The night was cold and foggy as a figure cloaked in black descended the mountain's cold, snowy slope.

  The frozen trees creaked in the wind, the snow-dusted grass crunched beneath her feet, the echoing who of owls filled the quiet night, and the chilling howls of wolves sent small critters wandering at night into hiding. A small cloud huffed from a warm mouth into the cold night air, a frustrated sigh filling the silence. "he wasn't with his tribe, and I've already searched its sister Mt, guess I'll have to crossover into human territory to find him," She mumbled to herself, rubbing at the bags under her eyes.

  Kana, a lone traveler, had just finished scaling Mt Mamoru, trying to track down a man from the bashoku tribe to repair her billhook. See, she had gotten into an altercation with a stone golem wandering the southern ruined wasteland, shattering her blade in half, and sought out the man who created it as a gift to her. She had been searching for months, only to find out he left his mountain with a human and disappeared, as was told by his tribe folk.

  Kana decided to rest for the night and searched for a dry area where she could set up camp and start a fire. She gathered some dry sticks of different sizes and set them into a pile before taking a bag of wood shavings and bundling it up, leaving it in the center to light. Kana pulled a flint and steel from her bag and lit the shavings, creating a flame, and blew on it, making the flame grow. Once settled, Kana stared at the dancing flames while leaning against a tree, feeling herself doze off. She lay down on her makeshift bedding, using her arm as a pillow, hugging her billhook to her chest as she traced the engravings on the hilt with her thumb. and with a yawn, she drifted off to sleep......

  *rustle* rustle* Her eyes opened to the sight of a completely different environment than the one she was just in. A vaste plains, barren of any life, while just behind her was a thick wood. It had to be around midnight, judging by how dark it was.

  Kana stayed planted where she stood, looking around when a woman appeared from nowhere, standing just outside the heavy trees, holding a basket. She wore a red tribal skirt with a slit on the left leg and a sleeveless turtleneck with diamond shaped hole cut out on the back. Her hair was a beautiful White that curled down to her waist, where a belt of leather held the teeth of a variety of creatures that she wore like a trophy. "....this, dream again.." Kana mumbled as she tried to get a better look at the woman who entered the forest, frantic.

  The mystery woman ran to a bush and set the basket down, grabbing branches and propping them up to cover the basket as best she could before hurrying away. 'its always the same thing on repeat,' Kana thought, watching the woman's every move.

  Kana followed the woman deeper into the woods when, eventually, the woman stopped, panting as she rested her hand on her chest and took one final breath before a bright light emitted from her, and Kana had to cover her eyes, shielding her face with her arm. When the bright light was gone, Kana looked back where the woman once was, but was met with a black abyss surrounding her, and the woman was long gone. Kana's breathing picked up as she looked around. "Hello?" she said, hoping to get a reply, but was greeted with painstaking silence.

  "Hello!" Kana yelled louder but fell on deaf ears; she stood alone just like she always has, all her life. Kana stared down at her black boots, a lump growing in her throat as she closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again to be met with the blistered feet of a child.

  lifting her small child like hands to her face, not seeing her usual black gloves, Kana crouched down, hugging her knees, soft sobs of a scared, confused child, filling the void with her wallows, "why am I always alone?" the empty abyss around her was quiet and yet was loud at the same time, as if mocking her. wiping her flowing tears, Kana gasped as a beautiful woman with long white hair and light brown skin, surrounded by a soft glow of white, approached her. Kana recognized her as the woman from before and stared up at her, but couldn't make out her face.

  Before Kana could speak, the woman knelt and hugged her close. "- w--l -a-t f-- -o-, m- -ea-" Kana could barely make out what the woman was saying, but she didn't care in the moment, feeling a strange sense of comfort in the woman's embrace. Pieces of everything she had seen up until now had started to disappear as she tried to see any new outcome from this continuous dream she's been having. The woman smiled as she spoke, but nothing could be heard as the woman continued "-m -o--y ----a". Before everything disappeared, leaving her alone in the darkness of her reality. "Who are you?" She asked for the millionth time, and after eighteen years, she was still at square one. "You aren't wanted," She gasped and spun around Who's there?!" laughter slowly rang out around her, muffled voices filling her ears, covering them to drown out the voices of every creature, man and beast that rejected her. Then it was quiet, and she was cold.

