Into the Unknown

A harsh cough brings a hunter back to consciousness from the void of a dreamless sleep. He holds a hand to his throat as it's cleared of obstructive fluids, as if he could coax more water out of his lungs with his own handiwork. In doing so he feels a strange surface beneath his prone form, pliant to the pressure of his weight and composed of millions upon millions of coarse particulates. In his groggy, recently awakened state, he has trouble understanding the nature of his new environment, let alone how he arrived in this place.

The last thing he remembers is a journey on a raft across what seemed to be an endless expanse of water; a foolhardy attempt to find more resources for a starving, weakened tribe. Beset by raiders and rival clans alike, they were low on supplies and could not find any hunting opportunities on land. So, the hunter took to the sea, to plunder the bounty of the waters beyond their reach and to find a potential new homeland beyond the horizon. He was young and ambitious, eager to prove his worth to his people and bring prosperity to the friends and family he cared for. Unfortunately, he was also inexperienced in the art of aquatic traversal, setting out from his home with naught but his hunting gear and a meager sampling of food to sustain himself for his travels. He did not know the true nature of the ocean's wrath, nor the telltale signs of a storm on the horizon.

Now, after the whims of weather had torn his vessel asunder and washed him up onto unknown shores, he finds himself awake at last. He shakily rises to his feet, the sand beneath him making his steps all the more unsteady as he takes a look at his surroundings. While his home had been stripped of its beauty by greed and desperation, this coastline had been blessed by the verdant growth of nature unbound. Before him, he can see luscious plant life and a sprawling jungle, protected by thick underbrush and towering trees whose leaves calmly sway in the breeze. He can't see too far into these strange lands due to the density of this natural display, but he can't help shaking the feeling that something was watching him. His senses may still be a bit amiss after his awakening, however, as he fails to realize the threat he perceives comes from behind.

Behind him, the sands shift and shudder as a massive form starts to rise from beneath them. The softness of the particulates is replaced by a hardened carapace, propelled out of its hiding place by several scuttling appendages below. An enormous crustacean, a crab far larger than any the hunter had ever caught had been lying in wait, perhaps curious to see if he was another piece of detritus from the destroyed raft that carried him here before making its move. The hunter has mere moments to perceive the new presence behind him as he leaps out of the way, the danger shaking him out of his groggy state and giving him just enough strength to call his limbs to action. He gives a quick glance at the shoreline for any of the equipment he had brought on this journey, hopeful that it may have washed up alongside him to this strange place, but found no weapon to aid him. The crab's claws swing through the air as it attempts to grab the hunter, hoping to make a delectable meal out of the man. He grabs the only form of defense he can think of on this beach, a particularly pointed rock, and swings it against the fearsome pincers only for it to bounce off of the creature's natural armor. He continues to evade the creature's grasp as long as his legs would support him, swinging desperately at its joints and limbs in hopes of exploiting any kind of weak point it may have. The hunter just barely manages to make one of its knees buckle from a strike before he loses his footing, falling backward onto the sand. The craven crustacean makes a shrieking sound from the pain of the impact before swinging both of its weapons toward the fallen human.

As the hunter closes his eyes in anticipation of the pincers tearing him apart, he realizes that he feels no pain. The end of his life does not come even as he hears a crunching sound before him. Curious, he opens his eyes to perceive what might have helped him evade the clutches of death and sees something he heretofore could not have foreseen. Standing atop the newly cracked and shattered carapace of this massive crab is an immense, imposing figure. While it stands like a human, it had none of the features associated with humanity. Where there should have been skin and hair, there are colorful scales and spiky protrusions, and sharpened claws took the place of fingers and toes, with one particularly large talon on each foot tapping on the surface beneath them. A long tail flows out and whips through the air behind it and its head resembles that of some strange combination of lizard and bird in shape. Its muscular physique is adorned by the bones of all sorts of unknown beasts, trophies of previous conquests made into makeshift armor. All in all, what stood before the young human was a warrior like none he had ever known in his homelands. Was this the norm of this new land, or was this a unique beast unto itself?

While he finds himself lost in thoughts and staring in awe at this strange reptilian, he eventually snaps out of his daze upon realizing that his savior was staring down at him. The piercing red eyes glare at him with a combination of caution and curiosity as one of its talons digs a piece of the crab's flesh out of its broken backside. After a moment of consideration, the beast kicks the chunk in the man's direction before hopping off of the carapace. As he hastily catches the seafood in his hands, the rescuing reptile grabs the crustacean by the claw and starts dragging it inland to the jungle. Before delving into the depths of the vegetation, it gives a passing glance toward the human, as if posing the question, "Are you coming?" He takes a moment before rising to his feet once again, now pursuing this strange new companion into the unknown. What lay ahead of him in this path with this bizarre warrior, he can only imagine... but it's surely better than being prey to whatever else lay in wait on this beach.