2001:
(???): " Josiah, wake up you're going to be late."
(Josiah): "I'm awake, Evalyn leave me alone."
Yes, that's my wife, at the time we were in our fifties. I was a physicist researcher; did I ever really like it. I mean, it was easy to do, and it's mostly straightforward, at least more than others. I always thought I would be something else, but I'm scared. Scared to leave my comfort zone. Scared to go on the front line and be aggressive rather than passive. Mary wasn't our first child, something I and Evalyn don't talk about much.
Jason was our first child. When we were kids, around our late teens, we were just dating, but things happened. I tried to get away from it, but I couldn't. Fast forward a few more years and Jason wanted to go to school in his mom's car, but Evalyn couldn't take him, so he had to walk. Later, we heard he got hit by a stray truck. Killed on impact.
Our room has a queen bed in the middle of everything, a white closet where if you go inside, you can see it is split in the middle. It has my side on the left with the clothes and shoes and on the right the same with hers.
I got up touching the carpet as I walked to my closet, skimmed through my clothes, and stopped to take out a simple suit.
(Evalyn): " well you better hurry up or you going to be late."
(Josiah): " yeah yeah, how is Mary."
(Evalyn): "She is fine she said she can't visit us currently because she has an exam"
(Josiah): "Ha she can't visit us because of that and if we die before she remembers that we exist."
(Evalyn): "Oh, don't be so cynical."
(Evalyn): "Come I made you your favorite."
...
Sierra pov
I have been running for a good minute now. The only reason I haven't died yet is that I have been rapidly healing but remind you that we were just born I don't have many reserves to heal with or energy as I'm about to run out.
Every second felt gut-wrenching. All I can hear are gurgling noises and my paws hitting the ground as sticks are crunching.
Szzzz
I fell. I was in a daze, looking at my side, and I saw what was supposed to be a shoulder, and yet I could see the inside of it.
(Sierra): "Argh!"
IT HURTS IT HURTS. Why am I here? I must run.
Running with my 3 legs, I saw my shoulders healing, but not fast enough. Just looking at my shoulders, I felt grossed out. The only thing I wanted to do was to roll on the ground and cry.
But I remembered my little brother. He has a plan. He was the one that was sounding so confident when he told me to get to chase after me. He won't let me die. I don't want to die.
As if the world was laughing at her. The slime threw a piece of its body, and it grazed her eyes. The green pupils that always seemed to be sparkling were dimming out.
The trees were flowing. The leaves were swirling around her as if listening to her every wish. The slimes saw this, hesitated, then thought about how it was just a final effect.
Then the air flowed, turning into the wind. Her last good eye stared at her, a would-be killer with a burning hatred wishing it would leave her alone.
"Swoosh!"
The slime slammed into the trees as some of its parts flew away from it dissolved nearby trees and rocks.
Sierra was confused. What just happened? Nobody was there to answer her question, so she focused on the moving air, and she saw little dots bobbing their body She tried calling out to it, but they dispersed. Disappearing in the air.
"Raaaaahh!."
Flapping noise could be heard, madly rushing to Sierra. You couldn't see its face, but you could almost feel the blood lust.
Despairing what was about to happen, she closed her eyes, but unbeknownst to her, luck was on her side. Those small beings helped stall for time as another savior came in with a stick on his tail.
She smelled something familiar, so she opened her eyes a little when she saw Josiah. It lit a feeling of hope growing inside of her, but she still felt a tinge of fear.
Thwack!
The stick hit the slime, but it dissolved.
Her heart skipped a beat. The slime seemed to have forgotten her and made its way to Josiah.
She screamed but felt a sudden Nausea. Josiah jumped up before the slime attack could get to him, but instead, it destroyed the surroundings of the area.
At this point she was trying to bring the little beings that helped her earlier, her heart beating rapidly.
"NO!"
What happened next left her bewildered.
The scene played out like this. The slime was attacking Josiah, his hands stretched out, and when they came into contact, she felt the very world vibrate and goosebumps coming up all over her.
Then BAM.
The slime splattered, everything got destroyed trees falling left, and right.
It was incomprehensible, what just happened. What she saw truly shocked her. She couldn't find words to formulate her thoughts. But that's when she noticed something: his front legs had been shattered!
"Ahhhhh!!!."
