An Unexpected Destination (Open~)

[Vapor]

Pain. That was all Emi could feel as she opened her eyes, half-blinded by the light. Every muscle and joint in her body ached. Even the slightest movement caused pain. Such were the consequences of long distance teleportation. She closed her eyes and just lay there on the cold stone floor with her back leant against the brick wall behind her. The girl didn’t feel like moving. Not with the amount of aching pain she was in at the time.

A few minutes later, her mind suddenly kicked into gear. Emi’s eyes snapped open after a sudden realisation that the surroundings she saw during her previous brief awakening were very unfamiliar to her. She glanced around, now aware of her new surroundings, and saw buildings. Lots of buildings. A lot more than she was used to seeing coming from a small village. And there was what seemed to be a track of some sort weaving in and out of the buildings, with a tram gliding along it. None of this looked familiar in the slightest to Emi except the school's sailor uniform she was still wearing. She didn’t know where she was. She was lost. ”Where.. am I?” She said to herself, ”I know I teleported.. But just how far did I teleport?”

Emi stood up, unsure of what to do. Unable to think of anything better to do, she started following the path of the tram. Walking hurt. Her entire body still ached from her teleportation which she was starting to think was over a longer distance than she had first anticipated. Admiring the buildings that surrounded her as she continued along the tram’s path, Emi started talking to herself. ”Well, I remember needing to get more supplies..” She said out loud, retracing her steps to try and find out how she ended up here. ”So I teleported back into the village under the cover of darkness, only to find that what seemed like darkness itself was attacking. There were horrid creatures, mostly small black ones with antennae but there were some wearing armour..”

Her thought process was interrupted as she had to dodge out the way of the oncoming tram, but she swiftly continued ”They appeared to be ‘feeding’ on people’s hearts. Not a very nice sight.. Then I thought about my parents and their safety, so I teleported home to see if they were there. And they weren’t. So I went and curled up in a corner and cried. That’s when it happened. I heard a noise, opened my eyes and saw one of the armoured creatures about to claw at me. My first instinct was to teleport away, but it hit me as I was teleporting.. So that must be why I’m here. The hit must have disrupted my teleportation! But one problem.. Where exactly IS here?” She finished, after speaking the entire thing out loud as if she was telling someone, even though there was nobody else there.

[moonchild]

Eri was speeding through the market street, she had just completed an errand for O.J, the spoils of her most recent conquest in the Twilight Town library firmly held in one hand, and a small coin purse with exactly forty five munny orbs clinking and clattering against each other in the other as she made her way down a street.

She had planned on buying a sea salt ice-cream to congratulate herself on a job well done. However, there were two things that made that impossible: the first being, the lady had just sold the last one to some kid just minutes before hand, and secondly, even if she wanted one, she didn’t have enough on her at the moment to afford one. She was still a little put out for that. She would have enjoyed it after thumbing through endless titles upon titles for what felt like an eternity. It was stuffy in that old library; she was just down to her dress and her shoes by the time she had gotten out. Granted, her signature cardigan and socks were once again where they should be, as it was significantly cooler outside than it was in that furnace of a library.

Eri didn’t pay much attention to her next movements; she was too busy longing for that delicious treat. However, she quickly snapped out of her ice-cream day dream. Is that a voice I hear? Deciding to investigate, Eri approached the source of the voice, which was talking about something she couldn’t make out. She recognised the voice as feminine but that was it. She tried to approach as quietly as a girl in a pair of heels could, so as not to alarm the owner of the voice.

She was greeted by the sight of a short girl with long red hair done up in a style not unlike her own. She was dressed in a school uniform, one that she hadn’t seen in Twilight Town before. Maybe…maybe she is from…somewhere else? She thought to herself. The girl did seem rather disoriented, and judging from where the two of them were this was probably the case.

Taking very cautionary steps towards this girl (Don't make the mistake of thinking she isn't dangerous just because she is small and alone. People that feel cornered are often the most dangerous...).

