>You groan and roll over in your bed, the cold seeping into your clothes.
>God, winter really sucks.
>A drop of water drips down nearby, making a small *plunk*.
>You really should have turned the faucet off.
>...
>Wait, you don't have a sink in your room.
>Another drop of water falls onto your face, and you sit up in shock at the cold sensation.
>You notice that you are not at home in your bed, nor are you anywhere you recognize.
>Wait, what were you just thinking of?
>Home?
>Who -are- you, anyway?
>Why can't you remember your name, or anything, for that matter?
>You rack your mind, the details being as clear as muddy river water.
>As you try to recall the facts, it just becomes more and more complicated, no matter your efforts.
>You sigh with defeat, before remembering that you had your wallet with you.
>A surge of hope shoots through you as you take the wallet from your back pocket.
>You pull it out, but then remember that you're in a dark cave, and have no light source.
>Good thing you have a tiny LED flashlight on your keychain.
>You dig into your front pockets and take out the small things, setting your wallet in your lap and turning the flashlight on and holding it in your teeth to illuminate in front of you.
>Opening your wallet, you rifle through the small tabs and eventually find your driver's license, holding it in front of the small light source.
>...
>It's...pretty much blank.
>Like, all the records were wiped from it's face.
>Your name, your age, hell, even your sex.
>Panicking for a moment, you pat yourself to affirm that all of you is intact.
>Upon feeling the familiar part of your anatomy (your dick, if you need specification), you slightly slump back in relief and begin to speak to yourself.
"Well, at least -that's- not gone..."
>Or, at least, you would have, if you actually spoke the words.
>A small jolt of fear electrifies you, and you attempt to speak once again, to no discernable effect.
>The air rushed through as if you were speaking, alright.

>Yet no sound came out.
>Desperate to hear something, anything, from yourself, you make a fist and impact it into your gut.
>You gasp in pain and fold over yourself, and try to speak again.
>Once again, there's just a rush of air, but no real sound, besides the slight straining of the air current because of your self-inflicted pain.
>Your head slumps.
>'Great. I have no idea where I am, I don't know who I am, and of all the places to be lost, it has to be a cave. Just fucking perfect.'
>Well, you're not going to get anywhere just sitting there.
>But first, you need to inspect your surroundings.
>You swing the tiny beam of light around you, revealing cave walls, some stalactites, and some stalagmites.
>Overall, nothing out of the ordinary for a cave.
>Just as you think you're done searching, you see a strange glint of light reflect back at you.
>Curious, you replace your license back into your wallet, then into your back pocket before standing up and moving towards the object.
>As you grow closer and closer, the light reveals more of the object...revealing it to be, in fact, two items.
>You stop in front of them, peering down, using your flashlight to make it bright enough for you to inspect them.
>It's...a sword and a shield.
>You don't know too much about medieval weaponry, but you do recognize the high level of craftsmanship that was put into them.
>The blade is spotless, and looks sharp enough to cut through solid rock without stopping.
>The shield is a well angled heater shield, with no crest or markings of any regard on it, but it has this aura of energy around it.
>Speaking of auras and whatnot, the air seems...dense.
>Not humid, per se, but as if there's something permeating the enviroment.
>Regardless, the long sword and shield seem...familiar, somehow.
>Unlike the cave, you feel like you've seen it before, as if it had some tie to where you came from.
>You reach out and touch the strange items, a tinge of...something, running through you.

>You don't know how quite to describe it.
>The feeling of familiarity that you felt before was present, but there was this feeling that you could only describe as 'right' about it.
>As if you and only you were meant to hold it.
>Against your better judgement (who picks up strange swords and shields that are just lying around, honestly?) you grab the sword by it's hilt and grab the inside of the shield, where it's handle lies.
>As you hoist the armaments up, the coldness that surrounds and infects the air around you fades from the weapon and shield, seeming to appreciate the gesture.
>Not that you noticed, you were kind of having a sensory overload because of, well, everything, really.
>You swing your small flashlight around, finding two ways to go.
>Using a very scientific process (no, you didn't just use Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Moe), you set off in your chosen direction.
>Hell, whenever you find the exit, you can just pawn the sword and shield off for cash and find your way home from there.
>Somehow, in some strange way, you feel the sword and shield become a little miffed.

