Disclaimer: Calvin and Hobbes is owned by Bill Watterson; World of Warcraft is property of Blizzard Entertainment.
The Adventure of a Lifetime
When the call to adventure is sounded, who will heed it? There are many who willfully seek out adventure, those few, brave souls who risk their all simply for the thrill of the experience. Often times, however, the call of adventure is sent to those who are unprepared for the ordeal; people who are content with their perfectly ordinary lives and never give a second thought to life's wilder sides. Yet those who do not seek adventure are often put through the more memorable experiences.
Such is the case with the group of adventurers in this tale, who were thrust into one of the greatest adventures of a lifetime.
Susie Derkins was walking home from school one bright afternoon in early October. Though autumn was still in it's early stages, there was a distinct briskness in the air. Susie didn't mind, though. She rather enjoyed this weather, truth be told.
As such, her journey home was taken at a leisurely pace, to better enjoy the scenery, to see the vibrant colors of the leaves, to enjoy the scent of the crisp autumn air.
She was brought out of her revery when a blow from behind sent her tumbling to the ground.
As she picked herself up, she noticed anther figure also pulling itself up. It was a boy about her size with spiky, blond hair.
"Calvin!" she shouted at him angrily. "What's the big idea?"
Calvin dusted himself off. He looked at Susie as if he had just noticed her. "Sorry 'bout that." he mumbled. A nervous glance behind him sent him dashing off again.
This was not unusual behavior for Calvin. Still, Susie was curious as to what made him run off like that. Looking behind her, she saw an other figure. It was Moe, one of their classmates; a large boy for his age and a bully in every sense of the word. And he was charging toward her full steam ahead.
With a panicked yelp, Susie turned and ran like a frightened rabbit after the fleeing boy.
She quickly caught sight of Calvin, his backpack bouncing with every step he took; while out of the open zipper of his pack, the head of Hobbes – the stuffed tiger he always dragged around with him – bobbed about as he ran.
When she managed to catch up to him, Susie called out "What happened?"
"Moe and I had a frank exchange of ideas." Calvin tersely replied. He turned an abrupt corner, leading them down a long alleyway that opened into a large field full of tall grasses.
"What did you say that got him worked up into such a frenzy?" Susie pressed.
"How should I know?" Calvin shouted. "The guy's like an angry rhino – anything can set him off, and when it does, you best get out of his way!"
"There must be some logical reason why he's so mad." Susie reasoned.
"Maybe." Calvin huffed, nursing a stitch in his side. "But we can save that for later! Right now, the question is how do we get away from him?"
"Of course, the real question is why am I running? He's not chasing me!" Susie thought aloud.
Even as this train of thought occurred to her, Susie noticed the surrounding scenery looked a bit more dull than it had earlier – like the color was slowly seeping out of it. Within seconds, all the colors had vanished entirely, leaving the world in shades of gray.
Before Susie could even marvel at this, the scenery darkened, growing ever dim and bleak. It wasn't long before they were plunged into complete and total blackness.
"HEY! Who turned off the lights?" Calvin yelled, relieving Susie a little, since she wasn't the only one experiencing this phenomenon. "WHAA! Who turned off the gravity?"
Susie was about to ask what he was talking about, when she felt a sudden weightlessness. She gasped as she felt herself lifted up and twirled about – as if she were no more than a leaf in the breeze.
As she turned about, something came into her view. It looked like... clouds. Well, not clouds, exactly; more like... nebulae.
Somewhere beside her, Calvin whistled. "Get a load of that." he said in awe. Susie could only nod wordlessly.
All around them, bright, shining clouds of various sizes and colors wafted about in an eternal emptiness. The scene was surreal in a way, certainly unearthly by any means. Yet it was also beautiful in its own way; it was tranquil, like nothing could ever be amiss in this unending sea of cosmic wonder.
"Unbelievable." Susie murmured.
"Isn't it, though?" Calvin beamed, a wide smile on his face. Leave it to him to actually enjoy something so weird.
"What do you think those clouds are?" Susie asked.
"No idea... Let's check it out!"
And before Susie could make a word of protest, or restrain him, Calvin kicked off with his feet and surged forward.
