Suffocating darkness, darker than the sky during a stormy night, presses in from all around. I can see nothing, hear nothing… feel nothing. For a time I am content, happy to rest, happy to forget that which this darkness has relieved me from. However, as time passes, I begin to itch for something more. I begin to remember my life, and from those memories I am reminded of 'fear.' And once I think about fear, I can do little else. Alternating between regrets of my life and fear that I will have nothing to do but wallow in this darkness for eternity, my terror only grows. "Release me from this darkness!" I cry out mentally into the void, for I possess no body to actually produce sound. Yet the darkness offers up no reply to my desperate plea. And so I wallow in my fear and regret for what feels to be an eternity, slowly losing hope that I will ever escape.
Long after I have given up all hope, long after I should have gone mad, I begin to feel again. Not much, mind you, just enough to realize that I might actually have a body. Judging from my prior experience with a body, the pain would be coming from my back. As time continues to progress the pain spreads and becomes ever more intense. Yet, despite the agony, I cling tightly to these feelings. Wherever I am hurting, I can [feel] again. No matter how painful, anything is better than that smothering darkness.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the pain eventually spreads to where I approximate my head to be. And with my head comes a host of other senses.
Sight! I assume that my eyelids are closed, as a vibrant red that can only be the sun against them fills my world. I try to open them, but they won't budge. Still, even a featureless red expanse is better than a black so dark that even black holes would be jealous.
Hearing! As of yet it still feels like I have cotton in my ears, but my hearing is infinitely better than it had been.
Smell! Nothing noticeable to report.
Taste! My mouth is very dry. Like a desert dry. Still better than nothing!
Furthermore, as feeling reaches my head and my senses activate, some of the pain leaves the rest of my body. Starting at my lower back and spreading out in all directions, the featureless pain is replaced with incredible soreness, with occasional pin pricks of pain still available to be felt. As my sense of touch comes further into focus, I realize that I must be lying on a bed of rocks. I am still unable to move, however, so I simply put up with it.
Slowly but surely the unnatural pain leaves my body and my senses strengthen. The cotton leaves my ears, smells assail my nose, and my sense of touch allows me to feel the hundreds of small rocks pressing into my back. Once all of the unnatural pain has left my body, I can feel strength flood into my limbs. While meager, it is infinitely more than I had before… and certainly enough to open my eyes.
The first thing I see upon opening my eyes is the sun. Not wanting to destroy my newly-acquired vision, I quickly re-clamp my eyes shut.
[Dang, that's bright!] I think to myself.
I tentatively open my eyes again, carefully keeping my eyelids partially closed to keep the sun from again blinding me. I slowly look around, analyzing my situation. As soon as I'm sure that I'm alone, I carefully push myself into first a sitting position, then a standing position. I wobble a bit, and almost fall over, but eventually I am able to get my footing. Only then do I truly analyze the situation around me.
On the northern horizon, judging by the position of the sun slightly dipping to what must be the West, is a mountain range. The mountains range from the western horizon to the eastern one, a seemingly never ending chain. Stretching between the mountains and my current position, and on all other sides, extending as far as the eye can see, is a dusty, rock covered, expanse. Not a sign of plant life can be seen, and the animal life consists only of a large skeleton about a hundred yards to my east and two vultures flying high above. While I don't want to call it a desert, as there is no sand, only dusty dirt, it certainly seems dry enough to be properly classified as a desert.
The wind blows rather strongly and steadily, picking up and flinging about sediment. Its soothing touch against my skin is a relief after so long in the empty darkness and the agony that followed.
I quickly avert my mind from the thought of the darkness, but that forces me to start thinking logically about my implausible situation.
