《The Reluctant Traveller》


 Chapter 1- Undead

    Vin slowly became aware of the world. This was new. Before he was floating around in a sea of nothingness, where even the thought of having a thought was far from his mind. Where there was no where or when or how. It just...was.


    After all that, when he finally came around to feeling the light rain that fell on his body, making the scratchy clothes cling to his skin, he didn''t think to complain. When he felt someone remove something from around his neck, haul him up and bodily throw him down on a pile, he didn''t shout or berate or pick a fight.


    He simply let it happen, content to finally feel, to finally think, to finally be...


    ...And also because he could tell...opening his eyes right now would not be smart.


    Maybe it was the atmosphere, the putrid smell that clung to his senses, the deadly silence of the people around him. (And there were people around him, he could tell by the shuffling feet and the clang of machinery)


    So Vin listened to the instinct. Letting a minute, then two pass, before he slightly peeked from beneath his eyelids.


    He was met by a pair of grey eyes, unmoving, unseeing. Dead.


    Eek!


    He sealed his lips shut and hoped nobody had heard that embarrassing sound. It would be awful if he was to die again after just waking up. Because that is what he could tell had happened.


    And it was also what had happened to the guy the giant of a man was pulling loose from the noose hung around his neck, hauling him up and throwing him next to Vin.


    On the other corpses.


    What in the flying fuck?!


    Pretending to be dead again, sweating profusely in the cold weather, he waited for the giant of a man to go away before he risked another look around at his surroundings.


    There was the noose, where the next man had just been killed by the executioner and was taken by the giant off it, the line of the doomed waiting for their turn and the guards.


    Oh, man!


    He had just come into this body (he could tell it was not his body, don''t ask how) just after its death. So, no more dying then.


    That was good. He tried clinging to this small flicker of hope. Only for it to be blown away in the next minute when he turned his head towards the bright light he could see in his peripheral.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Okay, this was just great!


    He saw a fire. A large one, a torch maybe? No, a forge. And some people were attending to it. Blowing air using a lage accordian like thing, and throwing in fuel. All was okay until this point. Yeah, no this was no big deal.


    Until he saw the fuel.


    A man, standing near a large slab of rock with an axe was chopping up pieces for fueling the fire. After he was done, he would pick up the next source of fuel, remove the hats and shoes and throw them in a different pile, chop up the arms and legs, separate the head and torso and add to a large mound on top of the already high one on his side.


    The bodies, the dead bodies that he was a part of(!!) was fucking fuel.


    Oh my fucking Ch--!


    This was macabre at its best. Executing and cutting people up, in front of the people next in line. Talk about knowing your fate.


    Grrhh


    ''Pretend to be dead, pretend to be DEADDD!''


    But Vin did not need to be told twice when he heard the giant groan from carrying the weight of the very fat dead body.


    Yeah, what tough luck you have dude!


    His next thought was, ''That would make a lot of fuel.''


    Shaking his head to clear off the nonsense ''Okay, okay. This is just a dream. A weird ass dream. Who in the hell dreams this stuff up?! No, no, it''s okay! It''s ok!'' He frantically explained to himself.


    Only one way to find out.


    Avoiding looking at the dead-DEAD- man next to him, he stretched his hand to his thigh, and pinched. Hard.


    "A---!"


    He bit back the shriek before it escaped him fully. Damnit, it hurt!


    Peeking through one of his eyes, he confirmed that no one had heard him, what with the light rain, and the roaring people eating fire and the dying people.


    Small mercies.


    ''Okay. Time to focus more on a strategy.'' He revved himself up. ''Think.''


    He controlled his hyperventilation lest somebody see. He had to, if he didn''t want to end up being butchered.


    Rttt!


    The ground beneath him started shaking. What now?1


    An earthquake?!


    No. The people around him looked too nonchalant for that.


    Then he realised. Only he was moving. Only he and the corpses beneath him.


    And he was moving towards the fire. When he chanced a look, someone was pulling a rope that moved the rattling wheels beneath the platform they were on. Towards the fire.


    ''Okay. You can panic now.''


    And he proceeded to do so. He had no idea how no one noticed the moving corpse.


    His head was swinging around to find something, anything! The man pulling the platfform over the rails was looming closer and closer.


    There!


    He closed his eyes again as he reached the man. The hauling began again, this time to get the corpses off the patform.


    When he was put down and the man was busy with pulling another body, he started inching towards the slope he had spotted.


