Uncharted Waters

“This is…”

The vast land before him was nothing like he’d ever seen. It wasn’t like a desert back in his world. Similar, but more threatening. Eeriness lurked on his shoulders with every step that he took.

‘I don’t know if I’m close. What am I supposed to be looking for? Skeleton figures? Wouldn’t they be guarding the whole land, not just a specific place?’ he thought.

The door behind him disappeared.

“I guess I’ll just walk this way and see what happens.”

Dante walked for not even 2 minutes before encountering something unfamiliar to him. He hid behind the sandy hills and watched. A small dog with no skin or fur, just bones, walked across the sandy desert up to a pile of small bones. He began to eat the stack in front of him as if it were food, but the bones moved right through his body and back onto the ground. The ground then rumbled. The dog looked up and started to sprint, and a few seconds later a large worm looking creature made of all bones emerged from the ground and ate the dog and returned back to the ground. This time, the dog was nowhere to be seen. The worm wasn’t like the dog’s structure. The bones encased itself completely, so any food eaten was normal just like humans.

Dante’s sword rattled and mana slowly seeped out of it. “Great, another huge worm I have to deal with.” Dante grabbed his sword to look at the status of it. It was slowly pulling him towards the creature without his approval, but the worm was already out of his sight by now.

‘Ice cage? Another ability to use? Might be helpful against whatever that was. How do I avoid that though? I’ll have to wait to move again.’

Dante waited for a couple minutes to ensure that he was safe before continuing. He kept traveling straight ahead until coming across a huge cave among the layers and layers of bones that covered the land. He decided not to enter, until the ground below him started to shake again. “What?” he called out loud, thinking that the worm had left.

He dove into the cave and peered into the darkness of it, not knowing if it was any worse than the worm that emerged from the surface and stared at Dante, letting him know that he wasn’t going anywhere but inside the cave deeper and deeper.

Dante: “Move! I have people waiting for me!”

The worm remained unphased with his dead eyes and bony body. “Tch. Bastard. Move! Do you hear me!” The worm still remained where it was. “Fine. I’ll find my own route. Screw off.”

Dante continued into the cave grasping his sword, which helped produce a little bit of light with the mana it expelled. Weird looking fish yet again with no skin flew in the air unbothered by Dante, going about their lives.

‘They don’t seem to attack even with my weapon out. They must be docile creatures in this land.’ More strange looking creatures occurred, but didn’t harm Dante still. Long chains of connecting bones floated along with the fish. They had 4 black eyes and a tail at the end. On the floor, bones shaped in the formation of a square box jumped around with no face, eyes, or mouth. Dante followed them hoping to know more.

He walked and walked until he found an opening. 2 paths stood before him. Both looked the same and the animals flooded into both equally. “Ah! What do I choose? I was never good at picking things. Aki always made the decisions for everyone.” Dante pointed his sword at the middle of the 2 openings in hopes of it telling him where to go.

“Sword, tell me what path is the right path.” His sword had no response. “Sword! What is the correct path?” Again, no answer. “Agh! Astro! I need you here as soon as possible. I’m choosing the left path. Aki, if you can hear me, I promise you I won’t die.”

The skinless creatures continued into the dark cave as Dante walked and walked. He came to a dead end. ‘What?’ he questioned in his mind. The creatures disappeared one by one into the ground. ‘Where are they going?’ he thought again.

“Hey! Where are you all going?”

The creatures continued without hesitation. “Hey! There is nothing here. It’s a dead end!” Dante stepped forward to where the creatures were entering into the ground. The floor crumbled beneath him as he fell. He yelled out, falling into an unknown territory.

‘I’m gonna die! I’m gonna…’