Run to the village

Vanessa looked out across the unfamiliar horizon, in awe of the strange world she was now in. However, her eyes locked onto the sun hanging low in the sky. By her best estimate she had one hour left before it became dark. Assuming that the village would be the safest place for her, she began running to the village. She ran faster than she ever had before, her breasts bouncing so hard it hurt. She normally would care about others seeing her breasts bounce like this, but she didn’t have time to worry about that now. She just focused on running like her life depended on it. For all she knew her life could depend on it. Her heart was beating fast, her legs felt like they were going to give out any minute. Just as darkness began to envelop the sky, Vanessa arrived at the entrance to the village. She felt as though her lungs were going to collapse. All she could do was stand in the empty street of the village trying to catch her breath.

After a few minutes she felt good enough to look around the village. The houses looked to all be wooden with thatch roofs, with the exception of few buildings. Everything was built along one dirt road, with a few alleyways breaking off between buildings. Vanessa felt exhausted after her run and just wanted to collapse into a bed, but she knew she needed answers more. She wasn’t sure where to start so she decided to go to the biggest and nicest building in the village. It was made of nicer wood than the rest of the buildings and looked to be two stories tall, with a tower jutting out the top with a giant clock built into it. Vanessa wasn’t sure if the clock read the same as home, but if it did it was currently about 9 o’clock. Hoping that this was some type of town hall, Vanessa entered the building. The interior was a little nicer than she expected, lit by candles along the walls with a long carpet leading up to a wooden desk. Behind the desk sat a woman with dark curly hair and round glasses, she looked to be in her forties. The woman looked like she was getting ready to leave but stopped when she noticed Vanessa walk in.

“You’re an otherworlder aren’t you?” The woman said with a look of surprise on her face. “It has been a while since one of you has appeared.”

“Otherworlder?” Vanessa repeated with a confused tone.

“You came through the forest and appeared in this world, did you not?” The woman said, this time with more certainty in her voice. Vanessa just nodded her head in confirmation and before she could speak the woman began talking again. “Your clothes were a dead giveaway. No one in this world has clothes like that. Now I’m sure you have many questions so let’s see if I can answer them without you asking. This world is called Erosia and this village is Terond. You got here through the dark forest but we don’t know how it works. You are not the first person to come through there but you are the first in 15 years so we are a little under equipped to help like we used to. You have anything else to ask?”

Vanessa was shocked by how much she answered, but she did have one question at the front of her mind. “How do I get home?” Vanessa asked the woman.

“I don’t know,” responded the woman, “I have never heard of an Otherworlder going back to their home.” This response caused Vanessa’s heart to sink. Clearly seeing how this impacted the girl before her, the woman continued speaking. “That being said, that doesn’t mean it is impossible. If there is a way, you will more likely learn about it in one of the major cities. Lindor is the closest, only a few days travel up the road. Now, like a said before, we used to expect Otherworlders more often so we could help them out, but many of those services left. I do have some gold here and a sword but other than that you will have to make due on your own.” The woman placed a bag on the desk and an iron short sword. “Oh, and the name is Cora, and you are?”

“Vanessa,” she stated, her voice quiet due to her exhaustion. “Thank you for the help, but is there anything else I should know about?” Vanessa asked as she took the bag of gold coins and the sword off the desk.

“Well, there is one thing.” Cora said in a more hushed tone. “All Otherworlders have something we call ‘Potential’. It is basically a mystical ability for Otherworlders to gain unique power and skills. However, the ‘Potential’ needs to be unlocked through a magical process for you to control the outcome. We used to have the ability to do it here but now the closest place is in Lindor. The problem is, that potential can be unlocked by others against the will of the Otherworlder, leading to a vast amount of affects. This has led to many looking to use Otherworlders for their own ends, usually to the detriment of the Otherworlder. Do you understand?” Vanessa just nodded her head as she processed all the information she just learned. “Good. Now it is dark out so you can spend the night at my place if you would like, or you can go to the tavern and get a room there. If you do, just tell Draken that I sent you and he should give you a room.”