Arrival

The air smelled sickly, almost rancid, as Miyuki Katakara brushed mud and muck off her ruined rags of clothing. Thanks to all the layers she wore, though, most of her fur was saved from such atrocities, but that was the least of her worries. Her biggest worry was her location at the present time. For the moment she was physically fine, but how long would that last?

Looking back through the trees and toward the lake she had climbed from, she pondered just how she had gotten there in the first place. Tying back her long brown curls with an old gray ribbon given to her by her late mother, she sighed.

"Best not to worry about it for now," She muttered irritably and turned to make her way through the woods and toward what she assumed was a town. She could smell people, sort of.

It wasn't easy to tell if they were alive or not with all the rot and stench of burning wood. Had someone burned down a home here? Multiple homes? Was this place cursed or something? One hand slid to her bag of protective charms and herbal remedies. She had been able to spot and collect a few herbs that were of good use to her here, but not much.

Humans never do treat nature properly, She thought as she stepped over a log, tail twitching as she did so. Her blue eyes scanned the area, tried to discern each tree from the other. Not much was here - all seemed quiet for the most part.

That was when she saw them surrounding the place as if guarding it from intrusion. She had not met people in a long while, not since the last village she had visited. Gripping onto her bag's strap tightly, she made her way toward one of the men. "Excuse me," She said softly, offering a warm smile as her cute fox ears twitched. "Where are we?"

Maybe they could turn her in the right direction.