  When she opened her eyes again, she was met with a heavy blizzard that snowed blood red flakes, staining the pure white. Screams of children are now being heard off into the distance, making her heart beat faster. The agonizing voices caused shivers to run down her spine with unsettled chills when the noise suddenly slams into her chest, knocking the air out of her lungs.

  *Crack* Kana jolted awake, gasping for air, searching her surroundings for the culprit of the loud noise she heard. She found a fawn by her feet where she sat, eating the walnuts that were spilled out of her pouch with glee.

  Kana panting, placed a hand over her beating heart, trying to calm down from the nightmare she had just had. With a sigh, she finally caught her breath and relaxed, lowering her weapon. She reached for a few walnuts, popping a few in her mouth, watching the fawn finish the last of the walnuts and tramp away. Resting her back against the tree she lay under, Kana took in the morning rays as the birds chirped and the tree branches danced to the chilly wind. It seemed to be well past the early morning, and this meant she slept in... again.

  Kana rose from her spot on the ground, stretching her limbs, hearing the satisfying pop of her arms and back. She wrapped her curly hair up into a bun and strode towards a nearby river, passing plants that dripped from the morning mist and trees creaking against the wind.

  Kana crouched down, scooping a handful of water and splashing her face. She sighed as the cool water touched her unnaturally warm skin, waking her up fully. Looking down into the water, kana stared at her reflection as she brushed her hand over her long, white curly hair before holding her face, her skin a soft brown.

  She pulled at her skin as if to change her features in some way. Kana knew she was different, being born with unnatural white curly hair that now reached down to her waist, to her eyes that were a strange shade of pastel green, and light brown skin. Now, it wasn't uncommon to see people with darker skin, but they usually kept to themselves and wandered as nomads up in the snowy mountains. But the mountain tribe known as the 'Bashoku' could not rival such an appearance due to not getting much sun and the constant snow. They always had black hair or occasional brown. She had traveled there once after hearing stories from her caretaker, but was disappointed to find she was not like them; they had tall and bulky physiques and were just as skilled with weaponry, a bit rough and territorial, but surprisingly welcoming to trades.

  Kana grew up in a small forest, adopted by spirits and beasts; however, her upbringing was far from a normal child's, it was eat or be eaten. There was no one to hold her hand, no one to protect her from the cruel world, and no one to love her the way a child should be loved.

  She grew up with orcs and pixies, dire wolves and imps, spirits and demons. No place for a human child to live, and the inhabitants made sure she knew where she stood; nothing personal in a world of survival.

  Kana scowled at her reflection and ran her hand through the water, making large ripples before lifting her hood over her head to cover her hair and face. "What an eyesore." Now, in a foul mood, Kana sat back down on her makeshift bed that consisted of some large leaves and a blanket. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was something, better than sleeping on the cold, hard ground, she would think. Kana rummaged through her satchel and pulled out a map to find a safe route to her next destination. The kingdom of Igarashi, meaning fifty storms (due to the constant rain that pours), how fitting, she thought. With help from the bashoku tribe of the man's whereabouts, Kana now knew where she should look first.

  Kana pulled up her left sleeve, running her hand over one of the many green gems on her body, and watched it glow brighter as she directed her arm around like a compass, shining brighter depending on the direction. West towards the Igarashi kingdom, miles from the capital. 'hopefully, this is where it wants me to go. Strangely enough, whenever her gems started glowing, it often led her to interesting findings. On one occasion, she found a pair of gold wrist bracelets that her imp sisters stole when she was a kid. She was told they were on her person when her Guardian's found her.

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  Charting down a route she could go without being robbed or seen by people in general, Kana packed up camp and set out for Igarashi. Cloaked from the world and a hope for her, Kana was back on the road in search of something she didn't know she was looking for.

  .

  .

  Having traveled 5 hours treading through rainforests, long, windy plains, and wheat fields. Kana entered a man-made tunnel that went through a small mountain that acted as a toll, she hated deep and dark cramped places from past experiences playing with her siblings inside an old and deep cavern, only to get lost and left behind for hours till she found her way out. They hadn't even noticed she was gone.

