Rigged from the Start

Chapter 1

The Bus... Or How Public Transportation Sent Me to Another World

I always considered my life to be rather uneventful. Nothing very exciting ever really happened. I was just your normal, everyday joe, so to speak. Except I did not have the luxury of working a traditional nine to five office job, nor did I like drinking coffee before work. Each day passed like the previous one. Wake up, go to work, bust my ass for all day, go home, turn on the tv, eat dinner, go to sleep. Wash, rinse, repeat. And the weekends, instead of working, I would just sit at home and do nothing exciting in particular. The biggest moments of excitement always came on Saturdays when I practiced the family religion. I'd dress up in scarlet and grey, turn on the Big Ten Network, and scream at football players the same age as me, thinking that they could hear me. Lovely existence really. Then once that fun was over, it was back to living a boring life. The weekend would end, monday would come, and the process would repeat.

Today was a tuesday, so already I felt exhausted from work this week. I woke up at the ass crack of dawn for my job (as always), partially sleep walked my way through brushing my teeth and combing my brown hair. Cracked a can of pepsi open, negated any good progress I made brushing my teeth, then got dressed in my work uniform. Simple khaki work pants with extra pockets. Rather durable material actually, if not necessarily comfortable. I then threw on a garish, lime green collared shirt and slapped the equally green hat on my head. I raised my brow as I looked in the mirror of my apartment bathroom.

"Hello sir… ma'am…" I rehearsed. A low yawn slipped from my lips. I stretched my arms over my head, "My name is Sam, I work for Yardboys Lawn Care…" Another loud yawn, I scratched the back of my head, "Would you like to…" I trailed off with a sigh and stared at my bored reflection. My green eyes blinked sleepily, "Yeah, I'd slam the door in my face too." I grabbed my phone and wallet off of the countertop, shoved my earbuds into my pocket then looked at the mirror again. I flashed a fake smile at my reflection, "Have a lovely day."

With a final, despondent sigh, I resigned myself to my fate and marched to the door. I quickly snagged the old, leather, Harley Davidson jacket I owned, slipped it over my shoulders, and stepped out of my apartment. I quickly made my way down a short flight of stairs, then exited the little, red brick building I called home.

I shuddered as a bitter wind hit me. Fresh snow crunched beneath my shoes. I stomped my feet, uttering a small curse as I carefully stepped down the frozen concrete stairs in front of me and onto the sidewalk.

"Cold." I shivered, "Fucking cold."

My breath misted in front of my face as my bare hands fidgeted with my earbuds. I shoved them into my already frozen, red ears and let some music assist my body in waking up. This morning, the wonderfully gruff tones of James Hetfield filled my brain. My head bobbed up and down as I strolled down the sidewalk, not even bothering to glance up at the street as I made my way across it. Why should I worry about cars at this hour? The sun had not risen yet. The rest of the town would not wake up for another hour or so. I'll start paying attention once I got closer to the bus station.

My eyes closed as the song in my earbuds switched. Fade to Black faded away and an instrumental took its place. Voice of the Soul, the only song by a certain death metal band that I enjoyed. A beautiful composition really. I do not understand much about musical theory. I was never much of a musician personally. But even I could tell that this song had a certain beauty to it. The way the guitars sang over each other in perfectly crafted layers made me utter a somewhat content sigh.

As I reached another intersection, my foot caught a patch of black ice.

"Fuck." I hissed as I slipped, nearly falling flat on my back. I threw my arms out to steady myself as I skidded out onto the road. Once I slowed to a stop, I paused and took a breath. One foot kicked at the ice, "I'll remember you."

I looked up. Someone was waving their arms frantically at me. I arched an eyebrow. Then I remembered, I'm in the middle of the road now.

I turned to my right.

Oh, that's my bus.

The lights went out.

You know, I am very good at falling asleep. No really, I'm not lying right now. True, I'm your typical young adult, in that I always stay up way too late and never manage to wake up feeling healthy or rested. But when I put my mind to it, I can lose consciousness in about two minutes flat. Maybe it comes from growing up with a military father or something? Maybe it is genetic? I don't know, but falling asleep has never been a problem. Even when I have loud, typically heavy music playing in my ears, I can close my eyes and be long gone.

So everything seemed totally fine when the silence turned into the guitar solo from Cemetery Gates. And that is not the noise that woke me up. It was Phil Anselmo's banshee like wail in that song that caused me to jerk awake. An action I instantly regretted as pain lanced through my entire body.

