Spirit of the Mountain

The void was not what he expected.

Darkness...that's all there was. Pitchblack and still.

Not what Shishui expected. There were no lights, no gates, no flashes of memory, montages of his bleak life or sudden clarity. Just a cold, overwhelming emptiness...It was strange, almost peaceful. He floated within the abyss.

Is this... death?

Oh damn...I hope this isn't the reel of my life...What...happened to me?

Shishui couldn’t remember the moment of impact, couldn’t remember the car or the sound of the screeching tires. Everything was a blur - a fading echo of a life that felt both too long and too short.

The last clear thought was a hopeful one:

I helped someone.

In a world that often felt too big for him, he had made a difference. A small fire flickered within his chest...the warmth spread - then vanished.

And then...there was nothing. Now, there was nothing. His thoughts began to spiral.

What is all of this? 

Where am I?

What is going on?

He wanted to scream, to reach out, to cling to something - anything - but there was nothing to hold. Just the silence, the absence. He wasn’t sure how much time passed. Seconds? Hours? Time held no meaning here...then just as it seemed to stretch, suddenly, he felt a pressure. 

It pushed against him, a presence. The wind began to pull him "within" the void.

The pull was a sharp tug that dragged him from the abyss, forcing him to move, a rushing wind that swept Shishui upwards and then to his knees. He felt broken. 

What is this?

A cold wind seemed to stir in the emptiness, carrying with it a sense of purpose. A response.

Then, a voice - low and ancient, deep as though it came from the core of the earth itself - cut through the silence.

“You are Lost Child.”

Music seemed to occpany the voice - an old rhythm, the sighing of angels, a mountains echo and heavy drums.

“You have no name here, no form,” the voice continued, 

"Yet you are alive - though not for long.”

Shishui’s thoughts stilled at the sound. He tried to speak, but no words came. The voice wasn’t one he recognized. It wasn’t human. 

“I am OGUN,” the being said, it's voice deep, yet filled with a quiet warmth. 

Shishui stiffened. Then let out a shakey breath. The voice was maginficient, the voice did not echo - t was felt in his very being, as if the words themselves were etched into his soul. Shishui tried to speak, but no words came. Only thoughts

Who are you...what are you?

Shishui thought as the silence enveloped him again, the weight of the nothingness pressing down, only this time, it wasn’t suffocating. It was...

Patient?

The emptiness became solid - an enormous presence, towering like a mountain in the distance. The blackness of the abyss seemed to overlap. Shadows streaking over one another - binding together in a form. Slow, deliberate, like the very earth itself waking from slumber. Then there was a spark of fire and the figure came into roaring life.

It was tall and imposing, bathed in the glow of a pale light. Its form was not entirely solid, shifting like mist and rock, mixed with shadows, an amalgamation of both. The figure seemed to solidify, an entity of stone, earth, and spirit.

 It's voice echoed, sparking, like gemstones clashing together;

“I am The Spirit of The Mountain. The One Who Watches Over Life and Death. Who Grants Rebirth."

Shishui’s thoughts scrambled, a jumble of confusion. 

A god...?

A spirit? 

Yet before he could process the thought, the figure stepped closer, its form becoming clearer, as if the very essence of the earth was bending around him. The creature seemed made of jagged and smooth strata, rocks of a mountain and caves. It's features were vaguely humanoid but with a wild, untamed aura that made the air crackle with power.

Shishui felt something stir deep within him, as though his very essence was being drawn toward Ogun, pulled by a force he could not understand. The feeling wasn’t frightening, but it was... immense. The mountain spirit felt old - older than time, older than life itself.

What the hell is all of this? 

Shishui thought

"W-wh-why am I here?" Shishui managed, though his voice sounded strange, as if spoken through a long tunnel.

“You stand before me in the place between,” Ogun’s voice continued, “the space where life ends and begins anew. But this is no ordinary place. It is where you must confront the choices of your past... and the choices that lie ahead.”

Shishui felt a tremor in his chest. His thoughts felt heavy. Was this a dream? A nightmare? His mind raced, trying to make sense of it, trying to reach out.

“I don’t understand,” he finally managed to say, though his voice was weak, distant.

 “What do you want from me?”

Ogun’s eyes, fiery embers glowing beneath the surface of his stone form, pierced through him, searching. 

"You have asked yourself many questions in life. About goodness. About who you are. About the meaning of your existence. These questions will follow you even into death. The answer does not lie in thoughts alone.”

Shishui felt an ache deep within him, a yearning he couldn’t fully grasp. He thought of his life, his struggles to connect with others, his awkwardness, the moments when he felt invisible in a world that moved too fast. The loneliness...

Is that what it means to be good? To be human? 

He wondered. 

Is it simply about trying?

“You sought goodness,” Ogun rumbled, “Yet goodness is only a path, not an end. Do you understand, child? You seek meaning, yet meaning is not something given. It is something you create. By the choices you make, by the way you continue..."

Shishui stood still, feeling as if the very essence of life itself was before him, yet ever so out of reach.

“Will you choose to live again?” Ogun asked. 

"Not as you were, but as you could be.”

Shishui was silent. His mind raced, thoughts clashing. 

To live again? It seemed impossible. I had died. What does it even mean to live again? 

“I d-do... I don’t know," he murmured, the words feeling small in the face of the spirit's presence.

His life had felt so small, so disconnected. Could he truly choose to live again? Was there still something left for him to find?

Ogun’s form shifted, flickering with the warmth of a fire, though his eyes remained fixed on Shishui with an unsettling calm.

 “The answer does not lie in your past. It lies in your future. what does it mean to truly live? The journey ahead of you will teach you what you seek.”

There was a long pause. Ogun’s presence felt like the weight of mountains pressing down on Shishui, and yet it was comforting. The voice was altered, becoming nostalgic- like a long-lost memory.

“You will not find the answer in words, in passing thoughts." Ogun said. 

"Life is not found in destinations, but in the journey. In the choice to continue, even when it is hard. To move forward, even when the road seems endless. That is where true life begins."

Shishui stood motionless, unable to reply. His body felt like it was made of stone. Unmoving, and yet... something was stirring within him, a new possibility, a new feeling.

 The warmth of earlier seemed to manifest and spread across his body. A power, a possibility, something new. It wasn’t a forceful feeling; it was quiet, as though the potential to change was lying dormant, waiting for him to choose.

"Do you want to live child?"

The warmth inside expanded, Shishui felt his very soul alight.

His voice croaked out;

"I...I do."

“Go,” Ogun replied, his voice reverberating through the void. 

“I grant you rebirth,” Ogun’s voice echoed.

“Not as a man, but as an aspect of me. The choice to live, to become what you were not, is yours. The world awaits. It will show you the way.”

Shishui felt the strange warmth, sweep out from him, amd pull him upward. He didn’t understand it, but he felt it. Something was changing. His body felt lighter, his mind clearer. And then, the void began to dissolve, fading away like mist in the morning sun.

A slight whisper echoed as Shishui passed out...

"Live again child. Live. The  world awaits."

"The Land of GRUSHA awaits."

"END OF CHAPTER 01"