《SCHWING!》
Chapter 1: Seb
Before he realised it, the man was stood in the middle of a field.
''Wha...'' he blinked rapidly as he took another perplexed look at his surroundings.
There were several strips of corrugated greenery that stretched as far as the eye could see. A small cluster of houses accompanied by a church. A road paved by dirt. Not a single telephone pole in sight. It was all very primitive.
The man could only scratch his cheek in confusion.
Only moments before had he been passing through the city centre. Despite the chill of morning, the city was bustling with commuters rushing to wherever they needed to be as their days began. The man, on the other hand, had been heading home. His shoulders slumped, eyes weary. He had just clocked out of an all-nighter and was making the trek home. You see, the man was an office worker. Think the smell of coffee, standing by a watercooler gossiping about the recent developments in soap dramas, the sound of telephones ringing repeatedly. Although, the man couldn''t quite relate to the former. He mostly spent his days drilling through stacks of the hell that is paperwork. It was a job and a half. Corporate was no joke, but he got by. The money was a far-stretch from what he was brought up on. Well, until the bills ate a majority of it up.
Speaking of which, the man was still in his suit as well as having his workbag hung from his shoulder.
The corporate was disorientated with the change in scenery. It was jarring. The sounds of idle chatter, traffic lights beeping and car engines had become the hums of birds and the gentle blow of wind. The air had somehow become lukewarm too. Hell, the air even felt cleaner. It almost made the corporate choke.
He began to consider if he had been drugged or was merely hallucinating. The latter was more plausible. It wasn''t the first time fatigue had caught up to him. Even so, it all felt too real. The corporate even rubbed the sleep from his eyes just to make sure.
Then there was a shout.
The corporate looked up to find a man approaching in the distance. His face seemed to contort with disdain as he looked to be violently pointing in his direction. The man appeared to be wearing old timey clothing along with a straw hat. But he was so far away, the corporate couldn''t quite distinguish anything for sure. He had to be some sort of farmer though.
The corporate opted to wave in hopes the audible anger in the farmer''s voice would subside. He had raised his white flag. As he did though, the farmer aggressively picked up what looked like to be a pitchfork as he stomped closer. It made the corporate instinctively take a step back. At that point, he had felt a notable change in the ground under his feet. It was then that the corporate understood the farmer''s discourse.
He had unknowingly stepped on a bed of flowers.
''Shit. That''s my bad. I''ll pay for them. No sweat'' the corporate had begun digging into his workbag, desperately searching for his wallet. He whipped out an old, worn leather wallet that had seen better days. The corporate''s fingers struggled for a crumbled note. He opted for a ten great British pound note. He gently held it out, wishing the situation would end there.
But it all seemed to fall on deaf ears.
The corporate then realised he couldn''t understand a single word the farmer was shouting. His words were foreign to him, alien even. It certainly wasn''t English or any other language that he had ever been exposed to before. It only made him question his situation more. Just where the hell was he and how did he get there?
Soon enough, the farmer had friends just as pissed off as him. They too carried pitchforks, but some opted to simply use their fists. They began charging at the corporate with great vigour.
The only thing the corporate could think to do was turn-tail and make a run for it and so he did. Not before gently placing the tenner on the ground of course.
Sebastian Wilhelm was at a loss. After losing the angry mob of royally pissed-off farmers, Seb found himself even more fatigued than before. He had never been the active type growing up, always choosing to study instead. "Choosing" should be used lightly though. It was his parents most of the time forcing him to study until his fingers gave out. Nothing changed come adulthood. Working anything corporate ended up being a glorified study session, just with even longer, tiring hours and shitty bosses that would often break several health codes whenever Seb was involved. He didn''t hate it, he had spent a ton of time giving up any form of any real social life for a job like the one he ended up with, but he didn''t exactly like it either.
Seb reached into his workbag and pulled an energy drink out. He gulped it down like a dog depraved of water.
''Kah!'' Seb wiped his mouth dry as he crushed the can with his hands. It was one of the only two drinks he actually had on him. Seb would always go to the local corner shop near his apartment to stock up on lunch before shifts. Given the seemingly-endless hours he always endured, he always made sure to double down on energy drinks. If he slept on the job there''d most definitely be repercussions. A lecture from his evil boss. Though he wasn''t evil really. Seb couldn''t bring himself to hate him or anyone for that matter. People were just people at the end of the day. If Seb had judged someone simply on their flaws, what type of person would that make him?
