Time is an interesting concept.
Timelines even more so.
When Karl had begun his journey through time he had never taken into account what would happen to his timeline.
He was lucky in a way that, unlike the many other versions of himself that he had seen in the In-between, his travels so far had not lead to any changes from his end, everything that was meant to happen happened.
This time was different he could tell.
The air around him felt stale, the ground brittle, and the normal feel of magic in that was always in the air was miniscule, as if the only magical thing that had occurred in so long was Karl's appearance in the cave.
Despite the lack of magic in the air Karl could see lights up ahead and hear the sounds of people leaving making hurried movements.
Making haste to where the sounds were coming from brought Karl to an area filled with the leftover things from the people who had left in such a hurry.
Karl sighed, there were two ways he could take to find the people, normally he would feel a pull towards a certain direction showing the way he should go but this time there was nothing he had the same lack of direction that he had when he was at home in his own timeline. The feel that his actions at this exact point in time weren't pre-written, the feeling that he is free to make and experience his own mistakes.
A scream of pain pulls him from his thoughts and spurred him into action. Running towards the source of the scream Karl wished he had a sword with him, just on the off chance that there was a fight waiting for him. Sadly the only things that he had on his person were two potions of healing, a Golden apple, his usual time traveling gear, and for some bizarre reason a full stack of milk.
Notch, he hoped that he wouldn't have to fight.