Ten years ago.

  Northern Solarian jungle.

  Damien woke, unaware of where he was or how he came to be there. He didn't even know where he came from; his only memories began from these last few seconds.

  He stood up, taking stock of himself. He was naked and standing in the middle of a dense gathering of leaves with tall trees stretching towards the sky all around him.

  Despite the confusion—which still wracked him— something intuited to Damien that standing still and doing nothing was not the best course of action. He didn't know what brought about the thought, and since his mind was blank on what to do, he decided to heed the strange warning.

  Lacking any knowledge whatsoever of his surroundings, he picked a random direction and followed it. For the first few minutes, his mind was a blend of fear, terror, and confusion at the strange sounds echoing all around him, and considering their unknown source of origin, his fear and confusion only grew.

  Slowly, as he walked, knowledge began pouring into his mind: knowledge of the type of trees he passed by, the sounds of birds whose chirps echoed through the forest, and the deep terror-inducing growls and snarls of a few creatures he dearly never wanted to meet.

  Damien looked around, trying to somehow pinpoint the direction of where the strange input of knowledge was coming from, but all he got was the usual screeches and growling.

  Resigned, with a feeling creeping in that all would be well, Damien walked on. It wasn't until a few minutes later that he came upon the end of the jungle, with a short stretch of open land meeting the large body of water running into the distance.

  Absentmindedly, he felt a loud growl in his stomach, but he paid no heed to it. Instead, his eyes were pinned on the stream flowing a few feet from him. Damien knew he hadn't seen a stream before nor any body of water, but he just knew what it was, like the knowledge had just been inserted into his mind.

  Looking around to see if he was the only occupant nearby and confirming that he was, he slowly walked up to the stream. Bending down, Damien was startled when he came face-to-face with another person.

  He jumped back, eyes widening in fear. He looked around, finding no one else there with him. Honestly, he would have preferred to simply leave and stay away from the strange person in the river, but the little twinge in his stomach and his parched throat forced him forward.

  Again, but this time with slow caution, he crept back up towards the stream, and instead of simply looking down like he'd done before, he stretched forth his right hand, his eyes studying the river for any reaction, and indeed, that was what he got.

  With another squeak, Damien drew back his hand, watching as the strange water person did the same. He frowned, then stretched forth his hands again, watching as the strange thing mimicked him.

  Confused, but with an idea brewing, he stepped back again, out of view of the stream. Slowly, Damien walked back forward, and this time instead of using one hand, he speedily threw both hands forward, intent on catching the other person before they fled like before. The only thing he got, instead, was a loud splash and his quarry escaping him again, mimicking him as it did so.

  Seriously, how fast was this thing?

  Anger flaring, Damien marched down into the stream. He was done playing. He would force out whatever the strange thing was. Again, he watched as the thing mimicked him. That was when he got an idea.

  This time, instead of simply retreating like he usually did, Damien bent down and studied the thing.

  It was devoid of hair from head to toe with a tiny scrawny body devoid of muscles, though not completely, judging by the shadow of mass he could detect on the chest and arms.

  Curiously, Damien dipped a finger into the water, and when he was certain that the water thing wasn't going to act beyond its usual mimicking, he cupped his hands, dipped them into the stream, and bent his face downwards, all on the instructions of an unknown source.

  Damien hadn't taken in more than a few gulps when he froze and then raised his head, locking eyes with another creature that had decided to share the stream with him.

  The gazelle stood a few feet away, also with its head raised. Again, he didn't know what a gazelle was and had never seen one before, but for some reason, the knowledge just instantly appeared in his mind.

  The gaze of the animal was one of such regal majesty, with beautiful Antlers adorning her head like a crown, with a combined color of silver and black that gave it its majestic stature. And her eyes. Her black, alluring eyes that could forever drown one in their black, mesmerizing pools.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  CRACK!

  He didn't notice it until it happened, and neither did the Gazelle. One moment, she was there, and the next, a huge black cat was crouched over her, cracking her neck with such jaw-breaking force that he could hear the sounds from where he stood. Without wasting time, it began feasting on the body with such speed that he knew it wouldn't take long before it was finished.

  Snapping out of his reverie, Damien knew it was right about time he found somewhere else to be before he became the next meal course on the animal's plate.

  With utmost caution, he slowly stepped backward, putting his full effort into not making a sound. It seemed luck wasn't on his side that moment; the instant he moved, the cat's head snapped up like the antenna of an insect, except this time it was pointed his way. Meeting the eyes of the cat, Damien's heart skipped at the sheer hunger within.

  He turned around and ran.