  Kana shook away the memory and moved through the crowd of travelers pulling carts full of goods, as well as a few settlers who waited to be let through an ID station.

  Kana stood in line with her head down as a guard looked through IDs and let them pass. When it was finally Kana's turn, she handed the guard her ID, tapping her foot impatiently. "Human, huh? sure your not a giant," The guard said, scoffing, and glanced up at her suspiciously. Kana only scowled at him under her hood, making the guard glare with irritation. "Got something to say, punk?" Kana stared for a while before leaning down and glaring at him with piercing mint green eyes. "Speed this up, I have business to get to." The guard clenched his teeth, but before he could do anything, his coworker stepped in, seeing the commotion, and held him back. "Please excuse him, sir; he meant no offence. Everything checks out. You may pass." The guard pulled the other away and gave back her ID.

  And without another word, Kana was on her way, pulling the front of her hood down to avoid all the chattering people. The two guards watched her leave. The calm one sighed and let go of the other. "What did I say about your snarky comments?" The guard growled in annoyance and adjusted his collar. "Shut up, you said make small talk with suspicious people to gauge their character. That chick is totally lying about her race." The calm one shot his eyes back at the other in shock, "That was a woman!?" They both watched her back as Kana grew smaller the further she walked away.

  casting her eyes to the ground, taking glances when someone would get rowdy or the occasional laugh as

  she glided expertly to the exit like a shadow. Upon exiting the cold and fairly lit tunnel, Kana could smell the rain in the air.

  It was still a bit aways but Kana could lay her eyes on the Igarashi kingdom, watching the rain that was constantly pouring only inside the kingdom's walls. "Looking from afar, you'd think the place was cursed," she thought. She smelled the air as the wind blew; it was fresh and earthy, things like this always gave her Deja vu, but she could never understand why.

  Kana followed a cobblestone path through some woods to the kingdom, walking by others she avoided like the plague. Through the greenery around her, Kana scoffed to herself as she saw how unkept the area was, if it were anything like her old dwelling her aunties and uncles would have gone to war with each other wanting everything to be in order and kept well maintained. 'clean freaks' she thought, but it some how felt nostalgic to her, a bittersweet reminder of 'Home'.

  Kana stopped suddenly, staring off at nothing in particular. She wondered if she should visit them after being away on travels for so long, it has been 9 years. She quickly shook her head, discarding the idea, remembering the few reasons she had left, leaving her to sigh with mental exhaustion, "I don't belong there".

  The moment didn't last long when the sounds of someone's frustration came to her ears. Curious, Kana hid behind some trees off the side of the road as a group of 4 people came into view, wearing strange masks of creatures, talking amongst themselves away from prying eyes. "USELESS!" Kana almost jumped from the sudden loud voice, furrowing her brows in confusion as she watched one of the members of the group wearing a centaur mask vent their anger out on another with an ogre mask who coward away. "I'm sorry, boss! I didn't think he could still run in his state!" *SLAP*

  Kana stared as the ogre fell to the ground, holding his face in his hands, tossing and turning in the dirt, groaning in pain as his skin was eaten away by the acidic poison dripping from Assailant's whip. The masked centaur slapped his whip at the ground, pissed, the leather rope coated in venom from a 'Naga, those are hard to come by,' Kana thought as the whip collided with the ogre again, slashing his back. "That is only a fraction of what you will feel when the Master hears that you lost our product!!!. Don't you forget that, now get up and start looking for him!!" The leader of the group shouted. Another piped in, a woman who seemed a bit calmer and wore a goat mask with a set of 3 horns and menacing eyes. She folded her arms with a delightful smirk. "By the time the master is done with him, there will be nothing left of his corpse, oh, but we should ask for a bite before it comes to that." She hungrily licked her red-stained lips as she stared at her colleague with sinister intent. "For now, we should search this place till we find the brat, can't have him dying on us yet, I want a nibble." The woman giggled.

  Kana watched from behind the foliage as they all split up to search. Kana sighed. 'What a pain, I'll have to steer clear of those weirdos, ' she thought, ready to circle them before noticing her arm. The gems on her body glowed brightly through her clothes, making her notice the rest glowing all over her body in shock. Every one came to life with a powerful glow, and she hurriedly pulled up her sleeve and walked around in a circle as the green faded fast but quickly came back as she spun around.

