DDLC: Revelance

Chapter Five

You know those warm, protective first moments of life inside the womb? The comfort, the serenity of safety, and the feeling of being sheltered completely from the outside world? That's what it felt like while inside the pod, with the rain pattering harmlessly against the window on the hatch, with me serving as a silent observer.

Outside, there was a strange, hazy teal hue that shrouded the uncanny, dark forest. I was just waking up, so there was no way to tell if this was fog, or the atmosphere of whatever planet I was on.

The warming air inside the pod was suddenly eroded, when the hatch hissed and opened up, and became replaced with cold, moist howls of wind that frosted and dirtied my armor.

Freezing drops of rain were thrust inside, landing on my visor and suit. I tried to grab myself out of the pod, but my fingers slipped, almost causing me to fall straight out. Fortunately, my right hand hanged by the hatch frame, stopping my fall.

I breathed deeply, allowing my muscles to regain strength, and to calm myself down. The rain patted on my helmet, covering it, making everything look wiggly and just plain wrong. There was a faint, but constant ringing in my ears, and it was accompanied by a mild loss of hearing. I wiped off my visor and managed to raise my right leg out of the pod, before raising the other. I let my hand out of the opening of the pod, and I immediately collapsed onto the soggy, muddy, and messy ground.

The brown foamy soil was rich with twigs and dead, green leaves, and it stuck to my plated gloves, making me feel dirty all over. The rain tapped along my armored back, acting like a natural shower that cleaned it off. I looked up, and I realized that it was the complete dead of night, with the planet's moon acting like a substitute for the star that it was orbiting.

The sky was a dark blue hue, and it brightened as I looked into the distance. Despite the fog, there was a clear contrast in the azure tone that filled the entire forest for, probably, miles. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know where I was, since my helmet UI was still rebooting. As a result, I couldn't tell if the air was breathable, since, according to my knowledge of how life forms, there were a lot of possibilities as to what things life, like trees, plants, and animals, could survive on.

T3, also less known to me as carbon, could be part of an atmosphere, and life could probably breathe it as well. However, Sentinels breathed oxygen, and that wasn't a good thing if the atmosphere was filled with T3. One thing I didn't remember was how to tell which was which using colors. There was the distant chirping of small bugs, barking, and even cawing. Most of the wildlife here was noisy, according to me.

All of a sudden, I heard a loud, violent blast. It didn't sound like an explosion, that's for sure. But it definitely sounded completely like shotgun fire.

Were the Guardians here already? Or was it a normal occurrence on whatever planet this was? I thought that, because nothing here provided meaningful clues as to clear up my wonders and questions.

In the distance, however, I heard a high-pitched, almost organized call. It sounded exactly like a Sentinel. Was it one of the survivors?

I started to run. Not away, but towards the sound. The rain blinded my visor, disorienting my view. I couldn't raise my arm and wipe it, even through all of the excitement and joy of hearing a voice again.

I had no idea where exactly I was going, but it was definitely where I last heard the sound. The world outside my helmet was all a blur.

Then, something slammed my head like a hammer at full speed, and I was knocked down. The hiss of oxygen drilled horror into my chest. I tried to cover up the cracks with my hands, but they escaped underneath them and into the atmosphere. I gasped and grunted for air, even gripping my neck. I could feel my lungs giving out.