You are standing by a tree
There are 3 paths.
One appears to go to a jungle,
one appears to go to a cave,
one appears to go to a beach,
you could try and climb the tree,
there is a nearby shop you could go in,
or you could do something else.
So what's its going to be?
Written by catprog on 01 April 2003
You sit under the tree
You sit under the tree.
Suddenly...
Written by catprog on 21 May 2003
See? Keep moving or you get tranked. That's how the game is played.
Your relaxing moment under the tree is rudely interrupted by an abrupt transformation. You are hit by a tranquilizer dart, which turns you into a person with a tranquilizer dart stuck in their neck. It's an easy change. Of course, your train of thought gets about as far as "Oh good heavens, a dart of some kind. I'd betteeerrgmphqq," at which point the dart takes effect, and you slump under the tree like a drugged-up rag doll. A half-hearted twitch is all the moving you do for quite some time. Eventually, you wake up. When you do, you are...
Written by Zodiac on 27 January 2007
A new body
Somewhere you've never been before. You're surrounded by trees, birch trees, and you hear the quiet roar of a river nearby. The moss is soft and you're wondering if it's a dream; if not, how did you get here? You look down at your hands, they're normal. Five finger on each hand.
Raising your arms, you go to stretch, but your hands hit something unfamiliar on your head. Is that...antlers? You stroke them carefully, pull a bit at them, and poke them. You can feel it! It feels like you're touching your finger nails. You touch where they start, they feel attached to you. Attached to your skull. You feel ears flutter at the sides of your antlers. You can smell everything, the sharp smell of the grass, the fresh air, the river.
You look down, and to your surprise you discover you're female, you're in a young female body. Your naked chest is clearly female and your have wider hips leading down to, wait, what, something is wrong. Instead of human thighs, your eyes meet the strong thighs of a deer. The skinny legs, and small black hooves. You're half deer, half female. You lay there for awhile, staring at your legs in shock. "This can't be real," you say out loud. You're so startled by your own voice, you back up against the tree you were leaning against, and hit your antlers against the rough bark. You wince at the feeling- those are definitely attached to your skull.
"Hello," you try again. It's so unusual, you almost can't believe it's you who's speaking. It sounds wildly different from your normal voice. It's soft, light, breezy, where your normal voice is rough, deep, scratchy. You say quiet words to yourself to get used to your voice.
Written by AnxiousRomeo on 02 September 2017
Explore
You try to stand again, keyword being try, as the first time you try to stand on your own feet. Hooves. You fall. You fall forward, then backwards. You try over and over again with the same result. You're so unfamiliar with these new curves, not to mention your skinny legs and your small hooves. You try again, this time keeping your balance for about a minute, just standing, before attempting to walk and falling on your behind. You groan frustrated, but in your new voice it sounds weird to you.
Eventually you get ahold of your strange new body. You proceed to move towards the roaring river, hoping it'll lead to somewhere. With small, clumsy steps you follow the sound of the river. You try to focus on every step you take instead of overthinking the situation. Continuously you trip and fall over your own feet, but you carry on.
You pass beautiful trees, interesting plants, and the river is gorgeous, but none of that matters to you. You have to keep thinking about moving. The river turns into a stream and the stream leads to a blank lake.
You're scared to, but curiosity takes over and you have to look at your reflection.
Big brown doe eyes look back at you. You follow the feminine curves of your face with your eyes. Your cheekbones are high and sharp. Your cheeks soft. You touch them with your fingertips. Your lips are full, you touch those too. There's freckles splattered across your face. What stands out the most is your antlers, they are those of a deer. They're big and you stroke them carefully, irrationally afraid of breaking them. Below them, on each side of your head, are ears, matching the antlers. They're the same shade of brown as your long dark brown hair. It doesn't take you long to realize it. You are really half deer. You are a deer woman. Your heart pounds in your chest, and you fall backwards, screaming. It feels too real. This can't be happening. Your eyes flutter and you touch them carefully. It's happening. You stare numbly at your hooves, wishing they'd disappear. You keep touching your ears, your antlers, stroking, pulling, poking, and prodding. They're real. They're really real. You feel numb. You feel lost.
Written by AnxiousRomeo on 04 September 2017
Wait until Night
You lay there until the sun goes down, until the chill evening air hits your skin, and you shiver. You have to find somewhere to go for the night. Somewhere to stay.
You wander aimlessly around in the dark, finding you see better in dark than usual, until you come across a camp. A few humans sit around a bonfire, a big tent behind them. You discover they stink, the humans, and you can smell the gasoline they sprayed the bonfire with earlier. You find yourself disliking them.
You approach, slowly walk towards them, but you're clumsy on your legs and a stick breaks underneath your hooves. They look up, and it takes them a good minute of just staring, before they scramble to get up, and run away, shouting and screaming. You wonder why it has to be this way. You wonder if you would've done the same. You sit by the camp's fire. The flames heating your skin, making you stop shivering. You feel numb.
You're tired.
You can feel tears pool in your eyes, as you lay down. This can't be happening. You fall asleep by the bonfire, staring into it, wondering what you've done to deserve this.
A light breeze ruffles your hair and your ears flutter. You open your eyes, and are greeted by the gentle light of the morning sun. It warms your skin, and you stretch your body. You find that your legs are stiffer than usual. You stand on clumsy feet. A rumbling comes from your stomach. You need food. Today you find that you're more adapted to walking in your new form. You walk more confidently, and you can even run, you find yourself a lot faster on deer legs. You wonder if there are other people like you out there, somewhere. You eat some wild berries and some leaves as you walk around, without aim, again. You ears turn every time you stop up to listen for any sign of life around you. Surely there must be something around this lake.
