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The JBC Classics were tommorow. You should be brimming with anticipation and go to bed early. Or polish your armor, sharpen your weapons, and get ready for the heat of war.
Not sit at the side of a road and cry out of fear of failure for the third night in a row. It was pouring. You would get sick.
Maybe you wanted that. Having an excuse not to enter the battlefield was just the escape you needed.
It was no use anyway. If you ran, if you tried, you would just fail again. What if you gave up running after that and swore to never step on a track again?
Even if you got last place next December in the Tokiyo Daishoten, at least you would have experienced the race you had dreamed of for so long. You owed your hopeful, ambitious past self at least that.
And to think you had been so close to keep up in a 2000 meter race back in June.
But you failed miserably. You lost your cool and wasted stamina. You couldn't get ahead of the front runners.
You still had the same issues you had in your junior year. It got better in your classic year but in the senior year so far? The best placement you had gotten was second place in a G2 race, and only because there had been very few front runners and pace chasers.
Ever since the 13th place in the Teio Sho, your medium distance running hasn't improved at an acceptable rate.
Nothing had improved since that loss, nothing!
"Set your sights on the goal and you will reach it."
That's what your trainer would tell you if you showed up tomorrow, as they did before every race. You had yet to see it work.
It had to be after curfew by now. You would get an earful. You didn't want to go back. You wanted to go home.
You didn't even break the rules to train. Just to mope around and be sad. You couldn't face your parents like that.
You should go for a run.
Falling into a light jog was as easy as blinking and just as natural. The streets were void of foot traffic. Cars were scattered far and wide across the streets. You picked up the pace. Where were you heading? You had no place to go.
Seeing a flash of white at the edge of your vision reminded you of the failure you were. You did wrong and you paid the price. But your reflexes didn't get the memo and you landed a kicked before the big square car hit you.
The truck came to a screeching halt and the driver jumped out. They check the front, then the underside and surroundings.
Whoever they hit, nothing but a dent in the car remained.
The rain was gone. You weren't in the city. You weren't in any city. There was wilderness all around you.
Was this a reincarnation into a medival fantasy world Rob Roy had told you about?
But you were in your own body.
You had kicked a truck in the face, you had not died, how did that count? This was unfair.
At least you didn't have to come up with an excuse to not run in the JBC Classics. You could kick your legs up and enjoy an early retirement.
As if that was what you wanted. Just one more win and maybe then you could let yourself rest. But that was taken from you. It was all so unfair.
You should rethink your priorities. Racing can come later, first you should make sure you wouldn't get eaten by a dragon.
Behind the treeline was a wall made of stone, seemingly human made, so that was your destination.
You crossed a bridge and saw a guard at the left side of the entrance. You greeted him.
"Welcome to Mondstadt, strange yet respectable traveler!", he responded. "Please state your identity and intended destination. The Knights of Favonius are here to ensure your safety. If you're tired and need a place to sleep, you may seek out rest at a tavern called 'Angel's Share' in the company of an adult. If it's your first time here, I recommend visiting the Mondstadt Cathedral in the morning."
All that unprompted information was unexpected and a little overwhelming. You didn't know what to say next.
That you were from another world?
You didn't exactly want to be called a witch and burn on a pile. And you did not remember dying, so maybe you just got teleported.
You answered the question about your identity as best as you could and simply told him how you felt: "I'm lost."
"Please, do not worry. The Knights of Favonius will do their utmost to support and protect you. Please state your intended destination."
Not knowing anything about the world, you could only speak the truth and hope it would buy you time until you figured out what to do.
"My destination is Tracen Academy."
Speaking the name aloud in this unfamiliar place gave comfort, but also homesickness and hope rose in your chest. The firm voice of the knight was reassuring. It shattered your hope anyway.
"I can not tell you how to get to Tracen Academy. But someone at the headquarters can offer you more directions than I. I am not allowed to leave my position, so please forgive me for not guiding you there myself. Please wait a moment while Lawrence calls another knight to escort you."
The knight at the other side of the entrance nodded and walked into the city.
