Awkward first meeting

It was a day like any other in the village Vesnice. The sun was shining, the people were working, the children were playing or learning. The rivers flowed, the wind blew, and the farm animals were munching on grass, just lazing around without a care.

A young woman was currently herding sheep some distance away from her hometown, Vesnice, whistling a cheerful tune. Since she wasn’t an experienced shepherd just yet, she was only allowed to care for about a dozen sheep at once, but she didn’t mind that. The way she saw it, it was wise not to be too confident in her abilities at the start, since she wasn’t even that confident in herself. But that was alright. After all, everybody has to start somewhere, don’t they? Of course, there were some natural talents around, who were better than others and needed less time to learn, but she wasn’t one of these people.

That didn’t stop her from trying her best, though.

Ever since Ovce could remember, she had always loved and adored animals. So, it was an obvious choice for her to take a job that involved animals. She had already tried a couple, but being a shepherd was what excited her the most by far.

Holding a long wooden cane, Ovce led her ten sheep across the pasture, stopping here and there to rest and let the sheep eat some fresh grass.

Noticing the sheep were getting tired, she rang the bell on her belt, signaling the sheep to stop. Ovce herself sat down under a tree to hide in its shade from the sun, leaning against the trunk with a satisfied sigh and closing her bright blue eyes for a few moments, breathing in the fresh air contently.

Her curly hair, the bright yellow color of the sun, fluttered gently in the wind, revealing more of her slightly tan and youthful face.

Opening her eyes with a smile, Ovce reached for her bag and took out a flask of water. Taking a few sips and putting it back—she had to learn how to manage her supplies—she counted her sheep to make sure none were missing or wandering too far.

Even though Ovce liked the people in the village and was in no way antisocial, she still sometimes felt the need to get away from everything and be alone for a while. She loved being surrounded by her friends and family, but she also cherished the peace and quiet of nature. She delighted in the soft grass, the cool wind, and the sounds of singing birds and rushing rivers. Out here, she felt complete—all her worries seemed to vanish, letting her do nothing but walk and sleep without troubling herself over anything.

She still had to care for her sheep, of course, but Ovce didn’t really see that as a chore anyway.

“Ah... this is the life.”

One of the sheep walked over to her and lay down next to her, probably hiding from the hot sun, just like her.

Petting the sheep’s fluffy white wool, Ovce beamed in satisfaction.

“Aww, you’re feeling too warm, aren’t you? Me too, girl, me too. But don’t worry, this nice tree has enough shade for both of us, so don’t feel shy. Ah, I just love how fluffy you are! I could cuddle you all day!”

Yawning, Ovce leaned against the sheep’s back. She grinned and rubbed her face in its wool. Closing her eyes without realizing, she soon dozed off.

*

When Ovce woke up, the sun was already starting to set.

She wiped her eyes tiredly, then froze, slowly coming back to her senses.

“Oh... Oh no!”

Standing up in a hurry, she hastily counted her sheep.

“One, two, three... Seven, eight, nine... nine. No, no, no!”

One sheep was missing.

Ovce immediately rang her bell, and the nine sheep gathered around her, but the tenth was nowhere to be found.

“This is bad... How could I let this happen? I blame your soft and fluffy wool! How could I not fall asleep on something as comfortable as that?”

The accused sheep didn’t even look up from the ground, continuing to munch on grass quietly.

“Hmph! Whatever, I need to find that sheep quickly. What if she really gets lost? She could get hurt!”

The sun was almost gone, and the night was approaching. Ovce would have a much smaller chance of finding her missing sheep in the dark, so she had to act fast.

Tying all the sheep to the tree, she got her bag and started running east—the opposite direction of her village—ringing her bell loudly in the process.

She ran all over the place, trying to find as many high points as possible so she could get a better view, but no matter how hard she looked, the tenth sheep was nowhere to be found.

Exhausted, sweaty and defeated, Ovce slumped down on the ground and looked at what could still be seen of the setting sun. It was almost entirely hidden, the light receding and the dark swiftly replacing it.

Ovce looked at the sunset with sad, watering eyes.

“I hope she’s alright...”

She was talking about the sheep, as silly as it might sound. Ovce loved animals—with only a few exceptions—so she was really heartbroken about the fact that she had failed at her job and may have caused the death of one of her own sheep.

A single tear rolled down her cheek, then another, and then some more. Before she knew it, she was quietly weeping, her eyes turning slightly red.

It took her a while to calm down, but once she did, Ovce stood up and turned around, heading back to her remaining nine sheep.

While it saddened her greatly that she did not manage to find the lost sheep, there was little she could do about it. The sun was already setting, so she had to get back to her village swiftly.

Ovce suddenly stopped after a few steps, turning her head to look at the sunset one last time, with some feeble hope that her lost sheep would unexpectedly appear behind her.

However, Ovce witnessed something even more unexpected, making her jaw drop and stare in disbelief.

“Ah? Huh? What?”

Above her in the air was a young human boy... with wings. He was flying.

The wings were what caught Ovce’s attention first, and for a good reason. She had never in her life seen something as beautiful and perfect as those wings. They were entirely white and devoid of any imperfections, magnificent and divine. Ovce was utterly dumbfounded and lost for words, unable to look away for a few moments.

She eventually regained her senses, looking at the young boy himself. He had short and messy light brown hair and pure golden eyes, resembling the color of the sun—like her own hair. His skin was pale but pristine and smooth at the same time, as if he had never once allowed himself to be hurt. He also seemed to be missing his entire right arm, despite seemingly being only a teenager. 