I squeezed my eyes shut, groaned, and pressed myself flat on my back once again. Both of my hands reached up and yanked the earbuds from my ears. Every muscle felt stiff. Like a fist was squeezing my entire body. I could hardly move my head. And for some reason, I smelled like diesel.

I tried opening my eyes again, and hissed as a splitting headache reared its ugly head. I reached up with one hand and massaged my eyes. Then I forced myself to open my eyes.

First sign something was wrong: the sky was still dark. Not dark as in the sun was still rising. Up in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin, if the sky was as clear as it is right now, the sun would barely peak over the horizon and large swaths of the inky blackness would be covered with shades of pink, purple, and orange. And there was never this many stars in the sky. It looked like there were thousands of them above me. Some brighter than others. All twinkling like brilliant gems high above my head. It was a breathtaking sight I had only ever seen once before in my life.

Second sign something was wrong: I did not see the Big Dipper. I considered myself somewhat fascinated by the mundane. Finding the Big Dipper if I was out at night was one of those mundane things I enjoyed doing. Whenever there were actually stars visible back home, I'd always laugh to myself once I found it. It was the first constellation I ever learned to find. Then I'd struggle to figure out if I could find the three stars that made Orion's Belt. The fact that I could not see either of those familiar constellations, that all of these stars were arranged in a manner I did not recognize at all, caused more than a smidgen of confusion to build up in me.

Third sign something was wrong: I was not cold. I actually felt a little warm. December in Wisconsin never felt like this. It usually felt extremely cold. As in, stay outside for too long, and you will get frostbite, cold. Instead, the air around me felt very warm. Like it was May, or June even. A cool, summer's night. Long grass brushed against my fingertips as I lay still on the ground. I curled my fingers around those soft blades and frowned.

"No snow." I muttered to myself. I gingerly sat upright. A labored breath escaped my lungs as more aches and pains filled my body. I grit my teeth through the dull pain and looked around, "No town." I furrowed my brow, "And nothing but grass."

I hummed to myself.

"I'm in Kansas."

Now, you'd think the logical part of my brain would kick in at this point. But for some reason, it's been turned off for the moment. How on earth would I suddenly be transported from Appleton, Wisconsin to middle of nowhere Kansas in the blink of an eye? Or what felt like the blink of an eye? What exactly happened a few minutes ago again?

I sucked in a sharp breath.

The bus.

My eyes widened. I got hit by a bus. Not just any bus either, but my bus. The bus I needed to take to get to work on time. That bus.

Instead of panic seizing me, I simply slumped in my seat.

"My boss is going to kill me."

I laughed to myself. Of all the things I was going to think of this moment, that was what worried me. Not getting hit by a bus, not all of a sudden being teleported to a completely different place, not waking up to seeing an unfamiliar night sky; no, being late for work was what worried me.

"I live in a society." I chuckled to myself as I looked around in disbelief.

This place really was in the middle of nowhere. I couldn't even see a single farm nearby. For a single year in my childhood, I lived in Kansas. Near Kansas City to be exact. But I remembered taking road trips through the rest of the state. There were brief patches of nothing, but the rest of the state was covered with corn and… well… corn. Honestly, despite the unbelievable nature of my sudden teleportation, it seemed perfectly logical to assume this was Kansas.

I sighed and reached into my pocket. Hopefully I still had cell service. If I did, I could call for help. Maybe some local, county sheriff could come out here and give me a ride to the nearest… I don't know, Greyhound Station? There was no way I could afford an airplane ticket back home. Not during the holiday season. And as unappealing as a cross country bus ride sounded, that was the only way I could afford getting home.

My phone winked to life. I let my head fall back.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

No service. Not a single bar. I flicked the screen off. The urge to scream obscenities was strong. But I kept my cool. I needed a level head in this moment. Panicking, getting angry, none of that would do me any favors right now.

Let's think about this, problem solve now Sam. You just woke up after getting hit by a bus. By some sort of miracle, not only are you alive, you are unharmed, and in Kansas instead of Wisconsin. You're in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere. And you don't have the sun to help you navigate home. Nor any constellations for that matter (as if I could actually navigate that way, but hey, maybe some discovery channel knowledge lingered in the back of my brain).

I took a deep breath.

What would Bear Grylls do? I thought to myself with a slight laugh, Other than drinking his own piss?

