It was a hike we had done a thousand times before, a small trail that branches off into an unknown number of trails covering the massive mountainside. Each time we come here we take a different path, with today being no different. We found a castle, and decided to check it out. Next thing i know my gps has no signal and it’s roughly 2 hours till dark. I’m alone as well, and i can barely see, i look for annie till i can’t walk anymore. I finally give up and go to the castle, where a fire is burning inside. There is a man by the fire, and i carefully draw my knife. “Easy there, I’m not a threat, have a seat” The man said, i had no idea how he knew i was here. I decided to sit, but still kept my knife in a ready position, i had decided to leave my pistol in its holster because it didn’t feel needed. “What the hell happened to me?” I asked the man “where the hell is my girlfriend?” I needed to find her, but i had no service or gps signal here. I needed to let my feet rest, they had long since been bloodied by my endless searching, but it was pointless. “Your feet are injured, why were you searching so hard for something?” He asked, genuine concern in his voice. “Someone, I’m looking for someone” i corrected him “my girlfriend, i was here with her and the next thing i know I’m here alone”. I told him. I could have sworn i saw a look of pity in his eyes “not again” He says under his breath. I decided to ignore that, i had more pressing matters. I pulled out my sleeping bag and just decided to rest, i had to wait till morning to keep searching.

I was woken up by the man, matthias, as i had learned. “Get up, we need water and you need your feet looked at.” I got up and made sure i had my gear on. “I’m ready, let’s go.” I had layered up my soft socks and a little bit of fabric on my feet, but it didn’t help much. We went to a nearby stream and i filled my water bottle and the pack on my back with water, i had always thought this water pouch in my pack was weird but now i was thankful to have it. However I couldn’t just drink this water, it needed to be purified first, and i didn’t have any of the purifier packets as it was usually a quick hike. I had to find a way to boil it, and i knew exactly how to do it. I set up a magnifying glass to magnify the sunlight directly at my water bottle, as well as a small mirror array used for cooking food in the sun i had left in my pack to speed up the proccess. Granted it still took an hour, but it did work. “Okay, we have safe drinking water, let’s get moving” i told matthias. We then went to a small town. He then showed me to the doctor, where i met ingrid. “Hey there ma’am, i need to have my feet bandaged up, are you available to help?” I politely asked her. “Let’s take a look” she answered. I carefully removed the socks and fabric from my feet, gritting my teeth at the painful peeling sensation. “What the hell did you do to your feet boy?” She asked me, clearly shocked at the state of my feet. So i told her, and she looked even more worried “a loss of time is a very bad sign, but you have more pressing matters”. She told me, before carefully applying some kind of salve to my feet, and wrapping bandages around them. I noticed how torn up my shoes were when i went to put them on. “Is there a shop i can get a new pair of shoes at?” I asked her, clearly these needed to be discarded. “Right around the corner across the way” she said, and i was off. I walked into the shop. “Hey there, i need a new pair of shoes, could you please show me what you have?” I asked the man. I threw my old shoes into the bin near the door. “Just a moment” the man replied. So i sat down and waited.

[this is all i have time for, I’ll do more later]