"Oh, what is this?". A mass of stars questions, the dimness it had dissolves into radiant light.
Its 'hand' simmers, a pillar of energy engulfs the thing it is questioning, it seems to be a set of marbles.
Vwoom*
Noise pounce in the void.
"A soul" it mumbles, having taken a moment to take it in, it howled in excitement right after, the stars it is made of 'jumped' with joy glowing brighter than when it showed interest , it switched the souls and itself positions.
"Six, souls". It speaks to itself, very interested in them it plays around with them.
Using the same energy as before, it gathers them together.
"What to do?" It thinks, the lat time it had seen another life form that wasn't something it had created had been more than 6 eons.
It chooses to read their past.
It wants to understand their past, and where they come from, wanting to see what world they are from.
They all stem from the same world, all from a different but mostly similar century.
A world of gas cars and steam trains, opposite of its worlds.
After doing that, it analyses their wishes, wanting to bring the beings to one of its worlds.
'I want to be reborn and live a better life'. Glowing blue at the influence of this star god.
He analyses the others.
'I want power, enough to beat all who could stand in my way'
'I want to live, to be saved from this brutality'
'I'll live up to your expectations!'
'I am at peace, I love my end'
'I want to live'
Analysing them throughly, the star god ponders, its stars flicker as it thinks.
'2 want to live, 1 wants to live up to an expectation, another wants peace, and the other wishes the same as the others."
'Since most of them wish to live, that is what I'll give!' The stars woven like arms rise, galaxies separate.
The souls shimmer with a glow unseen by any mortal.
"Boons shall be granted". A voice of upmost benevolence bends space and time, disturbing cosmic order, the Star Gods body is fully ingulfee with pure star light the same one glowing form the souls.
A solar flare embraces the souls.
Transferring them to a far away land.
-Unknown Land-
I wipe the crust from my eyes, the memory of me being hit by that psycho quickly jolt me awake. Breathing in fresh air I properly open my eyes, I wipe the crust from my eyes.
Looking around I see trees, plants and lots of foliage, enough to make me uncomfortable.
'Where am I?, a forest. Did that fuck drag me here?". I lift myself up, feeling much stronger than I ever have, I feel like an athlete .
Now in a sitting position I rip the flower next to me out of the ground.
"A lily?" I say aloud, its purple with a white inner leaf, its shape reminds me of the white lily's I had bought my ex girlfriend.
Instead of trodding about I decide to scan my surroundings from my current position.
"A young girl".
To my left slept a young girl that look around 7-9, she is wearing a fancy dress. I look to my right and see a relatively old man, seems to be around 30-45, he wore a basic outfit you'd see in a wuxia novel.
Yawn*
The girl to my left yawned, it seems she's about to wake up, I check myself making sure I am fully dressed, I am wearing the exact same outfit as the middle aged man.
While I was doing that, I saw a boot, I crawl closer.
"An actual old man, he is closer than the others, should I wake him?" I question, thinking he might have answers.
I sit to reflect on my choice.
'No, there might be more people'. So I gaze around some more and find 3 more people, I couldn't see anymore.
'Same question again, where am I and who are these people'? I think to myself.
I fidget with the flower I am holding, feeling somewhat stressed, with the memory of being beaten to death still active in my mind.
'No, I haven't got the time to think, I must help these people'. I quickly stand up, I head to the young girl first, making sure she still slept, which she is.
Having spent some time in medical school I had some knowledge, so I could check the conditions of these people.
They were all as healthy as I currently felt.
"I should bring those two closer". I look towards the young boys, picking them up I place them nearer to the old man sleeping near the tree.
Having tired myself after lifting them I sit down upon a small stubbed rock.
Sigh*
'At least some of my basic knowledge came into some use'.
*Time Passes*
'I have been here for 30 minutes, well for what I assume to be thirty minutes, yet I'm the only one awake'.
As if hearing my plea, I hear a fidget, I was now leaning against a tree, closer to the group, but enough to see if anything dangerous might approach.
