The Runaway: A Stardew Valley Story

Out of Danger

Smoke.

Dirt.

And pungent body odor.

I notice these before my mind can wake itself up. Even just the thought of opening my eyes sends the little thud in my temples to a painful roar, but I have zero idea where I am. It would be much safer to open my eyes and determine what the hell is going on.

There's something scratchy all around me. Almost like I'm encased with the most uncomfortable sheets in existence. The sound of someone shuffling catches my attention, and I tell myself that despite whatever pain that follows, I have to figure out where I am and who brought me here. One eye strains open. A sharp throb pierces my skull as sunlight fills my vision.

"Are you awake?"

I groan in response.

"You took quite a blow to the head there."

I want to say that I've had worse, but my mouth doesn't move.

My eyes adjust to the stream of light. It illuminates a sharp triangular shaped room with a very short roof and the grainy figure of a man. He sits on the ground beside me close enough to be awkward, but there isn't another place for him to go. I don't know if the stranger's proximity or his appearance is more concerning, however. The yellow tunic draped across his midsection is the texture of matted fur and covered in dirt and mold.

He must be the source of the smell making me nauseated.

"Where..." I trail off as bile rises in my throat. It takes everything in me to direct the vomit away from the stranger, but the space is so small. I retch a mere inch from the man's knee.

"Oh dear," he croons, "it looks like you may need a doctor after all."

Wiping my mouth with the collar of my shirt, I shake my head. "I'm fine. That's not exactly new. Is there something I can use to clean up the mess?"

"You nearly died."

"That's not really new either," I confess and attempt to clamber to a kneeling position.

A strong hand pushes me back, and I freeze. "You need to be careful, young one."

"I need to get going."

"The sun has begun to set," the man says. "It will be dark within the hour. Perhaps you can find shelter with the family living here in the mountains?"

Heat flares in my cheeks at the awkward exchange between Maru's father and me from earlier. My head shakes as I try to rise again, but it takes tremendous effort. There is no way I'm headed back into that storm. I'll find my way in the dark if I have to.

"No, I need to get going," I say with gentle force.

"You young people are such an obstinate generation." The man frowns at me in dissent. "You would throw your life away for a trinket, and now that you've survived by the skin of your cheeks you're willing to dive headfirst into danger again."

"A trinket?"

Sighing, the stranger directs a white eyebrow to a rainbow colored rock beside the nest of blankets that I laid my head on. It's obviously a small chip or sliver of something bigger, but the sides are smooth to the touch. I find myself mesmerized by the swirling patterns of light reflecting off of its surface.

"That is a shard of raw prismatus," the man explains. "That mountain was once full of the stuff. It's exceedingly rare and valuable. Utep Mining drained it dry over sixty years ago. They over extended the workers and paid too little attention to the structure of the mountain. Hundreds of workers lost their lives before it was closed for good."

"I—I had no idea."

"Hmm," the man shifts to watch me more closely. "Then why risk everything for this stone?"

The smell of vomit clings to the air, and I fight for a way out of this miniature room. Down on my hands and knees I crawl towards the exit. "You can keep it if you want. I'm going home," I say the words with enough force that the man doesn't argue this time.

The sun hugs the tree line to the west. The yellow triangular room is pulled taught on the outside with four ropes and wooden nails. Below my vantage point I can just make out the home of Robin and Demetrius. It will be dark long before I make it home, but I point my feet toward the trail leading downward and promise my growling belly food once I'm safe inside the cottage.

Gravel beneath my feet crunches with the unsteady rhythm of my stumbling gate. Usually, the walk down the mountain is easier, but my internal sense of direction is off balance. Gravity seems to be the only thing guiding me. It pulls me down, down. I struggle to keep myself from falling face first into the dirt.

"Hey!"

I turn toward the sound. The sudden movement makes a vein in my temple throb. A dark figure lunges for me with something raised above its head. With the glint of dying sunset, I realize that it's Sam; he's holding a sword?! Sam is charging me with a sword!

What the fuck?

"Don't move!" he shouts before bringing the blade neatly beside my body. The sword smacks the ground with a clink and a thud.

"The hell was that for, Sam?!"

"Me?!" Sam looks appalled. "The hell are you doing in the mountains, alone, at dark? I just saved your life."

I snort. "By trying to cut me in half?"

"By cutting a snake in half."

Sam shines the flashlight on his phone in my direction. The white beam illuminates a pile of blood and dark scales. Two halves of something like a long tail lay inches from my sneaker. Is that what snakes look like?

"I thought they'd be scarier," I whisper aloud.

"Scarier? That's a Stardew Valley Reaper. They're a cave dwelling serpent that only come out at night." Sam drops his expression. "They're like wicked deadly."

He's kidding. Right?

"D-deadly?"

Sam's head bobs in the light of his flashlight. "Very."

"Is that why you're carrying a sword?"

The blade in Sam's hand lifts as if he forgot what he has slain the creature with. "Oh, no. This is a prop for Solarion. Sebastian likes when I really get into character."

"Huh?"

Sam frowns. "Come on." He offers his free hand. "I'll show you. It's better than you trampling through the mountains without a flashlight."

Heat singes my cheeks and the tips of my ears when I accept Sam's hand. I'm not sure why, but I feel safer the instant our fingertips brush. Maybe it's the giant sword? It's probably the giant sword.

Challenge time! If you guys can get four votes by next Friday, I will double post :))) But just for funzies, comment your favorite in game food here for a chance to have it be the first official food cooked in the cottage! Happy Friday, readers!