Chapter 1: Arrival

M'hrr Streets

While the incident was clinging to his mind, Svendas decided that it wasn't something to ponder about at least for now and decided to move on instead with his task that he was previously working on.  

As he pressed on, still browsing the shops around him; He walked by a passing Nyanqin who seemed at first glance to have no ill will to him.  But as he started to walk past him, Svendas heard the Nyanqin whisper to him

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"I know who you are."

Svendas stopped once again and turned to the Elder Nyanqin.  At first he assumed he might get into a confrontation with this Nyanqin but after examining the Nyanqin it would seem that he was a Merchant and was offering to sell items to Svendas 

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 "May I interest you in POWERFUL MAGIC accessories? It's cheap-cheap!"

Seeing the jewels, rings and other items, Svendas was quite surprised that an Old Nyanqin merchant was able to find these.  Pondering as he was browsing the rings, some did indeed have runes of unknown origins and others that he recognized quickly.  
Svendas took a closer examination of the rings in the seller's inventory and asked the merchant, "You know some of these are hard to obtained if not impossible to obtain; May I inquire how you came across these rings of yours?"

Town Square, M'hirr...

So, this kid was supposed to be some kind of fighter, but failed whatever test he was taking. So to get this guy off the hook, she agreed to take his place. And now she's asking me to take the boy off her hands with a cutesy face. But she did say in exchange for ANYTHING, so that got him thinking... A devious grin unfurled across his face. She was pretty cute up close and it looked like she had a bit of energy. "ANYTHING you say? Alright, then let me fu-" His demands were interrupted by the growling from his belly, remembering the hunger that was eating away at him from the inside out. Right now he had a choice between sex and delicious fish; it's cooked by cat people, so it HAS to be. 


("Urggggggggh~ Of ALL times, I had to be hungry NOW! A golden opportunity, gone, just like that! Oh well, can't really do it on an empty stomach anyway...") He let out a heavy sigh and reluctantly accepted her terms. "*sigh~* Fine, then get me the biggest fried fish you can buy and I'll take the damn kid!" He said frustratingly from the starvation. "But not until AFTER I finish eating, not before or during, GOT IT!!" He yelled, pointing sternly at the cat-eared woman. He sat down next to her and clapped his hands twice as if to beckon his servant. All she was missing was the maid outfit. "Hop to it! I'm not gonna wait here all day." He waited on the bench with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed furiously. ("This better be worth it.")

Location: Dreaming

It was cold here. Here in this black world. I was floating around like there was no gravity, it felt like a long boring ride so I slept. I closed my eyes and slept for a long long time.

"Eishi! Eishi! Come play with us! Eishi come!"

"Who's that calling me?" I heard voices of children calling my name. A white light reached from behind my closed eyelids and activated my resting eyes. It felt like I was being drawn somewhere, it started getting brighter and warmer. I felt something tickling my ear, it was long and sharp. I felt the grass on my right side as I gently laid down on the soft warm grass? Suddenly I didn't feel so sleepy.

"Eishi! Come on Eishi let's play!" I heard them again. Who was it? No one ever called me to play. I've always watched other kids playing from a distance. So who was calling me?

I finally opened my eyes and saw that I was in an open field of green grass, the sun was high, bright and warm. The air was so fresh so clean it felt really nice to breathe it in. There was a beautiful tree in the distance and there was a little girl wearing white standing by it. I looked down and saw I was wearing a white cloth with no underwear or shoes. I started walking towards the tree, I thought it was far but somehow it only took me a few steps to get to it.

"Come on Eishi let's play!" The little girl was smiling as she offered to hold my hand. I never held a girl's hand before, other than my mom's.  I didn't say anything I just nodded and reached out my hand to touch hers. But I felt afraid...

"Don't be afraid Eishi." I heard girl say just the way my mom say it before she passed. I took her hand and then a bright white light engulfed us. For a brief moment I felt my mom's warm embrace, it made the tears flow out from my eyes.

"Mom..."

