All The Feral Girls In The Universe

Uatchita was sitting on her usual rock in the forest, staring up at the birds. A breeze came and played with the raised up hairs on her arms.

"Ah..."

The girl stood in front of her.

"I thought I might find you here."

She sat down next to her in the grass. Uatchita didn't react. For a while, they were both silently staring into their seperate directions. The girl was shifting around and occasionally shot sideway glances at her. Finally, she took a deep breath and turned to face Uatchita.

"S-so, how are you doing...? You left so suddenly last night, I..."

"..."

She trailed off. Her gaze slid onto the ground. Her brows were furrowed. She took another deep breath and tried again.

"I, uh... I just wanted to properly thank you for picking up the broach and... for helping me... and... I... I wanted to..."

"..."

Uatchita continued to ignore her. The girl sighed and let herself fall back into the grass. She wore a strained expression; her eyes were closed.

"...Sorry for running away from you the other day. I was just... I'm really not looking for a fight when I'm down here, you know? It's pretty tense to walk around all by myself, and I'm not the best at hiding..."

A sunbeam tickled her nose. She opened her eyes and became aware of the birds swirling through the air above her. For a while, they were both silently watching them. The girl opened her mouth to speak, hesitated, then tried one more time.

"You know... My grandfather told me about these birds."

"...Your grandfather...?"

Uatchita had turned to look at her. The girl shot up, all smiles.

"Y-yes! My grandfather. Ramses Akhenaten. Ah, I'm Miriyam Akhenaten, by the way!"

She reached her hand out. Uatchita looked at it for a bit, then turned back towards the birds.

"What did he tell you...?"

Miriyam's unshaken hand faltered. She was scratching her chin as she let herself drop back into the grass.

"Hmmm... He said that way back in the day, the miners would take birds down with them as a warning system. If there wasn't enough oxygen in one of the shafts, the birds would die... A terrible system, truly. When the spirits had been released into the mine, the dungeon boss took note of the birds haunting it and decided to give them back the life that had been taken from them. So, they summoned this forest and reanimated the birds. It's seriously impressive that the spell is still so strong after all that time..."

"Did your grandfather... Tell you their names...?"

Miriyam was surprised.

"Their names...? I... I don't think they have any..."

Uatchita nodded.

"That's good. I've come up with my own."

She raised her arm and began pointing out individual birds.

"That little black one's Speedy. I've seen him round the whole forest in 5 seconds. That one over there with the yellow spots is Little Rascal. Him and Speedy do not get along..."

Uatchita was fully engrossed in explaining the various birds' personalities and relationships. As she did, the hairs slowly settled back onto her body. Finally, she was starting to feel like herself again. The memory of her interaction with Kiyah just a few hours earlier felt strange and distant. Did it even happen?

Miriyam had at first dutifuly followed her finger and listened to her explanations. Now, she was intently looking at her face.

"By the way, you're not, uh... you're not actually a monster, are you?"

Uatchita swiveled around.

"W-what...?"

Miriyam defensively raised her hands.

"O-oh, just... I noticed that rune on your forehead. That's disfiguration magic, isn't it?"

Uatchita stared at her for a solid thirty seconds.

"...There's a rune on my forehead...?"

"You didn't know?!"

"Well, I avoid looking at my head as much as possible..."

"Hmmm..."

Miriyam was staring at her forehead with total focus. If she had noticed the despondency in Uatchita's answer, she didn't make it appearent. It was kind of irritating.

Suddenly, she leaned in close and started tracing the rune with her finger.

"It is kind of being obscured by those hairs... I also just noticed it. This is... is it a scar? Was it carved in with a knife...? That's terrible... No wonder they banned rune magic..."

Uatchita's heart was pounding. She could smell Miriyam's lavender perfume, see the tiny red blemishes on her face and... feel her touch. Uatchita couldn't remember the last time she had been this close to someone. Had she ever been? She felt the strong impulse to reach out and touch Miriyam's hair. It was all too much. She needed an out.

"W- uh, why does your grandfather know so much about the dungeon anyway?!"

"Hmmm...? Oh, uh, he was a speluncologist. Same as his father, and his father's father... Their research provided the basis for our understanding of this mine's layout, ecosystem and social structure."

Appearently lost in memories, Miriyam had unconsciously removed her finger from Uatchita's head. Uatchita was relieved and decided to keep pushing.

"A 'speluncologist'...? Never heard that one before. Sounds made-up."

Miriyam sighed.

"Yes, it's a dying field... The days when brave scholars would head out into dungeons armed only with notebooks and their wits are long past. My father already broke with the family tradition in that regard. In fact..."

Her expression darkened.

"There's been that movement recently calling for a demolition of the dungeon..."

Uatchita felt her stomach drop. If something like that were to happen... Would her friends be able to get out in time? Where would they go? Where would she go...? She had just managed to make herself at home, and now... Miriyam was shaking her head.

"It's terrible, seriously. I understand that to the layperson, the dungeon may just seem like a latent source of danger... Why allow a place that's teeming with monsters to exist so close to the city? But this mine contains a whole fascinating culture that no one's bothered to investigate or chronicle in about a century, and it's the most direct line of connection we still have with our ancestors. Destroying it would be a scientific tragedy- not to mention all the unneccesary suffering it would cause! It's terrible. Truly terrible."

She was looking straight ahead, with an unexpected fire in her eyes. Her eyebrows were furrowed. Her mouth had shifted into a small but determined spiteful frown. Uatchita thought it looked cute.

"...Seems you're quite passionate about this."

Miriyam's eyes cleared up as she looked back at Uatchita. Suddenly, she seemed almost bashful.

"A-ah, yes... I guess I am. I haven't found a professor willing to work with me on this yet, but... I want to do a complete exploration of the dungeon as my thesis project and publish my findings. Maybe I can make people understand what a fascinating and beautiful place it is. And, uh..."

She was once again fidgeting nervously.

"Last night, when we were fighting those guys, I thought... 'Hey, we actually make for a pretty great team!'. Plus, I imagine you're already familiar with the dungeon, and know some of its inhabitants personally... You know, I don't think I can do this on my own... So, basically, I was wondering if..."

She carefully glanced in Uatchita's direction.

"Sorry, what's your name...?"

Uatchita laughed a little.

"My name's Uatchita. Sorry for leaving you hanging earlier..."

Miriyam nodded. She took a final deep breath and fully turned her body towards the fly-girl.

"Uatchita, would you be willing... to explore the dungeon with me...?"

Before Uatchita could answer, a pair of long, transparent wings burst from her back.

[END OF PART 1]