It was dark outside. The sky was clear, and the moon hung above with a few stars scattered here and there. Streetlights dimly illuminated the sidewalk, where a light crowd of people moved along, minding their own business.
And walking in those streets was our main protagonist. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about his appearance. He was just a young man with messy black hair like he had just gotten out of bed and black, unfocused eyes. He wore a black shirt with a ribcage on it, blue pants, and black shoes. His expression bore the look of someone bored and disinterested in everything.
As our protagonist walked down the dimly lit streets, he pulled out a list of groceries he intended to buy. His laziness had finnaly allowed him when he was supposed to buy these in the afternoon. But oh well.
As he neared the store, he felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him. He felt weird, wondering why he was suddenly feeling that when he had been fine moments ago, but thought nothing of it and decided to hurry up in that case.
He grabbed all the items he needed: milk, eggs, cups of ramen, and chips of several kinds. Why would he need a list for so few items, you may ask? Well, his brain decided at that time it didn't want to remember such basic things, so he ultimately decided to write them down in case he forgot.
As he placed his items on the counter to be scanned, he felt his drowsiness intensify. Strange? He shook his head, trying to focus, thinking he should really hurry up.
Packing his things up, he quickly went out of the store. Outside, just before he could cross the street, he stopped, feeling an inexplicable urge to rub his eyes.
What was happening to him lately, he thought to himself, so he succumbed to his strange urge and rubbed his eyes.
The drowsiness that was plaguing him had strangely vanished, and that's when he felt a bunch of new sensations hitting him at once, all of them odd in the quiet streets: the smell of bread and various fruits, the footsteps of a crowd, the sound of talking, and the feeling of sunlight hitting his eyes.
He froze at the feeling of these strange sensations, especially the last one, and opened his eyes in complete confusion, and what greeted him shocked him to his core.
Instead of a city, he was standing on cobbled streets. People dressed in medieval clothing walked past with hair of every color except black like his. Carriages were being pulled by dinosaur-looking creatures. Merchants haggled loudly, and even more shockingly, there were people with animal features cat ears, fox tails, you name it and some of them didn't even look remotely human.
He was dumbfounded, to say the least, looking around at his new surroundings. Everything screamed a fantasy world, from the people to its architecture. He needed a minute to process this. Fortunately, there was a water fountain just behind him, so he decided to sit there for the time being.
If there was one thing he could say for certain, it was that the place was beautiful. He was in awe, but that didn't last long as panic consumed him. What was he going to do now? He had no idea where he was. Could he even return home? What was going to happen next? Thoughts like these flowed into his mind. He didn't have an answer to any of them.
It took him a few minutes to calm down. Sitting here wasn't going to do anything, so he decided his next course of action should be to explore this new world and try to get some information about this place.
So he did just that. He walked for a few hours beneath the still high sun, while trying to figure out what to do next and perhaps to find some information about this city he found himself all too little success, though that was expected, especially when considering the person in question.
He soon neared what appeared to be a series of stalls selling various goods while the merchants of such stall tried to interest the crowd to buy their products.
POV change
This is so weird, I thought as I moved through the city. I still can't believe I'm in a fantasy world of all things or I'm on drugs. Though as amazing as this new world is, I can already see a few problems. Looking around, I noticed the curious looks people were giving me. Between my clothes and the groceries I was holding, I stood out like a sore thumb. I probably looked like a foreigner to them, which wouldn't be inaccurate.
The next problem i needed to deal with the this world language. Turning my gaze towards a nearby stall, i could seeing something written on it, what i couldn't tell. Looks like i have to learn a new language. Uuuuugh.
Turning my attention towards the chatter of some humaniod lizards probably lizard men. I could perfectly understand them strange they were to my knowledge speaking Japanese but used different scripts? Hmmm.
The three problems I needed to work out were how the economy worked, what the state of this kingdom was, good or bad ? If it was the latter I needed to get out of this place. And, the most important of all if magic exists i needed to know what kind of forces govern this world. I feel much safer knowing whether or not some guy with a tragic back story could destroy a city or something.
Alright you got it you just need to go up and ask a extremely obvious question and hope they dont think im joking and answer. I thought as I went towards the nearest stall to me, a fruit stall.
The person selling these fruits was a middle aged man with a muscular build, a twig in his mouth, green hair banded into a slicked back style having two scars of his face, and he wore a black vest with a golden outline paired with two bracelets on his wrists, honestly to me he looked more like a thug then a fruit vendor.
Vendor: "Hey kid, want to buy some appa's? They're the freshest in the entire capital."
the man said holding what looked like an apple. Don't tell me fruits had different names here. If that was the case, what else was named differently ?
I shook my head. I'll think about this later for now, I needed to say focused.
