Waking up from a sleep that left me feeling like a newborn after an intense workout session, I opened my eyes, yet, instead of seeing the usual plain white ceiling in my apartment, I was greeted with the bright blue sky, causing me to quickly shut my eyes in pain while groaning.

'Ugh, what's going on? Why am I outside and not inside my apartment? I'm not in a dream, am I? No, that shouldn't be possible, I've experienced lucid dreams before, but that pain felt very real.' Thought the person as they slowly opened their eyes so that they may get accustomed to the sunlight.

After what felt like a decent amount of time, my eyes finally got accustomed to the outside, granted, I might be mistaken, but I'm sure it usually doesn't take me this long to get accustomed to the brightness of the outside.

Now that I could adequately use my eyes to see, I used my three available senses, sight, hearing, and smell, to observe my surroundings without needing to make any sudden movements; I'm outside in an unknown location, and who knows what type of animals may be lurking about. I may be a powerful man, but compared to a bear or a lion, I'm no different than your average adult male.

I was bound by something that prevented me from moving, so I couldn't view much other than the colorful blue sky with the occasional birds flying over and some palm trees in the distance. Speaking of palm trees, I could currently hear the ocean, and it sounded very close, not to mention I could vividly smell the salt in the air; given the clues I'd found, I assumed I was on a beach. While not the best scenario, it also isn't the worst; I live on the west side of Washington, and the nearest beach is a little less than an hour away by vehicle, so if I was to walk, it would only take me several hours, nothing I can't accomplish, it would just be tedious. Of course, this is all under the assumption that I was still in Washington.

"Habuleuhlhqbuy." Said the man using incomprehensible language; his own words surprised him.

"Huihfbiubiuehdxmk!?" Exclaimed the man, yet his words were again incoherent, just like before.

'What's going on!? Why can't I talk properly!? And why does my voice sound so high-pitched?' Pondered the man anxiously as he continued to speak, though each time he opened his mouth, only jumbled and unintelligent words were heard.

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Several minutes later, I finally gave up on attempting to speak; while it was very alarming, as long as I could still think clearly, everything was manageable; it would just make future endeavors difficult. So having calmed down, I shifted my attention to other things, such as escaping whatever was currently binding my body, which I noticed was somewhat stretchy, so I instantly ruled out the possibility of breaking it through brute force. However, other than brute force, I had no idea how to escape, as my head was also bound; I couldn't lift it to view myself and possibly spot a weak point.

So without a good idea, I just wiggled around, hoping I could somehow escape; I knew it was quite a stupid plan, but as I said before, I didn't have many options. So for an incredibly long amount of time, I just wiggled as much as I could while bound, and to my utter surprise, although it took a very long time, I was slowly but surely unbinding myself.

'I'm astonished that such a stupid plan could actually bear fruit; still, it took an unreasonably long time; I'm tired, exhausted, hungry, and not to mention, it's already nighttime. If I continue with this plan, I may free myself, but who knows how long it'll take? I may very well die from starvation; no, I'd actually die from dehydration first.' Thought the man as he continued wiggling, though with much less intensity than when he first started while thinking of other possible ideas that might help him.

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For the next week, my life consisted of nothing but wiggling with all my might to escape these binds, and while I've made significant progress, I'm starving and incredibly dehydrated. I'm honestly surprised I have even made it this far; the constant wiggling was tough, but what was even more challenging was waking up from my sleep and forcing myself to do it all over again, especially given my poor state.

'F-Fuck; I don't know if I can continue for much longer. Every time I blink or close my eyes, it gets harder and harder to open them again; I can practically feel death trying to embrace me, but I'm not going to let you have me so easily.' Thought the man with an unnaturally powerful will as he continued to struggle tenaciously.

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Another day passed by, and now it was morning; I didn't sleep last night as I had a feeling if I closed my eyes and let myself fall into a slumber, it would be for eternity, something that I greatly didn't wish to happen especially after having struggled this long, I damn sure didn't want to die now.

While wiggling around in my now loose binds, I suddenly felt a gust of wind hit my left hand; it was so sudden and something I didn't expect that when it happened, I momentarily stopped moving, though that was only for a split second as I began wiggling with all my might now that I knew freedom was so close. It wasn't until a few hours later that my left hand finally escaped the binds and was free; with my left hand no longer bound, the speed at which I freed myself significantly increased; it was only a matter of time now.

'C'mon, I'm almost there; I just need to make the hole a little bigger.' Thought the man who was now mostly free, only his head remained.

"Hahaha, I hae fially esae!(Hahaha, I have finally escaped)." Exclaimed the man happily as he burst into laughter, though the joy didn't last long.

'Ugh, I'm starving and thirsty; I need something to drink this instant!'

Now that my entire focus wasn't on escaping, I could now think about finding food, water, and hopefully shelter; however, since my mind was previously preoccupied, I only now realized how incredibly painful starving was. As I was still lying on the ground, I attempted to stand up, yet with my poor motor control, I could hardly maneuver my limbs; the best I could do was move them in a specific direction; I couldn't even move my fingers.

That's not even the worse part; now that I was no longer bound, I was able to see parts of my arm whenever I lifted them into the air, and what I saw would've most likely given me a heart attack if I wasn't in such a desperate situation.

Since I couldn't stand up, with some difficulty, I rolled onto my stomach, getting a face full of sand; luckily, it was night time so it wasn't scalding. At this point, I was desperate for anything to eat; if it came down to it, I'd even be willing to eat dirt and drink ocean water if it meant filling my stomach, and with how things were going, that's what's most likely going to happen.

Looking around, hoping to spot an edible plant, and surprise, surprise, I did find one, a banana, to be precise, but of course, with my luck, it was obviously unreachable; even looking at it was somewhat challenging, let alone trying to climb that giant palm tree.

Forgetting about the banana, I continue looking, but after a minute, I don't find any edible plant within the vicinity. While there might be edible plants in that forest beside the beach, going in there was guaranteed death.

'It seems I've got no option; I'm going to have to eat dirt; maybe I'll find a grub? I've heard they are rich in protein.' Thought the man sadly as he lifted himself with his two wobbly arms and began slowly crawling toward the forest.

Although it was very difficult, I slowly crawled toward the forest, yet while doing so, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed movement; my first instinct was to stop moving and lie on the ground, which I did. However, when I discerned what it was, I released a sigh of relief, as it was only a turtle; from how large it was, it might've been a tortoise, but nonetheless, I was relieved as it could've been much worse.

While watching the tortoise disappear into the ocean, my eyes suddenly widened as I quickly looked at the sky, only to see the night sky illuminated by a full moon; granted, from my position, I could only see half of it, though, for some reason, I just subconsciously knew it was a full-moon. Still, I didn't dwell on that; instead, I realized that the tortoise might've been laying eggs in the sand, and if that's the case, I can eat those.

'It's worth a try, definitely better than eater dirt or mud.' Thought the man as he began crawling toward the area where the tortoise was previously at.

Once I arrived in the general area, I began scooping the sand around, hoping to find something, and after thirty minutes, just when I was about to give up, I found an egg.

'Found you!' Thought the man as he began quickly scooping the sand away.

When I finished, I found not only one egg but several eggs, though they looked somewhat slimy, prompting me to assume the tortoise must've just laid these eggs.

'I've counted 21 eggs, which is way more than I expected; I would've been satisfied with just five, though I'm definitely not complaining. However, it is slightly disgusting that I'm about to consume raw eggs that were just birthed.' Thought the man with a frown as he grabbed one egg, the size of a tennis ball, and looked at it.

Now that I've got a temporary source of both food and water, I didn't hesitate any longer and slammed the egg against my knee, hoping to crack it, and while I eventually did, I also ended up bruising my knee, though given my situation, that is merely a minor inconvenience.

'Bo aé.(Bon appétit)." Said the man as he brought the egg to his mouth and sucked on the hole, slurping up the egg's contents.

While it had a unique texture, it was honestly not as bad as I expected, though that might just be because I'm starving; since I'd downed one, I grabbed another egg and cracked it open on my opposite knee before doing the same with it. I continued doing this until only twelve eggs were left, and it wasn't that I was rationing this food; it was actually because I was full.

'That was scrumptious; now that my hunger and thirst have been satiated, I can sleep without worrying about not awakening. Although I say that, I'm still slightly worried that I might not wake up.' Thought the man as he turned around and approached the area where he was previously bound.

Once I arrive at the spot where I've been living for the past week, I lay atop what seems like a blanket, and before I even know it, I've already drifted off into a deep slumber.

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Elven Legacy (Chapter 117: And The Winner Is ______!?) and Hero of Harmony (Chapter 3: Coming to Terms) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]