![]() Tertermak's ExileA Story by K.L.![]() A series of diary entries of a former Lotso military general, who was exiled in the Lotso Unification Wars.![]() 9/13 It was justified. They were going to betray us, turn their backs on us, and join the enemy. There was only one way to prevent that; kill them all. But Tarmin did not believe that the execution of the resistance within my army was necessary, he thought that killing them was wrong. And so, I had been publicly humiliated and demoted(I will not give the details) and sentenced to exile here in this cold wasteland. As I traveled through this inhospitable landscape, I managed to fashion some paper out of bark from some of the few plants that did manage to survive here. At least I will be able to do something to pass the time here. For those of you who do not already know who I am from my handwriting: My name is Tertermak, and I was a military general, one of Tarmin's best before my exile. I come from the South, but my tribes were conquered by Tarmin when he came from the North. I was sent to handle negotiations with the Southern Administrators who saw the unfair treatment of the Southern Lotsos, but I saw that many of my soldiers resisted. That was enough for me to call for their execution. No other soldier would do it, so I killed them myself. I even took it upon myself to extort and torture the ones who caused this in the first place. The purge of the resistance was successful, but Tarmin was not pleased with how I did it. And here I am, surviving within a place where few Lotso has come back from, ordered never to come back out. My resentment towards Tarmin and his followers is getting stronger the more I stay here. 9/14 I found some edible fruits growing from a plant I have never seen before, but I was too exhausted to try and name it. They were fairly small but were pink in color and did not seem to freeze. I already forgot what year it was, and the sun is barely visible so it becomes difficult to tell whether it is day or night. The weather has become so cold here that I fear that I may freeze to death, like many others had before, if I do not find shelter soon. 9/16 I finally found a place that can protect me from some of the cold. I found the small cave as I headed where I thought was east, and taking refuge there was better than freezing outside in the snow. Fortunately, no animals had already moved in before I did, so I had the place all to myself. With a few twigs I had salvaged from various plants that I came across I managed to start a small fire to warm me up. My stomach growled with hunger but there was not much food that I could find. I may have to resort to eating animals, but eating animals or any other Lotsos is more evil than the execution of my rebellious soldiers, even to me. Besides, are there even enough animals around to help me survive? 9/17 The entrance to the cave is being blocked out by the rising snow, and some of it is melting because of the fire. I have carved a bowl out of one of the rocks in the cave, so I can collect some of the water, but I fear that eventually the cave may be flooded if this continues. 9/18 Tarmin! This is all your fault! I would never be here, freezing to death, if it weren't for your stupidity! If only you could see what good I was doing. But there is no real point now. As I had feared, the cave flooded and put out the fire. With the fire gone, the water froze and I was trapped. Fortunately, I managed to break myself out. Nearly all of my supplies were in that cave, but now they are irretrievable, save this diary. I can no longer stay here, I must find refuge elsewhere. 9/20 After 2 days of freezing out in the snow, I finally found another small cave to hide in. A few more of the small pink fruits were lying around, and that helped me survive. Unfortunately, my feet are frozen; I can neither feel nor move them at all. It appears that they have become frostbitten. There is no more use for them now. 9/21 An entire week has passed since I was first exiled here, and already I was just barely trying to survive. However, I spotted a group of what looked like a type of Cuboid that I had never seen before. But there wasn't much else in my mind other than food. I was starving. No Lotso will ever forgive me for this, but I had no choice. I snuck up on them, then quickly scooped them all up and carried them back to the cave. There, I trapped them behind some rocks and covered them in snow to further hinder their movements. Hoping that they would not escape before I came back, I set out once again to find some more twigs. I was relieved that my prey had not managed to get far out of the cave upon my return. It was easy to push them back in, and I prepared my fire, this time doing my best to move the snow at the entrance farther away. At the moment, it had stopped snowing, so I didn't have to worry as much about being frozen alive. Cuboids' skin is as hard as rock, and it took a while for me to crack one open with a sharp stone in the cave. I hit myself a few times but I was too numb to feel anything but hunger. With the stone, I cut apart the Cuboid and then roasted a part of it with one of the larger sticks. All the others in the group squealed but could not find a way past me, as I was blocking the entrance. The flesh was tough to chew, and my teeth hurt, but eventually, I managed to eat it. After I had finished eating the Cuboid, I reached for another one closest to me and did the same. I finally satisfied my hunger temporarily, and I fell asleep. 9/22 I ate another Cuboid, then set out to find some more twigs and, hopefully, food once the Cuboids were secured. The sun was visible, and some of the snow was melting. It was slow progress, since my feet were still mostly frozen and useless, though the fire had partially melted some of the ice. Eventually, I did find some more twigs and pink fruit, and brought them back to my cave. Most of the twigs I collected I used to revive the fire, the rest were made into a makeshift cage for my prey. The fruit I immediately gobbled up, and then I waited until nightfall. I truly hope that the weather does not turn on me. 9/26 Nothing much happened in the past few days, though I ran out of Cuboids to eat yesterday. I have been surviving only on the fruit that I continue to find; there are no animals that I can find however. Its barely been two weeks and I am already going insane, I might die here cold and alone 9/29 My feet are frozen. I can no longer do anything with them they are a waste so I cut them off. Frostbite has taken them. I melted off the ice and saw that the feet were black and green with no more fur. Inedible so I used them as fuel for the fire insdeat. Fire died quickly, probably because of how cold they were. [No date added] I m hungry starving eating more fruits and burning flesh from prey to eat Snow everywhere Im freezing 10/6 I will not survive her much longer I need to find something It almsot month but who cares I need more food its too rare [Illegible handwriting] [No date added] Been here for amonth im dying help HeLpHelP [Illegible handwriting] [No date added] I see the sun but my hands will not melst and tsey frozen like my feet ai maight cut them off teee 213/2190 [Note: It appears that Tertermak has forgotten the date and has began to become insane.] canbarelsy movea nad i sdvt surrvi e her is diyngin [No date added] [Illegible handwriting] foooooooddssssssll [Illegible handwriting] [Date is illegible] [Illegible handwriting] [Note: The 3 remaining pages found of Tertermak's diary consist only of random scribbles, no other pages have been found. Tertermak himself most likely froze to death sometime after the diary was "finished", though his body has yet to be found.]
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