This is your story. Our tale is over. Yours is just beginning, my pupil.

The words echo through my head as the train takes me far away from all that I had known. Was it true? Was my mentor's tale truly over and my own to begin? The thought disturbs me from my memories of home. It shakes the bones in my body right down to the core and I feel the tremble of fear run inside of me. My name is Takao Sui, a researcher with the Marakia Institute. I travel the world as a researcher of mysteries, a mercenary of knowledge. This is my first actual dispatch and my spirit is quaking with excitement and of an undeniable fear. The train roared past the dwindling tree line and I couldn't bear the feeling of fear anymore. "I'm going to take a walk." I mutter. My partners, for that is what they are, not true friends, nod and go back to their own amusements. Do they feel like I do? I have only known them for two months and still feel like they are bundles of mystery. Jenica, the smartest and quietest of us is the biggest mystery of all of us. I only know what I have heard from rumors. It was said that when she was three, her parents, the leaders of a rebellion against the state, were brutality murdered in front of her eyes. I do not dwindle long on what that must have done to her. Next to her is quite possibly the most annoying creature to exist on the planet, Namaki. I do not doubt for a moment that he has never sat still. Even now he is bugging our conductor about how long it is till we get to our stop. Does he know what lies ahead or is he just dealing with the fear in his own way? I am annoyed just even thinking about him. I must take a walk.

The door slides open as I slowly walk into the brightly lit dinner car. Even though the lights are betraying the mood of the men inside, I can not help but feel a bit more relaxed. The slight bumps in the train help move me forward as I wander around, looking and taking in the sights around me. Men in bright blue uniforms mutter stories over tall drinks of something. It is of a reddish color and does not look too appealing to my eyes. My reactions to drinks of that color have not been positive in the past and I am not eager to repeat the experience. A barmaid is serving more and more to the men. I can not help but feel a bit of pity for the poor woman. Her hair is held back in a ponytail and her composure shows one which has seen the rails a long time. Her voice reminds me of the birds back home. Oh, how I wish I was there and not on this train leading me to who knows where. I feel some regret at this thought as I remember that I volunteered for this adventure. I should not complain about that which has already been decided and by me of all people. I can not dwindle long here. It is almost dinner time and the souls in this train will soon be flocking here. Quickly paying for a stale-looking tuna sandwich, I continue my path through the train.

Food is such an odd thing. We fully depend on it but yet we try to lower the amount we consume in order to not obtain a look that was once desired. Social classes are ever changing. One day even I will lose the status that I have enjoyed for so long. I will be ousted by the same people who now enjoy that which I do. What will happen in the end? I can not foresee and am not too sure if I really want to. These thoughts are quickly driven out of my head as I enter the next car. It is the car I have been looking for the entire time. Taking a quick turn around I find what I have been looking for. It is the sleeping quarters for my partners and I. It has been an eventful day for me, leaving my home for so long. Claiming a bed is something I do not think much about for it is such a trivial act. I do not plan on resting long as I need to see more of my trip. What will become of me? What will my first hunt be? My heart starts to beat faster and faster at the scent of a new and magical adventure. The beginning of this trip is quite exciting and promises to be something I will never forget. Finally resting my bag and overcoat on the nearby stand, I slip quickly into the dreams of the past, to prepare for the future.