Draconic Awakening

by saber1994

Awakening

A child sliding across the street, a shrill squeal of rubber on asphalt, and a female voice shouting the word “Elliot!” were the only things that came to his mind. The man tried his best to remember anything else; however it always came to those three things. Memories would be useful for this situation right now. Waking up in an unrecognizable forest lying in a puddle of red liquid was cause for any sane creature to worry.

The man tried his best to stand and slowly made his way to an upright, albeit hunched, position. Looking around he saw only trees and beams of light filtering through the canopy above. A couple of memories were still available for him to access, however few of them were pertinent to the situation or how he got here. One thought did help him though. Knowing that he was lost he knew that he should stay put. This would allow others to be more likely to find him and he would keep from getting further away from civilization.

Soon physical needs began to force him to make a choice. A burning in his mouth and throat told him that he needed to find a source of water. Listening carefully, he was able to hear trickling. Slowly stumbling toward the sound, he found a small stream slightly out of view from his original location. He tried his best to kneel down to the water without falling in but was only mildly successful. Slipping some he managed to extend his hand into the water and caught himself before he fell in.

After steadying himself he looked into the stream and saw his reflection staring back at him. He noticed the short blonde hair and hazel eyes gazing back at him. Once he was done admiring the reflection he lowered his mouth to the water and began slurping as much as he could. The water was only slightly cool and managed to completely satisfy the thirst that he had been feeling. Standing up he decided to return to his starting point and investigate the area.

As soon as he had made his way back, his eyes were immediately drawn to the red puddle that he had been lying in. He made his way to the liquid and began to examine it. Upon further investigation he realized that it was blood. Panic began setting in. There was a lot of blood on the ground and there was only one source that it could have come from. The man began to strip off the clothing that he had on and inspect his body. He searched every inch of his body, but he couldn't locate a single scratch.

At first he began to calm at this revelation, but panic returned as soon as his next thought passed. If it’s not mine then whose is it? He looked around the area and saw that there wasn’t another soul in sight. He looked back at the puddle of blood and he noted that there were no marks showing that something had tried to escape.

This revelation soon left the man’s mind as a chilling breeze swept through the forest. He shivered heavily and decided that he should probably put his clothes back on. He reached for the blue jeans that he had been wearing and put them on quickly. As he did this he felt something touch his rear end. Reaching back to find what it was he discovered a pocket containing some sort of folder. He pulled it out and opened it. When he looked inside he saw a rectangular piece of plastic that had a face similar to the one he had admired in the stream.

After he looked over the piece of plastic he noted that the only symbols he recognized were located below the picture. He looked over them carefully and began to try and sound out the letters. “Drake, Elliot,” he said to himself. Then he remembered that was the name being called out in his earlier memory. I guess this is my name Elliot thought after looking over the card some more.

He decided that that was all of the information that he was going to find and put the card back in his wallet. After pocketing the wallet he grabbed the simple white t-shirt, now stained with blood, and pulled it back over his head. The smell from his shirt nearly made him gag, but he felt he could stand the smell to avoid potentially freezing.

Elliot looked around some more and decided that he should find some food and shelter. He didn’t know how long he would be here, but he felt that he should be as prepared as possible. After searching the immediate area he found a nice area that had a rock outcropping that acted as a roof for a small section of ground. He walked over to it and noted that he could easily walk under the rock without hitting his head. He could also lie down and the rock would still cover him from head to toe.

Feeling that his luck was getting better he decided to see if he could find any sort of food. Elliot went over a list that he couldn’t remember how he knew. He knew that white berries were definitely toxic. Also he could try and catch fish in the stream if there were any. Any minnows he found could be eaten whole. As a last resort he could also try and eat insects. Feeling his stomach rumble he decided to forage some berries and try a few of them first.

After looking around for a couple of minutes he found what he thought were strawberries. Elliot picked as many as he could and used his shirt to act as a basket to carry back to his shelter. He decided to try at least one to try and decide whether it would be safe to eat or not. Grabbing a single small berry he rinsed it off in the stream nearby and readied himself. Nervously he raised the berry to his mouth and bit into it.

A burst of sweetness washed over his mouth. Elliot definitely knew that these were strawberries now. He began to wash off the rest of the berries and eat them as soon as he was done cleaning them. After he began to feel satisfied he returned to his temporary home with the remainder of his food. He set the berries down and began to dig a small hole in the ground. He then went to pluck a few low hanging leaves from some nearby trees. Returning to his hole in the ground, he lined it with his leaves and then set the berries inside. This way he could store them and keep them from getting too dirty.

A sudden yawn began to well up in Elliot’s throat. He knew that he would need to get some sleep soon, but he needed to build a fire first. Searching through the nearby trees he found plenty of fallen limbs that would act as the main body of the fire. He set them at the back of the outcropping and set a few in a tee pee shape just outside. Elliot then gathered some smaller twigs and leaves for some started.

