Hollow Reign: Forgotten

*Woosh!*

A majestic white hawk could be seen soaring along with the wind as it traversed through an ancient forest. The surrounding trees seemingly extending into the sky.

With only the sound of its wings cutting apart the air, the hawk silently entered into a building through what appeared to be a massive hole.

After taking a moment to hover around the room, the hawk then flew down and perched itself onto a large tree root that seemed to have been the cause of the collapse of the buildings wall.

Such broken and unstructured buildings weren't a rare sight within this particular forest.

Lowering its head, the hawk began to stare in a certain direction as something seemed to have caught its attention.

"Mmm…" A soft groan resounded throughout the large, broken down building.

Hearing the voice, the hawk tilted its head slightly in interest as it continued to watch in silence.

Feeling the hard marble like floor surrounding her, Ren realized she was in a completely different place then she had been in before logging off.

'I see. This must be the cathedral that brother had spoke of.' Ren thought to herself as she began to reestablish her now broken connection with the world in an attempt to enter the state she had before falling off the cliff.

Felling as if roots had extended from the soles of her feet into the ground below, Ren wasn't surprised this time when she could suddenly sense objects in her surroundings.

'Yep this place does seem like it once was a cathedral, but I wonder how it got to this state…its all tattered and broken.' Ren thought as she began walking towards a large hole in the side of the cathedral that would lead her outside.

During that entire time, Ren had not once noticed the hawk perched on top of the tree root. Whether it was due to her not paying attention or her inability to sense it, one couldn't be to sure.

The hawk watching the thing which it had taken interesting in leave, decided it had been out for long enough and began its journey back towards its home.

While the hawk spread its wings and took to the skies above, on the ground below Ren was trying to decide which way she should head in as no matter what way she turned her senses towards all she could find was forest, forest, broken buildings overtaken by the forest and more forest.

'Well I guess only one stands out huh…' Picking her poison, Ren began to head deeper into what she assumed was once a thriving town.

*Squeak*

"Hello squirrel number seven." Ren called out to yet another animal that crossed her path.

It hadn't taken her long to reach the end of the town and sadly she was unable to find anything of use within the town besides small critters who made the area their home.

'In the end it still became the forest…' Ren thought in humor.

Although her brother Liam told her that she had most likely died in game, he wasn't to sure on what would happen when she respawned.

He had information pertaining to the lore and some key information that correlated to the overall structure and setting of the world, but sadly amongst his knowledge about the game all he knew about her current situation was that she would respawn within the closest cathedral to her place of death unless she was directly brought back using a revive spell.

'That means I just have to keep moving forward…ugh I shouldn't have overreacted like I did, that way at least I would have people to talk to.' Ren thought to herself as she mulled over the past.

"Oh?" Ren said aloud as she felt something different for a change.

It had taken Ren over an hour before she finally found other possible signs of civilization, and even then she wasn't to sure what exactly she would run into.

'Still better then walking through the forest any longer.' She thought, convincing herself that braving any possible dangers to come would be a better outcome then being forever lost in the forest.

"It's a…city?" Ren said aloud as what she felt at the edge of her perception was something straight out of a fairy tale.

Walking towards the massive wooden archway which appeared to be the entrance way, Ren felt four powerful presences standing guard at the archway with two on each side.

'No wait…' Feeling a slight blimp in her perception, Ren noticed that there were actually multiple hidden guards all along the wall.

While heading closer and closer towards the entranceway Ren thought over what she was going to say and how to answer any possible questions they might ask her.

Finally coming to stand a good distance from the guard on her right, Ren called out to the guard.

"Umm excuse me? I'm lost, would you mind if I came in and took a rest for a little while?" Asked Ren while trying to sound as innocent as possible to come off as harmless.

…

"Umm…? Mister?"

…

Not hearing any reaction from the guard to her words Ren began to panic slightly.

'Ahh! Maybe its like the queen's guards from the UK and their not allowed to talk to other people! I listened to a documentary about them once! Hehe~ that must be it.' Ren thought as she confidently walked through the archway.

Feeling the guards not react to her movements or attempt to stop her caused Ren to believe her conjuncture was correct and the guards must not be allowed to talk while on duty.

Entering the city, Ren was awestruck at how majestic and grand it felt. The city greatly resembled Elven cities as depicted in film and fantasy novels.

Above her in the trees Ren sensed many houses and structures that were connected to one another by bridges. Some houses even seemed to have been naturally formed by the trees themselves. While on the ground below, she noticed that the architecture and layout more closely resembled that of a human city with neat organized roads and pathways.

She could also make out many areas on the ground below that were dedicated to farm lands.

Yet going by how large the city seemed, she doubted their only source of food came from those limited amount of farms.

There was most likely farms located outside of the city which she hadn't come across.

Turning her attention towards the people roaming the streets, Ren noticed right away their unique ears confirming that the city was home to the elven race.

Although she couldn't make out facial features using her ability, she was still able to get a rough outline of people's body shapes. This allowed her to guess who was a male or female as well as their rather distinct pointy ears.

Running up to an elven female that sensed rather 'welcoming' to Ren, she started off by gently called out to her in hopes that she would finally be able to figure out where she was.

"E…Excuse me!"

…

"Ma'am?" Feeling as the 'welcoming' and 'kind' woman walked right past her, Ren didn't know what to say.

'Some people…I guess there are rude people in every world. Humph!' Putting the event behind her, Ren moved onto the next person and called out to him.

…

And the next.

…

Again.

…

And again.

…

"What's going on!!" Growing annoyed, Ren couldn't help but to release a shout in hopes that someone on the street would react.

Yet despite her hopes and growing worries, no one seemed to have heard her as they continued on with their days.

"Why…Why don't they hear me…" Feeling lost and alone, Ren slumped down onto the ground.

Yet something she didn't expect happened.

*Thump*

"Huh?!" Feeling something suddenly hit her on the head, Ren quickly turned her attention to the object that now laid below her.

Picking up the small object, Ren noticed that it was in fact a nut.

*Thump*

"Hey!" Feeling another nut impact against her head, Ren called out to whatever was bullying her.

*Chirp*

"Ehh?" Ren thought in surprise as she suddenly felt a bird of some kind show up on the ground directly in front of her.

"Where did you come from?" Marveled at the fact that she wasn't able to sense or even hear the bird at all, Ren squatted down and reach out to pet the bird.

Seeing that the bird made no negative reactions to her movements, Ren began to pet the bird gently.

'Soft!' She thought.

*Chirp*

Feeling the bird grab ahold of her pant leg, Ren began to grow curious as to what this little guy wanted from her.

*Chirp!*

"You…want me to follow you?"

*Chiirppp*

Feeling the bird slowly began to fly in a specific direction, Ren decided to take that as a yes.

Chasing after the bird, it wasn't long before Ren arrived in an isolated part of the city.

Noticing the bird land on top of the entranceway leading into a run down shop, Ren couldn't help but grow curious as to what the bird was showing her.

*Knock Knock*

"Excuse me!" She called out after knocking on the shops door gently.

*Creakkkk*