Chapter Text
Ultimately Oisín does end up throwing up. And crying some more.
It seems like the revelation of, you know, not being in their own f*cking body was a bit much for them.
Of course it could be that they just became grey randomly! And grew claws!
Yeah, sure.
But it's fine! They're fine! Just in a little shock and a lot of pain and it's A-okay!
They rub their, honestly not much larger than normal, hands over their face before beginning to crawl over to the shore line.
The smell of vomit really is something they don't need on top of everything else going on.
Sitting on their knees they watch the lapping water.
Maybe using saltwater to wash their face isn't the best idea?
But it would get the smell out. Probably.
Though the salt might be another overwhelming factor for them? Like irritating their skin or something.
f*cking hell, that's too many thoughts for too little brain left. They're not even really coherent, just vague wisps of ideas and images and sensations.
Yeah f*ck it.
They splash some water in their face and rub it over their mouth.
Something to drink would be nice.
Or at least some clean water to wash out their mouth.
Bile tastes absolutely horrendous.
Oisín blindly grabs at the fabric they were feeling swishing behind their back and partly restricting their movement before.
Pulling it forward they dry their face with the fabric, feeling the coarse material and catching a whiff of a woolen scent.
Huh, a woolen cloak, that's nice.
They watch the fabric flow as they let it fall from their hands. It's a very nice, dark green colour. Almost like-
They blink.
This is the exact colour of the cloak they bought at a renfaire not too long ago.
What the f*ck?
Checking for the clasp frantically, they exhale in shock.
It's got the same clasp and also the same brooch right next to it that they pinned on their own cloak.
This is their cloak. How is that possible???
Also does that mean some other things could have come with them to wherever they are right now?
They don't know if the cloak is with them because they’ve worn it when they were… abducted? Magically transported? But it's certainly a possibility that that's the reason why it's here, with them.
With bleary eyes they look back at where they first woke up, wincing at the vomit stain on the dark rocks.
A bag!
Oh sweet mother of f*ck maybe the gods do have some mercy on them.
Scrambling over the rocks they make their way to their discarded things, taking care to not accidentally touch the bile on the ground right next to it.
They've got a waterskin!!! f*ck yeah! They feel like doing a little dance and only stop themself because head movement and migraines aren't a good combo.
At least they can flap their hands without causing too much pain.
So they do that, very very enthusiastically, before grabbing the large waterskin and pulling it up to their lips.
After a few big, greedy gulps of some nice cool water they sigh contentedly.
They really needed that.
A little less frantic, they begin to look through the bag.
It's a large, brown leather backpack with a fur roll strapped to the bottom of it.
At least whoever or whatever brought them here had the good decency to give them something to sleep on!
They probably should figure out where they are, shouldn't they?
Eh. They don't have the brain for it right now, it can wait for after the migraine passes.
The content of the bag seems to be organized like they themself would organize them, even leaving a little space for the waterskin, even if they can carry it around with the strap it's got on it.
Aww they have a little pot in there too! They can try and cook something over a fire!
They should really focus on finding their meds. Well, if they're even there in the first place.
Going by their own organizational system, they look for a little pouch sitting somewhere at the upper part inside the bag.
Ooohh it's behind a hidden inseam!! That's so cool, they never had a secret compartment before!
Oisín sticks their hand inside and takes out the content.
Five little glass containers sit in their hands.
Oh gods, this is their meds!
Why are the containers so cute?
Looking through every container they lean back in shock.
It's all their meds. Not only for headaches, but everything.
They most certainly weren't always carrying their antidepressants or anxiety meds around. Nor their birth control pills.
Well, that throws THAT theory out of the window.
It also sends a twinge of worry down their spine.
What if they run out while they're stuck here? What will they do then?
They- they can't deal with this right now.
Taking one small pill gingerly out of one of the containers, they put it in their mouth and let it melt on their tongue, shuddering at the taste.
Afterwards they pack everything away, and carefully stand up.
Looking around, everything still seeming a little hazy and blurry, they spot a group of bigger rocks to their left, stones jutting up to form a hill.
That's… got to be good enough.
They walk over and find a spot that's between a few of the rocks, that seems to be a little safe from the harsh winds.
They pull the fur roll from the bottom of their bag and spread it out, before lying down on it.
Now they just gotta wait the time out ‘till their meds start working.
__
Slowly blinking Oisín immediately notices that they feel much, much better than before.
They must have taken an impromptu nap after using their migraine medication, that's what normally happens at least.
They could almost almost believe the weird experience was merely a dream.
You know, if it weren't that they are facing a rock currently. And are lying on something very fuzzy. And can see their very clearly grey, right hand. And-
Maybe they couldn't actually believe at all that they were dreaming before.
While the pain definitely went away, their head still feels a little like it's filled with clouds. This isn't gonna make thinking about the whole… situation they're stuck in any easier.