The noise came from the tree the old man was up against, somewhat hoping for him to wake up first I make some light tapping on the ground near me unintentionally.
I look to him, he is rubbing his eyes, half awake he looks around and says;
"Where am I, afterlife?". The old man began to lean up, he began to enter a state of confusion, he observes.
Before he would go haywire with his thinking I immediately greeted him.
I stand.
"Hey there, I don't know too much about what is happening, you seem just as confused, so let's wait for the others". I say while gesturing around to show him the location of the others.
Since he had just woken up he might be slightly air headed, is what I thought but he soaked in the information quite easily.
"Hmm, so there's 4 others, seems we are in the middle of some forest, quite ironic I guess we are all lost." I nod at his comments.
"Yes, I haven't ventured out much since, I don't want to get lost or seriously injured.".
The old man thinks, not looking at me he piers into the nearby forest.
"Is there any food or water sources about?, have u spotted any?".
He asks me a question I was stupid enough to forget, even though I had just told him about not travelling far out.
"N..no". I embarrassingly say, my nervousness flared.
"Haaa, you did say you didn't go to far out". The old man sighs, understanding why.
"You stay here". The oldman lifts himself from the ground, less struggle than I thought, definitely for a man his age.
"I hiked most of my life, I'm sure I'll spot some edible herbs and berries, my body is feeling strong too".
After standing up he gets a good understanding of the other people,.
"Even two youngsters." The old man mumbles, a look of sadness coats him when he saw the children.
He walks to me, I was in the same spot, just watching the oldman.
"My names Renard, yours?". He says looking into my eye while gesturing a hand shake, he clearly holds a strong slef respect .
Out of nervousness I stand there for a moment, but quickly realising this I accept his hand shake.
"My name is Leon, good to meet you!". We both greet each other with smiles.
"Good!" Ending our hand shake he walks beside me and pats my shoulder.
"Stay here, I'll be back soon, make sure you treat the children with calmness if they wake, I'm sure the other two will only have a little distraught".
I nod while scratching the back of my head.
"Okay sir!" I say sending him off.
He walks off into the opening I feared to enter, from the angle I had no tense or anxiety showed on his face.
Old man's POV
'This must be the afterlife, these trees do not exist on earth, such magical bark'.
The old man admired the artistic style of the bark, as if an immortal god had hand painted it.
'Even these flowers, they look so carefully formulated, as if they are not natural'.
He continues his search, he was placing rocks to mark where has already gone.
'My body feels as if I regressed bakx into my 20s, yet I still look old'.
He glances to his hands as he walked, he paid more attention to the surrounding flora and nature.
He had not found anything he deemed edible, some plants mimicked those from earth yet most were other worldly, he didn't want to take any chances.
He continued, his stride has not faltered.
'A clearance?' Having been setting small stone pillars as waypoints to guide him back he wasn't too scared to look around.
To his left was an opening while his right was filled him foliage and thorns.
'I'll check it'. Entering it he immediately spots a blackberry bush, something he deems vital.
He notes the path down in his mind, almost supernaturally, his brain clearly surpassing those his age.
'Good, some food, easier to find than I thought, best to get back since I said I wouldn't be long, finding one thing is better than none'. He thinks to himself.
Going back was twice as fast compared to finding the place, he swiftly returned with nothing major to note.
-Return to true POV
"You've returned so quickly, I was expecting a long wait". I spot the old man and jog to him, I say a light hearted joke.
He shrugs, he doesn't entirely ignore my joke he lightly grins.
"Only because I'm used to such situations". he says without much thought I nod in respect.
"The knowledge I do know is just picked up from experience and some journeyman books, don't expect much. I'll be sure to do my best though". He mentions, his voice echoed with a Prevalent kindness.
He walks closer to me, his breathing is light.
Vroom*
We both hear a strong gust of wind, Renard looks to the previously sleeping people, the gust reached us blowing our hair over the place, not allowing it to distract us we focus our gaze upon the people.
The strong gust was felt by the dreamers.