Green - 1

The echoes of quiet roars passed through my ears, engines. The passage of cars along their solemn journey to some far-off place. My gaze roamed over various figures. Their emotions seemed almost alien to my perception. 

On rainy days they grumbled about the rain or held their faces tight as their umbrella shielded them. On a particularly sunny day there was a pair of two - siblings I believed - they lifted themselves from their seats and laughed their way through the crowded streets.

Slowly but surely a certain envy rose. My heart beat with such pangs of jealousy. Why? Why couldn't that be me? Could I not be given a companion to walk these sanitized halls, couldn't someone frown at my actions. Care enough to give me more than a cursory glance... please?

An envy born from the grief of a once abused privilege. No one had ever thanked god that they could walk, no one had ever given a singular thought more to the blessing of their feet. But I had. Everyday… sat in agony as I felt my legs atrophy further and further.

A hell of septic whites, where breath only came from the caustic air whose breeze brought an aura of rot. A deathly air that bred an even deathlier atmosphere.

My back arched as I tried to rise. I flicked my eyes over the room and the adjacent hallway, searching for any errant staff that might protest my movement. Yet nothing. Only empty halls of pure white. 

A small smile found its way over my face. So… so very small. But a joy was a joy. And a smile was a smile. It was painful… oh so painful. My legs protested any and all movement, rotted as they were, but I persevered.

Cold tile tickled my bare toes. Slender things that seemed to atrophy all the way up to my calves. Everything hurts. It hurt so much. Even that small smile was wiped from my face as I grimaced in such pain.

No noise. Nothing. I didn't want to make a single peep. I snuck through the door and further down the hallway. Everything was quite empty, there might've been a janitor here, or a nurse there. But the doctors were scarce.

A meeting? Maybe. 

Green grass framed by a harsh sidewalk. The automatic doors opened and left me bereft of that deathly stink. This venture brought me to the courtyard. There were a couple people but they just rolled around in their wheelchairs or even just sat in the various benches to enjoy the nice weather outside.

I didn't mind them, and they didn't mind me.

Harsh breaths left my mouth, each one of them brought me closer to the ground. I was only able to persevere for a singular second before my legs collapsed under me. My own body crumbled to the ground, only held by the sturdy frame of a great oak.

My vision flashed as the rough patch of dirt sunk into the edges of my toes. Grass tickled the tips of my fingers… I needed… I… I…

Each breath taken kept on getting harder and harder. Air wasn't being pulled into my body. I… I… My weak fist pounded at my heart. Trying to maybe… just maybe beat whatever the disruption was.

Dark. So dark… someone help… please.

My vision swam and the last I saw was the dark crimson of blood running down the edge of my fingers, taken from the pitiful swipe at my face… trying to grasp onto my neck.

Was this the end… I believe so.

I guess it was nice, feeling the touch of nature one final time. Unfettered by the septic white of a hospital.

/./

Was that the end? Laid taut against the rough bark of some random tree, the dirt splayed through both my hands and feet. Each limb burdened by such enthusiastic pain. I had tried so hard… each avenue of recovery was taken, no matter the horrific pain it caused. Whether it was a chronic jolt of pain in each step.

Maybe it was a lifetime of decay inherited in one moment of pain. My eyes fluttered so heavily. So… so heavy. Heaven? Hell? Some kind of pure nothingness?

Green. So much green.

I twitched my fingers, took control of the previously lifeless digits. Grass fluttered between the crooks of each finger. The cold dirt faded to some form of grass and seed. Trees and roots. Bark that pressed heavily against my back.

Oh… that was my own body.

With what must've been a herculean effort my once heavy eyes found the strength to open fully. What greeted me was a paradise. A green so pure mixed with the foliage of a true forest. My throat pulsed with a hiccuped tear.

Heaven…? It must be heaven.

My head turned and turned and turned once more. I took in the breeze that fell against my oh' so sensitive bare skin. Once more I stood up.

I expected the pain of a thousand suns. Hammers to the brain as my body protested even the slightest movement. Yet… yet… there wasn't a single rush of pain. No burst of anything. My toes dug into the ground as my heels lifted into the air.

My nose took in the fresh forest smells. Everything - I gasped to myself - everything just felt so surreal. A beauty I never knew. A world unburdened by the chains of illness.

But like some burst of divine intervention, the rays of sun concentrated into a singular rock nearby. It highlighted the air so well that dust particles floated visibly in my eye. But most of all there was a note, neatly folded thrice into a brochure-like structure.

I picked it up… unfurled it carefully.

/./

Hello, Inari. Yes indeed, you have died. Peacefully and as natural as the sun. Just like the moon was fated to orbit around Earth, so too was your death preordained. Of no fault of yours, nor of the doctors performing miracles left and right. 

You were to die in that hospital, hooked to countless machines and in the embrace of a mother that cared deeply for you… yet… and I must explore the consequences. You have defied that fate.

