DSG!- Chapter 1: Awakening
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“Silly girl, stop playing with spider webs.”
These were the first words that registered in Kimarya's mind as she shook her head from left to right, trying to clear the jumbled mess that was her thoughts.
Eventually, her vision cleared and she focused on her surroundings. She felt her back pressing against something solid, which she guessed was a tree based on the ominous presence of a dark and humid forest all around her.
These details immediately alarmed her, as the last thing she remembered was being in a city.
"Where am I?" she wondered. She moved her arm to brush something that was all over her face and realized it was long and wavy hair. When this registered in her head, she stopped moving for a moment in shock before firmly tugging on it again and feeling a stinging pain.
Kimarya, in her exasperation, said, "What's with this long curly hair? I have a little fro - my hair is not supposed to be this long!" In that moment, pulling on her hair seemed to trigger something, as a massive rush of information violently exploded in her head, almost causing her to pass out from the overwhelming pain. It felt like her head was going to explode!
Subconscious Initiating floodgates safeguard!
–Kimarya, a massive amount of new information has been discovered, a lot of it being a foreign language, culture, details, memories, thoughts, and beliefs. Something forcefully assimilated some of it before protocols fully kicked in. How do you want to proceed?–
Kimarya stayed completely still as the splitting headache died down. We appear to be in an unknown and likely hostile environment. How would you like to proceed?
Kimarya replied, "Sunny, please scan through all the assimilated information, prioritize information on potential threats and safety, then organize the rest of it in a new folder. Categorize it so we can look through it later on."
Sunny: Understood. I have detected an undetermined amount of new biological factors in the host body. 300… 2,000…16,000 unknown factors. Starting emergency full-body cellular scan to determine functions and interactions of these factors… Kimarya sat in silence as she held onto her hair before realizing what Sunny said and urgently investing more attention in her body. She immediately noticed some differences and inspected herself with much more urgency. She initially thought that this body was smaller in relation to her old one before realizing that the woods and everything around her were vastly larger than she had ever experienced - likely enough to put the evergreens to shame!
"What's going on?!" Kimarya alarmed asked.
Kimarya with her back pressed against a massive tree whose elastic, pore-like bark gave way under her touch. She was disoriented and confused, her thoughts a jumbled mess as she tried to make sense of her new surroundings. She looked down at her hands, noticing the dark red hue of her skin and the absence of her tattoos and body mods. This was a completely different body, one that was smaller and more agile than her old one. She walked on shaky feet, trying to get a bearing on where she was and how she had gotten here.
As she examined her body, she realized she was wearing crude clothing made of animal skins and odd fabrics, but with incredible stitchwork. She felt a surge of panic as she remembered the last thing she could recall - being in a city, not a dense and dangerous forest.
"Sunny, what's going on?" Kimarya asked, her voice tinged with alarm. Sunny: Kimarya, after scanning through your memories and the new information, my general conclusion is that you died in your sleep of a heart attack and other odd complications, and have been reborn in the body of this person. This body differs vastly from the standard range of a human being, starting with slightly different organs, but with similar functions. There are even new ones that don't exist in the usual human body. The vitality of this body is tremendous! The muscle density and structure are unlike anything in my database.
Sunny: Gravity and multiple environmental conditions differ completely from Earth, which is the reason I couldn't add numerical figures to the stats of this body. It's safe to assume we are in a different world.
Sunny:
Name: Draeneoy
Age: 13 years old
Sex: Female
Health: Unknown status, but healthy.
Kimarya's mind reeled at the flood of information. "All of that sounds insane," she said, her voice laced with disbelief. "How is this at all possible? 13 years old? What happened to Draeneoy, the host of this body?"
Sunny: Regarding the host, it seems she also died from an unknown toxin, likely from the environment. The likely source is the odd tree-like organism you were leaning against, based on the information scanned. I recommend creating more space between it and yourself. Kimarya stood up even straighter and added more distance between her and the odd tree, brushing off the back of her clothes frantically.
Sunny: Looking at the memories, she seemed to be on the autism spectrum.
Unfortunately, her tribe and culture made her incompatible, so she didn't have a great time. In fact, the reason she was out here was because of a tradition of her people where some 13-year-olds go out into the sacred woods to find an ancestral spirit guardian or never come back. Based on the dangers and creatures out here, the more likely scenario is death. It's a sort of coming-of-age ritual, to better describe it.
Kimarya wondered out loud, "Death from what? Are there more of those toxic mushroom... trees?"
Sunny: It's actually a gigantic variation of mushroom - but Kimarya, there seems to be a massive ecosystem of dangerous and extremely powerful creatures all around. Apparently, with the coming-of-age ritual, there is a special method to accept an ancestral spirit guardian. The inhabitants of this world possess an astounding growing potential to increase their power. It’s known as martial cultivation where they strive for power and something extremely similar to Daoism. To simplify the core components of this concept, cultivation is the stride forward, and the Dao is the guide.
Your personal mountain path to Apotheosis, the peak! The recommendation for right now is to get back to the village and try your luck or try to form the Ancestral Spirit Guardianship. The latter would undoubtedly be more dangerous and most likely lead to death if its lineage doesn’t accept you, but banishment from the village for not doing so would be assured if we return now without it. Assuming that we make it back..
Her body started shaking, and goosebumps formed on her skin as she grew serious as well as rightfully scared. Kimarya stood in the dark and humid forest, her thoughts in turmoil as she tried to decide what to do. On the one hand, she could return to the village and risk banishment from people she had no emotional attachment to. On the other hand, she could follow the insane rite of the coming-of-age tradition and most likely die in the process. She knew she had already died once, and she wasn't eager to repeat the experience. She weighed her options carefully, trying to find a solution that would keep her safe and give her the opportunity to explore this strange and exotic world.
Finally, she made her decision. "Sunny, I don't know what to make of this world, but I'm not willing to risk my life on such low chances of survival. Take me back to the village."
With a sense of resolve, she began walking through the forest, her eyes scanning the trees and underbrush for any sign of danger. Despite the uncertainty of her situation, she couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and wonder at the strange and exotic plants and animals that surrounded her. She had never seen anything like them before, and she couldn't wait to learn more about this new world and all it had to offer.
My goal is to publish 2-3 chapters a week for those that become paid subscribers. For those reading for free, I will still post 1 chapter a week. Any comments, encouragement, or recommendations in helping me become a better writer is appreciated c: