As Dylan stared at the golden man's outstretched hand in front of him, he contemplated his options.
Just a second ago I thought this guy was gonna beat me to a pulp... and now he wants a handshake? This could just be a big bluff, but...
While Dylan still felt a tinge of the initial dread he had experienced earlier when the golden man first came down from the rock, the impulsive fear of facing something - or someone - far stronger than yourself, he also felt a sense of ease towards the golden man. The dread was more-so caused by the golden man's mere presence which exuded an aura of power, with the ease counteracting this due to the man's recent behavior towards both Dylan and the light orbs.
From what Dylan could gather the golden man seemed to be able to control or at least give commands to the orbs, which meant that if he really did order the orbs to guide Dylan to this area then he would have somehow had to have known about Dylan beforehand somehow or at least of his location.
I'm just gonna assume that the orbs would have led anyone to him and not just specifically me. Anyways, about the handshake...
Dylan shelved away his concerns for the moment and turned his attention back towards what was right in front of him. The golden man had been standing in place this whole time, hand still outstretched to Dylan; since he was lost in thought Dylan didn't know how long the man had been standing there, although it must have been two or so minutes by now. Not wanting the golden man to get angry for keeping him waiting and deciding to actually beat Dylan up he made his move. Raising his own right-hand Dylan stepped forward ever-so-slightly and gripped the golden man's hand in his own, delivering the firmest handshake he has done in a while.
"Uh... Hello. My names Dylan... what's yours?"
Really Dylan, "What's your name?" I really got to work on introducing myself better...
Starting a conversation was by no means a strong suit Dylan possessed, with the same going for his introductions as well.
However, using the excuse of this being an "in the heat of the moment" mistake would probably suffice here. Either way, Dylan at the very least hoped the golden man might laugh it off or even give his own name and perhaps - if we stretch our luck a little - may even give some insight into this entire situation.
The handshake continued even after Dylan introduced himself although he received no response from the golden man, who just stared at Dylan; occasionally, Dylan would spot the golden man's eyes glancing downwards for a moment to look at the two's hands before looking back at Dylan. This went on for what felt like forever, until-
"Hey, sir... are you- woah!"
As Dylan was about to ask the golden man if he was okay, he felt a sudden tug at his arm and, before he knew it, he was pulled into an embrace by the golden man. Golden arms wrapped tightly around his back Dylan was locked in place. Not knowing how to react to the sudden change in behavior Dylan simply allowed the golden man to hug him, even returning the hug by slightly putting his arms around the golden man's back, although not squeezing as tightly as Dylan was getting squeezed.
I... I don't really understand what's going on but... this oddly... feels alright?
A warm, genuine hug. It was hard to explain, but Dylan had the sense that the golden man was hugging him out of pure compassion and friendliness, holding on tightly as if Dylan was some sort of long-lost brother he had not seen in a long time, and wished not to let go of. A further indication of that was-
"Sir... are you... crying?"
Looking up at the golden man's face, Dylan could see that his cheeks had become wet from tears, his eyes glossy from the watery reflection off the orb light. The golden man then looked up towards the sky - which had become a bit more visible as the mist had cleared up quite a bit - and watching the stars above, nods to the heavens with a smile on his face before looking back down towards Dylan; the two's gazes met, when they did, Dylan just gaze a reassuring smile to the golden man.
Alright, you've had your moment yellow man, but now this is just getting a bit awkward...
While the hug itself probably had good intentions behind it and the golden man obviously needed to let out some pent-up emotions, this was still - at its core - a very prolonged hug Dylan was receiving from a random grown man in the middle of a forest, and given his situation, Dylan was not a big fan of physical contact right now. Removing his hands from the golden man's back and trying to step back, the golden man seemed to get the hint that the hug was over and released Dylan. Wiping his face with an arm the golden man took a few steps back and looked around the clearing, which was now almost devoid of the prior mist.
After individually spotting the five light orbs scattered around the area - the same orbs that guided Dylan here - the golden man raised his left hand and twirled his pointer finger in the air, signaling the orbs to him. After making this gesture, he opened his left hand and waited for the orbs to enter his palm; once they were all nested in his hand, he made a closed fist, seemingly crushing the orbs in his hand.
Opening his hand soon after, what emerges is not the five orbs from before but rather a singular large orb, its light glowing at a much brighter intensity than any other light orb. The large orb floats out of the golden man's hand and stops midair in-between both he and Dylan; while he has no way of confirming this, Dylan feels as if the orb is 'looking' at him in particular.