???: "Sorry to disappoint you sir I can't buy them but can I ask you some questions?" I asked the man.
Vendor: "If you dont have money then scram." he looked at me annoyed that I wasn't here to buy something and was disturbing his business.
???: "Please, sir. I promise to buy appa's from you in the future if you do."
He took a moment of think before signing and deciding to bite. He was sightly curious what I wanted to ask.
Vendor: " Alright kid what do you want to know." step one went smoothly now step two.
???: "I was wondering if you could tell me where I am, the kingdom's name and such. It's rather embarrassing to admit but i suffer from bad memory it would really help me if you could tell me sir."
I said embassed scratching my black hair as what I said was technically true as I did have a bad memory when it came to remember names and places.
The vendor narrowed his eyes looked at me as to figure out if I was just messing with him but seeing my genuine expression he let out another sigh.
Vendor: "kid, you're in the capital city of the kingdom of Lugunica, next time try to remember it, others won't be as kind as me to remind you." he said with a shake of his head. Thinking to himself how someone could even forget such a thing.
???: "Thank you sir, I won't forget this kindness and i promise to buy some appa's from you in the future." I said with a bow to show my gratitude then hurried away to a nearby alleyway while the vendor just looked at my strange actions.
Vendor: "What a werid kid." the vendor muttered before returning to what he was going.
POV change
As he hid in the alleyway, he sat down on the cold stone below him and buried his face in his hands in annoyance.
???: 'That was a disaster, but at least I got some information. Lungunica huh? That's going to be a hard name to remember. Fortunately, I still have my list and a pen. Now let's hope i don't missspell it."
He thought to himself as he pulled out both the list and a pen from his pockets and began to write the name of the kingdom down, as this was important information he absolutely couldn't forget. The vendor was right others wouldn't be as kind to tell him without being super suspicious. He was fortunate the vendor trusted him.
As he wrote lungunica, he put the end of the pen in his mouth as he further thought on what do next.
???: 'It's time to change strats. Asking people is too suspicious and frankly awkward and embarrassing. Now what else could I do to gain information... information... information... oh! A book, of course. I just somehow need to get a book. That would solve some of my problems. As for the state of the kingdom and money, actually, now I think about it, that isn't too suspicious of a topic as long as i frame it right...'
He paused, feeling something off about himself.
???: 'Werid it's strange how quickly im solving these problems. Was i always this smart?'
He began pondering on his own intelligence. Did this situation cause him to put his all into it, or was he overthinking like usual?'
His pondering was interrupted by the sound of footsteps from deeper in the alleyway. He hoped it was people passing by, but call it a gut feeling or him watching too much anime something told him it wouldn't be that simple.
His gut feeling turned out to be true as three thugs approached him, eyeing him as easy prey to rob. The first thug to speak was a thin man with what he could only describe as toothpaste hair, a long tongue and filthy clothes with chains on his wrists and throat.
Thug 1: " Cough up everything you have if you don't want to get hurt." he threatened, pulling out two blades with a smirk on his face.
As the first thug finished speaking, the other two moved swiftly to cut off his exit, trapping him.
These two were of opposite builds, as one was a fat man with a thick mustache and scraggy goatee while the other was short with brown mushroom style hair and large black eyes making him look odd in our protagonist's eyes.
Speaking of him, he was unsuccessfully trying to not panic as he stood up and stilled on guard, slowly backing away from the first thug.
???: " look man i got nothing valuable on me. If anything im more broke and homeless then you." he said rasing his arms slightly as the thin thug came closer.
Thug 3: "then we'll just take your nice clothes and small bag over there." said the short one.
???: 'The fuck is wrong with them?' he thought shivering.
???: " they're not worth much. You dont have to go that far."he said
He eventually bumped into the fat thrug and jumped forward in surprised. The fat thrug wipped put his club saying—
Thug 2: "we'll be the judge of that" he said as he swung his club as our protagonist's face deeming it better to just knock him out and taking his stuff.
But fortunately, our protagonist just bearly managed to dodge and fall to the ground. He let out a sigh of relief, but that didn't last long as he looked up, seeing the thin one about to stab him with his blades.
He rolled to the side and got up as quickly as he could, then clumsy dodge another club strike then jumping over the short one's attack, almost losing his balance in the process.
The first thug taking advantage of that, tried to attack again, but our protagonist dodged again by twisting his body to avoid the attack. The thug continued to attack, getting frustrated each time our protagonist clumsy dodged.
Thug 1: "STOP DODGING!" he shouted.
???: "STOP ATTACKING ME THEN!" he shouted back.
Thug 1: "WHAT ARE YOU TWO STANDING THERE FOR ? HELP ME GET THIS ASSHOLE ALREADY!" he shouted to the other two as they joined in as well.
