I woke with the sun the next morning. I sighed deeply, Ava's scents crashing into me. I grinned as the events of last night came to me, and I couldn't resist looking over at the wood elf. Ava's jade green hair was splayed out all over us and she was snoring softly. The blanket had slipped down in the night, freeing her top half. I resisted the urge to grab her, pull her close, and go back to sleep.

"No, Micheal." I reprimanded myself softly. "Not yet. I don't know if that spell is an actual thing, but better safe than sorry." I sighed again, taking one last look at Ava, then crawled out into the morning. It was that perfect early morning and the sun was just starting to peak out over the horizon, setting the sky ablaze in reds and oranges. The night's dew dampened the grass and my feet as I stepped onto it. I stretched, my muscles feeling strong and ready to work. I absently wondered if Ava's healing power had something to do with how I was feeling, because I sure wasn't stretching like I was supposed to for this amount of physical activity. I laughed and shook my head.

"What has my life come to that I'm wondering if a wood elf's healing powers are removing the requirements of stretching?" I still stretched, though. Never hurts to limber up in the morning. (Author's note: That mornin' stretch shit actually works, y'all. Ain't felt this good in a hot minute).

I went through the normal morning P.T. that the Marines had drilled into me. Right as I was finishing the five hundred yard run, which was really just running around the rock a few times 'cause why wouldn't I, I don't have Stamina, when Ava came out of the tent, covering a yawn with her hand. Her back was to me, so I slowed to a walk and slipped into a crouch, prowling up to the woman quietly. When I was within five feet of her, I pounced, my legs bunching and rocketing me forward. I let out a growl as I crashed into the shorter elf, wrapping my arms around her. Ava shrieked and stomped on my insole. I swore and my grip around her loosened. She tried to get free, but trying to remove my arms was like trying to take off the harness while the roller-coaster was still going; it ain't happenin'.

"Ava." I laughed, ignoring the stinging and the growing ache in my foot. "It's me." I kissed the top of her head.

"Micheal." She gasped. She turned around and glared at me, even as I kept my arms loose around her waist. Her cute lips curved down into a frown as she looked up at me. "What the hell are you doing, sneaking up on me like that. You almost gave me a heart attack." The noises she made most certainly did not say heart attack, but that's what I took her words to mean. I shook my head.

"Hey, random question," I said, letting her go. "what language are we speaking? I hear everything in my native language, and the words you just said didn't perfectly translate. What you said was something along the lines of the blood in your veins stopping its movement, but I heard heart attack."

"That is a random question. We are currently speaking Imperial, the language of the Starnil Empire. Not everybody speaks the same language, however." I noticed as the noises she was making switched to a different rhythm, cadence, and sound. "A lot of people south of the Archikin speak Elgelian, the language of the elves."

"Is that what you grew up speaking?" Ava nodded, walking over to where the fire from last night had died out.

"Yes. I grew up in a small farming village called Trawnly." She turned and looked back at me, her eyes narrowing. "Hold on, speak for me again."

"Um, ok. Good morning, Ava. How did you sleep?" I asked as I approached the woman. Her eyes narrowed further.

"How are you doing that?"

"Doing what?" I went past her to gather some of the wood leftover from last night. It was a little damp and I made a mental note to put the wood in the cart at night. "Do you have any fire, perchance? The wood's a little damp."

"Speaking Elgelian." I frowned as I brought the wood over to her and started building the campfire.

"No idea. It honestly sounds like we've been speaking English this whole time. It didn't even occur to me that we were speaking a different language until your sounds went longer than 'heart attack'."

"'Heart attack'? What is a heart attack?"

"It's what happens when your heart stops working properly. There's a bunch of science behind it that I didn't pay attention to when they taught it to us in school, but it's bad. There's some ridiculous stat that like if a heart attack isn't caught in the first seven minutes, you're basically guaranteed to die, but I don't know. I learned that shit back in like, sophomore year of high school."

"I have no idea what most of what you just said means." I laughed and stood, brushing myself free of dirt.

"A heart attack is very bad. Your heart stops working, and then you die."

"Ah." She was quiet for a moment, eyes closed, then a flame ignited at the tip of her pointer finger. Ava pointed at the campfire, and it burst it flames, the flame on her finger winking out.

