Drunkenly stumbling through Montreal's streets with her friends, Theodora laughed. They'd gone all out for the first 18th of the group and prepared for the worst. Theo herself couldn't drink yet, but they had soft drinks, which she drank religiously in much the same way. The group was dressed in their casual wear, herself wearing an overly baggy and tacky souvenir t-shirt, along with her favourite dark blue jeans.
"Hey, how 'bout we crash at my place? It's only a few blocks away." One of her friends asked.
"Suuureeee..!" The birthday girl hollered, intoxicated beyond belief.
'here, let me take her,' Two whispered, swapping roles to give each other a break.
The group traveled merrily throughout the night, laughing more than they ever thought they could.
"Hey, you guys go ahead. I'll catch up later." Theo said as they past by a 24/7 fast food place, breaking her shoulder-to-shoulder meandering at the back of the pack.
"Goooot itttttt…" The drunk one mumbled.
The group lazily serenaded her off, before going right back to their previous demeanour. Her stop wasn't long, just a few minutes to use the bathroom. She knew where the flat was anyhow. She slickly washed her hands and left the greasy joint.
Alone for the first time tonight, she let her mind wander. Her thoughts were heavily impeded by root beer, though. Bastard-brain syndrome was both a blessing and a curse. Almost subconsciously, she continued on, so oblivious to her own surroundings that she barely heard oncoming late night traffic.
Low roars turned to consistent white noise. Pitter-Patter-Pitter-Patter like hail hitting the roads droned on around her. Half asleep, her body carried her most of the way there. Turning onto Leduc Rd., however;
"A?e..?"
Theo slammed face-first into a stone wall.
Not even brick, just stone. Collected together with a primitive cement-like agent.
She tried to retrace her steps, sure that this was the street, but–
"…what the fuck..?"
Crowds of humanoid beings poured through the roads. Merchants lined the sides with crate-made stands, peddling wares to passerby. Brick walls of Mary Poppins-esque 3-5 story houses lined the streets, with intermittent and smaller wood-reconstructed buildings along the sightline. The sun hung high in the sky, illuminating Theo's dark bags and brown locks. Even the taste of the air changed to a reflect her surroundings, conveying that this place was a tad more unsanitary than her home streets.
Okay so, clearly, this isn't Montréal. That's for sure. Where am I though?
"S'cuse me, where is this..?" She slurred her words, tapping the shoulder of a nearby passerby.
"あの、何をしているのですか？"
"What..?"
"離してください、私には行くべきところがあるのです！"
"The hell are you saying..?"
The person rapidly shook her off, disappearing into the crowd, filled with non-humans and humans alike.
Okay so, this clearly isn't Montréal. That's for sure. Where am I though? She cursed.
Hoping to find a sign of anything, anything familiar, she waddled through the crowd. As she was lost in observation, a hooded stranger bumped into her, dropping a small pouch of sorts.
"Oi! You dropped this!" Theo waved, rushing after the figure to return their parcel.
2.
"は？じゃあよ…メシは何が残ってんだ？それとよ、ベサニー、酒はどんくらい残ってんだ？" A middle age woman barked at the back of an inn. "ったくよ…あのカタブツな領主ども、マジでムカつくわ…" As owner of this establishment, the recent abnormal influx of middle to high class people was breaking even her back, someone who'd been in this stressful position since her youth.
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"ボス！残っているのはラードと川魚だけです！" A young boy shouted from the back door.
"クソがよ…" The boss mutters to herself.
"だったらよ、他のもん取ってこい！"
"できません！ディランが去ったので、私は酒場の世話をしています！"
"じゃあベサニーに行かせろ！"
While the inn-runners managed their hectic situation, another scene was playing out.
The hooded figure from before was rushing through the rooftops, chasing a suspicious individual who was–they too– jumping across buildings. Lagging far behind them was Theo, still trying to return their parcel.
"You—huff—You dropped–huff—this—" Theo shouted, short on breath. She'd been leaping across the roofs, dashing up fire escapes, and chucking her body around like this for almost an hour now. Surprisingly, her body had been handling the abuse moderately well, though a few wake ups were needed here and the—
CRAAAAAAAAASHHHHHHH!
Her jump fell short of dozing-off, crashing down 4 stories onto a wagon full of hay. Thankfully, neither the cart nor her had any broken orifices. This world's gravity was slightly lighter than her homeworld's, so that may have been a part of it.
