Skyswimsky

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance

An unnatural void

"████?" She called the girl's name.
"Huh?" The girl looked up. Her face blank.
"Is everything alright, honey? Your face went all pale." He joined the conversation in worry.
"I..." The girl hesitated. For a fleeting instant, her entire being felt utterly, thoroughly, confused. "I..." She smiled. "I'm good! Don't worry, let's just dig in!" Without further ado, the family of three clasped their hands together and made their prayers. Words that the girl wcouldn't comprehend, but happy nonetheless — which was all that mattered.

Happy memories, and many more to follow...

---

Her vision was blurry. Her body in pain. Her head was ringing. The voices hastily talking beside Muu not helping her cause. Something smelled bad. Disgusting. Green? Red? Did it matter? Was she dying? No. Someone held her firm, but gentle. Urgh. Why couldn't they just let her sleep? Everything was uncomfortable, at least in her dreams she could feel at peace.

---

"Mommy, I'm scared..." The girl flinched as she witnessed the lifeless iron change into a fierce orange-white. It was warm.
"You know we love you baby girl!" The father responded.
"It might sting a little, but it's all for the best. You're a strong girl, aren't you" The mother gave her a warm smile.
"But but..." Wasn't this wr- No. She was a strong girl! And her parents loved her. This was just part of growing up. It was wonderful! "Fine! Bring. It. On. I, ████████, won't even cry!" Exposing her thigh and putting a piece of fabric into her mouth, she was ready for anything!
"We love you!" In unison, the two adults thrusted the iron forward.

It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.
Hot! Hot! Hot!

---

Cold! "Pwuah!?" The water was cold! In an instant, the brunette felt awake. Firm hands holding her. "H-Hey!" She wanted to complain, but only a whisper came out of her mouth as a bunch of weirdos scrubbed her clean in rough fashion. "It hurts..." Speaking those strangely familiar voice, Muu could feel an immense pain coming from her stomach area. Yet, before she knew it, her consciousness already drifted away again.

---

"N-No!" The painful scream of her mother.
"STOP!" The pitiful wrath of her father.
"Urgh..." The crimson of red.
It began in an instant, and was over in a second.

The blood of her parents splattered over the little girl's face as she could only watch helplessly. Words couldn't describe what she felt right now. Anger? Fear? Grief? Denial? All of it together? Did it even matter? Even as every single cell in her body told her to run away, her legs were weak. She could only watch as the raven-haired man with a silver strand that broke into their home cleaned his blade on her mother's favourite dress. And then he turned to her. Slowly, but surely.

"N-No..." The girl stammered as she tried to get away. Her weak legs pushing against the crimson floor. "S-Stay away...!" But the one who ruined her happy place did not stay away. Instead, with five quick steps he already towered above the girl. Crouching down to her height, the girl prepared for the worst — yet it never came.

"Good enough" He said instead, lifting her chin up as to inspect her closer.

---

"...!" In an instant, Muu jolted up. She was awake, in bed, alive. Everything seemed (relatively) okay. Right. The forest, her two companions, the gate, and then... this? Not to mention just now, didn't she have a bad dream? The brunette wasn't quite sure, couldn't remember. All that was left were a hunch of strange feelings in her chest.

White light from the outside indicated it was day-time. Just how long had she been out...?

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance

Higher and higher, Muu had situated herself above Matteo and Ash. Sitting on a strong branch, resting, safe. Safe, for the first time ever since they had been assaulted by the goblins. She did not even dare to think about what kind of threatening forest animals could climb trees. Certainly not wolves.

More-or-less getting comfortable on her branch, the girl could finally feel a stinging pain in her cut hand as the shimmering wolf made its appearance. Tensing up, she mentally prepared for the worst. Maybe if they'd get a jump on it... yet, it never happened. The animal decided to rest below them.

It took Muu a while. Waiting in silence, exhausted, tired. Her eyes falling shut multiple times just to open them moments later. An hour? Just minutes? The brunette had no way to tell, and in the end, with her eyes closed once more, she finally fell asleep.

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance

"Y-You don't sound f—" Muu flinched at the sudden sound of a howl. Hadn't the fight against the goblins be enough? Didn't they deserve a long, long, moment of peace and tranquillity? Apparently not. The howl seemed rather distant though, so they would be okay, right? Right.

With the party unvoluntary stopping, Muu more-or-less fidgeted around as she perked up her senses, making the surrounding scenery just that more frightening. The boy's suggestion didn't sound all that wrong. They were safe...er on trees, right? But how were Ash and Matteo supposed to get up? Oh, of course...

"Owh!" Clearly not appreciating Matteo's clumsiness, she nonetheless complied to his request. "B-But aren't wolves usually in packs? Or if it's a very big, bad, wolf!? I think a tree is safer." She pretty much whispered the last sentence, nonetheless ready to help Ash up as well.

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance

Forward. Forward. Forward. As the two girls supported each other, with Matteo behind, all Muu could think of was getting home as fast as possible. The sole thought of getting closer to their goal with each step she took was the one and only driving force that made her body move. Sure, physically she was less hurt than the other two, but mentally? Not even Muu could tell.

