The Beginning

Chapter 1: Digging
By Macrossgrn

I sighed softly as I woke up at the crack of... 'Wait, what time is it?' I asked
myself, even as I looked out the opened window. The sun was somewhat high
in the air, so I guessed it was around 10 o'clock. "Ten? Oh great..." I muttered,
and dashed to put on my work clothes. My red hair flashed in the morning sunlight.
Once I had the once-green tunic and breeches on (which were still a little big for me,
no less), I immediately went outside. This wasn't the first time I'd slept in (and likely
wouldn't be the last). But, with any luck today, it might be the last. Grabbing a
shovel and a pick ax that were leaning against my little cottage, I began the walk
down toward the place where I had been digging for quite a while now. It was lonely,
being in the middle of nowhere, without anyone to talk to, so I kept myself busy by
digging near the river. Sure, there were the occasional monsters to talk to. There
was a small clan of Tigers in the area, and they kept the place relatively secure.
They tolerated my presence, since I would let them live in the side room of my cottage
during winter.

After 20 minutes or so of walking, I reached the riverbank. I had never
deluded myself into thinking that I would find gold in this area. It would be very unlikely.
"Still, there's more to life than gold," I said to myself, tossing the shovel to the side easily.
The pick ax was lifted up and off of my shoulder with a simple movement, and I walked
over to the small cliff side, which I'd been caving in, in order to move my home down to
this place someday. Part of the river had been diverted, thanks to my efforts of placing
rocks in the way of it. It would wash away some of the dirt and rocks that I knocked loose
from the cliff. "Now, to work" I said to myself softly, and with sudden slashing motion with
the pick ax, I drove the blade deep into the crumbling cliff side. I pulled and twisted at the
dirt that clung onto the cliff, as if for dear life. Finally, it gave way, crumbling into the
slowly running water that was soaking my feet. With another heave, almost effortlessly, I
began another attack against the cliff, slashing my pick ax against the dirt.

Soon, an entire hour had gone by, and I decided it was time for a break. I wasn't
the most physical person around (in fact, I prefer using my mind), so taking a break was
often a good idea for me. I had planned the correct areas to strike at, so that when I
finally got to the right place, and chipped enough of the cliff away, it would all come
crumbling down, to create a good spot for my new home. "Too bad that it would take a
while," I muttered, sitting down on a boulder a few feet away from where I'd been
attacking the ground. I heard a noise behind me, and I looked quickly toward the sound.
A blur of light passing through a nearly invisible substance made me grin slightly, and I
looked over toward the rock up on top of the cliff.

Sure enough, there it was. It was hard to see the Jelly Hound, but it's shape was
unmistakable. "Well hello there Jound. How are you today?" I asked politely, grinning up
to the tiger. The tiger simply stood there for a moment, and then up to the sky. I then
pulled the pick ax toward me carefully. Jound had never done this before. I waited for a
moment, after which he began to speak. "Tyson, there's a storm approaching. This one
will be very fierce. I am afraid that your cottage will not provide you any protection. I
suggest you find someplace to go towards… and, I do not mean the nearby village. They
too, will be engulfed in this storm," the Tiger said softly, but loud enough for me to hear
him. The village nearby which he had referred to, was a very nice place... in fact, it was
where I had grown up. But, only a few years ago, I decided to move into the wilderness
to eke out a living on my own. 'That was around the time of the mayoral election,' I
thought to myself, nodding to Jound as I stood up. "Thank you for the information,
Jound. But, should we not try to warn the villagers first?" I asked, swinging the pick ax
onto my shoulder gently, while taking the shovel into the other hand.

"Tyson, my pack will warn the villagers of the storm. And, we will provide
assistance to them if they need it. But, you need to be getting out of here. I suggest
the caves to the east. They'll be a good place for you to hide from the storm." Jound
said, turning his gaze from the sky and to me. He gave me a grin, and then jumped off
of the rock, ending up beside me, on the rock I had just been sitting on. "Tyson, you
need to be very careful… without the pack to help you around now, you are a vulnerable
human, you know."

I gave a small laugh, and nodded at that with a smile. "That's true, but remember,
I can fight. How else did I earn your pack's trust, hmm?" I responded, grinning slightly
before laughing again. Jound joined in with laughter of his own. "Good point, Tyson.
Still, I am not joking. Look up." And I did just that, tilting my head to look skyward.
Dark storm clouds had gathered overhead. I shivered slightly, thinking that I'd never
seen such dark clouds before in my life. It seemed almost ominous. "You're right
Jound, that does seem like a very fierce storm that is brewing up there. I'll have to pack
my things." suddenly, a gust of wind flew by, and I smirked slightly.

