Chapter Text
The bird was unlike anything Eli had ever seen before, a narrow body with iridescent green feathers that almost glowed in the sun. Its eyes where literally jewel like, bright blue and without an iris or pupil. At first, Eli Knock had assumed it was a toy or strange prank that was, until it started warbling at him. He reached for his phone to try and snap a picture but no sooner had he raised the device, the bird leapt up, unfurled four wings from its slender shoulders, hovering like a humming bird while its prehensile tail feathers grasped at the air like tendrils. It hovered for a few moments, inspecting Eli with what he thought was curiosity, and then darted away into the woods behind his home.
That was 3 days ago, and though Eli caught glimpses of it at the edge of woods, he never got a good look at it again. On this very dreary May morning, Eli decided to go looking for it. Mostly to satiate his own curiosity but also to prove to himself he hadn’t gone mad. It wasn’t like he had anything else going on, he worked a few odd jobs here and there to keep him fed and the lights on but today was free of any wearisome work. He packed a few things for a long walk in the woods, not needing too much as the woods where actually connected to a park in his small town and hardly deep wilderness, and made his way into the trees in search of his figment bird. He wandered for about an hour without seeing any signs, though to be honest, he wasn’t sure what he was looking for.
“How do you track a bird?” he thought glumly to himself, passing the hundredth identical tree. Just as it started to drizzle and he very seriously considered heading home and calling a psychiatrist, he heard a familiar warbling from the trees above him. He looked and saw the strange bird, which was eyeing him suspiciously, and felt even dumber than when he had before; having found it he had no further plan. He didn’t bring anything to contain it in so, catching it wasn’t an option and he was afraid to move having found it, for fear that this figment sparrow might disappear again. Eli simply stood still, starring dumbly at the strange creature. “Another fine blunder brought to you by Eli Knock” He thought irritably.
Seeming to sense his indecision, the bird once again took flight and darted into the woods, Eli trying his best to keep up. Fortunately the birds extra wings made it maneuverable but cost it speed, though it took every ounce of strength he could muster to keep up; Eli managed to just keep the alien sparrow in sight.
“Maybe if I can get a picture,” he huffed as he ran after “They will let me name it”
The strange bird flittered through the trees, disappearing momentarily behind an old trunk only to dash out again at an unexpected angle to continue the chase. After a few minutes of hurtling through the woods, it darted into a shallow gulley. It was only about three feet deep and nine long so Eli didn’t think twice about diving in after it. As he landed on the sloping side, his foot caught a root and sent him tumble down, landing in a dirty heap at the bottom.
The iridescent bird warbled as he picked himself up and knocked loose the damp earth clinging to him.
“Laugh it up, polly” Eli chided, righting himself. He started to raise his phone to finally get a picture but stopped when he saw where the bird had perched itself. It was sitting on the edge of a crack in the side of the gulley, a sunny field filled with tall swaying grass and more of the green birds lie on the other side.
"Huh" was all the utterance Eli could muster as he starred into it, wondering how far down this rabbit hole he wanted to go. It was only about three feet to the other side and he thought seriously about entering and having a look, strange alien birds and alien portals did after all warrant a little investigation. The bird now long forgotten, he picked up a stick and used it to tap at the side of the opening, making sure it didn't burn or become damaged. Then he stuck the stick through the crack, keeping his arm safely on his side of it, before pulling it back. After he was satisfied he wouldn't disintegrate from touching it, he steeled himself and prepared to press forward, but hesitated. Looking at the sunny visages, beyond he couldn’t help but think that things like this don’t happen to people like him, they happen to bigger people not fresh High school grads that do odd jobs in trailer parks.
"If that’s what you believe," He said “Then that’s all you’ll ever be.” He smirked, amused with himself as he remembered the lines origin. Without another thought, he carefully pressed himself through the opening and began to make his way to the sunny field beyond.
He made it about halfway when he got stuck "Perfect!" he spat out as he tried to wriggle himself free. No matter how he tried, he found he couldn't move forward or go back. A combination of fear and embarrassment filled him as he struggled to free himself; how many movies had he seen where a boneheaded character meets certain death just like this to further the plot? Just as he was about to start calling for help, to who he wasn’t quite sure, he heard a sound that pierced him to his core. It sounded very much like nails on a chalkboard or sharp stones grinding together. He looked back the way he had come and saw the edges of the crack were shrinking in on itself, starting at the edges and slowly working its way towards him. He struggled in earnest to push forward, letting out a long loud cry for help as he fruitlessly pressed his body against the stone as the walls of the crack slowly inched towards him.
Just as the sound of grinding stone became the only sound he could hear, a figure appeared at the field end of the opening. It looked to be a man in late middle age, simple clothing and walking stick in hand; his eyes wide with shock as he took in the situation and then reached out, speaking in a strange tongue. Eli took the man’s hand and they both pulled to no avail; the stones starting to press against his ribs now. “Great!” Eli thought bitterly to himself “I get crushed trying to get into an isekai!”
The man stepped back and sang a few short melodic notes, as he did a strange jagged glyph appeared in the air before him and strands of yellow light raced across the ground, over the stone, and around Eli. The stone beneath moved like rollers on an assembly line, pushing the younger man, without crushing him, through the crack and unceremoniously spitting him on the ground, the shrinking stones snatching one of Eli’s shoes just as he got clear.
“Holy shit!” Eli cursed as he collected himself and caught his breath. The man next to him beamed proudly and spoke more of the odd language at Eli, patting him hard on the back.
As the older man chattered on, Eli slowly stood on wobbly legs, his eyes resting on the large boulder in front of him. All trace of the crack, and his way back home, were gone. Still a bit numb from his near flattening, he gazed blankly at the environment around him, trying to clear the fog from his mind and figure out where he had ended up. The birds weren’t the only odd things about this place; the trees in the nearby woods had spots that seemed to glow like deep-sea creatures, casting eerie shifting shadows on the ground at the forest's edge. Strange gangly beasts scurried about in the shadows of those luminous trees and two moons hung brightly in the daytime sky. The first of the moons was a bright shade of pink the second, deep blue with a pale ring around it. The older man stopped speaking when he noticed Eli’s gaze fixed upward and gave him a strange look before turning to see what the younger man was looking at. Eli stood motionless, staring blankly at the alien horizon; he stayed this way for several seconds before looking at his rescuer and, after a few more seconds of silence, screamed at the top of his lungs. The older man, understandably, took a step back as Eli continued screaming, at the birds, the moons, and anything else nearby. This went on for several uncomfortable minutes before he turned away from the boulder the crack had been in, took a few shaky steps, and promptly fainted.