[Way Out of Milliways: Pressing on]
Sep. 7th, 2005 10:52 pmHell's bigger than she expected it to be.
On reflection, it was idiotic of her not to expect this - it's a hell dimension, after all, not a hell county or a hell district. Mel has an entire world to find an amulet in, with no way of knowing how far she has to go. All she has is a direction, so that's the direction she takes.
The strange ambient light in this world never varies. No sun moves through the red sky. Mel sleeps when she just can't keep her eyes open. The first time she did this, she was attacked in the middle of REM sleep by tiny but vicious demons. She woke in a second and finished them off, but since then, having seen other inhabitants of this world, she digs herself into a hole, or shelters in a cave. Best to play it safe, and even then, she manages to sustain injuries as fast as she heals, and considers it a good day when the pain's only an ache.
At first, she tried to count sleep cycles to keep track of time, but gave up on that a while ago. She now has no idea how long it's been since she last saw her brother - a week? a month? Longer?
Occasionally, even in Hell, Mel finds a spring or a pool and can top up her water supplies, although she still has some of Hank's packets for emergencies. What she'll do when the food runs out, she doesn't know - or at least, doesn't want to think about.
Mel presses on.
On reflection, it was idiotic of her not to expect this - it's a hell dimension, after all, not a hell county or a hell district. Mel has an entire world to find an amulet in, with no way of knowing how far she has to go. All she has is a direction, so that's the direction she takes.
The strange ambient light in this world never varies. No sun moves through the red sky. Mel sleeps when she just can't keep her eyes open. The first time she did this, she was attacked in the middle of REM sleep by tiny but vicious demons. She woke in a second and finished them off, but since then, having seen other inhabitants of this world, she digs herself into a hole, or shelters in a cave. Best to play it safe, and even then, she manages to sustain injuries as fast as she heals, and considers it a good day when the pain's only an ache.
At first, she tried to count sleep cycles to keep track of time, but gave up on that a while ago. She now has no idea how long it's been since she last saw her brother - a week? a month? Longer?
Occasionally, even in Hell, Mel finds a spring or a pool and can top up her water supplies, although she still has some of Hank's packets for emergencies. What she'll do when the food runs out, she doesn't know - or at least, doesn't want to think about.
Mel presses on.