I push my way past the crowded doorway to get off the bus. Why is it always so crowded where I get off? If it weren’t for the fact that there were always three or four people standing in the doorway, I wouldn’t care. I hate those guys: they always get on the bus a couple stops after me and just stand by the doorway the whole time. Well, I guess if I was a bit more forceful, it still wouldn’t matter to me, but twice this month I took too gentle of an approach and missed my stop. Oh, and the same guys stay in my way when I get off on the stop after, anyways! I sigh. Well, not like I’m ever in a rush to get home to my tiny apartment. Never been invited out or had anyone over. Man, I barely even talk with my co-workers. Well, most of them are jerks anyways, usually part-time high school students. They say you should treat your elders with respect but my age doesn’t matter when you work at a grocery store for a living. Well, it’s not like I’m really much older anyways; I even still have some acne. I’m also not really much bigger than them either. But hey, whereas one guy has braces, I was born with naturally straight teeth! I sigh again and eventually reach my floor. If there’s such a thing as fate, then it’s being a real bitch right now.

An eviction notice on my apartment door. Seriously? I’m only a week late and I even told the landlord about not getting my pay until next week. Damn, now I need to go talk to him again. Oh wait, he went on a trip a couple of days ago. What the heck, he actually got someone else to put an eviction notice on my door anyways. What an ass!

I turn the key and enter my apartment, momentarily disregarding my troubles. I step immediately into my part living room, part kitchen. My apartment is where I spend most of my day, well, if you include sleep. But even if you don’t include sleep, it’s still pretty close between here and work. Don’t get me wrong though, I hate my work. I work 6 days a week for minimum wage and instead of getting more used to it, I’ve been hating it more and more. I bet all my old classmates are probably partying it up at college right now. I hate those guys, too. Okay, I don’t really, I’m just…you know.

I sit on my old couch and turn on the TV. I have basic cable, but I hate all those reality shows and sitcoms. I used to really like sitcoms when I was younger, but now they just make me too envious. I look at the corner of the TV where I hit once after getting pissed off at a main character’s love troubles. Oh no, two hot chicks are into me and I don’t know which one I love! Oh, I could tell the truth and get into a little trouble, or come up with a complicated lie that makes things much worse when they find out later! That stuff just isn’t funny anymore. Well, not for me, at least.

I watch the weather channel and close my eyes for a bit as it goes through the forecasts for the week. I like how they just flip through screens that give you numbers and pictures. I don’t have to look at some fresh-faced anchorwoman as much. Also, the music they play in the background is pretty catchy. The music suddenly ends and I hear a young woman’s voice. Oh, is this a serious update? She goes on about a thunderstorm at night and that there will be very high wind speeds. Good, make it harder for people to enjoy their Friday night. Stay home in your house like me, eyes closed, listening to the news.

After she finished talking, I got up to cook myself some dinner. Nothing special, just fried up some eggs and put it on top of my instant noodles. I bring the bowl out to the living room so that I can sit and watch TV as I eat. Watch the news some more until they start repeating their reports and then I start flipping channels. Sometimes I like to listen to the music channels, but I put up the menu screen so I don’t have to look at the video in the background. They never make any sense and honestly, it sometimes makes my head hurt trying to figure out the meaning. I seriously doubt there’s ever any meaning.

I come across the random music track channel and after some new pop song ends, I hear something familiar start up. I hear the piano start up softly and gradually crescendo before settling back a bit. I continue to listen and feel a sense of nostalgia. Then, I put my fork into the noodles and set the bowl onto my lap as I lean back and close my eyes. The music grows stronger and I actually start to grimace, as if holding something back. My muscles tense as I repress some of my memories. Despite all this, I refused to change the channel and waited until the entire musical piece concluded. I relaxed my muscles and gazed tiredly at the screen as a rap song started up. I turned back to the weather channel and finished my noodles.

After that, I look at my watch. It was just after eight. I then see a brief flash of light from my window. Several seconds later, I heard the rumble of thunder. Nothing special is going to happen tonight; might as well just go to sleep. Maybe get breakfast at McDonalds’ or something in the morning.

