A wild, ferocious river raged through the lands, destroying anything and everything in its path, one of such things was a rather large black bird.
..
.
'Shit!'
The water was as cold as ice, stealing the breath from her body like a merciless predator tightening its grip. Kristen flailed her body wildly to catch a breath but every time she got close to the surface she was brutally shoved back down by the current.
"umph!"
It was unforgiving and cruel, never giving a moment of peace.
She pushed hard to make it to the top but her time was starting to run out.
Then her lungs began to burn.
'Don't breathe in. Don't-'
The reflex hit anyway.
Water invaded her mouth and nose, the change in temperature halting her movements. Her body convulsed from it, desperately trying to get rid of the problem.
'HELP!'
She tried to cough but there was nothing to cough out, only more water to rush in, dizziness took over her mind, delaying her actions and making her sink further down.
Looking up at the night sky in her position felt almost surreal, the twinkling stars urging her to get up.
'Gotta keep going.
'Wait what?'
The world went quiet.
Not silent, just a thickness she couldn't quite place. The distant roar of the river dulled into a low hum, like she was listening through walls. Her vision narrowing, darkness creeping in from the edges.
The light of the stars above her eyes wavered, blurred by the sting of the lack of air.
'NO! HELL NO'
Giving one final push she kicked the ground once, nothing happened, twice, her claw hit something solid.
It was the riverbed.
'what is this shit made of?'
Latching onto it with a mixture of desperation and perseverance she trudged through the sand and made her way to the edge of the river, it stubbornly fighting her the whole time.
Once she got close enough she gripped the ground tightly and pushed off with all her might, shooting through the water and out of the air like a rocket.
Air.
It felt horrible and amazing at the same time.
It tore into her lungs like fire.
It brought hope to her mind.
She coughed violently, clinging to the ground as if it were the last hope, hacking up a storm while water poured out of her beak.
The world sounded too loud now.
The rush of water, the sound of her own ragged breathing and the wind whipping around her.
Her body shook so badly she could barely hold herself up.
By the time she finally crawled away from the river over 20 minutes had passed, she laid there on her back, staring at the stars and moon.
It looked completely the same.
That felt absurd.
'Oh what the hell.'
As she lay there on her back, continuously coughing up water, her battered body aching and her left wing screaming in pain from the crack in its bone. Every breath felt like torture, and she would treasure each one.
After sitting there for a few minutes just processing what just happened, she got up and made her way to a nearby bush, knowing now that the night is still very dangerous.
Making the space as comfy as possible, Kristen sat down and pondered her next moves.
'I can't fly anymore because my wings are broken so that means that I have to stay here for the next few days. How will I eat? OH! I can just eat some berries or something, maybe it will give me some buffs as well.'
Feeling satisfied with her plan to temporarily become a herbivore she tried to go to sleep but wasn't able to get a wink.
'Who-who's there?'
So instead she had to look into the dark, feeling watched at every angle.
'I'VE GOT A KNIFE! SO GO AWAY!'
Closing her eyes was worse, however, because then she didn't know if someone come out of the darkness. That was what scared her the most.
Soon the night turned to day and scared away all the prying eyes that Kristen felt.
I quickly moved away from my hiding spot and walked stealthily throughout the woods, stomach rumbling for breakfast.
Every twist and turn was a chance to run into a predator, yet she was on full alert and dodged all of them.
Surprisingly, she didn't find anything after almost 2 hours of searching.
'Where the fuck is all the food, like seriously'
Giving up on the endeavour she started to walk home and was met with a black, ominous bush. The surrounding life was all grey and seemed to be withering away, creating a halo of death around it.
'....ew'
A slight breeze brushed past her feathers, urging her to take a step forward.
She tentatively took a few paces forward and took a closer look at the plant.
[Blackthorn Briar Bush]
Description: A bush that grows malicious pitchberries. It is recommended to keep your distance as the berries are extremely unpleasant.
'Wait don't I need five of them to evolve? But they're kinda gross...whatever, just rip the bandaid off.'
MUNCH!
A reckless impulse made her lunge forward and scoop some of the berries of the bushes leaves.
'oh'
It tasted like honey.
At first nothing happened, but then a growing feeling of nothingness grew in her chest, taking over her senses and causing her to stumble backwards in fear.
'The fuck!?!'
And then it disappeared, leaving as quickly as it came.
'Just four more times, it's basically nothing.'
Shaking, Kristen swept 4 more berries off the bush and shoved them in her mouth. The feeling came back four times as strong, almost pulling her under before leaving.
UGH!
Kristen wiped her mouth with a trembling wing.
Her lips were stained red.
Walking back to her hideout the night came faster than usual and under the moonlight Kristen felt something changing inside, something fundamental to her existence.
She took a look at her status window and was shocked at what she saw.
She was evolving.