She flinched at the sound of falling stone behind her, quickly limping away from the scene, unsure as to how big the rockslide was, or would get, for that matter. When it stopped, she glanced back, squinting. It was really hard to tell, but she thinks that the rockslide might have blocked the cave. Well, when she thought that maybe she would come back, that was a pretty big "maybe".

But what about that poor birdie? Poor thing... it might have been trapped in there! She slowly goes back towards the cave, not quite hearing the sound of someone approaching at first.

She tried to get small rocks and dirt out of the way, trying to unblock the entrance. She finally picked up on the sound of someone approaching and turned around, eyes wide. She couldn't really see the man very well without the glasses (hell, she could barely tell whether it was a man or not), and stuttered, trying to speak to the man as he approached.

"P...Please, c-c-could you...? T-There's a... s-s-some sort of... of raptor... s-stuck in there... I...I-I-It could be hurt!"

Maybe he can help! He could bring help and--

...

Wait. Where did this man come from? Who is he?! WHERE AM I?!

“Thank heavens you're alright Princess!” The man exclaimed though she saw that the man glanced to the pile of rocks and shook his head. “I was not expecting to make any sort of excavation and my youthful days are gone your Highness though I'm sure once we get back to the rest of the search party something can be organized.”

Princess? Whatever the case. Did the man have poorer vision than her? Indeed what was going on here. While their were men at the campus they were all faculty from what she had seen so far. He was so overjoyed at finding her that he did not notice it at first.

“Your clothes you Highness? What happened to them?” He looked her over but pressed on quickly without waiting for an answer. That was not important. “Are you alright? We were afraid Nazghul got you.”

And Merideth thought that she had questions before.

Her mouth just sort of gaped open, blinking in surprise. He'd basically lost her at the very first sentence. Not to mention, now that he's closer, he's dressed in... a jerkin? Nobody wears a jerkin in this day and age, except at... renaissance festivals? Is that it? Did she run into a renn fest? In the mountains?!

And what's this about Nazghul? Is she supposed to carry the One Ring through Middle Earth and throw it back into the fires of Mount Doom from whence it came?!

"...N...No," she finally answers him, voice weak, starting to look faint. "I... I think that... that I... I might be... losing my mind, actually..." Or perhaps she's hallucinating. She could be suffering major blood loss, perhaps. Nevermind that she doesn't seem to be bleeding too badly, her senses are definitely muddled, and she's doing what she can to find any possible logical explaination. Maybe that field of burning marijuana is closer than she thought.

"P...Please, sir, I... I need to get back to... to my dorm room. C-C-Could you... point the way back t-to campus?"

The man may be a hallucination, but she can't imagine that asking a hallucination for directions is any more dangerous than wandering around aimlessly.

First Tree Beard Jr. now the Nazghul? What was this? The man seemed to be confused by her words though as he moved to her side and assisted her along the path. “Dorms? Campus? Do you mean campsite? By now it would have been believed that you would be on the other side of the mountains meeting the King of Blight but a yeoman reported finding the carriage … what was left of it anyway and the royal guard.

“We've been searching for you ever since. Some were considering that the worse had happened your Highness. I insist that you keep me at your side.”

In most things she had read or heard you weren't allowed to touch royalty so he must have been an actor, right? That or she went crazy somewhere. She supposed he might have held a trusted position or thought it would be alright seeing how she was injured and all.

The man was either a good actor at keeping in character with no idea what she was talking about or she certainly wasn't in Arkansas anymore.

He kept calling her that. "Your Highness".

As one who believed wholeheartedly in the power of science, Merideth believed that everything had a logical explanation. She was, in a way, willing to believe that, be it either in this man's decaying mind or her own, they had somehow traveled back in time. Using the same logic, she was equally willing to believe that there were some sort of creatures, people, objects, or phenomena (whether they be imaginary or real) that could be called "King of Blight", or "Nazghul". However, when someone starts calling her "Princess" and "your highness", that is where she draws the line.

"S...S-Sir, I'm terribly sorry, but... I-I think you have me confused with s-somebody else. I-I'm... I'm not... I'm not a princess..."

She does, however, appreciate the man's assistance with her moving, as awkward as it is. The fact that someone usually shouldn't be able to touch a princess barely crosses her mind; After all, she's not actually a princess herself, so it should technically be okay. Considering that he himself is touching her despite her "princess" status, he must think himself some sort of higher-rank.

Perhaps I'm dying. Maybe I'm slowly bleeding to death at the bottom of that incline, and all this is some sort of dream.

Whether she's going insane, having a near-death experience, or simply high, she has a feeling that she certainly isn't going to be going back to campus anytime soon.

