Sanora whispers, about to close the distance between their lips. But just then Amni regains her bearings. She throws the wet cloth into Sanora’s face like a soft slice of cheese.

“Gods Sanora, do I need to chain you down?” Amni leans back again. Sanora just lies there quietly and says nothing.

“…Did you really fall asleep now?” Amni looks at the sleeping girl in disbelief. She shakes her head one more time, fixes the cloth on Sanora’s face and goes to sit down in the kitchen, leaving the door open just in case.

Sanora’s eye slowly open, the noises of the cars driving by the window waking her up. She sits up lazily, rubs her eyes and looks around her room. But at the same time this isn’t her room. Confused she looks around the strange yet familiar place. Everything is so different from the rustical wood houses she is used to. The walls are white and smooth, the shelves and desk simple and perfectly built. As a voice calls out to her from the ground floor and the memories hit her like a truck.

“Mika, just because it’s Sunday doesn’t mean I will let you sleep through lunch!” Her mother shouts through the house. Slowly some of her lost memories start to come trickling back. This is her home, her normal life. She can still barely remember anything beyond her mother and this house, but it is the first clue about herself she has gained since waking up in that cave. She scrambles out of bed and rushes out of her room. Everything outside the windows is just a blank, white space. She ignores it for the time being and quickly makes her way downstairs. She turns around the corner, and as she enters the kitchen, she sees her. A woman in her thirties with chestnut hair, standing at the stovetop. Sanora is about to call out, but as the woman turns around her breath catches.

“There you are.” A blank, white face looks at her as the woman keeps talking.

“What’s wrong dear, you look a little pale.” The woman tilts her head.

“Oh, uh it’s nothing. Weird dream.” Sanora shakes her head with a forced smile and takes a seat at the table.

“If you say so.” The figure shrugs and picks up a pot from the stove. The contents she pours out on a plate for the two of them are the same blank white as the her face. Sanora looks down at the plate and the white mass. Her vision starts growing blurry and something drops on it.

“Mika dear what’s wrong?” the woman asks concerned.

“Why?” Sanora looks up at her.

“Because you are crying.”

“I.. am?” Sanora wipes her teary eyes. “I don’t really know. I think I just had an odd dream.” She sniffles.

“A dream? Was it that sad?”

“It was not just sad, it was horrifying. I had lost everything. Myself, my memories, my home and even you.” Sanora looks up into the blank white void that is her mother’s face.

“I… I’m so sorry I forgot you. I dont know how i ever could.” Sanora whispers as her lips start to quiver and the tears flow.

“Oh dear.” The woman gets up and comes around to hold Sanora in her arms.

“It’s alright, I’m sure you will remember.”

Sanora buries her face in the woman’s chest as she bawls her soul out.

“I’m so sorry I forgot! I’m so sorry I left you! I’m sorry!” she cries as the faceless woman holds her.

“Don’t worry my dear child, not everything is lost yet. Listen closely Mika, if you want to return and find out who you are, you must find the moon.” Her mother presses a bit.

“The moon… I never saw the moon in that world.” Sanora sniffles.

“But I will find it.” She gathers her resolve and looks up into the blank face of the woman.

“I will find the moon... and I will find back to you, back home.”

“I’ll be waiting, my dear child.” The woman says with a warm voice as the world around them slowly fades into pure white.

Sanora shoots up in her bed clutching at her chest, her heart beating so hard it feels like it’s about to explode. She looks around. She is back in her usual bedroom. The familiar wooden walls around her, and a familiar figure darting through the door.

“You’re awake! Gods I was worried when I heard something.” Amni hastily comes over to the bed.

“How you feeling?” She looks at Sanora with worried eyes.

Sanora opens her mouth, but shuts it again, the memories of her talk with Amni slowly coming back to her.

“Are you alright? Your face is getting red again.” Amni lays her hand on Sanora’s forehead, but she rolls away over the bed.

“I-I’m fine don’t worry. I think I just had a weird dream.” She says and raises her hands defensively, a tilted smile on her face.

Amni raises an eyebrow, but ultimately nods understanding.

“With your fever I guess that makes sense. What did you dream about?”

“I... can’t really remember, but it was something weird, you know how dreams are.” Sanora waves her off with a smile. It isn’t a complete lie because it was a weird dream. But it’s still clear in her head. The house, the woman, her real home. She finally has a clue who she is. From what she can puzzle together she must have come from either extremely far away, or from another world entirely.

“It’s not that important anyways. So, what happened? I can’t really remember anything beyond …getting stung by a bug.” Sanora is already getting concerned that these white lies might become a habit. Now though, it is Amni’s turn to blush a bit.

“Uh… you didn’t really say a lot, you just mumbled some senseless things.” Amni says. Sanora is a bit relieved since she isn’t the only one lying about what happened. She still finds it weird though. Amni lying about something after her talk of being honest? It appears even Amni, as wise and powerful as she is, still has her flaws.