Eri spoke up in a concerned tone, leaning down a bit so she would be at eye level with the girl when she turned to face her: “My name is Eri. I don’t mean you any harm. Are…are you ok there? Would you like some help? Do you know where you are or are you lost?”

[Vapor]

”Ah!” Hearing another voice behind her startled Emi. So much so that she physically jumped off the ground a couple centimetres. Unfortunately, due to her body still aching from her teleportation, she was unable to land steadily. Emi stumbled for a couple seconds as her feet hit the ground again and, just as it looked like she had regained her balance, she collapsed to her hands and knees. Not feeling like standing up again, the girl just rolled onto her back and lay down, with her hands behind her head to support it. She bent her knees, bringing her feet closer to her

Now Emi got a good chance to look at the person who startled her. She appeared to be a few inches taller than Emi, just like most people, so it didn’t come across as much of a surprise to her. The girl’s blonde hair appeared to be done up in a similar way to Emi’s, but was a lot shorter as it ended at chest height instead of shin height like Emi’s. Then she noticed the girl was wearing heels, which meant she was actually smaller than first anticipated, which cheered Emi up a little bit.

Suddenly Emi remembered that this person had actually spoken to her. “My name is Eri. I don’t mean you any harm. Are…are you ok there? Would you like some help? Do you know where you are or are you lost?” ”I’m fine, except my body aches all over but that’s nothing to worry about.” She answered, ”But yeah, I’m lost. I’ve never seen this place before in my life..” She contemplated mentioning arriving here by accident because of her teleporting, but thought she might get outcast again which she didn’t want, ”I just sorta.. Woke up here. And I don’t know how I got here, so I’m pretty confused. Other than that, I’m perfectly fine.”

[moonchild]

The girl jumped a mile high when Eri spoke, letting out a shriek of surprise. She landed in an unusual position which caused her to stumble before falling down and lying down, a sight which elicited a soft chuckle from the light haired youth. Taking a closer look at the small girl who was laying down in front of her, Eri couldn’t fully make out how old the girl was, she appeared to be about her own age. She was deeply interested in the length of the girl’s pink hair. Is that all real? If it is…wow, I wonder how long it took her to grow... She subconsciously started to run her fingers through the length of her own hair, almost feeling jealous of the girl’s long locks. The next thing that grabbed Eri’s attention was the girl’s large crimson eyes. She has very pretty, wide eyes.

It took a while for the girl to respond to her, Eri didn’t mind that. After all, she too had once been completely lost and didn’t feel much like saying much at the time either. The girl talked for a bit, giving vague details about how she had just ‘woken up’ in the town. It was clear to Eri that the girl wasn’t from around here, but that was the final nail in the metaphoric coffin. Instantly Eri felt a kind of kindredship with this girl. The two of them were both just thrown into a world that they knew nothing about, completely alone. Eri decided that she was going to do her best to help and befriend this girl.

She walked over to the girl’s side and squatted next to her, feeling her necklace leave her collarbones and dangle from her neck. She placed her hands around her knees as she began to speak, occasionally shifting her position to keep herself comfortable. “You’re from somewhere else, aren’t you? I know how you feel. I’m not from here either. Though, this place, Twilight Town…it’s become like a home to me. Yes, this place is eternally in twilight as the name would suggest. It is actually quite beautiful once you get used to it. Do you think you'll be able to get up? We can go find you something to eat, that is, if you want to.”

Eri hoped the girl would be appreciative of her kindness, she knew she was when Auntie had said similar things to her when she found her lying semi unconscious near the clock tower. The pink clad girl stood up, brushed herself off and extended a hand to the red eyed girl.

[Vapor]

Emi watched the girl as she moved over to her and squatted down next to her, wrapping her arms around her legs. She fidgeted around a bit whilst talking, seemingly to get comfortable, as the way she was perched didn’t seem like the most comfortable of positions. Eri told Emi she’d come from somewhere else too, and mentioned this place was called Twilight Town which was forever bathed in twilight, hence the name. The girl ended with an offer of food, if Emi was able to stand up, and there was no reason why she couldn’t.

