Moon

2

Vyla bent over and kissed Biyá's forehead, her big green eyes starting back up at her. She felt her heart clench as she struggled to hide her guilt.

"I'll be back soon" she promised, wishing things could've been different. 

She bid farewell to the rest of her rough and turned towards the zip line. Securing herself to it, she threw herself over the ledge, leveraging gravity to pull her down to the ground. As oppose to the climb, the descent took only minutes. 

Vyla was wrapped in thick, white clothes that were better camouflaged for the winter seasons. Her face exposed and her hair wrapped loosely. When she landed, her boots crunched the snow beneath her as she steadied herself. Inhaling the cold air and mentally fixing herself on task, she begins to trek, with nothing but a small rucksack and some essentials. 

When she had the energy, she broke out into a sprint, running for several kilometres. Apart from some water breaks, she did not stop - determined to get to Payora as quickly as possible. 

By sunset, she figured it best she find a place to rest. Tiredness threatened to consume her but she pushed on, pulling herself onto a decently high tree branch. She let out another one of her many sighs before tying herself to the trunk. 

With her back to the bark, she stares out into the darkening forest. A strange feeling of grief settles over her, as if she will never see this sight again.

Over the years, despite its dangers, the forest had become a place of refuge - of stability. All the landscapes she's trekked could never compare to the feeling of belonging the forest had given her.

She calmed her mind from her contemplative thoughts, resigning them for a different time, before her consciousness was pulled into sleep.

Deep in slumber, her chest rose softly with each breath. Despite being seated decently high above the ground, she could not help the faint glow to her skin, and between the many obstacles that would've obscured her, she managed to catch the eye of someone wandering the forest.

"There you are"

─── ⋆⋅ ☾⋅⋆ ───

Vyla pries her heavy eyelids open as sleep escapes her body. Yawning and stretching her impossibly stiff muscles, she momentarily forgets where she is and suppresses a shout of surprise as she almost falls of the branch, the taut tied fabric digging into her ribs to stabilise her.

Letting out a shaky breath and pulling herself together, she unties herself and drops to the forest floor, which is now freshly covered with snow. Vyla pats herself down, a habit she's formed from thieving, before beginning her trek to Payora.

 As oppose to the previous night, this morning her mind was empty. Nibbling on some nuts and dried fruit, she continues to trudge through the forest, effortlessly weaving herself through its many outgrowths.

At the rate she was going, with an additional sprint here or there, she was certain she would make it in two days. 

Payora was a small, hidden community of panthers that had migrated from the hot, dry landscape of The Arách - somewhere she would get very familiar with soon - during a particularly bloody war.

The cats were always so pompous, she thinks to herself, before ducking under a low-hanging branch.

The sight of a frozen river slithering through the snow catches her eye and she pulls out her flask. Confirming her assumption, she temporarily changes route to refill her water supply.