My vision was blurred by the shining sun above me when I opened my eyes. A prickling sensation played at my back as I shifted my weight, then sitting up and glancing around with one eye, rubbing my hand against the other.

I was in what looked to be a barn, although I was thankful no animals were present. The smell of the place made it clear they probably hadn't been for some time.

I was laying upon a haystack, and the structure was more beams then building, but I was at least protected from the cool breeze I could see gently pushing the leaves at the treeline as I surveyed my surroundings. 

"Where the fuck have I ended up?" I mumbled to myself as I stood fully, carefully shuffling off the haystack and to the ground.

As I fell to the ground, I almost lost balance immediately. Looking down, I barely managed to control myself before a scream escaped from between my lips.

Instead of my usual body, one of twenty three years of age, I found my consciousness inhabited the body of a much younger girl. One a few years away from entering her teenage years, I guessed.

I didn't let the shock of such an event get to me, but instead found myself glad that I had an explanation to where I managed to make my way to after the party I had been at.

I didn't go anywhere, but my consciousness did. It was surreal, but at least it meant I didn't drive halfway across the state to get this far into the countryside.

I would have remained in that somewhat calm mindset if a moment later, a man with green skin hadn't entered the barn.

"Oh, you're awake!" The man said with a wave and a smile. His demeanor was friendly, but his muscular build and green skin, as well as the tusks emerging from his mouth, were putting me off. "Would you like to join us for breakfast, Willow?"

Despite my utter shock, I managed a nod and a smile in return. My name wasn't Willow, but I guess that made sense. That was the name of this body's previous owner.

I shut down the idea of diving into that can of worms, though. I would never figure my situation out if I thought too hard about what happened to the girl who's body was now mine.

Instead, I followed the man, glancing down briefly to see I was wearing what was equivalent to a potato sack with holes for my arms and legs, tied Round my waist with some twine as a makeshift belt.

I also caught a glimpse of my hair, a pale red almost bordering pink. I wasn't particularly surprised by the hair colour change at this point, though.

I was led from the barn, having to take two swift steps for each of the man's long strides. The area I had found myself in was surrounded nearly entirely by wheat fields, with a large windmill further to the other end of my view beside what was clearly a farmhouse.

The walk through the fields, avoiding trampling any of the produce, was slow. My new body's legs were short, and I wondered briefly if I had been reincarnated as some sort of shorter fantasy race.

My proportions seemed distinctly human, though, and a quick feel of my ears revealed they weren't pointed like an elf either.

"So, Willow," the man began to speak, "what happened to you last night?"

I was surprised by that, but without a thought I shrugged. A half lie was practically the truth, if you tell it well enough.

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"I don't remember," I said, and noted hope distinctly young m voice sounded. 

"Anything?" The man questioned, and I shrugged again. "Well that's concerning."

I nodded then, because my situation was quite frankly disturbing.

From our short conversation I gathered I was not a familiar person to this man. He was walking on eggshells to avoid upsetting me, and his tone was curious.

So I felt comfortable enough risking seeming odd task a question. "How did I get here?"

The man paused at that, and I stopped beside him.

"You walked through the forest, all tired and hungry lookin'," he revealed. "Your clothes were in tatters, but you didn't seem hurt."

I nodded then. An orphan of some kind, not someone that had close family in the area at least.

"Oh," I played up the sadness. In reality I was fine, if not a little dazed. My old life was comfortable, bu there was few things I'd miss.

Without really thinking clearly about it I moved my hand to grab the man's as he resumed walking. In part to play into my sad, confused child act but also to ensure he'd move at a pace I could keep up with.

The man didn't deny the gesture, and gently wrapped his fingers around my hand with a soft smile filled with pity.

Eventually we made it to the farmhouse I had spotted earlier, and the man opened the wooden door, the hinges creaking slightly as it swung inwards.

"Oh, Turge dear," a distinctly feminine voice called out from another room as the man, now identified as Turge, lead me forwards. "Did you bring our guest?"

Entering the room the voice had sounded from, I saw a woman stood, a large wooden spoon in hand as she stirred a large pot. One side of the room was clearly a kitchen, whilst the other side had a circular table and four chairs

A distinctly meaty aroma wafted through the air as she did, and Turge slipped his hand from line and approached the woman.

Wrapping his arms over her front in an embrace, a short kiss was exchanged with a loving smile.

The woman was quite a bit shorter then Turge, and her skin was paler than any I'd ever seen, her eyes an emerald green that drew mine to them without effort. Her ears tapered off into a point, her hair a long blonde and my mind labeled her as an elf immediately.

"My, isn't she a cute one," the elf smiled down at me, and I resisted the urge to complain. I hadn't been called cute in that way in years, and it almost made me embarrassed. "What's your name, little one?"

But I supposed that children would be used to that kind of thing, so I fought the blush trying to take over my face.

"Willow," I replied quietly, shuffling my feet. Being shy was certainly a behaviour normal children exhibited though, and I planned on taking full advantage of that.

"Nice to meet you, Willow," the elven woman smiled a beautiful smile at me then, and I couldn't help but give her a shy wave in response, shifting to try and hide behind Turge's leg, who had returned to my side. "My name's Vaeri Rona."

"She wandered onto the farm after you fell asleep last night, looking all ragged." Turge explained after introductions were complete, "I tried bringing her inside, but she was scared, and wouldn't trust me. I barely managed to get her name."

"So you left her to sleep in that sad excuse for a barn?!" The elf woman huffed, exasperated.

"It isn't like that, Vae," the orc man sighed. "She started thrashing when I tried to touch her, so I left her one of those sacks and showed her the barn."

"You couldn't even get her a proper set of clothes?" The elf woman shook her head. "Well, I'll sort her out with that, you finish the stew."

Turge agreed easily then, but his face sported a look similar to that of a scolded child. The spoonnVaeri was holding ended up in his hand as he began stirring.

Vaeri held onto my hand and began to lead me through the house. It was a single story home, with two bedrooms. She lead me to one that was quite cluttered with boxes and other things.

"I'm sorry it's a mess," Vaeri apologised, "we just use this room for storage."

I didn't respond verbally to that, but gave a shy nod instead, careful to avoid eye contact.

Slowly Vaeri began digging through a box before smiling, "here it is!"

She pulled out a dress then, a simple garment that I imagined was commonplace in fantasy settings. It was dark green.

"You go ahead and get changed into that, and we'll see if I need to adjust it to your size." Vaeri smiled and placed her hand on my head in a quick pat. It was embarrassing, being treated like a child, but the attention was unexpectedly nice.

The woman left the room after that, and I changed. It was a little loose around my waist, but I had no plans on informing the woman. She had helped me enough, and it wasn't like it inconvenienced me any to wear a slightly loose dress.

But when I left the room, the woman shuffled me back inside, figging through another box and pulling out a sewing kit.

Within a few minutes the dress felt like it fit me much better, and I turned to face Vaeri.

"Thank you," I gave her a little smile, playing with the hem of my dress as I did.

"Of course, dear," the woman pet my head again, before taking a gentle hold of my hand. 

She lead us back out into the kitchen and dining room where Turge was placing bowls onto the table, one in front of these different chairs. A small loaf of bread was in the center, sliced and ready to be eaten alongside the meal.

"All ready, you two," Turge gave a smile as he waved us over. He took his own seat before Vaeri did the same. I hopped up into the third chair and began eating as soon as I saw the pair do the same.

The stew was, without a doubt, the best meal I had eaten in years. The meat was tender and the broth had been seasoned perfectly. The various vegetables were the right type of texture, neither too hard or too soft, just perfect.

I had eaten the whole bowl by the time I realised I hadn't even touched the share of bread portioned out for me, and began nibbling on that quickly.

Even the bread was incredible. Fluffy and soft inside with a flavourful crust.

Once we had all finished our meals, a quiet affair, Turge took the dishes and placed them in the kitchen and began to wash them. I stood up to go and offer my assistance when Vaeri stopped me, leading me back out into the hallway.

"Turge can handle the dishes," she smiled, "I'd like if you could help me do so tidying instead?"

I nodded then, secretly a bit relieved. Dishes were my least favourite chore in my previous life, and tidying had always calmed me down in comparison.

Back into the cluttered bedroom I was lead, as Vaeri started requesting I bring various items, boxes and knick-knacks into the hallway.