A mother ordained to be there, machines divinely placed. Yet none of that happened. A minor detail in the grand scheme of the universe. But… to subvert this one's predictions. I say that there is further use of you. 

Leave that dreadful hospital of yours, journey the world. Let your fate be spun in such a different way. ENTERTAIN ME!

I have done the courtesy of treating the aches and illnesses of your body, your mind remains the same, as too has your personality. Feel free to doubt that statement all you want. 

You will notice some other changes though. A little gift of mine that will make this all the more entertaining~

And one last note. You've not been sent alone. Whether they may be friend, ally, lover, even an enemy. That is up to your actions.

Sincerely, a bored god

/./

I threw the message into the ground the moment I finished reading it. There wasn't a malicious reason in mind, more that a flame had started, and wouldn't stop. It burnt the paper and the ground around it slightly.

Beyond that there wasn't a single singe. A burst of wind scattered the particles into the air, another case of divine intervention. Just as I was drawn to the paper so too was it erased from existence before my eyes.

There was something I had missed. Something so crucial and life changing and… and I had missed it. Bare feet croaked against the ground without pain, my legs burned with nothing but the joy of exhaustion.

I could walk! Involuntarily, tears fell from my eyes, and with them a silent prayer was cast towards that gods way. The god might have saved me only for entertainment, but just the fact that I could walk unfettered and unbothered by chronic pain and weakness was more than enough to make up for it.

A smile settled on my face. I doubted that it would fade for a long while.

I walked. A path was set divinely, just as my eyes were drawn to that paper, so too like that same paper had disappeared. Another path set for me.

A clear and weathered path packed into the ground. Around me trees grew sparse, their green leaves and changing colors grew fainter and fainter. Yet as I walked I found myself looking over the dress I had been given.

It wasn't the hospital gown I had grown so used to wearing, nor was it some modern style worn by those of my age. It was a dress-like thing. A short flowy skirt that highlighted my bare legs. And a loose fitting blouse, almost toga like. I frowned. My hands turned in my vision. 

Different. They were different… not enough to be noticeable on first - not even second glance - but enough for me to notice.

I took a sharp breath, panic welled in my heart. A pounding sensation only stifled by the presence of the adam's apple placed firmly under my fingers.

A huffed breath, almost amused, ruffled the translucent piece of hair that blocked a fraction of my vision. I took one more step only to stop. Something screamed at me.

Danger.

I snarled. It wasn't by my own action, but something ingrained in my body. My arms curled along with my fingers revealing claws of unsharpened nails. My snarl bared teeth at the hunched green creature.

It looked like… I narrowed my eyes… like a tiny goblin. Something that a gritty illustration would show. 

Ugly. That was the only thought in mind as I took in the entirety of its form. There was a rusty dagger in its hand, small, but still dangerous. Both my instincts and its snarl warned me ahead of time.

The goblin charged, waving the dagger around wildly.

'Strange…' I thought to myself. I felt no fear. My heart beat at a sedate pace, like this was the most natural thing in the world. Even then my body reacted automatically. I crouched down and allowed my hands to touch the dirt.

They curled into claws and threw the dirt in the eyes of the goblin. 

A beat.

My claws - unburdened by dirt - sped past the creature's arm and gripped its neck. For a moment I found myself overwhelmed, staring into the hateful eyes of that creature. Yet when I felt a pressure of wind hurling towards me I no longer hesitated.

SNAP

I dropped the corpse and moved out of the slow reaction of the goblin. Even in its death its arm still moved. Only stopping after the momentum was spent.

The goblin overestimated its speed and sped past me. A snarl lit my face as everything turned red.

I… I… My breath grew rough, harsher and harsher until the air coming in didn't match the need of my body. I felt… I felt sick. Was my vision spinning? Was the ground always like that…?

Oh… OH… I was… was hyperventilating… can't… can't breath. I clutched at my neck, my knees fell to the ground. My clothes were dirty.

My body was burning… like molten rods of fire were burned through my back and into my nerves. It brought me to the ground, further and further until every part of my back was splayed on the ground. My knees clutched close while my fingers loosely held them together.

Someone was screaming… I looked around.

Oh… that was me. I'm screaming?

Then it happened. Warm arms clutched me close, a scent wafted through my nose. So comforting~ They gently pulled me into their lap. And once I was clutched closer; a hand pet my head.

It felt strong… warm… so… so… My eyes drifted this way and that. Trying to search for any semblance of normalcy. But all I found was the greenest patch of hair hung over my shoulders. 

My eyes clutched closed as tight as I could. 

"Control your breathing. In and out. In and out." She - and I now knew it was a she - guided me through a sort of meditation. An angelic voice whose sound brought nothing but music to my ears.

"Shh…" She soothed. And soon my struggling stopped. My arms fell limp in hers and my head lulled back into those warm and strong hands.

