Chapter 2: Arrival
On your way out of this Grimm nest, you think back on your decision regarding the severed hand. Was it really the right choice?
You had decided not to take the extra hand. The likely hood of finding yourself in a situation in which you need an extra copy of your hand was.....low to say the least.
Another thought had occurred to you as well. If anyone were to find a random hand in the forest they might send out people to look for the rest of the body. So you ended up burying it under a tree. It was the perfect hiding spot, you had thought to yourself.
Thankfully, you didn't alert the Grimm while you were lost in thought. A short while later, you were back on track towards that gathering of souls. As you walked, you wondered what you would find. Would it be a settlement for the local inhabitants, or maybe some type of travelling group of people?
With the sun setting and a blanket of darkness covering the forest, you arrive at your destination.
Before you stands a Human and a Faunus guarding a gate of some kind. They look down at you from their towers, the chubby balding human guard speaks first.
"Hey Brick, you seeing what I'm seeing?" The chubby man asks the guard to his right.
"Well, if you saw a kid dressed in leaves just come out of the forest all casual like, then yeah, I did" You can make out some kind of horns adorning this guards head, you have no idea what type of Faunus he is.
They both look into the others eyes, nod their heads and look at you. It seems like they are about to address you. You wonder if they have some kind of mind-reading ability. You are certain no more words were spoken between the two of them, yet it seems like they transferred some kind of message with nothing but a stare.
"Hey!, Who are you!? You some kind of crazy Forest Kid or something?"
You look at the Faunus man for a second. You let him know that you are in fact NOT a crazy forest kid, your name is Mordin Solus and you would like to enter their settlement.
They quickly look at each other again and start lowering their voices.
Really,you didn't know that the inhabitants of this world could send telepathic messages, or is it just these two?
After a good 3 minutes of whispering, the chubby man who introduces himself as "Slate", allows you inside on the condition that you visit the village mayor first.
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"And so there was no way I'd let some kid out in the wild, even if Brick thought you could be some kind of forest savage."
It's with these words that you enter the mayor's house.
"Alright, now you wait here, I'll go wake up Hazel and we'll be back in just a sec. DON'T touch anything."
With those words, he moves forward into the house and takes a left at the end of the hall.
Slate returns after a little while being followed by a Women.
She takes a quick look at you, her eyes end up on your clothing.
"So little boy, mind explaining to me why and how you ended up at our doorstep wearing nothing but twigs and leaves?" You can see the corner of her lips twitch at random intervals. You wonder if it's some kind of genetic quirk or a cultural thing.
You tell her that you had woken up in the forest and had no recollection of anything in your life before that point. This is true, after all, you hadn't been "Alive" before you woke up in that forest. She had made a face when you told her that but otherwise kept quiet. Taking her silence as a signal to continue, you explained how you managed to get lost after walking in a direction you thought people might be. When asked, you told her you just had a feeling that there might be people in that direction.
"I see..."
The look you see in her eyes is one that does little to hide the whirlwind of thoughts raging through her mind.
"Alright, I'll level with you kid." She takes on a very serious tone "We've been having real problems with the Grimm lately and a stranger suddenly show up is sure to rile up some people.
We already called Vale and asked for hunter aid, they should be here withing the week to hopefully take care of our little problem. The last thing we need is some kid causing chaos and attracting more Grimm, so I'll make a deal with you." You can see her doing that lip twitch thing again.
"You help out around town for a week, try to cause as little problems as possible and then you can get a lift with the hunters when they return to Vale. I'll even throw in a new set of clothes, free of charge " You hear weird noises start to come out from her mouth, is this what is called laughter? You don't like it, you spent a lot of time and effort making these coverings. They're the first things you've ever made, No, you don't like being laughed at one bit.
"So, what do you say? Deal?" She extends her hand If you had that hand...now would have been a great time to use it.
In your mind, you quickly go through the best possible way to perform a handshake. This is it, your very first one, you can't help but be excited!
The first thing you feel when you grip her hand is a roughness that you find quite confusing. You had touched your own hand when you were examining your body, and it had a very soft and pleasant texture. So why? Is it because she's physically older than you?
"Alright, glad you accepted, anything else you want to say before we all go back to sleep?" These are the words that bring you out of your inner monologue.
Seeing the perfect chance to let her know about the Grimm, you speak up and begin your explanation.
You tell her that there is a nest of Grimm not far from the settlement and it appears to be lead by a very strong type of Grimm.
Her eyes narrow instantly. "What? What do you mean? There's no way we could have missed something that obvious, unless.... " She makes a weird kind of clicking noise with her tongue "Alright, details kid, give me some."
While your abilities at describing things aren't the best at the moment, you do you best.
The slowly falling look on her face is something that causes you to feel...odd.
"Shit kid, that's bad, very very bad." She starts to pace around the room, you wonder why. "Well, we better hope those hunters get here pronto, or we might be in quite a bit of trouble, and that's putting it lightly."
She stops pacing and turns towards Slate. "Alright, go call the others, tell them we're having an emergency meeting."
"Yes, mam!" Slate speaks quickly and runs off back outside.
Hazel slowly walks back towards you and pats your shoulder. "Not bad kid, you've been here 10 seconds and you're already being useful, keep it up"
"Now, I have to go hold an emergency meeting, you go sleep. Just take the room down the hall and to the right. It's the first door on the right, can't miss it. I'll also see if I can get you a little extra for the important information you gave us. Oh!, one final thing, welcome to Spring's End." She says as she pats your back and quickly leaves, gives you a "Thank You for your help" on the way out.
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On the way to your sleeping quarters, you think back on how easily your explanation on why you were here was accepted. It was really quite odd.
Allowed to speak once more, you detailed your encounter with the Grimm Nest and your uneventful walk to the village.
You're glad you didn't give false information, who knows what might have happened if you had.
Finally arriving at your quarters, you grab the doorknob and gently pull open the door. Inside are some plants set up around the room and few decorations hanging from the wall.
What really draws your attention, is what you know is called a "Bed". This is what people use to sleep and gain energy for the following day. All you see when you looking at it is a reminder of what it was like before you woke up in the forest, you were afraid. What if you never wake up? You don't want to go back! No, not to that silent emptiness, not after having tasted freedom. You know that your current body requires sleep, it was automatically
incorporated into it to better blend in with the locals. Yet, you can't help but be afraid....
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone