-3 Years before The Vanishing

I took off my shoes and set the keys in the bowl. Today had been a long day. I couldn't get one of the systems to fire up at work, and it took me all day to troubleshoot it. Eventually, I decided to simply replace the hard drives. It fixed the issue, but the data there was necessary, so I bet I'd have to spend all day tomorrow trying to recover it because someone forgot to back it up properly. I walked past my minimally furnished living room, with only a chair and a picture to make it less sad to look at, and into the kitchen.

I cranked on the stovetop and turned on the news on my phone as I got the eggs out of the fridge. It was a little late for a scrambled egg breakfast, but I didn't want to make anything more complicated. "Researchers discover that the 'immortal jellyfish' can reset its biological clock, potentially paving the way for human longevity and regenerative technologies breakthroughs." Seemed like nothing eventful or important was going on if the best thing they had was some kind of speculative anti-aging medicine.

Once I finished the eggs and nothing interesting popped up, I was about to turn it off before the screen flashed with BREAKING NEWS text. Curious, I let it run. "Sorry for the interruption, but scientists worldwide are making an astonishing claim: the stars are disappearing. Yes, you heard that correctly. Perhaps all those hours spent buried in books have finally caused a few screws to come loose."

* * *

-POV James

"Anyone home!"

I yelled out as I approached, not wanting to spook anyone in the building. I saw more buildings pop up along the trail. It looked like a peaceful, remote village you might find in the wilderness of Africa, except it was in the middle of a rainforest, and there were more things made out of wood than rock. I was concerned because I saw no brick walls, anything modern, cars, or even motorcycles. I was concerned about where I was, but getting shelter in the middle of nowhere would be better than starving and freezing to death. I hesitated, wondering how the locals would react to me, but I had little choice. The next sign of civilization would probably be the same, so I might as well try my luck with these guys.

"Anyone here? I need shelter! Hello?"

A person walked out of one of the buildings and looked at me wide-eyed. He looked of Asian descent, maybe Chinese. I didn't know how I got to Asia, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that this village wasn't abandoned. Seeing a breathing, living person, a hysterical laugh choked out of me as I stopped and leaned my arms against my knees to catch my breath.

A group started congregating, whispering, and discussing amongst themselves. I got nervous but decided to take the initiative and speak up.

"Hi! Do any of you guys speak English? Español? ⟨R⟩uskki? Konichiwa? Nǐ hǎo?"

They looked at me funny and spoke back to me in a language that sounded like Chinese, but since I didn't actually speak it, I had no idea if it truly was. I motioned, putting my hands together and putting them to the side of my head to represent sleep, and motioned stuffing my face to represent eating. I felt silly doing that, but I didn't know how else to communicate. I deluded myself into thinking it was totally normal. I spoke slowly as if it would matter while motioning.

"I need a place to sleep and need food. Would you guys be able to help me?"

There was some commotion at the back of the group, and the crowd made way for an elderly man, probably the village chief or something similar. He looked at me and spoke, but again, I didn't understand a word, so I repeated my earlier question.

"Does anyone in this village speak English? Español? ⟨R⟩uskki? Konichiwa? Nǐ hǎo?"

He didn't seem to understand me, and I went through the mime motions again, asking for food and shelter. The elder looked uncomfortable but nodded, probably getting the gist of what I was asking for. He turned to the man next to him, who seemed to be the tallest in the crowd, and told him something. The man tried arguing back, but the chief barked something, and the man conceded and headed towards me. I took that as a positive sign since he didn't head towards me with any weapons and headed to meet him in the middle.

As he approached, I took a better look at the man. I was a head taller than him, while he had black hair, brown eyes, and was somewhat tanned. He was bulky and was probably the hunter or warrior of the village. I reached out my hand for a handshake. He looked confused but reached out as well. I grabbed and shook his hand with a smile. He gave me a strained smile, and I let go of the arm.

He led me into the village, and as I approached the crowd, I decided it was best to do a half bow towards the elder in gratitude since it seemed he was the one calling the shots and letting me in. His facial expression didn't change, but he did give me a nod, and I took that as a good sign.

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The crowd parted before us, and I was led deeper into the village. Walking through the crowd, I realized how much taller I was than everyone else. I was a head taller than the man that led me in. Let alone the hunter-warrior, I was probably around 2 heads taller than the average man in the crowd. I understood now why they looked so concerned. I probably looked like a giant to them, and an unknown one, to say the least. I was glad they decided a lone man was safe enough to let into the village.

I was led deeper and deeper, and I was worried that I would get ganked, but thankfully, my worries were unfounded as I was led to a building near the center. The building was circular, with a pit of fire near the middle. I was led towards the fire and offered to sit on a hide of some sort, which I gladly accepted and plopped down. The elder sat almost at the opposite end of the fire, but not exactly, so I had a clear view of him. He tried to start a conversation with me, but since I didn't understand him, I simply stated so and he gave up his efforts.

