Chapter Text
The sun danced on the grass carpet of the forest floor, as the leaves blew in the wind. Mira walked along through the woods, gathering firewood as Raphael had instructed. She had made ok progress, with several really good, thick branches that had fallen off trees. She had been out here for a while though now, at least a few hours. But still, she trudged on, deeper into the ever winding forest. She had almost completely filled up the satchel in which she kept the firewood she'd been collecting, when a snap from a few feet in front of her sent her into attack mode. Mira unsheathed her whip from her belt, poised in a defensive position. Upon facing the direction from which the noise came, she saw it was only a deer.
Mira, remaining ever cautious, stayed ready to attack. And for good reason to, as in but q blink, the deer had stood up on its hind legs, revealing the gold accents on its chest. Mira scooted back, remaining fierce eye contact with the mutant(?) deer. The deer had then, just as quickly stood up, fallen back on all fours and darted towards Mira. The young meerkat rolled to the side just before the deer could make contact with her, but just as soon as she registered what was happening, she saw it barrel towards her again. Mira scrambled to her feet, and bolted out of the range of the creature. By the sound of it, the deer had gotten its antlers stuck between some branches, but Mira didn't stop to check. She simply kept running.
It wasn't until she heard a loud metallic clank did she become aware of where exactly she was. Still concerned that she was being chased, she didn't come to a full stop but she did turn around to see that the sound had come from a bear trap. A bear trap? A few moments after setting off that first one, Mira triggered a second one, causing her to stumble and fall onto the forest floor. She took this time to really look at her surroundings. The woods she was in now were much darker, the leaves of the trees much denser and blocking out most of the sun. It was at this moment that Mira realized she had no idea where she was.
And as much as she probably would've liked to look around a bit more, the sound of a certain deer running towards her signaled that she should be running. Mira scurried to her feet and once again took off deeper into the forest. The farther she got into the woods, the darker and more intense they seemed. Large roots covered the ground, causing Mira to repeatedly stumble. As the sound of trotting got closer and closer, finally there came the sound of a bear trap followed by something like a scream. Mira might have registered that, if her fight of flight senses were stuck on flight.
The only thing that stopped Mira from running even farther into the forest, was a net that hoisted her up into a tree with such force that she hit her head on a branch, causing her to black out. As she bled in and out of consciousness, she caught a few small, blurry glimpses of her surroundings. Beneath her, near the roots of the tree, was the satchel of firewood she had gathered. The next time she awoke, the sky was a dark orange, signaling the end of the day. After falling back into unconsciousness and waking back up briefly, she caught a glimpse through the tree tops of what looked like a big house in the distance. A big white house, with a smaller red house next to it. The fourth and final thing she saw was someone standing on the ground, staring up at her. Mira doesn't remember much of the person, only their plain white face. Then, she finally fell back into the darkness.