flight ; l.s

preface.

The ground was rough soil sprinkled with pine needles and cones. The boy was naked, his bare, creamy skin smudged with dirt and grime, and his long curly brown hair was tousled with sticks and leaves stuck in the locks. His eyes were closed gently, like he was only in a deep slumber for the time being. The early morning sunlight shone through the slits in the tree canopy, and the chill that came with the beginning of the day was static over all life.

The boy's eyebrows scrunched up as he came to consciousnesses, a small moan escaping his pink lips before he opened his eyes like a newborn baby seeing the world for the first time. His irises matched the color of the trees that surrounded him, flecks of gold decorated in between like a well thought out painting.

The boy stared blankly in front of him, eye level with the forest ground, before he blinked. Something seemed to click that this wasn't right, and he wasn't supposed to be there. Gasping like he had been burnt, the boy sat up erect, eyes wide and darting everywhere. His breathing was rapid and panicky.

A bird let out a sweet song, it echoing through the forest. The boy glanced up to where he thought the sound came from, waiting for it again. Instead, the bird swooped down and landed on the boy's knee, tweeting and chirping. It's feathers were a ruffled blue, and it watched the boy with beady black eyes. The boy watched it back just as intently, and suddenly he could hear a voice in his head.

You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be here.

The boy let out another audible gasp, watching the bird spread its wings and fly off through the canopy above. The bird had brought a notice to his legs, and the boy slowly wiggled his toes, grinning a little bit and exposing deep dimples on each cheek. He did it with the other foot, and decided to try and stand. He wobbled like a baby deer might, before finding his footing and walking through the forest, the only sound was the wind rustling the trees and the animal sounds alive and excited.

The boy suddenly stepped on a pine cone, the sharp end poking at his foot. He let out a cry, stumbling backwards like someone had stabbed rather than poked at him.

He wasn't comfortable in his new body, and didn't like where he was. His eyes darted around once more, before he set off in a general direction. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he decided it was better than just standing helplessly.

Soon, the soil and pine needles turned into concrete and asphalt. He stared at the new terrain intently, noticing the yellow line that split the thin road in half.

It was rough on the soft bottoms of his feet, but it felt better than the pine needles stabbing him when he walked.

He didn't notice the strange contraption until the squeal of breaks made him startle and fall to the ground. The boy stared up at the car, tears welled up in his eyes from fright. It was massive from his point of view, since he had fallen to the ground.

"What the bloody hell?!" a voice cried from inside the car, and suddenly the drivers' side door was being opened and slammed shut as a person exited, fuming.

Harry hissed when he tried to move, since he had skinned the palms of his hands and his right hip.

The person, a man a little older than the boy himself, had an angry expression and hands on his hips. His efflorescent blue eyes widened at the sight before him, thin lips parting to try and form words. His caramel colored hair was ruffled and stuffed under a maroon beanie to avoid being dealt with, and he looked older than he was with the scruff growing along his jaw line and above his upper lip.

The boy watched him with adolescent green eyes, scared of the man's rather stern and shocked expression.

"Why are you naked?" he spoke in a weird tongue, something Harry wasn't familiar with. "You don't speak English?" the man asked in a snappy tone after a moment of silence. "Well, I don't know how you do it in whatever strange country you're from, but in England clothes are a necessity. And we also don't go streaking in front of cars!"

After his rant, Harry was left more vulnerable feeling and scared than he had felt in the past thirty minuets of trekking through the forest.

The tears that were in his eyes started spilling down his dirty cheeks, and the man's eyes widened.

"Shit, mate," he held up his hands. "I didn't mean to yell, it's been a long day at UNI, y'know? I had a few finals yesterday, fell asleep at the library-fuck, please stop crying!" he begged, stumbling over his words as he knelt next to the boy, who had began sobbing.

The boy made a few inarticulate sounds, as if he were trying to talk, before the man held up a hand as if to say 'wait a moment'. He hurried to his car, leaving the boy sitting there starting to curl up on himself while he cried. He had never felt such an overwhelming power like emotions, and now he couldn't stop crying out of fear and homesickness. Where even was he? Obviously on earth.

The man came back with a tattered quilt held like a peace offering.

"I'm Louis," he informed, tentatively wrapping the blanket around the boy's shoulders. "What do they call you?"

The boy just stared, wondering how he was to respond as his crying subsided He wracked his brain through the languages humans used, and decided to try it.

"Je ne sais pas" the boy replied, and much to his dismay, Louis looked even more confused.

"So, you don't know English after all," he scoffed.

English! The boy easily switched tongues.

"I don't know," he spoke truthfully, sniffling and wiping at his eyes. He had startled Louis, who jumped a bit at his ability to fluently speak English after he had just spoke in French.

"Do you have amnesia?" Louis asked, helping the boy stand. The boy was a few inches taller than Louis, and he could tell Louis wasn't too fond of that. The boy wrapped the blanket around himself, the wool feeling nice against his bare skin. Louis didn't seem to have a problem with the boy's nakedness, besides the outburst earlier.

"I don't have anything," The boy replied, clearly confused.

"I'll...come with me, and I'll call someone for you, alright? Get you some proper clothes," Louis muttered the end, leading the boy to the passenger's seat of the car. After getting settled, Louis got in the driver's seat and started the car, the radio was loud from the previous drive. The boy shrieked at the loud pop music coming from the stereo.

"Don't tell anyone I was listening to Britney Spears, alright?" Louis joked, turning it down after giving the boy a strange look.

"I...do you know Britney? Does she not wish to be listened to?"

Louis gaped at the boy for a moment as if to decipher if he was joking or not.

"What...? Okay, um, I'm gonna drive now."