A drop of moonlight

Chapter 3: Meeting

Denise could hear the birds chirping and the forest coming alive with many activities. She hears a roar or two from the distance, but considering what she sees for the past few days things are quite normal. Suppose she should look for something to eat for herself and her companion.

Speaking of companions, the first thing that Denise saw was the missing figure of the elf she had escaped with. Furthermore, it was like that elf never existed in the first place. All sorts of traces that could point out that they were here were strangely erased.

She was pretty sure that the elf was not a fragment of her imagination. Their warmth was unforgettable when she had carried their weakened body. After all an illusion could never have a weight or carry warmth in ways a living body could ever be.

Her next instinct was to look for them in the area, like some hunting hound looking for traces of their prey. However, thinking that their encounter was just a coincidence out of freak events it was reasonable for the other to just leave the first thing they got the chance with.

Thinking it would be better to just leave the elf be, she thought of how she will be from now on. She does not know where she is right now and she definitely needs more help than the elf. After all, the forest is the home of the elves and with them deep in the forest enough, they can survive just fine.

And this is not the case for Denise. While she has her ways with beasts, she definitely cannot stand living in the middle of nowhere for how long. She was more used to people who bring both the good and bad in her life. And she definitely is not ready for a life of a hermit.

Tilting her head in wonder of what she should be doing next, she suddenly notices a presence nearby. It is not the elf she had taken care of for the night, nor was it one of the slavers. It was an unfamiliar breath not at all similar to the beasts she had taken notice of earlier. 

Sneakily, Denise made use of her figure to hide in the foliage of leaves in the branch she was in. Holding her breath, she tried to make her presence as little as possible. Her eyes alert and her hands ready to brandish her dagger for any sign of danger.

In the direction she noticed the presence, a beautiful white pony came out of the bushes. It was unblemished in a way that had Denise’s hair stood up in its end. Something was eerie about the creature and she didn't want it anywhere near her.

Still as a child not so favored by luck, the creature was more or less aware of her presence. And it was her that it came for. With it sprinting and deliberately coming to her direction, Denise was simply not amused with the situation.

Still, she does not want to cause harm to the creature. While they are quite not compatible, Denise senses no malice from the creature. At most she will just ignore it until it gets tired and leaves. That usually does the trick with those annoying troublesome brats in the neighborhood.

But after a while, it was clear that the creature was persistent about her. It was more than an hour and the creature did not leave and more or less was keeping an eye on her every movement. It was not a good thing for Denise as she could feel her muscle cramp and ache at her state of unmovingness.

"Persistent little guy.” Denise gritted her teeth as she was thinking of giving up on a useless endeavor and just let the creature get close to her. She desperately wanted to move her muscles and get moving. Her stomach is aching in hunger with her not eating since the night before. This fellow has ruined her breakfast by not letting her find her breakfast, now that pissed her off than not being able to move as she liked.

Making up her mind, she just let her muscles relax and free fall from the branch she was in. Tensing and controlling her muscles as she near the ground to not hurt herself from the fall. Like a vigorous feline who skillfully manipulated their body to perfection.

Landing on her feet, the creature was quick to notice her. It charged at her at full speed and bumped into her in excitement. Denise was flung to the nearest tree at the impact and she was sure she broke a rib or two along the way.

Just as she was about to lash out, the creature was quick to take her by the scoff of her shirt. Like an unruly cub of a beast, it carried her to some place she was too helpless to protest with. Flinging her arms to try protesting with the creature, her arms were proven to be short or the creature was just big enough for her to land a blow on it in her current position.

Feeling the wind hitting her face and her hair practically stabbing her eyes once in a while, Denise wanted to scream all profanity she ever knew of. She is not happy with everything and she simply wanted to teach this creature a lesson now. First her breakfast, now it is making her suffer, and even worse her hair is in a mess that it is practically a disaster her mother would be pissed off to deal with.

After what seems like forever the creature finally stopped and unceremoniously dropped her on the ground. And out of pure pettiness, Denise was quick to grab a pile of dirt and throw it to the creature in retaliation. It might not hurt it, she was  determined to at least dirty it white coat in revenge.

But the creature was proven to be smart enough to know her intent. It dodge swiftly and made a distance between them in a blink of an eye. It looked at her in the eye for a moment before abandoning her to where she was.

“I’ll one day make that white coat of hers dirty enough that you’ll not be recognized by your species!” Denise huffed in her anger. She wanted to give chase, but she just felt weak with everything that happened. She just wants to have something to eat and worry about anything else later.

Calming down a little, Denise was then able to take notice of where she is now. The thing that first took her breath was the figure in the clearing she was dropped to. There this lying figure that seems to just attracts her eyes in ways she just don’t know.