Soon, the orb floats back towards the golden man, who has now relaxed and placed his hands on his hips, surveying the ongoing scene. Once the orb reaches him it presses itself up against the golden man's chest, and slowly-
Is it... going inside him?!
Dylan reiterated the display in front of him in his head. Indeed, the large orb created in the palm of the golden man was now phasing through his chest. Once the orb was fully enveloped into the golden man, he stretched out his arms and looked up towards the sky as his transparentness began to solidify and a bright golden hue similar to the light of the orbs appeared around him.
After this short sequence of events - which Dylan could only describe as this man either powering up or 'becoming whole' - the golden man flexes his fingers before raising a hand towards his neck. Feeling around his neck and upper chest as if trying to grab something that was not there, the golden man frowned slightly before closing his eyes and softly chuckling.
Then, looking back towards Dylan, the now glowing golden man began to slowly walk towards Dylan, saying-
"È un grande piacere finalmente incontrarla, Dylan. Ho aspettato così a lungo per questo momento..."
"I- I-" studders Dylan as he stands frozen in place, taken aback at being talked to in a language he did not understand, yet could faintly recognize.
He for sure said my name... and I know 'momento' means 'moment' but... that can't be possible...
While thinking over the possibility that this otherworldly person had seemingly spoken a language from Dylan's home world, Dylan himself was still standing in place as the golden man continued to slowly approach.
With each step drawing closer to Dylan, the golden man - despite the relatively close distance between the two - appeared to be speeding up his pace ever so slightly, until-
"Wa- woah!"
Broken out of his train-of-thought upon the realization that the golden man was only a few small steps in front of him, Dylan reflectively took a step back and raised his arms in front of his head, anticipating some form of impact.
An impact never came, however.
Instead, the golden man took one last step before Dylan. When his foot hit the ground, he reached out a hand towards Dylan. As he did this, his form began to fade, bit by bit it was as if the golden man was crumbling apart, each fragment taking the appearance of a light orb.
Dylan, who closed his eyes when he raised his arms, opened them slowly to see the golden man fall apart in front of him. As he continued to fade away, Dylan could see that the golden man still had that warm smile on his face, the same smile he gave Dylan when they first met.
As his being fully crumbled away, the fragments left floating in the air continued to move forward in Dylan's direction. As they passed by him, he felt a strange warmness wash over his body, not too dissimilar from the warmth of the light orb he held in his hand not too long ago.
As the last fragments of the golden man drift past Dylan, he feels a sort of 'presence' around him before it too fades away.
Dylan lowers his arms and fully opens his eyes, perplexed at the events that just unfolded.
With the golden man gone and no light orbs present, Dylan was alone in the dark clearing. Looking around, it was unnervingly quiet, until-
Recover what was lost, O wanderer of that foreign land. Per a selfish request, I beg of thee: save her.
"Hello?! Who-"
No, myself is not of importance. I shall provide guidance in times of distress. Now, rest, my child.
Before he could identify the source of the voice, Dylan's body followed the order, collapsing on the spot into unconsciousness.
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What awoke Dylan was not his natural circadian rhythm nor was it someone shacking him awake for school. In fact, today's alarm was rather odd; although considering the circumstances, there was a high chance waking up in this fashion could become the new norm for Dylan.
He was awoken by the sound of chirping birds, rustling leaves, and a pain in his neck. Yawning and slowly opening his eyes, he was met with the blurry sight of a cloudy blue sky and the tops of the surrounding trees. The mist covering this area of the forest has now dissipated, which meant that this was likely caused by-
My glasses… shit where- wait, they're still on my face.
Feeling that they were still on his face but moved down Dylan quickly placed his glasses back over his eyes. Now with a more clear view of the area, Dylan could not see any light orbs floating around.
Guess they only come out at night... makes sense. So, did I really pass out last night... and why does my chest feel heavy?
Turning his focus away from the sky above and down towards his body, Dylan was caught off guard by the sight he witnessed-
"What the fuck!?" Shouted Dylan as he quickly planted his hands on the ground to push himself up.
The source of the heaviness on his chest was a creature which decided the best place to rest was on top on Dylan. It was an odd-looking creature, and while Dylan knew that there were plenty of animals all around the world this he had not seen before, he was sure something like this did not exist in his world; all the more proof he was in another world.
