Tarreck took a deep breath and gave one last look at the village behind her to steel herself. This may be the last time she would ever lay eyes upon it, but she had little choice. The famine was growing worse, and if it came down to it she would rather die attempting to feed the others than waste away from hunger.  Even if entering the forest was unlikely to result in anything but her death… Ever since her grandfather had banished the witch to live in there with the horrific monsters she had been found to be creating, few that entered came back alive, and the rare ones that did were driven mad by what they saw. For a while, the tales and warnings of the elders were enough to ensure that most villagers stayed out of the forest. However, in recent times, when it was becoming harder and harder to just survive, many had entered the forest in a desperate attempt to slay the monsters rumored to roam inside in hopes they could feed the community. None had survived. But at this point, no matter how unlikely it was for her to succeed, she had to try. So she had said her tearful farewells to her loved ones, grabbed her spear, carving knife, and what rations they could spare for her, and set off towards the forest. She turned back towards it, grit her teeth, and ventured into the darkness…

Tarreck held no delusions that she was skilled enough to guarantee success. She was better trained in combat than most others in the village, but she knew all that would likely mean is that she would survive maybe one more encounter with a beast before perishing just like the rest. And that was if she was lucky enough to encounter one she had prepared for. Nobody knew how many monsters the witch had created, but rarely one of them would feel malicious enough to leave the forest and attempt to find prey in the village. She had dealt with them back then, though it was truly through her late friend Bennit's skill in hunting that they had been slain before anyone could die. They’d never risked eating the bodies back then, preferring to burn them to ashes instead, but they had to risk it now and hope the flesh didn’t drive them insane, or worse. But she did recall some of the monsters, and had an idea of what might assist her in fighting them. And as she was thinking of that, she heard a wonderful, relaxing song echoing through the trees. It almost seemed to wrap around her, and sent a pleasant chill throughout her blood. She smiled wryly. This was the one she was most confident she could deal with, at least.

 She plugged her ears with wax, blocking out the hypnotic song, and felt her blood warming up again. She braced herself against a tree and waited for the monster to approach. Sure enough, a horrific bird covered in fish scales with a beak full of razor sharp teeth came sneaking towards her, expecting her to be incapacitated by its music. She thrust her spear forward, and while that didn’t instantly kill it, the monster was surprised enough by its prey fighting back that she was able to kill it without getting bit. She removed her ear plugs and carefully placed the monster’s body into her sack. Hopefully the combination of two commonly eaten animals would prove edible, and especially hopefully with no side effects… Part of her wished to return now, but she knew this wouldn’t be nearly enough to feed the village, and so she must continue to risk herself. So she continued, deeper and deeper into the forest…

No more singing echoed around her for a while, and none of the other monsters crossed her path either. It felt like things were growing eerily quiet and still… A strange chill in the air around her… And soon, the forest opened up to a surreal, terrifying sight. A massive swampland suddenly lay before her, trees half-sunken into the mud for almost as far as she could see. But the mud was an unnatural dark blue, and seemed to be emitting a similarly blue mist that filled the swamp. The sight filled her with a strange melancholy… The deep wet blue just making her feel so gloomy… Why had she bothered coming out here again…? She was only going to die… It was pointless… She’d only survived this long because she got lucky… She set down her sack and stared over the swamp. She could see the remains of monsters sunk into the mud… And the mist covering everything… Making everything so dark and gloomy… Why even try anymore…? It was pointless… Everything was pointless… The village was doomed to starve… And she was doomed to die… She felt so tired all of a sudden… She should just… Let herself drown here… Waste away in the swamp… That would be the easiest way out… She stepped into the mud, her feet filling with a soporific chill that made her feel yet more melancholic. She fell to her knees, unable to find the will to stand anymore. She was so tired… She just wanted to sleep… Sleep forever… She fell prone, the mud covering her body, and the deep melancholy covering her mind… Nothing mattered anymore… She just needed to sleep after such a long life of hardship… And so her eyes shut, and she stopped thinking…

Floating face down in the mud…

Another melancholic body in the swamp…

Until something grabbed her…

In her depressed sleep, she hardly noticed as she was lifted out of the mud… Everything was just a dark, dull blur… Something was carrying her… Something warm… And soft… But it didn’t matter… nothing mattered… She just wanted to sleep…

