I had been travelling for quite a while then. It had been two days since I last ate. I was tired and hungry. I couldn’t think straight, the direction I chose was random. My sight was a blur. Every colour I saw was slipping away, the leaves were no longer green but grey. The ground was gradually becoming steep. I dragged my body across stones and roots. My stomach was rumbling so much that it hurt.
Suddenly, there was a light emerging from all the grey. There they were, bright green leaves, shining like a bottle of water in the desert. They looked so tasty, sucking all my attention into them. I immediately snatched them and stuffed them in my mouth. They tasted like apples, sweet and juicy. Their texture slowly melted in my mouth. My brain was telling me to savour every single taste.
But the sensation did not last long, the bitter aftertaste came. It was like a hammer shattering my fantasy. Everything was starting to spin. I started to lose my balance, before falling to the ground. I could see stars spinning around my head until finally, I collapsed.
“Wake up.”
I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I had a good sleep and felt light and full of energy. I no longer felt hungry, or so I thought. As soon as I stood up, an unbearable pain struck my abdomen, enough to make me fall again. I looked around. Maybe I was poisoned, there should be an antidote somewhere, even though I didn’t know which plant it was. In front of me, there was a fox. Its fur was shining in bright orange, it was like staring at the sun, yet the sky was dark. It was already nighttime. Most of the animals in the forest were already sleeping, only nocturnal animals were active. While my mind was wandering around, the burning pain struck again, I held my stomach tightly, trying to ignore the pain. The fox seemed to have noticed my suffering, it jumped off of its position and into a bush. Soon, it came back with a branch in its mouth. The branch had little red fruits on it. The fox dropped it in front of me, telling me to eat it.
By that time, I’d learnt my lesson. I shouldn’t eat any plants or fruits that I was unfamiliar with, so why should I eat these red bean-like fruits?... Because it would be fun, who knew what effect these fruits have? I popped one into my mouth and instantly regretted it. It tasted sour and bitter. My surrounding was spinning again, I was positive that it was worst than I first time I was poisoned. And as usual, I passed out, again.
“You like sleeping, don’t you?”
I woke up to a stranger’s voice and looked around only to find the same orange fox from earlier, staring at me.
“You little fox, were you sure you brought the correct fruit?” I snapped.
“ It was you who ate the fruit, I didn’t force you,” it corrected me.
Its voice was childlike, gentle and playful, but that was not important. Since when did fox speak? I rubbed my eyes, trying to make sure there wasn’t someone else talking. And there wasn’t, so the fox was speaking.
“ Why are you so surprised? Is it that weird for a fox to speak?” It tilted its head, clearly ignorant of this fact.
“ Yes, it is. If it isn’t, I don’t know what is.”
“ Obviously,” it chuckled, “ I was pulling your leg, so how are you feeling?”
“ Fine. Actually what was that fruit?” That fruit worked wonders, I felt alright, and the burning pain in my stomach was long gone, just like after I consumed the bright green leaves. I couldn’t help but feel anxious, the past would probably repeat itself.
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“ Don’t worry, that was the antidote, the all-healing bean fruit,” it held the branch up in the air, I almost thought I saw a halo on the branch. “ Anyway, why are you wandering so deep in the forest? This forest isn’t very friendly to outsiders,” it said as it made its way to my lap. Its warm body and soft fur just made me want to hug it.
“ Well, I found myself here without any recollection from my past,” my hand was hovering above its head, itching to pat it. “ I am currently trying to recover them, but I don’t know where to start.”
“ You could try contacting a mind mage, someone who specialize in mind-reading.” It said, yawning at the same time.
“ I see, but how do I contact one? I literally know no one,” that was a nice suggestion, but the thought of letting a stranger into my mind didn’t sit right with me.
“ You don’t,” the fox said nonchalantly.
“ Pardon, what did you just say?”
“ I said you don’t need to contact one, you have already met one,” it sat up, its head bumped into my hand, its ears started twitching as soon as they touched.
“ What do you mean?” I was confused, I’ve met three person, a goddess, a hunter and a fox, which one might be the mind-reader.
“ You don’t have to look far, she is currently enjoying your head pat,” the fox said, rubbing its head around my head.
“ You are a mind-reader?” I was surprised at this revelation.
“ A mind expert, to be precise. As you know, I’m no ordinary fox, I’m a fox spirit.” She took a deep breath before continuing her monologue. “ If you are searching your memories, you will need a direction for example an object or person from your past. However, we don’t have anything from your past. We could search everywhere , but that will be like searching a green apple in a sea of red apple blindly.”
“ So I’ll be relying on blind luck to find the direction?” What she said actually made sense. Though I’m curious how she’ll help.
“ I can help you but I’ll need your consent.”
“ Are there any risks in doing so? Is it free?”
“ One question at a time. I understand your concern, I’ll explain one by one,” the fox said, “ there is a risk of going insane, if it isn’t handled professionally, but worry not, I’m a expert at this. And it’s not free, unfortunately.”
“ Uh, what do you need exactly? And are you just a self-proclaimed or do you actually have a solid proof?”
“ I’m not just a self-proclaim expert, I’m a fox spirit, we are specialised in that, we create illusions real enough to be passed as the reality. And the prize is that you take me on your grand adventure.”
“ The cost is acceptable, but I don’t know anything about your mind stuff, how do I know you won’t take advantage of me,” I was skeptical of the deal, it sounded too good to be true.
“The deal’s too suspicious, isn’t it? Well, your right,” she smiled, “ words can be empty at times, they can be broken without consequence. But a contract is different, if it is broken, there will be severe consequence. Moreover, what advantage do I have with a girl who poisoned herself. Let’s do contract, you can call upon that goddess of yours as a witness if that puts you at ease.”
I immediately froze, I wished I could step back, but the vixen was on me, “ how do you know about her?”
“ I am a mind expert, I’m able to enter your mind, but relax it works only if we have physical contact,” she jumped off me, “ I won’t read your mind without your permission, I’ll write it on the contract.”
“ You are acting even suspicious, that’s even more reason to not sign the contract,” this fox was a potential threat, what if it didn’t respect the contract.
“ You looked troubled, is it because of what I can do? I swear I will not harm you in any way, I will also write it on the contract. How about now?” The vixen pulled out a parchment out of thin air and started writing on it.
I looked at it, and shook my head, “ it’s a great deal but too suspicious. The profit is one-sided, anyone will undoubtedly be skeptical, I pointed out as I read the contract.”
“ Now, that’s where you're wrong, you get to find clues about about your memories and I get to tag along on your journey. The rest are your security. I don’t have any intention to harm you , so I don’t lose anything. Therefore, it’s a win-win for both of us. I just want a traveling companion.”
The fox was right, there wawa simply no trap. Anyway, I was tired of over-thinking, so I read and signed the contract. “ Happy now?” I handed her the contract.
She was all happy, jumping around me with the parchment. It duplicated the paper and gave me a copy. “ We shouldn’t delay any further, give me your hand and let me work my magic.”