The New World

Jace woke up with a sudden rush of life. He gasped and tried frantically to catch

his breath. He clutched his chest and began to calm down.

"What the heck happened?! All I can remember is tripping on my stupid shoe

lace that somehow untied! And now what?! I'm just floating in this black void?!" As Jace

talked, his voice echoed through the nothingness.

"JACE!!!" Out of the blackness of the void, a loud booming voice bellowed Jace's

name.

"Who's there!" Jace questioned with fear and wonder.

"Sorry for yelling, I was just making sure you were awake. Let's just say that I'm

the person that's been watching over you for basically your whole life." The deep and

tender voice echoed all around Jace and gave Jace a sense of comfort and awe at the

same time.

"Wait, "watching over me?" Are you God?" Jace asked.

"Wow, you catch on quick, yes, actually I am God!" God's voice boomed with joy.

"But we don't have time to talk, I need to brief you on your mission."

"My mission?" Jace asked with confusion.

"Yes, I need you to save the people of this world I'm sending you to. I need you to

defeat "The Shadow" that ails not just you, but everyone in this world. It needs to be

confronted and dealt with. And you're the only one who can defeat it. I entrust that you

have what it takes to win and overcome the battles and adventures to come. I grant you

blessings, and I wish you a safe journey." God explained with great enthusiasm and

comfort.

"Wait! I have so many questions! Don't go!" Jace yelled frantically. But it was too

late. "Where did you go?!" There was no response, the only voice Jace heard was his

own, echoing infinitely around him. "What do I do now?" Jace thought to himself. But

right when that thought crossed his mind, he heard a faint crashing of gentle and

rippling waves, as if there was a beach nearby. He looked up and down and to the sides

and didn't see anything until he turned around. Jace's eyes fell onto a singular white

light at the end of a dark tunnel which almost looked like it had steps that lead slightly

upwards to the light. Jace was instinctively drawn to the light and started walking

towards it. Slowly but surely Jace went to the light and as he got closer, it felt warmer,

and the sounds of an ocean got louder, water beating at the sand with an ear

massaging rippling and crashing. Jace made it to the light and stepped into it. He had to

close his eyes to the blinding light he stumbled into, but once Jace's eyes adjusted to

the brilliantly bright light that was around him, he opened them and froze. Jace felt a

warm and calming sun, and he could smell the salty spray of the ocean he had heard.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He looked all around and he saw a pristine

blue ocean. Jace was suddenly standing on the most soft and golden sand he had ever

seen and felt. The bright blue sky was filled with cotton candy looking clouds and wispy

clouds as well. But out on the water was the thing that made Jace's eyes grow huge in

awe and excitement the most. There was a massive, beautiful, and dauntless pirate

ship anchored with its sails furled.

"Whoa…This is freaking awesome!!!" Jace yelled at the top of his lungs. "What is

this place? Am I in that other world God told me He was sending me to? Am I dead?! I

don't know, but that's a question for another time. But this is sweet! Woohoo!!!!." Jace

jumped up and down in the warm salty water of the ocean and kept on cheering.

"Okay, WOOOOO!!! Okay, I need to calm down. This is cool and all, but I need to

figure out exactly where I am in this world and if there is a town or port or civilization

near me. It seems I'm in some type of bay by the looks of it. Seeing how there are a

bunch of cliffs surrounding the area with one point of entry. Ahhh, come to think of it. A

bay is a perfect place for a port or some sort of town from what I've seen in some pirate

movies back home. Hmm, I wonder if there is a high place I can look from to try and see

if I can find a town or something." Jace looked around from the shore he was standing

on and noticed something.

"Oh wait! Where did that tunnel go that I came out of? It's… gone?! How did that

happen?!" Jace said out loud in curiosity. "That's weird, but I'm sure it doesn't matter too

much, my goal is still the same, I gotta find a town or some sort of civilization. And I'm

pretty sure I'm in the other world God sent me to, so the tunnel disappearing is probably

something I shouldn't worry about too much." Jace kept scanning his surroundings and

right behind him in a grassy plain happened to be a perfect, tall, climbable tree.

