Life Review Ch. 00-01

Just at the peak of his release, he heard single twig snap. Normally that wouldn't bother him in a camp ground, except they were the only ones there on this night. Jenny clenched around him, enjoying the heat of essence flowing into her core, blissfully unaware of anything outside her own pleasure.

Shawn felt the hair on his neck stand up. The same primal sense of danger itched in the back of his mind. Jenny moaned in disappointment when she felt him grow soft and lift her off of him. She soon found her mind when he picked up a climbing axe and quickly pulled on his briefs. Shawn quietly unzipped the tent flap. Crouching low, he carefully made his way out of the confines of the tent and out into the moonlit night. He slowly scanned the darkness around them. He doubted bears would be this far from the valley floor. His mind immediately went to bobcats, which was more plausible but still unlikely.

"What are you doing?" Jenny hissed from the tent.

"There...was something out in the trees. An animal I think. I heard it moving around and got a really bad feeling," Shawn whispered under his breath.

"This is a climbing trail, in the middle of a national park. Of course there are animals," Jenny said exasperatedly.

"I know, but this felt like something...big. I don't know how to describe it," Shawn said defensively. He climbed back in the tent and zipped it up. Jenny was in the process of wiping herself off.

"Babe, you're tired. Nothing is out there, I promise," Jenny said gently. She crawled over and began wiping him down too. "If there is anything, I'm sure it's just, like, a raccoon or something looking for snacks."

Shawn snorted, "Alright. Fine, fine."

"Good," He heard the smile in her voice and felt her pull him down into the sleeping bags. They cuddled up to each other, the chill beginning to creep into the tent from the crisp mountain air. She kissed him once before nestling herself into the crook of his neck and was quickly off to sleep.

Shawn's body wanted to follow suit, but his mind was still active and twitchy. Rationally, he knew nothing was actually out there. The wilderness animals tended to stay away from high-traffic areas, except for scavengers like coyotes. Shawn figured they were about fifteen-hundred feet too high to worry about them. Bobcats maybe, but again they didn't frequent high traffic areas if they could help it.

Something had triggered his instincts. Shawn knew to always follow a gut feeling. The brain could be persuaded, the gut couldn't be fooled. After listening carefully for what seemed like hours, still nothing. He sighed and pulled Jenny closer to him before sliding into a fitful sleep.

The next morning they awoke. Jenny teased him by slowly counting her limbs, just to make sure they were all there. Shawn tickled her in retaliation which led to them sprawled on the sleeping bags, kissing and giggling like teenagers. Eventually, they came up for air and ate a light cold breakfast of power bars. They had a three-mile uphill hike to the next climbing stage; this one was known to be a grueling all-day climb.

The hike itself was uneventful until about halfway through when he saw a woman with platinum blonde hair and odd-looking clothing. She stood perched on a stone outcropping and was looking around. He noticed she had a bow in her hand, but it wasn't modern. Shawn stopped and cupped his hand to call out to her when something spooked the woman and she leapt off her perch and bounded away like a startled deer.

"What the hell?" Shawn breathed.

"What?" Jenny called back to him. She hadn't heard him stop.

"They don't permit bow hunting here do they?" Shawn asked.

She cocked her head to the side, her lips pursed out at an angle. She shrugged, "No clue, Raine. I didn't exactly plan a hunting trip. What's up?"

Shawn frowned as he looked off to where the blonde had been, "I saw a woman with a bow, like, an old-school bow. I was going to call out to her to see what she was doing, but she bolted before I had a chance."

"Strange. I wouldn't think national parks allowed hunting permits. When we meet up with the next group we can talk to the guide and see if they know anything," Jenny offered.

Shawn nodded. They continued on with their hike with no new developments. Once they reached the trail head, they were met with their next challenge. The sheer cliff face was ragged and uneven, sparsely populated with vines and moss until the stone wall broke free from the canopy and soared away into the sky about a thousand feet before it stepped off into a small plateau before soaring higher.

They worked together for the better part of an hour, slowly making their way up the vertical face. Shawn couldn't spend his time ogling his girlfriend's posterior this time around. Jenny checked the secure lines they were using, testing pitons before crawling her way up. Shawn had to spot her and watch for loose rocks and double check their lines were securely anchored.

