Light tried to worm its way through my closed eyelids, almost as if it were assaulting me. If the alarm clock hasn't gone off yet, then it isn't time to wake up. My body knew this, of course, but didn't stop screaming that it was time to get up and move. Finally relenting, I opened my eyes. I wanted to sleep in during the weekend and.

This wasn't my apartment. My brain, which had been struggling to get back to sleep, lept into high gear. Instead of my room, my bed, and my computer, I was instead met with trees and grass.

What. The. Hell. I bolted upright, looking around wildly for any sign of anyone, anything. Seriously, who just kidnaps someone to only leave them stranded in the wilderness? How did I not notice it until now!

But there was nobody in sight. At least, as far as I could tell. Just trees and grass. A whole lot of green and a backpack!

I rushed over to it. Was it a trap? And if it was, did it matter? Food, bottled water, literally anything that could be useful right now.

Please be something good. Please be something good.

It. Okay, it wasn't bad per se, but it certainly wasn't useful. Still, I pulled up the plush dinosaur to my chest, giving it a tight squeeze.

Huh. That felt different from usual. That. Okay, what! Just what! Why? How? This is bull! Bull!

I let myself sit down, taking a look at my hands. They'd never been big, to begin with, but they seemed even smaller now. Dainty. I ran them up my arms, feeling a lack of hair. The same for my legs.

I didn't check my chest, in part to the two larger issues that were dominant on that front.

Alright, being taken out of my house by some type of nutcase and stranded in the woods wasn't exactly reasonable, but certainly within the world of extreme improbability. Being turned into a girl as part of the process?

That feel from the land of improbable into the land of pure fantasy.

Okay, screw this. This had to be a dream, and I'm waking myself up, now!

"Ow!" I shouted as I slapped myself across the face. Okay, I had to wake up now. Right. Right? Right!

Nope. If this is a dream, then that didn't wake me up, and I wasn't going to try and hit myself harder.

I spread out my arms, going for sitting to laying down on the grass, doing everything in my power to stop myself from crying. No phone. No food. No map. I was who knows where, and it would honestly take days for anyone to notice I was gone. It was a Saturday morning, meaning I wasn't going to be noticed until at least Monday, and even then, I doubt a search party would be sent out for me. I lived by myself, so my parents might not notice my absence for a while.

Meaning nobody would know I'd been, well, kidnapped for at least a few days. Then there was the whole mess of my body. Even if someone started searching for me, I had no real way to prove that I was me. My hands were different, my arms were different, my legs were different, and even my chest was different.

There was no doubt in my mind that my face was different too. I'd felt it. There was no stubble, my checks felt rounder. Then was my hair. I reached out to hold it in front of my face. Long and blonde. Now several shades lighter than it had been, and worst of all?

The curly hair I prided myself on having?

Gone. Vanished. I get turned into a girl and I don't even get to keep my hair as a consolation prize. Good job, universe. Go find a cactus and spin.

I'm, really trying to distract myself if my hair is what I'm whining about, aren't I?

I already miss my family.

But missing them wasn't going to get me home any faster. If I wanted to even have a shot at fixing this, I was going to need to start moving. The trees would provide me with much-needed shade. But, where was I going to go? Those very same trees that were giving me shade had no branches close to the ground, no easy route up to scout out the area.

Scowling, I put Fuzzy back in the backpack. Was I just going to pick a direction and hope for the best? No, that was, stupid. I didn't know much about survival in the wilderness, but picking a direction and praying did not sound like an effective solution.

Plus, it was, midday? So I couldn't just use the sun to orient myself. I could wait, but that was wasting time I didn't have a lot of. There had to be something nearby that I could use. In the silence, something faint reached my ears. It sounded like, water?

If it was water, then!

I began to hurry to the source of the noise, finding a small stream, water rolling over the small rocks deposited there.

Water was perfect. Just what I needed, even if I avoided looking into it. I wasn't ready for that. I didn't want to see my new face. I, don't think I'd be able to handle it.

But where water was, civilization would be attached to it. While this was closer to a backwater brook, it had to go somewhere. A pond, a river, or even a lake. The larger the body of water, the more people would be drawn to it. I would just need to follow the stream until I found someone.

I just hoped whoever that someone was isn't a murderer or something.

