Eric's garden, he decided, wouldn't be used at all until the summer hit. It was Autumn, soon to be winter, there would be no planting getting done now. He sighed as he paced back and forth across the length of the garden's frame. He had hoped to plant some of the seeds he had stored in his bag, but hadn't thought about the season until he came out here to actually do the planting. No blueberry's for him, not for at least half a year, assuming seasons worked the same here as they did on earth.

An unsettling thought occurred to him. What if seasons lasted for years here? Would it be autumn for another ten years? He shook his head. Since this was an earth-like environment, that meant that the seasons had to work the same right? A lot of animal species wouldn't be able to survive in such an environment. Bears probably could.

Bears are badass.

Eric then took up his modern axe, pushing open his gate with full bone armor covering him. He didn't know when the elf girl was coming back, but he'd stick around home for today. If she didn't show back up she was either wasn't real or she was smart. No one should want to be around him the way he was now. He lapped his base a couple of times, scanning the tree lines for goblins as he went. One goblin peered through some bushes, saw the effigies, screamed, and ran off.

Eric didn't give chase. It was too far away and he didn't want to miss his coming company. Looked like his artwork was really starting to pay off. Eric stopped his stride as he came to a sudden realization. What if the effigies stank? Obviously they would… but how badly? Considering how cold the weather was, it would be mitigated… but what about when summer came?

He was nearly nose blind to the smell of rotting flesh, but the elf girl likely would be gagging from the putrid stench. Eric bit his lip in frustration. When winter rolled through she would barely be able to smell it right? Well, he couldn't take them down, not as long as there were gobs in these woods. Had to keep them off his land and psychological warfare was his best defense. Besides… who knew if she would still be around when summer came anyway? If she had any sense, she'd leave him alone.

Eric should tell her off, make sure she didn't come back. He was too unstable, dangerous. Hell, if she really was the specter like he suspected, then he had already tried to kill her. Eric had shot her with an arrow too… yet she still came here to talk to him. Well, she did break into his home… maybe he should just tell her off. Damn burgling elves. That was it, he'd tell her to go away and not come back if she knew what was good for her…

But…

Eric grit his teeth in frustration. He so badly wanted to talk to someone again, anyone, even people that invaded his property. He had been socially starved for months on the peninsula. The closest thing he had to human interaction there had been screaming matches with the cannibals… and he used the term 'human' to describe them lightly.

His right hand began to shake. Eric took a breath. He needed a task to occupy him until his guest arrived, or the shaking would get worse. The shaking helped him measure his madness… the light shake he had now wasn't too bad, but it'd get worse unless he did something productive.

"Let's see..." He said to himself, looking to his fortress.

The palisades were perfect, no improvement needed there. Should he build some traps? What if the elf girl got caught in one? He crossed that off his list as soon as he thought of it. He then knocked his finger bone gauntlet on his head, he knew what he needed to do. He needed some watchtowers! He had enough logs to build at least three of them, and when he was done he could watch for her.

Or take potshots at gobs if they came onto his property. That would be fun. His task decided, he re-entered his fort, the shaking of his right hand lessening as he began his work. A few hours passed and he had a log tower built. It was just tall enough to peak over the palisade, with a small plank barricade that he could duck behind if the gobs shot back at him. The next one he'd build would be taller, with a nice catapult that could rotate three hundred and sixty degrees. That would take him a bit longer to build, but he should still have enough logs for it.

He climbed the green braided rope to the top of the barricade, looking out over the endless trees toward the horizon. He built this watchtower right next to his gate so he could look in the direction the elf had left in. Would she come from that way? He had no idea, but that was the direction she had left in. He got out his crossbow, and slumped lazily against the plank barricade. Standing up, this thing would only cover his legs, but it was plenty big enough for him to cover behind.

He fiddled with the antique weapon for a while, occasionally scanning the trees as he did it. Eric quickly became lost in his own thoughts as he waited. Now, elves were real in this world, but what kind of elves were they? Could they live forever? Or did they just live for a couple hundred years and die? Were they pompous and stuck up? If elves were real, then did that meant other fantasy races were as well?

Were dwarves real and would they let him drink their beer? They had damn well better. Eric's favorite fantasy species had always been the industrious dwarves. There was just something appealing about a bunch of buff midgets that did nothing but drink and work all day underground. Linda had always preferred the elves for their elegance and pretty features… something Eric had laughed at, considering that she married him. Eric was definitely more like a dwarf than an elf.

Timmy had liked the halflings because of their carefree and fun nature. Eric smiled as he remembered the times Eric and Linda would play pretend with Timmy. Linda would of course play the part of the noble elf queen, while Eric would be a gruff dwarven king. He recalled the many fake arguments they had in front of Timmy while they were in character, Eric kneeling to simulate the height of a dwarf.

