“Child…”
A voice like a soft breeze stirred Micro from his sleep. He opened his eyes, and saw that not much time had passed. The sky was still a bright grey, and the sound of rain had grown heavier. He took a deep breath of the cool air, and then realized he needed to relieve himself.
“Why do humans leak so many fluids…” He grumbled as he sleepily walked out of the shrine and did his business by a tree. He was still getting used to the act, but he had seen enough animals do so to figure out the logistics when the need arose. Having taken care of that, he decided to join the others in continuing their morning slumber, and he returned to his place in front of the stone cat.
“Child of man… What is it you desire…?”
This time he awoke completely, sitting up with a grunt and looking around. The others were still fast asleep, but he felt another presence. His eyes darted all around the room, until two little yellow lights caught his eyes. The strange looking stone cat in front of him seemed to be shimmering, releasing a faint aura, and its eyes were glowing like headlights in the distance.
“What is your wish…?” The eerie voice continued, seeming to originate from the cat.
“My wish?” He asked, keeping his voice down so as not to disturb his friends.
“Your deepest desire…” The voice whispered.
“If possible…” Micro whispered back.
“I want to return to my world…”
“You wha- Ah, I see…” It sounded like the voice stuttered for a moment, but it continued.
“A noble quest… Which requires sacrifice… Much sacrifice…”
“I’ll give anything to get back to my old body…” Micro pleaded quietly.
“Well alright then…” The voice from the cat seemed to sharpen and its eyes glowed.
“I will tell you the way… But you must part with the treasure you hold most dear…”
“Treasure?” He asked.
“Yes… you must let go of the material world to achieve your dreams…” The voice replied.
“Umm, what do you mean by treasure?” He asked again.
“What have you got?” It asked back.
“Oh.” Micro nodded, and he rummaged through his pockets.
“I have some gold things… and some core cards.”
“Oh, really?” The voice responded.
“I’ll take it.”
“Okay.” Micro agreed, pulling out a handful of gold rings and coins that had once belonged to his clothing’s previous owner, then all but the core card Blue had won from the dungeon on the table next to them.
“Oh, nice. Put it on the table.” The voice quickened.
“Yes, right there. Now, I’ll tell you how to find what you seek…”
“Yes, please.” Micro nodded happily.
“Leave this old building and follow the setting sun for three days.” The voice explained quickly.
“Then, pray to the tallest tree you can find for one week.”
“Is that all?” Micro asked, barely able to contain his excitement.
“Yes, it sure is.” The cat’s eyes glowed brighter.
“Now, hurry. Timing is everything!”
“Thank you!” Micro bowed deeply.
“Goodbye!”
Leaving his gold on the table, he quickly walked to the door, glanced over his shoulder to take one last look at his new friends with a bittersweet smile, and started walking. Halfway down the hill, however, he stumbled over a rock, landing face first on the crude path, his rusty armour sending out a terrible sound that echoed through the trees and the rain.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“What the-” Blue stumbled out of his pocket once again.
“Where are we? Huh? Where did the gold go? And the cards!”
She hopped all over Micro in search of the items, tickling him in the process, but was unable to find them. Micro stood up and wiped the mud from his face.
“I can’t wait to be on a real road again.” He replied.
“I gave the cards and gold to the statue inside, and it told me how to get home! I just have to walk-”
“You’re stupid even by human standards.” Blue shook her head
“I’m guessing the statue had glowing red eyes?”
“Yellow, actually.”
“Oh for crying out loud…” She grumbled. Before she could go on, however, a loud crash could be heard from inside the shrine.
“There it is!”
“Get it!”
“It stole my headband!”
“Where is it?!”
“Something bit me!”
“I can’t see!”
Bright flashes of light accompanied a host of unpleasant sounds that shook the entire hill. Yellow lights flew all around the shrine, sometimes visible through the windows. Micro rushed back up the hill, running in the tall grass next to the path this time, and entered the shrine to find it in a state of utter chaos.
