“Is she…dead?”
The sound of a muffled slap echoed in her ears. “No, you dunce,” replied a female voice. “She’s not dead. Tide Mother save us.”
The other voice, male, spoke again. “Why is she, you know, naked?”
“How should I know? Turn around and give me your sweater. It will cover her well enough.”
Gentle hands pushed something over her head, sliding on some sort of soft fabric. Evie sighed, blinking open her eyes. An older woman stared down at her, smiling as she straightened the thick sweater that went past her thighs.
“Hello, sweetheart.” A hand brushed against her forehead. A warm energy filled her body. “Well, you’re not injured. That’s good. That’s really good.” The woman hummed. “Can you tell me your name sweetheart?”
“Evelyn,” she replied. “But I go by Evie.” She tried to sit up. The woman helped.
“Evie,” the woman replied. “That’s a lovely name. I’m Trianne, but everyone calls me Nan.” She pointed to the man who was studiously turned away. He waved backwards over his shoulder. “And this is my husband, Marrel.”
"Hello," he said, but still didn't turn around. Nan grinned. "It's safe to turn around now, my dear." Marrel peaked over his shoulder before he turned, laughing nervously and scratching at his head. "Nice to meet you," he directed at Evie.
Both of them were older than her, perhaps middle-aged. Nan had a round, kind face, warm brown eyes and a halo of riotous blond curls. Marrel was a tall, thick-chested man with a deeply tanned and weathered face, like he’d spent all his life in the sun. His dark hair was long and tied back, making his widow’s peak and receding hairline even more prominent.
“Now, Evie,” Nan continued. “How do you feel? Does anything hurt?”
Evie thought about it but shook her head. “No, I feel fine. Great, even.”
Nan smiled. “I’m happy to hear that. Do you remember how you got here?”
Evie frowned “Where is here?” She looked around and found that she was sitting on a beach. Not white and sandy, but full of smooth black pebbles. It looked to be a small cove, with cliff sides on either side of the beach hiding it from view. The water was a bright, cerulean blue. At the edge of the beach, a rocky path led into dense forests full of some type of fir or coniferous trees. The breeze picked up for a moment, carrying the strong smell of salt water.
Nan nodded along as if that was a totally normal question. In a soothing voice, she answered, “You’re on Bar Island, a few miles out from Brinestone.”
Evie frowned. “I – I don’t know where that is. There was an accident, I think. And then…” She thought of the options that appeared before her in that strange, in between place. “I had a choice, I think. I don’t exactly remember. I’m…I’m sorry.”
Nan clucked and looked at Marrel. “A ritual gone wrong, perhaps?" She shook her head and turned back to Evie. "Can you stand, sweetheart? How do your legs feel?”
Evie pushed herself to her knees. Marrel came forward, offering his hand. She took it, leveraging it to pull herself off the ground. She paused, focusing on how her body felt. “I’m fine, I think. At least, nothing feels wrong.”
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Marrel started, “What about –”
Nan cut him off with a glare. “That’s great, Evie. Now, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to take you to the infirmary in town, just to get a second opinion and make sure you’re totally okay. Then we can chat more and sort everything out. How does that sound?”
Evie thought about it. Nan had a good energy to her. Motherly, maybe. But Evie wasn’t going to be totally honest with her just yet. She couldn’t exactly say, ‘I died, saw a bunch of floating words, and landed in a new world, completely naked.’ She didn’t want to risk a one-way ticket to the looney bin. Also, it was a little annoying that the universe couldn’t send her to a new world with some appropriate clothing. That could have gone very badly. But she thought she could trust Nan...for now.
“Sure,” Evie replied. “That sounds fine.”
The woman turned to Marrel. “Can you get the cart from the house?”
Marrel brought his hand up in a salute. “Yes, ma’am.” He bent down, kissed Nan’s cheek, and waved at Evie. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
With a nod from Nan, he turned towards the woods and started running in what appeared to be a full-on, Olympian-level sprint.
“Wow, he’s fast,” Evie noted.
Nan smiled. “Oh, he used to be a courier on the mainland. Kept up a few skills that help from time to time. Do you feel up to walking for a bit? We could meet Marrel at the road. It’s not far, maybe ten minutes if we’re slow.”
At Evie’s nod, Nan pulled Evie’s arm through hers and they walked together. Evie shivered and watched her feet, stepping carefully over the rocks.
Nan kept pace with her, guiding her towards smoother boulders. Once they arrived at the dirt path at the back of the beach, Nan paused and looked down at Evie's bare feet. “Maybe we should wait here for Marrel to carry you back to the cart…”
Evie thought of her current state, mostly her lack of underwear, and shook her head. Marrel seemed kind enough, but that was a bit much.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured Nan. “We can walk slow.”
They inched their way through the woods. Bird song rang out across the canopy. She heard the scurry of small creatures across the forest floor. It smelled like Christmas trees and fresh earth, and Evie found herself breathing deep. “It’s beautiful here,” she commented.
Nan smiled. “I think so, too.” She paused. “Do you…do you know if you’re from somewhere nearby? Maybe on the mainland?”
Evie frowned. “What country is the mainland?”
“Cairn,” Nan replied.
Evie thought about it for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Cairn. I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”
Nan patted her hand. “Don’t you worry about it, sweetheart. We’ll get everything sorted soon enough.”
It was quiet in the woods, peaceful. It looked almost like the coast of Maine, where Evie spent one summer as a child at nature camp. The evergreen forests, the rocky beaches, the crisp ocean air were all familiar, yet foreign enough to be clearly somewhere else. The bark of the trees was a saturated dark brown, and each individual pine needle on the tree branched off into five or six tendrils. Some sort of bluish moss grew atop fallen trees and rocks near the path. Evie thought she saw a bird with two tails fly overhead.
“We’re almost there,” commented Nan.
After another few minutes, a branch snapped nearby. Nan stilled, looking into the tree line.
Evie frowned. “Is everything alright?”
Nan raised her hand in a quieting gesture. "Shhh," she whispered, turning her body towards the woods. "Evie, I want you to run down the path to the road, alright? You need to –"
Something large and covered in fur slammed through bushes next to the path and roared. It looked like a bear, almost, except that its fur was…green?
Nan stepped in front of Evie. She screamed towards the other end of the woods, “Marrel! Marrel!” She shouted her husband's name over and over again even as her hands stretched out in front of the bear and she twisted a ring on her right hand.
The bear creature growled, low and menacing, its teeth long and sharp.
Evie froze. It was a bear, right? But it was different. Dark green fur, a wider face, and some seriously sharp claws. She stared hard at the creature and jolted back as words appeared in the top corner of her vision.
[Moss Bear, lvl 22]
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Ding! You have learned a new skill: [Identify, lvl 1]
“Holy shit,” she gasped. “Holy fucking shit.”