Aislene uses a stick as a cane to help her continue walking through the forest. After waking in the cave, she found that she couldn't stand. She looked for something to help, but it took very long since all she could do was crawl. When she finally found a suitable stick, she went back to the cave. The babies were still crying over their mother. Guilt crushed her as she ate the dead mother bear while they watched. After sating her hunger, she did her best to clean the blood staining her cheeks and mouth. Taking her stick and rock, she limped away from the cave to continue down the forest's path. The pain had faded to a near unbearability. Her right leg and left arm were useless. Cuts and bruises covered her, though her entire body throbbed the worst of it directed to her twisted foot. Doing her best to bear it, she walks on, neglecting to be silent. Only a few moments later and the unstable earth throws her off balance. Tumbling forward, she once again falls on her face. It was a bit more painful than the first time. She added it to the growing list of things that hurt. As she was beginning to stand, a distant voice rung out amid the forest's life. The sounds of birds, the wind, and any animal life that could be heard had completely stopped. Truly surrounded by the eerie lack of noise, the voice she thought she imagined yelled out again. This time it was noticeably closer, and she could make out the words. "Help! Help me please!" Immediately standing despite her protesting body, she wobbled towards the screams. "Ruth! Ruth, wait there, I'm coming!" Limping as quickly as possible, Aislene was almost walking pace as she got closer to the gradually increasing screams. "Please! Somebody help me!" Short childish sobs followed the howls of anguish. Aislene kept getting closer and closer. She recognized the voice, it was impossible, but Ruth was there. And she needed to save her. Going faster and faster, she trips again and curses as the ground come to meet her face. When standing again, the screams had abruptly stopped. The ensuing sound was simply a lack of it. "Ruth! Where are you! Ruth!" Nothing followed her plea. The quiet forest held its breath. Breaking down on the spot, Aislene begins to cry. She cries loudly and sorrowfully, the anger and despair finally boiling the edge of her sanity. Her screams shook the forest, and her mournful howls enticed the world's sympathy. In the middle of her cries, she heard a loud thump and a gust of wind flow behind her. She stopped crying instantly, and her sadness was replaced with fear. Turning around, rock in hand, the following sight was a mix of whatever horror the universe could imagine. An enormous red-furred ape creature with two long fangs sticking out of its mouth horizontally stared at her with soulless eyes. A milky white full of pure animalism. Dropping the rock beside her, Aislene wiped away her tears and faced the Cybien. She did her best to stand. Dying on your feet was an honor according to the culture of the kingdom. She would do her best to uphold her dignity. The Cybien took one step closer, the ground thudding underneath its massive limbs, she could hear its bear muzzle panting, and she noticed drool dripping from it. Suddenly, the beast charged, using all four limbs to propel itself across the distance between them. Closing her eyes, she prepared herself for impact. When she felt no wave of pain crash into her or an overwhelming wave of force, she instead heard the wolfish roars of the creature. Not daring to open her eyes, she kept them closed while she listened to the increasingly terrifying sounds. Loud enough to hurt her ears, the howls kept on for a few instances. Though it felt much longer, she sat waiting for her life to end when they finally stopped. "Are you okay?" A soft, kind voice almost whispered. Judging from the sound Aislene deduced it was a girl, she was standing over her, and she had an accent. She could feel her eyes on her. The chilling sensation was strangely comforting. "Are you deaf?" The girl waited patiently for a response. Her accent made it difficult to understand, her a's sounded like o's, and she ended her sentence with a rise and fall in tone. By the time she figured out what she had said, a long silence had gone on. Opening her eyes for the first time, Aislene looks up at the girl. The furthest thing from what she expected stood gazing at through the most beautiful amber eyes she had ever seen. Though she sounded young, she stood possibly five in half arms-lengths tall with the body in her mid-twenties. Sticking out of her wavy blonde hair were two antlers covered in a dark red liquid. Short, the main horn stuck out half a foot while it branched off, curving inward toward her head in an even shorter prong. Just above her ears, they pointed in opposite directions horizontally. While the antlers were surprising, two elk ears rested above them as well, adding to her curiosity. Red heat rushed to her cheeks as she realized the girl only had a cloth tied around her waist. Quickly averting her eyes, Aislene thought through the situation. Peeking around her barrier of fingers, she saw the Cybien leaning against a faraway tree. In its chest was a set of six holes piercing right through it. Its lifeless eyes had maintained their constantly dead look while its four long limbs hang limply at its side. Somehow the thing was dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Repeating the word several times, she felt incredibly tired all of a sudden. The journey up until this moment was nothing short of impossible. A girl such as herself could never survive such a dangerous environment. She wasn't a knight. She wasn't a warrior. She wasn't strong. She couldn't even try to fend off a serial killer. Where most people would at least have the bravery to fight back against such evil, she wasn't. "If you won't answer, then I'm just going to assume your deaf." Looking up once again, Aislene finally asked. "Who are you?" The girl smiled triumphantly, revealing two sharp canines unfitting for such beauty. With that, Aislene succumbed to the exhaustion of her uncountable wounds. Remembering just how long it'd been since she slept, she thought that anybody would be entitled to a bit of rest after all that. Closing her eyes once again, the world tilted to the side as she fell over.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.