Anna opened her eyes and looked up at a clear blue sky. She could feel the waves lapping on her legs and the sand on her back. Her mind felt fuzzy. Thoughts floating around before slowly fading away.

After a few moments, she managed to sit up and look around. She found herself sitting on a beach half submerged in water. She turned to look inland and saw nothing but endless sand dunes.

A desert?

She stood up and looked around for a moment, trying to figure out just where in the world she could be.

Okay, let’s see, I waited for two days, but they never came back for me, so I fell asleep ‘cause I was bored and then woke up here.

She pondered it for a moment then slapped her head.

I must have drifted away! They’re never going to find me now!

She looked up and down the coastline for a few minutes before sighing.

I must be south of Eagle’s Bay or something. Better head north.

She took a few steps and looked down, realizing she was naked.

Where’d my dress go?

She stared at herself for a few moments before she started to walk again.

When I get back to Eagle’s Bay, I’ll send a letter to Beth, just in case they ended up there. After that, I’ll go back to Oldforge and just wait for everyone there.

The coast was littered with bones as well as the detritus from ships washed ashore as she had. The bones were from animals, as far as she could tell anyway.

After walking for a few hours, she came across the skeleton of a sea monster. The beast had been enormous with a skull the size of a barn. She looked at its teeth for a moment, wanting one, but knowing she probably shouldn’t walk into a town or city naked carrying a ten-foot tooth over her head. When she looked up at the eye socket, she paused, and then looked up at the sun.

Wait! It’s going east? The sun doesn’t go east! It can’t go east!

She looked back and forth between the sea and desert for a few moments before walking over to the skull and leaning against one of the massive teeth.

“That means I’m on the eastern shore of the sea,” she said.

She frowned.

“I’m on the other side of the world now,” she added.

She pushed off the skull and looked back the way she came before looking up at the sky.

“So, what now?” she asked.

The bones didn’t reply. She sighed and pushed off the skull, walking around it and continuing south.

“Not like I have a reason to go north now,” she said.

She walked at a normal pace, thinking about what had happened to her.

Okay, so sailing to the other side of the sea isn’t supposed to be possible because of the sea monsters, so how did I manage to float here? It would have taken months if I did, so why didn’t I wake up? I mean, I know I was having fun with my dream friends, but that’s just not possible! But here I am, so if I didn’t sleep the whole time, then what happened?

As she walked, the sun finished its arc across the sky, and soon the stars were above, proving that she was indeed walking south. The temperature dropped by a shocking amount, going from hotter than the summers in Oldforge to below freezing. She could tell by her breath. She’d never seen such a drastic drop in temperature before.

She walked through the night and kept walking, even after the sun came up. By mid-morning, it was blazing hot again, or at least she thought it was. She made her way past the bones and other debris, still wondering how she managed to end up on this lifeless shore. Her thoughts soon wandered to the fate of the Powerful Puffin and her friends.

I hope everyone’s alright.

She kept walking, and soon the day turned to night again, and then before she knew it, the sun rose once more.

A few days after she woke up, she happened upon a relatively whole shipwreck. It had been a trade ship of some kind with a deep broad hull. The ship was lying on its starboard side with the bow pointing towards the sea, letting her see the underside. The hull seemed to be in good shape. The only apparent damage was a large gash near the bow. She walked around the stern of the ship and looked at the deck.

A four-masted ship!

All the masts had broken off along with the bowsprit and most of the railing.

It must have capsized and washed ashore upside down.

She climbed up to the main cabin and found the door was missing. She went inside. The only things that remained were the few pieces of furniture attached to the ship itself. Everything else had either been taken by the crew or washed out of the room through the broken windows or the missing door.

Looks like I’m not going to get lucky and find charts or a logbook or anything.

She sighed and left the cabin, making her way to one of the doors that led below decks. The door was intact, so she tried to open it, giving it a good tug. The door didn’t budge. She prepared to tear it off, but then paused. Instead, she just let go and dropped down to the shore. She then called an eye and focused on it, using its eldritch vision to look through the thick timbers.

She searched the inside of the ship, searching for anything she could use, but she found nothing but wreckage and bones. She just shook her head and walked away, continuing her trek to the south.

Weeks passed with nothing but the dead surrounding her. She was starting to wonder if anyone lived on this side of the sea.

Maybe I should have gone north.

Late one night, as she walked, she heard the clash of metal in the distance and stopped, looking around.

“There!” she said.

She rushed in the sounds’ direction, heading inland. She ran hard, covering ground at an incredible speed, despite the softness of the sand.

