An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
There was a huge green forest next to the boarding school. Just looking from outside into it showed how many secrets it must have. It was bright green, sometimes something colorful was secretly behind it and you could only see it if you looked really carefully. They never saw any animals there besides bugs and bees. Sometimes a few birds flew above the kids, came out of the forest just to enter it again. The rarest encounter of an animal here was a squirrel once or twice.
Animals don’t go to humans, they are too afraid, too shy to move near the edge of the forest, where all the curious children were playing, where it was loud and chaotic. They wanted their peace. So it was simply a mystery what really was behind all those trees.
Smaller kids fantasize about fairies and elves, maybe even a gnome, they hoped to once see them. Some of them teased the smaller ones with scary stories, saying ghosts haunt there, ghosts of those kids who never returned from the forest and were troubling finding their home.
The blame for those stories belonged to the teachers who supervisioned the kids on the playground or meadow. There was a rule to never enter the forest. Of course no one ever went in there, and if they did, the teacher saw them and caught the kids, giving them detention for leaving the place.
The truth is simple, the teachers didn’t want to lose any kids to the forest. That is why they always kept an eye on anyone.
Ray was sitting under a tree, leaning against the log, his book on his thighs, sitting cross legged. He wasn’t someone who liked running around and playing with the other kids. He prefered his quiet place, under a tree reading and concentrating on the knowledge he received.
Probably therefore his grades were outstanding, way better than his classmates, however he is doing it because he cared to do it. Ray liked the quiet, liked to be alone, and liked reading. It was as simple as that.
The blackhaired boy was an introvert maybe.
However, today he was the one looking at the forest, not like the other kids of his boarding school. He wanted to escape and not fantasize about the world which laid in the dark green forest. Normally he would have cared less about it, this deep and beautiful, mysterious forest, nevertheless he wanted to go in there.
Ray didn’t know what the kids had eaten today, but they were screaming and running around, not caring for anyone else. They were giving the teachers a hard time to take them under control and Ray was so annoyed by them. The boy wanted to read and normally it was fine if a few kids ran around and were a bit noisy. Today was a different story. They were distracting him.
He wished to be one of those animals in the forest who could simply leave, go to their quiet place, relax on their own and simply live in peace. Ray got jealous of them, it was as if he was a bird in a cage, wanting to flee from it.
Therefore he looked around, he was smart, he could outsmart the teachers. Ray could escape into the forest and continue reading his book in peace, alone, no one there to distract him.
It was fine, he won’t get lost in the forest, he had a great orientation, there was no way he would lose track and be stuck in that forest. He would probably be back in the evening, the teachers won’t even notice his absence. They didn’t keep an eye on him anyway, due to him always sitting there and reading, rarely he stood up and went somewhere else, most of the time simply to use the toilet and he would come back in just a second.
Therefore it wasn’t dangerous to enter the forest, it really wasn’t. There won’t be a wolf or bear, they don’t live nearby. The most dangerous animal, which he could encounter was probably a snake, and if that happens, he could just run away.
Then he stood up, closing his book and sighing, he made his decision. Ray knew, behind the school was a blind spot for the teachers, he could enter the forest from there. Somehow no one noticed him when he casually, not even pretending to leave the field, walked past all of them. The kids were too busy playing and the teachers had trouble keeping them under control. It was his chance.
When he was at the blind spot, he didn’t turn around and simply stepped into the forest.
After a few steps he could already feel the moisture in the air. It was wet, somehow cold, cooling the boy down from this spring heat. It was chill, way more pleasant than sitting under the tree, even though it gave him a cool shadow. Ray felt way calmer now, no heat and less hectic. He could still hear the kids behind him scream, laughing and making the air vibrate.
There was no better option than stepping forward.
Slowly they were getting quieter and quieter, sometimes Ray wasn’t careful with his steps and ripped his legs. They didn’t bleed but it still hurt. They were a few spicy plants with thorns growing and he missed them. They were hiding between all those smooth ones.
It was as if they said, the forest isn’t how it seems, something dangerous is hiding underneath but Ray thought that was stupid. It wasn’t logical, that was simply how plants grew and had no specific meaning. This wasn’t something which would hold him back.
The black haired boy encountered a few plants he read in his books, some poisonous, some beautiful, some which were both. Ray still had to say he liked the few colors between the green, even though some of them weren’t that healthy, dangerous.
While walking Ray only encountered a squirrel escaping from him, probably never seeing such an odd animal, walking on his two legs with clothings. It was reasonable it feared him, mankind isn’t that great with treating animals, killing them. However Ray wasn’t one of those, he wanted some peace, just like them.
When the boy couldn’t hear any kids and he still had a full map memorized in his head to know the way back, he had already remembered important trees for his way back, he searched for a chill place to sit and continued reading his book.
Searching for a comfortable tree to sit and lean on wasn’t that easy with all those plants on the ground, some of them had thorns. The boy continued his exploration of a good place to sit and relax.
It took him a few more steps deeper into the forest. He encountered a small pond with a grass front with no harmful plants, just a field of grass, with a few trees. The place wasn’t big and still shaded by all the trees around, most of them even covering the small pond, however still a bit of sun came through and shined onto the water, reflecting it’s ray of sunshine into his dark eyes.
