Ninichu

Hello everyone! This is my second story, and it's a lot shorter than my first! I wrote this as a Valentine's day gift for my partner. I hope you all enjoy it!

Run.

That’s all she could do, really. She didn’t know who she was, why she was being chased, or anything. How long had it been now? A few days? A few weeks? Or was it always like this?

“Get back here, thief!” Some middle-aged grocer yelled after her. She didn’t want to steal, but she wanted to starve even less. It’s really his fault for charging for food in the first place.

Her foot caught on an overgrown root. She stumbled, falling off the forest path and down a steep cliff. The normally peaceful treeline suddenly looked a lot more like sharp wooden spikes. There was nothing she could do to slow her momentum, and-

“Nyoooooo!” She screamed, sitting up with a start. 

A dream.

It had been a dream. No, that had really happened. But she couldn’t understand the guy who’d chased her out of town. She was certain she knew how to speak and write the local language at some point, so why-

A sharp pain from her tail quickly drew her attention away from her dilemma. How banged up had she gotten?

She started by testing her ears. The cat-like projections twitched and turned in response. Her long brown hair was dirty and matted but otherwise seemed okay. There were a few bumps on her forehead from the fall, but besides a ringing headache, nothing felt off there. Well, except the assortment of cuts and bruises she had anyways, but those covered her head to toe. After all, a simple leather dress didn’t really provide that much protection. Her arms and legs moved, albeit painfully, as they were quite sore from the fall. She still had all her fingers and toes too, which just left her calico tail to worry about. It didn’t seem visibly broken, but it was far too tender to examine more closely.

A gust of wind blew through the forest, and she shivered. There was no shelter here, though she doubted she could even stand to look for one. She couldn’t see the forest path from where she landed either. She’d look in the morning, assuming she could stand. For now, she’d have to settle for leaning against the trees. She made herself as comfortable as she could, gingerly placing her injured tail in her lap. She closed her eyes, attempting to get some sleep, but it never came. Everything hurt. What did she do to deserve this?