After several minutes of being ignored by the anomalous me, Andrew finally discovered her destination. A lake as blue as the leaves of the surrounding trees, reflecting colourful clouds while ignoring the dull grey sky above.

A rare beauty that she would have completely ignored were it not for her sudden energy deficiency. Forced to stop and rest, she's currently squirming in overarching pain while breathing in heavily, despite not having the need.

'I want to go back home. To eat ice cream and drink gin. Fuck. Why did I ever agree to this? No. I shouldn't think like that. It hurts but at least I'm not dead. I'm not dead…'

Slowly yet surely the old but definitely not wise, woman, calmed herself down.

'I've never felt pain like this before, but, I seem to be fine. How am I fine?'

How? I thought she'd never inquire. Well ignoring the fact that she's in me, a universe with different rules from her own, it's mostly because her body is energy-based. Though I'll admit that it was designed to simulate the sensations that she would have received from her old one, if not for that she wouldn't have such a fleshy appearance.

'Am I some sort of super person with enhanced durability as my superpower?'

But of course that's the conclusion that her non-scientific mind came up with; far from the truth but enough to satisfy her lacking curiosity.

'So to recap, I've been chased by a bunch of rabid birds, and attacked by a zomboid freak only to find what I was looking for during my daring escape…'

'There's no one here as far as I can see. Well at least I have a superpower, but, what am I going to do now?'

The oversensitive fool was about to start biting her nails in distress, only to get slapped by a sudden thought.

'What if there are people across the lake?'

Overflowing with desperate excitement, Andrew stood up in a rush only to freeze up in agitated pain. For a few long minutes, she just stood there like a pole waiting for said pain to subside.

'Alright, need to move slowly. I can't stay here, that thing might catch up, but I'll have to take my time.'

With survival as her motivation, despite not wanting to, she took flight again. And just in time, because as soon as she was over the lake, that thing that bore a slight resemblance to a man crawled out of the trees like a dog.

It stopped upon catching sight of Andrew, before taking one good look at the so-called lake and deciding to take the long way round. Not having noticed its presence, the aching fool kept her pace.

'What a strange lake, being blue despite there being a grey sky, choosing to only show beauty. I can't even see beyond its surface.'

For an unnecessarily long time, Andrew played spot the wave as she flew across the chameleon lake, unaware of the danger that was rushing to the other side.

'That's five waves in total, weird. Are there only five fishes? In a lake this big? How did I even miss it? Was it hiding or something? Is it alive?'

Fortunately for the conspiracist trying to figure out the nature of this unconventional lake, regardless of her speed she was bound to reach the other side first.

'Who knows? It could even be a sleeping mole in a world as weird as this.'

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

A what? No, that's not important…

'A blue mole pretending to be a lake.' "This place is truly fucked up…"

After nearly forty minutes of listening to that fool's crazy thoughts, the other side of this liquid beast was finally in sight. It looked almost identical to the opposite shore except for the wrinkled humanoid stupidly holding a fishing rod, unaware that he was the fish.

'Who's that? Looks like a person, but that doesn't mean much.'

For a few minutes, Andrew just fluttered far above the water, plotting like a deranged criminal.

'Looks like a normal fisherman, but that's just from the distance, could be another zomboid freak. Doesn't seem like it, but it might just be a ruse to make me put my guard down…'

For a few more minutes the sudden genius worked on a solution for her dilemma, all while the unwitting male prepared his fishing rod.

'Alright, the guy could be normal but I'm not willing to take that risk. As far as I know, I'm pretty durable and capable of walking off a sudden crash. Yeah, it still hurts like hell, but the point is…'

What's up with the monologue? She couldn't possibly be plotting what I'm thinking.

'I'll have to take the plunge.'

Before she could form a doubt, the crazy woman gritted her teeth and ascended into the sky before diving like a missile towards the daydreaming fisherman; slamming into his chest like a bowling ball, sending him flying five feet backwards, causing him to crash into a tree before he plopped to the ground with a thud. Not that she came out unharmed; in fact, she was next to him.

Not nearly as injured, but just as dazed.

'Those falling leaves, they look like raindrops. Is it raining?'

Andrew ignored the forced heaves of the still-living man as she watched the final blue leaf land.

'Strange, yet so beautiful.'

With that final stray thought, the aching fool who tried suicide turned to face her victim.

'Definitely not human, far too grey for that. But I managed to cave in its chest, definitely my ultimate attack. Though how the fuck is it alive? Wait, that's a good thing, now I can question it.'

With great effort Andrew stood, ignoring her pulsing pain as she walked onto her victim. For a few seconds, she stood on his chest before having to jump off to dodge a sudden swipe.

"Hey! I just wanted to talk."

"You tried to kill me," said the hybrid, far too injured to be angry.

"That was an accident! I fell asleep for a minute."

Absurd. But in that instant, the bald dying elder formed a plot.

"I. Understand."

"Great! So why are the leaves blue? What's up with the clouds? And have you seen the colour of this lake? Look at the sky!"

The wizened old hybrid coughed five times, with the fifth cough sending up purple blood. As fast as he could, he acted.

"I. Am dying. Please. Allow me one. Final. Drink. Pouch."

And with that, his eyes shifted to his dirty pouch, whose contents were partially on the ground.

"Will you answer my questions after?"

He said nothing, content to stare with his glazed eyes, unconcerned with himself.

'Klaga. I won't die here. I. Have to save you.'

Uncomfortable with the silence the far too trusting fool ignored her aches to quickly run over to the stranger's tiny sack, quickly searching it before rushing back with a glass vial.

'Is this some sort of moonshine? Why are its bubbles sinking to the bottom?'

Once again stumped by my strangeness, Andrew tried giving her victim the vial.

"Pour. Please. Pour."

Not thinking much of it, Andrew poured the odd warm liquid down the hybrid's throat, only for him to quickly grab her with speed defying that of a dying man.

While Andrew struggled and screamed, the creature laughed, laying on his back as his chest filled up, his body swiftly turning pale.

"I've done it! Yes! I've done it! Klaga, you're going to be saved. Yes! Yes…"

Tears spewed out of the elder's eyes as he slowly stood up, his mind moving quickly as he walked into the forest with a calm breathless gait.

'I don't know what this creature is, but its essence is literally overwhelming my nose as if it was made by the wisps themselves. Incredible, with the money I'll get from selling it to those twisted bastards, I'll be able to cure Klaga's curse, even restore her decaying body.'

With a smile stretching his face, and hope pulsing in his chest, the elderly hybrid whistled as he slowly made his way home; only to have his mood ruined by Andrew.

"Release me you fucker! Should have killed you!"

"Shut up!"

And with that the wizened elder stuffed her into his pouch, enraged by his would-be killer's noisy threats.

"I'm going to sell you to those twisted freaks and save my daughter with the money. I only wish I could be there to observe your torment as they do who knows what to you. I wonder? Perhaps you'll be used to develop a new type of Black-hearted."

The creature laughed in response to Andrew's silence, unaware of the people who were observing him from a tree. Still smiling, even after an arrow pierced his skull, his last thoughts being his daughter as he hit the ground with a thud.