Sol felt suffocated as he fell into the endless abyss silently, he wasn't sure if he was awake or simply dreaming, he wasn't sure even how long he had been falling all he knew was he was falling from the direction wind whistled at him. His body was numb, too broken to respond. The pain had dulled into a distant throb, merging with the strange emptiness around him. Yet sleep eluded him. Consciousness clung to his mind like a parasite, denying him the mercy of oblivion.
'How long have I been falling?'
He couldn't tell. Minutes, hours, or perhaps days — time held no meaning in this endless descent. There was only the abyss and the weight of his own fragile existence.
Perhaps this is where everything ends, perhaps this is the endless void one is sent to after death, perhaps it was simply his consciousness trying to contain whatever is left of his sanity... he isn't anymore, now, he was simply someone falling into the endless abyss.
Just as his mind was going through the hell of eternity he felt something, something that wasn't simply endless darkness and whistling of the wind. With a loud thud and a splash, he felt himself falling into a body of water, finally, his fall has come to an end.
The shock of icy water hit Sol like a hammer. For a moment, his entire body seized — nerves firing after being numb for what felt like an eternity. The freezing cold was a harsh reminder that he was still alive, still capable of feeling something beyond the abyss.
Bubbles rose around him as he sank deeper into the dark water. The weight of his exhaustion pulled him down, and the cold seeped into his bones. His lungs burned, instinctively demanding air, but the murky depths offered none.
Panic clawed at his chest. Weak or not, his survival instincts flared. His arms moved sluggishly, fighting the numbing chill as he forced his body to rise. Each stroke was agony, his muscles protesting with every movement, but desperation kept him going.
What was he moving for? He was no longer sure, perhaps his wish to enjoy life or perhaps he just spitted the world for making him suffer like this. Whatever made him move and kill that creature previously made him move again.
'I won't drown here.'
Kicking with what little strength remained, Sol pushed himself upward, inch by agonizing inch. His lungs screamed, and his vision blurred, but he clenched his jaw and refused to give in.
Finally, his head broke through the surface. He gasped, sucking in a lungful of air that tasted damp and bitter. The sharp sting of oxygen filled his chest, and he coughed violently, spitting out water.
'At least, the water here doesn't burn you.'
If this place was the toxic wastewater of the Outskirts then he probably would have met his end the moment he crashed into this body of water. Fresh water there is pretty precious you know, it was even more expensive than some food. Still, his lung wasn't made to swallow water so he had no choice but to spit out the precious fresh water from inside himself.
'I wish I could go back with a big container full of it I could probably afford a visit to the Inner City.'
His body shivered violently as the cold seeped deeper into his bones. Survival instincts tugged at his mind, whispering that he needed to move, to find warmth before the cold claimed what little strength he had left.
Glancing around sadly he saw nothing but an empty void since he doesn't possess anything like night vision, after all the Gate didn't bless his awakening anything but negligible physical improvement. And he really needs to find something before bleeding to death if not freezing to death.
So he had to do what his survival instinct asked him to do first time since arriving in this strange world. He kept swimming toward the direction he felt right with no apparent reason other than trusting his instinct and out of necessity.
'Swimming without a protection suit? Aww, isn't this a dream?'
***
He wasn't sure how long he had been swimming but now he didn't need to swim anymore but simply walk inside the water. Each step was agony, his legs trembling with every motion. The stone beneath his feet was slick and uneven, but he dragged himself forward blindly, relying on instinct and stubbornness.
Even Sol was surprised by how stubborn he himself was. He guesses everyone discovers new things about themselves every day huh?
'One step at a time. Just keep going.'
The bitter cold numbed the gashes on his body, masking the sting of torn flesh and bruised muscles. Sol couldn't decide if that was a blessing or a curse. Blood loss was dangerous, even if he couldn't feel the immediate pain.
The waterline dipped lower, swirling around his knees now. His feet scraped against uneven stone, slick with algae and grime. Stubbornness was his only fuel, propelling him forward through the darkness.
