Journey

Upon waking up that morning, Rin began her journey as the harsh weather had cleared up quite nicely leaving only small patches of shallow snow on the ground.

Without her mother, Rin was alone with nothing but limited supplies and her mother's falcon Ju. Therefore, she needed to think smart in order to survive.

Her plan was to first search for a nearby river where she could find helpful resources - food and water.

About three hours from the cave she slept in was an icy stream filled with swimming fish.

Using the iron pot, she found in the village, Rin scoops the icy water from the river and with a few stones and dried sticks, lights a small fire to boil the water.

After a minute of boiling the water for safety, Rin allows it to cool while sharpening a long stick she found nearby with the double-edged dagger.

Once the tip of the stick was sharp of enough to pierce through flesh, Rin heads near the stream to catch a fish for food.

Despite having high skills in martial arts and surviving through nature, Rin, unfortunately, obtained no skill in catching fish...

"Splash--!"

Standing by the icy river, Rin throws the sharp spear into the shallow water. Missing her target the young girl furrows her brows with a frown.

The bird watching from a rock screeches as if it were laughing with amusement, which only caused the girl's foul mood to worsen as she shifts her gaze towards the bird releasing a deathly glare.

"If you find this so amusing catch your own lunch," Rin said sternly.

Understanding her words, the bird immediately went silent allowing the girl to continue hunting for her food. Staring back at the fish in the icy river the girl aims the spear in her hand towards the water before swiftly striking.

"I caught one!" Rin's little face beams brightly with happiness.

However, unfortunately, due to her excitement, Rin slips on a wet rock falling into the icy shallow water. Unable to contain itself, Ju screeches as if it were laughing.

"Shut up! You try catching your own food!" The young girl huffs while standing up from the water.

Ju once again shuts its beak and flies over near the river to catch a fish.

Not very long, a massive pile of raw fish rests beside the girl who had already begun grilling one of the large fish. Once done, the girl blows gently on it and gradually takes a savory bite of the grilled fish.

Although not seasoned, it still tasted better than the berries Rin had merely eaten on her way over. Seeing as the young girl was satisfied with her meal, Ju begins to rawly eat the fish before it.

After she had completed her meal, Rin wrapped the rest of the cooked fish in a torn piece of cloth and conserved the rest of the filtered water in the leather pouch.

....

For the next couple of days, Rin journeyed through the woods by foot. Without money, she was incapable of hitching a ride or staying in any suitable inns nearby and possibly buy some food.

Despite this, Rin preferred traveling by foot. It created less attention towards her - due to the excessive amount of travel her clothes became dirt covered and smelly.

After a week, Rin traveled upon a rugged area near the mountains. She had planned to rest there for the day seeing as the sun was setting and her stubby legs became bitterly sore.

When approaching a nearby tree, Ju's keen eyesight caught sight of a fast shining object approaching their way.

With a harsh screech, Rin caught on to his warning and dodged the approaching shining object flying her way.

She had early on heard a faint buzzing sound approaching her as she ducked for cover. Falling onto the dirt covered ground, Rin stared up at the tree above her to see a sharp arrow.

Someone shot at her.

Narrowing her challenging eyes in the direction the arrow came from, Rin slowly crouches down on the ground and hides behind a large rock.

With the sound of horses heavy footsteps coming her way, Rin lowers her body even further her emerald eyes sharply gazing at the approaching figures.