I shakily stood to my feet. My legs wobbled, knees buckled, and I took a staggering step forward to balance myself. I probably looked like a newborn deer learning how to walk for the first time. I certainly felt that way. Each step I took felt hurt. It felt like pins and needles were being jabbed into the bottom of my feet. My toes curled as I grit my teeth and fought off the pain.

I swiveled my head around, trying to get a better view of my surroundings. I could not see much. Starlight only revealed so much in the darkness. And there was no moon tonight.

Some crickets chirped in the shadows. I took a deep breath of the warm air.

Remain calm. I thought.

I turned to my right. I needed to pick a direction and start walking. With any luck, I'd run into some sort of civilization. Or at the very least, a source of water. If this was Kansas, then I couldn't be that far from a farm.

I took one aching step. Then another. One foot in front of the other. Eventually, the pins and needles faded. The stiffness in my muscles receded. And I settled into a comfortable stroll through the tall grass. I paused after a few minutes and glanced around. Old childhood fears lingered in the back of my mind. I've never liked the dark. But it's not like I had a choice right now. And I did not dare use the flashlight app on my phone. I needed to conserve as much battery as I could, in case I eventually managed to reach some sort of cell service. So I shoved those childish fears down, swallowed hard, and kept walking.

It felt like hours until the landscape changed. That change did not come in the form of a dirt road, crops, or even a county highway. The change came in the form of a little village that sat right smack in the middle of this massive swath of open country.

A relieved sigh rushed from my lips as I saw the silhouettes of houses in front of me. That relief faded when I noticed no lights in the village. Not a single lamp flickered around the buildings. Hell, there weren't even any fires.

A bad feeling churned in my gut. Something in the back of my mind told me to just keep walking. But my dry tongue and rumbling stomach overruled that advice. I trudged my way into the village.

The grass grew wild around the rickety buildings. Most of the buildings were very small places. From the looks of things, they were all one room homes. Huts of some sort. As I delved further into the dark village, the grass became hard beneath my feet. I glanced down and noticed stones hidden in the thick weeds and blades of grass. Old, cracked, gray rocks that looked well worn.

Must be an old town. I flicked my gaze around. That bad feeling in my gut started to grow into a vicious stomach ache. But I did not feel like knocking on any doors at the moment and asking to use the restroom. Mostly because every single building around me looked very ominous. Especially the church that sat across a small river.

I frowned as I looked at the church bathed in faint starlight. It's tall steeple dominated the rest of the town. But the stained glass near the top of the steeple was broken. I could not make out what image once sat on the steeple. But I did not see a cross anywhere on the building. Which meant it was not your typical Midwestern church.

"What kind of place is this?" I muttered to myself as I crossed the run down stone bridge and moved closer to the old church.

As soon as I set foot on the grass covered stones across the bridge, the crickets stopped chirping. The night stood still around me. Despite the warm night, I shivered. This place was giving me the willies now. Not only did I wake up in Kansas, I woke up near a ghost town in Kansas. A ghost town that looked nothing like the ghost towns you see in movies or documentaries. If I didn't know any better, I'd say this place looked rather medieval. But that had to be a trick my mind was playing on me. Shadows can lie, especially when you have as bad of eyesight as I do.

A low growl came from a small, crumbling shack near the church. I froze mid step. My head slowly turned towards the growl. My already parched throat felt dry as sandpaper. Some sweat beaded on my head. I could feel my pulse racing.

A pair of eyes glowed in the darkness. They stared directly at me. Low towards the ground. Teeth flashed in the shadows of the church. I took a small step back as a black dog stalked towards me. It's thin, half starved body came into full view. Despite it's frail appearance, I could not help but feel a bit afraid. It's ears were pinned back, head lowered, ready to attack.

I sucked in a sharp breath. I did not grow up around dogs. My father did not want pets in the house. But I always like dogs. They were always friendly to me. Always fun to play with and pet. I never had one snarl at me like this. This dog looked like it wanted to rip my throat out.

"H-hello-" I flicked my eyes towards its bellow, "B-boy." I stammered. I gulped as the dog snarled again, "Or girl. Maybe I got it wrong?" I pressed my lips together as it took a threatening step forward, "How long have you been here?"

The dog's lips curled back even more. I paled as I saw red stains on its yellowed teeth.

"I'm um…" I swallowed hard, "I'm not going to hurt you. Nope, not going to."

