Fires of Hokkai

Do you remember?

Before the fall?

…

The headache was a bit agonizing. All Sele could remember was… being dragged along into the woods after a dinner date with Jackal and Misty. She was kind of hoping she’d be able to get some double action on with the two, but ended up tagging along after the conversation came to the topic of Misty’s origins… again.

Something about Misty’s real name and the anomalous feather… the closer it got to when Sele whited out, the blurrier it was.

While she didn’t quite have it in her to open her eyes just yet, Sele called out nonetheless.

“Jackal…? Are you there?”

Her voice reverberated in a manner that was a bit otherworldly.

Though Sele didn’t get a proper response, a familiar groan indicated that Jackal must’ve indeed been nearby.

“Goodness… are you OK, Sele?”

It was Misty, Sele could judge that by voice as well… slowly, Sele was able to open her eyes against the light, to see Misty crouched in front of her, extending their hand.

Sele tried to take it, but the rays of natural light felt a bit like lasers beaming directly into her head, and she buried her face back into the soft ground.

Natural light…?

“Give me like… five more minutes…” Sele groaned as she rubbed her temples.

Misty gave a bit of a laugh in response.

“Hehe, alright!”

Despite the otherworldly softness of the grass, Sele could still hear the slight crunching of Misty’s feet as they pranced over to try and help Jackal up.

Jackal was mostly muttering incomprehensibly in between groaning, but was able to wobble to her feet with Misty’s help.

Suddenly, Jackal fell quiet.

“Oi, Sele. Holy shit.” she said after a moment of silence, as she walked over to try and shake Sele up.

“You gotta fuckin’ look at this.”

“But I’m comfy here…” Sele mumbled.

“Alright, then have fun on missing out on another world, then.” Jackal scoffed.

“Because hooooooooooooooooly shit.”

As much as Sele didn’t want to deal with her headache any more, she couldn’t deny Jackal’s baffled tone was intriguing… considering not even she had heard it before. So, Sele just decided she’d cope with it, and lifted her face up from the soft ground.

It was indescribable.

The grass, which has been soft enough to comfortably rest her face in, was a lush green and seemed to span on for forever. The ground seemed to be made of fluffy white clouds of some kind, and was soft to match. The sky was blue, and the light was… real.

“Cool! Was that feather like, secretly some kind of explosive activator that killed us?” Sele said, her voice a bit… frantic. She didn’t want to openly say so, but she was… a bit scared.

Jackal lightly bapped Sele upside the head in response.

“Ow! Hey!”

“Well, see, that felt real. Guess that means you’re not dead OR dreaming.”

Misty laughed as they watched the interaction.

“You guys are always so fun to watch!” they said cheerfully.

“I’m glad you two have always been by my side…”

“Hey, it’s no biggie. Gotta look out for each other, yaknow?” Jackal smiled.

“So, Mis- er, Dove… is this… your home?”

Oh, right. It was slowly coming back to Sele.

Misty’s real name was Dove. And the trio – or, at least Jackal and Sele – whited out after they had held up the anomalous feather.

“I… I think I can safely assure it is.” Dove nodded.

“It just all came back to me so suddenly, but…”

“Hah, you should let us crash here! It seems pretty nice – nicer than a cramped inner city apartment, that is.” Sele interrupted.

“Mm… I don’t mind Jackal’s apartment, actually.” Dove hummed along.

“It’s cozy.”

“Yeah, cozy sure is… a word for it.” Sele replied.

“It’s better than your apartment by a longshot.” Jackal groaned.

Sele gave Jackal a huffy look, which elicited another chuckle from Dove.

It almost felt like at this point, Sele and Jackal were just bickering because they both liked to hear Dove’s laugh.

“Seriously though…” Sele resumed.

“Where… are we? If we’re not dead or in some sort of collective dream or fucked up trip, that is.”

“Oh! We’re…” Dove started, though they suddenly fell unexpectedly quiet, and their eyes grew a bit wider – as if coming upon some kind of realization.

“...Oh no.”

“...Oh no? Dove, what’s up?” Jackal asked with a cock of her head.

