Yisto fell back, immediately crawling away, his heart beating out his chest.
“Holy- Immy! No no no no.“
“Relax, Yisto.”
He froze at the voice.
The fox’s eyes had opened, her voice coming out as casually as ever despite being only a head. Yisto stared from her to the body now rising on its own, walking over for retrieval. It screwed her on like she were a helmet, the fox smiling wide the whole time.
“Whoopsie,” she said. “Had a little accident, there. My mistake, tiny paws.”
She giggled. A giggle that turned into a louder chuckle. A cackled laugh. Her voice sounded so-
“Yisto!”
He snapped to attention, the ground smacking against the back of his head. An arrow was embedded in a tree just above him. He didn’t know where it came from or who, but Immy was on top of him, her sword drawn and fangs bared. The scar from her head removal was nonexistent.
“I-Immy?”
She looked at him with relief. “Yisto. Are you-“
Her blade swung, cutting through an arrow. He finally noticed the shooter then, a bow trained on the both of them. Several of them.
“Crap. We gotta go.”
She yanked him up, pulling him away as more arrows came flying. What was going on? Why wasn’t she headless? And why when he looked back did he see several people in masks? More than he could have possibly missed no matter how freaked out he’d been.
“Yisto! Stay with me! Stay with me, now!”
He didn’t know why Immy was screaming those words. Nor did he understand why there was a bitter taste in his mouth.
The masked people screamed behind them, their armor clattering and crushing grass. A shadow of black lurched forward, Immy pulling them away as it clipped a nearby tree. She shouted some incantation, waves of grass shooting out towards them all.
“Don’t look back or he’ll catch you again, Yisto. Yisto?”
He stared at her. Why did she keep calling him that?
“Are you talking to me?” he asked. It didn’t occur to him until then, but…What was his name, again?
Heat rose up behind them. His body tensed, gaze falling to see black shadows squeezing his legs
Immy flashed a spell, light burning the tendrils away as she scooped him up, taking off in the opposite direction. The shooters started catching up again, but that was the last thing on his mind as he was suddenly being carried through the strange forest.
What was it? Where? How’d he get there? No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t recall a single detail. He knew the woman. Vaguely. Her name, at least. He looked up at her face, noticing a wound on her shoulder. A gash on her cheek.
“Immy. You’re hurt.”
She smiled, squeezing him close. The voices grew louder behind them.
“Don’t let him get away!”
Immy shut her eyes, whispering another incantation.
“Arivasmetuva!”
Trees stretched around them, limbs growing into a net of trunks and branches. The shooters slowed down, tossing out spells to try to cut through the foliage though it just kept growing in return. Immy sped up, the voices growing fainter and fainter behind them.
The fox halted near a small meadow, collapsing in front of a tree with blue fruit. She set him down against the trunk, wincing as she put a hand on her side. Another wound she’d been hiding.
“Imona!” one of the voices shouted from far away. “This doesn’t have to end this way!”
She bristled.
“Just hand him over, and you can go!”
Immy looked down at him. Her eyes felt so familiar. Comforting. Why couldn’t he remember how he knew her? Were they close? Related? She knelt in front of him, the fox’s gaze turning somber.
“Sorry, tiny paws,” she said. “Looks like you’ll have to make that trip without me.”
“T-tiny paws?”
Her eyes were shining, cheeks growing damp as tears ran down them. It made him feel even worse for not knowing why. She must have been someone he knew. Why else would he remember her name? Inry. Or was it Inny? Ingy? Invy?
The fox woman smiled.
“You’re gonna be on your own for a little bit,” she said. “You’ll be a real adventurer. Your goal is, don’t get caught. If you see guys in armor, you run, Yisto. Run your tail off. And don’t stop! No matter what!”
She stroked his head. Why? Why couldn’t he remember her name? He reached out to her, the fox taking his hand.
“Don’t stop,” she repeated. “I’ll find you when I can. Wherever that is.”
“Imona!”
He could see something rising in the distance. Like an inky black shadow. It spread out in all directions, though the woman kept her gaze on him, pulling him in for an embrace.
“Stay safe, Yisto,” she said. “For me. Tiluvon giu.”
The black shadow spread, falling to the ground and stretching out towards them. But she was already moving away. Straight towards it. He felt his senses rise, all instincts telling him to stop her or he’d never see her again.
But it was already too late.
It rose around her the second they touched her feet, the woman smiling as she stepped away. He wanted to shout at her. He didn’t know why. But the world was already shifting around him.
He felt the grasses change. The sounds of arrows replaced with buzzing. His hand held in the air as he tried to reach out for a reason he had long since forgotten. It was all he could think to do.
Imm…ry.
He fell into the grass, staring up at the sky. The clear blue shined bright above his head. As he looked up at the clouds, a single thought rose in the back of his mind.
Who…am…I?
He felt something in his pocket. He didn’t know where it came from or why he had it, but when his fingers came out, he had a card with a name written out. A nametag.
Note: New Chapters dropping every Sunday. Feel free to leave comments, critiques, praises, favorites, ect. if you’d like. Watches and shouts are also welcome. ^^
