Part 1:

In an apartment in Sweden a few years ago, a striped hyena was sitting in front of her computer writing something, that hyena is me, Alexis Strype. I do want to play games all day, but even I knew that I can’t do it all the time, even if streaming turned out to be a good income.
Sitting and looking at what I wrote I imagined all the adventures I went through in my games and wondered if I could go out on such a grand adventure myself even with my huge beautiful body.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang and with big steps, I went towards the door to see who it was through the peeping hole because I wasn’t expecting a visitor and I very much hoped it wasn't a salesman.
Nope, what I saw were three hyenas in weird outfits as if they came straight out of a fantasy setting. Cosplayers in my city? Apparently it was more likely than I thought.
I opened the door slowly and asked them; “Are you a band of cosplayers or are you larpers seeking a fourth player?”
The three hyenas looked at me as if they couldn’t believe their eyes, honestly, I’m not the only one in the world who’s as huge as I am, I believe there might be those who are even bigger than even I am, but those are immobile and while I’m not ashamed of being fat so am I not interested in being an immobile blob.
Finally one of them spoke, a rather short one; “Sorry miss, it looks like we have arrived at the wrong place.” he said.
“Yeah, we’re sorry for bothering you.” said the brown hyena.
“But before we go, do you happen to know of a battle-ready female striped gnoll? She has the same colour on her hair as you and… I got a picture of her.” said the third, she was the tallest, as tall as me, though she was chubby instead of fat, it looked cute on her even if she looked to be a tough warrior.
She picked up a picture from her bag and gave it to me. It seems to be a photo of a painting, it looked to be a beautiful painting of a pair of striped hyenas in what looks to be royal garbs, that also had skulls of beasts for shoulder pads, odd. But what caught my attention most was the little child between them, she looked exactly like me when I was five, mind you, I wasn’t fat back then and neither was she. If I was a hyperactive kid who loved to run around and play a lot, then so was she, I think. But I still can’t get this feeling of familiarity off me whenever I look at this picture.
I looked at the three hyenas. “Where did you come from?”
The shortest one replied; “We come from the kingdom of Haunder in the continent of Galoor.”
I looked at him like he just sneezed at me. “Sorry, I have never heard of that place. But this beautiful pair looks very familiar and this child may have been me for all I know since she looked exactly like me when I was five.”
The three of them looked at each other and then at me.
“That sounds like a coincidence,” said the brown.
“Surely you had different upbringings. Our princess was teleported to this world when the Dark Lord attacked, which was the last time anyone saw her.” said the big gal.
I looked at the picture and then at them. “I grew up without knowing my real parents and I feel like the king and queen in the picture may be them,” I said, making the three hyenas in front of me confused.
They then dropped their jaws when they realized I could have possibly been the lost princess, which turned into disappointment.
“We had really hoped our princess was training all her life to become a great warrior, not some big mountain of lard, no hard feelings princess.” said the big one.
“Oh… but my friends and viewers say I’m more agile than I look,” I said.
The three once again got confused, this time it was the brown who asked. “What kind of viewers?”
“Stream viewers, I make videos live and have people watch and comment on it. Maybe that kind of technology doesn’t exist in your world?” I asked.
The short one replied; “Maybe we could have had such technology if it wasn’t for the Dark Lord and his forces being against technological progress.”
I looked aghast at him. “That’s awful and he’s still ruling over the continent even after all those years?”
The three of them nodded.
“It sounds dangerous… but I want to visit the lands I originated from,” I said with a worried smile.
“But princess,” said the short one. “It will be hard for you!”
“First off, you may simply call me Alexis,” I said feeling a bit more secure. “And second, as long as I have you by my side, I will be fine. So what are your names?”
“Uhn… my name is Grey.” said the short one.
“I’m Hursh.” said the brown gnoll.
“And I’m Krashi.” said the big one, who may I remind you is not as big as me, so it’s good I got to know her name so I could refer to her by that.
“Those are some interesting names,” I said.
“They’re normal gnoll names,” said Hursh.
“So… I guess Alexis is not my real name since it seems out of place,” I said while not trying to sound awkward.
“Right now we will call you Alexis. You will know your birth name later,” said Krashi and looked at me and then the door frames as if calculating something.
“Yes, I can go through these frames, no need to help me out,” I said. “But first I need to pack my stuff and turn off my devices so they won’t run while I’m gone.”
“Okay, but please hurry up!” said Krashi.
The three gnolls waited for me as I made sure my consoles were turned off and told my social media that something happened and that I will be away for an undetermined amount of time before turning off my computer and my router to ensure no one would be able to use my wi-fi. I also packed whatever I thought I needed, including toothpaste and a brush.
I walked outside and met up with them. “So are we ready to take off?”
“Yes,” said Grey. “Just follow us. We can also help you with your packing.”
“Oh please, aren’t I supposed to be some warrior princess?” I asked.
“Yes, but we still have to make sure you don’t stress yourself too much before we even get there,” said Grey as Hursh and Krashi took my packings while I pouted and followed after them.