Wilson dodged the falling frogs as he ran through the grassy area, gathering supplies, especially carrots. He could eat frogs, but there were just so many of them, and he knew they ganged up on whoever might hit one of them.

After a couple of minutes, Wilson discovered one reason there were no saplings to be found: Even though he was far away from any swamp, thorn bushes were growing here and there. I can get twigs from those, but it'll hurt, Wilson thought. He sighed. Sticks are worth a few cuts and scrapes. I'm sure there are spiders around here that I can get glands from.

Not only were thorn bushes growing in places besides swampland, spiky trees were scattered here and there among the normal pines, and a few random lumpy evergreens with no pinecones grew here and there as well, with no apparent rhyme or reason to their placement.

There are already differences between this world and the one I've been surviving in, he thought as he gathered things and avoided falling frogs. I have to wonder if the different terrains still exist here, if there are seasons…or Beefalo…or…Will hound attacks happen as they did? And if they do, will they start small, like they did before, or will they be coming with the same intensity as they have been lately in the first world?

He shook his head. Priority one: Find what there was to find. The sooner he could get some gold and build a new science machine, the sooner he'd be out of here. And what about the rod? He took it out. Nope, still faint. But perhaps if he kept wandering around, he'd find something…

With no better place to start, Wilson chose a direction and started walking, holding the strange rod out in the hopes of finding whatever he was looking for. After a few minutes, the rain eased up some, and frogs stopped falling.

Before long, the green grass gave way to savannah, and though he could see more green grass across the patch, there were Beefalo here. Different terrains, check, he thought. Beefalo, check. Another oddity, check. Beefalo didn't happen in small savannah patches, only in the big ones.

Suddenly, the strange beeping increased in pitch and frequency, and the vibration of the device became much more distinct. I am headed in the right direction, Wilson concluded. Setting aside thoughts of Beefalo and other such factors, he quickened his pace in the direction he'd been going.

…and nearly tripped over the skeleton of one who had come before him. Whoops, he thought, getting his bearings. As always, the skeleton made him uneasy by indicating that other people had tried to survive here and failed; but on the other hand, anything he could salvage from their loss might give him an advantage.

And this one was surrounded by twigs!

Twigs! Oh, what a relief! There were five bundles of twigs scattered around the body. And a partially-used torch, too! Thank you, whoever you were, Wilson thought gratefully, gathering the materials. Better you than me.

The rain stopped - another relief. The divining rod still buzzed insistently, telling him to keep moving. Where? He wouldn't know until he got there.

~o~

Dusk fell as Wilson walked…a bit sooner than it should have? The air was brisk, and Wilson knew there would be a chill in the night, but it was definitely the beginning of spring; but the sun's movement didn't correlate with what he knew of early spring.

I might have to relearn everything, he realized; weather patterns, the day/night cycle…maybe even the seasons!

That last possibility was worrisome to say the least.

Wilson was spared further worrying, however, as the device started vibrating and beeping wildly. I must be getting pretty close, whatever this thing is pointing me towards, Wilson thought as it started raining again. He ignored the rain and hurried along in the direction he'd been going, eager to see what he was tracking. After a couple more minutes, the device started going crazy, vibrating so hard Wilson could barely hold onto it, the beeping deafening. A minute after that, Wilson came across a patch of green grass, in the middle of what was now forest-y terrain, not that he'd noticed the change while he'd been walking. In the middle of the patch of green grass was a circle of fifteen evil flowers, all growing right next to each other, their noxious odor sickening. And inside the circle…

Wilson tried to ignore the stench of the evil flowers as he pocketed the device that had been guiding him and picked up the dark gray ring thing that sat in the center of the flower circle. He couldn't tell what it was made of, but it felt to him like it could focus dimensional energies.

But to what end?

Whatever it was, it was important, and Wilson pocketed it as the sun abruptly set. He quickly stepped away from the evil flowers and lit a campfire with the last remnants of light left to him, tossing an extra log on immediately to compensate for the rain.

This rain is going to be a problem, he thought. I need to get together a science machine and find some silk and pig skin to make an umbrella. Once that's done, then I can start worrying about what I'm supposed to do with this ring thing.

He had nothing else to do but wait and keep the fire burning as the rainy night passed.

~o~

When morning came, the day was noticeably warmer than the previous one had been, but the rain didn't let up. It got heavier quickly, and Wilson barely had time to scoop up ash from his campfire before frogs started dropping from the sky again.

These will be a problem, too, he thought, hurrying on his way. If I ever set up a base camp, I'll need to make a bunch of traps and surround it with them. I need to collect as much grass as I can find while I…What am I doing, anyway?

Were it not for the raining frogs, he would have stopped to think; as it was, he quickly got lost in thought even as he avoided falling frogs. What was he doing? The ring thing was useless on its own, strange though it may be; was he perhaps supposed to find other devices as well and combine them somehow? And if so, what for?

He took out the divining rod again. The signal was very faint once more; apparently, it couldn't track something that was in his pocket. Good to know, but what was he supposed to do? Wander around until it started vibrating again? He certainly didn't want to stay here, in this land of raining frogs and shortened days, and if there had been a way out of the first world, surely there was a way out of this one. He had a hunch that maybe, just maybe, the ring thing and whatever else the divining rod found for him could be put together to make a way out. It was just a hunch, though.

