»Act I - 'Girl'

»Chapter I-V 'Mute'

12E/Y381/M8/D4

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Iryna found herself shrouded in a dense mist. Before her stood the well she fell into.

Dazed, confused, and with a splitting headache, her surroundings seemed familiar and ultimately strange and almost uncomfortable, but after taking such a beating that was hardly a surprise. She couldn't bring herself to walk, or even move much beyond perching herself up against the well. Painfully, she turned herself over and started to violently wretch into the well.

"Ugh…" She groaned, resting her cheek on the lip of the aging structure.

As she hazily sat there, slumped, her vision began to fade again. This time she snapped herself out of it, taking a nearby branch, she hoisted herself up, and began to wander into the forest.

Walking was an endeavor in and of itself. Iryna's body felt weak. A part of her wanted to just slump over and go back to sleep. The rest of her refused, only wanting to find Laelynn and make sure she was okay. That desire won out in the end, and Iryna sluggishly pushed forward.

In her stupor, the trees appeared dull. Their bark was a deep ebony, and the leaves appeared to sparkle with a rich scarlet, hue. Beyond them, was a beautiful twilight.

"Lynn..!" As some of her strength returned she called for her fiancé. "Laelynn..!" She was almost screaming.

The woods were quiet, and offered her no response.

Iryna shook her head, and continued towards the cabin. Stumbling through, the path seemed more and more unfamiliar to her.

I... did I take a wrong turn somewhere..?

She checked her pockets for her phone. Fumbling a bit, she checked. "No service…" she said weakly.

She sighed heavily, and started pushing deeper into the forest, faster this time. She was scared. Her body hurt, and with her senses starting to recover, her shoulder ached with a dull, throbbing pain.

"Lynn..!!!" She called a few more times, to no avail.

Worried, and starting to fear for the worst she jumped as she walked into a small glade.

Taking a breather, she sat down. Her worries welled up in her chest, and she began to quietly sob.

"Lynn…" She cried softly, "Please be okay…"

As her thoughts came to the worst. Her body doubled over, wracked by her own tears. The thought of being stuck in the wilderness was settling in, and even worse, the thought of Laelynn suffering a similar fate proved too much. As the sounds of her sobs filled her ears, she stiffened up, and took a few breaths. I don't want to cry… she thought.

Gritting her teeth, she stopped, slowly. She took a moment to recollect herself. She opened her eyes, and rubbed them for a moment. She sat in silence for a while, with her head shoulders drooped, and her wrists resting on her knees.

Breathing slowly and realizing she lost her water bottle on the way, she hazily kneeled over a nearby stream.

It glowed faintly, but that was hardly worth noticing given the fall.

Cupping her hands she took several drinks, a rush of much needed euphoria washing over her body.

As she drank, her senses became distant. As though her body remained completely unchanged, but had to work harder, take longer to relay what she was feeling. Seeing. Hearing.

A man arose from the ground across the stream. His skin was tinted blue, and slightly transparent. Like a river, it seemed to ebb and flow, pulsing as if aligned with his heart beat, to and from his chest. He grinned wide, teeth bared. Almost predatory, "Welcome, friend." He said creepily. "A man seemingly been through hell deserves respite, does he not?" The water nymph gestured to the stream betwixt. "Drink. Let the water soothe."

Immediately put off by the man's mere presence, she tensed. Taking note of this the nymph continued. "No need to be so afraid, friend! 'Tis only n a t u r a l for men to drink in kind." His grin never seemed to fade.

Iryna frowned. She shook her head, "No thank you. Apologies, but I'll be going now."

"Does the stream not tempt you?" The nymph raised his brow, suddenly much less jolly and much more confused.

"No." Iryna replied simply and got up to leave.

The nymph grabbed her wrist, "We aren't afraid to force those disobedient to convert. Make this easy." He snarled. Looking back, Iryna saw what seemed to be an entire family of similar looking people gathering around her.

Her eyes went wide and she panicked, breaking his grip and bolting into the forest.

Looking back, they seemed upset, but didn't give chase. But her senses said to keep going at a full sprint, so she did.

The woods only seemed to become more unfamiliar as she went, and a part of her felt it wasn't entirely real at this point. As her mind raced twice as hard as hey body, she screamed as she slammed into another.

Fearing the worst, she pivoted, turning to spring into a full sprint in the other direction.

But she started, and was yanked back by her upper arm, an iron grip keeping her in place.

