[ ––––––––– ֎ Day 1 ––––––––– ]

Upon crossing the thin membrane of spatial energy, Noemi felt nothing, but she couldn't keep her eyes open due to being blinded by a flash of very bright, mildly yellow but almost white light. It felt like she was encompassed by that light and couldn't step back until she entered with her whole body. Right after that, the light vanished in an instant and Noemi appeared in a new location, standing in a small rock circle.

Surrounding her, was a vast forest. Warm sunbeams penetrated dense crowns of green deciduous trees. Noemi smelled the air, it was a fresh spring breeze, she could feel the aroma of fresh grass, fallen acorns, wet bark, many berries, and unrecognized small mammals. People of her race had exceptionally good senses, inherited from their predator predecessors.

Noemi crouched and began to listen. Birds, insects, rustling leaves, soft whispers of the wind, and finally – the sound of the river. As a warrior, she was still full of energy. As a hunter, she could survive in any place. She also possessed a small farmer knowledge and could tell what plants and mushrooms should be edible. Due to that, there was no need to set a camp in any particular place unless absolutely necessary, but the girl chose to do so regardless. She wanted to get the feeling of a new place, learn its aura, connect to the local spirits, be at peace. The thrill of the hunt, the challenges, and beasts that awaited a warrior like her, it all could wait. There was a time to fight and there was a time to rest.

The semi-tall grass gently caressed scales on Noemi's feet as she progressed deeper inside the forest, crown's of trees grew denser and shadow cast by leaves almost fully shrouded the flora beneath. Occasionally, a few rays of light fought their way through the cold darkness, their warmth brought joy to the pioneering traveler.

The longer Noemi walked, the better she could feel a cool breeze brought by the far river, but that gentle gust of wind wasn't the only cold current. Crossing it, was something stronger, a gale from an open meadow. It attracted a girl's natural curiosity. What could she find on that open patch? The forest, albeit still amazing and enthralling as a new experience, was for now dark and unchanging, captivating but empty like an embellished interior of a closed casket.

Noemi decided to diverge from the path, it wouldn't cost her a lot of time and the time was insignificant to her right now. She wanted to explore, experience, and learn.

In front of the girl, appeared a vast field of tall grass. It was almost reaching her chest! Noemi was frozen in awe with her eyes wide open. The way the waves of grass moved synchronously was captivating. Noemi raised her head, looking at the local sky for the first time. In her village, the sky couldn't be seen, since it was always covered by crowns of very tall, immensely huge, and thick trees. No one dared to climb them, a few tried, but soon learned that the task of ever reaching the top was impossible.

Now, nothing obstructed her view. What could be at the top? Here, her question was answered. Clouds of yellow-to-dark-green fungi spores raced above her head, concealing a tremendously large cluster of glowing mushrooms situated at the ceiling of a monstrously large grotto. She was at a cavern, a cavern so vast it could hold more than an entire large city. Noemi instinctively extended her arm, as If to reach the sky. It was so far away, that it was inconceivable to her how the super-structure can hold without collapsing, but it was there – evidence visible by the naked eye.

Noemi smiled gently, she wanted to cry tears of joy, but not only that. Her dreams came true, which was the main reason for her smile, but it was also a smile that was supposed to mask her insecurities, give her strength. She was alone in this vast biome, having no place to return. Her family, friends, tribe. It was all gone, permanently. It was her decision, her sacrifice. Someone had to do it and she committed her entire life to that single choice. She was happy about her new life, she was happy about helping the village, but she was sad about what was forever lost. It was both, tears of fulfillment and joy, and tears of loneliness and longing.

Noemi wiped her eyes and smiled again, to regain confidence. She fixed her posture and puffed her chest out. It was time to forget, not for forever, but for now, and go.

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Noemi couldn't believe her eyes. Far in the grass, there was a village of scattered houses. They all were standing on four two-to-three meter legs and had either ladder or stairs that allowed climbing inside. The girl hastened in the direction of grand discovery, she was overjoyed.

'There have to be people' – She thought.

Her enthusiasm didn't last long. She overheard hisses coming from all directions. Unfamiliar creatures were approaching. It was a whole swarm! Noemi wasn't afraid but stayed cautious. If it was coming towards her, the obvious conclusion was that animals were predators. Their sounds were close to the ground but numerous, therefore the creature was likely small but hunted in packs to recompense for it.

Noemi raised her shield to the height of her chest, prepared a spear, then assumed a slightly crouching-leaning stance. Her target was low on the ground.

