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The Void. The afterlife of fallen universes. An abominable amalgam of broken existence, filled with unfortunate souls that somehow managed to survive the end of their own world. Little made sense here, sometimes up was down or left or right, one door lead to multiple places, water flowed upstream, a layer of cold snow stayed still on top of bubbling hot lava… And where there wasn’t something insane, there was nothing. Darkness, endless falling, sometimes not even that, just nothing at all. Complete sensory deprivation.
Many of these places held those unfortunate enough to fall down these pitfalls. He was one of those unlucky fellow, except his trap wasn’t completely empty. A desolate plain of frozen ocean, as far as the eye can see nothing but the flat surface covered with the ever falling snow, the wind always howling through his skull, even when he’d be inside of his cabin. To try and escape meant just to emerge back where you came from. He often though his own special hell was far worse than the true emptiness the others were trapped in. Their had nothing, but his had only the bad. It seemed as if this place was designed specifically for a tortuous state of perpetual loss. There was always just enough food to survive without the hunger ever going away. The freezing temperatures were just cold enough not to numb him from the ever present pain. Anytime he was outside the cabin, the howling wind cutting into his bones would always remind him that he’s indeed still alive and kicking. He fought and fought, even though he knew it was a lost cause… but the actual loss, the end, never seemed to get any closer…
He lived in the remains of what he believed to once have been a laboratory. When he fell here, his first night was spent covering under a metal tub which he now repurposed to be a hydroponic basin to grow lettuce. He eventually put use to every single tiny bit he could find, building a very small cabin with just enough to survive on. With his technical expertise he was able to build a wind generator and keep just warm and fed enough not to die and nothing more. He spent his time scavenging for more debris and researching from what was left behind. There had to be a way out of this, right? Right?
It was solely this faint ember of hope that kept him from ending it all...
Sitting at the table, grasping at his head in worry, he stared into the scribbles and calculations. His breath came out in puffs of mist through the scarf, his legs shivering under the table, his side pressed tightly to the barely working heater. He was running out of solution for the hydroponics, which he usually made from dust and dirt and old wood found in the ice. Also, lately, the wind has been dying down… it never did that before. He thought all this time it was just one of the constants. Maybe it meant there would be other changes too, maybe it would even get warm? Well, he probably wouldn’t get to know anyway. No wind meant no electricity meant no heat. He was finally going to freeze to death.
Sighing deeply he got up from the table, hands clasped around his body, trying his best to keep the last bits of warmth inside the many layers of clothing. He looked out the window, fashioned from a broken vat. He’d have to go out there again…
He sighed again, trying to think of an alternative, but there didn’t seem to be one. Defeated, he grabbed the axe and the pouch and opened the door.
The warmth from his house, if it could even be called so, left along with him out into the freezing white void. He pulled the scarf further over his face, only leaving a small slit for his eyes. His rust colored irises glowed in the dim space, his soul seemingly the only source of warmth in the entirety of the frozen wasteland. He shivered as he stepped out, the metal cleats on his shoes helping him walk over the ice. Even then it was a tiring chore.
There was no sound but the wind, and now even that was barely a whisper of its former self. He went, his skull full of his own sounds. His breath, the rustling of his clothes, clacking of his bones, the beat of his soul. He went on, wondering about his own misery.
Something caught his attention in the ice under. He went down, squatting, then kneeling to see better. He dusted the snow off with his gloved hand, staring into the partially clear ice… There was small piece of wood, with some specks of dirt and splinters. An entire fortune in these conditions! He grinned as he stood up, grasping the axe, and begun to cut out the block of ice containing the debris.
As he hacked away, he wondered how the hell will he thaw it out without the heater working. He’ll have to turn the generator manually again. Well, at least he’ll have something to pass the time with. Not that he’d be bored, the constant struggle was more than enough to keep him preoccupied. But, sometimes, when he was trying to fall asleep for example, he felt the gnawing tooth of loneliness on his soul. It had to have been months since he-
He stopped, his eyes wide. He stared into the partially cut out block before him, trying to be as silent as possible.
There, under the whispering wind, were footsteps.
Slow, heavy footsteps.
First thought was the same he had the last time he heard something like this. It was just his mind playing tricks on him, or a coincidence, like a cruel will of the Void itself. Last time it was a loose piece of metal from the cabin that flapped in the wind, making him think someone was knocking on his door. This time it could be the same. He closed his eyes and sighed as he turned around.
But this time, it wasn’t the wrong number.
