Ryn of Avonside

The forest was very instantly strange, although it was only Grace and I who picked up on it at first. Avonside had been placed within a wide valley between two huge mountain ranges, the floor of which was covered in one massive forest. Back on Earth, a temperate forest like this one would've had a diverse range of trees, from conifers like pine or fir, to other species like oak and birch. Of course, if the forest was planted for timber like many modern ones were, then they'd be primarily one type.

This forest was neither. It had the feel of a forest that a conservationist group might plant, where it had all the diversity you might expect from a natural forest, without the deep and aging growth. The peculiarities didn't stop there, however. Initially, it seemed like all the trees were normal— the kind you'd find back on Earth. Then we got closer, and the hair on my arms prickled up with alarm.

Every single species of flora was wrong. Each tree, each shrub, even the grasses, were all the dollar-store knock-off version of the species they initially appeared to be. Avonside had been transported into a very literal uncanny valley.

“This is like some sort of strange abstract dream,” Grace said after five minutes of getting weirded out and confused by the forest around us.

“It is,” I agreed anxiously, walking over to a nearby tree. “Look at this one, it has the diamond pattern on the bark like a real Ash tree would have, but the leaves are a little too broad and their colour is off. Oh, look there at that recent break. You can see that the wood is too dark to be an Ash tree.”

“Yeah. I mean I can’t point to specifics, I’m just a farm girl, but I can see that they’re all a bit different,” she agreed, trailing her plastic gloved fingers down the bark of the tree in question.

“So what you’re saying is that this whole forest is the same as home, but not?” Adam asked, staring around at the foliage.

“Uh, yeah,” I nodded.

“So that means we might be able to find stuff that is similar but not quite the same as something edible right?” he continued, looking excited.

“Yeah, a lot of nut producers like this climate, as do berries. As for fruit… uh, apples, pears, cherries and uh… plums? I can’t remember. I guess I’ll have a look in the field guide thing they gave us,” I said, unsure if I was getting the science right. “Yeah, we might also find sorbs apparently.”

“The fuck is a sorb?” Melody asked with a laugh.

“Uh it’s like, a little fruit. Comes from central europe and stuff, I think it’s kinda gross personally, but the jam, juice, and alcohol made from it can be nice,” I explained while simultaneously racking my brain for information.

“Well let’s go find a Sorb then, what does it look like?” she asked, coming over to get a glance of the book.

I showed them all how to identify all the different trees and plants that might produce something edible, and then we spread out, making sure to stay within sight of each other. The forest continued to be alarmingly familiar, and I saw what I swear was a full-on squirrel stare at us for several seconds before scampering up a tree to hide.

Wait a second!

“Hey everyone!” I shouted. “There’s not-squirrels in the trees with us, keep an eye out for where they are, there’s probably food around that they’re eating!”

“Oh snap, good point!” Grace called back, giving me an impressed smile.

While I tried not to bask in the fact that I had impressed her, I got to work hunting for squirrels. Pretty soon I was seeing the little critters from time to time hiding in all sorts of trees, but none of them were what we wanted.

“Cherries!” Kelsey exclaimed and we all turned to see her pointing off further into the forest.

Sure enough, there was a smattering of cherry trees in the middle of fruiting. This was… wildly convenient. We all hurried over to look at them. They were more orange than red, but they seemed to be well… basically just your average cherry otherwise.

We collected a few, marked down an approximate location of the trees on a map we’d been given and then continued onwards. We found many more edible Earth analogue plants on our expedition, from blackberries to walnuts. Our biggest find was a grove of apple trees that didn’t even try and give a pretense of being different. They were literally just apple trees, and it took all my powers of persuasion to keep Adam from just snacking on one. It might be a trap after all, planted by the bats to poison us.

It was getting late by the time we finally stepped out of the forest and onto one of the fields that was now the boundary between Avonside and the wilderness. It had been surprisingly fun to wander around the woods with these people. Okay, not surprising, actually. They were great.

After we turned everything in back at the lecture theater, we walked wearily back to our room to hang out before dinner. In the little living area we’d constructed, we were met by a confused Duncan, and a Bray who looked… agitated. Oh no, had our luck run out?

“What is it?” Grace groaned, seeing Bray’s expression.

Bray wiggled from side to side for a second before he blurted. “So you know how we’ve all been like, hanging out and protecting each other as a group or whatever. Like we’re all friends and stuff and… yeah. Whatever you want to call it right?”

“Yeah?” I asked, trying to prompt him to get to the point before my anxiety rose to astronomical proportions.

“So I made these, to show that we’re like, a group. I don’t know what you want to call it, but we’re us…” he said in a rush, his hand shooting out to show us what he’d been clutching behind his back.

In his palm sat seven little rings made out of a silvery metal— they were fairly simple, but I could make out that our initials had been scraped into the metal. It looked like he’d tried to size them a little too.

