As I drift back in to consciousness from a deep, black sleep, the low sound of rushing water fills my ears. My eyes slowly adjust to having been unused for a while, and after blinking a couple of times I can focus on the ceiling above me. Dark green polyester in a triangle frame comes into focus with the last, or first, streaks of sunlight trying their best to pass through it, coloring the inside of the tent in a matte shade of orange brown. I place a hand on the ground and raise myself up to a sitting position. I shift the woolen blanket I'd been sleeping under off me and try to raise myself from the foam mattress, only to have my legs buckle under me. It takes another try for me to get up, and as I begin to unzip the tent door the scent of wood smoke and freshwater greets my sense of smell like fresh bread in the morning.

The scene outside is that of a humble little campsite, built in a clearing surrounded by dense forest. The sun is setting above me, the last streams of light navigating their way through the thick crowns and branches of the surrounding trees, bathing the campsite in striped patterns of orange streaks. The temperature is approaching zero from the visibility of my breath and the sharp pangs of cold on my skin every time a slight breeze finds it way to the clearing. Apart from the tent I've been in, there's a low tarp shelter set up opposite of it with a sleeping bag underneath. Between the two, there's a smouldering campfire with an old, dented coffee pot brewing on top of it, the sooted aluminum bellowing in the light of the embers. A neat stack of firewood is next to it, and not far from there, a hatchet is stuck in a tree stump, flakes of fresh wood strewn around it. Water canteens and a satchel of what I assume is food is placed near a tree, a couple of pine branches tied to the tree above to keep any rain from spoiling it. As I take all this in, I hear heavy footsteps approaching me from the direction of the rushing water.

"Ah, you've finally awoken. It was about time." A tall, bulky man, dressed in a thick parka, cargo pants, and brown leather boots, with a bushy brown beard and a woolen tuque on his head stand a couple of meters from me, three decently sized fish hanging from a rope he's casually holding along his side. A crude fishing pole is slung over his right shoulder.

"I was beginning to wonder if you ever would." He hangs the fish from a branch on the tree with the food under it and grabs a steel mug from the pile of cooking supplies. He approaches the campfire and squats down in front of it with a grunt, and carefully pours a cup of steaming liquid from the coffee pot into the mug. "Here, drink this." he says as he hands the mug to me.

I accept it with the same dumbfounded expression I've had since I stepped out of the tent, and try my best to speak. The words won't come at first, with the difficulty of not having spoken for a couple of days, but they finally find their way out.

"Erh, thank you. Where am I? What happened? What is this?" the last question followed with an indication towards the mug in my hands. I take another look at the man, his gleaming auburn eyes fixated upon me, a slight smile visible through his thick beard. "Wait, haven't I met you before?"

"That," he says, nodding towards the mug, still poised in front of the campfire, "is tannin tea, made from pine needles. It's rich in vitamin C, among other goodies. As for where, we're at my campsite, a good ten minutes walk from the nearest road, and a short walk from a river filled with delicious trout." He throws a thumb over his shoulder towards the bundle of fish. "As to what happened, I found you, I saved you, and you've been out for 3 days."

A sudden pain hits the front of my head as hazy memories start spilling back. After leaving the city limits, I'd walked for one and a half day before running out of my preliminary supplies. With no shops or houses around, I'd walked until my legs gave away under me. That took another day. I'd been adamant on not taking one step north, my willpower alone forcing me to walk despite being dead hungry and heavily dehydrated. The last thing I remember is the gravel road underneath me rapidly approaching my face. I put a hand to my temple and slightly stagger, my legs still not used to carrying the weight of me again.

"Whoa, hey, easy now. Come, take a seat near the fire." The man hints toward a spot on the ground, and as I place myself there he springs up and brings the woolen blanket from the tent and hands it to me. I wrap it around myself and take a sip off the tea. It's slightly bitter, with a hint of tree sap, but it warms me from the inside as the blanket warms me from the outside. The man grabs a few pieces of firewood and puts them deliberately on the fire, the embers sparking steady flames to erupt from them. The light dances around the camp, and as they brighten the surroundings I take another look on the mans' face.

"I remember now!" I burst out. "You're that traveler I met at the tavern! What was it... F... F... Frank... Fred! Fred, was it, right?"

The man lets out a quick, deep laugh as his smile widens. "That's right, I'm glad you remember me."

"How come you can speak my language perfectly now? Last time we spoke we could barely communicate."

"Let's just say I've been practicing. I see that my stories didn't fall on deaf ears. I was hoping they would inspire this kind of reaction in you."

"Yeah, well, that reaction almost got me killed."

"In fact, it did."

I almost choke on a sip of tea. "I'm sorry, what?" I cough out.

