Zane was still awake when the first light from the Sun started to brighten the sky in the morning. However, he was not sitting in front of the fire anymore. He had moved to the tent and was laying on his bed roll, his arm over his eyes. He had a vague thought about seeing the sunrise, but the cliff face would be blocking that. He'd have to climb up that big cliff and he wasn't sure if he had enough mana to do it.
He took a deep breath and sighed. Knowing that he had to face what had happened on Earth because of his death was one thing. Actually facing it and accepting it to a point where he could operate was an entirely different thing all together. He idly wondered what stage of grief he was in right now. He knew that there were stages of grief, but he didn't know what they were and he wondered where he was at. He doubted anybody on this world could even tell him.
Part of him regretted doing this. Thinking of everything and everyone he had left back on Earth. At first it had been a little difficult, but as the night went on and more and more memories came back and more and more, he missed his friends and family. He could honestly say he now had a hole in his heart and didn't know if anything would ever fill it. He remembered his mother saying that there was a hole that was left by his grandmother when she died and that a part of that hole would never be filled. He now understood why she said that. No matter what happened on this world, that place where everyone from Earth had been would never completely heal.
He wondered if he would actually want it to completely heal. He never wanted to forget what he had back on Earth. It was possible he would live here longer than he did on Earth.
He remembered his dad saying that work was good to help with the pain. That it had helped him to re-center his perspective. Things still needed to be done. There were priorities that didn't go away.
Zane looked at the entrance to the dungeon. That was his work. He was in the employee of two gods and they wanted him to complete this dungeon before moving to the next task. He had been looking forward to going in there yesterday. He should be going in there today, but he didn't sleep at all last night. He knew that going into a place where his life would be in danger was not the best place to be tired. He would rest today and go in later. If he had the motivation, because right now he didn't. All he wanted to do right now was stop thinking. He could hear the wind rushing through the trees and he focused his mind on that, on the soothing sounds of nature. He wasn't even aware of it when he fell asleep.
--------------------
Zane groaned as he began to become conscious again. He could feel something that was on his chest. It felt different than the weight he had been feeling since last night, more actually physically there. He also felt a rumble that came from the weight into his chest and ran throughout his body. It actually was a little soothing. The sound that accompanied the rumbling was calming and he wondered what it was. He just didn't want to open his eyes. Then he heard a strange sound, like a click and it changed the sound of the rumbling.
He forced himself to open his eyes and found himself staring at a small kitten. It was licking its paw and cleaning itself while purring on top of him. It looked like a small black panther, but the sheen of its fur was more silvery. After cleaning itself for a minute, it looked him in the eyes and the purr grew louder. It had green eyes that seemed to have a depth you wouldn't expect from a kitten. It laid its head down on its paws as it stared at him.
Zane sighed and brought his hand on top of the kitten, petting it down its back. The purr grew even louder and now he felt like he had an engine sitting on top of his chest. But he felt at peace. He'd always liked animals, but his mom didn't want to take care of one. He remembers going to his friend's house and just sitting there enjoying their cats. There was something about cats that drew him. Dogs were great, but cats were something else. They had this dignity about them, with some mischievousness hidden underneath. Plus, if there was an animal that was made for parkour, it was a cat. His friends always said he was more like a cat, always landing on his feet when he shouldn't have. They used to tease him about using up his nine lives. He chuckled as he thought of that. He used up one life and now he was on his second. Did that mean he would get eight more?
He didn't stop petting the cat and it laid on its side to get more comfortable. He didn't know how long he laid there, feeling purring rumble in his chest. It seemed like the rumble was shaking all of the problems he had felt out of him. He felt like he was going to fall asleep again, when he felt soft paws pushing at his face. He opened his eyes and looked at the cat. It was staring up at him, its paws stretched out to touch his face, with a look of 'Don't fall back asleep on me.' Zane smiled, "Don't worry. I'm not going to go back to sleep. Were you sent here to help me?"
It meowed at him and Zane knew it was saying yes. "I guess Érimón doesn't want me to just lay around and mope. I guess it's time for me to follow my dad's advice."
The cat jumped off his chest and he turned over and pulled himself out of the tent. He looked around this new world that he was in and wondered what it would bring to him. And looked at the dungeon and wondered if he would die there. He was told there were monsters in there and they would try to kill him. Would he learn quick enough to survive? There was only one way to find out.
He quickly rolled up the tent and bed roll, securing it to his bag. He had a bit of food, giving the kitten a small piece of dried meat. He covered up the fire hole he had dug and then turn to face the dungeon. He hoped he didn't have problems because of his emotions while in there. He sincerely wanted to help the people of this world and didn't want to die in his first dungeon. That wouldn't help anyone
Zane looked down at the cat. "Are you coming in with me?" The cat meowed and jumped up, its claws digging into his leather armor. It climbed up him until it was settled on the top of his bag and around his neck. He laughed. "I guess that's a yes. Do you have anything to help me out in here?" It meowed at him again and he was very glad to have it with him. It was nice not to feel alone.