Not wanting to lose him, Susie kicked her legs – much like she would do if she were swimming – and followed after him.
When she caught up to him, Calvin had stopped in front of a shimmering bronze nebula and was gazing into it intently. Before Susie could ask what he was doing, the cloud lit up from within with a bright strobe light effect – like a flash of lightning inside a thunderhead. But more astonishing was that there were parts of the cloud which didn't light up, and those parts formed very a distinct image like a black and white photograph. As they looked, the children could make out the shapes of several towers and skyscrapers – a city skyline.
As they looked around at other clouds, they saw very similar effects. Some clouds showed trees and plains, some showed the shapes of animals out in the wilderness, some showed people frolicking around or vehicles or landmarks. Some of these images looked familiar to the children, others not so much.
"Do you realized what this means?" said Calvin as he floated above Susie, upside down.
"No." Susie replied.
"Me neither. But I bet it's important!"
"HEY! What the heck is this place?" shouted a voice from behind them. Calvin and Susie turned to see the figure of Moe floating behind them with a confused look on his face.
"Oh great! You're here, too?" Calvin quipped.
"Twinkie!" Moe shouted when he saw Calvin. "What'd you do? Where are we?" he demanded.
"What makes you think I had anything to do with this?" Calvin demanded right back.
"You brought us here when you ran into this place! It's your fault we're here!" Moe barked.
"I hasten to point out that I wouldn't have been running if you hadn't been chasing me!" Calvin countered.
Susie looked nervously between the two boys, certain that they would come to blows at any moment.
"Just get us outta here, runt!" Moe bellowed as he propelled himself closer to Calvin. "Or I'll really send ya runnin'!"
"Yeah? Just try it, ya odious neanderthal! I'd love to see you – "
"Alright!" Susie swam up, positioning herself between the two boys and stretching her hands out to put distance between them. "Now, you two idiots can play your testosterone induced blame game later. Right now, our efforts would be better spent figuring out how to get back home, wouldn't you agree?"
The two boys glared at her, then turned their contempt-filled gazes to each other. After a few tense moments where Susie scarcely dared to breath, they both turned aside, Moe with a grumbling snort and Calvin with a terse "Whatever."
Susie sighed in relief, glad that the issue hadn't escalated. "So then... what do we do now?"
Calvin hummed thoughtfully as he looked around. "You notice how all the clouds show different images when they flash?"
Susie nodded, Moe looked at him slack-jawed.
"Alright, I'm willing to bet that each of these clouds is connected to a different area! So all we have to do is find the one we came out of and go through it again!"
"Are you sure that'll work?" Susie asked.
"You got a better idea?" Calvin countered. She simply shook her head. "Right then. Let's split up, we can cover more ground – er, space... whatever. Just keep your eyes open for a large field full of grass!"
"Here!" Susie called out to her companions. It had taken several minutes – that is, it might have been minutes, or it might have been longer; it wasn't exactly easy keeping track of time in this place – if time even applied to this place at all. But eventually, Susie had located a nimbus who's images looked similar to where they had departed from.
She waited patiently as Calvin and Moe swam to where she was. When they arrived, they both paused to observe the cloud she had selected. As the cloud flashed, they could make out shapes resembling many growths of tall grass that seemed to go on indefinitely.
"Nice going, Susie." said Calvin, clearly satisfied with the selection.
"So we're goin', right?" Moe asked, impatiently.
"Yes Moe, we're going." Susie confirmed in a soothing voice.
"Right then, on three." Calvin said. "One, two – "
Moe decided not to wait for three – he rushed in once he heard that this was the cloud they were going through. Once he touched the vaporous surface, he was gone.
"Oh, for the love of..." Calvin put his hand to his head. Turning to Susie, he shrugged, saying "Let's go."
The two of them dove into the cloud. Once again, blackness surrounded them. After a moment or two, they felt their feet touch solid ground once again. "Thank heavens." Susie breathed, relief evident in her voice. As she looked around, the darkness started lifting; row after row of tall grass was steadily appearing before their eyes. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "It's good to be back home."
"... Ooor the Serengeti." Calvin said, ominously.