And it was strange, how the animals were so quiet around here. Not even crickets or any of the other noisy animals were around. That alone gave the forest an eerie feeling. Didn't animals only act like this when there was a big scary predator in the area?

I shuttered. Hopefully, I was wrong.

Yeah, sure, if that's how the world worked, I would have woken up in my bed!

I scowled, pushing the thoughts back. Those weren't helping!

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Okay, something was screwy here. Rivers, creeks, streams? Hydrogeology and sedimentology weren't my strongest points, but even I could tell this wasn't obeying the normal rules that waterways tended to.

It was going in a straight line, cutting through the landscape like a person who did worldbuilding but had no idea how a river worked. Rivers, while typically going in one direction, were far from static features. They cut through the landscape, constrained by it, but at the same time, shaping it.

A river on this type of terrain would meander back and forth, like a snake. As sediment was transported, it would cut into the outer bank, as the speed, and energy, were greater, leaving the inner bank slower, and with less energy, leading to deposition. Eventually, as erosion continued over the years, two out banks would meet, pinching out a part of the loop, with the river taking the path of least resistance.

But a river was even in that situation, was not straight, even along a portion of it.

Nor did it drastically widen with time after a few hours of walking. At first, I could tell myself I was just imagining things. But now? It was undeniable. It had widened considerably over the past few hours that I walked, the channel filling even more with water. It was far from a raging torrent, but if continued to grow, I might find myself before a lake or an ocean before I knew it.

Nor had I run into a single animal by this point. While the banks of the river were steep, at the same time, it was still water. Animals needed water, just like literally everything else alive. And rivers could prove to be a good, though sometimes risky, source of it.

So for me to run into nothing, was odd. I wasn't a wildlife expert by any means, and many animals had a healthy and rightful fear of humans, but I'd at least expect to see bugs, birds, or maybe the occasional rabbit or similar animal.

The only real improvement over the last few hours was that I now knew what direction I was headed. My march was taking me on a mostly easterly track. Sure, it wasn't immediately helpful, as I had no idea where I was, or what I was moving towards. But at the same time, it was, comforting? I at least had a direction now, or at least, the knowledge of a direction. And that, helped, I guess?

Maybe it was just my brain feeling weird.

I felt my stomach make an angry groan of protest. Right. No breakfast, or lunch. So it probably wasn't my brain that was the problem.

Swinging my backpack off my shoulder, I sat down next to one of the trees, before taking out Fuzzy and gently placing him on one of the exposed roots. There had to be something else in here! Something I overlooked.

There had to be something to eat! I wasn't coming across any animals, and even if I had, it wasn't like I knew the first thing about hunting. Or knew how to make weapons for hunting out of nothing more than sticks and rocks. Sure, a caveman could do it.

But a caveman knew how to do it, and spent a portion of his life learning how to do it. This was knowledge I completely lacked.

I mean, if things truly started to look desperate, I might be able to figure it out. But with the suspicious lack of wildlife, I wasn't going to spend time and energy on the matter.

And, of course, there was nothing. No note, no food. Just an empty bag of that might have well been a middle finger pointed right at my face. I gripped the bag, tempted yeet it into the river, stream, whatever that thing decided it was. But that wasn't going to address the issue, either.

Plus, it was a nice enough backpack. Pitching it just out of spite would be wasteful. Feel nice? Yes. Be smart? No.

I could probably sell it if worse came to worst.

You know, provided I even made it to that point. Which was by no means guaranteed. I still had no damn clue where I was, and knowing the direction I was going in helped. But without landmarks, I was well and truly screwed if this went on for longer than a day or two at most.

I was going to have to eat eventually and dirt wasn't particularly known for its nutritional value. Unless the river had fish, I'd need a spear of some kind, or a fishing rod. Neither of which seemed particularly effective. I had no bait and no hook for the rod. And as far as I knew, spearfishing was extremely hit or miss.

Mostly miss.

Survival was so much easier when it played by Minecraft rules. Punch a tree to get wood. Punch grass to get wheat seeds. How I missed such simplicity from my childhood.