"Jesus, that was cool." I said, looking between her and the fire she just started without touching the wood. We were quiet as Ava prepped us a breakfast of omelets, the eggs of which I still refused to think about the origin of. We also had the blue bacon as per usual.

"You said you hear me speaking in your native tongue." Ava said. I nodded.

"Yep. English."

"What does English sound like?" I smiled, closing my eyes and focusing on the movements of my mouth and the noises of my voice box. I spoke the language for twenty years, I can do it again.

"My name was Benjamin Farmer. I was a United States Marine. In this world, I go by Micheal." I said in English. A thought occurred to me. Can I speak in any Earthling language? I focused, remembering the language the women of my world liked.

"You are my star, my light." I said in French. "I don't know what that says about me, that I see you looking at my sheet with a leaf green heart, but I do know that I am very glad that you're here with me. If you weren't, I'd have no idea how I'd be handling this shit. You are beautiful beyond words." Ava stared at me, her eyes wide.

"How are you speaking in Vakerindish?"

"Hang on, you understood me?"

"Kind of. I heard the part about a green leaf and handling this shit. Those are the only words I understood."

"So nothing about a star or anything like that?"

"No. What's this about a star?"

"Nothing." I said quickly, maybe a little too quickly as Ava's eyes narrowed at me. "Don't worry about it."

"Mhm. I'm sure that you said wholesome things just now."

"But of corse." I said shiftily. "I definitely said nothing of any salacious nature whatsoever." Ava's narrowed eyes narrowed a little further.

"Are you sure you didn't say anything salacious?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I am positive" I said as I put the bacon on. " that I said nothing of the sort, Madam."

"I don't believe you." Ava said as she stepped towards me. I reached out for her but she ducked under my hands, heading for the cart. Ava moved the sheet and revealed a wooden chest with a glowing blue rune on it.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at the box.

"A cooler." Ava said as she opened the chest.

"Ah." A few moments passed while I processed that bit of info. "Hold up, y'all have coolers?" I slapped my face in exasperation for the second time in as many days. "Dammit Stack, why wouldn't they have coolers here? There are men who can throw fireballs." Ava placed a metal grill over the fire, then some of the blue meat on top of that.

"Aren't you a vegetarian?" I asked. Ava nodded, her jade hair bouncing with the motion.

"I am, but you are not. The animal is already dead." she said, pointing at the meat. "You need its strength more than it did." I nodded as I took one of the pieces of blue meat off the fire.

"True." I was quiet for a moment, unsure of how to broach the subject of traveling all night. "If I may," I said, hesitating. "I would like to go all through the night if we can. It'll be hard...."

"Yes." Ava agreed without hesitation. "The sooner we get to Rilmon, the better." I grinned at her.

"Then you better make room for you and Lily to lie down in the cart." I said. "Once we pick her up, we aren't stopping until we reach Eagle's Rock. And even then, I would like to go all day today if we can. I know that it is difficult for the average person to stay awake and alert for twenty-four hours, and I am happy to delay our departure by an hour or so if both you and Lily need it, but other than that I will push my body to its limit everyday, if only for the challenge. It's the Marine in me." I sat back, my ass meeting the cold, damp ground. Ava quietly laid a slab of the blue meat across the grill on the fire. The sizzle and the smell reminded me deeply of bacon and I sighed after inhaling deeply.

"Man, that smells good." I said. Ava smiled shyly, doing her best to hide behind the food and her hands. Neither worked and I saw her blush magnificently as she pulled the bacon from the fire. Six eggs that Ava pulled out of her portal were cracked into a cast iron skillet, sizzling as they met the hot iron. She let them rest sunny side up, pulling four pieces of bread from the cooler and setting them on the grill above the fire. The food continued to cook as I went and sat by the wood elf. The sun started to rise, becoming more and more yellow as it rose into the sky. I threw my right arm around the elf and she started; her shoulders tensing as I laid my arm around them. She relaxed quickly, leaning into me. The eggs, which Ava left sunny side up, finished cooking. Ava removed herself from my arms as she stood and stretched. She then set a plate of toast, eggs, and bacon before me, and toast and eggs for her.

