The following day, I did wake up on time to eat breakfast with the others. We ate some dry food in a bowl. It was sweet and crunchy, and Orrin complained about a lack of milk.

I silently ate while the others got on the short green man about wasting all the milk. Apparently, he had opted to eat some pepper that he picked up from some world, and it was very spicy. The whole conversation was still strange to me, but I think being around this group for several days was starting to make it less so. Was I learning more or just getting complacent?

I quickly tuned them out as I became focused on my own situation. I had been in this world for several days already, and I was no closer to remembering anything new about myself since having that strange dream. I felt my shoulders sag. Would it be impossible for me to recall anything else?

The others were kind enough to let me stay, but if I had a world I belonged to, I think I’d rather go live in it. With no memory of my world, that was a hopeless dream for the time being.

“Next shopping trip, we are buying double the amount of milk!” Orrin declared as he carried on their previous conversation.

“How many peppers do you plan to pick up from the ground this time?” Enas grumbled.

“No matter how much you drink, you won’t get any taller,” Pythagoras added.

Casey rolled her eyes as she finished eating. She stood up and grabbed her spear, which had been stabbed into the ground next to her.

“I’m going to head out now,” she said. The others waved goodbye.

“Well, I’m sure Kiko agrees with me!” Orrin said to bring me in the conversation about the milk. I personally didn’t care and awkwardly looked around.

“I… uh…. I’ll go with Casey today!” I said before quickly jumping up and running over to the giant beastly warrior.

“You’re running from their stupid conversation?” she asked as I caught up.

“I just…”

“Don’t worry, I’m doing the same; I won’t judge,” she added.

We walked into the grey woods. Her tall stature seemed almost like it might rival some of the trees in the grey forest. As we walked, I noticed a particular stride; she carried herself like a soldier in the military might, though I didn’t know how I was aware of that.

“Do you have any questions?” she asked. I quickly looked away; I must have been staring with an awkward face at the tall beastly woman.

“The way you were walking… It just reminded me of a soldier’s stride….” I wasn’t sure why I said that, but it slipped out, nonetheless.

She chuckled.

“Well, I suppose we know a little more about your past life if you think that,” she said. I frowned, but she probably had a point. “Yes, the culture of my species was formed alongside years of bloody battle against some ugly lizards. Every capable child is trained to be a warrior, and every warrior seeks to reach the highest ranks,” she added.

“Were you some sort of spear expert?” I asked while eyeing her weapon. She shook her head.

“I was trained in many weapons, a jack of all trades, as I have been told it’s called.”

I was unfamiliar with the expression, but I think I got the gist.

“What brought you here?” I asked as we crossed over a bridge. I wasn’t sure where we were going and just followed Casey in step.

She shrugged.

“I sort of fell into this world, hard to explain.”

“Didn’t you want to go back?” I asked.

She nodded.

“At first, I went back, but I found no one understood where I had gone. They thought I had simply gone mad!”

“So, you came right back here?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“It wasn’t until a couple of years later when Orrin and Enas visited my world. I happened to run into them, and we caught up. They were having trouble with a particular monster from the myst, and I offered them my warrior skills. In the end, I just decided to stick around. I figured I could be a better warrior in this world instead of mine.”

I didn’t quite understand why she would want to stay, better warrior or not. I decided to leave the issue alone and focus on something else instead.

The scenery was as grey as always, save for the watery substance. We walked alongside a faux-river to what I presume led to a world-lake. I stared out at the rushing river. If jumping into a lake would take someone to a world, where did the rivers go? The curiosity grabbed my attention, but only for a moment. With no way to know, and no desire to ask, I simply turned away and began to look at some of the grey plants. There were gorgeous-looking grey flowers, though they would be prettier with color.

A moment later, I suddenly felt a hand grab me by my kimono, and I was lifted in the air.

“Hey!” I shouted out in protest before realizing we were standing on the lake's edge. I was one step away from taking a swim. I suppose this was the ‘jumping’ Lerato described before, but it would take a while to get used to.

“You best be careful; you don’t have any reliable way out of a world,” Casey said in a stern but caring voice.

“I’ll pay better attention….” I quietly said as I looked down.

Casey gently set me back to the ground, and we continued walking through the woods in silence. We stopped at a couple of world lakes to pick up items, and it wasn’t long until we reached a lake by the border. The beautiful blue water sparkled unnaturally against the grey background. Beyond the lake, the wall of myst stretched out in both directions.

“Well, it looks clear. Let’s grab some stuff and head….” Casey was beginning to say something but stopped. The ears on top of her head twitched suddenly, and she stared at the myst. I followed suit.

A shadow of something was making its way inward from the outside. I felt my hands wrap around the blades at my side and drew them as if it was second nature. Casey set down a bag of what we collected and pulled out a small device shaped similar to Enas’ weapon. She pointed it up, and a bright light fired in the grey sky above us.