SAVE POINT 35

Dormouse

Okay, so, if flying Jagwindo was like flying the Southwest or United Airlines Joy talked about sometimes, I'd rate it 5/5 stars. …Save the lack of peanuts or Pepsi served halfway through the flight pattern and my lack of ability to determine if there typically would be any air turbulence at this altitude, it was a very smooth ride. The creature might be awkward, stunted and over-eager on land and in temperament, but, in the air? He was a god.

I was freaking impressed, anyway. I know—not much coming from the nerd kid—but two cents was two cents.

A warm breeze ruffled my hair, and I found myself smiling. Smiling?! The guy who’d just got almost-dumped by the girl he liked? ...Well, 'almost' was the clarifier there because you couldn't be actually dumped if you didn't have a girlfriend to begin with...

I know.

Yep, that was me, still smiling. And I must have been some kind of fool because I was, also, the same guy out here on the hopeless mission of finding EmeraldCity_88 and convincing a clearly-out-of-her-mind and out-of-control girl that I wasn’t completely out-of-my-element in attempting to force her to stop wrecking havoc and come back to the nerd crowd.

Yep. Like I said. Foolish.

Except the feathery, gray clouds around me parted like fingers in front of the black leopard's ears. And, through their wispy bits, I saw something that made my grin stay.

A green body of land, outlined with sandy shores—so different than the navy waves I'd been watching under me.

And peaked, thatched roofs. The Sea Dragon's Town! I'd found it!

It was crazy how, in the span of a few minutes, your luck could change—swivel. And propel you in another direction.

I had the entire situation—my return to camp and the others—already mapped out in my mind a little...err, a lot, if I was being honest. I could see me there, gliding back down to the nerd crowd with a frowning, but behaved, EmeraldCity in tow. All my friends would cheer—clap me on the back and tell me 'I did it', 'I saved the day', 'I' was a hero'... My face and chest lit with warmth at the thought. And Mimi...oh, Mimi. She'd come running to me, nearly bowling me over, and I'd catch her. And she'd apologize and rush to kiss me or... Or like she'd be a little shy about it and tell me she didn't deserve to be with me since she'd judged me while, the whole time, I'd been telling the truth and saving the world...

Yeah. Something like that.

"Down!" I told Fiasco, the Jagwindo—I think he’d said that was his name. I felt like a king saying the command, finally commanding something—like a general with the wind rippling through my hair and anticipation gathering in my fingertips—

I am not a dog.

The beast corrected swiftly in my mind.

But I can follow the command 'down'. Are we going fishing?

Fishing? I'll admit it, that tripped me up and stopped my power trip immediately. What—?!

And I realized with shuttering defeat and flurrying panic that all this ocean wind rushing past my ears was because we were diving.

Straight and literally.

'Down'.

Damnit, maybe the fucking creature's name WAS correct—

"No, no fishing!" I screamed, horror and air flapping my cheeks against my teeth as my heart leapt into my throat with the angle of the descent. My boots scrabbled against the animal's sleek sides. The dark waves of the ocean came up too fast—

"LAND!" I screeched, "They call it 'landing' for a reason find some land—"

Holy fuck we were going to crash. We were going to crash into the waves—sopping, head to toe. I saw the water coming up too fast. I slammed my eyes closed, preparing for impact—

But...

But it didn't come.

The breeze lessened.

The Jagwindo's back straightened.

No fishing.

Fiasco stated in my mind. I cracked a timid eye open, trying to dare my lungs to breathe again. And there was water rushing by but—

Underneath us and the beast's dangling paws.

Not at our faces anymore. I took a huge breath, both to calm my heart and in excited anticipation because I saw it. We were coming up on it. The docks of the port city.

Did I do good?!

The Jagwindo wanted to know, his self-satisfied tail thumping against the wood dock after he placed us there.

I think I did good. Do they have treats in this town? I'm hungry.

