Chapter Text
There's a time in a life of a young mc where they grow up and get hit by their first truck. Very special.
You have no idea where you woke up, it's a typical medieval town so it could be anywhere. Maybe it's a light hearted adventure anime? Or a friendly RPG game? Worst case scenario is that you're in one of those dark fantasy TV shows and might die on the first episode. You hope that's not the case even though they've gained popularity ever since Game of Thrones came out. Fortunately for you the townspeople look too lively and happy go lucky for a somber TV show. The villagers give you odd looks as you walk among them, but you ignore them in favor of searching for clues of where destiny dropped you off. Your jaw slides wide open, gasping at the sight of a centaur standing out from the dull human crowd, but not just any centaur. This one has silly wiggly arms, a disproportionate body, a colorful mane that looks radioactive and a pompous walking style reminiscent of fashion runways.
You gawk at the flamboyant creature, following after them even if it requires pushing past people and cabbage vendors. Halfway through you lost track of the centaur, but there's no way you missed the large swirling portal that screams magic, adding a sense of familiarity to an otherwise generic town.
"Oh no..."
A rift worker takes note of your shock, gladly walking up to you. "Hello dear traveler, the rift is quite the sight is it not?" the human pats your shoulder, completely ignoring your unresponsive self. "Ah, I take you've never traveled to Centaurworld before? Don't worry they're a harmless bunch, though you'd have to withstand the smell of them." the worker mumbles that last part. "Any who, how about you check out for yourself~" the man pushed you inside before you could even squeak a protest. You’re left walking through the stark white void on automatic mode, developing the centaur equivalent of Vietnam flashbacks regarding the tragic events that happen here.
By the time you walk out of the portal the only thing that’s capable of pulling you out of your trance was the smell. "Centaur world." You instantly recognize the world in front of you, from it's relatively timeless architecture to the variety of centaurs shooting tiny versions of themselves from their hooves, each one is stuck in their little world as they coordinate a song sequence that would put any Broadway performance to shame.
Absolutely neutral chaotic energy.
You could feel a shivertaur run down your spine, you thought it was metaphorical until you clearly heard it neigh, slapping it away before it touched your chest. As for your feelings to the show, er, the world you're in now. You adore it, from the switch between light and angst undertones to the music and even the character interactions, but those last few minutes of the final episode left you in a sobbing mess. Purposely rewinding the episode just so you could cry out some more. Luckily for you it looks like everything is okay now, a lively kingdom is up and running, the citizens of both worlds are peacefully coexisting and there's no sight of a crumbling, war-stricken country. You sigh in relief. "Phew, the war hasn't happened yet..." your brief serenity lasts a mere second as the implication made your body go rigid. "...Oh god, the war hasn't happened yet." You bite your fingernails out of anxiety, carefully walking down the stairs like there's a landmine buried under each one as the worry spreads inside you like a moss. Another realization came to mind. "Wait, that means he's around here somewhere-" during your self-induced paranoia you failed to notice the centaur you bumped into.
"Excuse me fella, I need you to step aside, you're holding up the line." A kind voice informs you, belonging to one nicely dressed Elktaur.
You wish you could say you handled the situation maturely, that you sorted your heavy feelings and stepped aside from the elktaur but we all know that would be a big fat lie. You started sobbing again as if you were re-watching the last two episodes flash before your eyes, your tongue tripping on itself as it spills incoherent dialogue in between sobs, your brain activates its self-defense mechanism, suddenly passing out on the spot. The second time you stir awake, you're convinced everything you experienced was just a bad dream, but you weren't blessed with such luck. "Ugh, five more minutes." You mumble, feeling the sun bother your eyes. When you finally open them you're shocked to see the centaurs gathered around you, eyeing you like a funny animal at the zoo, some are laughing at you, others are taking pictures while the uninterested crowd just walks past you.
Feeling self-conscious about the whole scene, you immediately sit up in an attempt to scramble back to your feet. The only one who was willing to help you was the culprit of your breakdown. "Here, let me help." The elk offers his hand to you, his calloused fingers clasping with yours as you stand up.
"Thanks," you nod.
