Chapter 1: Perchance to Dream

The sound of a high pitched melodic trill resounds around me in a soothing song. The sound was filled with such emotion as to nearly bring a tear to my eye, though I didn't quite know why.

Opening my eyes, I let out a startled gasp, only to begin choking on smoke and soot as a hellish landscape presents itself before me.

Looking around, I find myself in a field of fire and ash. Melted ground and red hot glass fill my vision as I take in the nearby sights. Looking around, I could see as once great skyscrapers in the distance leaning ominously to the side as great fires billow from them.

The heat around me begins to become unbearable as searing heat travels up through my feet. Looking down to the molten ground beneath me, I find that my feet have changed.

Three clawed toes sprout out from oddly shaped crimson armored legs.

Panicking, I fell over only to realize the rest of my body was similarly changed.

The moment my body landed on the black and red glass beneath me, the ground shattered, causing me to fall into a void of endless blackness. The sound of sizzling rocks and flickering flames fading into nothingness as the only sound I could hear around me was the soothing whistle of birdsong.

Before the darkness overtook me, I saw a bird covered in red and gold scales fly before me. It's majestic wings bursting into a raging flame that filled my sight like a sun.

The flame surrounded the beautiful bird, burning it into ash which scattered across the vast nothingness around me as the sound of the melodic trills ended.

(\\\(*v*)/)

It was dark.

Where am I?

I tried to look around, only to find that I could not move.

Panic beginning to set in, I tried my best to thrash against the invisible bonds that held me, but I only managed to twitch my that I needed to take a moment to regain my bearings, I calmed myself down a bit and tried to observe my situation.

I can't move my body, I'm curled up into a ball, and can feel something touching my back, but none of those sensations came close to the last realization that washed over me.

I am not breathing.

Beginning to panic once more, I tried to move once more, but yet again all I did was twitch my muscles slightly. The effort to do even such a small thing dragged me into exhaustion.

The darkness of sleep beginning to take me, I barely noticed the muffled sounds of someone singing.

(\\\(*v*)/)

It has been some time since I have found myself in this unending darkness.

During this time, I have noticed a few things that seem odd about my unusual imprisonment.

For instance, even though I am curled up into a ball, I am extremely comfortable. A soothing warmth fills me from the outside barrier that surrounds me, and I have not gotten hungry since I have found myself here.

Though I lack any motivation to eat, drink, or breathe, a sense of overwhelming boredom has filled me. The only things I have been able to do to distract myself is try to move and think, causing a larger and larger pool of questions to fill me, one with even less answers to them.

There was one question that has given me the most confusion of all though.

Who am I?

I have a vague assortment of memories, but most of them don't make any sense. I remember graduating from a school, a sunrise on a beach, working as a cashier, and playing some games with some people… But any time I try and focus on details, they grow fuzzy. I could not even remember my own name.

The soft muffled voices from outside begin to sing another melody, and mixed with the warmth around me I begin to drift back into unconsciousness once more.

(\\\(*v*)/)

I'm cramped.

Over time, I have realized the space I am in has slowly been getting smaller and smaller around me. It has gotten to the point where even if I wanted to twitch my muscles again, there would be no room to go.

Why am I here?

Still so many questions and not nearly enough answers, I become annoyed yet again.

Is this my fate? To be crushed to death?

I only wish to know why I am here. The memories I have pieced together do not help me at all in this situation.

I still have not been able to recall my name, but I have been able to piece together a lot more details about my life.

I was an only child. I grew up with absentee parents that had been working far too often to take care of me. Over time I spent less and less time trying to earn their approval and more time with my friends.

I love games with a passion, but I hate to lose. I spent a lot of time playing board games like chess and stratego, but in the end, my greatest passion was video games.

Holding onto the memory of me and my friends spending time together, ignoring the world around us as we battled each other for the honor of being the best…

And yet, through all of those memories, I still could not remember my name.

Suddenly, a new feeling, one I haven't felt in a long time filled me. Pain.

My chest began to burn hotly, causing my muscles to tense. My body fills itself with adrenaline, even though I know I wasn't able to move. It took me a moment to realize why my chest was burning so much.

I needed to breathe.

Not wasting time attempting to figure out exactly why I needed to do so now, I began struggling against my invisible prison once more.

Unlike any of the other times I have tried, my muscles actually respond to my motions now, causing the prison to rock back and forth.

The exertion of attempting to break out of my confinement only caused the burning in my lungs to become infinitely worse as my struggles cease.

I need out. NOW.

Throwing my head back in frustration, I am met with a sickening crunch sound as an alien feeling of my face scraping against an unknown material fills my senses. However, before I could fully process what had just happened, I saw it.

Light.

From the hole that I had made above me, I could see light for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. Scrambling towards it, I reached up my hands and tore at the hole, making it large enough to fit my head out of.

Bursting from my prison, a slimy liquid falling around me as I open my mouth and taste air. I am forced to close my eyes as a blinding light fills my vision. Even blinded, I greedily take in gulp after gulp of air before landing on my side, the prison I had been in for so long tipping over.

I can hear soft coos from above me as I lay there exhausted and covered in an unknown substance. Even through my eyelids, the light is just too bright for me to even attempt to see my surroundings.

Writhing on the ground for a moment, trying to get my eyes to stop burning from the sudden input, I can hear the soft coos coming from above me once more. This time, though, it isn't muffled. The voice has calmed me down inside the darkness more then once and I'm glad to know the person is still present.

Suddenly, the light dims down, and with it a bone chilling cold replaces the gentle warmth that I had only a moment ago. Before I could open my eyes to figure out why, something picked me up and wrapped me in a cloth. The soft humming of someone very close by keeps me from having a full on panic attack as the extremely large towel slowly cleans the grime left over from my prison.

Eventually they stop and my head is able to break free. Opening my eyes, I am greeted by a sight I never expected.

Standing in front of me, appears to be a large velociraptor with large black puffed up feathers. It is holding me in a tower and is cooing softly as it brushes my hair with an extremely weirdly shaped comb. Glancing to the left, I see a small table with a glass container around it, and a large black egg which was tilted on its side, the liquid contents spilling out onto the plush cushion below it.

It was about then that I noticed I could see my nose… or what should have been my nose. Instead I saw the top of a large beak similar to the large dinosaur holding me.

Suddenly, the massive creature bends down and begins to nuzzle my neck, cooing a familiar calming song that only seems to cause even more panic and confusion to spread through me.

Unable to fully process the situation I have found myself in, I let the blackness of unconsciousness take me once more.

—AUTHORS NOTE—First things first, for any new readers to my fic, let it be known that each of the chapter titles are actually halo soundtracks, and if you wish, you can listen to them while reading. They are intended to be complimentary to the overall feel of each chapter, and I think I did a good job pairing them up. :)

Anyway, this entire fic was formed around an idea I had floating around in my head for a few days and I just decided to go for it. Originally I was going to make the main character an elite, but that seemed a bit overpowered. Worry not, I don't intend for this character to be a pushover, but she will have a ways to go before she's a serious threat.

If you like the fic, please consider giving me a follow and a favorite, and if you like it, please review. I read them all and love to hear feedback. :)