“Safe~!”
Landing on the forest floor Mia proudly declared her safety. After progressing out of the dungeon, trudging through the water with new ice boots, and making a beeline away from the church camp she had progressed far enough away that she finally felt safe.
She fell on her back, landing in a pile of freshly conjured up snow and breathed a well-deserved sigh of relief. Nothing was chasing her, not a single ancient monster, regular strong monster, nor person in sight.
While small, she also had a food reserve…supposedly… she hadn’t checked yet.
She activated her inventory, giggling once she saw the hole open up. Like a child with a new toy she poked at it, her eyes sparkling as her hand went in, and her mouth opening wide in amazement once she pulled out the small bundle Cy had given her. “So convenient…” she wistfully said.
Mia couldn’t help herself; she shoved as much snow as possible into the hole, enjoying every second of it. While playing she noticed it did take mana to take things in and out of the box, but the amount was so negligible to her she believed it would never be a problem for her, even with her playing with it like this the amount it costs would be recovered in minutes.
Satisfied, she opened the bundle, inverting the bag causing everything to pour out onto the snow, tossing the empty bundle behind her “ok...let’s see…” She moved the scattered contents around, picking up the first thing that was a direct interest to her.
“Bundle of meat.” 10 sticks of some unknown jerky, smelled a bit bad but it would keep her alive and more importantly, wouldn’t spoil in her box.
With the jerky shoved inside her inventory she picked up the next item. “A brush.” She looked back to her tail, damaged, damp, ice clinging to it, matted… she felt around atop her head and confirmed her hair was in a similar state, debating if she should try and cut it.
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She placed the brush aside, planning on using that soon. Next item was another bundle that was noticeably bigger then the bundle she took it out of “…clothes…” she sighed, not putting it off any longer, she opened it.
Expecting a dress, or worse something incredibly flashy, but instead what laid atop the snow was a normal looking outfit “huh, still a skirt but… what’s this?” she noticed a note attached to the shirt, reading it…
“I dub this, Foxman adventurer clothes M, for Mia’s exclusive use (Working name, the M stands for Mia) – C “
All she could do was roll her eyes at this point and give up. Glancing around to make sure no one was looking she stood up and erected walls of thick ice.
After a few minutes the ice walls came down, Mia now dressed in her new clothes. A grey shirt with a black over jacket with hood, shirt skirt with pants underneath, both of which having a hole for her tail, the whole set complete with matching boots, very simple and easy to move in.
“Feels weird.” She sighed, she was not ungrateful, just conflicted. She had to admit it was better than looking like a slave in rags that were only holding themselves together via an act of god, but wearing what Cy made after all that trouble was leaving her… conflicted.
She fell back in the snow “At least they are holding up with the cold…” she noticed, and she liked the hood, it would make it easier to hide her ears, but her tail was another issue. If it was thin like a cats, she could just wrap it around herself and it would pass for a belt, but her fur was too thick, especially with how it was now.
“Hmn.” She sat up and brought her tail to her lap, picking up the brush she set to work grooming it.
She sat quietly tending to her tail in the snow covered clearing, brushing her tail in the illuminated night sky. the moment of solace giving her time to think, memories surfacing in her mind of back home when her mother would do this for her while she was in her lap after a bath…
“N-no…” she sniffed, pushing the memories back “That’s why I…i…” her hand paused, shaking “I’m out here, to stop this…” she forced herself to continue causing the memories to come back but, she paused, tears flowing down her face “mommy…” she curled up in the snow, walls of ice rising around her and closing into a dome.
The night progressed with the sounds of light crying filling the woods.