#o7 quill's old world

[for-quill-with-love]

[caretaker has left]

[twistedquill has joined the game]

I came back into being with a soft pop-- air displacing as my feet hit the ground and refused to hold me up.

My shoulder hit the edge of a fencepost, and I collapsed backwards into a dip in the ground.

It took a long moment for my jackrabbiting heart to calm, the taste of salt and the smell of flowers pulling me fully back to myself.

First thing first, I patted myself down for injuries. Luckily, I hadn't so much as twisted an ankle as I'd dropped into this world. That must've been a rough jump, if I had been running from--

Had I been running?

I was certainly not dressed like I would be if this had been planned. This dress was made of fine, delicate fabric that wouldn't last more than a day if I wasn't careful. I'd already tripped over the hem. And these slippers weren't suited for anything more strenuous then a walk in the park.

I couldn't remember why I wasn't in my normal adventuring gear.

I couldn't remember my normal adventuring gear.

I twisted about, taking in my surroundings. It was the mouth of a mineshaft, but unlike one I had ever seen before. Behind me was a darkness that had my hands itching for an axe. I needed to get out of the shadows before anything came after me.

I pulled myself up, stumbling out into the sunlight. Before me stretched an unfamiliar world, and a chest floating in the water below caught my eye.

Half-stumbling down the hill, I waded into the water to investigate.

All I found inside was a handful of wooden logs, some sticks and a couple apples. Oh, and some basic wooden tools. I was grateful I wouldn't need to hurt my hands by punching trees.

Where had this come from?

I had never set a starter chest up in any of the worlds I'd prepared for myself. I always thought it was cheating, in a way.

Had I stumbled into a world meant for someone else?

I reached for my communicator--

This wasn't mine.

I took everything the chest had to offer, before swimming back to the stony shore.

I shook the majority of the water off, pushing my hair out of my face. This wasn't my communicator. My fingers reached for buttons I was missing, and commands I couldn't remember. It was so plain.

I didn't know what my communicator looked like, but it sure as void and stars wasn't this.

And I couldn't leave-- that whole section of my comm was gone. There were no contacts in my messaging list, and no way to enter any either.

At least I could see I was the only one in the world at the moment.

My thoughts fuzzed. I had been expecting a name there, in both my contacts and in the world's occupants.

Enough of this. I was burning daylight, and unless I wanted to dig myself a hole to hide in until morning I needed to get moving.

I carved up enough stone to get me by until I found a spot to settle down. I found moss growing along the shore, and I practically pounced on it in my excitement to gather some. Moss was invaluable this early in a world.

What wasn't invaluable were these weird creatures crawling around.

I didn't dare get too close. I didn't know if they were hostile or not.

It looked like that mineshaft wasn't the only new thing about this world.

I'd known about worlds like this, once. Worlds on the outer edges of the universe, where the code got wonky and new creatures appeared and new contraptions were possible.

I'd always wanted to explore one, before--

The world was already starting to get dark.

I needed to find a place to spend the night.