#also sorry that its long lmao i have a bad tendency of getting reaaally invested into describing scenes 😔

[savior-of-humanity]

@hymns-across-the-stars -- continued from here!

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Atreus was no stranger to being lost in a foreign realm, with little - if any - means of getting his bearings regarding just where exactly he was. It was something he was accustomed to, really, especially given how far he had traveled and how many sights he had seen in his journeys through the Nine Realms and beyond. It usually didn't take him long to adjust to a new situation, to learn how to navigate both geography and conversations with any local peoples that lived there. But the place he found himself in now was unlike anything he had ever seen in his entire life. In every direction that the Jotunn looked and traversed, Atreus was surrounded by a sprawling labyrinth of ancient, worn metal; expertly constructed, yet weathered from wind and time. Even beneath the plant life that seemed to grow from almost every single surface of the complex, he could tell that the architecture and craftsmanship was utterly alien to him. Not to mention, given just how far the tunnels and shafts that made up its depths went, no civilization he knew of could've made such a massive complex. And yet, there was no sign of any people living here...

...well, except for the creatures that called this maze home.

Many were just as alien as the labyrinth itself, though they held similarities to other creatures Atreus had seen before; multi-colored lizards the size of dogs, roving packs of spiders, enormous armored centipedes, and too many other little things to list off. He swore he saw a glimpse of what looked like some sort of enormous bird-like creature soaring above, but given the huge towers that reached up to the heavens and obscured the sky almost totally, it disappeared just as quickly as he'd spotted it. Survival wasn't too difficult, which was largely due to the relative abundance of both safe food and drinking water; but as the sun eventually began to approach the distant horizon, he knew he'd have to find shelter for the night. There was no telling what sort of nasty critters would come out in the dark, after all - but the abrupt noise of some distant commotion snapped Atreus out of his thoughts of finding a place to hunker down. Atreus paused and listened; normally, he'd avoid it entirely as it'd usually just be a scuffle between some big lizards, but there were no snapping jaws, guttural snarls, teeth digging into skin and flesh. What he could hear insisted solely of ghastly shrieks and what he could only describe as small explosions. Logic dictated that he should ignore it and keep looking for shelter while he still had daylight - but something about it urged him to go, to look. And look he would. It'd taken him a while given how long and winding the passages of the labyrinth's underbelly were, but eventually he'd crawl out of a vent overlooking a small ledge to spot the source of the once-distant battle. There were two creatures that were of immediate interest to Atreus; one was a huge, gaunt and avian-looking creature, much like the one he had spotted a glimpse of earlier in the day. Its hostile gaze was locked upon the other individual; a small red-furred creature resembling some strange cross between a mollusk and a cat. And, based on the way they not only held their body posture but also wielded a spear, Atreus immediately guessed that the little thing was not only intelligent, but also exhausted from a previous fight. He didn't hesitate to notch an arrow into the string of his bow, draw, and then send it flying straight at the tusked face of the bird-beast. In that moment, Atreus learned two things; the first was that the skull-like face of the "bird" was not a face but rather a mask. Through a stroke of luck, the arrow had hit at just the right angle to dislodge it from the creature's true face, sending it clattering to the overgrowth below. The second was that this also happened to piss it off. Severely.

He didn't wait for its response - already he had leapt from the ledge to the ground below, landing into a roll to minimize potential injury from the impact, before he jumped back to his feet and began to run like Hel to the closest semblance of safety. Which, coincidentally, happened to be in the general direction of the red-furred spear wielder. "GO!" He had no idea if they could understand him or if they could even speak, but he hoped that at the very least, the urgency and volume of his voice would spook the creature into fleeing as well. "RUN! RUN! I HAVE ITS ATTENTION!" He knew that because he could literally hear it coming after him with those huge beating wings. All he could really do was hope that he was faster than it was.