The gears start turning in my head as my ears tune into the lazy breezes and the soft whistling of the leaves. Keeping my eyes close, I bask in it all. High and low chirps and squeaks fill the woodland air and break the silence.
Slightly opening my eyes, It's well lit. A few rays of light shine in despite the low hanging leaves. Thick and thin branches do their part to hold up the lazy leaves and make a sort of roof over me. It's like a hut but in a tree. Leaf-thatched roof. Mm.
I sit up, the low curved branch under me done its purpose. I rest my hands on the fresh bark of the tree and breathe in the morning air. I rub my eyes.
The events of last night cycle through my mind as I adjust to being awake. Oh yeah, Those brightly colored and winged horses. It's not like I could forget meeting those odd creatures. Though I hope there aren't any more of them, they are strange creatures. I can't take the irony of an animal taking care of another animal. The image of the butter-colored winged horse in a doctor's coat flashes in my mind.
For some reason, It didn't fit her. The look wasn't right. Wait, do these horses even wear articles of clothing?
Both of were naked but are more of their kind? Wait, where am I?
I make my way out of the tree's embrace.
"Woah..."There's a bit of a clearing in front of the tree, showing off its one-color grass. I swear it’s all just one dark green color. I couch down and brush my fingers in between the blades of grass. They're soft like a bundle of feathers.
Strange. I go to inspect the bark that I used as a bed. It's as usual as a tree can be. The rough and bumpy bark that's composed of dark shades of brown, it's nothing like the grass below it. Well, every place has something different about it. I gazed at the smallish clearing of grass before looking around the tree.
A conspicuous small pile of black cloth laid messily on top of a root. Oh, right. My makeshift pillow. I move to grab it and dust it off. It isn't cold enough for me to wear my hoodie. It's a warm day for November. I sling the piece of clothing over me and shift.
There’s a small thump behind. An apple. It must have fallen from the hoodie. I look at its glistening peel with a painting of only shades of red, green, and white. The short stem curl from the top.
It was worth getting teleported. Well, it's time I got out of this forest. I’m not far from the horses' hospital.
I’m not in a rush.
My body turns to dust before I’m back to two legs. I couch down and reach over for the apple and take a bite. It was sweet and soft. Not many towns have fresh and juicy apples. I was lucky with that town.
Well, not that lucky. A wizard or some magic student populated the town. An incredibly terrible one to boot. They’ve sent me out the kingdom. I’m as sure as hell that those horses aren’t in the Kingdom of Maif’wa.
I throw the core behind me. I think I have another one. I shift through the pouch of the hoodie.
Didn’t I grab two? I push my arm through the holes of the empty pouch. Dammit.Fine. I guess I should be making my way out of these dark woods. The edge of the clearing wasn't hard to miss. The small swaying bundles of trees in every direction. Only a few inches separating each bark tower.
Chirps echoed from above me. Three birds leisurely flew high above me. Two bluebirds, one red bird. I don't know what kind of bird the red one was, but I was no expert on them? If it was alive, there was a name for it. I didn't know it. What the birds were doesn't matter anyway; I want to find my way out. Maybe run into that hospital again. Seduce my way into getting some free breakfast.
I shouldn't be that far anyway. The tree would have concealed my body enough; there would have been no purpose to getting more than a few feet away from the hut. I crossed over the edge of the clearing into the mix of bark, twigs, and leaves.
“Wow.” Instead of the small, stable, cottage, I was expecting there was a hut too big for the hill it was on with a leaf roof. It was surrounded with birds, weasels and squirrels and the rest of the fauna you would expect from a forest. They had different colors and patterns in their fur or feathers. The square hut had many windows built into it probably had one on each wall.
It's bigger inside than outside, or maybe I’m too far to see its real height. Getting closer, closed off area like a pen catches my gaze. Following the fences lead me to an enclosure of many different animals.
What in great earth is that thing! It’s just standing in the middle of the pen. Thin legs. Pink feathers. It's long neck. The goofy look in its eyes. The legs should be struggling to carry that creature’s weight.
Now it’s a fact. I’m not longer in Meif’wa. That abomination would last barely a day after any hunter found it in that kingdom, with its feathers that screamed ‘Look at me’ and “easy catch.’ Hunters would drive these extinct. Whatever species it is. If I had any money, I’d bet that that was the last of them.
Dumb animal. Why would it ever need to be pink? The horses are Agile, but best bet, the horses of this place are domestic animals. I guess that their ability of speech has given to them via spell. I can’t say that I would ever need such a hex, but companionship is hard to come by when you are living alone in the middle of a woods.
Fuck am I thinking about how loneliness feels. I’ve got to find the bastard before I drive myself crazy. I turn around and make my way over the short fence. The back door is where I saw it last, precisely.
I walked, in the same way, I walked out last night.
“Oh, hello kitty. Where did you bandages go?” So Butter is awake.