Chapter Four - This Sucks

The group stood in silence for a few moments before Ryan finally spoke.

“So… that was… something”

Caleb put his hands on his knees, breathing heavily as Sierra began cursing up and down to herself.

Kana still sat on the floor, hugging her knees.

“So, um…what now?” Ryan asked.

“Uh… we head to the place with the lights?” Caleb suggested, still struggling to breathe.

“It could be dangerous though”

“I think we’ve established being out here is dangerous” Caleb said, sitting on the floor before leaning back to gulp in air.

“Right. That’s fair” Ryan said nodding. “Uh…Sierra? Kana?”

Sierra sniffled a bit more, then nodded wiping her eyes.

“Sorry. Right, ok… if it’s safe over there, they might have food and water. But we still have to be careful” she said. Caleb nodded, and they all looked to Kana who looked lost, and uncertain as she stared at the floor.

“Kana?” Sierra said. She looked up quickly at all of them, clearly not having paid attention. “You ok?”

The girl nodded, but Caleb could see the uncertainty in her clearly.

“You sure?” he said. She glanced to him, then looked back to the floor.

[Do you think Grandpa’s ok?]

“Uh… I think so” he said back.

[R-really?]

“I mean the messages said he was put on a safe zone back home right? He’s safe” Caleb said. Probably a lot safer than we are he thought.

She nodded, some of her confidence returning at his words.

[Ok. Sorry. Let’s go to the lights]

The group all nodded, then started off through the sand toward the village. The sand was harder her, more packed than before. It was tough in a similar way to the rock formation, but nowhere near to the same degree. It gave Caleb a sense of security though.

Sand this tough meant there probably weren’t any huge bugs, or dog sized scorpions waiting to leap out the ground. He shuddered slightly, recalling the sound of the skittering.

He never wanted to see something like that ever again, but something told him he didn’t have much say in the matter.

As the group continued, Sierra and Kana fell into a pair, and began talking to each other again. Ryan drifted back towards him and flashed a smile.

“Just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder, am I right?”

“Yeah” Caleb chuckled. “How does something that teleports people to different planets mess up on the number of people it teleports?”

Ryan laughed then looked out ahead toward the village, his smile fading fast.

“What do you think we’ll find?” he muttered.

“Other than people?” Caleb asked.

“Yeah”

“Something that helps with the monsters I hope”

“That’s what I was thinking. But if it’s not…” Ryan trailed off.

“I think we’ll be ok. Whatever dropped us off here probably doesn’t want us just dying. I mean, we haven’t even started the proper trial”

“Right, this is the tutorial” Ryan said. “Still...” he trailed off again, looking to Sierra. Caleb was reminded of her friend - Andre - once again too. Whatever had sent them here probably didn’t intend for any of them to die, but things had gone wrong last time. What was stopping them from going wrong now?

“We’re getting a bit close” Caleb said. “I think we should slow down a little, start being careful”

Ryan nodded, then the two sped up, catching up to the girls.

“Let’s slow down a bit now” he said. The two nodded, and the group slowed. As they continued forward, Caleb could feel the atmosphere shift.

As the lights of the village grew brighter, and the stone buildings clearly the uneasiness which had fluttered through their earlier conversation was forced to the forefront of their minds.

They all moved stiffly, their bodies tense as they drew closer and closer.

As they neared, Ryan gestured for them to slow. The group stopped and dropped to the ground. Caleb still thought they were probably visible, but they were in the dark looking into the brightness; someone from within the village would still have a hard time seeing them if they weren't looking.

They waited for a while, then continued forward staying low, their faces close to the sand. As they came to a stop again, they were still a decent distance from the village, but now the intricacies of its buildings and the few people that milled around were clearer.

The village was circular, and most of the buildings were made of smooth stone, only one or two stories tall. A low wall circled the outskirts of the village, one that could be hopped easily enough by all four of them. The banners and lights that decorated the buildings suggested some kind of festival, or event, but Caleb couldn’t be sure.

The people that walked around wore wonderful colourful garments made of a strange slightly shiny silk. A few wore the dress along with strange, hardened carapaces, the skin dyed various colours across the surface in a few different ways. There didn’t seem to be a pattern to where they were worn, or what sizes they came in, and there were even a few kids wearing them too.

There was also a decent few wore similar clothing, brighter coloured silks with a strange leather arm band covered in glowing marks whose light shifted like fire. It was a weird atmosphere, not unwelcoming, but still completely foreign to him.

