Lady of Curses

It was a nice fresh morning today. The grass was fluffy and comfortable, the ground soft and pleasant. Only problem was that the sun was glaring its rays straight at Aella's face which wasn't a pleasant experience so she decided to turn on her stomach and shield her face. Continuing her pleasant sleep she could hear birds chirping and some river flowing in the distance, making a relaxing tune.

Today indeed was the perfect morning for her, as she could enjoy it as long as she wanted because she didn't need to go to her work today, making her happier as she won't have to freeze in the cold winter winds today. With that in mind she wanted to roll in her sheets more and abstract any cold that could harm her warmth. 

But something was wrong because the moment she tried to pull her blanket her hand only grasped the air, so in her half-asleep state Aella tried again and again but no matter how she reached she couldn't find her blanket. Getting annoyed she sat up and opened her eyes to find her blanket but the moment she opened her eyes she had to close them again because she was blasted with light.

After what just happened she was much more careful opening her eyes, she made a shadow with her hands before she tried to open them again. Aella started to slowly open them, and let them adjust to the bright sunlight. It didn't take long before she could see everything clearly without the light hindering her.

After fully opening her eyes and looking around Aella froze because something wasn't right, she realized she wasn't in her bed, not even in her bedroom, no she was somewhere in the wilderness by the looks of it. 

'Am I dreaming?' Was the first thought that came to mind for Aella, so she started to test things out. She touched the grass and felt it, she inhaled the air around her and even took a blade of grass in her mouth and chewed it a bit before spitting it out, and as a final test, she pinched herself. ''Ouch!'' 

Aella checked every sense and none were out of place, so now she was starting to panic a little because it started to look like this was real and she wasn't just dreaming, so her brain started to try and make explanations. 

' Maybe this is a lucid dream, or an elaborate prank, or...' But while her brain was working on trying to explain what was happening to her, her body started to move on its own. Aella stood up and started to look around to see if she could spot any human life. Looking around Aella could see she was in grassy planes, and there was what she presumed was a first from where the sound of the river came. 

Looking up she could see clear blue skies with the glaring sun hanging up there. There were some white clouds and some birds flying so the sky wasn't too empty. While looking at the nature around her, Aella's mind started to calm down, she didn't know what was happening but she did know that she needs to find some kind of human civilization or at least survive, and then when she was somewhat safe she would figure things out.

So she started moving in the direction she heard the river because she had heard that where is water there is life. While on the move she thought about screaming for help, but decided against it, the reason being that she had no idea what kind of wildlife she would attract with her voice, and she wasn't too knowledgeable about nature in general so she couldn't make an educated guess. 

While making her way to the forest one step at a time Aella had time to think about what was needed for her survival. She knew she needed water, food, and shelter. Water she could probably get from the river, but food and shelter were more difficult and even the water was iffy because she had no idea if the river water will be drinkable.

But even with those worries in her mind Aella continued her course, and it didn't take long before she entered the forest's soil. Entering the tree shadows Aella slowed her pace and started to pay more attention to her surroundings. Aella was high on alert and anxious so every sound and every rustled leaf made her head turn. But even then she didn't see much wildlife, just some birds and some bugs here and there but nothing bigger. 

*Crakc*''Ughm!'' While Aella was making her way to where she could hear the river flowing a sudden shock of pain appeared when she stepped on something, making her almost lose her balance. Aella leaned at the nearest tree so that she doesn't fall, and then turned her foot's sole, with her hand's help, to see how big of injury, if any, she sustained. 

After taking a look she could confidently that nothing too bad had happened, her foot was fine just a little red and dirty, and looking at the place where she stepped, Aella could tell that the one who caused her this pain was some random branch from one of the trees. 

''Wait bare feet?'' Before her mind could process she asked a question out loud, more for herself than anyone else. Turning her gaze back to her feet she saw that they had nothing on them, and looking up at her legs she could see that she wasn't wearing any pants. Now in half-panic, she started to look all over her body and found out two things. 

One she was totally naked and two this wasn't her body. Making these realizations she froze on the spot, her strength leaving her. Aella plopped down now her bare ass touching the ground, while still leaning against the tree with her back. Bringing her knees closer she stared blankly into the space without moving, her mind still processing the information.

But Aella didn't have the luxury to be stuck in her mind, and she realized it when another rustling sound was heard. That sound brought her out of her stupor and her mind pushed everything back, making her survival the top priority. 

'I can break down later, now I need to survive.' Sure she was confused and somewhat scared, but if she didn't survive then all those worries would be pointless. So with that in mind, she stood up, grabbed a branch she could find with the intention to defend herself with it, and resumed her route. 

While on her walk, Aella saw some berries and mushrooms here and there, but she had no idea if they are edible, plus some of them didn't look right like they were pulled out from some kind of fantasy. So she tried to engrave their location in her mind, in case she needs food, but she will probably only use them as a last resort because she didn't like putting something unknown in her mouth that could potentially kill her.

Taking a glance at the berries one last time Aella moved on. She was getting closer to the river, and judging by the sound she was really close. And her judgment was right, it didn't take long before she started to see the river. Speeding up her pace Aella got to the river in no time, and the first thing she did was get on her knees and scoop some river water with her hands. 

*Gulp..gulp...* ''Ghaaa~'' Although Aella wasn't thirsty, she still gulped down a few more handfuls of water. The water was refreshing and she even considered jumping into the river and going for a swim but decided against that, she still had things to do. 

Now that one of the essentials was secured, she could relax a little bit, so she decided to take some time and get familiar with her new body. First, she glanced at the river's reflecting surface where she could see a somewhat distorted reflection of her face. Aella's new body didn't look like anything special she looked like an average woman in her prime with black eyes, black straight long hair, and pale skin.

She had to say that although her looks were nothing special she had perfect skin, so that was a plus. But all in all, she was happy with her new look, it still was messing with her head that this isn't how she originally looked, but there was some progress. Aella even checked her teeth, and as far as she could tell they were in perfect condition. 

While looking at her pearly whites, she heard a strong rustling near her so before she could think her body moved on instinct. She closed her mouth, grabbed her stick, which she put down when she went for a sip of water, and jumped to her feet, positioning her stick in front of her, between her and the place where the sound was coming from. Aella was ready to defend herself with her stick grasped firmly with both of her hands.