A painting of the city of freeport [https://imgur.com/SdUQjna.jpg]

“Whoa there, Sojourner.” A firm hand reached down to help lift the girl to her feet. “Careful there, lassie. Sometimes the Traveling takes a lot out of ye. What’s yer name?”

“Ugh...” The girl shook her head, trying to clear it. What was her name again? “Ali—” She cleared her throat before trying again, “Alice.” Yes. That was it, wasn’t it?

“Welcome to Freeport, Alice Sojourner. The name’s Azeri. Azeri Halfhands.” The man held up his left arm to show that it ended with a hook where his hand ought to have been. “Lost me hand in an accident at sea.”

Alice looked around and found herself at the end of a dock. All around her, a maze of piers and docks intertwined to form a web-like structure. Surrounding the docks was a vast ocean as far as the eye could see, which, to be fair, wasn’t all that far. A thick fog hovered along the horizon. Alice decided Azeri must have been passing by — perhaps he worked on one of the nearby ships — and noticed her when she had fallen.

“Anyway, looks like ye’ve regained yer wits. I’ll leave ye to yer business. Let ol’ Azeri know if ye be needin’ any work. Always lookin’ fer deckhands, I am. Make sure ye get some food in ye soon, lass. That ought to help with the dizziness.”

Alice nodded and thanked him for his kindness before walking away, not wanting to trouble the man any further. The first few steps took a lot out of her, but she didn’t fall over like she must have before. At the far end of the dock she was on, she saw a rather sizeable platform accessible from the surrounding docks by a series of rickety wooden stairs. Alice passed more than a few ships and boats as she walked, many bustling with workers unloading or loading cargo. Others looked completely deserted, and she wondered if some of them were even seaworthy any longer. When she was about halfway to the stairs, Alice noticed she was in a particularly peaceful area. She stopped to listen to the gentle gushing of the waves against the wooden pillars holding the pier aloft, watching a group of seagulls preening themselves on the roof of a nearby ship.

Alice watched the sun come up, enjoying the oranges and reds streaking across the sky. Then she noticed a strange ball of light in the opposite direction from the true sun. It looked almost like a slightly dimmer sun floating on the water in the distance. Alice could tell this one wasn’t the actual sun because it didn’t hurt her eyes to look directly at it. As she watched it moving along the surface of the water, she guessed it must have been about the size of her head and that it was moving toward her, rushing across the surface of the waves, dodging here and there as necessary to keep from being pulled beneath the water. Alice giggled to herself nervously, hoping it would make it to her safely as it narrowly avoided a high wave.

A shiny orb floats on a wave in front of a background of sunset orange and blue sky [https://imgur.com/XYvVqh6.jpg]

“Phew!” the little light said in a somehow familiar voice as it finally hovered over to Alice’s side. As it spoke, the orb’s color changed ever so slightly, so that even just looking at it, Alice could tell it was speaking. “You’re hard to track down, Sojourner!”

Alice giggled again. “I wasn’t intentionally running from you. I just didn’t know you were looking for me. Who might you be? Do I know you? You seem somehow familiar...”

“My name is unpronounceable by fleshy things like tongues and mouths. I’m called—” The light erupted into a chorus of music box-esque sound before continuing, “You can just call me Sprink if you like. And, no, I’ve not met you in this particular form, Sojourner.”

“Well, Sprink,” Alice grinned as she said the creature’s name. It felt slightly silly on her tongue. “What can I do for you?”

“It’s more like, ‘What can I do for you?’” the bobbing little light said. That voice was definitely familiar. Alice felt like Sprink was someone important to her, but she couldn’t remember how or why. It was almost as if it had been in a different life. What had it — she? The light’s melodic voice had a feminine quality to it — meant about “this particular form?”

“Um, well,” Alice said, “I’m not sure. What can you do for me?”

Sprink bobbed around in a circle, taking in Alice from every angle before returning to hover in front of her. “It appears that I am your guide.”

Alice wondered why it only appeared that way, but kept the thought to herself. She got the feeling that if she voiced it, she’d end up even more confused than she already was. Maybe when her head cleared. Instead, she said, “Well, if you’re my guide, then I have some questions: who am I and where am I?”