After taking a shower, I slipped into bed and closed my eyes. I just sat there and tried not to think about anything. There was nothing good to think about anyways. I just needed to wait for the half hour or so before I blank out. Half an hour goes by and nothing. Then an hour and still nothing. I hear the rumble of thunder much louder now and even feel my room shake a tiny bit. I sit up in my bed as I hear thunder again. Won’t even let me go to sleep early? Fine, be like that. I get up and walk barefoot in my shorts and tee shirt to the kitchen. I pick up a glass and go over to the sink to fill it with water. The rumble of thunder comes again, and this time I felt the kitchen shake even more.

I gaze at the window over the sink and just listen to the pounding of heavy rain against the glass. I see a flash of light again, but this time, it did not immediately disappear. I glanced at the window for a couple seconds, but there was still the glow of light coming from behind it. I set my glass down and open the window. The light intensifies and I shield my eyes. After a moment, my eyes adjusted and I slowly poke my head out of the window to see where the light was coming from. I look down and see nothing; I do feel the rain drumming on my head and shoulders, though. I then looked up and saw a small shimmering orb. I put my hand over my eyes again to block out some of the light and rain and tried to make out any features. Then, I saw a great flash of lightning come and strike the orb. The light became blinding and I felt my feet suddenly slip. I felt nothing else after that.

I felt myself start to wake up and the first thing I did was cough. I then opened my eyes and found myself on a dusty trail. I coughed more and started to get up, confused. I looked down at myself and saw I was still wearing my shorts and tee shirt. I looked up and saw the sun high in the sky. I looked around and swallowed a bit, immediately followed by spitting when I felt dirt slide in my mouth. I took a few steps and felt the gravel slide against my feet.

“What the hell?!” I said aloud. I hit my arm to check if this was a dream and then held it gently as I recognized the pain. “Damn…” I took a few more steps forward and scanned ahead. I could make out something big up ahead, but I wasn’t sure what it was. I then glanced back and saw forest. There was actually forest pretty much everywhere else. I hit my arm again. Still feel it. Forward it is, then.

After about twenty minutes of walking and trying not to panic, I arrived at what appeared to be a small town. There were a few people standing around the wooden houses and many looked at me with surprise. I approach one of the men and try to talk to him.

“Hey, uh…um…”

“Yes, son? What’s the matter? Does it have something to do with your missing clothes?”

“Uh, maybe…can you tell me where I am?”

“You’re by the town Befson, son.”

“And…what is that?”

“Oh, just a nice little town at the edge of the Ertrill Forest.”

“Okay…”

“Tell me, son, where do you come from?”

“Uh…Charlotte?”

“What?”

“I don’t know?” I said, genuinely blanking on the exact name of my city.

“Son, are you alright in the head?” I brought my hand to my forehead and started to massage it a bit. Then, I hit myself one more time to make sure it wasn’t a dream. The pain felt very real. It felt so real, that I reacted to the point that I even fell over.

“Ow! Geez!” I get back up, holding my thigh.

“If you’ve got that much energy, you ought to put it to good use. I don’t know what you’re doing in Befson, but we could always use more workers if you’re interested. We could even loan you some clothes to wear.” It was an offer I could not refuse.

They took me to a large building at the edge of town and I changed into a plain cotton shirt and pants, and a pair of boots. After that, I waited for the man to come back. When he did, he came back with another, much bigger man with a full beard.

“So, you’re the newcomer, eh? Name’s John, I’m the foreman around here. What’s your name?”

“...It’s Braith.”

“Braith? Never heard that name before.”

“I get that a lot.”

“So, Braith, what brings you to Befson?”

“I have no idea.”

“Er…okay? Well, Dan here says you’re interested in some work and we could always use more hands. You all set to go?”

“I guess.”

“Great, come with me and I’ll get you an axe.” I started to follow him as he walked away and then paused.

