5 - A Woolly Friend!

A strange, dark blob. That was the only description I could give for the thing before me. It was a weird feeling; I couldn’t move, floating in an abyss of nothingness, staring at this gently pulsating mass-

“I’m up!”

I awoke from my first night in this world, full of energy after a night of uninterrupted rest.

“Huh, could’ve sworn I was having a dream. What was it again…?”

Like most dreams, I gradually forgot about it over the course of a minute. After cleaning up the smoldering pile of charred wood, I began my journey at long last towards whatever awaited me up ahead.

In the direction away from the dark forest, of course.

“Hmmhmm-” I hummed to myself as I walked.

Then I fell to my knees.

Guuu.

“Ooh…” I sighed.

I haven’t eaten anything in over half a day, perhaps more considering the circumstances.

“Should I go foraging for food? I think wild berries are a thing… and fruits? Worst case scenario, I can just eat grass, right? Oh, I know!”

I delved into my mind palace, eager to learn about what wild nourishment awaited me, but-

“What do you mean, nothing on Earth will match?”

“Hoohoo.”

“Oh, right. I’m not on Earth anymore.”

Despite their familiar appearance, plants here were likely to be alien compared to those back on Earth, and the knowledge would probably do me no good.

“No ways about it, I just gotta keep moving until I find something… See you later, Hooty.”

I exited my mind palace, continuing on my way. As I walked, I realized even with the sun high in the sky, I barely felt much of the heat. With the height of those mountains in the distance, I must be quite high up from ground level. Combined with the fact it was likely to turn winter soon, it was like natural shielding against the sun.

As I walked, it became apparent to me I was in uncharted territory. There were no dirt roads or visible signs of passage, like flattened grass that suggested the path was frequently traveled; I was basically moving blind.

Whenever I passed by a bush of some sort, I’d take a closer look to see if there was anything growing on them, and sure enough I spotted plenty.

The problem was the round, berry-like fruit I found was a very, very saturated red in color, and that spooked me. I spent a minute hesitating while holding one in my hand, before casting it aside.

“Maybe I can hunt some animals for meat…? Those should be safe to consume. I’ll have to start another fire, look up how to butcher and prepare meat…”

I might be able to hunt with my own physical strength alone, but surely those animals would have much needed experience escaping from someone as inexperienced as I.

It wasn’t long before I came across a meadow full of flowers, their colors varying like rainbows.

Normally I’d have my breath taken away by the beauty, but my increasingly worrying situation prevented me from appreciating it any further than wondering if those flowers were edible.

I even caught sight of those red berries again, growing sporadically around the field.

“Uh, I don’t think I can eat these…” I mumbled to myself, staring at the yellow petals as my stomach growled.

Maybe I should try taking a small bite from the berry? I survived the lake water, no problem.

As I pondered on my choices, I caught sight of something white and fluffy buried among the colorful foliage.

It was a… sheep of some kind. Its wool was so puffy it looked like a big, elongated ball, so full its stubby black legs were almost completely hidden. In fact, the only thing protruding from the fluffy mess were its tail and a little bit of its ears atop its head.

I watched its content face, chewing away lazily on a mouthful of flowers.

“I’m guessing those should be edible then.”

Though I was apprehensive about eating flowers, I’d rather satiate my stomach than go hungry.

As I reached out to pluck a petal, I caught sight of several berries scattered around the sheep’s leg. Its head suddenly extended forwards like a giraffe, gobbling up the red berries I thought to be suspect.

What’s with that stretchy head?!

Despite the strange sight, another more pressing thought took over.

“They’re safe to eat!”

I changed my target to the berry bush, plucking a few and popping them into my mouth.

My first taste of this world wasn’t anything extraordinary, but it wasn’t bad either. The berry was slightly sweet, with a mild flavor you could snack on endlessly. The more I ate, the more I realized just how hungry I was, and I found myself foraging more and more vigorously.

“Jeezarrgud!”

