When I Met You

Chapter 1- Forgotten

July 10th, X777, Somewhere in a forest

"Celeste, where are you?" Lucy has been wandering around the forest for days, looking for her mother. She frowns and sits down on the muddy. "Did I do something wrong?" She feels her eyes crystalize and for the first time in years, she sheds some tears. She pulls her scarf to wipe away the tears and takes a deep breath. She takes a look at her clothing. Her scarf, which consists of a black, blue, and gray pattern, some sweats and a shirt. All of them freckled in some sort of mess. She sighs and gets up. She puts on her boots and brushes off the dirt on her clothing.

Lucy glances at the sky and sighs. "I lost track of time again. I can live off eating the sunlight, but some meat can do me some good," she mumbles. She had been searching for her mother for a few days but came up empty-handed each time. At first, she had not thought much of it but it soon turned to be her worst mistake. When her mother had not returned for the first few hours, she became frantic. But when hours stretched to days, she felt abandoned. She decides to venture deeper into the forest to search for some animals or other edible food. She manages to find some berries and mushrooms and brings them to the clearing.

She wipes the sweat off her forehead and hears some running water. She heads to the sound and finds a river. She leaps with joy but shortly frowns. She had nothing to catch the fish with. Popping like a light bulb, she finds some heavy rocks and smashes it against the tree. After prying off some bark, she sharpens the wood into a solid stake. She takes off her boots and heightens her leggings to her knees and walks into the water. She grimaces suddenly from the cold contact but keeps going. Immediately, she struggles to catch any of them. Finding, she is always off by an inch or two.

She sighs in frustration but refuses to give up. She remembers reading somewhere how refraction affects the appearance of the object. She widens her eyes in surprise before putting her idea to the test. After a few attempts, she is rather successful in catching a few. She grins while getting out of the water. Heading towards the clearing with the fish, she feels a sense of nostalgia. her mother had always taught to be never reliant on others. It is thanks to those troublesome lessons, she finds herself managing to survive. She places the fish down on some large leaves and plops to the ground.

Her heart aches terribly. The fear of abandonment plagues her mind. Feeling the need to shed more tears, she lets it flow. It's okay to cry. It lets you know what's wrong and what you need to do. But you can't keep crying forever. You have to get up and tackle it head-on. She hears her mother's words. She smiles and wipes her tears.

"Mom's right. I can't cry forever. I'll have to find her myself and get some answers." Lucy's smile enlarges more at her new goal. She decides to find the ingredients for the fire and sets off. After getting them, she starts the fire and cooks the fish. Eating sunlight or the moonlight would be a good solution to feeding her, but her body needs more proteins and vitamins than those can give her. After cooking the fish, she nibbles on them rapidly. Despite the lack of seasoning, it still retains a good flavor. Alongside the fish, she eats the mushrooms. Opting to save the remaining fish and the berries for the morning, she gets up and adds more fuel to the fire.

The night shines vividly on the young child. Lucy feels a sense of tranquility as she dazzles upon the stars. Remembering how she and her mother stargazed, Lucy smiles profoundly. The area is soundless apart from the gentle howling winds. She notices none extremely dangerous animals that would potentially harm her and contemplate her subsequent actions. She remarks some thicker trees. She decides to climb up on one of the trees and steadies herself on the branch. Gathering some larger leaves, she makes a quick makeshift blanket. Settling down, she yawns and doses off.

Dawn of the new day arises swiftly. Several dashes of color mixing into one and stop. The soundless forest fills up with chirping birds and many morning calls from different animals. Lucy's eyes twitch before slowly opening her soft eyes. She takes off the blanket and stretches her arms carefully. She slowly climbs down and eats her breakfast. When she is done, she ponders on her plans. Well, I need money and resources to find Celeste. Not only that, but I need to get stronger. Even if I am 11, I need to do with what I have. First, I need to find people before I do anything else. She decides. Lucy gets up and closes her eyes. With her heightened senses, she sets off in a random direction.