Yatsui’s head was throbbing in pain, and something in her memory was nagging her that she needed to wake up and do something. When she opened her eyes, a bright light shone in her eyes. After a few seconds for her vision to adjust, she saw that she was lying in a bed in a small cabin.
The cabin was only one room, but it had a warm comfortable feeling. There was a low table in the middle with two pillows on the ground by it, a dresser and a mirror on the right side wall, and on the far wall was an iron stove and a cabinet with some food in it. A window with wooden poles for bars was on the wall above the bed, and there was a door on the left side wall.
Yatsui got out from under the sheets and stepped out of bed. The first thing she noticed was a breeze from the window and it was very cold. Grabbing herself to shiver, she noticed a second thing, she was completely naked! Looking again around the room she saw some black clothes hanging on a hook next to the dresser.
Yatsui quickly ran over and recognized the clothes as her own. After taking them off the hook and putting them on, noting them to feel slightly damp. Yatsui looked at herself in the mirror seeing that she was wearing a Dark blue t-shirt with a black vest over it, a pair of skintight, black pants, and black boots. Most notably was a bandage going around her forehead. Although her head was still dully throbbing with pain, Yatsui unwrapped the bandage to reveal a V shaped scab on the top left of her forehead.
Deciding there was nothing left for her in this cabin, Yatsui walked out the door and into a forest. There was an axe sticking out of a nearby stump, and in the distance she heard someone talking. Looking for answers about why she was naked in a strange cabin, she went to investigate.
Yatsui snuck behind some trees like it was second nature to her, and quickly came upon a small clearing with a pond, and two people sitting with their backs to her. The guy on the left had a red fishing pole cast in the pond, and he had cat ears atop his head. The other guy had green hair, and she could tell he was short even though he was sitting down.
Yatsui took a small step and a twig underfoot snapped. The cat ears swiveled in the direction of the sound, and the ear’s owner said, “if you’re as sneaky as your clothes make you look like you would be, then maybe you should try a little harder at not being heard.”
Guiltilly peeking out from behind the tree again, both the people were looking at her. The short guy stood up and quickly ran over to her. “Are you alright enough to be getting up?” He worriedly asked.
“Umm, yea. I think so,” she replied, confused by his caring for her.
“That’s a pretty nasty scab on your forehead,” the cat person said, walking over to her, “Now you mind telling us who you are?”
“I just told you Mikku she-…“ the boy started before the cat person covered his mouth and gave her a ‘go on’ sort of look.
Thinking for a few seconds as to what to say, Yatsui noticed something important. “I… I don’t know who I am,” she said with a puzzled face.
“You should never trust head injuries; they somehow always end up as a problem,” the cat person said. “Anyways, I’m Mikku, an old catfolk woodsman. This is Nanashi,” he said gesturing to Nanashi, “He has amnesia just like you; but luckily for you, we learned your name Mrs. Yatsui Devisk”
“Well what happened to me?” Yatsui asked.
“You were captured by goblins. We came to rescue you when yo-…” Nanashi chimed in before getting his mouth covered by Mikku again.
“…You fell of a platform and hit your head. We took care of you after that,” Mikku quickly finished.
Ignoring that they were keeping something from her, Yatsui asked with an angry expression, “Now tell me why was I naked when I woke up.”
Nanashi looked away in embarrassment, but Mikku simply replied, “To clean you up and check the rest of your body for damage… And because we got your clothes wet on the way to my cabin, so we could dry them off.”
“Alright, you’ve explained yourselves enough,” Yatsui said.
Turning to Nanashi, Mikku said, “Now Nanashi, it’s almost midday. You said you needed to meet that guy by nightfall?”
“Crap, yea I do, but what about Yatsui?” Nanashi asked.
“Just take her with you,” Mikku simply said with a smile on his face.
“Just where do you plan on taking me?” Yatsui asked.
Mikku ignored her statement and handed Nanashi a box, “You should know where to go, here’s this, and have a safe trip.”
Nanashi thanked Mikku for the box and the hospitality. Gesturing Yatsui to follow her, he started to walk into the forest. Left with little other choice, Yatsui followed him. “Sorry about Mikku,” Nanashi said, “you asked something a moment ago?”
“Yea, I did. Who are you taking me to?” She asked somewhat crossly.
“A guy named Sylic asked me to help you out. Now that I did that, I’m going over to prove to him that I did it.”
“Then you need me to prove that you did your job? Okay, next question, what’s in the box?” Suddenly, Yatsui’s stomach grumbled. Laughing, he and Yatsui sat down on the ground. Nanshi opened up the box to reveal a few cooked fishes. After a short meal, they continued walking, Yatsui asking him many questions about who she is, which Nanashi didn’t know.
It didn’t take long to get to a hill that you could see nothing but forest all around you, and almost as soon as they stopped there, Nanashi took one look at the sky and ran off the hill. Wondering what was going on, Yatsui looked at the sky took, and all she saw was a bird flying towards her.
“Watch out!” Nanashi yelled at her, and Yatsui suddenly noticed the problem; the bird was very far away and still that big from her view. Following Nanashi in getting off the hill, a huge monster landed behind her. Slowly turning around, it was some giant chicken with four legs.
A green haired elf jumped off of its back and spoke to Nanashi, “I see you saved her. That’s good enough for me, you’re off the hook.”
“Thanks,” Nanashi said, “but now what do I do?”
“Well I told you I needed someone, and while you were away, I conveniently found out that I need two someones. If you guys are up to it, or have nowhere else to go, you can join me in some tryouts.”
“Tryouts for what?” Yatsui asked, “and who even are you?”
“I am Sylic, a demon elf, and I was invited to try for a mercenary company, but I have three tickets and was told to give them to strong people. I suspect two magiks like yourselves are quite powerful.”
Yatsui looked at Nanashi, “You’re a magik? Your hair is green though, not red.”
Sylic realized, “Ohh, I’m sorry, you didn’t know? He’s wearing a wig”
Yatsui took a few quick steps towards Nanashi, and before he could react, ripped the wig off of his head. “I don’t like being lied to, especially when I don’t know who I fully am,” Yatsui said crossly.
“I’m sorry,” Nanashi said, “I didn’t mean to keep it from you. It just never came up.”
Yatsui dropped the wig back on his head and walked over to Sylic, “Which mercenary company were you invited to; someone weak like the Ki-Bats, or G.I.A.N.T., or a stronger group like Zed? You could have never gotten an invitation to Assassins or-“
Ending her speculation, Sylic announced, “The most famous of them all: The Jalya Mercenary Company.”