49 Stable? More like UnStable!

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POV Teles:

  I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed for the trip, I especially wanted to make sure I had the supplies to draw a map of the abandoned empire city!

I woke up early this morning and decided to walk outside the base. The air was fresh and the sun was rising slowly on the horizon. I better go tend to my chorus trees before we leave, and make sure they're all good.

As I made my way toward the crops I heard someone walking up behind me, I turned around to find Silvia who was fidgeting with something behind her back. 

"M-Morning Teles... I have something important to tell you..." 

I stood back up and faced the shaky spider girl, "What's up?" 

Silvia looked up at me with a remorseful expression. "Teles, I know I owe you an apology," she said. "It's about the other night..." 

"Look, it's alright-" 

"No, it's not! I let my emotions get the best of me and it hurt everyone.... literally! I'm very sorry about everything!" Silvia said while bowing her head.

Before I could say anything. She then pulled out a small box from her bag before and handed it to me.

"I finished making this for you the other night, I-I hope you like it!"  She said with an uneasy tone. 

I opened the gift box she gave me. Inside was some kind of hat. My face lit up once I realized what it was. 

"A black buret!?!?" I exclaimed, admiring the intricate design and the soft fabric.

"I... Just hope you like it..." Silvia said while looking away in shyness. 

I flashed a warm smile as I put on the hat, "I love it, thank you." I replied as I gave her a hug. 

"O-Of Course! Don't mention it!" Silvia replied while feeling suddenly stiff. 

"Umm, I think I'll go check up on everyone else now, cya later!" Silvia started while trying to cover her red cheeks. 

"Alright, bye!" I can tell when the conversation needs to end.

I watched as she trotted her way back into the base. I couldn't help but feel a bit concerned.

I thought Silvia was doing a great job lately being herself, and also open to all of us, but now I feel like she's just taking a huge step backward, It all sort of upsets me.

I adjusted the new beret I was given and continued to finish tending the farmland.

'I wonder what everyone else is doing?' I thought 

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POV Takeo:

We exited the secret tunnel that connects my base area to the forest outside the city. 

"So over there?" I asked

"Yep, the stable should be just around... What the?"

As we approached the area. We quickly noticed someone was already there looking at the horses. A man with a familiar face.

"Can it be? No, it couldn't!!!" I whispered 

"Umm, you know this guy?" Rei quietly asked me 

"I have a bad feeling I do... Can we just wait until he leaves?" 

"That's going to get us nowhere..." 

"Fine! I will go talk to him! Stay out of his sight!"

There was no doubt about it anymore, this was clearly Chief Richard, but what the heck was he doing out here of all places?

How does he know about the horses? And above all, could this timing be any worse right now!?!?

  "Ah Takeo, I had a hunch you'd show up soon." Richard greeted 

'Shoot! He saw me coming first!' I thought

He then looked past me and called out, "You can come out too, I know you're there!" 

I hesitated for a moment but then knew that it was useless to lie. I called out to Rei to come out of hiding. She slowly emerged from behind the tree, looking as though she had been caught in the act.

"How did you know about this?" I asked 

Richard chuckled and said, "Nothing gets passed me, Takeo. I have eyes and ears everywhere. However, this stable isn't the true reason I'm here." Richard concluded as he eyed Rei. 

I panicked a bit, "Chief wait! I'm sorry I keep getting involved with Demi-monsters, but Rei is only here to help! We could-"

Richard held his hand to silence me as he turned his attention back to Rei, "Wait a minute, you're a Demi-monster?"

I froze at his realization knowing I jumped the gun hard!!!

Rei shot me a fierce look and then smacked me on the back of my head. "You idiot, Takeo! Why would you say something like that?" she exclaimed, her voice filled with frustration. 

"Now now!" Richard exclaimed trying to calm Rei down. "I don't care what you are, as long as you don't intend on throwing the first attack!"

Rei stopped what she was doing, "Wait, really?" 

"Of course! Your friend Takeo here taught me a thing or two about this 'Demi-monster' race. I can safely say that I can trust people like you, but I wish I could say the same about the people of Minemore..." 

