Summary:
Sheldon looses his footing and lands in an unknown place.
And
Penny wakes up in an unfamiliar place.
Notes:
Another one spun from the Prompt fic.
So, before anything, some housekeeping.
Yes, this is an 'Isekai' story, and by that I mean, Sheldon gets transported to another world. BUT, this is not Sheldon being overpowered, or getting a harem or any of the other tropes usually seen in this type of fics.
This is just our regular Sheldon being thrusted into a different world and learning to adapt.
Sheldon considered himself a rather patient individual. After all, he had not proceeded with his scorched earth plan on his 'friends' -the word feels wrong- after the mess in the Arctic, as was his initial plan. Rather he took care to listen to his mother and decided to forgive them, to put his other cheek.
To forgo his Nobel dreams in the name of friendship.
His mother was rather proud of his decision but Sheldon felt that he lost something important. He no longer found the same joy in the things and activities he had ingrained into his routine for years. For the first time in his life, Sheldon Cooper PhD was lost.
Of course he still went through the motions, laundry night, Halo, Thai food, orange chicken (that should be tangerine chicken), and Penny. She's the only one that can still be considered a friend.
And yet, despite 'things being the same' this feeling of emptiness never goes away.
Once Amy Farrah Fowler joins the group he starts getting anxious. These people, his supposed friends want him to stop being himself, they want to change him, to make him 'Human'. Sheldon scoffs at that, Howard, Raj and Leonard confound emotions with wanton abandon of their baser desires.
Amy Farrah Fowler wants him to abandon even more things, his interests and hobbies, obstacles for her to remove…it was Ramona all over again. Except this time, Amy had the group's backing and support.
Sheldon was feeling trapped.
And now, those same people have dragged him from his safe place, his home, his spot, with lies and deception about a Train exposition in Vegas. He should have known that there was no real possibility that they would present the East Indian Railway No. 22 in this supposed Exposition.
To add insult to injury, it was revealed to him that the purpose for this trip was in reality to witness the culmination of the train wreck that is Penny and Leonard's relationship in a cheap Vegas chapel.
Utterly humiliating.
He demanded that Leonard stop the car and let him out. He would rather walk in the Nevada desert than participate in this sham of a wedding. This was the last straw. He couldn't be around these people, already making plans, contracts and letters in his head, Sheldon walked into the desert and was followed closely by an anxious Penny, an exasperated Leonard and an angry Amy.
"Moonpie, please, let's go back to the car." Penny's voice was pleading. Sheldon usually found Penny's voice to be attractive and soothing, the tone would set him at ease, but on this occasion he didn't want to hear her. He had trusted her.
Walking faster up a dune his longer gait gave him an advantage over her.
Why couldn't Penny understand that this wasn't okay? It was beneath her, it was beneath him. "Don't call me Moonpie!" The anger in his voice sounded more George than Mary and that only made him angrier. He was starting to feel light headed.
Finally reaching the top of the dune he needed to vent, turning and looking down showed that only Penny was there, the rest were rather behind and walking at a regular pace, Penny was the only one truly making the effort to reach him, and thus would be the recipient of his anger.
"Penny! Please stop, I expect nothing from the rest. But you? You were supposed to be my friend. I have made no secret of my feelings about you and Leonard's relationship and now you want to make me complicit in it? In a cheap chapel that smells of vomit, smoke and alcohol no less. You deserve more, you deserve better." He's panting now, due to the physical effort and the emotional outburst. Sand has infiltrated his shoes and it's both annoying and painful, he understands why Anakin hates it.
"Sheldon, I…" Penny raises her hands up in defeat "What do you want me to do? I lo-love Leonard and want to marry him." She once again pleads, "Please come down and let's go to the car."
"Like hell. I will no-" Sheldon takes a step back in the middle of his sentence, he can feel the sand shift under him, suddenly a familiar feeling of being weightless and his stomach dropping assaults him, he closes his eyes and waits for the impact, bracing for the pain.
It never comes.
Penny scrambles up the dune as fast as she can. The sand burns her hands and legs but she doesn't care. One moment Sheldon was there and then she saw the panic in his eyes as he tumbled backwards. She's hoping and praying he hasn't hurt himself by falling down the other side of the dune.
Except, there's nothing there once she makes it up. There are no marks or trails in the sand, it looks undisturbed. A snake of anxiety and fear coils around her spine.
"Sheldon?!" She waits for a response. Only her panting breaths can be heard.
"Hey Moonpie, where are you?!" Silence is the only response. That snake of fear now makes her body a home.
Something was wrong.
The rest arrive soon enough, she explains the situation and everyone is searching alongside her, panicked for the first time.
But they turn up empty handed. It's as if he had just disappeared. It's impossible.
Amy mentions quicksand but even she doesn't sound sure of it. They still end up calling 911, in less than 12 hours they get an excavator there and they only find more sand.
Penny is shocked and doesn't know what to do. She's trying not to cry, to have hope. But her gut is telling her that Sheldon is gone.
The same gut that told her marrying Leonard was a bad idea. She refused to listen and look where it led them.
Sheldon said she deserved better. She was going to listen this time. And she was not going to stop searching, he had to be somewhere even if deep down she knew it was useless.
Sheldon woke up with a start, his mind already bringing his last moment of consciousness at the forefront. He expects pain, scorching heat, maybe a hospital bed, but the feeling under his fingers is that of blades of grass, his back is not hurting but he is wet.
No, not exactly.
Opening his eyes Sheldon sees the early morning sun. Looking down at himself he finds his body and clothes covered in a light layer of dew, as if he had spent the night outside.
