A wet, cold sensation struck David's foot, jolting him awake.
He opened his eyes to discover that he had been moved yet again. This time, the vibrant forest had been replaced by sand, and lots of it.
Sand that stuck to the side of his face, on his arms and legs, chest, and even the insides of his mouth. Nothing but sand as far as his eyes could see in every direction but one, as he found himself laying on the shore of a coastal desert.
After standing up and spitting out the grains that got in his mouth, he shook vigorously and patted off any excess sand stuck to his skin, before looking behind him. There he saw the large expanse of a tumultuous sea. Massive, dark-blue waves crashing violently against each other, covering everything from the coast to the faraway horizon.
David had woken up many meters from the coastline but the water crept far each time a particularly large wave hit the shore. In a way he was fortunate to have laid just outside its reach.
'I had hoped to be rebirthed as the child of a loving family this time around. Alas, I find myself naked with a face covered in sand. It's not quite what I had in mind.' he thought, while surveying the land in search of.. anything.
Any sort of landmark would do. After all, he had to act fast. He was lost in a desert with no food or freshwater, and the suns burned scorching hot.
... wait, suns? In the sky, there were two suns. One large orange mass and a significantly smaller, blue orb following closely behind it.
'I guess this is proof that I'm in a different world. I've heard of planets having several moons, but this is new.. I wonder if things function differently because there are two of them?'
After settling into his situation, David kept his eyes peeled for signs of civilization. He figured he should at least make an effort to survive, as death through heat stroke or dehydration seemed like some of the worse ways to go.
After scanning the sea of sand, he failed to see anything indicating human society. Instead, the only thing that stuck out to him was a strip of land in a different shade from the rest, somewhat far along the coast.
With no other leads to go on, David began walking towards it and in the meantime, he thought about the things he had been through recently, starting with the Goddess who brought him here. The woman whose beauty was still fresh in his memory and unlike anyone he had ever seen, and whose personality was just as abnormal.
'She seemed to be carrying a lot of pain, though I'm not sure she's even the same as us humans in that regard. Maybe she's more like a program? Like those light novels I used to read. I hope that's the case, as I can't imagine the misery a literal deity could feel.''
David then naturally remembered what happened prior to his meeting with the Goddess. He recalled the moments before chaos began, when he had just returned home in the evening after finishing up his last lecture of the day.
Even before opening the door, David knew his father would be intoxicated and that it would be a challenge to enter the room which he shared with his sister, without being bothered in some way. He just didn't expect the old man's health to have deteriorated to such a degree that he would threaten the life of his only son, and when discovered, pull the trigger.
As his mind continued to recall the recent events, leading to seeing his sister and her reaction to it all, it began wandering to darker places. David didn't realize it himself as he kept walking while occupied by his own thoughts, but his body grew increasingly tense and rigid as testament to his anxious state.
It wasn't until the soles of his feet began to bleed that he woke up from his stupor, only to realize he had walked much further than he had expected, and that much of his body had grown sore and begun to ache. His skin, though blistered in several spots, was surprisingly not as badly burnt as one would expect from the prolonged amount of time spent exposed to the desert suns.
Additionally, thirst had settled in and was accompanied by the occasional growling of an empty stomach.
"She could have at least fed me before placing me in a desert" David sighed to himself, while gazing ahead at the patch of different-colored land that he had been moving towards.
Having travelled much closer now, he could just barely make out their outlines and figured they were likely trees of some sort. It was still too far to determine for certain but he wasn't sure what else could appear as such, blotting the faraway landscape.
He then looked up at the sky, attempting to determine how long he had walked for.
When David woke up, the large sun had been positioned some ways past what he assumed to be the middle point of the sky, and now it was nearing the later stages of the day. A quick assumption told him that it would likely become evening soon and that the temperature which had been frying his skin would begin to dissipate.
'Lucky me, I might not have a heat stroke before the day is over.'
Continuing for about an hour, a light mist had descended on the land. The large sun and it's accompanying blue flame began to set just prior to it forming, and they had since disappeared beyond the dunes. This thin veil of mist, which now covered much of the distant sands, only served to amplify the atmospheric beauty with which the land was cloaked by the setting of the two suns.
At this point in time, David's feet had become the main contributors to his discomfort, though his regrets occasionally came back to poke at him. Having walked for hours in the sand without shoes, his feet accumulated a number of cuts and sores, with the pain only worsening as coarse sand kept rubbing against the open wounds.
Yet he somewhat appreciated the pain and bodily fatigue, as it served as a decent distraction from his most recent memories. In other words, he was starting to feel okay.
Until he heard it.
A sound which can only be described as a screeching noise, similar to what one would expect from a set of thick nails slowly dragging their way across an old blackboard.
Only, this sound was deeper and unquestionably guttural in nature.
At first he wasn't sure he'd heard it, as it was coming from so far away and David wasn't quite sure what it was he thought he had heard. Therefore, he stopped walking so as to not mix the supposed sound with that of his steps, in case he would hear it again.
It was deathly silent for a while before clarification was finally given, in the form of MANY replies.
Short, intermittent noises of different frequencies were made, originating from various points across the desert. Some close, and others further away than even the first source.
That initial screech was clearly a call of sorts and whatever made it has a lot of friends.
'Dying of dehydration is one thing but I definitely don't want to be killed by whatever's making those sounds.'
When David had this thought, he began walking faster and while walking, he repeatedly scanned his surroundings, hoping to spot anything that might appear between the dunes. He did this despite knowing that he had no means of defending himself if something did show up.