I said a quick prayer over my food and started eating, using my hands. Ava laughed prettily, and I looked over at her. She was smiling at me, laughter shaking her shoulders as she chewed, holding a fork in her hand. Ava swallowed as I frowned at her.

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"Would you like a fork?" She asked with mirthful eyes. I nodded sheepishly.

"Yes, please." Ava handed me a fork and we ate in silence. When we were done, I stood and stretched.

"Alright." I said, lowering my arms. "How's about we break camp and get underway before that sun gets too high?"

"I'll handle the dishes and the fire if you get the tent." Ava said, already getting to work.

"Yes, ma'am." I broke down the tent and threw it in the back of the cart. I turned around to help Ava when a flash of silver in the cart caught my eye. I turned back to the cart, rummaging through it. I moved aside the cooler, tent, wood, and boxes? Why the fuck do we have boxes?

"Why the fuck do we have boxes?" I asked Ava.

"Your idea about a cover story got me thinking." Ava said, coming over to me and putting the cookware from breakfast in the cart. "If we show up to Rilmon with nothing in the cart, that'll raise suspiccion. But, if we come with goods to trade, then the guards shouldn't give us any issue."

"So what's in them?"

"Cloth, mainly. A few other odds and ends, some metal and things, but mostly cloth that the villagers made."

"So this sword here," I said, puling out the shiny bit of metal that had started this whole conversation. "are we selling it as well?"

"No, that one is for you. Merin, the blacksmith in town, gave this to you while you were having your episode. Or, he tried. You weren't exactly responsive, so I took it for you." I unsheathed the sword, the steel blade glinting in the dawn's light. "I meant to give it to you yesterday before we left, but you didn't exactly give me a chance. And then last night..." I smiled as the memory surfaced.

"Yes, I remember last night." I shot a glance at Ava, and she was staring at the ground, her cheeks red as the sun. I smiled. "So this sword is mine?"

"Yes. Merin gave it to you. He said that had forged it for the Archikin Metalworking Festival and that it won second place behind some man who cast a duck of iron. Apparently the duck was really good and even Merin sang its praises. Either way, it now belongs to you. Put it on, see how it feels." I quickly undid my belt, pulling it from the loops of my pants. I looked at the scabbard and saw a place for me to feed the belt through, so I did. It was a little awkward, putting a sword on for the first time, especially since modern battle attire isn't meant for swords on one's hip. I felt lopsided and off balance, but quickly grew used to the weight. I had no way of telling a shitty sword from a good one, but I trusted the good people of Milania, so if they say it's a good sword, it's a good sword. After breaking down the rest of the camp with it on my waist, I couldn't even tell it was there. We packed everything into the cart, Ava climbed up into the seat, I got into position, and we were on our way.

I lost track of time pretty quickly. The cart wasn't that bad, kind of like I was back in bootcamp and going on those long pack marches. Pretty soon after we set out, we exited the woods. It was just more delta, but I could feel a difference. Something felt...off. I couldn't put my finger on it, but the air felt colder, the sun a little less bright, and the world felt meaner on this side of the forrest. I shivered and pushed on, my stride encouraged by the disconcerting feeling. The road just kept on going, compacted dirt with ruts in it from hundreds of carts, and the scenery didn't change either. We passed the occasional herd of meltir, their orange skin sticking out against the green grass. There were pockets of trees here and there, scattered seemingly randomly about the delta, and I saw more of those pink birds from before. Some of them flew over us, and they looked like flamingo's, but massive. I'm talking the size of a fighter jet. And they flew in flocks of at least five.

"Jesus, those things are huge." I said, marveling at the creatures as they flew over us. They were low, just over the treetops, but I could be wrong. Distance is weird. They were lower than birds flew back on Earth, that's for sure. I swear I could feel my hair move as their wings pumped down. "Ava, do you know what those are?"

"The Strantum?"

"If that's what you call those big ass flamingo's, then yes."

"The Stantum are large, winged creatures that live near the Interntin River. They are incredibly territorial and will attack anything that comes near. They are docile when flying, however. What are flamingo's?"

