Herring couldn’t believe what he was looking at. It was huge… She was huge. Even taking into consideration the shack’s larger than average construction, she was terribly tall and terribly out of place. It was as though someone had taken a nice, quaint, old shed... and plopped a tree dead in the center of it.

Herring was awestruck, and so was Redlette. Redlette, however, appeared more floored with Herring’s reaction to the girl than the actual girl before her, delivering a swift elbow to his side to jolt him back to reality. “You’re not meant to say the first thing that comes to your head, ya dork. Way to make a first impression. It’s really no wonder I’m your only close friend.”

Now grounded again, Herring took another opportunity to look over the girl before him. She was dark-skinned with leafy green clothes… and she was stupidly tall with messy pine-colored hair that ran down the entirety of her absurd height. For the already tiny Herring and Redlette, she was practically a towering tree.

More than anything, though, she was petrified— embarrassed out of her mind with a flush pink hue to her freckled cheeks and a gaze that didn’t know where to set her trembling pupils. Herring realized he must’ve struck a nerve with his comment, and because of this, he, too, was at a loss of words and growing increasingly red faced.

The two stayed still and played keep-away with their gazes—the girl anxiously pulling on her hair and Herring trying his best to sink his head low enough to where she could no longer see his face. Meanwhile, Redlette seemingly gave up hope for Herring’s recovery and started meandering around the shack, her impatient nature shining through. It was obvious that she was taking a certain type of joy from Herring’s social ineptitude.

“W-Well then… uh… feel free to come in! Help yourself to some of the fruit... that’s on the ground. Eheheh...” The girl eventually found herself broken free of the spell cast by Herring’s words, finding the strength to weakly address him and Redlette. Each word she spoke sounded as though it was being forced out of her through courtesy alone.

“Yeah…” Herring nodded, awkwardly.

The trio sat together on the floor, nobody wanting to speak up first. If it wasn’t for the roaring rain outside, the silence would’ve taken over the room entirely, creating an even greater weight of tension amongst the group.

Herring attempted to get comfortable, shifting around the rickety wooden floor to find a spot where a plank wasn’t jabbing into him. He found himself repeatedly staring at Redlette’s tail, jealous of the plush cushion it provided her.

There was a dining table in the shack that they could’ve gathered around more comfortably, but it only had a pair of chairs. The girl had insisted that Herring and Redlette should take the seats while she stood, but the two agreed that they didn’t want her towering over them more than she already was and thus they opted to all sit on the ground together.

As Herring was shimmying around, he caught the gaze of Redlette who was transfixed on a tan, veiny fruit beside him. Figuring it’d be funny to see what she’d do with it, he tossed it to Redlette who immediately took a chomp out of it, dust-covered and all. This promptly caused her to sputter into a fit of hacking.

“Of course… What did I expect?” Herring muttered to himself, purposefully loud enough for Redlette to hear.

“Heheh… Dust has never tasted so nostalgic.” Redlette quietly mused in return.

“I get the feeling it was intentional, but that was the single worst response you could’ve given...”

Being put at ease by Redlette’s lax nature, Herring found the will to face the girl once more. When he briefly turned to her, she had a look of almost fascination on her face. It was as though she was entranced by their relationship’s odd nature the same way Herring had been with Redlette’s tail cushion.

“Alright!” Herring spoke up, shaking his head with a determination to inquire about the girl and turning to his friend. “...Redlette, I’m gonna need you to slap m—”

Herring was mid-sentence when Redlette jumped on his train of thought and delivered a hearty slap across his face. A slap delivered with immense joy and zero hesitation.

Herring was left speechless for a moment, but it wasn’t long until his frustration boiled over. “What kind of friend are you?! You’re meant to wait ‘till I’m done asking before you slap me, you prick!”

“Couldn’t have you getting wishy washy and second guessing your resolve. You’ve gotta act on that stuff fast. So I did.” Redlette taunted with a tinge of pride.

