Lost Child of the Woods

Chapter 1

Drip…                         Drip.
Drip.

Small droplets of water fell onto an unconcious figure, stirring them from their deep slumber.

Their eyes refused to open, and their body would not move. Thoughts muddled, unable to resist the weight of sleep anymore, they fall limp as slumber embraces them once again.

A faint flash momentarily stuns them, as a vision dances through their mind…

Little one…

What was that voice..? Its soft melody sounded familiar, yet they couldn’t seem to quite grasp its origin..
A green mass suddenly appeared in front of them, glowing with a light that seemed almost ethereal in nature.

Little one. Please, heed our call.

She realized it was speaking to her. Yet she found herself unable to respond, listening intently instead.
The mysterious energy seemingly perks up in response.

We haven’t much time. Ruin is coming to the Kingdom, lest you can stop it. You certainly have many questions, but we cannot afford to tarry. We will do our best to explain when you’re in a safer place.

‘W-What are you talking about..?’
They still couldn’t speak, though they notice the ethereal being in front of them seeming to glitch, the dream realm around them distorting.
The spirit ripples with shock and panic, as things become increasingly unstable around them both.

There is no more time, human! Go! And be careful!

Without warning, the dream realm fully collapsed on itself, forcing them back into the realm of consciousness.

The small, black figure began to stir in the underbrush. Their limbs felt heavy, and their thoughts groggy. They felt as though they had just awoken from a long rest.
Far above them, thunder rolled through the cloudy sky.
Stirred to action by the prospect of rain, they rose to their feet to stretch..

Only to be met with surprise as they stumble forwards, legs unable to support their weight standing up. Instinctively, they throw their hands out to break their fall.

‘W-wait, what…?’
Confusion overtook their shock. Standing on their hands and knees felt… oddly more comfortable?.

Finally opening their eyes, the figure found themselves in a small, wooded clearing. A quick look around finds them little for answers to their confusion.
‘This.. doesn’t seem right. I don’t usually sleep in the woods, I think… And what was with that weird dream? Was she really speaking to me? And why did she seem so familiar, yet so… Foreign all the same? It felt so real, too…’

No matter how hard they tried, nothing seemed to make any of it clearer. Letting out another disappointed sigh, they took a seat, looking down.

‘.  .  .  .  .’

A shrill shriek fills the air, as the confused human is filled with panic.
‘What the fuck, what the fuck, WHAT THE FUCK?!?’
Staring down at their hands, only to be met with cyan paws in their place.

“Why do I have paws-!?”
With a yelp, her paws snapped up to cover her snout, eyes wide with surprise.

‘Wh-why do I sound like that? So.. high pitched, and soft?’

Lowering her paws to the ground, she nervously attempted to speak once more.
“H-Hello?”

‘That really is my voice now .  .  . Oh, sweet Gods above.’

She spent a few moments experimenting with her new voice,shocked at how young and scratchy she sounds.

Getting up, she turned her head to inspect herself. She had a lithe, fox-like body,covered with dark gray fur. Around her neck and chest, there was a sort of… a black collar of fluff. 

Trying to calm down, she walked into the middle of the clearing. The above storm had now passed, and the late afternoon sun had started to beam down into the woods.

She blinked. Something didn’t add up.


How was her fur still dry? She’d just woken up here, and the grass beneath her paws was still damp with rain.She should have been soaked.

‘There’s no way I could still be dry. Unless I… wasn’t here the whole time? Just… appeared?? Urgghh, this shit’s hurting my head!’

Frustrated and unable to find any answers, she stamped her paw into the damp earth with an annoyed groan. It made a satisfying squelch.

‘Maybe someone around here could explain what’s going on. Hopefully this is all just another weird dream. I don’t know if I could even tell or not.’

More than a little worried, yet determined, she set off into the woods. 

Stumbling out of the undergrowth, the human-turned-fox found herself exiting the treelines.
Not far ahead lay a small village. Even from here, she could make out the sounds of conversations and busy townsfolk, starting to drown out the soft melody of the woodlands behind her.
Filled with a renewed vigor — and no small amount of relief — the young fox eagerly mades her way towards the quaint little town.

