I studied my clothing for a second, still amazed by the healing but trying to move my brain onto topics I could understand. The shirt itself was a greenish homespun material, coarse in nature, that I could not fully identify. Certainly not the modern cloth I knew. The pants were brown but made of the same material. My feet were wrapped in leather, which was sewn up and wrapped around my feet with a leather string right where laces would be on shoes back home. Like someone made a pouch you could just slip your feet in rather than tie up. More of a wrap than the type of shoe as I was familiar with.
When my wounds seemed about gone, the dam broke; my emotions came flooding back into me. Almost overwhelming me back into the blackness I woke up from. I fought against the tide and breathed in and out slowly, using all the meditation techniques I learned over the years to deal with stress. I focused on each emotion one by one, acknowledged them, and then put them into a box of my own making for later study. I was not sure how long I sat there while I got control again.
I heard a crack in the forest beyond, my senses coming alive with the strange sound.
“Shit,” I whispered to myself.
I had forgotten that the wound looked like a bite mark. Fresh too, from the blood still wet on my clothing. That means whatever caused it was still nearby.
I opened my eyes and studied my surroundings. About six feet away was a bag on the ground and a small bed roll tied with a leather twine. Next to it lay a plate with some berries on it along with a small knife about five inches long, as though someone was having a meal of mixed fruit and the knife was the eating utensil. Then it occurred to me it belonged to whoever had this body previously. Provided I was not crazy and this really was my body.
I pushed myself up off the ground, my legs unsteady, and got into a crouch, trying to keep as much of the woodland setting in my peripherals as I could. Listening to all the sounds around me as I slowly made my way over to the knife.
It was then that I noticed that the forest was silent, and I could hear no birds or other animals in it. Just a light rustle of the trees as the wind passed through them. While I was unfamiliar with this wood, I could not imagine it having none of the same noise making animals as the ones back home. I reached for the knife and picked it up. Testing the weight in my hand as I moved my arm back in front of me.
The knife was cheap but serviceable. Adjusting my grip, I moved it in several directions. Trying to combine what was muscle memory in my mind with movements from the current set I had never actually used before. This was going to put me at a significant disadvantage to anything that could pop out of these woods.
Play the hand they dealt you, Derk, don't whine about what you can't change.
I moved in a crouch over to the nearest tree trunk, wanting to have a barrier at my back while I figured out the best course of action. As I neared the Oak-willow-maple tree thing, I heard a growl come from the bushes on the other side of the small clearing.
I faced the threat, the knife angled in my hand for a quick stab, with my other arm reaching out in front of me to block whatever it was that came out from the bushes. The blackberry bushes acted as a kind of fence to keep the animal at bay, as I could see a shadow moving just beyond the green barrier.
My senses all came alive. More than I have ever felt before. My hearing jacked up to eleven on the scale, hearing things I did not notice before. The sound of limbs scraping against the trees from the light wind. The sounds of the… whatever it was, stepping and cracking the organic debris on the ground.
My smell heightened, almost overwhelming me with that coppery tang from before. Now I knew it was the blood that soaked into the clothes I wore, overwhelming the other smells in the area.
My vision sharpened. The dark shadows cast by the trees and other vegetation suddenly brightened. It didn’t quite eliminate the darkness in the shadows, but made it fade so that I could make out the details that they previously hid from me.
I watched as the creature approached the opening in the bushes. The enclosed area could make you feel somewhat safe and that was probably why whoever this body belonged to chose it.
I banished that thought and prepared myself for what was to come.
The snout of what appeared to be a big ugly dog moved its head around the last blackberry bush, its eyes glowing a dull mix of orange and red, like embers in a fire that had just burned out but had not yet cooled. The body followed a moment later as it prowled around the corner of the thick vegetation, keeping its head down and sniffing the ground. When it saw me, a low growl came from its throat.
Sweat ran down my forehead, but I ignored it, never taking my eyes off this strange beast. My ears tuned in to the rest of the world in case it was not the only threat.
We studied each other for a moment, each of us unsure about the other. I recognized that the black and brown fur was matted with blood stains around its mouth, probably my own if I were to guess. This settled my suspicion that it was what led to the demise of the previous owner of this body.
The wolf tensed as I readied myself as best I could for the blow I knew was coming.
It did a jumping leap and pounced, moving so fast I knew I could not stop it from breaking past my meager defenses.
Then the world seemed to slow.
Everything went into what seemed like a slow-motion video. The wolf was still moving towards me in a bounding lope, but slowly enough that I could consider my actions before I was forced to move. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, I waited until it made its final leap towards me before I acted.
When it leapt into the air to use its body weight to pounce on me for the kill, I somersaulted forward, underneath the large beast. My shoulder tucked underneath into the roll as I had trained to do so long ago.
