20th Winter, 514 AV
Marcus closed his eyes then breathed in deeply. His fingers came above his head then slowly moved down to his waste, motioning as though he was pushing something down to the earth. As he did this, he kept a steady pattern of deep breaths, calming his mind and also relaxing his body.
When he did this for three chimes, he began to make movement. Keeping his eyes closed, he guided his right hand to the front of his face, fingers stretched and elbows pointing away from him; then he moved his left hand to his left side stomach, fisting this one firmly. Marcus shifted his right leg to the front, picking up dirt as he did so, then to the right of him. His mind, still calm, began to play images inside his head. He saw people, very strong and tough men surrounding him. They had no face, no distinct color, just a human shape.
One came after Marcus from behind. Using side step techniques, Marcus swiftly turned to face the rampaging manly figure. It reached out to punch him, but failed in its task when Marcus quickly tapped the attacking fist away, making the figure fumble to the ground. It got up quickly then attacked Marcus again, this time going for a drop kick.
Using the same agility steps from before, Marcus moved to the side and allowed the dark figure to kick the air. Taking this as his opportunity, Marcus quickly spun in place, full 360 degrees, then extended his legs to the black figures abdomen. It took the impact, then flew away from Marcus. It landed on the ground, but its landing was as silent as the landing of a leaf.
The figure rolled into shadows, summoning forth three more figures. There was little light where he was, only covering a certain feet around him. Marcus stayed in the light, for he was unknown of what would happen if he shrunk into the darkness. Would he be attacked or Mauled to death by what was hidden? It was scary to imagine.
The three figures came after him all together. Time slowed as Marcus observed all of their movements. Their position, their body movement, and even their future movements. One was in front of him, lifting its leg to gut kick him, another was behind, quickly moving closer to do a leg sweep, and the last was to the side, prepping for a nice hard punch to Marcus face.
How would he deal with this? He was not advanced enough to handle a guerrilla attack like this. He was not even a Novice at combat yet, nor agile enough to dodge all three attacks. He was dealing with an impossible challenge.
The first came to punch, prompting Marcus to dodge. He duct, crouching close to the ground. At that moment, both the figure in front and back attacked, one kicking his leg out while the other destroyed his stomach. Marcus fell on his back, hitting the ground hard. He opened his eyes while he tried to gasp for air, all wind knocked out from the recent attack. He took in a great amount of oxygen while also watching his world change in settings.
Now he was in a forest, trees surrounding his body. His eyes adjusted to the sun, his brain adjusting to the world. All that happened was an image? Marcus watched a leaf snap from the grasp of a tree. The cool breeze made it dance in the wind. He saw it twirl, shake, move with the wild air. He saw how it did not fight against flow, how it move along. Its dance was beautiful, its flow serene. Dance with the wind huh?
Marcus placed both hands on the ground. He dug into the grass as he tried to stand himself up. When he was erect, he stretched his back. Maybe I shouldn't make three come after me at once, he thought as he walked towards his campsite. When he arrived he beheld a poor sight. Both his blades on the ground, resting on his white coat jacket. This was all he had. No food rations, no tent, just two blades and a jacket to keep him warm. How would he possibly survive?
He moved to pick up both his blades, his jacket, then noticed the back pack underneath. Two blades, one cutting knife, one back pack with wood, flint and steel, and a waterskin. At least I won't die by animals... I hope. Marcus shivered in the cold. Winter was here, and he stood with no proper protection on. I need to make a fire, fast.
He began searching for things. Rocks; sticks; dry yet wet soil. He looked for all this around the forest. When he gathered enough, he moved back towards his campsite. The rocks were scattered around a certain area, making a giant ring. The sticks that Marcus gathered where as dry as possible, some came even from trees. Another material to come from the trees where leaves, which Marcus shredded to a small size. While he thought about creating the fire, he also thought about how to control it. If it got wild, Marcus would have a forest fire to deal with. I need a fail safe.
The man stared at his bag and other belongings, looking especially at the water skin he held. Maybe I could use water. Kill it quickly when it gets too rough. He grabbed the waterskin then began walking away from his campsite. There was a small pond near where he was. He had seen it before, its location being the main reason for his location. It was rather small for a pond, perfect place for drinking water.
He reached the small water pool then crouched near its border. The water skin was opened then placed deep into the pond. Murky water flowed inside, making Marcus rethink whether or not this was safe to drink from.
When the waterskin was full, he moved back towards his campsite, all the while fighting away a sensation that he was being watched.
