One Must Wonder

Chapter 1: The Turmoil of a Mother

I step into the oxygen-rich air and take a deep breath with a smile. The sky is blue and filled with fluffy white clouds. My home realm had no such details, no games in the air, no color to the sky aside of its fluctuating black and white, although this color is typical of earthly counterpart worlds. My creator was fond of that planet in particular, so I looked after many worlds of its likeness.

I turn to inspect my portal.

A door framed by bricks, set inside a large tree, clearly built specifically for this door. I smile and close the door, the portal closing with it so that behind the door would be only the trunk of the tree if some mortal stumbled upon it. It was almost identical to the one inside my portal room, however its roots were firmly planted in dirt, and boughs filled with webs.

I return my wandering gaze to the forest around me. It seemed a ruin, a nest for spider monsters. They avoided my gaze, their animal instincts warning them of me. Smart creatures they were. Although that wasn't to say I planned to attack them unprovoked, they were smart enough not to pick the fight.

They were about knee high if they extended their legs. Their sharp, spiked mandables and forearms were a clear indication of being a maneating race.

I started to walk, although the gravity was much stronger here than in my home realm so I tripped at first. I lay on the ground for some few hours, and eventually, I succumbed to a post-hibernation slumber, unable to muster the force to fight the stronger gravity. It must have been my realm keeping me standing by the door. What a comical oversight.

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I slowly wake again, this time my body was adapted to the weight of the new forces of gravity. I felt heavier myself.

I opened my eyes and no sooner heard a chattering of a human tongue. I narrowed my eyes toward the sight of moonbeams mixed with the light of fire streaming through the opening of the pale green tent as a person came through.
The person was undeniably a human male. He was clad in the undergarments of armor, the heavy black material looked strange without its typical steel companion plates.

He spoke with a harsh tongue, matching his gruff looks. He had all the seemings of a paladin, and the worried look he wore contrasted his sun-tanned face somehow more than the light scars that marked it.

I looked to my side and jumped a bit to see a female figure right next to the bed. I had not seen it before! Although I suppose it was the source of the chittering.

The Female was a wild-kin, a race which appeared a human mixed with an animal. She was a sheep, although she strangely bore small curled horns. She wore the clothes of a healer, a red and white cloak with the universal cross on her shoulders. Her hair was creme-colored and curly, not surprising for a sheep wild-kin. Although she may have been a goat upon further inspection...

The surprise had left my body when the male walked toward the female and they chattered together, sneaking an occasional glance at me.

They had never seen something like me before. I supposed, sort of between cat and lizard kin, yet I bore an unnatural pink coloration in my hair and scales. Not to mention the inky substance that writhed on patches over my body.

I finally decided to eavesdrop and allowed myself to understand their languages. A useful ability to be sure, grandfather was generous.

"You don't think it's a monster do you?" The female said.

What a wonderful thing to first hear from mortals upon my first reawakening visit. I didn't bother to hide the discontent with the comment.

"I think they understand us, Jess." The male said, noting the look I glared at the pair.