“Did you say ‘axe’.”

“Yeah, what else would we use to chop those trees?” It took a couple seconds for me to figure it out.

“So…the work is being…a lumberjack?”

“Yeah.” I took a look over my body again and felt my next-to-nonexistent biceps.

“Are you sure I’m up for something like that?”

“Hey, if you made it all the way to Befson, there’s gotta be something strong about you.”

“I have my doubts.” Despite that, I followed him anyway. After grabbing an axe and heading out to the forest where the other lumberjacks were, I learned that my doubts were well-founded. It is really hard to chop down a tree. Finally chopping down a tree also puts the fear of death in you; they fall too unexpectedly! Halfway through chopping the second tree, my arms couldn’t take anymore and I dropped the axe. The other lumberjacks came over to see what was wrong so I tried to get back to work but I just didn’t have the strength to swing the axe anymore.

The foreman came over and gave me a break, said I needed to rest until I was “less addled in the head”, as he put it. I rested for a bit and before I knew it, it was already sunset. After that, the foreman came over with another lumberjack.

“Am I fired?” I asked nonchalantly, still too exhausted to realize how horrible that could really be if this really wasn’t a dream.

“Fired?”

“Did I lose the job?”

“Well, Braith, you just got in town and I’m sure you’ve had a rough day. You’ll do better tomorrow. For now, Lars here will show you where you’ll be staying.”

“I get a room in that building back there?”

“Well, that’s actually full up right now.”

“So…I stay at someone’s house?”

“No, you’ll be staying at the old lodge outside of town.”

“What?” I suddenly felt myself revitalize a little bit.

“It’s not that bad; nobody’s used it regularly for about twelve years, but it’s still liveable. You can pick any room in there you want and there’s a stove.”

“But I can’t use a stove.” By now, I had figured out the premise of electricity was slim to none.

“What, you’ve never used one before?”

“Well, I don’t think I can use that stove.”

“But you haven’t even seen it yet.” At that moment, my stomach growled. “Well, you should learn how to.” Lars took out something and unwrapped it, revealing a small piece of bread.

“It isn’t much, but you can eat this,” Lars said, offering the bread.

“Thanks,” I said as I took the piece.

“We should get going before it gets any later.” I wanted to ask why, but at the same time, I don’t think I wanted to know. It was about a half-hour walk before we reached the old lodge. Good news and bad news. Good news, I managed to just barely hold out and avoid collapsing from exhaustion. Bad news, I’d like to say that I’ve seen houses in horror movies in better shape. Lars unlocked the front door to the dilapidated building and then handed me the key.

We entered the lodge together and the first thing I did was cough. I waved my hand around to get the dust from my face and slowly walked around the dark place. On the bright side, it was a lot bigger than my apartment. On the other hand, it was also worse in every other way. To name a few, there was no real lighting anywhere, the place was very dirty, and it was not in the vicinity of a major city.

“Alright, Braith, I’ll get the fire going in the stove for you and…” Lars paused as he noticed me barely standing up, “you go and get some rest. I will wake you in the morning.”

I muttered my thanks and went looking for a bedroom. I found one, but decided to keep looking. After briefly comparing them, I picked the one I deemed to be least dirty. I took some worn sheets from other parts of the lodge to try and wipe off a bit of the dust around the bed but it was too hard to see in the dark and I was already so tired. I put the sheet down and slipped into bed fully clothed. Okay, dream, feel free to end anytime now.

I lazily opened up one eye and then screamed out in surprise as I saw a giant, blurry blob in front of me.

“Woah, there, it’s just me, Lars.” I opened both eyes and rubbed them a bit, blinking them a bit too, and slapping my cheeks to get myself awake. My eyes adjusted and yes, the blob was definitely a human being.

“Lars, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I did say I would come and wake you, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Wait, you have a key too?”

“No, I don’t. I had to leave and come back so the door was left unlocked.” I just kind of stared at Lars for a bit with my mouth open, realizing how stupid my question was. Then, I thought I suddenly noticed something about Lars’ right eye when my stomach growled.