    His only way to escape from this shitty nightmare!


    The dirt slope was off to the side. Far enough away that he could reach it in the split seconds he was not noticed. The dark and stormy sky helped. The ashes flew from the forge and spread through the air, providing just enough coverage to aid his escape.


    He tried not to think of what the ashes were from as they got in his nose, and settled on his body.


    ''Ugh''


    Settled in the small patch just below the stone cliff (thank heavens!), he spit out the ashes he could taste in disgust.


    His hands just on the rocky edge, Vin watched in horror the continued hanging and chopping of bodies.


    ''WHAT THE FUCK.''

 Chapter 2- Now what?

    He continued watching the scene in wonder, taking deep even breaths at the masacre.


    The blood had seeped into the ground below where the bodies were being cut drenching the soil red.


    A few people had tried to run from their fate, but they had been shot in the legs by the soldiers, and their writhing bodies thrown into the fire, alive.


    No one tried after the third.


    Crouched down, Vin took this all in. He didn''t know who he had been, or how he knew he was now Vin, just that he did. And it would be in his best interest to get out of here, NOW!


    Taking a look over his shoulder, he was met with a straight drop into the rocky waters below. The storm made the waves crashing on the side even more menacing.


    He shuddered, took a deep breath, and considered his options.


    ''Hell, even if I stay here the entire time these people are cutting and killing, it''s not a bad deal.'' They had to leave sometime.


    And so he stayed. The hours passed, and though his legs cramped up, and his back hurt, and the bugs were biting his legs mercilessly he didn''t make a sound.


    It was nearly impossible to tell how much time had passed in this place, the only way one could was by looking at the farthest point in the sky that the eye could see, where the rays had evidently broken through. No such luck here.


    It was still spooky and dark.


    The furnace had kept burning, the people on the top of the cliff had dwindled down to just the guards, the executioner, the large man, and the people attending to the furnace.


    "We should move out now, the fire should be set for the next few days, atleast." The man, who had been largely behind the torch announced as he came out.


    Looking at the slope system he had set up to keep feeding the flames, he nodded assuredly and walked past the people down the rock, his fingers picking at the toothpick in his hand.


    The other followed his cue, hurriedly packing up their tools- large blades, saws- and the caps and shoes they had collected into another cloth that the large man carried on his back. They filed out after the man.


    Vin was still frozen, unseen in his spot. As soon as the last straggling lad left his view, he crept out of the side of the slope.


    Crawing on his hands and knees, he crossed the rock to the other side and watched as the people descenced the snake like path down to the beach below.


    He stayed, watching. When they had all reached the sand he glanced a last look back at the ashy surface he was lying on, and shivering, followed after the troupe.


    ====The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    They trekked on, with Vin following from a distance carefully placing his steps. He watched as they stopped at the foot of the incline, and went off to the side with few rocks placed in a circle.


    He hid behind a large stone as the execution crew sat down, placing the items in their hands in the middle.


    "Well lads, " He started, "and lady." He added at the sight of the scowling woman on his right.


    Picking with his toothpick, he continued,  "What do we have today?"


    A bellow sounded through the clearing, "What we have here, old boy, is little Johnny almost pissing ''imself!" A figure from the farther side cackled, clapping a queasy looking young boy on the shoulder hard enough that he almost fell from his perch.


    "He WHAT? Hehe." Many answering laughs broke out.


    "It''s alright, young man. Nearly fainted my first day here."


    "Oh my gods! Good lord and all the others above! It would have been a damn better sight!"


    "Hey! Lay off the poor guy!"


    "Oh, sod off Charlie! He can talk for himself!"


    "The defacto leader of the group interjected, "That''s enough, now. Settle down. Give Johnny some space..."


    "...In case he wants to piss again."


    The laughter renewed. This time, even the young boy was smiling wanely.


    They finally quieted down after a while and opened the bundles they were carrying. In the larger ones were the shoes and hats that they had collected, another contained some baubles, a coin here, a broken down pocket watch, a matchbox, a few kernels of corn, and even a sewing kit among many other items. The last one, the leader kept in his hand as he opened and displayed the large silver and gold coins inside.


    "This here, is what we received for taking care of the criminal scum. Fifteen silver and four gold yaks. Ick and Oik,"


    He threw a silver coin in the direction of the two men each. They jumped up to catch their earning...


    "OW!"


    "Bollocks!"