The other kept you engaged in smalltalk.
"Where are you from?"
"Tracen Academy."
"So you lost your way home? Be rest assured, you will get home. The Knights of Favonius will be able to help you."
"Do you mean the Academia in Sumeru? Then you traveled very far. It's commendable you made all the way on your own."
If no one had heard of Tracen Academy, there was no hope to get home, was there? No, maybe you were just in a different country that also spoke your language.
"Academia? Sumeru? I have never heard of it. Is that another school for Umamusume?"
"Umamusume?", a third voice mused. "S'that what you are? Oho, you got some strong legs."
A guy you haven't noticed before was squatting beside you, inspecting your legs.
You took a startled step back and smoothed your clothes.
"I haven't seen a person with traits like yours before. Let's have a duel."
He stood up and seemed like a nice person, but he was no doubt human and not umamusume.
"But you dont stand a chance," you point out the obvious. A human could never keep up with an umamusume in a race, even if that uma wasn't producing satisfying results.
But he didn't back down.
"I like your attitude. Meet me in the morning at the training grounds."
His determination spoke to you. It reminded you of the reason that made you apply for Tracen Academy.
If he wanted to experience an uma race, you would make it possible. Umamusume were awe inspiring and shone brightest on the racetrack. Something bloomed in your chest. You wanted to inspire.
"I'll be there."
He left with a satisfied grin and pep in his steps.
The Knights had not been able to find any information about Tracen Academy. Their librarian had searched through a big library at the knights request, but she had said from the beginning that there would be no results. Looked like you were in another world after all.
As if reading your mind, the librarian asked "Are you perhaps from another world?"
She laughed at your expression.
"You wouldn't be the first. But you are the cutest. Oh, but sadly, we do not know how to get you back."
On your way to the bed the knights had organised for you after a hearty meal, a young knight approached you.
"I heard you accepted a duel against the vice-captain. I must say, when I first saw you, I couldn't believe my eyes. Are you sure you want to fight him?"
Full of conviction you said "An uma never backs down from a fight!"
They didn't have to know that you got here because you wanted to flee from a G1, one of the biggest fights there was. It was unforgivable. Your negative thoughts had gotten the better of you, but you should have never even thought about giving up. You would do better from now on.
The knight cheered you on. "Where there's a will there's a way. I wish you good luck. I hope you win."
"Thank you for your concern but I will be fine. I wish you a good night", you bid him farewell.
Why was he concerned in the first place?
You waved it off on behalf of their lack of knowledge about umamusume.
Why was a human from another world so eager to race?
You should have questioned it more. You should especially have thought about the use of 'duel' more instead of immediately associating it with racing.
Instead, you wasted no thought on those matters. You had a race to prepare for.
A human's stamina was ground to expect a short distance. You wouldn't be able to use your full potential but it didn't matter how you compared to umas from your old world.
It was safe to say that the track would be dirt. That would be no issue.
Just do your best and have fun!
Happiness bubbled in your stomach as you made sure your shoes where up to the task. It had been months since you looked forward to a match. Having that back was so nice.
You slept with a peace of mind and woke up early and refreshed.
Your opponent, Lohen, was already waiting for you at the training grounds. A few knights appeared to want to watch the duel.
As expected of an uma-less world, there was no race track and no starting gates.
"Are you ready?"
"I am!", you replied and waited for Lohen to explain where you would run. He didn't. And he certainly didn't look ready to run. Heavy armor, a dagger in hand.
"Go!", a bystander announced the start of the race. You were frozen on the spot in uncertainty. Your opponent didn't start running.
Then he grinned and started charging... AT YOU!?
'Wait." You took a step back. Wait wait wait, was he attacking you?
"You missunderstood-", you wanted to shout but a wave of bloodlust strangled it into a shy wisper.
Everything in you told you to run. So you turned on your heels and did what you were best at - full charge away from that monster.
You left the city gates and stirred up a flock of pigeons. Your trained ears told you there was a runner behind you following from a distance.