“That’s complete BS! You were totally just looking for an excuse to slap me!” Herring jumped up, his voice cracking.

“And…?”

“—And most ‘best friends’ aren’t looking for any opportunity to slap their fellow ‘best friend’!” Herring put his hand to his cheek, feeling the warm sting left by the slap. “On top of that, you slapped me damn hard, too.”

“Well it’s your own fault for being so slappable… and so fragile.” Redlette ridiculed, mock-pouting. “And it’s three times your fault for freezing up like that earlier! If a slap’ll snap you outta your awkwardness, then I’ll pummel you over and over!”

“Please, I beg you to stop saying dumb things so proudly… Oh, and also don’t do that.” Herring, calming down, sat back down on the floor next to Redlette whose tail was wagging with glee and kicking up dust like an old broom. Then he looked at her smug face sternly. “Really, don’t. Please.”

“I won’t— unless you ask me to.”

“You mean unless it sounds like I’m gonna ask you to.”

“Sure do!” Redlette admitted chipperly, flashing a wide smile.

Herring exhaled, exhausted with Redlette’s existence, but he also found himself grateful towards her toying. It had completely derailed everything that was going on, bringing him back to a familiar reality. It reminded him of how they’d goof around in MMOs, not paying any mind to who was watching.

“Well… thanks. That slap was definitely helpful, if not a bit harsh.” Herring spoke softly, almost inaudibly, red hue returning to his face. A genuine word of appreciation was a rare commodity that he didn’t often give. He found them deeply embarrassing to say—even to his best friend.

Redlette picked up on what Herring said with her keen wolf ears and gave him a thumbs up. It was likely she didn’t want to tease Herring about the thanks and cause him to fluster again. Herring nodded in appreciation in return.

That’s right. This is no different than playing a game! That’s all it is. A game. Would I get embarrassed so easily in a game? Hell no! W-Well, probably not... Herring stoked his confidence, forcing himself to rewrite his view of reality and himself. Then he turned sharply to face the girl.

When Herring looked at her again, she was visibly shaken. It seemed as though her fascination with Redlette’s demeanor had morphed into a kind of fear of the both of them. Herring could only figure this fear was caused by witnessing their sudden antics. Their relationship must’ve seemed strange to an outsider. It was strange.

“Sorry about all that,” Herring apologized, attempting to disarm the girl. His gaze finally met hers for the first time without wavering. His mind still shrieked for him to turn away in recoil, but he remained resolute. “My friend here is somewhat of an imbecile.”

“Yup, sorry about all that,” Redlette echoed, unperturbed. “My friend here can’t handle social situations for crap.”

The girl looked strangely unsettled by the two’s apologies, but her fear began to dissipate and she seemed to accept them nevertheless. She released her iron grasp on her hair, which had remained ever since Herring had offended her, and eased up a bit. “It’s okay. I just… I overreacted. I’m not all that used to meeting new people.”

“Well that’s for sure.” Herring replied bluntly, refusing to give himself the chance to worry about what to say. “You freaked me the hell out. Oh, but that doesn’t matter now.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it!” Redlette followed up Herring’s response while sliding his heavy backpack off of her back. It looked as though she’d managed to cut off an apology from the girl who’d just opened her mouth to say something. “—Anyways, you asked a question before, yeah? You know, when we entered. Can you repeat it?”

“Neither of us knew of your existence at that point, so we weren’t really listening much. Or at least, I wasn’t.” Redlette and Herring talked as though they’d trained as a two person interrogation team, one adding onto the other’s thoughts as soon as they’d finished speaking.

They’d done this while playing games together, but this was their first time conversating in such a way vocally. Herring had always been deeply appreciative of this form of discussion. It made it so he didn’t have to worry about getting stuck in a social dead end and drastically cut down on instances of awkward silence.

“Ah...! It was nothing! Nothing of importance…” The girl responded hastily. It was only in her haste that Herring realized she had a slight British accent, one that must’ve only slipped out when she was truly rattled. This slip in her accent caused the girl to mutter words quietly under her breath, as though she was trying to retrain herself to speak how she had been.