In shock, Ovce slowly looked him over, starting at his head and continuing down, reaching his chest, his belly, and then...

‘He... He’s naked?!’

Ovce let out a startled yelp, turning around and covering her blushing face with her hands, mumbling under her breath.

“Am I... Am I seeing things? Yes, that must be it. I must not be feeling well after losing one of my sheep. Hahaha.”

Laughing awkwardly, Ovce turned around again and slowly removed her hands from her eyes, peeking through her fingers carefully... and let out another high-pitched scream.

‘He’s right in front of me!’

Indeed, the winged boy was standing only a couple meters in front of her, looking at her with an apologetic expression.

Their eyes locked, but neither spoke.

It took a while, but eventually, the winged boy broke the silence.

‘Huh?’

However, Ovce could not understand a word he was saying.

‘Is he from some far-away land? I’ve never heard any language similar to this’

“E-excuse me... I can’t understand you.”

Now, it was the boy’s turn to be confused. He tried speaking more slowly, waiting a bit before saying the next word, but it was of no use. Ovce tried the same, but the boy still didn’t show any sign of understanding her, leaving them at an impasse.

Ovce involuntarily glanced down, but immediately avoided her gaze, realizing what she did.

“I-I’m sorry! Please, take this!”

She took off the cape she used to protect herself from the harmful rays of the sun and handed it to him with an outstretched hand while keeping her eyes closed and facing the other way.

Feeling him take the cape, Ovce flinched a little, her face blushing even harder.

After a while, the boy tapped Ovce on her shoulder, causing her to jump a little and turn around with a startled expression.

Pulling his hand hurriedly back, the winged boy said something apologetically, bowing down in the process.

“No, no, it’s alright. I’m sorry.”

Lifting his head, the winged boy smiled, prompting her to smile as well.

Ovce spoke, not wanting another awkward silence. She pointed to her chest and said a single word.

“Ovce.”

Then, she pointed at him, looking him earnestly in the eyes with an expecting expression.

The winged boy seemed to understand immediately. Pointing to his chest, he said a single word as well.

“Deset.”

*

Deset—that was how the winged boy had decided to call himself, since he didn’t remember his name—had been flying over the seemingly infinite forest for ten days.

He had seen a few things out of order, such as an area where all the trees were broken and toppled, leaving it bare, or one particularly tall and wide tree, towering above the rest by a large margin. He had investigated all those places, but it ended up being fruitless.

But on the tenth day, just as the sun was setting and without any warning or indication whatsoever, Deset was suddenly someplace else.

The forest disappeared instantly, a hilly grassland replacing it. He could still see some trees, but nowhere close to being as enormous or numerous as the endless dark forest. There were all kinds of flowers, each a different color, rivers, some deep and wide, others thin and shallow.

“...What just happened?”

Stopping midair, Deset looked around with a dumbfounded expression.

“Is this how I appeared in that forest before? But I haven’t lost my memories this time, so something has to be different.”

Turning around in hope of finding something of interest, he spotted a person—a young woman—with her back turned to him and walking in the opposite direction.

‘Is that a human? I sure hope it isn’t some kind of monster disguising itself as one. I really need a break, not another fight.’

Deset cautiously flew towards the unidentified being when it suddenly turned around, looking up directly at him. Its eyes were blue, but with a hint of red, making Deset frown.

‘Red eyes? Is it really some monster? Should I flee?’

Since it didn’t seem to be capable of flight, Deset decided to get a bit closer, just to make sure. The whole time, the being was staring at him intensely, but not with any murderous intent and rather with shock and astonishment. The being slowly lowered its gaze, then suddenly let out a loud yelp, covering its face with both hands and turning around, showing its back to him.

‘Well, that sure doesn’t seem like monster behavior. But why did she react like that? Wait...’

Deset looked down at himself, finally noticing that he was, in fact, still completely naked.

'Oh man... Now I feel really bad.'

Covering his privates with his left hand, Deset flew down and landed a couple meters behind the girl, careful not to get too close so he wouldn’t scare her further.

Unfortunately, she let out another loud scream when she turned around again, so he seemed to have failed.

The girl made eye contact with him, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

Deset eventually spoke, wanting to calm the girl down.

“Um, I’m really sorry if I scared you. Are you okay?”

She looked at him for a few seconds, appearing confused, then also spoke. However, Deset was unable to understand a single word she said.

Tilting his head in confusion, he said the same sentence again, this time more slowly and pausing between each word, but she looked just as lost as before.

‘Oh, this is going to be a problem, huh?’

The girl said the same thing as before, pausing between each word just like Deset, but it was of no use. Things appeared to be stuck.

The girl glanced down, then immediately averted her gaze and rattled something Deset could yet again not understand. It kind of sounded like she was apologizing to him.

Then, she took off a piece of her clothing and handed it to him, turning away with her eyes closed.

Deset looked at it for a second, then took the cape from her hand, making her flinch a little.

‘This is a really awkward first meeting...’

He wrapped the cape around his waist and tapped the girl on the shoulder to let her know it was alright to look, which only caused her flinch once again and turn around, facing him with fear in her eyes.

“Ah, s-sorry!”

Deset pulled his hand back quickly, and unsure of what to do, he bowed slightly, looking at the ground.

The girl hurriedly spoke, prompting Deset to straighten up and look her in the eyes again. She seemed a bit calmer now, making Deset to smile slightly, with the girl offering him a smile of her own.

She then pointed to her chest, saying a single word.

“Ovce.”

Pointing at him, Deset understood what she meant and pointed at himself with his left thumb, saying a single word as well—his current name.

“Deset.”

And that was how Deset and Ovce first met.