Within the confines of a large darkened forest laid a young woman-- motionless and cold.

Her body was clearly not right-- her arms were folded and sprawled out unnaturally, her legs in polar opposite directions, and her neck twisted far more than mortally possible.

What had happened to this mysterious woman in the forest, especially for her to become in such a horrid state?

Even more so, what had left her there?

Unfortunately, nobody around would be able to find her and answer such a question.

A sudden, rigorous wind picked up around her corpse. It was not something of nature-- and it caused a stir to the nearby creatures residing in the forest.

Nearby birds panicked, chirping angstily as they flew away. Boars-- well, what looked like boars-- followed such a movement, running in fear.

Accompanying this wind, a burning, bright light appeared from nothing just above the woman's cold, empty corpse.

This light was made up of a myriad of colors, similar to a rainbow-- but rather incomprehensibly more dense.

Despite its spontaneous, and beautiful, appearance, this disturbance was quick to fade away.

And, seemingly like a miracle, that entangled, broken body was back to a normal, humanoid shape.

With a quick and animated jolt, the body sat up.

"--tch out...!"

A hoarse, feminine voice resonated loudly. The dead was no longer.

"... H-Huh...? Where... h-how...?"

Her mind was muddled and foggy, confused by her current position. She made a somewhat sour, anxious expression.

"Am... I dead...? This doesn't... this doesn't make sense."

The young woman looked around, noting her current disposition.

"A forest...?"

How the hell had she gotten in the midst of a forest? Last she knew, she was within a city.

That's right...!

"That idiot was on her phone so I ran and--"

She paused, seeming to have come to some sort of realization. Some sort of explanation for why she was where she was.

"And I got hit by that truck in her place..."

Her face grew a bit saddened as she recalled the whole situation.

"But I don't hurt-- well, not anymore-- and I am in the middle of-- of... a forest?"

A rather absurd, fantastical thought appeared in the young woman's mind.

"Don't tell me... is this like the plot of one of those stories...? What was it..."

The girl pondered to herself, furling her brows as she went deep into thought.

"Isekai...!" she loudly proclaimed.

"That's right, that surely must be what happened. Some god took pity on me, or something, and gave me a second chance at life... surely that's it...!"

She felt herself grow a little bit hopeful, offsetting a portion of the anxiety and stress being hit by a truck had bestowed upon her.

In all honesty, regardless, she did not wish to think about her incident. At least, not currently. Her mind was already in shambles.

Letting out a quick, heavy cough-- disrupting whatever junk was in her throat and airways-- the woman did her best to stand up.

Her legs were shaky, nearly giving out as she extended her muscles.

"Woah..." she unconsciously let out, grabbing onto a nearby tree for stability.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Hang in there Ais... just look forward."

As (self-proclaimed) Ais muttered to herself, she took deep breaths and stepped forward.

With a sense of rigidity and stiffness to her body, the girl stumbled forward-- successfully taking her "first steps".

Each movement she made, proceeding forward and-- thus-- deeper into the forest, Ais felt just a little bit more nimble.

Though her mind was still riddled with questions, she figured it was best to not worry about it all at the moment.

After all, she had already suffered enough by getting hit by a truck. It was in her interests to go out and seek help-- especially if her current situation was like one of those "isekai" stories.

Continuing to place her feet one in front of the other with a light 'pitter... patter... pitter... patter', she took a good look at the surrounding environment.

Wherever she was, it was extensive... and the foliage above blocked much more light than she was comfortable with-- well, that or it was night time, anyway.

Her walk continued over a long, arduous period of time. Before she knew it hours passed. Her body ached, legs began to shake, and mind grew tired.

Ais's body was already lacking energy, but walking had simply provoked it further.

Fortunately for her in the distance was a very clear patch of light, appearing to be an open field.

Maybe there was a village near the forest? Or... at least some sort of shelter she could rest at?

She was exhausted. And it surely did not help that she hadn't eaten or drank anything in what felt like a good, long time.

"How did I get in this situation...?" she groaned.