Sprink changed colors to pink and then yellow and finally to orange before answering. “According to my records, you are Alice, a new Sojourner. This is your first Traveling, so you might feel slightly disoriented. It’s my job to help you until you feel comfortable on your own. As for where you are, this is Freeport. This city is sort of like a hub for Sojourners. Most of your kind make this their first Traveling destination. Here you can learn the skills you’ll need to succeed in the wider World Tree. Make sense?”

Alice wasn’t sure that it had, but she decided she’d probably figure out the rest along the way. If Freeport really was as Sprink had said, then she should be pretty safe here until she got her bearings.

“Well, I guess I’d better take a look around,” Alice said, walking toward the stairs again. Sprink matched her pace, hovering beside her about shoulder level. Apparently, the little light was going to be following her around.

After accidentally finding herself at more than a couple of dead ends, Alice finally made her way into the city proper. Alice had been walking for some time now and still had seen no sign of land — just water and wooden piers. As she stepped off the stairs and onto the planks of the platform above, Sprink piped up again, “Freeport, city between the worlds. Its unique position so close to the trunk of the World Tree makes it a must-see destination for any Sojourner. Here you’ll find a sprawling marketplace, fueled by Freeport’s extensive trade network. A council made up of the heads of the six major guilds rule over the city. If you’re looking for work, you might try the guilds or the job boards in the middle of the market square.”

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Alice found herself in a sprawling marketplace with merchant carts haphazardly set up all over the place, and vendors shouting to passersby. Remembering what Azeri had said about eating, Alice looked over the goods being hocked in the market square and spotted an interesting-looking fruit. She’d never seen anything like it and had no idea what it was called. So she held up the fruit she wanted and shouted to the merchant over the ambient noise of the marketplace, “How much for this one?” Her mouth was watering just looking at it!

“Aye, m’lady. Crimsonfruit is in season and delicious. I could let go for a mere two silver dents.”

Apparently sensing Alice’s confusion, Sprink chimed in, “A dent is the official currency of the Sojourner Empire. They’re traded and accepted almost anywhere, thanks to the Sojourners’ tendency for prolific traveling. They come in five types: brass, copper, silver, gold, and platinum. Ten brass dents are equal to one copper dent. Likewise, ten copper dents are the same as one silver, and so on.”

Alice ran her hand over her trousers, but could find no pockets. Likewise, there were none on her tunic. She had no coin purse tied to her belt, either. Just as she was about to give up, Sprink did a little loop in the air and said, “If you’re looking for your money or items, you won’t find them there! As a Sojourner, you have access to some of the best magic money can buy. All you have to do is put your pointer finger and middle finger together, like a closed number two, and swipe it down, like this!” At this, Sprink did a little dip.

Alice tried it, and as she did, a floating screen immediately blocked her vision of the marketplace. On the left side of the screen was a picture of Alice herself, with little square equipment slots running up and down either side of her. In the slot marked body was a picture of the tunic she was wearing and the words “Common Tunic (White).” Below that, in the legs slot, were her trousers, “Common Lace-up Trousers (Tanned).” Below that was the slot marked feet, which showed her boots and the words “Common Boots (Tanned).” All the other slots were empty.

To the right of her equipment was a list marked “Inventory,” which currently contained only one item: Sojourner’s Key. Tapping on the item brought up a picture, a purple crystal with a hole near its base. A long leather strap was fitted through the hole so that the crystal could be worn as a necklace. Alice swiped left and right on the picture of the item, giggling to herself as it rotated the crystal in a 3D view. Below the picture was a description, which, when Alice looked at it, was spoken aloud by what sounded like Sprink. “The Sojourner’s Key is a crystal which allows the bearer to Travel. A Sojourner’s Key is bound to its owner and cannot be traded, sold, or stolen. Because of this, many Sojourners wear their key around their neck like a pendant. It is said that the crystal’s color reveals something important about its owner. However, the interpretation of crystal colors this is highly speculative.”

