Pants

I yawned and awoke to the surroundings of my humble abode. Peeling wallpaper, the dead cockroach I named Bob, the dripping faucet and the mouse. His name is Jerald. He usually sticks in his hidey hole within the bathroom walls.

Even though this place is in ruins, I call it my home. This little run down shack is my coverage from the dangerous things wandering within the forest. I stretched and sighed as a satisfying pop resounded within my back. Slouching, I recalled the time I became utterly alone. Three years had passed since my best friend and brethren had died. The war and disease cutting down every elf I knew of. Not only were my kind picked off, but magical creatures have been dwindling as a whole.

The trolls seemed to disappear into thin air, yet I have reason to believe some are still alive. I have not seen the fairies in a long time. The unicorns that used to be abundant in the meadows have become scarce.

As for the other magical creatures inhabiting the forest, they usually like to keep to themselves. However, the forest has become quieter and it is not hard to figure out why.

While cooped up in my little shack, it gave me time to think. My mind constantly on the hunt for the reason behind the disease. Eventually, I had come to the subject of hunters. A race known for their nobility, strength, and ability to adapt. They had gone extinct hundreds of years ago, with only stories keeping their presence alive. No one knew what led to their extinction, but with this new disease on the prowl I quickly put two and two together.

Hunters, also known as the 'dragon-skinned,' were one of the most heavily armed magic users among magical beings. Their scale-like skin was told to shimmer in the sunlight as they swooped in on their unsuspecting victims.

My grandmother used to tell me stories of hunters. How they could fly with no wings and breath fire without getting burned by the flames. The stories always intrigued me as a young child. Especially since I had never been able to use magic of my own.

I shook out of my train of thought and slipped out of my makeshift bed. Making my way towards the rickety kitchen counter, I grabbed my belt of accessories. I go no where without it. My assortment of gadgets have saved my life a countless number of times. I ducked under a loose board hanging on by a nail and made a mental note to fix it once I came back. Carefully twisting the knob to the front door, I pushed it open. Light shimmered down onto my face. I smiled as I felt the welcoming warmth embrace my cheeks.

Taking a step outside, I looked around and surveyed my surroundings. Clear. I strode out with a smile and felt my hair bob up and down as I happily bounced into the forest. Even if it had been a rough couple of years, the inviting warmth of the sun never failed to bring a feeling of euphoria.

I brought myself along the forest path I had traversed several times. The familiar smell of pine wafted through my noise and I began humming to keep myself occupied.

Eventually, I came across the familiar crystal clear water that passed swiftly through the forest. I sat down next to it and took off my worn down shoes. Dipping my feet in the water, I appreciated the cooling sensation it brought and I moaned in contentment.

I cupped my hands and dipped them in the cool stream. Bringing the water to my face, I tilted my head and drank the soothing liquid. I sighed in relief and continued to sit at the waters edge. Peacefully watching the streams water gleam as light bounced on top of it.

A sinking feeling settled within my chest. I shivered, an uncomfortable tension building within my body.

Someones watching me.

I quickly whipped my head to face the trees from behind. The area seemed clear, until I heard a faint rustle of movement. Standing up, I pulled out the utility blade from my belt. My hand shook slightly as my eyes remained glued to the shelter of trees hiding who knows what.

"Who's there?!" I yelled out, my voice steady and affirmative. Yet, the slight tremble of my hand revealed my nervousness. There was no answer. I stiffened and jerked my head around paranoid. There was something out there, but I could not find it.

Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself and did one more look around. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. I slowly brought the knife down and took a deep breath. Whatever was out there must have left. It was probably just an animal of some kind. Shaking away my nerves I let out a shaky exhale.

"Getting ahead of myself aren't I." I murmured before swiftly putting my knife back into its spot on my belt. Taking another long look into the dense trees that surrounded me, I settled back down on the forest floor. However, the feeling of paranoia never went away.

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I walked along the forest floor hearing as my footsteps crunched upon the fallen leaves. The tranquility of the area lulling me into a sense of security.

Picking up my pace, I eventually came across my hidden entrance within the tall blades of grass. Crouching down, I crawled into the large hole hidden by the dense landscape. Once I made my way inside, a grumble of irritation escaped me. The cold floor of the cave hampered my peaceful mood. A damp stench permeated the cave as I walked towards my bedding.

I swiftly reached for my cloak and brought it over my head. It purposefully draped down my chest and torso. Sitting down, I picked at my dirtied nails. The grimy substance coming out in chunks as it littered the cave floor. Growing tired of the picking, I stood up and ran my hands trough my disheveled hair. Letting my arms fall, I hesitantly turned towards my right shoulder. It was covered by my cloak, but I knew what lies beneath it. Giving out a defeated sigh I lifted the cloth blocking my shoulder. My eyes glazed upon the imprinted number, '124.'

