When the boy opened his eyes, he was falling.
Not down to a place he knew and not through a sky that made sense.
He was falling sprawled out like he had been pushed off of a cliff. With his back facing the water, he looked around and saw a strange sight.
Thousands of bodies tumbled alongside him, coats and clothes ripped, a few were screaming, others silent.
Some hit the crimson-stained ocean below and never came back up. Others were above him and still falling. They twisted helplessly across the sky, wind ripping past them like a blade. What the hell, where am I? In fact, who am I?
He tried to remember why he was falling or what was happening, but when he searched his mind… nothing came. No name. No explanation. Only instinct, like his body had an idea but not his mind. He noticed he was getting closer and closer to impact with the sea. He instinctively took a deep breath and repositioned himself from his sprawl to a narrow vertical position. Preparing himself for the first impact into the world of unknowns.
With a chilling splash he landed into the water. It was cold, black, and vast. Massive waves slammed into him like the world itself had turned its fist against him. He tumbled beneath the surface, lungs burning, limbs flailing against the current. As he was struggling under the water he noticed something. He stopped his thrashing and looked down.
Something beneath him stirred.
He kicked and swam upwards, broke the surface, and coughed salt and blood into the night sky. Around him, the others were sparse and scattered. A handful were clinging to driftwood, while most of them were floating like broken dolls. Many dead bodies also floated in the waters alongside them. I guess they didn't survive the fall. He shivered thinking about it and pushed it aside in his mind, he had more important things to worry about other than someone else's life.
His hands found something solid, a chunk of debris to cling to. Subsequently he pulled himself onto it. His heart was beating like a drum. The boy didn't remember anything about himself. Not his name. Not his past. Nothing. He only knew one thing and had only one plan: live. Whatever came next, he would live.
He got comfortable and continued to float around on his debris, and after taking a moment just to catch his breath he decided to survey his surroundings.
It was a vast ocean with waves rippling throughout. The waters were a bright red. The sky was dark and filled with clouds, each fluffier than the last. As he was staring up he noticed some people were still falling. They were plummeting out of a massive rift. The rift was a glowing spark in the middle of the sky. In a way it looked like a scar on the heavens.
Watching them fall was mesmerizing. He sighed and turned to study some of the people he was around. If he could understand them then maybe it could better his survival odds.
He watched a group of people who had just crashed into the water pull themselves out and lay on a big piece of wood. He turned again and watched as two girls floated along. They were kicking their legs hard trying to keep their heads above the water. He continued to study others from his tiny piece of debris for a while, until he heard the sound of screaming. His head snapped around to see where it came from, then—he saw it.
A beast erupted from the water in an instant and dashed towards, from what he could count in the dark, about 5 people who were frantically splashing in the water. He watched in horror as they could barely even look up before they were gone. With his face turning pale he could only think. He didn't remember much about himself but he was sure he had never seen such a creature in his life. What the hell was that thing?
It didn't take long for him to get an answer, as the beast arose from the waters once more. It scanned its surroundings, looking for its next snack. He could finally get a good look at it.
The first thing he noticed was the beasts massive size. He could remember how to measure and he knew just by looking that even just the part of it that was out of the water was at least 50 meters tall. Its size was incomparable to him.
It's like a Leviathan, yah Leviathan, that's a good name for it.
Not only was The Leviathan utterly gigantic as he studied it he noticed how serpent-like it looked as well. Its body was colossal but slender and only its head and a bit of its neck was out of the water. Most of its body was underneath and spread throughout the whole ocean. It had eyes that seemed to hunger for death as it searched for its next kill, until it locked its eyes on something.
In a flash, it lunged at the group sitting on the piece of wood and between its massive jaws they vanished as it burrowed through the ocean. At this second attack, panic erupted as everyone began trying to swim away. The boy watched as everyone swam in a mob of fear, each person clinging on the instinct of survival. The Leviathan let out a blood curdling shriek that shook the waves. The sound was so loud and wretched that anyone who heard it would soon find their ears bleeding. People gripped their ears in pain as blood dripped down into the ocean.
The beast after smelling the blood grew ravenous and even hungrier. It bared its sharp teeth then it began to feast. It would swallow some people whole as it crashed into them with its great jaws. Others, It would inhale like a gargantuan vacuum. It even picked off some poor stragglers who were still falling from the rift. It was a horrifying sight as the great serpent continued to slaughter and devour all who it could catch. The red ocean's shade began to change into deeper darker red as blood filled the waters. The boy knew he needed to at least try and escape the titan even if it was hopeless. So he inched his way to the back of the hard piece of debris and began quickly kicking his feet as hard as he could. He had to fight the waves to have any chance of moving the makeshift raft , but this caught the attention of the great serpent. It quickly snapped its head and rushed the boy in a rage.