“I see… Thanks for taking care of me again. I didn’t expect such a small insect to have such a venom.”

“Hey that’s natural” Amni smiles at her. “Remember what kind of insect it was at all?”

Sanora furrows her brows trying to recall the blurry memories.

“Hmm… a centipede I think, and a tinge of…” she scratches her head.

“Red.” Amni nods. “A normal redback centipede then. We have nothing to worry about in that case.”

“Ah yes.” Sanora’s expression lights up, the image finally falling into place in her head.

“You know about those?” She asks Amni, who nods.

“Yeah, they are venomous and use a strong aphrodisiac to repopulate. A bit vulgar, isn’t it?” Amni chuckles.

“A bit I guess.” Sanora laughs along. After a bit she looks down at herself though, realizing she has sweat a lot.

“Ah drat, I can wash those now.” She pulls on her still sticky top. “Sorry Amni, but I gotta throw you out now so I can change.”

“Sure thing.” Amni nods straightening up. “If you need anything just say the word.”

“I will.” Sanora smiles at her. “See you around, Amni”

“See ya lass.” Amni says and leaves Sanora alone again. As soon as she hears the front door close, she let’s out a sigh. Slowly a smile creeps onto her face.

“Mom…” She jolts out of bed a second later and starts to furiously rummage through her few belongings, stuffing whatever she can into a large backpack, the smile never leaving her face.

Bawarag’s ears perk up as the door of the weary traveler opens. He had heard the steps outside a bit ago and immediately sorted them to Amni.

“Great timing!” He beckons her over.

“Seen Sanora? She hasn’t been here all day.” He asks they grey haired woman as she walks over.

“Ah yeah, she’s at home. Got bitten by a redback of all things yesterday. She’s fine now.” Amni sits down.

“A redback? Oh gods that means…?” Bawarag raises an eyebrow, but Amni shakes her head.

“Don’t worry, threw her into bed and let her sleep it out.”

“Good good, then my mind is at ease.” Bawarag shoots her a toothy grin. “So she’s resting up now huh?”

“Sure is.” Amni mumbles, her eyes glued to the table.

Bawarag sighs.

“Spill it, what happened? She jumped you?” This causes Amni to look up at him again.

“Wha? No, I mean yes, she did, but that’s not the problem. She was acting weird when she woke up. The ‘there is something I can’t tell you’ kind of weird. I just can’t even start to guess what that might be.” Amni holds her chin. A piece of wood cracks loudly in the fire.

“That really is odd. It’s not like she has been alone long enough for anything serious to happen… unless.” Bawarag looks over at Genny. Amni slowly follows his gaze.

“Nah, no way… right?” Amni swallows.

“I mean she has been looking at her a lot hasn’t she.” Bawarag mumbles. Silence takes the table for a few seconds.

“…wait a second, you would have smelled that wouldn’t you?” Amni glares at Bawarag.

“Heh, was worth the look on your face.” He snickers. “But stop frowning like that, you’ll get all wrinkly. I’m sure the lass will come around and tell us. You know her.” He waves Amni off and leans back.

“Well, that’s just the thing, do we really know her? I mean her. We know a girl named Sanora, but what if someday she isn’t anymore? What if someday the person in that mind really comes back and it’s not … you know, Sanora.”

Bawarag’s expression grows somber again.

“If that happens, we can only hope that the lass will stay herself, as far as this is herself, and if not? We should be happy for her all the same. If she never was this person it would be torture to stay like this.”

Amni just stays quiet, contemplating the big man's words for a moment.

“Well shit, you are right.” She gets up with a sigh. “I guess that doesn’t make it any less painful but it’s the lot we’ll get. I gotta head home and, I dunno, try to process that.” Amni heads out of the inn again. Bawarag just watches wordlessly as she leaves.

“So do I…” he grumbles and takes a swig from his mug.

Sleep does not come easily to Amni that night. She tosses and turns in bed for a good hour before she finally manages to drift off still uneasy. As late as she fell asleep, as early she wakes up. Feeling restless and bored she decides to talk a morning walk to the village instead of flying there. The birds are chirping already, the trees rustle in the wind as it carries the gentle scent of the forest into Amni’s nose. Soon later she reaches Sanora’s house. She figured she might as well pick her up on her way since Sanora is an early riser. She walks over and knocks on the door. It swings open a split.

“Sanora, you home?” She asks into the room, letting herself in. No answer. A bit worried she walks inside. She stops in her tracks as her eyes fall onto a hastily written note on the kitchen table. A lump forms in her throat as she reads it.

