"...It's a human." said a voice.
"Are you sure?" said another.
"Definitely... so... what should we do?"
"..."
Leslie Gordon heard various voices. He struggled to open his eyes, but was overcome by waves of dizziness. He knew he wasn't hurt, but something about this environment felt... alien?
The last thing he remembered was being on a plane, then... the rainbow roads... and a guardian? Leslie passed the test, and was allowed into the world 'unchanged' unlike the others, who were all 'integrated' into this world. Was that why he was hurting so much? Because he had come here, in his natural normal state?
... so this was another world? He woke up quickly at that realisation. There was a measure of excitement at the idea. That him, out of all the people in the world could get to see a world other then Earth.
"Where... am... I?"
There was a man by his side. Leslie was resting on a soft mattress. The other man looked to be dressed in rather middle aged clothes. He looked human but there were some curious oddities. The ears seemed just slightly pointed, and there was a jagged nature about his hair. Not by much, but it was fairly noticeable. "You're in the village of Spring... I'm Jarid."
"I'm... Leslie. Thank you..." he said as he tried to sit up.
"We found you near the Mist Rivers. You're a human then?" asked Jarid curiously.
Leslie frowned slightly. "Well... Yes. What else could I be?" he asked confused.
"We feared you could be one of the monsters from the recent rain." said Jarid.
"It.. rains monsters?" Asked Leslie confused. It was at this point he noticed Jarid was armed with a sword. He had to be careful. These people... had weapons, and they considered him a potential threat.
Jarid nodded. "Beyond the veils, yes. Above and around us where the colours start to change. There are monster races everywhere. They usually leave human villages alone though, but out there... well... it can get ugly."
Leslie got up slowly. He wanted to see this village. There was a sudden commotion outside however, and a noise of people shouting with a mix of horror and excitement.
"Monster egg! I found a monster egg! A monster egg!" shouted a young voice.
Jarid tensed a little. "I've got to go take care of this," He said. "Come on. I still need to keep my eye on you too."
Leslie got up quickly, and followed out of the room. Opening the door, he was greeted to his first sight of Spring village... a curious place, with hatched roofs, and what looked like a population of only a hundred or so. The sun was streaming in the sky, lighting everything in shades of yellow. It wouldn't look out of place in medieval Europe. The elder man's eyes were drawn to the crowd, and the excitement that gathered in some kind of market place.
"Why haven't you destroyed the egg?" said Jarid as he looked at the object some children held.
The kids looked amongst themselves. "We tried... we can't break it." They placed the egg down on the ground to get a better look at it.
Jarid took out a sword, and launched a quick blow upon the egg... but it just bounced off.
"Save your attempted," said another that looked to be a farmer. "This egg survived the mill, I don't think we can break it. The archers even tried shooting it, but nothing."
Leslie continued to watch. "What is the worry of this egg?" He asked.
"It's a monster egg," said Jarrid. "When it hatches, the monster inside will try to disrupt the order of the village. This village is responsible for spring. If we go down, the order of seasons can change."
"Spring? Your village... controls a season?" Leslie looked on with confusion.
"Well someone has to be responsible for it," said Jarid. "You're not from around here are you. How do you work with the seasons?"
"They... just happen," said Leslie. "May I see that egg?"
There was some concern over giving the stranger this egg... however, since it couldn't be destroyed they had nothing else to try. Leslie looked at the patterns. He had seen this pattern before... hexagons, and other curious geometric symbols all related to a number. One pattern was 'unfinished' on it. He traced his hands along the runes as it glowed along his finger. "Six..." he whispered.
Naming a number had a curious effect and the people tensed. "A wizard! The stranger is a wizard!" one shouted.
The egg started to glow, and the crowd stepped back from him. Leslie was confused but for some reason, didn't feel that anything was wrong here. The egg continued to glow, making a new shape... arms legs... a head...
... a human baby.
A little baby girl, was now held in Leslie's hands, and it looked at him with quiet curious eyes.
"Well... Hello?" said Leslie bemused more then anything else. "It's...okay. It's just a baby."
