Strangers In a Strange World

Chapter Two: Awaken



Where am I?

I can’t feel anything.



Am I dead?



“Wake up.”



Wes’ eyes opened slowly, the light that cut through the tiny opening in his eyelids blinding. His head reeled as it tried to process what had happened. The last thing he remembered was a frantic journey and a light. He opened his eyes wider and took in his surroundings. He was lying on his back in a field, the sky above him was blue and a scattering of trees nearby were making a beautiful melody in the gentle wind that passed through them. A shadow passed over him and Wes had to take a second look to check he wasn’t going crazy. Stood over him was a brute of a man wearing gleaming silver armour.

“I said, wake up!” the man said, before nudging Wes in the side with the toe of his armoured boot. Rubbing his head, Wes stood and looked hard at the man stood next to him, he could remember this guy, but couldn’t think where from. Realisation hit Wes like a sledgehammer; he was in the World of Warcraft. For years he had spent most of his free time exploring this world; he knew most of the areas off by heart and now here he was, standing in Northshire. He looked to his belt and found nothing; well I guess that means I’m not a warrior he thought to himself. Reaching behind his head, his had found a rough surface and took hold of it. Pulling his arm forward again revealed a large wooden hammer. Ha, looks like I’ll be smiting the undead then. A tap on the shoulder pulled him from his thoughts.



Wes looked up to see if the guard was still stood there, but he had moved off and was talking to another armoured figure in a large stone building to his right, he noticed the guard was indicating Wes with looks and gestures. Glancing round, he noticed a woman hiding in the shadows of the buildings adjoined stable; she was waving him over with a look of worry on her face. She was clad in a greying robe, the hood covering her dirty face, she seemed to stand crooked. Wes made his way over to the woman, and as soon as he made it to the shadow she pulled him into a gap in the wall, where no-one could see them. “You’re new aren’t you?” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Well yea, I guess.” He replied, with a questioning look, “who are you?” he asked her. A blur of movement caught Wes’ eye, and he looked down to his stomach, where a sickly pain was creeping up from around the fist that was so far in his gut, he was surprised it wasn’t coming out the other side. The woman had moved so fast his body hadn’t even reacted, and now, starting slowly but quickening every second, his vision faded back to black.



“What took you so long Anna?”



“You try carrying a guy this big when you’re a woman and see how you like it!”



The voices crept into Wes’ limited consciousness as if they were afraid of disturbing his thoughts, the second voice he dimly recognised as the woman he had spoken to earlier, the one that had knocked him out with one punch. The first he didn’t recognise, but from the deep tones and gruff sounds, it was coming from a man. The voice held a kind of authority that would only be found in a drill sergeant, a voice used to shout out commands over a battlefield, but it also held a strange musical quality. The woman’s voice, who Wes assumed was the one belonging to Anna, was quiet and soft, like the owner was used to skulking in the shadows, and knew how not to be overheard. He kept his eyes shut, trying to keep his captors from realising he was awake.

Wes tried to move his arms, but found them numb and useless, the same with his legs. He could dimly feel pressure at his wrists and ankles, and guessed his captors had bound him to something. “Look Anna, the boy stirs.” Wes froze, he had barely moved, how had they managed to notice. The male voice said a few words in a language Wes didn’t understand; an unearthly language that he nevertheless seemed to recognise. The voice seemed to change as the words flowed; it took on a subtle shift in tone, and seemed to be coming from very far off. Suddenly the words stopped, and Wes realised that the feeling was beginning to return to his limbs. He opened his eyes, and stood before him was the Woman, she had changed from the dirty robe she had been wearing to a Blackened leather coat, and matching trousers, with knee high black leather boots. At her waist were two sheathed daggers. Her long brown hair had been tied up into a ponytail. She’s a Rogue Wes realised. He turned his head slightly and a tall man strode from the darkness.



The man wore a long flowing robe, brightly coloured and obviously well used. Small, ghostly runes seemed to dance in the air less than an inch above the material. A mage too? Interrupting his thoughts, the mage spoke “Do not fear boy, Anna had to knock you out in order to keep our hideaway safe.” Wes looked around at the room he was in; candles set in alcoves gave of meagre amounts of light, Wes could make out very little in the gloom. Suddenly the shackles holding him in place gave way, and he dropped bodily to the floor. The man knelt and helped Wes to his feet. “I am Balthezar, this is Anna. We’re like you, people from the real world that somehow ended up here. We took on our characters names as it draws less suspicion. The game goes on around us, and every moment there a millions of people controlling those that we walk with. They just see us as other players.” Wes reeled at the information; he had never thought that the game could ever be real.



“So my boy, what’s your name?” asked Balthezar, from a small side room. Wes looked up, the question snapping his mind back to focus, “Well, my real name is Wes.” he said, “but I guess my name here is Kryo.” Balthezar returned, in his hands a large shield sat, and on top of it, a sheathed sword. He handed it to Wes, and looked him in the eye. “You will need these more than us, and don’t worry about the fact that these weapons would be un-usable at your level, when you arrived here you became the equivalent of a level 80 character. You will have to learn all your skills naturally, by that I mean that a trainer will teach you the basics, but you must perfect them yourself.” Wes looked at the equipment lying in his hands, the shield was massive, it would easily protect the majority of his body. He slung the shield over his back, and drew the sword from its scabbard; it was beautiful, the blade was about a meter long, and it gave off a pale white light. Retuning the blade to its scabbard, he quickly attached it to his belt.



“There are few blades better than that one, and your shield is the finest work a dwarf blacksmith can produce, I even added some magical additions myself. But you will need to find your own armour, it cost us much getting these weapons, and we couldn’t find a suitable set of armour.” Wes looked at Balthezar. He wondered why they were helping him so much, but before he could get much further down the line on that train of thought, he suffered a massive derailment, as a new and more urgent though came to his mind.



Lauren…



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Sorry this chapter took a while to get done, when I write I get inspiration in bursts [it took 2 to get this one out] and they normally are spread over a couple of weeks. Hope you like it anyway, thanks for the great reviews, I'll keep writing this one as people seem to like it.



I have one other Story posted on this site, check out my profile and see if you like it. I have about 6 chapters for it but have only uploaded 2 so far.



Thanks again.