Below this was a button to equip the item in the neck slot. Alice pressed it, returning her to the inventory screen. Alice noted that in her neck slot was a picture of the purple crystal and the words “Sojourner’s Key.” Likewise, her avatar on the screen now had a purple crystal hanging from her neck. Alice’s inventory was now empty, however. Looking around the screen for anything she may have missed, Alice noticed a list of letters and numbers at the top of the screen: B5 C5 S10 G0 P0. Using the information she had learned from Sprink earlier, she tried tapping the one that said “S10.” Just as she suspected, a dialogue window opened, asking how many silver dents she would like to withdraw. She typed in the number two on the pin pad that appeared next to the dialogue and closed her inventory by repeating the hand gesture she had used earlier.

In Alice’s left hand, she now held two silver dents. She also noted the weight of the Sojourner’s Key around her neck. The merchant held out his hand palm up and she placed the two coins in his hand before happily picking up the fruit — crimsonfruit, she remembered — she’d been wanting to eat. She walked over to a seating area near the center of the marketplace, noticing what must have been the bulletin boards Sprink had mentioned earlier lining one side of the square.

As she sat and ate her fruit, Alice took in the sights and smells around her. On the far side of the market stood six sizable buildings, partially obscured by the fog which still loomed over the city. These were the only buildings Alice had seen in Freeport thus far. The marketplace itself was bustling with people and her senses were constantly noticing fresh smells from the vendors as the wind changed directions.

One person in the crowd stood out to her, though. As the cloaked figure moved from vendor to vendor, their eyes always ended up back on Alice, watching her. The stranger was another Sojourner — they had to be, since they also had a little light creature like Sprink hovering near them. They wore a green cloak with the hood up, but this did little to hide the red curls peeking out from underneath it. When the red-haired stranger noticed Alice watching back and their gazes met, their eyes widened and they walked hurriedly away, becoming lost in the crowded marketplace. Try as she might, Alice couldn’t seem to catch another glimpse of the green cloak or red curls.

“Oh well,” she said between bites of the crimsonfruit. Perhaps they had just been curious about a new arrival. Alice turned to her floating companion. Hoping to learn more about Sprink, she said, “Hey, Sprink? what pronouns can I use to speak and think about you?”

“Hmm,” Sprink elongated the sound, flashing brightly while pondering the question. Finally, it said, “As you are my charge, I suppose it makes sense for you to decide. My kind aren’t particular to any genders.”

Alice thought about it, and this didn’t seem quite fair. “It doesn’t seem right for me to decide for you, though. Everyone should be allowed to decide on their own pronouns.” Yes. Alice was sure of that. “I think your voice sounds a bit feminine, but that doesn’t necessarily make you a woman. You could be a feminine man. Or a feminine non-binary person. Do you think you might be non-binary, since there are no genders for your species?”

Sprink bobbed up and down in what might have been an emulated nod. “Yes, that seems quite possible. Are there pronouns for non-binary persons?”

Alice giggled. “Well, there’s they/them pronouns, for starters. I could say, ‘This is my friend, Sprink. They are my guide,’ for instance.”

“Then it’s settled!” Sprink said with a tremolo, which Alice took as a sign of excitement.

“Well, that’s good! So, if you don’t mind me asking, you mentioned your kind. What exactly are you, Sprink? I mean, other than a guide. I’ve seen a few people now who also have guides like you.”

Sprink cycled through a rainbow of colors before answering, “I am a part of the whole. A spark from a fire. If the oversoul is a painting, I am but a single stroke of it. Most people just call us ‘guides.’ But...” Sprink let out a melodic sigh. “These words do no justice to what we actually are. Let me tell you in my own language.”

At this, the bobbing light broke into another song, displaying a wide variety of lights as they sang. The melody was complex and never repeated, but the same themes kept resurfacing throughout the song. As she finished her fruit and Sprink’s song came to a close, a sense of nostalgia came over Alice. Perhaps the little light really was telling her the secrets of the universe in their own way.

“Earlier,” Alice had to clear her throat before continuing, “You said there were six major guilds. Is that what those buildings are over there?”

Sprink bobbed up and down. “Oh, yes! You deduced correctly. I can tell you’re going to go far, Alice! Those are the six guildhalls of the major guilds.”

“Well, seems as good a place as any to start.” Alice stood and, with the memory of Sprink’s song still echoing in her mind, walked toward the distant buildings.