I groaned and laid myself along the assortment of animal skins across the cave floor. Eventually, I allowed myself to drift into sleep.

//

It was dark and I had no where to go. Tears burned my eyes and sweat cascaded down my forehead. I screamed out, but silence was the only answer. I was completely alone. I held a limp hand in my own, wishing for some sign of life from my mother. Her eyes stayed creased in agony and her mouth was held agape in horror. My dad had died yesterday and I was not ready to leave my mom as well. Her cold grip permeated my warm hand. The gleam of life was gone from her body. With hesitance, I slowly removed my hand from hers. I stood and tried wiping the never-ending tears from my eyes. Longingly, I took one last look at my moms lifeless form and began making my way to the entrance of our home. I pushed at the cloth that dangled down, blocking the outside. My eyes filled with dread as the stench of death permeated the air. Everywhere I looked, lifeless bodies met my gaze. My tribe was the last of our races existence. Now, it looks like I am the very last of my kind.

It had been three days.

My mouth was dry and my legs were weak. The terrain was rougher than I had anticipated and I had not eaten since I ran off. My stomach growled and I grimaced taking a step forward. While taking that step, my leg gave out and I collapsed to the ground. I tried lifting up my hand to grab onto something, but I found nothing. Becoming overwhelmed with fatigue, I let my eyelids close and my body become lax.

"Hello?" I startled awake as an unknown presence called out. The first thing I noticed was the soft surface I laid upon. I rapidly began looking around, but hissed in pain as the strain my body endured made itself known. It seemed I was in a home of some sort. Calming myself, I gently propped my head up to find a girl with hellish red eyes glaring down at me.

"Where am I?" I asked feeling a migraine start to throb inside my head.

"My home." The girl answered. She appeared young, but her eyes held wisdom beyond her years.

"Who are you?" I inquired, studying the new figure. I watched as she straightened her posture.

"You're a hunter." She stated, ignoring my question. Her gaze hardened. "We all thought your species had gone extinct."

I lowered my head as the events from three days before came crashing down. She must have seen my pained expression as her eyes narrowed in worry.

"Is something coming?" She quickly questioned. I sat myself up on the bed she had placed me on. The soreness racking my body engulfed my every move. Cringing, I turned my head to face her.

"Look here." I stated, pulling down the right sleeve of my cloak. There it was, the numbers. I had received this disease right after leaving my tribe. Looking at the panel on my shoulder felt surreal. All I had were '363' days left.

"As long as you don't have this on your right shoulder, you'll be fine." I told her. She looked at me, then shifted her gaze to look at the numbers imprinted on my right shoulder.

"I see." She said. Her eyes held many more questions, but I was grateful she did not pry. Moving her gaze back up to mine, something clicked.

"You're a witch!" I blurted out. Her eyes closed and she let out a small chuckle.

"How did you know?" She asked, grabbing at a rag which sat upon her desk.

"Your eyes." I responded as she wet the rag beneath a rusted faucet.

"And here I thought it was because I had a giant cauldron sitting in the middle of my house." She responded. I chuckled and watched as she approached me. "Here's something cold for your head." She said as she handed me the wet rag. "Your fever was pretty bad when I brought you here."

"Thank you." I responded and graciously took the rag. A sigh of relief escaped me as I placed it on top of my forehead.

"Are you feeling any better?" She asked, eyeing me up and down.

"I'm feeling alive." I answered. My body was aching all over, my throat felt sore and my head felt about a million degrees, but I was alive.

"What's your name?" I asked. She paused and turned to look at me. Shrugging, she gave me an uninterested look.

"I don't have one." She answered. Before I could ask anything else she opened the door to the room I was in. "I'll be back in a few." She said and hurriedly made her way out. I laid back down and looked up to the ceiling. Either she was an outcast, or she did not want to tell me her name.

I thought to all the outcasts I had met. All of them nameless and either beggars or thief's. This witch seemed to be neither. However, why would she keep her name from me?

As I laid on the bed, the heat inside the witches hut became excruciating. The rag did little to deter the rest of my body from suffering in the heat. With a painful jab, I sat up and took of my cloak. The second of coolness it brought was welcomed. However, it was not enough as the heat built back up. Gaining willpower, I forced myself to stand. My wobbly legs struggled to keep myself upright, but I managed. I took shaky steps towards the door. Once I reached the handle, I pushed it open to be met with a larger living area. Her house was well kept and tidy. She had paintings of landscapes along her walls and a series of potted plants were placed by the windows.

"I never said you could come out."I heard the witches voice say. "And Put your cloak back on!" She then yelled.

"It's too hot!" I protested.

"It's too hot." She mimicked back. Sighing, the witch looked to me in pity. I watched as she walked to her windows and opened them up. Cool breezes swept into the house and I groaned in satisfaction.