“I see. It was nothing, was it?” Herring responded, somewhat sarcastically.

“—That’s baloney,” Redlette interjected. At the same time, her stomach growled and she started digging through the backpack next to her. Herring figured it must’ve been the mention of baloney which had caused it… or perhaps the dust wasn’t settling right with her.

He desperately hoped it was the former.

“Of course it is. But if it isn’t important we won’t push any further. I’d much rather be asking questions than attempting to answer them.” Herring was dying for new knowledge of the world he’d come to. He knew Redlette could tell him stuff, but she was distractible and her explanations were lengthy, often going nowhere. She’d literally made a whole persona before explaining anything before, so he wasn’t too keen on relying on her for info.

The girl appeared to be relieved that she wasn’t going to be pressed further about the question. She began to exhale a sigh of relief at Herring’s dismissal only for her breath to be caught by his question.

“So, why are you so freakishly tall?”

The girl was instantly abashed. It was clear she hadn’t expected Herring to return to the topic that had stunned them both minutes prior. In a way, his ability to ask her about it impressed the girl. But mostly, she found herself pink-faced once again. “I-Is it really so strange…?”

“To me it is, yeah.” Herring carried the conversation as Redlette directed all of her attention to finding food in his backpack, her ears twitching slightly as she listened to him.

“Oh...” The girl calmed down slightly as Herring continued to be forthright. “It’s uh… It’s probably hard to see… because my hair is sorta covering my ears. But...”

“—But she’s an elf.” Redlette remarked, snagging a granola bar and sitting contently back on her tail.

“Wh-Whoa! You’re kidding me, right?” Herring was amazed and most of all excited. In reply to his exclamation, the girl hesitantly lifted up her mass of hair to reveal two large pointy ears stemming from the side of her head. “…It’s totally true! How’d you know that, Redlette?”

“Elves are naturally tall. Although, she’s pretty extra tall for a chick.” Redlette chewed the bar as she talked. She’d stuffed the whole thing in at once, and was struggling to speak.

“—I get it. Tall, elegant, with smooth, unblemished skin… and ample chests. It’s like a western depiction of an elf… Or at least that’s what I would say.” Herring eagerly eyed the girl with renewed interest, causing her to further recoil. Seeing as he'd played as an elf, he had a vested interest in them. “You only got the height, huh?”

“Well… I suppose? What I mean is, you’re not entirely wrong with your original description of elves. That’d describe my heritage… the dusk elves. Just not me...” The girl barely managed to choke out the words. If it wasn’t for her apparent sense of obligation, she likely wouldn’t have responded. Instead, she tried to change the topic. “What about you guys… If you don’t mind me asking, who are you two?”

“Oh… Uh… You see…” Herring struggled to determine how to respond. He realized he must’ve looked quite troubled, because it caused the girl to safeguard her question.

“Y-You don’t have to answer that! ...It’s just that I was wondering if you two were adventurers…”

“Well, we’re certainly lost… but adventurers…? Are we…?” Herring mulled over how to respond to the girl aloud. Technically, they were adventurers— adventurers from another world. But he couldn’t determine if he should say that. Firstly, he knew the girl was most likely talking about the profession. And while their goal might’ve been to become adventurers, they couldn’t answer ‘yes’ truthfully.

Secondly, he didn’t know whether he should tell the girl their actual situation. Would she believe him? Redlette had said that there were other people who’d come to this world from Earth— renowned and cliched people like heroes and whatnot. But would somebody really believe that they had? Herring found it hard to imagine someone would—

“Nope, we aren’t!” Redlette spoke up before Herring could resolve his thoughts. “We’re much more than that, actually.”

“H-Hey! Hold up…!” Herring tried to direct Redlette to think more about what she was going to say... but he was ignored.