It was shiny, sparkled with every soft wave the wind created which was more of a soft breeze going through the forest. In the pond probably were a few fish, swimming around and enjoying the sunlight. Ray could see their colorful bodies, swimming at the surface.
If Ray had been a romantic, he probably would have seen it’s beauty, it’s romantic side, but he wasn’t there for something like this, he was happy to finally read in peace. Only a few meters away from the pond he sat down, leaning against an old tree, which seemed very wise due to its old age.
Trees could live long if no one disturbed them. No sickness or animals, or of course humans. He leaned against an oak tree, knowing it must be a few hundred years old. He once read a book about all kinds of plants, therefore knowing which were poisonous and which weren’t. Kids liked it due to the beautiful drawings, but Ray was more interested in the information the book had to give.
A whole section of that book was only about all different kinds of trees. Ray was a few years younger when he read the novel. He already knew how old trees can get but was pretty impressed how old they really can be if nothing would touch them. It was as if they had seen a lot in their entire life, from hundreds of years to a few thousands. The oldest tree on earth was almost 10000 years old.
His fascination for plants however didn’t last long, he soon moved on to read and learn something new and fascinating. However whatever he read will be stuck in his head forever. He can memorize everything, a special little skill he had since he was a little child.
It was practical for sure, but also annoying, he could never forget, so if something bad or horrific happened in his past or just a kid being sick and puking all over him (yeah that happened once) he will still remember the smell, the pain and his anxiety.
There was no point thinking about that now. He opened his book, which was way more fascinating than his weird and old memories. It was about physics- of course it was nothing about fantasy or romance, something interesting and not boring like that bullcrap.
It wasn’t as if Ray never read those books, he still had to read them out loud to the kindergarten kids, who couldn’t really read and write yet. However, he preferred the more logical books, with facts and explanation of how the world works, whatever the world holds itself together and not some junk about fairies and knights, saving a princess.
And, he started reading, reading about the atoms he already knew about from another book, however here it goes more into detail, explaining about waves, what the protons and neutrons were made of, explaining formulas how to do the math, of those small little particles or waves. There was also mathematical proof, explaining how they can be absolutely sure why they exist and some parts where explanations come from experiences.
It was fascinating, that was something he could spend his time with for hours. The book tied itself to him, won’t let him go after he read every single word it had to give. Ray didn’t need anything else if he had this. Knowledge is all he needed.
Not even a rustle created from some animals could distract him, or a stronger breeze, or even a fish jumping out of the water and splashing into it again, hitting Ray with tiny little droplets of water. The book fascinated him way more.
It was something else, after maybe an hour of reading, perhaps more, what Ray could calculate about how the sun stood on the sky, which interrupted his reading. Something suspicious.
Something on the edge of the little- whatever it was- a forest glade maybe, showing into the deep forest, which seemed endless, going on till the end of the world, moved. There was showing something white. Maybe it was a white flower which moved in the wind, but there weren’t any white flowers around that Ray could remember.
And it also looked too hairy to be a flower. Maybe an animal? But white? He wasn’t near the north, there was no way it would be a white fox or something. Maybe an albino animal.
That woke up some interest in the young boy. Albino animals were rare and definitely something interesting. He squeezed his eyes to get better to focus more on the white thing, lurking out of the bushes. It moved downwards, hiding itself in the bushes again, Ray couldn’t see it anymore. It was almost as if it knew someone observed it.
Ray didn’t move, knowing how scared animals are. If he moved he would scare it and it probably would run away. Therefore he stayed, not moving, simply looking at the bush, hoping it would reveal itself from alone and when it wasn’t noticing him, he could catch and analyze it. That was a great idea.
It took a few minutes until he saw the white thing again, now showing itself from the left side of the bush. Ray turned his head to the side to get a better look of it. He noticed the ears of the thing, analyzing it. He came to the conclusion it was some sort of sheep ears, they seemed really familiar, however they were more pointed and hanging down. However, it is still not one of the rabbits.
So it was a sheep. Yeah, sheeps are white, it makes sense, but why is a sheep here? They are farm animals after all. Curiosity fulfilled the young boy and he noticed something else.
There were flowers, blue ones, in the hair, coming from behind the ears, making the blackhaired boy more confused, did someone put flowers into the sheep's hair- No it probably ripped it off somewhere and-
A hand was shown, a very light skinned hand from a child, maybe as old as Ray himself. He could just see it's inner part- shown to Ray as if it wanted to ask if Ray had the same. It was off.
It made Ray tense. A child? Here in the forest?! That was dangerous, it cannot walk around here alone, even though it had a sheep pet or something with him.
“Hey-” he called and the white sheep and hand hid again behind the bush, scared from his sudden voice. Ray sighed, what is this? Now knowing he had to deal with a sheep and a kid he closed his book and stood up, wanting to know who was behind the bush, hiding from him.
Was the kid scared of him or what? Why it makes no sense he was human too-
Besides, was it really a sheep or a stuffed animal, if one of the kids had followed him from the school, he would have to go back sooner than expected, and had to abandon his book and quiet place. Gosh, that would be annoying.
