Flock Origins

Setting the Scene

4 months ago

Rose ran through the streets, shivering and panting. She didn't know where she was, or how long she would stay. But better run than stay and find out. Eyes looked her way, watching her sprint through the streets, her legs struggling to keep her upright. The building around her made up a large city that was still under construction. The roads were too smooth, not weathered enough to feel natural under Rose's feet. She didn't care, nor notice her surroundings. She had been to too many places for them to matter.

She neared the edge of the city in a matter of minutes. A blue ocean lay sparkling in front of her for a couple seconds before her view was shut off by someone. Rose stumbled backwards and fell down, looking up at them to see who blocked their exit. They were shorter than Rose was, and they had shoulder length hair. Rose couldn't make out their details, due to the fact that they were standing in the way of the sun, and they were blacked out from Rose's angle. They moved their hands in front of them, in patterns that Rose couldn't see.

"Please. . . don't hurt me," The stuttering voice of Rose caused the person to pause, then reach out their hand to her. Grabbing their hand, Rose felt them flinch slightly at the touch of her hot skin, but they stayed silent, the lack of an answer unnerved Rose as she unsteadily brought herself to her feet. The sun's light came around and Rose could see this person's face, which held a sweet expression in their pale blue eyes. They had a button nose, and their short brown hair fluffed up in the slight breeze. They wore a short black dress, tied around the waist with a blue belt. They moved their hands again, and this time Rose could distinguish it as them trying to sign at her.

"Are you ok? Do you need any help?" They finished signing, and waited patiently for an answer. Rose lifted her freezing hands and shuddered as the breeze picked up, signing back at the new person. Their hands shook too hard for any of their signs to be distinguishable, so she opted not to.

"Can you hear me?" She sighed and wrapped her freezing arms around her when the stranger nodded, and watched carefully when they started signing.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. My name's Sock! I know somewhere you can rest for the time being, if you would accept my hospitality," Rose missed most of that, due to her extreme shaking, but she caught the gist of it and nodded. Her thoughts were sluggish, freezing along with the rest of her, which was slightly comforting in the sense that she didn't need to worry about whether or not to trust this Sock character. They seemed friendly enough anyways, and Rose wasn't about to go freeze to death in the woods somewhere. Again. So she followed Sock towards the blue waves, the cobble under her feet slowly turning to gravel, then dirt, then the sand of a white beach. Rose suddenly felt her shivers start to lessen, and realized there was a fire near her.

"I-I go by Rose. . ." Rose's voice shook with her, lips blue and trembling.

"Hello Rose!" Sock smiled. The new fire was dancing in their palm, illuminating their face. They picked up some sticks that lay nearby, and moved the fire onto those. The sticks were placed at Rose's feet, and she crouched down to feel the little bit of heat on her cold hands.

Rose watched Sock turn to the ocean, and stood up just in time to see Sock sign
"Ocean! Can I have my voice back for a minute? Just to explain?"
Rose's eyes widened slightly, and her breath quickened in her slight panic.
"What are you?" Rose asked, panic evident in her voice
"I am Sock, Daughter of the Sea." Sock proclaimed.
Rose didn't say anything. She was honestly scared of Sock now.
"Rose, I cannot hurt you, even if I wanted to. I am so low on my power, that it would be impossible for me to hurt you. I can also tell you aren't from here. Where are you from?" Sock rambled.
"Yeah, I'm not. I don't even think I'm from this dimension honestly. We don't have an ocean where I'm from. Well, not one made of water."
"So you're a realm hopper. . . Does it have lava lakes and Piglins? Where you come from?"