Sirens blared & lights flashed in a long, metal-walled corridor. On one side of the hallway, a metal door of similar material slid open, and two men strode through the hall with urgency.

A short man, with short black hair and chestnut skin, walked next to a taller man with a similar complexion. The shorter man wore a simple, moss green shirt, and black pants tucked into a pair of black boots. He also wore a belt around his waist, lined with multiple pockets. “Hey, isn’t this a big deal? I mean, we just escaped these guys and now they’re back”

The taller man had a head full of shoulder-length, braid-like locked hair. He wore a gray shirt with black pants and boots, as well as a hooded cloak that fluttered through the air. He also wore a nearly identical belt around his waist. “Nah, there’s no way they’ll be a threat to the captain.” he said casually. “Plus, if it comes down to a fight, then we’ll fight.”

The shorter man gave him a sideways look, but said nothing. They went through another door, and ascended up some stairs. Pressing the button on a device on their belts, a nearly invisible bubble appeared around both men. The bubble expanded out a few inches, before stopping and contracting back, forming a nearly transparent layer floating a few inches away from their bodies.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, they passed through another door, reaching the main deck of what looked like an old galley from Earth. The majority of the ship was made of some sort of metallic, ashen wood, and instead of normal cloth sails, there was only one sail that stretched over the entirety of the ship. It was made of a golden, cloth-like material that reflected the light of the sun.

The ship was surrounded by darkness speckled with stars. Lamps with small orbs of floating light hung on posts all around the deck of the ship, keeping it illuminated, assisted by the light of the sun, which was caught by the and absorbed by the golden sail.

On the upper deck, a man stood tall, facing the bow of the ship. He had a long mane of sapphire blue hair & wore a set of fancy, patterned robes that were reminiscent of traditional Japanese kimonos.

The man stared out at a slowly growing dot in the distance. It looked similar to the ship they stood on; an all-black, galley-like ship, with patchwork sails of white and gold. The blue-haired man could see figures on the deck of the approaching ship, waving their weapons and cheering with a hot fervor for piracy in their eyes.

“Hello boys,” said the blue-haired man, without looking back at the two approaching men. “It seems like we’ve been found by those pirates once more.” He turned to face them, giving the taller one a smirk. “Whatever could they want?”

The two men approached and stood to either side of the blue-haired man. “What’s the plan, Mr. Vect? Are we gonna fight them?”

The blue-haired man, called Vect, smiled and looked at the shorter man. “We will. But I have other plans for you two.” He placed his hands on the shoulder of each man. “We’ll be getting you two to Arlandria to complete your initiation.”

Vect pulled out two coin-sized discs from his pocket and handed one to each man. “These are transport tokens. They will allow the system to transport you to where you need to go.”

The shorter man huffed. “Don’t you think getting these earlier would’ve been helpful?”

Vect smiled. “You would have, but then you wouldn’t have the head start in skill you have now.” Vect turned back to the approaching ship, which was much closer now. “Now, you both should get ready for your trip. I shall greet our unwelcome guests.”

The ship pulled up beside Vect’s, barely missing a collision. The crew was made up of humanoid beings wearing strange, black leather outfits. They looked to be jeering and cheering, though no sound could be heard, even as they were no more than 10 feet away.

Vect watched the ship come to a slow stop. The easygoing smile from before was no longer on his face, and he stared down the pirates with a serious look. He turned back to the two men, the coldness in his eyes giving both men a spine-tingling chill.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Virgil, Biggs, time to go. Crush the token and leave.” He gave a slight smirk. “We will meet again, hopefully soon.”

Virgil, exchanging a look and a shrug with the shorter man, Biggs, crushed the token held in his hand. A near-transparent window appeared in their vision.

“Transport token recognized.

Scanning….Scan complete

Initiating travel to Arlandria..”

Virgil and Biggs were suddenly encapsulated in a pillar of bright, white light wrapped around them. They felt their bodies become lighter as they slowly began to float into the air. Vect turned and gave them a casual smile and wave, before turning back around to face the pirates. He began to speak with the pirates, but nothing could be heard from inside the light that surrounded them.