A blood-curdling scream. She watched in horror since he was crying, and vomiting blood and his front legs mangled up. She didn't know what to do, she was scared, but then he stopped. His eyes closed as if he were saying his final wishes.
(Sierra): "No!"
Fearing for the worse, she nearly healed right shoulder supported her as she staggered over to his side.
" No please don't die please!"
She didn't know who to blame. Herself, Her mom? She felt like cursing everything. She got to him, Sat on her, but then used her left paw to touch him. Noticing that his heart was still beating. She sighed a breath of relief, a single tear showing.
She knew she had to rush to her mother's side. She used her head to snuggle under his stomach. Then lifted it slightly. Letting his body move, slightly to the middle of her back.
When he was in a comfortable position, she just now realized how heavy he was. Her body was slowing down as every step forward felt like she ran miles nonstop. But still, she couldn't give up.
(Sierra): "Huff huff"
(Sierra): "Halfway there, come on"
Her lungs were on fire. Her eyesight was shaking. Her body is weak from running and healing. And now she was carrying another person. Sierra was nearing her limit. Josiah's body was falling off her back. She was too slow to stop it, but then before the action could fully happen. A hero came and supported the body lighting Sierra's work.
(Pharaoh): "I got you."
Sierra heard a familiar voice. She turned her head right to see this person.
(Sierra): " Thanks a lot."
Happiness flowed with every word she let out.
(Pharaoh): "What happened to him"
Pharaoh looked at the messed-up cub. Her face wasn't revealing emotions.
(Sierra): I don't know, I was getting chased and after a while I was on my last legs, but he came to beat him, instead of that he was getting his ass handed to him, but when he was about to get killed the air vibrated and as soon as you know it the slime exploded."
She looked at the flowing trees, feeling scared about the past, not wanting to go back to that again. But even so, something inside her burned on She wanted to go back to it to kill it with her strength not wanting to run away like a coward without even giving a proper fight.
Pharaoh heard this information. No visible information was shown on her face, but inside she was confused, not knowing what to call it. Then she remembered what her mother had done.
(pharaoh): " magic?"
(Sierra): I don't know. I was going to ask my mother about that. What happened to Sars and Max
(Pharaoh): "Home but after I did that, I took that time to hunt some rabbits."
A tinge of pride occurred in her voice.
(Sierra): "Talking about that, I never sense your presence. Why is that.?"
(Pharaoh): "You're imagining things."
(Sierra): "Right got it."
...
Algid is a true beast. A being who has lived for billions of years, but in understandable years she is technically 4 years old if you were to put it in more understandable terms.
She has lived countless lives and played many roles in the history of argus one that has a long story, both dark and light.
She lay on her stomach reminiscing how things had gotten to this point, her white fur flowing with the wind. No animals were near her as they could feel she was at the top of the food chain.
(Algid): "How unlucky are these kids."
Besides her, the young boy's body is already healing, almost closing off as they fall asleep in their imaginary world. She didn't expect things to be this bad. She only wanted to train them. She had a piece of doubt implanted in her mind about whether she was doing the right thing.
She sensed 3 new bodies coming closer. She gets up from her rest to welcome them.
When the three cubs come out of the woods, Albis looks at them with curiosity. Then asks Sierra what happened.
The young cub explained the event, as did Albis, that he picked the ragged Josiah using air magic, wrapping him up so that nothing could discomfort him.
(Sierra): " Mom, why would you put us in that situation?"
Her stern voice paved the way making sure there was no room for error and dissuasion. Algid looked at this, her eyes wandering with an unknown emotion.
(Algid): "When everyone wakes up, I shall explain"
Sierra was unsatisfied but didn't pursue the issue any further, but she continued.
(Sierra): " talking about explaining, something happened. When he was fighting that vile monster, he did something that I couldn't quite understand. It was like the air was vibrating, it was weird."
Albis took a moment to think about it and thought about how so many people have a unique skill implanted in their souls. She also has a higher grade.
(Algid): " Hmm he might have a skill that is special to him we shall ask him when he wakes up."
Too many questions and not enough answers, but even so Sierra felt tired and didn't want it to drag.
...
The Red Dwarf Star that people that live here call Quinn was falling. As the darkness was creeping down, Josiah's body was healed, but he was malnourished.
He wakes up groggy. He gets up groaning wondering where he is. All he could see was a bunch of leaves and a big space. He stopped feeling the pain that he felt, but he still feels a mild headache. Overall, he feels like shit.
