346 Drifting In The Void

Vy looked around her surroundings, there was nothing but snow that stretched out beyond the horizon. She had no idea where she was, but she also knew it was not real. 

A blizzard billowed and blew all around her causing snowflakes to swirl in the wind.

At first, she was human. 

Then she was a nine-tailed beast. 

She walked through the snow-covered landscape with no clear direction. Vy never got out of breath, nor did she get hungry. After walking continuously for a long period of time, she noticed a shadow in the distance. 

Something or someone was lying in the snow, face down. They were covered with a long black cloak. Vy sped up forward, padding softly on the snow as she came up upon the mysterious body. 

For some reason, she felt as if she knew this person. 

"Who are you?" She whispered, not know if the person could hear her or not. 

She noticed under the hood, was a deer skull head. Was this person even human? She leaned down to observe the body more closely, barely inches apart. Through the billowing wind, she heard a muffled voice. 

"Did you say something?" She spoke out loud as she placed one of her front paws on the back of the person, nudging the body. 

This time, the person repeated a name. 

Louder and clearer. 

"Vy… Vyrena,"

A jolt of emotion coursed through her entire body. Something about this voice, something about this person felt familiar. But before she could say anything the world around her dissipated into thin air. 

She was in a void. 

Just then, a blaze of spiralling fire appeared out of nowhere. It consumed her entire body completely. Just like the last time, she felt no pain whatsoever. She was in the form of a Kyu, the nine-tailed beast but she was not protected against the fire. 

Vy watched as her entire body turned into ashes until there was nothing left of her physical body. She could not understand what it all meant. But it never scared her. It felt like it was something natural. It was meant to be. 

Vy was now in a spirit form, watching as her entire body was burnt. All that was left was a pile of ashes. Her own spirit form began to glow, just as the ashes were lifted into the air by a gust of wind. 

In the distance, she could hear an ear-piercing screech. It sounded like it came from a bird. But when Vy tried to find the source of the voice, she could not see anything at all. 

The light continued to consume her vision entirely. 

In the real world, Vy opened her eyes to blinding light. She was able to move her body despite it feeling extremely sore. She was lethargic. It was as if she had been asleep for a long time. 

Her memories trickled back to her. The explosives successfully damaged the wall, she managed to get the survivors to the other side of the wall. Does this mean they were free?

Looking down at her hands, Vy realised she no longer had the red bands around her wrists. Due to the blast from the wall, and the attacks she had tackled head-on, the bands wore out. 

Could that be the reason why she was able to shapeshift?

Subconsciously, Vy reached her hand to her neck, to feel the pendant she wore around her neck. It was still there, leading her to heave a sigh of relief. Although, she was still uncertain about its significance. 

Just then, the sound of an unlocking latch made her lookup. She instinctively reached for a weapon but there was none to be found. As the door creaked open, Vy's heart pounded as she braced herself for who it might be. 

A short figure peeked out from behind the door. A familiar face. The face was stunned to see Vy seated up on the bed. But the shocked expression soon changed into one of pure joy. 

"Vyrena you're awake! I need to tell the rest!" The person exclaimed before running off, leaving the door partially opened. 

Vy did not manage to see who it was, but judging from the voice, it sounded like someone familiar. It was not Boss… it was a female sounding voice. It must have been Maribelle. 

She could hear her shouting down the hallway, "Vyrena is awake! She woke up!" 

Minutes later, five different people entered the room with genuine looks of joy on their faces. Maribelle, Jos and Boss all gave her a huge hug the moment they entered the room. 

El and Ronni were there too, happy to see that she had finally woken up. 

"How long was I out for?" She asked. 

Had it been two days? Or Three?

"Eight days."

Vy widened her eyes in shock. 

"Eight days?!" She repeated. 

All of them nodded. 

Vy leaned back on the pillow. It was only at this point that she began to realise the extent of the injuries she had suffered. The claw mark on her rib cage was the worst injury she had suffered for a long time. 

Vy touched her rib cage, feeling the bandages. El explained that much to their surprise, she stopped bleeding soon after she lost consciousness. All they needed to do was clean, dress and bandage the wounds. 

"Thank you, all of you, for saving my life," Vy thanked all of them with a warm smile as she placed her hand over her heart. 

Without them, she could have collapsed and never recovered. 

El shook her head, "Don't be silly, Vyrena! It's you who saved us, twice! You got us out of the Jungle and then you saved us from that reptile creature, we owe you our lives."