The last thing Ethan Carter remembered was the weightless feeling of falling.
The cold night air had rushed past him, howling in his ears as he tumbled through the darkness. His heart had pounded so violently it drowned out every other sound. Then nothing. No pain. No impact. Just… nothing.
Now, he woke to warmth.
Blinding sunlight seared through his closed eyelids. He groaned, feeling the rough texture of dirt and grass beneath him. A strange heat pressed against his skin not just from above, but all around him. He blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the brightness.
Then he saw the sky.
Ethan's breath caught in his throat. Hanging above him were two suns. One was massive, golden and familiar, like the sun he knew from Earth. But the other was smaller, dimmer, with a reddish hue. Both burned in the sky, casting long twin shadows across an endless expanse of rolling grassland.
He sat up too quickly, a sharp pain shooting through his side. His whole body ached like he had been hit by a truck. He pressed a hand to his ribs, feeling bruises but no broken bones.
"What… the hell?"
He struggled to his feet, taking in his surroundings. There was no sign of buildings, roads, or any human civilization. Just tall grass stretching endlessly in all directions. A warm breeze stirred the air, carrying a scent he didn't recognise earthy, but with something else mixed in, something foreign.
Ethan turned in circles, trying to make sense of where he was. Had he survived the fall? Was this some kind of dream? His last memory his real last memory was of his loanshark, Jackson Reed, standing at the edge of the cliff, his expression cold as he shoved Ethan over.
The thought sent a shudder through him.
No. He had fallen. He should be dead.
Instead, he was here, in a place that shouldn't exist.
His stomach twisted with unease. He needed to move. Standing still wouldn't get him any answers. The sun or two suns hung high, meaning it was midday. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but judging by the stiffness in his body, it had been hours.
Ethan picked a direction and started walking and walking, hours passes but he was still in the same grassland.
The landscape didn't change. Just endless golden fields, swaying in the wind. His throat felt dry, his stomach empty, but worse than that was the exhaustion clawing at him. The heat pressed down, making each step heavier.
He needed water. Food. A sign that he wasn't alone.
His mind drifted to survival shows he had watched find shelter, locate water, ration energy. But all of that assumed you were still on Earth. What if the rules were different here? What if
Then, in the distance, he saw it.
A figure.
His heart leaped. Someone else.
Ethan forced himself to keep moving, his legs trembling from exhaustion. As he got closer, he could make out more details long dark hair, slim frame, simple clothing. It was a young woman, and a beautiful one at that.
He raised a hand, trying to call out, but his throat was too dry. He stumbled forward, desperate to reach her. The woman noticed him, turning sharply. He saw her expression shift from caution to alarm.
He tried again to speak. "P-please…"
His vision blurred. His legs buckled.
The last thing he felt was the sensation of hands catching him as everything went dark.