"Where are we going?" Astoria asked. Though her bare feet felt damp against the grass of the forest, she found that she was becoming used to it. She could feel every prickle, she could hear the sounds of animals and beasts around the forest, and she could see the minute details of the bark of a tree paces ahead, but she could also choose to ignore them all. Her heightened senses wasn't an 'off or on' switch, but it was something she realized she didn't have to focus upon.

"We have arrived."

Pendridge stopped his steps as they breached past a blockade of trees and Astoria found her footing reaching damp dirt. She widened her eyes at a pristine pond, awestruck by the waters as clear as glass which reflected the azure skies above them.

"So pretty."

"We are not here for sightseeing."

Astoria was already running for the bank of the pond when a sound reached her ears. She stopped her feet, sliding unharmed against dirt. Then she looked before her at a creature leagues smaller than even herself, digging at the ground before the pond, its tail short and its plethora of whiskers dirtying while its nose shifted at the dirt.

She took a careful step back.

"What. . .what is that?" She asked.

"That is a dirtrat," Pendridge answered calmly, paces behind her. "It digs into the ground for worms and eats them. I want you to catch it."

"C-catch it?" Astoria asked.

"Yes. Catch it. It shall be a part of your next meal."

Astoria's face scrunched as she watched the thing a foot or so before her. Catch it? She sprung at it, her small frame jumping. Yet she crashed against the ground and the creature had escaped her grasp.

"Why you!"

She jumped at the creature once more, but this time it was already running. Pendridge watched, half-part amused, as she chased the thing about the bank of the pond. It took what felt like several minutes, but huffing and puffing, Astoria soon found herself griping at, knees to the ground, covered in dirt, as it squirmed in her grasp.

"I caught it!" She yelled in exhilaration.

"Good," Pendridge said, "Now, separate its head from its body."

". . .what?"

Astoria thought she had heard wrong. She stared at the creature in her hand, finding it cute as it squirmed and shrilled about.

"Kill it," Pendridge answered her question.

Astoria's expression tightened and her body shook.

"Do I really have to. . ?"

"The cycle of life continues," Pendridge answered, "If you wish to live, there shall be times when you must kill."

That did nothing to convince Astoria, however. Though she had read about the killing of beasts, and even dragons, doing so herself had never been something she thought about. She didn't wish to take a life.

Pendridge's sigh reached her ears as the sound of his steps drew closer.

"The trees around us bloat out much of the sunlight, keeping any hope of flowers from growing tall. The small fishes in that pond devour the even smaller creatures within. And that dirtrat in your hand must eat the worms in the earth to continue its existence, as you too must devour it as one of the top predators in this world," He spoke, stopping behind her as a warm draft of wind caressed her bare skin. "To live is to bring suffering upon others. It is natural."

Astoria stared at the creature with shaking eyes. She gulped as her hands wrapped around the creature. One about its body, and the other about its head. She closed her eyes, taking in a breath, hearing its shrill and feeling its struggling.

"Open your eyes." Pendridge shook his head. "A predator must never fear his actions."

Her eyes opened slowly and she pulled. Her strength surprised her. The head of the creature ripped cleanly from its body as blood splashed, turning her hands red. Just like her golden eyes with a touch of crimson, she had been tainted.

Her tears fell immediately after as Pendridge watched her crouched figure. As she shook he opened his jaws and scooped her figure into his mouth, pacing forward.

Astoria snapped from her state.

"Wait, what are you doing?" She asked quickly, her gaze shifting, but she couldn't escape from his mouth.

Pendridge walked before the pond.

"Enter the pond and catch a fish. That shall be the last part of your second meal."

"What?!"

And tossed her within.

"I don't know how to swi—!"

Her voice ended as a splash of water resounded, and she sunk into the pond. The liquid rushed into her throat and her eyes looked out, sinking, into a world where fishes scurried hurriedly away from her. Then she realized she was drowning.

A sudden sense of panic rushed through her mind. She was flailing, splashing water around as she struggled to rise back to the top of the pond. Then the jaws of a beast dived into the water and picked her back up, and she found herself crashing against the ground.

Astoria gripped the earth and hurled water from her lips. Several seconds passed, and she looked, shakily at her hands.

"I thought I was going to die again," She said. Shaking. "I thought I was going to die."

There were tears in her eyes as she huddled to herself. Pendridge stared at her bundled form and heard her cries, a sudden pang of guilt running through him. His face scrunched as his jaws angled into a frown. Then, they were back to their usual placid passiveness as he steeled himself.

"Weak," He growled out, standing in front of her, eyes glaring contemptuously, "So weak, and you dare to call yourself a Guardian Beast?"

His voice rumbled out into a growl that pierced into her heart.

"As I thought, you are nothing more than an error in this world, sooner to perish than strive to live."

Astoria hung her head.

"I wanted to live a free life. . ." She muttered. She wanted to live freely, enjoy a fantasy world, and yet she had been forced to kill a creature with her own bloodied hands, and thrown into a pool to swim or drown. She felt betrayed.

Pendridge, however, scoffed.

"Free? Certainly, you will obtain it if you are strong enough, but those without strength cannot have such a luxury," He countered plainly. "Right now, you are simply weak."

Astoria's figure shivered.

"I'm not weak," She said.

Astoria did not want to be weak in this world too. If she couldn't grow stronger, wouldn't she forever be forced to rely on him? Was that no different from being connected to a machine to stay alive?

"I'm not weak," She said once more, this time with more strength in her voice as she wiped the tears at the corners of her eyes.

There was the thought that he might not help her anymore if she stayed weak. There was the thought that he would simply leave her be to fend for herself if she stayed weak. For an individual who had depended on her parents for all 13 years of her previous life, Astoria was also deeply scared of being alone in a currently unknown world, no matter how fantastical it was.

"Then try again," He replied. "The strong are made through failure because they stand once more from disappointment."

Astoria nodded as she forced herself back up. She walked gingerly back to the pond's edge and stared inside at the reflection of herself.

'I'm not weak.'

Taking a deep breath, she plunged herself back into the depths of the water.

She forced herself to remain calm and found that she could hold her breath for minutes on end. Then she found that she felt no coldness. It took her several seconds to try to swim and she failed, several times over, saved by Pendridge. Yet, with his guidance, she learned to swim and to await the passing of a fish, motionless before grabbing it as it touched her palm.

"I caught one!" She broke out of the water, laughing gleefully.

On her first morning in another world, she ate a rat she had killed with her own hands and a fish she had caught as Pendridge nodded approvingly. As the last of the meat entered her stomach, she had grown to resemble a 5-year-old child, crimson hair blossoming upon her head, and golden eyes pure with just a tinge of red.

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