With a trembling hand, I reached towards the dog. If there was one thing I knew about dogs, it is that if one is threatening you, do not make a sudden movement. Do not give it an excuse to charge at you. Show that you are the alpha. That's what Caesar Milon always said at least, from what little I actually recalled of that tv show. I kept my eyes focused on the dog. As much as I wanted to step back from the threatening dog, I stood my ground.

I felt terrified, but I did not show it. And that somehow seemed to work. The dog's ears perked slightly. It's lips closed, hiding the wicked jaws. The dog kept its head lowered, but now it regarded me with slight curiosity rather than all out hostility.

I kept my hand open and outstretched.

"Good dog." I breathed as it cautiously approached. I felt its wet nose brush over my fingertips, "There we go."

I have no idea how this worked out so well, but I will not complain.

I gingerly reached up and brushed the dog's head. It recoiled back for a moment before nuzzling fully into my hand. A smile crossed my face as my fingers raced through its dark hair.

"You aren't so scary now." I said. I looked around again. My gaze focused on the strange, ruined church. For some reason, this place looked oddly familiar. I looked back down at the dog, "You don't happen to know where I am, do you?"

The dog wagged its tail.

"I'm glad you like me so much." I breathed. A slight chill drifted through the air. I shuddered again and shoved my hands into my coat pockets. I eyed the church's large doors, "Well, when in need…"

I strolled towards the church doors. The dog followed me for a few paces before freezing. I stepped up onto the short, stone stairs that led up to the church's doors. When I reached the third step, I noticed the dog growling again. I frowned and looked back at it.

"Look, I'm not a bad guy, alright." I blinked, "Oh crap," I gave the dog a worried look, "Are you a guard dog or something?"

A low moan hit my ears. I froze on the steps. The chill in the air grew. Any warmth the night held retreated completely. I could see my breath frosting in front of my face. My head trembled as I turned my gaze up to the church doors. One door slowly creaked open. My stomach flipped as the door stopped opening with an abrupt groan.

Every single horror movie instinct is telling me to back away. I thought.

I took a step back. The dog snarled.

"Would you let me back up!" I snapped at it. Anxiety filled me. My breaths entered and exited my lungs in short, sharp puffs. I do not do well in situations like this. The creepy church combined with the dark night and the snarling dog caused every single fearful instinct in me to burst to life.

Something shambled in the shadows beyond the church's open door. I froze.

"H-hello?" I gulped, "Is uh-" I gestured at the dog behind me, "Is this your dog?"

The dog's snarled again. Then I felt it brush up against my right leg. It was hiding behind me. I gave it a worried glance as it's snarls became small whines.

A person shambled closer to the open door inside of the church. I gulped as I tried to make out the guy's features in the darkness. He walked with an awkward limp. One shoulder hung lower than the other. From what I could see, his head was tilted to the left.

"Do you um…" I pressed my lips together as the guy shambled into the doorway, "Do you happen to know the way to the nearest police station?" He remained in the doors shadows, "Or er- maybe a fire station?" Another low moan floated on a cold breeze. I shivered. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. The dog whimpered louder, "Perhaps the uh… closest gas station? Hopefully its a Shell Station?"

The guy shuffled out into the starlight. My entire body went numb.

Red eyes glowed inside of a black mask. A grotesque, horrifying expression was ingrained into the mask over the guy's face. Its clothes looked like armor of some sort. Rusted and rotted plates covered it head to toe. He carried a rusty sword in his left hand. The point dragged along the ground as he trudged towards me.

I gulped. I felt the dog bristle against my pant leg. It snarled and barked loudly at the man stumbling towards me.

"L-look, b-buddy." I took a step back. My eyes were glued to the sword dragging along the stony ground. The dog followed my lead, "I don't want any-" I cried out as I tripped and fell backwards down the last two steps.

My head swam as it smacked against the ground with a hard crack. I groaned. My groan elicited a response from the armored, masked man. It… it laughed, I think? A terrifying creaking sound came from whatever face rested behind that mask. I scrambled up to my feet as it stopped shambling and started rushing towards me.

"Stay back!" I cried.

It closed the distance between us ridiculously fast. My eyes widened as it reared back with its rusty sword. Survival instincts took over. I ran. A sharp, stinging sensation crossed the back of my neck as the edge of the blade nicked my skin.

"Holy shit!" I screamed as I ran.