Last I was aware, I was strapped down to an operating table with a cocktail of toxins racing through my veins. [Maybe the process failed… and they dumped me in the desert for some reason? No, that doesn't make sense. Besides, I am certain that I died. I can vividly remember the world fading away for the last time, and if the Time of Darkness wasn't death, then I have no idea what it could be.] After thinking for a moment, I am forced to completely give up on answering the question. The only solution that comes to my mind is reincarnation, like in the books I had read long ago. [But that's silly! Those were just books; obviously something like that could never happen!] My more logical side quickly douses even that fantasy. [Well, I'll just have to find out what happened in time I suppose. There is no way to receive answers at this moment, and so it is best to not waste time on it; there will surely be answers in the future.]
I return to analyzing my surroundings, and when I do so I notice something odd at the corner of my vision. It moves when I look around, staying as a little rippling area at the edge of my peripheral vision. As soon as I focus on it a… screen of sorts appears in front of my eyes.
Name: unnamed
Level: 1
Race: Human
Class/Job: None
Skills: Greater Pain Resistance Lvl 3, Moderate Madness Lvl 4, Lesser Sight Enhancement Lvl 2, Lessor Hearing Enhancement Lvl 2, Lesser Resistance Lvl 1
On second thought, maybe that fantasy idea wasn't so crazy after all…
"What in the world?" I say out loud, unable to prevent my confusion from expressing itself audibly. [This makes no sense… although I suppose that me being here at all makes no sense… I should be dead.] My shock is so great that even my thoughts come out in short and confused bursts. [Alright. It's been a while since I have read such things, but this is EXACTLY like what I used to read. Reincarnation into a world with magic powers and stuff… well, best not to get my hopes up too much. I could easily die of thirst in this dusty expanse.] I look back at the large skeleton that I had first noticed in my cursory examination of my surroundings. "You might get a new companion soon, my skeletal friend."
I know that I am going to need water soon. My mouth is as dry as the dust at my feet, and I can already feel the dull headache that comes with thirst. Even though the air has to be at least 90 degrees, no sweat forms on my skin. I look around, trying to find any sign that there might be water in any direction. [Honestly, assuming that this isn't Earth, I'm lucky enough to be on a planet where I don't immediately die from the extreme temperature. Actually having water on the planet might not be a given, should the organisms here have evolved to not require it. This isn't something that fantasy books usually have; the fantasy worlds always seem to perfectly match up with the climate of Earth… Well, there's not much I can do if there is no water nearby. I'll just have to head towards the mountains and hope to find a stream. The mountains are sure to be a long ways away; they are little more than shadowed silhouettes far in the distance.] With that burst of disjointed thoughts, I begin a slow trudge toward the mountains, hoping to encounter any water to relieve me of my thirst.
"This is ridiculous!" I shout out loud in my hoarse voice, briefly startling the hoard of vultures circling over me. No matter how long I walk, the mountains never seem to get any closer, and the field of dust never seems to near its end. I had been walking for nearly a day now; finishing yesterday, all night, and today until now, with the sun almost directly overhead. The heat had gotten more bearable, mainly due to my newly acquired 'Lesser Heat Resistance' skill, as yesterday afternoon progressed. My thirst had actually gotten more bearable, also due to a skill, though it was now roaring back, even stronger than before. These skills were the last of the evidence that I needed that I wasn't on Earth… or at least in any time period of which I was aware.
The night had been the worst, in all honesty. The temperature seemed to plunge continuously, seeming to bottom out for nearly an hour at what I approximated to be 10 degrees. On the bright side, it cooled down my dangerously overheated body. And I got Lesser Cold Resistance Lvl. 3 as well, so that's nice I guess.
I had come far, covering dozens of miles in the last 22 hours, (the days here felt about the same length as those on earth), but I knew that I would die of thirst within another day at most. I had started this journey already dehydrated, and the constant movement was certainly not helping. Even my continuously leveling thirst resistance was not enough to fully counteract my dehydration, though I would surely be dead without it. "Damn it!" I curse, unable to contain my irritation at this situation. Whoever or whatever had put me here clearly had a twisted sense of humor, getting me killed off barely a day into my new life. Soon I would return to death, to that inky, soul crushing, maddening darkness. With fear of that darkness in my heart, I continue onward toward the mountains, hoping that I will find even a single drop of water on my way to sate my thirst.