It had been a long time since Hope had last lost control of his body. The transformation had caused his body to become foreign to him, his limbs flailing about as he continues to plumet down towards the earth.
Being stunned from the sudden change in scenery, hope could only fall. Becoming fearful that this new chance at life would be wasted. He had let everyone down, Chaos would never get the karma that he deserved.
100 feet away from the ground...
90...
70...
His body started feeling hotter, the air friction was starting to hurt after falling all this way.
50...
30..
20...
Is this really the end? Is there nothing that I can do...
*Boom*
A huge blast echoed throughout the desert. A large wave of sand flew up and, with the help of the warm desert wind, started a sandstorm. The wave spread throughout the surroundings and layered a nice salty layer of sand on everything.
---
"Ugh..."
The bright sun burned against his skin.
"Damn it... it hurts so much"
Time was irrelevant right now. All there was, was pain and that hot sun.
"Get up. I can't stay like this. I need to get up."
Finally getting the motivation and the willpower to move, he tried pushing himself forward. His legs wouldn't move the way he wanted them to, but his arms still work.
His eyes were blurry from all the sand flying in his eyes, but he could just make out a shadowy dune to the left of him, about ten feet away.
He used his arms to push himself under the shade, but it was still exhaustingly hot. The sand seared his skin, making him grimace in pain. A stray cloak blew towards him and hit him in the face.
Making use of it as a blanket, he tried to shield himself from the sharp winds. The dune was just small enough to fit his whole body without having to worry about any animals attacking him from the sides. Finally, he could rest.
---
The cool sands of the night woke the man up from his slumber. The nighttime had ended the hot desert winds and brought a freezing chill to replace it.
"At least I'll be able to see now," The man said as he dusted his body off.
Realizing that he was naked, alone, and hurt, the man attempted to push himself to a standing position and assess the situation. Something sent a sharp pain through his right arm as he got up.
He looked down and saw a bone poking through his skin.
"Shit, wait what?"
He could swear that the bone was slowly moving back inside his body. Also, there was no blood pouring out of the wound. It was almost like his body was just an empty space, absorbing the bone back inside his body.
"Well, that's new. At least the pain has lessened quite a bit," Pulling himself back up to the ground, he wrapped the stray cloak around him to get some cover and walked forwards.
Then he realized what that fall was. A giant set of walls surrounded him in a large semicircle. Sand covered the floor and occasionally swept up into mini tornados.
The whole area was blocked off except for the roof which was left completely open, and a large hole leading further down into a dark pathway. Knowing that he couldn't climb up the gigantic sand wall, he walked down into the stone hall into the unknown.
Pushing past the cobwebs and the dust, the man found himself in front of a sort of information tablet. The tablet glowed with a dull blue light.
-Welcome Travelers,
You have entered one of the 7 great underground kingdoms, Fargoon.
Home to King Fhakka, keeper of the )!*(^#
We hope you follow our rules and have a great time in our immortal kingdom-
"Fargoon? Is that where I am. Why can I not remember anything before waking up in that horrid storm." The man walked past the sign and walked deeper into the underground pathway.
A gigantic bridge led to an equally large doorway; the shadows surrounded the bridge threatening to consume it in one fell swoop.
His footsteps echoed throughout the shadowy hall. Echoing into the unknown below. "Well at least there is no horrid wind to blind me in here." The only sound around him was his dry footsteps hitting the stone path and the howling winds that picked up again behind him.
He found that he did not actually have to breath the air around him, it was just habit from something before his memories. Pushing onwards, he could finally see some city infrastructure other than the bridge and doorway.
A small town built into the very walls of the cavern, the stone pathway pushed through the town and past it, going further down into the depths of this new world.
"Welcome young stranger, it is odd to see another soul down in these cursed hills." A grey colored person said to the young man. It wasn't just his skin that was grey, but his clothes, his hair, even his eyes were a dull grey.
He floated just above the ground with a spiritual elegance, unattainable by even the most powerful mortals.
"Well? It's proper to introduce yourself when entering someone's home." The grey man said.
"Well, I don't know how... I can't remember anything before that desert storm."
"Memory loss? Well, that's new, most who come here are in search for treasures or... other goals. But being stuck here without a goal is new indeed."
The two otherworldly beings stared at each other for a while in silence. Neither knew what to open with for conversation.
"So, what is below us?" The young man asked to break the silence.
"Well if you read the sign coming into this great kingdom you would know what it is, the kingdom of Fargoon."
"Right, but this whole 'great kingdom' thing. Is this it? Or is there more to it?"
"Hmph, go see for yourself young man. See if you're still that cocky after you meet the true inhabitance of this kingdom." The spirit replied while turning away back into one of the side homes.
'Useless ghost...' Walking back on the path the young man descended further into the ground.
---
All throughout the halls there were glowing rocks that allowed the young man to see. They came in many different colors, from blue to red, sizes ranging from a pebble to the whole room.
But leading into the new cavern it was close to pitch dark.
Without fear he walked forward. He only heard his footsteps and his subtle breath as he continued on.
"Wait a minute, what is that sound."
He had stopped moving, but he still heard a set of footsteps walking. They were coming from his left. That wasn't the only thing that he heard, a quiet grunting noise echoed through the corridor as well.
He stopped moving completely to focus on what they were doing. His arm slowly crunching as it heals
Now two sets of footsteps resounded, walking towards him. He stood absolutely still, making barely any noise at all.
"Huushk,"
The groaning became easier to understand as the footsteps came closer.
"Beskumm Huushk, Beskumm Onee."
The groaning finally became understandable as the footsteps were about ten feet away. 'Become husk? What is that supposed to mean?' The young man thought quietly.
"Huuushksss,"
The footsteps walked closer and closer.
Five feet,
Three feet,
Right in front of him,
"Uhnn,"
The young man stood absolutely still. No sounds echoed throughout the cavern except the ragged breathing of those responsible for the two sets of footsteps.
"Skraaa,"
.
.
.
Not breathing at all, the young man tried to focus what he could see in the darkness. His eyes still hurt from the desert, but they were healing just like his arm was.
Speaking of his arm, he could no longer see the bone, but his arm was horribly bent in all the wrong directions. It was still hurt but healing.
He tried to mentally stop the healing process to make less sounds.
.
.
.
Finally, after what felt like hours the two footsteps started walking away.
The young man's eyes were still unable to focus on the darkness, but his hearing was close to perfect.
'Flesh? No it sounds like bones... skeletons?'
Then the two sets of footsteps continued onwards. Breathing a sigh of relief, the young man relaxed. He was going to get out of here as soon as those monsters walked away.
'It's finally over.'
'Hmm?' The footsteps had stopped...
"Beskumm Hushkkkk!" The possible skeletal beings charged towards the young man.
"Shit..."