This story will be about Reika and her travels across Menewsha.
To learn more about Reika, look here.

Day 1

“Reika, watch out!”

“Hocus-pocus,” someone said as they laughed.

She woke up to find herself on the coast of a quaint village. What had happened? How had she gotten there? The last thing she could remember was… Yahiko. Yahiko and she had been in the woods together gathering some potatoes from a secluded garden when an imp had spotted them and asked them if they wanted to have some fun. The last thing she could remember was Yahiko jumping in front of her as the imp cast a spell on them.

Suddenly, the imp appeared before her. “Hello there,” he said with a voice that sounded like silk.

“What are you planning?! Where’s Yahiko?!”

“I thought I’d give you a mission of sorts.” He grinned mischievously. “I brought your little kappa to a place called Menewsha Town on this very same island. Once you find him I’ll let you both return to your world.” He disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.

Then she realized. He said ‘your world.’ She was in a different world.

She couldn’t believe that she had fallen for the imp’s trap. How could he have bamboozled her? It seems it was unavoidable in the end. She didn’t realize what he meant when he asked them if they wanted to have some fun.

She climbed the tallest tree she could find near her and surveyed the area. She could spy a conflagration going on in the village near her. There seemed to be a small festival going on that involved a bonfire as the focal point. There was even a performance taking place on a stage in front of the fire. She could hear a few of the onlookers.

“Franklin Point holds some amazing festivals!” She supposed that meant this place was called Franklin Point.

“O.M.G. Is that a llama!?” A young woman near the blaze excitedly pointed at a fuzzy, long-necked, hooved animal as it pulled a wagon to a stop near a spring.

“Actually, it’s an alpaca. But close enough.” The man on the wagon jumped down from the front seat. He began to unfasten the alpaca from the wagon.
The lady went up to it hesitantly. “May I pet it?”

“Go ahead. He’s pretty affectionate.” He smiled charmingly.

The owner of the alpaca brought it to the spring to give it water. As it drank, the woman stroke its thick fur. This man looked like an experienced traveler and Reika hoped she was correct in assuming that. She climbed down the tree and headed towards this man. “Excuse me, sir. Could you perhaps tell me how I could find my way to Menewsha Town?”

The man looked her over. “Certainly, I’ll even give you map.”

Reika couldn’t understand why he would give his map so freely to her.

The man noticed her confusion. “I’m a mapmaker. I’d sell you one, but you don’t seem like you’re from around here.” He grinned. As he started pulling out a map from the pocket in his vest, it slipped out of his hand, taken by the wind, and landed in the spring.

“Ah. Oh well, I’ve got another one.” He chuckled as he pulled out another from his vest. “Could you do me a favor, though? My sister lives over in Menewsha Town and I wonder what happened to her husband. He hasn’t responded to any of my mail lately. I’m busy here though. Could you tell her that I’ll try to be there as soon as possible to check on what’s going on?” He handed over the rolled up map.

She took it in her hands and looked it over. “Of course. Could you tell me what her name is?”

“Thanks, I appreciate this. Her name’s Marisa.”

“I’ll make sure to do so. Thank you for your help.” She bowed in thanks. From what she can tell on the map, the quickest way was to go straight across the island. So she decided that was the path she would take even though there were mountains and apparently some dragons on the way.

As she journeyed along a dirt path, she began to feel quite hungry. She thought she could spot a blackberry bush ahead. As she ate from the bush, she was startled by snapping branches. “What was that noise!?” She looked around her, bewildered. Before her eyes, a small animal swiftly passed by as if running away from something. It appeared to be a tanuki or raccoon. “Oh. I wonder what frightened it.”

She found sanctuary in an abandoned farmhouse. It was there that she sojourned for the night.

Day 2

In the morning, she found herself so hungry that she thought she could eat a whole giraffe. She could even imagine herself sinking her teeth into its elongated neck. But that was silly, no giraffes here. Instead she tried to find some more berries to eat to satisfy her hunger for a while.

She traveled by many farms as she went along the dirt path until she came upon a busy intersection near a town.

“Hey. Reika.” Someone seemed to be calling her. Out of the corner of her eye, hidden behind a tree, there was the imp, beckoning to her. He appeared at such an arbitrary moment.

“What do you want now?” she said, exasperated.

“I’ve been pondering it for some time and I thought I’d give you a starter pack of sorts. Think of it as a gift for accepting to play this game of mine.” He dropped the pack into Reika’s hands. “This should be enough till you get to Menewsha Town.” He paused in thought. “Hmm, I appear to have gone blind…” he murmured. “Well, you were my beacon after all.” He smiled sadly.

Nothing he said made sense to her. “What are you saying? Do I know you?”

Frowning, he states, “That makes me sad. You really don’t remember me.” He faded away in an instant.

From what he said, they had probably met somewhere before but she couldn’t remember. She had lived such a long time, met so many people, it’s no wonder she would forget quite a few. It perplexed her. Who could this imp be?

She peered inside the pack he had given her. There appeared to be a fire starter kit containing non-porous flint and steel, a knife, rope, a sleeping bag, and a large pouch of gold, the currency on this island.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where I could find a pig, please?" She looked down to see a young boy.

“That’s interesting-” she sneezed, “-that you ask me that. I just passed-” she sneezed once again, “-by a farm that was selling pigs, actually. You should see a sign-” she sneezed a third time, “-about it if you continue down the road.” Sporadic sneezes came out of her every time she tried to speak. She couldn’t understand what was going on until she noticed the bouquet of roses in the little boy’s hand. She was allergic to roses.

“Th-thank you.” The boy ran off towards the direction she had come.

She decided to buy some food seeing as the imp was being so charitable. She bought a jug of water, turkey breasts, and had custard for dessert. She considered buying a live turkey but thought it would take too much time to pluck all of its feathers and she would have needed something to cook it in anyway. Once she was done with her meal, she resolved to find an area in the wood to make a camping ground for the night.

Traversing through the dense forest, she almost fell into a large hole. “WOAH! That was close! Where did that hole come from?!” The hole was deep and wide. It almost seemed to be a hole meant for a grave. Creeped out, she carefully headed far far away from it.

She finally found the perfect spot when the sun was setting. She put her pack down on the ground and went in search of firewood so she could start a fire. The night was starting to get chilly. Although she didn’t really know how to use the fire starter kit that was inside the pack, she thought she’d learn how to. When she was satisfied with her timber, she went over to the pack to find the fire starter kit.
She frowned. “It was here a moment ago, I know it was!” She searched further. “Oh, here it is. Must have moved around while I was traveling.” She walked back to the lumber and started striking the flint against the steel over it. After several tries, it sparked and the wood began to burn. She smiled. "That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be."

She then took her sleeping bag and set it next to the fire. She slept as it burned brightly.