Timmy would laugh at them as their fake arguing intensified until finally Eric and Linda would 'duel' with fake swords Eric had carved by hand. Eric remembered clashing swords with Timmy, pretending to be the 'Evilest Evilord' and letting Timmy eventually pull off the win with a well-placed stab. A single tear trailed down his cheek. Eric's hand began shaking hard.

He'd never get to play swords or fake argue with his wife again.

They were gone.

Eric then began to weep, dropping the crossbow to the ground and bringing his knees to his chest. He cried for a long time before he finally heard something approaching his fort. He stilled his sobbing, bringing the crossbow to his chest. It was a single light pair of feet approaching. The cannibals were back again, they were going to kill him if he didn't kill them first. His breathing quickened and his right hand shook hard.

Kill them first.

He peaked over the barricade and fired his crossbow at the first moving thing he saw. The bolt punctured something and blood spurted, inciting a cry of agony. Eric blinked the tears from his eyes and saw what his bolt had struck. It hadn't been a cannibal…

It was a goblin.

It writhed on the ground, screaming as it squeezed it's punctured knee. The bolt had pierced the bone and stuck out the other end. Eric blinked again. No… there weren't any cannibals. Just goblins. His hand shook slightly less at the realization, and he took a deep breath, loading another bolt. It was just a single goblin in the clearing, but he saw several shapes moving through the trees beyond. Some of them were goblins, yet some seemed… quadrupedal.

Were those wolves?

He looked back to the writhing goblin he shot, sighting the burning torch on the ground next to it. Eric snarled at the sight. Trying to burn him out were they!? He'd teach them! Eric fired the second bolt, this one punching clean through it's forehead. He then turned his attention to the wolves. Why were they coming in such close contact with goblins? They rarely ever approached humans… so why were they getting so close to gobs?

Unless…

Eric took a deep breath and removed his backpack, rummaging through it until he came up with a single stick of dynamite. He then stared as a dozen goblins riding on the backs of wolves emerged from the woods. The goblins all bore burning torches and short spears. Eric prayed that this would work, cause if it didn't, he'd have to spend days rebuilding his fortress.

The wolf riders charged after the fort, their numbers coming as a wave over the clearing. The furry beasts weaved between the stumps as they ran, frothing at the mouth as their riders cackled madly. Eric lit his dynamite, the fuse slowly burning toward the stick. He then threw it far, the dynamite landing a good distance in front of the horde. Only a couple of goblins stopped in their tracks, seemingly wary of the mysterious object. The rest charged madly, cackling atop their furry mounts as they raised their torches. Soon they'd throw them at his wall.

Five goblins and their mounts were shredded to pieces when the dynamite finally went off, right when the center of the horde passed over it. Chunks of bloody green and furry meat flew as they were engulfed by the blast. Something chunked into the wood next to Eric, causing him to jump from surprise. A stone spearhead had launched up into the tower, lodging into his ceiling.

That could have been his face.

The loud noise seemed to have done the trick, and the wolves bucked off their riders as they sped off into the forest. The gobs dropped their torches and spears as they fell, and Eric quickly descended the rope. He brought out his katana as he ran for the gate, shoving it open and charging the confused goblins.

Several had begun running away as they saw him, screaming as they went. Some of them would get away for sure but those who were too slow got cut down. The blade bit through their green flesh easily, opening arteries and bleeding them out quickly. He chased other runners into the woods for little ways, killing around ten more before he trudged back to base. Huffing and puffing, he walked through his open gate, closing it behind him and climbing back up to the top of his watchtower. He removed the crude stone spearhead and threw it out across the clearing. It landed in a twisted hunk of charred red meat. Eric slumped down against the barricade with a small sigh.

Goblins could tame and ride wolves.

Good to know. The problem now was the fact that the goblins were now trying to burn him out. What was he going to do about that? He couldn't hang around base all day every day to watch for them. Eric would run out of dynamite eventually, and they'd get a couple lucky torches past him. Another project would need to be done, and it would be his greatest pain in the ass yet.

He was going to have to dig a deep wide trench all around his base. It would have to be at least halfway across the clearing, between his base and the forest. It would have to be deep enough that gobs couldn't climb out and wide enough that they couldn't hop over. The problem with that though, was the time such a project would take. To dig a trench around his fort like what he wanted would take too long on his own.

It would likely be winter before he was done. Eric shook his head. He wouldn't be doing that. It would be far easier if he simply set up some couched sharpened sticks. It would be in the same place as the theoretical trench, but it would stave off charging wolves. He could probably get that done in a couple of days if he only focused on doing that.

