Beyond Shokushu Forest
Coming out of the tunnel, you have to blink a few times from the sudden brightness of a midday sun. You appear to be in the middle of a dense forest. Looking around you, there is little to see but trees and an outcropping of rock which contains the entrance through which you have just emerged. At one time there might have been a well-trodden path leading here but if so it was abandoned long ago and nature has screened off the weathered portal to any but the occasional chance visitor. While standing there wondering what to do next, it suddenly occurs to you that it was approaching evening when you entered the tunnel and you haven't been travelling all that long.
What does it all mean? Have you somehow travelled to another part of the planet or are you somewhere different altogether? Your mind drifts over science fiction stories you read in the past, where long-forgotten lands lie in hidden valleys, or even underground. The trees in this forest look rather different to the ones close to the School, but maybe you just went to another part of those woods after all, and you could be mistaken about the sun. Really, it's not like you're one of those outdoor boy scout types who can tell the time by eating moss off the north side of a tree or something.
As you stand around looking somewhat lost, rather vacant and wholly undecided, the silence is broken by a sudden hubbub of noise. It seems as though every bird for miles around has suddely taken flight and started chattering to one another. Well that's something you can figure out without too much difficulty. If the birds are unsettled then something made them that way. Something big and noisy, like maybe an elephant or... a bear! Do they have bears around here? You don't know and you don't feel inclined to find out the hard way. Moving back near the tunnel entrance, you crouch down behind a bush, ready to retreat quickly should your underdeveloped woodsman instincts prove correct.
When something... someone... does appear though, it is wholly unexpected. Not only is she a 'she' but she is also running almost silently, so that you didn't have time to prepare for her abrupt arrival. Why would she have disturbed the birds, when she slides through the undergrowth so gracefully and naturally? Who cares, another part of your brain asks with some logic. Rather more importantly, why is she green? All over? Something that is completely obvious due to her total lack of clothing.