//------------------------------// // The scrounger in the castle // Story: The man from the woods // by Jimbob //------------------------------// I jerked up out of the bed falling onto the cold stone ground, shreds of my dreams swam around my head before reality erased them. Shaking my head I stood up and grabbed the crowbar I had left lying near the bed, after all I had plans for the day. Originally I wanted to go back to that horse town but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I had no idea where that town was. Running for your life doesn't really give you much time to take note of the surroundings, plus I had kinda knocked down the bridge and didn't know an easy way to get back across the chasm. And I don't think I can jump it...... Without a ramp But lacking a ramp I decided to make camp here in the castle, at least for the time being. So today I would be using my new found tool to hopefully open up the locked doors in the castle. And if I'm really lucky I'll actually find something useful in one of these rooms, like swords or more tools or if I'm really lucky a portal gun...... Kinda doubting the portal gun thing. Mostly because this place is medieval at best, seriously there were fucking candles everywhere, well that and who in their right mind still lives in castles in this day and age? Of course this world has talking horse so fuck logic. Stepping into the hall I picked my first victim, an aging wooden door that had several tendrils of moss growing along its surface. "Ok how hard can this really be?" I muttered as I maneuvered the crowbar in the crack between the door and the wall "I mean they do this stuff on TV all the time." I pushed my weight against the crowbar, and slowly the wood began to groan and snap. With a grunt of effort I gave a powerful shove and was rewarded with a loud snap and the door swinging open. With a smile on my face I entered the room "Let's see what's behind door number one" A quick look around the room did not look promising, a half rotted table sagged against a wall while some ratty carpet had been all but destroyed by time. A quick look through the cupboards and cabinets in the room only provided me with more moth eaten cloth, probably linens by the look of it. And that's about it so first room is a bust. "The rest of the rooms better have something worthwhile in them." I grumbled as I continued down the hall. Several doors later I came to the conclusion that this castle had nothing of value left in it. I made my way back to the gardens where I helped myself to a lunch of apples and some carrots. I decided to spend the rest of the day wandering around the gardens to take stock of what I had in the way of resources. I found a small well nearly hidden by in by a thicket of berry bushes. I brought the bucket up from the bottom and was pleasantly surprised to find crystal clear water. Unfortunately that was the only good find for me, what I had originally thought would be enough food for several weeks quickly proved to be maybe enough for a week. And to make it worse I had found several half eaten heads of cabbage closer to the edge of the wood. So if the wildlife and I kept eating the food I had what? Five or six days of food left? So I could either learn to hunt with nothing but a crowbar and some smelly clothes, or I could try to find a way past the cliffs and get back to the horse town. Sighing I made mental plans to get back to the horse town and hopefully not be an experiment or the subject of a vivisection. Muttering angrily I headed back inside and back to the room I had claimed for myself, where I quickly fell asleep. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "This is not right" The sky was still dark, now I'm no expert in this new horse land but every day the sun had gone down and come back up the next day. Except today it didn't the moon was still high in the sky and my watch said it should be about noon-ish, not say my watch is right but I mean....... It was dark when I went to sleep and it is still dark sooooo. Well maybe the horse world was in the middle of an apocalypse or something, judging by how my luck has been lately that seems most likely. Oh and I would probably be the first one to die A roar echoed from the forest across the gorge. "The fuck is that? Do they have fucking lions here?" Unpleasant imagines of me being mauled via giant lions flashed through my mind. "Note to self; Don't get mauled by giant lions, or wolves." Yeah that should take care of it, a quick glance outside the window confirmed that it was still in fact night and that there were horses on the opposite side of the gorge. "Wait what!?" Oh god I've been tracked here, I'm going to be dissected. Carefully peering over the window sill I watched the horses talk to each other and Ohmygodtheycanfly A light blue horse with what I will describe as pride parade hair fucking flew over the gorge while nonchalantly picking up the rope of the bridge I had so carefully destroyed and went to re-tie them. Wait where did those horses come from? Several horses in some kind of military uniform flew over to the blue one and talked to it about something. Blue horse is going to tie off the bridge and...... Horses are apparently made of a dark blue mist........... The more you know.jpg "I fucking hate this place." The horses moved across the bridge and started heading towards the castle. I grabbed my crowbar and began to make my way towards the main entrance. "I am not going quietly in to the night I'm afraid." I smirked, these horses will not be taking me without a fight.