Emily kept walking through brambles, and the air started thinning out. The constant haze was gradually fading, and amazingly, she started to see the light shining through. This time, it was the natural light of a sun. Granted, it seemed much larger than the one she was used to, even at a distance.

Moreover, the plants started becoming greener. The foliage got thicker, and she reached the edge of the bog's constant plume of fog. The dark clouds stopped after a point abruptly. It was as if the world rejected the atmosphere.

The sunlight graced Emily's skin and warmed her body. She felt a small amount of fatigue leaving her. Even still, she didn't dare to relax completely. She looked down at her missing arm and nodded.

There was a small issue with this place. The foliage had gotten so thick that she had to crawl underneath some shrubs. The tunnel was something strange. It continued under the plants, and there were signs of it being carved out. There were cuts along the shrubs, and the ceiling of the tunnel had wooden brambles with the leaves draped over it.

This has to be...

No sooner than she had the thought, she exited the other side of the tunnel and collided into something. She leapt to her feet and grabbed her staff quickly, her ears twitching and tail waving impatiently.

A scratchy voice perked up from beneath her. "Watch where the hell you're..."

Emily's eyes widened towards a fallen man. He was on his ass, and his expression went from a glare to one of shock. Though, she was more surprised by the man's stature.

Raven fur covered his body from head to toe. The man had rounded ears and a pointed, mousy snout. Whiskers jutted out from the side of his face, and his nose wiggled. He sniffed the air with uncertainty, staring at the kitsune with buggy, brown orbs hiding behind a pair of glasses.

He jolted upright and fixed his mud-colored robes. Two of the mouse's fingers found the tip of Emily's staff, moving it out of his face. "No need to start a tussle, unless you want to lose your other arm, too."

Emily frowned down at her missing limb.

The rat sighed and gestured with his two fingers. "Well, don't just stand there. Come on."

The fox girl didn't move right away. He started walking away from her, and she stared at his back in astonishment. A part of her really believed she'd never see anyone else again, so her heart thumped while watching him leave. She imagined if she closed her eyes he'd vanish, yet he was still there after blinking.

He turned his head slightly, his eye boring right into her. "Come, come, Ratagast doesn't have time for your contemplation."

She nodded silently, her ears perking up. Emily followed the man and his long rat tail, continuing to grip her staff. Her knuckles turned white from the pressure she grabbed it with. If he tries anything, I will cut off his head swiftly.

Emily imagined her nanobots forming into a blade just in case. Even if she wasn't using the mana, she wanted the image of the spell ready. It didn't take her long to catch up to him. Considering the fact he was only about 4 feet tall, the kitsune's strides were much longer.

She had no idea where she was being led, but it soon became apparent. There was a wooden structure standing within a small clearing. It was in the shape of a widened tree trunk, and it tapered off at the top into a point. There was a door attached, but it proved to be a bit problematic.

"Watch your head," Ratagast said, pushing the door open.

Emily swallowed and ducked down low to get inside. Luckily for her, the ceiling was only a bit higher than her head when she entered the place. Unluckily for her, that didn't include her fluffy ears. They dragged along the wooden roof.

The place was cozy if you were a small rat or possibly a dwarf. There was a singular well-built mattress with silk lining the bed. Small shelves littered the place with different implements. There were tinctures of colored liquids, a small table emitting a faint green aura, and another shelf with metal tools.

Emily's eyes stared at the shelf, her heart pounding in her chest. Tiny scalpels and other sharp metal objects lay there. Her mind flickered towards the scientist, and mana started channeling up her staff.

"Do you like tea?" The rat asked, holding a ceramic cup towards her.

Emily's ears twitched, and she opened her mouth. She closed it soon after and loosened the grip on her lantern.

The man sighed and gestured towards a small seat with his free hand. "You're the silent type, eh?" He placed the steaming beverage on the table and waited for her to sit down.

Emily took the offered chair and finally let her staff rest against the wall.

"Good, you need to understand my position here. You're the suspicious one, after all." He took a seat in front of her and placed both of his hands together. Ratagast rested his long snout on the top of his interlocked fingers. "Why were you in the blighted bog?"

The kitsune blinked several times. His words hung in the air as if they were supposed to mean something. His eyes danced along her face, searching for a reaction. Though, no matter how much he searched, there was nothing. There was only the twitching of her ears and a single thought.

What is a blighted bog?

"So you don't even know that," Ratagast said, "but why was a kitsune down this far anyways?" His brow furrowed, and his nose twitched several times. The rat's fingers reached up to stroke his whiskers. "I thought the kitsunes hated the heat and humidity. Looking at your tail, I can already observe the effects."