He shook himself, his neck reaching to peer into the dirty window of the nearest hut as he placed his huge paws up on the clay windowsill. At the mention, my stomach hit a thunderous note. I hadn't really been thinking about food when I'd left the nerd camp...

"Me too, bud," I admitted, rubbing at my middle. "Let's see if anyone's home."

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I wandered down what looked like a deserted street. The place was littered with debris like one too many storms had ravaged this place, and the people got sick of cleaning up. I picked my boots over splintered timbers, having to hop to clear a wall of them. Fiasco barely looked at it, easily clearing the wreckage with a leap.

The path opened, creating what looked like a little village center with canopies over wood doors and thatched dwellings. I was about to duck into a doorway when I heard jumbled, muttering voices.

"The Code needs repair; the mainframe for this area appears to be fried. But Henrose is infected. I won't chance it—"

An elderly man's raspy voice. I took a few, timid steps, craning around the corner to see...

It was two robed men, conversing heatedly. The hooded one was smaller and younger than the gray-bearded man in the royal purple robe.

"Well, we can't very well see who's afflicted without the Code patched up," the younger man insisted, "It requires a Level 13, and you know he's the only one—"

That's when they saw me and my giant, winged cat—standing there, staring like a deer in headlights. I tried an awkward wave which was probably a big mistake because the young man drew a pipe from his belt, putting it to his lips—

Zing!

Zing!

Damn it! Leader darts! The needle of one thudded into my neck. I heard the second hit Fiasco. The beast moaned. I was more than slightly jealous of the robed man's aim.

The world swam; the men's silhouettes wavered, wobbling and darkening as they came closer, peering at me. I saw the Jagwindo next to me stumble, then, fall to the ground—his mouth lolling open in sleep.

But it was just the two of us—the only hope against EmeraldCity—

"Hey uh," I tried weakly, stumbling to the side, "you guys need a Level 13 Coder? I’m L14. That's me—I'm—I fix Code....I—"

Apparently, I was, also, a lightweight. I tumbled to the ground in a dead-fall. But I heard boots crunch in the dirt next to my head.

And pain stabbed my chest.

My heart pounded.

Ignited.

I gasped, coming to life again.

The younger, robed man stood over me with a dart clutched in his fist. A giant needle protruded from the end.

What the bloody—?! I scrabbled backwards, the sandy dirt scraping at my arms and elbows, "Enough with the stabbing thing already!" My words felt thick and difficult.

"You're a Level 14 Coder?" The man wanted to know, leaning into my face.

I—? Level 14? My brain felt jumbled and disorganized as I struggled to answer him.

"Yes," I panted, propping myself up to rub the whole of my palm over my sweating face, "Yes, Coder. I'm a discontinued Game Warden—one of the good guys, I swear." I held up one of my hands like he was going to frisk me for weapons next.

The older one narrowed his eyes like he might see right into my soul if he tried, "We don't know if he's infected—"

"Well, we can't know until the Code is running again," protested the younger one, "We know Henrose has the darkness in him. At least, with this kid, it's a fifty-fifty chance."

I didn't like how he said 'kid'—I was a full-grown man thank you very much, ask Mimi.

"I'm not turning zombie if that's what you mean. I almost have perfect MRP," I argued, trying to pull up my stats, but there was an error beep.

[System Alert: Code Malfunction.]

I squinted at the words, my mind instantly spiraling down a tech spiral, "Malfunction? Wow, okay. If The Game Code is really fried in this aerial sphere, you'll need to start by entering the emergency restart response, hacking into one of the side frames and siphoning the energy off—"

But I stopped.

Because, by the vacant, glassy stares, it was too easy to tell these guys had never been around a motherboard before.

Why did I always feel like this whenever I talked? Like people looked at me like an alien; it couldn't be normal.

"He speaks nerd. I, for one, believe him," the younger one raised a convinced eyebrow, sending a short nod at the elder who folded his hands under his cloak as though to busy himself.