Susie was surprised, and a little unnerved, by this statement. Before she could ask what he meant, color seeped back into the world and she saw for herself. The grass, which had been green, was now yellow. And in the distance, there were no buildings. And the trees that populated the area were not the kind one would find in an American suburb, but would be more at home in the savannah.
As she took all this in, Susie's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell agape. "... We're in AFRICA?"
"So it would appear."
"DERKINS!" the furious voice of Moe roared. Calvin and Susie turned the see his large, brutish form trudging toward them like an angry bear. "This ain't the right place!" he shouted, poking Susie hard in the chest. "You brought us through the wrong cloud!"
"Look I'm sorry, alright? It was a mistake." Susie defended. "Besides, I seem to recall you impulsively diving in without waiting for us!"
"Oh, don't think you can turn this back on me!" Moe's voice level increased. "You're the one who found the cloud!"
"And you're the one who went through it!"
"Why you smarmy twerp!" Moe sputtered through his rage. Angrily, he raised his fist, pointing it right in her face.
"I tell ya, if you weren't a girl, I'd – "
Before they could find out what he would do, a loud roar sounded close by. Susie and Moe both made startled jumps; Turning to where the sound came from, they saw Calvin, and standing beside him, a tiger with it's mouth open and lips pulled back in a snarl. When it saw that the argument had stopped, it let it's roar die out and glared at them with a look of disapproval.
"Where did that tiger come from?" Susie shrieked.
"Huh?" Calvin asked, dully.
"That tiger! Standing right next to you!"
Calvin turned to look at the tiger with an unnatural calmness. The tiger also turned to look at him. "It's only Hobbes." Calvin stated, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Hobbes?" Susie repeated, in astonishment.
"Isn't that that dopey teddy bear you're always draggin' around?" Moe asked, dumbly.
Hobbes turned and snarled at him.
"Yeah, you tell 'im, Hobbes." Calvin smirked.
Susie was still sputtering in bafflement. "Wha,... bu,... it – you... where did he COME from?"
"I don't see what the big deal is." Calvin looked at her skeptically. "He's been here the whole time."
"The whole time?"
"That's right."
"But,... but he... wasn't... he was just... and now he's..." Susie could naught but stare at the large cat while she tried to get her mind wrapped around what she was seeing.
"So then." Calvin decided to change topics. "Moe. Uh, why'd you wander all the way over there?"
"I didn't wander anywhere." Moe replied.
"Whadda ya mean? You had to walk back over to us."
"I didn't move from where I came out! 'Til you guys showed up."
Calvin's eyes went wide when he heard this. "Well then, we need to book it! C'mon!" And with that, he turned and ran.
Confused, but not wanting to lose him, Susie, Moe and Hobbes quickly followed after the blond haired boy.
"Calvin!" Susie called after they had gone a good distance. "What are we running for?"
"To find the portal!" was his answer.
"What are you talking about?"
"We went into the cloud after Moe and came out several feet away from him!" Calvin explained. "If he really didn't move, like he said, that means – "
"The portal moved!" Susie's own eyes widened at the revelation.
"Exactly! And if we have any hope of finding it again, we gotta RUN!"
Moe snorted. "How're you s'posed to find something you can't see 'til ya walk into it?"
Though no one would want to admit it, Moe had brought up a valid point. After a while, they were obliged to stop. They were tired, sore, hot, sweaty and breathless.
They had not found the portal.
"So, now what?" Moe sulked, plopping himself on the dusty ground and fanning himself with his hand.
Susie held her sides, breathing hard. "I guess,... guess we'll just have to find help... somewhere."
They decided that before they pressed onward, they would sit themselves down for a much needed rest. The African sun had shone down on them with a sweltering heat, obliging them to remove their backpacks and coats.
"This stinks!" Moe griped. "It's so hot an' buggy here!"
"It's right on the equator, what were you expecting?" Calvin retorted.
"Though you have to admit, it does have it's own certain beauty to it." Susie mused as she watched a herd of gazelles prancing off in the distance. "Y'know, I've always wanted to visit Africa... Never imagined it would happen before I even got into high school, though."
"You're off yer rocker, Derkins." Moe huffed. "Who in their right minds'd wanna visit this place?"
