Chapter 1

A lone female figure trudged through the lush forest, disoriented and slowed down by obvious hunger. Finally slowing down to a stop, she collapsed onto the ground leaning up against a tree. Her appearance was completely disheveled, scrapes, tears, splotches of dirt, it would have lead someone to believe that she had gone to hell and come back. In hindsight, it wasn't that far from the truth. A loud rumble erupted from her stomach, causing her to groan alongside it, "ooo, so hungry,"

It wasn't the first time that the woman had the resurfacing thought of eating the raw materials she found growing around a few trees, but they all seemed unappetizing and unfamiliar. She looked up at the sky peeking through the canopy of leaves, suddenly engulfed with a large sense of loneliness. Though she drew in a shaky breath and got off the ground, steeling herself for another mile of hiking in hopes of finding any sort of civilization. She didn't make it so far when a loud snap caught her attention, whipping around to survey her surroundings, "who's there!"

It was silent for a couple of heartbeats and she grew impatient, calling out once more, this time much louder, "show yourself!"

Another moment of silence passed before a well built man made his appearance known to the woman, his hands held up in a gesture to show that he was harmless and had no intention to hurt her. The woman eyed him carefully as he slowly made his way towards her, ready to bolt if she needed to… but her gut told her even if she did manage to run away from him she would most definitely be beat by the amount of endurance she currently had.

As if sensing her overwhelming caution, the man stopped five feet away from her and decided to speak. "I saw you walking and I figured from your appearance that you could use some well deserved rest,"

The woman snorted. "You talk as you have an ulterior motive, what makes you think that I can trust you?"

"I can guarantee you that I am no one suspicious,"

"Says no one ever,"

Both remained quiet as they analyzed the other. It was at that precise moment that the woman's stomach decided to rumble once more, as if to draw attention to itself and its need. Her face grew red in embarrassment and scowled at the man who was trying to cover his laughs with awkward coughs. He cleared his throat and proceeded to try and bait the prickly woman a different way, "would you like some food?"

For a moment, the woman considered the offer. She had gone on a long period of time without food and she most certainly did not want to resort to eating anything to result in an unknown illness… but she threw the thought out of her head and fixed the man with another fierce glare, her green eyes boring into him. Accepting food from strangers she just met was just as dangerous as consuming unknown plants, she was about to voice her complaint when her stomach disagreed with her thoughts. Feeling another wave of embarrassment, she gave a click and swallowed her pride, "if it's a little…"

The man was pleased with her answer and gestured for her to follow him. She did so at a great distance and that caused him to compare her to a cautious cat.