”Food sounds great!” The pink haired girl perked up at the mention of food. She reached for the outstretched hand of Eri’s, took it by the wrist, and used it to help her pull herself up off the ground. Once up and steady, Emi took another look around at her surroundings. This time to take in the apparent beauty of her new environment instead of just wanting to figure out where she was. And it really was beautiful. The more she took in of her surroundings, the more she wanted to see of this new place. This new place.. Twilight Town. The Town which seemed more and more like it was going to be Emi’s new home, and it didn’t look like she had much of a choice in the matter. She was here whether she wants to be or not.

”This place really is beautiful..” Emi said, still admiring the environment. The girl started walking in a random direction, completely forgetting she had no idea where she was going. Luckily, this dawned on her before she’d made it ten steps. She stopped and turned back to Eri, took a couple steps back towards her, and let out a quiet, slightly nervous, chuckle before speaking. ”Heheh.. You’ll have lead the way. I have no idea where I’m going..”

[moonchild]

When the girl hoisted herself to her feet, there was a moment of hesitation where Eri thought that she may very well collapse again. Thankfully, it didn’t happen. The young red head seemed to be very interested in the idea of a meal; cheering right up the second Eri suggested it. That caused a small smile to form on her lips for the briefest of moments. Hopefully she will be ok and won’t fall into that dark place I was in...

Without any warning the girl started walking off arbitrarily, commenting on the beauty of Twilight Town. Thankfully before Eri was about to reign her in and direct her down the right path, she turned around and moved back to where she was originally. She chuckled nervously, admitting her folly. Eri shook her head a little. "It would seem so, don’t worry though. You’ll get your bearings eventually. We are heading this way first.” She replied in a kindly fashion, and indicated to the street she had entered from, before turning on a heel and began to walk away. Internally, Eri was wondering if this was how her own friend back in Destiny Island had seen when he was first showing her around the places she had feared to tread when she was younger. Was I as confused as she is now? I hope not.

A couple of moments later she turned back to face the girl, sizing her up before questioning her: “So, what did you say your name was? I don’t think I caught it.” After asking the girl, Eri turned her head back in front of her, keeping an eye on where they were heading, trying to think of a place that was close by and would provide the two with an affordable and filling meal. Eri thought of a small café that was close by that would provide a decent meal, if it were to her new companion’s satisfaction. “So what exactly would you like to eat? There is a little café that is just up ahead that has fairly good iced coffee as well as a few odds and ends for reasonable prices. Though, there are a lot of other places I can take you if that isn’t to your liking.”

Eri hoped she wasn’t coming off as callous, she was still trying her best with the idea of socialising and trying to come across as the kind of person she was on the inside; rather than the restrained, austere young lady she often seemed to come across as.

[Vapor]

Turning to follow after Eri, who had started walking in the opposite direction to where Emi had originally set off to, Emi was still distracted by her new environment, trying to take in everything she saw while still keeping up with Eri and not walking into walls. When she heard the girl ask her name, Emi ran a couple steps in front of her, stopped and turned around. ”I never said my name.” She said, happily ”But it’s Emi. Almost the same as your name, Eri~” The girl strung out the end of Eri’s name for a second whilst she spun on the spot, flinging her arms out as she did so with her long twintails getting flung outwards too. After about 520 degrees of spinning, she continued to walk alongside Eri.

“So what exactly would you like to eat?” Emi hadn’t actually thought about this at all. But the first offer Eri came out with seemed fine: iced coffee. And it was apparently close, which was all the better, as well as being reasonably priced. ”Hmm, iced coffee sounds good.” She said, keeping her happy upbeat tone ”Let’s go!”

