I was always the odd one.
Not many people in this world had black hair, but I did. Not that it was ostracized or anything. Black hair was just uncommon and therefore a novelty and drew attention. The bad kind of attention.
It's not like I started trouble or anything either, but growing up kids and everyone else loved starting trouble with me. I guess back then I looked like an easy target. Being a young orphaned kid living on the streets didn't help.
Homeless and living under makeshift shelters wasn't anything new to me. I lived like that for a long time in my past life. Not to say living on the streets was easy, but I wouldn't consider my past life truly "living." I was chased and tortured until I became an empty shell, but was not allowed to die.
Thinking about those dark times made how I lived as a child in the slums like heaven. Though I call the slums, "heaven," there was always those who made my life more miserable.
I made my living selling goodies I found from the forest. I never like stealing, but as a homeless person and a kid, everyone assumed you steal even if I didn't. Eyes full of disgust and contempt, was a constant reminder that my existence was unwanted.
At first it was so hard to find someone who would buy my foraged goods. They make false claims and abhor anything I did, scrutinizing my every move. I grew tired of trying to prove myself and living up to the expectations of others. I guess no matter what world or universe you're in, such is the nature of humans. So I steer clear away from overly interacting with them.
I steered clear of all humans.
Worse than harassment was betrayal, and you never know when someone would betray you. Nothing like pain from broken trust. I know that far too well, and I've learned my lesson. The only one that can look out for me is me, and that is and will forever always be the truth.
Breaking from my thoughts as I sat at my table with an empty plate, I saw my faint reflection in the window made from tree resin. I made a promise to myself.
"This time. In this life. I will not only survive, but truly, and wholly live." My eyes unfocused and I looked at the rain that poured like a waterfall outside.
I paused for a good minute before sighing.
I added an extra condition to my promise. "Alright, maybe I'll start my happy life right after I get back from town and out of that storm." I really didn't want to go outside, but for the sake of my plans and a hopefully pleasant future, I need to invest some hardships now.
"Think of the plan. Think of the plan," I kept repeating to myself to keep me motivated. With both hands, I gave a big slap of encouragement to my cheeks.
"Let's do this!"
I walked to the dresser on the right side of my futon. I had made that dresser with some help from the tree I currently lived in. This was a special type of tree, dense a perfect conductor of mana. With the memories of my mother from my previous life, I was able to learn a special technique to manipulate mana. This very room and much of the furniture in it was created thanks to those teachings.
I pulled out the little amount of clothing I had packed into the dresser and found some inner garments to keep me warm. I put on a long-sleeve wool shirt, fresh boxers, a pair of sturdy linen pants and some thick wool socks. I went back under the table and grabbed a hooded jacket and slip on an outer layer of pants made from the leather of the Tartrot Boar that would somewhat shield me from the wet weather. I hated leather because it was hard to move and everything could hear you in the woods, but it was raining and not much could hear or smell me anyway.
After getting geared up, I went to the side of the door before knocking three times. A slab opened and I grabbed the three rings inside and put them on. The rings disappeared after being slipped on. By the side of the door was also a large leather bag with some goodies I acquired from yesterday's forage that I was going to sell.
Grabbing everything, I knocked on the door twice and the wooden door slowly tilted out while I was immediately pushed back by the wind rushing in from the hurling storm outside. "Damn it everything's going to get wet!" I complained as I looked at my now soaking room. I sighed. "I'll start my happy life after I get back AND finish cleaning up this water."
The door had folded out as a platform that had the frame of an elevator. Wasting no time, I proceeded to push through the wind as I struggled to make onto it the platform. Holding onto a corner pillar of the the platform as an anchor, I knocked once on the tree and bark covered the door and window.
Even if you looked closely you would never know there was a door and window here. Satisfied, I stomped on the door the floor of the platform I stood on, causing it to quickly stretch downwards to the forest floor below.
The further I got down the less the wind affected the surroundings. The trees in this magnificent forest created shelter for the many creatures that lived here. Myself very well included.
A plethora of green and speckles of colored buds and flowers filled the scene as I reached the ground. So much life and abundance filled this place. The vegetation was dense and grew taller then me. Even with the giant tree blocking a good amount of light, everything below also flourished and thrived. To this day, I still haven't catalogued everything growing in this forest in the many years I've been here.
Getting off the platform, it slowly merged back into the tree. I turned to the tree and placed my hand gently on its smooth and hard bark before bowing my head and whispering, "thank you tree, be safe and well while I am away."
After my usual moment of gratitude for my host, I began to cautiously make my journey to the city.