Lost in a Forgotten Realm

Lost in a Forgotten Realm
Chapter 2: The First Night

The changeling stirs as he wakes, grimacing at the sudden pain. He stops moving and lies still as he opens his eyes. He finds himself in the cave, blinking in confusion at the yellow-orange firelight; he vague remembered it being blue….or was it purple…? He gingerly lifts his head after a mental shrug and notices that he is actually deeper inside than he remembered, between the low fire and one of the walls instead of in the entrance. He sees it is actually night now, not sunset, the moon shining from its zenith and illuminating the mouth of the cave. The trees still shimmer but their leaves are still, no breeze caresses the canopies.

The moon also shines on another; a pale-bodied unicorn with a darker, two-toned mane and tail, the colors bleached by the silvery light. She had turned towards him as he woke, having heard his movements, but hadn’t gotten up or come closer, not wanting to scare him.

“Please, don’t move,” she says to him, her voice soft “I wouldn’t want you to reopen your wounds.”

The changeling lets out a chirping whine, in pain but dealing with it.

Frowning, she sighs quietly. “I…I wish I could do more for you, but with my unfamiliarity of the area and plants, I have not yet been able to find much that is useful.” She turns back to him, giving him a small, comforting smile as she sees him nodding, understanding what she’s saying. “But you should try to sleep, it will do you good.”

She watches as he nods with another quiet chirp, this one not quite as pained, and close his eyes. He falls asleep within moments. She levitates a few more branches onto the small fire, which greedily laps at the wood and grows quickly. Peering out of the cave once more to keep watch, she settles herself onto the ground, trying to get comfortable, and crossing her hooves in front of her. One ear stays trained on the forest outside, the other swiveling between the trees and the changeling. All she hears is the night breeze through the trees, frogs in the distance, the occasional owl, and the changelings breathing. She is pleased to note that his breathing is already sounding much less labored.

The moon passes behind a cloud for a moment, darkening the area. The trees now appear normal, their lambency gone as the light of the moon is no longer gracing them. By now, she had gotten over the novelty of the strange trees. She still found them beautiful but not as mesmerizing. The moon reappears and a wave of shimmers travels across the tops of the trees. She still hears nothing over or under the wind, and she sees nothing that stands out. No odd movements, no darting shadows. Letting out another quiet sigh, she leans against the cave wall and continues to watch the night.

¤ ¤ ¤

With an angry glare and a growl, the purple and green mare rips the sharp stick out of her hoof, only causing herself more pain. Her yell bounces through the trees.

“Grr…Fine!” Picking up the stick again, she proceeds to break up the piece of wood and the stick, as well as mangle her hoof. Throwing the pieces aside, she turns to her back right leg and unhooks a black and yellow striped sock with her good hoof. A soft pink mist wafts from the partially melted leg and drifts towards the injured hoof. The purple mare watches, her face set in a pained expression as the mist wraps itself around her hoof and sinks into it, sealing up the wounds while giving the hoof a rather crooked appearance. Somewhat satisfied, she replaces the sock into its original position and continues on towards the light, putting extra pressure on her bad hoof in defiance to the pain.

¤ ¤ ¤

Waking, the changeling finds himself in less pain than before, and able to see clearly. He lets out a questioning chirp as he peers around, looking for the helpful unicorn. He sees her in the same spot as earlier, but she scoots closer to the fire when she hears his chirp.

“How are you feeling?” she asks in the same tone as before, soft and cordial with a hint of concern. Her face is mostly expressionless. Her eyes are not. They display more concern for him than her voice.

He sits up carefully, being mindful of his bad hoof. As he moves, his bad wing shifts, making him grimace in pain. He lets out a mid-ranged chirp to indicate that he is still in pain and feeling better but that he is not as good as he could be. In case she still doesn’t understand, he waggles a hoof in a so-so manner. The bowl of water floats over to him, enveloped in the unicorns light blue aura. He takes it with his good hoof and momentarily feels the tingle of her magic before she releases the bowl. After taking a few small sips, he looks up and finds her staring at him curiously. She notices that he noticed her staring and glances away for a moment, her ears falling back in embarrassment as she chuckles.

“I’m sorry for staring…It’s just…I’ve never seen anything like you before. I’ve seen all sorts of equine creatures, but never an insectile one.” She looks back at him but he is staring at his reflection in the water. “I know you understand me but can you speak Equestrian?”

He lets out a short series of chirps as he shakes his head and puts the bowl down. Using his good hoof he quickly writes ‘I can write’ on the dirt in front of him.