Further observation shows that his fingers were right, he is lying in grass. He's in a clearing, dense forest surrounds the clearing and he can hear birds, critters and nature all around him. The temperature is warm, probably Summer.
This is…odd.
He tries to dig deeper in his memories but there is nothing after falling, examining his own body reveals a change but not one he expected, or wanted, or even thought possible. He compares his hands to the ones he used to write an email this morning and they're different. They're still his hands but a quick search of his memory brings him the image he needs to compare them to, these are the hands he had at 22.
His 35th birthday had passed just a few months ago.
Focusing on the strangeness of the situation keeps the panic at bay. 'Focus on the sensations and not the emotions.' He repeats this to himself.
The clothes were the ones he was wearing in the desert. Checking his pockets, nothing. He still had his belt and belt buckle, the belt buckle had a small hidden stainless steel knife, custom made to his specifications and apparently missed by whatever force brought him here.
Sheldon could feel the panic now, on the outskirts of his consciousness. Where was he? The empty pockets and the change in biome meant that someone or something had moved him deliberately. The fact that his body was younger made him more likely to believe that this was an extraterrestrial force.
But if that was the case, why leave him in the middle of a clearing like this? Why spare him?
Long archived memories of his father and Meemaw teaching him how to survive in the wilderness as well as his own planning and education coalesced in one simple plan:
-Find where you are. Solution: Wait until nighttime in order to navigate using the stars.
-Find a safe spot to sleep. Solution: A tree should offer enough distance between most predators
-Find water and food. Solution: No sound of running water, needs further investigation. Belt can substitute as a sling. Belt buckle knife opened possibilities for food. Alternative, locate edible berry bush.
With a plan in mind, Sheldon set off towards the forest. Careful to listen for large predators. And after 2 hours of walking Sheldon was definitely not having a good time.
He was thankful for the hunting lessons, it helped him avoid the tracks of bigger animals, he was also thankful for the lessons on how to navigate the forest. He was thankful for his acute hearing as an hour into his walk he was able to find a decent sized river and was moving upstream to try and find any signs of human life.
He was not thankful for his large frame, it made it harder to move silently. He was not thankful for the way his feet hurt and he was certainly not thankful for having to climb a tree just as the sun was setting.
His hands hurt and muscle pain was making itself known.
The tree was decent sized, he found a branch that would hold his weight and sat to wait for night to fall. He was running through different ways of how to contact his family once civilization was in sight, when all his plans came crashing down.
He did not recognize these stars, no North Star, no little dipper, no Orion's belt. He was not on Earth.
Sheldon had a panic attack. He tried to control his breathing but it kept coming fast, he was alone, he tried to not shiver and stay in place, he was crying, he was going to die. He wanted to live.
Morning came but it brought no respite to Sheldon.
He had not slept for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Every time he had fallen asleep, panic would seize him anew in a vice-like grip. His muscles hurt and he was feeling dirty which triggered a new panic attack as he hyper focused on how long it had been since his last shower, the last time he used soap.
Sheldon was unable to leave the tree. Every time he tried to climb down fear would grip him and a new wave of panic would assault him, not to mention he kept dozing off only to wake up due to a jolt of fear.
It was hunger that ultimately forced him to climb down, however he was very anxious and would jump at any noise, he wanted to climb back up that tree, but Sheldon had no one now, shivering and whimpering he forced his legs to propel him forward. He would not stop.
Each step felt jarring and wrong. How many times had he been compared to Pinocchio? Now he truly felt like a puppet, jerky and halting steps, one after the other. His body somehow not his own. Keeping track of time was no longer a concern, he just knew that he needed to keep moving or he would die.
It was the sight of the berry bush that brought him back to the moment, his mind given something else to focus. ´Ribes uva-crispa or commonly known as Gooseberry, native to Europe but can be found in North America as wel-'
While his mind worked, Sheldon's body acted. His long and deft fingers carefully avoided the sharp spines of the bush. He wanted to devour his small bounty immediately but he waited until he could run them under the water of the stream.
Sheldon resolved himself after the taste of the first berry. ' I will make it.' The sweet liquid brings comfort and strength to his tired body and mind.
Now with newfound resolve, Sheldon forces his body to continue to move forward, the river his only guide. And Sheldon walked, as if his life depended on it.
It most likely did.
Gooseberries were plentiful but by day five since arriving here, he wanted something else. He hadn't gotten sick so far and he needed to start considering the real possibility that he would not find another human anytime soon.
He had killed game before, had knowledge of how to make traps, knew how to clean and dress the kill. But he didn't have a way to cook the meat, knew that the smell of blood and cooking meat would invite the larger animals that so far had been happy to ignore him. He needed to make a decision soon.
It's as he is considering making a snare trap that he notices it. A plume of smoke in the distance, it takes his breath away.
He can't move fast enough towards it. His body, tired and dirty, muscles hurting, and lack of proper rest, but Sheldon is not stopping. Not when the promise of salvation is so close.
Sheldon Cooper wanted to live.
His feet hurt with each step, he is exhausted, panting and there's a terrible pain somewhere under his ribs. He is almost at the point of origin of the smoke.
Sheldon finally stops to try and recover when he finds the dirt path, it's well traveled and he can see that it leads up to a small hill where a sturdy looking wooden fence sits.
A village just beyond it.
Sheldon can almost weep with relief. His efforts were rewarded. Seeing a figure moving towards him Sheldon tries to fix his appearance a little, but the stubble, bags under his eyes and red rimmed eyes makes it harder for him to feel confident. Not to mention his ragged and dirty clothes.