Her happiness was clear as day. Even though she had just taken a massive change in her life, due to the recent happenings on her home planet, she was happy. The simple meeting with someone as nice as Eri, who appears to be from elsewhere also, was enough to cheer her up but she doubted Eri had come here due to teleportation. However, that wasn’t important. What was important was this food and how long it would be until they got it. ”How much further?” She asked, still bouncing along with a spring in her step.

[moonchild]

The girl introduced herself as Emi, which was indeed very similar to her own name. That caused a little giggle from the blonde haired girl, as she spoke: “You know, if you dye your hair blonde people would probably think we were twins.”

Emi seemed to be in a good mood, which was subtly improving Eri’s mood. She found herself walking with a slight spring in her step. Though she would hardly admit it to anyone, Eri was the kind of girl that was very swayed by the emotions of people around her; often other’s emotions would become her own. It was always nice to be around people that know how to improve your own mood, she thought.

Eri kept on the direction to the café, glad to hear she wouldn’t need to change directions or cut through the middle of anything to travel to another location. The two didn’t say too much, both seeming content to just enjoy the good vibes they were receiving from the other and be left with their thoughts. Eri took a look down at the covers of one of the books she was holding, not paying much attention to anything other than the outline. The three books were of a decent size and seemed to be quite length and analytic in nature, which seemed to fit the profile of the reading material of a man that was indeed in academia. She decided she wasn’t going to pry too much into what work her employer was doing unless he wanted to tell her about it. It was more out of respect for the man’s work and privacy. She knew she would hate to have some teenager putting their nose where it didn’t really belong.

Emi asked her how much further it was to their destination. Eri turned to face her companion: “We are just about there, just one more turn and we will be there.” Not too much longer after that, the two were comfortably seated, with menus in front of them. Eri had placed the books on the ground next to her and had slid her coin pouch into a less conspicuous place. As she glanced through the list of things that were served she decided that she should strike up conversation with the girl opposite her.

“So, do you have any questions about anything, Twilight Town perhaps? I remember when I first arrived I had a million and one questions.” She said with a friendly smile, as she neatly folded her hands in her lap, deciding an iced coffee would be a decent substitute for the sea salt ice cream she missed out on.

[Vapor]

”I think you dying your hair pink would be better.” Emi said, in reply to Eri’s twin comment. She was right though, they would probably be mistaken for twins occasionally. Emi giggled a bit at the thought of it, added to happiness, which was then further increased by the knowledge that they were but one turn from their destination.

Only a couple minutes later, they arrived in the café and were sat comfortably looking at menus. ”Lots of choice..” Emi mumbled to herself, unsure of what to go for, but settled for the iced coffee. The same thing as Eri, who then asked Emi if she had any questions about her new home; Twilight Town, which she most definitely did. ”Yeah, of course I do. For one, what are the main locations and buildings here, and whereabouts are they?” She asked, thinking it would be useful knowledge to have. ”Also, what sorts of things are there to do here? Like, pastimes? I don’t really want to be wandering around with nothing to do all the time, so it would be nice to know these things.” She finished with a smile.

After asking those two questions, she started admiring the café around her, whilst patiently waiting for an answer from Eri. The café was nice and well furnished and decorated. Emi liked it, and decided she’d definitely come back here some other time. She then turned her attention back to Eri, and placed her hands behind her head, just making herself comfortable.

[moonchild]

The pink haired girl’s first question was about the location of the main locations within the Town, an easy enough question for Eri to answer. Eri continued with her in depth description of the main locations and the kind of things that were available for entertainment, only stopping when she placed her order, and to thank the waiter when he brought both the girls’ orders.

Eventually running out of things to talk about, and breathe, Eri stopped before she ended up boring the girl to death. Taking a sip from her glass, she looked at Emi. “Is there anything else you’d like to know? Or are you just in information overload at the moment? I know it must feel like that, but I am sure you will fit in perfectly. A lot of the people are very relaxed here.” Eri said tenderly, remembering how lost and confused she had felt the first time she arrived here. She still wasn’t too sure why she was sent here, out of every other possible world there could be. Does my world still exist? Or did the heartless consume it?

