Isher Notra

"I am really doing this."

Step by step, a young girl, about twelve years old, walked through the green, open field.

She welcomed the breeze greeting her dark skin, which could be a welcome relief before what is yet to come if not for the unforgiving sun shining upon her with its scorching heat.

Her clothes were torn and ragged, like her brown hoodie with a patch of a red, plaid fabric stitched on the right sleeve and a grey shirt underneath, which was definitely not in this color when she first found it, coupled with dark brown pants with a few tears on the knees and black mud boots.

The footwear was the most pristine component in her outfit, ironically.

She should have put the hoodie in her red backpack, but that didn't matter because she was face-to-face with her goal.

So she touched her curly hair puff to see if everything was in place and stared at her destiny.

Sayama Forest, locale of legends.

From what she had gathered over the years of people spreading rumors and old legends, anyone who would enter this place never returned because an "unholy, mystical force" resided in those woods.

That was why law enforcement was so keen to let no one trespass. Thankfully, it was currently their lunch break.

The girl suspiciously watched her surroundings, being sure that no one would catch her by surprise.

"None of those armored assholes... Great!" She sighed with relief.

The girl pointed her finger towards the giant forest. "I will be the first to conquer you, Sayama!"

Her cocky grin quickly faltered when the sheer size of the forest was almost threatening to swallow her whole.

The forest seemed to suck all light in its surroundings so it could make itself more threatening. The wall of beautiful fir trees and the great and mighty redwoods made for an entrancing yet intimidating view.

She gulped. She was already half a mind of giving up on her self-appointed quest. "Well, let's hope."

And so, she took the first step into the great unknown called the Sayama Forest.

It started relatively well. The girl's fear of the forest never ended, but she couldn't deny the beauty that it held. That, coupled with the strange feeling of accomplishment she felt by venturing into such a forbidden place, made the kid feel more and more motivated to keep pushing forward. Her heart beat louder with fear and excitement.

However, this fear became more and more present as the trees became higher, denser, and more closely distributed to one another. Before the girl knew it, darkness came, as the sunlight could not break through the flora. As anyone could imagine, this made the not-so-brave adventurer terrified.

However, the child was prepared for this and pulled a flashlight from her backpack. But that did not stop her heart from beating faster and louder, her cold sweat, or her crippling anxiety. Her resolve was wavering by the second.

To relieve herself from the growing fear of the darkness that still filled the scenery and the sudden sounds she could hear from time to time, probably due to the animals that lived there, the girl started to mutter to herself.

"Don't worry, Stella. Walk through this forest, and you will be a living legend! It's just your mind making things worse than they actually are... Just focus on-"

Her stomach started to growl. "That. Damn, I hadn't eaten in days." Truth be told, Stella enjoyed this momentary distraction from her dread.

She carefully sat on the ground and put the flashlight close to her, illuminating the spot the young girl was sitting on. She quickly searched for anything to eat, however...

"Why is it so hard to find-" Her eyes opened wide. "Oh no... Don't tell me..."

Earlier that day, on an improvised tent, Stella wanted to put her snacks in the backpack for last. However, when she realized it was almost time for the guards' lunch break, she panicked and went to the forest, forgetting about the food.

At first, she was shocked. Then, she was angry. Angry towards herself. How could she have forgotten something that important? Stella was never known for her intelligence, but this was a whole new frontier of fucking things up.

Stella completely ditched her fear for a moment. A vein bulged in her forehead, her face tensed, her jaw clenched, and her eyebrows furrowed. She felt like steam was building up inside her, like a pressure cooker. And sure enough, she eventually had to blow off some of that.

"I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE THIS! HOW COULD I FORGET SOMETHING THAT IMPORTANT!" She screamed to the darkness.

She screamed until her lungs failed her. The need for oxygen convinced her brain to stop this foolish act. The girl fell to her knees and calmed down a bit. "Stella, you idiot..." She felt like a deflated balloon, tossed on the ground where no one could notice or care for it.

Her self-loathing was put to a halt, however, when a sudden sound came from near her. Her survival instincts finally kicked in, and the girl perked up her head and quickly grabbed the flashlight. When she pointed the light at where she heard the sound, she discovered a deer watching her.

Its eyes glowed with the reflection of the light. Due to the animal possessing antlers atop its head, Stella assumed it was a male.

The deer slowly moved towards the girl. It seemed that Stella's presence made the animal curious. She remained unmoving, afraid that running would make the animal more aggressive towards her. She knew that deer were herbivores, of course, but such a big animal like that could make quite the damage when put in distress.

"Hey, deerie..." Stella muttered to the animal. It was dumb to attempt to speak to a creature unable to understand human speech, much less talkback. But it was what she did to quell her fear, and it seemed to work on a smaller scale.

The deer approached even more. It moved dangerously close to the girl, but his attention was now guided to the flashlight. He sniffed the object for a second, which meant that the herbivore saw Stella as anything but a threat, at least in her mind.

However, her hopes were crushed unexpectedly when the deer snatched the flashlight with its mouth and darted in a seemingly random direction.

The girl was unable to process what just happened for a solid second. But, once again, her shock gave space to her anger. This time, it was pointed towards something else.

She growled. "Son of a b- GET BACK HERE!" Then started running after the animal.