Passing row upon row of houses, she spotted ghostly figures flitting to and fro. It felt like a fantasy, come to life..

All around her were different types of strange, strange creatures. Over there, she saw a talking candle, its purple flame flickering in the wind. Nearby, a cloth puppet floated on the breeze, as if held up by invisible strings. And, of course, it was hard to ignore the puppies playing in the street, even if they were made entirely of bones.

It surprised her. She hadn’t really thought that being dead could make you so… alive. Despite appearances, this town was brimming with life all around her.
She’d barely seen half of the town before she was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts. A large, imposing wooden figure stepped out in front of her, regarding her with a singular, red eye that felt like it was boring into her very soul.
The ghostly tree bore a devious expression, his voice booming. She instinctively went to cover her sensitive ears.

“Well, well, well! What do we have here? A dark type! In our peaceful village, no less. Showing off your illusions, little lassie? Don’t you know that your kind aren’t welcome here? Strutting your way into our home, poking around like ya own the place! Who do you think you are, barging into places YOU aren’t wanted?”

‘A… dark type? Illusions? My kind? What ’the hell is he talking about, and why is he being so… aggressive about it?’ She shrunk back from him, lost and confused, not even noticing the small crowd that had begun to form.

“Well!? Anything to say for yerself, Zorua?” His snarling voice pulled her back out of her thoughts once again.


Thinking quickly, she tried to explain herself. Maybe if he knew the truth, he’d be nicer? “U-Uh, I swear I’m n-not here to cause any issues, I don’t even know the name of this city. I just woke up in those woods over there, I have no idea where I even am.”

He only seems to grow more irritated now, his voice raising over the hushed crowd.
“Do you really think I’d believe that? Your kind has a reputation around here! Trickery and lies! Nobody with ‘alf a brain trusts a fuckin’ Zorua.”

With a growl rising in her throat, she musters up enough courage to glare upwards at him.
“I’m not lying, I swear! I don’t even know what a Zorua is!”

The crowd around them spoke in hushed whispers, enraptured by the display She could barely make out what some of them said

“Treevenant is right…”  “A Zorua, here? How?” 
“Fuckin’ Dark types. They’re all lyin’ bastards.”
She couldn’t believe her ears. They were agreeing with him! She hadn’t even done anything to them, all she’d done was walk into the village!

Her anger faded into nervousness. Fear filled her heart as she looked back up at the Trevenant.
His smug expression shifted into a malicious smile. He knew he had her and the crowd right where he wanted them.

She was afraid.

Instinctually, she started to step back.
‘This is bad, really bad. They’re all on his side, there’s nothing I could even say to defend myself…’
Looking around, an idea formed in her head. What if she… just ran for it? Back into the woods. Hopefully they wouldn’t follow her there.

It was worth a shot, probably. Anything would be better than just lying down and accepting her fate.

Her mind set, she suddenly bolted forward, dashing under the Trevenant’s legs, vanishing into the crowd before anyone had a moment to react.

Far above the forest, the Moon was full in the Sky. Zorua panted as she stopped at the edge of a small pond, staring into the reflected beauty of that lunar satellite hovering above the world.
Sitting down to catch her breath, the dark fox finally allowed herself a moment to reflect.

‘Well… I… this is still a dream, right? This… isn’t real.. It can’t be! None of it makes any sense! I-It has to be a dream, b-but it.. Feels real.. Why does it feel so real?.’

Shaking her head, she glances down into the moonlit pond. An exhausted and weary face was mirrored on the water’s surface. It seemed so… Alien, yet familiar all the same.

‘That’s still me, right? It looks like someone just took my facial expressions and slapped them onto some weird fox..’

It was all so confusing, and her mind couldn’t seem to make heads nor tails of it, no matter how long she stewed. All those thoughts running through her head, each spiraling outward and downward, pulling the poor Zorua with them.

The human-turned-fox started to shiver, the weight of the day collapsing in on her as she heaved a heavy sigh.