The boy looked behind him and saw The Leviathan barreling towards him. He knew he had no chance of out pacing it so he abandoned his debris and tried to duck under the water to hide himself from the The Leviathan's hellish gaze.
It was to no avail, as The Leviathan let out another shriek and threw itself towards the boy. The boy narrowly evaded the colossal monster by swimming to the side of its head as it crashed into the sea. The waves sent a shockwave through the whole ocean. The boy was sent flying by the force alone.
He crashed into the water a kilometer away from where he had been. His ribs shattering from the impact alone. Blood spilled uncontrollably from his mouth. The Leviathan dashed at him again.
The boy couldn't react as he entered a coughing fit with blood flying out of his mouth. The Leviathan closed in on him once more. This time it connected and hit the boy like a freight train and he was hurled into the sea.
Water filled his lungs as he sank lower and lower. His body felt weak and his mind became fuzzy. He was alone with his thoughts as the darkness of the ocean covered him. No I can't—I can't die like this. I don't even know who I am, or where I am from. I can't really die here without answers.
If he wasn't surrounded by water he was sure tears would be falling. Swimming was no longer an option because he was much too weak right now. He had completely broken his ribs and could not manage to even move. He only fell deeper into the depths below as his insides began to fill with water.
From his slowly fading vision he could faintly see bodies above him swimming in a panic. Now that he was under the water he could see more of The Leviathans' long body. It was obviously long but also slimy like an eel. In the distance he could make out a strange object in the water that seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. Then the last of his strength left him as his vision faded slowly to black.
***
When the boy awoke again he was still in the water, but he was moving. His head was hurting and his brain was just waking up. What the hell happened?
As he regained full consciousness he realized he was being was carried by someone. He turned to face the mystery person who had him slung over their back as they swam. Who the hell is this?
He got ready to ask but when he opened his mouth all that came out was a mixture of blood and water. He shivered.
The person carrying him noticed his movements and looked back with a smile as he continued to swim.
"Hey, you're finally awake!"
Now that they were facing him the boy studied the face of the person carrying him. He was a dark-skinned boy with a scratched up face, possibly from the fall. His long black hair was twisted into locks. He had no shirt on and wore baggy sweatpants. When the boy looked down he noticed a hoodie wrapped around his waist . He was clearly strong as well with plenty of muscle mass and definition across his body . He is carrying me while swimming like it's easy.
The boy thought sternly for a moment and decided to ask
"What happened? Do you remember anything? Where is The Leviathan, Why did we fall? Who am I?"
The dark skinned boy looked at him with a bewildered face. Then stopped swimming for a moment and let out a laugh.
"Woah dude, I don't know much more then you do," he said as he slowly moved the boy off his shoulders. " Look, I fell out of the sky like I assume you did, and I don't remember anything about myself either."
The dark skinned boy stared blankly for a moment as if he were pondering something, then he continued.
"I just saw you get flung away by that giant sea creature, I mean I just landed here yet I have already seen many people die just by the hands of that monster. I didn't want to see it kill someone else."
The boy looked at the dark-skinned boy with confusion. The boy didn't understand why he had gone through the trouble to save him. If I was in that situation I would've left me to die. He began to study the dark-skinned boy trying to make sense of him but then the boy's confusion was replaced by surprise. He had finally noticed something about the dark-skinned boy facing him. He looked down at his left arm then looked back at the dark-skinned boy.
"Wh-Where is your left arm?"
The dark-skinned boy opened his mouth to answer before a familiar screech echoed through the sea. Instead of speaking he hoisted the boy onto his right shoulder and went back to swimming.
"I can swim by myself y'know," the boy grunted, but as soon as he spoke blood spurted from his lips.
"You were about to drown when I came, in fact you were unconscious, that monster really got you good," the dark skinned boy spoke as he continued to swim, "You are in no shape to keep swimming, the impact must have broken your ribs."
The screeching faded behind them, swallowed by the waves. The water grew calmer. Too calm.
At last, the dark-skinned boy slowed and pulled them toward something massive drifting in the sea. It wasn't debris—not really. It was organic, some sort of old shell floating through the water. It was rough and scarred.
The boy was laid atop it, chest heaving, ribs screaming with every breath.
"We'll rest here," the other boy said quietly. "Just for a minute."
The boy nodded weakly, staring up at the dark sky. He laid down and took a deep painful breath as he watched the rift spit out the last people and then close.
"I guess we are stuck here."
The dark-skinned boy nodded and laid next to him as the night grew completely dark.
"Keep watch, The Leviathan is still on the hunt."