A shining light, bright and warm, yet not hurting the eyes, flooding all of Yamato's senses. All that he saw next was a dark, empty void, like space but without the stars in the distance. It was cold, and silent, with nothing but thoughts defining his existence in this space in which all actions seemed free of purpose. Being alone and feeling isolated from all matter, there was no need to use his voice, even if he felt as though speaking ip would create no sound anyway. Reaching out with his hand, he could nit see it even as he held it in front of his face. And even as he felt it move, it failed to reach anything. Not that there would have been anything in particular to grab or hold on to.
But then he felt something. A sense of direction. Like a warmth surounding him and pulling him closer. As his senses returned, he realised he laid flat on the ground. When he opened his eyes, he saw Yuki. She looked down at him with big eyes, as he started to realize that his head was placed in her lap. He did not really mind that, but wondered how it got there. It was also apparent that she did not mind either, as seemed quite content with this position. Once she realized that he had woken up, she blushed in embarressment, as if caught red handed doing something forbidden.
"Uhm… Morning, Master~?"
"Why are we like this…? What happened?"
She looked away, even more embarressed, when he demanded an explanation for their position.
"Y-you see... We were pulled into that portal... And then suddenly appeared in the air! So I caught you and tried flying up with you, to heroicallysafe your life~... But my wings wouldn't work no matter how hard I tried, and I couldn't get them to create a lift. All I could do was cover your unconcious body with them and soften the impact as we brutally crashed into the ground. We were unusually fast though, which then resulted in us hitting the ground like an asteroid! It had something magical, now that I think back on it… If only you could have seen how I protected you as we crashed united into the earth~…"
"I see... Thank you, I guess... I will be sure to remember you as my life savior. But say… Could it be that we hit a small village as we landed?"
She looked around with a guilty expression. Seeing burned ruins of small houses all around them while they sat in the middle of an impact crater.
"I-I tried to dodge them… I really did. But it was no use... A-and my highest priority was your safety! So I couldn't maneuver out of the way! You have to believe—..."
"–It's alright, worry about it."
As he cut her off, she only looked suprised by his laid-back. After all, they just destroyed a village, with maybe just about a couple of hundred to a thousand citizens.
"...Y-you don't mind?"
"It's not a problem. And you said it was unavoidable, so there really is no point in making a fuss about it."
Somehow, that made her feel less guilty. Actually, after knowing that she did not do anything wrong, she did not really care for the village anymore at all.
"Oh… Alright then~!"
He then got up from her lap and looked around. Seeming to really not mind the destruction around them at all.
"Anyway, this must be what God talked about."
"Yes… it appears so. While we dropped, I didn't see any signs of near by civilization. We are surrounded by forest as far as the eye can see."
He looked around. Then at the sky. Then back at her.
"That's interesting... Good work paying attention to that. He said it would more interesting here… Looking at the village, it doesn't appear to be very technologically advanced. However, I don't think he just sent us back into the past…"
She was a little distracted since he complimented her effort. But there was something she had to tell him regardless.
"Hm? Oh, this is another world for sure, Master. I can tell by the magic circulation"
"...The magic circulation?"
"Yes! Oh, I forgot, in your original world, there was nothing like magic. Silly me~! But you see, I can tell that this isn't earth, the planet you know, by sensing the existence of magic in the air. Well, it's not magic I sense but mana, but it adds up to the same, really."
He just stared at here for a moment.
"Magic and mana… Like in a video game or fantasy novel?"
"Well... Yes... But you shouldn't think of it as a game, I think. It's important to distinguish it as our new reality, and act accordingly."
She did not like the oversimplification. Magic was more than just a simplified feature in a game. But she acknowledged it also as a justified comparison in a way. So she just went along with it mostly.
"Okay… That's one way to make a world diverse and interesting, I guess that qualifies as different enough from my old world. Since you can sense it, does that mean can you also use this magic stuff then?"
"Well, normally I should... But I don't have any way to do so at the moment. I'm sorry, but I don't know why that is..."
"Well, I'd just make the assumption that God restricted your abilities. You did kind of betray him, so I guess that's fair."
"You think it's God's doing that I can't use my powers? Maybe that is also why I couldn't fly earlier... I feel like I could now though. Maybe it was just a travel thing, or my body was somewhat paralyzed after my powers were sealed."
"It's just a guess. I don't have any prove, but I also don't have other likely theories at the moment."
"Master doesn't need proof to convince me! It was God, no doubt about it!"
Her blind faith in his word suprised him slightly, but only for a moment. After her declaration in his conversation with God, he felt like he was prepared for anything. After looking around the ruins one more time, he walked to a near by house and build a small stone monument out of the rubble there. Nothing fancy but big enough to notice.
"What are you doing, Master... Is that.. A little stone tower? Do you want me to build one too? We can play castle! I will be the princess~"
"That's not what I'm doing… You said there was a massive explosion, right? So don't worry about it. Maybe it will get important later though. So just in case remember I did this and where."
She looked confused but decided not to question it. Instead she wondered about something else.
"But what now, Master? We can't stay in these ruins for long. We need food and water for you, after all. Besides, it's gross here, and I feel homeless…"
"Well, we are homeless… But you're right, I do need that. I assume you don't?"
"Nuh uh. I can sustain myself using the mana in the air~ But don't worry, I will make sure you are taken care of!"
I guess we need to go into the woods then. I doubt anything edible is left in this place. Maybe I'm overthinking a little, but we also have to worry about the winter. We don't know what season it is, or how many exist in this world, so we might be unpleasantly surprised by the weather."
