//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: A Druid's Life // by Crystonian //------------------------------// Pain.... pain...... Pain. That's all I felt. Well at first. And all I could see was darkness. Then I remembered to open my eyes. Light streamed in. I quickly shut them. Fuck, it was bright out. Why, oh why were my eyes so sensitive to light. I opened them again, this time I allowed the painful moments of light hitting retinals and allowing me to see. I was in a middle of a forest. Trees and bushes spanned out in every direction as I swiveled my head. Then I lifted my arms to rub my eyes. Wait? What the hell? I thought as I looked down at a set of claws. Dark green claws. I looked at my arms. Dark brown fur with bright green stripes ran up my arms and into my torso. And what did I do. Some may ask. Well I did what any reasonable person would do. I screamed. Well, not exactly, I cussed a lot. I tried getting up to run. I lifted off the ground and then fell face first into the grass. Banging my muzzle onto the ground and knocking off my glasses. "Ow!" I quickly sat back up onto my hindquarters. Yeah, fancy wording. I'm not some other idiot who fell into another world. I quickly took some deep breaths, calming myself down. 'Ok', I thought. 'Try using your instincts. That usually works.' I quickly closed my eyes, after grabbing my copper rimmed glasses, and thought about getting up. I slowly willed my muscles to get up and then I opened my eyes. I was standing up. Well. On four legs that is. I stepped forward and started to tip forward. I quickly stopped my self. I closed my eyes. 'Ok, looks like it wasn't that easy.' =================================================================================== After some time I got the walking down. I seemed late noon as I started my trek through the woods. In hope to find civilization. I trot pass more trees and bushes as I move along a natural path. Truthfully, If I wasn't worried about being lost. i would have looked around more. It was beautiful. There didn't seem to be much wild life other than a few birds here and there. I did snag my new antlers on branches a few times. Those pesky things weren't much use. I had traveled for a time when I stumbled across a small pond. I quickly took a drink since I was parched. Then I sat down and looked at myself, Finally having something I could clearly see myself with. I was a pony looking thing. Kinda like from that one show. I had dark brow fur with green stripes on my legs. There were to green stripes on my cheeks and a green mark on my forehead. I had dark green claws on the end of both my forelegs and back. There were strips on my back legs too. I had dragon like wings that were dark brown like my fur and forest green membranes. On my chest was a dark green patch, going from the base of my head to my underbelly. I had these gold rings on my neck and a small earing on my strange ears.They seem to be like leaves going backwards. My hair, or mane, was a forest green and same for my tail. My antlers were also forest green. I looked over to my flank and saw I had a cutie mark. It was a tree. My eyes were glowing green orbs in a black abyss. I also had a saddle bag that contained: One empty canteen. A pack of rations, like crackers and dried fruit. A old book that looked like it was ancient. A few lighters and a survival guide. And lastly as descent sized knife. 'Holy Sh*t. I look like one of my druid oc's. Or my druid oc? I still didn't plan that far ahead.' I look around, it had started to grow dark. "Might as well start a fire. Don't want to be without warmth tonight." I trot off to find some dead wood for fire wood. I find them easily, and after a few tireless moments, there was a crackling fire next to the small pond. I sat next to it, poking the fire with a stick as I sat there, deep in thought. 'How did I end up here?' 'Why am I like this?' 'Is there anyway to go home?' 'Do I want to go home?' 'How the hell do I use my magic?!' CRACK I turn my head swiftly towards the sound. 'What was that?' I thought. "Hey! Whoever that's out there. Come out. There's no point hiding. I know your there." I called out, hoping it was someone or thing that was friendly and sentient. Nope. Out of the woods came three pairs of glowing green eyes. 'Oh f**k. Timberwolves.' I thought. I quickly got to my feet, err claws. Whatever. And backed away from the wolves. 'G-o, go away!" I yelled, quivering in fear. The wolves were far more terrifying up close than I thought. They seemed to prow closer, sniffing the air as they closed in. They got close enough that I could have poked one, then, a strange thing happened. They stopped. They frigging stopped. Holy Sh*t! They looked me up and down, then into my glowing green eyes. Then I noticed how similar some of my feature were to theirs. The eyes, claws, and ears. All similar. Then I had a thought, 'We were similar. The same family of spirits. Heh heh. That makes sense, since I'm a druid. Ha...' The wolves sniffed for a few more moments, I was still tense, but slowly they turned and walked away. Back into the forest. 'Huh? Wait. That actually happened? HHuuuuHH??!' I leaned back onto the ground and crashed with a dull thud. I closed my eyes and thought, 'Ow, that hurt...' =================================================================================== The next morning I cleaned up my campfire, to make sure it didn't catch again. Don't want a forest fire right. I hoisted my saddlebags onto my back and quickly tightened the straps with my claws. "All right. Today will be the day I get out of this forest." I said. Turning towards the direction I was heading the day before. I walked past the pond and into the forest.