>You're not sure how long you have been walking, as there is no sun that you can look at to determine the time.
>Of all the times to not have your phone...
>Though, with your recent luck, it probably would have been wiped to factory new anyway.
>As you continue to walk, your ears twitch slightly as you hear a sound from ahead in the tunnel.
>"........."
>It's so far away, you can't really hear anything, but you're certain that you hear some words in the distance.
>You begin to jog towards the voice, hope surging through your veins.
>"...hey, I smell somethin'..."
>Well, they sound like simple folk, but that doesn't mean that they won't help you?
>"..Yeah, me hear somethin', too!"
>You round the corner, and what you see causes you to slide to a stop and take a hop backwards in shock.
>"Hey, me see somethin'!"
>You stare at the three creatures in front of you, with multiple of them behind.

>They look at you with comically oversized eyes, and for the first time, you notice how cartoony everything looks.
>You can't really tell the hair on them apart from the others in a grain like fashion, but it's more like a solid color throughout.
>A small part of you wonders what it feels like, but you have more pressing problems to deal with.
>Mostly the fact that you've stumbled on an underground furry convention.
>Literally underground.
>And also the fact that you can't speak.
>Yep.
>Well, no harm was ever done by a friendly wave.
>You make an exaggerated motion, as if to introduce yourself.
>One of them cocks their head at you and looks to his friend.
>"What is?"
>The dog-suited individual sniffs the air.
>"Dunno. Smell like monkey."
>Okay, now that's just rude.
>"Wait, didn't pack alpha tell us to 'take care' of intruders on pack den?"
>Another one dumbly nods.
>"Yeah! He say crush stupid bats if they try to find us!"
>He looks confused for a moment.
>"But is not bat..."
>One of them lifts a maul from behind them, a crude weapon that seems to be little more than a large tree branch.
>"No matter. Alpha say crush anything that not dog that come to pack den. And monkey is not dog. And..."
>The dog likes it's lips and opens it's maw, slavering heavily, so much that it's dripping from it's large teeth.
>Okay, maybe they aren't furries...
>"Me wonder how monkey taste!"
>Alright, now you're kind of scared.
>You're definitely not locking up right now.
>Yep.
>The strange creature approaches, and raises it's maul.
>What happens next happens too fast for you to notice, even though you performed it yourself.
>The massive dog-like creature smashes it's maul down upon you, but a strange desire overtakes you and you step quickly to the right of the blow.
>The strike easily sails past you, hammering down heavily onto the floor.
>And, for some crazy reason, you decide to smack the large and menacing dog in the face with your shield.

>Because you like pissing mythological creatures off.
>Not your best idea.
>The shield sails into it's muzzle, the canine humanoid recoiling back, grabbing it's face with a howl.
>And, just like that, you feel a lot less welcome.
>Wasting no time, you turn and head off in the opposite direction, breaking into a run.
>As you run away, you catch some of their speech.
>"Boss! You okay?"
>"Me fine! Chase dumb monkey, he go to tell bat of dog den!"
>A bone-chilling howl sounds out from the area behind you, and the tunnel fills with the sound of thundering footfalls behind you.
>Though, you couldn't be held at fault, as your heartbeat is pounding heavily in your ears.
>The scenery of the cave passes by in a blur as you run through the areas you passed before.
>You dash through the cave that you remember as the one you woke up in, this time heading in the opposite direction.
>This time, however, you don't have time to think of 'what's, where's, or why's', as a pack of angry hound-like creatures are chasing you down.
>As you round a corner, you see something that looks like it may hold salvation behind it.
>An archway appears to hold the cave open and back, a bright silvery light shines down from overhead.
>Breaking through into the light,the first thing you notice is the lack of a sun in the sky, instead, an extremely large moon sits.
>The next thing you notice is the buildings on the street you're running down, which appear to be simple and medieval in make.
>There are also some skeletons laying here and there in the road, medium sized quadrupedal looking skeletons.
>A strange desire floods into you, and you feel like stopping to inspect the skeletons more closely, but the baying in the distance behind you convinces you to keep moving.
>You look over your shoulder while you continue to pant and run, and you see the canine bipeds chasing you into the small village.
>Which have dropped to all fours to catch up to you.
>Goddamn dog-people.

