April 2, 2011: Yggdrassil Night, "Team" 2 Who: “Team” 2. Souji, Chizu, Mirai, Reira, Shizuka What: The first night in Yggdrassil When: Beginning around 9:00 pm on April 2, 2011 Where: Unknown location among the branches of Yggdrasil
Souji threw away the empty box of tuna into a trash can after feeding a few of the stray cats in the dimly lit corners of Kobayashi Park. It was a habit he had gotten into when he was in middle school and he'd wanted a cat, but the apartment complex where he and his family lived wouldn't allow any pets. To make up for that, Souji's dad took him to the park and showed him where he could feed the homeless cats.
Oh, Mrs. Seta had not been too happy about that. Souji understood that stray animals could carry diseases, or be dangerous, but he also didn't really worry about those things too much. Everything had a certain amount of risk attached, really: from feeding cats to developing friendships with people in a new town. Souji shied away from neither.
One dirty but colorful tabby cat continued to follow Souji. She weaved between his steps until he stooped down to pet her head. He chuckled as she purred in what sounded similiar to smug satisfaction. That's when he noticed the time from the glowing, digital wristwatch. 'Dorm curfew is in an hour, and the park should be closing now. I better leave.'
The tabby darted away from him as Souji began to stand up. He watched as the cat disappeared behind the tree --
Which had also just disappeared. With all of the other trees in the park. Only gapping holes remained.
Startled, he jerked his head left and right as he was suddenly exposed in a park empty of forest. Everything else around him was normal, and other peole walking ahead of him on the path to exit Kobayashi seemed completely oblivious to the change.
Souji should have known better than to approach one of these holes, but he was worried for the cat. He walked over to where the tree he was looking at used to be and leaned over to look inside. A strange feeling in the air around the hole made him take a step back, which was when he stepped onto the paw of the tabby.
As soon as he heard the injured yowl of the cat, he quickly moved his foot away, turned around, and promptly lost his balance as Souji fell straight into the hole.
Yggdrassil After a brief blackout where he felt he had hit his head on something, Souji found himself lying on his back and looking up at the branches of the trees, as though absolutely nothing had happened. He blinked once or twice before slowly sitting up, hoping that he didn't just become a victim of some mugger.
But something had, in fact, happened. For one, the ground beneath his fingertips felt of rough bark instead of the soft soil or hard brick path. As Souji gazed around, he noticed that these trees were growing up from the bark, and that the ground wasn't actually the ground.
It was a branch. An impossibly large one, but it was indeed a branch.
Despite the strange surroundings and despite that the air wasn't filled with fog, Souji felt that the atmosphere was still very similiar to the one inside the TV World.
Was that where he was? What did he get himself into this time?