“You made us rings?” Melody asked, stating the obvious.

“Yeah, I mean I know it’s kinda lame, but I wanted… well… yeah,” he said, obviously feeling embarrassed about it.

Before he could double back on the offer I stepped forward and picked up the one with my initials on it and grinned at him. “These are awesome, thanks Bray!”

There was a round of agreement from everyone, and they all crowded around Bray to get their corresponding ring. Bray had made the rings so that they weren't a full loop, and thus they could be bent to better fit our fingers. After a little effort, I got mine to fit on my middle finger.

“This is a cute idea,” Grace smiled, looking down at the ring on her own finger.

“Yeah, we’re like a crew or something,” Melody nodded, trying and failing to bend her ring smaller. Adam moved over to help, his big hands making short work of it.

“A family,” Kelsey said quietly, glancing between us all nervously. “That’s what we are now, right? We have each other’s backs and stuff. Like, I know we don’t actually know each other very well as a whole but… I like you guys. You’re pretty great, and the way we’ve stuck together makes me feel far safer and happier than anything my old family ever did… so yeah, if we’re stuck on this world… then we should all be a family.”

For reasons I didn't understand, my eyes sought out Grace. She already had a family she loved. What did she think of this? Her expression was pensive, maybe a little sad as she watched the group talking. I hoped she would be okay with all this, it wouldn't work without her.

“That’s a commitment,” Adam mused somberly, then shrugged. “But fuck it, I think you’re all great, too.”

“My family back on Earth is pretty average, annoying to deal with, and they don’t really get me. You are all way better than that already,” Bray grinned, then looked at me and squinted a little. “Well, except Eli. he’s just… okay.”

“Rude!” I laughed, then toned my expression down to a more serious smile as I said, “But yeah, you’re all pretty damn cool, and I’m already growing attached. I mean, I’ll be totally honest, I have so much to learn about you all, but… I think it would be fun. I like this family idea.”

I was understating how I felt about this pretty considerably. My real blood family was garbage, my father was abusive, my sister had taken a fucking swan dive into far-right lunacy, and calling my mother “a hands off parent” was being generous. Any new family at this point would be a godsend, especially one with these amazing, wonderful people in it.

The others were all behind the idea of being a little family while still acknowledging that yeah, we didn’t really know each other that well, but shit we’d liked each other’s company so far. Even Grace nodded and smiled her agreement to everything we'd discussed, although I thought I saw a flash of something else in her expression.

With our rings all now on, we headed down to dinner, except Grace, who hung back. Letting the others know that she and I would catch up, I sat down on the couch quietly and watched her. She looked… upset but in a deeper, less explosive way.

She dropped into one of the armchairs with a sigh, shifting to sit sideways so she could look at me and rest her head on the back of the chair at the same time. Her grey-green eyes were full of emotion, silent but still communicating regardless.

“You mentioned you had a family back on Earth — in the city, even — one you loved dearly,” I murmured after a minute or two.

“Yeah,” she whispered, and she didn’t continue for another minute, but when she did her voice was heavy. “I kinda feel bad for accepting this,” she said, holding the ring up that was on her finger. “I feel like I’m betraying them.”

“I thought you might feel something like that,” I said with a sad smile.

“I don’t want to replace them in my heart, you know? I’m worried that this family thing we have here will do that, rather than being an addition,” she said as she stared at the ring again.

I peered at the ring along with her, watching as she spun it around. What the hell did I say to any of this? What could I tell her that would help?

Giving a small sound of frustration, I murmured, “I wish I had something profound to say that would help… but yeah this isn’t my area of expertise.”

“What isn’t? I thought you were good at being an ear for people’s troubles,” she asked, seeming more curious that accusatory.

I had no idea how I’d gotten that reputation. I’d been to a few parties where there were some sad drunks who spilled their hearts out to me, plus there were a few classmates I used to speak to a bunch on social media who’d vent their frustrations with life in direct messages. It was all just a part of being friends with someone, or so I thought. Maybe I was wrong.

I shook my head. “Ah no, I mean the family thing.”

“Yours isn’t good?”

I shook my head again. I really didn’t want to go into details about it. That part of my life was mercifully over, it had ended when I moved out and went to college. It would never come back either if we stayed on this new world.

Grace watched me for several moments, probably expecting me to elaborate further, and when I didn’t she sighed, then gave me a half-hearted little smirk. “Well, if they were shit… I guess we all have to be a better one, huh?”

“I’m hoping,” I smiled back, enjoying the genuine care in her eyes. She had nice eyes, kind eyes. “But let's not talk about me. What can I do to help?”

“Nothing, really. Which… I guess— I guess this is just the reality of the situation. Moping won't do shit, and you've all been good to me,” she said, sounding resigned. Sucking in a deep breath, she pushed herself up out of the seat. “Dinner?”

Ouch. Letting her avoid the subject was probably not going to help, but I kept quiet.

“Sure.”