The early morning sun filters through the tall, swaying grasses as Rukiyo's eyes flutter open.
The air is thick with the sweet scent of wildflowers, purple violets and golden daisies nodding in their places as a breeze brush past their wonderful petals.
Around her, a swirl of color dances and butterflies with translucent wings drift lazily between stems like living confetti.
She shifted slightly on the soft earth beneath her and couldn't help, but wonder— was she here last night? Did she fall asleep and was now dreaming about laying down on a beautiful and peaceful meadow because she was under stress for days?
Rukiyo was brought out of her thoughts when a rustle came from nearby; a rabbit paused mid-nibble to stare at her before vanishing into greenery.
She blinked, not expecting such a sight, but then, a single butterfly landed on Rukiyo's knee.
Then, her chest tightens when the fragments of memory slam back.
The office chair tipped beneath her grip, her head hitting something on her way down with a dull thud before everything went dark.
What could have happened?
From complete confusion, Rukiyo's fingers curl into fists against the damp earth, because wherever this is.. Isn't right— it's not where she belongs.
A breeze carried petals past her; one got stuck to Rukiyo's sweat-damp collar before the sight of the blue petal made her sit upright because she suddenly remembered the blue screen of her computer.
The files!
She wanted to scream, her opening cracking open, but a sharp gasp escaped her when the world suddenly titled, pain flaring white-hot behind her temples, making her hand fly up instinctively to cradle the throbbing spot on her forehead.
The wildflowers blur around her; butterflies scattered like startled paper scraps from the sudden movement she made.
She gritted her teeth against each other when another wave of nausea hit her and she groaned, cussing her headache out because no office chair fall should leave a bruise that aches this deep.
As she cussed out the headache, another breeze ruffled through tall grass nearby and it reached her ears.. Or was it footsteps? Is.. Is someone watching her from beyond those swaying stems? Is she not alone?
Rukiyo's eyes squinted, heart jolting with alarm.
Was that a trick of the lighting, through the shifting of leaves? No— there, behind a row of bright wildflowers, a figure moves.
He steps closer, long emerald hair cascades over a face framed by pointed ears.
The sight makes Rukiyo freeze and her breath stops dead in her throat when the figure steps into view— sunlight catching on unnaturally long, green hair like moss left too long in the rain, gold eyes slit-pupiled and sharp lock onto her without blinking.
The being's pointy ears twitched forward at the sound of Rukiyo's stifled gasp; they were pointed to a cruel precision, tips curling slightly like leaves about to wilt.
He tilted his head as a flower petal drifted down from his shoulder, but there were no flowers that color growing nearby.
Long, pointed ears.. Rukiyo blinks, wondering if her head injury's hallucinating on her.
An elf..? She thought as the words registered in her mind, but Rukiyo couldn't tear her eyes from this strange living being and could only watch as he kneeled before her.
The sunlight fell across him, highlighting his otherworldly physique and he moved closer, an eyebrow raising at the look of her wide eyes and parted lips, which evidently told him that she was in shock at the sight of him.
Then, without warning, Rukiyo's hand shot out to shove the elf back with a grunt.
She's not sure what he is— or if he's an actual elf, or just something trying to play a trick on her, so she couldn't help, but react the way she did.
But as if karma deemed her action unforgivable, her head pounded harder at the movement she just made, the unbearable pain splitting her skull like a rusty cleaver.
"Fuck." She hissed through gritted teeth, fingers pressing against her forehead as if it could physically contain the ache.
The elf stumbled back onto his ass, but he didn't retaliate and just watched her with those unnervingly still golden eyes, like he was watching something fascinating.
Rukiyo glared at him through her tangled dark bangs, her breathing ragged.
However, before she could fully tell whatever was in front of her to leave her alone, another wave of throbbing pain jolted down her head, causing her to groan.
"Why is it not going away?" Rukiyo groaned, voice cracking and was dripping with frustration.
The world felt too loud— the grass rustling and sounding like whispers against her eardrums, her pulse roaring in her ears like drums.
"I need aspirin." Rukiyo mumbled and exhaled, letting her body go slack and fall back.
Thump.
She fell back, but something felt amiss.
Rukiyo's eyes went wide when she felt like she laid on something hard and unconsciously, her hand reached out to push it off, but just like that, the soft grass beneath her was immediately forgotten when her fingers brushed a foreign object.
It was something large, very large.
"What the heck?!" She shrieked and scrambled upright with a startled cry, craning her neck to see what it was and once she did, she let out a loud gasp.
Right behind her, there are two enormous black wings arching from her back where her shoulders should be.
The mere sight of it made her world spin again, intensifying the headache she currently has.
Stop.. Don't start panicking. Rukiyo thought as she let out a shaky breath and decided to examine the things behind her more closely.
They're wings.. But they're not soft or feathered like an angel's and instead, they're hard— like leather, and the edges are sharp, which looks similar to a bat.
Rukiyo couldn't help, but swallow hard, trying to deny the sudden thought that pops up unbidden in her mind because she.. She can't be a bat..
That's.. That's not possible, right? Rukiyo thought, eyes blinking owlishly.
Anxiously, she stretched out a hand, her fingertips grazing the leading edge of the wings to check out if she's hallucinating or not.
It feels smooth and cool under her touch, and incredibly real.. It felt a little too real for her liking and that made her head throb even harder.
Yeah, this shit is real.