The Withering I: Genesis: Chapter I (part 1)

Black. Everything was black around him. He floated along, through the darkness. Straining his eyes, he attempted to find some shape or form. He couldn't feel the rest of his body. 'It had to be there, it just had to!' There was nothing out there, he was just floating in nothingness. 'Is this death?' he wondered.

“No,” said a booming voice from the darkness, “No, young Endari, this is only the beginning,” As the voice faded away, the black became gray, then white, and grew brighter and brighter in his eyes, searing his vision until...

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He woke up on the stone cold earth, his eyes still pressed shut. He could hear birds, singing songs of peace, the wind blowing in trees nearby, and the soft howl of echoed ambiance reverberating around him. He felt himself relax, the tension of what must have been a dream slowly sinking away. This was a comfortable spot. Here, he could feel his body, from the tip of his short, dark hair to the tip of his toes. Rolling over, he realized he must be sleeping on rock. The surface, cold and rough, met his side as he turned, informing him quite deliberately that he couldn't sleep here anymore.

He opened his eyes with a weary-woken groan. The sun reflected off the white stone on the ground and straight into his unsuspecting corneas, causing the poor man to cry out and cover his eyes rather quickly. “Damn it,” he muttered, shading his eyes with his hand as he sat up. The scene set before his was that of a mountainside, tall, majestic, and wooded. Grays and whites contrasted and accented by the greens and browns that were the vegetation and life that comprised this region of Eden.

The ground below him was just pearly-white rock, a dust-covered plateau jutting from the side of this mountain that almost appeared as though it were a deliberate creation. There was not much life on it, common weeds and wildlife can't root into solid rock, however some persistent plants have managed to creep onto the precipice, giving the dusty carving a splash of green. Boulders, big and small, littered the area, that could easily be the size of a normal human, or even a rather large human, in height and a house in width. The bluff itself was easily the size of a small village, situated about halfway up the largest peak in the mountain range. The sun rose just above the apex of the mountain, shining down on the valley it created.

He was in awe by the sight of it all, belittled by its sheer mass. After the momentary lapse in concentration, he realized that he had no idea where he was, or even how he got there. Worse yet, he barely even knew who he was. All he had was his name: Neil Endari. He stood up, brushing some of the dust off his clothes. He wore simple garments, made of cloth and twine, that barely covered his large frame. He edged over to the cliff and looked down. Far below him sat a tree line, seemingly teeming with life. Tall, healthy trees, not touched by man, inhabited by the natural creatures of the region. He looked out, over the horizon, but could not see anything save mountains and trees. There were no signs of any humans at all out there.

Slowly it hit him, with the force of a thousand boulders. He was alone here. He sat down on a nearby rock and let that realization sink in. Not only was he lost and confused, he was alone also. This was already turning into a great day. He laughed morosely at the wry humor, and stood up. Being alone is no reason to give up on life, so with this resolve he set out to build some sort of shelter. He got back to his feet and began moving to the side of the plateau. One step, two steps, and his stomach growled. Oh, he was hungry. Neil couldn't even remember the last time he had eaten anything. 'Surely, there must be some food in the lush forest below,' he thought. He made he was over to the edge of where the rocky ground met the fertile, green covered ground that was the slope leading down to the woods, and slowly and carefully made his way down the steep slope.


(More is coming, i have a few more paragraphs written but this seemed like a good stopping place for a bit. the PnP game this is based on has a few reality gaps that i need to address to make this a decent story, and im grappling with how i'm going to make it work as we speak. anyway, thanks for reading, and i hope you enjoy this. for more of my writing, jsut check out the archive. cheers)