Way of the Slugcat

Seeking the End

(Rain World is a game developed by Video Cult and published by Adult Swim. I do not Own Rain World.)

Seven Thorns refused to be turned away. He had worked so hard for this. Too hard. He had donned his mask with humility, he had fasted for weeks, he had triumphed over every urge. He had participated in the ceremonies of his friends and loved ones as they were deemed "ready for the journey" and waited ten million three hundred and fifty thousand cycles for his turn. He had shed himself of any desire to carry on life. He was ready, yet they turned him away. They hadn't said why, just that he was "not worthy".
Anger pulsed through Seven Thorns' veins as his fist tightened around the glowing ball in his hand. It's gentle blue shone through the cracks in his fingers and illuminated the dark hallways that surrounded him. Ten million three thousand and fifty cycles was long enough, he thought. Long enough.
Seven Thorns approached the gate. Two guards stood at each end, spears in hand.
"Thorns?" One asked. "Why are you back? Did they not tell you to leave?"
Seven Thorns clutched the glowing ball harder. He plucked a second one from his bag.
"Thorns?" She moved her spear to block the gate. The second guard copied this action, yet Thorns kept walking.
"Seven Thorns! Stop and speak up! What are you doing back here?"
Seven Thorns closed his eyes, raised his arm, and flung the ball towards the gate. A blinding flash of blue light shot through the hallway as the orb hit the guard's defensively placed arm. He bolted through the gate as the guards yelled in confusion. Sprinting down the corridor, he readied his second ball. The alarmed shouts of the guards echoed in the passage behind him.
Just a little more, he thought. No turning back now.
Ahead of him, a faint light shown. Seven Thorns steeled himself and readied his tiny weapon. Slowly, the figures near the end of the hall entered his view.
Pillars of black towered to the ceiling. Symbols of passage, of peace, and power spun above their heads in intricate rings as a radiant light shone down onto their visage. They had no eyes, yet Thorns could still feel their gaze upon him. A long string of beads was strung between their four bug-like arms and they hypnotically adjusted each one with care. As Thorns approached, they turned in his direction. Their shadow seemed bound to them, almost like a robe. It, too, twisted towards Thorns as his feet padded down the hallway at an ever faster pace. The creature closest to him lifted an arm, as if he had poked it in just the wrong spot...
The blue orb left Thorns' hand. As its shell broke against the ground, it again loosed a terrible blue light. Un phased by the flash, Thorns kept running.
Almost there.
His mind raced as he neared his goal. He could hear a few frustrated voices calling his name, but Seven Thorns knew that it would take them a while to convince the guardians to let them through. Still, he had no desire to slow his pace. He raced towards the rocky crevice in front of him, his heart nearly beating out of his chest.
Down into the earth he went, faster still as the ground began to slope. Slowly, the brick hallway widened into a cave, devoid of any unnatural decor. Untouched stones and gravel crunched underneath Thorn's feet as he ran. He lifted his hands to his face and tore off his bone mask, discarding it for the guards to find later. He wouldn't be needing it anymore, anyway.
Slowly, the air around him began to distort. It radiated with an energy brighter than the sun, blinding Thorns as he raced through the tunnel.
He rounded a blocky corner of stones and pushed his legs to go faster, just a little faster... Before him was a fissure. Down it went, into the darkness beyond. The liquid at the bottom churnened and hungrily sloshed at the rocks that enclosed it in its prison. Waves of radiance swarmed it's surface, distorting the very air around the void. Thorns skidded to a halt at its edge, his mind racing. Past regrets and wrongs flew through his mind. Memories of his family, his friends, his neighbors, all came back to him.
"Seven Thorns, Morning Wings!" Someone yelled from behind him. It sounded close...
He closed his eyes and jumped.

