Remnant's Lost Terrarian

Prologue - Dissonance

"Ahh..."

He found himself slouched against a concrete wall, blinking his eyes open, still dazed from an uncomfortable sensation. Despite his chest feeling tight, he let out a strained huff, gently nudging himself upright, taking the time to scan his surroundings; something he found difficult due to the darkness that surrounded him, with the only light being what seemed to be a streetlight a few feet away. Trash littered the area, judging by the awful smell that wafted about, but it wasn't bad enough for him to feel disgusted. The space felt cramped, but spacious enough to possibly move a little.

He gazed downward onto his left hand, checking to see if everything was real, shakily forming a fist, before relaxing and taking a deep breath. He reached up to his head, carefully taking off his hat before inspecting it. Everytime he looked at it, he could always feel a lot of sentimental value emanating off the disarmingly ordinary looking cap.

It may have been a gift from someone, perhaps. He wasn't sure. He couldn't remember almost anything about it at all.

The cap had a nice orange hue. In the dark, it seemingly gave off a faint fiery glow. But it was most likely his imagination.

He wore the cap once again, straightening it and tried to recall what had happened.

He could both barely and clearly remember what had happened minutes ago, yet every attempt to bring up any memory about it specifically only brought about bits and pieces.

Well, he shouldn't be surprised he supposed. It was always like that since the beginning for him.

Was it real? Was it fake, made up? Was it something he simply imagined?

"Well, it seems you're dead." A young man stood in front of him, alongside something he could only describe as an eldritch horror.

Pushing that aside, he followed the direction of the light emanating from the streetlight, finding himself stepping out of a dark alley.

"I... am...?"

He shielded his eyes once his surroundings brightened up, standing right next to the streetlight, dimly lit just like the rest.

He couldn't even remember what happened just before he died. He was simply going on with his life as he always did. Perhaps the shock prevented him from being able to recall it, but with how his amnesia acted with the short life he could remember, he doubted it.

He stared up into the sky baked in an orange hue, the sun still rising possibly quite early in the morning.

"How...?"

The two beings seemed hesitant in answering his question, shifting their gaze to each other. Within the endless pitch black void they stand in, there was nothing else to look at but them.

If he listened closely, he could hear the locks of nearby shops being opened, the chatter of people passing by each other, and the increasing noise that came with the busy morning traffic.

The silence gave him some time to come to terms with his current situation. He didn't exactly feel any strong emotions about it, considering how he could barely remember his life from the beginning. The farthest his memory could date back was only three years ago, having had amnesia for most of his life. He never found out the reason or cause for it, and he simply never bothered.

Perhaps nothing would've changed had he still been alive; even if he didn't have amnesia, would anything truly change?

He exhaled a heavy breath, not realizing how long he'd been holding one in. This was definitely not a street he recognized.

"You probably know how this would go." The young man stated. He had a sense of familiarity that he couldn't put his finger on, but he definitely can't recall anything about him. "We can't exactly tell you why, but since you died unexpectedly, we're sending you to Remnant."

Right... Another heavy breath escaped his lips, attempting to relax himself as he leaned against the streetlight. The cold, metal pole served somewhat comforting in the moment, being able to steady himself as he huffed a heavy sigh.

To Remnant huh... RWBY was his favorite series, though so far he was only at the first episode of Volume 8. He found it exciting at the prospect of being able to go the world of his favorite series, but hearing it now... was he really excited for it?

Slowly, more and more people began to pour into the streets. Human, children, Faunus, they all passed by him as he stood still, his back against the streetlight, its light now turned off as the other streetlights began to follow.

It's not as if his life would truly change even after going to Remnant. He could simply go on as usual like his old life, with only some minor differences. He had no combat capabilities or any really useful skill for that matter.

Yet, he still agreed.

He pushed himself off the streetlight and began walking. Where he was going, he didn't know. He adjusted his hat ever so slightly, casting a slight shadow over his eyes in an attempt to look more inconspicuous.

...

Any decision he made, he internally hoped it was for the better.

-----

(This prologue chapter was originally supposed to be longer, but after long consideration I decided to cut it short, which I think was the right decision, since any longer and the pacing might be a bit screwed due to how I plan the next few chapters to be quite long. Unsure of when they'll come out, the prologue alone was basically a year's worth of effort of figuring out the direction this fic would've gone, but I hope the fic ends up being good in my eyes at least once it gets going. Please leave constructive criticism if you have any, I need them to be sure I can actually make this fic as good as I wish to be.)