"A???eee,"Owwww Theo whined, weakly massaging her neck. "esti de…" She forced herself awake, "—huh! gosse…"
A few motes of coloured light appeared around her, approaching her seemingly of a mix of curiosity and worry.
"怪我したか？" A middle aged woman dressed in servant's attire asked.
"Judging by your tone, I assume you're asking 'Are you okay?'" She sharply inhaled, "…yes. Yes I'm fine. Sorry 'bout that." Theo hung her head in embarrassment.
"S’alright. Ain’t my cart anyhow."
Theo's eyes widened in shock.
"You can understand me???"
"I hear ya. I'm speakin the Matriarch's Acadian, ain't I?" The woman huffs.
"…holy fuck you're my saviour."
Theo was on the verge of crying. Finally. After struggling through the whole day, someone could understand her.
"What’s wrong with ya? You’re Acadian, right? Half’n’half, if I’m guessin right. What’re ya doin crawlin’ round this side of the map?"
Theo, unable to respond, collapsed to her knees, sobbing in relief.
"Good grief. Yer ‘bout to drop, ain’t ya? I can see it in yer eyes. Them haybales in the stable—sleep on one of those for now. There's bound to be an extra few. When ya wake up, I’ll give ya a list of things to help out with. Ain’t gonna let one of my kin sleep on the streets."
"Th-Thank you Miss…" Theo's trembling sobs intensified as she spoke.
"Call me Diana. Now go on, ‘fore you drop."
"Diana…" Theo muttered repeatedly as she zoned out.
"Yes? That's my name. What's it to ya?"
Theo didn't respond. She couldn't even manage to blink.
"What? Did ya see a ghost or somethn?"
"S-sorry." Theo snapped herself out of her daze. "It's just, that's my babcia's name… and my sister's maiden name." She softly spoke, choking back tears. "They may as well be good as dead now…"
Before she could cry more, Diana stopped her with a pat on the shoulder.
"Cry yer heart out in the barn. The collie’s a good beast, he’ll keep ya company."
With a light tap, she sent the kid away. Diana waited for her to be out of earshot before she continued.
"Babcia huh?" The woman pondered. "That’s a word I ain’t heard used in a long time…"
Drained from her short day, Theo fell down dramatically in the barn, by the hay as Diana had suggested. Thankfully, there were no animals where they hay was stored.
\n
"babcia…wujek, ciocia… siostrzyczka…" She muttered dazed once more.
Her family life had always been rough. She'd been raised by a single mother, who, through all fault of her own, was… let's say special. Theo wouldn't miss her, not in the slightest. But her family beyond that? She loved dearly. Even her little sister, who's starting to fall down the same path as their mother, and was admittedly a little shitling.
Remembering all the family members she's lost, she couldn't help but weep.
This world was not for own, and for once, without the ability to contact her loved ones, Theo truly felt alone.
While she sobbed, a creature softly observed her. It was a small dragon, a runt Coll to be specific. It's appearance closely resembled that of a border collie from her homeworld. It's tufts of hatchling fur were interlaid sparsely and comfortably with scales—'like a rockruff' is how Theo'd put it—preserved thanks to a lack of extra blessings. The runt approached her, ever so slightly as to not disturb her.
The runt burrowed itself next to her, the friction and scratches of it's fur outweighed by fluff. A few concerned whines were muttered, the coll trying to ease her pain.
"…huh..?" Theo was pulled out ever so little by it's sounds. Feeling some sort of warm fur brushed up against her, she slowly turned to see it.
The runt was laying, chin flat on the ground, eyes wide with worry. It reminded her of how her old shitsu would try to comfort her.
"…thanks." She meekly responded. The beast rejoiced at giving her comfort, it's tail wagging slightly.
Theo noticed a crude collar around the runt. It's tag showed an address, but not a name.
"…do you have a name lil guy…?"
The coll tilted his head in confusion.
"no, huh? can I call you Mishu then..?"
The beast's tail wagged frantically, jumping over Theo's exacerbated body.
"cough cough—I can't breathe lil guy.."
He paid no attention to her words, flopping directly onto her upper body, including her face.
"mmmffffmffff!"
Her dark thoughts now literally being choked out, Theo resigned herself to exhaustion. Not without her fair share of tears throughout though.