Your feet didn't stop until you were certain you were all alone and left the chaser long in the dust.
Your mind cleared up and your heart slowed down. Once again you were lost in a forest. The city walls were no where in sight.
But the run was awesome. The sun was shining so bright. The wind felt amazing. Your heart beat full of energy.
You throw your arms open and take a deep breath of life, interrupting it with joyful laughter.
Before your mind caught up, your legs were already moving again, settling for a light jog. The scenery was beautiful. Green grass, lush trees, mountains breaking out of the ground, and a vibrant blue sky.
You slowed down as you recognised a river. Maybe you had come by here on your escape?
Your ear twitched in the direction of human footsteps. Your eyes met crimson and your happiness made a full stop.
A long weapon hit a tree right next to you, pinning a creature you hadn't noticed. It was brown, had a mane, and some kind of mask instead of a face. Those dark claws looked dangerous.
"Why are you running away?" your attacker spoke, out of of breath and sounding like he was supressing a chuckle. "You're fast."
He stopped an armlenght away from you and ripped his bloody polearm out of the monster.
His eyes landed on you and you ran for your life. You made a zickzack through the trees.
Something small zirred next to your head and slammed into a tree. Hard.
You were going to die.
Fuck the knights and their false promise of safety. It was a trap from the beginning! A set up!
Maybe there once were umas running on these lands... until humans had a taste and started hunting them to extinction!
You only stopped when you spotted a village. You treaded through it carefully and overheard a woman in distress.
You perked up. She needed an express delivery of a letter that was supposed to be sent days in advance. An adventurer who could leave immediately.
That was a job for you! Even if the humans in this world saw you as food, you couldn't leave someone in need of quick hooves hanging.
What if you lived in hiding and took care of emergency jobs like this without disclosing your uma features?
Not something you would have thought about doing in your old world. But you could do good and help people.
You approached the woman, snatching a hat from a washing line on the way to cover your ears.
"Good day, madame."
You tipped you head and the tip of your new hat. The fabric made your ears itch.
"I am an adventurer and heard you need a delivery done?"
"You come at the perfect time! This letter was supposed to reach my son today but this morning, I found it on my kitchen table. Please, take the letter and bring it to Allan! He is boarding a boat in Liyue soon."
A man stepped to the woman's side.
"Forget it. Even if she runs, the boat will be out on the see by then. The letter would never reach him in time."
You snatched the letter.
"I'm a fast runner. I've got this, just leave it to me!"
You started jogging on the spot.
"Where's Liyue?"
The stolen hat fell off when you gained speed but you were too focused on memorising the directions to care.
You paced your tempo but the way was longer than the mile tracks you were used to. Out of breath, you reached the harbour of Liyue.
Still, you made it. You won! You were victorious.
The recipient thanked you profusely and gave you a bunch of golden coins alongside a letter back to his mother.
You promptly used all the coins to sponsor yourself lunch. The sight of a table full of food on an empty stomach was wonderful. The other guests stared at you while you downed the fifth dish as if you were starving.
Oh no, did they recognised you? Were the chefs secretly preparing to trap you to turn you into a meal as delicious as the one you were eating?
You quickly finished the rest of the meals and left Liyue.
Tracing the umamusume's trail was a piece of cake. The dents imprinted into the ground were unique and deep. Each one was stomped into the ground with a force impossible for a human to replicate if they wore the exact same shoes.
After asking around the village, Lohen decided to wait for you to get back and worked on a little welcome on the path you would take.
From the tree branch Lohen sat on, he had a good view on your arrival, which came too soon.
And here Lohen thought he had plenty of time. He had severely misjudged your speed. It is even more impressive than he imagined. His contraption was laughable at best and useless at worst in its current state.
Twirling his knife, Lohen watched you as a horde of slimes hopped in your path and attacked you.
The slimes were met with the sole of your shoe, bursting after the impact. Then you were on your merry way.
plunk
You whipped around, ready to greet more slimes with your hoof.
On the road behind you was a net that hadn't been there before. Must have fallen out of the tree that a person now jumped down from.
