As I sit outside the cave (that had not only changed my destiny, but my gender as well), I curse my choice of words.

'The part about 'Without revealing my Identity' was probably the phrase that had got me into trouble. 

 The body I am presently occupying feels like mine but also not mine. 

 Well, I am not actually occupying it now, am I? No. It is my body. I will get used to it. I will adapt. Like I always do.

To make the best out of bad situations and to think positively we're my greatest strengths. These qualities that had not only helped me survive in the palace but also helped me endure my adoptive parents' unfair treatment. 

 I had lost my parents and freedom, yet, nothing had changed how I was taught to look at life. 

 Mother had always said, 'If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.'

 Well, life has given me lemons now. 

 I stand up and take a deep breath. 

 First things first, now that I am a man, I definitely had to check myself out. You know, the bits that mattered, and by that, I mean my face, obviously.  

In all the excitement of checking my size, I mean, my physical attributes, I had forgotten that I had, in fact, asked for not one but two wishes. Thus I had conveniently forgotten that there would be one more fuck up from my side.

I walk to the stream intending to disrobe, but before I can do so, my eyes fall on a pale blue cloth floating in the stream. 

 Being a curious person by nature, I go to inspect the said cloth. 

 'Men's outer robes. Probably belong to a palace servant.' I realize picking it up. 

 Though wet and a little unflattering, the robes I realize can come in handy given my present predicament. That is me, a man, dressed in female attire.

With my next move in place, I get out of the stream. I have barely taken a few steps when I see another piece of clothing floating downstream. The only difference is that these robes are still on a body. 

 You could have given me a few minutes before fulfilling my wish to be a hero, Weredra! I curse the creature and make my way into the cold stream again. 

 'I hope I am not too late.' I pray, wrapping my arms around the body and drag it out of the stream. I lower the man on the dry patch of grass under the huge tree next to the stream.

The man's face is partially covered by thick locks of hair. I push it away from his face.

 'Jackpot!' I mutter, looking at the unconscious man with the most angelic face I had ever seen. 

 I blink several times. 'How can a man be this beautiful!?'

I stare at the man's high cheekbones and straight sharp nose, and bow-shaped lips. The mole just below his lower lip begs to be tasted. It's like my brain is paralyzed by the sudden attack of his gorgeous everything. Not that I have had a chance to look at his everything.

 I don't know for how long I stare before someone kicks me from behind. 

 I yelp, and I fall forward right on the lips that had me mesmerized just minutes or probably seconds ago.

I know I should turn back and defend myself or at least punish the rude person, but the feel of the soft lips on mine makes me want to thank the person who had kicked me.

I know that the right thing to do, the decent thing to do, is to remove my lips from where they seem to slowly brush against the unconscious man's very enticing lips, but I find myself incapable of acting even remotely decent!

I hear a loud bark-like cough and realize that what I was doing was totally unladylike...excuse me, I mean ungentlemanly. 

 I lean away and slowly turn to see what fresh hell I was thrown into next. 

 I yelp and move away when I find Weredra once again standing in front of me, "Oh my fucking God!" I say, holding my heart that threatens to leap out of my chest, "You scared the shit out of me, you know that!" I yell, standing up.

"I thought you preferred this form." the little girl says in a rough voice folding her hands over her chest.

We look at each other awkwardly for a second or two before her expression changes. 

 If I had to interpret the look she was directing at me, I would describe it as 'I knew you were stupid, but nothing had prepared me for this level of stupidity.'

Frankly, I don't think I deserve that look.

Weredra starts to tap her feet impatiently.

I shake my head, and she directs her gaze at the unconscious man, "Well, aren't you going to save this lad's life?"

'Damn it!' I kneel down and check his breathing. The man had stopped breathing. 'Fuck!'

 I loosen the belt holding his top garments and expose his chest. I realize that it's a totally unnecessary move on my part but-

whatever, what's done is done. I am having a rough day, and this man is hot like fire.

 Keeping my arms straight, covering the first hand with the heel of my other hand, interlocking the fingers of both hands together, and keeping my fingers raised, I lean forward so that my shoulders are directly over the gorgeous man's chest. I press down on the chest about two inches, release the pressure, but not my hands, and let the chest come back up. I repeat to give 30 compressions at a rate of 100 compressions per minute.

 Then tilting his head and lifting his chin to open the airway, I let his mouth fall open slightly.

 I pinch the nostrils closed with the hand that was the forehead; I support his chin with my other hand. Taking a normal breath, I put my mouth over the beautiful man's mouth and blow till I can see his chest rise.

No. Reaction.

'I can't accept this!' I repeat it a couple of more times and lucky for him and unluckily for me, the third time around, before I am about to kiss him, I mean, breathe into his mouth again; he coughs and spits out water on my face.

Gross! 

I turn to look at Weredra, and she has a satisfied look on her face. She catches my eye and holds her thumb up before disappearing in a cloud of blue smoke, leaving me alone with my destiny.

I look back at the beautiful man only to find that he had lost consciousness again. 

 I sigh and pull him towards the tree trunk and prop him up against it. I don't even break a sweat.

It surprises me for a second before I remember that I was no more a petite girl. 

I had not looked at myself yet, but from what I had observed, I could tell that I was tall and strong; I also possessed incredible arm strength. The only thing that had not changed was my pride and joy: my thick gorgeous hair.

Now that I am sure that the man who had paralyzed my mind with his beauty is out of danger, I decide to change. 

 I remove my outer robes and hang them out to dry. I wear the robes that I had found earlier over my undergarments.

No sooner have I done that, I hear clear sounds of hoofs making their way towards me. 

I am beginning to doubt if I will ever catch a fucking break. 

I open the bag LiFen had given and pull out the dagger. Only it's not a dagger anymore but a sword.

 'Sweeeet!' I mutter, unsheathing it.

I want to admire the exceptionally crafted sword just a little longer, but I hear the men on horses coming closer.

"Find him. He couldn't have gone far." A manly voice drifts over to me.

He. The soldiers were definitely not looking for me, I realize and let out a relieved sigh.

"Could he have fallen into the river, Captain?" another voice floats over.

Thinking fast, I move my unconscious first love, or more appropriately my first legit crush, behind the tree and run towards the source of the voices.

Soon enough, I spot a group of ordinary-looking foot soldiers and a little bit more dignified-looking men on horseback. All of them were armed with swords. 'Mine is bigger.' I smirk, looking at the gleaming sharp edges weapon in my hand, and wink at no one in particular as if I am the hero of this fairytale before jumping from behind a conveniently placed large rock and challenging the soldiers, "Hello boys, fancy a fight?"

Just FYI, I am the hero of this fairytale.

{Word count: 1489}