“Nonsense. I have raised you girls since you were in diapers Princess Merideth. I am just glad you are safe. I'm supposing that the wedding will have to be postpone now, it is far to dangerous to try to get over the mountains, I have told his majesty this, perhaps now he will listen.”

As old men could be he proved quite stubborn. He would not accept that she was not a princess or the Princess that he refereed to. Could it be that she was mistaken for someone else? But her name was now being used, what were the odds?

Assisted behind the bend there was a carriage a sort distance away, the stead that pulled it seemed perfectly normal to the old man and he paid the mechanical steed.

She was helped inside to the edge of it and he began inspecting her for any cuts or injuries. His fingers all over her in a non sexual way for the man seemed old enough to be rather disinterested in sex but far more interested in treating her wounds.

“Nothing seems broken. A few cuts and scraps. It goes without saying but your are extremely lucky.”

He... knew her name. He knew her name?!

Well, in a way, that did remove one possibility; that he was the crazy one here. Nope, she's quite certain that, at this point, all of this is in her hea--

Wait. Wedding? She's... She's getting married? And WHEN were her parents going to inform her of this important detail?!

Mind spinning, she idly followed the man into the carriage. At this point, he seemed to know more about the situation at hand than she ever could, so she had little other choice than to follow him inside.

Of course, him checking her injuries was a little awkward, but she allowed him to do so, thoughts still in a daze.

...Lucky. Yes... That's what she was. She was lucky. She was almost raped (again), was attacked by a giant raptor, had no idea what was going on, and was probably losing her mind... and she was lucky.

It was about at this point that she finally started to break down.

She didn't bawl loudly. She never had been a loud sort of girl, even when her sense of reality was being challenged. She just started sniffling, eyes watering up, staring at the floor of the carriage, avoiding the kindly older man's gaze. She'd never liked doing this in front of other people. It would just make them stare at her awkwardly, and she'd known that her behavior had just distracted them and made them feel uncomfortable. And she hated being the one to make them feel uncomfortable.

"...I... I'm sorry. I... I don't... I don't r-remember... any of that. I... I don't... I don't know what's going on... I... I'm so sorry...!"

“Please, do not cry your Highness.” Darren, the older man stated as he fetched her a handkerchief. “Your memory must have suffered a bit of damage so we'll just have to ease you back into things. We have time before Hunter and Bishop return.

“I will bring you up to speed and see if that jars you memory any. I am sure it will return in time. Alright, were to begin ...” Darren considered. “This is the land of Nilheim. To the North just beyond these mountains is the land of Blight known for it's shadow demons and nefarious beings of the eternal depths of the mind.

“The Queen, Queen Amelia died in child birth and your father, King Gregory raise you as best as possible. Yet now times are getting dark. The ruler of Blight, a necromancer by the name of Qwan has begun attacking settlements along the border but after negotiations he entered into a truce of sorts with your father on condition that you marry him. Shortly after you left we received work that representatives out of the country Hassan attacked you sabotaging the alliance out of fear, I believe they were under the impression that this truce between King Gregory and Lord Qwan would have the two turning their attention to Hassan in the East. Singularly they could hope to hold out against each nation though combined there will be no chance. Is any of this familiar?”

Merideth took the handkerchief and began to dab her eyes with it, doing her best to collect herself. She had to get a hold of herself. She'd have time for tears later.

She listened carefully, trying to think all of this through. Okay, so... she was supposed to marry a necromancer? Not quite the ideal husband she'd had in mind... not that she even expected to ever get married, mind you. She'd always assumed that she'd just remain an old maid, without anyone noticing her.

"...N...No. I... I don't remember any of this. I'm sorry," she apologizes again, thinking that her eyes might be dry enough now for him to not look as bad as she looked up at him, "But I... it's..." She shook her head. "I... It's not that... I don't remember anything. It's that... I remember something completely different. I... I don't remember being a princess, or anything about any of these countries. I was... I... I'm... sorry. You'll... you'll probably think I'm... I'm c-crazy if I told you..."

He took stock of her, looking at her then. She was busied and wearing strange garments. He analyzed the situation as best as he could. “Different memories?” He thought it over and looked. It would be one thing that she did not remember, another if she remembered differently.

She had no head injuries that he had found when inspecting her earlier. “I assure you, your Highness I will think no such thing. If you would enlighten me though I would appreciate it. We still he some time until the others arrive after their searches reveal nothing. This was the rendez-vous point that we had established.”

His warm blue eyes gazed at her then, he smiled at her. “I suppose you are going to tell me that you are not the Princess. Please, begin.”

Merideth looked back up at the man, seeming to relax a little bit at his kind smile. She still didn't relax entirely, though, as she gave a nod. "...A...Actually... yes. I... I don't remember being a princess. I... I don't think I was even of noble birth, let alone royalty..."