"Pink birds that live in mountains and savannas, if I remember right. Their feather's are pink because of their diet, I think. I don't remember, I haven't watched Planet Earth in years."

"What are you talking about? I thought you lived on the Planet Earth." I laughed.

"I did. Planet Earth was a documentary that came out when I was a kid. It was this big thing, too, took 'em like ten years or something crazy like that to make. And they would show it to us in school when the teacher was too hungover to teach that day. Man, I loved Planet Earth. The guy's voice was so much fun to listen to, too. It was this series that went all over the planet filming nature in action. They had episodes on mountains, jungles, savannas, the poles. My favorite was the deep sea one. Sharks are fuckin' cool, you know? The caves one was pretty cool, too. It's weird to think that things can evolve to live in complete darkness and go without eating for years at a time." Ava sighed in exasperation.

"I knew I shouldn't have asked. Just more nonsense that I don't understand." I chuckled ruefully.

"Welcome to my world. This place is so familiar yet so foreign at the same time. Like, birds the size of fighter jets aren't normal on Earth. There's no magic there, either."

"What?" Ava asked, her voice going dead serious, loosing all sense of levity. "What did you say? Your world doesn't have magic?"

"Nope. Just regular old physics, science, and the drive to explore and understand the world around us. We came up with a lot of cool things, too. Like planes, giant metal birds that can carry people all across the world in a day or two. Hundreds of thousands of miles, years of travel, in under a day. And we were so interconnected. We had these devices in our pockets that contained more technology than the spacecraft that got the first man to the moon, and we used them to watch internet porn and cat videos." I felt anger start to rise as I remembered what I disliked about the world I left behind. I sped up. Soon enough I was running again, pulling the cart with the straps on my shoulders.

"But no magic? And did you say you sent a man to the moon?" Ava called to me over the wind and the rattling of the wagon. She didn't seem to mind either, and I took that as a sign to keep running. I nodded.

"I'd never even seen a spell until little Elizabeth lifted a crate the size of her with a green energy. The fireballs were unexpected as well. And then you with your golden light. I guess that maybe my regeneration counts, but I don't know how shit works here, so I'm just gonna accept it and move on. And yeah, America won the Space Race like thirty years before I was born. We haven't explored any other planets, but we did put people on the moon a few times. 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'." I quoted.

"The moon?" Ava asked her voice filled with shock and disbelief. "Like the ones in the sky?"

"Yep. Also, Earth only has one moon; Luna. Our sun was called Sol, and we were lived in the Milky Way galaxy. There were nine planets in our little solar system, and I'll be dead and gone before I consider Pluto not a planet. Huh. Well, I guess I am dead and gone, now. Does that mean there really are only eight planets? Nah, I'm still countin' the little guy." Ava was quiet for a good long while, maybe an hour or so.

"No magic?" She asked, still completely bewildered. "But you have mana. I see it within you."

"Yeah, I have it now. I think. I don't have any spells or a way to actually use it. My sheet says that I have it; a couple hundred at least."

"So then how do the people on your world defeat the monsters?" I frowned severely.

"This world has monsters? Like goblins and werewolves and shit?"

"Yes. Though monsters come in all shapes and sizes. Some creatures look like monsters but are actually sentient beings just trying to live their lives, like the goblin tribe to the North. They make some wonderful clothing, intricate and beautiful. But there are also goblins who will raid a village. taking whatever they can and burning the rest. It is not uncommon for farming villages to be besiged by goblins. Thankfully, the Imperial Army is capable of responding to threats all across the Empire."

"Huh." I pondered that revelation for the next few hours as the sun started to fall. Ava asked me if I wanted some food or water, and I took her up on the water. I drank deeply, still moving, then poured some over my sweaty head. It felt ice cold and exsquisite as it rolled down my back and face. I didn't care that sweat was pouring down my face by this point, I was unrelenting in my march.

We stopped for an hour at dusk, Ava stretched her legs and I ate a supper of meltir burgers from the cooler. Ava had something but I couldn't tell what it was. We still had plenty of food, but we would need to get to a town soon if we wanted to keep going without hunting. I cursed myself for not being better prepared. I kept letting my excitement at being in a new world overtake my rational thinking and planning skills. I know I'm not the smartest guy, but I should be better than that. Maybe I should put some points into Wisdom and Intelligence since I could do that now. Maybe we could pick some food up at Rilmon before we pick up Lily.

