It was a dull and overcast morning that greeted Martin there on the top of a ridge in the Appalachian Mountains. He was out to hike the Appalachian Trail that runs from North Georgia all the way to Maine. He'd heard all kinds of great things about hiking the trail, and he hadn't been disappointed in the least. The weather has been great up until that morning, and the air had been pure and clean the whole trip. After three days alone in the wilderness, he'd started to regret coming alone. He knew it wasn't safe to go by himself, but he was a reasonably strong man. He knew how to handle a staff and tie a rope, so he wasn't worried. In retrospect, it's not what he could and couldn't do, it's 'what if he got hurt'.
Rising from the sleeping bag and crawling from the tent, Martin Rosenthal stood to his full height. He was a tallish man, of moderate proportions. His brown hair was chopped short, and his green eyes told of an adventurous spirit. He looked out over the bluish valley and smelled the clean air, thick with the scent of life and coming rain. As he closed his eyes, he could hear the leaves rustling as the wind blew steadily. He began to grow worried, and started tearing down camp before the storm caught him high on this exposed ridge. As he finished loading his rucksack, the wind slacked off, giving him a bit of comfort as he set off to the trail to lower ground. Looking at the path, he forced himself to stop and think on the situation. The trail was thin, with a cliff next to it. The cliff was steep, but not too incredibly tall. It wasn't the best thing, but he couldn't go down the main path since it followed the top of ridge, rendering him even more exposed. He decided that the shorter path that lead downward was better than the path that stayed exposed. His mind made up, he began making his way down the path. As he headed down, he thought again about how exposed the cliff was, and how awful the whole situation was. He was stupid to have camped up there, and he knew that when he bedded down. Cursing his luck, Martin kept to the path.
Then there was a feeling, something shimmering down his spine, setting his hair on end. Thinking it was just his imagination, he decided to ignore it and move more quickly down the slope. He was completely unprepared when the whole world was split around him, sizzling and exploding in his head. He was thrown from the trail, and fell through the canopy hitting the ground hard. He had a moment to reminisce on his life, but it was interrupted by the face of a woman with perfect angles, icy blond hair, and very long ears. This vision filling his mind, he fell unconscious.
Waking up groggy and confused, he tried to look around in the dim lighting. It appeared that he was in a bed, inside of some kind of tree. There were a few candles scattered around the simple room, giving it that dull glow. His head had a strange feeling, and his body seemed lighter and more lithe than before. He sat upright in the bed to examine himself, and the sight that presented itself was stunning. His muscles had become far more defined, and much more lean. His skin had grown pale, and as he reached up to feel his face, he noticed his beard was gone. More than that, feeling his head, he found that his ears had grown long and pointed. At this, he bolted from the bed to look into the mirror hanging on the wall over a set of dresser drawers. The candles were hardly enough to make the room well-lit, but he could at least see his face. And what a face it was. The angles of his face had become sharp, and his eyes were a much brighter shade of blue than before. The pointed ears looked like that of an elf, and his hair was a shimmering blond color. It wasn't ugly, but it sure as hell wasn't him. His reaction to his sudden change was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. Turning to look, he saw the same angelic elf woman he saw before he blacked out.
He gave her a good look-over before beginning to demand explanation. She was of average height, and barely dressed. Her incredibly ample chest and shapely hips were clad in some kind of leafy green garment, her shoulders shrouded in a red cape, and atop her head was a red beret. She wore stockings and elbow-length gloves that looked like the clothes on her chest and hips. Her blue eyes regarded him curiously from their homes in her passive, angled face. The long silvery blond hair falls about her shoulders idyllically, with a small braid that hung over her chest. Indeed, he had never seen a woman so beautiful.
"What happened to me? Why am I here? What are you? More importantly, what am I?" He began ranting, getting louder with each question, until he was almost yelling at the last. He took a step her way, standing tall over her. She, however, wasn't fazed in the slightest. In fact, she seemed defiant.
"Sit down, child," she said with a commanding tone. Martin, however, was unmoved.
"Not until you answer my questions," he responded firmly. Just this morning, he was hiking in Tennessee, and now he was God knows where. He needed answers. Now.
She sighed with a bit of exasperation, and began to speak in a smooth, clear voice. "I am an elf, and by the looks of it, so are you. I have no idea how or why you are here. I do know that lightning struck the cliff near where I was patrolling, and when I went to investigate, I found you lying on the ground naked. I brought you here and clothed you. Would you mind sitting down, so we can talk civilly?" She said, motioning towards the bed. As he seated himself, she leaned up against the dresser set, looking at him seriously.
"Now, please tell me what happened to you today," she asked politely.
Martin took a deep breath in, calming down. "Well, I was up on a ridge in the Appalachian mountains, when I saw a storm coming. As I walked down the path into the woods, I think I was struck by lightning. The last thing I saw was your face. I was human, before. I was on Earth, in a place called Tennessee," he finished.
"Well. That doesn't help much. I suppose I should explain to you where you are, then. You are in Erinel, an elven city inside of the Great Forest Kimella, in the eastern portion of the continent Kilean. Got that?" She asked, pausing for a moment.
Martin nodded in response, even though he was still completely lost. "Uh.. Sure," he said with a voice that shook slightly.
"Well. Maybe I should show you around the village. You need to get used to your new body. Put on that tunic and hose, and meet me outside," she said, standing and leaving the treehouse. He stood, noticing the clothes on the end table. He put them on and stepped out into his new world.