"Wow! That's convenient!" Jace exclaimed. "Let's see what I can see I guess."

Jace walked over to the thick and lush tree. It was massive, and a lot bigger than

Jace originally thought. He started to climb, inch by inch.

"Slow and steady wins the race." Jace thought to himself. After about twenty

minutes of gruesomely slow climbing, Jace finally made it to the top of the tree. The

place Jace ended up was more beautiful than he thought. From the top of the tree he

could see the entire bay, in fact it was actually a cove. An island surrounded by massive

and steep cliffs covered in trees, vines, and all sorts of greenery. The island was

decently sized, a perfect size for a serene and busy port that happened to be on the

other side of the island. Jace's eyes were swimming in the scenery of the port, cove,

and the other many ships in the water by the port. The port that Jace had spotted

looked to be about a quick thirty minute walk away.

"Ah, ha! A port! I knew there would be one in this cove! This place is perfect for a

community to thrive! Alright! Time to start heading over then!"

Jace, after another eternity long twenty minutes of climbing, made it to the

bottom of the tree and started to make his way towards the port.

Jace arrived at the port and was taken back.

"I guess the reality that I'm in another world is still sinking in… THIS IS SO

FREAKING COOL!!!" Jace thought to himself with ecstaticness. "This is a bloody port!

Just like in the movies I saw! All the people are bustling about their daily business, and

there are so many ships out in the bay! They look breathtaking!"

The port was a busy and bustling place. All the houses and businesses were a

sun baked tan color and they all had a mixture of brown and velvet tiled roofs. All the

roads were made of dirt and were light brown and smooth. Off to Jace's left from where

he was standing was a large and intricate dock with many places for ships and row

boats and dinghies to dock. And off to Jace's right were more houses and shops. And in

front of Jace was just more of the port with more buildings and shops and a tavern right

on the corner of a street.

"Grrrr!!!"

"Ooo, man, I'm hungry." Jace noticed to himself. "Let's see, do I have any money

on me?" Jace went to dig through his pockets and noticed he was wearing something

completely different. "What the heck! Since when did I have these old timey clothes on?

What is this? Brown pants and leather boots with a white pirate tunic?! I guess I was so

caught up in being in another world that I forgot the possibility I came here in my work

clothes. Haha! It would have been interesting to see peoples reactions to seeing my

clothes from home, they would have been confused for sure!" Jace put his hands in his

pants pockets, dug around for a bit, and pulled out a shiny gold doubloon. "I wonder if

this can buy me some food. I also need to ask where I can get some information about

this world." After walking further into the port, Jace found tons of food stalls and taverns,

and there were way more people as well. Jace kept on browsing different food stalls

until he stumbled upon a food stall that really caught his eye. It was a food stall that was

selling dried meat, something that reminded Jace of beef jerky that he ate back at

home.

"Now that looks like a tasty snack!" Jace said aloud while drooling.

"Ye like what ye see?" The stall worker said proudly. "I dry me meat on the

hottest days and use only the finest of salts and spices I can get me hands on. I pride

meself in makin' the best dried meat in this fair port I call home. Me name is Plymouth

by the way, what can I do for ye!"

"I'll take whatever! It just looks and smells so good!" Jace replied with joy while

some drool spilled off of his lips. Jace licked his lips clean of the drool and introduced

himself. "My name is Jace! It's nice to meet you, Plymouth. What can this buy me from

your stall here?" Jace handed Plymouth his gold doubloon. Plymouth's eyes grew large

and lit up like stars.

"This can buy ye as much as ye want of whatever I have for sale!"

"Really?!" Jace asked quizzically. "Ok, um, I'll take all of your dried prime beef

here!"

"Fantastic!" Plymouth said with glee. "Here ye go!" Plymouth handed Jace a big

and bulging sack of dried prime beef. "That oughta last ye a good week if ye eat it

sparingly."

"It'll probably last me for today if I'm being honest." Jace said with the dried prime

beef now stuffed in his mouth. "Oh and by the way Plymouth, do you know where I can

get some information?"

