“Urgh,” she groaned and rubbed her nose, but then started snickering. What did it matter that her coordination wasn’t all that great right now? She was healthy! She could learn to run and jump and maybe swing one of those swords they were carrying out there! It was a whole new world to explore, and for the first time, she could truly go out and live!
Recalling the blue box she’d seen when she first woke up, she tried to remember what it’d said. Something about a scan and being welcomed to Andara. Was there more? Probably. Did she remember? Not at all. “Ugh, this is where one of those message log things would come in handy,” she muttered to herself, hoping the appropriate little blue box would pop up again.
No such luck.
“There’s gotta be something… System? Menu? Oiy, blue box! Appear! Map? Information? Status? Help?” She sat there, talking aloud and trying to get the blue box to appear again when she heard the doorknob turning on the far door, only for it to stop, proving it was locked. She could vaguely make out a voice from the other side.
“Locked? It was empty yesterday… Did someone else check in?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you try knocking?” She heard three sharp raps as someone called out more loudly, “Anyone in there?”
Scrambling to her feet, she called out, “I’m here, one sec!” She glanced down, registering what she was wearing for the first time. Bare feet, what looked like yoga pants, and a t-shirt with no bra that clung to her skinny frame like a second skin… Oh well, it wasn’t like she had anything to hide. She smiled a little sourly, thinking that if she was going to be given a new life, the least whatever god put her here could have done was make her not as flat as a board again… She could hear whispers on the other side of the door, but they’d lowered their voices so she could no longer make out what they were saying.
She made it to the door, fumbling with the lock before she finally figured it out and swung it open, grinning joyfully as she chirped, “Hi!”
The two girls on the other side looked a little confused at her bright greeting, but they bobbed a small bow and greeted her in return. “Hello, miss. Sorry for disturbing you, but we weren’t aware anyone had checked into this room yet. We were supposed to get it ready for the new students...” Her voice trailed off as she realized she might have said too much because Jade was just staring at her, thinking hard.
Well crap. What am I supposed to do? Is this supposed to be someone else’s room? But I need a place to stay. Do I tell them I’m from another world? Will they think I’m crazy and lock me up? Don’t transmigrators usually withhold the information that they’re from a different world? But they usually take over someone else’s life, and I didn’t, so I should be okay…right? What if they can help me, but not if I don’t tell them I need help? She’s staring at me like I’m crazy. Wait, did she ask me a question?
“I’m Jade. It’s nice to meet you.” Trying to mask her crazy inner dialogue, she stuck her hand out, hoping to diffuse the awkward silence that had descended. However, now the two girls were looking at her even more strangely, or, more pointedly, they were staring at her hand like it was a snake.
“Do you…need something?” the second girl asked, peering back up at her face with a flummoxed expression.
Taking her hand back like it had been lit on fire, she tried to make it a smooth transition to touching her hair and failed utterly, probably looking more like an awkward baby giraffe as she jerked it around. She laughed nervously, muttering, “Sorry, it’s a greeting where I’m from…”
“Oh!” The first girl looked like a light bulb had just gone off over her head. She was staring at Jade in an intensely creepy way now, and she unconsciously took a step back as girl one lowered her voice and asked with excitement, “Are you…a traveler?” Girl two was giving girl one an incredulous look, as if she had just asked an extremely stupid question.
Jade sighed. She was never going to be able to keep the fact that she was from a different world and totally ignorant about this one under wraps, so she shrugged helplessly and muttered, “If you mean, as far as I know, I’m in a new world as of twenty minutes ago, then yeah?” Some of her excitement about being able to move around for herself was wearing off. She was in a new world, and it was finally sinking in that she had absolutely no idea what she was going to do with her life, or even what the general situation of the world was. She’d been dumped here, albeit with a healthy body, and left to fend for herself. Was this even real, or was it just another dream?
“Ohmyheavens!” The girl one’s compressed squeal brought her back to reality. Now both of them were staring at her like she was an alien…which technically speaking, she supposed if this was real, she probably was? But the girl had kept going, so she tried to pay attention. “I’ve never met a real traveler before! What’s it like?” Girl one’s eyes glittered with excitement and girl two still had a skeptical look in her eye, though curiosity was slowly taking over.
Girl one was looking hungrily at her like she was the last cookie on the plate and she was going to grab her before anyone else could. Warily and slightly wearily, Jade ran a hand through her hair as she confessed, “Honestly, it’s a bit confusing. I have no idea where I am or what’s going on.”
The two girls exchanged looks, finally seeming to take in how frail her appearance was for the first time. They glanced down the hall, and then, seeing no one else around, girl two spoke quietly, “Why don’t we come in and sit down for a few minutes? Maybe we can help explain some things for you.” She also looked like she wanted to learn more, but there was a gentleness there too.
Seeing the kind scrutiny on her face, Jade felt her guard dropping. She nodded gratefully and stepped back, allowing the two girls into the room. Seeing the small cart of cleaning supplies they brought in with them, she finally noticed their matching uniforms of black pants and light beige shirts with a conspicuous coat of arms above their hearts. She closed the door behind them and stumbled back over to the bed to sit down, trying to take in their presence fully.
“Where to start…?” girl one muttered to herself as she gazed around the room curiously.
“Uhm…maybe I can get your names?” It felt a bit weird in her head to keep calling them girl one and two. Her little interjection seemed to fluster the girls, and they had both turned slightly red.
“Right, sorry about that! I’m Kaylee, and this is Jessica,” girl one spoke, and Jade mentally tried to replace girl one with Kaylee in her brain. She was a pale, tall, willowy type of girl. Her face was angular, her nose and lips were thin, though her crowning features were her expressive blue eyes and honey blond hair that came down to her elbows, held back in a low ponytail by a black ribbon. She too was lacking the curves Jade wished for, and Jade felt a kinship with her. Maybe her skinny figure wouldn’t stand out that much?
Jessica, on the other hand, had a fuller figure. She wouldn’t be called fat by any stretch of the imagination, but she still seemed to have some lingering baby fat on her rounded face and a chest Jade was slightly envious of. She had silky dark brown hair that was likewise tied back in a low ponytail, and her dark brown eyes were almond-shaped and matched her olive skin. Neither girl appeared to be much older than fifteen.
“It’s nice to meet you two.” Jade smiled tiredly at them. It felt like it might be a while before she got any useful information out of them, but she couldn’t really blame them. How did one explain your world to someone when you had no idea what their frame of reference was? She couldn’t help but attempt to prod them along to try and get to the useful stuff. “Can you just...explain the basic situation here? I literally know nothing about this world other than that I saw a blue box that welcomed me and when I looked out the window, people were carrying weapons.” Hopefully, they were still called weapons here... Surprisingly, she thought, she had no issue with the language, though it didn’t quite feel like she was speaking English. Well, whatever. If she could communicate without a problem, that was the important part.