With slow steps he walked towards the bush where it was hiding, his steps sunken into the grass, leaving a few footprints along his way. With a bit of force he pushed the bush away while making a step forward, finally ready to see which kid was hiding there and-
He was simply stunned, there was no explanation needed for what he felt right then and there. He was surprised, confused, overwhelmed. The little kid, which made himself small and seemed a bit older than himself, looked up at him with scared eyes. Shining blue eyes.
The eyes were as blue as a clear lake on a sunny day, where the sun reflects in the water. It was a warm kind of blue, even though blue was a cold color. It was welcoming, open, but also scared, scared of Ray.
It had blond hair, almost white, his skin similar to his plain and white hair. It was an albino, probably, maybe it was also very white in general, Ray had no clue because it definitely wasn’t human.
It looked human at the first glance but it wasn't, it definitely wasn’t- The sheep ears, which he thought came from a plushy or pet, where it’s own. They were hanging down in fear, shaking even a little. They were just as white as the boy's hair.
However the most overwhelming and most confusing part wasn't the ears, they could easily be hidden with the white hair, which seemed just as fluffy as a sheep's fur indeed. A bit curly but short and a little strain, over the boy's left ear was even curling more than the other’s, a small little curl leaking out.
The most outstanding part was the plants coming out from the boy. He was right, there was something in the kids hair, blue flowers were growing out of the back of the boy’s ear, on both of them, forming almost a little crown on top of his head.
The inner surface of the boy’s hands were clean, nothing suspicious, however from the surface of the hand came leaf tendrils, softly laying around his lower arm, moving on their own accord. Out of his back seemed to grow two branches from trees, filled with leaves, looking almost like wings. Also his lower legs seemed to be fully covered by leaves and whines, looking like boots.
In his face were a few rosy and blue petals, looking similar to freckles. Those “freckles” were also covering one side of his neck downwards, following some sort of path.
His clothing was just as weird, made out of leaves and wool, some leaves Ray didn’t know if they would come from his body or were simply clothings. He also wore a green coat made from leaves, the hood covering the kids shoulder.
First the eyes were still shaking in fear but soon turned into some sort of curiosity, also wanting to know what kind of person Ray was, maybe even what he was. The eyes soon changed into some sort of different expression he couldn’t guite read, but it was warm and gentle.
The boy opened his mouth, trying to speak, moving his lips and tongue, however only some parts came into Ray’s ears and it also seemed as if it was a foreighn languages. Even though the kid moved his lips, sometimes no tone came out and it was similar to a broken radio, skipping some parts, being quiet for a few seconds and then gaining it’s sound back.
Ray was confused at first, however quickly found the problem here, the boy was speaking in another frequenz his ears cannot translate into a tone or sound. It was either too high or too low.
“I don’t understand-” he spoke, feeling dumb soon after, knowing he won’t understand. The boy shook a little, probably due to his deeper voice. It wasn’t as soft and intriguing as the boy’s own and probably nothing he had ever heard before.
Or maybe he heard other humans before, Ray couldn’t know.
He probably also wouldn’t be able to speak the human language.
When Ray made a step backwards due to being totally overstrained and overwhelmed, the boy or creature stood up. The albino was taller than Ray, laying his head to the side, examining the human.
Ray felt oddly analyzed, however he did just the same to the boy, so he shouldn’t be concerned. Still he was, no one else looked at him like this, so interested, so- fascinated- None of the other kids even cared for him, looked at him the way he did.
He was getting closer, making a step, Ray made a step back, symbolizing he didn’t want him that nearby. Ray disliked the idea of touching the creature before knowing what it really was. It was interesting, but he also escaped every risk which could be in the world. Besides, he disliked being touched anyway.
“No-” he spoke, trying to make his voice softer for the boy, not wanting to scare it away, he was still interested, still wanted to talk with him- no talking won’t work. Ray wanted to observe him more? He had never seen such a species like him before. Something between a human and a plant- and sheep. Those sheep ears really didn’t make any sense.
“N-No-?” the boy repeated- looking at Ray confused, laying his head sideways. His accent was the weirdest accent Ray must have ever heard in his entire life.The blackhaired boy was curious how more of it sounds like, how his voice sounds like speaking english-
Then the boy smiled, as if he got what Ray said, which made the human even more confused. Saying No normally wasn’t that nice for kids, they disliked if someone says No. However the boy could also misunderstand it. Who knows, maybe there was a similar word to it in their language.
The blond pointed at himself with a smile, way too happy about this. He said something Ray couldn’t understand and then the boy spoke slowly and carefully. “Nor-man-”
“Norman?” Ray asked out loud, the black haired boy was confused what the creature meant but the other nodded instantly with a soft smile, pointing at himself again, trying to tell him something, what this word meant. “Norman” he repeated, then pointing at Ray.
That was when Ray got it, he understood.
“I see-” he pointed at himself and spoke as softly as he could, which for the creature probably was still harsh.
“Ray. My name is Ray”
(First half of chapter one! Read more on AO3!)
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