Himura Satō
A fascinating structure stands proud behind a stone wall. There is a gate near the river where a small line of people and wagons wait to be allowed entry.
Staying near the crossroads, I look closer at the people in front of the line. At the side of the gate was a lightly armored man with a spear resting on his shoulder. He stood proud as he looked at some sort of paper while the man in front of him had simple clothes. From the surface, it seems to be a simple exchange between a guard and a traveler.
The guard handed his papers back and the man gave the guard something which gave off a glint before hopping to his carriage and entering the city.
From what it looks like, I won’t be able to enter the city without some sort of permit and a bit of something else. “Not like I can converse with them anyway.”
Staying within the forest, I decided to circle around the wall trying to find some sort of way to get in and with a few minutes of walking I found a hole. At the base of the wall is a hole in which a mysterious liquid slowly leaks out. As much as I wanted to approach it, there were still guards present at the top of the wall.
I was losing time but I decided to wait and risk whatever is in this forest than interact with any of them. Soon a calming color envelopes this place as the sun slowly sets. It has been 30 minutes, looking at the guards, they were conversing about something and then a large man with black armor walks towards them, wrapping his arms around them both and dragging them somewhere.
His face showed a hearty smile as the two looked at him somewhat defeated. I didn’t pay much attention after that, as I ran towards the hole. I slid down a small hill, and thanks to the grass it was quite smooth and oddly satisfying to pull off.
The liquid that was leaking out spread through the green grass, I jumped from scattered wood until I could finally reach the hole. Now that I was close, the mysterious liquid had a nasty smell, enough to almost make me vomit but I stayed collected.
Looking inside the hole, I heard a sloshing sound and before I could even deduce what that was, I backed up as the mysterious liquid shot out the hole. This one had a nastier smell as I came to realize that the liquid was made out of poop, pee, and whatever else there was.
Dread fills my mind as I realize that this was a sewer pipe. “What was I even expecting?” I think to myself as I look inside the sewer pipe, my white button-up over my nose. Deeper into the pipe was a dim light, the distance from it would only take me 30 seconds to reach it.
I waited for another minute to see if anything would come out but seeing as nothing was happening, I immediately climbed inside, thankful that the sides of the pipe were not wet. I try to be fast but since I was avoiding the smelly trail of liquid, I might slip and step on it if I was not careful.
I look back and try to see if anything was happening outside since I plan to go back out if someone sees me. I emerge from the hole and my body stiffens up. I see a guard, his back is turned to me.
With quick thinking, I looked around and took a smelly bucket. I silently walk towards him ready to put this bucket over his head and make a run for it to the streets.
A loud snore. It seems this was not necessary. I dropped the bucket next to him and silently ran past him and finally saw the inside of this walled city. Stone and wood buildings surrounded the paved stone road. The people stared at me with curiosity but a second later moved on, it was not surprising considering the difference of our clothes.
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Even those wearing extravagant clothes did not look like me at all, even less with those with simple ones. The people had weird mutations as well, far too many to describe any of them. To describe them in a simple artistic way, all of them had far too different silhouettes. I watched all of this in stunned silence, only interrupted by the rumble of my stomach.
“Ah shit.” I look around trying to find some sort of marketplace. I was not fond of stealing but if push comes to shove, I would have no choice. Seeing nothing on both ends of the streets, I turn to the large and tall structure.
Stone and wood, it seems it was not just a stone tower but instead a building put together to create this tower-like structure. “Are those…windows?” Looking deeper, there were glass windows in those buildings as if to confirm my assumption.
Of course, I could not ignore how they were floating, only connected by stone bridges. Somewhat fueled by curiosity, I headed towards it, considering I had no destination at this point.
It was hard to be subtle, looking at fascination as seemingly normal people walked around with various changes in their body. The reason it was hard to be subtle is because I stand out like a sore thumb.
Everyone took a look at me and as much as I want to say that their staring was rude, I was also staring at them with at least some subtlety.
Uncomfortably, I made my way to the structure. Looking to my right, there was a large area filled with pitched tents. There was dried meat, fruits and vegetables, and whatever random things someone could sell.
They continue to speak in their weird language, to me, it was gibberish in a literal sense. Listening to the people closer, I could not grasp a structure on their gibberish. No sound or tone and even the way their tongue moved felt that they had no structure.
Before I could take a step into the structure, I stopped and looked at the sun. With the sun no longer on the horizon, I resist the urge to explore. “...what now?”
A man with no plan shouldn't be doing anything but making plans. “No food, no water, no money, no shelter, can't understand their language, and only a switchblade in possession.” Beyond the things that I don’t have, I also have many questions about this place.
“Alright, one at a time. Food, I can't buy them here so I'm going to have to scavenge them outside. For berries, I have no clue how to tell when it's poisonous or not so somehow catching animals would be better…if I can that is. Actually, if these people have these changes then small animals definitely would have too, possibly making them harder to catch and maybe making them too poisonous. Also I’m not willing to eat raw meat so I'm gonna need a fire.” A few minutes pass by as I plan my next move, realizing that I shouldn't be standing around, I try to find a cleaner sewer pipe to crawl out of.
“In an emergency, I would just drink from the river but I would rather find a way to boil it…which also needs a fire. Alright, river it is then.” I found another sewer pipe, of course, it was still being used but at least it was in a more slum-like area. Besides that, I have seen other people use it to leave the city as well.
The people here gave even weirder looks, even more so when I ignored them and climbed into the pipe, leaving the city. I look to the forest as darkness engulfs it. “...” I feel doubt creeping into me, I look at the full moon.
When I saw it earlier, I had thought to explore the forest hoping that the light would be enough, but then again, I have never experienced a full moon without any artificial light around. As I feel the shine of the moon on me, I look back at the forest. It was barely dim, pretty much still dark.
“It seems my plan isn’t gonna work, now I gotta find a place to stay…” After saying that to myself, I looked back at the moon…and saw a gleam of some sort. Before I could speculate on what I saw, the moon as if naturally began to brighten becoming similar to the sun.
“...cool…” I said in the back of my head, as if trying to suppress it. When I saw those goblins and people, I wondered if I was even on the same planet but I know technology and simple creativity could recreate all of it but now I am certain. The moon, a celestial body suddenly getting brighter? That is out of this world for me and since the moon is property of humanity, not to some asshole or country but to all humans, nobody would dare light up the moon.
Now I know that I am not on my original planet, perhaps not even in the same universe. The questions of “Where I am?” now expands but I could answer that later on. I look back at the forest, now a lot clearer than before. “Looks like it’s on my side today.” I said before entering the forest.