The screams soon stopped and when they did, it began to rain, softly, offering him a bit of comfort as he continued towards his destination.
A short while later, he looked around to find that it was getting darker as the sunset turned to twilight. The clouds overhead had taken on a deep reddish-blue hue as if painted by a master artist, compelling him to stop for a brief moment to appreciate it, despite the looming danger.
More time passed and as it came closer to dusk, both the mist and rain intensified, almost in response to the guttural roars that once again sounded out in the background.
David had no way of knowing how far away they were but he was almost sure they had come closer, as he could hear them just as clearly as before, despite the onset of heavier rain.
While somewhat fearful, he still took a moment to appreciate the rain wetting the desert floor, solidifying it and making it easier to traverse. It not only soothed the pain originating from his feet, but also eased his worries of stumbling upon those creatures roaming the desert, even if only a little.
Eventually, when the mist had been replaced with fog and the creatures since gone silent, dusk arrived and as a result, the world took on a colder hue. It would assumedly still be a beautiful sight but because of the thickening fog, David was unable to see anything but the ground around him.
With nightfall rapidly approaching, he was prepared to endure very cold temperatures given the fog, the rain, and his significant lack of clothing.
He didn't think much of it however, other than acknowledging the possibility of danger, as he's always preferred "too cold" over "too warm" and it would surely not be as bad as the time he had spent hours outside on a stone set of stairs, during a particularly cold winter night.
David continued reminiscing about that part of his youth while walking, barely able to see even his feet amidst the darkness and fog.
Some time passed and he began to wonder how far he could be from the supposed trees he had seen during the day. He assumed it wouldn't be long now until he arrived, based on how far he got after walking earlier in the day- and how far he believed he had walked since the mist became too thick for him to see.
Yet he could do nothing but estimate and remain hopeful that he would reach his destination soon.
It was at this point that he once again heard the calls, amidst the clitter clattering of rain striking wet sand. They continued for a short while, before ceasing once more. Only this time, he was sure that they were louder than before as it seemed no amount of rain could subdue them now.
Picking up his pace, David began jogging along the waters despite his exhausted body politely asking him not to.
While he ran, the cries sounded out for short periods of time, every couple of minutes.
For whatever reason, they were communicating much more frequently now and the idea of what that might entail truly frightened him.
He kept moving.
A couple of minutes passed without David having to hear the screeching noises sound out in the distance. At this point, he figured it would be alright to rest for a short while, since he was completely out of breath and his entire body was screaming for him to stop running.
He plopped down on the wet sand and allowed himself to breathe.
While doing so he thought about what kind of creatures could be responsible for making those sounds. He assumed them to be nocturnal but with no real knowledge of desert beasts, he was at a loss. He even considered the possibility of them being creatures native to this new planet he was on and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
After all, what are the odds of another world sharing species' with Earth? Probably zero? The goddess appeared like a human though, so they should still be present..
'There it is again'
David's brief respite was cut short by the return of the screeching, only this time they were coming from directly behind him. This time, also much closer and MUCH louder.
Looking back in the direction of the screams and seeing the fresh footprints leading out of the fog, he had a thought, 'It's not possible that they're tracking my footprints, is it?'
He quickly got back on his feet and took off in the opposite direction, forcing his cold, painful body to move.
'Ah fuck.... a.. fuck.. fuck, fuck, fuck...'
The screams once again rang out as he ran, only a very short while having passed since the last round.
'There's no way she would place me here, just so that I could be ripped to shreds by some otherworldly beasts. RIGHT!?'
He practically roared that last thought in his mind as he sluggishly made his way through the wet sand, while the unknown creatures in the background continued to howl.
The closer they got, the higher the frequency of their screams, almost as if they were growing increasingly excited at the prospect of prey. This realization terrified him like nothing he'd ever experienced.
Soon, David finally saw the outline of something appear in the fog ahead of him. A palm tree. These were the trees that he had been attempting to reach since waking up in this damned world.
He quickly attempted to climb one of them, only to find that he had no strength left to gather, failing miserably in all attempts to pull himself up the trunk. Knowing he couldn't climb to safety, he slowly dragged his feet past another couple of trees before coming to the realization that he had nowhere to go and is unable to outrun whatever it is that is hunting him.
Having understood his fate as the next meal of whatever kind of creatures were rushing his way, David allowed his fatigued body to fall beside the nearest palm tree. He then leaned against it and screamed,
"WHAT KIND OF GODDESS ARE YOU? I WANTED TO DIE AND YOU SENT ME TO BE EATEN ALIVE BY FUCKING MONSTERS!"
Following this final exclamation, David slowly allowed his head to fall against the tree as he resigned to his fate.
".. you said you wanted me to bless your world but it was just another fucked up ploy, wasn't it? Damn you.. and this vile, cursed existence..."
Silence ensued, with the only exception to it being the sound of rain striking softly against the large palm leaves hanging above his crumpled body.
It was only for a moment, however, as a while later the nearby howls continued. This time louder than ever before and they were followed closely by several sets of rapidly approaching scratches and thuds, sounding out unevenly from within the fog.
"You alright there a-bud?" a calm voice sounded out from behind the tree David was leaning against.
"Sounds like you have a few unsightly things chasing your trail."
As the words continued, David turned his head to see, stepping out from the fog, the figure of a man dressed in robes with a thin blade hanging from his waist.
Unable to make out any defining features in the darkness he simply nodded absentmindedly, before turning back to face the creatures that would soon appear.