"She must have gotten lost on her way to the pigsty."

"Her hair looks like a bush. I think those are actual leaves in it."

Two small girls giggle loudly, clearly not caring whether you could hear them or not as they scrutinise you from head to toe.

They each wear a nice pastel dress and have their hair tied up into a dainty style. Their polished shoes shine in the light, and there are matching gold bracelets on their wrists.

You look at your feet as you hurry past them.

It isn't fair. Why can't you have nice things too? You clutch your pendant, which was by far the nicest thing you owned.

Arriving at your house, you open the door and step inside.

"Mother?"

There's no response. Maybe she didn't hear you?

"Mother!"

You run up the stairs and knock on her door. Not receiving an answer, you swing it open.

"...Mother?" The closet is wide open and empty. The bed is unmade. Her vanity doesn't have a bottle left on its surface.

You don't want to be alone.

You run outside, calling for her and looking around.

She doesn't appear.

You handle this development the way any sensible five (and a half) year old child would.

By sitting down on the front step and bursting into tears.

You don't know how much time passed when you feel a tap on your shoulder. You look up, and are met with big blue eyes.

"Are you okay?"

You sniff. "No."

"Oh." The little boy sits down on the step next to you. "Why?"

"I can't find my Mom."

"What about your Dad?"

"He's gone."

"Oh." The boy is silent for a moment. "I don't have anyone either."

"I do have someone!" You insist. "I just can't find her."

"Oh, sorry." The boy says, looking incredibly guilty. "Why don't I try and help you look for her then?"

You pause for a moment and mull it over. "Okay."

"What's your name?" The boy asks while standing up.

"Y/n."

"That's pretty!" He beams and holds his hand out for you to take. "I'm Odin. Let's go find your Mom."

You never saw her again.

Panic spikes up within you arrive. Grim looks around, equally as befuddled.

The sun was high and hot above you. The sky was a pale blue. The determined bug trying to bite you was very annoying. All of this, you had more or less expected.

What you hadn't expected was a bustling town. Concrete houses line the streets with people sitting outside on mats that are covered with goods and produce to sell. People walk past in brightly coloured clothing, and you watch in awe as a woman struts by with a bundle of firewood balanced on her head. Due to your surprise, it took another second to notice that no one in the village seemed entirely human, each possessing some physical trait of different animals.

"Are we in the right place?" Grim asks, looking around in amazement. You don't immediately answer, too transfixed.

"...hard to say. I think so?"

After another moment of people (animal?) watching you take off the backpack and dig through it, looking for the shawl Crowley had given you. You find bright red fabric and yank it out.

"Red?" Grim remarks dryly, ears falling as he crosses his arms.

"Yep." You confirm, and wrap it around yourself. "Try not to think about it." You sift through the rest of the bag to see what there is.

Medicine, two bottles of water, some food, the horn, sunscreen, a small handheld drill, and a ridiculously large sunhat (which had been squished down to the bottom of the bag.)

"I'm hot!" Grim whines, leaning against your leg. You look at him, feeling concerned. You were hot, but the little monster was covered in dark fur. You take out one of the bottles and unscrew the lid. Bending down, you angle it for him carefully.

"Take a drink, and try to stay hydrated."

The little monster greedily accepts the water. Once he is done (and half of your first bottle is gone,) he jumps on your leg and climbs your body up to your shoulder.

"Ready?" You ask.

He nods. "Yeah."

"Good." You take him off of your shoulder, place him down, and drop the hat on his head. Its brim droops down to the bottom of his belly.

"Hey! I can't see anything!"

"Just... hold it up with your paws?" You offer. "I can't have you getting heat stroke. Now c'mon, let's figure out what the heck is going on here."

After a while of exploring the area, you reach two conclusions.

Firstly, it seemed normal humans didn't exist here. People don't care to stop and check a stranger on the street, but your lack of fur could cause you a problem later.

Secondly, Grim is an extremely whiny tourist.

"Slow down!" He moans, trodding along behind you whilst holding up the side of the hat.

"Sorry." You blandly apologize, stopping again. "I tend to walk a bit fast when I'm thinking."

Grim pants as he catches up, though from your angle it just looks like the hat is clumsily floating along by itself. "Whaddya thinkin' about?"

"Our aliases." You tell him. "I think I'm gonna be a vulture."

"Why that?" Grim asks, tilting the hat back just enough to peek up at you. "A few reasons. The main thing is that they don't have any distinctive features like ears or a tail." You begin walking again, slower this time. "Also, it's a scavenger like the hyenas. I'm going to make the logical assumption here that our Scar guy is half lion, and his followers are part hyena. Following the line of the story, it might help us get close to him."

"And what am I gonna be?" He asks, then smirks. "A lion seems fitting for the Great Grim."

"Hey, you!" A voice calls out. You assume it's directed elsewhere until it's called out again. Looking around, you meet eyes with a fluffy haired boy. "Yeah, you!" He calls out and beckons you over. "C'mere a sec!"