The forest he'd been in ended, and he was back in a strip of savannah. He saw a couple of rabbits, and made a mental note to remember the spot, so he could gather rabbits for earmuffs and a prestihatitator - some magic would be useful here, if he could find the parts. That reminded him to keep an eye out for spiders' nests - silk would be useful, too.

But right now, he needed to find gold and rocks to build a new science machine. He wouldn't have to rely on trial and error this time, since he already knew what he needed for each thing he could craft, even if he couldn't remember how to put them together, but he really needed a machine so he could get going.

He returned to green grass. There were still no saplings anywhere, just the occasional spiky bush. The sight of more carrots, however, reminded Wilson that he still needed to eat. He picked every carrot he saw, munching on them as he walked - he still didn't like them, but he was used to eating them for survival's sake. He also picked every flower he saw, and soon had a garland on his head - just a little something to soothe his nerves a bit, especially helpful in the rain.

And speaking of his nerves…Was it his imagination, or were there no berries to be found, either? He couldn't recall having seen a single berry bush since his arrival, and he couldn't see any now, either. It didn't matter too much, carrots and berries weren't all that unalike - and in fact, the carrots were the healthier food - but that would also mean no turkey, either. Still not dire, but…every resource mattered, in the end, and discovering lacks thereof was unsettling.

The rain eased slightly, and frogs stopped falling. At this rate, the entire land would be covered in frogs, and how would he ever set up any sort of base camp then, even with traps? The near-constant rainfall would be a problem for setting up camp as well - he'd have to spend twice as many resources keeping campfires burning, even if he built a fire pit.

And speaking of a fire pit, were there any rocks around? He hadn't seen any boulders. Perhaps he was getting paranoid - he hadn't yet found a rocky terrain yet, after all - but boulders sometimes happened in forests or small patches of savannah, and he hadn't seen any of them in either environment yet.

Calm down, he told himself. Stop panicking. You know the rules well enough to get by even with some resources being restricted now. Remember how hapless you were when you were first dragged from home? You got by then, too. You can do this.

Dusk fell - again, a bit too soon for summer. Wilson's self-talk intensified as he tried not to lose his mind worrying about what other changes to the rules he'd learned might or might not present themselves. Even if he had to re-learn everything, it wouldn't kill him. Probably.

With no better ideas, he took out his divining rod again. The signal was still very faint, but maybe if he kept walking he'd find something. A few minutes later, he thought he detected a slight rise in the pitch of the beeping, but just then, night fell, and he had to swap out the device for the used torch he'd picked. It was still raining, so he had to go through the used torch and a brand new one, and some of a third, but the air was definitely warmer - almost midsummer warm. He tried not to think about what that might mean as he waited for dawn.

~o~

The third day dawned, and it was hot - truly midsummer hot. The rain eased to a drizzle, and Wilson knew by now to relish this reprieve while it lasted. He took out the divining rod again, and the signal had intensified, he was sure of it now. He took off at a run, chasing the signal, eager to find something.

A minute later, he stumbled upon some very confused terrain, much like the area near his base camp in the previous fake world. As with that, rocks of all sharpnesses were scattered everywhere, and he gathered both sharpnesses with relief. Occasionally, he saw a boulder that he knew contained gold, but more often, instead of the boulders that contained nitre, he saw large, dark, blocky chunks of an odd stone. He examined one closely, and could tell right away that it was far too tough to break through. No nitre, then? he wondered. Okay…gunpowder isn't vital, either, I guess…I can make do without…

But he had gold. Gold was good. Gold was very good. Before the sun had crossed the apex of the sky, he had a new science machine. By dusk, he had a backpack, shovel, spear, hammer, straw hat, and chest, in which he stored the ring thing for now, along with the handfuls of ash he'd gathered. I need to find some spiders, he thought. That's the next priority. Then some pigs, or at least some pig heads on stakes - I need an umbrella, badly.

For the time being, though…

He took out the rod again. It was beeping urgently, indicating he was very close to something, and he resumed hurrying towards the direction he'd been going. A few minutes later, the device started going crazy again, and Wilson looked around eagerly. Soon, he saw some pieces of stone wall in a vaguely ring-like shape, with evil flowers scattered about. He ignored the flowers again and inspected the ruins overall; he found a brand-new spear outside the ruins, a random gnome just inside, and in the middle of the area, he found…a box thing.

Wilson picked up the box. It was small, a similar color to the ring thing, and had a lever on one side, like a control box. Also like the ring thing, it had an aura of significance, like it controlled the polarity of the universe.

Wilson pocketed it. He took out the rod again, and once again, the signal had gotten very faint - apparently, it couldn't detect something inside a chest, either. Out of habit, Wilson put the rod away and took out a spear, then closed his eyes and tried to summon the world map to guide him back to his machine before he even remembered that he wasn't sure there was a map for this world. But there was, and it worked just like the old one had, much to his relief. He got back to his science machine just as night fell, and the rain picked up again.