This chapter took me most of the day to write so I hope you enjoy!
Warning: panic/distressed behaviour
'What is it? It's like half mushroom half person,'
'I think your dad said they were some sort of mooshroom person, y'know, like those red mushroom cows,'
'Oh shit it's waking up-'
Y/n groggily opened their eyes, letting out a displeased grunt as they stared drowsily at the ceiling. Their back felt better, not completely pain free but it was tolerable now. The somewhat surreal early morning light had changed, it was probably just about the afternoon now, looking at the bright blue sky and the occasional cloud that could be spotted.
'U-uh, hello?'
Y/n flinched, whipping their head around and bringing two humans into view, they looked to be about Y/n's age and both stood right beside the bed, looking at the calf with a curious look on their faces. The kid backed themselves into the corner, gripping the hems of the blankets and tugging them up to cover themselves. A terrified look could only just be seen in their big e/c eyes that were mostly hidden behind locks of h/l unruly, h/c hair which had gone black and singed at the ends at some parts.
Though Y/n was familiar with the word 'hello', due to the wandering traders that would sometimes wash up on the sores of their village, they had not gathered any courage to return the friendly gesture, just sat completely frozen on the spot.
'I think we broke it, if Phil asks this is your fault-'
The blond one whispered over to the other. He was the taller one out of the two, wearing a red bandana and braces, he had messy blond locks of hair and bright blue eyes which went rather well with his golden lashes. The little light that escaped through the wooden frame of the window seemed to catch onto his features and lit up his face perfectly. He had a rather confident aura to him, Y/n could tell.
The other kid had... horns? Not big ones, they looked like the ones a baby goat would bare. His clothing consisted of a green dress shirt that was only buttoned up halfway so you could see a black t-shirt underneath. His dress shirt collar was messed up and one of the sleeves had a slight tear. This boy was a brunette, having glossy brown hair and what seemed to be goat ears, which confirmed Y/n's theory from before. One of them had a little label attached that read 'TUBBO', so Y/n assumed that was his name. His face had a lot more delicate facial features, though the same big blue eyes but this time his cheeks were littered with freckles.
Y/n's pov
I was drawn to the boy's horns, they were like the ones I had but sharper, though they were around the same size, or at least they seemed to be, I couldn't really tell because they were mostly covered by his fluffy brown hair. Curious of their size, I reached out towards them, the conversation the boys were having quickly came to a stop when they saw me moving, but in all honesty the conversation sounded a lot more just like bickering really.
The one I assume to be called Tubbo made no attempt to move away as I gripped his horns, running the pads of my thumbs down the sides of them to measure their length, they were a lot longer than I originally anticipated.
'D-do you think they like me?'
Tubbo nervously glanced over to the blond one. He had a bit of a shaky smile but he seemed relatively relaxed so I didn't see any reason to stop, I pulled him forwards and a little over the bed so I could sit back comfortably.
'I think they're trying to take your horns- pHILLL, THE NEW KID'S TRYING TO KILL TUBBO!'
The blond one began to yell. I jumped backwards, letting go of Tubbo's horns which allowed him to stand up straight again, rubbing his head a little. I returned to my corner, using the blankets to shield myself as I hid away under them.
'I-I don't think they were trying to kill me, Tommy, I think they were just being frien-'
Before Tubbo could finish his words the blond man from last night steps in through the door, seeming to have been in quite a hurry to get here after whatever the blond kid had yelled. He looked between the three of us for a moment before visibly relaxing, letting out a sigh and walking towards us.
I didn't like this, I was starting to feel closed in, there were too many people here for me to be comfortable. It made my breathing unstable and my stomach feel sick, I didn't like it, I didn't want them to be there, I wanted them to go away.
After walking over to us, the man kneeled down and started to talk to the other boys, the blond one immediately resorting to yelling once again, which now I think about it was probably what pushed me to my tipping point.
In my attempt to get away from them, I kicked the blankets from my body, visibly startling the others as I scrambled to get off the bed, practically throwing myself to the floor but not taking long to regain my footing and bolt towards the door the man had left ajar. I think during the hurry I might have accidentally thrown Tubbo to the ground, I felt slightly guilty but I couldn't let that get in the way of my potential escape.
Outside I am led to what seemed to be a bridge over a small pond filled with a variety of weird and wonderful fish, I'm rather surprised it hadn't frozen over due to how cold it was out here, just stepping outside made me shudder and try rub my arms to retain what little body heat I still had... I missed my cape...