Is the void sea warm? Or is it cold, like the night's breeze? Would it feel like water or oil when it rubbed against his skin? Was it painful? What did it look like under its golden surface?
Well, it certainly felt cold to Thorns, and it felt as if there was water gently lapping at his forearm. He was also pleased to find that he did not feel any pain at all. As for what it looked like...
He pried his eyes open, then flinched. It was so much brighter than he expected! And much more blue. It even looked as if there were clouds gently drifting through the fluid. In fact, it looked just like the sky that could be viewed from atop the can back home. Even the breeze felt the same, gently caressing his skin.
Wait. Wind? In the void?
Thorns forced his eyes open further and looked around. A strange structure loomed before him with weeds and tangled vines wrapped around its base. It looked like a wire tower, he judged, as a few loose cables hung limply from the top. The only difference was that it was two or three times larger than normal. Confused, Thorns turned around to find a small body of greenish water lapping at his hindquarters and ...a tail? He didn't have a tail. At least, he wasn't supposed to.
Thorns jumped up, startled by this new revelation, and whirled around in a circle. The pudgy white appendage followed him, dragging and bumping along behind his feet.
"Wh... what?" Thorns squeaked. He shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and looked down at his two hands. They had been replaced by two skinny arms with three white fingers on each end, one thumb and two primaries. He grappled for his bag, which had been at his side. Gone. He looked down for his shoes, now replaced with two-toed feet. Thorns could feel his heartbeat getting louder by the second.
"Wh... no no no no, absolutely not. This cannot be real. No, no, no..."
His eyes darted to the ground, searching for any sign of his belongings. Bricks and rocks covered the surface with bits and scraps of metal in between. Beetles and flies, much larger than Thorns remembered them being, darted in and out of the rubble. They fled from his oddly shaped shadow as he stumbled around. His new legs did not raise him very high above the ground.
A small stone tumbled down the side of a mound of rubble. Thorns side stepped just in time to dodge it as it fell. The object sent the bugs scattering in every direction. He looked back at it, trying to assess what it may have fallen off of, when an airy hiss sounded from the top of the pile.
"H-hello!?" Thorns called. "Anyone? Anyone at all, I do not care who! Just help me, please!"
Something shifted on the top of the pile. Slowly, a head rose from the rubble. A bright pink snout, beady eyes, black teeth... Thorns' eyes widened. The creature lifted one scaly foot, then another. The neon pink of its muzzle and face shifted ever so slightly. It blinked a few times, then stuck out a forked tongue.
"Um... hello?"
"Hisssssssss."
The lizard launched itself off the mound, mouth open. Thorns instinctively leapt to the side. He could hear the lizard's maw snap shut on empty air. He picked himself off the ground with his skinny white arms and did the only thing he knew how to; run. The tiny legs that carried him couldn't compare to his old ones, but he made them work. He could hear the creature gargling in anger as it pursued him. It's claws scraped against the metal scraps littering the ground.
Thorns ran further. He scrambled over old machinery, fallen wires, pipes and tubes of all sizes. He paid all of it no mind. The lizard was still in pursuit, it's neon head leading the way as it's black body slithered along behind it.
Suddenly, the lizard let out a cry. Thorns glanced over his shoulder. A larger, neon green lizard had come out of nowhere, sinking its inky black teeth into the pink's flesh. It cried and hissed in pain as it struggled out of the green's grasp. The two lunged at each other. Colored sparks erupted from their heads as they lashed and clawed at their opponent. It was almost... mesmerizing.
Thorns, completely entranced by this terrifying show of strength, failed to see the drop in front of him. His foot slipped, and he went tumbling down the slope. Pointed rocks and bits of steel rods jabbed at his sides. A few rocks were knocked loose and tumbled with him, head over tail. A few times, Thorns saw the sky roll between his legs. Oh, how he wished he were back in the void. A vast sea of nothing. Absolutely nothing. No cycle, no struggle, no fear, no pain. And most certainly no lizards.
Why are these ones so huge? He wondered. Never, in all of my time have I-
His thoughts were cut short as a cold liquid hit his skin. He came careening into a puddle of water at the bottom of the drop and slid to a halt.
Thorns squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe the lizard would come back, gobble him up, and he would awake in his bed back home...
He lay there for a while as the shallow water lapped at his sides. The breeze, gentle and familiar, whistled by overhead. It rustled the gnarled plants and weeds and made ripples in the puddle that brushed against his cheeks. In the distance, Thorns heard the faint rumble of thunder.
He opened his eyes. The water was so clear. So clear and beautiful, nothing like the sea of void he had cast his body into. It reflected the sky and the clouds above him. It reflected the fear and confusion plastered on a pale face. A face that did not belong to him. As Thorns gazed into the water, the frightened face of a little white rodent gazed back at him.

Void
Simply put, the end of all things.