>As you continue to run in a straight line, taking looks back as often as you dare, you realize that you aren't going to win a straight-out run against them.
>Especially since you aren't really good at long distance jogging.
>Curse your unwillingness to go running!
>You see an upcoming alley, and quickly dart sideways into the passageway.
>A dog tripping over itself is all that you need to affirm yourself of the tactic's effectiveness.
>Now, you just need to continue to do that until they give up the chase!
>If you don't get too tired first, that is.
>You dart to the right, further into the abandoned village, the dog's size and weight causing it to topple over itself again, his friends who caught up piling over him.
>Now that's what you call a dog-pile!
>You blink in recognition of what you just said, before shaking your head vehemently.
>What is with you and punning all of a sudden?
>A dog runs out of the alley to your right, and you skid to a halt, darting in the opposite direction, causing the lumbering beast to try to catch up to you, but they get slammed to the ground by his friends as they try to chase you.
>Deciding to change up your tactics, you break left out of the alley, and begin to run, only to run into a neck high slab of meat, causing you to be knocked over and slide pitifully.
>You rush to stand up, backing away from the diamond dog, managing to start heading down toward the end of the street.
>Wait...
>End?
>You stop suddenly, realizing that the dog could have caught you long ago, when he knocked you down.
>Turning around, you notice that all of the dogs have caught up to you.
>You take a backstep as they step forward, counting the number of them.
>One...two...three...
>There's four of them in total.
>And you have no way of dodging all of them and getting past, plus there's no more alleyways you can cut through behind you.
>As you take another step backwards, one of the dogs speaks up.

>"You make us chase from den! You go to tell bat of den! That make us angry! "
>You shake your head exaggeratedly, when the leader speaks up.
>"Me hungry, then you hurt me then run and me chase, make me hungrier! Me eat you, make me not hungry!"
>The dog licks it's glistening fangs, and the dopey one begins to talk.
>"Boss, can us have some?"
>The dog makes an amalgam of a smile with it's large maw.
>"Sure, after me get done with first!"
>You take another step backwards as they continue to advance.
>Is this how you die?
>Waking up in a strange place then being chased down and eaten by something you didn't know even existed?
>A small jolt hits your palm, and you look away from the dogs to your hand.
>In the excitement, you actually forgot about the sword you had.
>A strange feeling runs up your arm and into your mid-section, where it spreads throughout.
>It brings a strange surge of confidence with it, but also confusion from your end.
>Does the sword want you to fight?
>You don't know how to use a gun, let alone a sword and shield.
>The sword seems to raise itself, your hand remaining on it as if it is guiding you, settling on a ninety degree angle over your right shoulder.
>The shield in your left hand raises itself against the enemy, seeming to promise you that it will defend you as long as you live.
>While you're still not totally sure about all of this, you don't want to just roll over and die like...well, like a dog.
>If you're going to go down, you're at least going to go down swinging.
>The dogs share a glance with each other, slightly confused at your sudden stance taking, but lift their clubs all the same and begin to encroach on you.

>The air seems to swell behind you, and as if by magic, a song begins to play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oaUySCCvMc
>You would look around and try to spot where the music is coming from, but you've got more pressing matters.
>There is a fair amount of time as the dogs slowly move in and the song begins it's intro.
>Eventually, the song starts to kick off, and the leader brings down his club, which coincides with the tempo increase.
>Something drives you to move to the right and use your shield to slide the giant mace away from you, and the massive weapon smacks into the ground.
>You twist the blade in your hand to bring the sharp edge to bear against the dog, swinging it over your head and cutting a large gash into the dog's right shoulderblade, the sword cutting through it's flesh as if it was nothing, and the blood pours forth from the wound.
>The dog yips in pain, and one of his friends moves in to assist, and you dart towards him and bring the sword upwards in a slight arc, the blade slicing through his chest like butter, a trail of crimson following your blade's path.
>The dog recoils and drops it's club which it was holding over it's head, and you slip past him as he writhes to stab it through the ribcage when you move by the dog's right side.
>He drops, making a half-hearted attempt to hold the wound.
>The body impacts against the ground, a small dust cloud forming as the air rushes out from his large frame.
>The dogs stop to look at their fallen comrade, their leader holding his shoulder as the blood seeps through his paw.
>You take a sharp breath, not quite believing that you aren't dead yet.
>'One down, three to go.'
>The music surrounding you slows down for a moment as a man sings, then a chorus joins in on a verse before the fast beat returns.
>Which also brings the furious roaring of his compatriots.
>Ah, shit.