Shawn glanced back for two reasons, first the check their line wasn't tangled, the second was to take in the view. Shawn wasn't scared of heights so he was able to enjoy being five-hundred feet up a sheer cliff and enjoy the majesty of the world.

A flicker of movement caught his attention. He saw a large shadow moving in between the trees below. He squinted at the grey splotch and tried to make out its shape. Another flash of movement drew his eyes to a streak of silver making its way towards the cliff.

The silver streak turned out to be the woman. She paused at a break in the trees. He couldn't make out much detail except her bow was half drawn. She moved, and Shawn lost track of her. He was about to turn back to his climb when the grey shadow took shape. A large wolf stalked into the clearing, sniffing the ground around the spot where the woman had been.

Shawn blinked rapidly, but the wolf was still there. There weren't supposed to be any wolves in the park. The beast raised its head and sniffed the air, then let loose a low howl that seemed to vibrate the very air in his lungs. It bounded off into the trees. Shawn could now see the trees themselves shook as it forced its way through.

"What the fuck was that?" Jenny looked down at Shawn and noticed his gaze. "What is it Shawn?"

Shawn tried to speak but couldn't find words. He saw the creature close the distance rapidly between it and the woman who was sprinting desperately towards the cliff. She wasn't going to make it. She ran up a fallen trunk of a tree and twisted to loose an arrow mid leap. The Wolf threw itself to the side, circling around to cut her off.

"Shawn, what are you doing?" Jenny cried in alarm. Shawn had loosened one of his climbing axes from the loops at his side. She looked down and saw the blonde woman he had mentioned earlier, then the giant wolf. "What the fuck?"

"Hey! Don't run this way!" Shawn yelled as loud as he could. Why was she running directly for a dead end?

Shawn hefted the sturdy tool in his hand and braced his feet against the cliff face. With a double handed overhead grip, he threw the climbing axe as hard as he could. It left his grip with a satisfying whooshing sound and the bladed pick cleaved the air as it flew end over end.

The woman stopped at the edge of the tree line before the sheer rise of stone, turned with her bow at full draw. Shawn screamed at her again, but she didn't even look. The Wolf was closing fast, it was a stone's throw away from her when her arrow leapt from the bow string. The massive creature leapt over the projectile in an unbelievable display of agility. Only to be struck by the head of the climbing axe, only by sheer dumb luck.

The foot long serrated piece of steel bit deep into the neck of the beast. It yelped and stumbled as it hit the ground. The momentum of its charge carried it around wide of the woman and it slammed shoulder first into the mountain.

A shockwave erupted up the rock wall. The impact seemed to rock the whole cliff, vibrations shaking stones loose and dust to dislodge from the crevasses. Jenny screamed and clung to what handholds she could. Shawn was still standing parallel to the ground. With a sharp ping, the anchor holding his line freed itself from the rock and Shawn fell into empty space.

"Shawn!" Jenny cried out, a hand outstretched in a futile attempt to catch him. His line pulled taught and he was slammed into the side of the mountain. The breath was driven from his lungs in a rush and a sharp pain in his mouth told him he had bit his tongue. He hung their dazed, gazing down as the wolf struggling to get up. He saw the woman stalk forward to stand at range and send three arrows into the exposed side of the creature. It whimpered and went still, barely breathing. A knife came out from somewhere on her person and she crept forward cautiously until she was right next to the creatures neck.

There was a long pause as the hunter and hunted regarded each other, then the woman neatly severed the main artery in its neck. The giant wolf relaxed and seemed to deflate as the life fled its body. His vision grew blurry as the whole scene began to fade. He felt another violent jerk and he fell again. His mind didn't comprehend what happened next, he must have blacked out.

Shawn was only aware of darkness. He felt like he was floating. He tried to breath. When he couldn't, he began to panic before realizing he didn't need to breathe. Was he dead? If this was what he had to spend eternity dealing with, he wanted a refund.

"If I had a nickel for every time I heard that line," A homogenous collection of voices said dryly.

"Who are you?" He thought.

"Second time I've had this conversation in such a short amount of time," The voice grumbled. "I'm Death. Before your brain gets all reactive with trying to comprehend that, just think of me as a person. It will be easier than 'Cosmic force personified', trust me."

"Right, so what happened?" Shawn asked.

