"Tynan LightBarer?" Jamie repeated with a puzzled expression. "I've never heard a name like that before. Do you remember where you are from?"
"I have no clue, but at least know who I am." He said with glee. Jamie could tell now that this man, Tynan, was telling the truth. She smiled and stuck her hand out to him. He looked at it for a second and then grabbed her hand. She pulled him up quickly and shook his hand.
"Well Tynan, I'm Jamie Tonoko." They shook hands for a moment till Jamie looked down at the ragged mess of clothes he had on and began to burst into laughter. "You have to get some clothes man!" she said in between laughs. Tynan's face began to turn bright red as quickly covered himself with his hands and shuffled a little away from her. She continued to laugh as he moved away. "Come on, I'll get you to a town to get some clothes and then someone there can get you home." She paused for a second after saying that. Why did she care if this guy finds his way out of this forest? He meant nothing to her and she had no connection to him, but for some reason she felt like she had to help him. She didn't know if it was pity or genuine concern, but what she did know is if she left him here, he'd end up lost and dead or worse. She began to lead him through the woods back towards the main road attached to the village. As she led him she would turn around to make the occasional joke to him or mock him for the rags he wore. The rain continued to gently fall down on the forest as they walked, both unbothered by it, but instead finding a peace within it. Tynan was embarrassed most of the time, but for Jamie, she was having fun. She wasn't thinking of the pain in the world, only about where they were heading to and what funny joke she could say next. She was having a genuine fun time leading Tynan back to the village she was born in. The sky began to get even darker as the sun began to set and by the time they could see the main road from in the woods, the sun had completely settled down behind the clouds. Tynan could not see a thing in the dark, but Jamie's eyes could see everything she needed to. She could make out the main road through the trees and began following it while sticking in the woods.
"Are you sure you know where we are going?" Tynan asked while struggling to find and follow her in the dark.
"Of course I know where I'm going, I'm not blind like you." She snarkily replied. "We just gotta keep going forward for about half an hour then we'll be there." She stopped for a second to check on him but as she was turning he bumped into her. "You really gotta watch where you are going man!"
"I'm sorry, I can't see at all, it's too dark and blurry for me." Tynan apologetically said.
"Oh yeah I'm sorry, I forgot you humans can't see like us in the dark, let alone you can't even see without glasses." She then grabbed his hand and went back to leading him onwards. They moved forward a little slower than Jamie liked, but they were making steady progress. They walked silently for a while until Tynan broke the silence.
"By the way, this is going to sound rude, but what are you?" He hesitantly asked her.
"I'm a woman, you might have not seen any before me, but I'm one hundred percent real." She said with a snicker.
"No, not what gender you are, but what I mean is, well, why do you have animal ears and a tail?" He asked. Jamie stopped in her tracks and he ran into her once again, this time she had nothing to say. They stood in awkward silence for a minute while Jamie just looked forward. "Uh, are you alr-" He was interrupted by her turning around and sending her fist into the side of his stomach. He dropped to the ground and held his side trying to catch his breath.
"Don't ever call or compare me to an animal again." she shouted aggressively. "I have half a mind to leave you here in the dirt for that."
"I'm sorry." Tynan spit out through his coughing, "I wasn't trying to offend you. I-I just have never seen anyone like you before."
"What, were you so sheltered before you lost your memories that you never seen one of us animals." She said while making quotations with her fingers.
"No, I promise I mean no offense." He sputtered out as he tried to get up. "I really have no clue about what's going on. I'm not trying to call you an animal, I'm just curious." Jamie glared down at him on the ground, and realized exactly what she just did. Her heart began to feel heavy thinking about how he must feel right now.
"I'm sorry about that." She said as she reached down and helped him back up to his feet. "There are a lot of humans out there who wouldn't miss a chance to throw an insult at anyone not like them. For your sake, you better hope you're not one of them."
"I promise, I don't care about if you or anyone else is human or not, I just want to know what you actually are." he said with a pained smile. Jamie smiled back and grabbed his hand and began to lead him onward again.
"I'm Kitsunese," Jamie exclaimed proudly, "one of the five main "beast" races. We are fox-like people and have longer and more pointy ears and fluffier tails. There are four other races but you have probably only run into three of them, the fourth likes to stay on their island." She led him on for another ten minutes until she could see the gates of the village. She turned him around and pushed him deeper in the woods so he would be out of sight of the guards. "Listen you've got to wait here till I come back with some clothes and a way to get you in. They are going to be very hesitant to let a human in at this hour, let alone a half naked pervert."
"Hey it's not like this by choice." He defensively replied. "Where are you getting the clothes from anyways?"