The guy, thing, whatever it was, screeched. Those screeches were answered by a dozen more. Adrenaline pumped through my body as more pairs of red, glowing eyes winked to life in the village's shadows. Two of them cut off my way out of the town while the others moved to surround me.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God!"

Quick think! Get somewhere safe!

Nowhere is safe!

Get in a hut you idiot!

I rushed for the nearest building and threw myself against what I thought was a rickety wooden door. Now, I'm definitely not the biggest person in the world. Nor am I the smallest. Just all around average. Average height, slight build, not a whole lot of muscle sat on my bones, but I liked to think I had enough weight for a guy my size.

I bounced off of the door and fell onto my ass.

Obviously not.

The dog remained by my side. It backed up towards the hut door I tried to break through. I heard the screeches drawing closer. Adrenaline forced my body back to its feet. Fear made me slam against the hut's door again.

"Bastard! Open!" I screamed.

I heaved all of my weight at the door, but it did not budge.

"Fuck!"

I spun around. They were all around me now. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Just me and a stray dog against twelve demonic looking human beings. All of them clad in rotted armor and black masks. All of them wielded medieval weapons, ranging from swords, short and long, to axes.

I backed up until my back pressed against the door. My chest rose and fell in heavy, terrified breaths. The cold penetrated into my bones now. It did not feel like the type of cold I was used to. Instead, it felt like an oppressive darkness. A feeling of hopeless that gripped my mind. In that moment, I wanted to curl into a ball and cry.

One of the monsters stepped closer than the others. So close in fact, that I could make out more features. Instead of tight, healthy skin on its bones, I saw rotting, grey flesh. A pit formed in my gut.

"I'm in hell." I breathed, "That bus sent me to hell."

The monster raised its ax, determined to cleave me in two. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the blade to dig into my flesh and kill me.

It never happened. I heard something whistle in front of me. The monster uttered a gurgling sound. I cracked an eye open. A black feathered arrow protruded from one of its ruby eyes. The monster staggered backwards and uttered a loud scream.

Before I could even blink, four figures burst from the darkness beyond the ring of monsters. One was a man in heavy blue and white armor riding a large, brown warhorse. He leveled a lance at one monster. Just behind him sprinted two other people, a guy and a girl. The guy wore strange brown robes and had a large, pointed hat on his head. Glasses rested on the bridge of his nose. He cradled a heavy book in the crook of his left arm. The girl beside him wore leather armor and had a large, steel shoulder plate over her left arm. In her right hand she wielded a sword. Red hair ran down from her head in long, twin ponytails. A furious expression rested over her face.

Just behind those two was the origin of the black arrow. A slight, frail looking girl with midnight hair and ghost pale skin. She carried a bow and arrow. Before I could even register more about her, she nocked another arrow and loosed it. The black arrow zipped through the air and into the other eye of the first monster.

The monster screamed, fell to its knees, then sighed. My eyes widened as it faded into a pile of black ash.

"For the Exalt!" The armored horseman cried.

He crashed against the ring of monsters. His lance dug into one monster, killing it instantly. He then twirled his steed around and slashed the lance through another monster. His two companions racing after him attacked as well. The guy with a pointy hat opened his book. A ball of fire appeared in his free hand. He launched the fireball at the nearest monster, incinerating the thing.

The red haired girl roared as she slammed into a monster wielding an axe. She hacked away at it, eventually taking its arms before severing its head from its body.

In that moment, I decided it would be a good idea to try and run again.

I shot away from the hut and sprinted towards the nearest opening out of this fucked up mess. The dog followed me. Behind me, I could hear the sounds of metal crashing against metal. The monsters kept screaming. A horse uttered a loud cry.

I need to get out of here!

I rushed around the corner of a hut. My head smacked into something hard. I saw stars.

My head swam. A groan left my lips as I lay flat on my back. As my vision refocused, I saw a pair of evil red eyes glowering down at me. A monster I had not noticed stood over me, sword raised over its head.

The rusted metal hissed down towards my chest. I raised my hands and felt the blade bite into my palms.

The scream that escaped my lungs had to be the loudest scream I have ever uttered in my life. But it got the attention of my apparent rescuers.

A black arrow burrowed into the last monster's shoulder. A bolt of lightning slammed into its torso. A flash of red hair shot past my vision, and the redhead I saw earlier slashed the monster to ribbons. With a low groan, the monster collapsed into a pile of ash in my lap.