Suddenly, she felt an ice cold sensation all over her body… And something rough vigorously rubbing her face… Wait… What was happening…?! No, she needed to… Get away! She started struggling, but whatever was holding her underwater had an iron grip. She heard what sounded like a voice, but everything was too muffled to understand it… She still tried her hardest to escape… She didn’t want to drown! She… She didn’t want to drown… So why had she been thinking she did…? She stopped struggling as everything came back to her, and just before she was about to lose her breath, she was pulled back out of the water. She gasped and shuddered, but soon found a pelt being wrapped around her body. “Here! Wrap up, it’ll…” She was too disoriented to hear the rest, but she did relax into the warm pelt around her… It felt so nice… Reminded her that she was still alive… She took a deep, shaky breath, still shuddering but feeling better… “How are you feeling? I know the…” She couldn’t tell what they were saying again… But it felt nice to have someone care about her here… She realized her eyes were closed, and slowly opened them, revealing… A young woman… A young woman she had assumed had died quite a while ago…

Tarreck tried to collect her jumbled thoughts. “You… you’re from the village… Were from the village…” The girl nodded. “Yep! I’m Friysia! I was! Not anymore, they chased me out! But I’m okay now! I feel better! I have a friend!” Her voice was chipper, yet a bit unfocused, like her mind was rapidly jumping around as she spoke. And her eyes seemed similarly unfocused, though it was hard to see anything clearly right now… It was so dark… Friysia leaned closer. “And you’re from the village too! I remember you! I think. You didn’t try and chase me out! And you hate the mayor too!  That’s good, he’s awful! But I don’t want him to die… Are people okay?” Tarreck groaned and rubbed her forehead. She was starting to get a headache… “…No… We aren’t… We’re still starving… We need food… I came in here to find food…” Friysia nodded rapidly. “Oh yeah. We need food too! I’ve been making food for us! Because I don’t eat meat. I like fruit! I’ve been making fruit! It makes me feel better. How are you feeling? Do you feel happier now?” Tarreck slowly nodded. “I… Yeah… A bit... What happened…? I… I was thinking things… that I don’t believe… I was so sad…” Friysia nodded. “Yeah, that’s the sadness swamp. I call it that. It’s a really bad place. A lot of things drown in there. But you didn’t drown! Because we saved you!” Tarreck smiled weakly. “Thanks… Though…” She looked at Friysia's frail form, “…how did you get me out…? And carry me so far…?” Friysia grinned. “I didn’t! My friend did! They’re very big and strong! They washed you off too!” Tarreck suddenly realized there'd been a massive shadow looming over the two of them this whole time. They turned around… And screamed.

Friysia's “friend” was a massive, horrifying abomination, a thousand times worse than any of the monsters Tarreck had seen before. It was an unholy amalgamation of animal parts, human parts, and parts she couldn’t even begin to describe. It had a massive animalistic skull for a head covered in different horns and a lion's mane, and so many arms and wings and tails… Tarreck felt like her head was going to split in two just from trying to comprehend this thing. It was staring down at her, and its eyes were a deep, dark, swirling void… Yet also glowing with an unholy fire… She wanted to look away, but she couldn’t, but she felt like her body was going to fall apart if she didn’t… Friysia spoke, her voice sounding like it was from far away. “Yeah, they’re scary at first! Especially after you just were so sad and tired! But they’re nice! They’re such a good perfect specimen! Aren’t you! Aren’t you! Awawawawawawa!” Friysia began happily rubbing the monster's head, and it began to emit a strange, rumbling hum… Tarreck, despite how horrific it was, found it oddly relaxing… Like a soft, warm bath, filling her whole body… Friysia was humming along with it… And so was Tarreck herself, she realized… It was making her feel so cozy and content… Like everything was right in the world… It was even making her headache die down… Friysia stopped rubbing it, and the humming stopped, but Tarreck's headache still felt more bearable. She realized it had stopped staring at her as well, instead staring adoringly down at Friysia…