  Damien ran with such speed that he became sure the winds were aiding him. Still, he could hear the sounds of the cat's pursuit getting closer.

  He ran as fast as he could, his pounding footsteps kicking up dust and fallen tree branches, with a matching rhythm to the fast beating of his heart, but the beast still seemed to be gaining purchase. His intuition spoke and Damien decided then that he'd rather fight than tire himself out and become an easy meal for the huge cat.

  Searching for something to use, there were plenty of broken-down woods around, but most of them were either too brittle and likely to snap easily or too unwieldy. Running further, his frantic eyes zoomed in on one a few meters away that was perfect, and with a grit of his teeth, he acted.

  Timing his approach well, Damien slid down on the ground, his knees scraping against the earth and leaving him gasping in pain, and grabbed a thick stick. Rising, he spun around, and in one smooth motion, slammed the wood into the left side of the frighteningly close cat's head with enough force that he felt the vibration run up his arms. With a loud yowl, the cat careened to the side and slammed hard into a tree, sliding down to crash onto the ground.

  Shocked by his sudden display of strength, Damien froze for a moment, but in the wake of the sudden overwhelming strength came weakness.

  Feeling a sudden unnatural loss of energy, the easily held wood now felt much heavier in his hands. He gripped it tighter, however, trying to tap into that long-gone well of strength, but then the cat decided to stand up, picking itself up with the grace of a true feline.

  However, this time, when it stood up, there was some amount of wariness in its gaze and posture. Unfortunately, it seemed that wasn't enough for it to leave him alone.

  Noticing his apparent loss of strength, the animal took advantage and pounced.

  Damien only managed to position the wood right in front of his neck before the cat's jaw closed in, and that quick action alone was what saved him from a quick death.

  The wood blocked it from biting down on his neck, but it still got in a hit before he frantically backpedalled to get some space. A burning pain ignited on his side and Damien held back tears as he looked down. The sight of his ribs caused a momentary cessation of breath as he saw the huge, deep gash running down his entire side. He could already see his meaty insides.

  That was when it finally sank in that he was going to die here. His recently awakened life was slowly coming to an end; he knew it, and the cat knew it, too, seeing as it was content to just keep circling him after that one hit to pin him in place while waiting for him to bleed out and die. It knew he wouldn't last long.

  Despite his attention pinned on the animal, Damien failed to notice it until it struck, a blur to his sight.

  Something whistled through the air just as the animal leaped, suddenly intent on finishing him off. It caught the cat with such speed and power, carrying it to pin it in place on a tree with a loud, vibrating thud. The cat gave a loud mewling cry of pain as it fought to free itself from the spear.

  Through blurry vision, Damien watched as a man rose from his hiding place in a nearby dense patch of bush. The man said something to him, but the sound came out distant alongside his vision which was beginning to darken. He saw when the man took notice of his wounded side, which was completely soaked through in blood.

  He rushed forward, form turning into a blur, and was only fast enough to catch Damien before he crashed onto the ground, but not quick enough to stop the encroaching wall of darkness that consumed him.

  ***

  PRESENT

  Damien opened his eyes to the sound of an intruder sneaking in through the window of his newly rented room.

  About time.

  He sat himself up and waited patiently for the intruder to fully get in. He already knew who it was.

  The Solarian got into the room a few seconds later, coming to stand at the foot of the bed. The room was dark, the lighting had been turned off a few hours ago. However, he knew that the Solarian could see him, the same way he could also see the other man.

  "You just keep getting me more intrigued about your origins. For you to have noticed my entrance... Hmm, not many people can do that, and the ones who can wouldn't be seen in a city like this."

  Damien smiled, "You would be surprised. I was beginning to think you wouldn't come, you Solarians do like your grand entrances, I'd give you that."

  The man raised an eyebrow. "You sound too unconcerned for someone about to be tortured."

  Energy flashed and sounds from the outside were cut off. "I've blocked out sound from leaving this room, so you can scream all you like. Fair warning; The length and volume in which you scream from now on will depend on how well you answer my questions."

  Damien laughed, "You seem to be under the misconception that I'm trapped in here with you. Quite the opposite, infact. You, good sir, are trapped in here with me, and you will happily answer all my questions without a single physical prompting from me."

  What the spy must have seen in Damien's eyes must have told him how deep in shit he was. His smug face slowly turned to horror before he turned to jump through the window he came in from.

  Damien smiled before snapping his fingers, a wave of energy flooding out to cut off the room from the physical realm, taking it into the Metaphysical.

  He stood up from the bed and moved to take a seat on a chair right across.

  Looking at the now horrified face of the Solarian, Damien smiled, "Now, where should we begin?"