After your display of public humiliation is over, the curious crowd dispels since they probably have better things to do than gush over this fainting traveler... But honestly, they're already making memes about you now.
The elk didn't know how to respond himself, shyly excusing himself as he heads off to fix anything the rift portal needs from him. Meanwhile you could only stand there, staring with pity at the elk who slowly loses himself among the crowd of centaurs and humans. You feel alone, not because you're in a world both familiar and unfamiliar to you but because you're the only one who knows the dark future waiting ahead.
You're crouching behind a crate, shamelessly spying on the elk rift worker who's walking back home while singing some sad song about being misunderstood. Typical. As much as you've been spying on him during work hours you don't follow him to his home, it's not like you're a stalker or anything. You take a seat on that same crate, resting your chin on your knees as you release an audible sigh. "What am I supposed to do now?"
"Maybe if you stop moping around and do something about it you'd look less pitiful." a muffled voice responds right away.
"Who's there?" you raise your head, trying to figure out where the voice came from, but the only thing surrounding you are trash bags, garbage cans and a dumpster.
"In here," an oppossum-taur pokes their head from the dumpster, munching on a rancid sandwich. "You're on my turf buddy, what gives?" judging by their tone, they’re ready to throw hands.
You jump off from the crate, raising your hands defensively. "Sorry, sorry, it's just that I'm not exactly from here and I have no where to go."
"I can tell, humans don't usually hang around centaur trash, they have their own fancy trash bins separated by organic and non organic waste- ugh, they make me sick." the trashtaur shakes their fist towards an invisible enemy. "So I recommend you back off and head back to your own world!" was all the possum said before returning to their filthy home.
"Back to my own world?" you repeat.
It's nearly impossible to return to your normal world after being hit by the legendary isekai truck, so you settle for the closest thing nearby. The human world in Centaurworld closely resembles your own only if you squint hard enough and pretend it's some sort of renaissance fair. But besides that it's kind of tame and boring, there's no Wi-Fi, the regular citizens don't understand your pop culture references, and the clothing options suck without any proper amount of wealth. In a universe where magic exists, the human town is lacking in the "interesting" department, like a piece of white bread on a dessert table or the human race in dnd. At least it helped you grow familiar with what technological advances are available, such as toilets and sweatpants.
No matter the universe and the time period, you're still poor.
Your first night was spent, ironically enough, at a horse stable. Picking out an empty horse stall, gathering a pile of hay and laying a blanket over it as an improvised bed. An easy 5 minute life hack. You lay back, trying to make yourself comfortable as a pair of beady eyes judge you from the stall next to yours.
"What? Just because I'm from another universe doesn't mean I instantly get showered in money." you talk back to the horse. Rolling on your side as you give your back to the creature, hearing it huff in response.
Just as expected you slept with flea bites and a sore back that night, terrible stay, one star rating. At least it was free. Just when you thought you were done waking up in weird ways, the horse next to you started nibbling your ear, most likely in an attempt to eat the hay you're sleeping on. "I'm awake I'm awake!" you sit up, nudging the horse away.
You shake the loose hay straws from your hair, using the full barrel in the corner to splash water on your face. Though initially distorted, your reflection looks back at you from the water surface, absolutely restless and troubled. "There's no way I can prevent a war on my own, I mean just look at me." you turn to look at your horse roommate, calmly eating his hay as you go through your second breakdown. "I know I was sent here for a reason, I can feel it in my gut, but it's not like I can guide armies or teach anything about modern warfare." a single water drop falls from the top of your nose and lands into the barrel, watching the ripples distort your reflection even more. Giving you an idea.
"Or maybe I don't have to do anything grandiose like that, I could help by doing something simple. And that could cause a ripple effect," the horse neighs in response. Treating him like he's adding to the conversation. "No, no I can't just murder Elktaur! Technically he hasn't done anything wrong, er, not yet at least. But if I help him work out with his issues I could single-handedly stop the war from ever happening! No one will be killed, orphaned, nor have traumatizing emotional scars! It's a win win." you exclaim proudly, resting your hands on your hips.
Ah a savior complex, now you’re talking like a true protagonist.