Chapter 2 - What to do now?

** Starting now, I'm going to refer to the character as John. I will only refer to him as "Dr. Graham" when he's back in his hospital in Chicago or around people who knew him as a doctor. **

What John saw in front of him was massive, endless trees as far as his eyes could reach. Looking to the left, he only saw more trees, and the same when he looked all around.

"Well.. this is inconvenient," John said to himself.

John pulled out his phone and continued to play candy break, until his phone died. He frantically checked his desk, wondering if by some miracle he had a battery pack. Spoiler.. He didn't.

"UGH, why did I of all people have to be thrown into the middle of nowhere? Where the f*ck am I anyways?" John looked up at the sky wondering if perhaps something could catch his eye to tell him where he was at, but what he saw made his heart drop deep into his stomach.

Upon looking up at the sky he realized that 1. the sky was not blue. He didn't know what color it was as he's never seen this color ever before, but it certainly wasn't blue, and 2. There was two enormous moons in the sky.

"This isn't earth, is it?"

After he muttered that sentence to himself, he felt a slight surge of energy from his pocket. He reached inside and pulled out the Amulet. "I almost forgot about this thing. Perhaps this is the key to getting back home."

He studied the Amulet over and over, but to no avail nothing interesting was happening or giving him any hints on what to do. Even when he traced the symbols and designs as the earlier patient had done, all it would do is glow a bit brighter. He gripped the Amulet in his hand and closed his eyes hard in frustration.

"What do I even do? There was no go-to situation in med school for what to do if a patient that's probably from a different world was to teleport you to said world. I could start walking, but who knows what's even out there. Even walking in the wooded areas back on Earth was dangerous, let alone this random world."

He focused deeply on his frustration and confusion, but he noticed the deeper he thought, the stronger the surge of energy he felt come from the Amulet. He focused on the surge of energy, feeling it grow stronger and stronger. Before he knew it, the energy was flowing directly through him, and the Amulet was brighter than the sun and then...

He was pulled into his own mind, seeing images or perhaps memories of somewhere and someplace he knew nothing about. He experienced emotions and thoughts that weren't his own, and experienced what felt like years, but also a few seconds. He tossed the Amulet out of his hand. As soon as the Amulet left his fingertips, it stopped glowing, and John felt the surge of energy dissipate instantly.

All John could do was breathe hard, and hold a hand over his chest. "Just what the f*ck was that?" John wondered. After catching his breath, he shakily stood up and walked over to the Amulet. He stood perplexed until he decided to pull a leaf off a tree, and used it to pick up the Amulet and drop it into his pocket.

"Until I know more about what this place is, and how I came here, It'd be best not to do that again."

John noticed that it would be getting dark in a few hours, so he decided to feel the flow of the wind. John remembered in boy scouts from a leader, that if you ever find yourself lost with no sense of direction you should follow the flow of the wind. Should John listen to something another 12 year old was telling him when he was only 6? Who knows, but it's not like John had any other option.

John started walking for about an hour trying to follow the flow of wind to the best of his ability, and that's when he heard it. Somewhere in the distance, was the flow of water. While he was a bit excited, he controlled his emotions and followed the sound to a giant pond.

The giant pond was about the size of a massive lake, but compared to the rest of the forest, it felt like a giants koi fish pond. Following the stream of water that was pouring into the pond lead up to a massive mountain. "Were mountains this big back on Earth?" John wondered. Scanning the area more, he saw another stream flowing from the pond downwards. "Perhaps that stream will flow to somewhere safer than this wooded area, but first let's get something to drink."

John dropped to his knees, and inspected the water. For a random pond in the middle of the forest, it was surprisingly clear. He slowly scooped water into his hands and began to drink. It tasted like the best water he's ever had. Was it because he felt super de-hydrated, or was it actually this good? Who cares because as of right now, it was amazing so John went in for another drink, and then another.

Unbeknownst to John, a beast from the forest who also decided to get a drink from the pond noticed him. The beast looked like a mix between velociraptor and a stegosaurus with rotted skin. Let's call this beast Karen. So the Karen was sneaking up slowly to John. Who knew that the Karen who only wanted a drink, would also get a meal too. Must be Karen's lucky day.

When Karen was only a few feet behind John, John felt a wave of pressure he couldn't explain and shot a look behind him, but Karen was already locked on and ready to snap. As Karen snapped her jaws out at John, John jumped backward into the pond. As John tried gaining control of his movements in water, Karen followed suit jumping in after him, thrashing about trying to eat him whole. John swam as hard as he could, but smashed his head into something. Did he hit a rock? This isn't good, the Karen is gaining on him fast, but that's when the "rock" turned around.