"Well... I'm just glad people can understand me!" Rei said with a reassuring smile, "Honestly, besides Takeo, you're the only guy who didn't know I was a monster at first!" 

'Hmm, wait a minute...' I thought might as well ask him something important while I'm here. I might as well get my closure! I summoned the courage to ask him a question that had been bugging me for a long time now.

"Chief, I have one more question!" I asked as I recovered from my head concussion. 

"Of course, Takeo. What's on your mind?" Richard replied with a smile.

"I was just wondering... If you're an otherworlder,  like me!" I blurted out, my curiosity getting the better of me. "Sorry if this felt personal and everything, just with all the clues I've collected, I just HAVE to know at this point!" 

"Hmm, I mean it kinda makes sense when you think about it," Rei replied while placing her hand on her chin in some kind of standing-thinking pose.

Richard remained silent for a few moments, his gaze fixed on the ground. Then, he looked up at me and said, "You're right, Takeo. I am an otherworlder. I was living in this world long before you got here. I think it's only fair that you finally learn the truth!"

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We were frozen and gaped with shock, I mean sure I was thinking about this for a while, but I wasn't expecting Richard to just up and admit this just because I asked.

"Wow, never thought I'd see more otherworlders besides Takeo. I never really got to meet the one at our old hideout because they were slayed by Kai..." Rei acknowledged 

"Wait... So if you were actually an otherworlder this entire time, why didn't you ever tell me!?!?" I asked, my voice filled with curiosity.

"It was a secret I've kept from the Minemore community for a while now actually... I just couldn't find the right time to tell you!"

"So is that why you let me into the city so easily? Or why Mr.Doubt kept interacting with you... or why you can't even tell the difference between the Demi-monsters and humans?" 

"That is correct, the community may have trusted you by now, but if they all of a sudden found out I was living this lie..." 

I let out a small sigh, "Yeah, I get it, this city is basically involved in representative democracy, if they found out you were living a lie like this, you'd probably have to step down huh?" 

"Wow, you sure know a lot about different types of governments huh?" Rei remarked looking astounded

"Oh please, if I wanted to live here I needed to learn about the laws of this world to begin with!" I shrugged, "I've spent a lot of time learning, but there's still so much more to learn!"

"It's true, it even took me a long time to adapt to the laws. You're not going to remember everything in the first year here." Richard added in.

"Honestly, I don't know everything about myself either. For instance, I'm not even sure I can check my own inventory!" 

"Oh, that's easy, have you ever tried doing that one ability with your eyes?" 

"Yeah, what about it?" I replied tilting my head.

"You can check your inventory by using your scan ability on your arm, I mean you can use it on any part of your body, but the arm is the simplest," Richard explained. 

"Wait.... Was it THAT easy!?!?" I shouted in a surprised tone.

"Yeah, I discovered that by accident too. It's a surprisingly helpful ability too, I learned it a long while back." 

What does he mean a while back? I finally got the answer to my question about whether Richard is an otherworlder or not, but were otherworlders sent to this place at different times?

"How long were you living in this world for anyway?" I questioned

Richard looked down for a second to think, and back up at us, "I'd say a little over 5 years."

We both stood there astonished and gaped. I was especially shocked knowing that time in this world worked exactly like it did back in my old world.

5 years!?!? Am I really stuck here like everyone else? I mean of course, I don't really mind living here now that I have people counting on me back at home, but I know there are many other people who probably loathed being kept in this dangerous world. 

"Your reactions are understandable," Richard started, "I miss my family back at home, but after being here for so long. I just had to face the fact that there was no way out..." His face looked normal, but I knew he was distraught on the inside. 

I was at a loss for words personally, I bet there were people sent here even longer than Richard was. I guess this phenomenon didn't catch on until much later when I started hearing news reports about this.

"Before I leave." Richard said, "I have a favor to ask you two." 

"What is it?" 

"I know you're going somewhere important, the fallen empire, the most important place that 'The Herobrine' attacked!" 

"Huh? Who's Herobrine?" Rei questioned 

"Oh well, that's kind of the nickname that Hiro Brian has in our world." 

"Wait, how do you know about him in that world? Did he attack there too?" 

