The next morning, we had gotten ready to continue our journey, it amazed me Square actually sat on Abby’s shoulder. Funk had been sharpening his energy blade, to be honest, I don’t think it does anything. Lorraine and I just seemed to be in perfect synch with cleaning up the camp, even if she is keeping secrets from me.
We had to get through that jungle, I walked forward and stared at the trees, then Lorraine came over, “Tell me, what do you see, Steve?”
Abby screamed out, “Oh god no, you did not just ask him that!” Square seemed to agree with her as he, wait, what the heck was that sound. It indeed sounds like a turkey that is getting strangled.
I looked at Lorraine while smiling. “The forest is small, thick, and budding, Its canopy is monopolized by spruce, rowan, and yew, enough light is shimmering through their crowns for a range of sprouts to reign the rich grounds below. Coiling creepers are dangling from a couple of trees, and an array of flowers, which are found in the most quiet places, brightens up the otherwise green terrain. They smell lovely, don't you think? There are a variety of beastly sounds, which are most likely caused by foraging beasts, their sounds echo in the air, and are out of synch with the sounds of several birds in the distance.”
Lorraine hugged me, “You are such a strange and amazing person.”
Abby sighed, “Please, never ask him that again.”
Funk nodded, “I agree, it sucks, what is he, a walking library?”
I chuckled, “My foster dad used to teach me about all these things,” At mentioning him, my chuckle turned into a sad smile.
Abby walked over, “Yes, he probably died when those fireballs hit.”
Lorraine looked at me then at Abby, “Yes, that is why he must be sad.” I looked at Lorraine. She is even covering for me, I smiled as I looked into her brown eyes.
Funk sighed, “if you guys are done staring at each other, we should go through this yew filled forest.”
Abby looked at him, “You would not survive in our reality.”
Funk shook his head, “Why is that?”
I patted him on his shell, that looked much better already, and looked at him, “It doesn’t matter, as long as you don't make any more yew jokes.”
I started walking through the forest and Lorraine followed me, we walked ahead, and we could hear the others behind us, Lorraine whispered to me, “So about last night, if we really fall in love, and this reality is safe.” “We could find a place to live out our days together.”
I looked at her, “That sounds, nice, What about the other thing?”
Lorraine had a big grin on her face, “Yes.”
“Just like that?”
Lorraine nodded, “Yes. I can’t explain properly what I feel for you, Steve, I guess I fell head over heels in love with you. You listen to me, about my past, my race, and things I am interested in, If you ask me, the best thing that has happened to me in my life, is a strange man walking into my shop in his underwear.”
I chuckled, “Love just happened.” I raised my hand, and everything went silent, Lorraine and I looked at some kind of dinosaur eating leaves that smelled like mint, no scrap that, it took the leaves to a river I heard nearby.
While making sure to not make any sudden movements, I looked at Lorraine, “Do you have the bestiary on hand?”
She nodded and grabbed the book, scrolling through it. “Ah, here we go.”
“This amusing and incredibly rare creature is a type of reptile, It’s about the size of a diplodocus, It has two legs, two arms and a long, useless tail. They have a thin, delicate skin covered in strong, hard scales, which are usually either dark silver, yellow or light pink or a combination of these colors. These creatures live in quiet areas, they’re carnivores and have large, wide mouths, their teeth and rough tongue are ideal for eating fish.”
Funk looked at me, “Is it a threat, the light pink reptile thing?”
Lorraine pointed at a name in the bestiary, “Fernals.”
I shook my head, “It also says they are not going to defend their territory, unless provoked.”
Abby looked at me, all I had eyes for, was Square looking at me, Abby spoke up, “We should avoid it then, we can just pass while that thing,” Abby sighed, “the Fernal, is playing with his leaves.”
We slowly and quietly continued our path while keeping an eye on the Fernal. I have no clue exactly what it was doing, it seemed to rip the leaves to shreds and make some kind of bowl with it? No, more like a nest. On the other side of the small lake, where the water of went into the abyss, another Fernal came out of the bushes. The other Fernal is yellow.
Lorraine looked at me, “She is making a nest.”
I nodded, “I just figured that out as well, we should just let them be.”
Abby looked at me, “Who are you, and what have you done to Steve?”
I smiled at her, “I think Steve has found some hope.”
Funk sighed, “Never talk about yourself like that ever again.”
I looked at Lorraine, she shrugged, “I don’t mind.”
