Chapter 1: [Blank]

Something was biting at me. Everything ached. It didn't take long before I felt the chill, the growing paralysis. I urgently woke. Met with a flurry of white, my body was quickly giving up. I had to find shelter, and fast. I wanted to know where I was; how I got there. I tried so hard to scour the answers in my mind, but the more I wondered, the more the answers just drifted farther away from my world of comprehension.

In the midst of despair, something caught my eye. The gray clouds, rising from the vast forest of trees. "Smoke." I whispered with the bit of voice I had. I trudged and trudged.

If there's smoke there must be people, if there's people, there's hope, there's a little warmth and despite the impending dread I felt, I trudged along, until the sun set. Even then, the smoke was still going. My fire was flickering, daring to dissipate, until only hope drove me. It cultivated my little flame and shielded it from the fatigue.

My legs. They were giving out. The impending dread, the doom that awaited me, it ate at me. Bit by bit, I crumbled. Reality was slapping me in the face and I couldn't do anything but agree; agree that I was a hopeless case. Fire was impossible; the branches wet and the wind, furious. I had no cards left to play, moreover, I never had any cards. I collapsed. In the grip of the bitter cold, I began to cease.

Why? Why was I still feeling pain? Was this not enough? I just wanted to end it.

I didn't want to. I didn't want to open my eyes, but I did. It was red. For the first time, it wasn't all white. I couldn't help but feel an undiscernible urge to chuckle as I released my hand. I guess I wasn't done.

Mustering the last of my strength, I grabbed onto the branches of a dead tree, stabilizing myself. Just a little more, I thought. As I lifted my head, I caught a glimpse of a figure, but, before I could utter a word, it was black.