Nope. I smacked myself across the face. Now was not the time to ruminate on the past. I needed to focus on the here and now. Not on Minecraft.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I began to push myself up, ready to get on the move again. But there was something that made me move even faster. A low rumbling growl snapped me from my malaise, sending me stumbling backward in a panic, as a creature stepped into my line of sight.

It didn't look like any animal I'd seen before. A wolf or other type of canine would be my first guess. Wolves were blue, however, nor did they have bushy purple tails, or horns like that of a rhino.

I took an uneasy step back, knuckles going white as I gripped my backpack. I had no idea what it was, but it was a predator. It could be little else.

Where all the other animals were had become apparent.

It took a step towards me as I took two steps back once again. There was no chance in hell I could outrun this thing. And without some type of weapon, it wasn't like I really could outfight it, either. Sure, I had martial arts training. I knew how to throw a punch.

But trying to martial art a wolf into submission was a tall task. At best, I might be able to convince the thing I wasn't worth the effort. It wouldn't cause any damage, but maybe clubbing it with the backpack would convince it to back off? I would just need to zip it up again to make sure Fuzzy didn't.

Wait? Where was? NO! I'd left him on the ground!

No. No more. I'd lost my house. My bed. My computer. My family. All. In. A. Single. Day.

I wasn't going to lose anything else!

"ARRRARRRRRARRRRA!" I pulled myself to my full height and screamed at the top of my lungs. The rhino wolf thing, jolted backward as if it was surprised by my sudden change in demeanor. Stepping forward, I took in another breath, before continuing to bellow at the top of my lungs.

It let out a yip, before turning around, bolting back in the direction I had come from. I continued to scream, acting as if I was trying to chase it down before it finally bolted deeper into the woods. Slowly, I headed back over to Fuzzy, picking him up off the ground, gently placing him into the backpack, giving his nose a few scratches for good luck, making sure it was zipped up nice and tight as I slipped it onto my shoulders.

Now, let's get the hell out of here before whatever that thing was rediscovers its balls and comes back for a round two.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It was nearing sundown, the sky a vibrant shade of red. I was exhausted. My shoes, or what could be passed off as shoes, had fallen apart. I'd had to tear off part of my clothes to wrap up my feet, as rocks kept digging into them, making them bleed. Of course, my clothes weren't in much better shape. Parts were torn by branches from trees and bushes alike. That's where it wasn't covered in mud, as I misjudged a step and nearly stumbled into the river. It took several minutes for me to climb out of the channel, caking me with even more dirt and mud.

But, as dusk approached, my salvation arrived. I broke through the treeline, exiting it for a vast, green, plain. The grass rustled in the wind, swaying back and forth. The river continued to cut through the area, however, I no longer required its services. In the distance, I could see it. A massive city, skyscrapers glistening in the evening light.

Civilization! At last!

Though I still had little idea where it was on a map. There didn't appear to be much if any, urban sprawl. There didn't appear to be a highway, or any structure like that, either, or at least, nothing I recognized as such. Which was, strange.

Still, it was better than nothing, and I was certainly going to take it.

Getting there was going to take a hot minute though. It would be dark soon, which could prove to be a bit of a problem. Wandering around in the dark wasn't the brightest of ideas. But did I have a choice in the matter?

I may have been out of the woods, but that probably meant jack shit when it came to being safe. There was nothing to stop that wolf, rhino, thing from just following me, especially if I decided to camp out for the night. I hadn't seen anything of it since I scared it off the first time, but I hadn't seen it until it wanted me to the first time, either. Not a gamble I was willing to take twice. Which meant covering the entire distance tonight. And it wasn't like waiting around would make me look anything less like a dirty homeless girl.

Ignoring as my legs screamed at me to stop, I pushed onwards, the grass running up against my skin. Ticks were something I was going to have to check for by the time this was over, wasn't it?

I shuddered at the prospect. Normally, I wouldn't have any issue with that. But right now? With me being stuck in what was the body of a girl of unknown age? It needed to be done, whether I liked it or not, but.

I didn't like the prospect of checking a body that wasn't mine for things like that.

That, however, was a problem for future me, who had much bigger issues to deal with at the moment.

But I had to admit, that the city did look beautiful from a distance. Between the water, and all the abnormal architecture, it almost looked completely futuristic, an amped-up City of Tomorrow.

