Waking Up Is Hard to Do

    In what was beginning to become a habit, Sean awoke in a strange place already occupied by a raven. To its credit this raven was small and white, not a startling large and deific member of its race, but it was pecking him uncomfortably on the forehead.

    Sean swatted it away, his back making him painfully aware that he had been asleep on several rather pointy stones. “Shoo!” He said. “I’m not dead yet, go peck on something your own size.”

    The raven squawked and hopped back. It stared at him accusingly as he rose to his feet, before flying off into the rafters. Sean looked around and tried to figure out exactly where he’d been placed.

    He was in the middle of a large round room, with rough stone walls and floor full of chipped tiles and sharp rocks. He’d awoken on a set of short stairs, leading up to a central dais, which was currently empty. Looking up, he saw that the ceiling timbers were old, but intact, and that the roof was still complete enough to keep the rain out as long as he didn’t stand under one of the more prominent holes. A large wooden double door looked to be the only way out, although Sean supposed he could squeeze through one of the windows in a pinch.

    He also noted that he was dressed differently than when he’d died. Instead of his polo and slacks, he had a light brown tunic, with a pair of loose, darker brown pants held up by a leather belt. His boots were of similar material, rough leather laced up to mid-shin. He noticed he now had a hatchet looped onto his belt, as well as a bag full of small nuts and a clinking coin purse.

    “Well,” he said to himself, “I might as well see what’s around. They said it was safer here, so hopefully I won’t get jumped by goblins on my first day.”

    He walked over to the doors and pushed, straining to open them both at once. Grinding against the earth beyond, they eventually opened enough for Sean to pass through. The raven who had awoken him flew out as well, its talons just brushing the top of Sean’s head on its way. Beyond the doors, he saw a vista much like the one he’d seen on Earth before his passing.

    The tower he had just exited sat on a raised mound of earth, a dirt path that may have once been paved winding its way down the slope. A bit further out, a stone curtain wall rose from a smaller mound ringing the tower. The path poked through the only opening in the wall and out into the lush countryside beyond. From his raised vantage Sean could see rolling hills, and forests with trees larger than any that remained on Earth. The sky was bright blue, the air clean and crisp with the subtle scent of dewy grass.

    Shielding his eyes, he searched for any sign of habitation nearby, but the woods blocked his view. The road from the fort did continue through the trees though so he was sure whether if he followed it he’d come across a village eventually. From there, if it was unsworn like Mag had described he’d figure out a way to announce his presence. If it was sworn, he just hoped that his patrons’ blessing wouldn’t give him away. One way or another he only had six months to make a run at kingdom building, so instead of wasting time wondering he started to walk.

    The treeline, which had looked relatively close, proved to be a bit more of a walk than Sean had expected. He didn’t mind the chance to stretch and enjoy his new body though. While he’d only been in decline for a matter of months, this distance would have winded him even before that. As it was he was able to keep up a brisk pace without a huff or a puff to show for it. He absentmindedly rubbed the pendant around his neck, giving thanks to Mig and her sisters for going above and beyond on his behalf.

    A few minutes into the forest proper, however, Sean felt a growing pain in his abdomen. He broke out into a cold sweat, his chest tightening and knees weakening as he started to sort through what could be happening.

    Did the goddesses make a mistake? Did they leave something unfinished, or worse, did they accidentally put him back together wrong?

    He sat down with his back to one of the trees and looked at his shaking hands. Was his vision more blurry than it was when he started out?

    Why were his teeth chattering? Why was his stomach making noise like it was about to tear out of him and off into the woods?

    And then it hit him. The goddesses hadn’t made a mistake and he wasn’t dying, he was just hungry. Mig, Mag, and Mog could put his body back together from scratch, but apparently they couldn’t completely erase the hypersensitivity to his own body that had come along with his cancer diagnosis.

    Sean laughed a bit through his clacking teeth and grabbed the pouch of nuts at his side, now knowing how to deal with both the pain and the panic. Digging around he fished one out, tossing it into his mouth. As he tried to decide whether it tasted more like an almond or a hazelnut, he felt a sharp pain in his backside.

    He yelped, springing to his feet, and whirled around to look at what had bit him. At the base of the tree, a black rabbit screeched angrily at him from the tattered mouth of its burrow.

    “Woah! Easy there little guy, I’m moving!”

    Sean moved a little bit away and sat against a different tree, this time making sure there weren’t any holes to block. The rabbit gave him another scream for good measure and turned to go back into its burrow, but stopped just short. Its head came up, sniffing the air, before it fixed Sean with one beady red eye.

    He looked from the rabbit to the pouch in his hand, and then back at the rabbit. “Ah,” he said, “I see what’s got you interested.” He withdrew several nuts and placed them on the ground beside him. “I suppose a king should be generous to his subjects,” he said, putting on an air of nobility.

    The rabbit’s eye immediately went from Sean to the nuts. It took one hesitant hop forward, paused to glare at him, and then bounded to the food on offer. He laughed at how greedy the little thing was in the face of potential danger, before settling into eating his own snack.

    Once or twice during their meal, he reached towards the rabbit to see if he could pet it. He’d always considered himself an animal lover, and with the risk of disease erased from the equation he figured he’d risk a nip or two. All he ended up with were more screams and a rather annoyed bun.

    By the time he’d finished, the nuts were half gone and the rabbit had scampered off somewhere. Sean stood, stretching with a groan, and tied the empty pouch back to his belt before setting off further into the trees.