As I stuffed my mouth full of berries, thoughts of wishing I had a basket of some sort filled my mind. I should investigate how to weave one in my mind palace after this-

“BEHH!!”

I turned around in alarm at the cry. Thinking the sheep was being hostile to me taking a share of its food supply, I was instead greeted with the sight of it frantically gagging and spluttering as it fell over.

“Are you choking?”

I ran over to its side. Its tongue was out as it gasped for breath, crying streams of tears in a comical fashion; it’d choked on the berries and flower stems it gorged on.

“Uh, what do I do?!”

There was no time to retreat to my mind palace, at the same time I didn’t want to try poking around inside its mouth lest I made things worse. But if I don’t do anything, it’ll…

“Caution to the wind then!”

I balled my hand into a fist- no, I should use the palm instead.

“Hyah!”

I thrust my palm into its stomach, but the wool was too fluffy for me to reach.

“Two hands this time- Hyah!”

“Beh!”

I’m reaching further in, but this wool is really getting in the way!

“I’m sorry, please try to endure it!”

I retracted my arm, aiming my shoulder towards it-

“HEEYAH!”

Wham!

“Geh-”

A little splutter of flower petals spewed from its mouth.

“One more time-!”

I took a few steps back, and took a running start-

“HEEEEYAHH!!”

-and dove forwards!

“Beh!”

I slammed into its stomach with my entire body, sending us both tumbling across the ground. The mass of wool cushioned most of my fall and I came out unscathed, but I was more concerned with the sheep considering I pummeled it with full strength.

I didn’t have to worry though; it got to its feet, licking its face clean of the residue from the half-eaten meal it just spat out.

“Oh good. You’re fine now, yeah?”

“Muu…”

Did it just ‘moo’…?

It licked my face in delight, seemingly uninjured by the entire ordeal it just went through.

“Hey, that tickles-”

Now that I’m up close, I could make out the shape of its face. Its eyes were positioned low on its head; tiny, beady black ones with a wide, perpetually grinning mouth. Frankly it looked like something from a children’s book—very adorable.

“Haha, what a face you’re making.”

“Muu.”

It appeared this sheep was showing its gratitude by licking. It acted like a pet dog, which was a familiarity that was comforting in a way.

“… I did have a wish like this, didn’t I.”

I slowly and gently hugged the sheep’s large body. It didn’t try to push me away, so I buried my face into its wool.

“Ooohhhggbbbrbb-”

It was like sinking into marshmallow. The deeper I sank in, the comfier it got, the sense of comfort rising to levels where I could probably fall asleep like this if I so wished.

“Bah!” I stumbled backwards, satisfied.

The sheep resumed its foraging- grazing? As I too, picked out more berries. With my human hands, I was better equipped to gather them, and soon we were sharing our meal together as I made myself comfortable by its side.

“Mmm, I still don’t know if you’re considered a sheep… No sheep I know can stretch their head like that.”

“Beh?”

It turned to me with an extended head, tilting to one side in confusion.

“I don’t know what exactly you are, but I need a name to call you by. Hmm…”

The sheep chewed away nonchalantly, finishing the last of its meal.

“How about… Woolie? Can I call you Woolie? Woah-!”

It picked me up by the collar of my tunic with it’s mouth, its head extending all the way to its back where it plopped me down.

“Oof- Oooooh…”

I sank into the mass of white, crawling forwards until I was able to peek at its head from above.

“Muu.”

Its head was completely retracted into the mass of wool, the content face like a mountain hiker with their jacket hood fully on.

“C-Cute…”

I couldn’t help but pet its two short, black ears poking out the top of its head.

“Are you gonna give me a ride, Woolie?”

“Beh!”

Though I doubt Woolie was able to understand what I was saying, it seemed to understand intentions pretty well.

“Then off we go! Lead the way, Woolie!”

Riding atop my newfound companion, we began the first leg of our journey together, exiting the field of flowers.