Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Newcomer
There is nothing but silence. Or so it seems.
"Guys! Over here!"
"What is that?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't look okay."
"Let's take it into the restaurant and see what we can do about it."
How long have I been out? Hours? Maybe a day? I don't know. I open my eyes and I suddenly get hit by an awful migraine. Oh, man.... It feels like I woke up from barely surviving an explosion followed by a concussion. I quietly let the pain fade for a minute as my sight was clearing up. I was sleeping on a twin-sized bed in what seemed to be a small bedroom, most likely for a long while before waking up now. Beside me seemed to be a familiar anime milkmaid in a lovely black and white dress with black spots at the bottom. There is a yellow ribbon with a small, spotted milk bottle attached for decoration tied above her large chest. Under her dress, she is wearing seemingly delicate black shoes along with long white stockings that stretch above her knees. The woman has long, silky, white hair and there are two small horns on the sides of her head. Her facial features seem warm, gentle, and soft. Completely disregarding her large chest, she's a sight for sore eyes. I'm immediately surprised and bewildered at the sight of her. This must be one of those weird dreams, I think. Oddly enough, despite everything looking like anime, the bed I'm on feels real.… I recognize who this person is; she is a Food Soul from the RPG I play.
Since a lot of you don't know (except in Amino and Archive Of Our Own), a Food Soul is a type of spirit in Food Fantasy that is a personification of food, with the character near me being the first Food Soul the player receives (along with a few others). Well, technically, Rice is, but that's only in the game's main story, and the player has to participate in a certain event in order to summon her. These Food Souls are summoned to fight enemies called Fallen Angels, and they're the player's allies. However, there are Food Souls that are enemies, but that only happens in the story rather than in-game. There are four different types of Food Souls: Strength, Defense, Magic, and Support. In the case of the Food Soul near me, she is a Support Food Soul. (Though, I refer to her as a Support Soul for short.) In other words, she's a healer. Her name is Milk; don't ask me why her name is that (seriously, don't), I'm just saying what I know. The woman speaks in a soft but monotone voice, "You're awake. Do not be alarmed; I mean you no harm. I am Milk." I nod and try to respond, but all I made are nothing more than chirps, trills, low growls, and probably a few other similar noises. I immediately stop myself when I realize this: There's a language barrier between me and Milk. In a strange way, the strange noises I made are loosely similar to the sounds a cat (and/or perhaps some other animal) would make, so it's probably likely I'd use terms like those when I'm saying something out loud.
As I sit up, I realize that she is quite larger than I initially anticipated – and I mean in height, reader – which I think is odd because the last time I checked, her bio read that she's about five feet and two inches tall. Considering my sight is really good and I'm able to see every detail in the bedroom, I lightly press between my eyes with my forefinger, because I can't see well without my glasses. Except … where the hell are my glasses?! It took me this long to realize that she is in her canon height, and I'm about the size of an adult house cat. This has got to be a dream, right? I slap myself to be sure, much to Milk's surprise. Nope, the pain is real. I also just realize that there is a scaly crimson and black snout in front of me, which turns out to be part of my face. Panicking, I frantically check other features that I now have. Before I could finish processing what the hell is going on, footsteps start approaching the door from the other side.
A man and two more Food Souls enter the room. I recognize them right away as Rice, Tom Yum, and what's most likely to be their Master Attendant. Rice is a docile Support Soul who is four feet and six inches tall, she has really long white hair, and vibrant golden eyes. She wears a white dress with a red pattern and she has these ornaments on the sides of her head that appear to be large grains of rice, and she carries a giant wooden rice paddle. Tom Yum is a brown-eyed and passionate Defense Soul with blue hair; he wears red pants and matching boxing gloves. As for the man, he's the average height of a human, has white skin, green eyes, and short blonde hair, and is wearing a chef's outfit. Milk utters, "Ah, you're back. I have some good news, Master Attendant. The creature Tom Yum found has just awakened." Upon realizing what's going on, I totally freak out and yowl, "Oh, shit! I've become a dragon in an anime world!" I immediately put my hands onto the sides of my face and let out a terrified scream – er, sorry, roar. Everyone else stands there, surprised and confused by my impression of The Scream.
