The man who smelled like cinamon

Damn, what kind of prof gave homework before class? The day was beautiful and he had no more than gotten settled into his new dorm than he had received an alert through the campus app that a new assignment had been posted. Not that the Old Man and the Sea was exactly heavy reading, but still it meant that he had to stop by the school store to grab the text before he headed over to his first interview for an on campus job. Huntington wasn't that bad, pretty mid-west really, and he decided to take advantage of the weather, grabbing an apple to hold snack on while he read and waited for his interview.

At just under six foot three, Danny was very fit from all the running. While he didn't really ascribe to the university's Christian back ground, the Walker family wasn't so well off that Danny could afford to turn up his nose when a soccer scholarship had been offered. There were strings, like the job, but generally speaking he expected to enjoy his time here. As far as dating was concerned, Danny had never shied away from a challenge and was secretly excited at the prospect of being relatively anonymous again.

With his nose buried in Hemingway and his thoughts vaguely tantalized with corruption of good Christian girls, Danny never even saw the little blur from the bushes until tiny hands were pressed against his thigh and the whole world twisted in a sickening way. The apple nearly came up, along with breakfast, as his vision blurred and black spots appeared before his eyes. Instinctively, Danny closed his eyes and held his breath as he tried to stabilize himself.

The first thing he noticed was how thick the air was, how warm and wet. It was like that time he had gone to Puerto Rico with his mom for Christmas. Next came the smell. Very... Green. Like back home in Rainier after the rain. Slowly, Danny opened his eyes and confirmed what he already suspected. There was in fact a brightly colored forest all around him, though he was surprised to find himself in the middle of a green field surrounded by mushrooms.

"What the actual fuck! What the fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Danny sat up suddenly as the weight of what had happened sank in. "Where the fuck is campus?! Where the fuck am I!"

The male was panicking. Siranush clutched her sides, gasping for breath, but giddy at the realization that she had succeeded. She would go down in history as the greatest queen ever! A small giggle escaped her lips, but there were pressing matters. Like the gianormous human who was gibbering next to her. Reaching into her mana the sprite found her last reserves and gently touched the male's brain in two spots, his emotional limbic system and a part of the language center in the front left of the brain.

Heaving a great sigh, calmness rolled over Danny with an almost physical experience. The woods were beautiful, even if the foliage was strange. There was an apple tree in bloom near the edge of the clearing, though he really couldn't recall a variety of apple that bloomed purple. The air was thick and filled his lungs. The slight buzz he was feeling indicated there was probably more oxygen in it than normal. Strange birds sang out and the sun beamed down. Danny could understand that he was no longer on campus, probably no where near Indiana, but there certainly didn't seem to be a reason to panic.

"Welcome to Astghik, Human."