I lay in silence for several seconds, contemplating my response. If I tell her that I’m human, it will probably just confuse her, but I am clearly different than anything she’s seen before. I wonder if I could somehow change the subject. I looked up at the green eyes that were returning my gaze, though filled with more curiosity.

“What’s your name?”

I inquired, but then started beating myself up on the inside, realizing how stupid someone would have to be to fall for that. However, the curiosity vanished almost immediately and was replaced by the brilliant smile I saw earlier, as she leaned back, allowing me to move more freely. I sat up and looked around, noticing a massive meadow with waist-high untrimmed grass that flowed and rippled as the wind blew through, giving off an almost wave-like image. Hills surrounded me, creating a small valley where this tree I am under grew, the only one in my line of sight, though my vision is limited by the hills.

The sun was high overhead, and I was thankful for the shade, though I had no idea of how I got here, so I turned over to the elf next to me with a couple of questions prepared. However, when I did, the words caught in my throat, and I nearly choked, but was fortunately able to keep my cool. I looked over at her again, this time a little more prepared, and saw a young elf girl, though in mythology elves lived a long time so it’s hard to be sure, with a short, tight, green skirt on, and an equally short, tight green shirt that revealed her stomach and lower back. Though I tried not to, I couldn’t help but notice the fantastic curves that were barely hidden by the outfit that was clearly made for mobility over protection. She was crouched down, reaching for a long stick about as tall as her, that was lying next to her on the ground with several intricate carvings engraved in it, and picked it up.

She stood facing me while holding the staff vertically in front of her with her right hand in a clearly well-practiced pose, however the wind and already fantasy-like background caused it to be very picturesque.

“My name is Ella Woodlocke, I am a proud elf of the Greenwood forest, and a master magician at that! Now, It is my turn, what is your name?”

An overly enthusiastic answer caught me a little off guard, and I just froze for a second, trying to recall my name. A memory flashed through my mind, I was looking up at an older man, maybe in his forties, wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black cowboy hat with a black strap held on by a silver buckle, a tree engraved on it, wrapped around the crown.

‘Dad, can I wear your hat?’

The voice came from me, and was directed toward the man in front of me, who must have been my father. The man looked down at me, and smiled, a soft look filling the otherwise hard face, as he crouched down to my level.

‘Now, there, you know you can’t, not until you’re a man, remember?’

I could feel the disappointment, but nodded anyway, I’m sure a sad look was on my face, because the man chucked to himself, then wrapped his hands around my chest, and stood up, raising me above his head to where I could almost touch the roof. My disappointment gone, I laughed and enjoyed myself while imagining I could fly.

‘Don’t worry, Ash, that day is not as far off as you think.’

The memory vanished and I snapped back to reality, and the girl facing me with an expectant look. I inhaled deeply, then stood, slowly and carefully, still not sure what condition I might be in, and looked at her with a blank expression that I seemed to habitually keep on constantly. I recalled my name from the memory, the older man that must have been my father called me Ash. I like it, so I don’t think I will change it.

“My name is Ash. It’s nice to meet you, Ella.”

I force the blank expression off my face and offer the most sincere smile I could muster up while introducing myself. Her smile broadened as she swung the stick around, placing it at her side while pointing at me with her left hand.

“Nice to meet you too! I look forward to being your master!”

A brief silence followed, only interrupted by the shuffle of leaves in the wind as we stared at each other for several moments, letting her words sink into my mind. She added something on the end I didn’t really understand, but said it without any hint of hesitation or restraint, which threw me off a little. I adjusted my stance, and unconsciously reached toward my head, feeling for something that should have been there, but wasn’t. My head felt bare when I touched it, only my short, prickly hair rubbed my hand, filling me with a certain emptiness that I couldn’t really pinpoint.

Ella seemed to notice my gesture, and cocked her head to the side, letting her hair tumble down her left shoulder, which was then caught by the wind, that was beginning to pick up, and blew it behind her.

“Are you looking for your hat? It’s right there!”

She lifted her right hand, clutching the staff, and pointed toward the tree I was lying next to with the base of the stick. I turned towards where the staff pointed, and my eyes settled on a black cowboy hat, a silver buckle reflecting sunlight that had managed to sneak through the leaves and branches of the tree. A mixture of relief and nostalgia filled me when I looked at the hat, as if I had just found a missing piece of myself, and I approached it. I bent over, and felt the smooth leather, gently brushing the buckle with my hand while feeling the tree engraving with the tips of my fingers.