[It’s smaller than I thought] Kana whispered.

“Yeah. Barely any buildings” Sierra whispered back. Caleb frowned as they watched for a bit longer.

“I don’t think it’s a village” he mumbled. “I think they’re guarding something”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Yeah” Ryan added. "It feels weird"

[Why?] Kana asked.

“I don’t know. It’s just off” Ryan mumbled.

“I mean, they’re too many people out for night time. Children too. It might be some kind of event or celebration, but regardless Ryan’s right. It’s... weird. Might just be because we're unfamiliar though”

“I think you guys are right” Sierra said. “There’re too many people with those weird armbands. And their clothes are all too similar. It’s nothing I’m overly familiar with but it just seems like… I don’t know”

“Cops?” Caleb guessed.

“Yeah. I was thinking closer to military” she replied.

[So the armbands are weapons? You think it’s a military outpost?]

“…maybe” Sierra mumbled.

“You guys want to go around? Find somewhere else?” Ryan asked.

“That might be a good idea” Sierra said.

“I’m not sure" Caleb said. "I think we’re assuming too much. This is a different planet, different culture. If they’re friendly we could really be screwing ourselves over.”

[And we don’t want to run into any more monsters] Kana said. Caleb nodded. They definitely did not want that.

The group went silent, still watching the people as they milled about enjoying the festivities.

“Ok. I’ll go closer and try to see if I can listen in” Ryan said.

“Will you even understand them?” Caleb frowned.

“Well the message thing is translating for Kana, so maybe. It’s worth a shot” Ryan said.

Caleb blinked for a second before realising he was an idiot. It’d been so seamless he hadn’t even realised that Kana’s words were being translated. It’d just felt right. Of course she was speaking in her native tongue, the words literally felt different in his mind.

He frowned.

How exactly did that work though? Did you just hear everyone who spoke in your native tongue? When had he been given the ability to even do this? When he’d first been teleported? Sometime during his aimless walk around? There wasn’t a way for him to know.

The fact he was the world’s biggest idiot likely played a part in his failure to notice, but also the seamlessness of it all. What other changes to his brain had this higher entity made that he hadn’t even noticed yet?

That’s kind of worrying

[Wait] Kana said, stopping Ryan. [We should stick together like Grandpa said]

Ryan paused and looked to the others.

“I’m ok with it” Sierra said. They all looked to Caleb.

“...sure, why not?” he mumbled. If we're going to die we might as well die together.

Caleb kept the last part to himself, turning his eyes back to the village. Ryan only nodded and together the four moved forward, the light from the town illuminating them more now. But as they drew closer the fear and apprehension grew, the group slowing bit by bit till they were almost at a standstill.

“It’s weird” Ryan mumbled, his voice slightly shaky. “I should be able to hear them now. It’s… muffled”

Caleb frowned listening out, a realised Ryan was right. But he felt something too. A kind of weight in his mind, tugging at him. He'd picked it up only moments ago, but as they'd drawn closer the feeling had become more concrete.

“Guys... I- I think there’s something here” Caleb said, reaching forwards. Suddenly a spark of yellow shot from the ground to his hand, and instantly a ring of glowing golden yellow symbols appeared on the floor all around them. “Shit”

They looked to the village, the people dressed in white silk with the strange leatherlike armbands already rushing toward them.

Well, I guess we were right.

Without a word, the four turned to run. But the ground crumbled behind them, and more of the soldiers appeared from underneath the sand, the markings of their armbands glowing golden.

Kana skidded to a stop and threw her hands up in surrender. The others all followed suit as the approaching soldiers stopped, swords and other weapons materialising in their hands in flashes of golden yellow, their armbands glowing brighter.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck” Sierra cursed.

The soldiers were upon them now, pointing their raised weapons as they all shouted, barking orders in a cacophony of vicious cries that simply turned into muddled noise.

Then a woman stepped forward, the crowd parting for her. She wore the same clothes as the others but had two armbands, and a carapace headband - close in style to a crown - with a large amber encrusted into the surface.

[Who the hell are you?!] she shouted, the vehemence in her voice clear. [Where did you come from!?]

“Tutorial. We’re doing the tutorial” Ryan said desperately. The soldiers exchanged confused glances, then looked to their leader. She simply crossed her arms, unimpressed by Ryan’s words.

