2 Chapter 2: A New Face

I didn't know how long it has been since i started walking. Could it have been mere minutes? Hours? Or perhaps days? Whatever it was, I had one thing that i was sure of.

I had walked in the completely wrong direction. Instead of ending up in some forest, valley, plains, or literally any place that anyone can live nearby, I instead ended up on what seemed to be an onimous swamp, with purple liquid-like substances secreting from the ground and trees. And if that wasn't enough to turn me away from this place, the air surrounding the swamp was absoultely horrendous. It made breathing feel like a chore, and the closer I got to the swamp, the more suffocating the air became.

Suffice to say, I immediately turned back and starting walking back from where I came from. Sure, walking all the way back from where i started and continuing my journey from there was going to take a long time. But it was a sacrifice I was willing to make in order to avoid that swamp forever. Besides, its not like things could get any worse, could it?

It did. After walking for what seemed to be an hour or so, something awakened within me. Something in which I didn't expect to affect me as much as it did right now.

*Grrrrrrrr*

I was hungry. Well, I was always hungry right from the start. But this kind of hunger I am feeling right now isn't regular. In fact, right after my stomach's demand for food, a sharp stinging pain coarsed through my abdomen, and a slight feeling of numbness started to appear. From the looks of it, I wasn't going to last for another hour until I faint from starvation.

Which brings us to our current time. The good news was that I had finally managed to catch a glimpse of what looks like a forest. This means that there is going to be plenty of food to feast upon reaching there. Well, if I ever reach there, that is. The bad news was that i could barely keep my balance when walking, let alone walk without stumbling. In fact, i had to put in more effort in getting up than actually walking towards the forest. I can only hope that I wouldn't have to go foraging after reaching the forest.

Upon reaching the forest, I was immediately greeted with a sense of dread and acomplishment. Luckily for me, there were a couple of bushes bearing berries ready to be eaten. Unluckily for me, the moment my eyes laid upon the berries, my body simutaniously shutted down on me, causing me to fall onto my knees, and towards the ground. In a desperate attempt to reach the berries that i've longed for, i started crawling using my arms. If my legs fail, then I'll just use my arms. And if my arms fail, I'll use my body to wiggle to my destination instead.

But it was all for naught. To my dismay, my entire body refused to move right after my arms stopped working. Was this the end? Was I going to die in such a pathetic and uninteresting way? Questions after questions started to flood into my mind as my consciousness slowly slipped away from me. That was, until a certain creature had their attention on me.

"Squee!"

A high-pitched squeaking noise was heard from a distance away ahead of me. From where i was looking, the creature appeared to be a large rat, standing at around 35 centimetres in height, and somewhere around 1 metre in length. It had white fur, with spots of black scattered around its body, bore two long fangs protruding from the top of its mouth that was tainted green, and also had a tail resembling more of a squirrel than a rat.

"Squeak!"

The creature started approaching me cautiously. However, the closer the creature came towards me, the hungrier I became. And now that i had a closer look at it, the creature was suprisingly plump. It'd sure make a hearty meal for me.

"Squee!"

The creature was now 5 metres away from me. The sensation was unbearable, and it felt as if my hunger was slowly eating away my sense of reasoning. I didn't want to devour the creature unless i have no other options left. But I would be lying if I didn't think about how delightful its meat could be.

"Sque-SQUEEEEE-"

Without hesitation, I pounced onto the creature like a house cat catching a rat, and started to dig my teeth into its neck. This caused the creature to die instantly, but I couldn't care less about the creature death. At the moment, the only thing that I could think of was 'meat' and 'feast'. Afterwards, I started devouring every single part of the creature, with the exception of its bones. Similar to a hungry lion feasting on its prey, I greedily stuff organ after organ into my mouth, following the instructions of my stomach as willingly as possible. And within the span of five minutes, the creature has been reduced to nothing but a pile of bones.

"Oh... I ate it, didn't I?"

I said to myself, reflecting on my primitive actions that had just happened. To be honest, I felt a little bad for eating that creature. If only it had strayed further away from me, or ignored me in the first place.

But I suppose what's done is done. So, after setting my mind aside from that matter, I stood up and continue my journey deep within the forest. During my journey, I've managed to catch slight glimpses of other similar creatures lurking within bushes or trees, and some new and different looking creatures as well. Most of which ran away upon noticing my presence. Although there was one creature from earlier that tried attacking me through headbutting me but missed and instead hit a nearby tree and was knocked out immediately afterwards.

