Eventually, Caedus fell asleep after his body was too tired to think.
He slept a dreamless night and woke up as the sun was rising over the green landscape. Despite the beautiful scene that lay before him, he didn't admire it. Caedus was still feeling a bit anxious. Wherever he was, he wasn't somewhere that was familiar to him. It was unlike Earth. Which also meant unknown dangers may lie ahead of him.
He quickly got up to his feet and squeezed out a few juices from the grass around him.
"So bad." Caedus had a bitter look on his face as the cool juice from the grass ran down his throat. He had his fill, or his fill of what he could stomach, before walking in the direction of the rising sun.
He thought about how he didn't recognize any constellations, how the moon cycle had changed despite it only being a full moon last night. He thought about how he was currently walking across an incredibly large plain with no end in sight.
"I'm not on Earth anymore." That was the only conclusion Caedus came to after organizing his thoughts.
In this bizarre situation, it was the only thing that made sense, despite how illogical it was.
'What if I am dead and this is my hell?' It was something that crossed his mind, but he didn't think he did anything that deserved a hell like this. He had killed, yes, but was he just supposed to lie down and die?
The sun rose higher in the sky, and it was blocked out by the occasional rolling cloud.
He would occasionally hear the grass rustle loudly, and he would get ready to unsheathe his knife, but it was only a gust of wind. There seemed to be no living thing in the vast, endless plain except for him and the grass. No birds, no insects, no snakes, and no rodents. He was the lone sentient being for miles.
After hours of walking with the occasional break for drinking grass juice, Caedus finally heard an unfamiliar sound that cut off the peaceful noise of the wind blowing the grass.
It was coming from the North.
It was loud. It sounded like a thunder rumble that didn't cease. Caedus immediately tensed up. He pulled out his knife just in case.
He got low to the tall grass and crouched, watching in the direction of the rumbling.
It was getting louder and louder with every second, making him tense more. "What is that noise?" Caedus almost had the urge to just lie down in the grass and hide, but if it was something that could get him out of these endless plains, then he would take the chance.
*rumble*
Then he saw something in the distance. A bird flying low to the ground. Caedus licked his lips.
"Food!" Caedus shouted excitedly.
It was fully black, similar to the crows he would see in the forest. In fact, by all means, it seemed to be just that, a crow. Caedus readied himself to lunge with his knife. Then a thought crossed his mind.
'It's so far away… how can I see it?' Caedus rubbed his eyes and looked again. It was closing the distance quickly and becoming larger by the second.
"OH FUCK!" Caedus yelled out, immediately turned around, and ran after seeing it was flying right at him.
It was huge. If it was big enough for it to be visible clearly from that far away, Caedus would be an insect to it.
"CAW!" The giant bird cawed as it flew at Caedus with incredible speed. It was loud enough to hurt his ears, but he couldn't think about that; that thing was going to eat him!
Caedus ran with all of his might and seemed to be gliding across the grass, but the crow was too fast. It quickly cut through the sky and flew directly over Caedus' head. The wing flap of this giant creature almost blew Caedus over before it landed with a loud noise in front of him.
Caedus skidded to a stop and readied his knife. There was no outrunning it. He had to at least die with a fight. 'God damnit.' Caedus clenched his teeth at his bad luck. 'Why is it so damn big? If I am right, it's taller than two oak trees combined!'
The giant crow opened its beak and lowered its head to look at Caedus.
"Damn! It's now or never!" Caedus said to himself and prepared himself to lunge at the bird, which was lowering its head.
As Caedus got ready to spring into action, a voice came out of the crow's beak.
"Call me food? You, bastard human!" It cawed angrily.
Caedus froze. Nothing but the wind was making noise.
Then Caedus smiled brightly and clapped his hands together before talking out loud.
"Ahh, yes, this is a dream! Thank you, Mister Crow! I will wake up now!" Caedus turned around from facing the crow's huge figure and immediately slapped his face and closed his eyes.
'Giant talking birds, endless green plains, not on Earth. I knew I was dreaming. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.'
Caedus slapped himself many times before he opened his eyes and slowly turned around towards the crow again.
"Excuse me, Mister Crow. How do I wake up?" Caedus asked politely, still having a grin on his face.
"Bastard human. Are you ok?" The crow seemed surprised now. He doesn't really get to meet many crazy humans, but it seemed like he met one today.