After a few seconds, I took a deep breath before lifting the hat to my face, and slowly placing it on my head, feeling the comforting hat filled with memories I have yet to discover hug my head. Confidence that was previously lacking filled me, and I stood up, pushing my shoulders back, smiling slightly as fresh air filled my lungs.

“Hu hu hu, you don’t need to fear, I take good care of my possessions.”

Another remark reminded me of her current mentality, for some reason she was convinced I was her slave, or servant, and seemed genuinely convinced. I turned to face her, bringing up my newfound confidence to my throat and spoke clearly, surprising myself with how much easier it was to talk when I could feel the cowboy hat on my head.

“What do you mean possession? I don’t remember anything about becoming your slave.”

The look in her smile changed, and she gave off an aura I didn’t really understand while looking at me with eyes filled with a mixture of determination and excitement. The wind was blowing at a constant rate now, and the grass whipped back and forth in response while the tree that was standing to my right began to shed some of it’s drier leaves. Large, ominous clouds could be seen forming on the horizon, flashes of light jumped back and forth, illuminating the looming blanket that was covering the distant sky.

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“I prayed and prayed to Mystic for a suitable man, dissatisfied with the ones currently available to me, but there was no response. I continued to pray for several months, but nothing changed, and my father was not helping at all, constantly beating the crap out of any man that came within ten feet of me, so I went out in this field to pray to Lilah, the goddess of science, hoping she would understand. No sooner had I finished my prayer when a bright flash of light nearly blinded me, followed by a voice saying: ‘Please take care of him’, then vanished, leaving an unconscious boy wearing tattered clothes in it’s place.”

I looked down at myself, and sure enough, my clothes were torn to shreds, blue Jeans cut into strips and drenched in blood, and my black T-shirt barely hanging on my body, looking as if it was run through a blender, and my shoes were non-existent. I still didn’t understand how me appearing before her makes me hers, and I returned my eyes to her, trying to keep my focus on her face.

“So...”

“So, goddess Lilah took pity on me, and gave me you! Therefore you are mine! Don’t worry, as I said before, I take good care of my possessions.”

I don’t think I am perverted enough to willingly become her possession, well, at least I hope I’m not. All I know about myself is my name is Ash, this hat means a lot to me, and the stuff that the goddess told me, which honestly makes me wonder whether I am a good person, or a bad one. In any case, I don’t know anything about this world, and will likely get myself killed if I try to figure it out on my own, so I do need a guide. I looked back at the girl who had gone back to her normal self, if it could be called normal, and was muttering incoherent nonsense, while hugging her staff and swaying back and forth.

The wind was picking up now, and the clouds had been approaching at a rapid speed, likely bringing a terrible storm in it’s wake. The branches of the tree shook, and the leaves began to fly off into the rapidly disappearing blue sky before disappearing completely out of sight. Whether I liked it or not, I needed this girl, not to mention I felt a sense of duty to keep her safe from the storm, though I didn’t know why or how I would do that.

“I’m not your possession, but you did help me when I was unconscious, so I suppose I could humor you for a while. Not to mention I don’t know where I am, so I don’t really have a choice.”

She stopped celebrating, and placed the base of the staff on the ground, leaning on it slightly as a pouting expression appeared on her face. Her cheeks puffed out, and she pursed her lips, her eyes expressing her displeasure, looking not unlike a spoiled child who was just told no.

“You don’t have to make it sound that bad. We’ll get to do all sorts of fun stuff together.”

The clouds were now on top of us, blocking out the sun, though Ella didn’t seem to notice, she just continued to pout and mumble at my non-submissive response. The wind was whipping violently now, and the entire tree shuddered from the force as the wind passed through, howling loudly as it flew through the hills. The grass was lying almost flat on the ground, occasionally rippling, and I considered letting her know about it, but then figured it would be impossible for someone to miss this and dismissed the though, not wanting to sound condescending.

She paused her tantrum, and looked around curiously at her surroundings, before turning around to look at the storm that had, until now, had been approaching her from behind, and let out a little squeak, bringing her left hand up to her mouth. It may be safer if I just travel alone.

“Dad... Mystic damn them to hell!”