Sitting up, they rub their eyes. It sure is a day, huh?
Their head seems oddly unbalanced, like some unseen weight is pulling it down.
Migraine side effects are the worst.
They move to massage their temples, in the hope it'll help relieve the weird feeling and stop.
There's something on their head that's not supposed to be there. What the f*ck is on their head, why are there portrusions,what-
Oh. Yeah. Great. Awesome.
They have horns.
Welp, let's name five things we can see and calm the f*ck down!
What's horns added on top of everything?
Going through the motions of the five-four-three-two-one calming technique they learned, they breathe deeply and measuredly.
They touch the side of their head again and move a little backwards and bump against the glassy, wavy texture of one of the apparent HORNS on their head.
Oisín needs to think of the goat horns they touched in a petting zoo before, only their own horns feel smoother almost, like oil was rubbed in, to keep them glossy.
Following the line of the horn they note that it curls around their head down to their ear, like the horns of a ram. Huh. Fascinating.
Touching the other side of their head, it's apparent their other horn follows the same flow.
So at least neither of them is broken. Yay?
They don't dare to think about it but. Yup.
They did feel something on their forehead aswell!
Two sets of horns for them! Wuuuu…
Doing the same as before, they quickly notice that these actually also are the shape of goat horns. Oh and apparently they are now in possession of curly hair. They didn't have curly hair before. They don’t know how to care for curly hair!
But they gotta admit it's kinda cute…
They're just a very big goat/ram hybrid!
It reminds them a little of a character they created in the Dragon Age world. Though they only had a set of ram horns.
Hmm, they probably should actually think about what kind of body they're stuck in.
Okay so. Grey skin. Can't be a dunmer because dunmer don't have horns, they think.
Tiefling, maybe?
Can tieflings have grey skin?
Well, theirs has a purple tinge and they believe they saw some Baldur's Gate 3 tiefling ocs with purple skin? So maybe that's possible? Though they don't think they have a tail…
Nope, they don't.
Well then let's go with the obvious, are they a qunari? Or vashoth, they guess?
But if they are, that means they're in Thedas. They don't want to be in Thedas.
Like sure, they thought about it before and consumed mcits almost religiously but. Doesn't mean they ACTUALLY wanna be there!
Thedas is a very sh*tty place. But, to be fair, so is earth.
Are they seriously thinking about this?
Welllll- they already accepted that they weren't in their own body. How that would happen without magic they aren't sure.
Also they woke up on a random f*cking beach, and they're too light a sleeper to not have woken up if someone were to transport them here! But maybe they were drugged…?
Still wouldn't explain the grey skin. And horns. And claws.
… And apparently sharper canines? That's neat, they like that.
Oh they really hope they didn't hijack the body of a poor unsuspecting qunari. That would be a pretty sh*tty situation.
But even if their new body feels strange, it in some way still feels like themself?
Huh, it even has the little birthmarks on their right hand.
And the birthmark on the right side of their chin and over the left part of their mouth.
Little things that made them them, in their opinion.
Oh. Oh no.
f*ck NO!!!
This is the body of the qunari oc they created! Or to be more specific of the qunariSONA they created!
They made them look a lot like themself because it's supposed to be them!
They were even thinking about adding a second set of horns! f*ck!
How did they not notice this??? They are even wearing the same outfit they gave their original character!
Must have rolled a Nat 1 on that perception check earlier…
Okay, but to be fair, the outfit is not exactly the same, they originally gave their character a dark blue cloak and not a dark green one. So that's odd.
Dammit, they were doing this for fun, universe! With a friend!
Just a stupid little challenge!
‘Come on, let's assign the other a race, class and specialization from Dragon Age, it's gonna be fun!’
THIS WASN'T AN INVITATION TO PUT THEM HERE!!!
No no no no no
Is it their own fault they ended up here?
For daring to put a version of themself into this world?
Is Gabi here aswell? Stuck in the body of a dwarf?
Oh no, the poor thing. On earth she was taller than average, being suddenly smaller than pretty much everyone else must suck.
She must be so scared and lost.
Oisín needs to find her.
After they find out more about their new body.
And where the f*ck they are.
__________
It takes a while for Gabi to find a way down from the lump of earth she created.
Well, she could have probably just jumped down but seeing how this dream has been going for her she didn't think it was such a great idea.
Wouldn't do for her to break her legs, you know.
What she ended up doing was that she kinda just. Carefully shimmied down.
As in, she turned around on top of the protrusion and held on for her dear life, while wrapping her legs around it and then carefully slid down bit by bit.
It was very nerve wracking and she never wants to do it again.
She might do it again.
It was kind of fun?
Okay, ‘doing it again’ is a big fat maybe. That sounds fine.
Like, she's decently sure she can't get hurt here anyways? Sure the small fall earlier hurt but she couldn't probably really get hurt.
