Fate/Herrscher

Awakening

"AGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!"

The calm of the forest was interrupted by a deafening roar that shook the leaves of the trees as well as the hearts of the animals. Birds that had been enjoying a peaceful sunny afternoon took flight in massive flocks till they nearly blotted out the sun. Animals ran in all directions except the source, their cluttering hooves and feet creating a stamp as their fight or flight urged them to do the latter. The bugs and insects in the earth burrowed down further, their tiny brains unable to comprehend anything other than fear. Even the predators of the forest, the wolves and bears went running to escape, their bible or large forms stumbling as they abandoned their market territory in fear

What could have made this roar? Was it a dragon, the apex predator? Was it an angry god, the ultimate life form? Was it a demon, an ultimate evil? The real answer was rather disappointing compared to these three because, in a small clearing in the forest, there rested the answer surrounded by destroyed nature

It was a man, pale as snow and thin as a twig with hair looking as if it had been plunged into bleach till all that remained was an almost blinding white nowhere near as perfect or pure as snow. He sat with his back hunched over, knees digging into the ash remains of the once pure land, head bowed as if in prayer or subservience if it wasn't for the fact his eyes were open and starring blankly ahead, their amber-like colour turned a dull orange

The man shifted as a piece of loose ash flew into his face, eyes blinking rapidly as if awakening from a deep, deep sleep. It took a few moments for a spark of life to reenter his eyes at which point he lifted his head and gazed at the surrounding area with a confused blink, his gaunt face making his bewildered expression all the more confused

"Where... am I?" The man voiced his confusion as he tried to understand where he was and how he got there. His voice was surprisingly deep from his skinny frame but not deep enough to be disconcerting. He tried to remember how he ended up in this strange place, surrounded by a perfect circle of ash that ended with a breathtakingly beautiful forest with green leaves and blossoming flowers, but he couldn't find any memories relating to this place

His brows furrowed in confusion when he realised this and so he tried to think back further till before his memories cut out but found he couldn't remember anything past his own name, not even his parents or place of birth. Everything else was just... blank, not as if it had been removed but as if it had never existed before leaving him solely as... Y/N

"Y/N huh? I know that to be my name, but who gave it to me?" He had no recollection of a mother or father, no memories of friends or loved ones yet he knew what they were, he knew what the words meant and understood the emotions that should have been associated with them yet he felt nothing as he thought it over. He felt no joy or sadness, no anger or calm. he didn't even feel lonely, the missing void of a loved one non-existent in his heart

Y/N, for that, was the name he remembered, pushed himself off the ashen ground and rose to his own two feet, stumbling slightly as his weak legs almost gave out under him, but he managed to catch himself before reuniting with the grey ground. With this, he revealed his true height which was far taller than a man of his size should be, or at least he thought so as somewhere in the back of his head he realised himself to be well over 6 feet... for whatever reason that was important

Looking down on himself he felt a slight amount of disgust over his thing and pale body, the skin almost translucent revealing the veins underneath as they seemed to crawl over his visible bones such as vines would a tree. He also managed to catch a glimpse of his hair, being just long enough to enter his field of view but not brush up against his eyes

He could tell that this was most definitely his own body despite its horrid state of weakness but something felt missing, and not just the muscle mass he should have as a functioning person but something deeper, like an organ or something similar was present but not working as it should have

Choosing to ignore the strange feeling of inadequacy he instead turned his attention to the surrounding world beyond just the pretty colours and dull grey ash he was surrounded by. The sky above was clear with not a cloud in sight and the sun beaming down directly from above like some kind of deadly laser... why did he feel the urge to laugh at that part? Continuing on, the trees surrounding him of the oak variety with their branches reaching out to create a canopy that protected the unbelievable beauty beneath

*GRRRRRRRR*

Until that beauty was interrupted by a shadow figure, one Y/N could barely make out, stalking through the underbrush. Its form was large, taller than even himself and its size was most definitely larger than his own. He couldn't make out its exact shape but he could see the dark brown fur that covered whatever was stalking him's body

What Y/N didn't realise was that his primal roar from earlier is that, while it had scared off every mundane creature in the forest, it hadn't scared off the apex, those animals that were closer to monsters that stalked their territories with killing intent, and he had just woken up inside of one of the more dangerous ones

Y/N realised the danger of the situation nearly instantly. He didn't know what was stalking him or why it was coming for what was essentially a skin bag of bones but he knew it was dangerous if it was such a large creature, just as well as realising he was completely unarmed with no weapons or clothes, let alone armour. yes, he was naked and afraid in a forest being stalked by a creature so large it must've been a monster

"Brilliant... at least it can't get worse."

It was here that Y/N learnt a very important lesson... don't jinx yourself

A pair of burning blue eyes exited the brush, embedded in the skull of a monster, its mouth open as drool leaked from its snarled lips. Worst of all? A blue fire seemed to be billowing at the back of its throat

"... I hate myself."