The nuts weren’t nearly as good as the mushroom and didn’t even give a prompt. Not only that, it took me a long time to just break in to them. But I was no longer starving. It also seemed as I wasn’t having any side effects to eating the mushroom. Well, other than really wanting to go get more. Maybe that was the side effect, intense cravings. Even being full of nuts, I wanted to eat more of the mushrooms. The fact that it gave a twenty percent boost to mana regeneration meant it would be something I would likely eat a lot in the future.

  Now that I was no longer starving and full of what I presumed were walnuts, I needed to make a plan of action. Climbing into a tree, I found a branch to lie on while I worked through what I needed to do about my situation. The problem was I was bursting with energy. It was hard for me to just lie in one spot, so I began to climb around on the tree as I pondered my next move.

  I was now a squirrel and needed to figure out a way to turn back into a human. I had no idea if I should bother with leveling up. Would it transfer when I turned back into a human? I wasn’t even sure how to level like this and I couldn’t even use a weapon!

  Ive never heard of any stories about a heroic squirrel going on adventures and saving the day. Though now that I thought about it, was that what I wanted? To be a hero? I mostly accepted the prompt to gain magic.

  Climbing out on the end of the limb, I jumped toward another tree before I even realized what I was doing. I only panicked slightly as I flew through the air. Turning back, I looked at where I had just jumped from. The limb had to be at least fifteen feet away from the one I landed on. It was lower but hadn’t even been hard to do.

  “Well, that was mildly fun.” Scurrying up the tree, I looked for another limb. I needed to explore anyway. And maybe this would clear my mind. Besides, I needed to find this mother tree. Maybe there would be a clue as to how I could turn back into a human.

  Leaping from branch to branch, I felt excitement. I could also move at a ridiculous pace, for being so tiny. It was truly an exhilarating experience. As I went from tree to tree at what seemed like a mind-boggling speed, I noticed more and more animals the further I traveled. Deer, a few smaller birds, lizards. My eyes seen every thing. Then I noticed a green six-legged cat and my blood ran cold. I was in the trees and it was on the ground, but I could swear the creature looked right at me with those yellow eyes. As if deciding if I was worth trying to eat. I then sped up, trying to get far away from the six-legged creature.

  Moving at a fear induced speed, I stopped paying as much attention to my surroundings and focused on getting away. A green bar appeared and began to drain away. It wasn’t long before my body felt exhausted. I took a brief respite before I continued on at a more leisurely pace. I had seen this green bar pop up when I was trying not to drown but didn’t pay it any mind then. The bar also refilled with in a minute. It was obviously some sort of stamina bar and only appeared when I really pushed myself.

  As fun as it was running through the trees like some sort of ninja from the Hidden Leaf village, I had to start looking for this mother tree. Then find a way to turn back into a human. I didn’t like being prey. In the back of my mind, I had been looking for other squirrels, but to my surprise, I saw none. I didn’t dwell on this as I wouldn’t even know how to talk to a squirrel, much less understand one.

  I needed to find humans. A talking squirrel had to be unique and surely I could find a wizard or druid to help me. The entire time I had been traveling through the trees, I had been moving deeper into the woods. The forest seemed to be truly massive, or maybe it was just my small size giving me that perspective. Although the forest was large, I didn’t feel lost. In fact, I had been subconsciously moving towards a specific area. The only thing I could think of was it was the quest to find the mother tree leading me. I didn’t try to fight it and continued.

  Though at a much slower pace. I had a gut feeling it would take me another day to reach my destination. I was also starting to get hungry. The sent of a few fruit trees had hit me on the way. There was even one not far from me, but it was in the wrong direction. Following the vague sense of direction, I continued.

  The sun was setting, so I began looking for a good place to sleep for the night. I was hoping to find a hole in a tree. I was also keeping an eye out for something to eat other than nuts. The nuts weren’t something I wanted to eat, but they would stop this hunger. I needed to find a blue berry bush or something. Also, why was I getting hungry so quickly?

