He rushed through the alley his 6 foot tall slim frame covered in a black trench coat hoping against hope that no one would see. How did he get here? There were 3 bodies in the house and he was covered in feathers sprouting from his skin and leaving a dark trail as he dashed, his clothing was in tatters and blood dripped from the gash in his right arm where he had caught it on the broken glass rolling out the window. Where was he even going from here?! Where could he go?! No one could see him until he figured out how to cover up these feathers unless he wanted to be locked up in some government lab..."the bird man" scientists would call him, "bizarre freak of nature come to life!" Who could he even call? Tears stung at the edge of his vision and he gasped for air.
He stopped, trying to catch his breath while leaning against a brick wall. "How long have I been running? Is this far enough?" He glanced back and immediately regretted it noticing the trail of feathers and blood: but he had run so far he didn't think he could go on.
Just then he felt something strong grab his arm and pull him into a doorway which he hadn't noticed before. Taking a deep breath prepared to fight back he came face to face with what he could only decide was someone lost from a renaissance faire.... She was taller than him by almost a head, had long dark curly hair (the top pulled into a bun as the rest flowed freely), a square jaw, light brown sun kissed skin, hazel eyes, large calloused hands and was dressed as... a bar wench...?
"Umm..." he started to speak as she quickly covered his mouth and motioned for silence. She then led him toward another door down a carved stone stairwell. This must have been some sort of old storage cellar at one point he thought to himself.
Just before she closed the door behind them he heard an ungodly screeching echo down the stairwell from the alley then the heavy wooden door sparked like flint hitting steel and became a solid wall.
Turning around he realized they were in fact in a storage cellar made from well fitted stones with a hardpacked dirt floor... surrounded by casks of spirits from who knows where... or when. Each cask and bottle was unexpectedly different from the last... moving on to the next room which was large enough for a 3 bedroom house to fit into he saw that shelving and food storage took up the majority while a bunk space, likely for kitchen staff, took up the center and one section of wall.
She led him upstairs through what appeared to be a bustling medieval tavern with quite unusual customers.... some had claws, elongated jaws, various wings or tails while others appeared to be made of plants, stones, water, or were altogether ethereal much like whisps of dust or shadows barely formed into beings who were somehow patrons of this odd tavern. The tavern itself seemed like a waypoint for a subway or a train yet was made of strange materials. One wall was made of wood with vines growing up from below somewhere; it appeared to be the outside of a large tree... large enough to fit a house inside... the bark was ancient being brown in the crevices and almost white at the furthest part from the crevices. A door appeared and vanished as a patron entered through the wooden wall. another wall was made of stone with strange rainbow gem inclusions that almost appeared to show other places reflected inside as he swore he saw a city gleam in one large inclusion.
The tall strong woman was practically carrying him pushing her way through the crowd yet he hardly noticed as he tried to take everything in. She pushed him through a wall which had as much give as a thick fog and he found himself in a room surrounded by dried herbs and odd skeletons and was pushed towards a chair in the center.
"Mair? Is that ye?" asked a voice heavy with years in an almost Scottish accent.
The woman dressed as a bar wench silently replied by rolling her eyes at him.
"Oh dear it must be... I forget ye're mute, I'm sorry dear... whom 'ave ye brought me? I smell an injured bird... suppose I best come see to it."
Shocked he looked at the woman dressed as a bar wench. His grey eyes widened as he realized she hadn't spoken a single word nor used sign language but somehow was able to perfectly communicate to him with her actions.
He felt strange hands grab his cut arm as it was suddenly twisted and he screamed in pain as the shoulder made a crunching sound popping back into place, he hadn't realized it was dislocated.
Still inspecting his arm the creature turned to the woman who had already begun rustling through shelves and herbs, "Ah yes, Mair... tweezers please, ee's got a bit of glass in 'ere. Then the kettle, yarrow, comfrey, willow, and clove... we don' want an infection... no we do not."