There, in the white haze, stood a huge, tall figure, staring down at him, motionless. He stared back, his eyes wide, his mouth open under the scarf. He couldn’t believe his own senses. This had to be a mirage! He dropped the axe and wiped at his eyes, but when he opened them again, the figure was still there, perhaps a bit closer…?
The… monster, perhaps? - was tall, bulky, standing straight on two legs, with a short blunt tail hanging between them. It’s head was shaped like that of a skeleton monster, with thick blunt teeth and emotionless stare of its dark red irises. It had no arms, the sleeves of its torn up dark gray shirt flapping lightly in the low wind.
It reminded him of a kid he knew from his hometown, at least in the body shape. But other than that, he couldn’t recognize anything about it, not even its gender, if it even had one.
But that was the least of his thoughts. This was the first live being he had met in months. Even though he was a bit afraid of the stoic stare, he smiled widely and attempted to speak.
“H’loo!” The creature didn’t answer in any way. He chuckled as he pulled the scarf from his face.
“My apologies I forgot- I haven’t spoke to anybody-” He couldn’t even bother to finish the sentence. “Who are you??” He realized how foreign talking felt now. He hadn’t spoken a single word in ages and it felt so very strange to make comprehensible sound now…
Despite his effort, the creature did not answer. It just stood there, a bulk of flesh and thick bones, staring at him. His smile slowly started to fade. Could this creature not speak? Could it even understand him?
“Uh… hello?” No answer still. He didn’t know what to do, standing there, exchanging unsure looks with the stoic being. “Can… can you hear me...?” His voice turned silent.
Finally, the creature responded, although not to his words. It moved from its position, coming closer with its huge heavy steps, approaching the much smaller skeleton. It was easily twice his height, maybe even more. In mass it had to be at least five or six times bigger than him, which terrified him somewhat, now that it was so close. He stared up, realizing that he started to shake. But the creature didn’t attack. It just stood there, calmly looking down at him.
After another while of silence, he dared to speak again.
“Who are you?” He carefully reached back for his axe, not taking his eyes off of it. “How did you get here? You fell in here like me? Do you know a way out?” No question made the creature even change its serious face. Feeling hopeless, he felt tears welling in his eye sockets.
“ What are you? ”
No response. He could feel his marrow turn, a tear freezing on his cheekbone. He looked away, wiping at his face, and turned around.
“Nevermind…”
He hacked one more time into the ice and took out the block, wiping at his face again as he stored it in his pouch. He looked to the creature again, just staring, then turned away and slowly began walking back to the cabin.
He stopped abruptly when he heard the heavy steps again, turning around. The creature stopped as well, getting back to just watch silently. He frowned in thought, slowly stepping back. The creature just stared at first, but when he got a few steps away, it stepped forth to follow. He didn’t stop, watching the being follow him in slow heavy steps, keeping balance with its tail. He smiled unsurely, chuckling.
“You, uh, comin’ along huh?” As predicted there was no response. He smiled, a bit more genuinely. “Well alright, feel free, heh…”
They walked together across the plain. The completely new and exciting situation, albeit unnerving with its oddity, made him completely forget about the cold.
When he got to the cabin he turned around with a wide smile, but the creature had no reaction to the hard earned shelter.
“I made it myself,” he said. “You can come in if you want to…”
He waited for a while, watching the beast. It didn’t move at first, but then, finally lifted its head and acknowledged the cabin. It seemed to sniff at the air, lifting its head subtly, then turned back to him. He smiled sheepishly as he opened the door and came inside. The beast stayed out, looking around the doorframe as he held the door open.
“Are you… coming inside?” he asked softly. The beast hesitated for a moment, then leaned down to fit in the small door. He started to worry that perhaps letting it inside the barely standing cabin wasn’t the wisest idea. But the creature seemed incredibly delicate around his belongings, moving carefully, not even rubbing onto anything with its huge body. It came in the middle of the room, the biggest space there was, and sat down. He watched as it did, without the use of arms it seemed rather difficult, but the beast did so with no problem. He stared at it again for a while, then took the chunk of ice and put it on a small bowl on the heater.
“Ok, let’s heat things up a bit, huh…”
He reached under the table for the generator, unplugging it from the outside wind turbine. He plugged the manual crank in and started to turn it, slowly and evenly, pacing himself. It could be a few hours that he’ll have to turn it. Maybe the wind never picks up again and he’ll die.
