Story Expelled and Exiled (Fantasy Survival Story)

[TanteRegenbogen]

Prologue

CW: queerphobic violence, domestic violence


For most of his life Riva felt like an outsider within his family. His father was a count with a large estate. His mother was a respected noblewoman with notable standing among high society. Riva's older brother left the household to pursue a career in the military as soon as he was of age. His younger brother was a spoiled brat who got everything from his parents and sought to become the heir.

Then there was Riva. He was a timid and effeminate middle child. Rather than practicing swordfighting or go hunting, he would spend his time holed up in the library reading books. Riva liked it in the library. It was quiet and he felt safe here. Every time he left the library, his parents would berate him and his younger brother would bully him. Sometimes Riva would spend so much time in the library that he would only leave it to wash and eat. Eventually his hair had grown out and he would braid it just so it would look clean. But once he came across his father, his father would be furious and cut Riva's medium-brown hair short, telling him: "You are a man! Men don't braid their hair!"

Being berated all the time for being unmanly actually made Riva to be effeminate, out of spite. But eventually he would become more comfortable with himself about it. Sometime, Riva's father eventually banned him from the library and told him to find a better hobby such as hunting or go searching for a future wife. Riva instead went to town to buy books, just to sit under a tree to read. Riva's father however always sent someone to go spy on Riva and would scold him if the spy reported that Riva read all day. One day, Riva bought a feminine disguise so that the spy couldn't find him.

The disguise didn't hold up for long though. Once found out, not only did his family yell at him, but Riva's father tore the dress apart and slapped Riva across the face knocking down his glasses. Once his parents were gone, Riva's younger brother hurled insults at him, shoved him to the ground and kicked him while he was on the ground. "You are a freak and an embarrassment!" The younger brother growled at Riva. Riva went to his room and curled up in his bed crying. He wished his older brother was still here. Compared to the others, he was kind and understanding. He told Riva that not everybody needs to just be brawn and that Riva is a smart fellow whose strength is his knowledge. Riva just hoped that the next day would be better. However tomorrow would be worse...

The next morning...

It was still dark out and Riva was still sleeping when someone pulled the blanket away from him. "Get up Riva. Today is your big day." The father said in a cold tone. "We are going out. Put something you can move around well in and then pack for a couple days. You have thirty minutes." The father then exited the room. Riva feared that his father was going on a hunting trip with him, or even worse, Riva would be sent off to serve in the military to "mold him into a man". Riva put on trousers and a sleeveless turtleneck undershirt. A coat would cover his soft arms that lacked muscle tone. Riva anticipated them to walk through difficult terrain, so he put on boots. He then packed a bag with clothes, a pocket book, a new diary and a quill with a small supply of ink.

By the time he was done packing, his father came back into the room. "Are you done yet?" The father spoke coldly. Riva in his soft voice said: "Yes father." The father looked disgusted. Everything about Riva disgusted him: His androgynous appearance, his feminine voice, his dainty build. But he had something in store to put an end to that. "Follow me to the court." The father spoke. Once in the court, the father sat down.

"Riva of Alassia-Zirnfeld, I hereby disown you!" The father spoke out loud. Riva felt a sense of horror. His father was basically banishing him from the residence. "You will be stripped of your titles and banished from the kingdom. Your exile will be done in the uncharted frontier. You shall either perish there or develop into a proper man!" The father continued. Riva was then given a small sack with some food, then led out to a carriage by the guards.

The carriage travelled for four days and nights until it reached the border between the kingdom and the frontier. Once Riva stepped out of the carriage, it had turned out that his younger brother had tagged along, just to give one last abusive goodbye. "Well, well. Looks like you will be sent to die. We don't need a freak like you in the family anyways." The brother said before punching Riva in the face, flinging him to the ground. "Girly boys wont last an hour in the frontier. I will be glad when you perish." The brother then kicked Riva a couple times and then punched him again. "I wish you the worst of luck, brother." The younger brother said before getting into a carriage and leaving. Riva was then lifted back onto his feet they the guards and pushed through a gate and closed it behind him.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Part 1

Riva looked back. Behind him was a closed gate and a wall as far as his eyes could see. Honestly, Riva feared for his life, however at the same time he felt a sense of relief. While he didn't have all his books with him, at least no one could mock him for not being manly enough or scold him for growing out his hair. Realistically though, Riva was in real trouble right now. All his knowledge of survival he had was in books. While he was in condition to walk for quite some distances, despite being beaten by his brother earlier, he wasn't in any shape for combat. In terms of magic, all Riva knew was a basic healing spell and how to light a fire. He however had read plenty about other spells but could never try them out. But first things first, he needed to find somewhere safe away from the wall.