Directly opposite me stood an almost identical house from the one I had just ran out of and to my left was a set of stairs crafted from spruce wood, they were powdered with snow and seemed to have been a bit damp, maybe even a little moldy where most the snow had melted down with the torch light.
I didn't hesitate to stumble down the stairs, the stabbing pain which returned in my back made it abundantly clear that even despite the thing I had drunk last night my wounds were still far from healed. But I didn't let that stop me. I made another sharp left and began to run around the side of the house, my hooves hitting the snow for the first time since the night I was found filled my head with extremely unpleasant memories from the tragic events of my village. I could feel my chest become constricted, like someone had tied a rope around me and were squeezing as hard as possible, maybe I was running too fast? I don't know, maybe I should have slowed down but I didn't, letting my breaths become heavier as I fought to get the oxygen inside of my lungs.
At this point I could hear the people inside shouting, their voices becoming progressively louder, probably suggesting they were running after me which made me feel no better about the situation. I don't know why this reminded me so much of the collapse of my village, though I remembered this constriction feeling in my chest. The smoke was intoxicating, this horrible concoction of ash and burning flesh flooded my senses. I couldn't see shit, everything was dark and what little I could see was crumbling before my eyes, contorting and twisting out of shape from a mixture of tears and lightheadedness, or maybe it was the illusion of heat the fire emitted. There was this twisting feeling in my stomach, my heart having told me long before this point to give up hope and accept your fate in this deteriorating mess, carnival of screams and blazing heat, but at the same time my brain pumping this seemingly endless amount of adrenaline into my skull, I needed to keep running, despite my inability to see an inch in front of my face, despite my rapidly decaying energy which made my limbs feel heavy and will to press onwards weak. I was crying now, not just crying, completely sobbing, not to mention lost as hell.
A firm grip on my shoulder shook me out of this violent daydream experience. My feet almost went under me as my arm was held, the hold was gentle but at the same time I wasn't going to escape it if I tried.
No one's pov
Y/n struggled, trying to pull themselves away from the figure who had just caught them but hardly getting anywhere, letting out some highly distressed noises, similar to that of a cow would make. They shifted their e/c watery eyes to look up at the person who'd grabbed them, a couple tears escaping their lashes and rolling down their face.
It was another man, Y/n had guessed from their large rough hands that they were probably used to manual labor, they were the kind that looked like they'd grown a custom to lifting a hoe or even wielding weapons such as swords or axes which made Y/n very nervous.
From what Y/n could see of his arms and face, the man was heavily scarred. Gashes ran up and down his arm, some seemingly a lot more recent than others to the point they still looked red. He was dressed in a huge cloak which was crimson in color and topped with a large fluffy rim which hung around his neck. It looked in relatively good condition, it was glossy and didn't seem to be torn anywhere suprisingly. The man's face was what threatened Y/n the most though, or, what they could see of it anyway, he wore a pig mask but even with that they could see he had a cold, almost dead expression, his empty, dull, red eyes stared down at the calf with what Y/n could only describe as anger. He had long locks of bubblegum pink hair which was neatly tied into a plait, it went with the color of his mask rather nicely.
Y/n was stuck on the spot, they hardly dared to breathe in the presence of the man let alone move away, they couldn't bring themselves to look away from his scarlet eyes.
'Techno!'
After what seemed like forever a familiar voice called out across the empty ivory fields, accompanied by crunching of snow beneath heavy boots. It cut the silence and brought the reality of the situation back. Spiralling back down in panic, Y/n began to kick and squirm in an attempt to escape once more, beginning to cry out again as the blond man ran over. He gently picked Y/n up from the ground, not needing to put in any extra effort to pull them away from Techno's grip, or atleast, Y/n assumed they were called Techno, they were getting sorta fed up of not being able to label people with names, so either way they were sticking with that.
'Phil, why is this child out here?'
His voice was both strong and intimidating, it made Y/n hide their face away in the blond man's trench coat as he held them.
'They're injured, Techno, and I think they're lost too, I'm not sure what they are or where they came from but they have very little language skills,'
The blond man replies,
'Do they have a name?-'
He thinks for a moment, shifting his gaze down to Y/n for a moment or two, looking into their scared, watery eyes, their face still red and covered in tear stains from crying.