After another hour or so, and a few more rat creatures eaten, I stumbled upon what looks to be a cabin made of logs. Initially, I was quite suprised that I would find someone living in the middle of the forest, but then i realised the river behind the cabin, and the various bushes filled with berries surrounding it. With those things considered, it didn't look as out of place as I initially thought of it to be.

The cabin appeared to be fairly well designed and decorated as well, complete with a porch and flowers growing around the perimeter of it, windows, lanterns, and even a second floor from the looks of it. It looked as if a group of professional made it in collaboration with each other to build their perfect house, though it seems that it wasn't currently occupied.

Perhaps it was abandoned? But it was too well kept to be abondoned. Maybe the owners went out to run some errands? But that seemed implausible as well. The sun is already setting, which means that the owners should have reached home by now. So what could it possible be then?

"Well, I suppose there's only one way to find out."

I then slowly crept towards the cabin and onto the front porch. Upon reaching the door, I slowly grabbed the knob and twisted it to find out...

'Kachink'

...that the door was left unlocked the whole time. Huh, and I though that this cabin was somebody's home, but I suppose it was just recently abandoned. Feeling a sense of relief, I casually strolled into the cabin, celebrating the fact that I've managed to get a house for myself without even trying all that much.

"Well, first of, I suppose I could-"

"Apologise for breaking into someone's house uninvited?"

...What? Was that a voice that I just heard, or was my head playing tricks on me? I looked around the cabin frantically, only to find out that there wasn't anyone within sight. And by the time I had finished searching, the sun had already set, and darkness slowly filled the room, making things harder to see.

"Sigh... At least have some Dissipation Magic beforehand if you're attempting burglary at a house in the middle of nowhere."

The mysterious voice spoke again! But I still couldn't find where she could possibly be hiding. And before I could sound out where she's hiding, a sudden click sound was emmited behind me. This caused the lights for the room I was in to turn on, and with it, a girl suddenly appeared, sitting on a chair across the room while holding a book within both hands.

"Wah! Y-you were there the entire time?"

I said to the girl, stumbling both on my words and on my feet from the sudden appearance of her.

"Yes, I have been there since this afternoon. In fact, I've already noticed you when you first found out about my house."

The girl replied back to me.

"I-is that so... Ahaha, I guess this house wasn't abandoned after all, huh?"

"If it was abandoned, would you think it would still remain as furnished and well kept as it is right now?"

The girl certainly didn't held back in terms of speaking with me in disgrace. Well, its natural I suppose, considering I did break into her house in the first place.

"But that's besides the point. Who are you, and what were you exactly planning to do within my house?"

The girl demanded me for answers. Answers in which I wish I could say out without giving a bad impression.

"O-okay, I'll answer your questions. I'm..."

"...Well?"

"Er...."

This isn't good. Not only is she pushing me for answers, but I don't even have the answers for her questions! In fact, I don't even remember who I am right now!

"I... I'm afraid I don't remember.

"You don't remember who you are?"

"Y-yes, I'm afraid so."

"Hmm..."

As she responded, the girl started flipping pages from the book she was holding in a rather rapid pace, as if she was trying to locate something from within the book. After a few minutes or so, the girl eventually sighed, closed her book and placed it onto the table beside her.

"Well, why don't you sit right over there, and we can discuss more about your memory loss?"

The girl said while pointing at the chair right across her. I humbly obliged.

"Okay, what is it that you wish to ask before our discussion? If possible, please keep it to one question only."

There was many things that I could've asked her. Like why does she have crimson red eyes, or were those wings that were protruding from her back real? And if so, are they able to do things beyond granting flight? But instead, I picked the simplest question of all.

"Well, it could be nice to know how I should refer you, Miss?"

"Oh right, I have yet to introduce myself, haven't I?"

The girl pondered for awhile before replying me back with an answer

"Well, I've been known by many names. In fact, with the amount of names that I've been given throughout my life, I may as well build a village and name every person living there as one of my various names."

I didn't know exactly how to respond to her, so I instead gave her a small nod before listening back again.

"But for now, you may refer to me as..."

"As what, Miss?"

I replied impatiently.

"As Scarlett.