Susie narrowed her eyes at him. "People with a taste for adventure, people with an interest in the exotic, who don't want to spend their entire lives in suburbia – people not like you, in other words."
"Ya got that right!" Moe countered. "No real houses, no cars, air conditioning, t.v... People ain't meant to live like this! It's not natural!" he caught a glance at Hobbes, who was lounging on a shaded rock, looking unconcerned with the whole ordeal. "Bet he feels right at home, though." he made a gesture to the tiger. "I mean, this is like, where he's from, innit?"
"There are no tigers in Africa, Moe." Susie corrected him.
Moe turned and laughed at her. "HAW! Shows what you know, with your girly little intellect!"
"No, she's right." Calvin interjected. "Tigers are native to Asia."
Moe looked at at Calvin with a clearly irate expression. He growled in annoyance. "Whatever. This place still stinks and you're still nuts for actually wanting ta be here!"
While Moe and Susie continued arguing, Calvin turned to Hobbes. Unlike the other two children, Calvin could always see Hobbes as a living, breathing being. What's more, to Calvin, Hobbes could walk upright and speak perfect English. "So what do you make of all this?" he asked his lifelong friend.
The tiger hummed, disconcertingly. "Out of all the weirdness we've been through in the past, this definitely takes the cake! Falling into a portal that literally came out of no where, being transported to a different continent..." he looked over at Susie and Moe, who were still in a heated debate. "And why do you suppose they can suddenly see me?"
Calvin shrugged. "Probably a side effect of traveling through that void."
"If that were the case, wouldn't they've mentioned something while we were in the void?" Hobbes countered.
Calvin thought on that a moment. It did seem odd, but with any luck, it would prove to be a minor detail.
"I hope we find help soon." Hobbes stated. I don't think we'll last long in the African wilds."
"If that actually is where we are." Calvin mused.
Hobbes' eyes narrowed at his friend. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
Calvin motioned for him to come closer. He quietly spoke to the tiger. "While we were in the void, I got a good look at this one cloud. In it, I could see a shape that bore a striking resemblance to a parasauralophus."
This news certainly took Hobbes by surprise. "You're saying we could be in another time period?"
Calvin shushed at him, worried he might rouse the others' suspicions. Glancing at the other two, it appeared they hadn't noticed. "Hopefully, that isn't the case; but, it is a possibility."
Hobbes' mouth fell open slightly.
"That's why I was so anxious to get beck to the portal." Calvin continued. "I thought we might have a better chance of getting back to – SWEET GENIUS, LOOK AT THAT!"
That caught everyone's attention. In one motion, everyone turned to where Calvin was pointing. And there they saw something that defied any explanation.
"That can't be what it looks like... can it?" Susie squeaked.
Moe could only watch the strange thing floating through the air, his jaw falling slack.
"Any explanation for this?" Hobbes leaned over to Calvin.
"Just one." the boy answered, following the flying creature with his eyes. "... We might be on a different world entirely."
The air rang with a great clang as the pickaxe struck the vein again and again. Though it took many blows, and exerted much effort, the vein at length relinquished the precious ores it held.
Aligria wiped her brow with her forearm before claiming her prize. She picked up the pieces of ore she had been hammering away for a good amount of time to obtain. She turned each piece over several times, examining them intently; There were only a few of them, and they were very small. Still, every little bit she could make use of.
"These should do nicely, wouldn't you agree?" she said to her companion.
The little white moth voiced no opinion; it simply fluttered about the ores for a bit before landing itself on it's master's face.
Aligria chuckled softly at the flying insect's antics before gently blowing it off of her face. It then flew onto her shoulder where she stroked it's little head with her finger.
All in all, this had turned out to be a lovely day; she had not run into any hostiles, she had no pressing quests to fulfill and she had made a successful trip gathering ores. Would that she could find a spot to do some fishing, but the Kolkar had made settlements around every spot of water in this land. True, the centaur would be little more than an annoyance, but it was an issue she would rather not have to deal with.
Humming thoughtfully, Aligria placed what she had collected into her pouch. "Well, I suppose we'd best be moving on. Plenty more veins to mine." she shouldered her pick and started moving off when something caught her attention.