Alone in a foreign world was taking a toll on him. It's not like he forgot about his past life, but he knew that right now he had pressing concerns to take care of.
(Sierra): " Josiah you're awake I have been so afraid, that you might have been gone."
(Josiah): "Ah! don't do that."
(Sierra): "Do what? all I did was call your name."
(Josiah): That's exactly what's so scary. Hey, are you laughing, it's a genuine issue, you could give someone a heart attack?"
(Sierra): "Haha sorry I'll try to be more careful, really I'm glad you are okay"
Yeah, I'm starting to remember what happened, what was that the thing that hurt me but also hurt the slime. I have so many questions.
(Josiah): " I'm sorry for worrying you but hey wouldn't that mean you owe me
(Sierra): " Oh shut up I stopped owing you when I carried you back home."
(Josiah): " Haha thanks. Where are we?"
(Sierra): " Well after your weird show of power you passed out so I and Pharoah carried you home. Mother took care of you and put you in a cave
I could see in the dark well, being a true beast wasn't bad. When she said that I noticed that we were in a cave, that we were in a cave, but for some reason, it seemed unnatural like it was carved well. The ground was smooth and clean, leaves covered the entrance to the cave… yeah, not natural. But I didn't want to ask because I saw it as ridiculous enough.
We proceeded out of the cave when we walked. The fragile leaves are breaking apart. The cave was connected to the mountain. There was a clear path, this was most certainly mother's work. So, we just walked in it until we saw a giant animal.
Algid. Just glancing at her pisses me off. The others were munching their food except, Pharaoh who was picking at it. They all stopped and looked at me max and Sarrs bombarding me with questions and concerns Sierra dashed the second the smell of the food hit her nostrils, I tried to resist my hunger, and to seem elegant I walked slowly to my side of the food.
(Algid): " Ah your awake little one. I'm sure you have a lot of questions like why I put you through that."
When she spoke everyone's, attention was focused on her I did a light nod. I couldn't resist the food, so I ate the meat slowly and slowly to pay attention.
(Algid): "This world has been through and those who live in it have shared the same fate Billions of years ago. Many creatures like dragons, true beasts, krakens, leviathans, Oni's, dinosaurs, and so on lived in the old world."
Yeah, I would imagine they were the oldest, but billions of years, how old are they?
(Algid): " But we the true beasts had a weakness, Our life spans. We would need billions of years to grow, and it was fine because we held our own. But one fateful afternoon we noticed some flying to us. An asteroid."
A brief pause. She resembled an old person reminiscing on their bygone days.
(Algid): "We tried everything we could to survive but all of us could barely get a grip on our abilities and magic was not known well even if some of us could passively use it. When most of the life on argus went extinct, we were lucky that we didn't get wiped out completely. In the aftermath that happened everything was in chaos, lava spewed out the sea was boiling, and we were scared we weren't going to survive but everything slowed down we felt a calming effect that was when we found out the world had a will. It used the first instance of magic we have ever seen and made it, so the disaster was noticed eradicating everything
Ah, so, like the same thing that happened on Earth where it wiped out the dinosaurs. And the world has a will. How is that possible?
(Algid): "We realized because we were so young, we could not reproduce. At that point we were screwed if too many of us died we would be effectively extinct. So, we tried to do everything to get stronger. But we couldn't agree to anything, so the best method was just to go our separate path."
So, we are nomads, huh or they later came together in an agreement.
(Josiah): " So why did you send us out?"
(Algid): "Because you need to experience near-death to grow in your experience and power. The world is harsh even if civilization is advanced it somehow makes the world more chaotic. But you're the main example, your ability. An ability that grows we all got that as a byproduct to live."
So, to show us that the world was harsh and for our power to grow. She made us go through that experience in a world that was harsh. She was praising me, but I didn't know what I even did.
(Josiah):" How would I know? It just happened."
I shrugged like I wasn't the one involved. She sighed when she heard this. But I think about it some more. I remember everything being different like I saw the makeup of everything.
"Well, that is what we are going to focus on. All five of you are going to be training, I will be teaching you magic, special abilities, and how to gigantify and how to appear like another species as well as look into your soul to see if you have a skill."
Her deep voice shocked the very earth itself, her fur swaying with the wind as she got up, putting a dent in the ground itself. That's when we knew we were in for a hell of a time.