Truth? Reality?

Kearan stared at the small wooden watercraft and the worn trail head with hope brimming in his eyes.A familiar smell of wood smoke swam into his nostrils and he jerked his head up towards the sky. He scanned the skyline and found a small plume of white smoke in the direction the footpath seemed to lead.

Kearan wasn't the best at measuring distance with his eyes but he didn't think it was too far away. So he set out towards the trail head, adrenaline purging his exhaustion as he moved quickly toward the well trodden path. He reached the trail and stepped through the tree line. The mud on his feet started to flake away as it mixed with the dry dirt and grass of the trail. He dragged his feet a little in order to get them clean, as little rocks started to stick to his feet causing discomfort. A few yards later the bottoms of his feet were free of gunk and mud.

As he walked through the forest he could hear the birds and critters getting quieter the closer he got to the source of the smoke. Almost as if they were scared of whatever inhabited the area. Soon all he heard was the crunch of his own very conspicuous footsteps. Affected by the slightly creepy atmosphere he tried to lighten his footsteps but it almost seemed like it just made them louder. It didn't matter if he walked on his toes or heels, the extra weight on a condensed area caused the grass and twigs to crunch harder.

After a few minutes of this anxiety inducing atmosphere he could see the beginning of a clearing up ahead. As he got to the end of the trail Kearan could see a rounded clearing with a ramshackle building placed in the center. The building was made of ruff cut wooden planks, as if they just cut a random tree down and cut out uneven planks without bothering to shave the bark. It was small, maybe 20ft x 20ft, and had no windows. A singular door faced the trail with a small uneven hole bored out of the upper middle of it. The handle was similarly a square piece of wood that matched the rest of the cabin. The roof was completely flat with a small square chute coming out of the back right corner. The chimney chute was a deep dark brown piece of wood instead of stone or brick but Kearan didn't know if that was strange or not as he new very little about wooden cabins.

Kearan had a funny thought that a green monstrosity might burst out of it and speak with a British accent, but he quickly dismissed it.

The whole structure seemed in disrepair as some planks were rotted or shaking with every gentle breeze. All in all it gave the young man some serious scary movie vibes. He just prayed that there wasn't a person sized oven attached to that chimney chute. As Kearan entered the clearing the smoke got stronger, but a different smell seemed to enter his nose along with it. It smelled like week old sour milk mixed with rusted pipes, nearly causing him to gag.

He took a few more steps into the clearing when he felt a tight line wrap around the front of his ankle. Kearan froze out of instinct due to the sudden contact, but it was too late for him as he suddenly heard the tinkle of a small bell spread throughout the clearing. Before he had time to think the door was swung open at such speed, it almost fell off the hinges as they groaned from the sudden inertia.

A large tan bald man emerged wearing brown sleevless leather armour that remained Kearan very much of old gladiators. He was wielding a large double sided axe in both hands and his eyes were constantly darting back and forth. Immediately following the large man was a female figure, barely reaching the man's chest height, wearing a mottled green cloak and wielding a knocked bow. Her brown and green flecked eyes locked onto Kearan from under her hood showing confusion mixed with vigilance.

Kearan was still as he took in this sight, his brain was trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Did he accidently step into some kind of LARPing* campaign or something? The weapons looked a little too real for his comfort so he slowly raised his hands.

The duo seemed to study him while simultaneously never stopping their eyes from moving place to place. After several seconds of this they seemed to slightly lower their weapons while looking at Kearan with confused expressions. The tense silence was broken by a feminine voice that seemed deep and commanding "who are you?"

Strangely, even though Kearan did not recognize the language, he could perfectly understand the language. This more than anything freaked him out a bit. Everything up till now could be explainable by delusions or stress related hallucinations. However, suddenly hearing a language he couldn't even recognize and being able to understand it like it was his first language, he was being pushed a little too far.

Kearan wasn't the most book smart individual but he was still somewhat intelligent with a decent capacity for critical thinking. The truth of things were adding up, but he knew himself well. He knew that if everything happening was real he wouldn't be able to cope and keep his.... balance. His house, his stuff. 'Oh god my photos. My families graves. I need them. I need to remember. I..I don't want to forget their faces. I need my videos of them. My house. Our house. Our memories. My safe space.' Getting caught up in his thoughts and the possibilities. Kearan started hyperventilating and holding his head while tears started streaming down his face.

The giddiness started to return and suddenly Kearan felt like laughing at the absurdity of it all. After all the shit and the wishing for freedom, right when he was starting to enjoy life his wishes were granted. It was far too late though.

"This is a fucking joke right? Yeah.. a fucking joke. Such bullshit. If there really are beings doing this to me they are some sick and twisted bastards. Mom... Karina...Nikola...Father. I can't deal with this without you. No. No. No. It's just a joke right? So fuck it. Yeah. Fuck it all. Haha. hahahahaha"

The duo watched the man grab his head and start crying. Then he started mumbling to himself in a strange language. Next he suddenly started giggling while still clearly crying. They looked at each other with a bit of apprehension towards the clearly unstable individual. The woman spoke again "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

Kearan was seemingly awoken by the sudden questions as he put his hands by his side. He suddenly stopped laughing and crying like it never happened. 'What was I doing. Oh right I need food and shelter. She asked who I was right? Yeah. Thats weird what was I thinking about? Oh well hopefully they will help me and show me how to get back to the city. I can't be away from the house for too long. I need to clean today.' "Um, I'm Kearan and I seem to be a bit lost" he said with a harmless smile.

The pair were alarmed once again about the sudden behavior changes and observed him closely. His medium length black hair was sticky with sweat and messy like he just woke up. He was wearing strange thin clothing with rips and tears here and there. They stuck to his sweaty body and some small cuts could be seen. His filthy feet left bloody foot prints clearly showing he emerged from the footpath. Yet his skin looked like it barley saw sun. His features were handsome and somewhat effeminate. His hands slightly dirty but without calluses. 'Noble' they both thought with surprised expressions.

Considering his reactions and appearance it seemed as if he had encountered some serious hardship. "How did you get here and what are you wearing?" asked the woman once again who clearly seemed in charge. Kearan shrugged and replied honestly "I don't really know much. I woke up in the middle of the forest wearing my pajamas and started walking. Eventually found the river and followed it to the old boat and trail. I've been out there between four to eight hours I think. I'm not the best at telling time."

"Pajamas?" Said the large man who spoke for the first time. His voice was surprisingly mellow despite his stature. "I believe it is the new night gowns the nobles wear" the woman replied matter of factly before continuing. "Well Kearan you never answered where you came from but you can answer that later. For now you can join us in the way station. We have some food and we should be able to find something appropriate for you to wear."

She then fully un-knocked her arrow placing it in a quiver hanging diagonally on her back in one smooth, practiced, motion. Her and the man turned and headed towards the cabin seemingly relaxed, but if one payed attention their bodies were still tense as the constantly glanced at each other and behind them.

Kearan mearly smiled to himself thinking 'Man they take this LARPing thing seriously and never once broke character. Oh well at-least they are nice.' Kearan then followed them giggling quietly with a somewhat confused look in his eyes.

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* = LARPing stands for Live Action Role Playing where people dress up and pretend to live in the medieval ages, it has quite a large community.