Turning, she was greeted by an older looking woman. Mature, and seemingly untouched by age, but some quality about her made her seem old. No… ancient, even.

The woman was seemingly human, aside from seven, large, blonde fluffy tails, and two large fox ears of similar hue. Her hair shared this too, and her eyes were a bright green. She wore white and green robes.

The woman seemed concerned, "Calm, calm…"

Iryna stared, and the kitsune's eyes glowed momentarily, as a strange subtle sense of passivity washed over her. Iryna nodded obediently.

"Come with me, please." Her face seemed worried, and focused on the distance passed Iryna.

Iryna, though confused, followed her without question.

The kitsune led her to a nearby house. Oriental in design but very… makeshift. It was small, as well. More cozy than anything.

The inside was filled with decorations. Paintings, trinkets, weapons, armor, shelves brimming with books. A mural covered an entire wall.

She sat Iryna down, and left her momentarily. Returning with a tray and a pouch, she set the tray on the low-to-the-floor table and straddled Iryna.

"Stay still." She commanded, and putting her palm on Iryna's shoulder, she gripped the chunk of wood still stuck in it. "This is going to hurt…" She handed Iryna a cloth, "Scream into this. I can do without the local fauna being riled even more." Silently, Iryna obeyed her.

The kitsune frowned deeply out of focus, and tightening her grip on the effectively-shrapnel impaling Iryna, she pulled it out in one clean motion.

Iryna screamed. Visceral, and gutteral, it made the woman wince. Not out of jumpiness, but she could feel the pain itself. The agony.

Continuing without fail though, in one fluid motion the apothecary managed to press a cloth onto the wound. "Push against me, it needs pressure." Crying, and whining a little from the pain, Iryna did as she was told.

The kitsune continued and took a small dodecahedral glass vial of a red liquid out of her pouch. It pulsed, and shimmered almost unnaturally so.

The apothecary bit off the top, and poured a few drops into the cloth. Soaking it rapidly and disappearing entirely after a few moments, she pulled the cloth away, revealing a fully healed shoulder. The only remainder of the wound being the hole in Iryna's clothing at its entrance.

The kitsune's eyes glowed once more and smiled warmly at her guest, "Come, sit. And help yourself." She said, gesturing to the tray as she poured two cups of tea. Iryna came out of her trance panting slightly, "I…" Iryna shook her head, "This is one wild dream…" Shaking her head, she took the offer, and clasped her cup of tea gently.

The kitsune gave her a look of brief confusion, before something mentally 'clicked' and she just nodded, "Yes. Yes it is, indeed." Her warm smile returned. "Apologies for the unorthodox introductions. I am Aiko. The guardian of this forest. May I ask your name, sir?"

Immediately after finishing her sentence, Aiko winced. Taking notice of this, Iryna gave her a worried glance. "Are you okay..?"

Aiko waved her off, "I'm fine. Please, continue."

Iryna nodded, apprehensive, but taking her word, "Iro." She said quietly, "My name's Iro Exuranna."

Aiko's look of shock was interrupted by her eyes twitching. "It's a pleasure." She bowed lightly, "However, if I may, what brings you to my forest Ir-" She cut herself off she winced once more.

Iryna looked at her, upset, You aren't okay… what's wrong?"

"You aren't okay…" Aiko grimaced, "Your name pains you, sir-" once more she recoiled in pain. "And it seems that word does as well." Her face grew worried once more. "What hurts you so much about these things..?"

"I…" Iryna began.

"Your shame is my own. Please, do not feel as though you're here to be judged. I'm a healer, not a lawkeeper." Aiko seemed hurt, "Speak; plainly so, please."

After a moment of hesitance, Iryna caved.

The explanation seemed to confuse Aiko at first, "And this is seen as… unnatural and strange? A focus of mockery?"

Iryna nodded sheepishly.

Aiko's form drooped, "You have my condolences. It never occurred to me your world would be so… barbaric." She shook her head in sorrow, "Well, fear not, Iryna. Desirae has seen to it that these tendencies have long since been put behind us."

Iryna returned a shy smile, "Thank you…"

"No need… I'd offer a permanent shape change," She paused a moment, "However, your world is virgin to our Artes. Perhaps the idea is but a poor one?"

Iryna seemed confused, but eventually nodded in simple agreement, yawning.

"The day's toll is heavy…" She retreated, bringing a pillow and several very plush blankets, "Here, you sho uld rest."

Iryna, untrusting at first, quickly succumbed to the allure of sleep.

And for the first time in years, she slept soundly.