"Cold... so cold..." As the chilly wind howled through the woods, dislodging accumulated snow from the trees, it fell in its entirety onto the small, murmuring figure nestled beneath.
"Ugh!" Startled by the sudden onslaught of snow, the blue-clad figure beneath the tree abruptly awoke, opening her pair of bewildered, violet-colored eyes.
"...?" After taking in the unfamiliar surroundings, the girl's eyes, besides confusion, displayed surprise and perplexity. She attempted to struggle to her feet.
However, before the girl could steady herself, her body's stiffness caused her to stumble. Instinctively clutching onto the large tree draped in silver frost beside her, she narrowly avoided another tumble into the snow.
But evidently, reality granted the girl scant time for observation or contemplation. In the next moment, a myriad of memories erupted in her mind.
"Ugh!" The pain prompted an involuntary groan, prompting her to instinctively cradle her head, attempting to alleviate the ache.
"Ah... who... am I? Ye Li... or Griseo?"
Due to the overwhelming number of memories flooding her mind, and their disjointed origins, the girl found herself questioning her own identity.
One set of memories, relatively brief, depicted her as an ordinary Earthling. Yet another, seemingly monotonous yet vast, portrayed her as one of the Thirteen Flamechasers from a past civilization, representing the MANTIS bearing the Signet of "Stars"...
"..." After a brief interlude to collect her thoughts and alleviate the pain in her head, the girl quickly regained composure and began sorting through the jumbled memories in her mind.
Upon regaining her composure, she noticed the details she had previously overlooked.
Though lacking a mirror to view her own visage, she confirmed her present identity as Griseo through scrutiny of her body and attire, at the very least.
Otherwise, the girl couldn't fathom a scenario where a barefoot, bare-legged individual in thin garments could endure survival in such an inclement, unidentified locale.
Yet, even with composure regained, the girl remained unable to discern whether she was a transmigrant thrust into the world of "Honkai," or Griseo imbued with memories of a transmigrant.
Both sets of memories were too vivid and lucid.
Whether the ordinariness and frustration in Ye Li's memories, or the profound solitude Griseo faced when she finally confronted the universe alone, resonated deeply with the girl, as if she had experienced them firsthand.
"So... what should I do?"
----------------------------------------------
The sky was already dim due to the blizzard, and the woods, shrouded by trees, were even darker, pervaded by darkness, coldness, and silence.
"Goo~" The expressionless, blue-clad loli clutched her groaning belly as she trudged through the dim, frigid woods.
From afar, one might mistake her for a pristine elf amidst the snowy wilderness.
However, as they say, one's own family knows one's own business. The girl... Griseo was well aware that her inner calmness did not reflect her true state.
She was cold and hungry now. While neither of these was fatal or significantly impactful for a MANTIS, they still caused discomfort.
Moreover, rather than portraying surface calmness, it was more accurate to say that Griseo's exterior showed no other emotions.
Though her heart had become lively due to the influence of another set of memories, this vivacity remained confined to her inner world, unreflected on her countenance.
"Ugh...?" Suddenly, Griseo halted, tilting her head slightly as she observed the path ahead. Through the woodland foliage, she caught sight of faint light and heard muted voices.
"..." For a moment, Griseo hesitated. She pondered the advisability of advancing further.
Yet, she was eager to grasp the current situation and, if possible, sate her hunger.
After a brief period of deliberation, Griseo opted to approach and investigate. With a nimble motion, she lifted her already slightly reddened feet from the snowy ground and proceeded forward.
...
However, as she drew near the light, Griseo realized that reality was starkly different from her expectations.
She heard a cacophony of people shouting insults and laughing uproariously...
And what met her eyes was a gaunt, bloodied figure, surrounded by individuals brandishing weapons gleaming with a cold light... and swathes of darkness.
"Boss, there's a kid popping up from there, what do we do?"
Concurrently with Griseo's shock at the scene before her, someone else took notice of her presence.
"Tsk, why even ask? Of course, we kill it! When we engage in such activities, we can't leave any survivors!" The boss, upon being queried, flashed a ferocious glint in his eyes before bellowing impatiently.
"What... what..." Encircled by the group at the roadside, the already wounded girl turned in horror upon hearing this, her face a mask of terror as she looked back.
And in this moment, her gaze met Griseo's striking eyes.
In an instant, only one thought occupied the girl's mind: do whatever it takes to ensure the survival of this adorable child before her.
"Run... run fast!"
"...?"
Clearly, Griseo, who had been lost in thought moments ago, did not respond promptly to the girl's urging. Instead, she stood rooted to the spot, gazing at her with a puzzled expression.
In the fleeting moments, among the group surrounding the girl, one individual with a menacing countenance wielding a long blade had already charged towards Griseo.
His demeanor suggested he intended to cleave this stationary little girl in two with a single stroke.
"Don't!" Witnessing the scene unfold before her, the girl's fear and urgency transformed into boundless anger involuntarily.
Dragging her injured body, she surged forward at a speed she wouldn't have dared to imagine under normal circumstances, rushing toward Griseo, aiming to embrace the little girl in front of her.
Even though the girl knew that by doing so, she was almost certainly sealing her own fate, and knew that such an action couldn't protect the little girl for long, perhaps not even for a moment, she still did it...
In the instant their bodies made contact, the tremendous force of the girl's charge sent Griseo tumbling to the ground.
Before Griseo could utter a word, the girl tightly enveloped her in her arms, using her own body to shield her.
"Don't be afraid... big sister is here with you..."
In that moment, Griseo noticed the darkness surrounding them fading away quietly, replaced by a faint, warm yellow glow.
But as she raised her gaze, her eyes met those of the person about to swing the blade down upon them, his form suffused with murky hues.
Internally, a ripple of emotion surged within Griseo as she witnessed the scene unfold before her...
"Mr. Knight, please...!"