As soon as Dirt stepped close, the vibrations of pillar began. Shaking violently, the more he approached, the more it intensified. When he was but an arms length away, the rocky buds split, and soft light exploded from the center.

Shielding his eyes, Dirt got closer, right up so he could touch the pillar. The buds unfolded fully, and the light was now like a blinding sun. There was no pain, nor did he feel any fear. Instead, the light was comforting.

From within the many buds, the light started snaking around the pillar, concentrating on its apex. Leaving behind empty husks, the light formed a magnificent flower in all the colors of the rainbow, blooming like a lotus flower. When the flower had completely formed, a final light shot out from its center, rising like a flare to warn everyone in the surroundings.

The flare drew a parabolic arc across the sky, falling towards the castle in the distance. Even from afar, Dirt could see how something surrounding the castle stopped the flare, resulting in another colorful display.

Something like a shield surrounded the castle, blocking the way in. When the flare hit, the shield reacted by displacing the light around the area of impact, flickering with illusory energy.

Meanwhile, the pillar settled into a satisfied humm. Before Dirt removed his hand, the lotus flower of light collapsed into the pillar, infusing it with its many colors. When the colors traveled down to where he was touching, it continued through his arms - coursing through like electricity through conductive material.

The grey on his arms began glowing softly, humming in tune with the pillar in front of him. It was a pleasant tune, and a pleasant feeling, so Dirt understood this was a good thing.

"See. Still alive, right?" Poppy closer, from its previous position at a safe distance.

"I suppose," said Dirt, as the bird landed on his shoulder and studied the pillar with curious interest, "I just don't know what this means." He looked towards where the shield around the castle was still dispersing the light he had inadvertently shot at it. It seemed no real challenge.

"Maybe there is no meaning," said the bird, happily chirping away.

"Well, something happened, at least." Said Dirt, moving back to study the pillar he had contacted. Surprisingly, he felt lighter, more in control, and faster. Looking down at himself, he could see the light still glowing throughout his shape, humming along gently.

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So that's it. The body needs a source of energy.

Content with his deduction, Dirt looked around the plain. There were many more pillars around, and they might all do the same as this one did. Since he had received such good results from this one, he might as well try another.

He set into a light jog, passing across the plain with gentle speed. He was by no means fast, but he was at least moving at a steady pace.

The second pillar he touched copied the actions of the first; sending a flare of light towards the castle before sending light back and into Dirt's body. The sensation was even better this time than the first.

Exhilarated by this development, Dirt ignored the castle -which had been his initial goal- in favor of the pillars, picking up more and more speed as his movements and strength increased.

Time passed quickly, and in what felt like moments, he had 'activated' at least half of the pillars on the plain. That was when Poppy flew out in front and stopped him, saying, "Wait, listen."

He did so. A soft rumble permeated the landscape, out of tune with the humming of the pillars. Looking around, there was nothing to see, and yet the rumbling grew louder. When he finally started to feel the rumbling in his legs, Dirt crouched on the ground and put his head to the earth. He had no real ears, but he nonetheless picked up the rumbling even better. Still, he could not pick up what direction it was coming from.

It seemed to come from everywhere at once, and yet there was nothing to see. Or maybe...

Gaining his feet in an instant, Dirt started running for all he was worth. Every ounce of energy he had extracted from the many pillars was utilized to its fullest as he sped across the plain as fast as he could.

"What is it? What is happening?" Said Poppy, lazily flying beside him.

"It's coming from beneath!" He yelled, concerned that the shaking was growing stronger even though he was clearly running away from its epicenter.

"What is coming?" The bird asked, squawking carelessly, as if it did not really matter to it.

"I DON'T KNOW!"

There was no time for pleasantries. Behind him the earth opened up, splitting the ground apart as something moved. A loud roar hit him with enough force to help him pick up more speed. Gingerly, he dared to look back, hoping to spot whatever was causing all of this.

The monstrous head of something ancient had come out of the earth, facing away from him. Rising up high above and swaying about, Dirt nonetheless recognized some of its features.

"That..." He breathed, unable to cope with the unimaginable size of the creature behind him, "...Is a giant turtle."

Right he was. The head was swaying back and forth, much like a snake, but he could clearly discern the turtle's features. Only, if its head was poking out of the earth, then might not its body be...

Oh shit.

The earth below tilted violently. The turtle's head turned a full one-hundred-eighty degrees, locking its sight on him. Pushing off on its forelegs, the entire earth rose up at an angle. The only upshot of all of this was the with the turtle's movement, Dirt was now running down slope, providing him with precious extra speed.

"Oh... it looks mad, Dirt," said Poppy, circiling around him without a care for the changing ground.