"What is your real name?" I asked him as the green guy matched my pace. He hadn`t let up even as I walked away, and after a moment of silence, I decided to give in and talk to him.

　　"Orrin!" the green guy answered.

　　I squinted my eyes and looked at him. It sounded like a name, but I couldn`t be sure he wasn`t trying to joke again.

　　"That`s really my name; my master gave it to me when I first got here!" he explained further as the grey woods passed behind him.

　　"Your master?" I asked.

　　"Yes! He lived here before I came, took me in, and retaught me all the language and stuff I needed to know! He even threw in some fighting techniques as well!" The green guy replied.

　　"Was?" I asked.

　　"He passed away a couple of years ago," Orrin said. A hint of sadness in his voice contrasted with the chipper tone he presented since I met him. Orrin quickly flipped to a new subject. "Well, we need to figure out where you belong!" he said.

　　It seemed he wanted to send me to some world. I suppose I agreed with him. Any sight was better than here, but without knowing where I came from, there was an issue.

　　I stopped walking and turned to the short green man. We had come up to a clearing from the grey forest, and a shining blue lake glowed beside us. I think it was different from one of the two I had seen before, but I wasn`t familiar enough to be sure.

　　"I don`t care where; just send me to a peaceful world," I said firmly. I don`t know where the desire came from, but I knew it would be best to be somewhere calm, even with my memory loss. Something innate was pulling me in that direction.

　　"Are you sure? It would be a one-way trip," Orrin replied as he looked directly into my eyes. "Without your memory, you might be in a lot of trouble. After all, not many people believe a story about coming from another world."

　　He had a point. At the very least, this stranger could understand what was going on if I told him. I didn`t want to concede that point, however.

　　"It doesn`t matter where I go, as long as it is peaceful. I reiterated. Orrin shook his head.

　　"You haven`t lost all your memories, but you aren`t a blank slate either. That might be the worst case for just tossing you into a world," he explained.

　　I questioned the use of tossing`; it sounded like he might throw me into one of the lakes. I let the thought pass and replied.

　　"I don`t see your reasoning; why couldn`t I just go into that world?"? I pointed to the lake beside us.

　　"Oh, you don`t want to go there& too many& wires&." Orrin said with a disturbed tone and a twisted face. I decided to take his words at face value, given the contrast to his typical attitude. However, I wasn`t sure what he meant.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

　　"Fine, then what do you recommend?"

　　Orrin rubbed his chin.

　　"Well, I would personally think waiting a couple of days to see if your memory returns would be best. After which, we can revisit the discussion. By then, we should know you a little better, and we would be more confident in recommending a world that would fit as well!" Orrin explained.

　　For some reason, I felt as if agreeing with him was conceding to a loss of some sort. Nevertheless, I found no counterpoints. I could bear a couple of days in this strange world, and maybe something would stir a memory or two. I still didn`t want to surrender to his argument verbally and simply nodded. We stared in silence a moment before he spoke up.

　　"Great! Now, why don`t we go to my base! My other friends are waiting there." He gestured in what I assume was the direction of the so-called base. I silently nodded to show my agreement. This green person was strange enough; I didn`t want to think how odd these friends he talked about were.

　　Orrin smiled and began to walk in the direction he had just gestured to. I matched his pace and walked alongside him through the grey scene.

　　"Well, since we have a newcomer, I think we`ll bust out the good food tonight!" Orrin said chipperly.

　　"Is there good food in this place?" I asked.

　　"Well, not here per se, but we can go into a world and get the supplies from time to time!"

　　"I thought you said it was a one-way trip?" I asked while turning to him. Orrin`s face seemed to keep a constant smile as he talked.

　　"For you, it would be; I actually have the unique ability to travel between worlds freely!" His tone indicated a sort of pride.

　　"How did you realize that?" I asked. Such an ability would not be something easily discovered after all.

　　"I accidentally fell into a world one day! It was quite scary; I think an apocalypse was going on or something& anyway; I wanted to leave so badly that I hopped right out! After that, there was some trial and error." Orrin told the story like it was a comedy—laughing while he spoke.

　　We broke out of the trees and stood next to a riverbank—a grey wooden bridge arced above the bright blue waterway. The green guy happily began to walk over, and I followed along.

　　"So, do you visit worlds often?" I asked.

　　"From time to time, it helps keep the head clear, plus we can make supply runs! I can imagine the others get homesick from time to time, so we make it a point to visit their worlds on occasion."

　　I recall Orrin stating he had amnesia as well. Referring to homesickness stuck in my mind.

　　"Do the others remember their worlds?" I asked.

　　"Oh yeah, they`re always going on and on about them too! Resh this and Hauteur that; it never ends! That`s the one nice thing about having amnesia; there`s no home to be sick for!"

　　I glossed over the odd words I didn`t recognize and focused on Orrin. The smile never left his face, but it felt like a pain lined his words. Perhaps I was projecting my own feelings onto him.

　　"Can the others be trusted?" I asked. I didn`t know how many were here. Could I be walking into an ambush? Was this all an elaborate scheme to attack me? The thoughts began to gnaw at me. I was only 50/50 on Orrin to start with. My hands moved up my side and rested on the hilts of my sheathed daggers. I found the position oddly comfortable as if I was used to it.

　　"Of course! We argue, but we`re all friends here! If anything, they`ll be happy to have a new friend!"

　　"Who`s that?" I asked while tilting my head.

　　"You are, of course! Now that we`re friends, I`ll introduce you to everyone else!" The smile never left Orrin`s face as we finished crossing the bridge and continued to wander through the grey trees.

　　"We`re friends?" I asked. Orrin looked at me like I had stabbed him. "When did that happen?" I added for clarity.

　　"Just now, when we were talking!" Orrin insisted as he quickly switched to a smile with a confused expression.

　　"I don`t think it is that easy&." I said. The short green guy laughed.

　　"Don`t think about it too hard! Friendship is odd like that!" he said with a smile.

　　I stopped for a moment as Orrin kept walking. He got a couple of paces ahead of me before turning back.

　　"Well, don`t stop now! The daylight is burning!" he shouted back. I couldn`t help but look up at the empty grey sky. Daylight?

　　With a shake of my head, I walked forward. My apparent new friend happily led me the rest of the way.