“I figured this might happen. I don’t know what happened on your travels or why you are traveling in the first place, but it looks like you’ll be needing some help to get settled.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess.”

“I brought some food with me so I could use it to help show you how to use that old stove.”

“I get to eat the food, right?”

“Of course!”

“Ha, right, stupid question.” Man, how many selfish bastards have I been around to ask a question like that? I got up and followed Lars to where the stove was. Yeah, it definitely wasn’t something I’ve ever used before. Lars had already started the fire last night so he started by explaining to me how to keep the fire going throughout the day. He showed me how to open it, where to put in the new coal, and explained how often to do it. As I was thinking it seemed simple enough, he then described the more than two hour long process of getting it started again if the fire dies out completely. For the first time in years, I looked at someone with great admiration.

As he cooked breakfast, I stared at Lars’ eyes again and noticed that his right eye never moved. When I realized this, I suddenly took a step back and my foot hit a nearby chair. Lars stopped to look at me.

“Something happen?”

“Uh…” I said, staring at his right eye and then quickly looking away. Lars brought a hand over his right eye.

“Ah, you noticed my eye?”

“Um…”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a glass eye.”

“A glass eye?”

“Yeah, I lost my real one in an accident years ago.”

“I see…” I said, still not looking directly at Lars. Lars turned his attention back to cooking as I felt slightly ashamed about how I acted.

As I ate breakfast, I forced myself to look directly at Lars. Although I thought this was a good way of redeeming myself, I think it might have actually made him feel more uncomfortable. After eating a breakfast of bread and porridge, I followed Lars back to the forest to get to work. This second try was not easier than the first. However, I was more persistent and had a bit more strength in me so I got a bit more work down. It was still nothing compared to the other lumberjacks, though. If I get fired from this, will I die? I mean, I won’t have a home, food or money. I really, really don’t want to become a hobo. Nine bucks an hour and a tiny apartment, oh, how I miss them now.

Break came and almost on cue, my stomach growled again. Lars seemed like a nice enough guy to share a bit with me if I asked, but I feel like I already owe him a lot. Surprisingly, though, the other lumberjacks offered to share food without me even asking. Sometimes, I got the feeling that they looked a bit strangely at me, but it’s not like I got any kind of a bad feeling from that. Overall, there was no hating on the newcomer, or paranoia over their jobs being taken, or anything like that. Is this what a friendly work environment feels like?

Despite my comfortable feeling during break, after more hours of exhausting and basically unproductive work, I could not dismiss the eventuality of being fired, or so I thought. After work, John the foreman came over to me and I braced myself.

“How are you feeling, Braith?”

“Really tired.”

“Anything else?”

“Cold?” I said as the night wind chilled my face.

“Hmmm, well, even though it’s still autumn, winter isn’t far off. I’ll see if we have any old coats you can use.”

“What?”

“What are you asking about?”

“About that old coat.”

“Well, I’m sure we can find you something that’s just lying around somewhere so I’ll give it to you when I find it.”

“Really?!” I asked excitedly.

“Of course, wouldn’t want you to catch a cold. Oh, I should also get you some extra changes of clothes. Oh, and I suppose you’ll be needing a bath as well. Oh, we should just head to the main lodge now.”

“So, I can keep working as a lumberjack?” I asked with eager anticipation. I have never wanted to be a lumberjack so much in my entire life. And this includes that one time in second grade where I wanted to be the lumberjack hero from Little Red Riding Hood.

“Well, I can’t pay you as much as the others, but you can keep working here for as long as you want.”

“That’s great!” Heck, I probably don’t even do half as much as the other guys.

“That’s quite the spirit you have going for you, Braith. I look forward to how well you’ll do from now on. For now, come with me.”