    ...and immediately bumped into each other.


    The glared at each other for a while, and picked up the dropped coins.


    "Rory and Dan." They got two coins each.


    "Thanks Joe."


    This continued till the seven people had received their share. Joe gave the man who had been in charge of cutting the bodies up with a gold coin, and folded the last 3 of them back in the cloth which he put in his pocket.


    "This will go into paying for the ship and repairs. Good work."


    ========


    It took another hour for Vin to move from his place, as the people fell asleep.


    After the money, they had each taken a share of the hats and shoes, and the knick-knacks, and settled into a well-practiced routine.


    A fire was build, and the blood and gore and grime was cleaned off their hands, and a meagre meal of freshly caught rabbits later most of them had went off to sleep with only Ick and Oik tending to the fire, dozing in their seats.


    Vin took this chance and crept out. He steadily placed his feet as he approached, looking at their faces to make sure they were really asleep.


    "Hmm"  He froze as the large man grumbled, turning around to find a softer space in the sand.


    He waited, and waited, and when Dan did not move again, he continued to the softly dying fire, and the pouch he had been eyeing earlier.


    It had mostly been emptied, but there was one thing that had caught his attention.


    A small ashy rock.


    Nothing flashy, and likely nothing of any monetary value.


    But very, very familiar.


    He opened the knot, the napking falling around his palms as the leftover items lay in the flat of his hand. They had likely been taken from the corpses above, and discarded as useless by these...killers? Executioners? He wasn''t sure, and he wasn''t going to ask.


    There!


    He dug out the rock. The grey colour was very nondescript, and there was no shine. No wonder these...thugs?...didn''t take this when dividing the loot.


    He stared at the stone, the three indents in the middle, layed out in the shape of the triangle taking him back to a moment in a life he didn''t even remember.


    This was the last thing he had touched, wherever he was before the void. And it had burned him.


    "Oi! Where did you come from?"

 Chapter 3- Here I go

    His body froze up at the voice.


    "Hey! I''m talking to you!"


    He slowly turned around, apprehensive at what he had got himself into.


    It was Ick, shakily holding a large dagger in his hands, his feet struggling to find purchase on the rocky floor.


    He was trying to stay strong even as his face betrayed his fear at the unknown man.


    Vin raised his hands slowly in surrender, "Hey, hey. I am not here to hurt you."


    ''What do I do now? That was a stupid move to make!''


    "Please put that down."


    Ick kicked the guy resting on his side with his boots, waking him up. Slowly, Vin found himself facing down a barrage of weapons from all the previously sleepling people.


    The gruff intimidating man who had been in charge of cutting the bodies up to fire-sized pieces(gulp) scowled at him, terrifying him more than the others could. He approached with his axe in his hands.


    But the defining blow came from back and he was unconscious. <i>Again</i>.


    ======


    The troupe continued their walk the next morning, the bundles on their shoulders and weapons aloft as they journeyed in the fresh and warm(er, slightly) light of the morning. The clouds still had not faded away, so maybe it wasn''t morning, but only afternoon?


    The interloper came to in a swaying motion, his eyes opening to another ashy sky. He tried moving his hands, his legs, no use. Looking at the sides, he could make out the people who were now apparently kidnapping him.


    <i>How fantastic.</i>


    When he moved his eyes towards his limbs, they were hogtied. To a stick. And he was hanging like a, well, a hog.


    Just what he needed this morning.


    No one was talking anymore, there was no laughter. Everyone was tense, and looking at the man that had somehow managed to sneak in when they were sleeping.


    He really had not been thinking.


    But then, he remembered, the stone. How did he even recognise it? And from a life he remembered nothing else about?


    Was this how he had travelled here?


    ''Not the time, Vin. You are tied to a stick, upside down, and being marched to who knows where. Probably, your death.''


    All he had seen since he had entered this world was death. They could cool it down a bit, honestly.


    "Ahmm. Excuse me? Wh-where you are taking me?" He ventured, trying to talk to the young slim guy, Johnny.


    No response


    "Please, let me go. I did not do anything!"


    The only woman in the group scoffed at him.


    "But you were going to." The bald large man responded.


    "No! I wasn''t. I swear! I wasn''t going to hurt you! Or steal from you!"If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "What were you doing there then?" Johnny asked.


    "I-I was...just," He thought for a while, and settled on, "curious. Please, let me go. Don''t kill me!"