Even with all the techniques I had, the roll hurt much more than it should, like I hit a wall at thirty miles an hour. I tumbled over and back on my feet while the wolf was still in the air, surprising both myself and the animal as it tried to turn its head to follow me. Causing it to go into a roll of its own when it hit the ground.
I gritted through pain and stood up, not sure what was happening to me, I lunged toward the beast as fast as I could and stabbed my knife down towards its head. Missing my target by only a few inches, I ended up stabbing the place where its neck and its shoulder met, hopefully all the way to the heart or lungs. A mortal wound, to be sure… but not the instantaneous death I was really hoping for.
The speed and heightened senses I had been enjoying abruptly cut off from me and I felt an exhaustion settle over my body. I stumbled back, and the wolf spasmed its body into me, knocking me back several feet. My head bounced off the ground after the impact.
The wolf got up and stumbled towards me, the look in its eyes made me think it was intent on taking me with it. But just as it reached me, it collapsed. Hopefully dead or close to it. My feeling of relief was short-lived, however, as unconsciousness consumed me a few seconds later.
This really was just not my day.
2
Let’s Try This Again
I woke up more slowly this time, not in as much pain as I was before. Though the smell… something really stunk.
The beast!
I startled awake and got to my feet. Looking down at the body of the mutant wolf before me. It laid unmoving on its side, the knife still sticking out of its back.
Just for good measure I kicked it. Hard.
“That's right, mother fucker!”
I almost kicked myself next, metaphorically at least, sure that the loud noise I created would attract another of its ilk. I bent down and extracted the knife. The smell that rose from the wound was even worse. Imagine a week-old trash can filled with meat in the middle of a hot Georgia day in July. Well, that was like cinnamon and spice in comparison. So, I backed away and focused on not gagging.
“Man, I need to get out of here,” I whispered. I still was not used to the sounds of this unfamiliar voice coming from me.
“Should just
keep talking to myself till I get used to it. Someone might think I am crazy but… they might be right too.”
I grabbed the bag on the ground along with the fruits that the 'not me' was eating before I arrived. I piled everything into it for later, noticing some more clothing in the bottom, before tying it up with the leather cord.
“New… Well, less bloody clothes would be nice. Better get this blood off me first, though.” I snagged the bedroll and made my way out of the clearing.
With the small clearing of stinky death behind, I could now breathe easier in both a literal and figurative sense. I even felt better than I had since before I woke up. Of course, after taking stock of my surroundings, I realized I did not know which way to go.
“Fuck me.”
The forest was thick, but not so thick that I could not see an outcropping of rocks sticking above the tree line to the… South? I was not one hundred percent sure, but I think the sun was setting on me to my left. So, I was going to go with south until I could figure out how things worked here. Because at this point, I was not sure that I was on Earth anymore.
“South it is.”
I carefully made my way towards the outcropping. Judging it to be about a mile away, I reached behind my head and felt pain when I touched the occipital bone. A bruise had formed, and it was going to be a good one.
“Guess that healing shit wore off before it fixed this, must have been out for a bit too.”
The woods were full of those willow-maple-oak trees, but it also had some other varieties that were more familiar. I saw pine trees here and there, not as abundant, but trying to break their way through in the old growth woods. Since on earth we found pines in cooler climates, I should prepare for chillier nights around here at some point.
“It's warm enough though, we are probably in summer, if this place even has seasons.”
As I neared the outcropping, I came to a small brook. The water was rushing, but it was narrow. I could easily jump it if needed.
I sat the pack down and got the change of clothes out of the back. I disrobed… Damn, at least I have one thing going for me in this new body.
Believe me, I was not ashamed of what I had on Earth, but whoever this kid was would have had a shot in the porn industry. “Change my name to John Holmes or something,” I said, chuckling to myself.
I shook my head and chastised myself for the not at all helpful thinking, instead going back to the task at hand. I washed myself in the cold water — that helped tamper some of the enthusiasm with my newfound appendage — and I got as much of the blood and filth off me as possible too.
I jumped up and down and air dried before putting the change of clothes on. Then cleaned off the old clothing in the fast-moving water, finding a small bar of soap in the bag. It was useless as clothes now, but could be helpful as bandages or something, so I wanted to keep it on hand. After wringing out as much water as I could, I laid the wet clothing on the rocks to dry while I walked around the area looking for anything else that might help.
“Score,” I said a few minutes later, as I picked up a stick about my height. It was a sapling that had gotten knocked over and was just a little thicker than I could wrap my hand around it. One end tapered off slightly so that it was only about three quarters as thick as the base.
“This should buy me some time if I run into another death wolf or whatever that was. I might even have some twine that I can tie the knife to the end and give myself a longer reach with it... Not to mention its other uses.”
I made my way back to the now only damp clothing, and I gave it one more squeeze to check. Not perfect, but I did not want to stay here any longer. I hung the clothing over the ends of the stick and put it over my back like a yoke and continued to the rock outcropping.
