Zig didn't like horses. He felt completely ambivalent to them back on earth. He'd seen... one? Maybe two? In his life. Never ridden one. Never touched one. But one thing he knew, to his bones, is that they weren't supposed to have sharp teeth.

  Zig, Hepp, and Gretta were currently on a quest to catch a runaway horse. It seemed like a nice calm quest after all the recent excitement. Zig shoud have known. At first they were trying to corner the horse on the edge of a forest. Next thing Zig knew, they were sprinting from cover to cover among the trees, staying out of sight as the horse hunted them through the forest. Zig had a backpack full of rope, thinking that they'd need to lasso the beast to stop it getting away. But a lasso didn't stop the horse from walking up to you with a shark-like grin, saliva dripping from its lips.

  A high-pitched shriek let Zig know where Hepp was. And the horse. Zig used the moment to take in his surroundings. The trees were fairly thick, and they were the only reason nobody had been bitten yet. Zig was standing in a cluster of trees with the ground sunken in the middle. It wasn't quite a pit—and he didn't want a second quest of "get the ravenous horse out of the pit"—but it looked like something he could use. He had a backpack full of rope and his goblin senses were tingling. Were goblins known for crafting traps?

  Zig started weaving a rough lattice of rope, laying it in the hollow in the ground. He got three long ropes to come out of the lattice, and tied them up high to nearby trees. He covered the ropes on the ground with leaves, so all you could see were three ropes dangling from trees down to the forest floor. It looked suspicious to Zig, but to a horse? It just might do. Now he just needed...

  The bait.

  "Psst. Gretta. Gretta? Gretta!"

  Zig shouted as loud as he dared, then jumped as Gretta swung down right next to him from a tree.

  "What's the plan?"

  "I need the horse to run through here. Think you can lure it?"

  Gretta thought slowly, nodding as she heard Hepp's distant screams.

  "I can give it a go."

  Gretta scuttled off through the brush. Zig stayed by the trap, straining to see or hear anything. Hepp's shrieking stopped. That was a good thing, Zig hoped. Then there was a thumping sound. A rustling sound. Then Gretta burst into view.

  "Back! Get back!"

  Hot on her heels, the horse emerged from the trees with death in its eyes. It leapt and caught up to Gretta, who turned last minute and put her should behind her shield, giving a good shove as she and the horse collided. Both fell back. The horse growled in a very not-horse-like way, shook itself, and looked around. It refocused on Zig, and gave a half-neigh, half-howl. It got up and started charging. Zig gulped. He raced for the cluster of trees. He remembered at the last minute to jump over the innocent pile of leaves. He slipped between two trees and turned to watch. The horse charged through the trees, like a steam train of inevitable destruction. It stepped into the pile of leaves, and a rope pulled taught. Suddenly a net of ropes shot up and tangled around the horse. The horse tried to keep running, but it was tethered to three trees. It screamed and thrashed.

  "There is no way this thing is a farm animal." Zig said distractedly, watching the wrath and fury of the horse.

  Eventually the horse tired itself out, and the adventurers untied the ropes from the trees, taking each one as a leash. They spread out, with the hope that if the horse lunged in one direction, two of them could pull in the opposite way. It worked, sort of. The three adventurers stumbled back to the farm eventually and met a startled farmer at the door.

  "Give me a wig and call me king of the goons! You actually did it? I posted that quest as a joke!"

  A very tired and grumpy Zig stared the man in the eye.

  "This is not actually your horse, is it?"

  "Heavens no! How do you think I might tame such a beast? But now that you've caught it..."

  The farmer paid them the promised three silver, and directed them to a field where they could tie the horse to an old tree. He fed it by throwing a chicken within biting range. The chicken disappeared in a cloud of feathers. That night the farmer leveled up. He hadn't even done anything, he simply had the horse on his farm, and woke up to Monster Farmer (basic).

  "No sewers, no horses. That's our new rule. A team has to have standards."

  The team was back in Lancre, enjoying a soak in the public baths. Zig took a long time to get in. Bathing, in Zig's culture, was extremely personal and private. Hanging out in a pool? Sure! But some sort of clothing would be mandatory. Eventually Zig realized that he was the only one making it weird with his self-consciousness. He still covered himself with his hands until he was in the water, and paid extra for some soap that made a nice solid wall of bubbles to hide everything under the surface. But it was quickly becoming a favorite hangout spot. They relaxed in the hot water, and discussed how to be an adventuring team.

  "Every team has weak spots. We just need to improve until we plug the gaps." Hepp said while nodding toward Gretta.

