Let's get this story back on track, shall we?

I believe we shall.

Onto the story.

Disclaimer: I only own my dearest Dez and her. Most everything else is simply borrowed for my world that I've crafted.

FLASHBACK TO THE LAST CHAPTER

I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth to stifle the whimper. I looked pleadingly at her body, regret weighing down on my shoulders. I'm sorry, I mouthed, knowing that she couldn't see it, but not caring anymore. With one deep breath, I tucked the knife away and took off, letting the trees envelop me as I ran silently into the night. I'm so sorry, Mother.

Chapter 1: First Sight

The forest was dark, the moon shining brightly overhead, barely even getting a wisp of its light to trickle through the branches of the trees. The blue-hued leaves had darkened with the rise of the moon, creating the illusion of gnarled fingers clawing towards the sky, reaching desperately out to grab even the slightest morsel of a thing. Crickets chirped faintly in the distance, their lonely calls only serving to highlight the dismal air surrounding me. My own pitiful serenade.

The cool night air gently ruffled my long brown locks around, pushing it out of my face with its soft breath. I hugged my arms to my chest briefly, hoping to rub the chill out of my arms from their lack of cover. All I had was my thin, grey tank top and a pair of jeans, my feet being protected by an ancient pair of work boots. Not exactly the warmest attire I could have chosen, but it was all I had. All we had.

Twigs and dried up old leaves littered the forest floor, forcing me to take every step with caution. A sudden noise would shatter the theoretical invisibility shielding me from unwanted eyes, thus making me an open target. I wasn't in the clear yet, so there was no need to become reckless, no matter how much I wanted to stop for a rest or relax for a bit. That's not how she taught me, and I was not going to disappoint her. Not again.

My agitation level had been steadily rising due to the constant bobbing of my old, beat-up rucksack against my back. The book she gave me a few years ago took up a majority of the space my little bag could hold. It was probably the culprit behind the irritating bounce. I rolled my eyes in annoyance, my hands going to the bag's straps in the hopes to make the bouncing end. It really was the little things that were such a bother.

She always focuses on the little things, no matter what we're doing, I thought, a smile tugging at my lip.

The flash of lightning in my mind's eye had my smile vanishing immediately, a small frown taking its place as my step faltered. Used to. That's what she used to focus on. I forced myself to swallow back the sobs that were begging to be released. There was no time to think of the past, no matter what it contained, only the present. Get rid of all the emotions that would weigh me down. What's done is done. I couldn't do a thing to change it.

Snap.

My head jerked up in the direction of the noise, the unmistakable sound of a twig snapping underfoot immediately setting me on edge. The muscles in my legs tensed as I crouched down, my eyes scanning the surrounding area as I shrank into the shadows. Taking shallow breaths, I pressed my back against the rough bark of the nearest tree, whole body on high alert in search of the cause of the noise.

I turned to face the tree in front of me, green eyes widening as the air began to shimmer and fade, no doubt a hallucination due to lack of sleep being conjured up. The skin around my eyes tightened as she slowly came to be, a solemn look on her face as her eyes darted around. I bit my lip, telling myself over and over again how this wasn't real, that she was gone and there was no possible way for her to ever come back. But she looked so lifelike, her chest rising and falling as if she were really there, living and breathing.

Her right hand had latched onto the hilt of her sword as she knelt beside the other tree, her brow soured by a frown as her blue eyes looked for the intruder. Her body was wound tight, ready to leap into action if the slightest hint of danger presented itself. The bright blonde locks she wore were tied back in a severe ponytail, some of it still managing to hang in her face despite her repeated efforts to tuck it away. In her routine scan of the area, her gaze had caught my own, a reassuring smile stretching her lips and effectively shattering the illusion that had enraptured me.

Just like that, her body faded away into a shimmering nothingness, her eyes never once leaving mine. I shook my head and kicked myself for getting my hopes up. Of course that wasn't her. It was childish to think otherwise. Besides, she never smiled, least of all at me. Screwing my eyes shut, I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, calming myself down. I was a big girl now. I could take care of myself just fine. I didn't need her, or anyone else to come swooping in to save me anymore.

Snap.

There it was again. My eyes snapped open and I tensed, my hand reaching down and gripping my sword tightly, defensively. This time it was much closer, the way it echoed around the quiet forest making it sound as though it had come from the other side of the very tree I was leaning against. My grip on the hilt tightened, a brief, albeit fleeting, feeling of safety washing over me. At least I had more than one way to defend myself.

I was brought back to focus by the faint sound of leaves being crushed underfoot, no doubt by the same creature that had been stepping on the twigs. A catalog of the current wildlife in the area flew open in my mind, none of them matching up with all the movement I was hearing. It sounded like there were six legs scuffling about, but no six-legged critters nearby were anywhere near large enough to be making the amount of noise this one was.

Maybe there's more than one, I murmured to myself internally, that would certainly explain it.

Glancing around the side of the trunk, I caught the barest glimpse of two silhouettes coming from the north, their steps increasing in volume the closer they came. My heart rate picked up speed as excitement coursed through my veins, forgetting for a moment what I had run away from in favor of the chance to fight. My hand hovered over one of the few knives I had left, but I changed my mind rather quickly. The sword slid silently from its black leather sheath as I got down low, all of my senses going into overdrive as I waited in anticipation.