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He'd need to set up some impromptu land mines too, he had a couple of bombs left in his bag that should do the trick. That would help scare off the wolves again, but only so many times. His head slumped forward. What was he going to do? The goblins were going to come back eventually, and unlike the cannibals, they were absolutely going to destroy his home if he wasn't here to stop them.

Maybe he should have built a secluded treehouse? Well, he'd do that if the gobs did burn down his fort. Eric hoped not, he busted his ass to build this fort and he'd be damned if he'd let a bunch of ugly green booger men take it from him! Eric then stilled as he heard another pair of footsteps approaching his fort.

They hadn't learned their lesson had they? Eric brought out his crossbow, loading it with an angry sneer plastered on his face. The footsteps drew closer and just as Eric was about to jump up and shoot, he heard a voice. A clear feminine voice.

"Hello?" The woman yelled "Are you home?"

Eric blinked. That was right, the elf girl… she really came to visit him after all. He stood from his watchtower, looking down at the short woman from his perch. She had a small backpack on today, but otherwise wore the same sturdy wool suit she had on yesterday. Eric squinted at her and she waved at him.

"So you are real!" Eric screamed at her.

She stopped in her tracks, likely shocked by his tone of voice. He cursed himself silently.

"Sorry! Had a rough day! As you can see from the charred bits you're standin' next to!" He shouted at her.

She then looked at the field of corpses around her, but she didn't seem surprised by the carnage. The elf girl did take notice of the bloody green meat chunks littering the clearing. Would she think he was a magician? He could spin it that way if he lied to her, but he didn't feel like it. He'd just say he used dynamite. They would have dynamite right?

Eric had no idea.

"Well don't just stand there! Come in before the gobs come back!" He yelled.

She nodded at this, keeping an eye on the trees as she approached the gate. Eric also scanned the treeline once more, but saw no army of pissed-off elves approaching. So it was really just her then? Alright. He slid down the rope and pushed open the gate, seeing that, yes, the girl was still there. She stood silently before him with both her hands on the straps of her pack.

They stared at one another in silence for a moment before Eric waved for her to enter, stepping aside. She pursed her lips and stepped inside his fortress, looking at his most recent construction. She seemed in awe at the tower, which filled Eric with a sense of pride. It was a damn fine tower if he did say so himself. She pointed to it, her jaw slightly agape.

"You built that today? By yourself?" She asked, awed.

Eric straightened his back, and patted a firm support log on the tower.

"Sure did!" He shouted again, causing her to flinch back from him.

He scratched his cheek. What had he done wrong?

"What's wrong!?" He shouted again.

She took a long step back, toward the still-open gate. What the hell was her problem!? He lets her into his home- HIS home, and she starts treating him like a freak!? His right hand shook, and she took notice of this, pursing her lips further at the sight.

"You're really loud." She said simply.

Eric stammered, then put a hand to his mouth. Was he? Whenever he spoke it was usually at a shout… it felt natural to him at this point. How did he speak back when he had regular social interaction?

"I'm sorry." He whispered silently.

Her ears seemed to lift up at his shift in tone, and that freaked him out. Eric himself took a step back at the sight. Would those ears detach and try to stab out his eyes? Could they fly off like that? She was an elf, but that didn't mean she was a Tolkien elf. She could be some kind of elf cyborg with detachable rocket parts for all he knew! His right hand shook further. Had to kill her before she killed-

She giggled at him "You know, if I wasn't an elf, I wouldn't have heard you at all."

He stammered again, unable to find the proper words to respond. God above why was it so hard to speak normally to this woman!? He took a deep breath, calming his nerves and reducing the shake of his hand. Eric had been about to kill her. He needed to relax. She wasn't here to hurt him. She was just here to talk. Take it easy, breathe…

He did, and the elf girl gave him time to do so.

"You wanted… to listen..." Eric started, speaking slowly in a low voice "To... my cassette?"

She perked up, nodding enthusiastically "Yes please!"

That smile seemed so genuine. Eric didn't see the harm in playing a tape or two for her… maybe she'd stay longer, talk with him more. He slung his pack off, and rummaged through it until he found the small gray rectangle. He hadn't changed the tape that had been in it since the battle the other day… He pressed the play button, and immediately 'fortress' began playing.

The elf girl began humming happily to the tune, gently swinging her head to the beat. It was a good song, he didn't fault the elf for her enjoying the tape. He simply stood there, watching her hum the tune until the song ended. She stared at the cassette with hungry eyes.

"What had you called it? A cassette? Where did you get it? Is it an instrument? Why can it play so many instruments? What's the instrument that makes the 'Bwaaaah bwaaaaaah' sound? How long have you been here? Do you have any friends?" She asked each question faster than the last, and Eric took a step back.