Written by AnxiousRomeo on 07 September 2017
Search the forest
After a few hours of walking there seems to be signs of life. Stomped down bushes, hoof prints, carvings in trees. You wonder if it's people like you. You follow the leads of life, and surely, you start to hear some sort of civilization. Children screaming, playing, people chatting, young men loudly bantering.
You can see the tops of tents, a pole, smoke from fires. You near it cautiously. Behind a few bushes you observe the village.
It's filled with half deer people, like yourself. They seem to have a civilization like humans. Humans from centuries ago, but humans nonetheless. You observe young men, their heads butted together, their antlers pushing each other. Small children are running around with a ball that looks like it might be made of straw. Women sit and chat; some are making baskets with straw, some are making what looks like jewelry. You want approach them, but you're scared to. You don't know how they'd react to a stranger.
The kids’ ball hits you in the face, and suddenly you don't have a choice in the matter. You unintentionally let out a loud yelp as it smacks you in the face.
Written by AnxiousRomeo on 09 September 2017
Discovered
A woman nearby turns to where you're hiding. She has long red hair, ears matching her hair, and her antlers are small. She approaches, slowly, she looks scared, curious, and a bit threatening.
"Is somebody there?" Her ears are laid down against her head. She moves a couple of branches away from where you're hiding, and your newly brown eyes meet her ice blue ones. She looks shocked at first, then scared, then confused.
"Who are you?" she asks, as you say, "Who.... am I?"
Your voice is still strange to listen to. She looks startled by your question. The young woman crouches down, and you quietly wonder how she doesn't fall. You look away from her, you will panic if you keep looking at her fluttering ears. She gently cradles your face in her hands, forcing you to look at her. She looks so human, if it wasn’t for the antlers, the ears, and the legs. She acts human too. You don't understand.
"I will take you to our leader," she says, her voice gentle. The red haired woman grabs your hand and pulls you up. "Come with me."
Written by AnxiousRomeo on 11 September 2017
Go with her
She makes an attempt to walk fast, but you stumble and she slows down. The half woman leads you through the village. It's bigger than you initially thought. Many tents are placed around a big fire. Small tents, meant for one or two people. Big tents meant for families. They seem to all be made with straw, weaved straw.
The children look at you and whisper. The women try not to stare, and the men keep their eyes on you. A stranger is in their camp.
The woman who found you leads you to a big tent, the tent of their leader. By the entrance there are placed multiple skulls. There is smoke coming out the top. She stomps her hooves three times and a voice sounds from inside.
"Come in."
She pulls you in with her.
Inside is decorated with dream catchers, talismans, and various paintings on some kind of papyrus. In the middle of the tent is a small controlled fire.
You meet the eyes of an elderly man. His eyes are very light blue, you wonder if he's blind. His hair is gray, as are his ears and legs.
"I have foreseen your arrival." His deep voice startles you.
"What happened to me?" You find yourself asking, desperate to know the answer.
Written by AnxiousRomeo on 13 September 2017
A curse
"A witch has cursed you. You are cursed to stay in a new body until you accept this new body. When you do, you will be assigned a new body. There are three different bodies for you to experience; once you've accepted them all, you will be set free." His voice was calm, almost monotone throughout his speech. You shiver.
"W-what will I do?" Your voice is shaky, and your head is spinning.
"You will stay with us, until you have accepted yourself, us, and our culture."
It seemed to be his final words, because the woman that found you pulls you out of the tent. He laughs behind you, and it makes you feel uncertain. You wonder how much he's seen. The red haired woman pulls you to the other women and sit you down, you want to protest, but instead you let her.
She introduces herself as Enja in a cheerful tone. Her family are scavengers, and she is training to become one too.
"What do scavengers do?" You ask.
Enja tells you about the work she does. She scavenges for wood, rocks, nuts, and roots, and they look for gold in the river. There are six different positions you can get assigned to: farming, scavenging, hunting, guarding, building and crafting. She tells you that you will be assigned to farming.
"Since you're new and all," she says with a smile.
Written by AnxiousRomeo on 15 September 2017
Stay by the Fire
You spend the first night out by the fire, it's cold and dark, and you're scared. You can't stop thinking about how you'll adjust to be here. Enja finds you, out there, by the fire. She puts a hand on your shivering arm.
"You can stay with me, I live by myself," her voice is soft.
You hesitate. Do you really trust these people? But even if you don't, isn't it safer to be inside? You choose to go with her, and she presents a small tent to you. It's nice, and warm. There's a few baskets and pots, and a small bed of straw and fur. You lay beside her and fall asleep.
Written by AnxiousRomeo on 17 September 2017
Difficult Days
You find your first days there very difficult. It's hard for you to not stare at these people, creatures, even though you've seen them so many times before. You have a hard time moving like them, it's not natural for you to be in this body, and you find yourself tripping and making a fool out of yourself. They think you're strange, you hear whispers, rumours. You don't mind really, you're the one who's normal here, they're just delusional.
You get assigned to farming, which you think isn't so bad until you actually try it. First they try to make you harvest wheat, but you stumble, still not used to your hooves. You cut yourself on the scythe in the fall and cuss out loud. The other half deer laugh at you, and tell you to go home. When Enja comes back she chuckles fondly and helps you bandage your leg.
Next they make you drag the load. They'd pack things on a heavy wagon like thing and you were just meant to drag it, but because you're not used to your new body yet, you fall and the load ends up all over the ground. When you get home, you tell your red haired roommate. She laughs and ruffles your hair.
Finally they make you pick tomatoes, corn, and peppers. You do better with that, only stumbling when you have to carry the heavy baskets to the wagon. Eventually you get a hang of it, and finally you feel useful.
Written by AnxiousRomeo on 19 September 2017
