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cythieus · 3 years ago

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Starting Life in Another World: Far From Home

Chapter One

The world changed in the blink of an eye.

The redden skies of Titan vanished, replaced by blurry silhouettes moving through an ocean of brilliant white light. His senses were on overload, the smell of the world changed, the direction of the wind, the moving shadowy shapes became people and soon he could see the rows of shops.

One second he was with Tony Stark, pleading for his life as the buzz of his spider-tingle thundered in his head and the next he was here: in the middle of this crowded marketplace.

Peter Parker had tumbled to the cobblestone front of one of the merchant stalls, this one was draped in teal-blue clothes for shade. His mask was off, he realized and on instinct he thought it would be better to be wearing anything but this suit with all of these people around him.

The suit’s AI shifted him back into his school clothes, a grim reminder of how normal this day had started. As he took in more of his surroundings, his eyes were still adjusting to the bright light, he saw that it wasn’t just humans on this strange street: mixed in with the them were people with the heads of various animas and those who looked otherwise human but had tails or had pink or green or purple hair.

Peter sprung to his feet and glanced around. He spied a carriage drawn, not by horses, but by a giant bipedal lizard. Off in the distance there was a mountain or hill that seemed to be where the city continued off toward.

“Hey kid,” a gruff voice from behind Peter caused him to spin around. He came face to face with a green haired man with a beard that ran like a strap under his chin. “Are you going to buy anything or what?”

Peter gazed down at the table in front of the man. It had one of those bazaar style tent-like structures pitched over it. The kind that he had seen in old animated movies like Aladdin or dove through in his attempts to escape the Templars in Assassin’s Creed.

The shopkeeper waved his hand diagonally in the air as if to call Peter back to reality. “Are you deaf or just dumb? You can’t stand in front of my store lallygagging if you’re not going to buy anything.” He was chewing on a thin strand of straw so he had to keep his teeth clenched to avoid losing it, but that also helped to make his expression and tone all the more threatening.

Peter’s tingle hadn’t fully quit ringing sense he got here. The memories of what he had been doing just before this flashed in his head: I had been fighting Thanos with Doctor Strange and Mister Stark and those weird…space pirates and then I was here.

“I don’t have any money,” Peter said.

“Now you’re broke too! Go on! Scram!” as the shopkeeper shoed him away there was a flare in his tingle that made Peter scramble back into the crowds. He spun, just in time to avoid being run down by one of the massive lizards. Its yellow eyes looked him over as he passed.

Peter made a break for the opposite side of the street, brushing past other pedestrians in a bid to get into the nearest alley.

“Excuse me. Sorry. No, you first. Okay.”

If he could get out of the view of other people and to somewhere tall enough Peter could find his way up to some place where he might get a better look at exactly where this was. Though he didn’t know how it mattered, this definitely wasn’t anywhere on Earth. Had they lost? If so, why did he end up here and where were the others?

Once he was in the shadowy space between two buildings he realized how hot the sun here was. The air was dry and no breeze reached him except for when someone or one of those vehicles passed too close.

Peter put his hands on his head, raking them up through his messy brown hair. “Come on Peter, think. Where are you? What did that purple guy say he was going to do when he left?”

His tingle pulsed in lockstep time with the rhythm of his heartbeat and he whirled around to see three figures standing at the end of the alleyway. One very large, the other about his own height with greasy gray hair, and the other looked almost to be the size of a child. As Peter’s eyes flitted between him something welling within his chest said the the middle one, the man around his size meant to do the most harm.

Peter waved his hand in greeting. “Hiya. Look, you wouldn’t happen to know where we are, would you?”

“You’re a really funny kid, huh? Well, I got a joke for you. Go ahead and strip out of those clothes after you give us everything you’ve got,” said the dangerous man.

Maybe six hundred years ago on Earth these men would have looked like the average criminal. Their clothes were dirty and in tatters. Even from his modest distance he could smell a deep earth funk emanating from them. They were probably desperate. Desperate enough to hurt someone.