After floating for a few seconds, the two men shot into space like a bullet in its barrel. Virgil tried his best not to lose his lunch as he sped through the tube of light, but Biggs had less success.

They flew through the void of space at unbelievable speeds, unable to make sense of anything they saw around them. All they could see was the bright white light that surrounded them, and after a couple moments, they started to slow down. As the light began to dissipate, the two came to a stop, floating down to a metal platform below them.

Both men’s eyes widened as they took in their new destination. They found themselves in a large expanse of grassy fields. The light of a large sun, similar but larger than what they were used to on Earth, shone down on them, causing them to squint as their eyes adjusted.

Turquoise grass glimmered like jewels in the sun, and a large mountain range stretched to the sky in the distance. Virgil and Biggs stared in awe at the beauty of the landscape.

“Hey Virgil?” Biggs said.

“Yeah, Biggs?” replied Virgil.

“Are we in Kansas?”

“Don’t think so, dude” Virgil said with a smile.

They looked around and saw they stood not too far from a small shack made of some sort of dry wood with a thatched roof. The boys made their way to the small shack & as they got closer, they saw that the land surrounding the shack had no grass. A ring of flat, brown dirt encircled the house, and on the outside of that ring, they saw foreign symbols formed by small white pebbles, completely surrounding the house.

“I wonder what these are for. Hope they don’t say ‘Keep Out’ in some alien language” said Biggs. Before they reached the small shack, they felt a rumbling vibration under their feet. Moments later, they heard the ground breaking apart, and could see something in the distance, quickly moving through the ground like a fish moving through water.

The movement stopped, and something breached the dirt. What they saw made their blood run cold. A large, scaled shark-like head poked up from under the dirt, no more than 50 feet away. It had milky, white eyes and its mouth was propped open by its large, vicious looking teeth. It moved its head, looking around until its eyes found Virgl and Biggs.

The two boys stared at the beast for what seemed like an everlasting moment, and the beast stared back, unmoving.

“W-we should get to the shack…” whispered Biggs. Virgil nodded, but as soon as they moved, the beast disappeared back into the ground. As soon as they lost sight of it, they turned and sprinted. They were no more than 30 feet away from the door, and they could feel the beast approaching quickly.

Virgil reached the door first, and with his hand wrapped around the door handle, he turned to look for his friend. Biggs was a bit heftier than Virgil was, but he reached the door just in time. But before they opened it, Virgil continued watching the beast.

The beast was about 20 feet away, but as it attempted to get closer, its movement suddenly stopped. Waves of shimmering light appeared, and like a rock thrown into water, the waves rippled in a sphere all around the shack.

“Is…is that like, a barrier or something?” Biggs said, panting heavily and hunched over.

“Seems like it. Probably keeps out all the monsters…at least I hope it does” said Virgil, trying to catch his breath.

The area around the shack was now deathly silent. No movement was heard and no ground moved. It made the pair even more nervous.

“Well that’s probably not good,” Biggs said.

Virgil nodded, then turned to open the door. As he did, a transparent box entered his vision; a system message.

SAFE ZONE ENTERED

TIME REMAINING: 11:59:58

“Did you get that message too?” asked Virgil. Biggs nodded. “Well that’s nice, at least we have some time to rest.”

As they entered the shack, they saw that it was much more spacious than they first thought. It was a large room, about the size of a studio apartment back on Earth. There were two beds on either side of the room, separated by a wooden wall. At the foot of each bed was a small desk with a wooden, cushioned chair. There were flickering lamps on the walls that gave the room a decent amount of light.

“Well, it’s no 5-star hotel but looks comfy enough.” said Biggs, as he went to lay on the right side bed. He let out a breath of satisfaction. “Yep, definitely comfy”.

Virgil chuckled as he went to his side and sat at his desk. He wasn’t very tired yet, and he pulled out a leatherbound journal from a pocket inside his cloak. He examined the journal’s back and front and saw nothing out of the ordinary. A pen was in a pocket on the inside, and it surprisingly looked like something he would find on Earth. A loud snore came from the other side of the wall, and Virgil looked around the corner to see Biggs passed out on his bed.

Virgil smiled and returned to his desk, stretching a bit before he decided to begin writing.

“I guess now is as good a time as any.”