Cloud

Lands of no return:

My head spun, the hunger in my bones made it so brittle that I couldn't even raise my arms, different sorts of colours appeared from the corner of my eyes as I forced my body to move.

My legs sunk into the ground with each step, slightly wet due the moisture trapped inside the ground.

The ground was strange, soft and squishy, like clouds and the sweet smell they released smelled like apples.

No matter how much it tried to make me take a bit, I didn't.

If I did, I won't be alive anymore.

Callon was missing, Sero was walking infront of me, indifferent, all he had to do was to guide me, he didn't mind if I died or not.

My cheeks had sunken, the hollowness in my stomach ate at itself, usually 2 weeks of starvation won't be this severe from what I heard but the properties of the blood well made it severe.

If only, if only I got something to eat.

Anything.

Even rocks.

I couldn't really blame Elgor, can I?

He was just trying to survive.

Everyone wants to survive.

Hunger can make a man do things that he may regret for the rest of his lives.

Pitiful really.

Starvation is a pitiful and horrifying experience.

However no matter Elgor's reasons, I still hate him.

The fog was gentle, like a breeze and the cloudy surface made up for the most comfortable bed I have ever touched.

However, sleeping wasn't an option.

I forced myself to dodge the incoming foot, a giant foot to be exact.

The clouds broke my fall and I immediately sat up, staring at the giant cloud legs marching without a destination.

No not one, thousands of such giants were present here but the fog didn't really help with my sight.

Their whole body was hidden by the fog, you can only see them when they're on their way to stomp you to death.

No tremors, no build ups, you either keep your eyes peeled to notice them or you die.

Unlike those barren lands, this wasn't an uncharted area.

It was explored by a lot of adventurers and was given the name–

Marching clouds.

The ground here, as I described previously is very soft and the smell coming from it can persuade you to try them.

They taste exactly as they smell, sweet.

But after a few hours, people might notice their body turn to clouds and there's no way to stop it.

They turn into a cloud statue which vaguely looks like their former self.

I have come across 5 or 6 of them right now,

My body was shaking, eyes blurring, on the verge of death.

Just lumps of clouds put against eachother to poorly imitate a humanoid body.

Like a child's clay model.

My legs still kept on moving, although my regeneration could seem like it could save me from a few stomps from these giants, it can't.

Similar to eating the clouds, the giants can turn you into cloud statues too if you touch them.

Callon has been missing since the moment I came to my senses.

Only three options, he abandoned me, he got turned into a cloud or we were separated due to the fog.

If he died it would make me..

Sad?

I don't know how I would feel.

I can't really care about it now..

I'm on the verge of death but the blade of death isnt sharp enough.

The starvation has already started to work numbers on my head.

I, I feel like an undead..

Alive yet dead.

Maybe I'm similar to these mindless giants.

Marching without purpose.

The regeneration kept me alive, pain disappears from my body after only a few moments, it may seem like it's saving me but it's not.

It's torturing me.

But it's still helping me.

Without a legacy how can I be remembered?

Without living how can I create such a legacy?

Without living how can I feed my curiosity?

So, Endure.

Endure.

But for how long?

And what next?

The axe tied to my belt dangled loosely towards the ground, sometimes hitting my thighs.

I'm tired.

Seriously.

I want to sleep.

I want to eat.

I want rest, I can't keep moving like this.

I am no beast, I'm human.

I want to stop, lay down, give up and maybe turn into a lump of clouds, existing forever as a statue.

Seems nice..

But horrifying.

Trapped for an eternity inside a body you can't control seems horrifying.

No it doesn't seem, it is horrifying.

Sero kept on walking, his uncaring attitude towards my suffering really made me wonder–

Even if they're called a wandering soul, do they really have a soul?

I want to give up and rest.

It has been a long time since I relaxed without fear.

And yet my body kept on moving.

Moving forward, I didn't even need to control my body or maybe the lack of sleep and food made it seems so.

Moving forward..

It became an instinct in me.

I wanted to cry.

But my body was too weak to produce tears.

Just where did it go wrong?

I miss home, I miss my brother and his friends,

I miss the food from Astria.

I want to go bac..No.

I don't want to go back.

My heart is conflicted, should turn back or move forward?

If I turn back, will I be able to return, will the place I call home still remain?

Will I remember the path towards home?

No.

I forgot.

Even Cillian's face is vague in my memories.

So I can only move forward right?

With the hopes of being at a better place, maybe a safe zone.

So I kept on walking despite my body's screams for rest.

Hunger gnawed at me, trying to eat whatever remaining muscles I had, my stomach touched my spine, an emptiness formed inside my stomach.

My eyes blinked, each blink adding more darkness, trying to sleep but I won't allow my body to do that.

Sleep deprived and starved, I kept on walking.

I wonder how they would react if they found out I don't remember their face.

Would they get frustrated or would they try to make me remember them.

Or like me, they also forgot about me.

My mind is fading, my fleeting existence seemed futile yet purposeful as I walked on these cloudy planes with no destination.

I felt miserable.

I am miserable.