Interlude: Thoughts of an Elf

Elves tend to be introverted, which is why I was always on my own in my previous life. As I am very extroverted, I was quickly isolated. I always wanted to play with or do activities with other elves, but apparently this disturbed their 'peace'.

Even my own parents began to see me as strange. They took me to the village healer to check that I was healthy, but when they saw that I was, they began to push me away.

The only one who always supported me was my pet: Oyinbo, my furry friend, stayed by my side until the end.

Oyinbo was a Gakara: a feline creature similar to a cat, but with six legs. They have the ability to transform the middle pair of legs into wings and increase their body size, although they cannot do this for long as it consumes a lot of magical energy.

After being excluded from my hometown at the age of 15, I decided to set out in search of adventure. During my travels, I learnt many things, but what captivated me the most was cooking. I practised different regional cuisines for years, and now I can proudly say that I am an expert on the subject.

Oyinbo accompanied me on all my trips, helping me to reach fruit from the tops of tall trees and to dig up strange vegetables.

My journey lasted about ten years and during that time I never received any help from anyone. Wherever I went, people looked at me with contempt and suspicion.

These experiences taught me how awful it feels to be so brutally excluded, which is why I have always tried to help others.

Although I like to believe that people are generally good, I cannot accept the idea that everyone is.

This happened on one of my trips, in a place I had never visited before. I was looking for a type of native fruit that grew in extremely high places. Oyinbo used up all his energy taking me to the top of a mountain.

Gakaras are a highly rare species. They almost never socialise with anyone outside their own species or stray from their herd, which is why they are so expensive on the black market. I had never considered this before, so I was taken by surprise when some hunters intercepted me in the mountains with the intention of kidnapping Oyinbo.

I put up a fight, but my cooking skills were no match for their firearms. The bullets hit my lower body, leaving me unable to move.

In order to get rid of me, the kidnappers picked me up and threw me down the mountain. This time, however, it was Oyinbo who tried to protect me. Unfortunately, he had used up all his energy flying across the mountain, so when he grabbed the collar of my shirt and jumped off the cliff, trying to escape through the air, we both plummeted to the ground.

That was the end of my time in this world. When I came to, I was standing next to Oyinbo in a completely white place. After walking for a while, I found a door and realised that we had died and were now in Limbo.

I quickly adapted to my surroundings. With several worlds converging, I was no longer excluded and the stereotype of quiet elves that had plagued me for 25 years disappeared.

After a few days, I noticed that many people seemed lost or confused by their new daily lives, so I dedicated my time to helping them adapt.

While walking through the streets, I saw a new individual enter Limbo without a collar. I was going to approach him and warn him when the police arrived and began to chase him. Fearing a serious misunderstanding, I followed them as fast as I could until I caught up with them. At first, the man was quite distant, even though I had helped him. However, this didn't last long as he opened up after we had chatted for a while.

He seemed like an interesting person, so the next day, I helped him understand how Limbo worked. This time, we unexpectedly found a cat girl who became my disciple. I'm very happy that my cooking skills can motivate people.

I made them dinner, and they both praised my cooking. This made me so happy that I went to bed without a care in the world. We agreed to meet again tomorrow and I'm very excited.

Although my initial idea was to help him and then not see him again, like I've done with everyone else I've helped so far, I'm feeling confused now. I'd like to spend more time with them. Worrying only about others has caused me to neglect myself. These could be my first friends ever.