Asuna opened her eyes to find herself standing at the edge of a cliff as she skidded to a stop, revealing what appeared to be an endless expanse of red, crimson trees at the bottom of the drop and behind her. Their tall, towering trunks are illuminated only by what appeared to be 3 moons in the night sky, casting their light down onto the tranquil landscape, the leaves scattered on the branches reflecting it across the rest of the environment.

  The beauty of such a scene was contradicted by the eerie, deafening silence. Not even so much as a cricket chirp or rustling of leaves rang through the forest. It was as though apart from asuna, the entire world around her was devoid of life.

  Asuna was used to terrifying situations, her life had hardened her to such a point, but this was a bit daunting, even for her. Wherever she was, she certainly wasn't supposed to be. This looked like something straight out of an alien planet. She had no sense of direction, either. She was more of a city person, and was thus very inexperienced in what appeared to be nothing but wilderness.

  Her heart continued racing from the strange encounter, feeling much more alert than she ever has before, as she began to question what was going on. Where am i? did i die? am i still in danger? A million questions ran through her head, but no answers to any of them.

  Her thoughts are interrupted by the feeling of unfamiliar cloth as she attempts to pinch herself, believing this all to be some strangely vivid dream, hoping that she'd simply find herself back in her bed at home, and she could then forget about her oddly realistic experience. It was only now that she realised she had inexplicably shifted outfits entirely. She was now adorned in what appeared to be a dark red mage outfit, with a short, yellow-bordered cloak wrapped around her shoulders, as well as a dark skirt strapped to her waist with a thin belt. It was as if she had suddenly swapped places with someone.

  "I've... taken on another form?" She questions herself, observing her own hands, which are covered by black, fingerless gloves. Her confusion was at it's peak. What was happening felt too real to be a dream, but the situation still felt far too random to be so. But there could be no in-between.

  ''I've gone insane, REALLY insane. That must be it..."

  She began to calm down slightly, trying to convince herself that she wasn't in any real danger by attempting to rationalise her experiences with the most plausible theory she could come up with. Even if, deep within, she didn't entirely believe that to be the case herself.

  A sudden deep, screeching noise shook the ground underneath her, interrupting her train of thought and knocking a few pebbles near her feet off the cliff as it echoed through the expanse. She turned towards it's apparent source, deep within the red-clad forest. She tensed up. Did something hear her talk to herself?

  As if her sheer intuition was telling her something, she felt a sudden urge in her gut to move from where she was standing, and in a moment of panic, she did exactly that, pushing off the ground to dart to the left. Her sudden movement proved to be a good decision, as a dark, hawk-like shadow tore through the forest like it was merely tissue paper moments later, it's size dwarfing asuna as though she had been shrunk. It flew into the air above her, moving like a blur as it revealed it's entire form. It's eyes and a few marks on it's body glow a bright blue, making it easily distinguishable, but all the more terrifying.

  It screeches once more, indicative of it's rage against her, shooting a blinding blue ray straight from it's mouth towards her, prompting asuna to leap back to avoid it, as the attack caused an explosion to erupt on impact, barely missing her as it scorches the grass and dirt itself.

  'Holy fuck...! What is that thing?!'

  Her eyes went wide as she curses internally, clearly disturbed by the creature she was facing, but she is also surprised by how far she jumped just a moment ago. Her body feels both tense with adrenaline, but strangely loose, too.

  Her heart hammered against her chest, naturally afraid of the threat before her. But like before, she knew she shouldn't allow her body to freeze up. It'd make her already slim odds of escaping even worse, that much was long since forced inside her head. She stared the creature dead in the eyes, not daring to do so much as blink, wanting to be able to react to whatever other absurd feats it was capable of.

  She thinks of simply finding an opportunity to flee at first, like she always did whenever she was in danger, but the possibility of fighting back crossed her mind. Perhaps her strange, new mage-like appearance was a hint of what she could do. But her fear clouded her mind, certainly beyond being able to force herself to move towards it.

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  To her, and most people for that matter, the only logical course of action was to continue running, but she wasn't faced with the typical high school kids anymore. This looked like something straight from the depths of hell.

  Asuna continued to narrowly avoid it's rapid onslaught, eventually coming to rest behind a taller, sturdier tree, As she attempted to catch her breath, praying against all odds she had escaped it's sight, believing the plumes of smoke from the ground would keep her hidden and block the creature's view, at least for a minute or two.

