The General Blade

Chapter 5

You wake the next day, wiping your eyes as you sit yourself up. Letting out a yawn before stretching and climbing out of the bed, looking around to see you were still on the train. You thought it was just a terrible dream, but it seems like you're still living it. Grabbing your bag from under the bed, you take out your things and put them away. It takes you a few minutes as you don't have that much, so you get changed and place the clothes you changed from onto your bed and then you headed out and into the main lobby. You already see everyone has gathered into the lobby, the lobby falling silent when they notice you making your way through. Everyone turns around to face you, you look at them nervously and now feel awkward and like you've interrupted something. 

"Oh, hi all. I didn't mean to interrupt whatever you guys were talking about. I'll head back out and come back in a little while when you've finished whatever it is you're doing." 

You say nervously, turning around and start making your way back to the door. Someone yells not to worry about it. You turn to face them to see who yelled at you and you see March 7th with her hand behind her head and giving you a nervous awkward smile. She laughs nervously before shaking her head. 

"Hey don't worry about it. We were just wrapping up anyway, wouldn't wanna bother you with our work/business anyway. Don't want to make you feel awkward Y/N, you're welcome to come in and be here if you wanted!"

The others nodded and grunted in agreement, smiling at you. They all disperse and you sigh. You remain silent for a few moments before making your way towards one of the booths and you sit yourself down, wrapping your arms around yourself and slouch a little to try and make yourself seem invisible. After you do so, March 7th and The Traveller make their way towards you and sit either side of you. You look between the both of them awkwardly, not knowing why they suddenly came to sit next to you, but lucky for you, March 7th is a chatter box so the silence didn't stick around for too long. 

"So, Y/N, why don't you tell us about yourself? Where you came from, what you did and why you're here? We gotta get to know you if you're gonna stay on this train, sorry to tell you but you're stuck with us now." 

She says with a laugh, sitting comfortably as she turns to face you. Her face was lit up, looking at you excitedly as she bombarded you with questions. It was a bit much, but you're sure she was just trying to make you feel more comfortable on the train. You sigh and you shake your head and you look at her awkwardly.

"I'm not very good at introducing myself though, so I'm sorry if my answers aren't that interesting for you. I'm from planet Earth, I worked as -apply whatever job you want here- and I'm here because Himeko turned up at my house and basically told me that I had to go with her or it'll be a matter of time before someone else finds me and takes me instead." 

You explain to her, your voice going a little shaky as you explain about other people taking you instead. You noticed the look of concern and confusion on March 7th's face and The Travellers face and you sigh. /So Himeko didn't tell them...I thought she'd at least tell them why I'm here.../ You thought to yourself and you can see that you would now have to explain to them about what happened. For the next few minutes, you go on to explain the situation. You explain to them about your encounter with Kafka, the weird dreams/flashbacks you had, Himeko turning up and the conversation you had and finishing off the explanation with ending up on the train last night and meeting the others. The two of them now looked at you like clogs are turning in their heads and the final piece clicks into place, like they just solved a puzzle. 

"So that's why Dan Heng looked so uncomfortable when you came in and eventually left. It all makes sense now!" 

Says March 7th before looking shocked, falling silent and a look of "I shouldn't have said that" falls across her face. You look to The Traveller to see them pulling a similar expression and you sit there wondering what was going on and why the both of them were suddenly looking at you like that. It seems like they were keeping a secret and seems to have slipped in front of you. /So he does seem to have a problem with me...I just got here..../  You can't help but think to yourself. You finally break the awkwardness between the two, sitting up from your slouched position, sitting yourself up and crossing your legs.

"What is going on? Why is he uncomfortable with me? He doesn't even know me...I literally just got here yesterday, I don't even know who that man is. I have never seen that man in my life. What did I even do? Is he just awkward around new people or something? What is going on, he's clearly told you something but...but...I don't even know. Trying to justify why he doesn't like me already but I just can't."

The traveller and March 7th seem dumbfounded and upset. They look terrible for slipping up, looking at you like they were about to say something but not being able to, stuttering over their words whenever they attempted to try and say anything to make you feel better. Now you're sat here feeling awkward and terrible for already seeming like you've got on the wrong foot with Dan, even though you've never even had a single interaction with him. You simply existed in the same area as him and he already seems to despise you. But you don't even know why, or how to even fix it. /Is it even worth it? Do I want to even fix it? How would I even do that? I definitely don't want to push the issue but I also don't want to leave it and have it get worse.../  So many questions and thoughts of what do fill race through your mind but the more you thought about it, the more questions you had more than answers. You slouch back down, making yourself small and wanting to just disappear, but before you could do that, Pom-Pom comes around the lobby, telling us we're about to make off. 

"Listen up everyone, now we're done with Jarilo-VI, we're on our way to The Xianzhou Luofu as that's we've picked up the next signal and seems like that's where we're needed. So everyone strap in, hold on to something and sit still. For all your first time jumpers, close your eyes."

Pom-Pom started counting down from 10, everyone rushing to find somewhere to sit and clinging on to whatever they could hold onto. You did the same thing, holding on to the seats closing your eyes as Pom-Pom counts to 1, and then the train suddenly feels like it's moving at a 1000MPH before suddenly slowing down and floats around space. March 7th taps your shoulder, you open your eyes to see her smiling at you and letting you know you can carry on as normal now. You look around to see everyone out and about and Pom-Pom was nowhere to be found. You don't understand what just happened but you chose to not say anything. The Astral Express seems to come to a stop, seeing the others at the window and you noticed that you seem to be pulling in somewhere. Getting up from your seat, you head to the window with everyone else and you look out to see you're in a different area now but it was beautiful. You look at the outside with awe before someone grabs you by the arm and drags you along with them. 

"Cmon Y/N, you're coming with us!"