I scrambled to my feet. The ash slid off of my body. Every instinct I had told me to flee. Run! Get away! They're still out there, whatever they are. They're going to kill you. I backpedaled right into the red head.

"Hey!" The girl shoved me forward, "Watch it! Gawds, can't you pay attention?"

I spun around and raised my arms.

"I'm not armed! Don't kill me!" I cried.

The red heard raised an eyebrow, "Why would I kill you?" Her eyes flicked to my hands raised over my head, "Great," She turned her head back to the other not monsters, "Laurent!" My mind went blank, "Get over here. I need a vulnary."

The young man with the large hat snapped his gaze over to the girl. Before he marched over, he shot a fireball into a fallen monster one more time. The monster screamed then became ash. Once the monster was gone, the guy calmly walked over to me and the redhead.

"Are you injured, Severa?" The guy, Laurent, asked.

Severa scowled. She sheathed her sword and folded her arms, "Do I look hurt?"

Laurent furrowed his brow, "Well, I do not notice any notable lacerations, bruises, or contusions. Perhaps there is something beneath the armor I cannot see-"

Severa scowled, "Not me." She huffed then nodded in my direction, "This guy. His hands are all cut up."

Laurent blinked, "Oh, right. Pardon me for not noticing." He reached into a pouch at his hip and withdrew a bottle filled with a nebulous blue liquid, "Hold out your hands."

I kept them raised. Severa rolled her eyes.

"Hey," She waved a hand at me, "are you deaf or stupid? We're offering you help." She frowned, "Gawds, please tell me you aren't broken."

Words returned to my brain. My voice came out in a quiet squeak as I finally managed to reply.

"S-sorry." I slowly lowered my hands and held them out towards Laurent, "I'm just uh…" I flicked my gaze back to the hut the monsters surrounded me at. All of them were gone. The horseman trotted around the area. Probably making sure all of the monsters were killed. Meanwhile, the archer slowly approached me, Severa, and Laurent.

My concentration broke as I felt a stinging sensation wash over my hands. I hissed and glanced down to see Laurent pouring some of the blue liquid over the cuts. The liquid bubbled and foamed over the gashes in my palms.

"Give it a moment. The cuts should clot and eventually scab over in an hour or so." He shoved a cork back into the bottle then carefully placed it back in his pouch. His brown eyes studied me for a moment. Then he leaned over and whispered something to Severa.

She rolled her eyes, "You act like I haven't noticed." She hissed back before clearing her throat, "Alright, you." She nodded at me, "Who are you?"

My mouth opened and closed as I struggled to form words again. Those names, they hit me like a ton of bricks now. Severa, Laurent, those were the names of two characters in the game Fire Emblem Awakening. More specifically, the names of two characters who are a part of an apocalyptic future.

Something did not compute in my brain. And that lack of comprehension led to me looking like quite the idiot at the moment.

"Hm…" Laurent rubbed his chin, "Incapable of formulating proper speech." he eyed me closer. Leaning a bit too close to my face for comfort, "Dilated pupils, pale countenance, erratic breathing…" He nodded at Severa "This stranger is suffering from a panic attack. That or some illness that could kill him."

"Wh-what?" I stammered.

Severa huffed, "Great. Just great. Alright, how do we fix it?"

Laurent frowned, "The illness, or the panic attack?"

"What do you think?" Severa snapped.

"Stop making him nervous for one." The archer said as she joined the other two. Her voice sounded much smaller than the others. Quite like a mouse. Her hands kneaded her bow as she lingered behind Laurent. Severa glared over at her. The archer shrank a little bit, "P-panic attacks can be worsened by confrontation. You need to make him feel comfortable."

Severa drew back, "Oh! Comfortable eh?" She glanced back at me then back to the archer, "How do I do that, Noire?"

"Perhaps you should stop talking and let Noire take the lead on this?" Laurent suggested.

"What did you say?" Severa scowled.

"What's your name?" Noire piped up, taking the other two's attention away from each other and back towards me.

Come on brain, function! I gulped and lowered my hands. They felt a little numb now. Then again, my entire body felt numb at the moment. Both due to fear and complete disbelief.

I was standing in front of a trio of video game characters… what the actual fuck?

"Hey!" Severa snapped her fingers, "You gonna answer her or not?"

