I narrowed my eyes as I took in my surroundings once more
I was surrounded by dense vegetation, the towering trees blocking out the sun.
The plants didn't match any memories from either of my lives either.
Warped and talon like fruits hung from the trees like ornaments, some of these fruits dotted the forest floor.
There were no paths in front of me, no signs of civilization aside from the clothes on my back and the corpses that littered the forest floor.
I stood for a moment and listened, trying to figure out what manner of creature might possibly infest this mysterious forest. The trees rustled, the chirping of birds and the sounds of life absent.
'Odd' I thought
The song of the forest was disturbingly muted, nothing aside from the rustling of leaves and the gentle hum of the wind could be heard.
I scanned the corpses in front of me and to my delight, the deceased were armed.
A few short swords, bows, and spears laid beside their previous owners.
'They were killed before they could put up a fight.' I mused, my gaze sharpening.
My senses, honed over the centuries, were ringing in alarm.
My intuition was buzzing with unease.
I strolled over to the bodies and grabbed 4 short swords.
My swordsmanship was not fit for the body of a sword expert, the volume of my sword aura and my glaring lack of stars couldn't sustain the weight of my sentiment, much less the power of my imagery.
I couldn't guess what kind of enemies I would fight in this quiet forest, but I was certain that if I was forced into combat, the swords I pilfered wouldn't be able to withstand even expert level aura. They would act as mere aura grenades, the steel of the swords chipped, lacking the normal sheen of metal.
Clearly, they were not maintained properly.
I started to walk around the forest, the lack of life becoming more and more apparent.
There were no birds in the trees.
There were no insects populating the earth, not a single living creature in sight.
Yet, the forest thrummed with disturbing vitality.
I traversed the forest, in search of a water source, a necessity considering my now mortal body.
Right now I could subsidize food with the light of my lone star, something I had often done as a transcendent, but with only one star I couldn't last more than 3 days.
It would've been different in the battlefield of stars, transcendent star light illuminated that entire plane, making it easy to go decades without food or drink.
****
By the time the sun had set, I had settled next to a creek, the running water chugging along the glimmering rocks.
I had set a small fire with my sword aura for warmth in the pitch black of the night.
Manifesting the only remaining star of my grand constellation, I basked in its celestial light for a short while, anchoring myself with the weight of my story.
In its glow I reflected on my situation once more.
This forest was an anomaly to me.
It was disturbingly empty, the only signs of life existing here being the corpses I found earlier.
There were no signs of scavengers, no predators, there weren't even signs of animal life here.
The corpses from before were clearly ripped apart by something, but the grass near the dead was devoid of any signs of conflict.
The ground hadn't been disturbed in the slightest, meaning that nothing had stepped on the grass while reaping their lives, maybe it was an ambush from the trees or some flying creature had killed them.
The glaring lack of anything that indicated a struggle told me that they had either been caught unaware, killed before they could react, or immobilized while something had stolen their lives.
I wasn't able to glean much from their clothes, the garments being shredded and drenched in the blood of its wearers, but I was able to deduce that it seemed to be made of cotton, a different material from mine, probably due to some sort of class divide.
Perhaps those corpses had once been the bodyguards of the body I am inhabiting, perishing in a futile effort to preserve my life.
There were too many unsolved mysteries, and frankly, not enough clues to begin to formulate any answers.
'Not much I can do right now' I thought with a sigh
My body was protesting, demanding that I rest, and I complied.
I nestled myself against a tree and smothered the fire.
Taking one last look at the starless inky black tapestry of the night, I shut my eyes in anticipation of rest.
It wasn't even 3 hours later that I was woken up by a roar that shook the earth.