Waking up with someone else's thoughts running through her head was weird to the girl. She had to constantly stop her body from moving on Feral's thoughts. She had to stop from staring at anything Feral thought of whether it be light-blocking trees, crunchy leaves, snapped twigs, or the dead body. She would get to the dead body eventually but she had other things to do like play with the strings she got back.

First, she had to calm down and hope Feral would do the same. After a minute of sitting on the forest floor, Feral stopped thinking of ways to move faster than jumping against trees. With that over she got up and grabbed her sword that was on the ground next to her. Before she did anything with the sword she grabbed Blood Bag and watched as dried blood flaked off her skin and disappear while dirt and dust that was held to the blood fall to the ground.

With the blood gone, she felt naked and Feral begins to scream for blood. The corpse would be the obvious answer but instead, she grabs Veins and uncondenses her sword. Soon a red mist surrounds her and she feels a little better but it isn't enough. She needs more she needs to feel it on her skin it needs to be all she can see.

Red mist turns to liquid and rains on her. When it gets close to the ground it shoots back up above her and starts an endless cycle of raining blood. Her vision soon fills with a familiar and comforting red but once again it isn't enough. It never is enough. She lets go of Veins and begins to dig a hole with Feral guiding her on the best way to make it.

For thirty minutes she dug a constant pace never letting up for a second. She kept going even when rocks were in her way pulling them out of the way like they were just little twigs. With the hole dug she pulled on Wound and watched as the cut in air opened up and gallons of blood poured out in an endless stream.

When Wound ran out the hole was only halfway filled but it was enough for her to sink into. She slowly inched her way into the hole on all fours. When her hands touched the pond her body shuddered. Her blood began to flow faster when her arms sunk into the liquid life. When the crimson fluid reached her shoulders it called for her. When the sanguine essence reached for her head she let it take her.

The trip down passed in seconds with her body being forced into a sitting position when she got to the bottom. She waited for the blood to still before focusing on her senses. Blood caressed her skin in a loving embrace causing a warmth she never felt before. Her nose was clogged with the sweet smell of blood. Her eyes could only see red making her feel like she was in an endless pool of blood. Her mouth was filled with precious blood that she would never swallow. Her ears held a comforting silence blood offered she enjoyed with all her heart.

Minutes passed like seconds to the girl while she was under. Then minutes turned to hours, the girl never seeming to need to breathe. As time passed the strings in her body and head began to itch. Then her brain began to throb. It felt like someone was hammering a nail into her skull. She tried to ignore it opting to let the pond of blood take her thoughts.

It didn't work. Then the single nail became multiple while the itch became ants crawling all over the strings. She tried to ignore it harder opting to give up thinking all together. It didn't work. The ants took little pieces of the strings taking the pieces that weren't wound tightly enough while the nails took her brain that was no longer needed. The ants used those pieces to make more strings. Their placement of the strings were random some were so close they were almost touching while others were in another part of the body. The chunks of brain matter were used as fuel to strengthen bones and muscles.

Bones broke under the strain of stronger muscles only to heal tougher. Fragments of bones pierced and tore muscles encouraging them to become better. Soon the tortuous cycle ended and the girl got up. Slowly she climbed out of the pond. Her nails dug into the dry dirt that didn't dare take away her blood. Veins was gripped and blood flowed in an invisible guide pushed forward by an unseen force. Her sword was slowly made with more blood than before.

Its light crimson got deeper and its solid exterior got harder. Another mental hand grabbed Blood Bag drawing in half the pond. When she got out the pond was drained the strings were bright and her sword was comfortably in her grasp. While her head hurt from keeping track of two mental hands she sniffed the air looking for blood to spill.

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She smelt the specific scent of human blood and began to move. At some point, the girl passed the boundary of the normal forest and the monster-filled one. It was a subtle difference but the girl could feel how the bark under her feet was tougher, how the air was heavier, and how her blood flowed faster like her body was getting ready for something.