You exchange a glance with Grim and head over to the blue eyed man, who had leaned back casually and placed his arms behind his head. You study each other closely.

"Can I help you?" You ask.

"Just wanted to know what you were doing wandering around aimlessly like that." He coolly responds. "You're an easy target for pickpockets."

You raise an eyebrow. "Who's asking?"

He holds out his hand for you to shake, letting his other arm fall down to his side. "Ruggie Bucchi. Don't wear it out. What about you?"

"Y/n L/n." You shake his hand firmly. "Don't wear it out. And this here is Sp- Grim."

He looks down at the little monster and casually moves his closest leg a little further away.

"And, uhhh..."

"A honey badger who drew the unfortunate ticket in the genetic lottery." You tell him. Grim glares at you.

"HEY!"

"Ah." Ruggie nods, still giving him the side eye. "Yeah, that is pretty bad, no doubt about it. What about you?"

"Vulture." You consciously keep your answer short. You weren't sure how people referred to their hybrid halves yet, and if the correct phrase was that they were "an elephant" or "part elephant."

"And you are?"

"A scavenger, like you by the sounds of it." He replies. "I'm a hyena. Surprised it wasn't obvious though."

"Ah, well." You lean closer to him and lower your voice as if divulging the darkest of secrets. "He feels better if I ask." You discreetly point down at Grim with your thumb.

"Ohhhhh. Got it." Ruggie nods. "Anyways, were you just hunting around for scraps?"

"You got me." You tell him, raising your hands in surrender and praising the gods that he gave you an excuse himself. "Don't suppose you got any?"

He waves you off. "Nah. But I'm willing to make a trade?"

You stand up straighter. "Depends. What do you have to offer?"

He pats the edge of the cart. "The stuff in here is getting delivered to the Royal Family... but they won't notice if a few things go missing."

"You work for the Royal Family?" You question.

He nods proudly. "Yep! Premium goods right here!"

A plan begins to form in your mind. "Sounds good- better than scraps anyway, you know?"

Ruggie raises his eyebrows, and you can tell you've earned his attention. "Yeah, hunting for scraps can get pretty rough. Don't you wish you could do something about it?"

You nod. "Love to- those higher ups have no idea about the struggle of us common folk. No idea what I could do, though."

"That so?" Ruggie muses. "How about this then: come with me to the palace. I think I know someone who you'll wanna meet."

"Why is that?" You ask, tilting your head.

He grins. "Because this guy has a plan that'll ensure we never go hungry again." He leans back and puts his arms back behind his head, giving you a smirk. "But if you don't wanna come, that's cool. You can just go back to eating scraps again for the rest of your life."

You grin, familiar with his tactics. "And what do you want for a ride and a few bananas?"

He smiles and jabs a finger down at Grim. "The whole reason I called you over: a banana each and a ride for the hat. Gets too hot to work sometimes."

You smirk. "Sounds like we've got a deal."

You shake on it.

***

Ruggie had to take care of business inside the palace and find the guy he wanted you to speak with. Because of this, he had dropped you off under the shade of a nearby tree and promised to get you once he had finished his chores. You watched as he drove his cart under the arch and into palace grounds.

The time had actually allowed you and Grim some much needed rest, even if you were growing antsy the more time went on. You slowly sip water and try to imagine what this world's Scar might be like.

"Hey, are you Y/n?" A gruff voice asks a few hours later. You turn and see a tall, muscular man with pointed ears.

You nod slowly.

"Ruggie sent me to get you." He explains. "I'm Jack Howl."

You hold out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

He shakes it, grip firm. "You too. Now c'mon. It's best not to keep him waiting."

"Who's 'him,' exactly?" You ask, gathering your things and adjusting your shawl. "Ruggie?"

"No. Leona Kingscholar, the second born prince." Jack starts to head off.

Grim cheers. "Finally! We're gonna meet the big guy himself."

Jack frowns and you cringe. "Sparky, please don't call him that."

Your guide was not much of a conversationalist. Both you and Grim felt too awkward to break the deafening silence, instead exchangeing an awkward glance when you entered the castle.

"Is it much further?" You ask as you head up the stairs. Jack shakes his head and leads you through a hallway and over what looked like the arch from what you could tell. You glance over the balconies on either side of the passage and the artifacts that line the hallway.

"No. It's just up ahead." He takes you just a bit further down the hallway before stopping in front of double doors. He knocks on the wood firmly, eliciting an irritated voice from inside.

"What do you want?"

Jack frowns but otherwise doesn't react. "I found the girl Ruggie brought."

"...Bring her in."

Jack holds the door open for you and Grim to step inside. You don't see Leona at first as your eyes scan across the room. Finally, your eyes fall on the attractive man lazing on top of the bed.

Leona has long, dark hair like a mane, bright green eyes, and most importantly: a scar across his left eye from eyebrow to cheek.

You had found the Usurper from the Wilds.