>The dog to your right takes a couple of heavy steps towards you, swinging the club in it's left hand in a lazy arc leading from your high right which you dodge, then spring forward and catch it in the outer thigh on your right.
>He howls in pain as you do so, and you turn to deliver a more harmful blow, but a dog is now flanking you on your left, so you backstep quickly and the strike you couldn't clearly see lands right where you just were.
>The boss approaches from behind, and you dart past him while he tries to swing his slow club, cutting a slight gash on one side of his torso as you move past.
>The wall you were backed up against before is once again at your back, and the music once again breaks for a pause.
>The dogs don't seem to be playing with you anymore as if you were a bone, as they no longer seem to be charging you.
>Good for you, it lets you catch a few breaths without having to worry about blunt trauma.
>But now -you- have to go on the offensive.
>Great.
>The music kicks up again, and you take a few fast steps towards the boss, who this time, tries to nab you with his large paw on the arm he has that isn't wounded.
>You take a quick step back and bring your sword up from your low right in a uppercut fashion, cutting his wrist open.
>He yelps and pulls his now wounded arm back, and the dog to his left tries to go for another haymaker as he pulls back.
>As if that worked before.
>He brings it over your left shoulder in a downward arc, aiming for your head.
>A rush of energy overtakes you, and you swing your shield inside of his guard on the arm that he's swinging the club with, knocking the club out of his arm as he attempts to hold onto it as his arm catches on your shield.
>He falls backwards onto his ass as he attempts to backpedal away from you, and you drive your sword into his skull, ending his life as it pokes through the other side.

>You yank it out and turn to face one of the two remaining dogs, who's cowed by two of his friends dying in front of him.
>The music cuts to the chorus for another time, and you turn to face the two dogs left.
>The boss, who's wounded in his right shoulderblade and his left wrist, with a small cut on his right side.
>And the dopey one, who has a pretty severe cut on his outer left thigh and is shaking heavily.
>You shift your grip of the weapons, ready for the tempo change.
>The music kicks up once more, the man singing quickly as you dart into the boss's range and out before he can attempt to grab you, moving towards the dopey one.
>The lumbering beast behind you attempts to turn around and nab you, but you're too quick for him, and the dopey one shouts in terror as he tries to bring his club down in a straight downward strike to crush your head and anything below it.
>You take a step to your left and spin out of the way of the club, your sword already on it's high-left to low-right trip, catching the dog's leg near the joint.
>The blade separates the leg from the pelvic region with as much trouble as a pair of scissors cutting through paper would have.
>The dog falls over onto it's back in shock, trying to grasp the stump of a leg, and the music fades back into the sole speaker.
>The boss is the only one left, and you turn to face him, the recognition that the fight is almost over written on his face.
>He roars loudly, the very sound calling for your blood, and he begins to dash at you, which you return in kind.
>As the two of you close the distance, he holds out both of his arms, as if waiting for you to run into them so he can tear you apart.
>Yeah, right.
>Like you'll just -let- that happen.
>Right before you enter his grappling range, you drop to your ass and slide underneath him, stopping yourself directly underneath his ugly face.
>He can't react nearly fast enough to grab you, and he knows it.

>You stand up, pointing your sword directly up towards the sky and spearing it through his head, the body seizing up.
>Removing your blade from his skull, you take a step to the side and he falls onto his front, lifeless.
>You take a heavy breath and lean over, beginning to pant even heavier.
>Holy shit.
>Did you just...
>As you pant, a smile alights on your face.
>'Never gonna die to a bunch of mutts!'
>After taking a minute or so to calm your breath, you laugh soundlessly.
>'Fuck, that was close, though.'
>Your gaze turns to your scuffed shield and blood-coated blade.
>Did the blade do that?
>Just teach you how to fight without even realizing it, or having to think about your actions?
>Is that what fighting is?
>The blade seems to hum, affirming your suspicions.
>You shake your head, having no real way to deal with this.
>'Guess magic's real after all, or at least here it is. Wherever here is...'
>You sigh, and begin to walk down the street, but pause and wipe your blade on one of your fallen foes' coat.
>No telling the shitstorm that would bring, if you walked into a town with a bloodied weapon.
>You hear a sound like rushing air, but figure that it's just a breeze blowing through the village, choosing to plot out your next course of action.
>Where do you go now?
>You can't go the first way you went when you woke up, there's more of those -things- there.
>Even with magic swords teaching you how to fight.
>There's gotta be another way out somewhere.

>A closer swoosh of air sounds out.
>Man, this place sure is windy-
>Something hits you in the back of your head, making everything feel fuzzy, and you fall to your knees, your vision beginning to swim.
>Your body continues it's journey earthward, and you impact onto the packed dirt with your head half-turned, as if to try to look at your assailant.
>A futile gesture, as everything's too blurry to make out.
>Two voices speak with each other, but you can't make sense of their words, and your vision slowly fades to black, a final feeling of being picked up being the last thing you are able to notice.