Frost walked aimlessly down the thoroughfare and towards the exit to whatever was beyond the massive city walls. Even he couldn't beat his curiosity to stop and explore on his way, though. This place was so alien, and it would have been against every human instinct to just keep moving. Stalls lined the sides of the street as if to tempt him, and dammit all, but he obliged.
Cars of smooth and ergonomic designs whizzed by, but there weren't many. In fact, the main source of transportation here seemed to be horses exactly like the ones on Earth. This and strange scaled creatures with a natural crustacean's armour, but the rough shape of a horse. Frost only focused on this for a moment in favour of the stalls before him with things beyond his imagination.
Fish. These things were clearly fish, but they weren't any kind of fish he'd ever seen. There were fish with almost decorative armour and fish with protruding eyes like Jar Jar Binks. Did the people here eat this stuff? Truthfully, imagining foreign delicacies was making Frost a little hungry. It saddened him to know that he was effectively without a penny to his name around here… He took one last look at the fish, immaculately displayed in attractive red baskets filled with ice.
The next stall was weapons, and these were something Frost was familiar with. The knives here were normal except for the ones that weren't. He was always impressed with the abilities of different societies to make original swords and knives. There were – as it turned out – a lot of different ways to fashion a sharp piece of metal. He picked up strange knives that were essentially brass knuckles with a dagger instead. I wouldn't want to be on the opposite end of something like this, he thought.
"Looking for something in particular?" The shopkeeper, a bald older man, asked him.
Frost realized he was doing something incredibly suspicious, and set the knives down. "The weapons in this world are strange," he replied.
[Translation service active.]
The keeper smiled. "Not just this world. You're looking at weapons from across the universe." He gestured to the knives Frost had earlier lifted. "Those are quite popular on Dragonsfold, a place where the speed of the Dustlings sometimes surpasses even sound or light."
A person surpassing the speed of sound or light with their body alone? From an engineer's perspective, it would be impossible without considerable strengthening of the body's frame to resist the g-forces. Were Voidhunters capable of similar feats?
Realizing he'd captured Frost's attention, the keeper continued. "And these ones. These are expensive. Phase blades from Mirris V." He took a moment and inspected Frost closely. "Where are you from?"
"Earth."
"Ah." He looked almost disappointed. "A place with very uninteresting weapons. Uninteresting, albeit effective. In the Void, though, effectiveness is sometimes not enough."
"Is there a reason you guys don't just shoot each other like everyone else does?" Frost wondered. "It seems a bit counterproductive."
"Mm," the keeper smiled. "By everyone else, you mean earthlings?" He leaked on his counter full of knives and pointed playfully at Frost. "There are plenty of Voidhunters that carry firearms, but I think you'll find that they don't work very well on anyone above an amateur level that isn't sleeping or otherwise entirely distracted." He said this in a way that made it clear he wouldn't elaborate.
"Right," Frost said, skeptical. "Where could I buy a gun if I wanted one?"
The keeper just stared at him blankly. "Down the street on the right."
"Thanks. Oh, and do you have any idea where I can find a… Portal? To Earth, specifically?" Frost had almost forgotten his hunger and thirst in the conversation. These things could be solved if he just made it home.
"I wouldn't know."
"Thanks anyways."
Frost set off down the street. The chat was busy making fun of him as he did.
[GreatGadfly30: Clueless. Almost like a baby. How delightful.]
[Checkpointer20: You'll probably get the hang of it before this place kills you.]
[TheConquerer356: Your actions are questionable. Don't lose the goal.]
[DragonSlayer53: You really are an interesting specimen, wyvern slayer.]
"I hope you're all enjoying the show," Frost teased. "Maybe if your tactical advantage didn't prevent you from imparting wisdom upon me, this would be a lot easier." He spoke to himself quite loudly as he walked down the sidewalk. Passersby were looking at him strangely, but what did it matter? This was another world. His reputation mattered very little here.