  Having forgotten the strange group of strangers, Kana stared at her arm, watching the gem grow brighter as she ran off from the path into the woods in the opposite direction from Igarashi. The light was practically blinding Kana at this point as she searched the area for anything out of place.

  .

  "damnit, still nothing." Kana squinted at her arm as the green shone through. She wondered if the dumb thing was mocking her.

  She clicked her tongue with a scowl as she looked around again, this time looking up in trees as well as small openings, caves, and such. Giving up, she turned to find the path again, groaning with irritation when she kicked something. Looking down at her boots, Kana instantly crouched down to pick up a small chain necklace that hung a ring and held it up to her gem, hoping this was what it was leading her to, but to no avail, she blinded herself, realizing it wasn't what it wanted.

  Kana crouched their rubbing her eyes, now seeing black spots in her vision, she groaned." Why have I not ripped these stupid rocks out yet?" She sighed as she slumped a bit before completely falling backwards and lying down on the grass in thought before looking up at the sky. The sun began to set, and she needed to hurry before she came into contact with an earth dweller. An earth dweller is an underground dwelling scaled worm that can grow up to 30feet in length and could eat people hole, they live in damp caves and or burrow large holes in the ground, and are VERY territorial. Judging by the number of caves and burrow holes she found previously, things were not going to be pretty after dark.

  Looking around again from the grass. "There's nothing here, so why-" Kana whipped her head back around so fast you'd think she'd get whiplash laying her eyes on a pair of small "feet?" she mumbled. Sticking out from an earth dweller's burrow lay a pair of feet. Hesitant to touch them, Kana wondered if they were already dead and the earth dweller was saving the rest for later in favor of finding something more nutritious cause judging by how boney they're feet and legs looked, they were not an appetizing meal. Kana grabbed an ankle and stood up, pulling a small unconscious boy out from under the dirt.

  Kana stared at the boy, who was still intact as he dangled upside down by her hold in confusion. "What a strange boy, he must not have known the danger of sleeping in a burrow." The chances of finding an absent burrow were a fifty-fifty, and Kana felt surprised he survived even a minute. It was beyond her, not that she showed it. She mumbled to herself, contemplating if she should put him back, not wanting to deal with the headache it would bring, before something inside her decided against it in favor of just dropping him off at the closest house or shack, before stopping her thoughts entirely and REALLY looked at him.

  Lying him down in the grass, Kana looked over the boy seeing all the cuts and bruises that littered his skin as well as his tattered and ripped clothes, his head seemed to be bleeding and a few shards of glass shoved in his leg, he had 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his legs and feet in the shape of hands and a good amount of skin missing from his forearms, the poor kid looked like he was mangled to death and was barley holding on. "Okay, maybe not in one piece. what happened...tch" Kana scrunched her face and mumbled under her breath with a few curses here and there as she examined his body for more injuries.

  The boy had jet black hair and a beauty mark just to the left of his mouth and was fair-skinned. Kana sighed as she lay her hand on the boy's stomach. A soft white glow outlined her hand, and the cuts began to close, the bruises faded into almost nothing, but the rest of the damage done to the boy would need professional help. As Kana finished and checked his pulse, she felt a small spark, as if there was almost an electric shock between her and the unconscious boy. She examined the boy for any form of identity, an insignia, or an obvious birth mark, a feature that would give away his race, so she could drop him somewhere they could help him get back to where he came from, nothing. Flipping him onto his stomach, she lifted his shirt to see his back, but pulled back almost immediately, making the boy slump against the dirt. Slowly, hesitantly pulling down his shirt collar, Kana couldn't think of what this could mean.

  Stuffing the necklace into her pouch, Kana cradled the boy in her arms so gently it surprised her; she was never good at being gentle or even caring. Staring at the pale boy's face for a while, Kana decided she'd give in to her strange behavior just this once and made her way through the shrubbery, finally seeing the downpour kingdom. Ignoring how the light on her arm died out completely, Kana set off for Igarashi with the boy in her arms to get treatment, as questions swarmed in her head about her discovery.