Gray I

Gray wasn't sure how long he'd been out, as when he opened his eyes, the sun seemed to be setting. It was a good thing he felt himself being prodded, cause he wouldn't have wanted to be out here in the middle of the night. When he looked up, he saw two men standing over him. He was on the outskirts of what looked like a pine forest, with an open plain before him, cut by a road.

"You okay, son?" one of the men asked. They're helmets, breastplates, and halberds set them out as soldiers, but they didn't look like Fiore or Magic Council soldiers. One was cleanly shaven, while the other had a short beard.

"I think so," Gray said, "Where am I?"

"About three miles from the nearest tavern," one soldier said, "We were going to our fort, when we found you collapsed by the road, with no shirt.

"Let me guess," the other said with a chuckle, "You went out drinking with your friends, and then tried to ride home?"

"Would you believe a magic portal?" Gray responded, getting to his feet, rubbing his head. That surprised the soldiers, who glanced at each other, looking a tad nervous.

"Are you from the College of Altdorf?"

"The what now?" Gray asked, cocking his head.

"Where else could you have gone through a portal?" one soldier asked.

"I heard the Bretonnains have some pretty good sorceress," the other said, "Are you from there?"

"What's Bretonnia?" The soldiers looked at him like he was crazy.

"Well, I'm not going to try and ponder why you know so little?" one said, "Its none of our business anyway."

"That symbol," the one with the bead asked, gesturing to Gray's Fairy Tail mark, "What is it from?"

"Its my guild mark?" Gray answered, gesturing.

"Ah, you're from a guild. What's your profession?"

"I'm a mage," Gray answered simply. That got both men to take a step back, glancing a thin with apprehension. Though Gray couldn't imagine why.

"We have to continue on our way," the other said, "So, safe travels." With that, they started to walk away.

"Could you at least point me in the direction of the nearest town?" Gray called.

"Just follow the road that way," the soldier said, pointing, "You'll get to Wiedenbach that way. But be quick, you don't want to be out here at night."

"Alright, thanks!" Gray said, waving. After waving back, the soldiers went down the road in one direction, while Gray went down the other direction. As he did, he tried to figure out where he was. He didn't know anything about the "Empire" or "Bretonnia".

By the time he arrived at the place called "Wiedenbach", the sun was starting to full duck beneath the horizon. It was a town maybe slightly smaller than Magnolia, though all Gray really needed was some directions, and maybe a map. As he walked through the town, the ice mage looked around at the people. They were dressed considerably different to the people he was used to seeing. Their clothing was dirtier, and more ragged. Most of the buildings seemed to be wooden or cobblestone mostly.

Eventually, Gray across a larger building with a sign hanging over it saying "The Beast's Brewery", and Gray had stayed in enough inns to know one when he saw one. Going in, he saw a number of other soldiers, among other people. Gray went up to the bar, who had an older man behind it.

"Yo!" Gray said, waving, as he came up. The man looked up from the counter he was cleaning.

"Yes?"

"I'm a little lost," Gray said, "This is Wydenback, right?"

"Wiedenbach," the man corrected, looking back to his counter.

"That's it," Gray answered, "I'm looking for my friends. Can you maybe point me in the right direction?"

"Where are you trying to go?"

"A city would be nice."

"Well the largest city in Talabecland is Talabheim, the provincial capital," the man (who Gray figured to be the owner) said, "Its South from here if you keep following the road."

"Well, I guess that's where I need to go," Gray muttered.

"But don't go down there at night. I heard some Beastmen were sighted moving through this region. Supposedly a battalion of soldiers were sent to deal with them." Gray figured that was where the soldiers he met were gong, and though he didn't know what "Beastmen" were, but he didn't need a genius to know that they were probably trouble.

"Well how much does it cost to rent a room?"

"Ten coins for one night," the inn owner said.

"And how much work will I need to do in order to pay it off?" Gray asked, sweat dropping slightly. The owner chuckled slightly as he polished a glass.

"You know what, you're clearly not from here," he said, "And I'm a good mood tonight, so I'll let you stay one night for free, but if you want to stay any longer, you'll have to start working."

"Thanks!" Gray said with a grin, "But I only need one night." With that, he was directed to his room. While he was grateful to get a free night, when he saw the state of the room, he saw the condition it was in, and realized while the guy was suddenly so willing to give it. It had no windows, the bed was missing two posts, and the only other piece of furniture was a worn out chair.

But Gray had gone through far worst that this, and he'd done harder things with his magic. Creating two substitute bedposts out of his ice, Gray promptly kicked back, and fell asleep, knowing he'd need rest for what would no doubt be a very long journey ahead.

Note: Kind of a boring chapter yeah, but this is the last establishing chapter for now. Starting next chapter, the story will pick up again.

Choosing the province for Gray to go to was harder than one might think. I wanted him to go to the most "normal" province. I took out Reikland, because I didn't want to put Gray in the Emperor's presence, or at least not yet. I chose Talabecland, because based on my reading of the lore, it seemed the least extreme in any particular direction.

Now I guess its worth saying when in the Warhammer timeline this takes place. It takes place before the End Times have begun obviously, but still in the reign of Emperor Karl Franz.

Please review.