As she exited the darkness, stepping into the heat of the sun, Ais put an arm over her eyes.

She winced, squinting heavily to not burn her eyes.

"So it was the foliage..." she thought.

It was a little awe-inducing, frankly, that the forest was thick enough to disrupt light to the degree that it did.

Ais was certain, up until now, that it was genuinely the middle of the night, after all.

Putting that aside, she began to adjust to the light of the outside.

Though it was still difficult to see in entirety, Ais's view was glued to the flowery fields in front of her.

"Beautiful..." she whispered.

"Thinking about it... just how long has it been since I last was in nature? Years?"

She knelt down, picking at a nine-petal flower of red and black.

A hint of melancholy showed itself in the girl, causing a frown to grow.

"Maybe it's because of everything that happened, but I guess I never did really just sit and appreciate nature..."

Her melancholy was quick to be outshone, however, as her interest quickly peaked.

Within the distance, a pillar of smoke rose. It was a lighter gray, not the black she was used to seeing back home.

The flower within her grasp quickly fell to the ground as she stood up and began running.

"If there is smoke there has got to be flames. And if there is flames, surely there are people...!"

Getting a bit excited to not be utterly alone-- and hopefully to acquire a bit of help, Ais ran.

Though she was getting more and more exhausted with each moment, she did not want to miss her chance to actually run into someone.

She worried that if she didn't meet them now, perhaps she would be alone for far longer than hoped.

Though her breathing had become labored and heavy, she continued her journey.

Each step she took blasted the entire weight of her body onto her legs.

That didn't matter. She was close. Close enough.

A small caravan came into her view.

There was a large cart-- one covered by a fibrous black cloth, no more than five horses, and even a few tents up ahead.

Though she still couldn't see well for various reasons (the glare of the sunlight, a lack of concentration from hunger, etc.), Ais was a bit excited to see someone.

In the center of their makeshift camp was a large campfire. It appeared to be made up of thick wood and flammable straw, but she wasn't able to really tell.

From what she could discern, there appeared to be about four people.

One was clad in a heavy, cobalt-blue armor. To his side, some sort of blade.

Another was also in armor, though it was much lighter than the other's.

There was also an older man, bald and wearing ragged clothing.

Finally, from what she could see, was a darker-skinned woman clad in even lighter armor.

Simply going on appearances-- they were a bit intimidating. After all, anybody with a weapon on them isn't exactly someone Ais believed to be the safest.

What would she know, though?

Assuming this was, indeed, another world, who was to say that wasn't for their own protection?

That idea certainly felt a bit silly, though, no matter how you look at it.

But well, if that idea took away from her having to recall the accident, perhaps she was okay with that for now.

Ais's mind grew foggy as she neared the camp, leaving her concentration to dwindle.

Her body stumbled, appearing to begin "shutting down".

It seemed that she had pushed her body a bit too far.

Though she didn't know how, or why, she got where she was, it seemed like she hadn't had anything to eat or drink in ages.

"Just... a bit farther..."

She tried to convince herself to carry on, disregarding the warnings that blared loudly in her mind.

'Stop moving.'

'Take a break.'

Her mind and body, exhausted and lacking energy, no longer could work as she willed.

She fell to her knees, eyes slowly beginning to droop.

"Come... on..."

Ais continue to fight until she could no longer, eventually slamming onto the grassy floor beneath her.

As her petite body hit the ground, it made a rather loud 'thud'.

Going in and out of consciousness, she let her eyes close.

"Almost... there."

She truly couldn't move a muscle anymore.

Her exhaustion had hit her with far more force than she imagined.

Just about passed out, she let herself begin to rest.

...

...

...

...

...

"Who the hell...?"

A deep voice reawoke her to some degree, but once again her mind drifted off.

"Ophe... Whil... come here!"

The man's voice seemed to fade out in Ais's mind, though, as she neared a blackout.

"... Take her to one of our tents... and get some water."

The woman's voice spoke assertively, though Ais could hardly understand as her hearing faded in and out.

"Who cares?" She figured, letting her mind truly take a moment to rest.