I was bobbing up and down in my bubble being manipulated by Kine who got the brilliant idea to start juggling me like a child with a balloon. The bloody ball reacted in kind and flew up in the air. Once it reached its peak it began a painfully slow descent. The downward trajectory was anything but fast, however nothing prevented the bubble from flying fast horizontally. Something it did when a gust of wind caught the sphere and made me a slave to its whims. Eventually I bounced off a tower and got stuck on a balcony. So yes here in am attached to the side of a building akin to a pimple on a butt. I had some wriggle room, not much mind you, but some. Which meant I had to wriggle my way out of the predicament. Through some really exhausting pushing and prodding I succeeded in unlodge myself and began sauntering slowly downwards yet again. Which begs the question, where in the city am I now? It’s not like I can ask for help, or is familiar with this place. Niall has to be out there somewhere looking for me, instead of shagging the fox again. Eventually I reached street level, while scaring the daylight out of a couple out for a walk in the quiet afternoon. Too bad they did not hang around long enough to consider lending me a hand.
With my music player as my only companion I put on some catchy tune and started to jump up and down. The bubble actually touched the floor before bouncing up again, once it gained some consistent movement, I began pushing forward while pushing with my legs. I fell on my face as the sphere rotated, this did not deter me from keeping it up until I got a steady rhythm going, slowly but surely I began picking up some speed and actually moved forwards. Stopping, turning and slowing is another matter entirely and I was starting to lose control of the momentum. The downward slope was not helping me one bit either. Judging by the wall I was about to slam into, I might be able to answer the old question of what happens when an unstoppable object hits an immovable wall. My musings was cut short as I came in like a beach ball and got sent flying into the air and through another street past a lot of busy stalls. People of all ages was looking up at me utterly flabbergasted. To be fair I would also do that if I saw a man flying through town in a stubborn bubble. Needless to say I was buffeted back and forth enough times to make me seriously queasy. I dread to think about what would happen if I accidentally threw up in a confined space. Pinballing through the streets I began to lose vision and nearly blacked out when I crashed into a green net strung between several trees at the outskirt of town. Once I came to a full stop I my stomach made itself known, I frantically began searching for something to thrown up in, when I touched the otherworldly shard in my pocket. I could feel the content of my belly about to burst out when I held up the piece to my lips. Not a moment too soon, but it worked wonders. Hopefully there is no one at the receiving end. The breeze that came through the opening was probably the reason I still had fresh air to breathe.
Once my internal organs had settled down I could finally see where I had ended up this time. Outside I could spot my party mulling about, probably discussing what to do about my predicament. They caught me at least, surprisingly really since they punted me into the air in the first place. Kine had a simple solution in place to keep me grounded. Rope, lots and lots of plant fiber made into rope. With skills I never knew she possessed, my spherical prison was tied up like a ball of yarn, where every intersecting thread was secured with a solid knot. Once she was satisfied, she patted her hands together, before tying the twine onto Niall’s belt.
While hanging around there was not much I could actually do, other than listening to music and gaze upon my fellow travelers in disdain. The fairly big slab of what I can only describe as a shard mirror was once again called forth from elsewhere. Niall had kine rest it against a nearby trunk, propping it up with some ice for good measure. Seemingly satisfied with the setup, he actually hopped into said shimmering shard and vanished for a bit. Until I heard a voice calling out from inside my pocket.
“Excellent, it works. Wonderful.” He communicated through the other realm. I pulled out the piece to reply.
“Finally, I can talk to someone again. This insufferable prison is driving me rather nuts.”
“I have no reason to disagree with your statement and predicament, however I have a plan. Brace yourself and put the shard back in your pocket, it might get uncomfortable to say the least.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“I’m about to put you into a convenient canister.”
“Seriously, have you ever done this before?”
“Nope, now brace yourself in the name of SCIENCE!”
Suddenly I felt myself absorbed through my hip and everything turned dark for a moment as I found myself on solid ground again. The place I had arrived at was a humongous pile of all manner of things. Cages, clothes, food, chests, potions and rows of neatly stacked plastic boxes filled with items. A museum, mixed with a warehouse, which crashed into a landslide was a fairly apt description. The world inside the canister was both mysterious and very worrisome and I began to wonder what else this desolate place contained. My question got a most unexpected answer in the shape of the most peculiar being I have encountered thus far. It was a stereotypical chest walking on many, many tiny legs with its tongue hanging out like an affectionate puppy, and it was busy digging through some trash apparently. Probably for the best so I decided to ignore the being. Instead I opted for plopping down my plump buttocks onto a solid looking box next to a pile of bottled water. A very welcoming refresher after all I had been exposed to due to my ill conceived stunt. I will never again underestimate physics and the merits of not playing human pinball with my own body.