“Look, you really don’t want to do this. Heh, it’s broad daylight and there’s people everywhere…” Peter said, holding his hands up in an attempt to be as non-threatening as possible.

The three of them edged closer and that feeling of impending violence intensified. Had it been them that he had sensed when he woke up in the street? Had they had an eye on him this whole time?

“You can listen to us or we can gut you and take what’s left!” The same man said.

“You better do what he says,” the big one said. “Or lees!”

There was a blur of motion that even Peter had an issue keeping up with as someone else entered the alley from behind the men. She sprang up over them, creating a distraction as she did and sailing through the air with a scarf whipping out behind her. “Out of the way!”she yelled. “Move!”

The girl landed just over Peter’s shoulder atop the corner of the building at his side. Now that she wasn’t moving he had a better look at her. She was wearing ragged clothes. Her top was practically a band that covered just enough of her chest to be considered halfway decent. Her skin tight pants had one leg ripped at mid thigh while the other extended down into her boot and she was blonde with a wild look in her red eyes.

The trio of ruffians had turned their attentions to her now too, gazing up at her atop the wall.

“Wow, looks like three on on. That isn’t very fair. You’re better off running—but I’ve got my hands full right now,” the girl reached into the band-like shirt that she wore and pulled out something small and metal, checking it before stowing it away.

With that she sprang up into the air, with a vertical jump that would almost rival Peter’s and zipped across the rooftops as if carried on a sudden wind gust. As she vanished out of sight he heard footsteps and turned back to see the medium sized man rushing him. There was a flash of something metallic form within the man’s coat.

The thief, whom Peter assumed to be the leader, drew a worn dagger and charged. He slashed out with quick, deft strikes at Peter’s midriff, but the movements were no match for Peter’s enhanced reflexes.

It would seem he’s a normal human.

Peter went to leap over him, only to find that the amount of power that he pushed off of the ground with was far too much. He crested near the top of the buildings and, on instinct, moved his right wrist out with a flick and pressed his middle and ring fingers into his palm to mash the control mechanism of the right hand’s web shooter.

A short web burst erupted from his wrist catching the wall and with a jerk he pulled himself back down behind the assailant. The three crooks misjudged the spot where he would land and Peter was able to trip the man with the knife and web his hand to the ground.

He danced to the side of the large man’s attempt to grab him as the other man, the white haired man stuck to the ground cried out. “He’s stuck me down, help me you asshole!”

Peter fired a net of web back under his arm sticking the smallest of the three men to the wall and then, doing a backflip onto one hand to avoid an attempt to catch his leg, Peter flipped back down to kick the biggest of the thieves in the back of his head and knock him flat onto the ground. He webbed the big one down and then finished with the former knife wielding man.

“Man, this is so weird,” he said. “It’s like your gravity is like a tenth of Earth’s. This day is just full of surprises.”

He stood in the alley, expecting an answer from one of them that was something that was other than curses and threats. “I’ll leave you here until whatever passes for this place’s idea of police shows up.”

“Excuse me, you there!” A high pitched feminine voice called out from somewhere at the end of the alley.

When Peter looked up past the three criminals that he had just bested he saw a woman dressed in a white regalia with flared sleeves that danced out behind her as she approached. Her hair was silver with enough sheen to it that it easily caught the laugh spilling over the top of the buildings and shimmered. There was a small animal, like a cat floating at her side without wings or anything to indicate how it was propelling itself.

“Did you, by chance, see a thief come through here?” The silver haired woman asked.

Though she was was trying to sound commanding and demanding information there was something too polite about her tone, like she wasn’t accustomed to speaking with authority.

Peter pointed to the three men webbed to the ground in the alley. “Only these three here. Guy over there pulled a knife on me,” he said pointing.

The woman stepped in closer to them and now Peter could see her face. She had this otherworldly beauty to her, her skin was almost as white as her clothing with only slightest hint of color around the cheeks and her eyes were a distinct purple. When she turned her head to look at the men on the ground he spotted her ear. Longer than a human’s and ending in a point.

