After discovering that I can't actually sleep, I kept on my secret mission to get over all this new information that was presented to me all at once. It's not always that you die, meet the abyss of death and is brought back to life in a different world full of elfs and magic glass... Oh, and don't forget the fact that you a tiny fucking furry fur ball.
I keep walking around the room, trying to better understand this little girl I came to spend my new life around. there are a lot of books deposited in a bookshelf at the corner of the room, and although I can't actually read the titles, while opening some of them up, I noticed a trope of adventurous stories based on the pictures displayed in those pages. She is a fantasy girl, it seems.
𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 a 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 ...
"System " I try muttering in my native tongue, only for nothing to happen at the end and for this whole situation to leave me with a dumb look stamped on my face.
"It was worth a try ... Status " I try again, only to realize that this is not actually a hidden game like world, like the countless novels I've come to read.
𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘩
After that obvious display of idiocity, I resume my exploration of a maybe 10 years old girl... when putted this way, it doesn't sound so good, now that I've realized.
While exploring the room, I came in contact with other numberless treasures of hers. Her toys, all of them hand made, including wooden dragons, knight and a cute elf figure that I assume is her, when she grows up. Her clothes, also hand made, which makes no sense considering there are some expensive looking colors there, such as blue and red.
𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘩𝘶𝘩 ?
While finishing my exploration, I come across a picture. A beautifully drawing of what looks like Alys and her family.
𝘈 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰. 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 ?
I stay there, stuck looking at her drawing for some time. After a while, only one thought remaining in my mind.
𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 ?
Some time passed like this before I noticed that a small droplet lands upon the paper in my hands, damaging it's border. So, I just put the drawing away for it's own safety, and settle on sitting at the corner of the room, so to not disturb her things. I put my hands over my mouth, hoping it muffle what I am about to do...
𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦... 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 ? 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 ... 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥.
I try, I really try holding them back, but I'm not enough. After a while, I lay down in the floor, holding my knees as if trying to protect myself from this ... this unknown that I find myself inserted. My tears wetting the wooden floor and my fur.
' I'm gonna be okay, they are gonna be okay, WE are gonna be okay ' I muted over my muffled cry.
After hours stuck in my own disturbed world, a single light brings me out of it. The light of dawn starts to illuminate the room, and I start to notice a couple of bird tweets throughout the background.
𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.
I then start to clean my face of the tears that I allowed to run, bringing my messy fur to my attention.
𝘈𝘭𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧...
Reluctantly, I get my messy furry hands close to my mouth and give it a small lick, just like cats do when they wanna clean themselves up. My eyes closed expecting some disgusting taste or something...
𝘩𝘶𝘩 ? 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 ... 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 ?
I look at my hands surprised, not expecting this situation to develop like this.
𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 ?
I don't know how to describe this but, I felt like that calmed me down a little. Unsure if I should keep going with this weird plan, I hear some hums under Alys blankets and then I become stiff, thinking that she is waking up already.
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘣𝘦 ? 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘱 !
After a while, the tension goes down with Alys going back to sleep.
𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.
Then, still uncertain if what I'm doing is wrong or not,I resume my hypnotic action of cleaning my messed up fur, from hands to tail. Instinctively, I use my wet with saliva hands to help me clean my face and somewhat groom the fur around my head. Only after feeling like I'm finished, do I realize what I've done.
'Sigh, it's worse than I thought '
𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 ? 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.
𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘈𝘭𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦...𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦.
After finishing that thought, I hear a mumbling coming again from under the blankets, which after a while are busted out from the bed, revealing Alys figure waking up and preparing for a new day. I look in her direction, waiting for when she notices me or gives me something to do. It's not like I can convey my thoughts or anything, since I'm still somewhat away from the speech capabilities necessary.
When Alys notices my presence, she mumbles a few things and runs to grab my hand and pull me towards the door or her room with a energetic pacing and a smile across her face. I don't actually understand why, but when she smiled right there, I felt something. I felt better, lighter... I wonder why.
Confused over these new instincts showing up over me, Alys drags us towards the kitchen, where while preparing something for us to eat, she resumes her daily quest of teaching me the most words she can. I can still remember the words from the day before, which in on itself is remarkable. I don't remember being able to remember things this well in my other life.
