In a forest shrouded in shadow and snow, not the sort that is wicked and malevolent, but the kind that is sinister and esoteric. Few are the rays of daylight that able to permeate through the crown of leaves above, their light faintly illuminates the absolute stillness below, every leaf, every branch, every blade of grass seemingly frozen in time. The forest, barren of the familiar sounds of life, as an unfathomable silence reigns over that picture of uncanny woodland, the kind of quietness that can drive a person mad by terrorizing them to listen to their own heartbeat. Amidst that spine-chilling scenery, there walks Olaf through the jungle, sporting a large backpack, and a large, longsword swinging in its place on his back. Omer follows behind him, carrying only a small backpack, holding a few supplies, potions and a hunting slingshot gun. He walks through the underbrush, his boots crushing leaves and dirt beneath them.
In comparison, Olaf is dressed in practical, combat boots and hiking boots, rugged clothing, and a large backpack. With his sword slung across his back, he's ready for anything.
In this dimension, mysterious plants of this world are completely new in varieties, anything but unfathomable to any prior human knowledge and cryptic in nature. Plants have been known to explode into flames or give of poisonous fumes and flicks of needles if accidentally hit or even the ability to paralyze the unwary. Fortunately, most plants are completely non-hostile in this world and can in most circumstances be approached with a small picnic basket.
There are vines that extend into the air with fruit at their ends, trees that grow hundreds of different kinds of fruit, nuts and other delights and flowers of all colours. This aesthetic development of plants in such a dreaded and horrid dystopian, sinister world is nothing but surreal to the eyes of a human.
The animals inhabiting this world may be hostelligent, but they are not omnipotent. In other words, they do not make every decision for no apparent reason. To the contrary, natural selection has preserved an instinctive, base animalistic nature, so that animals are still relatively primal and barbaric by human standards.
Other than mealots and goblins, the most notable animal species inhabiting this dimension are Wolves, which still have the natural instincts of killing for food, property or even sport, Bears, which are stronger and more dangerous than their Earth based equivalents and Shifting Stalkers, a race of sentient plants, which harvest the stem cells of their living victims to create pod people. However, such pod people are rare to appear and most are mild hostile to harmless.
Among the plants, there are a few sentient races inhabiting this dimension. The most notable of these is the Vipers, a race of sentient predatory snakes with a natural affinity to poisons, which are used as one of the major craft by Omer.
This fascinating plants and their varieties contributes to Omer's continued spell of inspiration, as he delves into his work, writing an article about the various types of snakes and their poisons, potions he uses in his own experiments.
Olaf walks through the jungle, as Omer complains about everything. The noises, the cold, the walking, you name it. Olaf just ignores him and keeps moving. If he stops for him to complain, he will never get the job done. If he doesn't, he will complain till the day he dies.
The wind blows softly through Olaf's hair, as he stares into the distance, his eyes staring blankly into the white void. It is an empty gaze, one that sees nothing and lost in thought.
After some time passes, he begins to walk slowly through the forest, his eyes still staring into the distance. As they walk, he begins to hum a little tune, one that is slow and has a melody.
It is an old memory that he is attempting to recapture.
He remembers when the melody first entered his life, it was during a time of great despair.
A time when his comrades lay dead, and he was the last one alive. He saw a little girl, a little Jewish girl. She was huddled in the corner of a sewer, shivering from fear. She was scared of the big man that held a knife to her throat.
He saved her that day. He wanted to take her with him, and promised her that they would go and help the others escape. He promised he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her.
He was true to his word.
She used to hum that same tune, whenever they were in a tight spot. It would calm her, and she would laugh. A single laugh that could shatter stone.
He continues to hum the old song, as he remembers. A memory of a happier time. A different life, in a place he longed to return to.
A world, that no longer exists.
He looks around him at the trees, frozen in place. It's hard to believe that this entire area experienced a period of tribal warfare so long ago, at least that's a theory they concluded after all the research and observation over the past year.