'Not yet but I'm thinking about it,'
The two share a couple more words, Y/n having zoned out halfway through the conversation and just fiddling with the hem of the man's trench coat. Eventually they head back towards the house, Y/n being carried with their arms wrapped around Phil's neck and looking over his shoulder back at Techno who follows soon after.
After arriving at the house, Y/n is sat in a chair around a large oak dining table that was neatly laid out, topped with a tablecloth and some basic cutlery. Tubbo and the blond child were also seated there, conversating rather loudly as per usual from what Y/n has seen so far.
Techno joined next, walking up to a chair seated on the other side of Tubbo, he reached his arm up from his thick scarlet cloak and unbuckled his mask, letting it drop from his face and into his hands where he then hung it on the back of the chair. Unlike earlier his face had fallen to a more neutral expression, it was calmer now. His crimson red eyes had softened and he almost looked like he was going to smile at the younger boys bickering.
Techno seemed to bare tusks, much like a piglin, a couple of teeth were permanently stuck out of his mouth and much like the rest of them they looked to resemble fangs more than usual teeth. It slightly unnerved Y/n to be honest but they were soon distracted by yet another person entering the room,
How many people lived here exactly?
The boy, probably about Techno's age, was a brunette, with glossy wavy hair and dressed in a wooly yellow jumper, he had a kind face though he looked a little tired. His hazel eyes were drawn straight to Y/n, giving them a friendly smile and gentle wave before walking over and taking the seat next to them. Y/n was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic again.
'Dad's told me about you, it's nice to meet you at last,'
The brunette piped up, holding his hand out for Y/n to shake with a smile but quickly retracting the gesture after seeing how heavily burnt and bandaged Y/n's little hands were.
'I don't think they speak.'
Techno cut in, not even looking up at either of them but still using that same stern tone of voice from earlier. Y/n brought their legs up to their chest and hugged them, resting their head atop their knees, still feeling uncomfortable with the amount of people sitting at the table. They looked between the four people, not taking long to go back and examine the one with the sweater, a couple things catching Y/n's eyes.
First of all he had a guitar with him, Y/n knew what this was called and was very familiar with its function. While Y/n's people weren't very good at language or science they were very invested in the arts: music, painting, dancing, you name it. The familiarity of the object coaxed a smile out of the cow calf, something they hadn't done much since they'd come here. Secondly the brunette wore what looked like a strange hat, Y/n had never seen one like it before, it was maroon in color and obviously made out of wool.
I guess he noticed Y/n staring at it because he quickly reached up and pulled it from his head, brushing the hair behind his ears from where it was previously held in place by his hat. He placed it on Y/n's head. It fit rather nicely, only just covering all of their cow ears and pressing them against their temples, it made everything sound a little muffled but the hat was warm, and comfy, and very very soft. Y/n liked it very much. They let out an approving squeak, reaching up and running their fingers alongside the fabric with a goofy lopsided smile. The boy in the yellow sweater chuckled and said something else in his language, though like usual Y/n still didn't understand.
Maybe about a couple minutes later the blond man headed over to the table, he presented everyone with food, even Y/n to their surprise. The mooshroom calf looked down at the plate set before them, it wasn't anything like Y/n had eaten before, they had mainly been sustained on a diet of mushroom stew throughout most of their childhood.
Y/n could recognize the bread and the contents stacked up inside of the bread but they weren't sure why it had been presented like that. They also realised that everyone else's food looked rather different to Y/n's they were eating chicken, sided with some other things.
I've written three different paragraphs depending on what the reader would prefer to eat. If you aren't bothered by what you want to eat just read the one where you eat the meat as Y/n's species is supposed to be naturally carnivorous. Or read them all, I don't mind :)
Carnivorous (option 1)
The last time Y/n had eaten was about a day or two ago now so understandably they were starving. They examined their food, ignoring the cutlery they had been presented with and going in with their hands, dissecting the meal and searching for what is the most edible to Y/n. There was bread, some sort of yellow square, what they could only assume was lettuce and what looked the most appetising was a slice of meat, presumably chicken by it's lack of pigmentation. Y/n shoved it in their mouth whole, devouring it in an instant, though it was a painfully low amount to survive on, their stomach still ached with hunger. Y/n's head perked up as their eyes shifted towards the plate next to them, the one the blond kid was eating from. Chicken. Y/n reached their hand towards the plate, they obviously had very little table manners, it seemed to just be the way they were raised back at their village,
'Fuck off-'
The blond kid batted Y/n's hand away with his fork which caused them to let out a low pitched growl as they went back in to try again. After a while of going back and forth Phil eventually cut in, sighing as he cut a couple slices of his chicken and surrendering it to Y/n's plate, which they gladly accepted and tucked into.
