Opening his eyes, his expression soured. Even the amazing dream he just woke up from did nothing to improve his mood. He was still here, still struggling to find a way out. The lack of actual landmarks was slowly draining him.
The ground was silver, smooth and perfectly flat. An endless mirror that perfectly reflected the world above it. So vast it seems to have been flawlessly sculpted for an inconceivable giant, or possibly a deity of some kind.
The world it echoed was no less bizarre. Pure white mist existed in every direction, as endless as the mirror beneath it.
In such a world the young boy, Muninn, was trapped. Having no memory of how he got there or a single clue of how to leave.
Having spent quite a while here already, he was becoming… irritable. Especially considering he had no reliable method of telling time.
There was no sun, the only light being the faint shimmer of the mirror itself which served as his only comfort in this place.
Muninn was currently scrawled on the floor in a daze.
"Nothing moves."
He rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up to stand. The near lack of friction on the mirror's surface made it incredibly hard not to fall on his face. In fact, his bruised chin still hadn't healed from the last incident. His face fell, a slight chill running up his spine at the thought.
Rubbing his chin, he made his way forward. He wasn't exactly walking, there was too little friction for that, he was gliding. Moving along the mirror's surface with all the combined gracefulness of a waddle of injured penguins.
Safe to say he wasn't winning any competitions but at least he hadn't fallen on his face yet. At the very least, that was progress.
It was strange, moving that fast with no wind in his face. Stranger still was the only scent that existed here. The smell of the ocean permeated this place even without a single drop of water to be found anywhere.
He carefully observed the mist, a bit afraid of anything pouncing out at him. There hadn't been evidence of any living creature beside him, but that did not mean there wasn't any.
Even so, he was also hoping that something would change. Any change at all would be an indication that there was something out there. Some form of hope.
He eventually slowed his momentum, adjusting his body repeatedly to prevent falling, then continued on. Somewhere along the way his movements had become a bit sluggish so it was better to be safe.
Gliding for some time more, his mind began to wander.
"This might actually just be a huge mirror. That doesn't explain the mist though."
He adjusted his weight again, having shifted too far forward previously.
"Actually, what if this is the ocean? High pressure does weird stuff to liquids doesn't it? That would at least explain the smell."
His face soured once again as he lowered himself. His right leg had almost given out.
"If that was the case I'd have been crushed into paste the moment I got here."
His body shifted back to adjust for leaning too far forward before.
"I already did that!"
A panicked gasp left his throat as he fell backwards, slipping completely. Landing on the ground, he slammed his head against the mirror. The sound of shattering glass booming from behind him.
The pain sat in his skull, refusing to move as he hugged his head. He could feel himself sliding towards the continuing sound as he tried to slow his momentum without proper control over his body.
He reached his hand out towards the mirror, trying to grip it to no avail. The rapid movement caused his body to spin in a circle as it moved. Letting go of his head entirely, he managed to wiggle and push himself until he turned onto his stomach.
His speed gradually slowed as the sound roared even louder, eventually coming to a complete stop. He laid there for a moment, letting the pain subside just a bit before attempting to move.
Sliding his hand forward for balance, his body slid about slightly as his arm failed to hold up properly. Adjusting his position, he managed to stand up, his legs shaking as he does
His heart was racing, not just because of the fall but due to the first change this place had ever made. The ground could very well be splitting apart somewhere but he had no other direction to go. Nothing but mist and shimmer glass existed in any other direction.
Making his way forward he finally saw something that wasn't endless white mist. It wasn't as thick anymore, improving his field of view. That said, what he saw wasn't exactly good news.
The mist was falling, flowing into a large opening in the shattered ground. The noise had stopped finally, but the edges of the glass around the opening were still falling in bits and pieces.
Other parts, however, seemed to be mending itself. He stepped a bit closer, his legs threatening to buckle underneath him. Looking into the opening, the only way to describe it would be an abyss.
There was nothing there but pure darkness, and the smell of the ocean. It was stronger here, the smell.
Calling the opening large was misleading, it was not as gargantuan as the mirror itself, or as endless as the mist but it was at the very least the size of an average lake.
Rather, it had been. He could see each side of it clearly due to the massive amount of falling mist, but it was not nearly as far away as before.
His eyes shifted to the edge closest to him.
"Damn it all to Nox."
His pace picked up once again, moving as fast as he could reasonably go. His leg Finally collapsing under him, he twisted himself to not land too harshly.
Using his momentum to move his body and stand back up as he moved, right toward the opening.
The thing was barely a pond now, much less a lake. The glass was mending itself. Whether that was a good thing or not didn't matter, if it closed he'd be trapped here again.
He constantly adjusted his weight while trying to pick up speed by pushing himself forward. He was miserably failing however, as he simply could not lift up one leg at a time without falling.
Bending his knees, he twisted his body and jumped forward with both legs. Allowing himself to slam side first into the ground while protecting his head. Not wasting momentum, he adjusted himself and allowed it to carry him right to the edge before using what was left of his strength to push himself up so as to not get stabbed or cut by the mirror's sharp edges.
His body spun around due to the push, letting him fall back first into the opening.
As his hand raised up above his chest, his fist in the air and his middle finger pointed upwards, he fell into the abyss.