The boy weakly opened his eyes. His vision was blurred until he was able to focus. Dawpers stared at the bundled straw roof above him. "Where am I? What happened?" he thought as he tried to move his arm. "That's it!" he remembered as he slowly rose from the makeshift bed. Dawpers shifted the blanket off him, revealing his leg was fine. "But... how? Wasn't it-" his thoughts raced as his body fell back into bed.
He woke up later, still in a bed he didn't recognize. The evening light pierced through the window as the boy got a clear view of the room. The dark wooden walls decorated the room. The layout consisted of chairs around a table, opened wool curtains, and the bed he'd been lying on. Dawpers lazily rolled out of bed, walking towards the door on the furthest wall. He opened the door to be blinded by the evening sun. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed someone walking towards the room. Someone with brown hair with white strands. Tufts of hair stuck out from the top sides of its head. As the figure neared, it stopped. "Oh, I see you're able to move!" a cheerful voice said from a distance.
"Wait, me?" Dawpers asked while pointing to himself. The sun illuminated the person, not allowing him to see their face. "Who else could I be talking to? Where are my manners? I'm General Gorou of Watasumi Island." the figure said. As the person got closer, Dawpers could finally make out their appearance. It was a boy who looked pretty young. He had clear blue eyes and wore what looked like a crop top. "Well, that's one way to dress for a general..." Dawpers thought. "The name's Dawpers... Anyways, could you tell me where I am?" he asked the young general. The general's face grew with intrigue as he stated, "We're at our encampment right now, but I want to ask, how did you get here?" Dawpers responded with confusion. "What do you mean how'd I get here? That's what I want to know too!" he said. "So you don't know where you are then..." the general said. "They might not have been joking. He might have actually fallen from the sky." he whispered to himself. Dawpers thoughts grew with shock overhearing Gorou. "Could I really have fallen out of the sky? But I was just about to fall into the lake from the bridge." he argued to himself. "Wait, the bridge? The bridge... the bridge! It collapsed, didn't it? So why-" he thought while looking around his surroundings. Though he couldn't see much, he knew one thing. There was no sign of a bridge or any landmark of home.
"Just where the hell am I?" Dawpers questioned. "Hey... hey... earth to Dawpers... hey, Dawpers!" Gorou yelled as he tried to get the boy's attention. "Huh, oh, what?" Dawpers said as he noticed the general flashing his hand in front of him. "Did you even hear anything I was saying?" Gorou asked. "A little bit... How long was I out for?" Dawpers asked. He returned his gaze to the general. He made out his face clearly, "But what was that on his head?" he thought. They still looked like tuffs of hair, but he could see bits of pink and white in them. "What's that on the top of your head?" he asked. Gorou gave the boy a blank stare. "You- you mean my ears?" he asked. "N-no way... they aren't actually. Are they?" Dawpers thought. His hand moved to touch the general's fluffy ears when he restrained himself. The general nervously chuckled as Dawpers saw a fluffy tail on the boy. "I feel a little dense for noticing that just now." Dawpers sighed. He covered his face in embarrassment as the two awkwardly stood in front of the house for a while. "Could you show me around? It'd be a little weird if we just stayed here, right?" Dawpers said to break the silence. The general nodded as they walked down the path to the encampment.
Gorou led the boy around the area. They first stopped by the shooting range. Resting on a wooden table was a bow with a bundle of arrows. "Can I try it out?" Dawpers asked. The general nodded as the boy walked over and equipped himself with a bow and arrow. Returning to the target, he unwrapped the arrow bundle. Taking one and leaving the rest on a stack of hay, he readied his bow. He struggled to close his left eye as he pulled the string back. He aimed the arrow towards the center of the target, angling up slightly to account for distance. He let go of the bowstring as the arrow flew towards the target. With some slight miscalculations, Dawpers hit the ring adjacent to the center. "Not bad! But you aimed a little too low, and before you shot, you barely moved your arm left." Gorou congratulated him. The general showed the boy the corrected movements as they further practiced their form. Shooting another arrow, Dawpers hit the center.
The two wandered further in the encampment, practicing with every piece of training equipment on their path. They bonded with each other while Dawpers experienced wielding swords and spears for the first time. Hours passed, and despite being so close to the other houses and tents, the buildings seemed far away. By dusk, the two were fatigued from all the form work. Dawpers collapsed to the ground, landing on his back. "That's it for me. I'm tired." he spoke softly. He stared at the setting sun. "It's so beautiful; heck, even more so than the ones at home." he thought while smiling to himself. Gorou seated himself to the boy's right, sweat running from him. Dawpers turned his head over to the general. "Boy, you look beat; maybe we should stop for today." "Agreed." Gorou responded. The general began to relax as he threw himself back to lay on the lush grass alongside Dawpers. They watched the sun set as Gorou redirected the boy back home.
As they arrived at the door, Dawpers couldn't help but have more questions, but they'd have to wait for tomorrow. He said his goodbyes to Gorou as he closed the door behind him. He slipped off his shoes and trudged to his bed, falling face-flat. "Man, today was something, but I'm really tired." he whined to himself. He rolled over, staring at the roof. He sat in bed for a while, not a single thought behind his eyes. The wood creaked, and the curtains flew in the wind. Time ticked by, and the sun had finally set. The moon rose, and stars twinkled in the sky. Owls hooted, and Dawpers could make out a squeak coming from somewhere. He ignored the sound and continued to stare at the roof.
The longer he laid down, the more rested he felt. His thoughts began to race, and he was finally able to think about the day. "This can't be a dream... right?" Dawpers thought. He sighed as he further began to question the predicament he was in. "This all started with that old geezer. We were floating and... right? But that can't be... but it's also not a dream. I should be dead, but I'm not." he thought and thought, but there was no clear conclusion. He groaned in defeat as he tossed and turned around in his bed. His head started pulsating in pain, as he could do nothing but profusely shake in pain.
That's when it eventually hit him. Figuratively and literally. "That geezer hit me in the head when I tried saving him! So what? Am I just unconscious? Or maybe I'm in a coma? One thing is for sure: this place is weird." he thought. It seemed reasonable after all. The boy should be dead or comatose. He closed his eyes as he went to bed.
Dawpers!
The boy immediately opened his eyes. There was nobody around him; he scratched his head as he rested his head to go back to sleep. "You're in a trial per say, but it's still reality. You fell through a portal unconscious." he said, as his mouth moved on its own. "I didn't say that! What's happening?" Dawpers shouted in his head. "Hey, you asked for information, and now you got it." the boy's lips spoke. "B- but how are you using me? What're you doing?" he asked, but there was no response.
After a while without any response, he grew restless, and with newfound information, he decided to piece the story together. "It all began with the incident on the bridge. When that old geezer hit me, he gave me something because that glow pulsated in my body. That second hit was to save me, as he knocked me unconscious. From there, I now know that a portal opened below me, and I'm here in this 'trial'. This isn't a dream, but reality." he pieced together. It finally made sense, but why was he in this trial? That's a question for another day, as the fatigue returned and he fell back asleep.