He attempts a smile but the moment he sees the face of the person in front of him, it leaves his pale face. His stomach lurches with both delight and apprehension. He knows this person.
It's Penny.
Penelope was pissed. She had been training all her life to become an adventurer like her dad, she never made it a secret that this was her goal. She trained, trained and then trained some more until she could kick everyone's butt in the village. Even Kurt was no longer a challenge. But her parents still refused to let her go in the next convoy to Safral.
It was the closest city to their village, she wanted to start small, just hunting goblins and picking up herbs and work her way up to orcs and bodyguard jobs until she could join a prestigious Guild. She knew that her parents loved her and worried about her, that was the only reason she hadn't just ran away during the night, but she was turning 19 soon and didn't want to stay here.
She didn't want to just become someone's wife and pop out kids every year.
Wanting to clear her mind she decided to go down to the river and light the torches for the night patrol, to give herself time to cool down before going back home.
She's so focused on her thoughts that she almost collides with a young man standing in the middle of the road, her training kicks in and she's able to easily sidestep him while grunting an apology.
Except, the man doesn't let her, he steps in her way again, and she can feel a headache start 'Not another one.'
Penelope knew that she was beautiful, but this always invited creeps to think her beauty was some sort of invitation. Last year a merchant moving through their village kept asking her to become his wife, promised to love her, to give her everything she wanted and yet he never even looked up from her bosom when talking to her. She had to break his nose so he could understand she didn't want anything to do with him.
And now another one joins the list.
She's already preparing her speech when the man talks. "Penny?" His voice is a whisper. And it's the…broken and miserable tone that gets her to look up at his face. He is a handsome man for certain, if unkempt, he is wearing strange clothes in strange colors and she guesses that he had a rough day and might even be possibly sick due to his extremely pale skin.
He's not looking at her bosom or at her legs at least, his eyes are focused on her face. Penelope has seen blue eyes before but the eyes on this man were as clear as a lake on a sunny day.
And then his hands are on her shoulders, boney fingers squeeze her but there's no strength in his hands. Still, she doesn't appreciate being touched like this and she's preparing to teach him a lesson when he drops to his knees and starts weeping.
Penelope is not sure how to act, she had assumed he was coming onto her but this felt different.
Still keeping some distance between them she puts a hand on his shoulder and asks him if he's okay. His eyes are back on her face, he says "You're not Penny." She can see his eyes roll up and his body pitch forward, only her hand keeps him from a mouthful of dirt.
'He's so light.'
Penelope looks around, wondering if this is some sort of joke but they're alone, no one is watching them.
She bites her lip as she watches the man. She should let the village leader know and let him handle this strange man, she should go back to her own tasks. Instead, she picks him up and throws him easily across her shoulders, for some reason she can't just leave this to anyone else.
It's while she's halfway to her home that she remembers the soothsayer's words from last year's festival 'No man will pick you. You will be the one to pick him.'
'Maybe mom is right and it's just the fermented alcohol speaking and not the gods.' Penelope thinks as she carries the strange man she picked up.
Her parents freak out at the state of the man but they act quickly and before Penelope can go out of the room her dad already disrobed the man while her mom checks him for injuries and bites.
Penelope tries to not look but…well, she needs to make sure he's not hurt.
Her mom was a healer so their house was fully stocked with all the needed stuff to quickly bandage the young man. Her mom had tried to make Penelope learn but none of it stuck, she left that for her older sister and instead picked up a sword.
Once the young man is covered in bandages and medicinal herbs, her dad dresses him in old but clean clothes and calls out to her "Penelope, come, carry him to Timothy's old room." Her dad grunts as he stands up, his knees must be hurting again.
Penelope carries the young man under her mother's watchful gaze, she has learned to never get in between a healer and their patient, so she carefully lifts him and then as gently as possible she puts him down on the creaky bed. Once he's safely on the bed Penelope goes to the corner of the room and sits against the wall watching as her mother carefully forces medicinal tea down the young man's throat. Her mom's hand is shining slightly as she makes sure he won't choke.
This is exactly why Penelope can't be a healer, it requires precise control of Mana. One bad move and you killed your patient. 'No, thank you.'
"He'll be okay." Her mom sounds so sure that Penelope doesn't doubt her. "He's thin but not too badly malnourished. The scratches and bites on his body are small, no snake or pixie bites so we don't have to worry about that whole mess."
"That's good then."
Her dad entered the room with a blanket and put it on top of the young man, her mom adjusted it so it covered him from the neck down.
"Now, where did you find this stray?" Her dad teased as he sat down next to her mother.
"He literally was in the middle of the road, saw me and passed out."
Her dad laughs and even her mother is fighting a smile which just pisses her off.
"Oof kid. That stings."
"Har har, not like that."
"Okay." Her mom claps a couple of times. "Let's give this young man some time to rest."
Penelope can't wait to go back to her normal life.
Sheldon awakes slowly, for a moment he thinks that he's back in his bed and that the strange nightmare is over. Then his eyes adjust and sees an unfamiliar wooden ceiling, runs his fingers on the blanket covering him and the coarseness of it reinforces the reality.
It wasn't a dream.
Sitting up on the bed he looks down at himself, he's no longer wearing his filthy clothes, the shirt and pants he's wearing are obviously handmade and made to last. 'Farmer's clothes.' He thinks idly. His fingertips and feet hurt, but not as bad as they did before, someone bandaged him and guessing by the smell wafting off from him, the bandages were soaked in medicinal herbs.
Not a dream.
