Chapter 2:
Muster your Courage
*Tonight! We diiine! IN HELL!*
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♪~"in the jungle, the mighty jungle"~♪
Skipping through the dense forest -full of large roots and dangerous monsters- in the middle of the night, while picking up berries, dry wood and various mushrooms, was a girl with no clothes.
Crazy? No.
Alone.
It was the very night that followed the crazy evening she had experienced firsthand.
♪~"The lion sleeps toniiiight"~♪
Now, a bit more visibly cleaner -but still unclothed- girl was merrily making her way through the place where no desk possibly could exist, apart from the wooden desk's forefathers, but that didn't bother Eriss one bit as she continued forth in the dark that was somewhat lit up with the help of large fireflies, that was the size of a grown up man's head, glowing with a red behind. Luckily, they weren't carnivores. The glow they emitted, though, painted the trees struck by the light with an eerily deep red tint.
♪~"in the jungle, the quieeet jungle"~♪
Eriss had noticed, after an unexpected heroic charge towards one of these creatures she first thought might be her death, that the large flying lightsticks flew towards all things edible.
And it wasn't just grass.
Content with the guidance she had one-sidedly contracted on her own accord, Eriss had followed the fireflies and later found herself singing to their wavy behaviour while picking up all sorts of unknown things.
But the floating fireballs didn't die, so it must be alright to eat.
♪~"The lion sleeps toniiiiiiiiight"~♪
The twigs, unexpectedly, was not for eating. Naturally when following such a brightly glowing ass, one couldn't help but wonder if it was capable of producing fire in one way or another. Curiosity prevailed.
With these thoughts, the curious one continued picking up dry and sturdy twigs alongside the black, red, blue, and purple berries that came in different sizes -from the size of a thumb all the way to the size of an apple- as well as the camouflaged, hand-sized mushrooms, that literally looked like a miniature soldier from Earth if one would not count the legs and hands of a human, while still following the comforting natural source of light inside the forest.
There was just one slight problem.
With her hands full of tonight's 'hunt', Eriss felt it was time to head back to the peaceful lake she called the beginning of her conquest. Turning around to track her way back, however, proved difficult in the dark.
She was lost.
'...Great.'
Turning back to face the fireflies, Eriss had an idea. Shuffling everything she held to her left arm, she then took one of the twigs from earlier -with her right hand- and made her way to the flying red group that looked like blood floating in mid-air.
It was definitely for survival and not because of curiosity.
Reaching the twig out towards one of the fireflies, Eriss awaited the inevitable contact. Poking the glowing area, a spark flared up.
It did indeed burn things upon contact.
The unprepared firefly was not as amused in this situation though, compared to the easily pleased girl. It would have its revenge! The world shall burn in its wake! In the end IT would have the final laugh!
Instantly turning its body around to charge towards the gleeful sinner with its most powerful bite, the firefly stared into nothing but darkness. The thoughtless perpetrator was already out of the bug's sight, quickly tracking her way back to the lake with a burning stick.
Fireflies' reaction time wasn't the best.
Easily finding her way back with a light source, Eriss noticed there wasnt any other fireflies than the group she had followed earlier. The route back wasn't completely uneventful, however, as when the fire had almost consumed the twig she threw it forward in a careless panic. Unknowing what she had just done, the twig flew for a good distance.
And landed in the lake.
'That was cloooose!' Eriss sighed in relief as she slumped to the ground.
Today was not a day she would remember for burning down a forest. Standing up with shaking knees, she then picked up all things edible -which she had dropped after trying to rush forward and catch the fire- and made her way to a more comfortable place than inbetween an eerie forest and her salvation
"Let's not do that ever again..."
The food could wait until tomorrow. It wouldn't dissapear under a nights sleep -though she did munch on one of the smaller red berries, just in case- and she was too tired after the day's ordeal. Reflecting on it, she felt she had acted a bit immature as her mood swings turned to the other end in a matter of seconds, and with no control over her situation, she only felt powerless.
'I can't halfass this if I want to live. Crying won't help me here. I need to...'
With these thoughts, Eriss -lying on her back- closed her eyelids and was sound asleep.
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It is hard to change immediately.
