It didn't take me long to reach the edges of where the buildings were. This was partially because the buildings weren't as far as I thought they were; instead they were much smaller than I had thought. The other part was that my new body was very fit and could move much faster than the fat thing I was used to. Still, it was late afternoon when I reached the first of the buildings.

The buildings ended up being part of a fairly small, for what I was used to growing up in a city, village. There were people on the muddy, more traveled paths that I guessed were the "streets" of the village, but not many. Most of the people outside were children, playing around some of the houses. Most of them did not notice me until I was walking by, and then they didn't pay me much attention except to call out a greeting to the "mister with a sword."

It wasn't until I had passed the closest group of children that I realized just how different the village from what I was used to. It wasn't that it was tiny compared to the city I grew up in, though it was, and that was certainly different. It was that I didn't see any indications of technology beyond horse drawn carts and that sort of stuff. There were no telephone wires, no lights of any sort, nothing I was used to. In fact, the whole village made me think of what I usually pictured when reading fantasy novels. There was even a building with a sign that had a picture of a man holding a mug of something and a bed on it.

I guessed that that building was an inn, or something like that, and I figured that if I could find stuff out anywhere, it would be there. So I went in, and was immediately greeted by a round man, bearded and smiling, in an apron. He was shorter than the unfamiliar body I was in, but he still managed to look fairly intimidating as he looked me over, frowning slightly when he caught sight of the sword. But then he saw the heavy purse on my belt, and his smile grew.

"Well, fine sir, what can I do for you?" he asked me, his voice oily and obsequious. Despite the unnerving tone in his voice that actually calmed me down a little, mostly because it seemed that the strange body I was in wasn't known around the village.

"Actually I was wondering where this is," I said. "I'm not familiar with these parts, and I seem to be lost." The other people in the room, mostly rather seedy looking men and the round man, looked shocked at my announcement that I was lost. I guessed that it wasn't often a person with a sword came by saying "he" was lost.

"Well, sir," he said hesitantly. "This is the village of Sellick. You're only a day's ride by horse from the capital, though I'm sure you knew that already. Our village may be small, but we're famous in the whole kingdom for being the birthplace of the last queen, and we're right proud of that."

"Ah," I said. "Thank you."

"Would you like any drink, or perhaps a good meal, sir?" he asked. He was still eyeing the purse on my belt the same way those asshole bullies had eyed me before beating me. I didn't like it, but he seemed to be on his best behavior, in hopes that I would spend a lot of money.

"How much for a meal?" I asked. I decided to watch the people around the room as he named the price, in hopes that they may give me some idea of whether he was being outrageous or not. I had no idea what a meal should cost, and I didn't want to get ripped off if I didn't have to.

"Only seven coppers for the stew," he said. "My wife makes it, and it's the best around here." A few men in the room snickered at that comment, so I guessed he was just boasting. "Make it a silver and you get more meat in the stew, some bread, and the best ale in the house."

No one had snickered or seemed amused at anything other than the comment about the stew being the best. I couldn't really find anything else odd about their reactions, so I had no idea whether it was a good offer or not. I thought about the decision for a few moments, until my stomach decided to let me know that it wanted food, rather loudly. That made up my mind for me.

"I'll take the stew and bread," I said. I wasn't too thrilled about the thought of ale though. "Do you have anything besides ale to drink?"

"I do have some wine in the cellars," he said. "But that would cost you a pretty penny, seeing as I only bring it out for special occasions."

"I was actually trying for something that doesn't have alcohol in it," I said. "I don't like to drink. I don't suppose I could have water?" That got a rather shocked look from him.

"Do you have a death wish, sir?" he asked. "Everyone knows that water is for bathing, not for drinking. I don't serve poison to my customers. I suppose if you insist on not having spirits I could give you some milk though."

"Oh," I said. "Milk would be fine."

"I'll cost you one copper extra though," he said. I didn't even think about the cost that time, instead just deciding to take the offer. I didn't want to be getting even a little drunk, since I had no idea what kind of alcohol tolerance I had in the strange body I was in. Milk was better than nothing, especially if the water was dirty enough to cause sickness, as I gathered from what the man had said.