And hence, their game of cat and mouse in the narrow alleyway began. The three thugs tried they're best to hit our protagonist but he dodged clumsiness each time, scared and panicked out of his mind. The fact he was even doing so was mildly impressive or maybe the three just sucked.
Honestly, this whole situation was just SAD for whom you decide. Though this begged the question: how our protagonist, a self proclaimed 'pacifist' who never has been in a fight before, dodging so well ? Be it clumsy and bearly, was this just luck or did he secretly have the talent to be a dodging master?
He tripped on his own foot and fell down face first.
Oh!... Never mind then.
As he turned around, he quickly jumped back in case they tried to attack and hit the wall as the three finally managed to cornered him panting and exhausted. The thin one in the middle, the fat one on his left, and the short one on his right.
Thug 1: "Huff... pufff finally we... got you, you... piece of... shit," the thin one said, panting.
Thug 3:" Huff.... puff you... can't run...now," the short one said, holding his knees for support.
But before they can finish our protagonist off, they were interrupted by the sound of yelling.
Feminine voice: "Hey, move,move, move! You're in the way."
All four men were startled and turned their attention toward the sound of the voice, where they saw a small girl with blond hair and red eyes running into the narrow alleyway. The thin thug who was in the way instinctively stepped back to avoid crashing into her.
???: 'Damn it, I was hoping someone heard the commotion and came to help, but it's just a kid.' he thought to himself in frustration and disappointment.
As she ran past the scene of an attempted murder, glancing at the scene she merrily said—
Blond girl: "Man, this is crazy. But i'm busy, gotta go, live strong."
She said as she ran past, not before showing him an apologetic look before running towards a dead end only to jump off a random board, then up the wall.
???: 'I stand... corrected? Damn it, looks like it's time for plan B.'
Taking advantage of the thug's distraction he kicked the short one in the face, then proceeded to run in that direction, as it led to the streets.
The other two came out of their surprise at the sound of him attacking their companion. The fat one checked up on the short one as the thin one began to chase him.
Thug 1: "GET BACK HUFF... HERE!" he yelled, still very much tired.
Then another disruption happened as they ran a beautiful voice echoed through the narrow alleyway.
Beautiful voice: "Stop right there villain."
The sound of such a voice had once again made everyone stop there actions, even our protagonist, who came to an abrupt stop, losing his footing and falling on his back.
As he lifted himself on one arm, he looked towards the sound of the voice, annoyed thinking to himself–
???: 'What now? I swear if I don't get helped by this person. Im going to wrap myself around them and force me to help m...'
His thoughts were cut off by the breathtaking sight.
It was a woman with long sliver hair, amethyst eyes, wearing simple yet elegant clothes that enhanced her already otherworldly beauty. At the sight of her, our protagonist only had one thought cross his mind.
???: 'Beautiful.'
The fat and short thug had come to stand alongside the thin one. The trio faced the sliver hair woman, on guard for what she might do next.
Silver hair woman: "Return what you have stole at once and i may overlook thing. If you return it now." she commanded as she looked at the men with a fierce gaze.
The trio looked confused by her words.
Thug 1: Huff... what we stole?... puff we... didn't steal anything... it was probably the girl that ran past... just now," the thin one said, panting and pointing at direction the blond girl ran.
She narrowed her eyes at the statement, contemplating.
Silver hair woman: "Hmm, you dont seem to be lying very well. She went that way...? I'll have to hurry."
She said as if confirming their words.
At the same time, our protagonist had gotten up and stood to the side, continuing to stare at the women. He was smitten by her beauty he didn't use this chance to run away.
Thug 1: "wait... you're Huff not here to save this guy?" he said, confused.
She looked at the man in question, saying–
Silver hair woman: "What strange clothes he's wearing, but if you were to ask whether or not I have any sort of connection to him, I'd have to say I don't." her affirmation made the trio relieved.
At those words, our protagonist instantly snapped out his trance.
???: 'Oh come on! They're tired you could help me here! Even if you don't want to, at least pretend to hesitate for a moment.'
He thought incredulously as he saw the woman preparing to leave.
As she walked pass the thugs they turned their attention back to him, ready to continue, but of course fate had decided this would not be their lucky day.
Silver hair woman: "Be that as it may. I can't overlook what's going on here."
She said as she turned around and appeared to summon what looked to be an ice shard launching, it towards fat one.
It hit his chest, knocking him back a few feet and onto the ground unconscious. Her action had shocked everyone.
???:' I stand corrected again also, WAS THAT MAGIC?'
Today truly wasn't a good day for the trio. Not only did they fail to rob someone, they also ran in circles like a bunch of idiots trying to attack a seemingly weak and easy target, got exhausted, and now one was knocked out.
