In a strange world as a Doppelganger

Chapter 4

I feel tired when I finally see the clearing coming up on the path. The rat is chewing on some badger meat. Pretty sure that's gonna become foul soon. I sit down, clean off a strip of meat as best I can and swallow it down. I swallow it hole. I have a thought while licking my fingers. I put a finger in my mouth and feel around; no teeth. Huh?! Another weird fact that doesn't seem to bother me.

I decide to take a few practice swings with my new club against the same tree that I used my claws on.

Skill [Strike] Attained level 2

Well that only took a handful of hits. I wonder why that is. Probably something along the lines of total hits I have done all over. I'll have to experiment with it. Level two though, does that mean I had it at level one from the start? I don't remember a notice about it. Things are starting to feel familiar, still no concrete memories but I definitely have a nostalgic feeling. 

It's not even midday yet but my body is feeling heavy and sluggish. The blow I took earlier must have done more damage than expected. Not feeling up to really doing much out of fatigue and a strong urge to rest I simply crawled down and closed my eyes. Rat huddled close and I drift away to the sound of its breathing.

I am having strange and distorted dreams. There is a sea of stars around me and several beings, some human in shape, stand before me with their hands out. I can't make out their words or faces but they are offering me things. One at a time they approach and present their offers. Every time one of them holds out their hands I shake my head and the next one steps forward. When they have all showed me their offerings and having all been denied they bow their heads in unison and I plummet toward something.

"The one who declines the gifts of deities will live a harsh but rewarding life. You chose none of the paths offered to you and therefore they shall all be yours to find."

As the speck below me grows with my decent I see being of massive size swim through the stars. Giant balls of fire and ice rush by and lights burn in my eyes. I feel my body twist and contort as gravity sinks its claws into me. My hair falls out, my body stretches, my nails turn into blackened fingertips and my nose sinks into my face and out of my vision.

Waking up with a startle is not optimal when curled up in an underground hollow. My body wants to stretch out but there is not space. I quickly push the dirt away and slither up to the surface. The moon is still high in the starry sky, shining soft light down into the clearing. The dream is quickly fading from my mind and I strain myself to commit as much of it as I can to memory.

A few minutes go by and only the sound of insects chirping carries on the wind. It's not like I got all my memories back but I feel that some concepts and events over the last few days make more sense now I feel. Maybe if I go back to sleep I'll find out more?

Sleep found me but it was dreamless. I wake up as the sun rises on me where I lay, outside the burrow. The air is slightly colder than yesterday. Clouds sail quickly across the sky and frequently block out the sun.

The badger has now gone completely bad in my opinion, I bury it a few minutes into the woods for any scavengers to find.

I bring the rat with me to the river, carrying it under my arm. Keeping quiet and moving slow on the last stretch proves to be a wise choice.

Two of the frogs are walking along the river and seem to be looking for something. I don't want to confront them right now, without the club in my hands. We take a detour further down stream until it feels safe and I proceed to clean our wounds.

The wound on the rat looks fine now, a huge scab has formed but there is now visible sign of infection. I have to keep stopping it from scratching at it though. My arm is still bruised but the bite wound is looking better by the day.

I can hear the frogs coming this way and quickly pick up the rat and move back to the trees. The rat stays quiet in my grasp, I think it knows to stay away from them. Staying back in the underbrush I try my best to take in their behavior. I listen to the sounds they make, I look at how they move, how they carry themselves and the way they move their heads instead of their eyes to look around.

If it was just the one and I has the club I might have gone for it. Though knowing there are more makes me hesitate, taking another one out so soon could just increase their numbers in this area. I don't know enough yet to dare make a move.

On the way back I make the decision to scout more along the river in the mornings. Today's project however; expand the burrow. I work through the morning and just past noon on making the entrance look like a natural piece of the environment.

I have made the wall of the entrance higher and moved large tufts of grass over to give it some camouflage. I then proceeded to move the excess earth away from the clearing and spread it around in the woods.

Even though I haven't seen many yet, I am convinced that their are more predators in the forest. I do not want to be caught off-guard.