"Ddgdg sdfsdfsdf ??"
"Fsdfwefw wfefwfd sfffsfsfs fsfsfsfsf ffsfs wwetwt wtetw dsgdgdsgsgd ??"
"Fsfsfsfsf ?? dsfg wggw ?? gggegwggwge ??"
Strange sounds continued to echo with a somber tone, growing louder and louder each time...until the wrathful wails forced my eyes open.
Greeted by the warm and subtle orange glow of a humble lantern, my vision tried to focus on the softness of the light above me. Each blink passed following the soothing beat of the pulsing glow, slowing the chorus of chaos that filled my mind, helping to settle my muddied thoughts.
As more of the world slowly made sense, the shadowy shape that occasionally passed the corner of my eye came into focus after looming near me.
With their silhouette taking shape, I could recognize the shape of the figure. Standing over me, they were unmistakably some sort of caretaker, at least that's what I thought after taking in their appearance.
With hair that met her shoulders in flowing gray, bound by a pin of some metal into an unconventional braid hiding twin scars that ran from her cheek to her right ear. Yet in spite of these features, the gentleness of her nature had her visage lit with an uncanny beauty. Her green eyes shone with a calmness that resembled the moon
'The moon…is that green shimmer truly the moon?' I wondered after focusing on the celestial body occupying the night sky, showering the world below with a speckled green shimmer, I couldn't take my eyes away from the window granting me such a sight.
In the blind draw of this world's mystery, I tried to get up, but the sudden and persistent sensation of nausea cautioned me to sit instead.
The stranger approached me with a wooden bowl and glass vial in hand. While I laid in bed, holding back the urge to let loose my insides, she leaned over with a mask covering her mouth as she placed her hand over my chest and another on my forehead before she began a silent chant. As she continued I tried again to speak:
"Hfg hfg hyer ht, klll. hfg hfg hyer ht?"
I couldn't make out a single word that came from her...but what was strange was that as I tried to respond, nothing seemed to come out.
My words fell on deaf ears, as I could only mouth their shape in a futile attempt to communicate my distress. I tried and tried...and sadly each time nothing would come but strange noises.
Eventually, the caretaker motioned to me to stop as I started coughing.
Another person, dressed in simpler robes of a gray tone and white stitching, walked over to them and handed over a syringe with a violet solution. Dressed in a strange covering that left no part of their face exposed, they still managed to navigate their surroundings with ease.
The caretaker took it from her after an exchange of a few strange words before she proceeded to inject it into me.
As the mysterious fluid began coursing through my veins, taking only a few minutes before the nausea was gone. At this point moving was less of a struggle.
Which is why I tried to get out of bed again, as I asked the caretaker what was in the syringe but still, nothing managed to come out.
"You should remain calm, speech should soon follow after you've managed to establish equilibrium. The last to come is your appetite Don't rush it, or you might cause yourself some harm" Her voice managed to instill some focus in my mind.
"Huh…how did I…I understood you?" I thought as the caretaker's calm voice suddenly produced sense in her words.
I stared at her, stunned at the fact that we were having a conversation. Though, the caretaker snapped me back to my senses as she told me to get dressed and make my way to the room at the end of the corridor as soon as possible.
"But I don't have any clothes" I murmured in an inaudible tone, a failure in my attempt to try and whisper.
"We have provided you with some casual robes to allow you some dignity, we understand that you arrived here completely bare. Please, get dressed" She said with a mild chuckle, helpful to give her a youthful glow.
Considering my options, with no signs of hostility that I could make of their actions, I could do nothing at that moment but listen to the caretaker as I took the clothes and went to get dressed behind the divider.
Once I was dressed I followed the aid out of the room, leading me to the door at the end of the hallway. As she knocked and waited, the call was given for us to enter, allowing the doors to open up.
"Please make your way inside. They've been expecting you" The aid ushered me into the hall before closing the doors behind me.
Inside of the room, I and the rest of other people I found were dressed in similar attire, though there were far fewer in number than what I could recall from the fall. Looking around, no faces came to mind as familiar, though in all honesty, I believe I had been searching for someone in particular.
The doors on the western edge of the room from the entrance I had used opened up to allow a group of people inside. They numbered around eight, I say this as a few more shapes could be spotted behind the group before the doors closed.
But from their dress alone, it was obvious that they were completely different from the rest of us. Though what stood out to most of us was the mesmerizing violet tinge of their eyes, with all but two of the gentlemen that walked bearing a fairly human appearance.
Within the empty room, the group organized itself around the two, before a few of them split from the rest and moved to the back where they opened a cabinet door. From the space inside, they retrieved several pieces of furniture, while another person from the group left through the same entrance I used. From the momentary look we shared, I was granted a better view of her otherworldly features.
Saying nothing as she passed and instead giving me a simple bow before walking away, my attention was only brought back to them after the group settled into their furniture, turning to see that only one of them took a seat behind the centralized desk in front of us.
Flanked by three individuals on either side. The focus of the entire room shifted towards the figures...until he let out a sigh as he started lighting the cigar from his coat:
"I can't believe they expect me to do this for the eighth time today"
"My lord. A mild correction, you are expected to speak with another two groups before the end of the day. This group was housed in the western tower which is the largest one. As such, they were separated into three groups to better address them"
"By the Twelve. Could I not simply task you with the next group of engagements, Daitei?" The seated figure tried to implore one of his companions to no avail.
"I am certain that you all have some questions, but for the sake of making this easier for you and a little more bearable for me, I'll tell you what I know about what's happened and Daitei over here can handle your questions"
My eagerness was shared with everyone else as we tried to respond but that was quickly met with a struggle...the collective choking forced Daitei to stay our attempts.
With surprising timing, on his command, the same violet-eyed maiden that left the room, returned with a tray of refreshments. Stopping by the desk before preparing a glass for the seated figure.
"I am sure you have already heard this but it will take some time before you can talk freely, so try not to strain yourself and just listen, for now, you can start sir"
"Thank you, Daitei. I will try to speak simply and slowly. I know the potion may not have taken to most of you yet so some of my words may escape you. Do any of you remember what happened, how you came to be here?"
We all stayed silent, hoping that someone may finally give us the answers we needed.
"Right then. You lot arrived as you shattered the very sky, you who rode your broken stars into our world…that is what our ancestors described, what the High-Court Realm-Breakers expected. You stand before us, as the Travellers."
"T–Travellers?"
"Yes" He moved about the centered desk, an ordinary collection of oaklike chairs nestled neatly into its wide frame but the group still remained at the ready, standing near the figure.
"I did say that this would be a lot for you. But yes, You walked across from your Old World and breached the Sacred Boundary to enter our Grain"
"You are saying a whole lot without saying much" A gigantic man with an impressively broad frame that was barely contained within their robes questioned, watching the figure drawing in a few puffs of smoke.
"Well it would be unreasonable to expect you to understand it all, at least right now. Take in only the fact that you are all far from home"
"You do understand that you're asking that we care about something that has nothing to do with us? Why should any of us care, because to me it sounds like you kidnapped us before trapping us in a strange place trying to convince us of stranger things" A burly individual raised his tone from frustrated to enraged before approaching the commanding figure and Daitei, having pushed through the crowd.
The commanding figure took a few long and heavy draws of his cigar, never looking away from the man that approached him as he did.
"Do you know who I am?" The man slammed his hands against the desk, and still his rage granted him very little attention, marked by how neither the commanding figure, Daitei or the other purple eyes moved to restrain or act against him, letting him speak as best as someone in his condition could.
"Who you were is why you are here, if nothing, you are who we need right now. We can make due with your poor decorum" The commanding figure spoke honestly, but the man was beyond words that were not what he sought, going as far as grabbing him by the throat in growing rage.
'Most of us can barely stand and he has the strength to lift a grown man off his feet?' Strong or no, but it didn't make any sense how strong he could be.
"You will unhand him" Daitei summoned a fierce serpent, a few lengths greater than the man. It appeared from a spark of orange flames, born with a quiet snap of his fingers. The beast took shape with scales of cracked and burning earth, coiling itself around the man before binding him tightly, forcing him to the ground.
A display of the fantastical that sent the rest of the group back, putting as much distance as they could from the writhing man, all but four people from the crowd remained where they were, watching to make sense of exactly what they were looking at.
For outside the fall, nothing else had shown us that this world wasn't ours until now.
"Have any of you witnessed something like this in your Old World?" Daitei asked.
"You should have seen it, even if it was for a moment...this place, it's different. And I'm not...I'm not saying foreign, I mean this isn't our home, OUR world....we aren't on it. That much was plain to see, a violet colored sky and deserts with rose-gold sands"I finally let on, sharing what should have been obvious the moment we opened our eyes.
"That and the floating islands make a good case" Another added, with hair the most vivid of reds, she stood apart even the four that remained ahead of them.
"You managed to take in the landscape while you were Walking?" Daitei's attention moved from his prisoner to the two of us as he awaited their response. A slight chuckle slipped from under his breath.
"I wouldn't call falling from the night sky, Walking, but I did manage to glimpse quite a bit. It's at least enough for me to know that this is…someplace else" I answered, my voice growing a little horse as he did.
A smile grew across the commanding figure's face at his remark.
But before Daitei could push his curiosity even further, a deep and sudden heat erupted from the base of my chest up to my throat, with a searing pain that had me quiet down.
"All right, that's enough, I still need to brief the other groups by day's end. If we have any more interruptions, I'll have Daitei feed you to his familiar"
"Good, now that you grasped the reality of your situation, it will make what I have to say next a lot easier" The smoke of his cigar that obscured his face, a single heavy breath cleared the air around him.
His appearance showed a firm and dense musculature. With hair of medium length, shaved at the sides, with the rest of his mane braided down to his shoulders. Silver in color with wild bangs covering an expression heavy with a net of scars and worry and eyes the hue of bright burning coals holding a surprising expression of youth.
"First, allow me to be as honest as I am allowed to" The commanding figure stood up from his desk before standing above the overly excited figure, still writhing in his binds.
"We need you, our world needs. You, as Travellers are…were brought here for a purpose we couldn't fulfill ourselves" Placing his hand on the fiery restraints before dispelling the form of the serpent, helping him up to his feet.
"And its because we're so desperate that we are willing to tolerate your disrespect. Right now, you're all we have."