Looking at myself, I'm now a digitigrade dragon covered in smooth black scales with a red underside. I've got a pair of horns protruding from the head like a domestic goat's horns. My flexible wings are black and the membranes between each finger are red like my underside and have a leathery texture. I have three clawed fingers on each wing, plus my wing thumb which is a short, thick claw that sticks out from each carpus. My body is fairly thin, but healthy. Well, mostly, anyway. My paws are pretty similar to a primate and I can move my limbs almost like a human. My hind legs are anatomically the same as that of a carnivorous dinosaur except I have five toes on each foot; the femurs go forward, the calves go backward, and the metatarsals go forward. My front legs are made of the humerus (the upper arm) and the ulna/radius (forearm) – pretty much, they're much like human arms and even bend like them (excluding the wing joints that protrude from my shoulders). I have five fingers on each paw, which include the opposable thumbs. My paws are as black as the rest of me, but my palms and the soles of my feet have a lighter grey appearance. My front paws have long and thin fingers, but my back paws have long and thick fingers. I noticed that my claws are sharp and white, so I'm guessing the same applies to my teeth and horns. There isn't much to say about my tail; it's black, it's what you can expect from a dragon's tail, and there is a ball of red fur at the end of it like the flame of a Charmander's tail that matches the color of my red scales. Unfortunately, I can't describe my face because I don't know what it looks like and I don't have a mirror right now. (Seriously? You don't know what a Charmander is? Have you been living under a rock or something?)
Still, this shouldn't be possible at all! I should be dead or something, right? Though, I can't be too sure of that. Actually, I can't remember anything that happened in the last few days at all! This is beyond any science I know – even with the latest technology, it's only possible in science fiction. I mean, it's one thing to write or draw something about turning real matter into fictional matter, but it's an entirely different thing to have this actually happen. It's even more impossible with the other way around, right? I mean, what the hell?!
With Rice's voice faltering like in the beginning of the main story, she asks, "Is it okay...?" Milk replies, "Physically, yes. Mentally, however, I'm uncertain. But, I could be wrong." Great, now I got characters who think I'm mentally ill, but I probably shouldn't be too judgy about what they said since they've only known me for like, a few hours or something. Tom Yum inquires, "Master Attendant Samson, what are we going to do with it?" Their Master Attendant "Samson", with a face full of uncertainty, answers, "I was thinking of letting it go tomorrow; I don't think we currently have enough supplies and I don't think any of us know how to take care of it for now."
As much as I want to interject a response to what Samson is saying, I can't do it right now because of this one-sided language barrier. I'm not giving up easily, though. There's got to be a way to convince them to let me stay in this restaurant. I could try to write HELP or some kind of message into one of the character's arms by scratching onto it, but that's just going to piss everyone off. Plus, I'd hate to hurt any of these characters anyway, since I've known them for about two years. They've agreed on resting for tomorrow to gather more ingredients to continue operating the restaurant next door and releasing me to the wild while they're at it. When the characters' discussion ended, I look at the ground. It seems like an okay height for me jump off. I estimated that I'm nearly three feet off the ground. Plus, I've got wings … too bad I don't know how to use them. Still, I take my chance and hop off the bed, unaware until the last second that Rice was going to pick me up, presumably deciding where am I going to be placed for the night.
Involuntarily, my wings unfold slightly and catch a bit of air. I was going to land on my hands and feet like a feline would, but in the moment I caught air, I lose my focus and fall right on the side of my face and my right forearm. Samson and the Food Souls wince briefly at my landing. As I get up, I shake my wrist from the pain. Strangely, it hurt a lot less than I thought it would. The landing was painful, but I recover quickly with nothing but a mildly sore arm and face. Heck, I'm not even bruised from this from the looks of it. (Or is that from the black scales?) I guess I'm physically tougher in Tierra? By the way, Tierra is the fish-shaped, Earth-like world that Food Fantasy takes place in.
Milk asks, "Master Attendant, do you still think it's a good idea to release it back into the forest?" Uncertain and worried about this situation, I slowly shake my head in response, though no one seems to have noticed. I mutter quietly, "I don't think it's a good idea either."
I walk away and decide to explore the building. I've already described what the room is like, so no point in repeating what I said. What? I haven't exactly described what the bedroom looked like? In that case, the bedroom is a small cozy room that is a part of the Food Souls and Master Attendant's home, which is right next door to their restaurant. The bed is on the far left corner from the door and was next to a bedside table against the far wall. The other side of the wall is a small wooden desk and a closet. It's like being in one of those studio apartments but simpler.
Now, back to where I am. As I leave the room, I get into a hall like I'm in one of those apartments or hotels, but smaller. I walk there, about to go downstairs when I realize how big they are for my size. Not to mention, I'm now quadrupedal, which made the walk to here pretty awkward but not terribly clumsy as I imagined it would be. I think about how I'm going down the stairs and remember observing a friend's Maltese dog and Siamese cat moving up and down staircase back when they used to live in an apartment not too far from my house before they moved. I go down the stairs the same way those animals would, but cautiously, since I'm still learning how to be a four-legged dragon. As I go down, I quickly get the hang of it and am guided by my momentum, so I speed up slightly. Of course, when I when I notice this, I try to slow down a bit, making sure I don't lose control while managing my momentum. On the fifth to last step however, my palm slips on the wood and I stumble down on my underside until my face hits the floor.
