There's only one way to keep a fairy captive besides plucking off their wings.
And apparently that was to lock them up in a silver cage.
I don't know how many generations ago it got leaked, but which idiot went and leaked this information to humans, who are practically our natural enemies?
I dart through the gaps between branches, apologizing, "Sorry!" to the flowers I use as footholds as I fly past.
We were already flying as fast as we possibly could. With these magnificent wings of ours, no human should've been able to catch up to us, and yet the black figure chasing us kept closing in; never letting us get a lead.
... A monster.
Cursing to myself, I kept flying with everything I had.
The full moon, hanging bright in the night sky, seems to be mocking our ragged selves.
"Ngh..."
Something brushed the tip of my wing as it cut through the air, and I glanced back for just a moment.
I could see a human hand sticking out from inside a dark robe.
They touched me?
No way!
A black figure, darker than the night forest. Just thinking about the eyes glaring at me from under that hood sent a chill down my spine. The figure was about the height of a human child.
Given what I am, I've got decent night vision.
... They're coming! Fly!
I sent out a 'message' to the several other fairies here. Fly. Meaning, gain altitude. Since we're always flying, it also implied, put more effort into it!
Using a raspberry leaf as a foothold, I launched up another level higher, and night dew splashed.
Ugh! Stupid! Stupid!
I hate humans so much!
Each of us has two transparent, glass-like wings on our back. They exist solely to allow us to live peaceful lives, not to get worked to the bone in some life-or-death chase.
"Ah...!"
"H-hey, come on!"
I grabbed the arm of the fairy who wobbled right in front of me and kept flying. He looked pale. He's a male who was just recently born. We take on our adult form the moment we're born, and we can fly from day one, but this kid, born only three hours ago, didn't seem to have enough stamina.
"You okay?"
He did not look okay. His groan-like "...mn" reply signaled that he'd reached his limits.
--- E-Eleanor! They're coming!
"!"
A 'message' came from a fairy who was flying ahead. I immediately spun around.
Rustle. The sound of branches and leaves brushing, really close by.
They're close. Run? No, that's impossible no matter how I slice it. This is my top speed.
The hand reaching toward me is white like a ghost.
My frozen body instinctively realized there was no escape.
--- In that case.
I threw the fairy who I'd been carrying forward. I felt a slight sense of relief when I saw some other fairies catch him.
The recoil from the throw sent me drifting backward. Instead of waving at my friends flying away, I blew a finger-whistle.
Piiiiiiiii, I hope that high-pitched sound reaches them.
A farewell whistle. --- 'Wait for the gods' whim.'
Believe in miracles. May the eyes of God, who doesn't save anyone in this world equally, turn toward you even just a little.
That thin sound would never reach human ears.
"I've finally caught you."
A whispered voice. A child's hand grips me from the waist down. Maybe they're being careful not to crush me, because it didn't hurt. But it wasn't loose enough for me to slip free either; both my wings were pinched together so they wouldn't lose their shape, then I was bound with thread.
Silver thread. Even if it's only a temporary prop, I've got no will left to resist.
A human fingertip tapped lightly against my forehead, and I blacked out.
Here comes the cliche moment, or whatever you want to call it, the point where I remembered 'me.'
Memories of a past life. I was a college student. Born in Japan, grew up normally, went to school, and lived a carefree life. My memory cuts off at the moment my eyes met a sleepy-eyed truck driver's.
And the important part was that I remembered a game among those memories. Being a fantasy fan, I'd pick up any game hailed as a national hit without even bothering to read the reviews or listen to word-of-mouth reviews.
This world is a dating-sim RPG. You choose the protagonist's gender, and the other characters' genders shift accordingly. You make choices along your journey, and at the end, you can get married or elope, well, it was a game with a lot of endings.
An otome game, a gal game [1], and an RPG. Apparently I was born into this kind of messy setting. Magic and swords, elves and dwarves, slimes and goblins. And I'm a fairy, a species that has a very high chance of existing in a world like this.
By the way, if my memory's serves me correctly, I'm a fairy whose job is to travel from this world to another and beg the protagonist, "Please become the Hero, my world's in danger!" Then I tag along on the journey, a high-spec fairy capable of displaying level and status screens, and also a love-interest.
I'm female.
Does that mean if the Hero is coming, they'll be male?
--- Being a capture target, I think I'll pass on that.