with brown spots near its rear end & white underbelly. It also had 2 pairs of eyes. The normal ones & then smaller eyes right behind them.
'It might have an angle of visibility of about 180°?' Daniel tried to understand what those extra sets of eyes were for.
He had seen enough in the first couple of days to understand that, in order to survive all of these animals had to have a characteristic that allowed them to.
You could say that nature, in this world was at a significantly higher state of evolution than on Earth. The animals were closer to the perfect adaptation to their environment & circumstance.
Prey was better at fleeing and Predators were better at killing.
'This is a headache, I can't shoot that far so I'll definitely have to get closer.'
Daniel did his best to get closer while also trying to avoid disturbing the foliage.
The deer-like creature was grazing on some leaves, from some vegetation that was oddly similar to a rose.
'This is so weird, it's a jungle with deer-like creatures & roses. What else is there? Is the ecosystem this messed up or are the rules different?'
He knocked the first arrow & pulled back slowly. He had set himself upright behind a bush that had long leaves, the gaps in between were enough for him to see his target, but it helped obscured his figure too.
The already dark environment made him nearly invisible.
'Inhale.'
That marvelous state of mind came back. Every detail within Daniel's eyes was captured & reflected, all the minutiae were accounted for as he aimed true.
The practice from before calmed his heart as he got ready to release his breath once more.
'Exhale.'
*Thwip*
*Bleat!*
The arrow hit the deer through its rib cage, penetrating its heart & rupturing its lung.
It fell to the ground on its side, slowly taking its last breaths.
Daniel walked forward slowly, not realizing that the state of mind was still there.
As he got closer he acknowledged his third kill.
He kneeled next to the deer & stroked its neck, which strained for every last breath.
in that moment, his state of mind entered an innocence that was long forgotten by both worlds, and his heart empathized with the creature.
Time slowed around him, as he looked into the deer-like creature's eyes. The light moisture of the jungle coated the creatures' fur in dew. Everything had gained a high definition. Colors are more vibrant, and emotions stronger.
'I'm sorry buddy, I've made you sacrifice this life for my hunger.' Daniel's heart was pure & gentle as a tear flowed down his left cheek, emotion gripped his heart every second which seemed to pass by slower...
The animal slowly stopped it's struggling, and gently moved its head forward, nuzzling Daniel's knee.
'Thank you for the forgiveness, rest in peace. Your sacrifice will not be in vain.' Daniel could almost feel the relief from the pure creature.
At that moment, the deer-like creature released its last breath. Its body started to sparkle & fade!
The sparkles gently entered Daniel's body as he was left dazed.
His hunger & thirst disappeared while his body's recovery accelerated exponentially.
'What... Is happening ‽' The shock ripped him away from that state of mind, but the green sparkles didn't stop.
His body felt stronger, everything got a general upgrade, or so it felt.
'Well, that solves my basic needs dilemma.' Daniel was happy with the ending to that encounter. Still, that moment would be forever ingrained in his heart, because in that moment he felt free, unrestrained.
He grabbed the bow that lay to his side & stood up.
'I have to practice more.' He walked slowly as he looked around for a big tree.
After finding one, he repeated his previous steps, afterward practicing till his arms gave out due to fatigue.
After he recovered a bit he would continue, his hyperfocus & persistence yielding results every passing moment.
Thirty-five meters, Forty-five meters, Fifty-five meters...
After the fifty-fifth meter, he couldn't improve as quickly as before.
'Alright, it's been about... Uh. I don't know how long it's been but.' He looked up at the sky, the two suns were up high in the sky.
'Looks like noon, so I think Six hours of practice is enough. Let's continue.'
Daniel grabbed his two arrows & started walking west.
After walking for a few hours Daniel stopped. His heart slowly beating but with greater & greater force.
'Danger' That thought appeared in his mind.
'But where is it?' He looked around but couldn't find the reason for his premonition.
Angst. Adrenaline. Nervousness.
Daniel slung the bow around his back & unclipped the two swords.
He bent his knees just a little bit while holding the swords in a traditional forward manner.
His body was growing restless, more & more.
*Rumble*
The ground suddenly began to shake, as if an army were running.
'Dammit!' He moved as his instincts screamed for him to sprint forward.
He ran over the small hill that was blocking his sight, and sprinted up the hill, he could hear roars and screams... He froze when he bore witness to what was happening.
It looked like a small village was in the middle of a hoard of beasts.
Daniel witnessed a massacre of people. Men ran to defend the village, but they were trampled, mauled, split in half, crushed, and ripped apart. The small mud wall barely bore the weight of beasts climbing over each other as they frantically snapped at the humans on the walls.
The women hugged the many children around them as the beasts feasted on the babies & children, ripping into the mothers protecting them, many beasts passing the guards & entering into the unprotected villagers.
These creatures had black smog coming from their bodies. Bears. Tigers. Jaguars. Panthers. Insects. Reptiles. They all partook.
Rage. Immense rage.
Something in Daniel awoke in witnessing the massacre of his kind.
His blood boiled & his body screamed for blood.
*ROAR!*
A multi-frequential roar erupted from his throat, rage, and sorrow crescendoing as his eyes turned red.
RAGE! RAGE! AGAINST THE DYING OF THEIR LIGHT!
He ran forward with an explosive abruption of force! His mind was filled with rage, he held no concept of restraint as he ran towards the hoard of beasts.
Once he got there, he rammed into a bear-like creature in front of him.
He stabbed its belly while slashing down, guts & organs falling as the bear died a gruesome death.
He stabbed a jaguar with both swords while lifting it up like a fucking shishkabob!
We all know where he got the inspiration from, hehe. Rhymes with befool!
He split the swords away from each other, cutting the creature in half.
All hell broke loose as he raged and killed. His body slowly adapting in order to become more efficient in his killing.
He was methodical with it, his rage had a semblance of a pattern. Rageful & unpredictable in its rhythms.
The villagers saw someone in black armor laying waste on the hoard. They knew it was futile, but they still held immense gratitude as they saw how the human was veiled in deep hatred & rage at what he witnessed.
'We have someone fighting for us!' They held on for a little longer, attempting to tell the other human that they'd acknowledged his efforts.
Their hearts settled as they knew the one fighting for them would be left in an endless pursuit for solace.
'Bless your heart brother.' They all thought as one.