Munching on what she called a 'Military mushroom #1' -a mushroom with a small camouflaged hat and an equally camouflaged foot that looked just like a generic military helmet and suit in green nuances- was a happy-go-lucky survivor of two days in the wilderness of a world unfamiliar to her.
She hadn't forgotten about her resolution, but not being in a dramatic situation anymore, Eriss just couldn't stay gloomy. It was against her personality. That said, she did seriously assess the potential danger of each and every berry, mushroom and grass she had acquired during last night's trip with the overgrown bumblebeFireflies.
"And what about you, Professor Plum? What do you taste like!?"
Well... As seriously as she could.
Holding one of the larger sized purple-colored berries between her right index finger and thumb, the carefree girl inspected her next meal before carefully taking a bite. She flared her eyes open and quickly leaned forward to face the ground in front of her while coughing.
The taste was sublime.
It really was. The plum-sized berry that also had the color to fit the description, could be the star of any meal! The sweet scent from within was nothing short of a miracle. But...
"It tastes like banana!"
Betrayed by her old expectations due to appearance, Eriss decided to avoid the other berries, for now. Nothing good could come out of them at this point, but as they were food, she decided to leave them close to the lake as tonights dinner, and keep the largest black berry with her.
Reaching the lake to abandon the thumb-sized berries, she saw it. The sun was standing at its peak straight above the lake, giving a clear view of the surface.
Her reflection.
The reflection showed a girl with long, unkempt, hair with the same black color as before -reaching down to somewhere around her shoulder blades-, a slightly rounder face with matching features -the freckles were gone, though- and green eyes. The slim body was troublesome to make out completely in the water as her lower body did not reflect itself. That was also the reason she couldn't make out her length, but that hadn't posed a problem earlier, so she simply didn't care to find out. Erris assumed she was close to 160cm, though. She had seen her hair the moment she came to this new World, but now it was clear as day. That, together with the smaller hands and feet, it reminded her that she did not look like this before. It didn't bother her anymore, though, as she had already made peace with her mind. She wouldn't be able to move forward if she hadn't.
She would have to check her body again some time later, if only to get more familiar with herself.
Putting down the embraced berries, Eriss walked away from her haven and into the deep wilds, with only a black berry the size of an apple in her left hand, and a handful of 'Military mushroom #1's in her right. She didn't have any direction to go in but forward. She wanted to get out of this place. And to get somwhere, anywhere, the best option is to keep moving forth.
And forth, she walked.
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The wilderness had other plans. As Eriss kept moving forward in a place she's never been in -a place she's never seen- the trees weren't as densely packed as the ones closer to that tall tower. With a bit of sunlight intruding, it looked rather homely.
That was wrong to think. Others had the same thought.
Slowing down her steps in the area, howling wolves was heard in the background. The wind was getting rougher and the climate was no longer suitable for someone without clothes. After seeing what a simple firefly looked like, Eriss tried to tactically forget about the presence of wolves. She could deal without something the size of a car growling at her. Slowly continuing forward, within the strange sudden silence, she regretted ever leaving the lake.
But it was too late.
Hearing that frightening growl she couldn't come close to imagining, she slowly turned her head as to not appear full of openings for the hunter. Behind Eriss, a grey-colored monster double her size, with the appearance of a wolf with yellow eyes that glared hungrily at her, was growling.
'I'm dead...'
The ferocious wolf slowly made its way towards its next meal in the afternoon with hungry eyes. The prey backed slowly while leaning forward, to show its inferiority compared to the mighty beast. The wolf only howled as it saw the cowardly behaviour.
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"
Taking this opportunity to flee as that -in her mind- would currently increase her survival, Eriss quickly turned and ran for her life into the only direction that wasn't covered by the wolf-like monster. The wolf was quick on the turns, and growled loudly as it leaped after the girl. She didn't turn around to the intimidation and only kept running into the forest full of beasts as she nervously looked for something, anything, that could save her just this once.
But that never happened.
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...Aaaand Another chapter!
Tell me if you would like to read about the other characters progression next chapter, or have one more with the MC Before that happens.
I won't bite, really.
And as always, I appreciate you reading this!
Edit: Changed some descriptions around about her body, so feedback regarding that is welcome as any other!
(Oh and I still wonder about which chapter to release next.)