The closer they got, the easier it was to make out what they were. One was lower, walking on what looked like four legs. It was low to the ground, the soft snuffling emanating from it suggesting that it was sniffing around, reminiscent of that of a canine. The other one appeared to be bipedal and was rather humanoid in shape, although it appeared to have large ears or horns on the top of its head.

My eyes raked down its form before being attracted to a sudden glint that interrupted the darkness of the forest. Zeroing in on the flash of light, my eyebrows rose as I discerned that the creature was undoubtedly holding a sword. I pressed tighter against my tree, my mind a flurry of thought. Had they acquired more weapons? Were they actually coming after me? Was killing her not enough for them?

Another twig cracking alerted me to their much closer proximity and forced me focus on the situation. Keeping a firm grip on my weapon, I peered around the edge of the tree once more, thankful for the dim lighting that allowed me to stay in position so long.

The four-legged one came into focus first, its shaggy golden fur shining faintly in the bad lighting. It had its nose to the ground still, its saggy jowls lightly brushing against the forest floor. Leaves were crushed carelessly by the small dog, and I would bet some coins he was probably the one breaking all those twigs. All in all, the small mammal wasn't much of a threat. But the idea that I could be the one he was tracking was.

I hadn't exactly done the best to hide my trail after fleeing my camp, deciding it better to just skedaddle instead of staying there and mourning. They'd probably had no issue finding me using that dog.

Way to go, me, I sighed, mentally slapping myself on the back of my head. Cleaning up would have been the smart thing to do, but of course I let my emotions carry me away. What a way to prove how weak I was. How weak I would always be.

I turned my gaze back onto the duo, letting my eyes wander as they drifted over to the bipedal. My teeth came crashing down on my lip to avoid letting the gasp that had worked its way up my throat out. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't tear my gaze away from it. This bipedal wasn't another random wildlife critter. Not in a million years.

It was as he stepped into a stronger spot of moonlight that I got a real good look at him. The ears I had dismissed earlier were not that of this male's, but that of a white bear he must have killed and created a hat out of its head. Its eyes had been taken out for obvious reasons, giving it the impression of a bear waking up from a long winter, a big yawn stretching out its gaping maw.

My chest constricted when I finally let my gaze fall upon his face, memories from a time not long ago pushing to the fore-front of my mind. The look of stone-cold determination on the male's face was what brought it on. I shook my head to clear it, shoving all those memories away in order to concentrate on the now. Emotions only hinder you. Besides, they had cost me too much already.

The bear hat on his head was trying its very best to conceal the mess of blonde hair that was no doubt meant to be pushed out of the way. A few stubborn strands had fallen out despite his best efforts, curling gently around his hardened face and looking almost like silk in the soft lighting.

His bright blue eyes were narrowed warily as they shot back and forth around the clearing, as if he could feel the eyes of someone watching his every move, but didn't know where to find them. And judging by the slight frown and the furrowed brow, it was frustrating him. I couldn't help but smirk at the typical behavior.

He groaned, smacking himself in the forehead with his free hand. The yellow dog stopped its sniffing and looked up, its face somehow managing to contort with confusion. The boy shared a glance with it, his mouth opening to most likely explain his action when a shrill scream echoed from somewhere beyond the clearing. Instantly, the boy turned his head in the direction of the shriek and took off running without a single thought otherwise, the dog hot on his heels.

I had to admit it was hard standing there and watching them go to fight some evil being that needed its ass handed to it, the Adventuress inside me practically begging me to go follow them. But, I turned away instead, casting my gaze downward as the logical side of me came out. She knew I had to keep moving forward, since the only thing keeping me going was the thought that I was still being followed, however slim the chances of that were. If I tried to stay next to this tree any longer, I might just pass out from exhaustion of multiple causes.

As much as it killed the fighter in me to let it go, I managed. Slipping back out from behind my tree, I continued onward as if my walk had never been interrupted, my lips pursed as I ignored another keening wail. I slid my sword back into the sheath resting against my hip, sending out a little prayer that I wouldn't have to draw it out anytime soon.

The normal forest sounds enveloped me once more as I walked along, the crickets much softer this time. My eyelids fell to half-mast as the natural sounds began working their magic on me, and soon enough I was even humming along with their uncoordinated symphony. I had fallen asleep to those random calls and whistles and croaks every day for the past sixteen years. It was only natural they would have this effect on me.

I hadn't even noticed when all of those comforting noises came to an abrupt halt.

My brow furrowed as I glanced around, wondering where the white noise of the woods had gone some five minutes later. Without the calming hums of the forest to mask the silence that surrounded me, I was left to endure its weight alone. But that's not the reason why I had suddenly gone on edge.

The meaning behind the silence was.

If I had been paying more attention to my surroundings other than mulling over the lack of sound, I might have seen the large, muscular hand before it could have gotten close enough to grab me.

I might have been able to draw my sword to prevent it from gripping my body like I was just some little rag doll.

At the very least, I might have been able to cover my head before I was tossed carelessly through the air and slammed into tree.

But, of course, I hadn't.

Nothing ever goes the way we plan, does it?

A/N: Hello, once again, my dears. I hope you didn't skip this chapter, for things have changed since it last showed its face.

Thank you to LeafeonLover and Daienlll for understanding my actions. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed what I've brought to the table thus far.

Remember folks: Things are going to change around here. The story may deviate from the original you've come to know. I'm just going where my flow takes me.

To my Vocalists and Silent Watchers: Stick around. Thank you for your input, and follows, and favorites. I love everything you do for me.

Okay.

Bye for now.