Their figures slowly came into better view and by their gear, they seemed to be traveling adventurers. One had a large spear strapped to her back, and another carried a large shield on his. Behind them, two hooded people seemed to be talking. One carried a satchel and a backpack while the other had a large staff with a gemstone at the end.
Tara continued waving as she approached. She wanted to yell to them as well but her voice was too hoarse from all her previous screaming.
Eventually, they were close enough to notice Tara's limping form in the distance. To Tara's alarm, they started readying their weapons and walking, in formation towards her. Immediately she turned around wondering what was setting them on edge.
There's nothing here. She thought, continuing to limp towards them. Hearing footsteps pounding behind her she turned around to see the aggressive stances of the travelers. Their weapons at the ready standing around her poised to strike.
Raising both her arms to show surrender quickly said, "I'm not going to hurt anyone." But all that came out were a few exhales. Then she heard the woman with the large sword yell. "It's heavily weakened! Kill the monster before it can get away!"
Without a voice, she realized that her new appearance was bound to make people attack first and ask questions later. Not even taking the chance she hobbled away as quickly as she could to the edge of the tree line. Before she could make it a wall of flames cut her off, encircling her. The only opening was towards them. The shield-wielding man stepped to the front, limiting potential harm to his squad.
After seeing them close in on her she immediately opted to jump straight through the flames then see what they had in store. The fire wall was thicker than she anticipated and much of her skin was burned and her hair and feathers singed off. Pushing the pain of burning herself she pushed deeper into the woods as fast as her leg could carry her. Soon she heard the footsteps of the squad coming into the forest and her jaw tensed, praying they didn't pursue her this deep.
As the sun set, they turned back, not willing to get caught unaware of beasts with their limited vision of the torch. She heard the departing footsteps and sank down to the floor leaning against a tree. Closing her eyes she slumped down, the tension finally leaving her. Settling into the cool grass floor a little more and closed her eyes. How do I even get home now? She thought to herself dejectedly. The first people I see immediately attack me. And I don't even know where I am. With these negative thoughts circling her head she drifted off to a fitful sleep.
Tara awoke to birds chirping happily within the trees, climbing to her feet she looked around to make sure it was safe. Wait! How am I standing? Looking down she saw that her leg was mended back together. Her bare skin, scarred where the bear tore her leg. The only proof of the trauma she suffered.
Poking and prodding her leg she couldn't believe that her leg was better. That's when she noticed that the rest of her body was fine as well. The previous cuts and marks were gone. Even her burns recovered. Her marveling was cut short when she remembered the torture Vern put her through.
Smashing her fist to the ground she wanted nothing more than to suffer as she did. I don't know exactly what I want to happen to him but I want him to feel the same pain he inflicted upon me and the others. She thought.
Letting herself stew for a bit to calm down she finally relaxed after a few minutes had passed and tentatively climbed back onto her two paws. Having paws is so weird. She said absentmindedly thought to herself. Being a bit more mindful of herself she tried purposefully controlling each joint in her leg.
The knees were much higher up her legs than she realized and her ankles were higher as well. They almost look high enough to be a knee. She thought to herself amused. Briefly chuckling she admired the circular patterns on her snow-white leg fur before moving behind her.
Her strange tail swayed to and fro, moving without thought and she looked at how it was segmented. Each segment is roughly the same size eventually narrowing out into a sharp tip. Each slim piece of carapace artfully slid past one another, interlocked tightly but not hindering the motion. Shaking her head, clearing her mind of the hypnotizing swaying she tried to manipulate the tail.
With a sharp jerk, the motion stopped and a triumphant smile spread across Tara's face. Holding it steady she took a step forward, back, left, and right. Still, the tail remained steadily behind her. With these successes under her belt, she dared to try to move the tail… After a moment of stillness where she tried to figure out how to control the muscles that moved her tail, it started to thrash wildly. Swinging this way and that it smashed into trees and scratched at the floor.
Starting to freak out about her out-of-control tail she tried to still it like before which only caused a brief respite as the tail was now only stuttering as it swung wildly. With nothing else to try, she grabbed her tail willing it to be still and after a minute of continuing to flail it relaxed and continued its normal swaying, only occasionally twitching.
Okaay… We'll leave that for now. She thought trying to lighten her thoughts. I think that's enough experimenting for today. With most of the day still ahead of her she walked back closer to the road and walked alongside it, careful to stay deeper within the forest whenever she saw or heard nearby people.
Before the sun hit noon there was a sign alongside the road pointing forward and had the name written for a city above it.
"Fralia"
Her head began to hang from her shoulders wearily. A map of the surrounding lands appeared within her head and she realized where she was, the Great Mishal Forest. She also realized how lucky she was. This forest was known for its multitude of monsters that filled its depths and it was extremely massive. She would have to cut through the forest and into the smaller forest that connects to it and partially encircles the town where she lived.
Knowing that it was unlikely and dangerous that a villager would give her a ride she started trekking back along the road. Do I really have to walk all the way around this forest? She thought. While she wanted to cut through she wasn't sure about her chances against all the creatures within. Her brush with the bear brought her close to death already and she didn't know what else lay within. Let me try running. Maybe instead of a week, I can cut it down by a day or two. She thought in an attempt to cheer herself up.
Slowly accelerating she used her legs to jog. While she was very unfamiliar with her new legs they seemed to move easily according to what she wanted. Then she started to run. With large loping strides, she made her way through the woods. To her side, she could see the dirt road beyond the flashing trees. Smiling she looked down a little and saw her legs. They pounded against the earth and jumped up to the roots with ease and with a thought she jumped to the side landing on the trunk and jumping off of it, never breaking stride.