Mouse Tale: Into the Everbloom (Arc 1)

Prologue

Shadows bathed the densely foliaged floors of the jungle as the half moon crept higher into the sky, easing slowly towards its peak as the smaller, more full, moon followed behind. Small creatures scurried beneath the brush, soft skitters and the rustling of leaves drifting between the trees as the backdrop to the serene whistles of the midnight breeze that wound through the canopy. The silver glow of the moons pierced the thick veil of leaves and vines as pearly beams amidst the darkness. Few creatures peered into the light, let alone stepped into it, but those who did all shared a similarity; big or small, short or tall, ground or tree, wherever they may be, they were all looking to the sky. Radiant streaks of orange, gold, and blue streaked across the heavens, burning so brightly they all appeared white as they sailed through the atmosphere; racing celestial flares that fizzled into nothing but dust. The creatures watched, enamored by the sky and entranced in its display as the streaks of light shone in their gaze. Reflected within their eyes, a light that burned brighter than the rest soared through the sky; a lone streak of crimson, as brilliant as rubies. With the rest of the lights, it fell and fizzled, its erasure marking the end of the cosmic rain.

As the moons reached their peak, their silver light shining down onto the jungle below, the forest floor became dappled in pristine pools. The cool night breeze sang through the lush plant life, winding between the clearings of light and brushing against a figure lying in the center of one of these silver pools; a rather short woman, shorter than most, with a long, thin fluffy tail and two large mouse ears the color of light chocolate milk that twitched in the coolness of the wind. Simple clothes hung from her body, entirely plain in both appearance and quality; a thin white long sleeve shirt, loose brown pants, and worn down leather boots. Another gust of wind, and the girl began to stir.

With a soft groan, she slowly sat up. Tangles of soft milk chocolate brown hair fell across her face in messy bangs and tumbled to her shoulders in soft curls, a particularly troublesome clump standing tall between her ears. The large mouse ears twitched once more, the cowlick seemingly twitching with them, as a low cawing sound echoed through the night jungle air. Her eyes blinked open wearily, two irises like bowls of pink and yellow lemonade glistening and dilating in the silver spotlight of the moon; the black plum pupils constantly shifted as she squinted, looking around the clearing as the dark spots expanded and retracted in a constant search for focus. Continuing to glance around, a hand began rubbing her temple, groaning, "Ough...I can't see...anything..." To the girl, the world was a blur of silvery light and verdant darkness punctuated by a whistling breeze, the soft swaying of the foliage, hum of insects, and occasional call of some bird in the distance. Listening to the song of the surroundings, she muttered, "I...am...in some kind of...forest...or jungle...I..." she paused, stopped by the simple word that was only a single letter. "I..."

The girl's mind began to wonder, "Who am I? Where did I come from? How did I get here?" Yet each question, and each attempted search for an answer, all lead to the same result; as she tried to mentally rewind, to recall anything that may give an answer to any of these things, she found everything was simply black. The earliest thing she could recall was the touch of the cool breeze that woke her. "I'm..." she uttered, racking her brain for any idea of who she was, before a single word stuck in her mind, "...Oishi...I'm Oishi...Oishi...Atsukau...Yeah..." She sighed, nodding unassured to herself, "Yeah. Yeah...That seems about right." She wasn't entirely sold on it, but it's the only thing that came to mind, so...better than nothing. "Now...where...am I?"

This question was immediately followed by a quiet buzz and a slap to the sudden pinch on her arm. "Right, right, I'm obviously in some kind of forest...jungle...swamp?" Oishi quietly asked herself, head tilting slightly at each guess. It was pleasantly cool, but also rather humid. It felt as if a rain had just blown through and was still settling, though the ground wasn't wet enough to suggest such a thing had actually occurred; rather, it was all coated in a layer of mist and dew. Her tail flicked behind her as she slowly stood up, wobbling slightly, "Jungle...definitely jungle..." Swiping her hands over her thick legs and brushing away the debris from her sleep, pondering her situation as she glanced around the blurred visage of the landscape around her, "I wonder how I got here...I also wonder why I'm just waking up...It's not even ten minutes past midnight yet..."