As much as it hurt the thin one pride, they really needed to get out, he clenched his teeth.
Thug 1: "Damn it! Come on, let's get out of here," he said to the short one as he went to grab the fat one's arm.
Thug 3: "R-Right!" he said as he began helping the thin one."
But before they left, the thin let one parting threat.
Thug 1: "You got lucky this time, brat. You best be careful the next time you decide to wander around here."
The duo disappeared from sight, dragging their unconscious companion away with them.
Now it was just our protagonist and the beautiful woman standing in the alleyway. He was about to say something when–
Silver hair woman: "Don't move." she eyed him cautiously.
Silver hair woman: "Did you steal my insignia?" the woman asked him seriously. To which our protagonist's only reaction was–
???: "Huh? Where did that come from?" he said, really confused. Didn't the thug already answer her question. Why was she asking him?
Silver hair woman: "It's really important to me, so tell me who stole my insignia?"
???: "..... it was a girl with yellow hair and red eyes. She looked in a rush.... and if I remember correctly she was holding something in her hand. That's all I know." he told her honestly, while secretly being dumbfounded having to repeat information she should know but, whatever. He decided to be helpful and add more details for her.
She studied him for a moment, then nodded.
Silver hair woman: "I see, thank you." she turned to leave.
???: "Wait."
She seemed annoyed as she turned around.
Silver hair woman: "What? You already said everything I needed to know, so we no longer have anything to do with each other. We're merely strangers whose paths intersected for a moment."
???: "Let me help you. And don't even try to deny it, lady, you lost something important, didn't you? Unless you plan to search the entire city alone, there's no way you'll find her. Besides, I saw the thief myself and the direction she went, what she looked like, even her background. I know more about the thief than you do. Letting me help would save you time, and I doubt you have much of that."
Our protagonist wasn't a man of many talents but what little talent he did have, he excelled at them like pulling out reasonable excuses out of his ass.
He's a man who would maintain his image of an honest and truthful person who would never lie so he could make his excuse more believable after all he's an 'honest' man, he would never lie about something. He used such a strategy for the sole purpose of..... convincing his parents to let him not go to school whenever he felt lazy.
.... Anyway the woman was taken aback both by his willingness to help and the truth of his words. But still she insisted.
Silver hair woman: "Why are you trying to help me? If it's for money then let me say I'm completely broke. I can't offer you anything in return."
???: "I'm not doing this for money. I'm doing this out of gratitude. You saved me from those thugs. The least I can do is show basic decency and help my saviour in her time of need." he said with a fire in his eyes, his expression was that of passion.
The woman was surprised by his words. He wanted to help her out of gratitude?
Silver hair woman: "gratitude?" she whispered as if that word was foreign to her.
???: 'What's with that reaction?' he thought to himself confused.
Silver hair woman: "I-i appreciate the -."
???: "Come on, lady you're on a time crunch here nothing you ask or do will make me back away. It's better to accept my offer and move on. Time a-wastin."
Mysterious voice: "He's right Lia. You don't have any leads and you can hardly search the whole capital besides I'm not sensing any malice from him." said an unseen voice.
Such a thing had caused him to jump and frantically look around to see where this voice came from. He did a full 360 before his gaze went towards the woman's outstretched palm and for what felt like the fifth time his eyes widened in shock.
???: 'I-Is that a cat?'
Indeed in the woman's palm was a hand-sized bipedal cat small enough to fit in her palm. It had light grey and white fur which looked really soft, bright aqua eyes and around its waist was a magenta bag.
Silver hair woman: "But Puck I-" the woman tried to say but the cat apparently named Puck interrupted her.
Puck: "Your stubbornness is definitely cute, but it'd be foolish to lose sight of your objective because of it. I don't want to think of my own daughter as a fool."
All the while our protagonist just stared at Puck while they had a tiny argument.
???: '.... of course right fantasy world okay okay. With my extensive knowledge of fantasy worlds that thing is probably a spirit contracted to her.... but that thing just called her its daughter... this truly is anime bullshit.'
???: "Seeing that you're outnumbered in this situation. I can say for certain it will be a pleasure to work with you misssssssssssssss?" he interrupted their conversation while dragging out the miss part as he still doesn't know her name.
The woman reluctantly accepted that she is, indeed unable to win this argument.
Silver hair woman: "Satella. You can call me Satella" she said after a few seconds of silence. To which Puck only looked disappointed and shook his head
Puck: "You have terrible taste." he muttered.
???: 'I'm going to take a WILD guess and say that isn't her name just for the cat reaction.'
???: "Right, and allow me to properly introduce myself. You call me Xenophanes or just Xeno." He said as he stretched out his hand for a handshake.