Heretics

At the pond located a mile south of the town, a young woman with sun-tanned skin and long sandy blonde hair with orange highlights let out a blissful sigh as she lounged in the water clad in a red bikini. Sitting on the shore reading a book was a woman with long white wavy hair and pointy ears sporting gold earrings and a necklace along with a black leather coat, dark green latex jeans, and black platform sneakers. 

"Whtcha readin', Shalala?" the woman in the pond snickered. 

"It's a book filled with pictures and written in a human language," the white-haired woman responded. 

"Oo, busted. Chief fuzzball hates it when we get to giddy with human shit." 

"As if you're in a different boat, Harajuku."

These two were Shalala Kaeomi and Harajuku Nina, two elves of the infamous Aarlord tribe. The two were lifelong friends that had been together for centuries, and were some of the oldest elves in the world. They were also regarded as the tribe's biggest heretics due to their odd habits and fascinations. 

Hearing a rustling in the bushes, the two narrowed their gazes and went on guard, relaxing a second later upon seeing Bisento walking out. 

"Oh, it's just you. Back to reading," Shalala grumbled. 

"Reading that human filth again? It's thanks to you two that sister became so obsessed with humans and their culture," Bisento glared. 

"Gonna try and slice this to shreds?" Shalala glared, an unsettling aura appearing to emanate from her eye. 

Sweat began to drip down Bisento's face as she instinctively took a step back. Despite the fact that Shalala and Harajuku were often berated by their fellow tribemates for their eccentricies, the reason they could still do as they pleased was because they were the strongest warriors in the tribe. None could hope to raise a hand against them in combat, and should they wish, they could take over the tribe at anytime or even wipe it out completely. 

"Why're ya so stuck up? You like the clothes we made for ya," Harajuku smirked as she kicked up some water. 

"And what human dresses like this? I accepted these garments because they cover all fibers of my skin below the neck and is combat-efficient." 

"OK, tsundere."

"Why do you utter such a word every single time we meet? No, there's more important matters; Winona is dead." 

Shalala raised an eyebrow. 

"I found a dried puddle of her blood along with some bits of her flesh."

"No corpse, she could still be alive," Shalala grumbled. 

"No. I sent the acorns out and they didn't find her." 

"Maybe she stepped out of range when you did." 

"Impossible. With how much blood there was, there's no way she'd be able to move." 

"Can't she heal herself?"

"Not from death." 

"And where did you find her bloodstains?" 

"North of here in the town-"

"Town? There's nothing around but plains."

Bisento's jaw dropped. "Did Winona not tell you a human city suddenly appeared in the great plains?" 

Shalala's and Harajuku's eyes widened with shock. "A HUMAN CITY APPEARED IN THE PLAINS!?" 

Bisento scowled and bit her lip as she sat down on the ground. It was going to take a long time to explain everything. 

...

"... And as I left the town, I found more of her blood on the front of a large metal carriage," Bisento stated as she finished her report. 

Shalala and Harajuku stared at each other with serious expressions. 

"Guess we got no choice then," Harajuku nodded as she got out of the water and threw a white bathrobe over her bikini before shoving her feet into a pair of white sneakers. 

"Concur. You said it appeared on the great plains? How big is it?" Shalala asked as she pocketed her book and rose to her feet.  

"I know not. It was far too large for me to explore every cranny of it," Bisento stated. 

"Why waste time asking her? We'll see for ourselves," Harajuku grinned as she began flying up into the air. 

"Are you insane!? A sky puma might spot you if you go too high!" Shalala shouted. 

"There ain't any around here! Besides, I ain't flying that high!" Harajuku hollered. 

Stopping a few feet above the top of the trees, Harajuku stared off at Ohana and gasped. "No... There's no way." 

Unable to control herself, she immediately began flying towards the city. 

"NINA! Ugh, Hougen's mountain is at the western edge of the plains. If he spots your flying ruins his view, it'll be worse than a sky puma charging for you," Shalala groaned as she too began flying off, though flying low to the ground. 

Bisento took off after them, leaping through the trees, but quickly falling behind as the two managed to get to the train engine just outside of town in seconds. 

"You seeing this, Kaeomi?" Harajuku asked. 

"I sure am. It's a train. And if that's Winona's blood on it, yeah, she's dead. No way she'd survive it," Shalala frowned as she shook her head. 

"I mean, maybe. No corpse on screen, could be alive." 

"No, she's dead for sure. Her blood's on both the front and the bottom. That means she likely got hit from the front then fell onto the tracks and got run over." 

"Didn't Provalone from YoYo's Adventures survive getting run over and jammed in a train?" 

"He didn't die instantly, yes, but he still died once the train stopped moving. And look at the window. This confirms Winona's dead." 

"How?"

Shalala pointed to the nail marks left by Winona. "Judging by the position, Winona likely got hit from the front, but survived the impact and clung to the window spread out like a cicada. But then, something was shoved out at the top, and caused her to lose her grip and fall onto the tracks." 

"And you know this, how?" 

Shalala smirked and pulled out a book from her coat and began flipping through it. "In this very book, there's a scene where someone shoves a gun through the train window in order to fire a shot at a guy clinging to the front. Does that sound familiar? It should because this is exactly how Winona died!" she exclaimed as she shoved the book in Harajuku's face. 

"So you're saying she was killed by a headshot? But you said it was the train-" 

"Elementary. Now let's make our way in. We have to see if this is the real deal." 

...

In the forest just north of town, a woman with long pointy ears and long green minty green hair clad in a white toga and worn sandals panted as she trekked through the woods. "I despise peace talks. Those politicos can only speak so highly of them since they're the ones that don't need to trek all the way to Buvaria to deliver the news. Why can't a dwarf just tunnel all the way to Evendale? Our flight magic is useless due to the great sky puma and it's smaller ilk, need I list that madman, Hougen. Thus ground travel is the only way from Evendale to Buvaria, yet they give me no horse to ride! And those savage Aarlord scum are known to frequent the area. Are the politicos just trying to kill me off!?" she fumed in her mind. 

As she continued onward, she nearly tripped over a gaping hole in the ground. 

"What? Is this from a wombatbat? Lovely... Hmm?" 

Then suddenly, the woman found herself within the city, staring face-to-face with a crowd of humans. 

"H- HUMANS!?"