Everything is fine. Just fine. Everything. Is. Fine. Nothing is wrong. I'm not lost. I'm just on a special little excursion. It's fine. It is fine. In fact, I'm sure if I take a right, right here, at this tree that I marked ten minutes ago, it will lead me right back to the path and get me back to my group and we can go back to town and I can go back to work and act of this little event never happened. Because it never happened. I didn't get lost. I can't get lost. I'm me! It's impossible for me to get lost!
And yet, no matter how much she tried to talk herself out of it, Adrila was well and truly lost. She had even picked up a sharp stone that she was using to mark the trees as she went by to only find those trees again. And again. And again. At this point, she wasn't sure if she was getting anywhere or if she was somehow trapped in a tiny circle that kept her going around and round and round. That's the only reasonable excuse she could come up with. She had a map and a compass and a plan and a backup plan and a backup for her backup but right when she found herself in unfamiliar forests, it was like everything stopped working or mother nature itself was against her. The compass needle kept spinning wildly, which made no sense- AT ALL! And some really strong wind ripped the map right out of her hands and took it away to then never blow again. Some foul magic had to be at play! That was the only thing Adrila could think of. Someone or something wanted her there in that forest and it was succeeding! She was not getting out of this place any time soon and she was so HUNGRY!
Adrila just conceded herself to roam the forest in a futile attempt to hopefully stumble upon something, anything helpful. She kept the compass out in front because every now and then, in between its bouts of wild spinning, the compass would pause for just a moment and point in one specific direction. She assumed that the magic, for whatever reason, had pauses in its effect and the compass was pointing north in those few moments of clarity. So she followed it, taking a moment to pause if she wasn't sure she was going in the right direction to only continue after being shown the way again. This continued for another twenty to thirty minutes, Adrila growing more and more distraught as time went on. It took everything she had not to pocket the compass and just flail through the forest, screaming at the top of her lungs for someone to come find her but that would be very unladylike and she couldn’t stand to be found like that, a sniveling mess of a woman who was very much out of control. So, for appearance sake, she kept going as her grip on the compass grew tighter and tighter. She had to be getting somewhere, right? If anything, she’ll eventually find the north pole at this rate.
By the time Adrila heard voices, she had twigs and leaves stuck in her long hair, dirt streaked across her cheeks and it was very obvious she had been crying a time or two. Her hair was disheveled from her having pulled at it quite a few times in a panicked state and the compass’s glass cover had been broken when she tripped and dropped it on a tree root. When the voices hit her ears, she froze. She had been walking for a good hour or two now and it had seemed like she would never get out of that accursed forest. Her feet were moving before her mind could catch up to what she was doing. Before long, she broke through the trees, finding herself on a crest of a small hill that overlooked what could only be described as rundown settlement. At the sight of the people below, she had to bite her lip to keep from crying. She was finally saved! No more roaming the forest for her! Finally!
She sprinted down the side of the hill, almost tripping up along the way, but kept her footing and continued her sprint. She found purchase on flat ground and started to make her way towards the villa. However, it seemed to be a lot further away than she had firsg assumed. Her excitment had taken her down the hill in a run and had carried her for a bit but after awhile, she couldn't keep the sprint up any longer and soon was speed walking as fast as her cramping side would allow. She could have sworn the villa was right there when she saw it on the crest of the hill! And yet, she's still going!
The speed walking eventually simmer down to exhausted strolling as she found herself slowly getting closer snd closer to the villa. Was this thing getting further away from her or something? Had she not gauged the distance correctly in her excitment? Was this another terrible spell to keep her trapped in that accursed forest? Why wasn't she there yet? Her feet hurt and her stomach rumbled loudly. She was tired and tears welledup in her eyes as she walked. She bit her bottom lip as she sniffled, trying to keep the tears from flowing. She was so close now. She just had to keep going.
Eventually, Adrila found herself finally getting close to the villa after about another thirty minute's time. Her excitment pushed her into a sprint despite her exhaustion. She pushed into the settlement, finding a small dwarven woman stepping out of one of the houses in a contemplative manner. She ran over to her, pausing just a few feet away as she bent at the waist, trying to catch her breath from the sprint. “E-excuse me,” she began as she held up a finger in the air before straightening and placing her hands on her hips while doing so. She took a deep breath, held it for a moment before continuing until her heart rate settled down enough for her to speak normally. “I’m sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you could tell me where I am. I seem to have gotten a little- lost.” She spoke the last word like a curse. She still hated the fact that she had gotten lost but having spent the last hour and a half wandering a forest despite your best efforts does not count as being not lost. She was very, very lost. Incredibly so. If it wasn’t for the compass, she would still be wandering that forest. She was thankful for that at least. She found civilization, or at least people. She found people.