He covers his face for a moment, takes a deep breath and forces himself to face reality and look around the room. It's a small room, the bed creaks as he moves to sit up, it's small but not dirty which comes as a relief. There aren't any actual windows, just a small rectangular opening at the top of the farthest wall where sunlight is currently coming in from.
Sheldon recalls the last memory he has and he can remember meeting someone, no, not someone. At least, not just anyone. He had met Penny.
Except, it wasn't his Penny, this stranger was younger, tougher, her toned muscles and slightly height advantage over his Penny would make it that if they were side by side you could not mistake one for the other. Not to mention this young woman had golden hair, infinite wheat fields would fail to capture the eye catching color.
This Penny had brighter and greener eyes.
Sheldon's not sure how much time he spends in that position, sitting on the side of a stranger's bed, trying to come up with plans for the future and coming up empty. He's still trying to figure out how to move forward when the door into the room opens and Penny walks in. He can't help it, he stares, he tries to find every single detail that makes this Penny unique.
She's wearing simple farmer clothes, the blouse doesn't have any cleavage and the skirt ends at the knees. Seeing the hem of the skirt Sheldon has to rethink his initial assessment of 'simple'. Artful stitching in yellow depicts corn and wheat motifs. The fabric is also off-white which regular farmers should not be able to afford to keep this clean. No visible patching reinforces that idea.
A snap of fingers in front of his eyes forces him away from his examination. Penny is flushing in anger, her hip locks and her fists rest on them.
"Eyes up here Stranger" Penny's eyes are narrowed and she doesn't look amused at all. It reminds Sheldon of his own Penny in that first prank war a lifetime away.
Sheldon tries not to laugh, he really does try, but the mannerisms, the tone, everything is just so Penny that he can't help himself. A moment later he's sobbing into his hands. He's never going to see his Penny again. His Meemaw or his mom.
Sheldon has no illusions, whatever force brought him here is so beyond him that it might as well be an uncaring god. He was de-aged, transported to another world and put close to a place where he ended up meeting a version of Penny.
He is but a dancing monkey.
Penelope couldn't understand this stranger, he woke up and the first thing he did when seeing her was to run his eyes over her body and when she demanded answers he started laughing and the next moment he started crying. She could only shake her head at him. Crazy, that one.
"Are you okay? I found you on the road here."
The man manages to control himself enough but now looks defeated. As if he just lost something very important. "I will be fine. Thank you for your assistance. I fear that without it I would have perished."
Wow, he talks like one of those wizard guys. Penelope still remembers that he called her Penny, it sounds cute but no one has ever called her that before. "I'm Penelope. What's your name?"
"Sheldon. My name is Sheldon C-...just Sheldon."
"Nice to meet you Sheldon, do you need us to help you find this 'Penny' you were calling for?" He looks sad again but he shakes his head.
"No. She was my friend. You remind me a lot of her." A shy smile appears on his face for the first time and her heart jumps a little. No, she's not going to fall for this tall stranger.
Sheldon was not sure about what to do.
He supposed the easy answer would be to just live. Due to several factors he thought it was highly improbable that he would be able to return to his world. Not the least, his de-ageing.
Currently he was helping around the farm where he had been allowed to stay for the past month. Penelope's family farm to be more exact.
He was glad to not have disclosed his last name, from what he had been able to gather, in this world only nobles used last names. Wyatt and Caroline were Penelope's parents, former adventurers who opened their home to him.
Wyatt was as tall as himself, used to be the tank of the party. Which explains the many aches that litter his body, particularly his knees. Thankfully he was semi-retired, his son Timothy taking over most farm duties and living on the other side of the fields.
Caroline had been the healer and she was the one taking care of Wyatt's injuries which led them to spend time together and eventually marry.
She could also use Magic.
Magic was another discovery that blew his mind but before he could start filling his head with ideas of becoming a Sorcerer, he was promptly informed by Caroline that his own Mana reserves were small, ideal for healers, artificers and enchanters, those that needed perfect control.
"Sheldon! You were told to take it easy!"
And then there was Penelope. At the start he had been tempted to call her Penny, but spending time with her revealed that while similar ultimately they were different people. The one thing consistent in both versions was their unwavering kindness.
The young woman soon arrived to his side and chastised him "Look at this! You're going to hurt yourself." She pointed to the wooden cart he was pulling.
"I appreciate your concern, but with a judicious use of Physics, this is but a trifle."
"This is a custard cake?"
"What?"
"What?" Penelope couldn't hold it in anymore and she laughed at his confused expression. Yes, the other thing she shared with Penny was a love for teasing him.
"Very amusing." Sheldon tried to keep the affection from his voice. "I assume it's lunch time?"
"Yeah, c'mon, let's go."
"Very well, I shall go after delivering this last cart." Sheldon kept moving and Penelope walked alongside him, talking all the while. As much as Sheldon might have disliked small talk in his previous life, in this one it was a welcome activity.
After a couple of months Caroline takes the time to teach him how to use Mana.
Sheldon finds it extremely weird, it's like trying to move his hair. That's the closest he can describe it, it's trying to feel something that you know it's there but you shouldn't be able to feel it. But Sheldon is nothing if stubborn so he practices, and he practices some more and then even more, even when he's doing other things. Until it clicks for him, one moment he's trying and the next he can feel it.
The hair comparison is closer than he thought. Strands of…something tickle his consciousness, a new limb he didn't know he had.
Caroline teaches him to use them, to affect the world around him. Stitch wounds, encourage the natural healing of the body, treat burns, numb sensations.
"Excellent job Sheldon. If I didn't knew any better I would say the priests had taught you for years."
