No matter how much I squirmed, I tried shoving her off, however, her conviction was so intense, no matter what I did, she wouldn't budge.
"S-St-... Stp..."
Her eyes widened as she exerted more force against my adams apple between her thumbs.
Was this girl seriously thinking of killing me? I thought she was as no matter how much I squirmed to release myself, my efforts were futile.
It was only a few moments after, her grasp slowly loosened that I took the opportunity to grab her by the shoulder and shove her aside.
Rolling onto my other side as I use my arms for support; wheezing, choking as I cough several times in my attempts to circulate air back into my lungs, I look to the girl who's now lying against her side, huddled up.
"..."
Without a sound, she simply laid there un moving as I assumed she may have bumped her head or something. Despite her attempts to choke the life out of me, I was concerned. After all, she was a child.
"H-Hey... aa-are you, all right?"
Talking itself was difficult as I almost choked.
"S-..."
A soft almost inaudible voice came from her as I leaned closer.
"S... s... o... rry."
Slowly getting up, she took one look at me as she walked towards the fallen items and gathered them up before heading over towards the stove.
"...Sorry, huh?"
Sitting down as I patted around my neck, the pain still lingered as though she pierced the skin. Either way, the force she exerted was enough to leave a mark.
Tossing the items into the pot, she lit the stove with using flint as she then proceeded to pour a coloured liquid in before closing the lid. And like any other time I saw her, she sat nearby and simply watched it; even if she may have found it to be the most interesting thing in the world, she showed no such excitement.
"..."
Though almost choking me to death was a bit uncalled for, I walked up to her in my attempts to make amends, and apologise while also asking the reasons for her drastic action.
"...You're making something?"
Yet, I couldn't bring myself to so I sat nearby and simply gazed at the same scene.
"...Food, to eat."
"Hmm..."
When I implied about being hungry that other time, she left the room and returned with such ingredients to cook in a pot. Despite showing rather good hospitality, she proceeded to choke me after I lied, so it was in my best interest to stay on the side that does not irk her.
However, even then I wanted to know more about her. Despite the place being relatively large, it was home to no one else other than herself.
"What's it called, the thing you're making, a stew?"
"What's it called?" She looked to me, then back to the pot before looking down. "...Pot luck."
"Like, grab and eat whatever you get even if you don't like it?"
In some terms, it may mean throw whatever you have into a pot and see if it ends up edible. I hoped she wasn't referring to that.
"...Mm, I. I like it."
That was the first time I came close to seeing her show interest in something, no matter how small, she looked rather happy; although bittersweet, as though her memory of it lead to somewhere dark.
As the liquid bubbled rather ominously, purple fumes leaked out of the pot as she rose to open it. A rather earthy scent waft through the air as it reminded me of mushroom stew as she then placed it on the ground for us both to gaze at.
"Ehh..."
Thick like tar and coloured like an artists palette, several things were wrong I assumed, however, she didn't seem to have minded as she stabbed a fork in and took out a long tube like thing and ate it.
Unlike what she made before, this one was normal in a sense that the contents was hot as she took several huffs to eat it.
She then gave me a fork as I wasn't really that keen on joining her despite my growling stomach. However, the way she immediately ate that thing made it seem like it was irresistibly tasty. In a way, I thought it was uncharacteristically cute of her.
With one stab of my fork into the pot, I pulled out a terrifying thing that resembled the cap of a mushroom, however, the mushroom had teeth; a mouth that connects to a throat to a missing body.
"Hrk..."
I almost dropped my fork gazing at it as I attempted to try my luck with something else in the pot. However, she noticed what I had on my fork and watched. Not about to be choked to death again from doing something she may not have liked, I brought it up to eye level and stared at it.
"H-How do I... eat this?"
Asking her because I haven't seen such an abomination before, she shuffled over and poked her finger into its mouth. Running her fingertips around, she then used her own fork and ran a line around it enough for all the teeth to detach from it and pulled it out like dentures.
"This. You cannot eat. But, you can keep."