"Information? What kind are ye lookin' for mate?" Plymouth asked.

"Just information about where I am and what this world is I guess." Jace replied

while he chewed on the mouth watering dried prime beef.

"That is some common knowledge mate, yer on the bloody blue earth and this is

called port Savvy." Plymouth replied blankly.

"Oh… I see…" Jace said embarrassingly as he swallowed the meat he was

chewing on. And with a quiet voice Jace also asked.

"So where can I find more information about this place?"

"Yer stiffer than a sail that's been left unfurled in the icy north. If ye really need

more simple information, go to the Pirates Guild, they have all the information for

cannon barrel headed boys like ye. It's just a couple buildings to the right from here,

near the center of the port. Ye can make it there alright, can't ye?" Plymouth

pronounced judgingly.

"Yeah… I can… Thanks Plymouth, have a good rest of your day." Jace turned

and headed away slowly towards the Pirates Guild in shame with a piece of dried prime

beef hanging out of his mouth.

"Wow, that boy is one lost sailor." Plymouth thought to himself.

Jace continued onward to the Pirates Guild with all the skip out of his step and

arrived at his destination.

"Man, that was so embarrassing… Agh!! Shake it off Jace! You had every right to

ask those dumb questions. You're in another bloody world for crying out loud!" Jace said

to himself enthusiastically without realizing lots of people were watching him and like

Plymouth, judging him. Jace felt their eyes burning into him while he froze like a deer in

headlights. "I should just go inside the bloody building before I keep on embarrassing

myself."

Jace pushed open the heat dried wooden doors to the Pirates Guild and walked

in while grabbing another piece of the dried prime beef he had bought. He shoved the

delicate snack into his mouth and took in the sights. The Pirates Guild was warm and

inviting. It had a sort of rustic feel to it, it felt homey and was filled with sea salty

smelling pirates. It looked almost like a tavern and an inn mixed together. And that's

because it was a tavern and an inn mixed together. It had a bar that served delicious

smelling food and refreshing looking drinks of beer, ale, and rum. And it also had a room

check in booth for guild members to sleep in if they had no place to stay or if their ship

had been sunk on an adventure. Jace walked around the Pirates Guild for a while and

found a sign at a counter that read. "Admission and Information."

"Ah. That looks like something that could help me." Jace remarked to himself.

Jace approached the counter. "Hello? Is anyone here? I need some information.

Hello?!"

"THUMP!!!" The counter rattled. "Ow, that hurt my head, and that's the second

time I did that today." A cute and pretty young lady rose from behind the counter where

Jace was standing. She had silky, waist length black hair and deep unending black eyes

that looked like space. She wore a wispy white sailor's shirt, rich black pants, and

leathery brown boots. Jace's jaw dropped open and some half chewed dried prime beef

flopped out of his mouth without him even realizing it and all he could do was stare at

her. "I dropped my stupid pen again. What can I help you with? You said you needed

information right? Hello? Is anyone home?" The pretty lady waved her hand in front of

Jace, but Jace didn't even blink. "You're starting to creep me out sir." A small smirk

appeared on the pretty lady's face. "This oughta snap you back to reality."

"SMACK!!!" A loud audible slap echoed through the Pirates Guild and made it

completely silent in the entire building. Jace lay on the floor with a red handprint on his

face. Then his consciousness returned to his body and he snapped back onto his feet.

"Oh, hi there, sorry about that. I was, urhm, day dreaming about cats, yeah,

they're really cute! My name is Jace by the way and I was wondering if I could ask you

about some stuff."

"Sure you were daydreaming about cats Jace… And it's nice to meet you!" The

pretty lady said happily. "My name is Cindy! What do you need to know? I have tons of

information about this guild and this world." Cindy finished cheerfully.

"So what is this place? I mean, what is this world? I know those are really dumb

questions. But I washed up on shore and seem to have forgotten how I ended up here. I

think I might have memory loss or something." Jace said with confidence. "That was a

good story I came up with about losing my memory. This way she won't be able to judge

me as harshly as Plymouth did." He thought to himself.

