Catching Up

 “If you wrap these around your arm, it should heal you quickly.”

Svector was being treated by the mysterious white-haired girl who had saved his life, as he leaned against the tree. The glowing flowers that he laid on were now wrapped around his wound, with the girl applying pressure to his cut.

“If… If you don’t mind me asking,” Svector asked. “Who are you?”

“I could ask you the same thing, but my name is Serena! I’m a bounty hunter!” she said with a cheerful smile.

“Bounty hunter? Not a very friendly title, ahah… nngh-” Svector groaned in pain.

“Don’t move. It’ll hurt more. I’d say it’s friendlier than it sounds, I’ve met some of the nicest people I know on this job. Now, about you?”

“I’m Svector,” he responded. “I’m… not from here. I think.”

“I can tell. Who wears a suit in the woods? You’re just begging for it to get ruined,” Serena responded.

“It’s not like I planned to come here. I’m looking for someone. Two of them, actually.”

“Who might that be, then?”

Svector looked around. Even through all of this, he was worried. He didn’t know what happened to Adelyn and Rumia, and if they were here they could be in very real danger. He knew Adelyn was learning how to fight like the heroes in her stories, but that was never put into practice, was it?

“Two girls. No older than 12 each. I’m looking after them,” Svector said.

“Your kids?” Serena responded.

“No… well. I take care of them, but they’re not mine. Their mother, it’s… she hasn’t been around for a while.”

“Ah, I see. Well,” Serena said. “I dunno where they are but I’d be willing to help you.”

“Huh? Really?” he responded. “You are?”

“Yeah, of course! Just after I finish this job,” she said, pocketing some more flowers from the ground. “I needed to collect some of these flowers, a girl I know is sick and these are like a mini-cure all for small wounds and illnesses.”

“Right,” Svector said, still resting as Serena kept on pocketing the flowers. He felt awful sitting here, doing absolutely nothing but waiting for his wounds to heal.

It was frustrating, being so wounded already. He couldn’t waste time sitting here and waiting for his wounds to heal. Not in this scenario, he needed to move. More thoughts began to fill his head. What if they were already in danger? What if they were hurt? Did he really just let them go like this?

He needed to…

Suddenly, the thoughts of stress began to fade away. He was still worried, but he felt his mind become clearer. The fear and urgency became more controlled, and he could think more rationally.

“You breathe way too heavily when you’re stressed,” Serena said, looking at him. When Svector looked back, he saw a cloud of black coming from his own head and into Serena’s palm, forming a small cloud.

“What the-? What are you doing?” Svector said.

“Negative thoughts can overwhelm your mind quite often. They’re not a bad thing to have, but they can cloud your judgment at times,” Serena said. She spun the dark cloud into a small vial and put it in a bag attached to her belt. “I was just clearing your mind, a little bit. You need to focus on healing, right now. You can’t help anyone if you get mauled by another wolf.”

Serena leaned towards Svector’s wounded arm. It was getting better faster than he expected. She was also right about his mental state too. It felt like he could sort his own thoughts now.

“Seems like your wound is getting better,” Serena said. “I’ve gotten enough flowers and you can probably walk now. Look, I’ll lead you out of here and take you to the nearby village. We can rest and eat there while you tell me about your plight.”

“Yes,” Svector agreed. “Thank you, for helping me out.”

“It’s no problem! That’s what I’m here to do,” Serena smiled.

***

“So, wait. You’re saying that there’s really no sun here?”

“I have no idea what that is still, yes.”

Svector and Serena had made their way to a nearby inn, during which the two of them were discussing some peculiarities in this new world. The inn was surprisingly crowded, as the two of them sat at a relatively small table at the restaurant.

They both ordered a dish each. Serena ordered an expensive cut of wild bull, while Svector simply ordered some water. As they waited, the discussion on the sun came about.

“That’s so odd,” Svector said. “How come this entire world hasn’t frozen over yet? For me, the sun is what provides the heat to the planet.”

“I don’t see why we need a big burning fireball in the sky to heat us up, the ground is already plenty warm,” Serena responded.

“So I presume seasons don’t exist here either then? If the ground is just providing the heat needed to survive.”

“Depends on where you’re at. It’s not like the heating is uniform. Some places are hotter than others, and some are more consistent than others. If you want to look at a place that doesn’t get a lot of heat, then you ought to look at Crythalis, the City of Ice. That place is entirely frozen over, ahah.”

“I see,” Svector said. “We’re not in a city though, yes? Just a village?”

“Yeah. The closest city is probably the capital, Oscur. It’s still quite the ways away,” Serena said. As they spoke, their meal had arrived. A fresh, strong cut of meat for the bounty hunter, and a glass of glowing water for Svector.

“The water here glows?” Svector said, looking at his radiant cup.

“Yeah. It’s the best way to make light,” Serena said. “Of course, there’s stuff like fire too. But that tends to attract monsters due to how different the glow is. So, that is only used in the safety of cities.”

“No normal light, either?” Svector asked once more.

“There’s light magic, but that’s exceedingly rare. I’d be hard-pressed to find a mage that knows anything about it.”

“Interesting.”

Svector took a drink of his glowing water. To his surprise, it tasted just like normal water to him. He looked opposite of his table, to the girl chowing down the meat.

“So,” Serena said while eating. “How about you tell me about the girls you need to find. I have lots of time on my hands, so I’m willing to help.”

Right. Even with his thoughts under control, he was still thinking about those two.

“They’re my two girls. Adelyn and Rumia. I work at a bar far from home, and those two have been able to be home alone since they were very little,” Svector began to explain. “At least, until today.”

“What happened?” Serena responded.

“I don’t know,” Svector said. “Adelyn was always into magic, though it wasn’t as commonplace in our world compared to here. She was extremely good with it, too. She kept a journal, and she was definitely working on something. There was a rift in space in the library after all.”

“So, you mean like a portal?” Serena thought. “Mhm…”

Serena snapped her fingers.

“I dunno if I can prove anything, but a strange phenomena happened a day or two ago,” the bounty hunter said. “Two massive beams of light flashed down from the sky. It lit up the whole country, it felt like.”

That was news. Maybe it was a long shot, but it was something worth looking into. It was the first good thing he heard today, at the very least.

“Where were the beams of light?” Svector asked.

“The first one was in some forest quite a ways away, but if that’s one of your kids I wouldn’t expect them to stay in one place. I think you’d have a better chance looking into the beam of light from Oscur.”

“Oscur?”

“The capital city, pretty much where all the cool stuff happens. Especially technology stuff, they like to keep that in there.”

“I see.”

If it was a city of technology, then whoever landed in there was most likely safe. He liked to believe his girls were smart, they’d try to find each other. Perhaps they’re both in there.

It seemed like a good place to start at least.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Svector said. “I’d like to depart as soon as possible, then.”

“Ah yeah, your arm is better. I’ll go with you, don’t want to be alone on the roads if you’re new here, ahah,” Serena answered. “Let me just finish.”

Serena chowed down on her food. As she did that, Svector began to frown once more. He was entirely relying on his girls being strong enough to survive on their own. He trusted them, even if they were in this strange world, to keep going. Together.

That’s what he wanted the most. If they did that, he would be proud, even in this scary situation.

“Alright! I’m done! We can get ready now!” Serena said, getting up. “I’ve got supplies, and I’ll pay for the restaurant. Don’t worry.”

Svector got up too. He might have a long journey ahead of him. At least he could hope that everything would turn out okay.