Black Onyx - Phoenix Resurrection

Yawn!

[Maaaaaan! I hate this place!] Let me tell you something, camping in the wild sucks!

Yes, it was all great when you had tools, food, and a warm shelter, but when were are out in the wet and cold dark forest, with only some old leaves covering your ass, and on a constant run from fucking monsters… It’s a freaking nightmare!

I was so exhausted...

It’s been, what? Four days now? I barely had any shut-eye during that time. On the first day the Wendigo, the Howler, and some wolves were chasing me. I caught myself a nice deer so I got plenty of food, but what did that matter if I couldn’t even cook it properly?

I couldn’t even use a tiny bit of magic or every son of a bitch and his monster mother would come running from god knows where, trying to eat me.

Then on the second day, I stumbled upon a nest of ants. Yeah, no big deal it’s just some ants… is what some retard would say! But no! Those ants were more than two meters in length and a meter tall! With sharp enough mandibles to snap decades-old trees in half like dried twigs! It’s the truth, I have seen it with my own eyes!

And the worst thing was, I didn’t know I was in their territory until I reached the hill-like mound that was their home. And by then I was already surrounded. It took me most of the day of running and avoiding being chopped in half, and I genuinely still don’t know how I managed to get out of that place alive.

On the third day… Oh yeah, I nearly died from poison!

I acted according to a pearl of ancient wisdom, and ate just one berry when I found them, one fucking berry! If you don’t know if something is poisonous, just take a tiny bite and wait a few hours to see its effects. Most natural poisons wouldn’t kill you by just tasting them a bit anyway, right? And so I did. One teeny little berry. What was the worst that could happen, right?

Nearly shat my brains out for the rest of the day, that’s what! Even a day later I was still feeling the effects, and my head was fucking killing me! Worst experience of my life! 0/10 would not recommend.

I’ve also been walking for god knows how long. I just wanted a place to sleep, man, was that really too much to ask?!

No, no it was apparently not, because I could see the forest coming to an end and a small village further in the distance!

[Oh, thank the Lord!] Lord FSM must have heard my prayers and sent me a sign! My search has come to an end! I quickly tossed away what remained of the smelly deer carcass and gather my energy for one final sprint toward civilization!

Old Plum was a tiny little village of a few hundred people living simple lives. A wooden palisade encircled a few dozen wooden houses, as well as a few of them made of fired brick and stone.

Cultivated green fields stretched around the village, as well as a few pens for pigs and other livestock. On both sides of a gravel road that led to the village grew a few old fruit trees, with some of them still displaying white flowers among emerald leaves despite it being early summer.

Two middle-aged guards stood at the entrance to the village and were leaning against the palisade whilst chatting about everyday things when they noticed someone running toward them.

“Hey…” One of them called to his buddy and jerked his head sideways. “Look over there, someone is coming!”

The other guy shaded his eyes from the midday sun and took a good long look. “It looks like a child,” he exclaimed.

“Doesn’t matter,” the first one said and grabbed his spear. “It could be just a trick, get ready!” He then waited for a bit, until the newcomer was closer, about ten meters away, and then shouted. “Hey, you! Stop right there!”

“What’s your business here?” Shouted the other.

The boy they were pointing their weapons at was completely bald, dirty, almost naked, covered in old wounds and blood, and his face, especially the eyes, had exhaustion written all over it.

“Finally… people…” the boy said, and then collapsed to the ground.

“… Um, now what?” A guard looked at the boy and then at his partner.

“We… call the Chief?” Said the other, similarly stunned by the event.

“Good idea!”

Gerald woke up in an unfamiliar bed with an accompanying headache and a parched throat.

He moved his heavy eyelids, allowing the bit of sunlight in the room to give him sight. However, his vision was blurry, and he felt weak, so as he tried to look around and speak, only a hoarse groan came out.

His movements received a quiet gasp from another person in the room in response, and as he tried to look, the only thing he saw was a blurry figure quickly running away.

“Mother! He’s awake!” he heard a young male voice calling from afar.

He slowly moved his arms and rubbed his tired eyes, and in the meantime, he heard a commotion coming from another part of the house. Soon two people came back into his room, one of them a boy, probably the one that just ran away, and the other a middle-aged woman, presumably his mother.

He tried to get up, but a hand pushed him back down as the woman spoke in a soft voice. “Don’t move, child, you still need to rest.” She then brought a bowl of some strong medicinal-smalling liquid and moved it to his mouth. “Here, drink this, it’ll help you recover.”

Gerald did as he was told as he was too weak to resist anyway, and drank in big gulps. The brew was bitter and sour, but it felt great on his dried-out tongue and throat, so he didn’t complain. Also, the cold liquid helped to wake him up and returned some feeling back to his muscles.

That’s when he realized he was hurting all over. It seemed that some of the wounds he had sustained previously had become infected and were now releasing puss.

“Alyx, go get the Chief. Tell him he has woken up.”

