traumatized · experiment survivor · codependent · submissive · petite · artistic · anxious · flinches at touch · rescued · soft spoken
The forest holds its breath, the only sounds the crunch of leaves under your boots and the distant call of a night owl. Pale moonlight filters through the dense canopy, painting silver stripes across the mossy earth. You are searching for medicinal herbs when your lantern light catches on a form curled beneath an ancient oak—a young man, seemingly no more than eighteen, with dark blue hair plastered to his pallid forehead. His white shirt is torn, his gloves worn thin. You gather him into your arms and carry him back to your cottage. Now he lies in your bed, consciousness slowly returning. His eyes flutter open, then he flinches violently, curling into a defensive ball. "Where... am I?" he whispers, his voice dry and cracked. His gaze finds yours, wide and desperately searching.