Riva carefully tread into the forest. There were no roads in the forest, just a vague trail. The young adult with a mop of brown hair and glasses quietly made his way into the forest. For an hour, Riva was anxious that any moment, some monster could just gobble him up. But instead of monsters, Riva only encountered deer, some foxes and even a couple wolfs who didn't even pay mind to him. Eventually, Riva came to a clearing. It was a small meadow with an abandoned shack on it. It could have been a lodge for hunters in the past. Riva assumed that this could be his home until he developed the means to continue onwards.

Right when he approached the door to the shack, something that felt bouncy shoved him from behind. "Ugh. (>_<)" Riva groaned. When he turned around, he saw a blue slime (°⩊°) at his feet. It was barely 30 centimeters in circumference. It bounced at him again. The attacks of the slime didn't hurt but it was really annoying. Riva had read about these things and that slimes were among the weakest known creatures. Riva figured hitting it with a stick should at least drive it away. "Now just to find a stick" Riva muttered to himself while dodging the weak attacks of the slime. After a quick search, Riva found a stick and proceeded to pelt the slime with it. After four hits, the slime burst like a water balloon leaving behind a puddle and a small crystal. "Huh, what's this?" Riva pondered and picked up the crystal, getting his hand covered in slime. "Ewwww." Riva exclaimed in disgust. He wiped his hand off on a surface before inspecting the crystal. The crystal had a slight glow to it. "It could come in handy if I find a purpose for it." Riva said before stashing it in his bag.

Riva then decided to go back to what he was going to do the moment before the slime attacked: Explore the shack. He pushed the door open to which it fell of the hinges. He managed to catch the door before it could fall down and make a ruckus. After leaning the detached decaying door against the wall, Riva took a look around. "HHHHHHoooo!!!" Riva let out after spotting a skeleton slumped over in a chair. The skeleton itself was intact. It's location and position indicated a natural death, possibly a lonely death from old age. "I will take care of you later." Riva said, still tensed up.

Upon further inspection, most of the furniture was in bad shape and the shack needed repairs, but should provide shelter if it rained or got cold. First Riva decided to clear out the old furniture and clean the floor. Looking at the skeleton, the effeminate exile decided that he couldn't just leave it there. "As much as I would love company here, you can't provide me any since you are already dead. All I can do for you is provide you with a proper burial." He said. After a little searching, Riva found a branch thick and sturdy enough to function as a shovel.

While digging a hole near the shack, Riva had to make many breaks as he wasn't used to this kind of work. But eventually, he managed to dig a shallow grave for the skeleton. He gave the skeleton a proper burial. Upon returning to the shack, Riva found a bow, a quiver and a short sword that had signs of use at the spot where the skeleton had sat. "This wasn't here before. Was this a---? No. Can't be." Riva pondered whether he had just overlooked the equipment or if the spirit of the previous shack owner had placed the equipment there as a thank you for the burial.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Part 2

It was quite warm despite it becoming evening, so Riva took off his coat and pulled black shorts out of the bag. Getting out of the long pants and into the half thigh length shorts made Riva feel a little bit freer. Changing out his top wasn't necessary since it was a sleeveless turtleneck. The 20 year old's brown hair had grown into a mop since his father had forceably cut it last. Riva pushed his hair behind his ear and swore that since he was free from his family he would never cut his hair shorter unless it became impractically long. Maybe if he managed to survive long enough, he could make himself a skirt or a dress. Though he would need to make sure that he can move well in it.

Riva considered that if he wanted to survive here, he would need to fight. His food would possible only last him another two or three days. So he considered exercising. Due to his current build he probably could only cut a small branch with a couple strikes of the short sword. To get some exercise, Riva jogged around the meadow a couple times while at the same time surveying the landscape for things like berry bushes and rocks to lift. Even when he was out of breath, he pushed himself further until he was almost on the brink of collapse. Only then, would he take a break.