Sheldon scoffs "Priests in any world are the ones trying to pass off natural phenomena as supernatural in order to further their agenda. The only teaching they do is meant to obscure actual knowledge."
Caroline looks at him with no expression. "Not a fan of priests?"
"I suppose the experiences from my previous world have colored my views, but usually priests and gods tend to prey on those in the dark." It isn't until the words have left his mouth that Sheldon thinks that maybe he shouldn't be so frank about religion in this world. The last thing he wants is to be burned at the stake.
"I like you Sheldon." Caroline finally smiles at him. "Those priests and the ones calling themselves Saints only use their power for selfish reasons or for those that can afford it."
Sheldon nods, suspecting that this world had its fair share of corruption.
"Sheldon, are you still not done?" Penelope entered the living room and asked him, these days he was helping her light the torches for the night patrol.
"Ah! My daughter, the perfect test subject. Come, come."
"No! I'm goin-"
"I said come here." Caroline's expression had not changed but there was a certain pressure behind her smile that made Penelope obey.
"Now Penelope, lie on your back here, I'm going to teach Sheldon something, all you need to do is stay still. Do you think you can do that?"
Penelope smiles through gritted teeth but follows her mother's orders.
"Okay Sheldon, this is a very simple spell and one that can get you a lot of money, should you need it." Sheldon is focusing completely on Caroline. "Now, put your hand here." Sheldon is about to do it before noticing that Caroline was pointing to Penelope's lower abdomen.
"Mom!"
"Now, now, no need for the dramatics. You don't need to touch the subject Sheldon. Just put your hand around this distance, it will be more than enough." Caroline pointed Sheldon to hover his hand 2 inches away from Penelope's body.
"That's great, just like that. Now focus your mana and blanket this area with it. You should feel three distincts openings."
Sheldon shook his head, he could feel a lot more than what Caroline was describing.
"Okay, relax Sheldon. You're focusing too closely, think of your mana like water, let it flow and find the three largest flows."
He followed her instructions and was pleased to instantly know what she was referring to.
"I believe that I have located the openings."
Caroline smiled at him "Great! Describe them to me." Penelope tried to talk but a look from her mother was enough to stop her.
"They're…not the same size?" Sheldon hated feeling like a student again but the flash of pride when Caroline nodded soothed his ego. "I believe that two are the same size, while the third one is slightly larger…they're arranged in a pyramid?"
"Excellent job! Yes, that's what we're looking for." Caroline even clapped. "Now, carefully, very carefully, create a ball of mana to fit in the space between the openings, you want it to stick as closely as possible to the walls of the pyramid without pushing with too much force." Caroline's hand was on top of his. "I'll watch you, but won't help you."
Sheldon carefully created the mana ball inside of Penelope's body.
"Just like that, yes. Now, solidify that Mana. No, don't worry, I can see you trying to think how not to hurt the patient. This is why we create the Mana ball first, you can work with the inside of the ball while leaving the outside of it alone. Yes! Just like that, make it dense…and stop. See how the Mana is dense but the ball is not in danger of bursting? Remember that feeling, that's what we're looking for."
Caroline motioned for Sheldon to stop and for Penelope to stand up.
"Now, stand up and move around, jump a little, try running in place." Penelope did just as her mother ordered but Sheldon didn't notice any grimaces of pain or any discomfort in her body language. "Do you feel anything weird or out of place?"
"No. I feel just like normal." Penelope kept touching her tummy.
"Let me just check everything is fine." Caroline checked with her Mana one more time and nodded satisfied. "Couldn't have done it better myself, your control has advanced incredibly fast. You might be a Genius."
Sheldon tried to suppress the rush of warmth at those words but it was impossible.
"You can usually charge somewhere between 8 to 12 silver coins for this. But! Don't let the priests of O'okla know that you're doing it."
"Why?" Maybe this is where her hate of priests came from?
"Bastards worship the O'okla The everpregnant Mother. They won't attack you for applying this spell but they will not stop lecturing you about how women are meant to always be pregnant and how sex should only be had for reproduction and so on and on. Trust me, you're better off just lying to them about knowing how to apply this."
"Wait? This is an anti-contraceptive spell?" Sheldon couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Er, not sure what that word means, but the spell prevents you from having babies. It will last 3 months, give or take a couple of days."
Sheldon was still frozen in place. He didn't know how to feel about what he had just done, it was a medical procedure but he had basically mapped Penelope's womb with his Mana.
"Mom?"
"Yes Dear?"
"Is this the spell you've been applying to me since I was fourteen?" Penelope sounded eerily calm even when her face was flushing red. "And that you claimed it was to help prevent bad cramps?"
"Now Dear, let's calm down."
Deciding that he wanted no part of the discussion that was about to take place, Sheldon left the room quickly.
Penelope couldn't believe her mother.
Just because Margaret got pregnant at 15, it didn't mean that she would do the same. Besides, Penelope hadn't ever slept with anyone, too focused on training and improving her skills to pay any attention to boys and then men.
And to have Sheldon of all people apply the damn spell…
Penelope can only close her eyes, mortified.
Sheldon has been helping around the farm and the village ever since he first came in 6 months ago, he went from tall and scrawny to tall and muscular, not like Kurt, but Sheldon had developed some good muscles. Probably also because her mother fed him like he was going to the market.
But the point was, he needed to learn to protect himself. He now was able to at least run for 30 minutes without collapsing, so it was time for Penelope to teach him how to use a sword.
Sheldon was panting, he could feel his arms going numb but still he refused to let go of the wooden sword.
When Penelope had suggested that he learn how to use a sword, he had been about to reject the mere idea of it, before remembering that this was his new world. And in this world, if you wanted to do anything, you needed to be able to protect yourself.