'Who knew I had this in me?'
He thought bitterly.
'Stubborn enough to walk straight into death itself, huh?'
A grim smile tugged at his lips despite the situation. Maybe surviving the Outskirts had beaten this into him—the refusal to just roll over and die. Out there, hesitation meant death. Hunger and predators didn't care about exhaustion or pity. You either fought or you became part of the dirt, a fertile soil that meant to nourish even more savagery.
Sol wasn't dirt, he was still alive. Not yet, there is still a path to walk.
His foot suddenly struck something solid — a raised ledge. The shift in terrain nearly sent him tumbling forward, but he caught himself, panting from the effort. The edge marked the end of the water, sloping upward toward what felt like a stone platform. Sol's breath was ragged as he clawed his way onto the platform, the slick stone biting into his hands. His entire body trembled violently from cold and exhaustion, but he didn't stop until he was fully sprawled on the dry surface.
His lungs heaved, and his limbs refused to cooperate. Even lifting his head felt like an impossible task. The numbness returned, creeping up his limbs and threatening to drag him into unconsciousness. But something in him rebelled against that sweet surrender.
'No... not here... not yet.'
He forced his head to tilt slightly, trying to make sense of his surroundings. Darkness pressed against him, thick and suffocating. There was no sky, no stars, no visible source of light. Only an endless void that seemed to swallow everything whole.
'Does it even make sense for something like this to exist right under the forest?'
The faint scent of minerals and damp earth clung to the air. It reminded him of the abandoned tunnels beneath the Outskirts — places long forgotten by the Inner City's pristine streets. But this place was different, there was no toxic air or waste in there making it possible to simply breathe but instead, it gained something perhaps even more frightening.
It gained unknown for its defense.
The fear of the unknown is perhaps the oldest fear in human history and it was here wielded by this unknown underground cave of sorts. But first, he needs to do something more important than being a scaredy cat.
He gritted his teeth and pushed himself onto his elbows, wincing as pain flared through his battered body. Blood smeared the stone beneath him, a grim reminder of how much damage he'd taken.
'I need to stop the bleeding.'
He thought grimly.
'If I don't, I'm done for.'
Whatever is inside this unknown abyssal void doesn't matter if he died from bleeding before even meeting it. While dragging himself towards here just now he felt it, a slightly gooey but sturdy substance, something akin to moose, anyone with slight medical knowledge would never recommend whatever he was planning to do but hey, he is an Outskirts rat who doesn't know anything right.
He gritted his teeth and pressed the fibrous material against his worst wound, using trembling fingers to wrap it tightly around his side. The pressure sent sharp pain shooting through his body, but it was better than bleeding out. Sol let out a shaky breath as he secured the makeshift bandage. It wasn't much, but it might buy him enough time.
Sadly there was no wall to lean on the platform it would have been advantageous to him able to get up and check his surroundings, he couldn't help but chuckle at his amusing idea.
'As if that would have done any good to me.'
For all he knew this platform was completely surrounded by water and he was right middle of the huge body of water making him he was swinging in the wrong direction all along.
Sol's laughter was weak and breathless, more of a rasp than a sound. The absurdity of his situation struck him.
'Middle of nowhere. Surrounded by water. Genius move, Sol.'
His voice echoed faintly in the cavern, swallowed by the oppressive silence. The chuckle fizzled out, leaving behind only the sound of his ragged breathing and the faint lap of water against the stone.
Pain throbbed from the makeshift bandage pressed against his side. The slimy material clung stubbornly to the wound, its damp fibers doing little to stem the bleeding completely. But for now, it was holding.
He forced himself onto his knees, the effort nearly making him collapse again. His head swam, and dark spots danced in his vision.
'Gotta... move.'
But at that moment he realized that sometimes in life lying down quietly is a better move than making noises recklessly in absolute silence. He stared at the endless light spots that formed the outline of a leviathan that was rising from the water.
'Curses...'
With that, he simply decided to fall back as the humongous creature came close to him.
'Aren't I a little too unlucky?'