Getting up again, I continue exploring. The bottom on the stairs lead to a living room. There isn't much to see there, though. In the center the room there is a rug under a coffee table that is close to a couch and some chairs. By the walls are two small tables with drawers and cupboards on them. About one or two flower pots and a few small picture frames are sitting on top of them. Near one of the cupboards, there is a bookshelf containing nothing more than a few cook books. There is a door under the stairs, which could be either a storage closet or the ice arena for the Food Souls. But I'm not really interested in checking it out right now and it could be locked, for all I know. The other door on the far end of the room leads to the restaurant, it seems.
There are three Food Souls who are hanging out on the couch and chairs, which are Crepe, Sandwich, and Hawthorne Ball. Whatever it is that they're talking about has been interrupted by my appearance. Hawthorne asks eagerly, "Hey, is that the creature that Tom Yum found?" I approach them out of curiosity. Rice goes down the stairs along with Samson. Crepe answers, "Yeah. And … it looks kinda cute when awake. Especially the fur and face." I stop and frown momentarily at Crepe. Cute, really? Out of all things to say, that's what she comes up with? Welp, knowing her personality and Macaron's, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Though, it seems Macaron isn't summoned. And it looks like Samson has just started out on being a Master Attendant. Considering there are Food Souls, this is probably his second day, based on what I've seen in the game's main story.... Actually, since Rice is here, I think this is the main story. If it isn't, then Rice would only be summoned during a very specific event. I forgot what it was called, though, but it had to do with the characters Turkey and Eggnog, and some special wine that was won in a festival. Rice looks at them with wonder. "'Cute...?'" Samson replies, "Yeah, I guess it kind of is." I shoot them an annoyed glare. I look at the three Food Souls again and got a bit closer look at the coffee table. There are cards all over it, so I'm guessing Sandwich was playing a card game with the two girls before I interrupted them.
I walk to the door on the far end of the wall. Closed. Of course.... If I'm physically tougher in Tierra, then I guess I might have some other abilities that I either never had before, or are greater than in the real world. Maybe I still can open doors in this form, I think. Only one way to find out. I calculate the height between me and the door knob and jump. Success! I grab hold onto the knob and my hind legs were kicking around, claws lightly scratching the door, its frame, and a bit of the wall. After gaining footing into the wooden door frame, I carefully twist the knob and gave the frame and wall a strong kick, awkwardly pushing the door open by a few inches. I let go and drop down to the floor, successfully landing on all fours. I quickly grab the door and push it further open, so that it wouldn't close. The other side of the door had a sign nailed to it saying STAFF ONLY. On my right is a very short hall leading to the bathrooms. The room on the other side of the door is definitely the restaurant these guys own and work at. Sandwich comments, "Have you seen something like this before, Master Attendant?" Samson responds, "Nope. This is definitely a first." Rice adds, "It seems, curious...."
The restaurant has some space containing nothing more then a few tables and some generic decorations, so nearly the same appearance as what the restaurant looked like during the tutorials combined with what you'd expect from a Texas Roadhouse. A small one, though. Of course, the theme doesn't completely have that western feel, but that's probably because they just opened its doors, from what I could tell. There is a pair of doors that are for the customers to enter the restaurant, which from the perspective of my phone before ending up here, was somewhere on the bottom of the screen. Now, in my current point of view, it's on my far left. On the other side of the restaurant is a door, which I figured led to the back of the house. The windows of the place shows some trees and what I think is a town, with a lot of moonlight shining through, illuminating the restaurant. There is a clock hanging from one of the restaurant's walls says that it's eight thirty-seven. Recalling the conversation from earlier, I know that I should get to sleep despite just waking up now. I walk back to the couch from the living room and curl up on the soft upholstery, ready to sleep. Thirty seconds after closing my eyes, Hawthorne whispers excitedly, "Wah, it's even cuter falling asleep!" I glance at her and roll my eyes before closing them again. I'm gonna have to get used to this, aren't I?
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Danny_RPG
Danny_RPG 2/27/2022 Update: Aside from working on AMA 2 (Chapter 20), I'm going back to the previous chapters to update the writing style (making it nice, fresh, and consistent) and to fix whatever subtle grammar mistakes I overlooked in the past. Aside from adding very few sentences for shits and giggles, there won't be any dramatic changes to the writing that would ultimately affect the whole story.
7/29/2020 Update: Oh, my gosh, it's been a long time since I viewed and edited this story. I'm so sorry for any mistakes that I overlooked! If you find any errors, PLEASE let me know so I can fix them! And the same applies to the other websites that have ABW!
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