  She couldn't have been more wrong. Even with her surprisingly quick strategising, this demonic being could evidently sense the slightest noise and the faintest mote of fear for miles. There was practically no running from it once it had you in it's sights.

  With a swipe of it's wing, it blew away the tree asuna hid behind as if it was weightless, slamming her head-first into another tree a short distance away, knocking some of it's crimson-red leaves onto the ground. The girl slowly stood up, a trail of blood streaming down her forehead. She was hardly able to stand the pain, it was as though her skull was being ground into fine dust. The only thing keeping her standing despite her injuries was her sheer adrenaline and will to live.

  'Ow! Shit...!'

  The creature before her swooped straight towards her, carving straight through the environment on it's way once more, attempting a killing blow upon observation of her wound.

  'No! Not yet! No way it ends here! I want... A chance to live!!!'

  Attempting to muster a burst of courage from the very depths of her being, her body pushed herself forward, as though on instinct. She braced itself as she extended her arms, trying to push back against the horrific entity with everything she has. A faint, red aura ignited around her as her hands gripped the edges of it's massive, open mouth, stopping it dead in it's tracks through what asuna believed to be nothing short of a miracle.

  Clenching her teeth as tightly as she can, she powers through the throbbing pain in her head, her arms shaking with the effort of holding the hawk-shaped being back, even if just momentarily. Asuna's unexpected resilience angers it, causing it to let out another deafening screech, pulling back from it's attempt at killing her then and there. She didn't have much time to be surprised by her own capabilities, as it flew back into the sky, seemingly preparing a much more deadly diving attack.

  "Tch... Like hell this'll be it...!" Having gained at least some form of confidence from her prior feat, she opened her palm, a staff being formed from thin air, now tight in her grip. She looked up, seeing her foe speeding towards her, the marks on it's wings and body glowing far brighter, as though it were a comet speeding through the atmosphere.

  "EAT THIS, HELLSPAWN!!!" Asuna yelled, taking a step back, raising her staff, before throwing it straight towards the rapidly-approaching creature.

  The creature had little time to evade, as the staff pierced it's head, directly between it's eyes. A horrific, deafening squelching sound rings out, only accompanied by the hawk-like entity's screech of pain. It broke it's aerodynamic form on it's way down, hitting the ground unceremoniously close to asuna, whom covered her face with her arm in response to the incoming smoke.

  As the grey cloud produced by the impact dispersed, all that remained of the creature was it's corpse, along with it's brain matter scattered across the area, and a pool of it's own blood staining the grass beneath asuna. It was nothing short of a gruesome scene, but her mind was distracted by one thing above all else. Temporarily, all fear had left her body. It was like it was on autopilot.

  'Hold on... I won?!'

  Once she calms her nerves a little, the realisation hit her of what she just did. As crazy as the thought was to her, she had actually beaten... Whatever this was, through no shortage of quick thinking, of course. She was surprised by her own actions, as well. In no universe could she ever see herself fighting back against anything, but her body seemingly did so on it's own when it really mattered.

  The corpse of her abnormal opponent began to fade into a strange, glowing dust, each little speck flowing silently through the air and into her body, sparking an unfamiliar feeling of empowerment in her chest once the corpse had fully vanished into thin air. It was as if she was being rewarded for her efforts, like levelling up in a video game. That was the best analogy she could come up with to describe the sudden feeling she felt.

  As her breathing slowed back down to a normal pace again, she observed the destruction around her, as the crimson forest fell silent once again in the absence of the creature's rage and might. She still was certainly far from being calm, though.

  "Holy fuck... What the hell is going on?!?!"

  She mumbled to herself, not wanting to attract the attention of something that wanted to split her in two again. She wanted to find a way out of here, or at least understand what was happening. There was no blaming this on her imagination like she had repeatedly done so earlier. This was reality. That much was clear. But there was still not a trace of civilisation of any sort in sight. She may have won in this encounter, but she knew that she couldn't just stay out here in the open. For all she knew, there were a million other monsters out there that would have a far easier time killing her. She was still under pressure to get somewhere safe, and fast.

  Suddenly, she picked up a new sound nearby. It was not the screech of another strange creature, nor sounds of battle in the backround, but a friendly, feminine voice that emerged nearby. Whoever it belonged to, they seemed to have been watching the entire fight, just out of sight.

  "WOAH! That was so cool! You beat that nighthawk with barely any magic! Who are you?"

  ...