It was in those final moments of tumultuous sleep that her voice parsed one last question.

"Are you to be my partner… On this god's whim?"

/./

Slowly, almost languidly, my eyes fluttered. Sunlight filtered through my eyes and brought my sight to the sky, tiny little bursts of blindness stuttered by the bluest sky. 

I groaned. My voice quite parched. Yet all was forgotten, the pain of my eyes blinded by the sun, my parched throat, even the pain of my muscles as they screamed from exertion. My thoughts stuttered to a stop.

Green hair turned golden at the ends, with strands that almost.. Scratch that, definitely turned to these lion-like ears. A pair of brilliant green eyes that stared at me with such warmth and joined by a small gentle smile. Her gloved hands spread over my own hair. She pet them with such a gentle touch. That… I couldn't help the pur that came from my mouth as I pushed my head towards her. It was… was just so natural.

Yet that was forgotten. Something tickled at my nose, a small tail that curled against my head. She… my… my own? It curled with hers as she nuzzled our noses together. 

I tried to part our bodies but my hands were small, weak. She tugged me closer and pressed me against her chest. My hands were these stubby messes, attached to arms that were shorter than even I was used to. 

I wanted to laugh. The pieces had come together. But I didn't, slight tears came to the edges of my eyes, it burned slightly before the pain was gone. Replaced by a gentle soothing voice.

"Shh… you're safe, worry not."

Despite the shock, the sudden deluge of blood whose taint had spread over both my body and mind. I felt nothing but warmth. A gentle embrace that took care of all my woes.

She tucked me into the nook of her neck, her legs stretched and pulled us away from the ground. I watched as the ground became closer, then farther. The pattern repeated almost endlessly.

My hands went slack. She carried me further and further. Until the forest was far and away from us. The only sign of there even being a forest was the furthering treeline that passed behind us. 

Eventually she let go of her grip. I looked around and found a weathered path that led to someplace beyond my vision.

She gently let me down and took hold of my hand. A tight grip that forced me to hold my hand high. She was so much taller than me. So much.

I glared. My eyes narrowed as something came into view. A giant tower held between smaller walls. A city? Was this where we were going?

My gaze fell upon the woman who had taken me as her charge. She smiled down and nodded.

The walls grew closer. Strangely enough my legs felt no sign of the intense exhaustion. It should've been there. Right? We were walking for so long so why didn't I feel anything?

Night filtered through my eyes. A strange silver glow from the singular moon lit the path before us. And soon enough we arrived. There were a pair of sleepy guards holding the small line. 

Their conversation was beyond me. I was too tired - in mind - to care about the simple words they exchanged.

But I did catch the last words.

"Head straight to the guild, you'll be able to register in short order. Do it soon, they should be just closing right now."

She nodded. Her hand grasped mine even tighter and guided me hurriedly.

"Are we…?" My question was cut short by a nod of her head.

"Yes. We must hurry."

With swift movements I was in her arms again. My fists bunched her clothing and held on as she zoomed across the town. 

Eventually we stopped. She spent just enough time in front of the building to coo at me. Her hand ruffling through the edges of my hair in such a pleasant manner. I purred a bit. It felt too good~

I must not have realized it. When I next looked I found myself staring at some employee. She wore this suit-like thing with a white shirt underneath. There were bags under her eyes that spoke of long nights spent working late shifts.

"Just in time. You came here to register for citizenship, yes?"

She nodded and sat in the chair offered.

"Yes."

"Can't offer that right now, temporary at best. But I can tell you of the ways to get full citizenship if that's what you want?"

She shook her head.

"I already know. I just need this for the night and coming weeks."

"Alright. Then fill out this paperwork and be quick, we close soon."

I looked down at the paper and it was in a language both unfamiliar and familiar. I narrowed my eyes trying to decipher the words but nothing came.

Giving up I stared off into space. Trying to just pass the time.

"We're done." 

'We are?' I questioned silently.

"Good, hand them here." 

She took the papers before guiding us to a private room.

"If everything's in order then it really only leaves the fee. I do need to do a quick check here and there but if you can hand over the fee this'll go much faster. I'm sure that you're… son-" She glared at me for some reason. "Might want to go to bed soon."

"Here"

Out of nowhere she produced a bag of money. The teller counted the amount then coughed slightly. She turned and left the room. Soon after she came back with some papers and a recommendation for an inn that would take us, especially this late.

It was after we were ushered out, our feet gently pattering against the stone floor, that I finally worked up the courage to ask something that had weighed so heavily on my mind.

"I want to ask something." My voice was low and shy.

She smiled warmly and crouched down next to me, bringing her directly to my eye level. Her hand parted my hair and pet me gently.

"I… I know that you're my partner - though I don't know why I know - but who are you… your name… as a person. Who are you?"

She smiled.

"Atalanta. A hunter."

I returned that smile, maybe even brighter.

"Inari. Your partner on this hunt."