The first thing Oboro noticed was that she was in a strange room. The ceiling was arched and seemed to be made of wood. The second thing was that she was lying in a bed of some sort. Puzzled, she sat up. She groaned, rubbing her head to shake off the last of her sleep. At the end of the bed she saw four strange figures, all standing in a line. They had big, round heads and wore colorful caps...
"You're awake!" One of them cheered.
Suddenly it all came rushing back. Her shrinking, the creature that looked just like those now standing before her. It was all real!
Oboro retreated, only to hit the wall behind her. Panicking, she looked for a way out. On either side of the room were round windows, possibly big enough for her to dive through. Oboro moved for her left, only to be blocked by one of the creatures.
"Please, wait!" It pleaded in its irritatingly nasally voice. "We mean you no harm!"
Oboro grimaced, fist raised. Something about these strange people rubbed her the wrong way, like those Nohrians she loathed. It was obviously showing on her face, the strange beast raising both hands and retreating slightly.
"What are you?" Oboro barked, resisting the urge to assault these strange things.
"We are the Wimpish." Oboro whipped round to face the one that spoke. This one, wearing a strange pair of red glasses, was just as cowardly, backing away as she looked towards him.
"You are our chosen one!" Yet another said. Its words were deeply unnerving to the woman. A chosen one? Were they some sort of sinister cult of deformed people? Were they going to sacrifice her?
"No!" Oboro screamed, leaping off the bed. She dived for the door, knocking over two of the Wimpish. They both grabbed her as they fell, bringing her to the ground as they fell.
"Please, wait!" One pleaded, struggling against the spear-fighter.
"Let me go!" Oboro shouted, trying to pull herself free.
"What is all of this noise?"
Oboro looked up to see yet another of the creatures. This one looked different, with a long purple cap and white beard, but he shared many of the same features.
"Help us, elder!" One of the Wimpish cried.
"She's trying to get away!" Another added.
"I see. Well, we can't have that now can we?" He raised his gnarled wooden staff, before thudding it to the floor. Oboro growled, now even more determined to escape.
The grip of her enemies grew tighter, now making it much harder for Oboro to get free. She thrashed about as much as she could, but they seemed to have a better hold of her. Had she been weakened somehow? They were helped to their feet by the others, both of them keeping a hold of an arm each. As they stood, Oboro was also helped up. She continued to struggle, kicking at her alien captors, only to notice they were now much taller than she was!
"Oh no..." Oboro breathed.
Distraught, she stopped struggling. She could do nothing but watch as she shrank again, the strange people growing to twice her size. She blushed as her makeshift dress started to come loose. Restrained in this way, she could only hope that her clothing would not slip off as her size halved.
"There we are." The elder sighed, in a nasally but somehow gravelly voice. "Much easier to handle, yes?"
"Thank you, elder!" The Wimpish squeaked in unison.
The creepy chorus only unnerved Oboro further. "Let me go!" She demanded.
"You must stay here." The elder rubbed his chin and leaned in closer to Oboro's face as she burned red with rage. "You're very special, you know."
"The chosen one!" The others sang.
A good measure of fear mixed into Oboro's anger. "W-what do you want from me?" She whimpered.
"Want? All we want... Is for you to listen!" The elder roared, raising both arms into the air.
"L-listen?" Oboro didn't believe him but calmed down a bit. At least it seemed like they weren't going to sacrifice her...
"A great prophecy was once told!" The elder explained theatrically, "That the blessed golden needle would send us a great hero, in our time of greatest need!" He gestured towards the needle that lay on a nearby table, more the scale of a spear to these strange creatures. Oboro recognized it as the one Hinata had given her, that she had not noticed during her struggles to escape.
"Golden needle? But that's bronze!" Oboro pointed out.
"Never mind the details!" The elder said.
"Never mind the details!" The others chorused after him.
Oboro sighed. How much more ridiculous could this get?
"The great hero would be the chosen one," The elder continued, "A warrior whose prowess on the battlefield was matched only by their talent as a human tailor!"
"W-what?" Oboro gasped. Was that really the reason why she was here?
"The chosen one would take up arms and save our people!" The elder cheered.
"Hooray!" The Wimpish chanted, their voices even more annoying to the tiny tailor.
"B-but how?" Oboro asked over the commotion. "What do you want from me?" She didn't like how vague the elder was being. Did he want her to fight in a war for them? To embark on some great quest?
"We need you to... Get us some food!" The elder proclaimed.
"Food!" The other Wimpish bustled around, hugging each other in jubilation. Only the two that restrained Oboro remained still.
Oboro's face went blank. All they wanted... Was food?
"Why can't you get your own food?" Oboro snarled, recovering from her shock.
"Long ago, getting food was easy." The elder began. "It was so easy to sneak into the kitchens of the humans and steal what we needed..."
Oboro tutted. These people were thieves?
"But then one day, they started to put it away into boxes! And cupboards! How could we get into those?"
"Can't you get your own food?" Oboro suggested.
"Why would we do that?" The elder asked. "The huge monsters of the forest are scary! It's much easier to take from the humans!"
The Wimpish all shivered in fear. Oboro wasn't far off punching one of them in the face at this point.
"Why should I help you?"
"Isn't saving us reward enough?" The elder asked. "Besides, it is only by helping us that you will be returned to your own world."
Oboro thought for a moment. They did seem to have some control over her size with their strange magic, so perhaps they really could restore her to normal. They seemed harmless enough, so helping them might not be too bad. On the other hand, she really didn't like them. The two Wimpish holding her had relaxed their grip, perhaps she had a chance to escape. Either way it was up to her, it didn't seem like anyone else would be able to help...