Once he caught his breath, he would go out to find wood to start a fire. After that, he would go to the plentiful berry bushes and pick a couple dozen berries. The berries were unfamiliar to him. They were purple in color and about half the size of cherries. If he couldn't hunt yet, these would be his only food aside from stale bread and water for the next days.

Riva got a fire going and then munched down on a tough piece of bread and a bunch of berries. After about half an hour after eating, Riva began having stomach cramps that progressively got worse. "Ahhhh! Those damn berries were poisonous!" He groaned in pain. The world around him began to warp and he drifted into a dream of sorts. The forest was colorful and vivid. He simply drifted through it as he forgot about his pain. The bad of the world felt like it was so distant. Then he fell into a body of water.

Riva jolted awake as a slime (°⩊°) was bouncing on his chest. The androgynous guy suddenly moving startled the slime as it bounced away —̳͟͞͞('O⩊O). The stomach pain was gone and going to relieve himself nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Riva would need to find an alternative to the berries. If not, he would have to bear the berries until he develops a resistance to the berries poison. He couldn't just cook the poison out of the berries because he neither had a pot nor something that could work as one. Today, he would continue to exercise, even practicing swinging the old short sword. When he wasn't exercising, he would try to fix up the shack and was his clothes in the nearby creek. By the end of the day, he hadn't found any more foodstuffs and ended up eating the berries again, resulting in stomach cramps and hallucinations again.

This went on for a couple of days to the point where he ran out of bread. Luckily, with each passing day, the stomach cramps became less intense. After a week, the stomach cramps had diminished into a mild stomach ache and the berries would only lift his mood a little instead of creating full on hallucinations. In this time, Riva had gained a bit of endurance and enough strength to not look like a child when swinging the sword. He was competent that he could at least explore the fringes of the forest and hunt something small. And if something dangerous came along, he should have the endurance to run away from it.

"Alright. Hopefully this goes well." Riva told himself as he entered the forest with the bow in his hand, the quiver with a couple arrows on his back and the short sword hanging from his belt.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Part 3

Riva traverse the woods for a couple minutes before sighting some deer in the distance. He tried to approach them quietly to not spook them. However, he was unlucky after stepping on a stick. Rather than running away, some of the deer went to attack instead. Instead of running, he tried to fight them off. He could land two blow and severely injure a smaller buck, but the other two bucks beat Riva to a pulp. The deer left after Riva stopped moving.

Riva, on the brink of death and with a couple of broken bones, mustered up his energy to cast the only spell he knew to cast: heal. "H...heal. Heal. He...al." He chanted over and over. It was mildly effective but after a couple dozen heals, Riva was at least able to walk. He noticed that a blood trail led in the direction of his camp. Following it, shortly before the meadow, he found the buck he managed to injure. It had succumbed to it's wounds and had been abandoned by it's mates. "At least I have a little luck." Riva half-groaned, still in a lot of pain.

He could barely pull the buck to the shack. After pulling it inside, Riva laid down to rest, hopefully having enough energy afterwards to heal more.

Riva had a vivid dream where the deer berated him like a bunch of thugs. "You think you are a warrior, huh? Just because you got one of our brothers doesn't mean you are tough shit. You got lucky you didn't die!" One of the dream-deer dressed in a suit with a club in it's hoof said while grimacing menacingly. The other deer looked in disdain. "Come! We got better shit to do than bug ourselves with this twerp." The lead buck said while turning away and leading the group out of view. Riva soon awoke from the dream. He was still in pain, but it was less bad than before.

He did another couple heals, before heading over to the deer carcass to cut out meat for future nourishment. He had read about all the cuts and did his best to get out enough to eat from the deer. Sometimes he felt sick to his stomach but managed to push through. Eventually he had gathered all he needed and proceeded to smoke the meat over a smoky fire for the next couple of hours. This was the only way of conserving it since he didn't have salt or refridgeration methods at hand.