Somewhere behind her, a twig snapped. In an instant, she was shaken out of her thoughts.. She instinctively scrambled into a defensive stance, raising her hackles.

“W-Who’s there!? P-please, just leave me alone, damnit! I d-didn’t mean to disturb you or anyone else! I-i don’t want any trouble, honest! I don’t even understand what your issue with me is!”

An eerie silence settled over the wooded clearing. The little pond was so still it seemed to become glass.. The Zorua could only hear the sound of her own heavy breathing, her mind still ragged from her spiral.

A dark chuckle echoed around her, its origin unclear. All of her instincts flared up, telling her to run!
Before she could even lift a paw, a dark, wispy ball broke through the underbrush, slamming into her. The ensuing blast sent her flying. For a brief moment, all she saw was her paws flailing above the water, before she plunged into its icy depths.


The Trevenant stepped out of the darkness, his red eye flicking to the bubbles rising to the surface. Behind him, the damaged brush slowly regrew, before finally the Zorua broke the surface of the water with a gasp.

“Well, looks like you can swim, after all. Good! I‘ll have more fun this way.”
The dark fox dragged herself to the shore, but she had no time to recover. The Trevenant’s claws dug into the scruff of her neck, lifting her up, his single red eye boring into her being once more. Paralyzed by fear, and far too worn out to resist by this point, all she could do was droop her head in defeat.

‘Is this really where it ends..? I-it can’t, not so soon, I still have so many questions, I need to know what happened to me! What that vision was about..!’


His voice once more breaks her out of her thoughts.
“Given up already, whelp? Pathetic.. And here I was hoping for a good hunt.”
He scoffs in disgust.
“It’s not often we get to chase dark types, after all.”

‘C’mon, think. Think! There’s gotta be something I can do! I can’t just give up like this!’ 

The primal fear in her brain seemed to stir an energy deep within her core…. It floated and shifted inside her. The energy surged forth, burning hotr within her, filling her with determination and hope! It coursed through her body, gathering in her paw.

“Well!? No final words, no struggle, nothing!? Disgraceful,, even by your kind’s pitifully low standards! Ah, but that doesn’t matter anymore. Now you’ll die, like the rest of your verminous race!”

Before he could make another move, she struck! Slicing her paw upward, her glowing claws sliced deep into the bark of her foe, falling to the ground as he grunts in pain.

Her face lights up with a triumphant grin, the energy within her feeling even more certain as she finishes the move. Landing on her paws, barely keeping her balance, she leapt back. Her victory was short-lived however, as she felt the Trevenant’s furious gaze fix upon her.

His right claw began to glow with an orange aura, before the Trevenant lunged towards her! Too slow to dodge this attack, his claw tore into her, her already depleted stamina draining even more.

As she crashed limply to the ground, tumbling a few times, she barely managed to raise her head to look up at him.

‘F-fuck. Th-that was just one attack… I n-never stood a chance..’
Her hope, weak as it was, had been blown out like a candle. Gone just as easily as it had come. Left with only despair, she felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. The edges of her vision begin to fade from black…


As she felt herself slipping away, the woods around her suddenly burst into flame.

‘What the.. What was that..?’

The Trevenant, his eye reflected the growing blaze around them, but inside was no longer angry. His eye was filled with fear. The fire almost terrified him.

A red, bipedal figure seemed to loom within the burning underbrush. Just as the fires burned around him, his eyes burned with a sly confidence. As he advanced towards the Trevenant, he said nothing, a menacing fireball clutched in each hand. He did not need to speak, the ghostly tree trembling with every step he took.

The flaming child effortlessly sent a blast of fire at the opposing Trevenant, the flames licking the edges of his bark before glancing forwards into the waters with a hiss of steam.
Howling in pain, the haunted tree plunged a root into the ground, a protective wall of plants sprouting to shield his retreat. Before vanishing into the treeline, the Trevenant gave Zorua one last glare, his red eye fading into the night.

‘Holy shit… I-I’m gonna live…..’ 

With Zorua’s vision almost fully faded, she could only give a weak glance to her savior before her head fell to the ground, darkness finally closing over her.