He exhaled a sad and nervous breath, but smiled as he saw the creature watching him.
“You ain’t the talkative type, huh?” he chuckled and shook his head. “I mean, There ain’t that much to talk about, is there… But I’d love to know how you got here, really. I just kinda fell here. I was walking along a bridge and suddenly I couldn’t grab it, like, I… I went right through. And I fell down into the mist and… now I’m here.” He sighed. “Been here ever since just… surviving. Hear about the pitfalls of this place before but… I’d never imagine this before I got here…”
Silence fell, only the turning of the crank audible. He swallowed, thinking about the misery he had gone through… then looked to the creature. It just sat there, looking at him with the calm red eyes…
“I wonder what’s your story,” he mumbled, focusing back on his work.
He woke from his doze off when the sound of the wind outside picked up again, letting him know he can take a break from manually powering the generator. He blinked his eyes open, feeling his stomach turn with hunger. The creature sat exactly in the same spot as before, still watching his every move. He smiled sheepishly as he plugged in the wind turbine again and carefully stepped around the beast to get to the heater.
The ice block had completely thawed by now, although it was still rather cold, even on the powered heater. He picked out the few wood pieces that were too big to mill, putting them on the heater beside the other drying timber. He grabbed a coffee grinder and put the few smaller pieces in, growling and grunting as he milled them over and then put them back into the water. Finally, he dumped the whole solution into the hydroponic basin, smiling at the beast with satisfaction.
“Well, that’ll hopefully be enough nutrients for a while…” he said to the creature, enjoying being able to talk to something other than himself. Even if the beast didn’t seem to even understand him…
He looked over the creature once again, only now realizing it had bare feet. He didn’t notice before because they were covered in snow. They were quite big, with thick but quite long fingers, the soles fat and soft looking and… webbed? It took him a while of watching to be sure, they really had swimming membranes. He looked up in the eyes of the creature.
“Huh… maybe you swam here, huh?” he whispered. The creature remained stoic, its head turned to face him, sometimes letting out a harder exhale through its skeletal noseholes. He looked back to perhaps see more signs of marine biology. It’s tail was thick and short, completely unsuited for swimming. And with no front limbs, it seemed quite strange to think this creature could swim very well…
“You’re one strange guy… I’ve never seen anything like you before.”
The creature blinked slowly, third eyelids showing subtly as it opened its eyes again. It seemed as a weird amalgam of different creatures that didn’t seem very compatible. He tore off a piece of lettuce before he sat down by the heater again, trying to warm himself up, as he watched the creature with fascination.
“If only you would tell me…”
He crunched on the vegetable, watching the being scratch an itch with its very nimble legs. It clicked its thick, point but dull teeth, not unlike those of an orca whale.
They looked at one another for a few minutes, silently, only his crunching sometimes interrupting the thoughtful silence. This being was quite fascinating. But the most important thing was that it was a being, another living creature, like him. He felt his hopes getting up again, smiling without even realizing it. He began to remember all the people in his life before, holding hands, hugs, or just talking… oh how he missed them. It was the loneliness that was the hardest thing about this forsaken place, it really was.
As he thought about his past, a thought began to form in his mind. He wondered, does he even remember what other beings felt like? His palms began to ache for contact, the smallest bit of soft warmth of another living being… but would this creature even let him? It hadn’t attacked him, but it wasn’t exactly friendly, either…
He gulped as he slowly leaned closer. Just one touch, one little touch. If he went nice and slow, the creature will know he doesn’t mean no harm, right? And if it hadn’t hurt him so far, it wouldn’t hurt him now, right? Right?
“Hey,” he whispered softly, “how about I… give your head a little pat, huh? Just a little, little touch. Don’t freak out now, ok? I’ll just…” He slowly began lifting his hand. “...gently…” He approached the creature carefully. “... touch you …”
His hand finally made contact with the top of the creature’s head. Its skull felt rough and hard and he could swear he felt little bumps. The creature huffed slightly, but seemed completely oblivious otherwise. He smiled, amazed at the warmth emanating from the other living being.
Although he agreed for just a single touch before, he could not help himself but rub the head carefully, chuckling amusedly. Without even thinking, his mind too preoccupied with amazement, he reached his other hand lower and touched the creature’s fleshy chest, right under the neck. Even more warmth enveloped his hand, actual true warmth, one that he hadn’t felt for ages. He felt like he was going to cry.
