Chapter 2: 2 – Splitting Headaches in the New World

Tess woke up with a migraine and a strange box in front of her. One of those was much more pressing than the other.

“Gah, my head,” she groaned.

The last thing she remembered was that territorial mountain lion and—

“The landslide,” she muttured.

Tess stood, quickly recalling the training she’d gotten. Stay alert, landslides happen at a moment’s—

She stared. Unfamiliar greenery grew all around her on a flat forest as far as she could see. Trees with broad leaves blocked a glowing yellow sun, the light spilling through in golden lines. Something was off about the light, but a lot of things were off. The flowering vegetation was the wrong colors, the tree bark was slightly off-brown, and even the dirt had an odd yellowish tinge that was unfamiliar.

It didn’t make any sense, Tess knew she had been on a trail in the Rockies. There wasn’t a forest like this near her.

That was when the box thrust itself into her vision.

Heyyyyyyy…   Listen, I’m real sorry about the headache! It turns out interdimensional travel isn’t the easiest thing in the world. (Who knew?)   You’re probably pretty confused. That’s understandable!   Here’s the thing. You got all caught up in a landslide back on Earth, which would have put you six feet under in both a literal and figurative sense. HOWEVER!   I wasn’t about to let your story end there, oh no! You see, I haven’t found someone like you for a long time. (Between you and me, being the god of interesting things isn’t easy.) So instead of letting you die and lose out on all the interesting things you’ll do in your life, I decided to bring you over to this world!

 

Tess rubbed her eyes, then her temples.

“I’m hallucinating,” she said. “I’ve been hit in the head wrong, and now I see boxes of text and strange forests.”

The box vanished, only to be replaced by a new one.

Nope! No hallucinations here! This here is a grade A, gen-u-ine, portal event! I brought you over from Earth to here!   You’re going to love it! This place is filled with all kinds of fun stuff! I caught a glimpse of orcs (well, you would call them orcs) in robes flying on swords! And there are these Genasi (Jenasi? I’m still not sure on that. Elemental people if that helps.) in robes casting things like fireball and earthquake!   My favorite though are the Tieflings (Every color of the rainbow, baby! None of that boring human skin tones with some red variations.) They’re shamans of some sort and summon helpers to do things for them!

 

Tess slapped herself, trying to see if the pain could wake her up. All she got for the trouble was a stinging cheek. She stayed calm even as the panic inside her rose. She was good at staying calm.

First off, find things she can control.

Tess looked down. She still had her clothes, so that was good. Staying warm was important for survival. And there was the can of bear spray on her belt. Her firearm holster was empty, but she hadn’t brought that with her on the search. She’d still brought her knife, however, which was sitting snug in its sheath. Beside it sat a clip pouch with matches and water tablets. The day pack clipped to her waist still had all her equipment: a flashlight, a compass, her watch, a signal mirror, her radio, a small water bottle, and sunglasses.

The radio produced static no matter how many channels Tess switched to. That was alright, signals were often spotty in the mountains. There was still a chance she was on Earth and had people searching for her. She kneeled down, unhooking her equipment and arranging it in front of her on the ground just to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.

Everything except the signal mirror was in good shape. Tess frowned. The mirror was unfortunately cracked through the middle, which did confirm that she had been through a tumble of some kind.

Another box appeared in her vision.

If you’re done, I have a few things to share with you.   Since you aren’t from this world, I know things will be difficult. That’s why I’ve crafted a very special package just for you!   Just think ‘status’ and you can see what I mean! You are reading story Generally Awesome Character Hates Accidentals (G.A.C.H.A.) at novel35.com

 

Tess scoffed. As if she would think status just because—

 

 

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