Beginings: an end

They arrived back at town. Once in the house, Lawrence (or Dr. Robinson) began walking around the house, looking for something. "I've been able to collect quite a few books over the past decade." He started pulling out books from shelves. "Alright, you'll need this, this is a good one, oh can't do without this..."
"Wait, where am I going, exactly?" asked Chris.
"I'm not sure, but these will help you get there." He put a pile of books down on the table. There were about five. "I'll hire someone to help you get around. You'll also need a horse or mule and some other supplies. Your best bet for a destination is Cortitia. It's the intellectual capital of the country."
"So which way is it?" he asked.
"That's where this atlas comes in. This has a map of just about anywhere you'll visit."
"Thanks, Lawre- - Professor. But why help me if you're happy with things as they are?"
"I have everything I need here, but what kind of life would it be for you? I'm only giving out of my abundance. If you set things right, that's fine. If you don't, I'm still in a good position. It's up to you wether or not things go back to normal."
Lawrence went off into town to get things for Chris's trip.

Early in the afternoon, he got back with a load of supplies on a horse-driven cart. "Chris, this is Milo. He'll be taking care of the horse and cart."
"Nice to meet you, Milo," Chris said.
"Right, then. Pleasur' to meet ya."
Lawrence piled a few more things in the cart from the house. Several books and some other supplies he couldn't quite distinguish.
"Bit of last minute advice: watch out for theives and wild animals, read those books during the rides, and don't tell anyone what we know."
"Thanks for all your help, Professor."
"Not a problem, Chris. Best of luck on your journey."
With that, Chris got on the cart. Milo hopped on in the front and got the horse going. Chris waved goodbye. They left the town and entered the forest. Chris watched the Castle slowly disappear between the trees. He then turned around and picked up one of the books.

Beginnings: an explanation

Chris's mind was racing to figure out what was going on. "What? It couldn't be Dr. Robinson. Lawrence looks kinda like him, but Robinson was a lot younger. But what was with the thing about me falling asleep in class? This is just too much..."
"So I assume you do realize that this isn't campus?"
"Um... yeah... but what's with the... why's everybody... how come the... WHAT"S GOING ON!?"
"Alright, let me explain what I've been able to deduce: first of all, you did see the wave, didn't you?" Chris nodded. "And you then woke up yesterday. Correct?"
"Yeah."
"I too was knocked out by the wave, but I woke up about ten years ago. Quite a difference between the two of us. When I saw you in the forest, I knew who you were. I just wasn't sure if you remembered the world before the wave."
"What? Why wouldn't I?"
"You may find it peculiar, but everyone else I've spoken with doesn't remember how things used to be."
"So... this is what? We traveled back in time?"
"No, no, far from it, I believe. You among all my students know that time travel isn't possible."
"Then what's gong on? No technology, everyone's all old-Englishy..."
"I'm not sure exactly what's going on. Haven't had much reason to find out. I still have everything I did before: my wife, my health, and my wealth. Not to mention, I've always been an avid archer. I've had plenty of time to practice since it became a regular hobby."
"So, doesn't your wife remember what the world was like?"
"Nope; to her, things have always been this way."
"So everyone from pre-wave is here in post-wave, but we're the only ones that remember pre-wave."
"I doubt we're the only ones. In fact, I'd say there are several. But what determines who remembers is still beyond my grasp."
"So that's it? You're just gonna sit back while something's going on? Well not me. I'm going to find out what's going on."
"If it's that important to you, OK. But not before I give you some supplies. Getting around isn't as easy without a car. Come on. Let's head back to the house."
Chris grabbed the pack and Lawrence took up the deer. They walked back to town.

Beginnings: a Twist

The sun was shining pretty brightly through the trees. Chris slowly regained consciousness. He realized he had just fallen asleep while on the job and was a bit concerned. He looked around and saw Lawrence still next to him. He was holding what looked like a stick. Chris wiped his eyes. He was still tired from his nap, but his vision slowly focused. Chris was pretty surprised to see Lawrence holding a bow. He had a few arrows stuck in the ground, ready to pick up and fire. Chris looked over at where the bird seed stuff was. He saw a deer slowly nearing it. Lawrence pulled an arrow back. The deer was easily 100 feet away, so Chris was a bit skeptical. Lawrence released the arrow, and to Chris's surprise, actually hit the deer! Chris was pretty amazed at Lawrence's skill with the bow. "That was incredible!" he said.
"Oh, thanks." Lawrence didn't seem too surprised with his hit. Chris assumed he had had plenty of practice. Maybe a marksman or something.
"Oh, and sorry about falling asleep... guess I was pretty tired."
"Well, it isn't like you ever stayed awake in class..."