Suddenly the creature reached its head down, making him flinch but not pull away. It moved slowly enough with no threat, and so he let it. It pressed its face into the back of his hand that was previously on its chest, sniffing at it. He smiled again as it continued up his arm, then back down again. Gently, it licked at the back of his hand, the hot wetness startling at first, but then just made him smile further.
“Heheh, you, uh, getting to know me, huh? It’s nice to meet you, too. My name is-”
He stopped in shock when the creature opened its enormous mouth and took his hand in it. It didn’t bite down, chomping off his hand as he thought it would, but instead tried to take more of his arm inside. He pulled back hard, falling off the chair and under the table in shock, staring at the creature with wide terrified stare. The being looked at him with the same unexcited eyes as before, but somehow the calm look now seemed threatening to him, terrifying. Shaking he skittered back, slipping on his saliva covered hand. Cornered, his soul beat wildly in his chest. But the creature didn’t lunge at him, it didn’t grab him with its weirdly prehensile feet. It just sat there, like before.
After a few minutes of uncertainty, he began to doubt himself. Did it really want to eat his hand? Maybe it just licked him more than he though it could. He was hungry and lonely for so long, he could’ve imagined things… But he wasn’t going to try and touch the creature anytime soon.
“Alright,” he whispered, slowly calming his fast breath, “alright…” Slowly, he dared to come out from under the table. The being stared at him as he sidestepped around it, watching out for any kind of attack, until he got behind the heater, where his sleeping spot was.
“Okay… I probably can’t make you leave… but in case you got some ideas…” He grabbed the axe and pressed it to himself. “So don’t try shit, okay? Okay…”
With that he laid down, pressing to the heater but keeping his stare at the creature. It just sat there, looking back, a bit of the reddish saliva on its chin.
He stayed up longer than usual, watching it, listening to the wind howl outside. Eventually his lack of energy got to him, and after a few futile attempts to stay up, he fell into deep sleep.
He dreamed of a life back at home. Of his family and friends, his dear dear brother. He dreamed of sitting in his favourite bar and flirting with the barman while drinking alcohol. The barman reached to him over the bar, cupping his cheeks in warm warm hands, and then opened his mouth and licked over his entire face.
His eyes shot open, staring up into the dimly lit throat of the two legged creature. At first he was completely frozen with fear, the dull teeth gently inching further around his head, the warm tongue pressed to his face, the light of his rusty eyes glistening over the wet walls. In the next moment he let out a terrified scream, flailing and pushing against the teeth to get away. He managed to push the huge beast away, quickly scrambling back and hitting his head on the wall. His legs couldn’t find footing in the covers at first, his wide eyes staring down as the beast slowly leaned back in, its maw open widely. He beat a fist against the approaching face, hurting his own hand on the dull teeth, but managing to finally find footing and stand up. He stumbled over the heater, knocking it over and falling onto the table which broke under him. The beast stood up and watched calmly as he flailed around until he managed to get back on his feet and run out the door as fast as he could.
The cold air cut into his wet face as he ran, not daring to look back. He ran straight ahead into the white haze, until he heard steps behind him. He turned around to see the beast jogging after him on its two big legs, leaning forth to keep balance. He screamed loudly as he shut his eyes close, running as fast as he can forward, whimpering and screaming in terror.
Suddenly he kicked into a raised piece of the frozen sea, tripping. He opened his eyes just in time to see a huge hole, one he made there himself not a long time ago. The thin layer of yet unformed ice broke easily as he fell on top and in the next second everything went dark with freezing cold shock.
He awoke a moment later, only now realizing the cold water knocked him out. He gasped, only getting a mouthful of freezing water, and his limbs began beating frantically. In his panic he managed to swim to the surface, immediately gasping for air, coughing loudly. The cold was in his very core now, his whole body shivering, the wind only adding to the freezing agony all over his body. He crawled outside and tried to stand up but couldn’t. He tried again, only barely limping, and began scrambling back to the cabin. He could see the beast before him, standing there, waiting, but he couldn’t even begin to worry, his mind only filled with the thoughts of quickly getting out of the wet clothes and warming himself up before he freezes to death. He limped as fast as he could, the creature following him slowly, waiting, like a vulture.
He could not even feel the passage of time as he finally got home. The heater was knocked over on the floor and all he could muster was to shed his wet clothes and lay on top of it. He knew it wouldn’t work. But there was nothing else he could do. His wet body shivered softer and softer as he whimpered, the heater giving barely enough heat to keep the water on its metal surface from freezing.
