Chapter 23: The Forgotten Lands, Part One

{Rin}

{Earlier}

All in all, she was having a miserable time.

After escaping that cave, Rin had walked aimlessly for seven straight days, always fearful that one of those psychos would find her. In that week, she covered just enough ground to say that she was in a strange forest of sorts, one that was far more cramped, and far more colorful than the one she and Cara had entered.

She hadn't strayed too far, though. She understood that those people back at the cave weren't the only threats. She could run into all sorts of monsters out here, and that meant that she was hesitant to walk too far in the wrong direction. Not that she knew which direction that was.

However, shelter, food, and water were some things that quickly became a concern and so, she had to deal with them before she could even begin to think about getting back to Libera somehow. For shelter, every night Rin would gather up different kinds of wood and use what little Essence she had on the [Fireball] spell, lighting up a campfire to keep herself warm and laying down by a boulder or a tree of some sort, hoping no monsters would come to interrupt her night. For food and water, all Rin had found so far were these weird white fruits that grew plentifully on the nearby trees. They looked like grapes, but were far larger, and held enough juice in them to where Rin hoped they would at least buy her some time before she'd have to find actual water.

Still, she felt herself getting sluggish as the days went on. After trying her hardest to get the images she'd seen in the cave out of her mind, now, all she felt was tired.

Every now and then, her hands would shake as she remembered what she'd seen, and, the nightmares were hard to deal with, but still, she was managing to distract herself.

Currently, Rin was walking between a few trees, with one of those fruits in her hands. Her hair, her body, her armor, everything still smelled like crap from the filthy waters she'd been in earlier, despite Rin having washed her armor and herself numerous times in the numerous ponds she'd found.

[So,] Rin thought as she proceeded to ask herself the most important question she could at the moment. [Where the hell do I go?]

A sort of paranoia had set in as Rin had gone on. She worried that she was so unlucky that she was actually moving away from Libera, instead of moving towards it, even though she had no way of knowing. Every couple of days, she'd look back and wonder if she was making a mistake.

However, she tried to force those thoughts out of her mind, as the answer wouldn't come anytime soon.

What she did understand came in the form of a thud she heard in the distance, that made the ground shake.

[Oh crap, a monster?] She wondered as she crouched, hiding behind a tree. [To my... left.] She thought as she heard another thud coming from that direction.

Rin peeked, trying to see if she could get a good look at it. When she did, her breath caught in her throat. Ahead was something massive, walking on four legs. It had a strange, almost bird-like head with spikes running down its body and one long horn at its front. It had a pair of small wings and a thick tail that ended with a set of spikes as well, like a club of sorts. It moved slowly, with four blue eyes searching the area.

Rin hid behind a tree, her heart beating against her chest until she was certain the thing was gone.

"Oh, fuck," she said aloud. "I really didn't need th-"

Before she could finish, something screeched above and Rin flinched, as she watched a monstrously wide bird fly away from the very tree she was leaning against.

[Dammit, dammit!] Rin thought as she recovered from having been frightened so badly. [Keep moving, screw it, just keep moving.]

That was what she told herself, day in and day out. As long as she kept moving, she'd have to run into some humans at some point. She had heard of a few different villages spread out across the land. All she needed was to stumble across one of them and she'd be alright.

She spaced out for a while, as she thought about that.

[... First thing I'll do is ask for some actual meat,] she thought. [Ugh, I miss chicken and beef already. Maybe after that, some soap and a warm bath. And... after, maybe...]

She stopped though when she came across yet another small pond. It seemed these were common around these parts, but Rin wasn't complaining as it gave her an opportunity to freshen up a little.

Looking around to make sure no ravenous beasts were watching her grinning with anticipation, Rin began taking her armor off.

Once she was fully naked, she looked down at herself. Before, when she was at Dren, she didn't work out at all and she ate plenty, which meant Rin certainly had a little bit of extra meat on her, but customers at the Silver Rose liked it, so she didn't mind. Once she'd gotten to the academy, her body had begun to thin out a little.

Today though, a week after her strange displacement, Rin could feel that she'd gotten much thinner.

[Hm. My boobs have gotten a little smaller, too,] she thought with a sigh as she walked up to the pond. Humming a random song to herself, Rin went to dip a toe in the water, to gauge its temperature.

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[Wait, really? It's warmer than normal,] Rin thought, pleasantly surprised. [Huh. Well, I may as well relax for a little bit.]

And then, she saw a blue human head come out of the water.

"Hello!" It said loudly.

And Rin fell back, on her ass.

"Ugahuagh!?" A series of noises came out of Rin as she blinked rapidly, trying to see what had appeared.

And, what Rin saw was the strangest thing in a very long time. Whatever this thing was, it looked like a human girl, but one whose body had been painted blue. Different shades of blue though, Rin noticed as the girl rose up out of the water, letting more of herself be seen. Her hands were darker than her body and her hair, also blue, was the darkest part. Looking at it more closely, she noticed that this thing's hair wasn't quite the same as her own. It almost looked like tentacles, or tube-like tendrils coming out of her head and flowing with the wind. She had bright sapphire eyes, and a smile aimed in Rin's direction.

[What the hell?] Rin asked herself, taking deep breaths. The creature started walking towards her, moving out of the water.

Rin raised her hands, defensively. She had her fists closed, preparing herself for a fight.

[... Do I have to fight her?] Rin asked herself. [Or, it, or her, or whatever.]

The creature flinched, but as Rin remained still, it moved a little closer.

The creature raised a hand then and moved it towards Rin.

[... I'm screwed, aren't I?] Rin thought, taking deep breaths. [What is this thing? What does it do? Is it low rank or high rank? Should I run? I mean, should I fight? Is it easy to take out? What do I...?]

Rin's thoughts halted when the creature's hand touched her own. It placed its left hand on Rin's right, which was still a closed fist, but that was enough to make Rin's thoughts cease momentarily.

[What is this thing doing?] She asked herself as the creature got closer. Rin leaned back a little, shifting away from it, though she still didn't run. There was something about this thing, something about how it moved, how closely it resembled a genuine human, that made Rin so curious that she allowed it to get even closer to her.

Then, the creature placed its hands on Rin's hips, leaning forwards.

[...] Rin watched it get too far into her personal space.

[Is this thing going to kiss me?]

However, no. Instead, the creature pressed its forehead against Rin's, and suddenly, the world went white.

Rin suddenly saw herself at the bottom of a lake. Her body was blue, all of a sudden, and there were a couple of other creatures like herself, swimming around her. She knew her own name, and it wasn't Rin. It was Xhez. Those two creatures swam up to her, and Rin knew them to be her mothers, the two creatures she loved the most, but also two of the only creatures she'd met.

She saw herself floating in the pond, looking up at the night sky, wishing that tomorrow, she'd see more. She'd walk around, stretch her legs, maybe meet some other intelligent being or two.

And then, she saw herself watching a human approach. One with yellow-amber eyes and dark, messy, raven hair. One that, as soon as she saw, she swam towards, to take a chance on her dream.

And then, the vision was cut and Rin gasped as her she pushed herself away from this thing.

She took deep breaths, panting as she stared back at it.

At this thing... No. This woman, who was called Xhez.

So many things passed through Rin's heart then. Pity, fright, anxiety, concern. None of which she could handle right now. So, she turned away from the girl and tried to walk away, hugging her own body as she suddenly felt cold.

However, of course, the girl followed.

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