Before she could get closer to the scent she was tackled middle flight to another tree. Pounds after pounds of force was drived into her throwing her off course and straight into the dirt. Her hand gripped her sword while she was rolling in the dirt. Feral's screams for blood got loud as she looked for her target but nothing was there. Just dirt, trees, and the light of the star. Suddenly she was pounced on. The weight of pound after pound was on her back her arms were trying but she couldn't move. She added her legs but nothing. Slowly the weight on her got heavier pounds were becoming tons with no sign of stopping. She couldn't swing her sword Veins wasn't fast enough to hurt anything Blood Bag only affect the blood outside a body or the dead and a deluge of blood would do nothing.

Her thoughts ran faster and faster as she tried to think of a way out. Bones began to crack as the weight was getting close to tons. In a gamble, she grabbed a string she never used before the one next to her heart. A shock traveled straight to her soul-mind hybrid. The shock asked her a wordless question as the weight was on the cusp of a ton. The dirt gave way as she thought of how to answer. Location seemed important to the strings so she thought of what possibly could it mean if there was one next to her heart. She answer strong as she thought it would relate to strength. Wrong. A bigger shock hit her as the string slowly unraveled itself. She thought harder but it was only till her arm broke did she realized her heart had never beat since waking up in the field.

A gasp of air was all she got as her head was forced into the dirt. Immediately she answered the question with faster. In a single moment her blood moved faster but unlike when she got excited she couldn't hear the thunder of a heartbeat in her head. She just felt her veins heat up. She asked for faster again and from the pure force the veins almost burst when they reached a turn. Slowly the oils produced by her skin boils while she tries once again to push herself up.

Her non-broken arm creaks as she gains an inch. Sweat turns to steam as she gains another. Lungfuls of air are not enough as she gains one more. Her obsession of blood clouds the pain as she swings her sword with a broken arm. The toxic blade of the sword buried into something while the weight eased up. The torrent of blood she expected didn't happen not even as she pulled back her sword only when she gained another inch could she turn her head to get a look.

A mass of black is spilling over her sides. The cut from her sword swing lets her see the outside world for a while before the tendrils of something pulls the mass back together. Her heart began to pound in her ears as Ferals screaming for blood reach a breaking point. Rational's throat stolen from her as Feral uses it to scream their obsession to the world. Capillaries burst as her unbeating heart began to move again. Blood pools inside her as she gains enough strength to stand and push the mass off.

She whips around to face the mass but it is sinking into the barely visible shadow of a tree. The shadow gets deeper as the mass sinks more. She tries to look at it closer but Feral's scream steals the much need air in her already begging lungs. Her vision gets blurry as Feral's scream continues even with her empty lungs. Only when her vision gets close to black does Feral stop. She gulps for air while Feral takes her legs to get lower. The shadow gets lighter as the mass moves to another but she couldn't see with her blurry vision.

With stolen legs, Feral turns around still low to the ground. While taking greedy gulps of air Rational barely sees a tree's shadow get deeper. With the way the light of the star is coming from the shadow slightly hides behind the tree but that doesn't deter the mass from crawling out from the shadow and taking another go.

The tree snaps like a twig as it targets the girl. It barely slows down as the tree breaks but it is enough for the girl to react. With the sword still in her broken arm she forces it up and straight as Feral lets her drop lower and to a side. The speed of the mass plus the sharpness of the sword makes the cut clean but it is not straight down the middle. The lesser side flops limply on the ground while the rest of the mass continues to fly towards a tree only to sink in its shadow.

She looks towards the lesser side that is still on the ground for movement but nothing. Looking back at the shadow it hid in it was gone. She looked for it for a while before she was convinced it was gone. She leaned against a tree on the opposite side of its shadow while looking at the mass it left behind. Her greedy gulps still have yet to cease even though she stopped her blood from moving as fast as it could and her eyes were still blurry but she could still see that when light touched the mass it disappeared. It didn't so much as turn to mist when the light hit it. She thought about what it could possibly mean but she came up empty before her thoughts were dragged to why Feral had yet to give back her legs. She had asked but its answer made no sense. She was glad she at least got her throat back but she could do without the pain it gave her.

Slowly her thoughts drifted to other things while her eyes grew heavy and at the same time, her hair turned red.