I followed him and he gave me an old fur coat and some extra changes of cotton shirts and pants for me. Was all of this really just lying around? My spirits were lifted up a bit more thinking about this level of generosity. After getting back home, though, my excitement finally died down. After removing the possibility of starving to death out in the cold in a strange land, there was still the fact that I was in a strange land. It hasn’t been long, but what if they find out eventually? What’ll happen to me? Also, yeah, the coworkers seem great so far, but what about later on? And what about life in general? Even if they never find out, am I just going to live here for the rest of my life? I continued to wrack my mind over all these issues until finally I just let out an irritated groan and flopped onto my bed. I don’t have time for this; I have an early day tomorrow.

The next day, after work finished, I went to the main lodge again to bathe and noticed something inside. I saw a large axe mounted onto the wall. It certainly didn’t look like an ordinary wood-cutter’s axe. The handle was metal and the edge of the axe looked thinner than the edge of my axe. There was also a brand on the side of the axe’s blade which resembled a pair of crossed blades. I walked closer towards it to inspect it further when I heard the foreman shout from behind.

“Hey! Don’t touch that, Braith!” I turned around, somewhat panicked.

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay,” he said, walking closer.

“So, what is it?”

“You don’t know what this is?”

“Well, it’s an axe?” The foreman then pointed at the brand.

“You don’t know what this is?”

“Uh…”

“Braith, where exactly did you come from again?”

“…Charlotte?”

“I’ve never heard of that place before.”

“To be honest, I’m not even sure if that’s where I’m from.” The foreman then began to stroke his beard.

“Braith, are you an escaped prisoner?”

“What?!” An escaped prisoner?! How the heck does that pop into somebody’s head?!

“Well, you won’t tell me where you’re actually from and we heard rumours a few weeks ago that there was a massive breakout from Shelton Prison.”

“No, no, no! I am not a prisoner! Definitely not!” I spoke honestly while vigorously waving my hands and shaking my head. The foreman continued to stroke his beard.

“Then…where do you come from?” I clenched my teeth and tried very hard to remember but no names came to mind. I dropped my head and spoke very worriedly.

“I- I can’t remember.”

“Is this the truth?”

“Yes!”

“Look me in the eye and say that.” I raised my head and stared straight at him.

“I am telling you the truth!” My body shook a bit. I know I wouldn’t believe me, or at least not the old me. We stared at each other for a moment in silence before the foreman nodded.

“Alright, I believe you.” I started to relax. “Right, so…I guess if you don’t know where you are from…you are probably an outlander then.” I looked at him with confusion.

“A…what?”

“You don’t come from any of the kingdoms do you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“An outlander, eh?” So am I an outlander now? Wait, does that mean there are other people from different worlds who came here? “But still, to meet an outlander who wouldn’t recognize this brand…”

“Foreman! You say I’m an outlander. Does that mean there are others like me around here?”

“That’s a strange question. Have you always been alone?”

“No, but I don’t know where I am or how to get back home.”

“Didn’t you travel here?”

“No, I mean, sort of. Ah, well, I just kind of woke up and found myself on the dirt road near this town.” The foreman gave me an incredulous look. Ah, and things were going so good. At that moment, Lars suddenly came over.

“Hey, John, I think you should just let it be. The kid’s probably really confused about a lot of things right now.” I looked to Lars appreciatively.

“Alright then, I’ll take your story for now, Braith. But first, just answer this question for me: What are you?” Huh? What am I?

“I’m…human?” The foreman nodded to himself.

“Yeah, I figured as much. Much too weak to be Battle-Hardened, at least.”

“Battle-Hardened?” The foreman pointed over to the brand on the axe again.

“That brand there means this weapon belonged to an officer for the Battle-Hardened clans.” I still didn’t understand what he was saying and my expression seemed to reassure the foreman of something.

“If you really don’t know who the Battle-Hardened are, then it’s fine. Just remember this, if you ever see someone with this brand, or the brand of a winged person, you best steer clear of them.” The sudden seriousness in the foreman’s voice unsettled me just a bit. Then, the foreman shifted to his usual speaking voice and said, “Well, go ahead and take your bath and head on back to your lodge. Another early day tomorrow.”