He reached down and took a sip of his own tea before continuing. "Are you an emissary from...no, why would you be?" The more he thought, the more he started getting frustrated with himself. Eventually, he sighed and stopped his thought trails. "Well then, I guess it doesn't matter much. You can drink that tea. It's not poisoned, if that's your worry."

Emily's eyes trailed from him down to her mug. Inside of the cup, there was a steaming green liquid. Her nose took in the herbal smell, and her eyes stared at her distorted reflection.

Ratagast shrugged and pushed his palm towards the shelf of sharp tools. One of the scalpels floated towards his hand before he grabbed it out of the air.

Emily reached for her staff again, her crimson eyes staring at the edge of his implement.

His other hand stayed her. "Relax, don't be so jumpy all of the time."

He gripped the scalpel and pressed it against a bunch of green stems. Next, he started cutting them up into small pieces. He had the adroit hands of a practiced chef, and it didn't take him long to make a mincing out of the greens.

"Are you a soup kind of person? I heard that lots of kitsunes prefer meat, but I don't have any meat around here right now. You'll have to wait until..."

"Emily," the kitsune said after a deep breath.

The rat man raised an eyebrow in surprise before a soft smile. "Afraid I don't know anyone by that name."

"My name."

"Ohh! You finally found your voice and your name. I am glad to hear it. Emily...I haven't heard a name like this since I visited a human city long ago."

Emily's ears twitched, and she blinked her eyes several times at him. "You...met humans?"

The rat held a small bowl off the table and started sliding the greens into it. He grabbed another familiar root vegetable this time. He grabbed the yellow potatoes and started skinning those next.

"Humans...yeah, not much to them, to be honest. I always thought they would be more...Well, you know. Anyways, that's way less important. Why are you in the Orcinium Swamplands?"

Emily shook her head. "I have no idea. Is that what this place is called?"

Ratagast looked at her with a narrowing of his eyes behind his glasses. He seemed to be searching her face for lies. His nose twitched again, and he dropped a handful of sliced potatoes into the same bowl. "Not every day that someone gets amnesia. Do you remember what happened to your arm?"

The fox looked down at her missing arm with a small frown. There was another throbbing of pain in the region that made her grab the shoulder. She took a deep breath. "It was eaten by a monster."

Ratagast looked down into his bowl without answering. He moved over to his shelf of tinctures and grabbed a water vase. The rat poured the water inside a separate large pot before pouring the other ingredients.

Emily watched as a small flame flickered to life on his fingertip, and he pressed it against the bottom of the pot. The whole thing started to heat. He waited for the water to start boiling before adding a brown paste.

The kitsune's curiosity made her want to start inspecting everything with her cybernetic eye, but she had no idea how much he'd allow her to get away with. She didn't want to press her luck with the first kind person she'd met. Emily wouldn't say she trusted him, but he'd yet to point a blade in her direction.

She swallowed and looked down at the tea again. It was starting to cool in the open air, so she lifted it to her lips. The heavenly flavor of herbal tea infected her taste buds. The slight warmth and honey flavor coated her throat in a protective layer.

The rat smiled as he lidded his pot. "I am sure it couldn't have been easy. The blighted bog is cursed, so it's no wonder you don't remember anything. Though, I've not observed any such effects myself."

"It's cursed?"

Ratagast nodded and frowned. "So long as the titanaboa lives, the swamp will die. As it spreads its territory, it consumes more of the swamp. At least, that is my hypothesis."

"Are there more people like you out here?"

"Yep, a whole village of us is to the west. I am what you may call an outcast, but they use my services when they need it."

"Aren't you worried about them? What happens if that snake..."

Ratagast chuckled. "You're much more talkative now. You're right, the snake will eventually get that far, but I don't think it will be in the near future. For starters, I believe these blighted creatures are a product of nature, and they spread sickness wherever they go. However, they will not needlessly attack villages. That would put them in too much risk."

The rat turned around and lifted the lid of his pot after a bit. The heavenly scent of stew wafted around the small enclosure.

It wasn't long until Emily's tail started waving behind her. Her mouth watered each time she sniffed the air.

"You are way too honest."

Emily blinked as he handed her a bowl. "What do you mean?"

"You haven't noticed it yourself? When I first bumped into you, you were panicking, and when I brought you here, you've been nothing but honest. I droned on and on, yet you were talking the whole time."

Emily's brow wrinkled, and her ears twitched.

"That's what I am talking about. You'd be a lousy assassin...or a very good one. Though, something tells me that we are going to get along fine. Why don't you try the soup and stay here for a while? I promise you it's much safer than braving the wilds. I can even teach you a thing or two..."

Stay here? Why would I...

"You're free to do whatever you want but after you try the soup."

Emily looked into her bowl, and that word hung in her head.

Free...