A New Story

Moving On

Tane was startled from his slumber by the caws emitting from a murder of crows. He groaned at the rude awakening, and all too suddenly became conscious of the wet ground beneath him, leaving half of his body completely soaked. He let out a lengthy sigh while he gradually opened his eyes, only to tightly snap and squeeze them shut again. The sun was rising, and of course it had to be directly in his face. With another groan, Tane rolled over, hiding himself from the ball of fire in the sky, trying to ignore his now drenched clothes.

Great, this day is already crap, he thought.

Tane was all too accustomed to the feeling of the world being against him. All too aware of the fact that it was something he deserved...all of it. He could only blame himself, and it was slowly becoming too much to bear, seeming to only feel anger and pain anymore. His entire being continued to feel cumbrous.

The crows had now become unbearable, snapping Tane, from his sullen thoughts. Propelling himself to his feet and snapping his head to the sound, Tane gawked at them as they nonchalantly ravaged the contents of his bag, a mass portion already tossed across the dew-dropped ground.

"Oi, piss off!" Flailing his arms in the air, Tane closed the distance, yelling profanities at the vexing crows. He felt on fire, his face he knew for sure was beet red, feeling every bit of blood rush to the area. The anger that was seeping its way up through his body was formidable, something he had notably observed was getting worse throughout the last few months.

One by one the crows dispersed, leaving Tane to deal with the aftermath. They had managed to drag it a good distance from where it had originally been, up by his head. And, to Tanes' dismay, was able to find every single last crumb of food that he had left. He walked over and bent down picking up his dishevelled bag, tilting his head in sync, looking at his belongings on the dew-dropped morning floor. He spent the next few minutes gathering up his things, placing them back where they belonged, sulkily mumbling to himself in the process, before double checking his person and pack, to confirm he had all of his assets.

Once he was convinced he had everything he then moved towards a branch that had protruded from a very large tree, where a sharp trail of glistening sunlight was currently beaming down upon. After taking off his attire, he placed his cloak, shirt and trousers, over the branch in hopes that they would dry, even a little, before he ventured off into the unknown. The last thing he needed was to get sick on top of everything else.

He noticed a small river to the right of where he had settled that night and made his way over. Slowly moving his way into the bitter stream, he strewed the icy water on his face and through his hair, trying to rinse off the memories of what had happened.

Rubbing his eyes and shaking his head, he stared through his now dripping hair as the droplets fell from the strands. He took in his surroundings. There were various greens and browns scattering the landscape around him, apart from the small river, there was nothing much else around, nothing of interest anyway. The trees all towered over him; the majority of the floor was covered by an array of trunks, the only large clear patch was where he, himself, was standing and where he had made camp. Tane continued to look around as the water from his hair trickled down past his forehead, falling into his eyes and down his face, the brisk morning air stinging where the trails of wetness had been.

He knew he had to get moving. Having no idea where he was or what he was doing, he caught himself hesitating on what to do, where to go. He was living each day as it came, no real reason to do anything but.

He tried to get his bearings. He needed to find another town, or anything, now that he had no rations. Tane audibly scoffed. Who knew how long it was going to take to find somewhere populated, let alone finding any more food. He could be travelling for days, and by that time, he'd have probably perished. He would either have to steal more, try and scavenge or pick up any job that he could find, all the while getting scarcely paid. All of which were not great options.

Tane took a seat on a stump, and pulled out a book from his knapsack. Herbology, The Do's and Don'ts, it was his mothers. The book was one of the only things he had left of her, something he treasured wholeheartedly. Not only would it feed him memories of his life before, but it was also full of so much information, Tane, was adamant that he was going to learn it all, just like his mother.

After about an hour had passed, Tane checked on his clothes, thankful they had dried enough, with only just a few wet patches dotted over his garments. He yanked them off the branch, hurryingly putting them back on, not wanting to waste anymore daylight.

He made his way, or so he hoped, out of the woods that he had resided in, almost dragging his feet, kicking the dirt in the process. He was outweighing his options, feeling overwhelmed with the lack of them. He decided that whatever he chose, it didn't really matter. It wouldn't change anything for the better, it would only keep things dormant, the way it had always been since that day.

After a few hours and what felt like an eternity of walking, a faint dirt path arose in the young man's eye line. Tane closed his eyes and took in a breath. His dark eyes opened and he let out a deep relieved sigh, eyeing the path still in front of him, just peeking out under the heaps of foliage a few yards away from where he stood.

Hopeful that it would lead somewhere worth his time, he hurried over, grateful for the safety of the trail. He quietly and begrudgingly thanked the gods, trying not to think about the anxiety that was seeping through his body with each moment he stayed in the forest. All that was left to do was to follow the path.

Unbeknownst to Tane, it would eventually lead to a quaint hamlet, called Dimwell. Where a diverse group of humanoid creatures reside behind the walls. Tane, already being accustomed to the majority of them, wouldn't bat an eye; sadly, something that couldn't be said for more than half of Sentius, with the world becoming more hateful and bigoted as the years went by. Dimwell, being one of the oldest settlements, was also one of the most forgotten. Whether this was due to the creatures that populate the area, or because of the emptiness surrounding Dimwell and the South West of Sentius,, no one could really tell. It was known in Sentius that Dimwell was cut off, reserved and happy being left alone from any conflict or disputes that arise in the realm. Thankfully for Tane, Dimwell was always ready to welcome those who are lost, homeless or searching for a new beginning.