I woke up slowly, not wanting to climb out of my restful slumber. I was the most comfortable I’d been in most of a month, ever since I’d left the valley. No, perhaps more. The fabrics I felt on my skin were just so soft and cuddly I wanted to stay buried in them as long as I could. Hmm, microfiber blankets are the best!

Unfortunately, my brain was already booting up, so I knew I would have to get up and interact with the world soon. Well, it wasn’t time yet, so I’ll just snuggle back down until the boot sequence finished.

<We know you’re awake. You’re not even really trying to hide it are you?>

Huh? There’s someone else in the room with me?

I might not be running on all cylinders quite yet, but I was awake enough that I understood the situation. I was a mystery child who showed up and collapsed from exhaustion. From the smell and sounds around me, I could tell I was in a hospital or clinic. From the fact that I recognized the voice, I surmised that I probably wasn’t too far from where I last recall being.

I sat up and looked around. Yup, hospital-ish room. Not a private one, but one with a half dozen beds all in one room, though with decent separation and curtains available. Only one set was closed. They’d stuck me with a hydration needle and sensors at some point in my unconsciousness. Unsurprising since all that exercise had wrung me out and I couldn’t spare the energy from running to get a drink from anywhere.

To my left were two beings. Alakazam and her trainer Naomi. Naomi was sitting in a chair, though she’d reached over to my side and pressed a call button on seeing me awake. Alakazam was doing the psychic hover thing I like to do, crossing his legs while floating midair, keeping her head at the same level as the surroundings.

Speaking of psychic stuff… I mentally checked my core. Woot! Back to full strength! But muk, that last bit before getting to civilization was brutal. I never wanted to be that drained again if I could help it.

<Morning. How long was I out?>

<Nearly two full days. I could tell you were approaching wakefullness and thought someone should be here with you when you did.>

<Thanks for… cough… that.>

I shouldn’t be dehydrated, but an IV doesn’t address all issues, such as a dry throat. I spied a cup and pitcher on a table next to me and poured myself a glass of water before bringing it to my waiting hands. Of course I did this with my TK. I was small, and the beds were sized to hold adults, and didn’t want to move to do it physically.

However doing so seemed to surprise Naomi and the nurse that had come over to check on us. I ignored them and moistened my parched throat.

Ahhh, soooo much better.

I was careful to sip it slowly, knowing I might trigger undesirable results if I drank it too quickly. I was not a fan of nausea or its possible consequences.

The nurse tried to ask me something, but I just tilted my head in confusion, not understanding a word other than my name. Glancing at my floaty companion, I raised an eyebrow in question.

<She’s asking how you feel, if there’s any problems.>

Since I couldn’t respond verbally to the nurse, who wasn’t a Nurse Joy, I settled for pantomiming my desire. I patted my stomach, then showed putting something in my mouth. I was ravenous. I don’t know what kind of mix the IV held, just saline solution or something more nutritious, but I was really hungry. I was surprised my stomach wasn’t lowering everyone’s attack power with the cute sound it could make.

She nodded, said something indecipherable to me, and left.

<She’ll get a doctor. He’ll decide if you need to stay here or can get out and get something tasty instead.>

<Okay. Thanks for translating.>

<You’re welcome. Though you must know it is quite an annoyance to do so.>

<Yeah, I’m aware. Is there any chance you know how to share information telepathically? Or if it’s possible? I’d asked before, and you said it depended on my mind being flexible, but we might have been thinking of different things.>

<There is a method of teaching with connected minds. It only speeds up the learning process. There might be others who could transfer the information completely, but I cannot.>

<I see. I’m sorry to be a bother, so you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but could you help me? I need to know how to understand and speak to humans.>

<Perhaps. But that will have to wait.>

Naomi was looking a little put out at our conversation and being excluded from it, but my attention was turned to the nurse returning with a thin man in a lab coat. The doctor.