  "We didn't have any short-range safety until we found you, Gretta. Now we need to find someone who is horse-proof. Or maybe work on getting some horse-proof skills ourselves?"

  "Why the teeth though?"

  "What's that Zig?"

  "Why do the horses have so many teeth? Why do rabbits have so many teeth? Is anything cute and cuddly in this world?"

  Gretta and Hepp looked at the rosy-cheeked boy surrounded by a mountain of bubbles.

  "It's a rough world out there, Zig. Stick with us, you'll be ok."

  "... thanks guys. Hey, we need a name! Something for the team. Three musketeers?"

  "Why three? What's a musketeer?"

  "Ah, nevermind."

  "How about Team Legendary?"

  "No, Hepp."

  "The Heppsters?"

  "No, Hepp."

  "Hepp's bandits."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "We'll be arrested, Hepp."

  "Ok you go then!"

  "Grettalion. It's like Gretta's Battalion."

  "... No, Gretta."

  "Tegendary. It's like Team Legendary but shorter."

  "No, Gretta."

  "Fine, go ahead Zig, what else you got?"

  "Hmm, how about Lancre's Finest? Lancre's Lances? Lancredoodles?"

  "We'll... keep working on it."

  After the nightmare with the horse, the team tried something tamer. There was a bunny-related quest, but Zig didn't trust it at all. They settled for wolves. Another farmer had seen a pack of wolves nearby. Six dead wolves, and three silver would be a nice payout for a day's work. Guildmaster Holt was warming up to them, and pointed out the area on a map where the wolves had been spotted. Hepp drew a copy of the map, and they headed back out into the wild.

  They walked around for hours. Hepp gave his best "Yoohoo! Wolves? Come out!" approach, which had worked fantastically with goblins. It didn't work with wolves. They kept exploring the forest, trying to see how big the map's scale was. They found trees, some caves, and some more trees. They were still wandering, very much wolfless, as the sun began to set. The team headed back to town. Zig eventually broached what was on all their minds.

  "That was not so wisely planned, I think."

  "Yea we need some tracking skills. We really do."

  Hepp moaned as they came back to the city gates. It was one thing to feel tired at the end of the day with a few extra silver in your pouch. Another entirely to come back empty handed. They wandered the town, looking for a place to commiserate, when they came across an inn that looked much higher-class than the ones they'd been frequenting. The Frosted Stag. The common room had so many antler-themed decorations Zig wondered if the owner had some kind of Deer Hunter skill.

  Antlers aside, it was cozy and warm, with a cheerful fire right in the center of the room. There was no chimney, the smoke simply went up and disappeared into a box attached to the ceiling. An extraction fan? This world has knights and magic and extraction fans?

  The barkeeper noticed Zig staring at the box removing the smoke from the room. He was a big man, wearing an apron, and, of course, he was polishing a glass while he spoke.

  "Pretty neat, eh? Cost a pretty amount of gold, but enchanted gear like this upgrades your inn to the next level. Gave me a skill, that one did. Cozy Fire. Go ahead, take a seat and notice the difference!"

  The team hung coats and backpacks on some of the antlers lining the walls, and moved to a table near the fire. As they approached, the misery of not finding the wolves faded to a dull sensation in the background. Zig's tired feet were still tired, but it was no longer such a pressing matter. He stared at the flames and it felt... cozy.

  "I could get used to this." Gretta muttered as she stretched and leaned back in her chair.

  "Drinks are about five times what they cost back on the other side of town." Hepp said, looking over to a sign near the bar. There was a moment as each of them tensed and waited for the others to suggest they go find a cheaper place. Everybody relaxed with a sigh when it became apparent that nobody was going to suggest leaving the comforting fire.

  "It reminds me of home."

  "Home, Gretta? You've never actually talked about it. Where do you come from?"

  "I'm from the mountains, Zig. West of here. Ironhold Clan. It... doesn't exist anymore."

  Gretta had some tears shining in her eyes as Zig choked on his drink.

  "Was it... a landslide?"

  "Huh? No, bandits. Just some thugs, but they wanted what we had."

  Zig tried not to look too relieved that Gretta's family had been murdered by bandits.

  "What did you have?"

  "Safety. A home. They were looking for a new hideout, and we had just the place." Gretta said it bitterly, bringing up unwanted memories.

  "I was just a kid. I tried to jump into the fighting. First person I came across gave me a good kick and that was me out of the fight. I ran off when they were distracted with the real heroes of my clan."

  Zig didn't know what to say. They sat in silence for a while, staring at the fire.

  "I picked up the shield, because I didn't want to lose anyone ever again."

