In a dark forest, known only for its cardinal direction, a man awoke. Perhaps calling this person a man is an overstatement though. Scrawny pale arms the width of a weak branch, a short crop of green hair sat atop his head. For him to be so deep in this forest meant nothing good.

Perhaps if he were a mage his appearance wouldn’t be out of place, but if you asked the boy, he’d reply with ‘What’s magic?’.

Common sense wasn’t a possession this boy had. So his current predicament can be excused.

He doesn’t know the dangers of this place. Goblins, bears, spiders the size of boulders, the list goes on and on. But as he rubbed his eyes carelessly it was clear he knew nothing of these beasts.

The boy first glanced around sleepily. He wondered the same thing we were. Where was he? What was he doing here? Who was he?

All he knew is the essential needs.

Food

Water

Shelter

He knew those must be acquired by any means necessary.

So he wasted no time and went to work. He choose a direction at random and began trudging through the dense forest.

The floor felt soft and warm on the soles of his feet. The trees and flowers emitted a calming earthy scent. Every sensation in the forest felt pleasant to the boy. The sounds of the wind echoing with the chirp of birds was like an orchestral masterpiece to his ears.

As he walked a metallic glint caught his eye. Its location was not far from where his body lay. Perhaps an old possession? He didn’t care much for its past, he was simply thrilled at the find.

The blade was long and tapered, with a midnight black pommel and guard. An ordinary adventurer would recognize this as an ancient treasure of some kind, its deep blue metal indicated either mithril or an alloy of some kind.

Its price would likely be astronomical, if not for a simple fault. Its shape was more suited for food preparation than combat. Of course our boy didn’t mind the little details. He barely even noticed its strange color. He simply grinned and picked it up.

This didn’t fulfill any of the essential three but perhaps it could assist him in acquiring them.

Satisfied that the area was clear of any other interesting points he again began to trudge across the vast forest.

Many things interested him as he walked. Flowers ranging from the size of a rice grain to a loaf of bread, trees the diameter of a man’s height, vines that seemed to grasp at nothing yet hung sturdily. Each called for the boys attention but he kept to his focuses.

There were also things that deterred his travel along the path. Howls of viscous origin, foul smelling pitcher plants, even a snake that seemed to blend perfectly with the aforementioned vines. Each seemed like a tragedy calling to the boy, but nonetheless he ventures further.

One thing kept him on his path.

That feeling under his feet, it was growing colder, wetter. He knew it could mean only one thing. And after brushing a thick branch from his view he finally spotted it.

Depressed only around a foot or two into the ground sat a small pond. It could even be called a puddle, it only filled in the spring and fall after the heavy rainfalls. But to the inhabitants of the endless forest it was a godsend. And the same could be said for the boy.

He sprinted over, completely ignoring the small furry herbivores lapping at the edges of the spring.

SPLASH

He dunked his dripping head into the cool water. It was only moments ago that he realized his own discomfort, the urge to act this way was completely instinct. It even overwhelmed himself.

He regains himself and brushes the water from his eyes. The surroundings had grown quiet after his interruption. The small prey animals that had been using this pool all vanished.

The boy could only blame himself so he calmly returned to drinking.

Once completely refreshed, and still dripping with cool water the boy began to assess his new surroundings.

There was a small cliff in the distance, he had seen it before on the path but the clearing of the spring made it much more visible. It seemed impassable even here. The challenge it presented tempted him but he convinced himself against it.

He again glanced around the tranquil spring. The rabbit like creatures hadn’t returned but a few birds were again dancing in the pool and flinging water about.

He still had the blue-grey knife in his left hand. He carefully adjusted his grip on it and flicked it as hard as he could towards one of the larger of the two birds.

His stance and grip were improper causing the blade the hit the wind too hard, the sound of it drew the birds attention sending them, again, flying.

The boy stared at the knife across the spring and lightly sighed. He should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. The light glowing on the spring had turned to a pale orange. It was dinner time, he wanted food.

Groowl

His stomach nodded to him as he sluggishly stepped towards the knife.

Again a growl cut through the forest even startling the boy. He glanced at his stomach before hearing the sound again. It echoed through the forest but was clearly growing clearer.

It was nearing. The boy quickly grasped the blade and dropped to his knees scanning the area cautiously.

Any rookie could see the current location wasn’t safe. The boy was knelt beside an open spring. Shrubs and tall grasses obscure him but he had no real cover from danger. But again the boy was a clear novice. He could be forgiven for some little mistakes like this.

The roar again resounded through the jungle. It was indeed a roar this time. This was not the sound of a hunter but the sound of pain. An intermediate level hunter would know these were the sounds of two distinctly different animals but the novice level boy knew nothing, he simply hid and pondered.

Finally the battle taking place spilled into the clearing of the spring. One of the two beasts clearly knew this place as an open area more suited to his combat style.

The two combatants finally made their appearance. The boy almost emitted a gasp when he saw the creatures.

The first entrance was a bear cub just outside of adolescence, the fur on his neck was still folded indicating such. Following hot on his heels was a towering silver-gray wolf. Its fur seemed to stick straight up from static electricity. Its appearance was domineering. Blood dripped from its claws and snarling jaw.

At a second glance the bear cub seemed to be limping badly, its left paw was dragging completely.

This fight seems like it would have a clear victor. The bear carefully stepped backwards growing closer and closer to the shrubs the boy had hidden within.

The two seemed to share a fate now. Without realizing, the bear had gained an ally.

With each step the two creatures made the boys plan became clearer in his mind. It would rely on teamwork and a hint of luck but the boy still refused to run.

Another step and a blood curdling growl from the wolf.

The boy only needed a bit more.

From the bears perspective the boy was now clearly visible from behind the bush but the bear couldn’t remove his sight from the black eyes of his opponent. Another unsteady step backwards mirrored by his foe. And then everything changed.

A shape in the bears peripheral vision leapt from the bush and under the towering wolf. There was a quick flash of blue and the wolf let out a pained groan. Its front half dropped, only standing with its hind legs now.

The wolves head was below the bears line of sight now for the first time. Now the bear glared down at the fallen wolf.

‘An instant’ would be undervaluing the speed the bear moved. No, in a fraction of an instant the bear dropped its jaw onto the wolfs neck and shook endlessly.

Another pained howl was followed by ear splitting silence.

The wolf lay limp in the bears heavily breathing jaws.

Neither party made a sound apart from the panting. The bear was stunned by the sudden situation. Its death was all but confirmed but now its stood over a corpse.

Beasts aren’t stupid. It understood that alone this feat was impossible. It understood that the blur was simply something it hadn’t seen. Releasing its jaw it glanced in the direction the blur had gone. But the area was empty.

The bear was confused. On the other hand the boy was in pain.

The wolf was heavier than expected. Or perhaps the boy was slower than expected. Any of them really.

The boy tried to lift the warm body with all his might, but as stated earlier there was no might there. He quietly grunted as he pushed from beneath the warm gray fur.

Snuf Snuf

A large nose probed his head curiously. The bear had finally reached the far side of his opponent and found the blur. But the blur was not as he expected. Instead of an even more viscous opponent as he had expected it was this small boy. If he could, the bear would have laughed. Instead it just exhaled heavily on the boys scalp.

With his good paw the bear carefully pushed on the wolf’s body. It slid much easier than one would expect. The bear seemed to have significant strength despite its immature body.

The boy hesitantly removed himself from beneath the bloody sandbag. For what felt like minutes the two just looked at each-other. Neither sure what the other was thinking.

Until again a growl resounded within the spring.

The boy glanced at his stomach and then at the wolf.