Work Text:
I woke up in an open field, my body ached and my joints creaked. I lay on my back facing the night sky for a few minutes so that the aching would stop. I took that time to examine my surroundings without moving my head, the field was green and the grass was cool. A stream cut through the clearing a few feet away from me, it sounded nice. The furthest thing I could see was the top of the pine trees at the very edges of my vision.
After the pain in my body finally subsided I stood from the ground. I saw that I had strange markings that seemed to connect my hands to my marks. As I searched the rest of my body, I found the same markings on my left bicep, my right calf, right thigh, and a “Y” shaped marking on my chest. The markings reflected the moonlight, making it seem as though the light danced across them when I moved.
I played in the grass for a few minutes by jumping and rolling before I fell into the stream. The water was cold, so cold that I felt as though my very bones had been soaked through in just an instant. I jumped out as fast as I could and started running around the field again to try and warm up.
As I ran, I saw something standing in the trees. Its arms, legs and torso looked like mine except it was smaller and seemed to have a bigger chest than me. I stopped running and approached it. It looked weird, its eyes were wide and mouth was open a little. As I got closer, its face turned red and its mouth started moving quickly but wasn’t saying anything. It held its hands up and started waving them as if trying to block something. It paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before it started to speak, it sounded more beautiful than the stream did. It apologized for some reason before saying a word I didn’t know.
What are “Clothes”?
It told me that I needed them to stay warm. I asked if that’s what it was wearing, it said yes. Its face was still red but brighter than before. I asked why its chest was so big, its face got even brighter before telling me that it’s because it was a girl and its pronouns were “She/Her”.
What are “Pronouns”? I didn’t know but she said that I was a girl too.
None of this meant anything to me, all I knew was that the girl in front of me was more beautiful than the sky above us. She said that I could follow her to her home to gain clothes. So I did.
We walked for several minutes to a building made of wood and stone with light coming from inside. She said she only found me because of my playing in the field, apparently I had been quite loud.
As we walked inside I had to lower myself to keep from bumping my head on the top of the frame. The moment my body finished crossing the threshold, I was hit with a feeling of warmth that seemed to wrap around my entire body and made the last of my aches disappear. The girl walked up next to me before asking if I minded wearing her father’s old clothes. I said it was fine as I didn’t care much for the concept of clothing.
She led me into a room with a large rectangular box made of soft white fabric. The girl walked over to a wooden structure before grabbing a handle and pulling a piece partially out. The piece was filled with neatly folded square cloths of different colours. She explained how clothing was worn before leaving me to get dressed.
I ruffled through the opening, which I later learned was called a drawer, and pulled out a blue long-sleeved dress shirt and a pair of black dress pants. After I got dressed, I neglected the buttons as I didn’t believe they were important and they made the shirt become too restrictive for my comfort.
I walked back to the main room feeling the shirt billow in the breeze created by my stride and came face to face with the one who found me. Her face was far redder than it was before, she began to stutter and sway slightly. I asked her if something was wrong but she replied with a shaking “no” and nervous laughter.
After a moment, she complimented me on my clothing and offered to let me stay for the night. I thanked her and accepted the offer.
I think things will go well.