The cultivators were running around the room, some with swords drawn, chasing after a little yellow light that zipped around the room like sunlight bouncing off a swinging keychain. Micro waved, but even the cool headed Kel was scrambling over his comrade to try and catch the little light in his hand, only to fail and come crashing down on his backside.
“This is just… You owe me, boy.” Blue frowned and clapped her tiny hands once.
“Ow!” Micro, along with every cultivator scrambling about the shrine, suddenly cried out and cupped their ears in pain. Blue’s clap had sent an aura filled shockwave through the building that caused the entire shrine to sway.
“Eek!”
And there, in the centre of the room, frozen in the air above the cultivators, was a small yellow creature that Micro was confident he could identify.
“A pixie?” Micro blinked a few times and waited for the ringing in his ears to cease.
“But it’s not blue.”
“Of course it isn’t. There’s only one Blue, or they wouldn’t call me Blue, would they?” Blue punched Micro in the cheek from her place on his shoulder, causing him to smile at the ticklish sensation and scratch the side of his face.
“Traitor!” The yellow pixie screamed, its body still suspended in the air as if frozen in time.
“Witch! Toad! Slime!”
“Sorry, kid.” Blue rolled her eyes as the other pixie hurled insults at her.
“I have my reasons. Come along now.”
Blue waved her hand and the pixie began to move slowly through the air toward her despite her screams.
“Hag! Dung beetle! Horsefly!”
“Whatever, kid.” Blue shrugged, still pulling the unhappy yellow creature toward her.
“Acorn face! Needle nose! Fairy lov-”
CRACK.
The yellow pixie was suddenly flung to the ground by an invisible force, landing in an awkward pile on the ground. The other cultivators could only watch the scene in complete confusion as Blue jumped off of Micro’s shoulder with her hand extended and a fierce, blue aura pouring out of her. She walked toward the squirming pixie with heavy steps, her eyes glassy and her mouth shut.
“I’m… Hic… I’m sorry…” The pixie cried.
“I didn’t-”
Blue picked the pixie up by its long ear with one hand and brought its face near to hers.
“You done?” She asked coldly.
“Yes, your maje-” Its reply was interrupted when Blue yanked its ear violently, bringing it closer still.
“Yes, Blue.”
“I’ll deal with you later.” Blue said as she looked around the room at the cultivators, one of whom was missing a headband. Before any of them could find a word to say, she suddenly reached her hand out and drove it straight into the pixie’s chest. Micro was shocked at first, but noticed it hadn’t actually been injured. It was as if she had reached into its pocket, though it looked painful from a distance.
“Here.” Blue said as she pulled a green headband, much bigger than either pixie, out of the yellow pixie’s pocket and threw it to Sung, who picked it up with a look of horror on his face.
“Your business with this brat is concluded.”
Blue then dragged the yellow pixie over to Micro.
“Put this runt in your other pocket.” She ordered him.
“We’ll deal with him later…”
Micro knew by the look on her face that she wasn’t finished talking, but she abruptly finished speaking and stumbled forward into his boot.
“Later…” She mumbled as she fell asleep.
He picked up the yellow pixie, who had since fainted, in one hand, and Blue in the other. He returned Blue to the pocket she normally resided in, and he put the yellow one in his breast pocket. Confirming that they were secure, he let out a long sigh and noticed six pairs of eyes staring at him like he was a monster.
“Did he just put two pixies… In his pockets?” Den asked, pointing his shaking finger at Micro.
“Boy, do you know what those things can do?” Kas asked him with a tiny voice.
“They’ll steal everything, even your soul…” Sung mumbled in fear.
“They’ll set your house on fire next…” Kas added.
Micro was still recovering from the disappointment of learning his trip home was a trick of some kind, but the thought of returning home had filled him with enough energy to continue his journey at once. As he wiped the remainder of the mud from his face, he addressed the cultivators.
“Sometimes you can’t choose your passengers.” He smiled.
“But the destination remains the same.”