But yeah dreams are weird and that's why she shimmied down in the first place instead of jumping and why are her thoughts stuck on this?
Gabi shakes her head.
She wants to go on an adventure! Maybe she'll learn some more control of her dreams that way too!
Huh, there's a backpack where she was lying before.
Must have just spawned because of her thoughts. Nice.
It is entirely possible though that she just didn't notice it before. She isn't the most… aware of people.
Oh well.
Immediately rummaging through the back she hums to herself.
Uuu extra clothes, nice!
Also a metal contraption? What is this?
Gabi fiddles around with the object, trying to figure out what exactly it's supposed to be.
It seems to be two thin metal pieces welded together, forming a cylindrical form with a small hole at the top.
She turns the object over and sees that the bottom has a metal plate wider than the cylinder itself, seemingly to be able to pull it away.
Doing just that she finds that it has cork connected to it, apparently being what was holding it in place.
On her lap now lies another metal plate, having fallen out of the cylinder.
“Ohhh, fascinante,” (Ohhh, fascinating,) Gabi mutters to herself and picks up the plate.
It's inscribed with… runes? Magical, glowing scribbles?
Looking at it she feels like she can almost taste what they are supposed to do, feel the knowledge thrumming in her bones.
She carefully touches them and feels like she can hear voices whispering in the back of her mind.
Just as fast as the feeling came, it went away again, her having dropped the piece of metal as soon as the murmuring started up.
“Ugh, bizarro.” (Ugh, creepy.)
She seals the metal back inside its container.
Now what to use this for…
She shrugs to herself.
She can figure it out later.
Rummaging once again through the bag Gabi grabs a pile of paper next.
What could these be?
Potion recipes?
Poems?
Maps of the area?
Letters?
Letters!!!
f*ck yeah, worldbuilding!
Huh, apparently she has a penpal. Are penpals in a fantasy world like internet friends nowadays?
How did she send any letters? Are there carrier pigeons or something?
Uuu maybe a magic letter sending system thingy? That would be hella cool!
Skipping through the letters she thinks to herself that the writing style does weirdly sound like her one internet friend only maybe… more monotone? Or something? She can't quite put a finger on it…
Knowing the little about dreams that she does it would make sense for her conscience to basically insert one of the people she knows into her dream. Or at least their style of writing.
Ha! Oisín would probably have a ball in whatever weird fantasy world her mind came up with.
Probably would also be better in controlling this dream than she does, seeing as they've been lucid dreaming pretty regularly from what they've told her.
Yeah they'd love figuring this out and teaching her fun dreams tricks.
Dammit why can't she dream together with a friend, that would be so much fun!!!
Ooohhh she could maybe search for civilization!
She's not sure how much people like people are gonna be in her dream but a little companionship would be nice.
She could be having fun with dream people, so no time to waste looking through her bag anymore!
Packing her belongings up again Gabi sings to herself: “Quando a luz dos olhos meus e a luz dos olhos teus resolvem se encontrar…”
Humming over the parts she can't remember before continuing: “Meu amor, juro por Deus me sinto incendiar, meu amor, juro por Deus.”
This goes on for a while, her repeating the same lines over and over again while humming everything in between, and just like that she's on her way.
___
Really it's quite a beautiful area Gabi has found herself in.
She might not know where she is going but damn if she can't appreciate the scenery on her way.
Lush trees, green meadows, she thinks she can even hear the bubbling of water somewhere nearby.
Ohh a nice cool stream or river would be amazing right now, she's always loved splashing around in them.
Also this probably means she got quite a bit away, she can't remember any water being near where she started.
Carefully making her way through the underbrush she searches for the source of the sound.
A wide smile spreads across her face as she sees the stream, the water glimmering in the sunlight that shines through spots between the towering trees.
Gabi immediately goes to work chucking her boots and socks off and setting her backpack on the ground.
With a cackling laugh she wades into the water, not caring that the bottom of her pants is getting wet and starts skipping around while kicking her feet.
She can't remember being this happy in a good long while.
Giggling she jumps and kicks and dances and after having splashed her heart out she straps her bag back to her back and gathers up her boots from where she's thrown them.
Not feeling like leaving the stream yet, she decides to just follow it.
Civilization is supposed to be around a river or stream or something anyways, right?
Whistling the same song as before she continues onwards.
___
This dream really is cutting itself to be quite nice.
Beautiful surroundings, a stream she could have fun in, being able to at least somewhat control reality…
Yeah it's pretty great.
Though, while it's quite nice out, her feet do start feeling a little numb from the cold water.
Damn, she really wanted to continue for longer inside of it.
Maybe she can go back into it later, after having warmed up?
While the grass is nice and soft under her feet, she does not want to walk around barefoot longer than she has too.
She’d get blisters immediately, she just knows it.
With a sigh she pulls her socks and boots back on.