“We’re lost travelers who came here from the mythical planet, Earth! Now we wander aimlessly through the jungle, searching for a civilization to begin our grand adventure in! Pretty cool, right?!” Redlette was absolutely beaming with an ignorant smile on her face. It was as though she’d been waiting for the first possibility to give their secret away.

This reaction starkly contrasted the grim look which had formed on Herring’s own palm-covered face. He had wanted to collect himself before dropping a bombshell as complicated as their identities. Besides, he didn’t know if it was smart for this girl— who seemed to be a complete nervous wreck— to be the first person they told.

Herring could barely will himself to turn and face the girl. He predicted the worst responses possible. Fear. Disbelief. Mockery. He thought they might be written off as delusional idiots or be publicly humiliated and shamed as hopeless fools. But when Herring finally managed to look at the girl, her face was full of an understanding and hopeful awe.

She’d fully believed them.

“Earth, huh… the world from all those legends…? That makes sense! That’s why you guys look so strange…! Wait, I don’t mean that! I mean, that’s why your clothes look so strange! And why you act so very differently… And why you’d never seen an elf…” The girl had stars in her eyes as she examined Herring and Redlette with a passion she hadn’t shown before. She inched closer to them to get a better look but remained at a safe enough distance to not discomfort them.

The whole ordeal made Herring rather unsettled, despite the girl’s efforts. He started to take notice that he was shifting around on the floor again.

Jeez, was this how I sounded when I was obsessing over her being an elf? No wonder she was so put off. This blows.

Herring scanned the room, looking for a way out of the awkward situation. He didn’t want to lose the momentum he’d built up, so he desperately searched for a natural deflection.

“Hmm…?” Through his searching Herring saw light pouring through the shack’s single window. “Ah, when did it stop raining?”

“Oh…?! I… I guess it’s done. I didn’t even notice…” The girl stopped focusing on Herring and Redlette and looked out the window. It was clear that she was in a lighter mood than she had been.

“Pfft…! It hasn’t been raining for a while. You guys really hadn’t noticed?” Redlette puffed out her chest, joining the others in staring out the window.

“No, we hadn’t noticed. The talking drowned out the rain. Not all of us have those big goofy dog ears sticking out of our skull.” Herring chastised.

“Oh, why not? You should really look into getting some, they’re quite useful.”

“And have the rain sound even more like a friggin’ jackhammer? I’m good, thank you. I’d rather not have my brain vibrated into the same mush as yours.” Herring spat back at Redlette, both smiling all the while.

The girl just watched on. It seemed she was slowly getting accustomed to their banter.

“Oh no…!” However, she soon jolted upright and abruptly began collecting the remaining morsels of fruit off the ground, including the one Redlette had chomped on. She shoved them in a basket, and then addressed Redlette and Herring.

“I-I’m sorry! I’m sure you all had more questions for me, but I have to get going! I’m going to be late, and then they’re going to worry about me, and then they might not trust me to do this anymore, and then, and then…” The girl hurriedly lowered her head to the two in apology, her lighter mood evaporated. She had a frantic expression of stress and remorse on her face, and her accent was breaking through again. It was obvious she wanted to stay behind and get to know the two more, but she also wanted to leave. This contradiction of want was likely tugging at her mind, and in the end… She bolted. “I’m sorry! I can’t stay! I have to get back to the city!”

“...” Herring and Redlette were left dumbfounded, blinking in momentary disbelief.

“Aww… she left...” Redlette lamented, acting like she’d just lost a new plaything.

“—Yes, she left!” Herring shouted. “Grab the backpack! She was our key to finding civilization! We can’t just stand around here!”

“Oh, yeah… We could ask her for directions, huh?” Redlette snagged the backpack off the ground. She moved slowly, her mind stuck in the stupor of the realization she’d made.

“You seriously didn’t think of that?! Do you have nothing other than food and foolishness up there?!” Herring held the door open, moving his hand in such a way to usher Redlette outside. “Come on! Come on! Quickly now! Before she camouflages with the damn scenery!

“Roger that! Let’s go!” Redlette nodded, and the two rocketed out of the shack.