Alys finished her cooking adventures and presents to me a simple dish for us to regain our energies. A piece of bread soaked with butter and jam. I can see from the smile in her face that she is pretty proud about that, so I just smile back and start eating it.
𝘞𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘩 ? 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘳 ... 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 ?
Those questions were interrupted when the door to the kitchen cracked open to reveal a huge figure, way higher than I can I assume I was while alive. Muscles covering his whole body and a pair of horns in a bovine like brown furred face.
𝘈 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘳 ? 𝘯𝘰.. 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 ?
I give it a confused look, and it, noticing the presence of me and Alys, gives us a small nod and smile. The feeling I mentioned that made me confused was that, even though he was so... different from me, I felt like we were the same. It's like when you are alone in a dark forest full of creatures of different sizes and, in the middle of all of those, you meet a human face. It clicks as a immediate connection.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴.
I observe as this unknown figure makes its way in the kitchen. While it does so, Alys calls for it, insisting in something. I crook my head in confusion and then the Minotaur stands it's hand in my direction and says a word that I assume is his name.
"Noxshis " I try repeating after him. I'm still a long way to go from being able to speak properly, aren't I ? Noxis looks at me surprised. It's probably that thing about me not being able to speak, even though I shouldn't.
After this brief introduction, Noxis turns it's attention from us to the kitchen in on itself. He grabs one ... egg ? it is way bigger than the ones I used to know back home. Maybe twice the size ! he then starts cooking with skillful moves that I had only seen in TV shows with renowned chefs and the like. He skillfully cracks the egg in a wooden bowl while mixing it with the other hand and putting some seasoning previously prepared with his fucking tail.
𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.
I give a pause to my amusement, and give a look into this new appendage of mine. This time, trying to move it consciously. It doesn't work, as expected. But I'm not worried. The brain is a incredible machine that doesn't actually cares from where the signal is coming from or where it is going, just give it time and it will always find a way to figure it out on it's own.
The problem though, is that I'm not sure my brain would still work that way in this world. I don't even know if I still got a brain to begin with.
" Sigh "
Seeing my distressful face, Alys becomes a little worried looks deep into my eyes, as if she was expecting them to talk for me. I shake my head, signifying that there is nothing to worry about. She nods, and then, a sudden Idea seem to pop up in her head. I look at her confused, but she just grabs my arm and drags me to what I assume to be the backyard of the house.
A huge meadow can be seen extending until a fence stands in it's way. it's probably bigger than a football field... maybe two. Some trees scattered around the field, almost dancing as the wind blows. The flowers the surrounds us are all from different colors, almost as telling me that this is all natural. That the only handmade thing in here is that house sprouting up from the top of the small hill we found ourselves in. At the right I can see other houses and fields like ours, as for the left and in front of me, a dense dark forest blocks my view from the horizon.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.
I look up at the sky, blue as I had hopped it would be. Some clouds in the distance and something I did not expect. After looking at the sun, I discover that there are actually two of them. One bigger, and the other much smaller, almost as if a small star was twinkling during daylight . The weird part is that they are too far apart for us to be orbiting them both.
𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰 ? 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰.
𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴...𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 ? 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 ?
My philosophical questions are interrupted though, as Alys seems to urges for my attention. When she gets it, she begin to run down the hill away from me, before she looks back and waits for something.
𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 ? 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 ?
I then give a couple steps in her direction, she let's out a small giggle and resume running down the hill, always away from me.
𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺... 𝘵𝘢𝘨 ?𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥.
After coming to this conclusion, I don't ponder much about it and start running towards her, trying to catch her. She looks back to see if I am playing along, and then leaves out some more giggles after her confirmation.
It was there that I felt it again. That weird feeling of light weight and happiness. It is as if I could feel her emotions somehow. Even though I was never good at sports or playing games like a normal kid would, and even though I was already an adult when I died, I feel like I'm actually enjoying this childlike behavior. playing tag, discovering the world for the first time... It feels... magical.
I give a slight grin, and fast my pace, trying even harder to catch her now.