Creatures halted in front of Noemi. They have encircled her by about a half-meter radius. Hisses continued, but this time in a static place. None of the enemies wanted to attack. They could sense that their prey is dangerous.

One of the foes lunged forward, it was a green elongated scaly shape - a snake, but the warrior girl didn't recognize an animal, since no-one of these lived on her swampish motherland. Noemi swiftly deflected an attack with a shield, then resumed to the default position.

Reptiles became more agitated and ready to strike, their heads swung back and forth, but any attempt to propel forwards was met with the tip of a spear. The girl zoned the enemy perfectly by shifting her weapon from side to side.

Irritated hisses of animals intensified, so Noemi gave in to her primal intuition and hissed back as loud and fiercely as she could. Snakes silenced for a moment, freezing in place. Noemi hissed again, this time stronger. Reptiles backed away, then after a pause, lowered their heads and dispersed.

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To her discontent, Noemi found out that the houses were abandoned. Floor and walls were rotten, the roof was riddled in holes, shelves and furniture were broken to pieces. Dust coated the planks and cobwebs were in every corner. There was nothing to find here.

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Noemi found herself back in the forest and after an hour arrived at the local stream. A steady flow of crystal clear water was occasionally interrupted by protruding rocks, where water crashed with a great force.

Riverside was a collection of small pebbles and soil grains on a fine yellow side, with tiny bits of weeds and grass here and there.

Noemi knelt and cupped water in hands, to taste it. It was unlike swamp water, which had to be filtered or boiled. It was similar to a waterfall spring, except the weak aftertaste of swamp flora was replaced by that of a river soil and weeds.

It was an early evening, which harmonized with the fact that the giant mushroom sun got dimmer. The patch of grass behind Noemi, slightly away from the river, was empty, so the tired girl decided to take a short rest. She looked at the many smaller and a few bigger fishes that raced down the stream. Their silver fins scales shimmered in the sun with all the colors of pale blue and silver. At the edge of the water, a couple of rabbits calmly and leisurely quenched their thirst.

Noemi closed her eyes and took a deep breath, all around her were only the quiet sounds of nature, her senses experienced absolute serenity. Soon, all she could feel was only her own heartbeat.

Noemi rested for several minutes, she wasn't counting the time, she enjoyed the blissful pace of passing time. The girl slowly opened her eyes and looked in awe at her surroundings one last time before going back to her activities, or how she would call it – work.

Huntress picked a javelin from behind her back and vigorously tossed it in direction of two small mammals. The weapon pierced through their soft flesh and vital fluids spilled on the wet soil, staining nearby river red. Both rabbits were slew in a single strike.

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While both rabbits were cooking over the fireplace, Noemi took a short bath. If there was anyone in this empty place, he would be now able to see the girl's slender and amazonian silhouette – in simple terms, it was lean and lithe. She had abs, which were as chiseled as her other muscles, which despise their strength, were quite small. One could also spot, that similar to her face – with exception of cheeks - several sections of her body, like belly, neck, chest, or inner regions of arms and legs, had a softer yellowish skin with no scales. Due to her incredibly flat chest, which wasn't special for her species, but was still uncommon for girls her age who often were a bit more mature, one could perhaps mistake her for a skinny boy.

Noemi scraped the sand and dirt off her scales with a hard brush then crouched to fully plunge into the water. While she held her breath, she opened her eyes underwater and inspected surroundings once more, from another perspective. Fishes, undisturbed, passed next to her cheeks, sand particles moved along a river bed and pondweed swayed around in rhythm of river flow.

Noemi focused her sight and extended an arm in an instant, splitting water with her long, sharp, lizard nails. She caught a big, red salmon. She had spent the next three minutes hunting fish before she resurfaced to take a breath and turn the rabbits over the fire.

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Noemi had packed a leftover rabbit and two roasted fishes into her bag. Currently, she had finished her sketch of the riverside, sketch of houses at the meadow of tall grass, and was finishing the painting of a fungal sky at night. Most of the spores went to sleep and turned dark, but a few illuminated the sky like the stars. In the middle of a ceiling, the largest collection of mushrooms turned dim white, as If the sun turned into a moon.

Noemi could set up a camp here and sleep until the next morning, but she was still full of vigor and wanted to explore the strange land at night. What new predators would hunt at these hours? What menacing sounds would the forest keep creating? It was all a mystery to discover.