The wind stirred gently through the alleyway, carrying with it scents Rin couldn't name. The buildings here were closer together, their stone facades weathered but oddly vibrant, like paintings that had aged with grace. Every detail felt purposeful—too vivid to be real, too quiet to be a dream.
He had barely taken ten steps beyond the corner where the hooded figure vanished when a voice called out behind him.
"Hey! You lost or something?"
Rin turned, startled.
A boy, maybe seventeen or eighteen, stood at the end of the cobblestone path, one hand tucked in his coat pocket, the other balancing a paper-wrapped bundle that smelled faintly of cinnamon and smoke. His hair was tousled, a deep auburn catching the light, and his eyes held that strange mix of boredom and curiosity that only came from locals.
"Didn't mean to startle you," the boy added, walking closer. "It's just—you really stand out, you know that?"
Rin blinked. "Stand out?"
"Yeah. The clothes. That jacket—people here don't really do zippers. Or whatever those shoes are."
Rin looked down. Sneakers, dark hoodie, worn jeans. Perfectly ordinary yesterday. Now? Alien.
The boy gave a half-smile, not unkind. "Let me guess. Threshold? First Arrival?"
Rin hesitated. "...What?"
The boy raised a brow, then shrugged. "That's a yes. Most don't even remember the shift, let alone the landing. You're doing pretty well for a first-timer."
"Where... am I?"
"That's a complicated question," the boy said, stepping past him and gesturing lazily to the street beyond. "You're in the Outer Fold. Technically part of the Threshold, but not deep enough for the real weird stuff yet. Lucky you."
Rin stared at him. He didn't know this place. He didn't know this person. And yet, something about the boy's voice, the rhythm of his words—it was grounding.
"Name's Cal," the boy added. "And if you've got no idea what you're doing, then you might want to stick close."
Rin hesitated again, then slowly nodded.
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