Hopefully, the similarity was at the surface level, rather than going any deeper. I knew some of the messed-up things Walt had planned, and I rather not have anything to do with that.

I shifted a bit as a felt something wet bump against my left leg, thinking nothing of it. Then I felt something wet bump into it again. Okay, what? Oh, it was probably nothing. I hadn't eaten all day, so it was probably the hunger was starting to get to me. All the more reason to get to the city sooner or later. I needed food, and I might have to dumpster dive to get it.

After the third time, it was no longer something I could just simply ignore. Looking down at the source, I stopped midstep. Was that a flower? With legs?

Okay, what the hell? Full stop. First the blue wolf, and now this? How was this a thing? Did someone slip me some drugs at some point? I couldn't think of anyone I knew of who could get into my apartment and just spike something I'd drink with drugs. Who does that? Drugs were expensive!

Either way, at that point, it's time to throw in the towel and just make a run for it. I had nothing in the gas tank besides pure concentrated nope, and honestly? That was probably all I was ever going to need to fuel the old Jostar family trick.

Run away!

I blitzed towards the city, which was still some distance away, ignoring every scream of protest my body sent my way. I'd rather listen to you whine, body, than deal with the fact there are walking flowers! Looking back only brought more concern, as not only were the first of these demented little bastards keeping pace with me but more and more of these things were uprooting themselves, taking a few seconds before falling behind the lead plant.

It would almost look comical from an outside perspective, one person being chased by what had to look like a veritable tide of angry flora. Thankfully, they didn't look like they were gaining on me. Unfortunately, I wasn't increasing the distance, either. Meaning I was probably going to lead a horde of angry demented plants right into the center of town. Not exactly the best first impression, but I wasn't going to find out if these things had any bite to their bark. Even if they individually didn't, there had to be a tidal wave's worth at this point!

But if this was in their backyard, then surely the people would have the means to deal with this type of problem, right? Right?

I felt something. It was a rock or a root. Could have been either one, but the effect was the same, sending me tumbling down into the dirt. No! I didn't have time!

Already, my legs and arms burned, screaming at me as I pushed my body to stand back up. To listen to me, as a matter of survival!

But it couldn't. It wouldn't.

No matter how much I tried, my body refused to move fast enough. No! I didn't want to die here! Not to become some fertilizer! I needed to stand! Now!

But it wasn't. Not fast enough to matter.

"Rainy Ratnapura!" a voice shouted from above, as the dirt behind me exploded upwards.

I looked up as a shadow passed over my head. To look at the thing who had been my savor.

I regretted it immediately, my face flushing bright red. I'm pretty sure the armor, that covered her arms and legs provided the most protection compared to everywhere else. I'd compare the rest to a bikini, but even that seemed like pushing it. Her hair was a color that only could have existed if it were dyed that way.

"Is something wrong?" the lady touched down before me, and my intention to look anywhere else but her underclothed frame drew my eyes to the massive white and green spear she held in her hand, alongside the six purple wings the came off her back.

"Oh, I see. You haven't seen a mature woman before?" her voice was teasing, but I was thankful my gaze was still elsewhere. If I had looked, I'd probably get a nosebleed or some other dumb anime trope.

And why did I feel like it'd be really weird if I did get one?

"No!" I stammered, looking up towards her eyes, only to stop. She had purple eyes, with no pupils. They looked almost alien. Inhuman. No. Something, more, than human.

I tried to stand back up. Even if I would still be shorter, I should at least get back on my own two feet. Instead of staying on the ground like some type of insect.

"You should know that traveling without a weapon is extremely dangerous," she chided me, offering her hand to me all the same.

"I didn't. And even if I had, I don't think it would have done me any good," I groaned out as she helped pull me up to my feet. Looking back behind me, I saw a scene of destruction. Dirt was scattered everywhere, with the flowers scattered along with them. Just who was this woman?

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a name by which I can call you? And where exactly are you from?"

Name? Oh, crap. My old name wasn't going to work. At least, it shouldn't. Crap. I needed to come up with a new one! One that wouldn't be suspicious. But I needed to come up with it fast!

"Hinum," I said the word the moment it sprang into my mind, my body teetering, my exhaustion now hitting me like a sledgehammer. "I'm from."

I don't think I got to finish before the darkness took me.