What John saw before him was like a house sized Fangtooth Fish, and John wasn't going to risk that this fish was a herbivore. He forced his body to swim out of the way as the "rock" fish rushed forward mouth wide open. John was just a centimeter away from being eaten alive, as the "rock" fish lunged forward, so did the Karen. John didn't wait to see who won that scuffle, and rushed to the surface. He looked back in the pond, but now it was darkened with blood. After catching his breath quickly, John hurried down, following the stream flowing down the mountain.

After several paranoid hours looking behind his back it was nighttime, and John relaxed a bit and figured he made it out of there. "What even was that?" he wondered to himself. "I really have to make it out of this forest, or I won't live to see tomorrow." Just as he said that, he saw lights up ahead. Still being a bit cautious, he slowly continued ahead, but the closer he got the clearer the lights were. It was lights to a small village up ahead. After seeing this safe haven, he rushed out of the forest and up to the village.

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After hearing the screams, and rushed footsteps coming from the forests, all the villagers gathered their weapons and prepared to attack, but the closer the "beast" came the more they were confused. "Just what kind of beast is that?" one villager asked.

"Perhaps we should get the head master. You two, apprehend him. He doesn't seem dangerous, but stay on your toes." one villager said to two other much larger villagers.

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As John got closer trying to alert whoever was in the village of his arrival, so that they don't just cut his head off immediately, two enormous individuals with weapons approached him. John slowed down and felt like perhaps he made a mistake.

"Meedoh soso ray. La' mee fasotee sodoh mee doh so meesoteemee la raymeedoh la fafa." the big villager said to John.

"Umm, I'm sorry I don't know what you're saying." John tried replying, but the villager just shouted and pulled on his arm and directed him to walk.

"This was a bad idea, perhaps I should take a run for it, but if they are faster than they look, that's practically suicide. I am a doctor so maybe if I can gain their trust temporarily by treating someone who's sick, I'll escape out before they change their mind about me. But that'll only work if someone is ill in this village."

The two massive villagers guided John to a massive tent in the middle of the village. This village was covered with massive mud walls, and inside the walls were tents of varying designs. Some tents were open and seemed like they were shops of some kind. Other tents were closed off and were away from the open tents. Those tents are probably for peoples housing. Looking further out, you even see mud houses on the outskirts of the tents. Based on this, this world is probably in the early stages of it's birth. As he entered the tent, he saw another villager with a weapon, and an older gentleman. It was hard to see in the dark, but now John could tell that these people weren't people. They looked like a mix of a dog and a human, but so close to a human that you couldn't tell unless you looked deep into the details.

John held back a laugh as he thought about all those "Furries" back home would love to be here right now, and before he burst out laughing, the older villager started to speak.

"Raymee somee la, fa ray sodoh la meedoh mee la sosodoh?" the older villager said.

John still couldn't understand what they were saying. It was weird though, he felt a burning sensation in his pocket, and felt that when he heard the words of the villagers, he could kind of understand what they were wanting, but still didn't know exactly what they were asking.

"I don't know what you're saying. I was just in the forest. I don't know how I got there, but I.." John was interrupted by the older villager holding up his hand. The older villager started discussing something with the other villager, and the two larger villagers stood guard by the only exit. John could feel that this situation wasn't getting any better. As a last ditch effort, he remembered about the Amulet that felt like it was burning a hole in his pocket. He reached into his pocket which made the villagers ready their weapons, until they saw what laid in John's hands.

Every villager stood frozen, almost surprised as if they just realized they insulted the king of a massive nation. Even the older villager who seemed to be in charge started stuttering his words.

"D.. So.. Doh Soray... Soraydoh. D.. Ray.. Ray so so.. ray la.. mee.. meedohsola?"

While holding the Amulet, John could feel the surge of energy enter his body and into his mind, and he understood what the older villager had said.

The older villager had asked why John was in possession of the Amulet, and while still holding the Amulet John said, "It's what brought me here. Like I was saying I was in the forest, and I was just trying to find a way out." It was like John was speaking directly his intention behind his words into their minds.

All the villagers dropped their weapons and kneeled before him and said, "The hero from the heavenly place, we honor your return." John stood their confused and didn't say a word, but thought to himself, "Hero?"