Not just any person- the blue one!
That crazy guy tried to catch you like a pig!
On the first step he casually made towards you, you fled like a prey animal.
You pushed the letter into the woman's hand and pushed your body to keep moving.
You had to hide. Your life was on the line.
In your exhaustion, you didn't get far and found yourself stuck with a dead end on one side and Lohen on the other.
What did you do if you couldn't run?
You broke down on the ground and made yourself as small as possible. You weren't facing a bear but there was nothing else you could think of.
"Don't eat me!", you pleaded.
A shadow fell over you. You scrambled back and knocked your head on the stone wall caging you. Your arms were the last defense between the predator and the prey.
"I won't", he leaned down, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. His breath met your skin. "Or maybe I will. Unless you kick me. Show me what you got! Put those leg muscles to work."
Cold fingers glid down your legs, making you shiver like a leaf.
"Noooo, dont eat me! Get away from me!" You trashed but didn't comply.
Lohen licked his fingers. "Mh. Kick me as hard as you can and I might spare you."
"..." you just whimpered in response. Your brain wasn't working.
He got so close he could bite you.
He would eat you up and leave not even bones. You would be wiped off of the face of the earth. No one would ever find you, not even a trace.
He sniffed you.
"You smell delicious"
You squirmed and stilled. Something wet and warm touched your skin.
He was tasting you.
"...Perhaps with a dash of pepper...", he mumbled to himself but loud enough for you to hear.
Disgust and survival instincts combined, you folded your legs and explosively kicked the threat in the guts, sending him flying.
He didn't get up again but his whole body shook- from laughter.
He was nuts! Insane!
You dragged your body, threatening to break down, to the nearest water. You scrubbed your skin clean and planned plan A, B, C, and D on how to not end on a plate. All the while frantically scanning the surroundings with your ears and eyes for sea green hair and red eyes.
You were able to relax, at least for a while.
"Lohen..."
"Hm?"
The knight in question looked out the window, watching people pass by. His tense posture and twitching fingers betrayed that he knew of what he was guilty.
The grandmaster sighed.
"You pursued your opponent in a duel after she wielded, chased her out of the city, set up a trap, and came back with an injury while your opponent is missing, did I get that right?"
"My opponent just needed a little motivation. Wouldn't fight me otherwise."
His hands were itching to pick up a dagger.
"Lohen, you are suspended. Four weeks community service."
Lohen groaned in disproval.
"Your behavior was unbefitting of a knight, a vice captain no less. You know what you have to do."
Lohen gave the window frame a rythmic tapping.
"...Apologise and offer my sincerest remorse. But I'm afraid her seeing my face would do more bad than good. Activate a heart attack or something like that."
"Even more reason to apologise. Now go. Find her and get on your knees, if that's what it takes for her to accept your apology."
"Yes, yes, I will see it done immediately."
The job would be done quickly. Your traces were as trackable as ever. It looked like you were camping in a cleared out Hilichurl camp.
"Hey", Lohen tried to appear harmless. No visible weapon and only close enough to understand each other without shouting. Meaning he was leaning against the only exit of the round house.
You didn't turn around. Recognising the threat by his voice alone, your whole body froze. You jumped up and dove head first through a hole in the wall.
You didn't get far. When you were on your feet, Lohen caught your arm.
"Listen. I'm-"
A white metal box on wheels crashed into you, milimeters away from Lohen and vanished with you as soon as it appeared.
Lohen blinked at the empty space you had occupied a second ago, closing his now empty hand that touched you.
"Varka wouldn't believe me if I told him the truth."
He turned around to head back and clapped his hands.
"An apology well done. He can't prove otherwise."
...The grandmaster was not happy. Lohen's community service was doubled because the umamusume from another world was no where to be found. The grandmaster did not believe the true or false explanation Lohen provided.
What were your ears hearing? Bustling streets and cars? You opened your eyes to a street you recognised.
If someone had taken your time as you ran to the Tracen Academy, disregarding the speeding rule to its finest, you would have broken a record.
