Savo jerked awake, nearly falling out of the hammock. Suddenly, he was surprised by his own feeling of rejuvenation. His body yearned for movement above all else, something which was not too familiar to him in his home world. His home world… Savo stood and stared blankly for a minute reflecting on the single day which had passed him. His memories omitted the exact encounters he’s had, but he vividly recalled the feeling of nothingness, which nearly sent him shivering. Yet above all, those mystical phantasms of clouds failed to escape his thought; as Savo stared blankly, pondering, his thoughts abruptly halted.

Ah shit… where’s my satchel… Savo jolted out of his holding onto the streets which bustled with the geckos, all of them either working at various stations or carrying baskets out to the fields. He eyed about, only meeting the intimidating gaze of each passerby. By the end of one cascade of geckos heading to the paddies, another moved to join in the procession. Savo took the moment to slip past and looked to the towering tent at the village’s center. As he paced through the crowds, he could smell all the rolled grains and earthy flour. The sounds of plopping feet on dry earth paired with the rolling of grain on mills. It was new, refreshing even, but Savo could not help but panic slightly at the absence of his satchel, which held the several last connections he had with his homeworld.

As he arrived at the mouth of the tent, he saw several geckos shuffling about with crates. On the containers, black labelled them as “Arro”. He scanned the interior, soon landing upon a lizard with parchment and feather in hand.

“Excuse me, would you happen to know where Shunup would be?” Savo asked.

“Ah, you are awake!” The gecko affably exclaimed. “Do you not remember me?”

Savo, embarrassingly, shook his head before replying.

“Oh my apologies, I can’t really tell the difference… between you all too well. It’s the first time I’ve seen your kind, frankly.”

Shunup’s tone of voice changed slightly, noting surprise, though his expressions remained static, intimidating. “I guesh you are from far away ash shome of ush shushpected.”

Savo questioned his own identity for the moment. I guess I am a foreign vagabond in this world. Again, his mind would return to the source of his unrelenting anxiety.

“Oh, I wanted to thank you for all you’ve done. You practically saved my life yesterday.” Savo poured. Shunup simply grinned widely, somewhat frighteningly, and glanced about briefly. “Also, I was wondering if you had seen my satchel anywhere. I had it on me when I abruptly lost consciousness.”

“Unfortunately, I have not my friend. Perhapsh one of the villagersh hash it,” the gecko replied.

“I will go to find it then, thank you once more, Shunup!” Savo stated before gently dashing out of the tent and out again into the parade of geckos, all still marching into the fields. It seemed that some were also returning with baskets atop their heads filled to the brim with short stalks of green. He stopped.

Where do I even start looking for it… Savo suddenly recalled that he had forgotten to look when he had awoken. I suppose that I rely too much on this, huh? He tapped the back of his head, feeling the small chip still residing, dormant. Savo returned to his holding for the previous night, meeting Shindo just at the door of the residence.

“Ah you have been awake for long friend?” the gecko asked.

“Not long. Say, have you seen my satchel around? I must’ve had it on me when I collapsed.”

“No, but perhapsh one of the villagersh picked it up and hash it in holding for you. I would check the merchantsh acrosh from the trade tent.” Shino suggested.

“Very well, thank you.” Savo ran back to the village center, passing the same sight of mills and hustling geckos with baskets hoisted above their heads. He stepped between the lines and ended up before a collection of slightly larger cottages. He walked up to the door of one with a sign depicting a singular coin and knocked. He was met by yet another familiar gecko who stared at him with the same, intruding gaze.

“Ish there shomething we can help you with, outshider?” the gecko asked, nearly hostile.

“Yes… I was wondering if you had seen my satchel. I must’ve misplaced it when I collapsed.” He received a look of suppressed disdain, which he noted calmly. “I was suggested by Shunup and Shindo to ask around.”

Upon hearing the names of villagers, the gecko grumbled quietly before speaking to Savo.

“Hmm… Wait here.”

The door was shut on Savo, and he waited. Just over a minute later, the same gecko opened the door with the satchel in one of his hands.

“Here, you take.” the gecko handed Savo the satchel before closing the door loudly.

Savo sat down upon the earth and began rummaging through his satchel. His laptop was still there, though it seemed to have been moved. His solar cells were still intact and looking through his tools, he noticed only a screwdriver missing. Among those, there were also the flashlights, of which none were left. I’ve been robbed, haven’t I. Savo stood and knocked on the door.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I believe my satchel is missing a few…”

The door opened slightly, but only a voice answered him.

“You no come back!”

Savo stepped back with a sense of surprise as the door shut once again on him, this time more violently. Suddenly, it had occurred to him. His pistol…

“Hey!! Hey!! You can’t just rob a stranger blind!!!” He pounded at the door. No answer arrived.

There was a sudden burst of anger within him, which escaped all reason his mind tried to provide. Yet in all, he felt lost, unable to fix the situation. He didn’t want to anger the villagers who saved him, and frankly, he would have no means to protect himself now. Yet it was indeed ridiculous that his personal belongings were treated with such little respect. It would be unwise to anger any of the locals by starting a conflict. Savo’s analytical temperament had returned to him.

Under the tent, shuffling boxes and chatting geckos filled the interior. Savo walked to the same figure he had seen prior.

“Ah, I shee you’ve found your shatchel.” Shunup greeted Savo with a wave.