[GreatGadfly30: I have wisdom for you. Go back and sign that contract.]
[Checkpointer20: No, no. That is the one correct thing he's done today.]
[Checkpointer20: Focus on getting home for now. Exploring can wait.]
They were right, of course. Frost was now standing out front of a gun store called Bullet Hell, which was on the very corner of the street. It was true that there was no purpose in going in now, though. It was a very shady looking place, too, much different from the vendor earlier. Outside there was a man leaned against the wall looking upset, he looked familiar to Frost somehow with a bulky frame and a religious icon around his neck.
When he glanced at Frost, he made a curious look as if he couldn't believe his eyes, and then turned around to enter the store.
Well, whatever. I'll go home, then. Frost set off towards the gate, which wasn't far down the street. He did his best to ignore the stalls and salesmen calling out to him as he did so. The pedestrians continued to give him strange looks as he responded to the words from the chat, his only friends in this strange land. Or maybe, just maybe, his hair was an oddity here too. There were all sorts of strange races around, but not one of them had white hair.
He reached the gate, which was really just a huge archway in the city's wall. There was a gate that could be lowered, but it wasn't today. Maybe it was a curfew sort of thing, or maybe they just never used it. There were enough guards around that a gate was probably irrelevant. The guards in question – curiously – carried rifles and swords. Frost supposed that meant they were dealing with low level riff-raff, the kind that couldn't somehow negate bullets.
"Going out, lad?" A guard called out to him as he walked by.
Frost stopped abruptly. "Was planning on it."
The friendly looking guard nodded. "We're to give a warning to anyone passing through here. There's been a Voidrock sighted in the plains outside. The exterminators haven't gotten to it yet, as far as we know."
"Right," Frost said, pretending to know what any of that meant.
[Checkpointer20: Imagine a gigantic rock giant.]
Alright. Well that's horrifying, he thought. "I'm… Sort of new here. I'm looking for a portal to Earth."
The guard tilted his head curiously. "Oh, sure. The closest one is… That way? If I'm not mistaken." He pointed out into the fields. "Naught but a kilometre away, methinks."
"Thanks," Frost patted the man on the shoulder. "I'll be careful."
[QuillThriller37: I'm a fan of this guardsman's vocabulary.]
Another mysterious chatter had joined him. He was becoming quite popular it seemed. This would become a pain in the future, no doubt. It was already a pain now.
Frost set off beyond the gate with warm winds at his back, into impossibly green fields beyond. Mostly they were filled with grass but there was the odd tree and strange fauna here and there. Most notable to him were the vines that were almost like whips, snapping out at him and even catching him on the leg one time. These plants seemed to exist for no purpose other than to be an annoyance, and to catch small prey like rabbits and squirrels… Assuming those existed here.
Walking in the direction the guard indicated, it didn't take him very long to locate the portal in question. As well, it was in a place he recognized. He couldn't forget this place if he tried, mainly because it was the place he'd thought his life would come to a miserable end. This tree was the place that Frost had first entered the Void. He walked up to it slowly and with reverence.
It had words carved loosely into the side of it. To Earth. He ran his hand over them and smiled. Upon closer inspection, the tree still had stains of blood upon it, too. How much had he bled for it to remain even a month later? He wondered this idly, while looking about with obvious weariness. What were the odds that he'd be ambushed again in this place? He needed to find the portal rather than dillying around.
And when he willed it to, it appeared to him. The world cracked open and slid away almost like a door opening. Doorworlds… He thought. He couldn't have imagined a more apt name for what he was seeing. The door itself was perfectly rectangular and about large enough to fit a single person. It was so black that the light itself shied away and cowered. A hole in reality, or rather through it.
Frost didn't delay. He charged forward and leapt through it. There was a flash of nothingness like he'd phased out of existence, a flash of the cold of space, and then he was back on Earth.
And plummeting straight towards the bay below.