Chapter Text
Hands reached for her, trying hard to catch her. Her eyes were blinded by the bright light of the torches. Her ears filled with the voice of screams and shouts.
“Don’t let the witches get away!” cried the angry preacher, who led the furious crowd.
The terror in her mother’s eyes torments her.
“We can still make it mama! Just a little more and we will reach the woods!”
“It 's okay cariño, te amo.”
“It’s just a bad dream.”
Panting heavily, Luz bolted awake from the nightmare. She quickly glanced at her surroundings for any danger, only to find Stringbean floating beside her, looking worriedly at the disheveled girl.
Stringbean’s voice echoed in her head again: “It was just a bad dream Luz. You Ok?”
“Yeah buddy, I’m fine. Just the usual, if you know what I mean.”
The snake-shifter’s little ears drooped as she leaned on Luz’s cheek to comfort the girl. Stringbean was the only one who could understand how much Luz had been through and how she was always haunted by those nightmares.
Luz smiled at her companion’s efforts to make her feel better and patted her on the head. She then began packing her stuff up to get a move on. Going back to sleep is nearly impossible for her on these nights since the only thing it brings is more nightmares.
She didn’t have much stuff to pack though since she traveled light. She only had to put her journal away in her bag where her medical herbs and favorite book were. She then wrapped her cloak around herself and tried to resume her journey.
Walking among the long trees, only having the moonlight to lighten the path was both beautiful and scary, considering she was strolling casually in one of the most mystical forests in the whole Isles. Anywhere near the Titan’s head was considered fairly dangerous and people tried their best to avoid getting near it, not wanting to offend any of the mighty Gods and Goddesses.
She didn’t care about that stuff and that was exactly how she was able to meet one of the best people in her life.
~4 years ago~
Running, hiding and trying to survive in the wild was all she had done for the past week, or at least that’s what Stringbean says. All she remembers of those days is the awful flashbacks of the last time she saw her mother. It was a lot to handle for a 14 year old girl.
That was how her life would have gone on like if she was never saved. One day when she was walking barefoot and disheveled, she found herself lost in a part of the woods she had never been to, as if she had unwantedly entered a new part of the forest. She tried to find her way back to a more familiar place, only for it to be to no avail.
At last when she gave up, she stopped wandering and slumped under a huge tree with Stringbean comforting her and encouraging her to rest a bit.
She was filled with negativity. All the things she’s recently been through, the uncertainty about her future, all the anger, pain and sadness had been eating her alive. The comfort of knowing the way was the last thing keeping her intact and it was taken from her, pushing her into a breakdown.
Suddenly, she could actually feel how the negative emotions’ heaviness on her heart was lessened as she heard the most beautiful melody known to mortals.
Stringbean turned and looked at the voice’s direction, charmed by the beauty, yet checking the area cautiously in case she needed to protect Luz. Luz though had lost any regard to her safety, enchanted by the rhythm and the melody. She began tracing the source of it to find whomever was playing the masterpiece.
“Is it one of the deities? Is it a lost muse? How can such a beautiful rhapsody exist?”
As she got closer, she saw the violinist. Talented as they seemed, the instrument did not seem nor sound like a normal violin. It sounded soothing and magical. She got closer and hid behind a boulder, watching and soaking all the positive and calmness she could.
She was now out of the woods and near a lushy little hill. That person was sitting a few hundred meters away, playing the violin with their soul and mind, drowning in the zone. It was such an amazing thing to hear or watch to be honest.
She wanted for the rhapsody to never end. She leaned on the boulder and closed her eyes as Stringbean rested on her lap. Everything felt different, even the Sun seemed to beam brighter.
She wasn’t under any spell and knew she’s dropping her guard, but couldn’t bring herself to care. Her brows furrowed though when the pause in the piece became longer than it normally was. Her eyes shot open to go check on the musician, only to find their place empty. As she stood and began searching for them, she felt like she wasn’t totally alone.
A light tap on the shoulder was all it took for her to shrike. She cried out and jumped back, as she turned around, her eyes were met by uninterested glowing ambers.
The woman standing in front of her was considerably tall and dressed in a fine white fabric with golden linings which was loosely wrapped around her body. She also had a golden fang (!) which matched the color of her nails and eyes, an eye color she had never seen before. Her skin was pale and her long fluffy orange hair with its gray strands seemed like dust and glowing embers.
The woman’s eyes changed from neutral to a bit concerned.
“Ya deaf, kid? Are your injuries serious?”
That brought Luz back to her senses. She started to panic.
“Yes miss, ma’am! I’m sorry, I was just wandering in the woods and got a little lost. I’m not looking for any trouble! And my injuries are fine and healing. My friend is an expert and helped me patch myself up! Speaking of, I’m not alone. I have a little companion and we both want no trouble. Just passerbys, passing by! Am I talking too much? I am talking too much. Have you seen my companion by any chance? She is a lovely little snake and I will take my leave as soon as I find her.”
The stranger seemed bored, staring at the little girl in front of her. “Breathe, kiddo. I won’t hurt you as long as my questions are answered. Lost, you say?”
Luz looked at her, a little fidgety. “Yes, I had to get away from Bonesburrow, so I headed into the woods and eventually got here.”
The woman raised an eyebrow. Had to get away?
“Alright kid, relax. Why don’t you tell me how you ended up with one of my old friends sitting out here and then we’ll figure out what to do with you, alright?”
Luz was intimidated by the strong woman. “O-Of course! Wait, what friend?”
Her eyes widened though as the woman started searching for something in her hair and casually pulled out a purple creature, who turned out to be Stringbean.
Stringbean started wiggling, hissing angrily but not intending to hurt the woman at all, which seemed weird.
“I can’t really understand little beanie anymore since she is mentally connected to you, so why don’t you tell me what’s going on and what happened to Camila? The sooner you fess up, the better.”
She let go of Stringbean, watching as she slowly floated towards the girl and wrapped herself around her neck loosely, offering comfort. The girl was awfully familiar, the similarities she and Camila had were undeniable and it made her deeply concerned about what must’ve happened.
She didn’t mean to make the little girl panic, but when she saw her taking off and running as fast as an angry slitherbeast, she knew she messed up.
“Shit.”