She felt the coldness of the soil as she laid down. Warmth gradually flowing down her face. Throbbing pain spreading across every part of her body. She had only closed her eyes for a moment after falling down, and yet, it already felt like she couldn’t open them anymore. She could feel her consciousness fade away. Every second that passed, the heavier her eyes got as she forced them open.

She saw before her an elevating landscape. When her consciousness slowly returned, she had grasped that she fell on a steep slope. She looked around with caution, but it would seem that those creatures were not around anymore. She felt relieved, but not for long.

As she slowly stood up, pain erupted all over her body. Wounds, scratches and bruises, all causing pain to the little girl. Tears flowed out of the corner of her eyes.

“...so painful….”

With no one around her, she felt so alone in the predicament. No one to help her. The isolation weighed more heavily on her than before.

No one to cry unto. No one to hold. No one to see.

It was sad.

“...mama…”

She whispered as though calling her for help. She was always the one to help her. Tended her wounds when she's hurt. Comfort her when she’s sad. Hug her when she feels lonely. But she was not there by her side anymore.

She rubbed the tears on her eyes. Her eyes caught the basket she was carrying, its contents spilled all over. Then she remembered who it was for.

That’s right, she has to return. An old man who took care of her is waiting for her to come back. She shouldn’t make the ill old man wait for his medicine for long.

She stood up while shaken by the pain. She returned the herbs back in the basket.

Something seemed to be starting to obstruct her sight. In fact she had felt something like warm fluid flowing down her cheek all this time. It smelled strange and it felt different. She rubbed with her palm to clear her eyes and clean her face.

Just then, she felt the fluid on her hand to be somewhat sticky. Surprised, she looked at her hand and found red blood. Shocked, she breathed intensely as her heart beat fast. She grew even more scared. Her blood seemed to be coming from her head, realizing that, she trembled.

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However, she took a deep breath a short moment after. She knew all too well that having wounds was bad, that was why she decided to get out of the forest as quickly as possible so she can tend to her wounds. She didn’t recognize most of the plants around her so she didn’t know if those could do something about her wounds.

Fortunately, the wound on her head was not fatal at all, so she could likely manage to return.

She couldn’t get back up. The creatures might still be there. Not only that, but it was very steep, the elevation was not even something that could be climbed easily, especially not with her wounds. But she might easily get back to the village if she managed to come back up.

Thus, she tried. She slowly stepped up the slope. She could feel the pain on her feet and knees, but she didn’t let it stop her. She endured the pain.

However, after three steps, the soil she was walking on broke apart and she slid back down where she came. She tried again, but the same thing happened. She could feel her wounds throb more.

She couldn’t decide if it were strange or not, but the ground was so wet and no roots of trees were exposed to grab on to. The wetness of the ground, about to become mud, made the climbing very difficult. In fact, due to their wetness, the dirt stuck unto her clothes like mud.

She was frustrated. She would only hurt herself more trying to climb back up and end up with no good result. She already felt so tired after those small actions. Her body felt heavy. But she shouldn’t stop.

She had no choice but to move around the slope. Circle around, hoping there was a part where she could come back to the direction of her village. She looked around, vegetation was surprisingly thick around here. The woods of plants and countless stems of giant plants will be difficult to deal with. She knows that she didn’t have the strength anymore to shove all of those off her path.

Thus, she decided to go the way on which the path was a bit clearer. She immediately found one. Luckily, it was going a bit to the side, an ideal direction to go towards. Hence, she moved towards there and followed the path where she could walk on.

The path was rough, passing over the thick roots of large trees protruding from the ground requires her to lift her legs, in doing so, she had to bear the pain from her injuries. Bothersome plants blocking her path, and leaves obstructing her visuals.

Insects flying around, mosquitos attempting to bite her. Tiny animals crawling on the ground causing a shiver run down her spine. There were lizard-like animals, yet their skin was similar to a snake’s. It was the first she saw one.

Fortunately, none has attacked her yet.

As she walked, she felt her strength waning. Her body getting heavier, her legs trembling as it forced itself to carry her weight. Her breathing was strong and deep, tired. The world seemed to be twisting around, objects became blurry. She had difficulty keeping her balance.

Not for long, her body gave up involuntarily, collapsing on the ground. Her entire consciousness at the moment she hit the ground vanished.

Just then, the green began to move, tiny as they were, there were many. Together, they approached Rume.