The pain shooting through my head was blinding and binding. All I could muster was to listen to the room as the wind was pulled into my lungs as if I had it knocked out of me. "What were you thinking? Those brutes may be able to hear well, but they don't have hearing better than bats," a softer voice exclaimed. The more familiar second voice grumbled, "Those bears don't need much provocation to get wound up. Our village is still on thin ice after those outsider nobles came to play treasure hunter and messed with their relics and things. A random human who fell from the sky in a strange light might be what sets them off." Pained and labored gasps left my throat from the pain in my body waking back up.

Trying to open my eyes, a new fox seemed to be hovering over my face possibly frowning. Something soft caressed my cheek as that warm voice reached my ears with a newfound twang, "Hey there, sorry about my friend. I asked him to watch you while I mixed up some medicine for you, but some uninvited guests showed up. They aren't very nice and I don't think you would want to end up in their hands. My friend was a bit overprotective of me and our village overreacted a bi..." My hand managed to grasp the arm on my face before interrupting a bit, "That doesn't make it okay to choke me out. Wait..." I caressed my throat some trying to figure out why my words sounded somehow lighter and wispier. Something hadn't felt right, did my Adam's apple go missing? Would it have made my throat this different?

Flustered from everything going on, I threw the blankets off to investigate further. The friendlier fox looked away looking embarrassed and soon I understood why. Alien thoughts and feelings began to fill my head. I was a man before, right? T-then why did I look so curvy and grew breasts? Yelping, I covered myself in a hurry with the blankets again. Why was I covered in wounds and bandages all over? A small voice creeps out of me, "W-what did you two do to me? You two sickos get off on beating others up and turning them somehow into women?" The blankets wrapped around me hiding from the pair to create a barrier between us. Feeling violated and frightened, that flat voice from the close male spoke up again, "First off, we didn't hurt you, change you, or take advantage of you. We found you beaten up from your fall out of the sky. While you had many cuts and bruises from hitting trees and the landing you, fortunately, had no internal damage or broken bones. You might have a few new scars but we did our best to patch you up. You were a man? You have only had a woman's body since we found you."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Sniffling, feeling like tears were about to drip down, I overheard them leave the room leaving a crack in the door to let light in. Slowly, I freed myself from the blankets. My emotions were a raging maelstrom of negative emotions making my body feel worse and worse. I tried to listen in on the conversation that started outside. "What is she suffering brain damage? No two ways about it, she's a girl. I have not heard of anything strong enough to swap someone's gender let alone so perfectly. She looks, talks, and even smells like a girl," that gruff voice exclaimed. The softer now more sinister voice replied, "No one ever fell from the sky that fast and survived either. The twins must have intervened on her behalf to save her. She even knew my name somehow when she asked for help. For now, let's try to smooth things over with the chief and find some way to avoid the bears. She is innocent and a gift from the twins to us. Plus did you hear how she spoke? She talked in our language like she was born in these woods and understood when I talked in Aviiri. She has to be a noble from someplace. If we return her, maybe we can get those damn bears put in their place. Can't you understand me, Morvan?" The grumbly voice that seems to belong to Morvan huffs, "If the twins cared for us existed outside of fairy tales, don't you think they would have just sent an army instead? Just like her rest until she is healed and then send her on her way. Our village and you come first cousin."

Closing my eyes, I tried to fall asleep. My mind felt like Swiss cheese as I sifted through it to explain what happened. There are some arguments, I think, though only one I remember. Words and their associations are spotty. Like the glow stick cheddar monks escape me, but an anime called "Slayers" I can recall completely. Skills seem like I can perform them but without trying them out, it is all guesswork. I feel like something important was forgotten though. How and why am I here? "Ahhhh," I hiss. It hurts to try to remember. For now, resting and recovery are number one.

Somewhere in, the inky depths of, my mind something talks to me, "Those foxes are going to hurt you over and over again." My heart sank feeling hopeless.