“I… I had… hmm…” Dove continued, though it seemed they kept mumbling over their words too much to actually say anything.

Sele, meanwhile, seemed to be preoccupied examining the surroundings a bit more. While she was scanning the horizon, she noticed a small cottage at a distance, amongst the flowing grass and flowers.

“Hey, look! This place has some signs of life to it beyond plants!”

Jackal and Dove both perked up to look onward at the small home, and Jackal walked a bit closer to Sele’s side to get a better look.

“Weird.” she remarked.

“Well, maybe whoever lives there has answers? Hopefully they’re not as freaky as that demon we met trying to break into your old friend’s house, Sele.”

“That sounds like a plan!” Sele replied, nodding with a smile.

“How’s that sound to you, Dove?”

Sele turned to face Dove with a smile, but her expression quickly shifted to one of worry upon seeing Dove’s conflicted expression.

“Hey, it’s OK to be scared of the unknown – I’m sure this could help with the blanks in your memory!” Sele said, rather empathetically compared to her usual tone.

“No, it’s not…” Dove mumbled some more.

“I… I know where we are. And I remember who I am, I just…”

“Well? We’re friends, right? You can let us know what the issue is, I’m sure it’s nowhere near some of the candid stuff Sele’s confided to me.” Jackal nodded.

A light breeze wafted through the meadow, blowing Dove’s odd-shaped ears and sheer overdress ever so slightly. It wasn’t quite cool, but not quite warm… but it did feel pleasant.

“...That’s the issue.” Dove sighed.

“I… don’t want you two to get hurt.”

A small look of shock came over both Jackal and Sele.

“Huh?” Sele said, her voice confused.

“This place… really doesn’t give me ‘dangerous’ vibes. It’s like, the total opposite to be, if I’m being completely honest.”

“Do you two remember… before we came here?” Dove started.

“Vaguely.” Jackal replied, nodding along.

“I had… I had a moment of determination. I was so upset when I realized so many things, and I… cried out a name.” Dove continued, ending in a sigh.

“I can deal with myself… I have the strength and love and friendship you two have given me. But… I wasn’t quite expecting you two to end up here with me…”

The breeze wafted through again, but this time time, it almost sounded like there was some kind of… song-song melody playing through it. Sele just figured it was her headache getting to her, at this point.

“Yes, but what is ‘this’, Dove? We’re worried about you – I think the two of us are more than capable of dealing with whatever bullshit is thrown our way, so if you’re scared of something even we can’t deal with… Of course we’re going to be worried for your safety as well!” Jackal explained, her voice in a tone of genuine worry.

There was a pause between the three of them as Dove stood idly by. As the tone has slowly become a bit more serious, it would seem the breeze that intermittently blew by was becoming more frequent. And the odd, humming ‘song’ it carried seemed to grow… louder.

“You aren’t supposed to be here, and I’m just… I’m worried that if someone sees you, that…”

Someone?

Come to think of it, there was an additional odd feeling setting in on Sele. A feeling of being… watched.

Watched with a piercing gaze that was able to perceive her every move.

Sele looked over to Jackal, and judging from her uncomfortable expression, assumed she must be feeling the unpleasant aura as well.

“Then we’ll fuckin’ deal with it.” Jackal said.

“Casino bigwig, demon, something bigger… who gives a shit! You’re our friend! And if it’s so bad you feel like you have to take it alone to ensure we stay safe, we might as well all go in together!!”

There was another pause, this one longer than the last.

Then, despite all their worries… Dove smiled.

“You’re right, Jackal.” they nodded.

“I’m sure that… as long as you two are by my side… everything will be alright.”

Suddenly, Dove jogged up to Sele and Jackal, and embraced them both in a group hug.

“No matter what happens… I’m just so glad I could make friends like you.”

While Jackal and Sele were indeed worried too, seeing Dove so happy filled them both with a warm fuzzy feeling – despite the now almost overpowering feeling of being watched.

Dove was the first to break the hug, and tuned around to face what appeared to be nothing with an incredibly determined look.

“I’ve seen the truth!”