'It's probably Kai again,' Nick thought to himself. With how sneaky the little bear was, he wouldn't be surprised if it managed to slip away from Lora and Kavam again and return to have another go at the treasure-filled fridge.
There was another knock after a little while.
Nick sighed and glanced at the tentacle.
"If it's Kai, would you mind chasing him away?" He asked. The tentacle shook its tip and pointed at the door.
Nick raised an eyebrow.
"Does that mean you want me to open the door?" He wondered.
The tentacle nodded. A little curious, Nick gave in and got up.
He opened the door. His eyes widened. He really was in another world.
"Uhh…" he looked at the woman standing below his porch unsure what to say. She had feathers weaved into her hair and poking out of her temples, neck, and forearms. Her features and eyes carried a certain sharpness that gave her an otherworldly air.
Lora and Kavam looked like big humans. The woman in front of him right now looked like someone had sprinkled in a few bird seeds during creation.
"Yes?" He eventually asked when the woman was just staring at him as well. He glanced back to make sure the tentacle stayed behind the doorframe just out of sight.
The feathered woman bowed slightly in greeting.
"Apologies. I heard that there was a powerful being living here. I was not expecting a human appearance."
"...Sure. Did you only come to verify those rumors or did you have something else to do here?" He asked, uncertain about the woman's attitude. It seemed like she wanted to respect him but couldn't quite do so since he looked like a human. It also seemed like she thought he was something that wasn't a human.
He absentmindedly wondered if Lora and Kavam had already gossipped about him.
"I followed the traces of a Vasr bird here. I wanted to make sure it was dead," she explained.
Nick's brow tightened slightly. A bird? What was he supposed to know about a bird when he had been cooped up inside most of the time since he suddenly arrived in this world.
His eyes widened. He had seen a bird.
"A green little thing?" He asked.
The woman nodded.
"Exactly."
Nick shot the tentacle a glance before looking at the feathered woman again.
"It's safe to say that it's dead. Why? Did it do something to you?" He asked curiously. He was also curious about how she had followed it to his doorstep, but he had a feeling that he wouldn't understand the answer so he didn't ask.
"It ate my trajo berry." The woman's expression tightened in anger.
"I see…" Nick nodded in understanding. He didn't know what a trajo berry was, but he could imagine what it would be like to have a bird steal his food. It would not do his mood any good.
"Well, you won't be getting it back in case you were hoping for that," he said half-jokingly.
"Oh, no, I wouldn't want something a Vasr bird has touched. Feel free to deal with it as you please."
"No, it's…Yeah, alright, I'll do that." Nick didn't bother explaining that both the Vasr bird and the trajo berry were completely gone from the face of this world.
"..."
"..."
The feathered woman had gotten the answer she wanted, and Nick was starting to wonder why she wasn't leaving.
"I'm Nick, by the way," he said eventually since he couldn't stand the awkward silence.
The woman nodded.
"I am Sosora. B-before I leave, do you mind if I ask you a question or two?"
Nick held back a sigh.
"Go ahead."
"Why did you choose to settle down here?" She asked, her green eyes shining curiously.
"First of all, I didn't choose anything—"
"Are you strong enough that you can handle everything that lives around here?" She asked before he could finish.
"...What do you mean?" He asked with concern.
"Well, the monsters who make the center of Tiabe their home are all very strong. They don't care much for visitors. But ones who make a claim on their shared territory…?" Sosora inhaled through her teeth and shook her hand like she had burned it.
She did not need to explain further. Those who tried to live in the center of the Tiabe Forest all met grisly fates at the hands, paws, or maws of the scary monsters occupying the area.
"W-what, *ahem,* kind of monsters are we talking about more specifically?" Nick desperately needed more information.
Not only was he in a strange forest with strange human-like beings in another world, but the forest also had a bunch of scary monsters, and his home was in the middle of it all.
"Oh, well, there's the Moose King, but he's the gentlest as long as you don't touch his herd. The Angry Cow and the Roaring Boar are the ones you should look out for, I guess, if you're worried. They are the ones who will attack you first. They're a little temperamental like that.
"The Midnight Panther…As long as you don't move around at night, you'll be fine. This nest looks pretty sturdy, after all."
Nick could feel cold sweat bead on his back as Sosora mentioned several monsters. Some of the names sounded a little ridiculous, but this was another world, so Nick didn't dare underestimate them. Monsters were monsters, after all.
And a Vasr bird, something that sounded like it was pretty common, had almost killed him. What couldn't famous monsters do to him if he let his guard down?
"I-is that all?" He asked, regretting it as soon as Sosora's eyes lit up.
"No, not at all. But those are the strongest ones. If you settled here out of ignorance and not confidence, those are the ones you will want to run from. Oh! There's another you should watch out for, is what I want to say, but that will be difficult."
"...And why is that?"
"Because no one has seen it and lived to tell the tale."