Falling

What is?

I am.

I dangerously fast approach the ground

My vision and thoughts blur

The wind toys with me, spinning my body in the air

My eyes tear up as I desperately try grabbing something

But I can´t reach

My newly born tears jump off my face

I´m screaming my lungs out, arms and legs flailing

At this point, there´s nothing I can do to prevent myself becoming a splat on the ground

Just like the fruit I ate before.

Is what I think at least

I feel something on my back

As I keep flailing my fall ever so slightly decelerates

Suddenly my course changes and I bump headfirst into the giant I was just climbing

“Agh!”

“Status: 8/8 HP → 7/8 HP”

I can feel blood flowing on my face and its taste in my mouth

My direction changes again

I crash into the ground, thankfully not head first this time

But my accumulated momentum is too great, from falling I go to rolling like a bowling ball

With each rotation I gain an additional wound, fracture or both until my momentum is stopped by ramming into another tree

“AAH!!”

The air stocks in my lungs, leaving me unable to breath

“Status: 7/8 HP → 5/8 HP”

“A, Ha, hA” Lying on the ground, not moving a muscle, I frantically try gasping for air

“Skill: [Physical Resistance (small)] LV 1/10 – acquisition successful”

“Skill: [Float] LV 1/5 → [Float] LV 2/5

I somehow manage to force some air in and out my body.

“It, hurts…”

For some time I just lie there, enduring the pain, quivering

…

But just “lying there” won´t do anything

After a few minutes pass I put my arm besides me and try lifting my upper body

“Ouch!”

Quickly I release the weight and lie down on my stomach again

I turn around on my back… or at least that was the plan?

Something´s blocking me

It would be fine if it was just anything, but I can feel that “something” as if it were my very own hand

I freeze up.

“What the”

I try moving this “hand” on my back and sure enough it listens to my command

Up, down, up, down, up, down

It´s starting to get exhausting

The shock lets me forget about my pain

I sit up and turn my head as I see two large wings protruding my back

???

You ever experienced confusion to which you don´t know how to react to, so you just start… sort of making weird expressions?

Yeah that´s me right now

“Are these… feathers?”

I move my new body part so I can reach it with my hand and stroke it

The outer side feels robust and sturdy

I don´t really even sense the touch

Suddenly I get goosebumps as an extremely unpleasant feeling crawls down my spine

“Uwah, W-what is this??” I let out in surprise

Apparently, stroking the feathers in the wrong way is a bad idea.

I raise my wing a little further and look at their inner side

The feathers there look completely different

They are much smaller and seem to be glistening a little

Also opposed to the orderly arranged feathers on the outer side, the ones on the inner look like a jumbled mess

But, somehow like a neat jumbled mess.

Carefully I extend my arm to stroke them too

But as I reach them I immediately flinch my hand back

“What the…”

I can feel the touch, both in my hand and somewhere else, but I don´t really understand where

It´s… difficult to describe

It´s on my back, but it´s also not on my back.

A place I never knew about, although being tapped is all too familiar.

“This is so weird…” I mumble as I stretch out my hand again

This time I´m prepared

I poke my wing with my index finger before pushing my hand against it

My whole hand is swallowed by the feathers and I feel it being covered in warmth

“Wow”

The feathers are smooth like silk, fluffy like a cat. Petting cats always put me at ease

It was almost like a therapy. For some time I just continue petting my wing, unconsciously calming my stressed nerves.

“Status: 7/17 MP → 8/17 MP”

The notification forces me out of my daze.

I turn my head so I can get a full view of my wings

They´re huge, about my own body height, maybe a little smaller than that

Suddenly an idea pops up in my head

I roll the wings around my body, covering myself with their inner side, only letting my face uncovered.

Tada! I call it “the portable sleeping bag”

I probably look like a gigantic, feathery caterpillar right now

I lie myself down and close my eyes

Honestly, if it wasn´t for my hunger coming back I probably would´ve fallen asleep immediately

I uncover myself and inspect my body as I finally get on my feet

I´m covered in tons of scratches and bruises

My left elbow seems a little thick and hurts quite badly

Though there are neither open wounds nor too much blood

So aside from my elbow I seem to have only suffered “minor” injuries.

Seems that I was more frightened than injured

Well, who wouldn´t be after falling from a height similar to that of a rooftop

I look to my right where I see the Groosha Tree and the giant that I thought was a good idea to climb

I take a deep breath and release the air quickly to focus my thoughts.

I then look behind me to confirm my wings and again approach the tree I baptized “the giant”

I climb a few branches until I´m a good distance above the ground but not too high so I can jump down without any risks

I spread my wings and jump forward with all my might

“UwaaAaAh!” In the air I take a sharp turn to the left, lose my balance, struggle a little and finally thump on the ground

“Damn” This is more difficult than I thought

I repeat the routine of climbing, jumping and falling.