Your first stop was the library, where you jumped Rob Roy with a hug.
You told your friend all about the day in another world.
About the life saving delivery you executed.
About how umas were a delicacy, hunted to extinction. You were almost hunted to extinction! You shuddered and flailed your tail.
"Let's have a duel, Rob."
You had to make sure you stayed in top form in case you ever had to run from uma eating humans again.
Happy to see you motivated, Rob Roy accepted.
"Let me finish this book and then we can ask our trainers to organise a competition."
"Is it an isekai?"
"No, I'm reading a hystorical retelling of a travelling bard."
"Read for me!"
You made yourself comfortable on a chair beside her and laid your head on your arms. The whole adventure tired you.
"I'll give you a summary of what happened up to now."
This normalcy was soothing for your soul. You needed this. Your trainer could give you an earful for ditching the JBC Classics later.
Training?
Completed to the best of your abilities since you got back.
Racewear?
Cleaned and sitting perfectly.
Trainer?
"Set your sights on the goal and you will reach it."
"Yes, trainer!"
You were ready to win the Tokiyo Daishoten.
Zenno Rob Roy was in the audience and gave you an encouraging nod when she noticed your attention on her.
Taiki Shuttle was rattling the gates to your left- no, she cheered in excitement.
To your right, El Condor Pasa glared and clenched her fist- no, she looked straight ahead to the goal in determination.
There was a difference in hostility. No one was out to harm you. The umamusume around you had absolutely no bloodlust.
Smart Falcon waving with both arms at the sea of people suddenly didn't seem like she was placing a curse on the track.
This prickling feeling under your skin was not fear. It was just nerves and the feeling of excitement that you had lost sight of, misinterpreting it as something dark and scary.
You had seen worse, you realized and set your sight on the dirt track beyond the door. It was empty, welcoming you to claim it with your feet and run free.
peng
The roaring crowd and thundering boots were no threat. It was not about what was or wasn't happening on the outside. Look at the inside. Only you mattered.
"Set your sights on the goal and you will reach it."
Your trainer had told you these words before every race. You never quite understood why. You did now, and it was not too late- Your new training plan, created with your input, inspired by your experience in the other world, had paid off.
thump thump thump
Your heartbeat, strong and alive, was all you felt as it became steady.
thump thump thump
Your steps were loudest among the late surgers, drumming a rhythm into the ground.
Three-fourth of the runners in front of you. A free path forward. You were in a good position. Keep the speed. Slow your breathing, your getting erratic.
You left the first corner behind you.
After you rounded the last corner, your steps slowed down. Umamusume were blocking your way forward and started gaining distance.
You couldn't lose. This was what you had trained for. Your chance to fulfill your dream. You were going to win.
Your heavy legs trembled under the strain. A wall was blocking the path forward. A saying came to mind. Where there's a will there's a way. Where did you hear that? It wasn't your trainer-
The other world, the knight the night before the duel with-
Lohen.
Your blood froze and you drew a sharp breath.
thump thump thump
Your heart responded immediatly, lending you an emergency supply of adrenaline and air.
Behind you. Run.
You shuddered and took control over your feet. You gained speed and pushed through the umamusume blocking your way.
Three more to go.
The eyes on your back, the crazed smile and evil laughter.
You passed Taiki Shuttle.
"Perhaps with a dash of pepper..."
One left, just one more.
You had kicked Lohen and had him writhing on the ground. You were strong. You knew you could do anything, you were the best, you could defeat any opponent-
You crossed the finish line next to Smart Falcon. The crowd erupted in cheers. You slowed down and came to a halt. It was your name they were chanting.
In a sense, Lohen had trained you.
Thousand thanks to Lohen's special training but you hoped you never met that monster that haunted your nightmares again.
You prayed your training would continue to go well now that you got yourself together so you never again had to resort to putting yourself through the memory of Lohen chasing you with the intend to kill. It was your last resort, the very last.
You had it in you. You knew you did. It was just a matter of finding a way. All you needed was in yourself.