Noami

"What's this sound? Sound? Sound?"

Noami stopped dead in her tracks. A voice. Unknown. Noami glanced at her reflection in the river. Her braided brown hair was tangled in a mess. Her dark stormy eyes were wild, searching for a home. Her silver dress was fine, made by wilderness. It would never get damaged. Her feet were sore, running from monsters. The recent wound on her wrists and ankles did not heal yet. Why was that-creature- trying to steal her bracelets? Noami's instinctively crept to her wrist. Ow. The bite was still there. Red.

Step. Step.

Footsteps. Noami jumped to her feet and turned around, pulling out her bow and arrow. No one.

Noami? Why are you doing that?

Noami glanced down. A tiny rabbit was sitting there. Licking his paws. Acting like nothing out of the extraordinary happened.

Oh, hey Thumper!

The rabbit rolled his eyes and hopped over to Noami, licking her heels and wrists. The wounds were ice cold for a bit, and then disappeared. Noami's aches and sores healed as well. The dirt on her body and her messy hair transformed back to what they were like before Noami was here. Noami was about to say thank you to Thumper… he disappeared. Of course. Thumper was already dead. Why think of him anymore? But. He was there. In front of her. Healing her wounds.

No. Thumper saved me once. He saved me again. I cannot sit here. Is this miserable? What… is miserable?

Noami tried to cry. Like the other animals. She could not. Could not. Not. Noami floated back to two months ago, when she was just saved by Mother Nature. She could not remember more than that. Two months.

"You cannot feel pain. Sorrow."

"Why?"

"You are different than others, Noami. You have faced many pains already. I cannot let you suffer again. You may not live."

"Why?"

Mother Nature chuckled. Her laugh was like a song. An echo. Permanently staying in Noami's mind.

"You are just like the others, Noami."

"The others?"

The others? Who? Why couldn't she just tell her?

Noami sighed and stood back up.

"Who is that? That? That?"

Noami's ears jerked back up. The sound again. Maybe. Just maybe. Was this one of the others? Without further hesitation, Noami sprinted towards the voice.

Moments later, Noami arrived at a wall of mist. Fog. Fuzzy air? Noami's head tilted sideways. Stepping forward, she ran through the mist.

"What's the matter?"

Noami jumped and crouched down. There were two girls. One with white hair? Blue gown. Another dark haired one. Weird. They do not glow with light. Or maybe it was just Noami's expectation. Afraid they were not to trust, Noami transformed into a little robin, sitting on a tree branch. The two girls didn't seem like they were planning an evil secret society. Instead, they seem like they were afraid of each other. Anxious expressions of their faces. Weird. Were they really to trust, after all? Noami shook her head and concentrated on their conversation. She could trust no one.