Windrose & Snowdrift

The forest this time was far more ominous and dark than the one that she came from. Windrose internally cursed the human for bringing her here, it must of thought this is where she came from.

Although everything seemed nearly the same from her original home, except for the ominous gloom the place seemed to give off.

Snowdrift had "come back" but Windrose was too tired to be angry at herself, she's the one who got them in this place to begin with.

The human had some weird object that had covered all his tracks and so Windrose was truly lost.

There was nothing more ominous in such a place than the complete lack of sound that she was currently experiencing.

Windrose felt as if she were being watched in the forest, and she made sure to examine her surroundings carefully after every step to ensure her survival.

Windrose also noticed that the trees seemed to grow thicker no matter which way she traveled, as if she was always heading towards the center of the forest. Even if she went backwards, the trees still only grew in density causing a ting of discomfort.

Windrose was completely oblivious to magic but Snowdrift wasn't and she quickly noticed something in the distance. A large liquid ooze, shaped and distorted into the ugliest of manners, it expelled magic and alarming rates as if it were not actually in control of anything.

What humans would call a "slime", it had little control or awareness, instead acting more as a force of nature that tried to consume anything in its path.

Snowdrift could feel the dozens of different creatures' magic emanating from the hulking behemoth. It was a horrifying sense to any being with the faintest of magic abilities. Instead of just consuming the flesh and bone, it also absorbed the magic of what it ate.

It left nothing to remember any individual captured by it and the worst part was that it was also equally made of "mana" as it was ooze, letting it hold onto the intangible as well.

The "slime" watched with the thirty or so eyes it had taken from past prey, repurposed for its own use. It was an ugly sight and one that sparked fear into any who could not defend themselves.

So as with any ration being, Snowdrift ran while Windrose was still confused about her panic, the "slime" followed, it wasn't fast but it never tired. Unless they could run indefinitely or find a place where it could not hunt them, they would be consumed.

The "slime" lurched and crawled as if it were a cross between a worm and a lizard. This was the first time either of them had experience true fear, to know that even in death, their flesh and magic would be used to repeat the cycle.

Death was not an option, Windrose had a disposition for mischief as any fox would have, but she also carried a sentimentality to save as many as possible who might care for her which was gained from her time with her human mother.

She dreaded to think about the possibility of her death causing others which she might have met to suffer.

Windrose had managed to get away but the feeling of being watched, through the masses of trees still lingered. The "slime" had no thoughts, it only saw food, and it only seeked to consume.

Although Windrose wasn't physically tired or in need of rest due to being a spirit, she was mentally exhausted, sleep to her wasn't to regain energy but to have time to stop thinking and stressing.

She needed to be able to stop it in the future but in the present, it was all about survival. She could hear it getting closer, its dreadful noises growing increasingly more audible as minutes went by and so she started to flee again.

As time went by her mind grew increasingly muddled. She started to hear the voices of the guard calling her "monster", as if she were no better than the slime.

She smelled the peach cobbler on the table as the human gave a piece to her.

Windrose knew all of this wasn't real, she knew it was her exhaustion catching up so she continued to run, but then her eyes started to fail too.

Trees started to appear out of thin air forcing her to dodge thin air, and then she saw the cabin, her cabin, with her mother inside.

She knew it was fake but her mind so tired she couldn't resist the need to defend her mother from the wretched being chasing her, she couldn't see her die, especially not because of her.

So she turned around, the slime had not gained distance neither did she. It slowly approached her cabin and despite the desperate calls of Snowdrift, she forced them to confront it.

Windrose woke up under a bush, she remembered being in the cabin falling asleep on her mothers lap while being gently stroked. It took a bit to recover her awareness and recall what had just transpired.

She had turned around and jumped at the "slime" hoping that her desperate attack would do anything to save her mother, while doing so she had accidentally gotten her first experience with magic as the slime writhed in pain as its semi-liquid body begin the freeze where she had slashed.

However, Windrose didn't go unpunished either as she was no match for the "slime" which had only partially froze it grabbed her causing painful burns and sapping what little mental strength she had and threw her.

But just as how brainless the "slime" was, it also held no pride, no need to finish off something possibly dangerous when it could just find another meal and so it left, not even checking Windrose's condition.

She had been slammed into a tree and her hind right leg being burned, and as she saw the "slime" leave her alone she could only seek to greet her mother once more, she had lost all sense of reality as her mind gave way to her desires.

She crawled up the steps of the cabin, and saw the familiar smile of a young woman who she called mother and she felt comfortable again.

Windrose and Snowdrift stood up in the very same forest, her hind legged still burned from contact with the slime but she had survived. It was natural for a predator to give up on a kill if it would end up injured as well, the forest was merciless to all equally after all.

The events that should have caused Windrose to grow more fearful and timid had only vindicated her beliefs and need to continue her mother's legacy and with that the need to gain power.

Windrose looked at the forest as if it were now the enemy, something to be fought against, which to be fair was the truth.

The forest was not in fact close to where they had come from. There was no peace, life, or light just the feeling of dread from what they might encounter next.

Snowdrift nor Windrose cared for power enough to stay in such a horrid place, they both wanted to leave as soon as possible, it was not worth the number of terrible things held by darkness.

After a long time of travelling (and running), the forest finally began to clear, some light slipping through the dense canopy above and the quite chirping of birds.

Windrose would never forget the horrors that she had seen in the forest, even the thought made her wish she could kill them all.

As she traveled she saw another human settlement, it was different from the first one but it gave her the same feeling and this time Snowdrift didn't want to go near either.

She didn't hate humans but she was resentful for being thrown into the stupid forest by the humans but it didn't matter as she had not been out of the forest for more than a minute when she was spotted.

The same routine as the last time she had been spotted but instead of approaching she ran, not back into the forest but along it, she would rather not return there after what she had witnessed.

Some humans left the settlement and chased after her in an attempt to catch her but her experience had taught her how to flee from semi-intelligent beings and the humans didn't actually care if she ran as long as she wasn't a threat to them and so they gave up soon after.

Windrose continued to run for a while after to ensure her own safety, nothing was worth being thrown back to where she had come from.

The sun had begun to set and she decided she needed to recover after several days of fleeing from horrors.