[center][b]Ayn[/b][/center]

A branch smacks me in the face for the upteenth time in the past...however long I've been walking. I don't even know anymore. It has become uncomfortably dark and at this point I really can't even see where I'm going anymore. For all I know I've been walking in circles since I set out. I don't have good direction. It's one of the reasons I always travel with a group. That and I don't like being alone. When you're alone there is nothing to distract you from thinking, and thinking can be scary. Especially when you have things you'd rather not think about. 

The locals told me not to set out so late in the day, to wait until morning. But what did I do? I disregarded their advice and set out anyway, afraid of losing the trail of the two people in search of a cure for...everything, I guess. That's how the demons at the bar described it as. Recently I've been bored. Terribly bored. Books and exploring and meeting people just aren't doing it for me anymore. I need something bigger, a goal to work toward. Helping the people looking for a cure to the world's ills would definitely be something different. And surely I could be of some use. I do have quite a bit of knowledge. I consider myself smart and am quite handy, if a bit clumsy.

But back to the point. I left even though I was warned not to in order to track down the pair of do-gooders and instead became hopelessly lost myself. A bit ironic, no? I don't have a personal motivation to find the cure. I just want a new experience and way of life and to perhaps glean knowledge from the person working on the cure. 

Another branch hits me in the face. I am very tempted to give up and stop for the night, but I find these woods quite off-putting. It's a wonder I haven't been eaten. Or dismembered. Or anything else that happens to stupid people in suspicious-looking woods. Maybe if I wander long enough I'll find a clearing or the edge of these woods. Eventually the sun will come up. I can sleep then. Another thing I don't particularly enjoy--the dark. It hides things; usually unsavory things. And I guess I have bad memories associated with the dark, but it's not a big deal anymore. At least that's what I tell myself. 

"'Don't go' they said. 'You'll die' they said. 'It'll be fine' I said."
At this point I have been reduced to talking to myself, which is quite pathetic even for me. At least if that damn owl was here I wouldn't feel so crazy. I'd be talking to something, even if it doesn't understand me. Or maybe it [i]does[/i] understand me and just doesn't give a shit. I wouldn't know.
"Fucking idiot," I murmur under my breath. I would slap myself if the trees hadn't already been doing it for me for hours.

I freeze. There's a rustling coming from quite a ways behind me and to my left. It's too big to be a small animal, so by my extremely intelligent process of elimination I conclude that it must be a large animal. A bear. A person. A  woolly mammoth. Something.

In any case, I am now frozen in fear. Usually I would not hesitate to confront whatever is making the rustling noise, but it is dark. And I, a not-so-competant fighter, am alone. It's not that the rustling noise was very loud, but as I was already very scared and on high alert, it had sent a wave a fear through my body. Because I wanted to engage in neither fight or flight, I kept still. Whatever it was was far enough away that it should pass beside me without noticing my presence if only I can remain still.

I don't hear anything at first, but when I do the entity is much closer. Whatever it is, it is very stealthy. I slowly peer around the tree I am hiding behind only to see that the entity is much closer than I calculated. In fact the person-shaped creature is only about a dozen feet away from me. Adrenaline floods my system but I know if I try to flee now the person will surely hear me. It is at this point that everything that could go wrong goes wrong.

I hear a rustling at my feet and at the same time the sound reaches my ears something collides with my leg, throwing me off balance. I stumble away from the supposed attacker in fear, letting out a gasp before the ground shifts beneath me and I begin to fall, my face and the ground becoming parallel. In the split second before my face connects with the ground I spot my attacker: a rabbit. In that moment I realize that if I die, it will be not only because I am an idiot, but because a rabbit tripped me. A rabbit. And then my face and the ground connect. 

I am stunned for a few seconds, simply laying face down on the ground, until I realize that I have fallen directly into the path of the person I was hiding from. Adrenaline floods my dazed and confused brain and I squirm until I am lying somewhat on my side. If this is to my death then I want to see it coming. It then comes to my mind that perhaps I can convince the person standing above me to not kill me by saying something. Something profound or at least pathetic that might stall my death. I turn my gaze toward what I assume to be the direction of the person's face, though it is too dark to tell for sure. I open my mouth, ready to say the sentence that might save my life.

"...Hi."