"That's true… But I will just shield you from rain and warm you with my body then~! But anyways, let's go!"
And so they went out of the ruins and onto a small road that lead through the woods.
"What exactly are we looking for, Master?"
"For the sound of a river. Obviously, for water. But also animals that will be near by, maybe fish aswell."
"Ah… I see. I could fly around, but I still feel a little dizzy, so I'd rather not… I'm sorry… However, if you truly want me to, I will."
"No, it's alright. Losing an advantage should be expected. One has to be able to deal with the regular situation. You being able to fly is a plus, sure. But taking it away is not a disadvantage to me, so it's nothing to be mad about. Besides, you saved life. You were already useful enough, don't you think?"
Feeling deeply touched by his way of encouraging her, she responded dramatically and full of emotion to show her unyielding love and appreciation.
"That's an interesting perspective, Master… And… Thank you so much, for these kind words, truly… I will continue to be useful, I promise! You'll see, I am just about the most useful person ever, and you will soon be addicted to praising me!"
While continuing to walk down the road, she thought about his words. So he meant that losing a bonus is just like having no bonus, which was just normal. But then, their situation was far from normal, so it would be natural to be mad about losing an advantage. However, his mindset was helpful to her goal to seduce him, she supposed.
Lost in thoughts, she suddenly heard a sound that came from the trees above them. Like something moving between the leaves. But when she looked, nothing was there.
"I just heard something , Master."
"I know… You sensed mana right?"
"...H-how did you know?!"
"Just guessed. I only heard it, if that's what you were wondering."
She wanted to praise him for his awareness, but there was no time for that. Whatever caused the sound was above them, so she assumed them to be a threat and would try to kill it or them if she had the chance.
Before either of them could react, they both felt a cold, sharp edge of steal on their necks. A harsh male voice sudden spoke from behind of them.
"Who are you two and what happened to the village near by?! We know you know something. You are the only people near by and you aren't from the villagec yet you come from its direction."
Despite having a sharp object at his neck, Yamato remained expressionless. He spoke in a polite and friendly tone.
"We wish you no harm. As you see, we are unarmed, so why don't you put those weapons away?"
Another voice responded from behind Yamato and Yuki, this time a female one.
"We will put them away If you answer our questions."
Yamato remained calm despite their unwillingness to de-escalate the situation. His voice remained friendly and polite.
"We don't know what happened at that villiage. We are just travellers that wanted to rest there as we have no food or water on us, and are unfamiliar with the region. When we arrived at the ruins, it was already too late. However , to pay our respects, we created a small honor for the dead and prayed for their souls at a stone monument. We passed by the ruins and decided to look for survivors in the woods. You can convince yourself of our story by going back to the ruins and looking for the small stone monument we build for our prayer."
That caused silence behind them. It seemed like they were whispering to each other to decide what to do now. Yuki stayed silent, as she finally understood why Yamato randomly built that stone tower earlier.
"This story just now was way too perfect… He must've planned it in advance. To back up his story, in case anyone would be attracted by the explosion I mentioned to him, that's what the stone thing was for. Of course, that alone proves nothing… But it might just be enough to have them think of us as good people. Like, a first impression kind of thing? Lots of trouble for such a little advantage… I'd just kill them, but it doesn't seem like he would want that. Guess I'll just play along too. Maybe I can say I'm his girlfriend, and then he has to agree unless he wants to make it awkward!
She thought as Yamato was waiting for a response. In the end, it was a gamble. But maybe he had back up plans too, Yuki was clueless. But she knew she had to play along to not contradict his statements.
After a few minutes of silence the female voice responded again.
"It appears we have no reason to doubt you... We did indeed see a unnatural stone structure which could not have been created by accident… We apologise for our suspicion. You really know nothing about what happened?"
Yamato responded, still remaining polite and friendly just like when the knife was at his throat.
"No, we just happened to pass by at a bad time, I suppose. We have no idea what could even cause such destruction, let alone know why anyone would do such a thing."
Yuki, who has remained silent throughout this whole time, was actually furious right now. Despite wearing a smile, she was overflowing with murderous intend. "How dare they threaten my master with their little knifes", she thought. If she would have full access to her strength, she probably would have killed them the moment she noticed them in the trees. But she remained calm. Not showing any of that on the outside. But Yamato probably noticed it. So he tried to lighten the mood a bit, even though he had no intend in becoming friends with them, he wanted information from them.
"Well, why don't we introduce ourselfs first so we get to know who everyone is? I'm Yamato Tasumaki and my companion is Yuki Hikari."
The male person still seemed to not trust them and was not as cooperative as the female one, but went along with the situation because of her pushing him to do so.
"…Nice to meet you two. I'm Ken Kenzo. "
"Again, our apologese for the misunderstanding. I am Satomi Hana. For causing you such trouble, why don't you come with us and we take care of refilling your supplies?"
Kenzo did not seem to like her them, but when he tried protesting he was silenced by Satomi instantly. It was now that Yamato got too see beneth their hoods first, revealing ears that were long and pointy at the end. However, he did not make a comment at that. With no reason to deny the offer that they actually needed quite a lot, Yamato accepted.
"That's so nice of you. Thank you very much. Yuki and I accept your generous offer, of course."
And with that, Satomi lead the way. Kenzo, Yamato and Yuki following her. It seemed Kenzo walked closer to Yamato and Yuki to observe them, as he was still not as trusting as Satomi was. However did not seem to cause any problems for now.