Autumn

Autumn was probably being paranoid. If they were here to invade, wouldn’t there be more of them? And wouldn’t their launching point be larger? Set closer to sensitive targets? They were in the middle of the Unformed and stranded with neither Gate nor Path. No, this was most likely an accident; some magic gone awry. She would help them find their way home and learn how this had happened in the process. It would be fun to discuss the strangeness with Spring and Winter later.

The discussion between the two young warriors ended. The second one ran off into one of the buildings while the first one shouldered his weapon and tried again to speak to her. 

“I am most sorry,” Autumn replied, sticking to Japanese because it was literally the only human language she knew well enough to speak. “I do not understand you.”

The warrior said something. He ran a hand through his short, blonde hair, and then snapped to a straighter posture and turned his head to look over as the second warrior reappeared, leading yet another human. This one was older, his hair going gray at the temples and tiny lines, wrinkles they were called, forming at his eyes and the sides of his mouth. Fascinating. Autumn didn’t see many aged humans. Being Underhill froze most of them at whatever age they’d entered the realm. 

The elder rested his fists on his hips and stared down at her. He said something in a harsh, barking tone. An order, or a demand. 

Autumn spread her hands, showing herself momentarily unarmed and softly repeated her apology for not comprehending. If she could find a small stone and take a few moments, then she could form a translation spell. She needed at least a few common words to form the translation spell. She supposed she could start pointing to things and naming them. If they played along, then, that would be a start. 

The man scowled down at her, and then twisted and called out another order. 

This time she thought his shouted order sounded like a name. It must have been, because yet another warrior approached the group at a jog. This one was a woman. And she shared the long, raven black hair and dark, faintly almond shaped eyes of Ayame’s countrymen. Perhaps she would also share the language?

The elder spoke to the new arrival for a minute in the unknown language. The warrior shook her head once, and then pointed to Autumn and said something else. Finally she shrugged, and turned to face Autumn directly.

“You speak Japanese?” she asked in that language.

“Some little amount, yes,” Autumn replied. 

“Why? You’re not Japanese.”

“A friend taught me. I read better.” Autumn paused, and then repeated herself yet again. “I am the Champion Autumn. I am here to help.”

“Okay. Let me tell the sergeant.”

“The what?”

The woman pointed to the elder. “Sergeant. He’s our... I don’t know how to say,” she said something in the other language and shrugged, finishing with, “He is our teacher.”

“Oh. Yes. Tell your teacher I am here to help, if you would please,” Autumn said with relief. The elder was in charge, and they could communicate. This would be much easier now.

“You’re very formal,” the woman said. 

“My instruction was limited. I only know the formal dialects.”

“Yeah, a lot of people start with the formal forms. I’m Tanaka, by the way. June Tanaka.”

Autumn blinked, realizing she’d just been given both a personal name and a family name. On purpose. Who gave their real, full name to a stranger like that? And the woman tapped her chest, showing a bit of embroidery with what looked like lettering on it. Surely. Surely that wasn’t... her name. Emblazoned on her chest for all to see? What kind of fearless maniacs were these people?

And Autumn had only offered them her title and common use name. Oh, dear. She’d seem a coward in comparison. She would have to balance the scales somehow. 

Tanaka turned slightly so that she faced the elder squarely, and spoke rapidly in the other language. Autumn would need to make a translation stone as quickly as possible. With Tanaka able to understand her, that would be a much simpler process than she had expected. It was her second priority, right after convincing the heavily armed and obviously nervous soldiers that she wasn’t an enemy or a threat.

That might be easier said than done.

The elder spoke to her again. Autumn waited patiently for Tanaka’s translation. 

“Sergeant Masterson wants to know who sent you here,” Tanaka said.

“I am a Champion. I go where I am needed,” Autumn explained.

Tanaka frowned in concentration as she passed on the answer to her elder. He asked another question.

Tanka translated, “But why are you here? How did you find us?”

“Oh. Yes.” Autumn tried to think of a safe and accurate way to phrase it. “This place,” she gestured around the Enclave, “causes a disturbing effect in the Mist.” She pointed to the Mists roiling behind her. “I followed that effect to find out what caused it.”

“I have no idea how to translate that,” Tanaka muttered. She spoke at some length with her elder, and he asked something else. Autumn waited. 

She looked around while they discussed her answer. There were no runes on the ground. That one building was cut in half. None of the warriors had the slightest hint of magic about them, not even their leader. No, this wasn’t an invasion. These people were lost.

But how had it happened? Usually when there was a magical mishap, there was a mage somewhere around to cause it.

When Tanaka turned back to her, Autumn spoke first. “What happened here?” Autumn asked.

“That is what we were hoping you could tell us,” Tanaka said. 

Autumn opened her mouth to ask how she could know anything about the events leading to the construction of an Enclave she would just last morning have said was impossible, when a scream echoed from behind one of the other buildings. 

The elder barked out several commands, turned on his heel, and ran towards the sound. Autumn ran to keep pace with him, because a terrified scream was something she knew how to handle. Find the person screaming. Find the reason for the scream. Make it scream instead. Simple.

Autumn liked simple.