Due to the experience with the deer, she needed to up his training and try out new spells he had knowledge of, but had never tried. The meat and the berries should last him another week or two, so this would be his time frame for training. In this time, he would need to become stronger and become more proficient with magic, eventually also utilizing any ability enhancing magics if possible. After eating some smoked deer jerky and poisonous, yet now not so poisonous berries due to building up a resistance, Riva went on to do some lifting training, first starting with a branch.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Part 4

For days, Riva would exercise which included lifting branches and rocks, jogging around the meadow and doing situps and pushups. He pushed himself until his body couldn't anymore and whenever he tore a muscle or got injured, he would just heal himself. Once he began lifting heavy branches and his endurance lasted to jog around the meadow for two hours, he began training his magic.

Riva knew plenty about magic as he consistently soaked in the content of books at the library. He considered practicing what could be useful to him and honing his healing skill. "Hmmm. What would be helpful for my situation? Fire magic could easily just burn the forest down. So that is out of the question. I guess it is more important for me to get better in combat. To get strong enough so that I don't nearly die again." Riva pondered. Then it came to him. "I know! I read about enhancement magic before. Skilled soldiers and adventurers as well as some mages would use it to enhance strength, defense and speed. Now what were the spells and how were they to be used?"

The guy whose hair had grown down to his upper back since exile decided to just try a spell he remembered from a book. "It was to concentrate my mana flow in my muscles. Then think of the spell itself." Riva said. Suddenly he felt a lot lighter. "Did it work?" He picked up a heavy rock he knew that he could normally pick up but usually struggled with. "Woah! It is so light!" Riva said losing concentration on the spell itself. The rock suddenly felt heavy again and Riva fell forwards. "Woah!" (✿ ๐_๐) Luckily, he didn't injure himself this time. "I guess it requires concentration. If I train it enough, it should some day come more like a reflex and it shouldn't be an issue anymore. At least from what books about training and physiology read." Riva muttered while sitting back up.

For more days. he trained not only his two spells but also continued to exercise like a demon. He didn't really keep track of how many days they were, but meat was running low. It soon may be time to hunt again and hopefully this time, he could stand his ground. "I guess I will give it another go tomorrow. It should work out this time." Riva said. He began to feel quite lonely now. While he occasionally came across slimes or rabbits in the meadow, they would usually scurry away if he got close. It seemed the slimes now knew that picking a fight with Riva was one they could not win.

In the evening, Riva stopped exercise a little earlier to get some more rest. He ate almost the rest of the meat left and more berries which werent poisonous anymore and quite delicious and nutritional. Riva then pondered how big the forest was and if he could find some form of civilization beyond the forest. He desired newer and nicer clothes, a warm home, a soft bed and someone to talk to. While still in thought, he fell asleep.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Part 5

The next morning, Riva woke up put on a fresh set of clothes, basically shorts and a sleeveless turtleneck top. Today was the day he would go hunting again. He trained for nearly two weeks for this day. If injured, he should be able to heal himself adequately, but he expected to at least have a fighting chance now. Well, at least against the deer should he encounter them again. Riva ate the leftover meat and some more berries. It slowly started to get boring to eat the same every day. So maybe this time, he would be able to eat something different.

He grabbed his sword and a spare bag. After deeping inhaling, then exhaling, Riva entered the forest. It didn't take long until he came across deer again, with the males promptly charging him again. "Not this time you bastards." Riva said as he drew his sword. He managed to cut one down, but couldn't react fast enough to the others. So in a desperate move, he grabbed the antlers of one of the deer, trying to wrestle with it. Riva attempted to throw the buck over by twisting it's head to the side and pushing to one side.

*SNAP* A loud snapping sound came from the deer before it went completely limp. "Huh?" Riva said confused. All he did was try to push a deer buck over, but something unexpected had happened. It looked like Riva managed to break it's neck. "Eeeeeh?! Whaaat? How?" Riva shouted in disbelief. The deer didn't seem to let off of Riva just yet. Riva gripped another buck's antlers. Again he tried to knock over the deer. *SNAP* The deer went limp. This time, the other deer ran away. "What the--? No. I can't have become that strong! Must be a fluke!" Riva said, still in disbelief that he had unintentionally snapped the necks of two deer.

