Rodent was left staring at the sky where the last wisps of Sila's existence streaked out from his vision. The blond-and-gray-haired man breathed through his mouth to recompose himself. Shaking his head with a light bout of laughter escaping, he turned around, facing the adventure awaiting him.
"Of all the things to call me…"
He went to leave when a thought stopped him.
"Oh, that's right," Rodent said aloud, dropping his fist into his palm. "That old man's cane. I'd better hold onto it until I see him again." He searched the area for where it could be… until finding something strange. "The heck is that?"
He came upon a pole lying against the ancient material of the bricks that formed the land, the pole seeming to be of the same material… though it hadn't been there before. Rodent's face scrunched as he lifted the thing with both hands to find its weight evenly dispersed.
"Huh." Rodent started to swing it around, needing two hands to do so, adapting to the motion of such a weapon. It was beyond solid—like it could never be broken. "Now that's neat." He tapped it to the ground. "But how come I didn't see you before? And… where's that cane?"
[ITEM > DYMO’S POLE > CANE]
"W-What?" Rodent nearly had a heart attack as the pole shrank and became an ordinary black cane. His hand left its base as a handle grew and filled into his other hand. He nearly chucked the thing during its transformation. "That's… new."
Rodent blinked as he rose the thing, turning it around to feel lighter than before—feeling like a proper cane once again. He tapped its base against the ground and found that the sounds were normal, too. "Good thing you didn't do that while the Miss was around. She'd probably destroy you and kill me."
He then leaned back, twirling the cane… until feeling it vibrate in his hand. He stopped. "Wait… c-can you feel all this? My bad." He gently returned it to the ground. "Life inside a cane. Today just gets stranger and stranger. You got a name?"
Nothing.
"Hm…" Rodent had a think about it. "Are you able to go back to being a pole?"
[ITEM > CANE > DYMO’S POLE]
Just like that, the item extended and enlarged, having already taken a chunk from the ground. Rodent loosened his grip as he adjusted to an item that could change forms—adjusting far quicker than any who had wielded it. "Hehehe. Guess that's all I have to go off, huh? How does Change-a-Lot sound? Could call you Change for short?"
The item vibrated in the negative.
"How about Stick?"
It vibrated pleasantly in his hand—reminding Rodent almost of a cat.
"Were you like this back on Earth?" Rodent couldn't help but ask. "Or are you only like this here?"
Stick buzzed in a confused, unsure way.
"Hey, hey! Don't worry about it!" Rodent waved his other hand as a breeze rolled in. "Stuff like that isn't all that important, anyway. You belonged to that old man. We should probably get you back to him, right?"
Stick buzzed in the affirmative.
"Some 'old man' he was." Rodent's head shook. "Say… we probably have a lot of walking to do before we encounter another life form." Then, his head fell to the side. "To be honest with you, I'll probably die before that happens, but at the very least, we can get my corpse close to where someone can find it—and find you."
Stick buzzed in a way that showed it did not like that idea.
"I don't suppose you could become a hiking stick or something?"
Another dismayed buzzing.
"Can't do it, huh?" Rodent had a think about it. "Guess you probably need to encounter something like that to copy it, huh?"
More positive buzzing… with a hint of guilt.
"Don't worry about it! If we had you and all your forms figured out—it wouldn't be much of an adventure now, would it?" He brought the pole down and wished for it to be a cane, which it then became, allowing Rodent to rest on it. "Heh. Funny. I refused ever to use a cane in the previous world."
And just like that, he started to walk forward, having the cane there for assistance. "I guess there must be something special about you, Stick."
Stick vibrated lowly and happily as the two left the pond.
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It didn't take them long to descend one of the two curved paths that went down the wall of the mountain to the patch of land below. More ancient bricks were scattered in the ground amidst the natural grass and dirt. The little patch of trees and bushes seemed nice and peaceful.
"I wonder what this place even is," Rodent asked aloud while looking at the sight. He came to take out his notebook and his spare pencil, flipping to the still-blank section of the notebook. He started to draw the scene and the cliff above—a hint of the pond could be seen. "Could almost imagine some elegant and peaceful creatures here."
Somehow, that was what he drew next: a kind of deer that was much larger and yet lighter than one, its antlers of a weird shape, a white liquid frost travelling across them. Their eyes were open and void—seeming like winter within their orbs.
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"Damn…" Rodent exhaled as his shoulders dropped. "Too bad I can't give any of this a proper name." He tapped the pencil beside his head. "Meh. I can just put a placeholder for now—the kids wouldn't be able to tell that it's made up anyway."
He put a 1. on the top left of the page and called it Pond & Plotted Forest.
Once he was done, he turned back around, facing the towering rock walls of the valley that closed in ahead, creating a little exit that was short but tall. Rodent inhaled a huge breath, not out of fear… but nervous about what would come next.
Just then, something gentle vibrated in his hand, and he looked back down at Stick.
He snickered. "Hehe. That's right. Nothing more can be done by sticking around here." He faced ahead. "Only way forward is to move ahead—no matter what." And just like that, he began his long, long walk through the valley and out into the dark green land, where the grass on the sprawling hills bent with the flow of the breeze.