It was nice while it lasted.
She honestly can't tell how long she's been walking around, but her sense of time has never been the best anyways.
From how the sun shines through the leaves in a different angle now, she'd say it must have been a couple hours at least.
Though… does time even make sense in dreams? It could have been five minutes for all she knows…
No, no this is giving her a headache, she can't think about this any longer.
Her musings are interrupted by a grunting noise and several splashes of water.
Gabi freezes where she stands.
“Por favor, por favor, por favor, não se torne em um pesadelo,” (Please please please don't turn into a nightmare,) she mutters to herself.
She hadn't checked earlier whether she has weapons. She should probably rectify that.
As silently as she can she slips her backpack off again and opens the clasp.
There are multiple small flasks filled with some sort of substances and also things that look like… grenades??!
Holy f*ck, does she have f*cking bombs?!!
Yeah that'll do, holy sh*t.
Also, she really needs to learn to see more than what she's focusing on at any given time, because wow, she really should have noticed this earlier.
Leaving her backpack where it is, she takes one of the grenade looking things and carefully sneaks towards where she heard the sound.
Spying through a bush she sees…
A bear???
She squeals to herself: “Puta merda ele é tão fofo!!!” (Holy sh*t it's so cute!!!)
The bear turns its head towards where she's hiding.
With a small eep she makes herself small.
Oh no.
She doesn't want to get eaten!
What does she do???
She can't throw a bomb at it!!! It's way too cute for that!
While still caught within her thoughts Gabi suddenly feels a puff of air on her hair.
She freezes and slowly turns her head upwards.
The bear is looking right down at her.
With a yelp she flings herself away.
Scrambling on the ground she yells out: “Por favor não me coma senhor urso!!! Eu prometo que te deixo sozinho!” (Please don't eat me Mr. Bear!!! I swear I'll leave you alone!)
The bear just stares at her.
Lowering her arm from when she instinctively covered her face she stares back.
Seems like she won't be eaten today.
“Você é um urso bem legal, sim você é,” (You’re a very nice bear, yes you are,”) she laughs nervously.
It steps closer to her and she locks up again.
But instead of attacking her it starts… nuzzling her face?
What?
Gabi sighs a breath of relief.
“Oh, você é só uma gracinha, não é?” (Oh you're just a sweetheart aren't you?,) she babytalks, “Só o mais fofinho Pookiebear, né?” (Just the sweetest little Pookiebear, yes?)
Carefully reaching up, she pets the neck of the bear.
“Esse é o melhor sonho que eu já tive.” (This is the best dream I've ever had.)
Still watching the bear she gets up and slowly starts packing up her belongings again, so as to not startle it.
Afterwards she just looks at it.
So. So. Freaking. CUTE!
Big brown eyes and small, round ears and, aaahh, she can't take it!
As if it's reading her thoughts the bear goes forward and starts nuzzling her again.
“Pookiebear é um nome perfeito pra você, não é?” (Pookiebear really is the perfect name for you, isn't it?) she mutters to it.
Pookiebear is huge in comparison to her, though, to be fair, everything has been huge so far.
Hm, she starts to wonder…
“Senhor Pookiebear” (Mr. Pookiebear,) she starts, “Você me deixaria montar você?” (would you allow me to ride on your back?)
And as if he understands her, he lies down.
She stares disbelievingly.
Is she an actual Disney princess in this dream?
After shaking herself out of it she moves towards Pookiebear with a smile on her face and carefully climbs on his back, making sure to watch he doesn't have anything against it.
As soon as she's climbed on top he rises.
Wide eyed she looks around.
She's so high up…
This is amazing.
Please don't ever let this dream end.
__________
It's quite a nice day out, and so Ceila decided it would be the perfect day to launder her and her family's clothes by the stream a bit downhill from the village.
Not that she necessarily minds laundering in a wash basin with water from the well, but sitting by the stream just has something calming to it.
And sometimes she really needs a break from her family, if she's quite honest.
So humming to herself, she takes the clothing and her washing board and goes on her merry way.
___
She hasn't been sitting near the edge of the water for long when she suddenly hears a sound.
Looking towards it she blinks in shock.
There's a bear coming towards her position.
Of course the Hinterlands are known to be bear territory but ever since there was an Incident a few years back that ended in a hunting party of her village viciously hunting down bears in the area, no bear dared to come close to it.
Until now it seems.
Ceila gathers up her skirts, ready to start running until she hears low, raspy laughter and then she stares again.
Is that… a CHILD on top of the bear?
No, not a child, even with how far away it still is she can tell the person looks too stout to be one.
A dwarf then? What's a dwarf doing riding a bear???
As the pair moves closer she can see brown locks on top of the person’s hair, as they throw their head back to laugh once again.
Maker’s breath. As if she needed any more chaos in her life.
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BIT here! Here is the art!:
