Despite the cold wind that blew against her skirt, Noriko prevailed through the chilly, yet sunny weather that greeted her this morning.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iQeluBF27
Inside the group’s tent, Brian laid peacefully asleep, his arm protectively wrapped around Aden’s waist. Aden was all curled up and smiling in his slumber, subconsciously scratching the nape of the napping tiger cub who was now named ‘Blanco,’ according to Aden’s will.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTdl0VpEjv
The red-head desperately wanted to keep Blanco; not as a pet as Brian and Noriko first speculated, but as a friend.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEopEZY79ua
Aden’s wish, although fervently denied by Noriko, Brian, Elric, Alva, Dr. Elfrida, Captain Gonzalo, and pretty much everyone in the camp, was eventually given when Aden persisted enough and gave his puppy dog eye to the masses. Most gave in on the spot.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IRlU8gsTM
Captain Gonzalo tried to reason with Aden, bringing up the resources, responsibilities, and dangers of caring for the tiger, but Aden was persistent. “He very nice! He do not need much eating like me!” Eventually Captain Gonzalo gave In, although it was obvious his willing defeat was only temporary. He would try to convince Aden about it again some other time. There were more pressing things to worry about…121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CwCRH7lGt
…Like having Noriko and the three others’ names cleared.
It was very well stated to Brian and Noriko once again, just before they went to sleep that night, that they were in a rough spot with most of the camp’s civilians in the aftermath of the havoc. Elric, Alva, Dr. Elfrida, a handful of others, and Gonzalo were on their side in the matter. Most others blamed the ‘strangers,’ as Noriko and her companions were called, for the mess that occurred.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3XGDOlpg4
“We’re gonna get kicked out?!” Brian shrieked at the time. They weren’t responsible for what happened! How could most of the camp think it’s their fault?!
“Kicking the four of you out is the least of our wishes!” Captain Gonzalo hurriedly explained. “But it is going to be difficult to assure the rest of the camp of your trustworthiness after what happened. There’s going to be a big meeting by the end of this month. We have monthly gatherings where we discuss big changes and vote on specific topics…and I’m afraid the majority might vote to kick you all out.”
“Then what can we possibly do to assure them we mean no harm?” Noriko prompted with worry. This wasn’t good news to her ears in the slightest.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgm7P6lSXw
“Make an announcement some time beforehand; perhaps the day after tomorrow.” Captain Gonzalo suggested. “Present your innocence of what just occurred and try to sell your skills and work ethic to the camp; the best you can do after that is be friendly and help out as much as possible.”121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmXuwzPW4F
Noriko and Brian slept on that advice. While Brian crashed within a minute or so, Noriko was wide awake most of the night. She barely slept much, and her thoughts constantly wandered. Worries and plans that were jumbled and messy from sleep deprivation occupied most of her mind.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpl9TwFeAT
So here Noriko was early in the morning, taking a slow, relaxing walk through the empty camp roads. Her destination was the nearby river, which she hoped to sit by and drown out her thoughts with the sound of the rushing water.
Arriving at her destination, Noriko didn’t expect to see Dr. Elfrida rinsing out a handful of washcloths in the river.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWNb4kJ7ik
“You’re up rather early?” Dr. Elfrida sighed out, pausing her work. Her disinterested tone and the bags under her eyes communicated to Noriko that she wasn’t in the best mood. “Couldn’t sleep?”121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkq6kZp8GSM
“…No.” Noriko answered hesitantly, seating herself down on the dewy, rough grass. “Not after what happened last night.”121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡef6ru2uxRi
“Figured.” Dr. Elfrida shrugged, massaging her aching shoulders and resuming her cloth-washing. “There are two types of people in this world. Those who sleep like a log after a crisis and those who are as awake as an owl. You appear to be of the latter.”121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxg0Xxr0Cd
“And you?” Noriko questioned, noting Dr. Elfrida’s shaking hands as she rinsed the blood of the wounded out of the cloths. “Did you get any sleep?”121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1P6egD2ZI
“…Even if I had the time to sleep last night, I wouldn’t have slept a wink.” Dr. Elfrida answered with exhaustion. She continued to rinse cloth after cloth; and Noriko watched on with pity.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG23VhPPZqU
Eventually Noriko couldn’t take it anymore, and she cautiously stood up from the ground so as not to trip and fall. She kicked her shoes off, tied her skirt to her knees, and waded into the river. “Hey, I can help if you want.” She offered, extending her hand to the doctor.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmnz5vY4xa
Dr. Elfrida took a good look at Noriko, and then focused her attention on the human girl’s missing arm. “I don’t think you can, considering your…current state.”
The minute Noriko realized what Dr. Elfrida was implying, she clutched onto the stub of her arm and bit her lip, embarrassment flushing her face. How could she have forgotten?! “I-I-“121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbRjM4zbMi
But Dr. Elfrida continued before Noriko could put another word in. “There is something else you could do for me however.” Dr. Elfrida prompted, extending her towel covered arm to Noriko. “Carry these dry towels to my main tent please. You know where it is right?”121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLEm8WqdIM
“Yes? I believe so.” Noriko answered as Dr. Elfrida placed a handful of dry towels over her one arm. Dr. Elfrida smiled at the news, and as Noriko set off to accomplish her task, she waved the non-elf away.
Noriko’s tights were cold and moist from the river, but she would endure the discomfort for the time being. Upon finding Dr. Elfrida’s tent, Noriko noted the new, significantly larger tent behind it. The flaps were marked with the same medical symbol, and with a quick peak, Noriko surveyed the wounded that rested and moaned inside.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45Y8lmJGOR
She was quick to leave this new tent alone, and instead entered the tent she was supposed to drop off the towels at. Upon entry, Noriko surveyed the cleanliness of the dining table and the crowded shelves filled with all kinds of herbs and medical knick-knacks.
And then Noriko caught, with the corner of her eye, an alter in the center of the tent. On this alter laid Diantha.
The girl was as still as a mouse; her chest rising steadily. Noriko took a few moments of her time to watch Diantha rest peacefully before carefully folding the towels in her arms one by one, and setting them on the nearby counters. It was no easy feat with only one arm.
There were so many things now that were significantly more difficult to do, due to Noriko’s missing arm. She hadn’t really processed it until just recently, and it had been bringing her down. She felt…powerless sometimes.
Staring at a nearby mirror, Noriko observed, for the first time, her own reflection. Her hair was short, straight, and brown. Her eyes were narrowed and cat-like. She was definitely of some sort of Asian ethnicity…likely Japanese based on her name, as Diantha had suggested.
But after that basic observation, Noriko paid special attention to her shirt collar. She felt like there was something that was supposed to be there. She just couldn’t put her finger on it…at least, until she glanced at the strands of cloth wrapped around her wrist.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgR9l2yk7Z2
They weren’t strands of cloth. They were ties.
What were they doing wrapped around her hand?
…Noriko didn’t bother searching her head for answer. She knew she wouldn’t find one, not yet at least.
Instinctually, Noriko looked for a calendar of some sort. She was grateful when she found one on the counter, and sighed in relief when her fears of the calendar system of this world being drastically different from Earth’s was mostly baseless. Moka, Tuka, Weka, Thuka, Firka, Saka, and Suka. The obvious counterparts of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There were only three weeks instead of the usual four, and eight months instead of 12; known as Nocemus, Jaburas, Feyas, Maprus, Munes, Jugastus, Atebes, and Secobis. But Noriko wasn’t focused on that.121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHm65y8jicX
Today was Weka, the third day of the first month Nocembus in the year 600 PK. PK stood for Priyavidai Kaneer, whatever that meant.