Herbivorous/vegetarian (option 2)
Y/n carefully studied the food that laid before them, wincing slightly at the unfamiliar dish they'd been presented with.
'It's called a sandwich'
The blond kid spoke up, mouth full of chicken and waving his fork towards the food on Y/n's plate. They winced once again, gently pulling the lettuce from the stack of contents and nibbling at the edges. It didn't take long to eat, nor satisfy Y/n's hunger, they hadn't eaten for what felt like forever now and their stomach still felt the pain of emptiness. Gently resting their head on the table and giving an uncomfortable grumble which Phil took notice to straight away,
'What's the matter? Do you not like any of that food?'
Y/n could tell by the tone of his voice it was a question but no idea what he was asking. The man moved from his chair, walking over to a kitchen area and grabbing an apple from a small glass bowl which was sat on the counter top, placing it in front of Y/n,
'Try this, it's good,'
Y/n's hunger had quickly gotten the better of them, picking up the unfamiliar object and biting into it. It was rather hard to sink their teeth into but the sweet flavour was a pleasant surprise actually. It quickly satisfies their hunger and leaves them in a relatively better mood.
Picky eater (option 3)
Y/n gave the food one look before turning their nose up at it. Maybe it was their extreme hunger putting them in a bad mood, but there wasn't any way in hell they were gonna eat that. Slumping back in their seat to emphasize their lack of interest. Phil seemed to pick up on this.
'You should probably try to eat something, mate, it's probably been a while since you last ate.'
Phil explained, gesturing to Y/n's plate. Y/n scrunched up their face, growling slightly, they'd only ever eaten mushroom stew with the exception of meat, but they would never eat this. Y/n had always been a bit of a picky eater.
Phil wasn't quite sure what Y/n ate due to their species so tried to stay safe by giving them a sandwich, but it quickly became apparent that the mooshroom calf wasn't going to settle for that.
'Would you rather some chicken?'
Tubbo chimed in, offering a fork towards Y/n that had a morsel of chicken stabbed on the end of it. The calf stared at it for about a second before huffing and turning around to look out of the window behind them, resting their head in their hands with a grumble. Phil sighed.
The entire table had a discussion about what someone of Y/n's pretty much completely nebulous origin would eat, they decided not meat due to the fact they refused to take chicken and not fruit of any color, ripeness or shape. Bread was also a no, even as Tommy tried to shove it into Y/n's face at the end of a fork. The child wouldn't eat anything. Tubbo ended up eating the sandwich. Y/n ended up going hungry much to Phil's concern.
The story continues here:
Y/n pov
After the successful/unsuccessful (depending on what you chose) events of dinner, I was picked up and lifted back out of my seat by the blond man, at this point I'd grown used to him picking me up and carrying me around so I showed no resistance at his actions. I was returned to my bed, settled down on the mound of blankets of pillows before my wounds were thoroughly checked over to be sure they had not been disturbed. It didn't feel long after I had been put to bed that everyone had left and dusk upon us. The very last slithers of sunlight were rapidly sinking below the snowy horizon and the stars were coming out to play.
Despite the somewhat chaotic events of both today and yesterday, I can definitely say this place isn't the worst place I could be, though some of the inhabitants are loud or scary beyond all reason I felt safe here. I felt comfortable. I even felt somewhat wanted. A smile tugs at my lips at the thought of that...
No ones pov
It had been a long day, and as expected, Y/n was teetering on the verge of unconsciousness as they laid wrapped in dense bundles of cozy blankets. Their slightly singed h/l locks were beginning to become a little matted with the lack it had been brushed for the past few days. The night was serene and the gentle whistle of the icy wind outside was gently coaxing Y/n out of consciousness...
But that's when the door opened.
A feeble gust of wind brushed at Y/n's hair, having gushed in from the outside along with that same warm golden light from the night before that spread across the floor boards and caught itself in Y/n's drowsy e/c eyes. A silhouette stood there.
'Hello?'
Word count: 3928 (woo!)