Softly at first, the rain began to fall, 'drip...drip' before long however it poured. The rain was drowning out any noises as the operator awoke, coughing and spitting from the taste blood and rain. "Where did the roof go?" Was his first thought. He was seriously injured and dazed. Not trying to move he tried to focus on what he knew. What he knew was that he was just inside. Turning his head to the right he could see the structure looked much more worn. The ceiling completely destroyed, and the more he tried to turn his head the more obvious it became to him. He was somewhere new, an unfamiliar place, with only a few statues resembling anything he'd seen before. Hoping it was just the rain making it hard to see The Operator laid his head back. He still hadn't tried to move since he'd woken up, everything was too painful.
Working up the energy to lift his head The operator looked to his left. The storm had darkened the sky more making it hard to see, but the bulky object next to him was still lit enough to horrify him as his memory of what just happened to him flooded back. "Holes, there are holes in my arm!" He panicked. His arm, mangled with blood everywhere, the flesh shredded with huge teeth marks. He tried to move his fingers, but only one twitched no matter how hard he tried. Tears were quickly replaced by fear as he remembered the beast that had done the damage, and how it fell with him. Fearing the massive object next to him was the beast he struggled to move only to realize that he couldn't move his legs. Any attempt radiated pain through his whole body. "Fuck!" He cried out hoping it wouldn't wake the beast, but the pain was too great to contain. "Am I going to die?" He feared. "Is this it? Mauled and broken?" Trying to move his right hand he found it still worked.
Groaning in pain he slowly tried to lift himself off the ground to look at his legs. "Yeah, I'm fucked." He thought to himself. His legs were broken, his right leg had bones sticking out and the left had turned backwards. Turning to look at the object he realized that it was just the head of the beast, severed from its body a strange black fluid filled with specks the seemed to move. He rationalized the beast and realized it couldn't be the size of a bus. His fear made it larger than life, but it was still massive, taking a closer look he screamed.
"Faces. There's fucking faces." He shuddered at the thought and fought back bile. Teeth, ears, eyes, it looked like a mash up of a hundred people held together by the specks in its blood, hardened like skin. "This thing is all kinds of fucked up, guess I'm not much better.." he was thinking to himself when the steps began echoing. Like callous feet scraping on stone, the sound dragged toward him. He tried to turn toward the noise but the pain was too great. Tired from holding himself up he collapsed and accepted his fate. Scrape, scrape, scrape. The footsteps approached getting louder and louder through the sound of the rain.
The Operator, lying on the ground taking deep slow breaths waiting to die, enjoyed the rain falling on his face. The sound of the feet passed him, continuing to scrape towards the beast. A new kind of scraping sound started, like digging through broken ceramic. The stranger was muttering in a stranger language, similar to what came through the radio. A new wave of adrenaline and fear rushed through The Operator. "Who are you?" He asked weakly. The stranger kept muttering in the strange language while digging through what it had found. Scrape, scrape. Then The Operator heard a familiar sound, one that reminded him of satisfaction, like being relieved you didn't lose something important. "Please, I'm dying..!" Coughed The Operator. He tried to peer at the strange looking man next to the beast, stretching his neck as much as he could while calling out."please!"
Again, he decided he regretted that decision, The Stranger turned towards him with a sickening grin. Resembling a monk in his attire, The Stranger was unlike any monk he had seen with bandages around his eyes. The same black ooze from the beast leaking through the bandages, and his teeth blackened and chipped. The Monks lips curled back in a wider grin as he approached. The Operator pressed himself into the ground and shook his head."Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your search!" He wished he hadn't said anything. The Monk leaned down far too close for comfort, his breath smelling like rancid meat and blood. Trying to to gag The Operator tried to turn his head but his face was held still. The Monk has wrapped a hand around his jaw and held his face with an unearthly grip. The Monks finger nails were over grown with chips and cracks, blackened by dried blood. The Monk uttered one word, it's hot breath making The Operator want to gag. "VESSEL"
A hot searing pain cut through his left arm as The Monk forced The Operators face to watch what was happening. The Monk was digging a dark gem into his arm in one of the bite marks. The gem split his arm open more and his muffled screams died out as his consciousness did. The pain had been overwhelming and The Operator couldn't stand it.
"VESSEL"
He heard it again while unconscious, and began experiencing vivid dreams. He saw flashes of a white castle surrounded by a mountain being carved by men in chains. Villagers roaming streets looking weary and fearful. A village surrounded by a wall of wood. Armed guards every few feet holding weapons turned towards the villagers. Darkness, then more images. A prison, filled with villagers, in darkness. An arena with no sun, only lit by torches, showing blood soaked sands, black and red. A gate between another arena, and seats made of trees. Darkness, followed by more images. A forest, deep and dark, crawling with creatures that wore villagers clothes.
The Operator regained some consciousness as he was being dragged. He didn't understand what was being said or what was happening. The Monks raspy voice was recognizable but whatever he spoke to never responded, however it did throw The Operator down onto some hard wooden surface. The surge of pain from the landing made him pass out again.
"VESSEL"
Memories, his memories, flooded in this time. Images of home, a small apartment. He lived alone, and his apartment felt empty even while he was there. His career choice kept him busy and far from home too often for pets, and only relics filled his shelves. Darkness.
Thump.
The path he was being taken down had become rather overgrown with roots.
Thump.
His body slid towards the edge of the wood.
Thump. Thump. Thud.
The fleshy sound he made was buried by the rain. The fall had brought The Operator back to his current reality. To his surprise, he could feel his legs, and even move them. His left arm had slowly formed back together around the crystal with deep scars of mangled flesh. Checking his legs he found the bones had been set with braces, but they were no longer necessary as the holes had sealed and the bones felt solid again. Though healed in some sense he still felt horribly weak and alone. It was near pitch black and the rain only made things more difficult. Unsure of what to do, the only thing he knew was he couldn't wait around for whatever had taken him to realize he was missing. Dragging himself to a stand he prepared to leave the trail.