Tales of PulchraGea, Vol. 1

Chapter 2 (Rough draft)

I stumbled through the hills that night, nearly falling to the ground several times after tripping on rocks and vegetation. After a short while, the inclines of the hills became too much. I felt the knee of my left leg buckle beneath me, then staggered several steps before falling into a bush. My entire body lit up in pain as the leaves and branches clawed at my wound, although that light quickly darkened as I slipped into oblivion.

I awoke in a white room, sterile and pure like a hospital. I was reasonably confused as my last conscious memory was me in the process of dying. I think the first thing I noticed was the discolored area of skin where my wound used to be. It was smooth and cool, like plastic. 

The second thing I noticed was how featureless the room was; no doors, no windows, no cabinets, nothing save the inside of a featureless white box. The only furniture was the bed on which I lay and even this seemed to be fused with the floor rather than sitting on it. 

The walls seemed to possess a faint luminescent glow that seemed to be a bluish hue, though the walls neither changed color nor gave off any actual light. It was like an invisible calming aura designed to put me at ease. 

The air smelled faintly of fruit, though I couldn't determine what type. My mind idly yet futilely attempted to match it with some familiar fruit or another. Incredibly foreign, yet unbelievably soothing. 

At the moment I could discern no more from my surroundings a seam appeared in the wall perpendicular to the foot of my bed, which then resolved itself into a panel which slid out of the way to reveal a pretty young woman in her late twenties dressed in white scrubs. While certainly not a busty sort, she had an unmistakable figure despite her slimness. She was fairly tall, perhaps 5'8", and her auburn hair perfectly framed her heart-shaped face. Her flawless skin was newborn pink, her lips the shade of a tropicana rose, her nose decidedly average. 

Despite her beauty, her daisy yellow eyes disconcerted me. They seemed slightly larger than normal, with proportions not unlike an anime character.  

As she walked in the door, she noticed my alertness and gave a slight bow. 

"Welcome to the medical facility of Diamond Terrace Farms," she said in perfect english. "My name is Neume. I have been taking care of your wounds for the past week." 

A week was a long time. 

"Wur ma?" I was hardly able to control my muscles enough to speak. 

"The medical facility of Diamond Terrace Farm," Neume affirmed with a nod. 

I shook my head. 

"No wa mint. Fahs Dine Terse?" 

She didn't understand the question. I put forth a herculean effort to sit upright. Neume rushed to help. 

"Dine Terse a tan?" I asked, trying and failing hard to be understandable. 

Neume didn't answer, instead materializing what looked like a tablet PC. It was the right size but hollow, like a picture frame with no glass. As her fingers approached the center it rippled like liquid then resolved into what seemed to me to be a medical chart. 

The holographic representation of a human body floated in the middle. This form flashed as she held the frame up in my general direction, causing three dimensional runes -which I couldn't read- to appear onscreen. 

"It seems you're still suffering from a minor hibernation sickness caused by a neurotoxin in the steel pixie-wing's saliva," Neume explained. "It's a common side effect in the rare survivors of a steel pixie-wing attack." 

"Ah goff lurky yen, hur," I said. I seemed to be slowly regaining my muscular control. "Sherda seena ergai. Heegah ate." 

Neume seemed confused, so I enunciated more slowly.