Metanoia

Chapter One

[Flashback]

Fern walked down the hallway to her locker. School had just got out and she promised a girl named Snow that they'd go to the park to help each other study for a test. As she arrived at her locker next to the drinking fountain, she saw Snow running down the other hallway to meet her.
"Fern!" Snow said loudly. "Fern, there's an unscheduled choir rehearsal today...Mrs. Henton said we need a lot more practice. Sorry..."
Fern felt her heart drop a little. "Hey, its fine. I'm pretty sure I can help out in the library until you're done," Fern assured.
"Ah, alright then. See you in an hour!" Snow took off, running back down the hall. Fern turned around and started to unlock her locker. As she turned the combination knob, orange patterns started to appear on her locker door. The locker opened.
Inside, there was no sign of anything. Just a white room. Fern bit her lip and stepped in. The door closed and locked behind her. She turned around to see if she could somehow open the door, but it was gone. It was just filled in with the rest of the white wall.
"Snow?!" Fern called out desperately.
"Hah, nope. Good guess though," a female voice said.
Fern looked around the room. There was no one in there but her.
"I'm not in there, Fern. Although I admire your curiosity, there's no use looking for me. I'm in your head~" the voice cooed.
"Who are you? And where's Snow?" Fern said aloud.
"I can't tell you who I am, sorry. But Snow is perfectly fine! It's so cute that you worry about her more than yourself~"
Fern spun around when she heard footsteps behind her. Again, there was no one there. Except for two orange eyes, floating in the air. A wide smile appeared beneath them.
"Surprise~" hummed the figure in the same voice from Fern's head.
Fern rose her fists in defense, ready to hit if the figure came any closer.
"You can't hit me, Fern. But relax, you won't be here forever. This is only the beginning of your story." The face came closer. A wave of cold washed over Fern. She started to fall forward. The white floor beneath her opened into an orange portal. The portal was cold...and deep...
Falling...falling...falling...

[Present Time]

Fern's head spun. She started to push herself off of the ground. It was very muddy. Her eyes blinked open. Everything was so blurry...
She stood up unsteadily and held onto a tree branch for balance. She looked up. In front of her stood mountains and cliffs breaking the clouds. Waterfalls fell from every cave she could see. Vines and moss draped the edges of the cliffs. It was beautiful.
"Snow?! Snow!!" Fern yelled. Her voiced bounced off the mountains and echoed back to her. She turned around and ran into the forest behind her.
She came across an abandoned village after some running. She searched through the artifacts until she came across something useful. She pulled a worn leather bag from under a bed and a dusty book from a shelf. As she was about to leave, she spotted a silver sword. She grabbed its handle and yanked it free from the pile of trash above it. She found a holder for it and strapped it to her back.
As Fern continued running through the forest, she felt like something was following her. When she was sure it wasn't looking, she somehow jumped into a tree. It rushed around the corner and Fern dropped down, crashing the sword into its head. It fell to the ground, blood spilling out in purple puddles.
It seemed about five feet tall, and its skin was a faded Violet-blue. It had feelers coming from its head and fins on its back. It had a long cat-like tail coming from its lower back and very sharp teeth and claws. Fern looked in the book she picked up. Apparently the creatures were called Wilcans, and they lived in forests.
She turned away from the body on the forest floor, only to be greeted by several pairs of yellow eyes, all belonging to Wilcans. Fern lifted her bloodied sword, and the Wilcans came at her.
Two of them jumped on her and clawed at her skin. She pushed one off with her sword, and punched the other one. She stabbed the first one and slashed at the other. A third one came at her, and Fern shoved her sword directly into its stomach. Fourth and fifth ones slashed at her face and back, but she managed to kick the one behind her. The one attacking her face fell to the ground from the sudden movement and ran away into the bush. She cut off the final one's head and kicked the bodies to the side.
She looked around for a big leaf or something to clean off her sword with, but found nothing. Luckily, she heard the running water of a creek not far away. She ran in the direction of the noise, only to be greeted by another Wilcan. It snarled at her and started to jump, but Fern cut off its leg. It fell to the ground in pain and Fern stabbed her sword right through the Wilcan's heart.
She looked up from the body and saw the creek. It seemed clear and safe, so Fern jogged over to it. She leaned over and dipped the blade in the water. She started to clean it, but heard some loud rustling behind her. She turned around to fine three more Wilcans, all trapped by vines. Fern let out a relieved sigh. She killed the three creatures and went back to cleaning. Her sword looked as good as new, and the mud on the bottom was great at stopping bleeding.
Fern looked up at the sky. It was slowly turning to a soft pink as the sun started to set. She jumped up into a tree and started to settle down. She hung the leather bag with the book inside on a branch above her and she laid down on a thick branch. It was very uncomfortable, but it was safer than the floor. With her sword by her side, Fern closed her eyes and fell asleep.