Strange. Riley didn't remember the water being this far away from land. There was some elevation between the rocks and the water, but definitely not enough to warrant ten seconds of free falling. Now nervous, Riley slowly opened her eyes, to find that everything was dark. She held her hand in front of her face, and found that she could not see it. The sky never got this dark at home. Even in the night with a citywide power failure the stars were always out in brilliant droves, the most prevalent of all the celestial bodies being the moon.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she hit something wet and soft back first, that received her with a FWOOMPH! and no pain whatsoever. Riley squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them, she found herself in a place nothing like the endless cavern she was in but seconds ago. It was a well lit room, an unclear source of light illuminating the walls in a vibrant bronze and the ground beneath her in a surfeit of gaudy colors. On one such pillow lay a cat, so dark it seemed to absorb the light around it. It opened it's maw and began to speak. "Hi!" it said, lifting itself from its seat and slowly approaching. "Are you okay? That was a big fall! Welcome to Compass District One, visitor! I'm Howl. What's your name?"

"Are you a fairy?" asked Riley, not paying any heed at all to what Howl was saying.