Falling

  What is?

  I am.

  I dangerously fast approach the ground

  My vision and thoughts blur

  The wind toys with me, spinning my body in the air

  My eyes tear up as I desperately try grabbing something

  But I can′t reach

  My newly born tears jump off my face

  I′m screaming my lungs out, arms and legs flailing

  At this point, there′s nothing I can do to prevent myself becoming a splat on the ground

  Just like the fruit I ate before.

  Is what I think at least

  I feel something on my back

  As I keep flailing my fall ever so slightly decelerates

  Suddenly my course changes and I bump headfirst into the giant I was just climbing

  “Agh!”

  “Status: 8/8 HP → 7/8 HP”

  I can feel blood flowing on my face and its taste in my mouth

  My direction changes again

  I crash into the ground, thankfully not head first this time

  But my accumulated momentum is too great, from falling I go to rolling like a bowling ball

  With each rotation I gain an additional wound, fracture or both until my momentum is stopped by ramming into another tree

  “AAH!!”

  The air stocks in my lungs, leaving me unable to breath

  “Status: 7/8 HP → 5/8 HP”

  “A, Ha, hA” Lying on the ground, not moving a muscle, I frantically try gasping for air

  “Skill: [Physical Resistance (small)] LV 1/10 – acquisition successful”

  “Skill: [Float] LV 1/5 → [Float] LV 2/5

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  I somehow manage to force some air in and out my body.

  “It, hurts…”

  For some time I just lie there, enduring the pain, quivering

  …

  But just “lying there” won′t do anything

  After a few minutes pass I put my arm besides me and try lifting my upper body

  “Ouch!”

  Quickly I release the weight and lie down on my stomach again

  I turn around on my back… or at least that was the plan?

  Something′s blocking me

  It would be fine if it was just anything, but I can feel that “something” as if it were my very own hand

  I freeze up.

  “What the”

  I try moving this “hand” on my back and sure enough it listens to my command

  Up, down, up, down, up, down

  It′s starting to get exhausting

  The shock lets me forget about my pain

  I sit up and turn my head as I see two large wings protruding my back

  ???

  You ever experienced confusion to which you don′t know how to react to, so you just start… sort of making weird expressions?

  Yeah that′s me right now

  “Are these… feathers?”

  I move my new body part so I can reach it with my hand and stroke it

  The outer side feels robust and sturdy

  I don′t really even sense the touch

  Suddenly I get goosebumps as an extremely unpleasant feeling crawls down my spine

  “Uwah, W-what is this??” I let out in surprise

  Apparently, stroking the feathers in the wrong way is a bad idea.

  I raise my wing a little further and look at their inner side

  The feathers there look completely different

  They are much smaller and seem to be glistening a little

  Also opposed to the orderly arranged feathers on the outer side, the ones on the inner look like a jumbled mess

  But, somehow like a neat jumbled mess.

  Carefully I extend my arm to stroke them too

  But as I reach them I immediately flinch my hand back

  “What the…”

  I can feel the touch, both in my hand and somewhere else, but I don′t really understand where

  It′s… difficult to describe

  It′s on my back, but it′s also not on my back.

  A place I never knew about, although being tapped is all too familiar.

  “This is so weird…” I mumble as I stretch out my hand again

  This time I′m prepared

  I poke my wing with my index finger before pushing my hand against it

  My whole hand is swallowed by the feathers and I feel it being covered in warmth

  “Wow”

  The feathers are smooth like silk, fluffy like a cat. Petting cats always put me at ease

  It was almost like a therapy. For some time I just continue petting my wing, unconsciously calming my stressed nerves.

  “Status: 7/17 MP → 8/17 MP”

  The notification forces me out of my daze.

  I turn my head so I can get a full view of my wings

  They′re huge, about my own body height, maybe a little smaller than that

  Suddenly an idea pops up in my head

  I roll the wings around my body, covering myself with their inner side, only letting my face uncovered.

  Tada! I call it “the portable sleeping bag”

  I probably look like a gigantic, feathery caterpillar right now

  I lie myself down and close my eyes

  Honestly, if it wasn′t for my hunger coming back I probably would′ve fallen asleep immediately

  I uncover myself and inspect my body as I finally get on my feet

  I′m covered in tons of scratches and bruises

  My left elbow seems a little thick and hurts quite badly

  Though there are neither open wounds nor too much blood

  So aside from my elbow I seem to have only suffered “minor” injuries.

  Seems that I was more frightened than injured

  Well, who wouldn′t be after falling from a height similar to that of a rooftop

  I look to my right where I see the Groosha Tree and the giant that I thought was a good idea to climb

  I take a deep breath and release the air quickly to focus my thoughts.

  I then look behind me to confirm my wings and again approach the tree I baptized “the giant”

  I climb a few branches until I′m a good distance above the ground but not too high so I can jump down without any risks

  I spread my wings and jump forward with all my might

  “UwaaAaAh!” In the air I take a sharp turn to the left, lose my balance, struggle a little and finally thump on the ground

  “Damn” This is more difficult than I thought

  I repeat the routine of climbing, jumping and falling.