Yggdrasil: Svartalfaheim

Chapter 2: City in the Foreign Land

"WHERE ARE WE?!" I shouted, knowing Rin didn't know the answer either. We had been at the arcade, enjoying each other's company, and then suddenly we were in this unfamiliar place. My voice echoed as the wind roared through our bewildered faces. Rin scolded me to keep it down, and I immediately apologized, realizing that I might attract something or someone.

"... I know, just stop shouting," she said.

She guided me towards the forest, and we decided to at least try to hide from other forms of life to keep ourselves safe. We moved away from the plateau we had woken up on and settled at a very big tree with huge roots deeply ingrained in the ground. There was a gap between two big roots that acted as our space. We picked up dry leaves in the vicinity and made them into a temporary bed.

I suggested that Rin should sleep first, and I would be the lookout in case some animals tried to sneak up on us. She positioned herself in the badly-made makeshift bed we put together beside the left root. It did the job, so no complaints there. Rin suggested we shift over the night, but I insisted that she sleep the whole night. She tried to argue, but I declined her plan.

"I'll take a short nap before we move tomorrow morning," I said, and she immediately agreed. It was obvious that she was exhausted as well because she fell asleep immediately. That's why I insisted that she get a full night's sleep to rest her body fully for tomorrow. I positioned myself on the other root and leaned against it.

The night was cold, and the sound of crickets was loud. It was a good thing I wore my jacket before we met at the mall earlier, so I used it to cover Rin's torso. It wasn't much, but at least it could help her feel warm, even if only a little.

We had picked the biggest tree to stay in, but the light of the two moons didn't stop peeking through the gaps between the leaves above. I noticed that the size of the moons was not the same. One was larger with a tint of dusty grey, and the other was a bit hard to discern, but it looked reddish. The two satellites gave me a thought about the brief discussion our science teacher had about the effects of the moon on Earth. I wondered whether two moons would affect this planet differently.

The long, uneventful night made me wonder about different things on this planet. It was a good thing it was uneventful. I wouldn't know what to do if something came up. The sun began to peek through the horizon, and its light warmed us up.

Sounds of rustling leaves entered my ear, and I faced Rin and saw her sitting down. The jacket I put on her had slid down a little as she sat up properly. I could see her cleaning herself. The drool marks were visible, and I knew she noticed them. I kept my mouth shut and looked away, acting like I didn't see anything.

"Good morning," Rin greeted me. I greeted her back and stood up. "Let's swap places," she said, and we traded places. "Wake me up after an hour, okay?" she said, handing me my jacket. My vision immediately blurred after lying down, and I went back to sleep.

...

"...ro... Wake...up..."

A familiar voice woke me up, and I regained my consciousness. It was a short nap, but I felt a lot better now. Opening my eyes, a blurry image of a blonde girl formed in my vision. Rin was waking me up.

"That was a great one-hour nap," I greeted Rin after wiping my drool marks.

That's 2 hours. She made the decision to extend my nap. I am grateful. I needed the energy recharge for the rest of the day. Long day awaits the both of us.

We both regained our consciousness yesterday after being transported here so we didn't notice the plant around us. There's a lot of banana trees here. Seems like there's a familiar fruit here from Earth. We walked towards the group of trees few meters from our area. We picked a bunch of banana and ate everything. Both of us didn't realize how hungry we are. The last food we ate was lunch, and last night we rested our way through the hunger. The situation made us forget our bodily functions, I guess?