"When I found you, you were dead. Hypothermia had gotten the best of you. I had honestly expected you to prepare a bit better than you did, but I guess it had to be a spontaneous action for you to break a cycle that heavy. Spontaneity rarely allows you to think things through."

The words didn't really sink in. "I'm sorry, did you just say that I died?"

"Yes, and I saved you. And now we're enjoying a nice cup of tea. I'll explain everything in due time. But first, let's eat." With that, Fred rises up, fetches the fish and a cloven piece of wood. Using the wood as a cutting board, he scrapes the scales off the fish, takes out the guts, removes the bark from three sticks and puts the fish on the sticks to fry over the campfire. With that set up, he sits back down. All I can think during this process is how crazy either he is, or I have become. For a while we just stare into the flames, mesmerized by their primal beauty. Fred is the first one to break the silence. "I guess you have a lot of questions. Let me start by getting the obvious one out of the way; if you died, how did I save you? It's actually rather simple."

"If you're going to claim to be a wizard or something, I'm gonna stop you right there." I interrupt. "How would you ever prove that to me if that were the case? You might as well just have stumbled upon me when I was unconscious, nursed me back to health, and then conjure up these wild allegations to mess with my head. Though you don't come off as a person who'd do that."

Fred closes his eyes and nods slowly. "That's all very good points. Skepticism is a good trait, not all I've done this with have taken such an approach to my explanations. To those who do, I simply point something out. Look at the sky."

I bend my head backwards and stare into the settling night sky. The first stars are showing themselves on the darkening violet canvas of spotted clouds. The wind is rustling the trees surrounding the clearing, ringing with the sound of leaves, mixing with the crackle of the firewood giving away to the heat of the fire. The moons are gaining strength, lighting up the night with a pale, silver light.

"There are two moons." I say. Mouth agape, I look back down at Fred who's snickering quietly to himself.

"Indeed, there are two moons."

"Who - what are you?"

"A God would be the term you'd use. I prefer 'Meddling Entity'."

I gulp and lick my lips. My throat suddenly feels dry. I take another sip of tea before speaking up again. "What is this place?"

"Earth-but-not-really. This is my version of it. The one you came from is in the domain of another entity, one who's rather obsessed with chaos, if I may say so. This one is more shaped to my tastes. I brought you here because I believe you deserve better than what he could offer you."

The reality of the situation is starting to sink in. A rush washes over me, a sense of adventure and excitement that usually follows when you step out of a plane that just arrived at the destination of your holiday. I shiver involuntarily. Fred picks up two of the fish sticks and inspect them before handing one to me. Fred starts to nibble on it as I turn it on the stick and look at it. It's turned a golden, crispy brown, and the savory smell of the singed meat makes my mouth water. I dig in right away. "But why me?" I ask with a mouthful of trout.

"Have you ever had a neighbor who didn't take care of his front lawn? Garbage strewn about, weeds growing tall, but among the carnage there is a single flower growing. You walk by it, day after day, seeing the flower lose its vibrancy from the weeds intruding on its territory, until finally one night you sneak out with a garden shovel, dig up the flower, and replant it in a pot in your window and nurse it back to life. That's kinda what I'm doing with you. I see potential in you. You're a traveler by heart, I can feel that, but you were in the worst possible environment. So I planted a seed of curiosity in you, watched it grow and take hold of you, and up until it killed you out of your sheer willpower to follow through on it. So I interfered. I'm sure the god of your home realm doesn't mind, otherwise he'd be here by now."

Fred finishes talking right as I finish my fish. Seeing this, he hands me another one. "Eat up, you'll need the strength."

I swallow a bite of fish. "So you go to Earth, my Earth, meet me in a tavern at random, instills the idea of traveling in me, watches over me as it takes hold, brings me back from death as it kills me, and transports me to this Earth-but-not-Earth. But for what?"

"So you can travel, of course!" Fred's smile widens, and pearly white teeth show themselves from underneath the beard. "As I said, this world is tailored to my tastes; lots of beautiful nature, nations and cities with their own strange culture, technology present, but not depended on, plenty of history as civilizations have risen and fallen, and with a hint of magic hidden in the corners. And two moons, so you never really go blind at night. It's perfect for travelers."

"I can't say this isn't amazing. But what's the catch?"

"You're gonna have me teach you how to be a proper traveler."

"Erh, what?"

"Eat up. I told you you'd need the strength. And put out the campfire when you're done. There's a bucket of water over there for that purpose. Training begins tomorrow, make sure you get enough sleep."

And with that, Fred stands up, turn on his heels, and slips in to the sleeping bag underneath the tarp. Within minutes, a steady, deep snoring starts emitting from the shelter.

I take another bite of my fish. "What a strange god." I say to myself. Fred, in turn, responds with a grunt from his sleep.