She placed the rather sharp teeth against the floor and then simply gazed at me as though the mushroom cap was ready to eat.
"W-Well, here goes... I guess."
I braced myself and plopped it against my tongue and chewed. I expected for it to have the soft texture of an ordinary cooked mushroom, however, it was rather muscular and chewy. Despite that, the taste wasn't terrible but edible.
"That was... interesting, was nice but."
...
After we ate, I stood by her as she washed the pot; though in a way I wasn't accustomed to. As though it was directly from a water source and not through a treatment system. It was clean enough, however, the difference was obvious.
As much as I wanted to at least help her clean, she fell silent and continued to do so herself. So I thought I should at least stay with her.
She helped pull a parasite from me, told me that I'd die within the following days before helping me to prevent it as we then shared a meal. I felt strangely comfortable with her even though I knew nothing about her. Perhaps it was because I knew nothing about myself either.
"So... you found me out there, right?"
Continuing from before, I never quite had my questions answered. Though I was content, curiosity still filled my thoughts as I wanted to know more about the situation.
"You were against the ground, perhaps for several days. There were already Gypeltuis living inside you."
"I see..."
With nothing else on me besides the clothes against my back, I had no ID, nor any connections beyond the forest. For some reason, I stumbled into here against my own will.
"You said this forest... No sane mind would enter, why is that?"
Observing the surrounding forestry from the window, a thick mist prevented me from seeing past the perimeter.
"Why else?"
She sat against the floor as she doodled against it with chalk.
"It's an unforgiving forest, everything can kill you. The ground will shift and crush your bones beneath it's weight. Trees will morph into monsters. Plants will shift to constrict and the animals will devour. Even the air you breath, will turn against you."
From one drawing to the next, she drew grotesque images; detailed enough as though she's witnessed it all before.
"If it's such a dangerous place, then... Why is it that you live here?"
"...Because," The chalk snapped before she tossed it aside as she then looked me in the eyes. "I have no where else to go."
"..."
As though she were a child who's been abandoned by her family, she remained here because there were no other options for her.
"No where else... But, isn't staying here rather dangerous?"
I asked a genuine question, because the monsters she depicted are out there. It's not like she can stay cooped up inside forever, like when she-
"...Wait a minute."
It was then I realised something rather horrifying yet heartbreaking all together.
"Why would I leave?"
She stood up and stared at me, though unlike the other times, I felt a strong emotion coming from her.
"Out there. There's no place for me. It's here, where I belong."
"..."
She told me monsters live in the forest; the forest itself is a monster, spanning for miles. However, she walked outside and found me before I woke up in her home.
"...What, what are you?"
There was a tale that went as so. Don't leave your house after midnight. If so you'll never return. The witch of the woods comes out to play. She will always find you. She'll make you experience both pain and joy; you'll find joy in the pain. The Witch does not age, nor does she weep. She does however feel sorrow when others pass.
"Are you..."
"I'm no one. I do not have a name, nor do I wish for one. All I want, is to stay here. Away from others."
"If that's the case... Then, why did you save me?"
If left alone, I would've died in a matter of days before becoming compost for the forest. She wouldn't have ever known, and yet, her words contradicted each other.
"...Because," she turned around before she looked behind to me "The state you were in. Reminded me of myself."
"...You, what do you mean..?"
She walked away, before pulling down a strand of a strange herb and snapped it in two before pulling out other items inside draws. She then grinded the dry herbs into a fine powder before adding it into a slimy mixture inside a vial. Rolling it around, it created steam as she added a single strand of her hair before drinking it. However, instead of swallowing, she spat it back out onto a large leaf like before as she rolled it up into a ball before coating it in another mixture.
"Here. If you want to know, what I saw. Take this."
In her hands was a slimy ball, something of which I would never eat on my own terms. However, she inclined as though she wanted to show me something. If it were anyone else that offered me such a thing, I would've strongly opposed against it.
But. Because it was her, I thought it was reasonable enough; however, I was still disgusted by it. That didn't change.