    At this most of the people laughed. He fought between incredulity and fright.


    Even though he hadn''t gotten any answers, the atmosphere around him had calmed down considerably. No longer were they walking in tense silence, any there were even a few jokes and ribs, a lot of them at his expense.


    "Think his clothes might fit you, Johnny boy? He won''t need them after he is dead."


    "I call his shoes!"


    "The eyes are the best part. Just delicious with salt." Looking directly in Vin''s eyes, the gruff man with the axe stated, "Dark eyes taste best."


    His smirk sent shivers down Vin''s spine. Hanging helplessly, he whimpered in fear as he tried twisting his hands and legs to get free of the bonds.


    It didn''t work, and now his wrists were chaffed, and he was sure so were his ankles. Turning his neck as far as it would reach, he tried determining where he was being taken.


    In front of his eyes loomed a ship. Small, just big enough for a crew of eight, and their prisoner. The waves and winds were string blowing strong, the ship dancing on the rhythm and the many folded sails flapping in the wind, struggling to get free.


    ======


    <i>Thump!</i>


    He was heavily thrown on the ground after they had released his bonds from the branch. Before he could take in the vessel he was in, more hands were grabbing him, roughly stretching his tied arms to the hook on the mast where he was promptly hanged again.


    Vin groaned at the painful treatment of his arms, first on the way over and now this. His feet were blessfully free though. He twisted his ankles, checking the damage trepidiously, as he watched the crew get back to work.


    With a lot of heaving and grunts, they unfolded the sails, pulled back the anchor and soon enough the ship was in the open sea.


    The day continued like that, and finally, the bow of the ship breached the ash-laden clouds that had settled into the place like fog, sunlight spilling onto the deck to the cheers of the crew.


    It looked to be around noon now, the sun beating down heavily on the mast.


    Vin had begun sweating profusely after a while, too scared to take his eyes off the people he was surrounded by. The earlier remarks were still playing in his head.


    Were they going to kill him? He didn''t know.


    Once he had been sure that no one was paying attention, he had started working on the ropes, on the knots. The hook was too high to swing out off, and he was not fit enough to attempt a climb. He had tried moving around, feeling around the mast where he was tied.


    So engrossed in his task, he almost missed the approaching man.


    The leader of the group, who had been absent until now, regarding him thoughtfully. Still nibbling on his toothpick, he looked at his prisoner from head to toe, and asked, "Who are you?"


    Vin opened his mouth in surprise, is voice croaking with dryness as he answered, "Vin."


    The leader hummed, "Why were you in our camp?"


    "...I was...just curious." He stammered out, wincing.


    "Yeah, you said that." The leader brushed away. He took another few steps till he was only a few feet away and asked again, "Why. were. you. in. our. camp?"


    He stressed each word, his voice not raising at all, still very calm and poised.


    His hands were in his pockets like he couldn''t care less about the answer. Vin was terrified.


    He thought about his answer for a while. Should he tell them about the stone?


    And say what? That a magical stone brought him here? Yeah, right.


    He tried with the next best thing he could come up with, "I was hungry."


    The leader looked at him properly this time. He didn''t say anything, as he left Vin hanging on the mast.


    Vin looked at the retreating back and sighed lightly. Moving his hands again, he resumed his search on the mast as inconspicuously as he could.


    =======


    It was quite some time after that, and the sun had dipped down considerably when a shadow blocked the light from a small lantern hanging in front of the cabin door.


    It was the woman.


    She looked at him expressionlessly from where she stood. In her hands she held two bowls with spoons, and extended one of them to him. He looked down at it, and up at her. Then he motioned at his hands helplessly.


    She sighed in irritation as she took out a knife and cut the rope, dropping him mercilessly on his ass.


    "Ow!"


    He looked at her, indignant, as she again extended the bowl of sludge to him. He wordlessly took it, his arms protesting the movement.


    "From the Cap''n." She stated, and looking at him one more time, left him to eat.


    He had only been trying to get out, obviously, when he told the leader that he had been looking for food, but only after he had eaten a few bites did he realise how true it was.


    Gulping down whatever it was was easier than he had thought. With half of the bowl finished, he looked up at the deck of the ship.


    Everyone else was also eating.


    He had been so tired, that at some point he had stopped paying attention. He had also stopped trying to cut the rope, and just hung there helplessly.


    The realisation startled and scared him, as he ate the rest of the food with gusto.


    "Land, ho!"