Welfare and Warfare

Chapter 1

Unknown Time

The beach was not made of sand but consisted of glass-like pebbles, all of them a different shade; the light of the moon shone through these transparent glass pebbles and cast a kaleidoscope of colours along the beach. With each trudging step, the glass pebbles under the women's boots crushed and smashed as she hauled herself out of the ocean, clothes drenched and hanging heavily off of her cold body. She almost collapsed fully but stopped herself with a stagger, only enough strength to hold herself for a moment before she dropped to her knees in exhaustion from swimming. The glass pebbles cut into her kneecaps. The woman hissed through her teeth in pain, with no energy left to cry or scream. She remained on her knees for a little longer, tempted to just lie down all together, even if it meant risking her body being cut and bleeding. At least she would be able to rest.

With a strained whimper, she pulled herself back on her feet and began to walk again in search of somewhere to lie down and rest properly. Along the beach, she found it jutted up instantly into a tall cliff face, too tall for her to climb in her current state. As it acted like a wall, barricading her from what lay beyond the beach, she had to keep walking beside it in hopes that she would find somewhere that was not covered in glass.

The woman did not know how long she walked along this glass beach. It seemed to go on for eternity, and the glass pebbles that shattered underneath her step were slowly tearing through the soles of her boots. How long before her feet would become bloody and scraped?

Eventually, she spotted a part of the beach not covered in glass, in an alcove cut into the side of the mountain, the cut seemingly unnatural, too precise. But it was still shelter.

Wanting desperately to lay down, the woman hobbled her way over and then froze at the mouth of the alcove as she saw the dim fire of a portable stove and the shadow of a figure in the corner.

The figure stirred as if they were awakening from a nap. "Huh?" he grumbled, rubbing his eyes, then bolted upright as he saw the woman at the alcove entrance. "Oh..." said the man as he stared at her.

The woman stared back, unable to move due to how exhausted she was. She glanced back at the endless beach and then to the alcove, where there was a small spot opposite the man that was free of glass pebbles.

"Oh, dear child, you look drenched and positively exhausted!" exclaimed the man. "Sit! Sit! I'll cook something for you!"

Hesitant, the woman considered her options. She could risk it and sit down with this man and recover her strength and have a hot meal, or continue walking across the glass beach in hopes of finding somewhere else to sit if she could find in time before collapsing from exhaustion or her feet bled as her the soles of her boots would be cut open soon. However, this was the Eternal Abyss and...

Wait, how did she know that?

How did she know where she was?

As far back as she could remember, the woman had dropped from the sky moments ago, plummeting into the ocean and almost drowning because of those monsters in the depths...

She could not remember anything further back. Nothing at all.

But she knew that she could not trust everyone in the Eternal Abyss; they didn't have to look like monsters to be dangerous. Could she trust this stranger? He was offering shelter and food. A trap or kindness?

Again, the woman weighed her options and decided to risk sitting down opposite the elderly man, giving in to her desire to rest. She supposed if the man meant her harm, he could have easily done so already, what with her current exhausted state.

The stranger retrieved a silver packet from a bag and tore it open, squeezing out the contents into a small metal pan above the portable cooking hob. With a click of a dial, a flame ignited underneath the pot, and eventually, the food began to bubble. A rich smell wafted into the woman's nose. It was some kind of stew containing multiple different types of meat. It smelt so delicious that the woman was half tempted to take the pot and eat it cold, but she kept her patience, still cautious of the stranger.