It was dark in the woods. Mist swirled through the air, blocking out all possible details. The trees appeared like looming shadows in the darkness, only accented by the white fog that hung in the air.

A deep white figure seemed to move with the mist. It prowled through the dense woods and weaves between the tree without making a sound. Its sharp green eyes seemed to pierce the endless mist and darkness.

It circled endlessly around a figure lying helplessly in the grass. The boy simply stared into the night sky that was enshrouded by a thick veil of fog. His breath stirred the mist as he layed sprawled out on the blackened grass. This forest had no life. It was as if a forest fire had ravaged everything except this boy and the monster prowling in the mist.

Suddenly the large white tiger disturbed the curtain of mist, walking towards the boy who was still lying there quietly. The boy didn't even turn to meet the creature, he simply spoke with an intrigued tone, "Who are you?"

The tiger circled the boy before responding in a scratchy voice, like if one was scraping stones against each other, "I am you."

The boy finally turned to meet the tiger's gaze. Their matching eyes met. There was an indeterminable pressure within that gaze. It was filled with expectation as well as an unyielding determination. The tiger stopped its movement before releasing a roar into the night. It was as if the sound itself carried the tiger's noble presence and overbearing aura with it. The fog was ushered back by the mere shock wave from its demanding force.

What was revealed startled Fay. It was an endless forest. Ash covered the ground and the ground was scorched and the sky swallowed all light. All light except the light from those piercing green eyes. Those eyes that stared with an authority, the authority of a being that had the right to look down upon all others, a god.

Fay suddenly awoke.

He was lying in small bed, that was stuffed with hay. He was covered in sweat and his heart was thrumming in his chest. He was feeling wide awake and also indescribably startled. That overbearing presence left an undeniable pressure on him. He didn't know what it was. "Just a dream... wait... where am I?" He peered around to get and idea of where he was.

He remembered falling asleep after Wilt left. At that moment he took notice of his surroundings. He was lying on a bed with his left wrist tied to one of the bedposts. The room he was in was small and had no windows. He also took notice that he was now wearing a new set of clothes. Some roughly made trousers and a sleeveless shirt. He unconsciously ran his hand through his hair only to realize something, it wasn't matted. It was no longer a long matted mess, it had been cut short while he was asleep.

While he was still running his head back and forth, the door opened. Fay was alerted by the creaking of the door hinges. His eyes turned to meet those of the young girl from before. She was so startled to see him awake that she stumbled backwards out of the doorway before slamming the door shut. He could hear her yelling, "Grandpa!"

Fay calmed down slightly once he realized he had not been dragged off too far from his original position. Some of his uneasiness from Wilt's words the night before was relieved. He could still hear his question, "Try not to die at the Sky Well will you?"

He had played these words over and over in his mind before falling asleep the night before. This only granted more questions for him to think about, "What is the Sky Well? What is so dangerous about it?" These questions that had made him uneasy were pushed into the back of his mind after Graham opened the door.

The old man calmly walked in before closing the door behind himself. He then pulled up a small wooden stool that had been sitting in the corner of the room before sitting down next to the bed. Fay twisted his body to sit up but was stopped by Graham who used his strength to force Fay to lay back down. "You're in no condition to move just rest here. Wilt may have gone a little overboard... but trust me he is good guy..." This was what Graham told Fay, and it really sounded like he meant every word.

Fay reluctantly laid back down. Seeing this Graham nodded his head in approval before leaving Fay with the words, "Good, I'll have Adaline get you something to eat... you'll need it..."

Fay's first realization was that the little girl from before must be Adaline, his second realization came after he heard the last part of what Graham said. He realized that he was in trouble. He immediately thought about the Sky Well. "What kind of place will it be..." Was all he could keep thinking about. Dying certainly wasn't what was unsettling. Rather it was the fact that he didn't know where he was going or what the danger was that caused him to have anxiety.

Fay decided to just rest with his eyes closed as various thoughts ran through his head. He was slowly falling asleep. That was when Adaline walked in.

She was carrying an old iron serving tray in both hands. She came into the room and sat down on the stool where Graham had sat before. She sat the tray on her lap. On the tray was a bowl of some kind of warm soup, a loaf of bread, and a hunk of some sort of meat, probably from a type of stock animal, that had been roughly broiled.