"Listen," I told them, trying to shift upwards and failing, "If you want me to work on it, I can but—but I have some demands." My voice shook on the last word—my tongue clearly unfamiliar with this new backbone I was apparently forming. Demands?! Really? That was the word I’d chosen? I wasn’t a bank robber—had I lost my mind?! My scalp and skin were so itchy from this damn sand.

"Demands?!" The elder's eyes rolled back into his head as he swiped an I-told-you-so hand at the other one.

"Yeah," I said, running a nervous hand through my hair—would they hear me out? "First, I wanna be able to feel my feet—that'd be great, you know. Second, I need some food—some meat for the animal too—" I gestured at the Jagwindo. "Also, if you could revive him and give us somewhere to stay..." I realized, suddenly, that it was quite a few things I needed at the current moment...

The eldest man mumbled something about a laundry list, but the younger one nodded, "You will be cared for, Level 14. Give the serum a few minutes to kick in and come with me."

[Loading…40 Minutes Later…99%]

It took more than a few minutes, that's for sure, and equally long to revive the Jagwindo, but I was reasonably satisfied with the outcome. Hmm, yes, I could say that again! I thought to myself, swinging my feet off the edge of the white-linen-clad, thatch bed.

This place was dope.

And, unlike DANKFanboi_420, I didn't say that about very many places.

The hut they’d put us up in had a peaked, thatched roof, two cozy, twin beds built into the narrow walls (parallel to each other) and a pretty spacious living room. They'd brought me a cheeseboard full of meats, fruits, berries and fish and a huge, raw steak for Fiasco, which he was happily munching on right now—getting red meat juice all over the white sheets I might add, but he looked happy so I didn't feel like correcting him. They’d even brought me a change of clothes: a lightweight, gray jumpsuit which was exactly as comfy as it looked and this green, hooded robe...

I fingered the bright, shamrock fabric which ran, silken, through my fingers. There was even a gold clasp at the neck. I fingered it—

Crash.

My head snapped up to find Fiasco throwing himself at the wall—breaking the shelving there and spilling decorative books, pots—

"What are you—?" I accused him.

Shiny.

The huge cat dove again.

And I realized he was chasing after the light reflection of the golden cape buckle—the orb of light that zoomed around the room as I tilted it, thanks to the sunshine streaming in from the windows. His paws scrabbled at the wall. I opened my mouth to stop him, but there was a short knock on the door—

"Excuse me for intruding after such a short interlude," a guard I recognized from before ducked through the doorway, his eyes flashing briefly over the mess the Jagwindo had just made, "but we need that Code repaired in the timeliest manner possible, if you're available."

"I'm available," I told him, clamping one hand over the buckle to stop the light from reflecting and swiping the other across my mouth to catch any wayward cracker or cheese crumbles. I quickly pulled the green cloak over my tiny frame, clicking the buckle shut at my neck like I'd seen the men earlier wear. In the long mirror across the room, I saw that the apple-colored folds engulfed my thin form, even covering my boots. Time to get down to business.

The guard nodded, "Good."

"I can access the Code from anywhere. Okay if I just do it here?" I asked.

He nodded curtly, "Begin, but know that if you pull anything nefarious, we have stringent punishment protocols." His fists tightened at his sides...like his jaw.

"Whoa," I said, holding up what I hoped look like two very innocent hands, "You guys just fed me. I'll do what you want. Food's the way to a man's heart, you know?" I tried a chuckle that fell face first onto the dirt floor—like my awkward joke. ...And I was just left shuffling my feet... "Cool," I said, hoping to reconcile with the guard's confused face, "I'll just...start then."

He pressed his lips together and nodded, "Let me know if you need anything..."

But I wouldn't need anything; I already knew. I took a deep breath, my fingers hovering in the air as I searched for a way into the clearly very dead system.

...And remember how I said I was out of my element before, playing hero and searching for EmeraldCity?

I had been with that, and I’d find a time to ask about the green-haired girl later but this? ...Code?

This was my element.

I could do this all day.