"You don't need to worry about that, just sit here and stay low and quiet." She then began to sneak towards the village. She stayed quiet and crouched until she got to the treeline of the village. She climbed up into the tree next to her with expertise so she could get a better view. From up there she saw multiple guards taking rounds through the pathways. She studied them for a few minutes and climbed down. She snuck into the town and hid behind the closest house. She looked around the corner watching out for the guards as she swiftly and quietly made her way behind the next home. The rain began to get heavier as she scanned around for what she was looking for, but as she was looking a light began to crest around the corner. She quickly and quietly got onto the roof of the house as a guard walked by. The guard had a sour face and looked miserable from patrolling in the rain. His fox ears sticking through the metal helmet were drenched along with his tail. He began mumbling to himself about how the rain ruins his nights of duty and how he couldn't wait to retire. He quickly looked around and moved on. Jamie scouted around more on the rooftops until she finally found what she was looking for, the clothes left out by Old Miss Hanako. Miss Hanako always forgot to get the clothes in before the rain, even when Jamie was a small child and Hanako wasn't Old Miss Hanako, she would forget to bring the clothes in. Many people in the town attributed this flaw as why she never married, but the truth was no man she was with could handle Hanako' temperament. Her two sons still live with her, even though they were adults, to help take care of her. Jamie hopped from roof to roof over to her house. Every step she took and every time she landed on a roof she made no noise. She silently climbed her way down the side of her house, using the rain and her water magic to form little bumps of ice for her to grab on to. As she climbed down she peeked into Old Miss Hanako's window and saw her cooking while her sons helped. She hopped off and ran over to her clothes line, quickly looking through what Hanako had hung up and grabbed a shirt and pants that looked about Tynan's size. She frowned because they were soaking wet, but beggars can't be choosers she thought to herself. She swiftly made her way out of the sight and back onto the roof. She turned around and quickly melted the ice on the wall with a small amount of heat using fire magic. She made her way back across the rooftops quietly and back towards the way she came. She got to the last house by the edge and jumped onto the closest tree. She looked down and noticed a guard underneath her trying to use the tree as cover from the rain. She carefully made her way around the tree branches and onto a neighboring tree. Jamie then swiftly made her way through the woods back to Tynan. She finally made her way above him and looked down at him. He sat there against the tree with his arms crossed shaking waiting. She smirked and jumped down to the ground in front of him and yelled "Boo!"
Tynan jumped up in fear and held his arms up to protect himself. He stood there a few seconds cowering in fear when he realized nothing was happening. He looked out in front of him with squinted eyes and realized it was just Jamie.
"Don't do that!" He shouted. "You scared the shit out of me!" Jamie began laughing at his cowardly display.
"Don't be so jumpy then! If you were keeping an eye out, you would have known I was there!" she said while laughing.
"How, I didn't even hear a sound!" Tynan exclaimed, trying to defend himself.
"Well, I guess I can't blame you. I am one of the best after all." She said proudly with a smirk. "Look I got you some clothes, but they are drenched."
"There wasn't anything more, dry?" He hesitantly asked while looking at the clothes with mild disgust
"Beggars can't be choosers." She said with a smug tone. "Catch!" she tossed the sopping wet clothes to him and they made an undesirable squishing noise as he caught them. As soon as the fabric touched him it made his skin crawl and shiver. "Go ahead, get dressed." She looked at him with a smile as he looked at her. They stared at each other for a few moments before Tynan broke the silence.
"Can you look the other way please?" he asked with a red face.
"Ha! There isn't anything that you've got that I haven't seen already, why be worried?" She asked with a laugh as she turned around to face away from him. "But fine, I'll give you privacy." He turned around and began to put the pants on. The feeling of the wet fabric made his skin crawl every inch it was pulled up around his legs, until it was finally around his waist. He then pulled the shirt over his head and onto his body. Every piece of his body squirmed at the feeling, but he stood strong so he wouldn't get mocked again.
"Ok, I'm ready." He weakly said, trying to hide his disgust.
"Finally covered pervert?" she turned around to face him and have a look. The shirt was big on him and the pants too long. She held back laughing at the sight of him because she could see he was getting overly embarrassed. She gave him a small smile, even though she knew he couldn't see it, and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not too bad, it covers everything you need. Now come on," She said as she grabbed his hand, "I've thought of a way to get you in without making you sneak around." She began to pull him forward back to the main road.
"How's that?" He asked while blindly following and trusting her.
"Acting," she stated proudly, "you're gonna act to get in. Just follow my lead and everything will be fine!" She finally got on to the main road with him. In the distance through all the rain she saw the glow of the torches by the archway leading into the village. "Ok, are you ready?"
"What? I don't know what I-" He was suddenly interrupted by her picking up the pace into a run towards the gate. He struggled to keep up with her, and the only reason he could was because she was pulling him forward. The two guards standing at the archway noticed them running and drew their weapons.
"Halt!" The female guard on the left shouted, "Who are you and what business do you have?" They continued to run towards the gate getting closer and closer,the guards getting more nervous. "I said halt!" She exclaimed loudly. A few seconds later she finally recognized who was in front of her. "Jamie? What are you doing at this hour?" she said while relaxing her stance.
"You gotta let us through!" Jamie shouted with a panicked voice. "I need to see the Grand Exorcist right away!" Both the guards and Tynan gave her a confused and startled look.
"What, why do you sound so panicked, and why do you have a human with you?" the male guard on the right asked while getting in a more defensive stance, pointing his halberd at Tynan.
"You don't understand we have to see the Grand Exorcist now, I think this boy is being possessed or under the effect of a demon!" She yelled while pointing to Tynan. Both of the guards took a step back and raised their weapons at him. He realized the situation and grabbed the sides of his head, and began to throw his head around in pain.
"Please, it hurts so much!" Tynan exclaimed, "I can barely see any more and all I hear is screaming in my head please!" The guards, believing his lie, stepped even further back.
"Please let him through," Jamie pleaded with the guards, "I think whatever has a hold of him is eating away at his brain! He was out in the middle of the woods mumbling like an idiot and he can't even remember his home town or even his name!" She emphasized while throwing her hands in the air. Tynan moaned and groaned while throwing himself about and threw himself at Jamie. She caught him and held him up. "See!" She shouted, "You have to let us through!" The guards looked at each other quickly and nodded. They both relaxed their stances and quickly got out of their way.
"Take him to the Grand Exorcist quickly, he may be human but that doesn't mean he deserves to become brain dead and possessed." The female guard said mournfully.
"Thank you, you won't regret this!" Jamie thanked them as she grabbed Tynan's hand and led him through the town. She sped through the pathways with him and led him through the small and closed down market, and then through a large cobblestone pathway that leads up to a house on the hill at the edge of the other side of town.