[center][h3]Unknown beach[/h3]
[b]Sea of Tears[/b][/center]


Darkness. Alric hears only the sound of the waves, the salt sea brine, and the cawing of the ever tenacious gulls. He feels weak, miserable, unable, or rather unwilling, to face the world. He begins to drift off once more, letting his exhaustion overtake him.
[i]‘’Don’t stop fighting, Prince of Eodaland…’’[/i] A distant voice calls to him from the other side of the ocean. [i]‘’Awaken. They are soon upon you, my Prince… Awaken!’’[/i]

When Alric awakens, it dawns to him what happened; he is in the middle of a wreckage of the ship he sailed on.
Lifting his head from the sand, he faintly looks about, to find no trace of the others. They’ve all been taken by the ocean tempest. He may feel a little bit sorry for them, but his head is still dizzy. Having rubbed the sand off his face, he takes in his surroundings. The sky above is still overcast. But the darkest clouds have dispersed. There is no sign of the storm that had obliterated the ship he was on.

In this moment Alric was disconnected from time. He wondered to himself how much had passed. Perhaps his troubles were long passed. Perhaps all those he’d escaped from had forgotten him. He then remembered the voice. His troubles were not behind him. And then visions of his recent traumas began to flash in his mind. When trouble came at his bedchamber he ran. When the tempest hit he hid. What son of Eodaland was he? His people, my people, Alric thought, were in need of a leader. A King. This was the revelation the young Prince needed. Without hesitation Alric set out, spotting amongst the wreckage a stray sword but he knew this wasn’t enough. Might would not save him. Alric needed a miracle and to find one he needed to take a leap of faith. So he turned his back on the wreck and the ocean and headed into the island.

Whatever shore he has been washed on, he doesn’t recognise it. Nor is there a trace of humans having been here in a very long time. The island is barren, desolate and rocky… and also cold. Hopefully he would come across a sign of civilization, and help. He needs to find a way to get off this island. And if worse comes to worst, he has to build a raft out of the wreckage of the ship, and hope it holds.
The dryness of his mouth began to irritate and he knew before long he would need to find water… and food. In that moment he heard movement ahead. Suddenly from behind a rock a white hare leaped out and, spotting Alric, began to sprint off to the island’s interior towards a formation of rocks. The terrain was painful to traverse barefoot but in desperation Alric continued to keep up with the animal the best he could before he began to feel as though the hare was not running from him, but perhaps leading? When Alric was tiring and slowing down, so too did the hare slow down as if to test him. The Prince stopped suddenly and as he did, so did the hare. ...Alric was perplexed. The hare then continued, slower this time, and he followed. 

Now finding himself in a valley, Alric finally saw the hare stop at what seemed to be the entrance to a cave. Looking down he saw his feet were bleeding, but he felt little pain. He also felt once again the dryness of his mouth but this time felt little thirst. Before him is a deep hole leading into the earth…  Was this one of those lairs where dark things sleep, of which he has heard so much growing up? Looking into it, it seemed almost as though the darkness therein looked back at him likewise. But the hare entering it was somehow reassuring. 
Casting his lot with the hare, he knew there to be no threat down below, and the Prince enters.