Sore, the word that could describe her very existence at the moment. Her mind, her body, everything felt stiff and hard to move. Her mind coming to consciousness at a slow pace, but not nearly so comfortable as to be able to drift back onto blissful sleep. She couldn’t quite think straight at the moment. Putting all of her effort into getting her arms beneath her and pushing herself off of the…. ground? “Why on earth had she fallen asleep here? And what was this fog in her head?” She couldn’t remember… much of anything.
“Ok,” she said to herself. “Don’t panic, we just need to sort out your memories a bit. Yea, that’s it. Just start with the basics. First, name…. why am I stuck on the first one?”
She began to panic a bit. How the hell was she supposed to accomplish anything if she couldn’t even remember that? Her hands flailed for a moment before knocking into an object lying next to her. “Cinelea” the word seemed to resonate with her. That was her name. Cinelea. She grasped the small object, enjoying the clarity it brought to her clouded mind for a moment before collecting her thoughts. Her mind still felt as though it had holes in it, but she was beginning to gather herself.
“Alright,” she mumbled, “Item number two, where am I right now?” It was an interesting question, she couldn’t remember everything just yet, but she could already tell that this wasn’t any hangover and though she was sore she could already tell she hadn’t been attacked, there were no injuries that would indicate she was knocked unconscious. “Though perhaps they used something else?” she thought as she gently touched her rather tender face filled with scratches and far more dried blood than they would suggest. “But then again,” she said to herself, “There’s plenty of reason for people to attack me, but none for them to do so and leave me alive. But why was it again that people would want me dead?” It would seem her mind still had some rather large holes in it.
She decided she would first gather herself before puzzling out this mystery and managed to roll herself onto her stomach and push herself to her knees. She needed to figure out where she was, the rough stone and pitch black didn’t indicate any of the new settlements. “Ah, that’s it!” she shouted, only being mildly embarrassed at her outburst and somewhat glad no one had been around to see it. “I was one of the council members who voted for moving to the new settlements.” She thought to herself, nodding in satisfaction as she finally finished pushing her aching body off the floor.
She remembered the decision being controversial, most of the people actually wanted to stay, fight off the invaders. Most of the people not knowing the horrific state of the war, not knowing that this might be their last hope. Only their faith in their leaders, their faith in her, preventing an outright rebellion, though even then, riots were a daily occurrence. The thought caused her to shed a tear, thinking of everything they had lost always did.
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“No.” she said aloud. “Get your bearings, and figure out what’s going on, then cry.”
A lesson well learned from her mother, one of the dissenting votes on their move. The strict old woman always thought her daughter too sensitive for a leadership position, too soft to make the tough calls.
She began her investigation with the apple sized item in her right hand. It was smooth, it didn’t give off any real light, but it still seemed to glow, that was the best description she had at the moment as it was a far different sensation than any she had ever felt before. Its faint hum was comforting, though even more so was the trickle of energy she was drawing from it. It was obviously magical, even somewhat familiar though she couldn’t recall from where. Whatever it was obviously wasn’t harmful though. “Then again,” she mused, “that’s probably my bias from how good it feels just holding this thing.” She decided she didn’t care. “If this is some sort of bomb then I guess I’ll just die holding it.”
Her next course of action was figuring out where she was, and how to get back to the settlement. She shuffled forward trying to find a wall or something. Unable to quite straighten her back while she did so. “Perhaps I was more injured than I thought.” Nevertheless, she continued on, all issues to be solved at home rather than in some random cave. After nearly a minute of walking she found a wall, “Phew,” she sighed in relief. “I knew that thing couldn’t go on forever. Still, just what kind of cave am I in?” She placed her left hand on the wall and decided that there was no better direction than forward.
Thirty-two minutes later and she began to think there was a better direction to go than forward. “Should I have just stayed put? Waited for someone to find me?” “No.” she shook her head. “If anyone were going to find me, they would have done so while I was knocked out. I won’t starve to death waiting for a savior. And turning around is just as bad an option, what if it just goes on in the other direction too?” “No,” she reaffirmed to herself, “forward is the best way to go right now.”
Luckily she was right, only a few minutes later she finally saw light! Though saw is probably the wrong word for it. She couldn’t actually see anything just yet. But she knew in her very bones that it was just ahead. Her shambling picked up pace. Almost running at this point, at least as close to it as she could get with her body refusing to move as it was. Then she saw it. Gorgeous light. The soft glow of the luminescent moss almost too bright to look at, forcing her to avert her gaze to the floor. But there was light, water, maybe even food! As far as she was concerned this was the second-best thing that had happened to her since she woke up, behind the orb of course. She allowed her eyes to adjust slightly, before approaching the cave, and the small puddle within. Perhaps she would be able to do some minor medical care? Or get the blood off of her face? Regardless. “Things are finally starting to go in the right direction.” She said.