Fear.
All humans experience fear. It might be fear of failure, fear of death, or even fear of losing a loved one. Some people don't know what they fear, until they come face to face with it. This is the case with the young men from the Southern Water tribe. They weren't afraid of the zombie, until it used some sort of curse magic to send their shaman to the abyss. After witnessing this event, they ran for their lives, as fast as their legs could carry them, leaving behind a confused Karim, an unconscious girl and an elated Reeve.
When the young men had left, Karim ran and prostrated himself in front of Reeve, who had a wide grin on his face.
"Oh messenger of the deities, forgive us for not noticing how high the heavens are", he spoke, with a humble tone. He continued, "Thank you for protecting us. We beseech thee, oh messenger of the deities, to stay with us and protect us again from all manners of evil."
Reeve didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he heard this speech. He didn't know where he was, or when. Where could he leave to? The only thing he wanted to know was, WHERE THE HECK HE WAS. Right, that had to be said for emphasis.
"Fear not, oh servant of the deities, I, the great, powerful and immortal Reeve, shall stay and protect this … eh … where is this?"
"The Southern Earth tribe, oh messenger of the deities", replied Karim.
"Right, I shall stay and protect your Southern Earth tribe, for now", he ended the ridiculous speech with a for now so that he couldn't be held down when he had enough of this funny place. Having been in a contract before, he knew that all terms and conditions should be said and analyzed thoroughly, so that one party understands what they're getting into.
So what was the reason for him speaking like an Elizabethan thespian? None. He just found it particularly funny that Karim was calling him a messenger of the deities and speaking with such funny language, with a straight face! If it was anywhere else, he would have burst out laughing thinking he was talking to a moron. However, no matter how stupid Karim was, or was not, he would be instrumental in teaching Reeve about this place.
After coming to an agreement (yes! That was an agreement!), Karim carried the unconscious girl back to where the houses were located, while Reeve followed silently. He was scanning the surroundings, trying to see if there was anything familiar. To his disappointment, there wasn't anything. Or maybe it was the setting sun that dulled his vision?
They arrived at the dwellings, and Reeve was even more disappointed. He was looking at huts, crudely designed huts! 'This place could use a lot of improvements! How is the drainage system implemented in such a haphazard settlement pattern?' he thought. He wanted to curse whoever designed such a settlement pattern, before he remembered where he was, or rather, where he was. 'If only I had brought my laptop! Wait, can't the so called deity just send me my stuff from the other timeline?' he thought, but he decided to shove all the thoughts into the back of his mind. Right now, he was the so called protector of the tribe. The first thing he had to do was teach these idiots to protect themselves. Sounds easy right?
They arrived at one hut, which looked more distinct and Reeve followed Karim into the hut. There was not much inside the hut. Aside from a small bed, there was also drawer at the side, a cupboard and a wooden table. Karim laid the unconscious girl on the bed, and then sat at a chair before looking at Reeve.
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In a glorious and magnificent city, quite a distance from the Southern Earth tribe, the streetlamps were brilliantly lighting the city. Besides the hubbub caused by street vendors selling their wares, the city looked peaceful. There would be occasional patrols by soldiers to make sure the peace was maintained.
Quite a distance from the central marketplace, there's a big castle, surrounded by soldiers. Looking from afar, it's an impregnable fortress. Inside the castle, in the master bedroom, a middle-aged man was sleeping, while sweating profusely.
"No! I am not going to do it!" he yelled in his sleep.
This cycle kept going on and on until he suddenly woke up, and sat on the bed. He put his hand on his forehead, as he realized how wet his clothes were. After looking out of the window, he walked out towards the balcony and when he was outside, he looked towards the sky and muttered something inaudible. His long hair fluttered in the wind, which blew softly across the dark balcony. When he left his bedroom, he didn't even bother to turn on the lights.
As he was about to turn around to return to the room, his eyes suddenly glowed, and he frowned. He suddenly dodged to the side, and a dagger whistled by his ear. Had he been slower, it would have been embedded deep in his forehead.
"Nice going, Red Crow. But I think it would take more than that to kill me", spoke the middle-aged man.
His assailant was clad in a black uniform, with red armbands. The assailant was wearing a mask that covered the top half their face, so it was unknown whether they were male or female. Even their build did not reveal much.
"Good evening. You don't look too good, why are you out without bodyguards? It'll take one dagger for the Alliance to lose their king", replied the assailant. Their voice was masked by some unknown technique, it sounded neither male nor female.
"If you really wanted to kill me, you wouldn't be talking too much! So what do you want?"
"Oh, I just came here to deliver a warning. Can you believe how simple today's jobs have been?" replied the assailant, with a smile.