Beginnings: First Hunt

Sometime around the middle of the night, Lawrence came in and woke Chris up. "Come on. We gotta get out there early."
It was still dark outside. They walked into the cool, crisp air. Chris followed Lawrence out of town. He had some weird dreams the night before. He kept trying to remeber what it was, but he was too tired to think. He was also preoccupied at the conflicting information he had obtained. Lawrence had told him that it was 2005, but he had yet to see a trace of technology. Not to mention all the medieval stuff he kept seeing: the buildings, the clothes, everything. Chris was completely confused, not knowing what to think. Time travel couldn't be possible, but where'd all the modern day things go? It was just too much for a single engineering student to think about. And what about that? He couldn't very well go in and say "sorry I missed the last week of classes; I was under the impression that I had traveled back in time." Maybe he could start by just staying calm. He'd just go along with the whole thing.
By the time they were about a quarter mile outside the town, the weight of the equipment was starting to get to Chris. He wasn't even sure what all he was carrying, but he wasn't too interested at the time. They reached the edge of a forest. It wasn't too thick, but still more dense thatn anything on campus. He continued following Lawrence until they were a good distance into the forest.
"You can put the pack down there, Chris."
Relieved, Chris put the load down next to a tree. He had never been hunting, let alone in a seemingly medieval time. Lawrence pulled out something resembling birdseed. He then told Chris to bring the pack along. Chris heaved it onto his back and followed Lawrence a good distance away. They stopped there, and Chris put the pack back down. Lawrence sat down, and Chris followed suit. He was exhausted from carrying his load all morning. It was still pretty dark, but the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. Chris made a mental note of which way was East. He wasn't sure if he'd need to know, but it would help to have a mental map of the area. Lawrence began getting something out of the pack. Chris drifted off into thought again.
"So if that's East, then this forest is to the West... So when I first woke up here, I was facing... North? No, the castle was in front of me, and the forest was behind me, so I was facing East. And before the wave came through, I was running to the hill, so I was going... well where was I coming from? Let's see... I was at the library, I think... but is that East or West of the hill? Hmm..."
Chris began to nod off.

Beginnings: Castle Arundel

The man led Chris to the left of the castle. They approached a small bridge. "By the way," he said, "the name's Lawrence. And what about you?"
"I'm Chris. So what city is this?"
"This is Arundel Castle. So what city are you from?" he asked.
"Oh! Um... I don't remember... That is, I'm not saying just yet..."
"You must've been hit pretty hard."
They passed through the city gates. Straight ahead looked like a market or town square. Lawrence led him towards it. As they passed through the market, Chris saw all sorts of things being bought and sold. Pigs and chickens were running around everywhere. For every market stall they passed, someone started peddling their merchandise at him. Chris just tried not to make eye contact with anyone. After passing through the market, they made a few more turns until they arrived at a street near the edge of the town. The houses were all two stories, with the second floor coming in farther than the first. It made the road pretty dark.

Lawrence led Chris through a door on his right. They walked into a somewhat large room. "Come on in," he said.
"So this is your house?" Chris asked.
"Yep. My boys are off at Norwich as apprentices. Just me and my wife now. Margaret! Come in here and meet Chris."
An middle-aged woman came through one of the doors on the far wall. "Yes, what is it, Lawrence?"
"This is Chris. He got attacked by theives the other day. He'll be eating with us today. Go ahead and set another spot at the table."
"Well, it's good to meet you Chris," she said.
Chris spent the afternoon with Lawrence, trying to figure out what he could do while he was figuring out what he could do to get home. "Well, I guess you could join me tomorrow. Our garden keeps us from spending too much on food, but I keep working to keep us financially safe. Ever since the boys left, we haven't had need to spend much. I'll tell you what. You can help me with my work, and we'll feed you and let you stay here. If you find a real job, you can take it, but if not, you can stay here. It has been awfully lonely."
"That's really nice of you Lawrence. I'm glad I got knocked out here. So what will I be doing, working with you?" Chris asked.
"Well, I'm a hunter. You'll be carrying supplies, maybe helping set some traps."
Chris agreed that it was more than a generous trade of services.
Late in the afternoon, Margaret called Lawrence and Chris down for dinner. Chris was surprised to see quite a large amount of food at the table. There was a spread of meats and bread. It wasn't a very big table, but it was covered in food.
After a good meal, Lawrence took Chris up to the second floor to a rather small room. "You can stay in here."
Chris settled into the somewhat tough bed to try and get some sleep, hoping that by some chance, he would wake up in his dorm.

Beginnings: Looking for information

"Maybe I should put an Old English twist on my speech... no, I can't assume I'm in anytime other than the present." Chris planned to ask someone about what was going on. He was pretty nervous. For all he knew, no one here spoke English. "Maybe a 'hi, I'm Chris; where am I.' No, more of a 'hey, how's it going? what year is it?' Ok, ok, maybe that's a little weird, maybe 'do you know the date? Day, month, and year, that is.' Well, that one's better; I just have to trust that people speak English."
As he was speaking, some one came up to him. "You alright, there? Lookin' a bit ill."
"Oh yeah, I'm fi- good, he speaks English. Just a bit confused is all. I got knocked out yesterday and can't remember what year it is. Would you happen to know? YES! That was awesome. This'll be a breeze."
"2005, if memory serves. Knocked out you say? Must've been theives. If you don't watch out, they'll get ya!"
Looking up, the man was alot older than Chris orignally thought. He was probably in his 50's. He reminded Chris of one of his professors. "So... did you notice some unusual weather yesterday? Maybe a giant wave?"
"Nope. Clear and sunny day. You might wanna come with me. You must not've had much to eat recently."
"Oh right, because I've been unconscious. That's generous of you."
"Well, I've got plenty of food at the house."
"And where would the house be?"
"Right in there," he said, pointing at the castle.

