I kept walking. I didn't know what else to do; all I saw was a bright white light and all I heard was a loud ringing. I tried to speak but nothing came out. Where was I? I kept walking slowly, not knowing where to exactly. Suddenly, I hit something. My head met contact first and I felt pain ring through my skull. I dropped to the floor, clutching my head in agony.
Finally I could see enough to make out what was in front of me – a metal armor stand. Confused, I pushed myself up and span around to scour my surroundings. As things became clearer, I realized I was in a room. It was fairly small, with a few wooden chairs scattered around and lots of bookcases, overflowing with books of all sorts.
"Hello! Welcome to Runescape!" I suddenly noticed there was someone else in the room; a man who looked to be about 40, with a red beret and a long grey goatee. His voice was deep and loud, it shocked me the first time I heard it.
"Runescape..." I replied slowly, bewildered. This whole ordeal was making me squirm.
"Yes, Runescape, a land of adventure! This is where you start your journey, we call it Tutorial Island. Others like you come here to learn the ways of Runescape and prepare for journeys, and they are met by people like me, tutors, to help them with this task. You call can me the Guide." He smiled and then winked at me. I thought I had a chance to speak but as I went to, he shuffled over to the corner of the room. I watched as he pulled a chest out and began to drag it over to me. The man unlocked it and I took a peak inside. Books.
"Here are all the tools you will need for your journey. Well, some of them, the other tutors will provide you with the rest as you progress through the island," He handed me a small, dull brown sack. "This is your inventory. Although it looks small, it will hold everything you could need at one time." I couldn't see how it would hold much more than 1 book, never mind 'everything I could need', but I accepted it.
"This is your Stat Book," It was a shiny green book, with a graph on the front and it seemed to have gold trim around the edges. "It will record your ability to perform tasks in this world and notify you when you can do increasingly difficult or more rewarding ones."
"Here's your Friends and Ignore books," The guide gave me a bright yellow book with a smiley face on the front and a red book with a skull on it. "All you have to do is open the books, and tell the book the name you want it to put down. From that point on, the Friends book will allow you to send the person messages and find out where they are in the world. The Ignore book will prevent the person you put down from doing any of that. It's a secure system."
"Finally, the quest book," I now had books stacked on my right hand and the inventory sack dangling from my left hand. The quest book was bright blue, with a white trim and a compass on the front. "It's pages are empty right now, but another tutor will go into further detail later on about this book."
As I tried to balance the books, I looked at the guide. He seemed to be facepalming, although not physically.
"Oh come on, put the books in the bag." I was unsure if they would all fit, but I tried anyway. To my surprise, all the books fell in and the bag seemed to gain no weight. I wondered if they had fell out somewhere else but when I peered in the bag they were all there.
"See, it does work. Now, off you go, Bryanna will be waiting at the lake for you!" With a quick pat on the back, the guide sent me off on my way, pointing to the only door in the room as if it weren't obvious enough.
I opened the door and stepped outside cautiously. Sun hit me from all angles and all my worries disappeared as I took a chance to see the lush scenery. Tall oak trees towered above me, vast varieties of colorful flowers littered the ground and in the distance I saw a large, sparkling lake, with what looked like two or three dozen people surrounding it. It looked to be a reasonably long trek and with no other paths in sight, I began walking.
After what felt like hours of vigorous walking, but what was actually about 10 minutes, I didn't even seem to be half way to the lake and hopefully the next tutor. The sun had been burning me for the duration of the walk up until that point and so I went to the nearest oak tree I could find and sat down. I felt hunger pang through my stomach and opened the inventory bag he had given me. Rummaging through, there was nothing but the books the first tutor had given me and loads of empty space.
I decided to scour the nearby bushes for any berries or edible plants, even though I wouldn't know what was and wasn't edible. I spotted a cluster of blackberries which looked just ripe enough to eat and began to pick them. Moments later, I rammed them in my mouth. The juice ran out my mouth but the berries tasted perfect. I checked the bush over a few more times but couldn't see anymore. The ones I did eat hadn't filled my stomach nearly enough, so I sat back and closed my eyes.
Hours later...