"Well, that's a bit complicated," Death sounded cagey.

"Alright..." Shawn lead.

"The short version is you fell from a cliff in a freak mountain climbing accident and are currently in a medically induced coma with several broken bones, a collapsed lung, and cranial swelling," The tone of Death's voice told him he hoped he didn't pry.

Taking the tone he did when Cassidy was being shifty he said, "Out with it. If I'm not dead, why am I talking to Death? I'm not going to even think about the possibilities because we'll be here all day playing guessing games. More importantly, what did YOU do?"

Death was taken aback by the tone. Shawn couldn't tell how he knew the reaction was such, but he did. Death was quiet for a moment before it let out a defeated huff, "I want to start out saying this wasn't my idea."

"Noted," Shawn monotoned.

"The long story is that you are here, again don't ask, because your soul is tied to your friend Cassidy Hawthorne. You tied your immortal souls together when you got your little tattoos. Unforeseen consequence, I know. She basically won the cosmic lottery and my opposite, Life, your personification of creation, felt bad and gave her a do-over per say," Death rambled on.

"Good for her, so what does this have to do with me? Our souls are tied together?" Shawn asked suspiciously.

"Look, again, not my idea. Basically she is alive too. Until her vessel dies in your world, she will live a whole new life in another world. Being the nerd she is, she chose a world more alike to your fantasy novels.

Because your souls are bound, she can technically take you with her. She asked for you specifically once she found out. It seems she is rather attached. So here you are. I'm sure you are curious about the details of your new situation," Death hurried along.

"Whoa. Stop," Shawn raised a mental hand. Odd, "Why do I have the feeling I have no choice in the matter?"

"You don't" Death admitted.

"You're joking," Shawn groaned.

"Sadly, no. If it makes you feel better, I tried to veto this too. Your Celtic knots bind your souls. Where she goes, you go. That's the deal. Didn't you even look into the symbolic nature of what you did? Not to mention your oath, 'I'll be there for you forever and always'."

Shawn groaned, and then bits and pieces started coming back to him. "Is Jenny alright?" Shawn asked, panicked.

"Your girlfriend is alive, don't worry. The matrix I had to create was only designed to create a scenario to get you here. Jenny should be no worse for wear."

"That's good at least," Shawn refocused on the issue at hand.

"What was with the woman and the wolf?" Shawn asked.

"I'm assuming that was a bit of unintentional bleeding between the worlds. The matrix pulled you from yours and placed you here, you can call it the "in between". The border between the worlds, so the events you witnessed were super imposed where the worlds touched."

Shawn toyed with that concept for a few moments before placing it aside, "So what's the deal now? Don't get me wrong, I think this is wonderful for Cassidy, but yanking me out of my life and tossing me into a whole brand new place I know zero about has me kinda twisted."

"You could kill Cassidy once you arrived," Death suggested.

"I'm sorry? Say again?" Shawn balked at the idea.

"You kill her once you arrive. She'll be forced to move on, you'll go back to your body," Death made it sound so easy.

"There is no way in hell I'd ever do that," Shawn growled angrily.

"Cool down there, bucko. You asked. You will be bound to the new world until Cassidy dies her final death, or moves on of her own volition. If that takes five hours or five millennium, is completely up to the two of you. Cassidy will die in exactly five weeks, four days, and eighteen hours from the moment you were put under. That is a fixed point in time. If Cassidy moves on the moment you arrive, that time will pass. If Cassidy takes several lifetimes to pass, only five weeks and some change will have passed."

The gravity of the situation wasn't lost on him, "So, what, is this some grand quest for her? Go through a series of harrowing trials to find herself and make peace?"

Death chuckled, "Nope. The point of this is that Cassidy was robbed of her life and accompanying experiences because of a random act of fate. Life felt bad, again don't look to hard, so she won the lottery in a sense. She will be given a body she would have never had, and the possibility to experience anything and everything she ever wants to, she just needs to reach out and take it."

"So where does that leave me?" Shawn asked.

"Well, that's the crux of the matter. I don't know. I guess that is up to you and her. This started as Cassidy's story, but you have a unique opportunity to write your own as she explores hers. This might not be ideal, but think of it this way, how often do you get a chance to experience a life outside your own, with the guarantee your original one will be there when you get back?