She cursed out loud in frustration, flailing her arms the way a child would if someone took away their toy, and honestly, I thought it was pretty cute. A near deafening rumbling noise vibrated the ground around me and spread into the air, causing my flesh to tingle, and my hairs to stand on end. The clouds now blocked out the entire sky, making the world around me turn nearly as dark as night, while the wind blew various small objects around overhead. The sky shifted and moved around acting like waves in a turbulent sea, crashing into one another, and swirling around.

Something large began to emerge from the clouds, smooth, round, and extremely large, at least the size of a small town, and was made of a dark wood that melded with the ominous clouds around it. As the object descended, more was revealed, the large figure of an elf’s face came into view, followed by a rudder on the opposite end, sinking below the clouds, the object came into view for the most part. It was a massive ship, with an elf’s face as the figurehead made of a near-black wood, the six masts stretching upward until they disappeared into the clouds. Hundreds of smaller ships, about the size of a ship I would consider ordinary, appeared from the deck of the ship, filling the sky as they descended down in my direction.

I don’t know why, but I couldn’t stop watching, I was a little scared, but my curiosity greatly overwhelmed my fear, and I just stared at the approaching ships with growing interest. The large ship had stopped a couple hundred feet off the ground, and allowed the other smaller ships to approach, led by one with four masts, and two visible decks, that was double the size of the others. Gold plated the outside of the ship, creating a large contrast from the sky and other ships, which were all grey and black, and emitted authoritative aura.

The largest of the smaller ships approached until it was right in front of us, wind seeming to eject from the hull, pulling up the dirt, and causing the tree to crack and bend, and I held on to my hat to keep it from flying away. After this happened, I figured it would be a good time to start creating an escape plan, since I was still unsure if they were a friend or an enemy, and stepped up next to Ella, who was now watching the ships with a pouting face.

“Should we run?”

I asked simply, and she just scoffed, and turned her head away from the golden ship that was hovering in front of us and towards me.

“I would, but it’s useless. My father’s ships would catch us before we got far.”

Wait a second...

“Did you say your... father?”

Something disconnected from the ship, descending rapidly to the ground, moving the speed of a bullet before landing. There was a small shockwave that caused the ground to crumble and explode outward in every direction, just missing Ella, but covering me in dirt. A man stood, muscle rippling across his whole body, seeming almost like he would explode if he flexed, and long, blond hair flowed down his shoulders, covering his head aside from his face, and two large pointed ears that peaked out through the golden threads. He wore a long, black and gold robe that was studded with diamonds, with fine plated armor placed in strategic places, and there were likely more hidden underneath. The man stood tall, puffing out his chest in a pose that would intimidate the most resilient of men.

“Ella, what were you thinking!? I was so worried!”

My image of him was shattered as soon as he laid eyes on his daughter, quickly approaching, bending down on one knee and wrapping her up in his arms, with tears visible on his face. She struggled for a moment, wrenching an arm free from his grasp, and pushed on his shoulder, the difference in their sizes was ridiculous.

“Dad, you’re embarrassing me in front of my guy!”

The large man’s eyes turned towards me with an expression that suited his figure better, one filled with suspicion and ill intent. He looked me up and down as I removed my hat, brushing the dirt off, before returning it to my head and doing the same to the rest of my body. The wind had died down, but the sky remained dark, and the twisted tree and torn-up ground added to the effect, but I remained calm, since panicking would probably do more harm than good in this situation.

“I see... I’m not sure what it is, but it does, at least, seem to be male.”

The large man’s voice was filled with hesitation and disappointment, likely because I was of an unknown species, and only came up to his waist. He shifted, releasing his daughter from his grip, who landed on the ground gracefully, then followed up with a less than graceful kick to her father’s knee. He ignored the attack, or perhaps just didn’t notice it, and his gaze remained fixed on me, half glaring and half measuring me up.

“A man my daughter has selected, huh. It’s so scrawny though, and no magic to speak of... I might as well give him a chance to prove himself.”

The large man returned his gaze to his daughter, and patted her on the head lightly before placing his hand on his knee, and pushing himself up, returning to his full height once again, and stared at me with a determined look.

“I, Charles Woodlocke, declare that any man man who intends to marry my daughter, Ella Woodlocke will have to be able to protect her! Therefore, you will have to pass my test for me to consent. You will face me in a sparring match!”

Wait, did he just say marry?