Through the deceptive darkness and the pesky branches, roots, and bushes it hid, Stella blindly ran towards the fast herbivore. Only the light emanating from the object the deer was holding served to guide the girl through the dark. She almost tripped on a hidden root but regained her balance and kept running towards the fading light in the distance.

The truth was that the running speed of a deer was much superior to a human's. It didn't take long for Stella to lose sight of the animal and the light he carried. However, her anger motivated her to keep pushing through. It didn't matter how much she would fall or her lack of sight. Stella would see the end of this.

And she did, eventually. She went towards the light, though in a much literal way. She had found her way out of darkness.

A clearing amidst Sayama Forest, where light triumphed over the shadows. The trees were now different in this region. Rather than the high and imposing redwoods, there were now smaller, thinner trees with white bark and fewer leaves.

The girl decided to sit on the ground and catch her breath. She started to re-think her life choices that led her to this point. Honestly, why would she even consider to be good enough to cross the entire forest by herself? It was a stupid notion, really...

"I'm so dumb."

She could turn back from where she came from. But, there was a good chunk of pitch-black darkness she would have to go through again. And this time, she would have to go without a flashlight.

Stella mulled over her next move. However, her line of thinking was constantly interrupted by her growing hunger. That is until she was suddenly interrupted by another rustling sound near her. She quickly got up and kept her eyes peeled for anything or anyone stalking her. Maybe it was that thieving deer again!

Stella could see a figure in the bushes. It was distant enough that she couldn't discern its features. She squinted her eyes until they almost closed, but the only thing she had concluded was that it wasn't the stag. And that was a fucking scary conclusion.

The girl did not move a muscle, hoping that whoever was stalking her operated in the same manner as the dinosaur in that old-ass movie she had watched once.

"Maybe if I don't move, it won't-"

The unknown entity jumped out of the bushes and ran towards her. On all fours, actually.

"Shit!"

She ran without thinking. This time, thanks to the presence of sunlight, it was much easier to dodge and weave through the tree branches and roots. She didn't feel like she had any control over how her body moved and thankfully didn't result in a fall or a concussion. When she ran, she perceived the trees as a blurry, white wall that surrounded her and forced her into a straight path.

After running for a solid minute, the girl finally dared to look behind her! And there was... no one after her.

What a relief!

However, Stella didn't trust that the unknown creature gave up on her, so she decided to run anyway. The girl looked forward and-

CRASH!

She smacked her face into a sturdy, white tree trunk. The girl lost her balance, tripping on a rogue rock afterward. She fell flat on the ground, clutching her nose in agonizing pain. She did not let out a sound, but the pain was clear to see in her expression. And her broken nose.

Stella could barely think as her senses became duller, and her eyelids became heavier by the second.

Pain.

It was her first sensation when her consciousness returned.

When she opened her eyes, sunlight graced her vision. But before she could get comfortable, the sharp pain became even more unbearable. Stella instinctively clutched her nose with her hands, remembering her fateful encounter with the hard surface of the trunk.

She looked at the blood in her hand. She never felt more incompetent than at this very moment. However, Stella had enough of all of this forest bullshit, so she cleaned her nose with the sleeve of her hoodie and got to her feet. She would have to fight through the pain.

"Nice try, forest! But you ain't gonna put me down just yet!"

Another voice chimed in. "Are you sure about that?"

Stella lost her bravado in a split second and stumbled back after hearing the strange voice, making her bump her head on another tree. Stella grumbled in frustration. What was her problem with trees that day?

The source of the surprise voice jumped closer to her with a wagging tail. "Wow, you love crashing against a tree, too?! It helps making your head tough, ain't it?" The weird creature, surprisingly, didn't seem to be sarcastic whatsoever.

Speaking of weird, Stella finally took a good look at the creature. At first glance, you could say it's a wolf, but standing on two feet? It also wore clothes, which was weird for any animal with a body covered in fur. Weirder were the clothes, a short-sleeved brown tunic, black belt and pants. No shoes, though. It felt like she came straight from a nerdy medieval fair.

Another feature was the patch of fur from its mane that covered its eyes. Its fur was light brown, with a few grey patches on its paws.

The girl was absolutely shocked to see such a being. What the hell was even that thing? Was it a hallucination? Was she dead?

Stella couldn't help but stumble in her own words. "Y-You... You are-"

"A pup!?" The wolf-like creature interjected. "Yeah, I know..."

The human could not react, even if she tried. The situation just has not dawned on her yet.

After such a long, awkward silence, the creature started to speak again. "Actually, I'm trying to get back home. Do you know where Pantsti is?"

Stella tilted her head slightly. "Pantsti?" She thought.

Then she ignored that strange word and finally dared to speak up. "Uh... Actually, I-"

The girl's pathetic attempt at conversation was again interrupted by the strange creature, who started sniffing on something. Then her face (Stella assumed is a "she") quickly turned towards a specific direction, probably the one in which the source of the smell resides.

"You smell that?" Her tail started wagging.

"Smell wha-"

The "wolf" darted in the direction of the smell.

"Mine! Mine! Mine!" The creature started chanting while running on all fours again.

Stella tried to get her attention. "Wait! What ARE you!?"

A foolish attempt.