I blink once, then twice and three more times but the sight before me doesn't change.

In front of me lies a floating island, there is nothing holding it up and I can't see anything that let it stay up either.

The Island itself doesn't look like anything special, even with how dark it's getting, I can still sort of see something that looks like a forest similar to the one I just ran into.

I don't know what I'm supposed to do seeing something that should definitely not be possible. I wait for who knows how long, but nothing changes about the status of the floating island.

I'm seriously starting to reconsider if this is real and not just a dream.

Or maybe I died and this is some kind of afterlife.

Eventually, I decided that watching the island is not helping me and lay myself down to gather my thoughts. Turning around to do just that, I was met with another problem that got less important when I saw the island.

The fox that led me here in the first place.

The fox hadn't moved from where it was and still looked to be catching its breath.

"You don't look so good." And that's an understatement. Looking closer one could see it was a wounded, with many small wounds littering its body, most of them centered around the face and limbs. Its white fur looked to be more red than white in some places.

As I observe it I slowly walk closer to it until it gives me a warning growl, making me stop, stopping more out of surprise than intimidation. I heard that fox noises are more high pitched than a dog but didn't think there was that much of a difference, doesn't help that it's wounded too.

And it looks hungry with how thin its body is.

"Both hurt and starving, what happened to mess you up to this bad?" My question doesn't give me an answer as expected, except for another growl.

Stepping a few steps back before sitting down, I think about what I should do in this situation and wonder why an injured fox is suddenly the most important. You would think that figuring out where I am, a place that allows floating islands to exist and how I got here would be more important, but this is preferable. At least I have options when it comes to the fox, I have no idea where to even start when it comes to everything else. I honestly should just go to bed... and I just remembered that I started running with no way of actually remembering where it was.

At least I only forgot my jacket there.

While I was wondering whether I should try to find my way back to camp through the darkness or just find a spot here, the fox stood up.

Or it tried too at least, it almost seemed like it didn't know how to use its legs, with how much it was struggling.

It gave up eventually, after a few tries and laid back down. The fox started licking its wounds while keeping its ears pointed towards me. And watching it do something so normal was surprisingly relaxing.

After some time it turned to me or to be more specific, the backpack next to me. Considering what it contains, it isn't hard to connect the dots.

"You just wanted my food, didn't you?" Taking out an apple confirms that theory, with it actually managing to stand up.

I leave the apple on the ground and walk a few paces away to make sure I'm not threatening it. I don't have to walk far though, as it goes for the apple as soon as I turn my back to it.

How long has it been since the fox last ate?

After eating up the apple, even the core, it simply turned around and sprinted away. I didn't think just one apple would help that much.

At the speed it was running it doesn't take long before it disappears into the forest.

That was one problem solved and now I, unfortunately, don't have anything to distract myself from the more pressing problems.

Looking to the sky one can definitely say that the day is nearing its end with the stars coming out in all their glory. Wherever I am, at least the night sky is pretty.

In the end, I settled for just sleeping here and take the ground that looks the most comfortable.

When I lay down, the ground feels much softer than I thought with how relaxed, I already feel. I must be more tired than I thought if it doesn't even take a minute...

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My hand being wet is the first thing I sense when I wake up, the sensation makes my body seize up. The reaction comes from memory from long ago of a field trip, a group of friends and a prank, that would scar me for life.

It takes a moment for my sleep-addled brain to wake up properly and remember that the event happened decades ago when I was a kid. Though it makes me wonder why my hand is wet.

Opening my eyes, I find the culprit instantly and it turns out it was just me drooling on it. Looking towards the forest I see that I had someone to share the night with, as the fox has returned, sleeping close to where I last saw it.

Getting up leads to me finding out why one shouldn't sleep on the ground with my body feeling stiff all over. While stretching, I look back to the place where I last saw the floating Island, hoping what I saw was just a dream. Those hopes are quickly crushed however with the island still being there, though it appears to have moved a little to the right.

Of course, the island doesn't just float, it moves too.

Looking closer I notice something that I must have missed last night.

"Is that smoke?" The smoke was a thin stream that came out from a point deep in the forest and its a good chance that there will be people close to it.

Unfortunately, there was one thing stopping me from reaching it. The smoke was coming from an island that was floating at least a couple of kilometers away from me, and I had little idea on how to get over there.

While I was thinking of ways to get over to the other side, I felt a small push against my leg. Peering down there, I could see that the fox has woken up and its mood has completely turned around from what it was yesterday.

When the fox saw it had my attention, it stopped pushing and started walking towards the forest. It didn't run like last time though and actually stopped for a second to bark at me before continuing forward again.

"Is this normal behavior for a fox, one day it wants to steal my food the next it wants to take me on an adventure." I sigh.

I look back to the island and then towards the place the fox just walked through, before shrugging. I might as well follow it, using more time to think of a way over would just be a waste of time.

Securing the backpack with all my stuff, I start walking after it. I would be going in a random direction anyway with the compass broken and it might lead me to some food too. It didn't look as hungry as it did after it left.

It can't be worse than the floating island, right?

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At first, the journey was actually quite pleasant, following it almost felt like a guided tour with the way it always went at a speed that was easy to follow.

The path we took even went by a few berry bushes and when I stopped to pick some up, the fox stopped as well, waiting for me to finish.

The walk went on for quite a while, with the vegetation around me getting more abundant as I walked. The trees were starting to get taller and thicker too with them being almost ten times my height, at this point. It was almost getting impossible to traverse the path it wanted me to go until I reached the end and literally tripped into a clearing.

Lifting myself up I could see the fox in front of me, laying comfortably down and I assume that I have reached the place it wanted to lead me to.

Looking past it I could see that the fox is going to keep up its ways of leading me to strange places, but at least it isn't trying for something even more ridiculous.

Because past the fox, I could see a graveyard, something that I can at least consider normal even if a graveyard in the middle of a forest is unusual.

Standing up, one can actually see that it goes on for quite a while, the area it occupies is at least the size of a mall. There is a stone wall that encircles the entire thing, the wall appears to only reach knee height since I can still see inside while sitting.

Looking inside I can see dozens, maybe even hundreds of graves occupying the place, each tombstone that marked a grave looked quite distinct from one to the other. Some seem to be made with polished stone, while others just have two sticks as a marker and then there were many that just looked out of place.

There is one that has an actual statue as a tombstone.

I walk closer to see what more design I can see until I can see something that's only visible now that I'm much closer.

Hidden in the tall grass surrounding the wall there was a corpse and by the looks of it, it wasn't long since its death.

And the three giant wound that ran across its stomach told me it wasn't a peaceful death either.