Wild Magic

As I went back into the castle, a couple key points remained in my head.  Firstly, was to find some type of container.  Something that I could use to carry things, especially if it wouldn't burn and I could put it next to the fire to help with the whole boiling situation.  Heading back to the room of halls, I then set down the hall on the right side of the stairs.

Figuring that if this was a real castle at some point, it must have had some type of kitchen.  And going down the hall led me to a sharp right turn, leading to another T shaped intersection.  Down each way were more large doors, they looked incredibly worn though, not even any paint left on them.  Following my proverb, I went to the left and opened up the door to reveal.  A big empty room.

It was rather long and wide, large empty spaces in the far wall where I guessed there was once ornate glass windows, I could only ponder what this room might have been.  Maybe a dinner room, a ballroom possibly, some type of meeting chamber?  Who knew.  All I knew was that there were some more doors on the right wall when I came in.  Wondering where those might have led.  I went over into the room, towards those doors, grabbing the first one in the line and opening it up.

What I saw inside filled me with glee.  It looked like an old kitchen, sure most of it looked pretty abysmal, but it was a kitchen.  Old looking stoves, cabinets, pantries, the lot of it.  Certainly I would find an old pot or something in here.  Walking into this desolate kitchen I came to realize something, it wasn't that desolate.  I mean sure it was old and obviously had not been used for a long time.  But there wasn't much to say about it’s state, it did just look like no one had used it in such a long time.

But, I disregarded it’s dusty feel and began to stir up that dust as I began to look through the old cupboards.  Finding a wide assortment of pots, pans, cooking utensils, and just everything you might expect to be in a kitchen implement wise.  It would seem no one had bothered to raid this place.  Or at least the kitchen, but, enough pondering.  I had fished out a large pot, it looked like it was a normal pot, but I couldn't tell what it was made out of exactly.

Regardless, I grabbed another pot that was similar, yet smaller.  And kept putting the smaller pot into the larger pot until I had reached the smallest size, which in turn left me with five pots altogether.  This would certainly be what I needed to gather water and those berries.  I took the pots back into my room.  I set them on the floor, making sure to take the biggest one though, as it would be the one I used for water.

So, heading back out to the main entrance I went outside and began to walk back towards that river.  So that meant going over the rickety bridge again, but I didn't think about it much as I went over it.  Because I had a goal.  I had to go and get some water.  Cause, that would be productive I guess.  I didn't think I needed water in this place, but if this was any kind of reality, and not a coma.  I’m not sure which I’d prefer.

As I walked back through the woods, I wondered where I was.  Was I in some kind of coma induced dream, or was this all real?  It wasn't easy to think about, and I wasn't sure I even wanted too.  I mean, if this all was a coma, a dream, and nothing here was real, how long had I been here?  Sure it seemed like only days had passed here.  But, how long had it been in the real world?  It could have been weeks, months, years even!  Just, I couldn't think like this.

There’s a chance I've been here for my entire life, I've been wasting away in a hospital bed, doing nothing but costing my parents money as I remain in this dream.  I stopped walking and fell to my knees, dropping the pot on the ground, I put my head into my hands and began to sob loudly.  My entire life could be flying away from me in this dream, never to see my friends again, my family, or just another person ever.  I was terrified, to know I would be spending the rest of my life in isolation, unable to wake up from this nightmare.  I let myself fall forward onto the ground, crying, trying to stave back the depression that was dragging me down, and failing miserably.

I was there crying for a good five minutes or so.  Something snapped in my brain.  That, this couldn't be a dream.  This had to be real, because never in my wildest dreams had I ever felt depressed like this.  Only in life I ever thought about things so bad.  And I regret those times, like I regret this time.  I slowly rose from my position on the ground, picking the pot back up as I did.  This had to be real, where ever I was.  This wasn't Earth, the Cockatrice from before was enough to tell me that this wasn't Earth.  I couldn't hide behind the dream scheme anymore.  I felt hunger here, I felt pain, and I felt remorse.  I had to find out where I ended up.  And I will, even if it kills me.  I stood up, took up a brisk pace, and continued to the river.

I had made sure to pick up the pot before continuing, with this new resolve in my mind, well, it didn't really make me feel much different about this whole situation.  I still had no idea where I was, or what had happened to me.  And as I came back across the river, I realized that I might need to start taking things way more seriously than I had been.

Though, I hardly wanted to worry about it while I was doing things, I have a one track mind for a lot of things, and it’s better to have it focused on something productive than anything depressing.  So I quickly filled up the pot and began my walk back to the castle, going slower than I had been.  I didn't want to spill this water to have to come back and get more.  Maybe I could figure out a way to store water, note to self, look for jugs or other such containers in the castle later.

I soon came back to the castle, with my pot of water.  I then went all the way through it and brought it back to my room, placing it on the stones that made up the fire pit.  Thankfully, there were still some embers left on the fire, so taking some of the wood from my pile, I put it over the embers and then took off my shirt to fan it rapidly.  And soon the flames leapt up and began to lick at the new wood I put over them.  Then I put my shirt back on and began to mess with the placement of the pot, so it could be close to the fire but not in the fire.  I just wanted it to boil.

It wasn't any fun to watch and wait for the water to boil, and I certainly didn't want to pull out any of my electronic devices, I wanted to be productive, for now at least.  Anyway, instead of just watching the water boil I went and grabbed a small pot that I had brought in here before, and I decided I would take it and fill it with some of those berries I had seen before.  Cause it was my only source of food for now.