dazed and confused, hot water pattering on her face and body like rain in summer. elaphia cants her head back, looks up at the grey, gleaming object that the stream seems to be spouting from. she can't quite see, still blinded from the combination of blood, darkness and then those bright, bright lights. she replays the moment over and over again in her head: the rumbling sound, followed by an abrupt screech; the tall figure – a man, a god? – who'd said something in an incomprehensible language, the same words over and over again, a question she couldn't understand; her tentative reply ( i don't understand. who are you? what are you? where am i? ) that had appeared to stun him. he'd spoken again, but not to her this time, to someone or something else behind him. what had followed felt like a blur: warm clothing draped around her shoulders, the sense of being lifted off the ground, the feeling of something soft under her back. then deep sleep, until she had woken up here, inside a white room, water pelting on her face, fabric still wrapped around her.
she's discarded it since, wet and heavy. it lies on the floor beside her. her eyes follow the pink and brown that seeps down the drain, a combination of blood ( it is not gold, as it should be ) and dirt from her several falls in the woods. carefully, elaphia uses the walls to hoist herself up, legs still trembling from effort ( legs! soft skin, her hands, her feet, how she's missed them ). she steps out, wobbling, reaches for a white soft piece of fabric, some type of dress with a ribbon around it, presumably to tie it shut for modesty. it's warm and soft against her skin, too big for her frame, and heavy too. she's never seen or felt anything like it, but then this is all new, new and strangely magical. hot running water without a source, a white room filled with equally strange white objects... what strange land has she found herself in?
there's a sound of voices, close by but not visible. elaphia carefully and slowly moves towards it, breath held with every step she takes, afraid to fall again. there's a door ( she has never seen one before today, never needed one ), partly opened. she peers through the crack, blinking hard to try to sharpen her vision. two men, that much is clear, both tall and broad. she can't understand their language, but the words sound heated and worried.
she leans on the door. it creaks, loudly. elaphia shrinks back, startled. her legs aren't stable enough to carry the movement yet and falls back to the ground, ass first. the robe covers some of the humiliating impact. a quick crawl backwards, back pressed against the cool tiles. heart pounds as she watches the door. " i mean no harm, " she says, voice shaky and husky from disuse, the greek soft as honey on her tongue. " i'm just lost. "
@silverschosen for sam <3