Chapter two

Company

Some things find you first.

A small furry creature with horns and tiny wings watches from the grass as the knight walks through the meadow far away.

I've been walking for a while now.

Which way? No idea. I picked the direction with the fewest rocks and called it a plan.

The meadow goes on and on. Grass, flowers, the odd boulder. No road. No house. Nobody to ask what is going on.

It's quiet out here. Peaceful, even. So why does it feel as if someone is watching me?

The creature runs through the grass toward the knight.

Something moves in the grass.

A rustle. Then another one, closer. Something small is heading straight for me, and it isn't trying to hide.

I stop and raise my hands. Ready for what, exactly? I don't have a sword. I have metal fingers and a helmet that won't come off.

The knight kneels and holds out his metal hand; the creature sniffs it with its eyes closed.

It stops right in front of me.

The creature sits on the knight's shoulder, looking pleased.

I have no idea what it is. It's small and fluffy, with horns, tiny wings and big blue eyes. It's wearing a scarf. And there's a little barrel on its back.

I kneel down and hold out my hand, slowly. That's what you do. I think.

It sniffs my metal fingers and closes its eyes. I can barely feel it. Then I hear a voice. Not with my ears.

Hello.

…What? I look around. Nobody. Just me, the flowers, and a small, very smug ball of fluff.

Then it climbs up my arm without asking and sits down on my shoulder.

Good shoulder.

Apparently we're friends now. Nobody asked me.

The knight walks on through the meadow with the creature on his shoulder, his red banner in the wind.

So now there are two of us.

So it talks. In my head. That's new. Then again, everything is new today.

I still don't know who I am. I don't know what it is either. Two mysteries, walking through a meadow.

At least I'm not walking alone anymore.

The knight walks down a path through the meadow, the creature on his shoulder, mountains behind them.

We head down the hill.

I ask it what it is. It doesn't say. I ask where it came from. It doesn't say that either. It hums a little instead.

So I try something easier. I ask if it has a name.

Do you?

…Fair point.

Fine. Where are we, then?

Arc.

A name for the world. Well. That's a start.

From behind: the knight looks out over a valley with forests and a lake, and a city with towers in the distance.

Then the trees open up.

A valley. Forests, a lake that hardly looks real, and far away, towers. A city. At least, it looks like one.

From here I can't tell if anyone lives there. Or what kind of anyone.

People. Loud ones.

…You could have led with that.

The path leads into a forest; a wooden signpost with a tree on it stands beside the path.

The path goes into the forest.

A wooden sign points the way. There's a tree carved on it. Very helpful, in a forest.

The creature keeps looking around, ears up, tail swishing. It seems very happy about all of this.

A close view of the creature on the knight's shoulder, grinning with its mouth open.

It turns its head and grins at me, mouth wide open.

Finally.

STROPEVERSE