"Just cool your jets!" He yelled at her "I'll answer yer questions but ask em' one at a time!"

She tilted her head to one side "What's a jet?"

Eric groaned.

"It's a plane." He said, surprising himself with how level his voice had become.

His right hand was barely shaking now. A good sign. Maybe he could talk like a normal person right now. He rounded her, closing the gate after scanning the trees one more time for invaders, elven or otherwise. None came.

He closed the gate and turned back to the elf girl. She was gone. Eric gasped and looked all around for any trace of her, but she was simply gone. His right hand began shaking again. She really hadn't been real after all? No… she had gone invisible. He had to kill her before she could get the drop on-

"Yeah," He heard her from above him "This is a nice view… How did you build this in just a day? I know a whole band of mercenaries who can't even get half of this done in a week."

A band of mercenaries? Whatever, he'd ask about it later. He looked above, seeing that she had scaled the rope and was leaning out over the barricade.

"I can see over the trees..." She cooed.

Maybe she was crazy too. He took another deep breath and exhaled slowly, calming himself.

"What's yer name?" He asked up at her.

She looked down at him "I'm Scout." She said simply.

Scout? Bit of a weird-ass name. Doesn't sound elven at all. He supposed that it could be like those guys who were named 'Hunter' or 'Tanner' and the like. Scout then jumped down from the top of the tower, bending her knees as she landed. He jumped back at the sudden motion, resisting the urge to brain her against the nearest hard object.

She's not here to hurt you… remember that. He took yet another deep breath. This was already more exhausting than building this tower had been.

She looked up at him, beaming "What's your name?"

It was then that Eric noticed just how short Scout actually was. He was head and shoulders taller than her. What was she, four foot eleven? Eric wasn't any taller than he was back on earth… He furrowed his brow at the thought. Were things on earth bigger than things on this planet? No, the trees and animals were the same size… maybe elves were just short? Sure, Eric had been on the slightly taller side, but not to this degree.

He thought back to the last cannibals he had fought before coming here. The big blue cannibals had been a head taller than him before he found Timmy… but just before he came here, he was eye level with them. Had they been getting smaller? Eric was a full-grown man, he couldn't have gotten any taller… unless-

"Um..." Scout said, interrupting his train of thought "You okay?"

Eric blinked "Yeah… Got lost in my mind there." He told her with a wave of his hand "My name's Eric."

Scout put a hand to her chest and took a step back from him, a faint tinge of red on her cheeks. What the hell was this about?

"Y-you shouldn't just give your true name to someone you just met!" She stammered "It's unseemly!"

Eric stared.

"What the fuck are you babbling about!?" Eric screamed "You asked me for my name!"

She took another step back from him.

"Are you a northman?" She asked him.

What the hell did that have to do with anything? He decided to answer the question anyway, not wanting the conversation, as odd as it was, to end.

Eric nodded to her "I'm from Canada so yes..." He trailed off.

Canada wasn't a thing in this world. Oddly, she gave a relieved sigh.

"Okay… I don't know where that is but it makes sense that you'd give me your real name if you were from the north."

Eric stared.

"What?" She asked, crossing her arms under her breasts and knitting her brows together.

Nothing about what she had just said had made an ounce of sense to him. Why the hell would he have to be from the north to use his damn name? Did that mean that Scout wasn't her real name? Was this some weird cultural thing? Probably. Scout then relaxed her posture, and took a breath.

"Can I give you a title? I'd feel more comfortable speaking with you if you had one." She told him.

Eric blinked at her. A title? Like what? She asked to give him a title… would she leave if he said no? He'd rather not take the risk.

"Call me whatever you want, I don't care." He said with a wave of his hand.

"Okay!" She beamed again, uncrossing her arms.

What was with this girl's rapid change in mood? Was she bipolar or something? She kept jumping from scared to pissed to peppy.

"Don't be offended, but I think a good title for you would be Savage."

What? Savage? He furrowed his brow. Should he be pissed about her designation? Eric then thought of the corpses on sticks outside and found himself nodding.

"Yeah that's fine." He confirmed.

"Okay Savage," She said with a smile "Do you have somewhere we can sit down?"

He pointed his thumb to his cabin.

"Got a chair in there… but I don't think you'll want to sit on it."

Scout then frowned "Why not?"

"Goblin bones actually make really good furniture." Was his response.

She stared at him, jaw slightly agape.

"Let's just sit outside. It ain't that cold." He said with a shrug.

She did decide to name him Savage after all, she shouldn't be surprised. Especially considering that she walked through a veritable war crime to get here. She scratched her cheek and after a moment, she nodded, plopping down cross-legged. Eric sat down and crossed his own legs, staring into Scout's green eyes. What should he talk about?