"Well... In our old world, Herobine/Hiro was just a myth. We knew about him, but he never actually existed." I explained 

She crossed her arms at my response, "Sounds like a better place to live already!"

"Uh, back to what I was saying." Richard continued, "You're going to a historic place that was heavily affected by Herobrine! I don't know exactly why you're trying to go there, but I have a feeling it's important."

Richard walked up and put his hand on my shoulder, "Please, try to find any information you can regarding the otherworlders! I'm not saying you will find anything, but I have a theory you can get answers!" 

I nodded at his theory, "Of course, it's one of the reasons I wanted to go there! I'll see what I can do!" 

"Good, I can't come along because I'm too busy back at the office, but I just wanted to get the word out there." 

"You have to go?" 

"Yes, despite what all you were doing, it's somehow working so keep doing it, I won't tell anyone about the... other monsters you've been interacting with, but if word gets around behind the walls... Just be careful alright!" Richard concluded 

"You got it!" I replied with an unsure expression, despite my positive response.

We said our goodbyes as Richard made his way back to the city. It was just us again. 

"Sheesh, some community you've got there!" Rei started 

"Well, it beats taking my chances in a small village." I shrugged "You probably couldn't visit me illegally otherwise!" 

"Whatever..." 

"Despite how people act, the rules are unfortunately still rules! As Richard said, it's hard to survive in this world, so of course people will do whatever it takes to ensure their survival. Even if that means turning away what they feel is 'Different.'" 

"Mhm... And whose side are YOU on here?" 

I was getting side-eyed here! I can tell.

"Phhf, I don't know, I'll just keep switching sides until I'm on the one that's victorious!" I joked 

"...Dork..." she whispered 

"Ah relax, I'd honestly rather stay neutral about this situation, I'm not going to just simply trust everyone I meet with open arms. I've seen Demi-monsters try to kill me but at the same time, I've had the same amount of trouble against the other humans." I explained while pacing 

"I mean, I appreciate the universal thought, but... That... Doesn't really answer much of what I said earlier..." 

"Well, I'm just going to keep giving vague answers until you give up sooooooo-"

She crossed her arms looking annoyed, "And how many more of these do you have?" 

"Ten, going on eleven!" 

"FORGET IT!!! Let's just move on to the task at hand why don't we?" 

Oh, thank gosh, because to be honest I actually only had 6 more vague answers to give her, trying to please people in this world is hard!

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We both walked up to the quickly thrown-together stable. It wasn't the prettiest build I've seen, but it was enough to keep the horses inside.

Really it was just some dark oak fences placed around the wall of the hill, enough space for the horses to have a good amount of space.

Inside the stable were two horses. A black one with white dots,(I'm assuming that one is mine.) and a skeleton horse that Rei owned named Cash.

Interesting, I'm assuming I'll just need to saddle up the new horse now and wait for everyone else to come to this spot when done! 

As I reached out my hand towards the black horse, it didn't flinch or retreat - Instead, he leaned in towards me, nudging his nose into my hand.

I could feel his breath on my skin, a warm and friendly gesture that filled me with joy.

"Does he have a name yet?" I asked Rei 

"No, not yet, he is your horse after all! You name him." 

I thought about it for a moment, "I think I'll name him Dakota then, has a cool feel for it ya know?"

"Umm, I guess!" 

I gently stroked his mane, feeling a bond growing between us. It was as if Dakota knew that I was a fellow otherworlder.

Sure he probably has better trust in people since Rei had to tame him in the first place, but it already felt like we had a bond. 

I had a feeling that Rei was looking at me, her presence unmistakable even as I focused on Dakota.

When I turned my head to glance at her, I caught her quickly looking away, as if she were trying to hide her gaze.

I turned my head back to the horse, but I felt like she started looking at me again when my focus was off her.

I looked back in her direction quickly this time, but she still jerked her head trying to hide hider her gaze at me again.

We ended up repeating this process at least 4 more times until I gave up and went back to saddling my new horse.

I still felt she was staring at me again for some reason, but it was clear she didn't want to tell me the reason at this point. I just continued to saddle up Dakota.

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