Dear Amni, Dear Bawarag. I’m sorry to tell you like this, but I can’t bear saying goodbye in person. There is something I have to do, something I have to find, and I know I won’t find it here. I finally remembered something about myself. There is somewhere, someone I have to find. This is about me, and I don’t want to rope either of you into this, you have done enough for me already. Don’t worry about me, I promise I’ll stay safe, and more importantly I promise I’ll return to you, return to this home that I hold dear. Love, Sanora

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Amni’s arms drop, the crumpled note in her fist as her eyes get glassy.

“This girl…” She whispers.

“I can’t believe this.” Bawarag tosses the crumpled note onto the table with a sigh. He, along with Amni and Genny, the closest friends of Sanora, gathered at the weary traveler.

“She… really just left?” Genny looks at the paper with a sad expression.

“But why so suddenly? Just what by the gods did she remember that made her run off?” Genny takes out the paper from between their mugs and skims it over again.

“Well whatever it was, it was apparently more important than us.” Amni exhales sharply.

“Come one don’t say that, we knew she would leave eventually.”

“Well of course we knew, I just didn’t expect it to be this suddenly, right after…” Amni goes quiet.

“It just still hurts.” She crosses her arms, but Bawarag raises his eyebrows as his gaze bores into Amni.

“After what?” he asks her, but she just averts her gaze.

“We uh… may have almost kissed. Just almost though.” Bawarag mouth drops opens as Amni mumbles quietly. Genny gulps as her face turns red.

He catches himself again after a few seconds.

“You kinda left that out yesterday huh?”

“I didn’t think it was important since it was just an almost kiss… but now I’m all kinds of scared that that’s why she left and…” her expression turns even guiltier.

“Amni?” Bawarag says carefully. “Please tell me you did not-“

“I did. And I hate myself for it okay? I… I fell for basically an almost child that I’ve known for a damn saint! Fuck! Almost two thousand years of nothing and now this.” A loud bang resound as Amni’s head hits the table. Bawarag just sits there, pinching the bridge of his nose. Genny wears an odd expression of sadness and determination.

“Well, you gotta figure this shit out yourself. I’m good at hitting stuff, but this? Nah, way beyond my paygrade.” Bawarag stands up after a few minutes of silence.

“Good luck Amni, I’m sure you’ll manage… somehow.” He gives her a sturdy pat on the back as he heads out of the inn.

“I sure hope so…” Amni mumbles into the table with a long, final sigh.

The stars still dot the skies above as Sanora makes her way over the village walls, jumping down quietly. Her backpack if stuffed full with stuff she thought useful for hiking, her sword is fixed to her belt and her chainmail is sitting snugly on her torso. She is a bit sad after leaving nothing but a note for the others, but too big is the excitement to turn back now. The road lays before her, the pathway to not a new life, but her old one. With a deep breath Sanora starts her Journey towards the next best place she could think of. The capital of the large region she is in: Deepvalley.

The first night passes by rather boringly. She hears a few howls in the surrounding woods along with the constant rushing of the river and some crickets chirping in the grass. The air is refreshing, cold and smells just as much of forest as it does during the days that Sanora is leaving behind. It does tug at her heart, especially imaging the sad faces of her friends. But her mind is made up. And she would return one day for sure, more whole, more herself than ever. She walks for the rest of the young night until dawn rolls over the mountains, which is when she rests for the first time.

She plops down onto a log next to the road. A black circle on the ground tells her that people tend to camp here somewhat frequently, so it’s probably safe. But a short rest soon turns into a short ‘lemme lie down for a bit’ and that soon turns into a nap on this sunny day.

Sanora wakes up soon later, curses about falling asleep for a moment, rubs her eyes and continues her travel. The dirt road is surprisingly maintained for being so far out in the sticks. That is likely because it is the only travel route to the port city Aramina in the north, or so she heard from Bok. Only one carriage passes her by. The driver tips her head as they cross paths but that’s all there is to it. The sun is starting to hang low in the sky, and the fatigue is starting to seep into Sanora’s very bones. She has been walking with only one break since she left in the middle of the night. Finding another nice spot next to the road she decides this is a good a time to set up her small camp. She sets her backpack down and rolls her sore shoulders before gathering some firewood from around and throwing it onto a pile for the night ahead. Then she sits down.

“… ughh this is boring.” She falls back onto her back after five minutes of doing nothing. She looks up into the blue sky dotted by the occasional cloud. The river and the chirping of birds form the familiar orchestra of nature around her, all carried by the gentle winds. She can’t tell why exactly but the earthy smell of the forest has always been calming to her, feeling like home. Even before she settled down in rivers rest. She takes a deep breath, gazes into the sky, and slowly starts to feel sleep tugging at her mind again. Her eyelids are already starting to fall when she hears a rustle in the bushes. Her ears twitch and she turns her head to investigate the forest. Sounds like this aren’t exactly uncommon, but that doesn't make it any less of a possible danger.

