Chapter Text
The awakening was painful.
In my sleep, I couldn't even tell what exactly was hurting me: waves of unpleasant tingling spread throughout my body, and my back burned like fire with the slightest movement. The sensations were similar to the numbness that sets in after an uncomfortable sleeping position, but much, much worse. It was unpleasant to even think about it.
You froze, unable to do anything but wait for the pain to subside. Against your will, thoughts began to flow: why were you in so much pain? Had you hit yourself while sleeping? And what was pressing against your side?
The pain came and went in waves. You tried to move your finger and it didn't cause anything but a strange tremor. Gradually, her senses returned; the blanket was thin and cold on her shoulders. There was a foreign object pressing against his side, smooth enough not to prick his skin, but it would definitely leave a red mark. My feet were cold from the draft: you heard the wind outside. You suddenly realize that you are lying naked.
And you also seem to have had heartburn. Cool.
But as soon as you opened your eyes, you realized that you hadn't just fallen asleep in an uncomfortable position and gotten cold. The grass was green, with morning dew still on it. The sun had just risen above the horizon, cold and barely visible behind the clouds.
Naturally, you react in the way that humans usually react to an unexpected change of scenery: panic. You instantly sit up, throwing off the blanket, and frantically look around, hoping to see either a group of friends playing a prank or some other explanation for why you're lying naked in the middle of the forest.
But there are no friends, and no explanation.
You get on your knees and slowly stand up, trying to cover all the intimate areas, in case there is a hidden camera or some person hiding in the foliage. Here you will find even more shocks.
First of all, there was a rock in your side, and yes, the mark from it will be considerable. Secondly... there was no blanket.
What you had previously taken for a cold cloth covering your shoulders was actually a piece of skin—and not dead skin at all, but very much alive and rosy-cheeked skin. Your skin.
The skin that covers the two appendages that grow directly from your back.
If it was panic before, it's now a growing horror, fueled by a complete lack of understanding of anything.
You twitch, hoping that the wings—and, oh, they are wings, real, membranous wings the size of you—will fall off like poorly attached pieces of a puzzle. But the miracle doesn't happen; the two dangling appendages only languidly follow you. You try to shake their weight off your back by shrugging your shoulders, but to your dismay, this has a completely different effect than you were mentally prepared for:
the wings twitch.
And you feel it.
...
With no other choice, your brain decides to just freeze. "One problem at a time" you decide. Apparently, the mystery of how you suddenly found yourself in the middle of the forest remains unsolved. Physically, you feel fine, except for the morning chill that slightly restricts your movements. The only thing that remains is the most incredible and likely a product of your frozen and panicked mind: two additional limbs. You can feel them and move them.
Okay, fine, it's not a big deal. The more you think about it, the less incredible it should seem. So, let's think about it.
You try to move your wing on purpose, but it doesn't work. "I'm moving this finger" you think, focusing on one of the appendages, which is covered in a membrane that is slightly darker than your skin. The finger doesn't move.
Okay, then a different approach. You try to imagine another pair of hands and move them mentally. Still nothing.
Despite the fact that the sun was already high above the horizon, it was barely warmer, and the light breeze gave me goosebumps. My feet were in particular trouble: they were wet from the dew, and the unfamiliar texture of the ground was cutting into my feet.
You suddenly realized that you didn't have much time. A person can stay in the cold for about three hours, and although there was no snow, frostbite was a real possibility. You were still hoping that this was some kind of prank or social experiment, and that you wouldn't be allowed to freeze to death. But if not... Who knows how far the nearest city might be?
So you decide to leave the problem of the wings for later. It was still occupying your brain with thoughts of various kinds, but now you headed in the first direction you saw, hoping that civilization would soon appear. The wings dragged along behind you like a dead weight.