Chapter Text
Things were dark, and it felt like they were sinking in the ocean, going deeper and deeper into the darkness. But then, they woke up.
They looked at their surroundings and noticed that they were in a forest, and that it was nighttime. How they knew what those things were they didn’t know, but what they did know was that they were alone.
The only thing in their hands was a bow. They knew they had some arrows in their inventory, but they weren’t entirely sure what that was.
They decided the best course of action was to walk around to see if they could find out more about where they were, since all they knew right now was that they were in a forest. Even then, they only had a vague idea of what that was.
They traveled through the forest, brushing their hands against the bark. Occasionally they stopped somewhere, making out the different details that made the place up. While at a birch tree they stopped, crying was coming from somewhere near them.
They slowly turned towards the source of the crying and walked in that direction, wondering what was going on. When they reached the source, they saw a small child crying. ‘ A villager ’ They thought absentmindedly.
She was crying while clutching a wooden sword. Parts of her cloak were slightly ripped, but it seemed to be more from catching on things than being attacked. A purple ribbon was tied to her arm.
They slowly approached her, making sure that she could see them so she didn’t get scared at seeing them. It didn’t work however, since she start crying even more when she saw them, pointing the wooden sword at them while shaking.
They stopped where they were, not wanting to scare her more. They tried to calm her down. “Hey, hey, calm down. Are you ok, kid?” The child seemed a bit surprised to hear them speak.
She didn’t say anything for a little while, but seemed to calm down a little. “N-no. My brother kept saying t-that I was a baby. S-so he d-dared me to go out here for an hour, and he’d come back for me. But he left me here! And I d-didn’t want to go home because I’m lost and I’m scared a mob will get me!” She waved the sword around as she spoke.
They decided to help, even if the kid seemed scared of them. “If you want, I can help you get back. I don’t know where your home is either but I can protect you from those mobs” They weren’t entirely sure what mobs were, but they had a feeling that they were one.
She seemed to consider it, then gave a shy nod and reached for their hand. They walked with her for what seemed like hours, but they couldn’t be sure since they didn’t really have a way to tell the time.
They could tell they were close when she gasped, seeming to recognize the area. She led them through it, tugging on their bony hand.
They practically burst out of the forest and onto a field nearby a road. The road led to a village. The child dragged them onto the road, walking along the path until they reached a certain house. She smiled brightly at seeing it, and let go of their hand.
“Thank you Mr. Skellyman! I’m gonna tell my mommy how mean was brother was and he’s gonna get in trouble!” She said joyfully.
“No problem, happy to help.” They started to walk off when the kid told them to wait. She untied the ribbon and held it out to them. “My meanie brother told me that this was proof that he’d come back, but you can have it since I don’t need it anymore.”
They took the ribbon from her, holding it in their hand. They thanked her for it and walked off into the forest. Behind them, they could hear the child knocking on the door to her house, and the sounds of joy and worry her mother made when she saw her.
They walked through the forest, observing their surroundings once again. Only this time, two things were on their mind. ‘ That house was really nice, I should make one. Helping people is also really nice, I should try to do that more. ’ And so they made a plan, they were going to make a house, like a base of operations, and help as many people as they could.