"Ok! I can tell you all I know about this world! How about we get a drink and sit

down. And by the way, the drink is on the house!" Cindy said with a smile and a blush

on her face.

"That sounds awesome! Thank you!" Jace commented happily. "This is weird."

Jace started thinking to himself. "She slapped me in the face like I was some kind of

punching bag. But now she is acting really nice to me, a little too nice. Is she taking pity

on me or something after my memory loss story I made up? Or am I just reading in

between the lines too much? Oh well, at least I'm getting a free drink with a hot girl and I

can finally get some information!"

"Go to that table and I'll come back with some rum." Cindy explained to Jace as

she left to get them both some drinks.

"Sounds good!" Jace agreed and went to the table Cindy pointed at and sat

down. After about five minutes, Cindy came back with two wooden mugs filled to the

brim with golden brown rum. Cindy handed one of the mugs of rum to Jace and sat

down across from him. Jace took a sip of some rum, as did Cindy and both of their

faces lit up in delight. "Alright, so about this world." Cindy started to explain to Jace.

"This world is a complex, mysterious, and exciting world. Filled with pirates and

monsters and dangers everywhere you go. From what we know, this world has always

been like this. Always in the era of pirates. No one knows why and no one really cares I

guess. Everyone seems to be content with the way things are, and I'm not complaining.

Life is as good as it gets right now. But anyway, back to explaining this world. Even

though this world has been stuck in the same era ever since it began. There is a history.

At the beginning of this world, everything was peaceful. But as the years passed,

danger and evil began to appear. It started with monsters, then to evil captains, then all

the way to this mysterious darkness that has been plaguing this world for years.

Everyone calls this darkness The Shadow.

"Wait! Hold up! Did you just say The Shadow?!" Jace exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, I did. Do you know something about The Shadow, Jace?" Cindy

questioned.

"No, but hearing you call the darkness The Shadow just rang a bell in my

memory." Jace said back to Cindy.

"Didn't God say something about defeating "The Shadow that plagued not just

me, but this world?" Hmm, that's interesting." Jace wondered to himself.

"Is there any other information you can tell me about this world Cindy?" Jace

asked.

"There is some more stuff I can tell you, but it's kind of inner working things and

also things to promote you to join the Pirates Guild and make you a pirate. But I'll just

tell you anyway, since there's some pretty useful information. There are tons of ports all

around this world, good and bad ones. Each good port has a division of the Pirates

Guild. The Pirates Guild is used to recruit pirates to fight against The Shadow, the evil

captains, the evil pirates, and the monsters. The bad ports have the same sort of thing

that's similar to the Pirates Guild, but to recruit people into The Shadow's ranks and the

evil captain's ranks." Cindy inclined smartly.

"Wow! All this information is perfect! Thank you Cindy! And I would like to take

you up on this promotion and join the Pirates Guild so I can fight the evil in this world!"

Jace stated enthusiastically. "Joining the Pirates Guild seems to be my best bet to get at

The Shadow of this world and defeat it, whatever it is. But I'll probably find that out

later." Jace said under his breath.

"Did you say something Jace?" Cindy pressed.

"No, haha, nothing important, I was just talking to myself." Jace remarked with an

embarrassed chuckle.

"Ok then. Anyways, I'm going to go get the Pirates Guild Introduction Booklet for

you to read with the rest of your rum and dried prime beef you've been carrying around."

Cindy said and left with a skip in her step.

"Alright!" Jace called while Cindy skipped away. After waiting a bit and sipping at

his rum, and eating some more dried prime beef, Cindy came back and gave Jace the

Pirates Guild Introduction Booklet.

"Here ya go Jace! Have a good read!" Cindy said with a warm and happy smile.

"Thanks Cindy, I will." Jace said back with a smile as well.

"Alright, let's see what this booklet is all about." Jace flipped open the cover of

the Introduction Booklet and started to read while he took more sips of his rum and

chomps of his dried prime beef.