On top of regular animals, this world also contained magical animals, goblins, dyres, pixies and more, thankfully they were non-sentient and literally created out of the inherent magic of the world (Unlike Orc, Elves and Dwarves who had a long varied history like humans and were fully sentient.), but all of them, whether magical or not, presented a menace.
And that led to this, Sheldon standing across from Penelope while she beat him up. Not entirely true lately, but more often than not, it was a common occurrence in the beginning.
"C'mon Shelly. Giving up already?"
Sheldon didn't respond, preferring to save energy. He knew that Penelope loved taunting people in order to rile them up.
"Well, if you're not going t-HEY! That's cheating!" Using her wooden sword she pointed towards his exposed arm, where earlier in their session she had landed a hit that bruised him purple, but now, it was barely noticeable. Learning to heal included lessons on healing yourself.
"It's not cheating. Do you understand how difficult it is to heal in the middle of sparring?"
Penelope didn't respond and instead pressed the attack.
On the bright side, he was definitely getting hit less and less with each sparring session.
Sheldon had never enjoyed baths. To him, they were just a soup of your own impurities.
But baths were the only thing available to him in this new world, oh sure, he could easily arrange and rig a working shower, but the water would be a nightmare to temperature control. Instead, he followed Japanese bath culture. Cleaning himself thoroughly, rinsing his body and then repeating the process once more before soaking in the bath.
Thankfully Caroline also made and sold her own soap. It smelled strongly of rosemary.
Yes, Sheldon could see the appeal of baths now.
Penelope and Sheldon had a very simple task that day. Go to the market and pick up payment from a stall owner. Penelope knew the person, usually it would be her dad going but his knees were bothering him a little and her mother had put her foot down about him resting.
It all was going great. They got the money and were on their way back. Sheldon and her were chatting about Safral, because Sheldon wanted to know what life was in cities, and while Penelope had only been there a couple of times with her parents, she still gave him as much info as she remembered.
And Valeria from the baker's shop had to come and stick her nose in their business. To be more exact, it wasn't her nose, but her chest.
Valeria bumped into Sheldon and pretended to be sorry and before Penelope could intervene, the…she's struggling to find the word to use, and then she remembers the word her sister uses to describe any woman coming close to her husband. The bawd. Yeah, that's it.
Before Penelope can intervene, the bawd has already flashed her bare chest at Sheldon.
The poor man looks stunned and his face quickly turns red, and Valeria takes the chance to run her hands all over his chest. At that Penelope finally reacts and pulls her away from Sheldon.
"Hey! Hands off bread girl."
Sheldon still hasn't reacted which makes Penelope angrier. Valeria's chest wasn't THAT good, she had seen it during the rare times she used the communal bath. Her own chest was better if Penelope was honest.
"What's it to you, failed adventurer?" Valeria didn't back off.
"Bring it, you bawd!"
Valeria's eyes widened and launched herself at Penelope, but before she could reach her, a strong arm grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back.
"Kurt?" Both women exclaim.
Kurt was Valeria's big brother and until recently he was the strongest fighter in the village.
"Val, you do know Penelope's mom is the only healer right? Win or lose, you're not going to have a great time."
Penelope sighs in annoyance, she wanted to teach this girl a lesson on…something. Don't mess with Sheldon? No. Don't mess with Penelope? Close but not quite there.
Kurt drags Valeria away without another word but Penelope doesn't like the look he gives to Sheldon.
"C'mon Sheldon. You can stop thinking about her chest now." Penelope is really annoyed.
Sheldon shivers and finally reacts, his skin breaks out in goosebumps and his face scrunches in disgust.
"Penelope. That woman needs someone to teach her how to properly bind her blouse. She accidentally disrobed in front of me." Another shiver.
"Wait. What?" Penelope is certainly confused. "She did that on purpose, Sheldon."
"WHAT?!"
Penelope spent the rest of the way back to the farm explaining to Sheldon how some girls expressed their interest by showing the person they were interested in, their bare chest. It wasn't common, especially in the middle of the street, but Valeria had always been less shy about that. Penelope wouldn't be surprised if half the village-both men and women-had already seen Valeria's chest.
Sheldon was still reeling from his encounter with the flasher earlier that day. How could some people just do that? Some customs in this world just didn't make sense.
They were having dinner when a knock at the door forced Wyatt away, once he returned his face was sad.
"It seems we will have to wait another year before we can get a water wheel for the mill." Wyatt said sitting back down, everyone pretended to not hear his grunt of pain. "Not enough money to hire an engineer, even with gathering the materials ourselves."
"We can always-" Sheldon interrupted Caroline.
"I can design and build you a water wheel." This was child's play. Literally, he had built one as a child just for fun.
"What?" The other three at the table exclaimed. "Are you an engineer?" Wyatt asks and Sheldon has to suppress a snort and a derogatory comment about Wolowitz.
"Better. I'm a Physicist."
Of course no one knows what that actually is. But Sheldon doesn't mind, he'll show them how you can move the world, all you need is a long enough lever.
The water wheel works just as he knew it would. He is able to help with the actual construction and not just by creating a blueprint and instructions. The village has experienced carpenters and enough manpower that it's a matter of days before the water wheel is complete. Sheldon has to make some adjustments but soon enough the mill is working as intended.
The village leader comes soon after and gives Sheldon the money they would have spent on the engineer from Safral. It makes Sheldon feel good to know he's helping the village that helped him in his time of need, but he feels that it's too much money.