“An elf…” Peter muttered.

The silver haired woman stared daggers at him and her cheeks became fiercely red. “Well, you’re half correct. Will that be a problem for you?” Her tone was more defensive, she seemed adept with it.

Peter held his hands up in protest. This was going almost as bad as his first two meetings with the people of this world. “No, no—I got no problem with elves or half elves or hobbits or any of that!” Peter said. He then pointed toward the sky. “I-I’m friends with a bugg lady and this man covered in scars now so I would like to think I’m pretty understanding.”

The silver haired woman clicked her tongue at him and then turned her attentions to the three crooks on the ground. “Which one of you has it? I need it back now, please. I promise no harm will come to you, but what you took is very important to me.”

“Help us up you crazy bitch, we didn’t take nothing from you!” The smallest of the three screamed as he struggled against the webs.

The little cat thing, which Peter had hoped that everyone else here could see and not just him, zipped around until it was over them and furrowed its brow. “That’s no way to talk to a lady.”

“Whoa, that kitty talked,” Peter said.

The maiden glanced at him but then back at the thieves. “One of you has to have taken it, that’s all that makes sense.”

“We didn’t take it, I swear.”

Peter raised his hand. “Um, miss—I don’t know your name, but about how long did they take this this thing from you?”

“It’s only been a few minutes,” said the little talking cat.

“Then I can vouch for them. They were here trying to rob me so they couldn’t have done your crime,” Peter said pressing his hands into his chest to acknowledge himself.

The cat-like creature zipped over and up until it was facing Peter. “How do we know we can trust ya’ huh?”

“Uh, I’ve got no reason to lie.”

The cat creature flew forward and laid a soft, fuzzy paw against Peter’s forehead. His fur and the pads of his little limb were so soft that Peter could feel himself being lulled into a euphoric state, if it was some kind of attack it sure didn’t set off any alarm bells. Definitely not an attack. Then the thing turned back to the woman and nodded.

“He seems to be telling the truth.”

“Then we have no leads. I could have sworn that someone said that a person ran this way,” the silver haired woman said, her shoulder slumped in disappointment as she turned her back to Peter and the rest of the inhabitants of the alley.

“I have to get it back,” she muttered.

Peter remembered. “Someone else did come in here, right before all of this. She was skinny and blonde. Said she was in a hurry.”

“That must be the person,” the little cat did a roll in the air.

The elf’s face reddened with determination. “Do you think you could identify her?!”

Peter nodded.

The elven woman grabbed him by the wrist, trying to tow him out of the alley with her. “Then you have to help us, please. I would hate to be an inconvenience to you, but this is very important.”

“You’re kind of strong,” Peter said trying to jerk his arm out of her grasp. “Look, you don’t have to beg me.” She stopped after her was standing out in the blazing sun of the street again. “I am sort of known for helping where I’m from.”

“Where are you from,” the little cat asked. “These clothes don’t look like anything I’ve ever seen.”

“Queens.” He blurted out, not thinking.

“Can’t say I’ve ever heard of it,” said the silver haired elf.

Peter scratched the back of his head. “Nah, I didn’t think you would have,” Peter muttered.

Fighting aliens, going to space, helping a wizard, dying—Peter didn’t think that he could follow all of the different directions that the last several hours had taken him in. He should have been exhausted, but maybe it was a side effect of whatever had brought him to this world. Somehow he felt a renewed energy.

The radioactive spider bite that gave him his powers had also given him a kind of higher endurance, but even with that he figured that he should be at his limit by now. This had to be coming from somewhere else.

”I love you.” His tingle kicked into overdrive. Someone was right behind him, a woman. Her breath so close, so cold that he could feel her words brush past his left ear and disturb the hair on the side of his head.

Peter spun to look back only finding the vacant alley that he had just come from with the elf and her magical girl cat companion. The tingle passed as fast as it had come.

“Are you—is everything alright?” The elven girl asked with a puzzled look on her face.