“Yes, it was with the merchants.” Savo couldn’t help but have his tone drop when he stated this. “I heard your village has a raid being planned, and I would gladly lend a hand with preparations or anything.

“Well… it ishn’t the mosht glamoroush of work, but if you wish to…” Shunup paused, then continued after scanning Savo’s figure. “Jusht… I believe you may find it tedioush.”

“Frankly, I need some physical work right now. At least, my body feels it. I can’t explain why, but I do.” Savo clenched his hands into fists before relaxing again.

“Then very well, there are shome containersh in here that do not have our town’sh name on them. Thoshe go to the barracksh, at the edge of town. Onesh with Arro on them you can jusht ignore.” Shunup’s tongue stretched up to lick his eyes, something Savo had almost forgotten geckos do. He bowed and made his way into the crowds of geckos, picking up an unlabeled box.

The work was indeed tedious, and blisters had formed on his hands, but Savo yearned for movement, without reason why. At midday, the geckos gathered around and what looked like crickets and a variety of worms were passed around. Shunup himself handed Savo a large bowl of rice and jug of water.

“We’ve had human vishiters before, and let ush shay that we did not know at firsht that they did not like our foodsh.” A chuckle between the geckos followed Shunup’s half-joking statement.

Savo began to feel the aches of physical labor towards the evening when the sun had begun to set. The tent was nearly emptied, but as he walked past the mills, he saw several crates being filled with grains and other products. It was truly a commercial village, or at least it seemed to Savo. Shunup then seemed to be a taskmaster of sorts or at least some superior. Savo had delivered the final crate before letting himself back to Shindo’s cottage. The gecko listened to his tenant’s plans of helping prepare for the raid and learning a bit more about the geography of the land before departing. Shindo was more than willing to help, a surprising contrast to the merchants. Savo was barely able to keep himself from complaining about them but managed anyways.

The night had crept in as Savo rested in the hammock, in a daze of half-consciousness. Perhaps he could become accustomed and build some form of a home in this world. It was a laughable thought to Savo, as he valued his position too highly in his old world, yet some part of him couldn’t help but wonder if he would even return home soon enough to retain his position. It was unlikely that he would return unpunished. His mind wandered around the idea before drifting into sleep.

Rumbling and an unpleasant vibration shook the hammock and rocked Savo awake. Outside, the sky was still dark. The rumbling continued, coming in waves of individual moments. Before he could stand up from the hammock, another shake stirred him to jolt up and run to find Shindo. In waking his landlord, the two immediately bolted for the outdoors, looking for the source. Before them, a beast as large as the trade tent towered over the paddies. Its eyes glowed with a smoky red, and it seemed that actual smoke rose up from its jaws.

It’s… some sort of a… a boar.

“Quickly, go to the barracks and get the militia, I will inform as many nearby as I can!” Shindo commanded.

Savo turned and ran for the barracks. As the two departed the scene, the rumbling had grown closer, now in nonstop, violent vibrating. Savo darted to the entrance and pounded on the door louder than he did the merchants. As the door creaked open, he shouted.

“There’s a giant beast heading towards the village!”

The door swung open, revealing a singular gecko, who immediately ran back into the barracks upon hearing this. Not long after, a shattering bell rung above Savo. The same gecko rushed out, now followed by several others armed with swords, axes, and shields. Several carried bows and one carried a torch.

“I will warn the townshpeople. Outshider, if you cannot ushe magic, I shuggesht you leave with our people.” The torch-bearer said before running into the village. By now, a stream of geckos had begun to appear from the streets, marching the opposite way of the beast. Savo paused to organize his thoughts, then in a burst of speed, ran for the merchant houses.

“Hey! Give me one of my tools back! Your village is under attack and I can help you!!” Savo yelled as he pounded on the doors.

A familiar voice answered.

“It sho late, what are you doing?!” The voice spoke, annoyed. But another set of vibrations sent the door flying open and the same gecko previously ran out to witness the beast, which had reached the mouth of the village. “On one of the tablesh. We sheperated two things of one of your toolsh.”

Savo immediately rushed into the house, ignoring all but the tables scattered in the main room. There, upon a table near a stairway, his pistol sat, with the magazine removed and no bullets in it. Savo checked the chamber, which to his relief held one singular bullet with a hollow, rib-like tip. As he picked up his handgun, smashing wood and crumbling stone sounded just behind him. He slipped both at his waist and ran about the house, demanding for the whereabouts of the bullets. Soon, several geckos ran down the stairs along with the original one.

“Where are the rest of these?!” Savo showed the gecko the bullet. The latter pointed up towards the stairs.

“Each of ush took shome.” The gecko followed in the escape with the rest.

Savo bolted up the stairway, which lead to five different rooms. He rummaged through the first, finding none. By now, the stomps of the beast became shattering, and a roar followed which curdled his blood. He hurried through the second and third, managing to pick up five more bullets. Banging and shouting sounded the outdoors, likely from the militia. How could those gecko fight off something like that?! Savo dug through the fourth room and found nothing. In the last room, he spotted a singular bullet sitting atop a table. He reached and loaded it into the magazine and popped the latter into the gun.

Seven shots... Lucky me.

He ran down the stairway and out into the battlefield, stirring with the shrill cries of geckos. Another roar bellowed in the night, and Savo stood before its source.