Just before I jumped over the water, though, I glanced at the reflection below me, having avoided doing so before.
My hair was brown and unkempt, hanging off my head in a mop that almost touched my shoulders. It looked like it was at one point groomed regularly, but recently allowed to grow uncontrolled. My face was that of a kid in his early twenties, just old enough to drink in my old world. Pale skin that had seen too much sun in recent days and not built up a resistance, with a fair complexion and grayish green eyes. Like the stormy seas off Ireland in all those pictures I saw as a kid.
My shoulders still had the square shape of my old self but lacking the bulk I preferred. I was going to have to do something about that, eventually, if I survived that long.
Hopping over the flowing water, I continued on my way.
The rocks of the outcropping were not that bad to climb. There was a dirt game trail up the back of the hill that got most of the way up. From there it was a solid gray stone that was only cracked in a few places, which supplied good holds for the hands and feet. I left the stick, my pack, and the drying clothes at the first rock and made my way up to the top. Just my dagger on me now.
Fifteen minutes later, give or take, I was up at the top. The skinny body I was in did not prove a hindrance and allowed me to climb without being winded. Small victories.
I observed the lands below, easily seeing for miles as the forest ended only a few hundred yards off in the south. In the distance, I could see a road going from my left to my right on the grassy plains beyond. No villages or towns were in evidence, but a road ought to lead me to something that could help me.
To my far left the forest pushed out into the plains a couple more miles than the rest, so I could not see where the road went in that direction. To my right, it seemed to go off towards some grassy hills.
Which path do I take?
Then I heard a sound that did not match the forest.
A scream in the distance called out to me. A woman's scream, if I was to guess. The hairs on the back of my head stood up, the protective impulses inside me started demanding that I do something now.
“Calm down. Rushing in will help no one and get you killed.”
I forced back the urge to do something and cupped my ears to hear better. Closing my eyes and standing as still as a statue, I struggled to pick up anything more.
In the distance, I could hear some men laughing while they tramped through the foliage. Not the woman's scream, but it was enough for me to come up with a reason to act.
I turned and slid down the rocks as fast as I could get away with. Moving much faster than my trip up the slope, I dropped my bag where I landed, pulling my knife out of the sheath that I had found in the bag and had attached to the leather cord that acted as a belt.
I hesitated, looking over to where I had started my climb. “Should I grab the stick?”
I shook my head and left it behind. I might need stealth here, and I did not want to lose more time going back for it.
I moved at a quick shuffle, a combination of speed and silence I had learned years ago, finally getting used to this body that was not originally mine.
The sound of someone running through the bushes reached my ears, and I hid behind a thicket of plants, my back to the rocky outcroppings' base as I gazed at another small clearing, hoping the shadow of the bush hid me from any prying eyes.
I crouched as low as possible, just able to see inside the small clearing, the sounds of running bodies telling me it was right in their path.
So, I sat still and waited for whatever it was to come to me.
3
Saving Tyla
I was motionless as I waited. Years of training came back to me, but the body I was in protested the position I had crouched in, letting me know its discomfort through minor pains. I did not have enough time to shroud myself in shrubbery and mud to break up my outline, so I relied on lack of motion and the bushes to keep prying eyes from noticing me.
A crash, followed by a flash of motion appeared to the right side of me, as a woman ran into the clearing, tripping halfway through and landing on her side away from me. All I saw was a low-cut white shirt with a leather corset. The shirt was torn and tattered, and her
long brown hair disheveled and filled with scraps of the forest. Her clothing looked more like undergarments than what one would normally wear in a forest.
She was crying… sobbing, really combined with the heavy breathing of running from something, obviously moving for a while now, and looking like she was on her last legs.
I resisted the urge to go to her, thinking of the sounds of men's laughter from earlier. I could not help her if I did not understand the threat, so I waited.
She tried to get up to run again, but her legs failed her. She instead started crawling along to my left. My heart almost broke from sitting there doing nothing. My will power to stay still, pressed to the breaking point.
I didn't wait long, soon four men entered into the clearing behind her.
They did not look like the most competent foes, thankfully. Each was slightly overweight, dressed even more shabby than me, and had a club or baton on them. All breathing heavy from the chase.
“Oy girl, you aint got nowhere to run now, do you? Thought you could get away?” the asshole on the far right said. He had several missing teeth and a bald head. Along with the club in his left hand, he had a collar in his right.
The girl glanced behind her with a small squeak, then got on her feet, moving with a stumbling forward lope, one last attempt to flee. The guy in the middle pulled out a bolo and swung it over his head in a circle. After a few good swings, he launched it at her. It wrapped around her legs, sending her back to the ground.
She whimpered when she landed, and I almost lost control again. I just needed them to move forward a few more paces, and I could come in from behind.
“We are gonna have a little fun with ya before we turn you in for that reward, girlie. Make you pay for all that.” Bolo said with heavy breaths.
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