In a small village hidden within the woods lived a 13 year old boy named Dren.
The village had no name, simply because the 100 or so residents of the village knew it simply as "the village"
To them, who never set foot outside of the woods, there was no need to give a name to something that that, to their knowledge, is one of a kind.
Dren, just as every other member of the village, had one law etched into his mind by the village elders.
Never under any circumstances exit the woods.
For that very reason, Dren's life was quite simple.
He'd either hunt, play with his friends or sleep. Everything else was taken care of by the women of the village and there wasn't much he could discover or explore within the woods that wasn't found previously by his predecessors.
And so, Dren resolved himself for one more boring day in the village.
"Hey Dren, I think i found a rabbit hole near the lake!" Flom, Dren's little brother, declared enthusiastically. "I bet mom will be thrilled to have some rabbit for dinner!"
"Yes, and dad will kill you if he knew you went that far out without a hunter"
Dren knew where his little brother was going with this, but he hoped he'll take the hint and go bother someone else. He had no patience for his brother's adventures today. The weather was too nice for that and he was just about to close his eyes and dose off.
"C'mon Dren, you're basically a hunter now" Flom said pleadingly. "I'm sure he won't be mad if you come along"
"Flom, can't you see i'm trying to sleep here?"
"Please Dren, if you come i promise i won't ask you to do anything ever again"
"Argh fine". At this point Dren gave up and went into his house to go grab his spear. He knew full well that Flom wasn't going to keep his promise, but he also knew he's going to nag him until he agrees to come along with him.
"I think it's time for you to give up Flom" Drem said.
The two brothers have been circling the lake for over an hour without finding any rabbits, holes or any combination of the two. Drem was already extremely annoyed by the situation, which was evident by his tone of voice and his facial expression, but...
"It's somewhere around here, i'm sure of it!"
It seems Flom had no intention of giving up whatsoever.
"Stop being so fucking stubborn And"
*rustle*
"What was that?"
Just as Drem was ready to drag his infuriating little brother back home, he heard movement through the bushes, accompanied by the sound of foreign human voices.
"Do you think they're still chasing us?" asked one man. Drem couldn't guess just who "they" are but that man was clearly terrified of them judging by his tone.
"Why would they?" a different man answered. "There's nothing to find in this place anyway"
By that point, Drem has already dragged Flom behind a nearby bush to hide from the strange men. It shouldn't have been possible. According to the village elders there are only man eating monsters outside of the woods, so the existence of humans outside of the woods made no sense whatsoever.
"Flom, the second they get out of our sight, we have to alert the village"
Drem had too many things he worried about in this scenario. The men who came from a place that should be filled with nothing but monsters, and whatever it was that might be chasing them both scared him enough that he decided he had to warn everyone as soon as possible.