When Ethan hopped onto the window, a vast ocean spread out before him.
Rising slowly, waves slid forward then softened into the edge of land. Light from the moon painted a wavy path across the surface, vanishing where sea meets horizon. Far up, tiny points of light blinked through the dark, sharp and clear like glass bits tossed wide.
For a moment, Ethan simply stared at the ocean.
So the cabin was on the beach.
"Wow," Ethan said, his voice filling the quiet room.
But what came out was only a squeak.
"Squeak."
Ethan barely noticed but out there, beyond the edge, everything pulled his eyes away. A breeze moved through, sharp and clean, with only a hint of sea tucked inside.
Fresh air filled his lungs before he jumped through the frame.
Down he went, the drop from the window to the sandy patch was shorter than it looked. Touching down, his tiny frame settled softly, feet pressing into the warm grains beneath.
The moment his paws touched the ground - everything changed.
The chill that hung in the dark disappeared.
The moonlight disappeared.
Sunlight spilled over everything from high up.
Ethan froze.
Underfoot, the ground grew coarse, its color deepening into dull gray. Now there were whispers in the air instead of waves, strange noises from unseen places. Light moved fast across the shapes around him, sharp and intense, nothing like the soft glow he knew.
His eyes rose first, then the rest followed slowly. The weight of his neck gave way at last.
A flash of light, bold and clear, floated above - filling every corner with morning glow.
The beach was gone and its place now stood a forest.
Towering trees stood close on every side, their wide columns climbing high while sheets of foliage cut up the view above. Light from the sun slipped between branches now and then, spotting clumps of soft moss, twisted roots, and bumpy soil below. Heat hung in the space, thick enough to feel, carrying a deep smell of dirt and growing things.
Ethan stared, voice flat.
"WHAT...THE...HELL."
A gap appeared between his lips while eyes jumped, never settling. What moved in the corners seemed to catch him each time.
Ethan felt fear grab his heart.
The space sat empty, quiet under thick branches. Nothing marked what once stood there. Roots twisted through soil where walls used to rise.
Outside, everything felt rearranged - like reality reset the second his foot hit the ground.
It made no sense to Ethan.
A shiver ran down his spine when the trees rustled without warning. Above, a bird shrieked sharply into the quiet. From the bushes close by came a quick scramble of paws on leaves. His muscles locked tight each time noise broke the stillness.
It was dangerous.
Trees stood around him, deep within their shadowed reach.
And he was a rabbit.
He'd be dinner in any animal's eyes around these parts.
"It's like the world wants me dead," Ethan thought, his chest tightening.
"I have to get out of this place," he told himself. "Or I will die."
Fear hit fast, cutting through like glass.
Forward he jumped, stumbling fast through the undergrowth, eyes darting for breaks in the trees, gaps in the brush - anything to mark a way out. To wait meant risk, and risk smelled too much like ending.
As he moved, a strange sensation crept over him.
Recognition.
Each time he glanced at the trees, recognition tugged at his thoughts. Between them stood space just like before. Ground dipped exactly as it had back then. Light slipped down through branches in a pattern burned into memory.
He slowed.
For a second, his breath caught in his chest.
"…I've been here before," Ethan realized.
Now he stood still, eyes scanning slow, fear replaced by something sharper.
"This forest…"
His thoughts raced.
"This looks like Eros Forest."
Something about that word stayed with him, sharp, impossible to ignore.
Ethan didn't just play Blizzard Online - he lived it. Day after day shaped his rhythm around it. Inside that world, everything felt familiar - every monster's growl, every twist in the map. Quests unfolded like old stories he'd heard too many times. Hidden paths? He found them before most even looked.
Fully, it sank in.
Certainty replaced doubt.
A grin tugged at Ethan's whiskers - first time since waking up as a rabbit here. His fur bristled slightly, not from cold, but something warmer. The sun hit his nose just right, making him blink slow.
A weight lifted from his chest. Quiet filled the space where worry had been.
He was in Blizzard Online.
His favorite game.
A spark lit deep within, shoving the worry away. Fast beats thudded in his chest - this time fueled by what might come, not dread.
"I'm really here," Ethan thought.
A moment later, a new idea appeared.
"I can see Rivera."
A quiet glow settled inside his chest just thinking about it. Rivera Dalmenton - no longer a character on a screen, no longer lines of dialogue and scripted movements. She was real here.
"New Goal," Ethan remarked with a grin.
He stood upright on his hind legs and raised one of his paws into the air.
"I will find Rivera Dalmenton."
Out loud, the sounds were just eager squeaks - still, none of that changed the truth behind them.
The idea of finding a way back home left Ethan's mind. Staying made sense - this place felt like home. A space where everything just clicked. Where he finally belonged.
Fragile as it was, he gave little thought to his own body.
All he thought about was Rivera.
"Okay," Ethan told himself, forcing his excitement to settle. "Think..."
If this was Eros Forest, then the geography hadn't changed. The paths were familiar. He had traveled through here countless times.
"Vardina Village is north," he remembered.
"So if I go straight ahead…"
He angled toward the northern path, leaping ahead without hesitation.
Far beyond where he stood, trees crowded together, their tops letting light slip through in patches. Something shifted underbrush - quiet, just out of sight.
But Ethan didn't hesitate.
With one clear thought in his mind, he continued deeper into Eros Forest.
I'll find Rivera.
And with that belief guiding him, he moved north toward Vardina Village.