Riva decided to brush it off and take the largest deer home to smoke it's meat. As he lifted the deer, he noticed that it felt rather light. "Has there been a shortage of grass in the forest or what?" Riva pondered. The other deer two weeks ago had weighed less. He headed back to his shack and prepared the deer, then cutting out the necessary cuts of meat before setting up a fire to smoke the meat.

While the meat was smoking, Riva got lost in thought. Did he really get significantly stronger? Additionally, he didn't even use the enhancement magic yet. Though he didn't think that even with enhancement spells he would be able to break a neck. If he really was that strong, maybe he should explore a bit deeper in the forest. Maybe he could find an end to the forest and get to see some civilization. Could be plans for tomorrow.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Part 6

The next morning, Riva got up and packed some food in case he was going to be gone for more than a day. This time he was going deeper into the forest and may stumble upon stronger foes or find an exit to the forest. Anything was possible. Though if he found an exit to the forest, he wouldn't just wander out yet, but depending on what was on the other side, he might get the rest of his stuff and move on to a new home or wait a couple weeks or months more to gather enough strength and skill to cover tougher terrain.

Once he had packed all what he needed, he headed out. Somewhat into the forest, he came across deer again. However, this time they were skittish and avoided contact with him. It seemed he made enough of an impact that the deer finally saw Riva as dangerous enough to avoid.

The forest grew darker and denser the further Riva went in. So far, he only saw deer and passive animals such as rabbits or peaceful cow like creatures who didn't seem to mind him much. But soon, Riva spotted wolves. There were no possibilities to sneak past them, so he was unsure if he should make his presence known and hope they are friendly or just attack them. He guessed he would try the first option. "Hey there. I just want to go past you. Can you let me pass?" Riva said. The wolves looked up and immediately started growling. "I guess they aren't friendly after all."

Riva picked up a rock in one hand to throw and equipped his sword in the other. Since he expected the wolves to be stronger than the deer, he used the enhancement spell to enhance his strength, speed and defense. He then threw the rock at one of the wolves. At first, it looked like he missed the wolf, but then it started bleeding and collapsed. "I didn't expect that to work so well." The other wolves however had become even angrier. "Bring it on!" Riva yelled and lunged forward. His first swing missed, but he managed to dodge the wolves attacks. His second slash connected though. It connected too well as the victim of the slash just seem to become two pieces.

At this point, the other wolves noticed that it make not be their day after all and fled. "You should have done that in the first place. I didn't want to hurt you!" Riva said. He had hoped that there would be peaceful and intelligent animals in the forest. Riva then pressed onwards. After about an hour, the forest seemed to get lighter and brighter until he finally made it to a clearing.

In front of him was a steppe with forested mountains far away in the distance. Somewhat in the distance, he also noticed a village. From the looks of it, it was inhabited as some smoke arose from the village. It wasn't a billowing smoke as if the village was on fire though. Riva sure hoped that there were humans in the village, friendly humans. If they were, maybe he could settle on the outskirts of the village and make a living doing something like cooking or hunting. But first he needed to head back to the shack and grab his stuff.

Even if there possible weren't friendly, he could eventually settle down somewhere in the steppe until he had the strength and resources to move on to another place. Anyways, he headed back to the shack. By the time he got home, it was almost night time. He guessed that he would rest and then make his way the next day.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Part 7

The next morning it was kind of chilly. Looking out of the shack, he noticed it was overcast. He hoped it wouldn't rain. Riva grabbed his stuff including a sack of the poisonous berries to survive off of in case the village wouldn't be openly accepting of an outsider. When leaving the shack, he reminisced about the two or three months he had spent here after his banishment. It had been long enough that his hair had gone from short to just past his shoulders. It was long enough to tie into a short ponytail now, though honestly he didn't have anything thin enough that could work as a hair tie.

Riva made he way through the forest, coming across the wolves again. "Hey. I just want to walk through. You know what happened yesterday, right?" Riva said as the wolves growled at him, but this time were cautious enough not to attack. The wolves stepped back as Riva made his way through. Once he was through, he said: "See? It worked out for both of us now. Now I need to get going. Maybe you are lucky and wont have to see me again."