I saw the sky again when I opened my eyes. A delicious meal of fish to my left, a stranger looking man sitting and a cat lady. A cat lady!! I jumped and fell on the ground. Everywhere I looked there were cat people. Oh no! I saw an open street and ran away as fast and far as my legs could take me.

Location: Running

I was running and running till suddenly I was grabbed from behind by the cat lady. "Don't eat me! Don't eat me!" I screamed in terror. But she said something about not wanting to hurt me, I realized that she was telling the truth. I confirmed it after looking down at my chest I saw the blood stained clothes with the knife hole and yet there was no wound. I remember being stabbed in the heart by a red haired woman and then I was dead.

"Whooooaa..." I lagged while looking at my hole free chest. It was a wondrous thing to still be alive and yet why do I feel alone an empty. By this time I was still squabbling and squirming but then I stopped and then I said to the cat lady. "Ow.. Okay.. I understand. Now please let me go, I promise not to run. If you promise not to eat me."

William watched as the third of those considered strong was tossed into the cell brutally beaten, but alive.  He wondered what had happened to him.  But before he could ask, the cat person in charge ordered them to eat and keep their strength.  Knowing now that the food was safe and this was truly not another test he began to eat.

"If this was poisoned the master would not order us to eat it directly, as it would undermine her own authority"   He thought  as he tasted the gruel.  

It seemed in only a few days they would be fighting in some arena, and he was excited. Sure he was a slave and being forced to fight to the death, and that scared him.  But it was the start.  Many of the rpgs he played had you start small as slaves or prisoners, or even on a road near death.  And even in others where you started out as a soldier or a normal person the coliseum was generally a place where you went to train.  

"As long as I can survive, this place is the perfect place to find people from all over this world and learn more about it."  He figured as he finished his bowl of porridge.  For now that was all he could do.... Whatever it took to survive.

M'hrr Streets

As Svendas asked his question to the Elder Nyaqin, the Elder responded with 

Quote :

 I am old and have no further use for them. But perhaps a man such as you would find better purpose for these rare treasures."

This had Svendas puzzled for a moment since usually there would be VERY few who would part with such things for either their lust for power, knowledge or wealth.  But on the other hand, he knew that having these would greatly benefit the guild and prevent them from falling into some unfriendly hands.  As he was about to agree on buying the rings, he heard the bell of a nearby vessel which has gotten the attention of the old Nyanqin.

The Nyanqin turned to Svendas saying

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"They are leaving. I have to board that boat. Come on follow me" 

Svendas nodded in agreement and decided to follow the Nyanqin to the docks.  But despite the need to make haste to the docks, he realized if not noticed that the task of moving was a challenge to the Elder Nyanqin.

The Nyanqin turned to Svendas

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"I'm not going to make it. Can you help me get there?" 

He couldn't ignore the plight to help hasten the Nyanqin to the docks and decided on his own to aide him to make it to his ship. 

"Of Course, I'd be glad to assist you in getting to your ship Elder" 

Svendas thought it'd be best to have the Nyanqin on his back so he can use his own speed to make it to the ship in time without having to walk alongside him.  He lowered himself down enough that the Nyanqin can climb on his back

"If we are to make it to your ship, It'd be best to climb on my back and use my speed to make it in time before it departs"

Town Square, M'hirr...

The Qin woman agreed to the terms as well, giving him a little hint at things to come, making him a little happier. "Ohohohohohoho~!! I would hope so~!" He watched her with a perverse look as she ran off, her tail lifting up her skirt. ("Hyeheheheheh! She's got an ass on her, that's for sure!") 

Gene rubbed his hands together in excitement as the woman brought back food in a bag, exciting him a bit more as her hips swayed from side to side in her cute dress, like she were a waitress at one of those eateries back in Thanatos. "Hoohoohoo~ Hand it over~!!" He was handed a small tray with a fish that matched the size of the plate. "Eh? What the hell is this?! It's so puny! I could eat 20 of these things and STILL be hungry!!" Then while hers was the same size, she was handing over the biggest one over to the kid, who wasn't even awake yet! "Oi!! What are ya' doing?! Gimme that!!" He took the monster platter from her and gave her the small fish in exchange. "I'm bigger, so I can eat much more than him. Don't you forget that!" He said just as he was about to chow down into the large morsel. 

