The first thing Reek heard was the sloshing of the waves and the howling of wind as he plummeted into the shimmering blue water. It was startling, and not just because it was the first sound he'd heard in who knew how long. The water itself wasn't much issue to him, though it was cold enough to make him want to curl up into a ball. The biggest problem was his neighbors. In the few seconds that passed between Reek being freed from the ice and falling into the ocean, hundreds if not thousands of creatures from all twelve kingdoms spewed forth from the misty corpse of the once great iceberg that imprisoned all of them. Wyverns from Morvelek's brood, puechens and atatoli from Queztocoatl's kingdom, and even a few other worms and slugs from Reek's own home city. As far as he was concerned, though, they could all get eaten by a bregdi.
Reek's first instinct was to run, run far away from the rest of those beasts, but every time he broke the sea's surface, he would be swarmed by flying creatures of all shapes and sizes. The water wasn't any better either. Bregdi the size of galleons cruised through the water, while hundreds of brittle stars, moha-moha and other watery creatures swam in every direction. The water surrounding the ice was soon tinted red with the viscera of countless casualties and half eaten bodies, and Reek's odds of survival were dwindling by the minute, so he swam, and kept swimming until he finally reached dry land.
That was a week ago. Now, bathed in the weak warmth that the winter sun provided, he stirred awake. His stomach grumbling, Reek stretched, squeezing himself out of the thin crack that was his hiding place. One of the advantages of having very few bones, finding somewhere to hide wasn't too difficult. But he wasn't entirely boneless, and oftentimes, Reek wished he could spit out all his teeth and leave them behind. Sure, it'd be hard to chew anything, but at least then he'd be able to stuff himself in a cave and just eat lichen or something for the rest of his life. Any opportunity to stay away from the rest of Leudnan Righrean was an opportunity that Reek would gladly take. They were all savages, not a single neuron amongst them.
Waiting for the sun to reach its zenith, Reek chewed on a frozen bush. His teeth made easy work of it, but evergreens were always gross. Not a bit of flavor in them, and the snow just tasted cold. Oh well, anything to be rid of company. As he ate, Reek poked an eyestalk upwards, scanning as much of the forest as he could. Evidently, there was not a lot of food left. Anything the cold hadn't taken for itself was already stripped bare by him or some other animal. He was going to have to move again, which of course ran the risk of running into... undesirables.
The sun was still rising, but seeing as he didn't have much else planned to do except eat, Reek made his way along. As the day crawled on, he found that the land he slithered on had progressively become flatter, and the forest darker. In a way, it kind of reminded him of home, the swamps of Natslyk. A wave of nostalgia creeped over Reek in that moment. It crawled through his skin like a great centipede, causing him to shiver uncomfortably. Home, ugh. At least it seemed like no one else got here before him, which was kind of surprising. Rather than feeling relief, however, Reek only felt foreboding crawl down his non-existent spine. If nobody was here yet, they would be soon.
As if on cue, a quiet whistling rang out from somewhere behind Reek. He heard it immediately, and his squishy hide tensed up until developed the consistency of stone. Curling himself into a ball, he tried his best to look like an unassuming boulder as a harmony of whistles zoomed past him. Reek focused on keeping form and not panicking as he heard the troupe of puechens soar by. They didn't stop for a moment, but Reek refused to uncurl himself until their whistling had left for a good while. It was always better to play it safe when everything was willing to eat you.
Reek only unfurled himself from his protective cocoon when an especially cold breeze slid along his back, nearly freezing the layer of mucus that covered his skin. Of course, in this flatland, there wasn't any rocks or crevices he could squeeze himself into. He needed somewhere safe to hide, and fast. He quickened his slithering, keeping one watchful eye out for any noticeable holes or dens that would make for good shelter and another on the sky in case the puechens came back.
The more he looked, the more paranoia bubbled in his stomach... or maybe it was something he ate. Come to think of it, the more Reek looked around, the more he realized that the flora looked... off. Did bushes always look like that? Did the trees back in Natslyk always smell this... foreign?
Reek's stomach grumbled more. He could feel his gut turning and twisting inside of him, which made it incredibly hard to focus on the sky and the forest at the same time. He lurched forward. Whatever he ate had hit him hard and fast. He felt like passing out. No, he couldn't. That was a death sentence. He couldn't let Leudnan Righrean get him now, he wouldn't.
He struggled to keep his vision from blurring. Panic began to set in almost like an instinct. Was that a snake? No... just a twig. The same trees that once granted protection from the horrors of the old world now loomed over him as grand, disfigured horrors. Branches and boughs became bands of slithery, thin hydras hanging from the sky itself. Did hydras still exist? Who knew what abhorrent native abominations called this dung heap their home. Sure, hydras were little, but what if they were poisonous now? What if they spat acid? what if they bled acid? Did everything in this Boiuna forsaken land bleed acid!? He sure didn't know!
A small, insignificant light snuck faintly between the gaps of the dense growth of the forest. Every fiber of Reek's body told him it was a bad idea, but then again, passing out now was about as good idea as fashioning a dinner bell and thrashing it as hard as he could. With no other options, and with countless unknown things swaying about in the haze of the forest's shadow, Reek slithered his way towards the light as fast as he could.
He could feel many wooden hand claw at his flesh. Hundreds of greedy, selfish monsters licked their lips, each of them declaring dominion over their own portion of his soon-to-be lifeless body. As hard as he tried, Reek couldn't move any faster. The forest floor seemed to ebb and flow, dragging him back every time he attempted to move forward. As if stood upon the back of a titanic worm, the world itself writhed and shook, knocking Reek off balance and causing him to tumble down to the cold earth beneath him. Under the cover of hungry giants, and with innumerable frozen spears digging into his soft skin, Reek could only blink as darkness enshrouded everything around him. His body refused to move, despite his best efforts. As his eyelids became too heavy to hold, and shadowy black hands obscured his vision, the last thing he was able to see was stripes.