  "You're amazing Gretta. This team is amazing. We're gonna go far, and we'll be hiding behind you all the way."

  "Thanks Hepp, I think—"

  "I left my parents at the farm. I saw my dad get a skill that gave him extra juicy beets, and I was terrified I'd get a farming skill and be stuck with that my whole life. I didn't say good bye. Just ran away and joined the army. I'm a coward. I'm lucky I didn't get a running away skill."

  "...actually that sounds kinda useful Hepp."

  "You know what I mean, Zig."

  "I know what you mean."

  Something about the fire was drawing them in. They opened up, telling stories of the past. Zig had avoided talking about where he came from, but at this point it didn't make sense to hide anything.

  "I come from another world."

  He looked over to enjoy the shock on his friends' faces, but Hepp just looked thoughtful as Gretta nodded to herself.

  "That was one of my top three guesses, really."

  "You guys aren't freaking out?"

  "Zig you are a living siege weapon and you don't know how many silvers to a gold."

  "You thought horses didn't bite." Hepp added.

  "Your name is Zig. Definitely from another world."

  "Actually, Zig is a weird name in my world too."

  "What's your world like, anyway? Everyone throwing rocks? All the horses are toothless?"

  "It's..."

  Zig snuck out of the house. His parents thought he was doing homework, but the sheets of paper crammed with notes were for something else. He grabbed his bicycle and rode out onto the street, feeling the wind in his hair. He wore a t shirt and jeans, new sneakers, and had music playing in his earbuds as he flew around three blocks to get to Dave's house. The window to Dave's basement was open, and Zig crawled through to the Den. The Den was a gaming haven. Four computers, a projector, sizeable speakers, and a few gaming stations to connect to the projector. Four controllers for each.

  Dave, Zig, Erica, and Abed met up like this all the time. They were the Red Daggers, a crew of adventurers that tackled any challenge. Currently, they had spent two weeks stuck on a particularly difficult challenge.

  "The black dragon is immune to all magic, so you'd think we should just go 100% strength to overwhelm it," Zig was saying, brandishing his notes a totally sane amount, "but I've got some ideas for a split build. The strength is for strength, no finesse there, but the magic can focus on buffs and self-directed magic. The dragon is immune but we aren't! There are also some terrain advantages..."

  Zig laid out his master plan, and they got to work. Erica was an enchantress, she always was. She prepared gear that would help them in cold weather. Dave was the paladin, and prepared taunt skills to keep the dragon's focus. Abed was a rogue with a critical hit focus, and Zig was a Mage. They bought mercenaries, summoned elementals, and brought everything they had to fight the dragon.

  It was epic. It was cataclysmic. It was a disaster. The dragon got down to a quarter of its health, but as soon as Dave got wiped out, the rest of the Red Daggers quickly followed. The kids booed the dragon, made notes for the next time, finished off the last of some candy, and went home before their parents noticed.

  Zig was trying to explain the paradise of a basement with computers and snacks to people who lived in a world with goblins and other such cave dwellers.

  "I'm not a goblin, Hepp, it's really cool."

  "...to be underground with your packmates, eating and playing with trinkets?"

  "I mean that sounds like I'm a goblin. I'm not. I'm not even green!"

  "Not being green is your strongest defense right now."

  Zig bit back his retort when he noticed a young man walking up to them. He looked a bit nervous. He was wealthy, wearing a green shirt that matched his eyes, and two gold rings on his fingers.

  "Ho stranger, what can we do for you?" Gretta asked politely.

  "Ho, miss, lads, I was just wondering—are you adventurers?"

  "We sure are, mister...?"

  "Oh, do forgive my manners. My name is Jed. I'm a ranger from other lands, and I'm looking for a team to work with. Is there any chance you have an opening?"

  The adventurers looked at each other, then at Jed.

  "A ranger, mister Jed? My name's Hepp. We are actually in need of someone with scouting skills."

  Jed's face lit up.

  "Well, that's perfect! I've got a few such skills. I know this is sudden, but how about we go on a quest together? We can see how I might be an addition to the team?"

  It felt a bit weird to Zig. They had done nothing to prompt this, but they couldn't find wolves earlier that morning and suddenly they find someone with tracking skills wanting to team up? But Jed just looked hopeful and eager, and they did need those skills...

  Zig touched two thumbs together, a signal from his old gaming crew, the Red Daggers. It meant something was up, and to stay alert. Unfortunately, he hadn't taught this to Hepp and Gretta. Hepp looked excited at the sudden change in fortune. Gretta looked thoughtful, a bit wary, until Jed offered to buy the very expensive drinks.

  The next day, four adventurers went into the forest.