She swallowed a bit, and prepared herself for the mind-numbing task of doing a whole lot of explaining. "I'm... I'm a commoner. I grew up in... a rather... privileged country, but I'm still just a commoner. I... I'd been going to school. I... I was studying t-to be a..." She thinks. He probably wouldn't know what a "veterinarian" was. "...An animal doctor. I'd taken a break to explore the island my school was on, and... I..."

Her face scrunched a little bit for a moment as she tried to think. "...I got... rather lost... and... there was some sort of... man...?" She frowned. No, man wasn't the right word for it. "He... he tried to... t-to chase... after me, but I... I managed to escape. Then there was a giant bird that attacked me, and knocked me down, but..." Her eyes suddenly widen. The bird! "Th...The opening to the cave collapsed! The bird... It's... it's still in there! It might be trapped!"

Merideth started to move to try and leave the carriage. "W...We have to do something!"

He set his hand over her forearm to still her from getting out of the carriage. “When Bishop and Hunter get here they are strapping young lads that can excavate caves better than I could. I am an old man after all and wouldn't be much help. But until we have everything sorted out it is probably best that you play along, a Princess that has lost her memory is far more believable than remembering past lives or alternate realities or what not.”

He digested her tale a bit. Some of it only made sense if he filled in the blanks. “Were you touching anything? Exposed to something perhaps? Your Shadow ...” He stopped and needed to explain a little. “Your reality would be defined as a Shadow. The true world is Avalon and every reality is a corruption of it, a Shadow. Some beings have learned to walk these Shadows and while you could have accidentally moved from your Shadow to this one if the veil was thinnest it is far more likely that you had a bit of help.

“Now what happened to the real Princess I cannot say at this stage. She may be on another Shadow, she may have been killed, there are numerous possibilities but we must concentrate on the here and now. The creature you encountered was probably from this Shadow. We are close to Blight so it may have even been one of the necromancers pets that managed to cross over between Shadows and chased you here. It probably knew that you were not the Princess seeing that the Princess is to wed the necromancer … a rather unusual situation.”

Merideth kept looking at the carriage door for a moment, even stilled by the older man's hand. She really was rather worried, but... deep down, she knew that there wasn't much that she could have done with just her and her new... companion. She settled back down in her seat in the carriage, giving a nod, resigned to her helplessness. As usual.

It took a while for her to think things through as the older man explained. She'd read about this sort of things in fantasy novels before, but she was still finding it a little hard for her to digest everything, especially that the world that she knew, the world that she grew up in, was just a Shadow of another world. She had little evidence to disprove any theories like that, though, especially considering that she knew very little about this current world, this "Avalon".

"A...Actually there was..." She glanced up at the man. "There was... something unusual." A pause. "...Something... else unusual. When the bird chased me into the cave, there was... some sort of large, golden orb on a pedestal. It... It looked too large to have come through through the entrance, though. I... I wasn't quite sure what it was, but..." She bit her lower lip. "Would you... possibly know anything about something like that?"

He considered for a moment. While this land wasn't Avalon and thus a Shadow of it as well it was closer to the true Avalon than her own he had assumed with the question. He knew little of magic himself other than the common components, that it was flashy, that it was powerful or at least that would be the laymen terms of it.

“The orb probably was moved to your Shadow through another to your Shadow. Actual dimensions matter little. In one Shadow a passage might be wider or narrower than in another. There is also all manners of magic that can shrink objects and cause them to later expand.”

It seemed to be a simple answer to the question she poised. “Another thing is that the bird could still be in your Shadow unharmed. It might not have come with you at all. While I do not know what the orb is it is possible that it might have shifted you from your Shadow to this one without you even realizing it. Why the item was in your Shadow I can only speculate. If it seemed unusual in size maybe it was stolen from this Shadow or another and brought into yours. I'm assuming there's no magic there and as such no native at least could retrieve the item if they stumbled up it I'm guessing.”

Merideth shook her head slowly. "No, I... I don't..." She considered. The tree-man and the demonic man with wings were highly questionable, but other than them... "...No. There's no magic there." That was the easier answer to settle with for now. For someone that had a great deal questions and very few answers provided to her, grabbing and settling with this one particular answer was something that provided her with at least a little comfort.

"I... I think I understand, even so, I'd... I'd feel better if we were to check." She looked down at her hands, which were folding and unfolding in her lap. "I...I don't want to inconvenience anyone, I really don't, but... I really want to know for sure."

And then, it hit her.

"Ohmygoodness! I'm so sorry!" She looked up at the man, eyes wide and increasingly more apologetic. "Y...You're doing so much to help me, but... I... I don't even know your name yet!"