We let the Fernals be as they made weird mating calls, when I looked back, they seemed to be doing some kind of romance dance. Lorraine pulled on my arm, “Don’t look at them, it is awkward for those creatures. You don’t want people looking at us.” She had a perfect point there. I followed Lorraine as I heard Abby giggle, and Square stared at me.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
We made our way through the forest, some snakes fell down from a tree and Funk screamed like a little girl, Funk looked at me, “You never heard that, I just, dislike snakes.”
Abby looked at him, “Is it because you almost got devoured by one?”
Lorraine chuckled, “I almost got eaten by a giant cockroach once.”
“What?”
“Yeah, when I was a young child, an army of cockroaches attacked our den.”
“Oh, that sounds horrible.”
Lorraine nodded, “My dad killed the cockroaches, the other warriors helped.”
While we talked some more, we found a dirt path and followed it, soon reaching a city of some sorts, or what is left of it, I went deep into my mind while admiring these ruins.
The gentle road that led to this city was barely more than a dirt path now and covered in shrubs and small bushes. The crisp and clean looking city now looked more like a jungle as trees and gardens grew beyond their now unkempt boundaries. What worried me the most, is that these buildings looked like those from our reality. Some doorways seemed in relative decent condition, while others were destroyed and were indistinguishable from other collapsed walls and piles of rubble. Many roofs had collapsed and in some cases had taken the entire building with it. Others looked in decent shape and were simply dirty and filled with bird nests, you could smell the dung the birds left behind.
This place once seemed to be a pleasant city and home to friendly folk, that was now a mere shadow of its former glory. I mean, if it was like in our reality, this city would have been jam packed. Silence had taken the place of the sound of playing children, talking neighbors and the sounds of a working community. The silence is deafening. The police station I saw once offered aid to those in need. All this station can offer now is a home for animals and a shelter from the rain. On the bright side, at least the cells must be empty.
Despite the decay of the buildings, there is a certain charm about the city, it reminded me of home. Everything is greener as nature grew wild and the quiet during the day was almost peaceful. But even though everything may seem like it is lost forever, there is still a silver lining. While this city is no longer home to the families that must have lived here, it is now home to families of wild animals. Like those Fernals we encountered. This must be what some cities are going to look like soon in our reality now that the fireballs have destroyed it.
Abby looked at me and spoke up, disrupting my thought process, “Is this, what our home looks like now?”
I nodded, “It is, or it will be.”
Lorraine hugged me, “But what is a city from your reality doing here?”
“Honestly, I have no clue, what do you think, Funk?”
“Huh?”
“What do you think of this city being here?”
“I don’t have any input presently.”
Abby looked at him, “That is a strange comment.”
Lorraine nodded, “I have to agree.”
We heard a voice calling us, “Welcome to the city of the void.” A man crashed down on the street in front of us. He was wearing a hooded cloak, he drew his sword as he walked towards us. I think it some kind of special blade, He removed his cloak with showmanship.
I gasped, “What the fuck? Are you the terminator version of me?”
The man laughed, “The name is Stevie, brother.”
I drew my blade, “Sorry, you must be mistaken, I have no brothers,” that was the second time someone called me a brother, as if he truly is. Abby spawned a crossbow, Lorraine made two swords made from moon energy appear. Funk chuckled and spawned two dark blades.
The man walked closer, “The library is in the middle of the city, but, you have to get past me.”
Lorraine looked at me, “Do you know who that is?”
“No, but he has a metal rib cage, and look he also has a metal arm, it seems he is corrupted by the void. I would have to say, he is some kind of robot. Robot Steve.”
Abby laughed, “That is a horrible name.”
Lorraine nodded, “I agree with Abby, I love the name to insult him.”
Robot Steve sighed, “Are you done mocking me?”
I smiled, “Not at all, can you tell me what is going on here? What is a city from my reality doing here?”
Robot Steve looked around, “The void made it, but Micheal allowed it. He and his, girlfriend, helped shape this world, heck, they even flattened this earth. There is more information in the library.”
I glanced over my shoulder and I saw my shadow move, for a second, I swear I could see, something, him hugging a woman with purple hair, near a lake? Nah, I must be going insane.
That voice in my head spoke up again, “Nope, but you need to be careful, I am slowly waking up, now let me continue my nap.”
Robot Steve cleared his throat, “Are you done looking at your shadow?”
“Oh, sorry, you are still here, you want us to kick your ass?”
Lorraine looked at me, “Can we do this?”
Funk smiled, “No, but we can keep him busy long enough to get to the library.”
Abby looked at him, “I am with Funk.”
I nodded, “Alright then, I say we go for a scattershot formation.” All three of them nodded, and we started running towards Robot Steve with our weapons primed.