“Better than nothing, that’s for sure. I would hate to have to use all hoof signals to talk to you.” She chuckles again quietly. ”Anyway, I’m Brook Runner.” She watches as he writes out a short name and a little more, tilting her head so she doesn’t have to read his writing sideways. “Hex…interesting name for an interesting being. You’re a changeling, eh? My parents may have mentioned your kind once or twice, long ago, but they never really explained anything else. Anyway, it’s nice to finally be properly introduced.” She smiles at him and he smiles back with a nod and a happy chirp.

Suddenly, a yell echoes out of the forest. Hex’s ears perk then fall as he scoots deeper into the cave on the other side of the fire. Brook’s ears twitch as she looks out the cave entrance. They both look at each other nervously. When they don’t hear anything else for a couple of minutes, they relax, but continue to stare out into the faintly moonlit darkness.

Hex lies on his stomach, blinking for a moment as he stares out, his eyes beginning to glow. Brook glances over at him, her eyes shining with curiosity and fascination. Hex blinks again as he notices her staring at him and the glow fades. He lets out a few chuckling chirps as she waves her hoof apologetically.

Brook looks out the entrance again as she suppresses a yawn. It had been late evening when she was pulled here, and combined with the harrowing day she’d had in this place, she was very tired. She was about to put her head down for a bit of sleep when the sound of crunching leaves reaches her ears. She instantly perks up and jumps to her hooves. Hearing a sound behind her, she sees that Hex had nearly disappeared into the shadows outside of the firelight. She could only see the fire reflecting in his eyes and a slightly darker shadow from his body.

As she looks back to the cave entrance, a lime green maned purple pony walks in, mumbling to herself. She sees Brook and narrows her eyes

“If you have any healing potions, hoof them over…Now.” Her muddy face is decorated with a demanding sneer. Brook stammers that she doesn’t have any and the purple mare growls. “Fine, then I’ll take all of your weaponry.”

With a confused look on her face, Brook responds “We don’t have any of those either.”

Muttering under her breath, the mare sits down by the fire, her back to the cave entrance. “No guns…what kind of…” With another growl she looks Brook in the eye, her face as hard as her voice. “Alright, fine. I guess I’m sticking around. Don’t even try to kill me…It won’t end with me dead.”

Brook’s ears lie back against her head at the purple mare’s statements, distrust in her eyes. “I wouldn’t attack anypony without reason, and I would prefer to help, not harm…Who are you?”

The mare ignores her question. “So, you’re a healer? And you don’t have any healing potions…? Pills, drugs, anything?! What the hay kind of healer are you?”

The unicorn shakes her head, having not heard of any of the items she had listed. “I’m more of an herbalist, a medicine mare, than anything else. I use natural remedies with a little magic to tend to the sick or wounded.”

The purple mare gives Brook a look that is part exasperation and confusion. “You…what…?” She facehoofs with a loud groan, “Fine, whatever…I’m Cuttlefish Camo.”

Just as Brook says her name, Hex starts to loudly click from the shadows. The sounds intensify before abruptly ending a few seconds after they started. His attempt to intimidate Camo doesn’t work; she only looks towards him curiously.

“Changey…?” She squints, trying to see into the dark shadows as Hex begins to click again, his body low against the ground as his eyes glow yellow. “You’re not Changey…” she says, her face and tone disappointed as she points at him with her mangled hoof, “Who’s that?”

Brook eyes the hoof as the changeling slowly scoots back into the light “That’s Hex. What happened to you?” She doesn’t hear Hex chirp at her as he settles himself by the fire.

“…Had a disagreement with a tree a while ago…if it was even a tree. I mean, it looked like a tree, but it had these things on the branches. Lots of things on the branches. Pointy and annoying things…and it was sticky!” She grumbles, looking at the changeling with a frown as he comes into view. She is pleased to see his ears fall back from her gaze, and almost doesn’t hear Brook ask if she wanted her hoof treated. “What? Oh, it’s fine. I’ve had worse.” She taps her injured hoof against the floor of the cave with a grimace, “See? Perfect.” One of her eyes is still wincing.

Brook grabs Camos hoof with her own as she rolls her eyes, noticing that even Hex is frowning. She cleans the mud, bark and leaf pieces off with some water before putting some of the leftover leaf-mash over the self-inflicted stab wound. She also notes how swollen the hoof and joint are. “Even though you probably won’t listen to me, your hoof is sprained, as you already know…try not to walk on it.”

The purple earth pony bites her lip and looks away, trying to not roll her eyes. “Fine…”

While Brook finishes with Camo’s hoof, Hex looks at his wings which are still very tattered. Noticing that they are splinted, he wonders when they will be useable again and gives Brook a questioning look. She gives him the same look back.

“Did I set them properly…? I’ve never done anything with wings such as yours. They should heal alright, so long as they stay splinted and that I did it correctly.”