The creature was small - probably around the size of a Chihuahua - and had both canine and insect features. From Dylan's perspective, it could best be described as a dog-grasshopper hybrid; the creature's dog-like features took up the majority of its body, while the insect portions were more focused on its face and backside. It had two sets of four legs; one set resembled a normal dog's legs while the other set was more insectoid.
Being stirred awake by a shout from the panicked person it was sleeping upon, the creature tumbles off of Dylan as he sits upright.
"What the hell are you?!" Dylan once again shouts, now moving his legs to stand up.
The creature - likely in a daze itself from being so abruptly awoken - looked back at Dylan with its wide insectoid eyes before making a sound akin to that of a cricket chirp mixed with a dog bark. The creature then stood in place, looking towards Dylan.
Shit, I probably scared the damn thing... now I feel kind of bad.
As the creature continued to sit and stare up at Dylan, he decided he wanted to make sure the weird animal was alright. While he had no way of knowing if this thing was friendly or not, the fact that it had apparently slept on top of him for presumably hours without mauling him in his sleep was a good enough sign to him that the creature would not harm him.
Squatting down on his knees, Dylan slowly reached out a hand towards the small creature; he had the intent to pet it but was holding off to let it give him permission first. Watching Dylan's hand move closer towards it, the creature curiously moved slightly forward and sniffed Dylan's outstretched hand. While its eyes were insectoid-like, the creature had a thin canine snout similar to a fox.
After sniffing Dylan's hand, the creature slowly moved forward and rubbed the side of its face against Dylan's fingers.
"Ah, that-a-boy... well, I honestly don't know if your male or female, but I'm sure it doesn't matter that much." Dylan says reassuringly as he uses his hand to pet the weird animal's neck.
Only a few moments into this small bonding session between man and animal, another creature decided to make its presence known. What alerted Dylan to its presence was a rustling in bushes at the edge of the clearing to his left. While he could not see the creature he could tell by the way the bush was moving that it was likely bigger then the dog-grasshopper thing in front of him.
The dog-grasshopper animal - as if also sensing the other animal's presence - quickly back off from Dylan and, after making the same weird noise again, began to run to Dylan's right; the opposite side of the clearing from where the other animal would be. Once it reached the end of the clearing's right side the dog-grasshopper used its back insectoid legs to up into the trees, landing on a large branch, and quickly leaving Dylan's view.
"O- Oh shit, uh- uh why did that one run away... unless..."
Unless that one's a predator!
Realizing the severity of a situation in which Dylan finds himself face-to-face with an otherworldly forest-beast, he quickly looked around for anyway to get out of this situation. Franticly scanning the clearing for any place to hide, Dylan hons in on the outlier of the clearing: the large rock the golden man sat upon last night. Running over to the rock and crouching down behind it, Dylan holds his had to is mouth in order to muffle his breathing and waited for the rustling in the bush to stop.
Please go away please go away please go away please go away please go away please go away please go away... I don't want to die here! Please God, don't let me die here...
Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, Dylan removes his hand from his mouth and grasps them together, saying a tiny prayer in his head.
Why was Dylan so scared in this situation and yet kept up such a brave face during last night's events? It was likely that from the rush of events one after the other last night and because of the nature of those events he felt no real danger; here however, he figured that an encounter with otherworldly wildlife that caused other animals to flee would end badly for him.
Often what we figure from a situation is not the truth, however, as affirmed by-
Be not afraid, my child. Look beyond the rock. Possessing too many small concerns will hinder your task.
"Hk-"
Hearing the same voice that spoke to him last night right before he passed out, Dylan's throat made an odd sound in surprise before he fully processed the words.
WHO THE HELL- no, no, calm down Dylan, not the time to panic even more. That voice... there's definitely no one around me, and that yellow... nah- gold guy is gone, so the only place that voice could come from is... myself?
Thinking of it further Dylan had come to realize a few things, such as the fact that it didn't seem to come from a certain direction and rather was present all around him, similar to his own voice in his head. The voice itself - which he had not commented on before - was that of an older man with an accent Dylan swore he's heard before but couldn't quite determine its origin.
Definitely European... I think? Gah, that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that it told me to look and not be afraid... easier said then done but... last night it did say it would give me guidance so...
Despite his fearful state Dylan took the advice of the other voice in his head and slowly crept around the rock to get a look at the clearing. He did not immediately notice, but the rustling from the bush had stopped some time ago, and the other animal in the bush was revealed to be-
"A racoon?!"
