Born under the watch of distant stars, she moved like a shadow across the sleeping land. Cool fog curled around her legs in ghostly ribbons, its touch as real as any hand. Above, the endless sky glittered with sharp pinpricks of light, while below, the moss-soft ground muffled every step. The wilderness breathed in hushed reverence, and in that quiet she sensed the world thinning—ancient spirits brushing past, murmurs from lives long gone. Closing her luminous blue eyes, she drew in a deep breath, tasting the rich dampness of the earth. Moisture hung in the air, a warm, invisible shroud that clung to her skin and held her close.

Hidden deep within the tangled heart of Atlantis’s jungle. Parrots with sharp voices and monkeys swinging between branches had become her companions, their chatter and rustling a constant reminder she did not walk this world alone. Her whiskered lips parted as she breathed in and turned toward the dawn; ribbons of pale pink and gold stitched themselves across the awakening sky.

But her expression faltered when the horizon seemed to smear and buckle, the edges of her vision dimming as if the jungle itself were closing in. A knot of fear tightened inside her chest. She blinked hard, willing her sight to sharpen, yet beyond the familiar shapes nearby, all grew vague and distant. Drawing another breath, she froze at the sound - a slow crunch of hooves pressing into the earth. Her heartbeat quickened. Had her hidden life finally been discovered?

“Who’s there?” The words trembled out of her, brittle and uneven. “I’m only passing through—please, leave me be. I… I don’t want company.”