"...You want me to-"
My hand was already outstretched as she placed it upon my palm. Looking at it was terrible enough, so I closed my eyes and pushed myself to eat it. With something of such size, it's natural to want to chew it to a more appropriate level to swallow.
"Do not bite it. You must swallow it entirely. So it's together, when it passes your core."
"Y-You want me to choke on this?"
The ball was the size of a mandarin or a small orange, so it was absurd to even think about it.
"You may, or may not. At least, not for long."
Such words didn't reassure me of anything. So I thought hard on the situation and decided that there was nothing else I could do and so I simply followed her whims.
"Then..."
After several painful attempts of suffering; moments later, a sharp sting struck inside my head as my vision blacks out for a second before collapsing against the floor.
"..!?"
My vision went hazy, by the time I realised what was going on, she knelt beside me and placed her hand against my eyes before closing them. Then shortly after, a strange string of incoherent words were spoken as they reverberated in my mind as I fell unconscious shortly after.
...
When I came too, I was back in the middle of the forest; however, my whole perspective was different. As though I was suddenly a child once more, I was looking out from somewhere different. I couldn't lift a finger, nor could I do anything else except watch as the events unfolded before me.
Two men in suits carrying an unconscious body by his arms as one constantly checked their surroundings the other focused on dragging the body.
"Hey, shouldn't this be enough?"
One spoke, as the other ignored him for awhile; or perhaps he simply didn't hear as his attention was solely fixated to his surroundings.
"Oi, are you listening?"
"Shh, keep it down, all right? You don't know what'd happen if one of them hears us..."
"Tsk, whatever, let's just stop. Should be fine here."
Stopping in their tracks, they toss the body before them as the man was out cold enough to not even flinch.
"A-Are you sure? We don't want him to come back and-"
"No matter how tenacious he is, th' bastard would be gone tomorrow. Let's go."
As one spat on the body, the other looked relatively conflicted; as though he was having second thoughts. However, they stormed off, leaving the unconscious man behind.
...
"W-What..."
I woke up as though I was in a long trance as I attempted to piece together what occurred moments ago. It felt like distant memories were returning.
"T-That... that was..."
The girl was sat beside me as she glanced over.
"It's what I saw. Some days ago."
"Days..."
A sharp pain struck my head as attempted to sit up, two men were the perpetrators as they clearly knew they could dispose of someone here without getting their hands dirty.
"...Who, was that?"
I asked her as she blankly stared back, as though the answer was obvious. It was clear to me, however, I didn't want to accept it; I couldn't. I laid back down and as dozens of questions paced through my mind, I rested my arm against my eyes.
"That was-"
"I know. That. That was me."
With no memories to work with, the reason as to why remained unknown. For some reason, I was disposed of like trash. The worst part was that I didn't have anything to say against it.
"I don't suppose you know why?"
I asked her as she momentarily replied with a simple, "I do not".
Heaving a heavy sigh, I slowly rose and glanced at her as I placed my hand upon her head.
"Thanks."
Without any reaction besides looking up at my arm, I slowly rose and stretched my weary muscles as the lingering pain in my head still persisted.
"Can I... ehhh, is there anywhere I could wash up?"
Preferring to not dawdle too long on the matter, I decided that a bath could help my body and help push the tension away.
"Hm."
She rose to meet me and then walked away as though asking for me to follow. From one room to the next, I was soon lead downstairs via a rather dark, cramped passage as the only source of light was through a small candle atop of an old fashioned holder.
Not knowing what to expect, I simply followed her quietly until we came into an opening. An underground lake where the thick roots of trees can be seen wrapped around the ceiling and walls; as grass and various flowers grew against the floor.
"What..."
I was taken aback and was honestly a bit terrified, to see so much greenery underground; as though I've walked into the belly of a forest monster. I soon realised that perhaps it was where the water's supplied.
Crouched beside the lake, she dipped her finger in and swirled it around like a child playing about as I joined her side.
"What is this place?"
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