Angel of Nature
Interlude I
She ran through the forest as she attempted to outrun whatever it was that was following her. She had been trying to outrun this thing for several days but it always found her, forcing her to start running again when she thought she was safe.
Shrubs, branches and the undergrowth kept clawing at her, trying to hold her in place a she pushed past it all whilst getting scratched in the process. Her clothes were slightly torn up here and there and she had several cuts along her arms and legs. Her breathing was coming in ragged breaths and she was hungry, not too mention she was also tired.
After brushing away the branch in front of her, she chanced a glance behind her and saw that nothing was following her anymore. She slowed down and sat on a nearby log and breathed in deep and long breaths.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought that this chase could very well end her life if she didn't do something. She looked around with the tears in her eyes, and like all trees she had already passed, most of them would be to do difficult for her to climb while being chased. All she needed was a branch low enough for her to grab onto and get on while her chasers couldn't reach her, but no such luck.
Before she had fully regained her breath, she heard a growl from nearby. Fearing for the worst, she slowly turned but didn't get far before she was knocked to the ground. She looked up to see her chaser, a wolf. Obviously, she hadn't lost it and she hadn't given it credit for its stealth.
She knew that there was going to be no way she could get out of there. So she did the only thing she could think...
She screamed and as she screamed, the wolf howled at her and prepared to lunge at her, but didn't get anywhere when a bright light appeared followed by a booming voice.
"Vattene!"
The wolf yelped and whimpered before turning and running off. The girl's adrenaline must have been wearing off because her vision started to blur and before she passed out, she heard.
"La cassaforte."
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She continued run through the forest but didn't get far before tripping over. She turned around to see her hunter closing in on her. It snarled at her and then lunged at her before-
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She shot up to a sitting position whilst screaming. Fright was all she could feel. She had no idea what was going on or where she was, and yet she was calming down when she could a soothing, calm and graceful tune being hummed, maybe chirped from somewhere. It was beautiful...
She began looking around the room, it looked like she was in a bedroom of sorts and from what she could gather, she was in a cabin, out in the woods. She looked out a window and could see the sunlight beaming through the treetops, giving the forest a serene look.
She had never been able to look around her before due to her being on the run. Moving her gaze away from the window, she began to observe the room she was currently in. The bed she was laying on looked like it could easily fit two people, there were small bedside tables, a dresser against the wall near the door that she assumed it lead to somewhere else in the house. To her right she noticed another door and assumed this led to the bathroom.
Just as she finished observing her surroundings, the chirping died down, signalling the end of the tune. She had to find out who had sung that tune as it was simply beautiful.
She threw her legs over the side and stood up wobbly, she didn't last long before a wave of dizziness hit her. She grab the nearest thing being the bedside table. Once the dizziness was gone, she stood up straight and proceed for the door, but not before noticing something near the door.
In a shy and timid voice she spoke up.
"Hello? Is someone there?"
The thing seemed to currently be lying down but when it heard her voice, it's head perked up and looked in her direction and the first thing she saw, was cyan blue eyes, but not just a pupil, the whole eye was cyan and when it spoke, it's voice sounded...like it was distorted and strangely female like.
"Your awake."
It stood up and walked over to her, exposing itself in the sunlight, allowing her to study the thing closer.
It looked it had a black carapace, insect-like wings and strangely enough, a horn on its head. It also had holes all throughout its feet and she wondered as to what purpose that could serve.
Normally, she would be startled to see such a creature, but she couldn't bring herself to look away in disgust and she had a feeling this was the creature responsible for the soothing tune.
"Were you the one who played that tune?" She asked.
The creature nodded its head.
"Yes, that was me, but I think chirped is a more relative term."
She was amazed. This creature was able to chirp its tune but she wondered how it got its different sounds but that was a question for another time due to a cough drawing their attention to a figure standing in the doorway.
"I see you two are getting along." The figure said.
The figure moved forward to reveal a man who looked to be about his mid-20s. He was about 5'2 while she was a couple inches shorter, he had emerald, green eyes, a strong jaw, a soft smile, messy, dark brown hair. He wore a cloak that looked to have brown and green mixed together and the hood was currently down, he also wore brown trousers and boots.
"Done looking?" He said with a smirk.
Her cheeks immediately flushed as she looked away, trying not to look at him. He let out a little chuckle apologise but she just shrugged it off.
"Not to interrupt or anything." The creature began, "but how about we start introductions."
The two looked at the creature and nodded. She followed them and and creature out onto a living room. She took a place on the couch while the man went brewed some coffee.
She could start to see her life changing now.
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The man, whose name she had yet to learn, came back into the living room with the strange creature at his side and offered her a cup of coffee. He then sat down opposite her with a cup of coffee in his hand.
They both took a sip of coffee before an awkward silence ensued between the two. The creature that was laying on the ground between looked between the two of them and mentally groaned, they weren't going to get anywhere like this.
"If neither if you will start, then I will." The creature said as she faced her.
"My name is Elssphia. As you can tell I'm not from this world, so I doubt you could identify my species. I came from a distance world that I could call home and back home I'm known as a Changeling, a creature that can assume the identify of anyone they see. I have long abandoned that as I don't believe in hurting others."
And when Elssphia finished her little speech, she turned her head and promptly stared at the man as if telling him that it was his turn. He could feel her eyes barring into his skull and they were telling him to hurry up.
"I guess I'll go next, I do have an actual name but people call me Everfree cause I live a forest and I'm sure you know who Everfree is right?"
She nodded.
"The Angel of Nature. I see why people call you that."
"Right, now as you may have noticed, this cabin is my home and it is Elssphia's home as well, at least every since she came here." The man now identified as Everfree explained.
She merely nodded but kept her gazed reverted from his and focused on her cup. She kept quiet as she had a feeling he had more to say before moving on.
"I've lived here for most of my life, tending to and caring for the nature that surrounds my home, however, I also have to protect them."
Everfree pointed at a bow that was leaning against the wall, near the door to the outside world.
"I tend to have to chase away humans who threaten these lands, very rarely do I take a life cause that's not part of who I am, but if there is no other alternative, then I'll do it."
She stood up and walked over to the bow to inspect it. It was a beautifully crafted, black bow. It had seems to be made of some kind of enduring wood, but as far as she knew, there was nothing on Earth that strong. The bow had a pattern on it that made it look like a log and the string...although it looked like a normal string...there was something strange about it...it seemed to hum at her presence.
"So why are you out here? Its not exactly safe as you may remember." Elssphia said, bringing her out of her daze.
She turned around and faced Elssphia for a few moments before turning away again and looking out the window.
"I've been running away." She stated.
Her answer confused Elssphia greatly but knew she was lying and when she looked at Everfree for some conformation, she could see that he was staring intently at her shoulders or rather, her back. She followed his gaze and nearly let out a gasp at what she saw.
If you looked closely enough, you could see the outline of two white, feathery wings that were hidden by her shirt.
She looked back at the man besides her to see him looking at her with a concerned look. There was something he had told Elssphia and they were hoping this wasn't it. They were hoping what they knew wasn't the truth.
"Why do you run away?" Elssphia asked, her distorted voice heavy with curiousity.
"This isn't the first time I've tried, I'm always caught and taken back. I'm hated by everyone, so I thought I'd tried running into the forest, a load of good that did seeing as I almost got myself killed."
Elssphia looked back at Everfree again, with more concern this time as their suspicion were became confirmed with each second. There was only one thing left to be answered.
"What is your name?" Everfree asked, fear gripping his insides as the next answer brought everything crashing down.
"Chelsea."
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