After she sat down she quietly sat down for a few minutes with her head down. The silence was finally broken by her soft whisper voice, "I-I'm sorry..." She obviously felt embarrassed herself after what she had done to him before.

Fay simply stared at her for a moment before realizing what she was talking about, he hadn't really thought about it as something to worry over considering his other problems. But to get her to stop worrying over it Fay just plainly stated, "It's ok, I didn't really care."

Hearing Fay accept her apology Adaline had a beaming smile sprout on her face. It was rather cute. She bent forward while saying, "Really?" It was obvious that she had felt bad after acting in such a way towards him. Fay just nodded his head in confirmation. He really didn't care about it.

Only he did care when the soup bowl slid off the tray because Adaline was leaning forward. He bent his body in a strange angle in an attempt to catch the bowl with his right hand, while his left hand was still tied up. Only Adaline noticed the soup bowl in time to startle to catch it, completely forgetting about the try on her lap. Fay was splattered in food. He just kind of sat there. Until he said with a hint of playfulness, that surprised himself, "Do you always assault your guests with food?" He said it with a light smile.

He himself didn't quite know why he was teasing her or why he was trying to be nice to her, perhaps it was because he was trying to return her kind feelings in some way. Or maybe Wilt's words had really gotten to him in some way. However Adaline didn't see it that way, she thought he was picking on her for what she had previously done to him.

Her little face was like a tomato. She angrily stomped before hitting him over the head with the tray. She slammed the door shut on her dramatic exit. He could hear her furious yell as she left, "Jerk!"

Fay really didn't understand this girl at all. However his sharp ears could pick up her muffled little cries outside the door. Adaline had her back to the door and was clutching her knees. She sniffles out little whispers to herself, "...You said you didn't care... Liar... Jerk..." She wiped her tears and sat there for a while.

She clearly cared way too much about what Fay thought of her. However Fay just shook his head and ate the chunk of meat that was now lying on his lap. He had a feeling he wouldn't be here too long anyway.

Over the next few days Fay had finally discovered what the Sky Well was and why he was being taking care of so well compared to before, which always seemed to be accompanied by Adaline's dramatic screams and him being hit in some way, from Graham.

Graham described to him the traditions of the annual Transition Festival. It was always held towards the middle of the year to represent the change in weather from warm to cold. It was also considered a time to worship and sacrifice to the gods of time as worshiped by the Krain Religious Order. It is for this reason every year around this time the country of Lance is at its most lively as it is the birthplace of the Krain religion.

And the Krain Religious Order had long since declared that a large sacrifice must be offered to the gods over the span of the festival. That is why every town that is registered under the country of Lance must offer at least one person to fight in the Sky Well.

The Sky Well was built in the center of the capital city Klyde. It was said have a radius of over a thousand feet and almost just as deep into the ground. Not to mention it had a towering building above ground to house spectators. And during the festival a thousand people at a time would be thrown into the Sky Well to fight to the death. They would fight until they died in the name of the gods of the sky. The only way to live was to survive until sunset.

This is because the people of the order believe that commencing sacrifices at night would be a sin. They believe that the god of the night is a cruel one who can only bring despair so giving him their offerings would only bring misfortune. However for those who are sent as sacrifices the god of the night is their savior.

Many people sent to the Sky Well are criminals but in small villages like this one where everyone knows each other and they rely on one another the Transition Festival is a nightmare. When there are no criminals you can only choose someone else. In the end they were saved by Wilt who promised to give them a way out. That was why Fay was there and according to Graham taking care of him was but a simple courtesy for someone who will later fight for their life.

However according to Graham even if one survives during the length of the festival they will simply be inducted as one of the Sky Well's gladiators, along with all of Klyde's criminals. The Sky Well on ordinary days will have constant fights running throughout the day. The only way to escape was to complete three hundred fights as a gladiator at the bottom of the Sky Well.

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Author's Note: Well this chapter in and of itself was a transition chapter... I had to re-write this chapter three times because I was unsatisfied, so I hope you enjoyed it... or not, that's ok too... I guess... :) on another note... Action will start soon! Hurray! Growth of my wimpy MC!