Beginnings: Confusion

As he came to his senses, Chris was unsure he had gained consciousness yet. He looked up where there was once the main building on campus. The belltower and everything around it had completely changed. His best judgement told him he was looking at a castle.

Chris wasn't sure what was going on. He got to his feet and looked around. No sidewalks or roads. He did see a few people, though. He was beginning to think this was like a movie or video game. "Yeah, like somebody goes back in time or something. But that couldn't be it. People would be staring at my futuristic clothes..." looking down, he noticed his T-shirt and jeans had been replaced by rough wool. "Oh, boy." Thinking through it, Chris was really confused. If he had gone back in time, there wouldn't be a castle here, but just a forest or something. "The English weren't living in America... "And time travel isn't even possible... is it? All sorts of laws of science are against me... or at least that explanantion. Maybe its a reality show, but it'd have to be high budget with that wave thing..." Chris's mind continued to race. He decided he'd be best off not to think about it. He wouldn't be able to come up with an answer. "Although, that castle does look alot like the building on campus. The hill's similar, too. But what if I really have gone back in time? It could be pretty dangerous... I could offend someone, and they could just slice my head off... No. I know the ins and outs of medieval society. I've played enough video games to write a book on it. This'll be a piece of cake. First thing I need to do is find a strategy guide... No, set a goal: find out where or when I am, why I'm here, and get back. Simple as that. I hope."

Beginnings: part 3

Chris decided to pass the time with a book. It still hadn't started raining outside, but he'd be able to stay dry in the library if it decided to start. It was, however, getting really dark outside. He grabbed a book and took a seat by a window. He occasionally looked outside to see if the clouds were letting up any, but it didn't seem so. Chris had a bad feeling about it. He put down his book and just stared out the window. That's when things got weird. Over the horizon, he saw something resembling a tidal wave, but it wasn't water. It was pretty distant. Chris decided it was some kind of tornado. He thought he'd better head for the emergency shelter. He went outside, still pretty calm. But he saw the wave was moving closer alot more quickly than he thought. He decided he'd better run. Sprinting down the sidewalk, he occasionally looked back. He was getting close to the hill on campus. The shelter was at the foot of the hill, so he wouldn't have to run up any stairs. He was still a good distance away when he saw the wave passing buildings in the distance. He ran as fast as he could toward the hill, not even looking back. But then he felt a huge force hit him. He lost consciousness right there.
Thoughts were going through his head.
Wait, what happened? I must've gotten knocked out... I was running from... What was it? I've never seen anything like it.
Like awakening from a dream, Chris was still sorting out what had happened. He slowly sat up and opened his eyes. "Whoa..."

Beginnings: part 2

After class, Chris went to the amphitheatre to do some homework. It was a warm day, so he thought it'd be good to get some fresh air. As he usually did, he got bored pretty early into the assignment. He got out his gem and started tossing it up in the air. Being so dark, it got warm pretty quickly. He put it down and started back on his homework. About half way through, he decided to finish at his dorm room where there weren't so many temptations to enjoy the weather. As he reached for the stone, he could feel the heat coming off of it. "Maybe I shouldn't have left it in the sun so long," he thought. He tapped it into the pouch, nearly burning his finger. He put it on his desk when he got to his room. He decided to let it cool off while he was doing his homework.
Half an hour passed, and Chris hadn't gotten much accomplished. He decided to head out for a while. His stone was still hot, so he left it on the desk. As he was walking down the road, he felt a really cold breeze pass by. He looked up and saw clouds moving in pretty quickly. "Spring showers, I guess," he thought to himself. Chris went in to the library to keep from gettting caught in the rain. By the time he had gotten in, the sky was completely dark. Not a ray of sunlight was getting down to campus. He decided the library would be the best place to wait out the storm.

Beginnings

Chris was walking back from psychology. It was like any other Monday afternoon. When he arrived at the dorm, he checked his mail. He found he had gotten a package form his brother. He went to the front desk to claim it. The man at the desk went to the back room and returned with a rather small box. Chris took it up to his room. He put his backpack in the corner and began tearing through the tape and postage. He found a pile of packing peanuts covering a velvet pouch. He opened it up to see the contents. A small gem, very smooth and dark purple in color, fell into his hand. After examining it, he went back to the box and found a note:
Dear Chris,
Hey bro, haven't heard from you in a while. I had a weekend off from studying in London, so I took a trip with some of my new friends around the country. It's nice out here. You and mom would probably really like it up here. Bought this in some small town, thought you'd like it. Consider it a birthday/Christmas/Easter/President's day present. It cost me a bit, but I gotta spend this scholarship money some how! Maybe you can keep it for luck or something. Well, guess that's all for now. See you guys around Christmas.
Love Cliff
Chris liked it. It felt good to have something like it. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like he was supposed to have it. Chris put the stone in his pocket and headed out for his next class.