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Some howls in the distance caught my attention, and I froze. Then I took a deep breath and took off again. I was far away from that cavern those wolves wouldn’t come after me. Glancing up through the thick forest canopy, I saw the moon. It looked to be a full moon tonight. There also looked to be a second moon, but it was hard to tell through the canopy and the clouds. Several dark clouds hovered in the sky. I really didn’t was to get wet. It wasn’t cold, but it was cool. If I got wet, it would make for a miserable night, especially with this fur. It took forever to dry. Eventually, I came to a large apple tree. Deciding this was as good as a place as any to stop and get something to eat, I went around checking for a ripe apple. I wasn’t sure how I knew the sent of a ripe apple but didn’t question it. I was starving. For such a little body, it ate a lot. Finding the apple I wanted, I used my mouth and dragged it towards the center of the tree and began biting into it. As soon as the taste hit me, I sighed in content. This was so much better than nuts. Part of me just wanted to hold up here. As I would have food forever.

  Howls in the distance had me look up. They sounded closer than before. My heart started beating faster. “Calm down, there not coming for you. They are likely chasing a deer or something.” After a few deep breaths, I relaxed. Why would a pack of wolves be chasing me anyway? It’s not like I done anything to them. To them, I would barely be a bite the size of a chicken nugget.

  I continued eating my apple while I looked in the direction I felt I needed to go. My body was tired from all the running and jumping today. I was surprised I didn’t gain a new skill. Or maybe I needed to be in danger of dying to gain skills. There was a lot I didn’t know. Such as what that yellow bar was. I hadn’t seen it sense I was in that cave. At first I thought it was a stamina bar, that one was obviously green.

  More howls had me look in that direction. The wolves were getting close. Taking one more bite of the apple, I took off in search of a tree to sleep in. Surely there would be a tree with a hole in it around here somewhere. I had seen some further back, but that was the direction the howls were coming from and I had no intentions of going towards the wolves. I didn’t travel much further before I came to a clearing. A house stood in the center of the clearing. Smoke coming from the chimney.

  I began down the tree thinking this would be a good place to sleep for the night. I could also get some answers. The howls made me change my mind. Scurrying back up the tree, I began to go around the house, staying in the trees. Why was there a random house in the middle of the woods? Maybe I was getting close to civilization.

  The sense of direction I was getting let me know needed to be on the other side of the clearing. Making my way around the clearing was more difficult than I thought. I had gotten too close to the clearing, and the trees were getting scarce. I had to make a couple of sketchy jumps. And had to even get on the ground to get to one tree that was particularly far away. I could have gone deeper into the woods, then backtracked, but that would have taken longer. And I wanted to get further away from the howling wolves, not closer. I wasn’t sure why I was so worried as dogs couldn’t climb and I was an excellent climber.

  I was more than halfway past the house when I next heard the howls. This time, I saw a large grey wolf along with the howls. It was on the other side of the clearing and running right in my direction. I really regretted my decision to not stop at the house now.

  Moving as quickly as my little legs could carry me, I made it to the next tree and darted up it. What was happening? Why was a pack of wolves chasing me? Jumping to the next tree branch, then to the next, I froze as a dozen wolves began circling around the pack of trees I was in. It wasn’t much further until I would reach the forest on the other side. I was in a patch of several trees. Despite the wolves below, I felt reasonably safe up here. Dogs couldn’t climb after all.

  To my horror, one wolf did just that. However, its attempt was laughable, only making it a few feet up the tree.

  “What in the twisted butt cheek do y’all want?” Despite not being able to use the words I wanted, I assumed the message was still clear. It’s not like I expected an answer.

  To my complete surprise, the large wolf with the scar across its face howled a single word, giving me the chills and making my hair stand on end.

  “Tresspasser!”

  “Oh, you gotta be kidding me. I can understand, dog?”

  Another few wolves hauled the same thing.

  “Oh, fiddlesticks! I was magically teleported there. I didn’t go into your cavern on purpose!”

  The wolves just howled.

  Alright then, it’s not like I expected to reason with a bunch of mutts, anyway.

  “Look, I’m sorry, okay, can’t we just go our separate ways and call it just a big ole misunderstanding?” I wasn’t even sure why I was trying to talk them down. It wasn’t like they could get to me up here.

  After a few more howls, I started to think it was my imagination that the wolves even said the word trespasser. A few more tried running up the tree again. I mentally kicked myself for not staying in the main forest.

  “It seems we are at a standstill. I’m way up here and your way down there.”

  Suddenly, one wolf bit into the base of the tree, ripping away some of the bark.

  “Yea, I really don’t think that’s going to do much.”

  As if to prove me wrong, several wolves began biting at the base of the tree.

  This wasn’t good, as they would eventually start making headway. Jumping to another tree, more wolves began biting at this tree as well.

  “Come on, guys, can’t we talk about this?”