My advice is don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I know you've been struggling with Cassidy's death. Now you have the chance to live your whole life with her and do the things you never could before," Death suggested.

Shawn could see the logic behind the words, "Am I able to see Cass before we kick this off?"

"So you're cool with this then?" Death asked tentatively.

"Look, I'm annoyed with all this. I never even got a warning, but you are right. I made a promise to Cassidy and I have to see it through. Make the most of it, as you said," Shawn reluctantly acknowledged his new lot in life.

"You'll be needing this then," Death said.

Shawn felt a pop in the fabric of reality and he suddenly had all of his sensations again. Heartbeat, check, Lungs, check. Arms and legs, Check.

"Shawn!" Cassidy's high pitched squeal took him by surprise and he found himself on the receiving end of a full body tackle.

He was stunned by the sudden weight and warmth pressing down on him. He looked up to see a stunningly beautiful woman practically straddling him. His mind struggled to comprehend this woman as Cassidy. She had longer, more lustrous hair that fell down her back. It was the same tawny color as it had been years before the chemo, but now it looked full, thick, and healthy.

Her blue eyes the color of the deep ocean shone brilliantly in the backdrop of black nothingness. Her face was full of life, her smile was wide and bright. Her teeth had become straighter and whiter, Shawn could only assume universal healthcare meant something completely different here.

Cassidy covered her mouth and felt her own teeth, catching his thought process. She began giggling all over again and threw her arms back and lost herself in her bubbling mirth. Shawn had a full view of her body now, also immediately aware they were naked. Her wide hips and tight core led up to her weighty chest that scoffed at gravity. Shawn was a mix of shock and arousal, he had always told Cassidy she was beautiful but even he was stunned at the day-and-night difference.

Cassidy smiled down at him completely unperturbed at their nudity, "You don't look much different."

"I told you he wouldn't change much," Death muttered.

She leaned down and hugged him as hard as she could. Shawn felt his body respond to all of the warm heat pressing down on him, Cassidy just giggled and sighed happily, "I can't tell you how good this feels. Being alive and healthy, I never felt this good in my old body. Even when we were together like this I was still in pain."

Shawn's heart softened. He wrapped his arms around her and returned her fierce embrace, "See, I always told you that you were beautiful. You were just too stupid to see it."

Cassidy pulled back and stuck her tongue out at him, "You can tell me that every day for the rest of our lives. We have a new world to tear up. Me and you."

Shawn let his head fall back and stared into nothingness. He was overwhelmed with emotion, and couldn't keep a tear from falling from the corner of his eye. Cassidy caught it on her finger and lay back against him. Their riotous emotions bounded subliminally between the two. A skill they had developed as children that they had never lost. It was almost supernatural as it was, but it wasn't true telepathy. They just knew each other inside and out. He knew why Cassidy wanted him with her in this new world. He couldn't be angry because he had such intimate knowledge of her motivations.

Cassidy, in return, knew all the reasons Shawn would feel angry and resentful. In the end, the compromise was made unspoken between them. They would live their new lives together. Cassidy would be without a doubt the steam behind their endless troubles and adventures, and he'd be there to temper and guide her. A team.

"Did DFS give you the low down?" Cassidy asked cheerily. Always quick on the rebound, that Cassidy.

"Who--?" Shawn started, when Death quickly interrupted,

"Don't ask," Death grumbled, "We hadn't gotten that far yet. You two were having a moment with the ogling and the touching and the tears."

"We get menus!" Cassidy crowed, pumping her fists in the air in excitement. Shawn did his best not to stare at her chest as she jostled around.

"Can we get clothes, please? As much as I enjoy a beautiful woman on top of me, I'm spoken for and this is making it really difficult," Shawn protested weakly.

There was a pop, much like your ears clearing when changing altitudes, and Shawn was suddenly encased in soft leather trousers, simple calf high boots, and an open cotton shirt with a deep cut in the center that exposed the top part of his chest and shoulders.

Cassidy was also wearing leather trousers, but in black. They did wonderful and horrible things to Shawn as she looked absolutely poured into them. She wore a blouse instead of a shirt, the front laced up to corral her chest, a leather vest overtop had a corset-like effect. Shawn did ask for clothes. He wasn't sure why he was surprised. Maybe this new world hadn't mastered tailoring.