Miwah kept her gaze fixed on the encroaching shoreline. The beach that touched the sea was shallow; a thin strip of pearly sand covered with thin patches of grass was ready to greet her. Using the oar stashed away underneath the seat of the boat, Miwah guided the craft to an empty spot in the sand. The vessel came to a halt once its bottom touched the sand. She stepped onto the beach and stretched out her legs and arms.
She looked up at the large plateau in front of her. It rose at a sharp angle and was covered in thick foliage. Her gaze then looked to both her left and right. The mass expanded for almost as long as the island. She took in a deep sight and held the diamond of her necklace in her hand. "Not now," she whispered to herself. Miwah let the necklace rest on her chest again before confronting the elevated land. A grumble from her stomach made her face squint as she stared at the vertical obstacle.
Before embarking on a trek further into the center of the island, Miwah looked behind her towards the sea once more. The water was placid; only an occasional small wave would hit the beach with a gentle splash. She saw a single ship along the horizon, one that looked markedly different from the one that she had escaped previously. The scent of salt that she had become so accustomed to now blended with the aroma of trees, only further enticing her to begin to scale the precipice.
Miwah began by placing her foot on a rock at the bottom of the plateau. She then grabbed onto a protruding root just above her. Dirt crumbled down as she pulled herself upwards. She repeated the process, slowly climbing. Halfway up, her head looked down at the ground. She saw a small rock bounce off the side of the plateau and plummet into the sand. The woman shook her head and continued to climb.
After some shimmying across a narrow a path and further scaling, Miwah reached the tip of the plateau. With both hands, she dug her fingers into the dirt and hoisted herself upwards. She took in a deep breath once she finally pulled her legs over the cliff. Resting on her hands and knees, she looked forward, darting her eyes around the immediate area to take in her surroundings. Thick trees encompassed the space in front of her. The dense canopies blocked out the sunlight from above, specking the ground with a yellow glow.
She got to her feet and brushed the dirt off her hand and knees. Miwah took in the quiet of her surroundings. A calm breeze passed through, rustling the branches and leaves softly. The gush of wind sent a chill across her still-wet clothing. With her arms crossed and hugging her body, Miwah walked forward. Her eyes remained focused on lower branches, scanning for any fruits.
The short hike proved to be unproductive in regards to food. All the branches only bore leaves and a few flowers. Miwah's hunger pangs became more prevalent the further she trekked. She let out a groan as her stomach continued to anguish.
Miwah picked up her pace. Her walk became brisk. She continued to move through the dense forest at a faster pace, keeping an eye out for anything edible. During her jaunt, the sound of a creature scurrying across the ground made her pause. She shifted her head in the direction of the noise and saw a small, furred animal disappear into the shadows. Carefully placing one foot forward, she tip-toed in the direction that the animal had fled. Each step was soft, careful and deliberate, making sure not to step on anything that could make a noise and startle the potential source of nourishment.
A quiet squeak echoed from the direction that she was heading. She zeroed in on some rustling among some downed branches and continued to advance forward. The wood continued to shift. Upon getting closer, Miwah could see a short and bushy tail jut out from underneath the pile. She lowered the upper half of her body and extended her hands out forward, readying herself to seize the animal.
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She took a step forward. The creature seemed to be unaware of her presence. Miwah took one more step. The tail was close to being within her grasp. She took one more step forward. Once her foot made contact with the uneven ground, she felt a sudden force hoist her into the air. A large net sprang up from the ground and enveloping the entirety of Miwah with in it. She let out a shout of shock as the ends of the net folded together above her, sealing it to a point. Miwah folded together, her arms and legs pinned close to her body. She turned her head to the side, staring at the forest floor through the mesh netting.
Miwah tried moving her arms to reach her necklace but the net was too small and too tight to give her enough movement to activate her transformation. Using her mass, she rocked the trap back and forth, with the intent to bring net down. The branch that kept the trap secured remained firm, unmoved by the swinging of the rope.
Frustrated, Miwah began to move her limbs around to the best of her ability. The rope was taut, restricting her movement enough to make tearing through the material impossible. She let out a grunt in frustration.
"Yalch," Miwah said in a low voice. "Can you hear me?" She waited for a response, only to hear silence save for the sparse ambient sounds of the forest. "What a time for you to take a nap," she softly and in a deriding manner. “Some guide you turned out to be!”
Her eyes continued to look back down at the forest's floor. Drifting towards the pile of sticks, she noticed that the animal tail that she had tried to catch continued to move. "What a clever trick," she said to herself once she realized that the motion of the tail was almost systemic; it moved up and down in an unnatural manner as if it was repeating its movement in a predetermined sequence.
Accepting the fact that she would be unable to free herself from being trapped inside the net, Miwah took the time to further examine her surroundings with the limited range of vision available to her. No footprints, let alone any sign of someone tampering with the environment, could be seen from her perspective.
"This is the work of an expert hunter," Miwah whispered to herself. "Hopefully they are not hostile to humans that stumble into their traps."
Miwah tried to reach for her diamond again. She could feel the jewel pinned against the right side of her chest. Using her left arm, she squirmed it to try and free it from being between her body and the tight net. As her struggling continued, she heard something moving across the forest's floor. Miwah froze, turning her head towards the soft sound of foliage being disturbed.
She moved her head as best as she could, allowing her to see branches being disturbed in the distance. The sound of her heartrate overcame the loudening sound of whatever was coming towards her. Miwah tried to free an arm from the restraints of the net, making her confines swing again. Despite her efforts, her arm remained pinned and the necklace stuck by her side. Her breath hastened when she saw a shadow break up the dotted sunlight that crept through the gaps in the canopy's leaves.
"Oi!" A woman's voice blurted out. Miwah stopped her attempt to free herself to turn towards the direction from which the word came from. She couldn't make out a full body; only the person's boots were visible. They were brown, bulky and tattered. She could tell that they were crafted from leather.
"What do you think you're doing up in my net?" The woman's voice had a thick accent, indicating that she was from somewhere far from Miwah's home nation. She kept her eyes looking down. The woman came in closer to view, but not close enough for Miwah to get a full view of her body. She could see up to the woman's bare and dark brown knees. She maintained a confident stance by the way her legs spread apart.
"I am lost," Miwah said firmly.
"You got that part right!" The other woman replied. "What are you doing in my neck of the forest, eh? You don’t look like a hunter. And you certainly don’t act like one, getting caught in a trap made for starving animals."
"This is your area of the forest?" Miwah said with both surprise and anger. There was a silence as the woman walked underneath the net. The two sets of eyes met, albeit upside down relative to one another. “Tell me, what makes it yours then?”