This is it, he thought, finally, I will die. His bones started to feel numb and not long after, he blacked out again.
His consciousness came back to him, pain enveloping his feet. He couldn’t muster opening his eyes, only able to guess what was happening by the feeling of warmth slowly creeping up his fibula and tibia. He whimpered, the pain of those frozen parts coming back to life worse than freezing itself. He felt soft moist warmth enveloping his bones, slowly from his feet, and all he could do was whimper and shiver. He couldn’t move, too stiff and frozen. His eyes watered as he finally was able to open them, looking down at the armless creature slowly engulfing him in its maw. It didn’t bite or chew, it swallowed his small form inch by inch. Each part that got inside would begin to thaw and was immediately overwhelmed by agony. He weakly tried to push against the maw that he was now up to his hips inside, but his hands just slid inside as well. He cried weakly as the creature lifted him up, gulping like bird swallowing a fish. With small movement of the head, he slid further down its bulging throat, until he was inside up to his head. He stared out, seeing the dull teeth surround his field of vision, until they closed before him and with a final gulp he slid deeper inside, the hot pillowy flesh enveloping him like an embrace. He was now awake, his whole frozen body burning as it thawed, but he could not muster to struggle anymore. He laid back, closing his crying eyes, feeling the creature move around him. He expected to suffocate any minute now, why bother fighting anymore…
He opened his eyes a little while after. His body still burned, but not from the stomach acid, and the pain... appeared to be subsiding. He could see a strip of light coming in from outside through the hole between the shirt and the pants of the creature. He could feel everything around him move as it walked slowly outside the cabin. He could hear, and feel, its heartbeat, its every movement. It… it wasn’t so bad. He was still sure he would suffocate any second now, but so be it. At least it’s warm here, oh god it’s so warm. He had forgotten how real warmth feels, enveloping, soft, like a big hug. This… was like a big hug. Only even closer. He leaned his head on the fleshy wall, watching the outside through the red flesh barely obscuring his vision. The creature walked all the way to the hole again and he watched curiously as it sat at the edge, dipping its legs into the water, then leaning in and submerging.
The webbed feet did their part and despite the creature appearing clumsy before, it swimmed quite well. Down under there was deep blue darkness, but he could see glimmers of something moving there. Were those… fish?
It was by now that he had realized there was still enough air to breathe. The cushy organ he was snuck inside would periodically inflate slightly, as if from the inside, then deflate as the creature let out a puff of bubbles. Could it be that the creature produced its own air? He began to feel hopeful. Had it wanted him dead it would’ve just bitten his head of, right?
Perhaps it was keeping him for later…?
He flinched as the creature moved in a sudden swift lunge, reaching its legs up to its mouth. He looked up to see a big fish in its maw, holding onto it with its legs. It bit of a huge chunk with ease - just as he’d expect to be treated - but his thoughts were interrupted as the chunk of raw fish landed into his lap.
He stared at it. It was covered with saliva… but so was he. God, he hadn’t had nothing but cold lettuce for ages. The warm chunk of fresh meat made his mouth water despite the current circumstances and it didn’t take long for him to grab it and take a huge bite. He had had sushi before, so the rawness didn’t bother him too much anyway.
It felt heavenly. Eating good honest meat after the months and months of barely surviving, he felt like he was in heaven. He consumed the whole chunk in under a minute, and just as he was about to lay back, another landed into his lap. He looked up. The creature still held the fish in its legs. But now, it was curled to look at him through the reddish seethru flesh, just watching him. Did it… wait for him to eat?
The cogs in his head turned in confusion. Could it really be doing this for him ? But why?
He took the new chunk of meat as he watched the creature through the belly in uncertainty. Even if confused, he was still hungry, and soon downed the entire next chunk. And as he thought, it was only as the creature saw him finish that it took another bite and sent it to him generously.
It was real. He wasn’t eaten, well, not in the traditional sense. He was being taken care of. His mouth slowly curved into an amazed smile and his eyes watered. He took the next piece of fish and looked up to the creature with amazement.
“ T-thank you …” It didn’t respond, just watched him eat.
After two more chunks, only the nearly picked fish bones remained floating in the cold water outside. He laid in the comfortable cushy flesh, warm and well fed, his eyes still tearing as he couldn’t help but chuckle quietly. He stared out into the darkness as the creature carried him, deeper and deeper into the unknown abyss below. He didn’t know what awaited them down there. But he didn’t care
For the first time in ages, he felt completely safe.