An Unexpected Arrival

The sky far above was a pale blue as I opened my eyes. Blinking a few times, I realized I was lying in a bed of grass, with the fresh aroma of flowers somewhere near my head. I felt comfortable, yet uneasy. Slowly I managed to sit up, and was just able to get a view of my surroundings over the tall grass. The landscape was broad, covered with trees and other greenery for quite a ways, until reaching a hill some ways away. Turning the other direction as I got to my feet, a small hill met my view, also covered with grass, with the tall trees towering at the top. It was a beautiful land to behold. As much as I wanted to continue my gaze, the uneasiness returned. *Where am I?*

“Glad to see you’ve awoken!” A man startled me from behind, a moment ago of which he was not there. “You’ve been out for some time now, but do not worry, I have been looking over you. Welcome to these lands! Now before we discuss more important matters, what is your name?”

As nervous as I was a minute ago, something about this man calmed me. “Ty..Tydides is my name. Sir, may I ask you wh-“

“Where we are isn’t your concern yet, son. All you need to realize right now is above you.” I gazed up again, confused as to what he meant. “The sun, kid, look at where it’s at. I’d say we’ve got about a fourth of the daylight left to us, before that old sun goes down. And when it goes down…well, it’s a good thing I found you while it was still shining.”

“You say you found me lying in the grass, but how did I get here? I can’t seem to remember a thing. And furthermore, who are you?”

The man sighed, and began talking again. “As I’ve just told you, these matters are not of your concern at the moment. Night is falling, and I must be going. It’s dangerous to go alone, so take this. I wish I could help you further, but at least you are now awake.”

I looked down and saw what he had dropped at my feet: a satchel, inside containing a wooden axe, pickaxe, and sword. I stared down at the wooden sword, unsure what to make of the situation. “Um, excuse me, but what exactly do I need a sword for…?” Unfortunately when my eyes returned to level, the man had disappeared. There was no way he could have run over the hills in the matter of seconds. What worried me even more than his disappearing act was the phrase he uttered. Somehow it felt familiar.

I grabbed the tools and headed to the top of the nearest hill, to get a bearings of my surroundings. A better view of the landscape could at least give me an idea of how I got here. After a good twenty minutes of navigating the narrow ledges, I reached the top and peered through the trees. Bewilderment filled me as my eyes met the view. *Nothing but grass, trees, and a few small hills for miles.* A slight breeze brushed over me, sending chills down my spine. I looked up and realized the sun would be setting soon. The breeze blew by again, and once again I felt as though something was amiss. Somehow I knew, something was coming. I remembered what the man had said, “And when it goes down…” Night brought about something unnatural, and I wasn’t about to wait and find out what.

Hurriedly I looked at my surroundings. “What am I supposed to do now?! Oh why did that man just leave me here? Think Tydides, think…the man must have had a reason to believe I could survive on my own.” I moved my foot and heard the clinking inside the satchel on the ground. “The tools…? Obviously an axe is used to cut down trees, most likely for the wood. A pickaxe would be for mining or climbing, though I don’t see why I would need to be doing either of such things. And a sword, well, I hope I don’t have much need for one anytime soon. Was the man implying that I should cut these trees down?” Just then the wind rustled through the leaves of the trees, with an eerie stillness soon following. Looking into the distance, darkness was covering the lands, the sun giving off a deep red sunset. “All I want right now is to be inside somewhere safe, though I guess a basic wood shelter will have to do for the night.”

What seemed like only minutes went by as I had chopped down a few small trees nearby, and cut them into jagged planks. I realized that they wouldn’t stand well in the grass by themselves, so I cleared out the grass and dirt with the pickaxe. “Well that tool seemed to do a pretty good job. Maybe the man had a reason for giving it to me after all?” My gaze fell upon the wooden sword, unsure of what this meant. Rushing to finish, I completed my wooden shelter, if one could even call it that. Many cracks appeared in what was meant to be my ceiling, with stars shining through. I didn’t have time to craft anything remotely close to a door, so a larger wooden plank had to make do, with some stone holding it in place. I sat down with my back against the dirt that I had used as my far wall, hoping to get some rest.

Night passed by slowly, as I woke from my sleep often. Though the grass and leaves were a comfortable enough bed, it was the noises which stirred me awake. All night I could hear shuffling across my ceiling, as shadows passed over. Every so often a knocking and scraping came at my door, though I was in no way about to open to see what was just beyond. A wooden sword didn’t seem sufficient to lower my fear. Near the morning I could have sworn I heard moaning, though that could have just been my imagination. Eventually I fell asleep, the sounds slowly drifting away.