Adopting the new method of travelling was a hassle. Rolling was only effective as long as the ground was somewhat level, but this fire landscape was anything but. Sharp hillsides and sudden drops were all over the place, left over from where the molten rock had spewed out from the underground, leaving behind tunnels of solidified magma as is cumbersomely travelled towards the fire land's center. The whole area had a slight tilt to it, leaving all the lava to flow towards a central pool.

It was a mesmerizing sight, and a difficult one to travel even at the best of times. As it were, Dirt was not even close to being in a good condition. With his stumps he could manage an awkward, four-legged crawl, where his one intact leg was the only real propulsion method he had.

Of course, Poppy made no effort to help. The colorful bird just circled above the crawling figure, like a vulture waiting for him to finally succumb to exhaustion, all the while chatting and chirping tirelessly.

"You're really too slow. Uhh, look, there's an eruption... and another one! Chirp! What are you doing? Why are you just lying down, we're almost there, see?"

Dirt had collapsed upon the ground, taking a break. There was no sense to him being tired in this form, and yet he was completely spent. All the energy he had received from the pillars on the plains was spent, and he was back to being sluggish and slow. He had no way to get any of it back, and he was so... endlessly tired...

"I think I'm going to fall asleep," he said, yawning even without having a mouth.

"No, that's stupid. And boring. Don't sleep when there's more to see - chirp!"

Pushing off with his one good leg, Dirt appeased his demanding guide, slowly making it to the edge of the lava pit. He first noticed the heat, which quickly grew suffocating. With his lingering, biological perceptions, he felt as if his the air should be burning his lungs and scorching his skin. In reality, all he felt was a mild irritation, but he was too used to think like an animal.

Pushing himself over the edge of the pit, he looked down upon the heated rock within. With the stump of his arm, he reached down al slightly touched the surface of the material, dipping the broken limb into the liquid, and then concentrated his will. He was a novice at this, but his experiences told him this should be possible. Practically anything was possible here, so why not this?

He imagined his hand as he remembered it, as he knew it had been even when he had been human. A forearm attached to a hand with five fingers. Drawing back his arm, his efforts were rewarded when the molten rock stuck on, taking on the shape of an arm. A hand soon followed, dripping with the dangerously hot material. Flexing, he found he could even control the matter, since it was already a part of him.

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Having a liquid hand, however, was not really practical. Focusing his will even further he imagined the material harden, forming his new, solid arm. Conforming to his will, he was soon in possession of an arm made from lava rock - clearly distinct from the rest from original body parts.

He followed this success up with his other hand, then finally his broken leg. Being complete once more, he stood up on his feet and scouted the surroundings.

"Congratulations," said Poppy, as it halted its lazy flight and landed on his shoulders, "Now you can go offend the inhabitants of this landscape."

"No thank you, I'd rather not," said Dirt, waving the suggestion away. He had had enough offending with the turtle alone, "Have you seen anyone?"

"Nope, haven't seen nothing - chirp!"

There were no landmarks here that stood out - like the pillars had. Everything here was simply, uniformly rocky and hot. Looking over towards the castle, Dirt wondered if he should go back to his initial notion and travel there.

Something tugged at him. He looked down on his new hands, and found they were slightly pulling him towards the center of the lava landscape. Turning away from the caste, he looked towards the center, where a massive lake of molten rock lay situated, fed by a multitude of streams coming form every direction. Maybe there was something there worth checking out. Maybe something like the pillars.

Maybe something like the turtle.

He shivered unconsciously. Still, he had survived the turtle; surely he could survive whatever was hidden in the center of the lake. With that shallow reasoning, Dirt started his trek inland.

"So, you really are going to go offend the next one! Good - chirp! I want to see what hides there!"

"I am not going to offend anyone. I am just going to check it out and see what's there," he said, trying to defend his actions, but the silly bird just chirped and flew a little forward.

Holding fast in his own conviction, Dirt assured himself he was just going to look, nothing more. He was curious; Poppy was having a bad influence on him.

Trekking through the landscape now was much more enjoyable. With his new limbs he felt invigorated, much like his first contact with the pillars. It helped that these gave him the ability to actually traverse the land of fire, rather than rolling helplessly along.

Crossing minor streams in skips, scaling hillsides only to slide down on the other side, all the while following the slight downwards tilt soon led him all the way to the majestic central pool of molten rock. Standing at the lakeside, the sight was even more impressive than from afar - and the heat was positively oppressive.

Here, bubbles of gas constantly made the lake burp and bubble, filling the air with toxins and pollution. Had Dirt required air to breathe, he would never even had gotten close. Carefully, ever so carefully, he crouched down and out a single finger into the lake. It felt just like the lava pit from which he had re-acquired his limbs; maybe he was just imagining things.

"Uh oh," said Poppy, leaping away from his shoulder and into the air. How the bird managed to survive this place was absolutely beyond him.

"What?" He asked, looking in the direction Poppy was pointing with its beak. Sure enough, from the very center of the lake of fire, something was slowly rising.