The first thing I felt as I came back to my senses was the throbbing and stinging of my head, quickly followed by pain throughout the rest of my body. I tried to take a breath in to quell the pain but that made it worse! I felt a sharp pain in my ribs as my chest was expanding and I cried out.
My vision was blurry and I felt a wet cloth dabbing my face. I heard an unfamiliar, small female voice telling me, "try not to move, miss, you are hurt."
My eyes focused and I saw the canopy of trees above us. My head was propped on something warm and soft, I looked to my left where the sound of the voice came from and noticed my head was resting on this girl's lap! She had a wet cloth in her hands which was stained red from my blood. I blinked a few times as I realized she is not a dire wolf. In my time here I haven't encountered any other species.
"Thank you.." I started, unsure of what to say. I wanted to get up but my body hurt so much that I laid perfectly still. I took a good look at the girl who was dabbing the blood off my face very gently. She had large, round, brown eyes with a thick set of dark lashes. Her face, too, was rather round and cute, with a light natural blush to her cheeks. Her nose was straight but not harsh looking at all. She had thick chestnut brown hair that hung loosely down to her waist. Her face had a childlike innocence to it, and her voice was soothing. It was hard to determine her age since she appeared to be short in stature, had a childlike face, but her body had the curves of a woman. He thighs were thick and comfortable to lay my head on. Her face was just visible past her large breasts.
She had on a crop top and skort made of brown leather, accented with blue beads and flowers. As I was admiring her good looks and outfit she started talking again.
"What exactly were you doing out here? And why did you jump face first into my tree?" She asked, without a hint of ridicule in her voice.
"I was trying to land on the branch of a different tree, but I… uh.. missed."
She giggled at my answer, clearly amused. Her chuckle was infectious and I found myself smiling, this situation was kind of funny. I started to chuckle myself but the sharp pain in my ribs stopped me from doing so. I grimaced and grabbed my ribs.
She immediately stopped laughing and apologized profusely, "sorry! Sorry! I shouldn't have laughed. Are you okay? Looks like you have a few broken bones."
"No, no it's fine. It is actually pretty funny." I assured her.
"I've never met a demi-human who was so uncoordinated before." She added, with a smirk tugging at her lips.
Just as I was about to object to being called a Demi-human she said, "Why are your ears so small? You can't be a mouse, since mice can't jump or climb."
What about my ears? I think they are perfectly normal sized. I reached for them and realized they weren't there! I started caressing all around the sides of my head, I couldn't find my ears!
The look of shock on my face must have confused her because she asked me, "what are you doing? Does your head hurt?"
"My ears…" I mumbled. How can I even hear her?? Ears don't just disappear…
"Yeah they are small and cute" She said with a big smile. When she smiled, her cheeks made her eyes squish into little crescents. She reached toward the top of my head and I felt the strangest sensation.
My hand shot up to where hers was and I found myself touching something small and soft like an itty bitty kitten ear. I could feel my ears being touched, but it was different than before, they felt more sensitive. As my hand brushed the tiny hairs in my ear, it tickled and my ears reflexively twitched.
I have animal ears?! I can't tell what they look like but they felt like my cat's ears. Am I actually a Demi-human?! Is this what Viking sensei meant by a "hardy" body? He made me a Demi-human! Shock and excitement passed through me and before I had time to process this, the girl in front of me continued talking.
"I'm sorry if it's embarrassing for you, I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I'm Dania, I live here. How about you come inside and rest up?"
I nodded in agreement and she helped me stand up.
"Thankfully you don't appear to have seriously injured your arms or legs, so it shouldn't be too difficult for you come inside." She stood about a head shorter than me- even shorter than the dire-wolf children. She had a small waist but big hips, large thighs, and hefty bust.
I felt achy all over, like I was just one big bruise. I took small shallow breaths to avoid the sharp pain in my ribs. "I think I broke my ribs." I said
"That seems to be the case, but it shouldn't prevent you from getting in."She turned around to point at the tree above us and indicated a large branch about 20-25 feet above the ground.
When she turned around I saw a huge fluffy tail behind her. Chipmunk!!! No wonder she is so cute!
"The entrance is right off that branch, You should be able to jump at least that high from what I saw." She added.
She walked towards the tree and in the blink of an eye she grabbed on with her arms and legs and scampered up to the branch in question. She waved me up.
I took quick stock of my condition. I was sore, yes, but I still felt unrivaled power in my legs. The tree she lives in had to be as big as a redwood. I noticed some smaller branches that were broken off to the other side of the tree and up about 10 feet higher than where she was standing. If this were a cartoon I'm sure there would be an imprint of my body right there.
When I jumped the first time, I gave it all I had and overshot my target. I figure if I used about 80-90% of my strength I should make it. I crouched down and felt the power in my legs surging, like all the muscles in my legs were on fire and ready to explode. I pushed off from the ground and felt the wind whipping through my hair as I leaped towards the branch.
I overshot my target again! I was approaching the branch but I wasn't slowing down! I saw Dania reach out towards me and I grabbed for her hands. she used her tail to help her grip the branch while she grabbed my arms and slowed my momentum, guiding me to land on the branch.
The pain in my ribs and lungs intensified and I hugged my chest to try to ease the discomfort.
"Goodness! Don't you know your own strength?" she chuckled, as if it wasn't a big deal. "Come on inside, you must have hit your head harder than I thought."
She walked towards the trunk and pushed aside a leather door hanging that was camouflaged to look exactly like the bark on the trunk. I wouldn't have even known it was there if she didn't show me.
I followed her inside and was amazed at what I saw. The inside of the tree was hollowed and carved into something beautiful. We stood on the first floor of a multilevel masterpiece. There were hanging chairs crafted from ropes and covered with cushions to my right under the giant curved staircase that ran along the outside wall. To the left, where the staircase starts, there were wooden carved counters and storage, and a small dining set. Hanging from the second floor was a chandelier made from tree branches and luminescent orbs which imitated sunlight, giving the house a bright and cheery aura. I followed her up the stairs to a small library which had a set of stairs on the right and another on the left.
"The stairs on the left will take you up to the guest room. Why don't you go get some rest and I'll wake you in a bit when the food is ready." she said, showing me towards the staircase.
"Thank you, Dania." In fact, I did still have a headache and my body was so sore I didn't want to move. Laying down for a bit sounded heavenly.
I started up the stairs when she suddenly called out to me and I froze.
"Wait!"
I turned around , thinking I did something wrong. "Yes?"
"I didn't catch your name."
In the chaos and confusion, I completely forgot to introduce myself!
"I'm so sorry, that was very rude of me! My name is Mira. Please forgive my bad manners."
"That's okay, Mira. It's nice to meet you. Please get some rest." She smiled before turning around to head back downstairs.