It cocked its head to the side and said in confusion. "You aren't sleeping, though? Can humans dream while they are awake?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Fuck! So I did die! Damn it! I am in Hell!" Caedus put his hands on his head and cursed out loudly.
'What the hell is wrong with this crazy human?!' The crow thought to himself.
"Oi, calm down, human. You aren't in Hell. I am not sure why you are here, of all places, but you are in the Endless Plains on the border of the Ironwood Kingdom and the Astral Empire. And stop calling me Mister Crow, I am called Umbra."
Caedus paused his cursing out loud when he heard what the crow said.
Caedus was dumbfounded. This basically confirmed his suspicion that he wasn't on Earth anymore. Besides the giant talking crow, of course. He grew a bit excited at the thought of the crow's words. 'Talking giant crows. Is this my new reality? At least there are other humans too, seeing how he is familiar with my species!'
Quickly accepting the fact that he was dreaming or dead, he had to just roll with the punches. 'I can think about all this craziness later. This bird is more important at the moment.'
"Um, Umbra, is it? What is the name of the planet we are on? By all means, this doesn't seem to be Earth," Caedus asked cautiously. 'I still don't know if this giant crow wants to eat me.'
Umbra tilted his head curiously as if thinking for a minute before exclaiming. "Ah! I remember reading about Earth a while ago! You must have ascended from a lower dimension!"
'Whatever the hell that means. And crows read books?' Caedus thought while he was waiting for the crow to continue.
It didn't.
It was awkwardly quiet for a second before Caedus spoke again. Caedus had more questions running through his head, but he asked the most important one that would help him the most.
"Mister Umbra, sir, could you perhaps give me a ride to the nearest human settlement? I don't want to seem rude, but walking is a bit slow." Caedus asked, trying to be as polite as possible to increase his chances of success.
"Hmm. I typically don't, but I can't just leave you out here to die…"
Now it was Caedus' turn to tilt his head. "Why would I die?"
The crow cawed in laughter at Caedus' question.
"It's about another ten thousand kilometers to the next human settlement."
Caedus was shocked. That distance was unheard of. This world seemed infinitely larger than Earth if he was just on some plains in this new world. 'I really would have starved to death. Just my luck to wake up in legit the middle of nowhere.'
"I can give you a ride, but you won't be on my back. I will carry you in my talons. I am no mount for a weak human like you."
'There's that word again. Weak.' Caedus nodded in agreement. "Thank you, sir, Umbra."
The crow stood up straight and stepped toward Caedus while raising its left foot to wrap its claws around Caedus.
"Wait, can I ask you two things? Before we start flying?" Caedus suddenly put his hands up to signal the bird to wait a second.
The crow put its foot down and looked at Caedus before nodding lightly.
"Thank you. First thing I have to ask. Is this Iridia?" Hope and excitement could be heard in Caedus' voice; it was even noticeable to Umbra.
"Yes, did you ascend without knowing that?" Umbra asked back.
Caedus smiled brightly and genuinely for the first time in what seemed like forever. The place he dreamed of. The place he heard stories of. He was here! He didn't know how, but at this moment, he didn't care much how. He just knew he made it. His breathing got faster with excitement as he held back the urge to yell out in joy. He forced himself to stay calm.
"Thank you for answering my first question. I don't know what you mean by ascend, though." Caedus replied, remembering the second half of the crow's answer.
Umbra looked enlightened at that response and seemed to look at Caedus in a new light. "I see. Yes, that makes more sense why you don't know anything now. What was your second question, human?"
Caedus immediately turned serious and looked at the crow.
'The air turned tense. What is he about to ask?' Umbra thought to himself, seeing how the aura of Caedus completely did a 180 from his beaming expression from a minute ago.
"Mister Umbra. When we fly. You won't drop me, will you?" Caedus said seriously. While he was holding his head high, looking the crow in the eyes.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Neither said anything. Caedus was sure that if the crow were a human, he would be able to see a vein pop on its forehead.
Without saying anything after a few moments of chilly silence, Umbra flashed forward in a streak of black and grabbed Caedus quickly before flying Southeast.
Caedus chuckled to himself lightly as the wind picked up around him. The wind was so strong that it would have drowned out anything he would say.
'I made it out of the valley, Grandpa.'