Thus, she comfortably dismissed the grim possibility of being surrounded by complete darkness. Of potential goblin pursuers that would have likely no problems catching up to them. Or even the likely scenario some menacing animal could make their life even harder. She just had to move forward. To the safety of the city. It was in that direction, right? Right?

It became a lot harder to blank out all of this when Matteo started to talk, however. Apparently trying some sort of small talk to alleviate the situation? Well, he did a really terrible job at it upon mentioning how he was lost and how they'd MAYBE reach safety. For a moment, Muu stopped in her tracks. A mix of frustration, fear, but also anger boiling up inside her as she clenched her one healthy hand. Although quickly decided to just keep moving, grimmer than before.

When Ash joined in, however, the brunette also became incredibly confused. MMO? DPS? Off-tank? If not for the seriousness of the other girl's tone then maybe Muu could have brushed it off as some sort of insider joke. But, considering her wounds, Muu now asked worriedly. The raven-hair got hit the worst after all. "A-Are you okay? Do you see any weird colours? Strange sounds?" Muu had no clue what people went through when they hit their head too hard and started hallucinating, but likely something along those lines?

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance

Muu's head was full, yet blank. A chaos in a void. Questions. Self-blame. Insecurity. Anxiety. Paranoia. Why I am here. What am I doing. What will the others think. I'm not strong enough. I don't want this. I'm horrible. Please don't look at me. Look at this scrub drowning in self-pity.

With each passing second, Muu could feel herself drifting further and further. Maybe if she pretended long enough, the others would just walk aw-

It was warm. Her voice soft. There was no malice, judgement, or hatred in Ash's voice. With a sob, Muu slowly lifted her head and looked up. Had the girl always been so bright? She was right though, they had to move. With a weak nod, Muu grabbed Ash's hand and was ready to move on.

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance

All it took was a single hit for the goblin to flee. The brunette stopped registering what her companions did as, way too slowly, she got up on her feet too. The rage was still burning, the adrenaline still pumping. All Muu wanted was this thing to be dead, dead, dead.

Trying to give chase, the girl didn't get far as she tripped on some roots. Get up. She thought to herself. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up! But her body refused and, instead, slowly calmed down. They were safe. No longer had to fight for their survival. Her entire body hurt yet, it wasn't the worst.

"..." Curling herself into a bloodied ball Muu felt like she wanted to scream, but ultimately ended up just quietly sobbing.

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance

The goblin blocked her attack. The goblin was not dead. Muu couldn't believe it. The pain in her hand didn't matter. The fact she likely saved Ash escaped her mind. Instead...

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" Muu cried out in annoyance, pain, and anger. This wasn't what she wanted. Not what she had expected. Somehow, deep inside her, the prospect of fighting was an exciting thought. But this? No... this was... not what she had envisioned. It was wrong.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" It did not stop, her fluffy and big scarf making it quite difficult to strangle her, the girl let go of her blade. Falling to the ground, with the goblin on top of her, she couldn't even feel its sharp claws pressing into her flesh, or maybe it just made her that much angrier.

Grabbing the next best object she could feel, likely a stone, Muu tried to hit the goblin with it. "DIE YOU GODDAMN PIECE OF SHIT!"

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance

These... these things were no mere beasts! The goblin didn't flail itself in pain. It didn't slow down from exhaustion. It continued. It continued and continued and continued. Even after the flames seared its flash. Under other circumstances, a drawn-out fight, surely, she could have won. But here? She wasn't alone. There were others. And what would they think of her if that kept up? Her incompetence. Her weaknesses. Her whole being. All the girl wanted was approval. And the dead did not approve of the living.

There was no time. Using her already damaged hand to block the flying knife from any potentially fatal damage, she braced herself for the pain as her body twisted around - In the same direction, the goblin ran. She still had her own blade. Free from the task of defending herself against the flying knife.

This time, she would do it. No fist. No pommel. No easy to dodge pierce. This time, Muu would slice the goblin, slice him in a way he could not recover from.

We're Killing God; Revealing Roulette Remix+ [IntChk]

All of my Yes!

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance

It hurt. It hurt a lot. Despite a part of Muu's old self being used to some pain, she was also not. Her Mentor taught her to avoid pain in the first place. Not only did she feel a numbing throbbing, but the creature was still vivid! Muu didn't even get a moment to collect her thoughts as the goblin shifted its stance while the girl's fist was still connected to its face.

She couldn't formulate a plan.
She couldn't care about her wound.
She couldn't even think about the pain.

But... maybe this was exactly what she needed.

There was no before or after.
Only the here and now.

She didn't think. She didn't feel. Her multi-hour combat session against her master made her body act by itself. As the goblin charged forward, Muu made a quick step to the side, forcing the goblin to pass with its momentum. Muu, on the other hand, did a quick twirl to gather some force herself. Aiming with the knob of her blade, which she still held in her healthy hand, against the goblin's head. Forcing it to fall into the fire rather than herself. A fledgeling Blade Dancer indeed.