Once he finally had all that he needed he arranged the leaves, twigs, and limbs in the best formation for prolonged
burning. Then a depressing thought hit him. How was he going to light the fire? He thought about trying to rub two sticks together but pushed that thought from his mind as being impractical. He shoved his hands in his front pockets and was about to start pacing in frustration, but he felt something. Grasping the object he pulled it out and immediately recognized it. This lighter was special to him and nothing could ever let him forget that. Returning to pile of sticks, he knelt down to light the fire.

Before he did that a thought occurred to him, he should put rocks around the fire to act as a barrier just in case it began to get out of hand. After he did that he lit his trusty Zippo and touched it to the leaves at the bottom of the pile. Once the fire began to catch Elliot could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The warmth of the fire relaxed him and this allowed his tiredness to return. Elliot lay down near the fire getting as comfortable as possible and slowly drifted into sleep.

Elliot awoke with a jolt and began looking around the area frantically. Something had awoken him and he felt panic begin to set in. He looked to his fire and saw that it was now only a pile of smoldering coals. This worried him even more. The fire would have kept wild animals away and he was now left without much of anything in the form of self defense.

Elliot decided he should hide the best he could. Looking up he saw that the top of the outcrop was hard to see but provided a great view of the surrounding area. He climbed it as quickly as he could and once he got to the top he pressed himself flat against the rock.

After a long period of silence Elliot began to think that he had just been imagining things when suddenly he heard what sounded like voices. He almost jumped for joy but contained himself. Not knowing where he was it would be best for him to watch and see if these people would help him or not. The voices began to get closer and closer, Elliot began to get more and more panicky. He peered over the edge of the rock the best he could without exposing himself and waited. After a short while he could make out what was being said.

“Ah’m tellin ya, I saw smoke comin’ from this part of the forest!” said a voice that Elliot thought to be a young girl’s.

“I don’t know Applebloom are you sure we should be out here? Our sisters will probably get mad at us again,” said another young girl’s voice. Elliot began to cheer up. If little girls were able to wander this forest so freely then he must be close to civilization.

“Oh c’mon Sweetie Bell, don’t be such a chicken. Just think we might be able to get a fire fighting cutie mark!” exclaimed a third voice.

Elliot suddenly became very confused. What on Earth is a cutie mark, he thought. However before he could give it much more thought, three small figures came into the clearing. Elliot stared at them in awe as they came into view. When Elliot saw them he immediately thought that the girls he heard had come with their pet ponies.

“Hey girls look, somepony built a fire over here!” exclaimed the orange pony. This surprised Elliot. Did that pony just talk?

As if to confirm his suspicions the yellow pony spoke up next. “Yer right Scootaloo, it’s still kinda fresh too,” her southern accent made it sound even weirder.

“Whoever it was they must like strawberries. There’s a whole pile of them over here,” stated the white pony.

Elliot began to feel faint. The sudden arrival of three talking ponies was putting too much pressure on his weakened mind. That was when he noticed that they weren’t just ponies. Not only were the colors too weird but the orange pony with a purple mane seemed to have wings, the white pony with a light pink and purple mane seemed to have a horn. However the yellow pony with a red mane was the most normal of the group.

Elliot couldn’t take it anymore. Right in front of him were three talking ponies, two of which happened to be a unicorn and a pegasus. Elliot rolled onto his back and almost began to laugh. Before he could go into full hysterics, the strain from the situation soon won out, and he fainted.

Elliot slowly came too and saw that he was still on the top of the rocky outcropping. As memories of the three ponies came back to him he looked around the area. They were nowhere in sight. He sighed and climbed back down the rock. Once he got back to his little camp he looked at the pile of berries.

“I guess they must contain hallucinogens or something. I probably shouldn’t eat any more of those unless I’m desperate,” he said to himself. Elliot looked around the area and felt glad that those ponies were just a figment of his imagination. He laughed at himself for being so foolish at to believe it in the first place.

As soon as he began to relax he noticed the small hoof prints covering the area. “No way, that’s impossible!” Elliot nearly shouted. He touched his fingers to one of the prints and felt that it was still warm. Elliot could feel more panic beginning to set in. The very thought of talking ponies made him feel insane but there was no doubting what he saw or heard.

Elliot fell to the ground feeling a great weight pressing down on him. His only thought was that he must be very far from home. He began to cry. The pent up frustration of being lost and then the discovery that he might have also gone insane was too much for him at the moment. However he didn’t have much time to wallow in his own self pity as the roar of what sounded like a lion followed by a trio of high pitched screams forced Elliot’s depression into that of pure fear.

Comments

[Lateinshowing]

Good start. Curious as to how it's going to go, especially with a title like "Draconic Awakening".

[Blossom]

NICE:d 10/10