[Enough of this nonsense, I’ll not allow waywards to ruin Evingaard. Ekihnzt, bag them]

[Yes milady]

Before he could even realise what had happened, a bag was pulled tight over his head. Caleb tried to struggle, but then something hit him on a level beyond physical, and he felt his entire body slump to the ground, his consciousness beginning to fade into nothingness.

-

The first thing Caleb became aware of were the aches all over his body. Then it was the sound of echoing footsteps, and something being dragged along stone floor. His feet. He shifted his weight, trying to lift his legs from dragging behind him as he was held under the armpits, but his body refused to listen to him, still too distant from his mind.

[He’s awake] the person to his right said. [That was fast]

[You think he’s a baby spirit?] the left voice said.

[No way. We’d be dead already] the right voice laughed. Caleb didn’t attempt to wrestle himself away from the other two, his body still far too weak from whatever had happened to him earlier. It felt like a part of him had been hit with a sledgehammer and the rest of his body was reeling, struggling to understand why it wasn’t working properly.

His captors slowed as they held him, then something metal creaked loudly, before banging against stone. He was dragged forward again, then thrown against cold stone floor. He winced, coughing before the bag was pulled off his head.

He blinked in confusion trying to shield himself from the light, before his hands were grabbed and bound together by something.

[Don’t even think about freeing yourself] the right voice said. Then the metal creaked again. Caleb breathed heavily as he lay against the floor. He felt strangely peaceful, despite the aches and pains.

The distance giving a sense of calm that reminded him of half-asleep car journeys. But still his mind urged him forward, to take control of his body and get out of this mess.

So he focused, not on just reclaiming his body, but the metaphysical sense of distance he felt. Once he grew more aware of it, saw it more keenly within his senses, he pulled himself towards his body. All it took was a light tug, then the forces of reality did the rest, his bodies separate existences, naturally drawn to themselves.

And just like that, everything went back to normal.

Caleb’s eyes flew open, and he blinked hard, tears leaking from his eyes as he sat up.

He felt sickly, and his head hurt. He pulled himself off the floor, then wiped the droll from his mouth, realising his hands were bound together by rope. He sighed and looked around, finding himself trapped in a sandstone cell with a metal door.

On every wall names and symbols were engraved, likely by prior inmates because of the clear like of artistic intent and discernible pattern. Caleb sighed, and forced himself up, the wall. The cell was completely empty except for a bucket, and a roll of the strange semi leather semi silk fabric.

“Well, this sucks” he mumbled. He leant against the wall, nursing the bruise that’d slowly begun to form on his cheek, before sitting back down on the floor, frowning.

It wasn’t all bad. Sure, he was trapped in some strange prison, on a planet that seemed to be doing its best to kill him, and absolutely no idea what to do to get out of this. But at the very least he wasn’t dead, and the others likely weren’t either. They were all just imprisoned.

I mean, it’s not exactly good either he thought. But there wasn’t anything he could do. Was there? Maybe he could ask whoever was talking to them through the glowing boxes if he could something to get out of here.

“Uh… hello?”

No response.

“Ok. How about… glowing box?”

Nothing.

“Higher entity, you there?”

Still nothing. He was going about it wrong. Did he have to say something about the tutorial itself?

“Hello, Tutorial master?”

Still nothing.

“System? Tutorial system? Tutorial? System tutorial check? Tutorial system check? System check? Tutorial check?” he said aloud. Suddenly two boxes blinked into existence in front of his face.

[Tutorial objective: Survive]

[Time left: 37 hrs 42 mins 22 secs]

“Well… that isn’t exactly what I wanted” he muttered. It was better than nothing at least.

And I guess I am surviving by being here.

He leant back against the wall, resting his head against the stone. He stared up at the light on the ceiling, a small circular disk that simply glowed. He stared at it for a while, a hundred different thoughts passing through his mind as the time ticked away.

He blinked slowly, thinking of his sister, his step-mom, his dad once again, and then back to absolutely horrible day he was having. He sighed, leaning forward as he began to tap his foot against the ground. He eyed his shoes, then quickly dusted the sand off them, and leant back against the wall, staring back up at the light.

“Tutorial check” he mumbled.

[Tutorial objective: Survive]

[Time left: 37 hrs 41 mins 31 secs]

He stared at it blankly before groaning.

“This seriously sucks”