I watched the witch as she walked towards another area of her house. On shaky legs, I followed her and she led me into the kitchen. The smell of toast was strong. My mouth watered and the witch motioned for me to sit on a wooden stool.

As I sat down the witch placed a plate of toast in front of me. My stomachs rumbled as I took in the plate of carbs. Without any regards to table manners, I stuffed myself with the bread which sat upon the plate. My body craved for more as I finished the plate off and licked my fingers.

A loud guffaw resounded within the kitchen as it was followed by obnoxious laughter. I grumbled in response. Not making an effort to get up, I stayed lying in my fallen position. The witches laughter slowly died out as I looked at her with intent.

"So you have no name?" I asked the witch.

"No."

My gaze pierced hers as we mutually looked over one another. I still could not tell if she was lying. She eventually tore her eyes from mine and grabbed my empty plate.

"Ami." I stated. She looked at me with confusion. "If you're not going to tell me your name, that's what I'll call you."

The witch then smirked and rolled her eyes. "Ami means friend in French, right? You must think you're clever."

I was about to defend myself, but she beat me to it.

"I like it."

I sagged in relief while she began washing my plate. "Now that you've given me a name, what's yours?" She asked.

"I'm..."

//

I awoke startled, the crunch of footsteps bringing me to attention. I looked up at my caves entrance suspiciously. Listening intently, the footsteps seemed to be headed towards the nearby stream. Pulling my cloak on tighter, I made my way towards the hole in the caves roof. Grasping the edges, I pulled myself up and found myself faced with the dense grass. I stayed still as I listened to the footsteps walk further away. Once they seemed far enough, I began pursuing this unknown creature.

I swiftly ran across the woodsy terrain, climbing and jumping from trees to keep my own footsteps off the ground. The rush of adrenaline spiked within me as I continued in pursuit.

Nearing the spring I crouched on top of a sturdy branch. Slowly, I scanned the stream for any sign of the unusual. I moved further up the branch and found a figure sitting along the waters edge. My eyes widened as the figure took the shape of an elf. Was it an elf? The being seemed a bit larger than average for the species. Also, instead of the straight blonde hair elves bore, unruly brown hair sat upon this creatures head. Was this a human?

I leaned my head out a little closer to try and get a better gauge of what it was. However, as I leaned my head further I saw the creature perk up.

I stilled.

"Who's there?!" I heard a girlish voice call out. I tensed. Thinking quickly, I muttered a shields spell under my breath. A magical blue glow encompassed my body and I watched as the creature lost their intensity. I heard a sigh and saw the being sit back down. Carefully, I turned back to look at it. The unruly curls of the being framed a round face. Green eyes looked at the stream in contentment as the creatures toes played in the water. The creature was small, seemingly to be under four feet, but she was not as short as an elf. Maybe she was a shorter human? Her looks closely resembled the humans inhabiting the forests edge, but why would she be all the way out here? I heard her murmur something, but it was too quiet to make out.

I leaned in closer from the branch I was on. As I leaned, my hand slipped from its position on the tree trunk. Tumbling to the ground, I looked up as the mysterious girl whipped her head around.

I made a dash for it. Jumping into a tree, I swiftly jumped from branch to branch. Even if the girl did not seem to be a threat, I did not want to take any chances. As I made a jump towards a taller branch I heard a loud rip. I looked down to find a large tear within the loose pants I wore. I tried moving forward, but the tear my pants sported snagged onto another branch. Grunting, I shimmied my way out of the pants and pushed forward.

I did not need them anyways.

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I knew there was something out there!

I swiftly turned around as I heard a large thud echo from the ground. My eyes met a cloaked figure for a brief moment, before it shot up into the trees. What was that?

I abruptly stood and ran after the run away figure. I kept my gaze in the tree tops as I followed a blurry mass move from branch to branch. This thing was agile. Eventually I lost track of the figure and I stopped to catch my breath.

Still peering at the tree tops, I noticed something hanging limply upon a branch. Approaching the tree, I grabbed around the trunk and began climbing. Reaching for the material, I swung myself to get a hold of it and tugged to get it loose. Making my way back down the tree, I examined the piece I found.

They were pants.

I looked at the pants questioningly, then noticed a strong smell emitting off of them. Sniffing, I scrunched my nose at the accumulation of magic. Whatever that thing was had recently used a spell of some sort.

I could use that to my advantage. Even though I could not use magic, I was able to track it. Sensing the magical aura the pants radiated out, I closed my eyes and concentrated. Slowly opening my eyes, I watched as a faint trail of magical remnants aligned the tree tops. Bingo.

With the pants still in hand, I pushed deeper into the forest on my quest to find the mysterious figure.

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