I thought about it as I pulled the cart through the night, but didn't really come up with anything. It got harder and harder to think as the night wore on. My legs never stopped moving, though, and that's what matters. My brain didn't have to think to get my feet to move, all I had to do was move my feet. One foot in front of the other. I smiled as the old pains of marching started to flare. Lower back burning, thighs screaming, shoulders crying; fun times. Hey, look at that, the sun's up. That's nice. Maybe now the Drill Sargent will call for a stop. I scoffed. Wouldn't that be nice. Naw, we still got a good long while yet. Nut up and shut up, Short Stack, we got work to do. After a while, what felt like days but was probably only a few hours, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up, the purple clouds swirling in beautiful patterns. I could lay there and watch the clouds for the rest of the day. Wait, lay? When did I start lying down? I tried to sit up but my body screamed in agony. Maybe I screamed. I don't know. A bowl was shoved into my hands and I slurped the soup greedily, a little bit of clarity coming back to me. I wasn't lying down, I was leaning against the cart with my back to a wheel. The sun was setting as another bowl was pushed into my hands. I slurped it down greedily and reality started to come back. I groaned as a massive headache pounded in my head. I leaned over on my side and let the cool grass on my bare skin ease some of the pain.

"We'll sleep under the cart tonight." I heard Ava say as she pulled our bedroll from the cart. I nodded and tried to stand, my body roaring its complaints. I gave up and rolled onto my hands and knees, crawling under the cart and into the roll. Someone had taken my sword and clothes off and I groaned as I crawled in. The cart provided pretty good shelter, all things considered.

"How long?" I asked Ava as she got in next to me. I wrapped my arms around her and fell asleep, the smell of home in my mind.

I woke late the next morning. The sun was high in the sky when I crawled out from under the cart. I held my hand to the sun and glared at it, cursing the fact that it was already back up.

"Good morning." Ava said as she came up behind me. "You slept well."

"Where are we? What happened?"

"We are about a day's walk from Martinlos, the half way point between Milania and Rilmon. We can resupply there and sleep in actual beds. You still have the gold coins I gave you, right?" I patted my pocket and felt the jingle on the coin purse.

"Yep. What happened last night? It feels like I lost a fight against Rocky Balboa." My head pounded as my eyes got used to the bright sun. The smell of cooking food brought me over to the fire and next to Ava.

"I'm no even going to ask who that is. You were pretty out of it for most of the night. You were talking to yourself a lot, and laughing. It seemed like you were having fun, so I didn't question it. You also didn't stop when the sun came up, you just kept on going. Went right through Valkerdit, one of the cities we were supposed to stop at. Sunset came around last night, and you really started deteriorating, calling yourself 'Short Stack' and acting really strangely. Well, stranger than usual." I took the plate she offered me with a word of thanks.

"Short Stack was my nickname back in the Marines. I guess it stuck around, huh?"

"Are you short compared to people in your land?" I smiled at her.

"This isn't that body. This is a completely different body. I don't know about the face as I haven't seen my face yet, but this body is not the same one I had on Earth. Back there, I was shorter than average, and a girl made a joke at a diner. I had ordered a short stack of pancakes, and she made a joke about a short stack for a short stack. You know how guys are, they never let it die and it became my new nickname."

"What are pancakes?" My mouth open as she took a bite of her own food.

"You've never had pancakes?" Ava shook her head, chuckling a little at my reaction.

"I just said I don't know what they are."

"They are little circles of heaven, light and fluffy and warm and with just the right syrup, they can make any morning the best morning ever. With a side of bacon or sausage and some eggs, mmm, a great way to start the day."

"You'll have to make me some, then." She said, smiling at me.

"Absolutely. Once I remember the recipe, I most certainly will."

We finished our food in silence, then packed up and got back on the road. The sun had only just started to set when a wall came into view on the horizon.

"Those are Martinlos' walls." Ava said. "That city marks our halfway point."

"Well," I sighed, hiking the straps up a little bit. "let's go."