So he helps the village build sturdier walls. Teaches them to replace dirt roads with Roman roads. Creates a pumping system for the well after a child fell in trying to pull water.
He's expecting the gratitude. He's not expecting the swarm of girls.
"No, he doesn't need any more bread."
Penelope is pissed. This is the fifth girl TODAY that is bringing Sheldon bread. Ever since he started helping around the village it has been hell for Penelope, not just Valeria but every other girl (and some boys) were always at their doorstep trying to catch a glimpse of Sheldon.
It had gotten to the point that Penelope had to actually pull guard duty while Sheldon bathed.
"Maybe we can spread a rumor that Sheldon likes medicinal herbs?" Her mom was not taking this seriously and Penelope simply glared at her.
Moving towards the fields Penelope took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. It wasn't Sheldon's fault.
She's able to easily spot Sheldon, they had arranged a small area to serve as their training field and he was practicing with his rapier. He had liked the precision needed to wield one, not to mention that it worked perfectly with his long and flexible arms.
"Oh Penelope." Sheldon wiped his sweat with a separate piece of fabric that he prepared for that purpose alone instead of using his clothes like Penelope would. "I'm done for the day now."
"Let's go then Shelly, before a horde of girls attack the fields." She's joking but her tone comes out serious.
Sheldon startles a little at Penelope's deadpan tone. Ever since he became a hot topic among the bachelorettes of the village, Penelope had been acting strange. After discussing it with Caroline, Sheldon had come to the conclusion that Penelope was afraid of losing his friendship.
Sheldon had to admit that he would hate to lose her presence as well. Since arriving to this world Penelope had been a constant.
He was perfectly aware that she wasn't a copy of Penny. No. She was her own individual, a unique being that Sheldon appreciated and he had started to consider that perhaps he held stronger feelings for her as well.
The only romantic relationship he had known was Amy and he can now admit to himself that he hadn't been happy with her. She was in love with the idea of Dr. Sheldon Cooper PhD and found the human underneath lacking, his hobbies, interests and passions not meeting her approval. He had even considered abandoning Physics just to please her.
What a joke.
It took him coming to a different world for him to want to live for himself and not for others. He no longer sought the approval of those that looked down on him, of those that betrayed him. He was happy here.
Looking at the fuming woman walking beside him towards the baths, Sheldon makes a decision to approach Caroline and ask about what the correct courting procedures are.
He is ready to move forward again.
Penelope leaned against the wall of the baths, listening to the sounds of water.
Sheldon might leave her. It wasn't impossible that he could find someone to love and that thought hurt her, she could swear that he had catched him looking at her with interest before…but she wasn't sure.
'What if he says no.'
It's that thought that makes her freeze in place. So what? If she didn't take a chance then he would leave and she would never know for sure. If she took a chance and Sheldon rejected her then at least she would know. She would be able to move on with her life, even if it didn't have Sheldon in it.
'Please Gods, I know mom doesn't believe in you. Please, please, let Sheldon say yes.'
Entering the baths quietly, Penelope disrobes completely and moving with a confidence she doesn't actually feel she's standing behind Sheldon. He's scrubbing his body and hasn't noticed her.
"Sheldon."
He jumps as if someone had stabbed him. His mouth opens and a blush covers his face when he notices she's not wearing anything. Penelope is also happy to see that other parts of him are reacting to her.
"Sheldon." She repeats, her stance is full of fake bravado. Her hands are on her hips and her chest is out proudly. Penelope wants to cover herself but fights off the feeling with pure willpower. "I wanted-"
Her voice dies as Sheldon stands up from the stool he was using to sit. Her skin is starting to feel hot.
"Sheldon?" Her voice shakes slightly as he takes a step forward. This is the first time she's been in this situation and she's not sure what to do…so she listens to her body, and takes a step forward.
Caroline is getting tired of her daughter and Sheldon dancing around each other.
Penelope is usually so bold about everything, but here comes this young man and she's a regular maiden in love.
She's looking forward to her bath, she will be able to make plans about those two while soaking in peace. Her hand is on the door when she hears the noises from within and she frowns 'Another farmhand and their girlfriend?' Caroline wouldn't mind if they cleaned after themselves but this is the third-
"Sheldon!"
And that's her daughter's voice. Huh.
No need for plans then. Her bath can wait, better to go and distract Wyatt then, the man didn't have a set bath schedule but knowing her daughter's luck, he would choose this time to bathe.
Walking back towards the farmhouse Caroline hums a happy song.
"You're mine now Sheldon." Penelope is sitting in the bath with Sheldon, she's sitting between his legs and the water is soothing their bodies.
"While I usually would take umbrage with that statement. I find myself unable to refute it." Sheldon's hand is on her tummy and he's drawing invisible patterns.
"Say it." Her voice is soft but commanding.
"I'm yours Penelope." His voice is just as soft.
Penelope nods happily and melts into his embrace a little more. "And I'm yours." It's not a question, she turns her head to look at him.
"You're mine." His face has a soft smile and his blue eyes threaten to swallow her. Penelope has to close her eyes to stop tears from coming out.
Her parents are not surprised.
"I saw it coming from that first day." Her mom sighs contentedly.
"I knew it would happen when you yelled at that girl bringing him a basket of bread." Her dad at least hadn't seen it from 7 months ago like her mother.
They attend their first festival together and Penelope can't stop smiling.
The Village square is full to the brim so she takes this moment to announce everyone should back off from Sheldon. Jumping on the stage set for the musicians Penelope clears her throat and loudly declares "SHELDON IS MINE!"
Girls and boys good naturedly boo her, though she feels that Valeria's is more serious.