''Oh right'' Seb dug into his bag again and pulled out his cellphone. It wasn''t anything too fancy but it got the job done. He had brought it second-hand for a relatively cheap price. An absolute bargain. Seb had always been a minimalist and only brought the phone out of necessity. Since Seb always was helping out at work, he would usually be called in the middle of the night to run errands for other people.
No signal.
Seb''s head dropped to his hands. He gave a deep sigh of resignation. He tried to reconfirm his situation. Seb forced himself together to think rationally. Freaking out wouldn''t help him at all. He couldn''t throw in the towel at any cost.
From the look of the plain fields around him, he at least still had to be in Europe. He was only a flight away from home. But then that raised the question of where the hell in Europe he actually was. He probably could''ve gotten answers back in the village. If he could have just settled the dispute and looked for someone that could speak even just a little bit of English, he would''ve been set. But that was no longer an option. Probably never was to begin with. Thinking about the village though, it seemed rather simplistic. From what Seb could make out, the houses were made out of materials like straw, wood and rocks. The only thing that stood out to him as relatively normal was the church. Seb surmised he could''ve been in some developing country, but in this day and age, it seemed unlikely. Perhaps it was just Seb. He didn''t know much about the world outside of corporate. Hell, he didn''t even know how to hold conversations.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Seb checked the rest of the contents in his bag. Aside the energy drinks, his wallet and phone Seb only had some leftover lunch left and a heap of documents. Narrowing down, Seb had to focus on his food consumption. He''d have to ration out his leftovers until he could find help. Luckily enough, Seb wasn''t that hungry so he could hold out for a while.
With his energy somewhat replenished, he threw everything back into his bag including his litter. Seb stood up and smacked his cheeks. He had been sat down on the side of a dirt road and decided upon following it north in the hopes of finding some form of civilisation that won''t attack him. They''d hopefully help him out and then he''d be on the first flight home. If they could understand him that is. Seb could only pray someone knew English.
And so, off he went in search of help...
Exhausted. That was all Seb could think. He had ended up walking for a few hours a least. His phone had gone dead at some point, so he couldn''t even what the time was. At this point, he had rationed a majority of his leftovers, leaving him only with a small piece of sandwich left as well as his other energy drink. Sebt had slowly begun to regret his choice in lunch for work. Speaking with hindsight, he should''ve picked up some water and something that was more appetising to snack on. His legs were close to giving out and he was now wheezing for air. Seb had continuously walked ever since he had decided to. Stubbornly against the idea of breaks. They''d only prolong him in his mind. On the upside, Seb had actually found civilisation.
Seb had stumbled upon a city. Granted, it was still far in the distance, but it wouldn''t be too long before he had somewhere to rest and eat. Given he was living off not only on the fatigue of a long shift but all this walking, he would have to postpone his flight home just a tad longer to sleep everything off.
In words, the city was spectacular. It was beautiful. There was so much blue and green, Seb was overstimulated. A grand lake laid out before his eyes too. Most notably, there was a large cathedral that stood on par with the palace in regards to height. Yes. A palace. It was like London and Buckingham Palace but cleaner. It was what they should''ve been.
Seb''s mouth gaped in awe at the view. It was enough for him to momentarily forget all the pain in his legs. Again, there was a lack of any real technological advancements but it was a step in the right direction. Although, there was this ever-growing feeling of doubt in Seb''s stomach. Something about this entire place felt off. But he cast it aside. He had the matter at hand to worry about. That being himself.
''Ah!'' without realising a horse had come trotting along, almost trampling Seb to death.
Seb had just about managed to hop out of the way. It wasn''t until he had realised he was stood in the middle of a crossroads that he had realised he was a fault.
The horse was drawing a stage wagon. Surrounding the wagon was a formation of hooded figures that walked alongside the vehicle. They all appeared to be the same height and rather bulky. But Seb couldn''t make out too much due to their cloaks.
Seb''s heart went on all giddy. Like a hopeless parent reuniting with their lost child, Seb stumbled toward the wagon. Words unable to come out of his mouth.
Schwing!
A sword was thrusted at Seb''s neck by one of the hooded figures. The cloak had concealed any sort of threat Seb would''ve thought twice about. Maybe he had just become so desperate he slipped up without thought. The pointy of the blade sat on Seb''s throat. One gulp and there was no doubt in Seb''s mind blood would come gushing out. Game over.
Seb''s breath hitched as if he had just been submerged in ice-cold water. An illimitable tremor rose from within his body. His legs began to tremble. Were they all hiding weapons behind their cloaks?