Soon he made it to the steppe beyond the forest where the village could be seen. White smoke billowed from some of village. And some movement of people going about their lives was visible. It would maybe another half hour to hour for Riva to walk over to the village.

The walk over went without occurrence. It was just a walk through the grassy steppe towards an unknown village. But as Riva got closer, he was met with a young man with a spear in his hands. The young man gestured violently and spoke in a language unknown to Riva. It sounded like an offshoot of an ancient language Riva had read about. He tried to remember some of the words and said in the ancient language: "I come in peace." The young man didn't calm down and continued the threatening gestures. By the time, middle aged muscular men came over to see what the commotion was about.

The other men seemed to tell the young one to stand down and then spoke some words to Riva. Riva didn't really understand. He tried saying he came in peace in the ancient language again, but the men only looked confused. Riva tried it in his home tongue: "I come in peace. I mean no harm." Then an older village member spoke up. "It has been a long time since I have heard someone speak in that tongue. You are from beyond the forest and the wall I take it?"

Riva smiled and replied: "Yes. Though not on voluntary terms. Let's just say I have been cast out by an unfriendly family." "That sounds unfortunate." The older villager said. He then translated to the other present villagers and some made a face that basically read "sounds tough". One especially muscular villager then seemed to ask something to which the elder translated: "He asked what brings you to our village?"

"Well, I wanted to see if I could settle nearly and didn't want to deliberately set up camp nearby. If I am not welcome, I wanted to see if we could at least trade. I have these berries here. They are delicious and nourishing, but I am not sure if you eat them or not."

The elder looked a bit taken aback before translating. The villagers then looked shocked before replying which was translated as: "Really? You eat those things? They are poisonous you know!"

"Yes." Riva said before putting a couple in his mouth. "When I first ate them, they gave me stomach cramps and hallucinations. But I didnt really have anything else to eat, so eventually I got used to them. They have become a staple of my diet."

The elder translated again. This time the shock turned into awe. The stronger villager then replied (translated): "You can build a home near the village. However if you want to become part of the village, you need to prove yourself." Riva smiled and said: "Sounds like a plan." He then turned to the elder: "Hey uncle, can you teach me the language so I don't need a translator in the future?" The elder nodded and said: "Come find me once you have gotten settled."

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Part 8

Riva made his way out a little away from the village, but still within sight of it. He found a patch of land near a small stream of water, a shallow creek of a kind. From the position he was at, he assumed it to be northwest of the village. He checked the soil and surveyed the landscape for potential predators or other wildlife. It seemed to be safe enough where he was and the soil seemed to be fertile enough to plant crops.

Riva immediately made his way to gather the resources to build a provisional hut. He needed stones for the walls, branches for the frame and plant fibers for thatching. The guy first went out to find the appropriate branches which weren't hard to find. He just had to cut most of them down from smaller trees. Once that was done, he gathered the stones for the walls, which took a while. Finally, he grabbed a lot of reeds. Then something hit his mind: He may need mud or similar to make the stones stay together and for the walls to be more stable. Optimally, he could find marl to use as mortar. But it seemed it wasn't readily available. Luckily, the soil had a somewhat decent consistency to use as rudimentary mortar.

The strong-willed young man spent his time building his hut until the night hours, eventually finishing the arduous task. The hut was small, but it would protect him from wind and rain and possibly even some predators. Exhausted, he laid down a makeshift bedroll and went to sleep.

The next morning, he was awoken by a voice. "Wow. Amazing that you managed to build this in a day." It was the old man from the village. "Uh. What are you doing here?" Riva replied while awaking. The old man then replied: "Well we need to get you educated in our language and our traditions, if you want to some day become a full member of the village. The village is willing to trust you, because people are rare in this area and they doubt you are some kind of criminal." "Let me get up and wash my face in the creek. And once I have eaten, then I will be ready." Riva said.

Riva went to wash up and eat breakfast. Once he was ready, the old man gave him lessons in the language. Riva was a quick learner which surprised the old man. By the end of the day, Riva was able to hold a basic conversation with the villagers. In the coming days, Riva would spend part of the day learning and the rest foraging, fishing and building up his land. Within two weeks, he had built a proper hut, a stone wall, gotten a garden going and could speak proficiently to the villagers without need of translation.