I was walking down next to the Holden River, a good ways west of town. I have walked this path hundreds of times over the course of my life. I listened to the waters rush to my right and the buzz of insects in the forest to my left. Everything was just as usual.
The river was about 150 feet wide, and the waters were about 10-15 feet deep. I had never measured it myself, but those were the numbers given by those who had measured it, so I'll trust their validity.
I looked up at the rolling clouds for a moment, noting how fast they were moving. 'Maybe I should head back early.' I thought to myself, 'If a storm comes while I'm all the way out here...'
My thoughts trailed off. While I had never been caught in a storm while exploring outside the village, those who had were gone until the storm passed, unable to find their way back, even if they were experienced. But even when I just started walking around these uncharted woods around the village, I had never gotten lost. Even as a young child, I somehow knew exactly where the village was no matter the weather, time or distance.
Suddenly, the sky darkened, and a strong headwind came from behind, blowing my hair into my face. I heard a large *whfoop* like wings flapping, and saw it right in front of me, a harpy.
Harpies were a large species of wyvern that had feathers like scales across it's body, but they haven't ever attacked people, so I was caught off-guard when it slashed it's claws out towards me.
I felt the claws slash through my skin, it wasn't deep, but it was happening so fast and was unexpected, so I think I blacked out.
When I came to, I was somehow standing, and the harpy seemed injured as it flew away.
I took some bandages out of my bag and quickly wrapped up the wound before looking around for who could've scared off the harpy, but I couldn't find anyone.
I found myself walking back to town in a bit of a daze. I don't remember anything besides getting back and being snapped back to reality by the guard captain.
"Hey...Hey kiddo." he said, "What happened to you, are you ok?"
"I think I'm," I started, noticing my bandages saturated red with my blood, "I need some,"
"Don't say any more." the captain said, "just sit down here. I'll get the doctor."
"Thanks." I said slowly sitting down next to the guard's western barracks.
After a bit, the vice-captain of the guard came over to keep an eye on me, and a while later the captain came back with the doctor.
He took off the bandages, made sure the wounds wouldn't get infected and asked, "What could cause cuts like these?"
"A harpy." I said, still a bit in a haze from shock and blood loss.
"A harpy, attacking people?" the vice-captain said, "That's crazy, are you sure it wasn't something else?"
"I'm sure."
The captain sighed, "Usually wyverns have only attacked if we've disturbed their young. So, either they are starting to view us as prey, or it was very desperate."
The doctor finished stitching up and bandaging my wounds, and the captain said, "Good job doc. I'll take it from here. Keep watch while I'm gone. I'm gonna take him home to get some rest."
The vice-captain nodded as my uninjured arm was pulled over the captain's shoulder and we walked back to my house.
Luckily not many people were outside along the path back home, so there weren't many people to see what happened.
My mother came outside when she saw the captain through the window, and asked, "Oh my... are... you alright?"
"I think I'll be fine."
"It's as the boy said," the captain added, "he's been looked after by the doctor, so he just needs some rest. Can I bring him to his bed?"
"Yes, yes. Of course." my mother said, opening the front door, but just as the captain helped me inside, I said, "Alright captain, I think I can take it from here."
Ignoring me he said, "Where's your room?"
"Upstairs."
"Then you can't take it from here."
As we started on the stairs, I heard my grandpa say, "Captain? What're you doing here? Did the boy get in trouble again?"
"I'll explain to him, you two go upstairs." my mother said, pulling a chair out of the dining table for my grandpa.
We continued upstairs and stood in the short hallway. "Which room is yours?"
"The one on the left." I answered the captain.
The door behind us leads to my mother's room and the one on the right is a storage closet. My grandpa sleeps on the first floor.
Opening the door, I was led to my bed. My room was small, but neat. I didn't have too many things, so only a set of shelves, a desk and a wardrobe lined the walls. The shelves had two books. One was my grandpa's old fisherman's guide, and the other was an empty journal my mother gave me a long time ago.
I fell asleep the moment I laid down on my bed and didn't wake up until two days later.
When I woke up, my memory of the events had become more precise. I slowly started to move my arm, and it felt fine. The bleeding had stopped, and it was mostly healed, so I took the bandages off and sat back down on my bed.
'I could've died that day.' I thought to myself, 'I've felt invincible when I was out in the woods, but now I know that there are many more dangers out there than I thought.'
I went downstairs to let my mother and grandpa know I was awake and alright. Only to be squeezed half to death by my mother, "You know how worried you made me?! You really need to be more careful when you're out there. You know how many times I've told you this?"
"Mom...can't breathe."
She released me from the near hug, and I answered her rhetorical question, "You've told me to be more careful as many times as I've gone out. This was just a fluke thing."
"A fluke thing?" My mother started, before my grandpa put his hand on her shoulder, "Let the boy be, he's been out for two days. Now come eat, both of you, I've made his favorites: sashimi and wasabi rice."
We ate in silence, until my mother ate some of the rice, which I liked spicy, but she didn't quite as much. "You don't need to eat the rice." my grandpa said, "If you can't take the heat, then leave it be."
Gulping down a glass of water my mother said, "I know, but I just don't get how he can eat this like it's nothing. I keep forgetting he has a high spice tolerance."
My grandpa and I laughed, and we continued to talk, keeping the subject away from my accident.
After eating, I excused myself from the table and went back upstairs. I didn't want to stop exploring, but I knew that I, as I am right now, wouldn't be able to last too long out there by myself.
'I need to prepare more if I want to achieve my goal: exploring this new world. Maybe I should write down what I find just in case I... the journal!'
I went over to the bookshelf, grabbed the empty book, and blew the years' worth of dust off it. Opening it up, I took a piece of thin charcoal wrapped in wood and began to write.
"Hello, my name is Prestin..."