Anyone would be confused if they went to sleep one night in their home and woke up on the ground in a field with only the sky as a roof.

It was early in the morning and the sun had not yet risen. Cloud stood up suddenly and looked around. In one direction was a seemingly endless open field. Turning the other way he saw the outline of a town not too far away with some lights making it easy to spot. Shivering from the chilly air that his sleepwear was not helping against, Cloud hugged himself and began walking barefoot towards where he hoped he would find people; people who might be able to help him and perhaps give him some clue as to how he found himself in a strange world. Not just a strange place, but a completely different world.

In the clear sky above, along with the familiar sight of countless twinkling stars, was the unfamiliar sight of two bright moons about thirty degrees of distance from each other. One was more or less like the familiar full moon; the other was a crescent but clearly at least three times larger than its twin.

By the time Cloud reached the town after walking for about two hours, the sun was beginning to rise from his left. He made a mental note of which direction to consider east as he approached his destination.

With the sun the sleeping populace also rose and busied themselves with their daily tasks. Cloud entered the town and passed people who gave him strange looks. He was worried they might become hostile, but seemingly he looked harmless enough that no one bothered him. He felt really helpless, especially since he was barefoot. It was very uncomfortable to walk barefoot on the rough ground. He identified an old man sitting on a chair in front of his house and decided to talk to him.

"Hello."

The old man looked at him and appraised him. Cloud was uncomfortable but knew he had to find out what he needed to know.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, sir, but could I trouble you to tell me where this is?"

The old man smiled, apparently a good-natured man. "What trouble are you in, lad? How could one not even know where they are?" He chuckled.

Cloud noticed the man spoke a tongue completely unfamiliar to his ears, yet he understood every word as if he had spoken it all his life. With a start he realized he had not spoken in his own language either. It was the same language that the old man used. Very strange.

"This here is the border town of Greenstone, ruled by Baron Shroff,” the old man said. "Ring any bells, boy?"

Cloud swallowed. He had expected as much. He had already surmised this was not Earth since he had seen two moons. He had seen that the town looked strange. It had immediately reminded him of depictions of medieval civilization.

He sat on the ground and talked with the old man some more, finding out more about the town. After a while he stood up and thanked the man before leaving. First things first, he had to ensure he would survive. Starving to death was a scary thought. He had no intention of becoming a beggar. And he wanted to avoid the risky and extreme business of crime since there was no future in that direction.

Using the information he had gleaned from the helpful old man, Cloud headed towards the eastern part of the town. It was easy to find the pumpkin fields he had been told about, and from there it was easier to find the owner. The owner was a rather large woman in her forties. She was already in the fields, directly five young men who worked for her. Cloud walked up to her.

"I was told I might find temporary work here," he said to the woman who was looking at him.

"Hmph, I already have enough hands here," she replied. "But if you are desperate I suppose I can hire you to assist the others. You get half their pay, fifteen copper coins per day. You work from dawn till noon."

Cloud had no clue about the currency of this land, but for now he really was desperate. Hopefully his daily wages would be enough to at least buy food for a day.

"I'm fine with that, madam."

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"Alright, now listen up. You come to work late and you get less copper. You slack off at any time and you get less copper. You mess up and cause me loss and you get less copper. If you understand, go and talk to the others. They'll tell you what to do."

Cloud nodded and headed towards where his seniors were busy with their work. They were young men like him, not one more than a few years older. He guessed they were from poor families. After all, what were the chances that they were also Earthlings who found themselves in this world one day? Fortunately, they were patient with a newcomer like him and explained what he needed to do.

His tasks were relatively simple but he was continuously busy carrying out the work assigned to him. The others would now and then ask him to do something so he found himself doing a lot of running around. He also had to be careful not to damage the fields in any way. He had no idea how much 15 copper coins was worth, but he could guess it was a meager amount. So getting his pay cut by even one coin would be a great loss since he was currently penniless. By noon he was thoroughly exhausted.

Still he was thankful that he had a degree of adaptability in this strange land. Even when he was in college, he had actively sought part time work in order to lessen the burden on his uncle who had taken him in after his parents passed away. So finding work to earn money was second nature to him. However, the kind of work he was used to did not require such intense physical labor. He was not built to handle this kind of strain. He had little choice given his situation, though.

As Cloud headed in search of a place to eat after getting paid, he idly wondered how his family would be reacting to his disappearance. Perhaps due to hunger and fatigue, his memories were a bit blurry.

Finding a tavern he went inside. His strange attire, which was now covered in dirt and sweat, attracted stares, but Cloud ignored the people and sat at a vacant table. A worker approached him and asked what he wanted. Not knowing how much things cost, Cloud asked how much a light meal would cost.

"A slice of dry bread is one copper and a bowl of soup costs three copper. We also have better bread and more nutritious soup, as well as meat, fruits and others," the man explained. "But you don't look like you have enough to afford such things."

Cloud offered a stiff smile and said, "Then please bring me a bowl of soup, five slices of bread and some cheese." As the man left, Cloud hoped cheese wasn't an expensive thing in this town.

After he had eaten Cloud left the tavern. His stomach was far from satisfied but with only four copper coins left on him, he had no choice but to leave before he got in trouble after eating too much. He had nothing to do the rest of the day so he began to wander around the town. He observed different people doing different things. There were people like his new boss who grew crops of different kinds, taverns where people gathered to drink, talk and eat, and workshops where work ranging from carpentry and blacksmithing to sewing was done. There were market stalls, many of them mobile, where different items were sold. In addition to random everyday items they also sold food items so Cloud bought some dried fruits with the rest of his money. He didn't eat them yet because it was all he had till noon the next day.

Once darkness fell he searched for a place to spend the night. He lay down next to some trees by the side of the street. As he lay he thought about his situation. Fifteen copper coins was not even enough to properly feed himself for a single day, so clearly he could not afford to continue as he was now. He promised himself to find a second job after finishing work the next day. Somewhat surprisingly, he was not preoccupied with thoughts of home and family, and how to make his way back. He had a vague thought that he was in this world for good, and that there would be no going back. As he drifted off he thought his memories were indeed not very clear. He could not recall his uncle's face.