They named it Gil-Tif, means "Ghost Forest." In fact, that's what the trees look like: a mass of writhing, ghostly figures.
Snow begins to fall as Omer and Olaf venture further into the forest. The snowflakes melt on Olaf's tongue, and they taste like hope.
The snowfall intensifies, and soon, they're both trudging through a blizzard. Their pace slows to a crawl. Olaf's eyes start to water, and then, he can't see anything at all.
They try to look for any signs of human life, but it is slow; they soon realize it is fruitless.
The jungle is so thick that they cannot see any further than they already have seen, and many dangerous beasts make their home further in the jungle.
Still, Omer by his side, Olaf walks on, his longsword at the ready.
After about half a day of walking, he hears something. A strange sound in the distance draws his attention to the jungle wall straight in front of them. He is unsure what it could be. A small noise, or a large noise? For an moment he is unsure of what to do.
They decide to investigate.
A feeling of dread creeps into Olaf's body as he approaches the wall of Jungle. He has felt this feeling once before, shortly after his transfer into this world.
He approaches the jungle wall, long sword gripped tightly in his hands and his mind focused.
He presses his head against the wall of Jungle, slowly at first, then faster. He spots a small opening about the height and width of a human eye.
Olaf moves closer and closer to the opening, his eyes scanning the surrounding area for any threat.
He focuses again, trying to pierce the obscuring leaves and vines around him with his mind.
Omer walks up behind him, knocking him into the thick jungle wall. "What the heck are you doing?" He hisses.
"I thought I saw something..." Olaf replies, as he pushes himself back through the opening.
A large group of Monsters are approaching through the jungle, as they hide, they watch as they pass by and go in the other direction.
"See," says Omer, "no need to worry."
"It still could have been a trap," Olaf rubs his head, his face giving an expression that he concedes that he is wrong.
Trying to avoid the awkwardness of his failure he quickly jumps to next topic of action "Let's follow them."
An eccentric but curious glow shines Olaf's eyes, like a mad scientist who found his new test subject for experiment.
Olaf and Omer follow the monsters until they find their cave. A large group of them live here.
Their appearance is like frogs, but their skin is smooth. They have two large eyes, placed in the centre of their head separately, with an eyebrow above them. The creatures open their mouths wide, as the plants begin to wither and die.
As Olaf observes the creatures, he notices that there are two types of them. The larger, which he assumes are "males" due to their larger size and more muscular builds, which have two large claws instead of fingers. The smaller, lighter creatures which he assume are the "females" based on their smaller size, 4 fingered hands and single eyebrows.
He takes note of the larger creature's specific characteristics. The large bowl shaped teeth, the lack of any chin or jaw, the two large eyes which are in the center of their head, the ridge of muscle that runs down the center of their back and disappearing into their shorts.
The small one's characteristics are similar, only smaller. the large teeth, larger eye on the sides of their head, the ridged eye brow and the lack of a ridge on their back.
Once again, a large group of them are eating. Omer and Olaf watch as they attack a large number of fleshy looking plants, which they seem to be quite fond of.
"They feed on them and nothing else," says Omer. "It's strange... They don't seem to worry about us at all."
"So, what do we do about them?" Olaf asks.
"Nothing." says Omer, "they're friendly."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Let's not try to find out"
"Let's get going," Olaf says, "we'll catch up with them to study when they sleep."
Omer nods. "Yes. Let's stick to the quest and find more survivors."
Then, he licks his lips saying "Wonder what kind plants were those creatures eating so eagerly. Haven’t seen them before. There must be some useful elements in them. I think they would make great potion ingredient!"
"Quit daydreaming and watch your step. Stay cautious." Olaf rolls his eyes.
The pair of them then walk through the jungle, until they find a large clearing. A large number of mealtots surround a campfire. They are roasting what appears to be human feet. One of them spots Olaf, and lets out a blood-curdling scream.
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