Wil traveled on point in the comfort of his cocoon. He entered the Earie realm last second, instantly the measureless darkness of space was replaced by a red swirling cosmos above and below.
If Wil could see the outside with his own eyes, his jaw would hang low, and then he would die.
His cocoon was like a shooting star now visible to the inhabitants of Nouc's left hemisphere. As Wil neared about to enter the atmosphere of his world. A wandering gaze belonging to an entity of the Earie realm caught sight of a fragrant comet. Its heavy consciousness extended from its grand vision, pinning Wil's cocoon in place.
Nothing happened. Wil remained clueless to his current state.
The entity observed the strange cocoon until a sudden rise of movement indicated its next move. From space and a distance inconceivable, infinity tore open, as a vile nail emerged. It stretched on seemingly endless and its shadow casted night upon Nouc.
The tip of the nail, sharp and unstoppable, pierced easily through the cocoon meant to protect Wil, aiming straight for his heart.
SCHLICK.
A hole opened in Wil's chest.
He couldn't resist or react as his body was forced into hibernation, but his face contorted and his body squirmed, fruitless against the force it met. Wil's own consciousness moved to fight back, but now it was too small, too weak, too light to resist. Then Wil's body stopped moving as the entity reeled back its attack. It left the cocoon as a flailing warmth thrashed in its hold, both disappearing into the incalculable depths of the Earie realm.
Wil's was knocked off course, sent flying tens of thousands of kilometers elsewhere. His cocoon spiraled, advancing toward a malevolent and unknown region of the Earie realm. It was a crimson forest, where the highest mountain peaks were suppressed by the trees. There was no solid ground to be seen, only an endless void mirroring the abyss of space, where instead of glimmering stars, there was only the glint of ravenous eyes. Hiding within the trees and cutting through the skies were revolting creatures, whose senses tracked a bright blue comet.
Wil's cocoon crashed against a branch and bounced off into the embrace of the looming forest. The dense foliage caught the cocoon, lowering itself as if to gently caress it. The cocoon which held Wil quickly dispersed into shards of light that were quickly consumed by the red light surrounding it.
A sleeping Wil emerged, held by only the dense foliage. He was ghastly pale, his breath uneven, and his body shivered uncontrollably. He wore an expression of loss like something forcefully ripped at his being. The region's cold seeped into the open hole in his chest that was slowly mending itself. He lacked any warmth to protect himself.
He was cold… so very cold.
Vines began to slowly wrap and weave around his body, carefully at first, then aggressively. Its grip tightened around Wil, whose eyes snapped wide open. He tossed and turned and started a fierce struggle. His mouth opened to let out a scream, only for a creeping vine to cover his mouth.
The increasing constraints wrapping around Wil slowly cut off circulation, the grip on his neck cutting off his airways. Wil's resistance weakened.
'Is this how I die? I haven't yet walked a single step.'
His thoughts slowly lost their shape when a surging current riled within Wil. It flowed from his torn heart and into his head. It cleared his mind.
Wil fought against the constraints holding him once again, as a force exited his body. It was his consciousness, it was small, it was weak, and it was too light for the Vines to care. But it once belonged to a certain figure who reached the peak. Wil's consciousness was pure and refined, unbound by the common consciousness used by those of the lower world.
His consciousness invaded the vines constraining his neck. The vines fought back, only to be surprised. Its own will faltered and lost to the meager amount of consciousness of Wil's. Its hold loosened and eventually gave around Wil's neck.
Its own vines that once was another limb, turned and ferociously attacked the other vines.
"Pwahh." Wil inhaled a gush of arid air. He wiggled his fingers as he moved his consciousness and attacked the vines' will and controlled the parts of it he had taken over to attack its body.
SNAP!
Wil's arm tore throguh and with it he tore his other one free. More vines came out of nowhere to restrain him, only for another set of vines to stand in their way.
Wil clenched his teeth, exerting all his willpower and spreading his consciousness thin in order to take control of as many vines as he could. Slowly, he freed his body until he was able to stand. Slowly, the two vines he had fighting at his side began four and then eight. Slowly, he felt his mind begin to split as a crimson liquid dripped from his orifices.
THUD!
The last living will of the vines fell surrounded by twelve tendrils of battered and shredded vines. Wil stumbled and fell. One of the vines shot forward and caught him.
His eyes weakly turned to the vines.
"Protect me." Then, as if weighed down by the world, his eyes shut.
Wil's vulnerable body fell into the hands of the recently conquered vines. One of them held him up like a bed as five more wrapped and completely hid his body. They lowered into the foliage and hid themselves as three more spread out as scouts. The last three remained close to protect the body.
Rustle.
Thump-Thump-Thump.
Tree's rustled and heavy steps compressed the towering roots of a tree's branch. Creatures, small and big, grounded and flying, hideous or beautiful, all converged in one direction. Not often in this region did blue light exist, and not often is it showcased so brilliantly.
"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikkkk!!!"
A six-armed hairy ape-like creature swung on branches, its nostrils flared as if smelling the air.
"GEEEE!" It grinned widely as below slithering on the branches was a colossal snake with five tails and two heads.
It pounced and engaged it in an intense fight.
WHOOOM!
The region quaked as many creatures met and tore at each other's hide. A nearby tree branch as big as a mountain range splintered off its main body and fell into the endless depths below. The sounds of it crashing against trunks reverberated in the bones of all living and dead creatures.
An immense hand reached, veiled by the forest. It pinched an ape, suffocated dead by a two-headed snake, snatching them far away.
One of the three vines in the premises of Wil's body flinched. It looked left and right, searching for a nearby noise, but it never found it as a pair of talons seized its body and flew away.
One of the two vines faced the direction where the creaking of wood strained against an overbearing weight. A giant stone golem holding a miniature forest on its back neared. The vine cowered and hid within the foliage. But when the stone golem got too close to Wil's body, the vine shot out in an opposite direction. This immediately attracted the Golem's attention and began heading that way.
The last vine never got a chance to scout as it met another branch of vines. Outnumbered, the last one perished.
Wil's other vines noticed this and lowered themselves further down, closer to the dark depths and further within the foliage. Every now and then, a creature would pass him, and sometimes a fight occurred next to the vines. They remained silent, only changing positions to new ones when they felt their position was at risk of being compromised.
This lasted for hours until Wil began to stir. The vines parted as leaves tickled Wil's face.
A weak groan escaped him, and a growl of his stomach resounded. Wil shook the drowsiness from himself and eyed one of the vines. It moved closer and offered itself to Wil, who reluctantly gouged down on a section of the vine until full.
Wil finally had time to settle down and think over his situation.
"This isn't Nouc, or at least this isn't the Nouc I saw from back then." Wil thought back to before the cocoon engulfed his vision to the image of Nouc back then.
"Did I land elsewhere? I have no memories of Nouc, so I can't tell."
Wil pondered to himself when he remembered a detail.
"How can I forget? I still have the warmth to guide me." Wil pulled a part of consciousness from one of the vines, which then fell lifeless. He then redirected his consciousness into another part of his body.
Wil frowned.
"Where… Where is it?" His voice grew increasingly frantic. His breathing stopped as his hand shakingly rose to his chest, there he felt a hole.
Instantly, Wil felt his stomach drop as dread pervaded him. He looked at his chest where closing hole was located.
Wil paled, his lips trembled, and his eyes wavered.
"Its…Gone."