“Yes, mother!” The boy obeyed and ran back out of the room. The woman then took another bowl, this one filled with water, and helped Gerald sit up.

“We need to change your bandages,” she said. “This might sting a bit.”

And it did. Actually, it hurt quite a bit. The cloth already bonded with the dried blood and puss, and Gerald had to grit his teeth as it was peeled off. The old lady then washed his wounds with water, dried them out, and then coated them with some kind of oil that made them feel hot.

“Hello? Mara?” Whey soon heard a booming voice coming from outside just as she was bandaging him up with a fresh piece of cloth.

“In here!” Mara called. “We are in here, you can come in!”

Gerald then heard a heavy weight moving through the house, and the wooden floor creaked as a man came into the tiny room. He had to bend down and turn sideways to go through the door, and as he straightened back up, his figure took most of the remaining space, and his head nearly touched the ceiling.

“Ah, it’s a bit cramped in here…” The man commented.

Mara stood up and moved out of the way, giving a slight bow as she did so. “Chief Almar.”

“Thanks for your help, Mara! I’ll call you if I’ll need anything.” Chief Almar said, after which the woman left.

Gerald quietly observed everything, and although the chief appeared cheerful on the surface, he noticed suspicion and wariness in his eyes. Despite his mind still feeling a bit fuzzy, he knew not to mess with this guy, especially since he was now feeling quite helpless.

The Chief came to the bed he was laying in and went down on one knee. Still, he remained towering over him as he began. “Hey there, kid.”

[Um… hello.] Gerald replied weakly.

“Feeling well?” the chief continued.

[It’s… alright.]

“Hmm.” The chief then introduced himself, “I’m the Chief of this Old Plum village, Almar Tholes. What’s your name?”

[Gerald.]

“Hmm.” Chief Almar Tholes squinted his eyes a bit, and then barely noticeably nodded to himself. “Then, tell me… Gerald. Why are you here?” He began his mandatory questioning. As he should have since an unknown child came to his village out of nowhere.

The question stumped Gerald. How should he answer this? Telling his complete backstory probably wouldn’t be wise. And besides, he didn’t know these people. Were they allies? Enemies? It was difficult to tell at the moment. Were they helping him out of the goodness of their heart or were they just keeping him alive long enough to get information out of him?

It was too many unknowns for him to consider at the moment, and his brain was still in a fog from exhaustion, so he chose to pick the safest option.

[I… don’t understand the question.]

The Chief rolled his eyes but repeated the question nonetheless. “Why did you come here? Why this village?”

[I don’t know… because it was there?]

“Explain.”

[I was wandering in the forest and running from monsters when I stumbled upon this place…] He spoke in the least words possible.

“You got lost in the forest?”

[Yes, I have wandered aimlessly for days. I thought I was going to die, and I nearly did…] That much was quite clear from all the wounds on his back and legs. It looked like something took big chunks out of him as well.

“You don’t have a family?” The Chief continued his interrogation.

[No… My family is… not in this world.] Gerald once again answered with what was technically the truth. His parents were back on Earth, wherever that was, so he didn’t technically lie, in case this guy could tell.

“Hmm.” The Chief nodded again, this time a bit slower. His gaze then sharpened as he came to the important part. “What about your friends? Where are they?”

[My friends?] Gerald appeared sad and sighed. [They are far, far away. I don’t think I’ll ever get to see them again.]

Another nod came from the Chief and then he posed the last, but also most important question. “Do you belong or are associated with any Sects, past or present?”

What kind of question was that? Gerald for sure didn’t know. But if he was talking about stuff like Cultivation Sects, then he for sure didn’t belong to any. And so he calmly answered with a flat [No.]

At his last answer, the village Chief visibly relaxed. He was a bit tense during the exchange, but in the end, his shoulders dropped a bit and he released a quiet sigh.

“Good!” He smiled. “Let me check on your condition…” He placed a hand on Gerald’s back. “If you feel any pain just say so and I’ll stop,” he added.

Gerald simply nodded in return.

“Alright, there I go.”

Gerald almost immediately felt… something. He felt some form of pressure in his chest, but it was more of a slight itch than anything. It could be easily ignored as on a scale of 1-10 of discomfort it barely even reached 1. It was quite possible that if he didn’t know it was there, he wouldn’t even notice.

“Feeling alright?” The Chief asked after a bit.

[I’m okay,] Gerald replied.

“Great!” His response brought a genuine smile to the man’s face as he removed his hand. “I’ll tell Mara to prepare a few more herbs, and you should be back in business in a few days!”

He then stood back up, once again nearly hitting his head on the low ceiling. “You can stay in the village for a bit until you recover, but then I got a proposition for you…”

[Oh? What is it?] Gerald figured they wouldn’t let him stay here for long. The village seemed poor as it was. Having another mouth to feed, and an outsider at that, probably wasn’t something they wanted.

Chief Almar Tholes smiled mysteriously as he caressed his chin and looked at Gerald from above. “Kid!” he began. “How would you like to join the Myriad Beasts Sect?”