Noriko, without a second thought, pulled loose the green tie wrapped around her wrist with her teeth. It took a lot of struggling, but she managed to tie it into a sloppy, yet somewhat sturdy bow around her neck.
It was only after Noriko did this that she remembered why she did so. In Thailand, there was a superstition that assigned a lucky color to each day of the week. Yellow for Monday, pink for Tuesday, green for Wednesday, orange for Thursday, blue for Friday, purple for Saturday, and red for Sunday.
For some reason, following this superstition gave Noriko a sense of control over her situation. A small smile formed on her face as she stared at herself in the mirror.
Perhaps today wasn’t going to be as much of a drag as she originally thought…
“Vulcan that purse cost me $500!”
Needless to say, Noriko was startled nearly to death at the sudden exclamation from behind. She twisted her head to the side to find the person that hollered those words.
…And saw Diantha; wide awake, and sitting abnormally upright while gasping for breath.
“D…Diantha?!” Noriko exclaimed; gaining the distressed blonde’s attention.
“N-Noriko?!” Diantha seemed equally as surprised to see Noriko.
The two gawked at each other in shock. The tension was almost suffocating, but Diantha finally relieved it when her gaze trailed downwards and focused on Noriko’s new bow. “…Oh hun, the way you tied that.” She winced out.
Noriko clutched onto her bow, flushing with embarrassment. “It was difficult putting it on with only one hand. This was the best I could do.”
“Well come over here! Let me fix it for you!” Diantha urged with a friendly smile, beckoning Noriko to come closer. Noriko, after a moment of hesitance, heeded Diantha’s call and watched the blonde fix her bow tie.
“There! Much better wouldn’t you agree?” Diantha hummed out upon finishing her work, turning Noriko towards the mirror.
The one-armed girl’s bow was much more presentable. Noriko was thoroughly impressed! “Yes. Much better. Thank you.”
“That’s what galfriends are for!” Diantha lilted out with a gleefully smile, and then clapped her hands together; that same smile morphing into a more serious frown. “So…mind filling me in on where I am and the rest of the jazz?”
Noriko told Diantha the basics. Needless to say Diantha had opinions aplenty.
“Okay so you all followed what you thought was a DnD cosplayer into their roleplay camp, only to discover that the four of us landed in a new world straight out of a fantasy adventure novel.” Diantha scoffed at this information at first in disbelief; rolling her eyes. “To add even more bullshit onto this overly magical sundae; this Alva gal thinks we might be vessels of some ancient nearly forgotten gods?! Yeah right! And my favorite color is grey!”
“It makes a lot of sense Diantha. Trust me!” Noriko countered. “It explains our powers. It explains why we woke up where we woke up. It-“
“Then why are we here?!” Diantha urged Noriko for an answer; it was a question swirling in all four of the teenager’s heads. “And what are we supposed to do to go back home?! More importantly what’s with the whole amnesia thing?!”
Noriko remained silent. She had no answers, so she really had nothing to say.
Diantha let out tired sigh after a moment of silence, and massaged her temples. “Listen, I’ve apparently been asleep all this time so it’s hard for me to process all this. What you’ve just told me sounds like something straight out of a teenager’s creative writing assignment. How am I…what am I supposed to do with all this?”
“Speculate?” Noriko hesitantly suggested.
Diantha let out an exaggerated moan of boredom, and laid back down on the alter. “But that’s boooooooring! …Wow, this alter is cold.”
“What were you shouting about when you woke up?” Noriko finally asked. That strange sentence Diantha hollered out upon waking up had been floating in her mind since she first heard it.
“Oh? I was dreaming about my dog Vulcan. He’s a gorgeous silver poodle, but he can be such an asshole. He tore up this $500 dollar purse I bought in Canada…once…”
“Diantha?” Noriko called out to the suddenly silent blonde. The way they trailed off worried her…and…wait a minute!
Diantha quickly sat up on the alter again, her eyes wide with a sudden realization.
“I remember things.”121Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUdZbW6FrQ
