Erasmus' eyes opened as the wind rushed across his face. He didn't particularly remember falling asleep, although clearly he must have. The blue sky above him suggested that he had fallen asleep outside, which seemed like something that he would do. That also explained why the wind was on his face, though it must have been a particularly windy morning, as the wind was rushing in circles around him, blowing his hair wildly in his eyes. The rush roared in his ears, making it difficult to hear anything nearby, and a dull pain in his shoulder discouraged him from rolling over and trying to stand up. He seemed only to want to stay in his place and go back to sleep.
The searing pain that exploded inside him as he hit the ground made that difficult however. He had been falling from high in the air, gaining speeds far beyond any that any person should have been able to withstand before slamming into a tree, his speed and weight causing it to crack and fall beneath him. The impact felt as though it shattered his spine, but the shoulder opposite that which had hurt before was by far the most painful spot on his body. It felt as though something had stabbed into it, and he could feel every broken inch of that which was stabbing him, compounding the pain. He had never experienced anything like it before.
His vision, only a few moments before restored by his awakening, began to fade at the edges because of the pain. He fought with every fiber of his being to stay awake, unsure of what would happen should he fail but certain that it was less than desirable, and forced himself to sit upright despite the pain. A short ways away, on the other side of the broken stump of tree that remained after his fall, Erasmus could see a long pole with some kind of metallic end piece sticking out of the ground. He crawled his way over to it, and curled his fingers around it, intending to use it as a crutch so that he could get up on to his feet. He was surprised to find the cold feel of its shaft to feel familiar in his hand, shaped to a size that his hand fit perfectly around. With a painful tug, he removed it form the dirt, flipping it over to stick the butt of the pole in the ground before he fell over.
Now able to get on his feet and begin walking, Erasmus looked around to try and determine where he was and where he should go next. Nothing looked familiar. He had no idea where he was. Struggling to think, he realized that there were a great many things he did not know. The only thing he could remember was his name, and the short few events that had occurred since his awakening in the sky. He had no idea why or how he could have been so high in the air. Why he had fallen. Who he even was, other than Erasmus.
He didn't even notice that he had begun moving. His feet had simply picked a direction and started moving, and lacking any direction or clues, he really didn't have any choice but to go with that. He wandered the forest that he had landed in, looking around for any sign of life that might be able to help him, when he heard another's cry for help. He was weak and broken, but something inside him urged him to help so powerfully that he simply could not ignore its call. As fast as he could manage, which was quite slow, he made his way to the voice.
Arriving in a clearing, he was presented with quite a scene. A young woman with fox ears and tail hung by a rope around her ankles from a tree. She looked frustrated and pained, her face begin to turn a light shade of pink. When she saw him, she let out a panicked squeal and pushed her hands up to lift her skirt so that it was covering the front of her lower body.
"Are you the one who was calling for help?" Erasmus asked. He was surprised at the hoarseness of his own voice. He supposed that it was the first time he had ever heard it.
"I, uh..." The fox girl was clearly torn between something, but Erasmus wasn't sure what. "Yes, I am," she finally said. "I'm stuck. Do you think you can get me down?"
Erasmus looked up at her, at the rope around her ankle, and how it connected to the tree she was being suspended from. He thought about the best way to get her down, but he didn't know much about these kinds of traps. Or any kinds of traps. He looked at the polearm he was using as a cane, and particularly at the metallic end piece. It was triangular in shape, and one edge of it appeared to be sharpened. He thought that if he moved fast enough, perhaps he could swing this at the rope and get the pole back on the ground before he fell over.
His muscles, tired as they may be, took over immediately. As if by second nature, Erasmus lifted the weapon off of the ground and swung it around his head, severing the rope in a smooth motion. The moment the girl began to fall, the butt of his weapon swept into the back of her shirt, catching her as the head stuck into the ground, preventing them both from falling. Slowly he lowered the girl to the ground, her eyes wide, trying to comprehend what had happened in that split moment.
Erasmus shifted his polearm back into a more comfortable position as a crutch once she was on the ground. "Better?" he asked.
The girl turned to face him, face flat for a moment as she took him in right-side up, then smiled brightly and lunged toward him, grabbing him in a hug. "Thank-!"
Her words were cut off the moment her arms went around Erasmus, a howl of pain escaping his lips. She jumped back, landing on all fours, and watched him as he lurched in pain for a moment. "I'm so sorry!" she called out. "I didn't know you were hurt! Oh god..." her eyes widened once more as her eyes focused on the area where the protrusion from Erasmus' shoulder would have been. "Oh my god, your wing..."
Erasmus looked at her through half open eyes, trying to catch his breath. "Wing?" he asked. "What wing?"
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