I felt a tap on my shoulder, but my eyes were still closed. Believing it to be my imagination, I ignored it. But then I received 3 more taps, and I instantly opened my eyes to see who was doing it. A girl stood next to me, and she was beautiful. Fairly tall with long red hair, deep green eyes and a warrior like figure. As I opened my eyes, she held her hand down to me. I grasped it and pulled myself up.
"Hey, why are you sleeping? You should be going to the next tutor." Her voice was kind and welcoming, it made me feel safe. She smiled at me, and I returned it.
"I don't really know, I got tired and hungry." Instantly she pulled a loaf of bread from her inventory bag and ripped it in half, giving half to me. I decided to eat first and ask questions later.
The bread tasted so good, as if cooked by the best chef in the world – wherever this world was exactly. It was soft and felt good in my mouth, the texture almost perfect. After finishing the bread, it was time to ask some questions.
"Where did you get this?" I accidentally spat a tiny crumb of bread out while I spoke, and I desperately hoped she hadn't noticed.
"Well, when I got here, I was kinda hungry, so I asked the guide for some food. I was going to save it for later on, like on one of the walks to the next tutors but I guess now is as good of a time as any. Anyway, we should get moving." Without time to reply, she started walking at a pace that was near as fast as I could run. I ran at a brisk jog which seemed to work until she turned around, laughing.
"Can't keep up?" She said, mockingly. I had only knew this girl for 5 minutes and she was already showing me up! It was a quality I remembered slightly, from somewhere. But where I remembered it from was a mystery.
For the next 15 minutes it seemed to be a mix of jogging and running for me, whilst the girl who's name I still didn't know was just walking. I felt quite stupid but I wasn't going to let it upset me, after all I had just appeared on a place I've never heard of before with no recollection of the past. A silly girl was the least of my worries.
Eventually we reached the lake which seemed to be swarming with people. Within the crowds, one woman in particular stood out. She was wearing a bright blue hood and cape, and on the back of the cape there was an emblem of a fish. Everyone seemed to be talking to her and then going on with their business so I thought I'd do the same.
As I approached her, I heard a loud crash behind me. I span around and saw a small tree had crashed onto the floor, and a boy stood next to it with a massive grin on his face.
"I DID IT!" He screamed, jumping into the air. As he jumped, the bronze hatchet he was holding flew backwards and lodged itself in the side of a fence. Obviously embarrassed by this act, the boy ran over to fetch it. I looked to the side of me and saw the girl I was with giggling. I decided it was time to ask for her name, so I nudged her on the shoulder.
"What's your name by the way?" I asked, smiling. She took a second to breath and stop giggling before answering.
"Abigail, but call me Abi," She smiled back at me, and it warmed me inside. Her smile was pleasant, it made me feel secure. I shook my head quickly, dismissing these mushy feelings – for the time being anyway. "What's your name?"
I went to speak but I paused. I didn't know my name. I needed to think quickly or else I'd look really stupid. What kind of person doesn't
"Don't you remember it? I heard it happens to all the time to a lot of people," That put my mind to rest – I wasn't the only one. "How about you call yourself.. Arcus? Arc for short! I like the sound of that..." Arc? It sounded like a good name, and I didn't have anything else to call myself. In fact, it sounded brilliant. Arc would definitely be my name.
"OK! Arc sounds good. I'll stick with that."
"AHEM." I turned around. The woman with the blue cloak stood next to us with an impatient look about her. I couldn't focus on her though, someone not 10ft behind her had just fallen into the lake. Eruptions of laughter rippled through the crowds and I also heard some right beside me – it was Abi. The moment I saw her laughing, I couldn't hold it in. Seconds later, we were both in fits of laughter. A sharp voice cut through our laughter.
"If you are both quite finished, can we get started? I am Bryanna, the survival tutor. I will teach you the basic skills to survive in Runescape: woodcutting, firemaking, fishing and cooking." I took a quick glance at Abi, and saw her looking back at me. We both turned back to Bryanna and smiled. Time to learn how to survive!
Hello, everyone! Leave a review if you'd be so kind, feedback and constructive criticism is what helps me continue writing and aspire to become a better writer. I am not accepting OC's yet, I want to build some of my own original characters before allowing others to. Hope you enjoyed the story!