“Yeah, everything is fine. I was just saying that I would be happy to help,” he let out a nervous chuckle. “Just your friendly neighborhood…Peter, wait that came out wrong.”

“Peter? Is that your name?” Asked the elven woman.

Peter nodded.

The small gray furred cat flew out in front of him rolling in the air so that it was facing him directly. “Nice to meet you Pete, I’m Puck!”

“It’s good to meet you too, Puck.” Peter looked to the elven woman, expecting her to give her name or something, but instead she blushed at his glance meeting his. When elves were described in The Lord of the Rings or the Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook they were almost always said to be otherworldly beauties that appeared both human and decidedly not.

Peter finally had a good understanding of what those descriptions meant when he was looking at the silver haired woman. Her eyes were bit larger and rounder than that of any human he had seen, which made the purple at their center stand out even more. And while silver hair should have looked so unnatural and fake her’s just made sense.

“We should search this way then. The thief must be headed across town,” the elven woman said before striking off toward the upper side of town, toward the mountain in the distance. Something told Peter that had to be wrong, but who was he to tell this half-elf anything.

He’d just blinked his eyes and appeared alone in brand new world. *********************

In the years since the freeze, Steve Rogers had seen some strange things. He’d fought aliens, robotic men, factions of his own government, and fairly recently aliens again. He’d never met a challenge that he could just back down from, it wasn’t in his nature. Even when confused he counted on his moral compass to point him in the right direction most of the time.

And confused was the description he would have chosen to represent the current state of things. One moment he had been on the vast plains outside of the African Nation of Wakanda and the next he was staring across an empty tavern lined with tables and occupied with patrons who seemed to be going about their day. Though the design of the place didn’t look like anything from the current time on earth or even his own time.

People brushed past him, one of them had a pair of calico cat ears atop their head and she held her hands in front of her limp and not bothering to swing her arms down at her sides.

Ever polite, even in situations like this Steve stepped to the side and let them pass. “Pardon me, Miss,” he said as she squeezed through the opening he left.

“Oh, you’re too kind!” The woman said before heading for the door.

The air smelled of stale hops and barley mixed in with other common elements for making alcohol. The unfinished wood creaked beneath the weight of him as he moved and despite everyone being dressed like an Asgardian no took any heed of his own clothes.

Steve walks the perimeter of the room, wondering if this is another vision like the one he experienced before or if he has been transported to some other place on the planet Earth—that last one seems less likely as he doesn’t think that even in all of the secret corners of the globe that there are left to explore anything like this exists.

A wooden plank hung on a wall. Japanese. Nordic. The Slavic alphabet. The scribbles of writing looked nothing like a language that he had ever seen before. He studied it for a moment, trying to squeeze some bit of recognition out of it. The characters were very simple, but also completely unlike anything modern.

A saccharine sweet feminine voice that was obviously directed right at him rang through the air. “It says ‘FREE BEER TOMORROW’. It’s a little bit of a low brow joke for the regulars on account of the sign never changing.”

Steve turned to face the woman, though she looked younger than he had expected. There was a quality about her voice that made him feel he was wrong about her age. She stared him up and down with brilliant teal-green eyes. Her hair was a lavender shade of purple and fell in neat strands that framed her round face. She was dressed in clothes that even in this dull light seemed to shimmer and sparkle.

“Thank you, Miss…”

“Hoshin, Anastasia Hoshin,” she introduced herself in a polite clipped tone before running her fingers through her long purple hair and presenting her palm out to him as if to indicate it was his turn.

“Captain Steve Rogers.” The title had become so reflexive to him that he only considered that maybe he shouldn’t use it in this situation.

“That is a peculiar sense of fashion you have there, Captain Rogers,” her voice seemed to dance over the words and though he could understand her just as easily as if she were speaking English there was an odd twist to her accent.