He took the chart from the end of my bed and looked it over before talking to Naomi for a bit. Then he came over to me and asked me questions.

The whole encounter was frustrating for all involved. I’d be able to understand most of what was said via my new friend, but only able to respond with gestures. Since the doctor used some words alakazam didn’t know, some of it was lost on both of us.

It took half an hour, during which I got a bit of a physical exam, before I was pronounced well enough to leave. I was told to drink plenty of fluids, since I was still a touch dehydrated, but otherwise fine.

I sighed in relief, funnily in time with alakazam, when we were told we were cleared to leave. However before that there was a very important matter to address.

Clothes.

I was in a hospital gown, and nothing else. Fortunately it seemed Naomi had that covered, having a bag of clothes from donations for me to wear. They weren’t a perfect fit, being slightly too large, but at least they weren’t too tight.

Dressed, I was finally able to escape the antiseptic laden atmosphere of the hospital. Outside I took in a deep breath of fresh air. SOO much better! While there are reasons for the smells, I hated having to endure them.

I surveyed my surroundings. It looked like I was in a small town. It looked somewhat rustic, designed to somewhat blend in with nature. No large buildings made of glass and steel, mostly small structures no more than two stories made of wood and stone. Trees and plants were everywhere, along with leaves turned orange and red littering the ground.

Yep. Winter is coming. I giggled to myself earning me glances since I hadn’t shared the joke aloud.

Now free, the first order of business was to stop lowering our attack power and get some food. Naomi took one of my hands and led me along the sidewalk to a café. She also ordered for me, not wanting to have to translate the menu for me through alakazam. While she could read, it was very limited.

It was lunch time, and the special was a BLT with a cup of soup and salad. Even if the lunch menu had smaller portions, there was no way I could eat all of it, so I just enjoyed what I could consume. It was the first real cooked food I’d eaten in over five years. I didn’t count my creations as I sucked at cooking.

Stomach appeased, we headed to our next destination. Clothes shopping. Right now I only had what I was wearing. All of my other stuff was gone, ruined or destroyed. I’d expected that which is why my good stuff was hidden in my spacial storage.

I’d like to say I had fun choosing clothes, especially since it was my first shopping trip as a girl, but sadly I had no control and Naomi seemed to want to just get it done and move on. We went to a thrift store and after verifying my size she had me try on a bunch of stuff to make sure it fit, then we were rung up and out of there. I now had five sets of clothes. Also a small suitcase to hold my possessions.

One more stop was made at another store to pick up goods that had to be new. Underwear, socks, hygiene supplies, and a few other tidbits. More stuff packed into my suitcase.

Naomi had kept the receipts for all the purchases together in an envelope that she’d pulled the cash to pay out of. It made me think.

<Hey alakazam? Why did you and Naomi stick around to take care of me? She doesn’t seem too happy right now.>

<After taking you to a bed, we had to wait for the police to show up and decide what to do. After hearing everything, especially how we interacted, they issued a mission to Naomi, and therefore me and the rest of the team, to take care of you for a while. She was given some money to do so. It seems this town is so small there is no child protective services agent assigned here permanently. One will come to pick you up, but it’s going to take a few days for them to arrive. As for why she’s not happy, she hates shopping, and she had to cancel plans she’d made to visit a festival she’d been looking forward to for a year.>

<Oh.>

On impulse I hugged her. She was surprised, but gave me a small smile and pat on the head.

We made our way to a hotel and dropped off my stuff. At that point, Naomi didn’t seem sure what to do. Fortunately my trust friend alakazam helped out there. She pulled me over to sit on one of the two beds with her.

<There’s only a few days before we part, so it’s time you started learning the human language.> She smiled at me and chills went down my spine. <Let’s begin.>

Telerean

I had been considering just doing an information download for the language, but that just seemed too cheaty. Instead Rynn will have to suffer through some very thorough tutoring sessions. Especially since the mind thinks faster than the body can react… Think time compression. Not going to be a fun few days.