"The only true wisdom, is knowing you know nothing." - Socrates
Lilo's senses kicked into survival mode soon after witnessing the abominable creatures prowling the ruined forestry village below.
The van and the saviors within it were several kilometers away. Retreating was not an option. Lilo was determined to survive this night in this strange world, no matter the impossible odds that were stacked against him.
His combat ability was of little to no use in his frail child's body, it may have been just as useless in his former body; all these creatures were the culmination of earths most ferocious beasts on steroids. It was a terrifying scenario to be in on a first day of awakening into your reincarnation.
Unfortunately for Lilo, it was not only the creatures below that he had to be weary of. Unbeknownst to him, there were nests of flight creatures above him, and those creatures easily spotted him, drooling at the sight of an easy meal.
It was Soda who was kind enough to point it out for him.
Although the kid was annoyed at the random soul that was currently possessing his body; he couldn't help but feel the need for self preservation when looking at his own helpless corpse.
"Hey Mr Sir... you should take a look above you."
"Shut the hell up kid, I'm trying to lock in. I don't have time for your little pranks."
Soda rolled his eyes at Lilo's ignorance. His stupidity was profound, but perhaps it would be entertaining to watch him suffer from learning the hard way.
A slightly larger creature than before, with countless small red beady eyes littering its skull, a beak made of steel, two long legs with razor sharp talons and battered leathery wings that spanned two of the white vans, was swiftly descending on Lilo.
He felt his body get lifted before he even felt the talons digging into his back. The ground beneath him was drastically shrinking in size as he got lifted higher and higher.
The air grew cold and thin as they reached the clouds, and Lilo was truly helpless; clawing with all his might at the legs of the flying creature.
His will to survive was strong, but that would only get him so far (not even that far, perhaps less than a millimeter) in this treacherous world.
As soon as he made the arrogant decision to step away from the van, his fate was sealed.
The vile creature cawed in triumphant glee, excited to feed on its newly caught prey. The stench of the euphoric candy was much more potent on this creatures breath.
"That's because this one's a plus size glutton." Soda was nonchalantly floating in front of Lilo's vision, watching him struggle helplessly against the grasp of the glutton.
"Can you not spout useless information and help me for once?"
"With what?"
"Escaping my impending death?"
Soda bursted out in mocking laughter.
"You're already dead. There is simply nothing you can do Mr Sir. I guess your fate is to join me as a ghost." With a pity-less shrug, Soda disappeared.
'Damn useless bastard.'
"Not as useless as your pride." The child's voice echoed in his mind.
Although Lilo's back was being torn to shreds by the talons that dug deeply into his flesh and bones; he did not feel any pain. This reminded Lilo of what he learned from his last fight.
He does not feel pain. His wounds will heal. He does not have to breath.
'What the hell... this body might be small but... it's unique quirks make up for it.'
"Thanks! I like my body too! Although... you won't be thanking me about those temporary powers soon..."
'Temporary?'
Suddenly the flying abomination tossed Lilo into the air at frightening speed. His vision blurred and his body bent in unnatural ways as it summersaulted into the brisk embrace of the moons lit sky.
As the sharp beak of the large creature opened to feast on helpless Lilo, a dozen other, far greater and more terrifying flying abominations attacked it in a vicious swarm; leaving Lilo alone to plummet the devastating fall.
The icy wind bit at his body and his broken bones slowly reformed during his long decent. Although he felt no pain, he was immensely frustrated. Nothing was going his way, and he was still so confused about everything.
He flailed about in the air, trying desperately to gain a sense of control, hoping that the fall won't kill this mysteriously healing body, or worse, get snatched up by another gluttonous creature.
'My healing is temporary?'
"Yes doofus. You're a craver. Cravers without a shepherd always cave in to their cravings."
Lilo's body finally formed back into its original shape and he was barely able to somewhat gain a sense of where he was: dangerously approaching closer to the ground.
"Craver? Shepherd? Please make some sense dammit. What's going to happen when I fall?"
Soda reappeared in front of Lilo in his ghostly form, offering a sheepish crooked grin.
"Oh don't worry. You'll survive. You might feel pain this time though..."
Indeed he did. In the next few seconds he hit a building with a thunderous crash. His small frame was still able to leave a dent (due to the speed at which he plummeted) into a concrete ceiling, causing it to cave in and avalanche into the lower levels.
Everything fell apart. His organs were scattered. His bones turned to mush and nothing of his corpse was recognizable... and yet, he still had consciousness.
He was cursing profusely from the excruciating pain he was feeling. It seemed his body could only take so much after all. The immunity to pain had worn off due to this devastating fall.
Yes, he was alive and slowly healing; but this time his body was not so forgiving as to turn his pain receptors off.
Very painstakingly (literally) slowly, his body rebuilt itself. Cell by cell, tissue by tissue, each shrapnel of bone, shred of skin, and molecule of blood was crawling back to his broken body that was buried under all that rubble.
His breath returned and his mental fatigue from enduring the pain caused him to not even attempt to utter a sound. He was exhausted, confused, and utterly defeated mentally.
His body was back in shape, but he was once again buried under darkness, unable to move and loathing his circumstances.
'Why the fuck did I choose this?'
"Ahh there it is... You're finally admitting to your faults!" Soda, the once depressed child, now seemed to be the passive aggressive uplifter of the down bad combat champion that was currently inhabiting his body.
'I'm... Done. You can take over. I don't want to be here. Take me back to my world...'
Soda appeared in his soul, shaking his head dejectedly and patting Lilo on the back in a patronizing way.
"There there. I think we might be able to work together now that you're up to speed on the reality of your situation. Listen buddy, we're in this together. Believe me, If I could take back my body, I would do it in a heart beat... but seeing as you're stuck here and I'm forced to vicariously live through you living in my body, let's work out a deal, shall we?"
Lilo was mentally in a submissive state. Utterly hopeless and distrait in his new predicament; but his pride still remained. He will not tolerate this disrespect from a condescending child.
'Am I beefing with a child right now?'
"What? No, I thought we were just about to get along!" Soda wore an unconvincing smile.
Lilo forgot Soda could hear his thoughts.
Although Soda was a pain in the ass for Lilo, the kid had many good points and seemed to know more than Lilo did about this world; at least for now.
If Lilo wanted to make any progress towards gaining information on how to navigate this new world or finding a way to return to his old one, he had to face the reality of accepting Soda as a companion. A helpful companion.
Lilo sighed mentally but begrudgingly offered a hand to shake.
'You can call me by my name now... It's Lilo. Now, get me the hell out of this mess and I'll see what I can do about your requests.'
Soda smiled widely and shook Lilo's hand within his... er... their shared souls.
Lilo could finally feel Soda's hand. Within the soul, they both seemed to have their original forms. While Lilo's hand was callused from the rigorous combat training, Soda's was soft and supple with unharmed youth.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Lilo. I look forward to working with you." Soda's soft voice echoed in their souls.