"I'll take it," I said, as my stomach started to protest its emptiness again. I sat down at one of the empty tables, ignoring the stares I was getting from the seedy men around me, and waited for the innkeeper, or someone else, to bring me my food.

A few minutes later a young girl came into the room, carrying my stew, bread, and milk. She stopped at my table and stood there, not putting the food down. Instead, she demanded the money before she would give me any of the food. I dug around in the purse, extracting a silver coin and a copper coin after hunting for a while. Once I put them on the table in front of her, she put the food and drink down on the table and hurried off, clearly not wanting to stay near me.

I ate, my stomach feeling much, much happier after I had food in it. I could feel the eyes of many people in the room fixed on me, but, luckily for me, no one decided to do anything besides stare. The atmosphere was uncomfortable, and I liked the idea of staying there about as much as I liked what the assholes had done to me. In other words, I did not want to stay there any longer than I had to.

After eating, I stood up from the table, leaving the bowl and mug there, since I saw empty dishes being left on the tables by other people. I moved to exit the building, since I wasn't comfortable there and didn't have an empty stomach to keep me there any longer. I actually made it halfway across the distance between me and the door before any of the seedy people decided to try and stop me.

"Where're ya' goin', pretty man?" the man with the knife who was blocking my way asked. "Ya think ye're too good fer us just 'cause ya got a sword an' some money?"

"No," I said. "I just don't feel like dawdling. I have other matters to attend to. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to be going." I felt odd, saying things like that, but I figured that if I acted calm things would go better for me. I didn't want to get in a fight, since I had no idea what to do with the sword I had put on so naturally. To be honest, I was very, very frightened of the idea of having to try and fight.

"Tough," he said. "I don' like yer kind. Even if ya says ya don' think ye're too good fer us, ya still think that. That kinda stuff pisses me off!"

I panicked. He was starting to move forward. He had a knife, which was nothing compared to my sword, but I was still terrified of it. Finally, as he started to slash at me, everything seemed to go into slow motion.

I could see the knife getting closer to me. But, before it could come in contact with my skin or clothing, something inside of me snapped and my unfamiliar body started moving. Before I could react mentally, my sword had been drawn and placed against the man's throat. He got a panicked look in his eyes, and a dark stain spread on the front of his pants. Then, just as quickly as it had happened, the sudden movement of my unfamiliar body stopped, and I was left holding a sword at the man's throat, ready to kill him.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," I said. The man nodded slightly, nicking himself and drawing a little blood. I slowly lowered the sword, and he backed away from me. No one else tried to stop me from leaving the inn, and I exited, feeling about ready to run, but knowing that that would cause problems.

Of course, once I was out of the inn, I started running out of the village as fast as I could. I returned to the field where I had woken, and didn't stop until I was there. Once there, I sat down abruptly, shaking with fear at what I'd done.

I hadn't tried to threaten the man. I hadn't wanted to threaten the man. The body I'd found myself in had done it for me, and I didn't like that. Slowly, I drew the sword, staring at it. I wanted to throw it away, because it frightened me. I couldn't though; there was something in the body that stopped me. Instead, I just looked at it.

It looked pretty, but very, very deadly. It was sharp, and it felt right as I held it in my hands. I had no idea what made a sword good, but this sword felt like it was a very good blade to me. It fit just right, and the weight felt comfortable, though I would have struggled to hold it one handed in my real body.

Night was deepening as I contemplated the sword in my hand. The stars were out, though when I looked up at the sky I didn't recognize the sky at all. It was very clear that I was nowhere near my home, and that was starting to bother me more. It was then that the situation blew up on me and all of the panic that should rightfully have been there when I first realized I was in a different body in a different world came crashing down at that moment.

I curled up into a fetal position, much like I had in my real body after being beaten, except that this time I was out on a warm summer night in the middle of a field instead of in a school in the middle of winter. I then did something that most people would have laughed at to see in a man, had anyone else seen it. I cried. I was alone, and very, very afraid, and I cried until I fell asleep, not even worrying that someone might kill or rob me in my sleep.