Deciding to lighten the mood a bit, Eri held up her hair: “So, do you think I’d be able to pull off pink?” She asked, whilst laughing. Of course, Eri didn’t think that she’d ever consider dying her hair; maybe put a different coloured extension in it from time to time, just to have some fun, but never dye the whole thing. I would be much too afraid of any other colour looking bad on me! Besides…He always loved the colour of my hair. Though…maybe if I do change the colour and somehow see him again, he will be shocked and surprised by how much I have changed. She chuckled at the idea; her friend was completely clueless when it came to things like that. He’d probably mistake me for another person entirely.

After her little chuckle and internal monologue Eri, looked directly into Emi's unusal eye colour and stated "I think you'll be absolutely fine here...I really do." She didn't have any reason to say that, apart from she felt like it just needed to be said. Hopefully it would provide the new arrival with some solace at the very least.

[wanderingknight]

At a nearby table, a strange person sat. Aidan could hear the other people in the room staring at him. He didn't know what these creatures were, but they seemed to be called 'humans'. Obviously this must be a different world than the one he was born in. He flicked his fluffy tail nervously as his blue eyes scanned the room. The blonde, spiky-haired stranger was something of a cross between a human and a fox. His large ears were pointed at the two girls speaking.

He'd been listening in on the two girls' conversation, not trying to be creepy or a stalker or anything like that. He was new here, like the pink-haired one, and it was interesting to hear the information about this place, which seemed to be called, "Twilight Town". Interesting. This was exactly the reason he came here in the first place. Not for food, because he didn't have any munny. He didn't even know what munny was until the guy at the register informed him. Generously, he offered him some free food, but Aidan declined. He didn't want to be a bother. But what could he do for munny?

Well, maybe that girl called Eri might know. Aidan got up and decided to introduce himself. Walking up to the two, he nodded to them. "Hi, my name's Aidan. Er, you seem to know about this place. Could you tell me about Twilight Town? I'm a little lost and not sure what to do..."

[moonchild]

Eri was half way through sipping her drink when a strange, tall figure appeared next to the two girls' table. She was a little taken aback when she first saw this new figure; which was a little understandable, she had never seen what looked like a cross between a fox and a human before. Eri quickly hid the shock that was threatening to bubble to the surface; her face remained casually quizzical, like this was a run of the mill occurrence.

The stranger introduced himself as Aiden and asked about Twilight Town. He seemed to be genuinely confused, just as Emi had been when she found her. It was most likely that Aiden too was from another world. Because of that Eri felt sympathetic to him and offered a small smile, on an otherwise blank expression.

"Hello, Aiden. My name is Eri, it is nice to meet you. Please, come sit down," She pointed to a vacant chair that he could bring over to their table, "Then I will tell you all I can about this place."

She talked for a fair while, outlining the common practises of the people of the town, the general atmosphere and how one went around earning Munny. They were the essentials that she was sure would help her new found friends fit into the Town seamlessly. At least, that is how she hoped it would happen.

[wanderingknight]

The one named Eri seemed a bit shocked at his appearance, which wasn't surprising, since he was sure that no one was expecting a fox-human to come up to them and say hi. And anyone who was prepared for that would probably be called crazy. However, the girl was very kind, and even offered to help allieviate some of the confusion he was feeling from being in a new world.

"Thank you, I appreciate your help." The stranger replied, grabbing the vacant chair that the blonde teenager pointed out. Sitting at the table, he proceded to listen to her, as she gave him information about the town and answered his questions.

It seemed Twilight Town was very different from his former home. It might get some time to get used to, but he should be able to manage. However, he had one quick question for her, which had been nagging at him. "Do you know anything about those strange white creatures, lurking in the forest nearby?"

[moonchild]

((I'll give Vapor a few more days to respond, otherwise I will post.))

[moonchild]

((Ok then, no rush ))