daughter of esmund

One

15 years later...

Annie's POV

Darkness surrounds me.

It surrounds my senses.

I see nothing, I feel nothing, I hear nothing.

Irene, I forgot how much I hate darkness.

Slowly my senses start to return. First, my sense of touch. I rub my index finger against my thumb, the callassed texture feeling unpleasant. I reach my hand up, to my cheek, my finger tracing the slightly raised darker skin of the scar that's been there for years.

Along with my sense of touch, my sense of pain returns though.

I feel a throbbing pain at the base of my head, which, eventually, gets duller, maybe adrenaline finally kicking in, but it took a bit of time.

Eventually, my hearing returns.

At first, it was a mind numbing static that slowly turned to a soft breeze and the sounds of birds' quiet tunes.

And, then, I see light.

It was blinding to say least, when all I've been seeing is darkness. My eyes are slow to adjust to the light but, after a few moments, they do and I take in my surroundings. The forest ceiling was high above my head and I could feel the scratchy, dying grass beneath my arms.

I look up, expecting to see the sky filled with clouds or the tips of the trees...but instead I see two big, hazel eyes looking into mine. I shoot up, shrieking as best as I could, my voice was rough with loss of use so it may have seemed more like a squawk but, eh, I would like to think it sounded like a shriek, as I startle back a bit.

"Sorry Miss! I didn't mean to scare you!" They say from behind me.

I turn to look at them, blinking multiple times.

It was a young meifwa girl, maybe ten at oldest, with white ears and tail, a pink bow tied around it. She had a light blue, sky blue?, hair color that was in her face as well as big brown eyes. Her head cocks to the side as she studies me, before smiling and hopping to her feet a few moments later.

"I'm Nekoette!" She says with a giggle.

I smile awkwardly as I stumble to my feet.

"N-nice to meet you..." I reply looking around for my bow, voice rough, pausing to cough.

"Are you looking for this?" She asks again, this time holding up my bow that was almost as big as her.

She holds it out with two hands, almost toppling over with the weight of it.

"Yeah, thanks," I say as I took it from her.

I take in my surroundings around me from a standing position. I see my quiver laying beside a tree so I pick it up and place it on my back, adjusting the strap and continuing to look around. While taking them in I notice the broken branch from the tree that my quiver was beside moments ago, the same tree that I was laying in last I remember. I most likely fell and hit my head, which explains the headache.

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?" She asked tugging on my red tank-top that I "borrowed" from Chelsea.

Chelsea.

Ignoring her, I pull out of her grip as I quickly turn and look for Chelsea, my eyes darting around the area for any trace of her. This time, her stuff is gone. All of it. It was like she hadn't even been here.

The branch hadn't just snapped. I had accidentally made it snap when I was struggling to get out of the tree. To get to her. To...find her.

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