A new life, Hopefully.

You stumbled around a bit before regaining your footing. Still disoriented, you looked around at your surroundings. You appeared to be in a stone room, significantly bigger than the room you were just in. As you looked around you saw a man sitting at a desk, working hard on something. After noticing you, He looked up, first with excitement, then confusion. Only then did you remember that Allissa was still clinging to your arm.

“Allissa?” Said the man, “What are you doing here? How did you come back? And who’s this man?”

Allissa held onto your arm tighter, her thin tail curling around your stomach.

The man sat up and cleared his throat before saying “Forgive me. It’s surprising to see her again. Though I guess this should’ve been expected. I’m Gregor. You must be Luke then? Rachel told me you were coming. I must admit after she told me what for, I was sceptical, but someone of your skills is needed here.”

“Needed?” You replied, confused but intrigued.

“You’re a criminal, right? A damn good one I’ve heard. Do you know the geography here?”

“A little bit. Though some things slipped my mind.”

“Nothing wrong with that! Here’s a map just in case.”

Gregor handed you a piece of rough paper with a map of the land on it. Only now did you remember that this world wouldn’t have normal paper.“

The area you need to know about is Itria.” Gregor pointed to the top right of the map. “That’s the dwarven kingdom. The largest city there is Thomdihr, the capital. It’s currently in the midst of a gang war. There’s always been organised crime in Thomdihr, but it was mostly under the wraps, but then a new group showed up.”

Allissa still holding onto your arm spoke up “What does that have to do with Luke?”

Gregor sighed and sat back down. “The new group is run by someone from your world Luke. He killed a leader of an existing gang and took power. A huge mistake on my part. I should’ve seen right through him.”

Allissa looked back up at you, visibly worried. You put your arm around her waist to comfort her. That seemed to make her calm down, as she leaned her head against your shoulder and purred like a cat. She was incredibly adorable. “Do you know their name?” You asked, still holding the cat girl in your arm.

“No. They used a fake ID. It’s the only time someone has ever gotten through the AWIO’s new background checks.” Gregor took a deep breath. He obviously felt incredibly guilty that this happened. “Anyway, they’ve upset the balance. The city’s gone through turmoil these last few weeks. A crime family led by one Lady Vestria took the bulk of it. Regardless of what illicit activities they were doing, they were important. Without them the city will continue to crumble. That’s where you come in. A member of Lady Vestrias family, and a friend of Rachel’s, reached out to the AWIO asking for help.”

You finally realised what Rachel’s “favour” was. “I’m guessing I’m that help?”

“That’s correct. I don’t know much past that. You are to head straight to the city of Thomdihr. Did Rachel test you for magic?”

“She has.”

“Good. I’m afraid we can’t speak longer. Time is of the essence and it looks like your companion is need of rest.”

You looked down at Allissa, Still holding your arm as tight ever. Her pearly blue eyes were struggling to stay open and her legs looked like they were about to give way. I guess the portal took a lot out of her. Gregor showed you out of the room. He gave you a horse from the stables, a tent and some gear. The armour felt weird on you but Gregor said you’d get used to it. You helped Allissa onto the horse and sat her in front of you. You waved goodbye to Gregor and just as he was getting out of view, Allissa’s thin white tail curled around your waist again. Despite you seeing your fair share of cute girls, the petite cat girl made your heart melt.