The hooded assailant with their sword to him glared fiercely at Seb. Their iris was a full red which threw off Seb a bit, but he hadn''t the chance to delve on it further considering his situation. It was an indifferent look that made Seb almost piss him off on the spot. It was as if what they were about to do was no different from gutting a fish.
Seb squeezed his eyes shut. Ready for what would come next. His life began flashing before his eyes. All those years living under the guise of his parents had left him with nothing for himself. Sure, he had gotten by just like anyone else. But the difference between them and him were they had desires. A reason to live. A will of their own. For whatever reason, Seb began to recall the first day of his job. He had woken up in the early morning with a spring to his step. Seb could never recall having another feeling like that after the moment he sat down at his desk for the first time. It was a moment his parents had built up for him for a majority of his life up until that point. But as soon as he sa downt, he was hit with a stack of documents, he was condescended by his veteran co-workers and he ended up working several more hours than he should''ve on his first day. And then it repeated the next day. And the next. And then the one after that, and so on...
At what point had he lived for himself? What desires did aspire for? Did he even have any for himself?
...
A delicate voice beckoned from inside the stage wagon and the sword at Seb''s throat was swiftly torn away.
Seb nervously rubbed his throat, confused to as why he was still breathing. His mouth was dry at this point, it was like he had swallowed sandpaper.
The gentle voice called again, saying something obscure. Well, that was Seb''s hope for communication thrown out of the window. The lack of English was becoming more and more concerning.
''Huh?'' Seb was pushed toward the wagon by the same hooded figure that almost put him to sleep. They pointed sternly as a footman gracefully opened the wagon door. Seb complied and slowly approached it.
Inside of the wagon were two people sat opposite one another.
The closest to the door was a dark-skinned woman clad in armour. She had long crismon hair that matched her eyes. They were exactly like the ones the hooded figure had. The woman was slouched, resting her feet on the seat opposite. A greatsword rested against her. As the wagon door was opened, she seemed rather tense. Her eyes directly on Seb, never blinking. It left him feeling confused. She was a rather attractive woman by all metrics, so Seb was on the border of being scared or shy. He could hardly meet her gaze. She was like a model. The type of girl you can only fantasise about because she''s far out of your league, a common occurrence for Seb. He could hardly even look at some cashiers at restaurants. He practically fell in love with every woman he laid eyes on.
Aside Seb fawning over the woman he had just met, his attention was drawn to the other person in the wagon.
A sleek, green face gave a gentle smile to Seb. Scales ran across their face, like those of a reptile. They were Human, but not quite. It was hard to explain. Seb was unable to make out what he was seeing. It was like something out of a movie almost.
The lizard person spoke with elegance and grace. They were the words of a woman. But it was still hard to tell that much. He couldn''t understand anything she was saying. But she did have very feminine features. Seb thought it best to take it at face-value. It kind of made him scared in a way. The entire day had started to feel like one big fever dream.
The lizard woman fell silent for a moment with an expecting look on her face. Clearly waiting for an answer from Seb.
Seb was at a loss. He didn''t know what to do in a situation like this. He considered sign language, but his memory of it was poor. He could only remember how to say hi at best.
The awkward silence was suddenly shattered by the redhead slamming a hand against the interior in frustration. She went on to shout a lot at Seb. Her anger signified to him that they were probably just a bunch of obscenities. Seb could only wince at her screaming without a way to speak for himself.
The lizard woman spoke once more and the redhead fell reluctantly silent, her arms crossed like a spoiled brat. She removed her feet from the seat opposite too. Finally, the lizard woman beckoned Seb with her hand. Clearly offering him a seat inside the wagon. Offering him a free ride.
Seb rejoiced inwardly. He felt like dancing. There would be no more walking from here on out. He was free from the restraints of fatigue. Even so, he was still quite reluctant about the whole thing. He looked at her timidly, unsure whether to accept. But his chances were far and few, he''d be crazy to give this one up. He wouldn''t know when, or if, he''d get lucky again like this. Seb had nothing left to lose.
Seb stepped inside the wagon slowly and took a seat. Smiling and nodded timorously. The wagon door was shut and the redhead punched the ceiling, the wagon jerked into motion. The wagon wobbled against the uneven terrain of the dirt roads, Seb body moved in a similar motion as he sat awkwardly trying not to meet the redhead''s fierce glaze. He could practically smell the intent to kill on her.
And as he reeled in on everything that had happened up until then, the doubt in his stomach came to a full realisation. Seb had the feeling idea he wasn''t on Earth anymore...