The warmth of the fire was welcome, and I soaked in some heat before being handed some kind of bread and avian meat by another person in the room with us. I looked at the elder for a hint on who goes first, and he took the first bite. Eating the meal, I was grateful, but I knew it was standard to offer some kind of service for food and shelter in these kinds of isolated villages. However, due to the language barrier, I couldn't even share stories or offer any other service.

I thought hard about what I could offer and remembered the bear I saw on the way here. I looked around to see if there was anything to write with. Since we were sitting on a dirt floor, I could simply use a stick to scribble on the floor. Not knowing how to mime for a stick, I decided my best bet was one of the rocks surrounding the fireplace at the center. Picking up the rock, the hunter, perhaps a warrior, tensed, but I decided it was best to ignore it and show with example what I wanted to do. I drew a house on the floor and then a path of the river I had walked. As I drew a crude map, understanding dawned on the old man, who looked at the map with curiosity and more intent.

After drawing the river, I decided to put one tally next to it and raised one finger to try to indicate one day, but based on the look he gave me, he didn't get it. I decided to scratch out the tally and continued to sketch the river. Once I drew two long lines for the river, I made my best attempt at a bear. The moment I finished drawing the bear, the man seemed to look grave and told the hunter something. They discussed this for a bit, and the hunter turned to a man hanging around outside and told him something. The young man, probably a hunter again, albeit smaller, looked surprised and ran off somewhere.

He looked at me and made a slight bow with his head, and I nodded with a smile, glad I could offer them something. Realizing we didn't even greet each other, I took the initiative and pointed at myself and said: "My name is James. James"

The elder seemed to understand and pointed at himself and said: "Wang Wei."

"Thank you, Wang Wei, for the food. It was delicious. But I was wondering if you could offer me a place to sleep?"

And I mimed my arm to the head and rested it. He nodded and said something back, and I was led off to the side of the room and given a fur blanket. I said thank you and laid down my head to rest.

* * *

-POV Wang Wei

I left Jié Míns in the guest hut, leaving him to rest and Lóng Zhàn to guard the hut. This ensured that Míns's rest wasn't disturbed and that the stranger wouldn't be a danger to the village. The news he brought, presumably about Silver Bear, was necessary, as we would need to discuss how we would approach this news tonight.

I approached the elders' hut in the center of the village, and a small congregation had already gathered around it. Everyone was wondering who that strange man was. The crowd parted as I greeted a few people and entered.

The few elders in charge of various village tasks had already gathered and were sitting around the fire waiting to start the discussion. Not wasting any time, I sat down as well, and we started.

"Why did we let him into the village? We should've struck him while he was outside and defenseless! Do you not realize that based on his size and figure? He is a warrior, and a warrior of unknown origin is never a good sign! Plus, look at his eyes and skin. He is obviously evil. He looks nothing like us!"

I looked at Bìhù Zhě, who demanded the blood of the young giant. His hair was just starting to gray, and his chiseled figure gave off an imposing aura. He was the youngest of us elders, since in order to be an elder in charge of the village's security, it was demanded that you would be able to fight as well. Even though he was somewhat tempered by time, he was still the most impulsive, willing to rally to defend our home.

The elder of relations, Liánjié Lǎo, spoke up. "Even though he towers over us, and his figure is imposing, I believe he is of noble descent instead of a warrior. That would explain his strange dialect and eye shape. He was probably banished from beyond the mountains. I heard the people from beyond look different. Perhaps they look like that man, but I am surprised he has survived the wilderness and has little signs of malnourishment. His vitality must be outstanding."

"How can he not be a warrior?! You do not gain those muscles by lounging around in a city all day! And how would a noble travel through the wilderness? There is nothing from the direction he has come from, only dangers and peril. Only a warrior or a hunter would survive such a journey!"

"But if you took the time to look at his hands instead of his arms, you would have seen no signs of long hours of weapon-wielding. Where he is from or how he survived, I have no idea, but the evidence is clear, he has wielded no weapons. But even with that knowledge, I doubt he is harmless based on his physique."

Arguments erupted all around. Some demanded the giant be killed in his sleep, and others argued that killing a man at his weakest was a dishonorable act, and anyone who would participate would be cursed to meet the same fate. I let arguments accrue before I stepped in.

"Elders, although the case of the man is important, we must discuss the news the man has brought. Although he does not speak our language, he has communicated using drawings, and what he brings is concerning. He seems to have encountered the Silver Bear on his journey here!"

There was a shocked silence before all hell broke loose, and arguments turned into a fever pitch.