All his worries immediately fell flat when the "horrifying predator" he was so scared of was revealed to just be a simple racoon, likely searching the area for food.
Slumping against the rock and breathing a huge sigh of relief Dylan stands up, wipes the dirt off his pants, and slowly walks back over to the clearing. Despite his attempt to approach quietly, he ended up stepping on a twig hidden in the thick grass; the crack from the twig's snap alerted the racoon to Dylan's near-by presence, which in turn led to it scurrying off in the same direction as the bushes it was originally hiding in.
Why was a racoon even out during daytime? Well, this is another world after all.
While standing in the clearing lost-in-thought - likely contemplating the potential differences between animals of this world and his original - Dylan felt an ich on his neck. Scratching that ich, his focus turned to his neck and throat, which is when he realized-
"Jeez man... I'm fuckin parched..."
Clicking his tongue around the inside of his mouth and feeling the dryness of the throat Dylan could tell he was in need of some water. Looking around the clearing for anything to help with this problem, he spots a location of interest from last night: the small stream the light orbs led him down.
I know last night I didn't trust the water enough to tell them I wouldn't drink from the stream but... I might as well give it a shot.
Shrugging his shoulders at the thought of giving up one of his many worries as of late, he walks over to the stream and gets down on his knees before the water. The current was still moving right, but when Dylan looked to his right to see how much further the stream went, he was met with a sight he did not expect. The stream appeared to end near the border of the clearing; upon closer inspection, however, it seems that rather than ending there the stream simply flows underground from that point forward.
Turning his focus back to the water in front of him Dylan lowers his hands into the stream-
"Oh! Thats a bit colder than I would have thought! At least it's not muggy warm water though." Dylan states to himself as he cups his hand together to fetch some water to drink.
As he brings his hands closer to his mouth however, Dylan sees that he's caught something alongside the water-
"A fish! Ugh. Sorry about that little buddy..."
Quickly spreading his hands apart to drop the tiny minnow back into the stream, Dylan watched as it swam in the direction of the current and, due to its small size, quickly left his view.
Gotta be more careful next time. I won't lie that I'm a bit hungry too but... I'm not just gonna slurp up some poor fish alive.
Paying better attention this time around, Dylan once again cups his hands in the water and brings it up to his mouth. The water itself was clean and fresh which was a pretty big relief considering that this was Dylan's first time drinking from a natural body of water in order to survive.
Repeating this a few more times till his thirst was quenched, Dylan stood up, wiped the leftover water dripping from his chin, and looked back down at his own reflection in the water.
Welp, might be cliché to say this but-
"Despite everything, it's still you."
Copying a line from a video game he knew well, Dylan snapped his fingers before pointing at his reflection with his pointer fingers and thumbs outstretched while cracking a half-smile at himself.
After this small gesture to reassure himself, Dylan looked back up and around the clearing. It was empty now, well, as empty as a forest could get; he could still hear birds chirping from the trees above, but no other animals seemed to be in the area for the time being.
I really need to get outta this forest, but...
Which way should he go? The only forests' Dylan was truly acquainted with was the one nearby his house, the one behind his old middle school, and the one nearby his friend's house; thinking of it, if it wasn't for the events last night Dylan would have likely wondered aimlessly through the dark forest, his path only lightened by any orbs he would come across.
Weighing his options of either walking in a random direction or following the stream back to where he was before, Dylan decided to just trust his instincts and move forward past the stream and into the dense forest ahead.
Not that I can get lost per say but... I just hope this doesn't lead deeper into the woods.
Luckly for Dylan, however, this would not be the case.
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After a bit of uneventful travel through the dense foliage, Dylan finally reached the edge of the forest.
Looking around the outer ring of the forest it was revealed that the forest itself is down at an incline compared to the surrounding landscape, and so Dylan had to climb a small hill to get a good look around.
At the top of this hill - which ended up being ground level - was a winding dirt road that went on in both directions as far as Dylan could see. Looking back and forth, Dylan once again contemplated his options.
I mean... can't go wrong with going right... right?
Turing to his right side and taking a step forward Dylan stopped in place and turned around, looking for anything that may give him a clue that he should travel in the other direction. This clue was never found, however. The sky was still clear and the only notable feature to the left was a large mountain in the very far distance; other than that, all that surrounded Dylan was the empty dirt path and the trees down below.
"Welp, here goes nothing, I guess. I just hope this leads to a town or something soon."
And with that, Dylan took his next step forward and began the long march to find civilization.