He nods, writing a large THANK YOU in the dirt. Brook gives him a small smile and nods back. Camo just stares at Hex, a creepy grin on her face as her eyes flick between Hex and Brook. “We just banged them when they needed to heal. That’s how we did it at my place.” Hex flushes as he quickly shakes his head before burying it under his hooves, embarrassed. Brook looks almost mortified and in disbelief at Camo’s crudity. Camo is still watching Hex and she thrusts a hoof out at him, pointing, at his reaction. “Ha! Must work the same way with you!”

Leaning back against the wall of the cave again, Brook shakes her head in exasperation. “This is all so strange…” She yawns, unable to suppress this one, and lays down with her back to the wall. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Hex uncover his face, his eyes sliding closed as she watches. Movement from the other side of the fire catches her eye, but it is only Camo lying down as well. She lays on her bad hoof and growls, switching to her other hoof.

After a few minutes of silence, Camo begins to fidget. She taps a hoof against the ground, pushes a stick around, and forms little mounds of dirt in front of her. Finally, she breaks the silence, unable to bear the quiet. “So…how long have you been living in this place, wherever this is?”

Hex opens one of his eyes, looking between the two mares as he waits for Brooks answer. Brook continues to stare into the fire for a moment. “Less than a day. Only a matter of hours really.”

Camo’s mouth gapes, “Only…hours?!” Brook nods in affirmation. Camo mouths a “Wow” before asking another question, “So, wait…how did you get here? This place looks strange.”

Brook rubs her eyes with the back of her hoof before answering, “I have no idea…One moment I was relaxing in my cabin, almost ready to go to bed for the night, when I’m flung into this place…I landed in the lake down there, made my way up to this cave, found Hex, fixed him up, then you arrived.” She gives Camo a questioning look, asking her the same question without speaking.

The purple mare looks a bit uneasy, “Yeah, uhh, the same thing happened to me…I was just, um…playing with my friends.” She looks away and thinks of a way to change the subject, starting to mumble about stupid trees and their stickiness.

Brook just shrugs, not wanting to push the other mare for information that she doesn’t want to share. Hex begins to tentatively chirp. The chirps are small but they echo around the cave. Brook tilts her head in confusion while Camo just listens to them. As he lets out a series of chirps, both mares are staring at him, confused. “The feathering hay are you saying?!” Hex looks to Camo and sighs, not wanting to take the time to write it out for them. He lays his head down and sighs again.

Feeling bad for Hex, Brook gets up and puts a hoof to his shoulder, “Don’t worry, we’ll figure out a way so we can all understand you.” As he looks up at her, she smiles then goes to lie back down. He nods in her direction as she closes her eyes. As he stares back into the fire, he hears a soft sound coming from Brook. She had fallen asleep and was snoring lightly. He chuckles silently to himself, knowing that she hadn’t slept in a while and glad that she could finally rest.

He suddenly feels like somepony is watching him and he glances at Camo. She was looking between him and Brook but was spending more time staring at him. He flushes under her gaze, still embarrassed about how she knows so many intimate details about his race. He leans away from her as she scoots a bit closer. As she holds her good hoof out, he eyes it warily. She wiggles her hoof a bit as she gives him an expectant and impatient look. His own expression is confused but he takes her hoof with his own. Nothing happens.

“Is this doing something? Anything?” Camo takes her hoof away when he shakes his head. “You’re a weird changeling….even hoof-holding would have helped Changey…” Hex points to his eyes and yellow thorax before writing in the dirt: ‘You don’t say… I would have thought that my colors would have given that away’.

Camo glances at his writing before rolling her eyes. “Hmmph. Well, don’t even think of hugging me until you save my flank from a band of thugs.” Hex gives her a questioning look, to which she just scoots away and lays down, closing her eyes. “Whatever, Imma sleep…”

The changeling scoots a few feet deeper into the cave, preferring the shadows outside the circle of light thrown by the small fire. As he puts his head down, he glances at Camo; She seems to be asleep. He glances at Brook, and she is still snoring quietly, one leg pillowing her head while her other hoof was tucked under her chin. He smiles slightly, still a bit surprised that a pony actually wanted to help him and not kill him. He was still having trouble wrapping his mind around that fact. Thinking of ponies brought back unpleasant memories, which he quickly dispelled with a shake of his head and a buzzing growl. Putting his head back down, he tried to think nicer thoughts. Sleep snuck up on him during his attempts and he slept almost peacefully for the rest of the night.

¤ ¤ ¤

In the strange gray twilight before the sun shines its warmth on the land, another portal opened up, flinging a winged figure high into the sky. The figure rolls with the turbulence before spreading its wings and lazily gliding in slow circles and landing on a large cloud, disappearing into its fluffy depths.