Faye set off from her old home with a new goal in mind. She had questions that needed answers. She wanted to know what happened to Jolis and, if possible, her family at the orphanage. She also needed to find a temple to find out about the goddess of fate. What did she want with her, if anything? After finding those answers she would decide her course.
Before she was revived, she'd only been trying to make a living as an adventurer, trying to help raise the other children that Lady Valeria was in charge of. It was the least she could do after being cared for all those years by the Lady.
She hadn't even been able to help out much before her death...it was her first good paying job and she'd blown it. It wasn't supposed to be like this, she was just supposed to be taking care of a few pests!
Faye sighed at her bad luck, but kept up her pace. She reached the forest and it didn't take long for her to need to set up camp. Although she was able to find some supplies in Jolis, it was nowhere near enough. Sullenly, Faye once again climbed high to keep herself out of reach of most predators.
As she began to pull her pack off, however, Faye heard a faint hissing nearby. Turning she found a little green snake ready to strike, staring her down.
She froze, not wanting to cause any rapid movements that may cause the snake to lash out. It seemed hesitant to strike, but that didn't mean it wouldn't. Slowly, Faye pulled out her sword. The snake was almost a feet away, but she tired to lean further away from it in case it decided to strike while she was grabbing her sword. Slowly, her blade came free from its scabbard. She pointed it toward the snake and began trying to push it from its perch.
"Come on...come on little snakey..." she whispered as she tried to gently move the snake.
It's hisses grew in volume, before it lunged out. Faye flinched, but the snake wasn't aiming for her, it was trying to threaten and bite her sword.
'Lucky...' she thought as she tried again.
This time, she was successful in getting the tip of the blade underneath the snake. It hissed and coiled, moving its body over the blade. It slowly unraveled and struck again, this time further. It seemed it had over reached and was about to fall when two leathery wings opened wide in its back.
"Oh, fuck."
The flying snake used its wings to right itself and lashed out toward the blade again. Faye pulled the sword back as she watched the snake recoil around what it had been protecting.
As it lashed out that last time, Faye saw a small clutch of eggs tightly packed beneath the snake.
Finally, she had to admit defeat. The snake wasn't going to move, not when it had eggs to care for.
"Just my luck..." Faye grumbled as she slowly made her way out of the tree. The snake hissed as if responding to her and she shot it a look of irritation.
Faye found another tree nearby to make camp in. She climbed up without issue, and thoroughly checked it for snakes or any other critters what might call it home. Satisfied that it was clear, Faye resigned herself to yet another night sleeping in a tree.
Morning came and Faye set off. She was tempted to check on the snake from the night before but didn't think the momma would appreciate another visit from her. It was going to be a long trek to find the road, it seemed the road that used to head to the city was gone, a fact she hadn't noticed until she'd come out of the city again. She was too preoccupied by the crumbled walls and buildings where her home used to be to notice the lack of road.
Either way, Faye decided to try to travel along the tree line of the forest hoping to come across the road from before.
She made her way through the trees, stopping every so often to eat wild berries and fasten new parts on her handmade shoes. Her others were gone and she had to make more after returning to the forest. She decided that the first thing she was buying when she found civilization were shoes. Nice shoes with bottoms that protected her feet and covered her toes so twigs wouldn't scrape against them. Oh how she longed for the little luxuries she didn't know were luxuries before she died. She would have appreciated her boots so much more if she'd known this would happen....
This trail through the forest went almost uneventfully. She did come across the occasional snake or small beast, but most creatures seemed to prefer the inner parts of the forest instead of the outskirts.
Finally, after a few days of walking, Faye found a road that came close to the forest from the south.
It was worn, but didn't seem well traveled from what she could see. It looked similar to the one she'd come across before. Looking over the weeds trying to grow over the dirt road, Faye decided to was best to camp for the night in the forest and to head out in the morning full of rest. There was no telling what she would find on her journey.
So, Faye spent her last night in the Divian forest.