From up on stage she can see her mother shake her head while holding onto Sheldon's arm, her father is simply laughing as he sits with the other older men.
Sheldon is gaping at her, Penelope only smiles at him.
Sheldon is admiring the wooden ring in the middle of the village square, unsure of its purpose. The barricade is low enough that you can simply step over it so any animals would simply jump it.
He looks for Penelope but she has momentarily disappeared in search of beverages.
"Curious?"
A tall muscular man addresses him. Nods towards the ring. His face seems familiar but he can't put a finger on the reason why.
"Actually, yes. I was wondering the purpose of this ring."
"Let me show you." The man says as he enters the ring and motions for Sheldon to follow him.
It's not until Sheldon is in the ring that his brain conjures the place he has seen this face before.
"By any chance, is your name Kurt?"
"Yeah."
"Oh boy."
Penelope is waiting in line for drinks when Karen from the seamstress shop grabs her by the shoulder "Kurt took Sheldon into the grievances ring!" Before she can finish speaking Penelope is running towards the ring.
Her parents are already there on the edge of the ring and she can see her dad yelling while her mom is telling Valeria something. Penelope can't hear anything, the only sound in her ears is rushing blood.
Making it to the edge of the ring she sees Sheldon squaring up against Kurt, she taught him some barehanded techniques, but Sheldon was not meant for brawling. She sees his head rock backwards and liquid rush from under his nose.
Penelope feels eerily calm, like she's outside of her own body. She can hear herself speaking, even if she can't hear anything else.
"Is that blood?"
The last thing she remembers is Kurt turning towards her and his smug smile.
Sheldon had been naive, this ring was meant to be used by people having grievances with each other. No one could force you, you had to go in of your own will.
He tried to defend himself but as much growth as his body had gone through, his muscles were no match against the wall of muscle in front of him. If he had his rapier then it would be a different story.
A cheap shot makes him taste blood.
In the cacophony of sounds Penelope's voice comes through clearly and he looks towards her at the same time as Kurt does.
"Is that blood?" Penelope has a foot on the wooden barricade and her face is blank. Sheldon has a moment to worry that she might be going through shock, before he can stand up Penelope is already moving.
One moment she was on the other side of the barricade and the next she's pummeling Kurt. Sheldon is not using that word lightly.
Every punch makes Kurt wince in pain, it doesn't matter if Kurt puts an arm up to defend himself, Penelope goes through him. In no time at all Kurt is on the floor and not moving while blows rain down on him.
"Sheldon! Talk to Penelope! Calm her down, she's gone berserk!" Caroline yells at him.
Sheldon's body moves before he can make a conscious choice, he knows that he might pay with broken bones but he still tackles Penelope while yelling "I'm okay!" over and over.
The blows never come.
Penelope is under him, staring blankly at the sky but she's not trying to harm him. Sheldon sighs in relief. His bloody nose has stopped, by now his self-healing was almost second nature.
"Shelly?" Penelope's voice is confused. "What are you-KURT!" Anger clouds her face but this time it's expressive and familiar as she struggles to get up.
"Stop, stop!" Sheldon cleans his face with a simple application of Mana in his palm, when his hand comes away it reveals a clean and unblemished face. "I'm okay."
"Oh! Good." Penelope looks at their position. "Why are you on top of me? And why the hell does my arms hurt so much?" A grimace of pain crosses her face.
A scan reveals torn muscle and strained ligaments. Looking around he sees that Caroline is treating Kurt and Wyatt is helping her.
"I'll tell you later. For now I believe it's best if we go back to the farm."
"Berserk?" Penelope is having a hard time believing what her mother is telling her, but her bandaged arms are proof of it.
"Thankfully Kurt wasn't that badly hurt, all those muscles helped him stay alive." Her mother was annoyed.
"No practicing until you recover…and once you do I suppose you two can go to Safral. Your uncle Buzzard is also a Berserker and he can teach you how to control it."
"Wait, really? Uncle Buzzard? The man nicknamed Fuzzybear?" Penelope has a hard time imagining his chubby and jolly uncle as an unstoppable killing machine.
"Really. The man was a menace, why do you think every adventurer respects him as the Guild Leader? It's not because of the sugar cookies he makes, I assure you."
"Wow"
"Remember, no practicing. You can do anything else you want."
"I'm sure I'll find something to do."
Wyatt banged against the wall of his bedroom "People are trying to sleep!"
"I'm scared that she'll kill that poor boy." Caroline didn't know that her daughter was this…energetic. She had to wonder if any of their ancestors was secretly a succubus.
"That's it!" Wyatt looked determined when the sounds started up again. "I'm building them a room right next to the fields where they won't bother us."
Caroline was glad that she taught Sheldon that spell to prevent babies. Though in the future she hopes for blond blue-eyed children running around the farm.
5 Years later.
"Ugh, I feel bloated like an ogre." Penelope didn't know pregnancy meant she would be unable to sit down without help.
"I'm glad that you agreed that it was a better idea for the twins to be born in the village."
"Yeah well, no better healer than my own mom."
"Can't refute that."
"Hey Shelly. Love you." Penelope extended her arms towards Sheldon.
"I love you." Sheldon embraced her as best he could.
The carriage was uncomfortable but Penelope only had to hold on for a little longer, she could already see two figures waiting at the entrance of the farmhouse.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Sheldon 'The Stinger' and Penelope 'The Red'" Her dad teased them as soon as they were within earshot.
"How about Sheldon 'The Nervous' and Penelope 'The Bloated' instead?" She retorted.
Her dad's laughter finally made her feel at home.
fin.