The sounds of battle grew louder as she neared. Soon, she was able to make out shouting and screaming. She knew she was getting close when she could smell blood. She bounded over a dune and finally saw the battle.

Men wearing dark loose clothing that covered them from head to toe were riding odd-looking creatures with long necks and humps on their backs and were attacking people in a tent encampment. The people were dressed in a similar fashion to the men on the strange creatures and were wielding the same curved swords and long spears as the men. She wasn’t sure who to help until she watched a woman carrying a baby dart from one of the tents only to be cut down by one of the men.

Only bandits would do that!

She ran down the dune shouting a dwarven war cry. Her powerful voice echoed off the dunes, causing men from both sides to pause and look in her direction. She reached one of the men on the humped creatures, grabbed it by the neck with both hands and tossed both man and beast into the sky.

One of the men riding a creature screamed at her, lowered his spear, and kicked his mount, causing it to lurch forward. She stepped to the side at the last moment, grabbing the spear shaft and lifting him from his saddle, slamming him into the ground with enough force to break most of his bones. She spun the spear around and jammed it clean through one of the men and his mount before letting go of the haft.

A sword swung at her face. She grabbed the blade and yanked it from the man’s grip, flipping it in her hand before swinging it at him, taking his arm off at the elbow. Another one of the men rode past her. She cleaved the head from his mount, causing it to drop, sending him and its corpse rolling away.

The shouts of battle changed to panic, and soon, they began to ride away. The men in the camp chased after them, pulling a few of them from their mounts before they got away, and beating them mercilessly.

She walked over to one of the dead men and crouched down next to him. She set the sword down and began to undress him. A man rushed over and held his hand up, repeating the same word over and over. She stopped undressing the dead man and stood up. The man turned and shouted something. More men rushed over. They watched her nervously.

“Hello,” she said.

The men clearly didn’t understand.

“Hello,” she said in dwarven.

They looked at each other and said something to her that she didn’t understand.

“Hello,” she repeated, this time going through each language she knew. The men showed no comprehension.

After a few moments, she pointed at the dead man and then used her arm to cover her breasts and her other hand to cover her crotch. She pointed at the man again. The men looked at her for a moment before one of them gasped. He started speaking rapidly. The other men all seemed to notice that she was in fact a woman and quite naked.

The man who realized what she was trying to say first turned towards one of the tents and started to shout. Moments later, a woman rushed out. She was covered from head to toe with only her eyes exposed. The man said something to the woman and then gestured around at the carnage she’d caused before gesturing at her. The woman rushed over and put her arm around Anna, pulling her away.

She was led to a large tent and pulled inside. Dozens of women and children were huddled inside. The woman pulling her hand started to speak rapidly, pointing at her as she did. The women stared at her until an old woman barked something at them, causing them to spring into action.

They swarmed around her, pulling her away from the opening and towards the back of the tent where they washed the blood and other filth from her body with damp cloths, brushed her hair, and finally pulled a clean dress over her head. She was amazed that it fit around her bust. Though it was far too long, one of the women wrapped a thick belt around her waist, and another put one of the headscarves on her, covering her hair, neck, and face.

After fussing over her for a few moments, they pulled her to a large open area where they all sat on large cushions. The woman started to talk to her. It was clear they were excited, or relieved, but other than that, she had no idea what they were saying.

I guess I should start learning how to talk here.

She pointed at herself and said her name. The women stopped talking and looked at her. She did it again and then pointed at one of the women. The woman looked at the other women who didn’t say anything. She pointed at herself again and said her name one more time. One of the women gasped and then pointed at herself.

“Banafsaj,” she said.

Anna pointed at her.

“Banafsaj,” she replied.

The woman nodded and then pointed at her.

“Anna,” she said.

She pronounced it oddly, though that wasn’t unexpected considering how different the language Banafsaj spoke was from common.

The woman grew excited and started speaking to the rest of the women, saying Anna’s name a few times while pointing at her. One by one, the other women started to point at themselves and say their names. Anna made sure to point at each one and say them back so that they knew she’d understood them. Once she’d learned the names of all the women and children, she picked up one of the cushions.

“Cushion,” she said pointing at it with her other hand.

The women looked at each other for a moment before Banafsaj pointed at the cushion and said a word. Anna pointed at the cushion, said the word, and the women started to nod. She pointed at one of the lamps and said lamp. Banafsaj pointed at it and said a word which she repeated.

I can do this! I’ll learn how to talk to these people!