He ripped the skin off of it and ate that first, having a nice lemony flavor. "Ooooooh~ yeah!!" Next, with great skill, he gripped the delicious bastard's head, with his palm pressing down on the body, tore the skeleton away from the meat. Before tossing the it though, he gouged out its eyes and ate them, an overflow of natural juices and oils enveloping his mouth. "The eyes have important nutrients in them, so try not to skimp out on those." Just as he was about to get to the main course, the kid woke up and started having a panic attack, running off screaming. "Well he's pretty energetic, that's good to know... I guess." Said Gene, not very concerned for the kid as he was more concerned with getting the rest of this fish into his gullet.

He tore off pieces of it and ate them up with his nimble fingers. He didn't really pay much attention to what was going on with the kid, but he did see Cat Ears run after him and bring him back, so that was all that really mattered. "So, you aren't gonna go nuts again, are ya'? Cause if you do, I'll have to knock you back out. If not, just sit down, shut and eat!" In almost no time at all, he had eaten the rest of his meal, filling his belly quite adequately. "*hah~* That was pretty damn good! By the way, you haven't really told me your name yet, or would you prefer to be called Cat Girl? My name is..." He took the time to first stand up and place one foot on the bench before clearing his throat.
"Greatest man to walk the mortal plains of Lunaris!! But the ladies are free to call me 'Sir' or 'Master' if they wish. Heheheheheh~" He stated rather arrogantly. "Oh yeah, you too, kid! What's your name?" He asked the disturbed boy.

Location: Back at the bench

So I followed Ms.Maria bck to the bench. She had a delicious plate of fish waiting for them. Wow I was really hungry and the fish was looking pretty tasty. The man who was waiting on the bench looked like he was done eating already. He looked scary at first but after he introduced himself, I found him quitr funny. I chuckled at how comical he posed and highlighted his name during pronounciation.

Ms. Maria ate her fish, Mr. Gene was already done eating his. Time to eat mine. I can feel the energy draining from my body. My legs were feeling heavy but not as heavy as my arms. My stomach was grumbling and hurting. My blood sugar must be pretty low by now.

A I looked around I saw one empty plate, two empty plates, and a third one which had a small fish on it. I licked my lower lip and sucked on it while smelling the delicious fish. I gorged on it and finished it in seconds. I was still hungry. But.... um... there was no more of that delicious fish left. I felt really sad and tricked, but grateful at the same time. I had tears building up behind my eyes but I refused to show them. I gave them a look, like I was fishing for answers or more fish but I did not say anything because Sir Gene was big and scary and Ms. Maria looked fairly frightening as well.

"Umm.. that was delicious. I'm so full." (lies) I was so hungry I could eat a cow, or maybe a baby cow or at least part of it.

Location: Same place I was before

"My name is Eishi Shibuya. Nice to meet you." This was actually the first time I introduced myself to someone since back at the first day of school.

Grumble, Rumble, Rumble, Growl...

That fish I ate was enough to feed a family of five people. So how come I am still hungry? Maybe when that woman stabbed me in the chest, she also pierced my stomach. All the food I just ate must be leaking out somewhere. I pulled my rags up and did a quick scan on my tummy.

Nothing seems to be lumping I guess I'm alright. I already ate a good sized meal but it feels like I just ate a medium sized hamburger. And speaking of hamburgers I don't suppose they have those here in catland.

Speaking of which! Where am I?

I looked around at the town, the sea, the ground and at the sky. It all seemed like a dream. The plants were shaped differently and the people are all cats, except for Mr. Gene. Which brings my attention to Mr. Gene, he sure looks tall and strong. I bet he's a professional wrestler or something like that.

I turned my eyes away from Mr. Gene before he could notice me scanning him and then I turned to Ms. Maria to ask her,."Um... where am I?"