It's when the sound doesn’t stop and starts coming closer Sanora sits up again, hand already resting on her sword. It keeps coming closer, too much so to be a coincidence. Sanora stands up, her stance low and poised for whatever might be coming. She is a bit conflicted about calling out since it would mean giving her position away. If it really is a human they will have enough time to not kill each other when the time comes- which is a second later, when a hooded person clumsily trips out of the thicket onto the small clearing. Sanora takes a step back and draws her sword.

“Woah, who are you?” She squints her eyes at the human. A hooded cloak conceals not just most of their body but also the face of whoever just stumbled out of the woods.

“Huh?” They look up at Sanora.

“Oh thank the gods! Please I need help someone-“ The girl pleas, stumbling over to Sanora, but before she can finish another person steps out after the girl. Wearing a half mask and a hood and light leather gear clearly made for combat. He leisurely walks after the girl, raising an eyebrow as he sees Sanora.

He starts to cackle.

“Heh, look at that, now you dragged someone else into this! You are every bit as nasty as I’ve been told.” He shakes his head with a disapproving click of his tongue.

“Now I have to kill this one too-“ he points his crooked dagger at Sanora “ – and that’s just troublesome, although it’s gonna raise the price at least.”

Sanora sees his eyes narrow and can imagine the kind of sneer under his mask right now. And if she wasn’t ticked off already, she certainly is now. She steps in between the girl and the man, sword grasped tight, eyes determined.

“You sure like to talk big huh?”

“Oh? Oh! You want to play hero? Well well, this is going to be even more fun than I thought. A spoiled little rich girl who ran away from home is trying to save the poor princess.” He laughs.

“Let’s hope daddy bought you some skill along with that, what, narcium coating at best? Not like you could even hold a real narcium sword.” He snorts and shakes his head which is a second away from being removed when he focuses on Sanora again who is right upon him, swinging her sword. He jumps back in the last second, evading the fatal blow by a hair's breadth. He comes to a sliding stop, stopping in a low stance. He glares at Sanora whose eyes are furious.

“Huh, not all bark after all are you?” Sanora comments dryly.

“I do like me a feisty girl, makes it all the more fun to break.” The attacker grumbles, squeezing his dagger. Sanora’s eyes squint as the familiar sensation of magic moving enters her senses. He just cast something that she has never felt before. It’s not like Amni’s stone magic, and neither like Bawarag’s flesh magic, albeit a bit similar to the latter. She’s already starting to regret never having learned about magic in proper…

“Well then, bring it.” She holds up her sword. The man just chuckles shortly before flying at Sanora. But he’s not moving like before, his speed has doubled at least. She raises her sword barely in time to block the first slash, then jumps back to avoid the follow up from below.

“Would you look at that, someone fucked the guard captain for lessons.” The man taunts, and it works, too well so as now it’s Sanora who comes right at him. The sword is a bit slower than the dagger, but it has the reach advantage by a good bit. The man manages to evade her blows with relative ease, daring to pretend to yawn even. But Sanora, thanks to a certain werewolf, is no idiot. She has been holding back deliberately to gauge the man’s strength and speed, and after the first few attacks she has made her conclusion: he still isn’t as fast as the bone monster. She stomps down and finally takes a serious swing with all her might. The man, who has gotten too comfortable, can’t sidestep it in time. His eyes grow wide, and he raises his dagger to block. But the sword, being a lot heavier, breaks through the block. It sinks into the sturdy leather armor like it’s butter and cleaves a giant wound into the man’s chest. He manages to jump back. He falls onto one knee, holding his chest which miraculously doesn’t bleed even a drop. But he already made his next mistake as he took his eyes off Sanora. Looking up he gazes right into the bright, flaming ball coming at him.

Sanora looks at the figure engulfed in fire, not daring to let her guard down just yet. And truly she feels another ripple of magic from withing the flames. A long, red, crescent blade comes flying out of it right at Sanora. But she is prepared for it and easily raises her sword to just block it off. The blades meet and Sanora doesn’t even have time to gawk as the magical blade just zips through her sword, only a thin strip of it goes missing where it hit the narcium but the rest of the meter long blade still hits her square in the chest. But to her surprise she barely even feels it. The wound is a scratch at best, looking dashed since the chainmail caught some as well. The man is dead by now, his head was blown clean off once the fireball hit him. He managed to cast his own spell just before he died, but now he’s nothing more than a charred corpse on the ground. Sanora sheathes her sword with a sigh. The worries that she just committed her first kill she puts off for later, instead turning to the woman.

“Alright, feel like giving… me an… explanation?” She starts to sway a bit, a cold feeling spreading over her stomach and chest as her visions starts to fade.

She looks down on herself. Her top is completely blood soaked. The small cuts have started to bleed hard, the red liquid drips down on the ground, already pooling at Sanora’s feet. She can’t even swear before her lights go out and she falls to the floor.