"Pack lightly, my boy. You'll need speed to get away from this storm. Take care,
I'm off to check on the villagers." And with that, my friend, Jound, bounded away,
howling into the air, only to be returned by members of his pack which began to swarm
around him. Just as quickly, however, they disappeared into the rapidly darkening forest.
With a start, I shook myself, and shrugged. 'I have a good 20 minutes or so to keep
digging,' I thought. Setting the shovel down and looking toward the cliff, I was surprised
to find that there was a round edge poking out of it. It was about a foot long, too, and
about 10 inches high. "It almost looks like... Nah, couldn't be!" I said, and I struck the
side of the cliff next to the edges. With precise hits, I managed to dig a small channel
around the thing. With one good swing, from overhead and down into the now soft earth
(it had begun raining in the last moment or so, and I hadn't noticed), the long cylinder
came out from the ground, and rolled down and into the water near my feet.

After letting the river water rush along it, washing away the dirt and mud from the
thing, I tilted it so that I could take a better look at it. As I did so, I gasped in complete
surprise. A small package of mystery disks, 3 of them, tied together, had been buried by
someone who knows how long ago, and here they are! It was hard enough to find more
than one in a lifetime, but here I've found 3 in a row, all by chance! My thoughts were
cut short as lightning flashed overhead, and a low rumbling of thunder soon followed.
Grabbing the package carefully, I began to head toward the cottage quickly. Little
was I to know the ramifications of this night, especially when I felt my body go
completely rigid halfway there. The package fell from my hands, and I found myself
falling toward the ground, as surges of pain webbed its way through my body. It was
as if I'd been hit by something strong, and yet, I didn't feel hurt. Numb, and in a
small amount of pain, yes, but not very hurt. Instead, my eyes began to close, and
I couldn't see anymore.

Hours seemingly passed by in mere moments. My body was still numb and unable
to move. Even my red hair was numb, and my eyes burned when I tried to open them. All
I could see was a dark tunnel inside my mind, with random images floating trough them.
Thoughts of helping my parents on their farm. Playing with the monsters that lived in the
village. Arguing with a Suezo over which one of us would get the food (the Suezo got it
after tongue-slapping me several times). I had learned to enjoy that Suezo's company,
even if it did belong to the cute little brown haired girl in the village. I also remembered
that her father had seemingly disappeared just after the mayoral election, too. I
remembered the rainy seasons, when we children would work indoors, baking bread
or helping out around the home. I remembered the summer, when many of us had to
bring buckets of water from the well or the river in order to water the vegetables so
that there would be enough to eat. Remembering the old days brought a smile to my
face, which was quickly taken away as pain tore through me afterwards.

Eventually, however, I became able to hear once again, as well as feel. I was able
to feel the cold, wet clothes that I had on, as well as the feeling that I was being
watched. With the ability to hear, I was able to figure out a few things. Many voices I
had never heard before were marching right past me. With my experience listening to
monsters and how they moved, I was able to recognize the movements of Hares and
Jells of some sort. There were also a few tigers among them, I noticed, as I heard one
stop near me, sniff at my prone carcass, and then move on. It obviously thought of me
as very little threat, or perhaps it even thought that I was dead. All within 10 minutes
of being able to hear again, the entire group of monsters passed me by. All except
one, that is, which was still moving steadily along with the others, but much further
behind.

'This sound is different,' I thought. I could hear very little in the way of
movement from this being, but what I did heard brought to mind the information that
my father had given me about the time he'd been attacked by a monster. "It was
one of the slithering monsters, like a snake moves. But, it had the upper body of
something like a human. It had arms, too- strong arms. I thought they were going to
crush me. I'm just glad I that Trojan was with me. I may not have been here today if
it wasn't for him knocking out that Naga with a swift strike from his pole-arm." It
was a tale I had heard only once or twice, but the fact that a monster that wasn't
a Golem could crush a man so easily was something that made it stick out in my mind.

The monster was a Naga. It was simple to tell, really, now that the noise of feet
and body mass shifting had moved out of earshot. The slithering was unmistakable.
The monster didn't notice me at all, it seemed, as it continued on its course down toward
the south. At least, I thought it was to the south. If it was... then, the village I had grown
up in, would be the monster's target. Then, there was silence. It was eerie, I thought,
being able to hear, and yet not move. The strangest thing about it was that there wasn't
any owls making any noise at all. Instead, the silence was deafening. Absolutely no
sound could be heard. It went on this way for another 20 minutes or so, until I heard
the first sound of many more like it.