Gasp
Claus's eyes shoot open. He's laying down on dirt, surrounded by a lush green forest. The bright sun's rays ripple beautifully between the countless leaves of the giant trees.
"The fuck..."
Claus slowly sits up straight, grunting from the pain in his back and the burning scars around his body. His eyes scan around, taking in the unfamiliar environment before falling back down to his own body. It feels heavy...
How long has it been? Where is he? What happened after the... Wait, how did he even get here? Why isn't he in the lab? He doesn't really remember much. But it doesn't matter anyways, his life is possibly in danger and his mind can't focus on much else but surviving.
He tries to stand up, only to stumble on his feet and fall back down
"Shit... Where am i?"
He grabs a branch, steadying himself on his feet. Everything hurts. He's naked. His throat's parched and he's hungry. "This couldn't get worse" He thinks as he starts to slowly walk in a random direction.
As Claus walks through the dense forest, he looks around for any fruits he can eat. He spots a bush covered with... purple berries? They don't look much like berries, too big and weird shaped to be called that.
"What the hell is this..?" He says as he reaches out to grab one and pluck off. But before he can touch the bush, a thorn spikes at his hand.
"Whoa!" Claus manages to jerk his hand away before the sharp, sturdy thorn can pierce his hand. His eyes widen, looking at the squirming thorn coming out of the berry bush.
"What the fuck!?" He says, stepping back. "What is this thing? I don't remember seeing anything like this..."
Claus's heart calms down as the bush's thorn gets pulled back.
He lets out a deep breath, changing his direction as he keeps walking. What was this place? What kind of a strange plant was that? And why was his mind so foggy?
As he continues walking, he pushes through the dense forest slowly, listening for any sounds of running water while avoiding any plants with fruits on them. And soon, he sees light. The trees thin out and he stumbles forward, stepping onto open land.
Before him stretches a vast, rolling field of green. A wide, endless field with emerald grass rippling across the land, gently swaying to the rhythm of the wind.
In the distance; specks of white, yellow and red dot the field like scattered stars.
For the first time since waking up, Claus breathes. The suffocating, gloomy atmosphere of the dense forest is replaced by a vast freedom.
As he gazes at the beautiful sight with a subconscious grin on his face, his mind wanders to the warzones he grew up in. The dark, cloudy skies swarmed with war planes. The screams of men, dying left and right without an end. The blood on his hands...
And for the first time in what feels like years, Claus's mind relaxes. The peaceful sight of the vast plains fill him with peace and newfound determination.
He takes a deep breath in, chuckling dryly.
"Hah... What is this place? Am i in Sweden or something?"
He says before looking up at the bright sky, his gaze following the soft clouds only for his breath to get stuck in his throat.
His heart pounds against his ribs. His limbs go rigid.
Looming in the sky are two colossal celestial bodies. Moons. Not one, but two. Their scarred surfaces stretch wide, their cratered landscapes far too detailed—far too close.
Encircling each moon are two perfect rings, glowing faintly even in the daylight, their edges shimmering with an almost ethereal light. The sight is breathtaking.
Any yet, it is profoundly wrong. Impossible.
"W-What the... WHAT IS THAT!?" Claus shouts, his panicked voice breaking through the vast silence of the plains.
The earth -his earth- that Claus was born in, raised for years only had one moon. A small moon, brightening up the dark night sky beautifully. That was a fact, unchanging and absolute.
But what he was seeing right now defied all of Claus's logic. He was a scientist, which made him even more terrified.
Were those even moons? No—planets. They were too big. Their presence should be wreaking havoc on the tides, tearing apart the very crust of the world beneath his feet.
And yet, the land is still... The air is calm.
But that didn't matter right now. This shattered the knowledge of Earth that Claus knew all of his life.
Unless... this place wasn't the earth he knew...
"This place... Isn't Earth..." Claus mutters, the words slipping out subconsciously. As the realization of the impossible fantasy sinks in, his thoughts grind to a halt. His mind goes blank.
Is it even possible? Another world... a whole different planet...
Claus takes another look up at the sky, just to make sure. Yup, the giant moons are still there, shimmering in their glory.
He thinks back to all those bizarre plants, the weird insects he saw on the way. It all checks out...
"This place... Another world... Hah..."
Claus's lips curl into a soft grin. He lets out a soft chuckle, then another. Until suddenly-
"Haha... HAHAHA!"
He throws his head back, opening his arms and embracing the beautiful scenery and the fresh air, the mystical world around him.
"No way! Haha! Albert would be thrilled!" He says as he laughs his heart out like a madman. His laughter echoes across the vast plains as he spins around himself, looking all around as the realization settles in.
He collapses onto the grass after tripping, laying on his back. He lets out a few last chuckles before letting out a sigh, his chest rising and falling as he looks up at the sky with a smile.
Claus doesn't even bother to think how he came here right now. He's still naked, hungry, thirsty and his scarred body is hurting. But he doesn't care. All that matters right now is that he's far, far away from war. In a new world, a world more beautiful than his.
With newfound determination to survive, Claus stands up. He looks around, his eyes searching the fields for a path, a trail of any sorts to follow. And before long, he spots a small house on the side of a hill far away.
With a silly smile plastered onto his face, he decides to go there and perhaps find someone to help him. But he stops in his tracks when he realizes that just appearing out of nowhere in someone's house all naked would be weird and scary.
So he gathers up some leaves, crafts makeshift clothes to cover himself and starts walking toward the small cottage.