I blinked and shook myself out of my stunned stupor, "Uh… Samuel. Well, I go by Sam, for short. Like that better actually. And you guys are named Severa, Laurent, and Noire, right? I'm right, right?" Stop rambling Sam, "Cause I swear that is what I heard you all call each other. Unless those are code words of some sort, in which case-"

"Alright, I liked him better when he was quiet." Severa said, mercifully cutting of my panicked rambling. She turned around, "Sir Frederick! We've got a survivor over here!"

My gaze snapped over to the slowly approaching horsemen. As he approached, Laurent cast a spell in his palm. A small ball of soft, white light flickered over his head, lighting up the area around us in a calming glow. And in that light, I got a good look at the man known as Frederick.

He looked… a lot older than in the game. And a lot rougher too. Noticeable gashes and dents covered his blue and white armor. His brown hair was unkempt on top of his head. An ugly scar ran like a pink ribbon down the right side of his face. His brown eyes gave me a steely stare as his horse came to a stop beside Severa.

"Name?" He asked, voice gruff and hoarse.

"He said his name was-"

"I asked him." Frederick cut off Laurent.

I gulped as I shrank beneath Frederick's stare. God, I thought this guy was intense in the game.

"Sam." I gulped.

Frederick furrowed his brow. His eyes quickly studied my clothes. No doubt they looked very strange to him and the others.

"Come on." He said sternly to the three others, "We need to head back."

Severa frowned, "What do we do with-"

His gaze silenced her. Severa took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes sir." She breathed. Without another word, she followed Frederick towards the edge of the abandoned village.

Laurent glanced at me, then wordlessly followed them. Noire lingered for a moment longer. She flicked her dark eyes back at her friends, then returned her gaze to me.

"Y-you can't stay here." She nodded her head, "Come on. We'll get you and your dog somewhere safe."

She quickly turned on her heel and rushed after the others. I remained frozen in place for a moment, my eyes lingering on all four of them as they marched away. Beside me, I felt my new canine friend brush its muzzle against my leg. I absentmindedly patted its head.

"Good dog." I mumbled.

"Hey! Sam!" Severa shouted up ahead, "Get moving already! Or we will leave you behind!"

I jumped. A part of me hesitated. Wondered if I should even follow them. The black ash that covered my shoes reminded me that the other option led to almost certain death at the hands of terrifying monsters. In the end, the choice became simple.

I rushed to catch up to them. The dog loped alongside me. Eventually, I caught up to both Laurent and Noire. Severa and Frederick marched a few paces ahead of us. As I drew up alongside Noire and Laurent, Laurent offered me a leather pouch. I gave him a confused look.

"Are you not thirsty?" He asked.

Oh, water. Thank God.

I said a quiet thank you then took the waterskin. I gulped a quick sip then handed it back. As Laurent took the waterskin back, my mind raced.

Somehow, that bus sent me to another world. And that world happened to be the world of Fire Emblem Awakening. Except this looked nothing like the game. These events did not happen in the game. Not that I remembered at least. It had been a little while since I played the game in full. Real life has a way of interfering with free time like that.

As I reeled from this revelation, a pair of sobering questions hit me. Questions that lingered in my mind, even as we reached a worn down, dirt road near a dead forest and set up camp.

How did this happen? And how do I get back?

And chapter! WELCOME EVERYBODY! Welcome one and all, to this Fire Emblem Awakening Self Insert fic! I'm so happy to see you all here! This is my first attempt at something like this. All of my other fics have been crossovers, so working with only one fandom and story is going to be interesting. I hope I have done a decent job so far.

As you can tell, this SI has a bit of a different start to it. And that was the goal of mine. I wanted to go a different route than the usual Awakening Self Insert. And this fun idea plopped into my head and well, I couldn't resist.

This story is going to be more of a for fun sort of thing for me. I do have a massive Fire Emblem x Star Wars crossover going right now (The Force's Shepherds, check it out if you want to), and that is my main priority at the moment. But I'll work on this story whenever I get stuck on that one. Something to write instead of getting stuck in the dreaded writer's block for forever.

Since this is my first attempt at something like this, I would love and appreciate any feedback you can give me. What can I do better? (especially when it comes to writing in the first person, since this is also a first for me). I'd love to hear from you all.

Also, come join the Fictendo Treehouse on Discord! Code is: 9XG3U7a.

It's just a little place where some other fic authors and readers hang out. Talk about fics and writing and other fun stuff. Hope to see some of you there!

Anyways, let me know what you all think of this chapter! As always, I hope you all enjoyed! Have a nice day!