As I sat there in the dim light resting, the cheddar colored chest came strolling over to my location. It looked at me playfully, a marvelous feat that it conveyed so much emotion despite being an animated wooden box with a lid. Uncertain of what the thing wanted I took a drink and the creature eyed my bottle carefully. Actually, it tilted itself and the wood resembled texture bent accordingly. Not knowing what to do I gave the bottle a shake, an action that agitated the being that began to jump up and down. The next local step that came to mind was to throw the plastic container down the corridor. It flew fairly far and landed with a quiet thud, with the chest in full pursuit, until it skidded to a full stop in front of the object. Mister Mimic was oddly nimble despite its bulk and quite skilled at manipulating objects with a pink elongated tongue. The bottle got rapidly snatched up and it came hopping back to me looking very pleased. Once the thing had been dropped by my legs it looked at me longingly, clearly expecting me to do it all over again. Since I had nothing better to do, I did it yet again, and again until my arm grew ever so slightly tired. Chesty looked extremely content judging by its body language. It yawned audibly and walked around itself three times, before coming to rest by my feet. Naming this new companion of mine was still something I was woefully inexperienced at, eventually I settled with the name Chesty. Simple, plain and very self explanatory and with no one around to object I won the vote by a landslide. Yet another victory goes to me, take that you winged miscreant.
A bit later I was pulled out of the very weird pocket dimension along with my new buddy and into the twilight. Niall yelped in surprise when I came tumbling into reality along with a very stern looking chest monster. I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment and jokingly said.
“It followed me home, can I keep it? I call it Chesty.” Jennyfer crossed her arms before replying.
“You found a sentient walking chest inside our storage space?”
“Yes, Yes I did. It is a bit like a puppy, the kind my educational books talk about.”
“It’s certainly drooling enough and if Chesty had a tail, it would probably wag it.”
“Probably. I have no idea what gender it is, if such a thing exists in this case.” I replied while patting the box lid, which caused the being to give me a slobbering lick, coating me from top to toe with saliva. The breath it exhaled smells vaguely of scented wood, so it was not as unpleasant as I expected. Just very, very awkward and intimate, but after all I have been through lately I will just have to enjoy the good moments while I still can.
Niall and Kine began setting up a cozy camp for the night under the canopy of a big tree. Looking up at the night sky I could see the stars shining through and the temperature was fairly warm. I expected a fairly quiet and uneventful evening after all the exertion I went through. The contraption they put up Niall referred to as a hunting shelter and was made from sticks, rope and green tarp. He also pulled out some inflatable mattresses and unassuming looking sleeping bags. While it is not a proper hotel it does get the job done and I am certainly not foolish enough to complain. The bubble still hung ominously in the air wrapped up tightly until Jennyfer stuffed it into a Concan. All of the bindings fell limply to the ground and simply withered away with a hand gesture from Kine. Once we all were settled down and food was prepared Niall began to fiddle around with the shard and some primitive tools and a huge bottle of some foul smelling adhesive.
“What in the world are you trying to do with that repugnant gunk?” I asked in a very nasal voice pinching my nose shut.
“I intend to attach straps to the back of this piece and use it as a shield to protect myself in battle.”
“How would that work with a polearm though?”
“Badly, however I rather have a shield I can call upon, than not having one. Since this sodding blade in most cases has to be used one handed I need something to do with my free hand.”
What he said made perfect sense, looking over myself and I began to wonder if I could get some sort of shield myself.
“I would certainly love to have some extra protection myself.”
“I have some rubber if you need some of that.” He answered with deadpan sincerity.
“No, I am not looking for that kind, thank you very much.”
“I will see about getting you a shield then, I should have one around here somewhere.”
“I have seen the inside of your warehouse, good luck with that.”
My eyelids grew heavy and I began to yawn uncontrollably and nearly fell asleep on the mattress the moment my head touched the surface. Chesty would have none of that and began making itself comfortable next to the bed and gave me a lick. After a while Niall turned of the light and slid into his bag, which the fox squirmed into as well causing a bit of a noisy scuffle.
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Shard World 