Chapter 40- Day 1- Alone

Chapter 40: Chapter 40- Day 1- Alone

The night sky shined down, bathing the forest in a sharp light, the stars adding depth. In the sky, was a lone warrior, flying atop a bright golden cloud. He had short white hair that was blowing in the cold night air. A black backpack was strapped to his back, the smell of the fresh food flowing through the air. He shivered and gave a sneeze, rubbing his nose. He reached back and pulled out a roll, something small that would hopefully not put even a dent in his food source. He took a bite, the dry texture sapping the moisture from his mouth. He reached back and took a sip from his water. He settled it into his lap and looked down at the endless trees.

Alaric had been out for only one night, and staring at the mountain of trees, drilled into his head that this would be a long trip. He looked forward and gently pet Sky. He was worried about the cloud companion, he hoped it wouldn’t drain it too much...

He looked off into the night sky. It was so quiet, save for the sound of the animals below and the strong wind. He was left alone with his thoughts. His eyes narrowed slightly and his shoulders tensed. He tried not to think, especially now. It would put into perspective how... lonely he was.

At the same time, it was good. Even after all these years, he still wasn’t the best when it came to communicating. He’s done better, but he wasn’t perfect. And he was sorta okay with that. No one is after all. He sighed softly and leaned forward. Perhaps he should focus on something else, like his second awakening quest.

He had thought about it, it was exciting. He figured he wouldn’t get one, what kind of quest could a monkey king have? Though he supposed he should’ve remembered the story... He placed a hand under his chin. The rewards could be good, he wasn’t well knowledgeable about Sun Wukong’s abilities. He knew of the basic things, such as his current ability set like his staff and Sky. He also knew vaguely about his ability to create clones of himself. Would that be one of his rewards?

He looked down at his own lightly scarred hands, what else could there be? Maybe the mystery of it makes people really want to complete the quest... after all, no one but he knew of the mythological gods like he did. So if anything, everyone’s abilities are a mystery to them...

The night air picked up in a quick burst, blowing directly into him. He shivered and felt his eyes droop. Right, he would always get sleepy when he was cold. Well, he was nowhere close to his destination... Honestly, he should be sleeping as much as possible. He yawned softly and pulled his backpack off and settled it onto Sky. He laid back and settled onto his side. He honestly wondered what this journey would take him.

"Hm..." he mumbled softly as his eyes slowly drifted close. Oh well. He’ll worry about it once he wakes up. A small smile tugged at his lips as he drifted to sleep, sky giving a small wiggle.

...

Alaric slowly opened his eyes, yet he wasn’t greeted by the endless landscape of trees. Instead, the scenery was vaguely familiar, he couldn’t quite place it at first. The area was dark and shrouded in stars, yet glowed so you were in pitch black darkness. It had become clear to him... this was the subspace from when he had turned ten. But, what was he doing here now? Was he actually here at all?

He tried to move, but the sole of his feet felt like that was fused with the ground below him. Alright, so he wasn’t going to be able to walk around, that’s fine, right? He sucked in his breath and tried to relax. Why was he here? Sure second awakenings were a thing, but you never went back into the subspace, as far as he knows anyway... he hasn’t been around the world enough to really know the limits the system could be pushed. Yet you would think someone with two systems would be a big deal. He wasn’t sure if it was possible, but it is something he should keep in mind for now.

He looked around as best as he could without being able to move. There weren’t statues surrounding him, it honestly had him wondering if he was actually in the subspace. Yet, it felt so familiar, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind. He stared ahead and there was something ahead of him. He lifted his gaze, and above him towered a large silhouette. It was hard to make out, but it easily dwarfed him, staring back at him with glowing yellow eyes.

Alaric stared back, his palms beginning to sweat. He wasn’t sure what he was looking at... but its energy was completely different to the rest of the subspace. Was he even meant to see this thing? He couldn’t help but feel like they weren’t even on the same playing field. It stood still, unmoving at all, staring its golden gaze deep into Alaric’s soul. He narrowed his eyes, trying to mask his nervousness. He watched, but a sudden feeling shot through him. He jumped and quickly spun around. When he turned a small silhouette had shot towards him, its fist crashing into the center of his face before he could even register that it was going to attack him.

Alaric flew back, his body skipping against the ground. He continued to skip like a rock across water until his body crashed against the foot of the larger silhouette, his eyes going blank. The sheer power behind the strike was enough to kill him, even held back. He quickly shot awake, breathing heavily as he felt the pain seeping into his skull. His eyes were wide as he stared ahead, no sighting of the creature at all.

He stared bewildered, what was...

He felt his vision blur and he tried to stand, but fell face first into the ground, the void acting as a shallow sea of water, black liquid splashing around his body, rippling in the puddle. He felt his nose bleed, seeping into the black water, and black spots began to poke into his gaze. Did that one attack really do all this...? What was happening to him...?

"Hm..." He heard a grumble, but it was unclear where the source of this mumble was. And frankly right now, he didn’t really care at all. His body was throbbing and he could hardly see, the mumblings of the unknown hardly mattered to him in this moment. His limbs felt like lead, he couldn’t even push himself up. Whenever he tried, his body just collapsed back in the blackened sea water.

Eventually, all of the feeling in body left and this familiar feeling of death was ready to claim him. He couldn’t do anything but wait for its recognizing icy touch to grip him...

...

Alaric squeezed his eyes as he felt the sun beam down on him. He blinked and quickly sat up, looking around. The sun was beaming and the sky was a colorful blue. A stark difference from the dark void that was the subspace. He looked down at his hands, and they were shaking. He reached up and touched his face, and it was fine. Nothing.

It was a dream? Yet... he lowered his hands and stared off into the bright sky. It felt so real, what was that? He really thought he was dead at that moment.

He was breathing softly, trying to calm his own nerves. He’s died before... right? Then... Why was he so afraid of it? He hardly clocked that he was sweating buckets thinking about that feeling of eventual death.

He shook his head and clenched his fists, nothing was making sense. He figured for now, it would be best to ignore it until he could find out more information. He looked out ahead, there was no way that was just a dream, could he really just chalk it up to that?

How would he describe that experience? He couldn’t move inside of the subspace, a place you only visit once when you’re ten years old. Ahead of him was a giant silhouette, which never said anything but stared at him. Its presence felt unusual to him, as if it was completely different from him. It didn’t feel like a statue you could claim while visiting, then what was it? He couldn’t move to talk to it or even interact with it at all until... that thing happened. He felt some kind of presence behind him, when he turned, he got attacked. He didn’t get a good look at whatever attacked him, but for what little he did see, was those same golden eyes from the towering entity. Before he could clock it, it struck him and sent him flying. The punch was so strong, that even holding back to its fullest, he still would’ve died. Honestly he was lucky he didn’t die just from the attack alone. Which leads to the problem. After he woke up from being knocked unconscious, he only had a short while before he felt like he was dying. That part was what felt the realest, it’s what makes him think that whatever that experience was, wasn’t just a dream.

He sighed and folded his arms. He had to look into this when he got the chance, there was no way he was the minority in this experience. He took a short glance at Sky, who seemed to notice his discomfort.

He smiled and petted it, "Don’t worry about me buddy... just a bad dream." He reassured as the cloud bounced, as if nodding and continued flying at normal pace. He lifted his head and closed his eyes.

This was going to bother him until he looked into it... hopefully that’s sooner rather than later. For now... he just needed to focus on his journey...