Anastasia folded her arms and tapped the three main fingers of her left hand on her forearm near the right shoulder. Her big eyes flicked down and to the side, she tried to hide the peculiar motion by batting her eyelids. Steve still followed her line of sight to the door where a large man with a vicious looking wolf’s head where his head should be paced back and forth. Along that same path there were a pair of children with animal ears in white cloaks that were almost too big for them. At first glance they seemed to be fighting over ownership of some frozen treat, but they kept their gazes sternly affixed on the lavender haired woman sitting across from Steve.

He moved his eyes back to meet hers and the smile on her face deepened. “A forward sense of fashion and a keen eye.”

“You never know when you’re going to walk into an ambush,” said Steve. He didn’t expect them to attack him outright, but he had to know that he could defend himself. The Wakandans had gifted him two smaller wrist mounted shields. They lacked the range capabilities of the shield he had left with Tony, but it was something.

Anastasia motioned for him to come over, funny how that gesture was exactly the same as back home. “Please, have a seat,” she said in a honeyed tone. “Would you like anything to drink?”

Steve walked over and scooted the chair out from the table. “I’m fine, thanks,” he said before taking a seat.

Ignoring that, Anastasia turned to the bar where a woman who’s blonde hair had begun to fade to silver waited for her next order. “Would you get Captain Rogers here a water, please?”

With a nod the woman went about getting a glass and filling it as Anastasia turned back to Steve. “You look like you’ve been through hell, the least you could do is have something to drink.”

He nodded. Though he had refused he couldn’t help but admit to himself that he was probably dehydrated. Not a lot of time to stop and get a drink or catch your breath then you were climbing over a herd of Xenomorphs - yes he had understood that reference too.

“So a Captain, I’ve never seen you with the knights before. I am guessing you are part of some mercenary company?” Asked Anastasia.

Steve nodded. Best to go along with her own imagination for filling in the blanks for now. He could pick his questions based on what she said and learn more about his situation.

“You look like a bit of a tough negotiator, although in a different way than I personally do it,” she said pressing a hand to her chest. Though she looked younger, he got the sense that she was not a child in the least. Her confidence and town of voice were that a woman who had grown up having to talk her way out of several dangerous situations.

“I think I might have an understanding for what you’re saying.”

She sighed. “Good, some mercenaries are a bit dense. Not that I thought you would be, you seem to catch on pretty fast and be rather attentive, that’s why I would like to ask you if you’re otherwise attached at the moment?”

“As in a relationship?”

“As in a job, do you know who I am now that I gave my name?” She asked.

“I really haven’t a clue, I’m not really from around here,” Steve said.

Anastasia clicked her tongue. “I could tell that much. I run the Hoshin Trading Company and while business is rather good—I mean how could it not be—there is a small problem that I am looking to handle before it disrupts more of my attempts to expand.”

Steve held his hand up. “It’s a nice offer, but I’ll have to get my bearings first and think about.” The water that had been ordered was dropped off at the table just in time for him to take a big drink of it.

“I’m a selfish woman,” she said. “Always have been, but I can tell you that there are good reasons for me to have this goal and other factions out there are looking to accomplish the same thing.”

Steve leaned forward to put the glass down. “Can you tell me what this goal is?”

Anastasia smirked, lifting her liquor glass off of the table and drinking it down in one motion. “For four hundred years merchants and travelers have lived with a specter hanging over their heads. It appears and disappears seemingly at random and destroys as it pleases.”

From the way she said the words Steve guessed that he should have been able to figure out exactly what he was talking about. Some kind of local legend, a boogey man type figure maybe? Then again the person by the door had a dog’s head and there were cat human hybrid children running around so there was no way of telling what kind of world he had woken up in.

“If I decide to go along with you and help,” Steve said getting to his feet. “Where do I find you?”

“Here or at the Hoshin offices, I will tell them to expect you,” she added.

Steve reached down and grabbed the glass of water up and finished if off. It tasted different than the water he was used to but still was recognizably water. “Thank you, ma’am,” he said giving a little salute before strolling out through front door of the tavern.

The whole story can be found here.

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