There was nothing to the sides besides the mountain behind him that contained the pond. Everywhere else was open, free, and populated with rolling hills and stretches of land sprawled toward the horizon. Rodent went forward, where the rolling hills lay, coming to climb up and down their grooves, the breeze blowing upon them, until reaching the tallest hill of them all.
Rodent's cane stabbed onto the top of the hill first as he propped himself upon it while looking outward. In the distance, more hills rolled, some with large, occasional trees, which were dull and mostly did. The land looked untouched, even by footprints, making Rodent wonder if he was the only form of life here.
As he looked further, he noticed how the grass started to become shorter and more faded, the land duller with dried mud and rock becoming the land, a wide breadth of dying trees marking a new zone. It seemed like an area of death and decay—where the unequipped should not go.
"Anyone sane would probably stop heading in that direction, hey?"
His cane buzzed in the affirmative.
"Probably dangerous. Cursed. Monsters stalking around—wicked people in huts and all that."
The cane seemed almost to shiver.
"And it would all probably lead to somewhere worse where we should not go."
If the cane could nod—it would.
"So… you down to get into a little trouble?"
If the cane could whimper—it would.
It vibrated in a way that was almost pleading—confused.
"Why not the other ways?" Rodent asked while glancing side to side. "Because it looks like a bunch of nothing in either direction." He then went back to gazing ahead. "But this? This, at least, looks like it'll lead to something interesting." He smirked and looked back at the cane. "Of course, if it seems like we can't cut it in there—we'll leave."
The cane was silent.
"But we have to try at least, right?" Rodent looked back at the woods. "And keep an open mind for traps and all that." This was becoming a bad idea more and more, but the man laughed, as he couldn't really bring himself to care. So he went forward with his cane, rather than travel with a known destination—even if it was a dangerous one.
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The air had become colder upon their approach. The man and cane came from grass to dead land, and the large, rotting trees started to surround him. The entrance into the wood started off as clear, with leaves and things from a time before littering the ground.
But soon, the deeper they went, the more they encountered fallen logs, empty bushes, and branchless trees. There was no feeling to the woods, only that it was hollow and empty—that anything good or bad had disappeared a long time ago.
There were other things in the woods, like carts and wagons that were either broken down or tipped to the side, barren and empty even of their tires—nothing but the wood of their frame remaining. There were no bodies, no left behind cloaks.
No skeletons.
"Just how far away from life are we?" Rodent asked deeper into the woods, walking as straight as possible, worried about losing his sense of direction. He did not have a compass or a map. All he had was the odd places he would stop to draw the things that interested him in the woods. "Sila was there to kill me when I appeared. I barely have a clue what's going on. In fact… I still can't believe all of this is happening."
He laughed softly to himself while small creaking sounds scattered around him, none louder than the cold breeze that passed through, still. There was a change in the air—a happening in the area. Rodent walked as he dipped further into his thoughts.
"I don't know why… but I almost don't want to question it… as if all of this might stop existing if I do." Rodent's shoulders lowered as he settled into his train of thought. "I don't really care what happens to myself… but I'm worried about what that old man said. Out of all the people to send here—why me?"
The cane vibrated almost like Morse code inside Rodent's hand. Suddenly, he blinked, able to understand what the thing was saying. For Rodent, it was like reading great, blocky text written in the largest font possible. Stick's speech was stuttered and stunted.
“No… nothing like that… just… Silia said she was there to kill the hero that was supposed to be made at that pond, right?" Rodent asked as the trees around him became fewer in number but larger in size—large like buildings. "I'm not a hero. Don't even have the potential to be one. So why did I come through?"
On the trees, cracks were starting to form, slowly but surely, each widening and growing.
"I just hope my being here doesn't prevent the hero that's supposed to be here from showing up," Rodent said. "But then again… it was that old man that sent me through… and it seemed like he needed to choose someone important to come here." His head started to shake as he didn't like the weight of these thoughts. "If that's the case… why am I here? What can a dumbass like myself accomplish in a world where I'll most likely die?"
Before that train of thought could be followed further, the man became aware of the ripping and cracking of wood, the sound coming from the very trees that flanked him now—four to be exact, each broad and gray and towering like a ten-story building.
Rodent turned to where he had come from, seeing the trees and the lines carved through him. Something from within was pounding to get out… almost like a baby chicken trying to escape its egg. Rodent's heart started beating faster as that pounding and cracking came from around him.
"Hey… Stick?" Rodent began, raising the cane. "You _might_ want to return to being a pole."
In the distance, trees fell over, striking the ground with a thud as the logs split open. Thin wooden tendrils slapped out from some, weak and reaching out… before retreating inside the wood. Rodent was left to shake his head and lose his breath, feeling the cane turn back into a pole as he wielded it with two hands—his first time using a weapon like this in a fight.
"Hey… Stick?" Rodent asked as he backed away; better-defined shapes were forming on the surfaces of the trees around him, their shapes reaching further to harvest the needed material to fully complete their forms. "Should have asked this before I was dumb and entered the dangerous forest, but… you're okay if I use you to smack stuff, right?"
The pole, though shivering, buzzed and warmed Rodent's hands, who then smiled and chuckled at whatever forces were approaching. "Thanks. I promise to somehow make it worth your while."
Just then… from the depths of the tree… the things within… made their escape.