Tarreck rested there for a while, enjoying the lingering effects of the hum and the soft pelt around her as Friysia and… It… did stuff around their camp. Eventually, however, she felt her stomach painfully grumble, and she remembered why she’d even entered the forest… “Friysia…” Friysia looked over, smiling widely. “Yep? Do you want something?” Tarreck nodded slowly. “You… said you were making fruit for yourself… To keep yourself fed… Can you… Send some back to the village with me…? We need food so desperately…” Friysia pondered for a bit, her eyes darting around. “Well yes, I was thinking that too. But I made the fruit for me. And I don’t know if it’s safe for you. It’s safe for me because my brain is already scrambled, hehe! But I don’t know if it’s safe for normal people! Although, “ She scurried up to Tarreck, “You can help me! I need a test subject! And you’re a normal human! So you’ll be perfect! I can test everything on you! Doesn’t that sound great?” Tarreck leaned away, shuddering. “…No… I… I don’t want to be a test subject…” Friysia pouted. “Come on! It'll be fun! And I’ll keep you safe! I’ll try not to break your mind! Too much! Or your body either! And if you do I’ll give you fruit! You can feed everyone!” Tarreck leaned back even further, her heart starting to race. She absolutely did not want to end up like those monsters. And it was Friysia’s ancestor that made them, sure, but she got the feeling that Friysia had learned some of her techniques. Although… She seemed nice… And maybe she could feed the village… But Tarreck just couldn’t bring herself to trust her… 

She shook her head. “I'm sorry… I… It’s too dangerous… I… I don’t want to…” Friysia looked sympathetically at her. “I get it. It’s scary! But it’s for the village! I want them to get fed too! I promise it’ll be fine! You’re just scared! And we can fix that too!” She waved a hand, and suddenly Tarreck was grabbed and lifted off the ground. “NO! LET… ME… GO…!” She screwed her eyes shut as she struggled, not wanting to look It in the eyes again. Of course this would happen… The girl was insane, she’d admitted it herself! She had to… had to… to… The humming started again… And she felt so warm and comfortable… Everything was right… She relaxed into the muscular hand holding her. And then, It spoke. It was a cacophony of voices, howls, and sounds… But it didn’t feel like a cacophony… It was a gentle whisper, directly to her soul… “You will help New Mistress. She will make You and Village safe and fed. Her magic is Good, You will feel Good. You will be Happy, you will Obey, New Mistress and I will help You and Village. Awawawa.” It nuzzled Tarreck's face, and she felt her mind melt away… She will help and feel good and happy and New Mistress will make everything better and the village will be safe and… Her mind continued to whirl and swirl as It put her down, and New Mistress Friysia took her hand. “You’re not scared now! Come on, eat this one first!” Tarreck obeyed and followed New Mistress Friysia to help Her and obey Her and everything would be safe and Good and…….

Three weeks later, something came staggering out of the woods. But it wasn’t a monster, not really. It was Tarreck, carrying a large sack full of something. Her wife ran out to see her, overjoyed at her return, yet… shocked by her appearance. “Tarreck, what happened to you?! Are you alright?!” Tarreck's eyes were wide and unfocused, and she had a dazed smile on her face. Several patches of skin were discolored and hard, like wood, or leathery, like the skin of a fruit. A small sprout grew from her cheek, and the fruit it bore seemed to look around like an eye. Despite this, however, Tarreck shakily nodded. “…I… Yes… I found the Witch's descendant… She… She wants to help us… She tested the fruit on me to make sure it would be safe…” Her wife stared at her, terrified. “Safe?! But… Look what she’s done to you! Won’t it do the same to us?!” Tarreck shook her head. “I… It was the other fruits that did this… These ones are likely safe… She wanted to make sure we wouldn’t be hurt… That’s why she kept me so long… So we could eat safely.” She opened the sack, revealing dozens of colorful fruits that gave off a slight glow. Tarreck's wife looked at them nervously yet hungrily. “It’s so many… this could feed us all for weeks… You promise they’re safe…? This isn’t a trap by the witch?” Tarreck nodded. “I promise… She only wants us to be safe and fed…” She reached in and took two out, handing one to her wife. “Here… Let’s eat together…” Her wife nervously accepted it, and they took a bite together… It made her wife feel slightly dizzy, and for a second she worried it might drive her insane… But she felt fine… And it was the best fruit she had ever eaten…