My world. The world I used to know. It was wrapped, so perfect, in a fuzzy blanket of snow. A serene place, no... A shelter, a safe, warm, place. Nothing bad was known there. Nothing at all.

But... Where did that world go? Where did my world go? I'm alone. I'm all alone. I never noticed how cold the snow was until now. Where did the warmth of it go? It's all so... Numb. "Ren... Hikaru? A-are you still there...?"

My faint voice that struck the air was barely audible. What had I even said? I unpeeled my eyes and used one arm to shade the tearing light that shot from an open wound in the ceiling. Buddumpbump! Thefaint clicking and beating hooves punched at the ground.

"Ah... We're on the trail again. I forgot."

I'm probably being shipped out again. They usually get bored of me by now. Then I'll most likely be traded for coins to buy alcohol and such, used as a maid that does whatever they want, then shipped out and traded again. It's not just a tiring cycle anymore, it's been a part of my life that I've had to get accustomed too. My life... I think, trying to straiten my back to a more comfortable posture. What has my life become?

My thoughts are cut off in an instant at the abrupt stop of clicking hooves. "Eh? We're here already?" Anxiety drips from my heart and fills my chest.

I'm always nervous before being handed over to new buyers. Every single one of them who buy me are disgusting and rotten, but they're always ones that are worse than others- and they're are always ones worse then them. And... That small feeling of hope that... My cycle can end, and I can go back to the world I used to know.

I smile and let out a pitiful sigh. My life hasn't changed for 7 out of the 14 years I've lived. There's no way it can change now. No way.

I close my eyes and try to hold on to the memory of my dream I had before. I want to go back to that world... I breath in deeply before I watch my eyelids slide over my eyes. Just for a moment.

Flickering colors of red and orange begin to swirl throughout my head. It's heat slowly draws closer and closer to my face...Hmm? Why is there so much yelling? Why am I by myself, crying? But... I don't feel scared. I feel abandoned and alone instead. Why? Through the blurry situation that steadily faded in and out, I could still hear heavy sobs. "R-Ren! H-Hikaru? Where, where are you?" There's a moment of hiccups and more then crying. Soon, the origin of the sobs bursts into an explosive amount of tears and mixes of jumbled up words.

But I keep hearing over and over...

"Why did you leave me alone?"

"Why... Why? Why did you-"

"MAKI! Get out now! We have some lovely visitors who'd like to buy your, heh, service as a maid! Heheheh..." An ugly, middle aged voice traced back to a pudgy man , banging on the wooden box I stayed in for the last couple of days.

I do my best to quickly shake off the nostalgic feeling the dream had left me and hop out of the creaking horse cart. I stand to the right of it, blinking several times to wake myself up.

"Ah, haha she's a darling cute ol' maid. She ain't a hostess, but she's good enough and ya have to admit my price is fair..."

Same haggling conversation I always hear... I sigh at how uncomfortably familiar I am with these type of things. Out of curiosity I perk my head up a bit to see who my new "masters" will be this time.

"Yeah yeah. She looks decent, I guess. Now about the pricing..." A fluent, clear, sharp voice came from a boy, with light brown hair. He wore an average traveling outfit for the Northern parts of Lilia; a simple long sleeve white shirt with a black best over it, and a brownish pair of pants with several beaded belts to carry supplies.

He must be an errand boy of some sort... There's no way he was the buyer! He looked close to my age...

"Fine fine... 30,000 fullok, then boy? I ain't gonna go down much more than that..." A long pause drew out after his last offer. After awhile, the boy smiles.

Wait... Is that a grin...? I focus my vision at his expression, just to make sure I'm not seeing things, but before I can confirm my sight he begins talking again.

"Ok how about this offer..." He shifts his body weight to the other side of him, and leans rather casually to his left side.

"You give her for free."

"Are you craz-"

"ATTACK!" Was the very next thing that shot out of the boys mouth, interrupting that fat man's dumbfounded reply.

Within seconds, screaming boys, all around the same age, charge strait to the man and the cart, with rocks, bow and arrows, swords, and other weapons in hand.

"...!?" I stand there, in shock. These guys are... What are the they thinking!?

"AAAHH!" A boy in tattered, traditional west Lilia pants and a bare chest strikes a spear directly into the cargo next to me.

"Hyaaaaa!" I shriek at the sound of splitting wood. They're crazy! Why do they want me as a maid? God knows what they might do with me-

Just the thought frightens me, and sends me running away from the mess.

I got to get away... I got to get away!

Urgency leapt throughout me, and I ran as fast as I could. 1 yard, 5 yards, 20...

I couldn't stop. I just ran and ran and ran, barefoot, with no place, no supplies, nothing.

"Guys! She's getting away!" I heard one yell.

"Ahhh..." I try to yell in panic, but I could only manage to pant. I do my best to run faster, but it's getting hard to breath.

I look back for an instant and spot several boys of the stampede veer off and gain distance to my direction. No, no, no! I want to cry but I keep running. "I got this one guys, keep fighting off the men back there!" He orders. Out of the corner of my eye I see them nod obediently and stop to run back fighting the disgusting men who I had to address "master" days before.

I shudder at the thought and do my best to outrun him. "Heh..." I hear him tease. The intervals between the footsteps behind me quickly decrease, and he picks up speed fast.

I... I can't outrun him! There's no way I can outrun him!

Raw panic starts tugging at my chest. I know I can't outrun him... But I can't go with them either! I don't know... I don't know.

"AIIII!" I shriek and squeeze my eyes tight, darting left and right in different directions.

"What are you- HEY!"

I hear his pace quicken and his voice get louder. Ahhh! He must be really bad just go just-

My next step intertwines with a branch connected to a steep hill. I my ankle twists and thrusts me backwards into open air.

"WHACH OUT!" I hear the boy shout from behind.

I open my eyes for a split second, just long enough to see the blurry sides of the hill, and the uneven ground that I'll meet with at my last moment.

"Nnngh!" I let a small whimper out, feeling my body tumble and stabbed by twigs and stones. This is it... I think, bracing myself for the end.

But the next moment, I feel something warm and heavy encase itself around me.

"...!"

I shot open my eyes one more time, and catch a glimpse of a pale face with messy black hair. "...!?"

My thoughts, for a fraction of a second, burst into complicated feelings of confusion. But before I could think of it any longer, an impact split and frayed my whole body.

My mind... My thoughts... It's filled with colors of this world, fading and mixing, more and more...

It's colors, weigh down and spin, heavier and heavier, until its swallowed my surroundings and suffocated me along with it.