There was a noise in the distance, like a scream of abject terror. She turned to the direction the sound had come from, what she saw was most peculiar.
From out of the long grass burst three figures; they looked like... gnomes? NO, children! Human children! What were they doing here? And why were they running like the very fires of the Burning Legion were at their heels.
After them, a tiger rushed out of the grass – strange, she didn't think there were tigers in this area. The beast ran after them – no, it was passing them by; then it, too, was running from something. But What?
Then she saw it, out of the vast foliage, an enormous beast stomped out, one of the lands most powerful and dangerous creatures. With a vicious bellow, the monster stomped after the fleeing children with the clear intent to kill.
So much for that quiet day. Aligria thought as put put away her pick. Pulling her weapons off her belt, she dashed after the charging beast as fast as her legs could carry her.
"What is that thing?" Susie whimpered as they watched the unusual creature circling around in the air.
"Off hand, I'd say it's a flying snake." Calvin replied. Indeed, the animal had along, serpentine body with a pair of wings sprouting out either side of it. The snake creature flew through the air – gliding for the most part, but sometimes flapping its wings. It flew around in circles with its head facing toward the ground, much like a raptor circling prey.
"Snakes aren't supposed to fly!" Susie squeaked nervously. "What kind of place is this?"
"I wanna go home." Moe added.
In the background, the snake swooped down, disappearing into the long grass. A moment later, it took to the air again with something – a small animal of some sort dangling from its jaws.
Watching the flying serpent depart, Susie spoke up. "I think we should make tracks."
Calvin nodded. "I agree. Let's move!" And so they all picked up and left.
Calvin didn't know what it was – unease at the knowledge that they were on another world, fear of what other surprises they might run into or something else – but as they made their way through the undergrowth, he felt compelled to pick up the pace. So he moved faster... and faster... and it wasn't long before he was practically dashing through the foliage.
Then he stopped dead in his tracks. On the ground before him lay another of this planet's wildlife.
Calvin's first impression was a stegosaurus. The beast was large and robust with a red, leathery hide; two rows of diamond shaped plates ran along it's spine and four large spikes curved out of the end of it's tail. The head was wrong, though; it was much too large and it's snout was capped with a pair of horns, like a rhinoceros.
A low rumble sounded as the creature exhaled. Calvin breathed a sigh of relief; it was clearly asleep.
Hobbes and Susie suddenly appeared behind him. With sounds of surprise, they both stooped abruptly. Calvin turned his head to see worried expressions on both of their faces. "More monsters?" Susie breathed.
"Don't panic." Calvin advised. "We'll just give this guy a wide berth, and – "
Before he could say another word, Moe rushed into the scene. Calvin shouted "Moe, stop!" but it was too late. By the time Moe saw the creature, he was going too fast to stop himself.
Calvin watched the scene unfold as if in slow motion. Moe made a gulp of surprise upon seeing the animal and planted his feet down to stop. But the momentum carried him forward and his foot struck the beast right between the nostrils.
The creature's beady eyes popped open with a startled grunt. When it set it's sights on the boy that had awakened it, it opened it's jaws, letting loose an irritated growl.
Moe got back on his feet made a run for it mere seconds before the animal's teeth snapped down where he had just been. He ran back the way they had come, screaming his head off. The other three looked to the creature to see it pulling itself off the floor and stomping toward them. Naturally, they ran for it.
"Alright," Calvin huffed as he ran. "this might not be a big deal. That thing looks pretty slow – if we keep running, we can probably outrun – " an explosion went off right beside him, sending a rain of dirt and debris into the air.
Shocked, Calvin and Hobbes turned to look back at the monster. It had it's mouth open and a crackling mass of electricity was forming between it's jaws. A second later, it snapped it's mouth closed, sending the charge forward to strike the ground in front of them.
"IT SPITS LIGHTNING?" Hobbes shouted, the fur on his tail puffing out.
"Just RUN!" Calvin shouted back.
They both bolted as fast as they could, Hobbes running on all fours to get the maximum speed possible. As they came out from under the cover of the trees and into the open savannah, Calvin saw Susie's running figure. And he noticed, with an amount of concern, that with each step her form was getting closer.
When he caught up to her, he immediately grabbed her hand, pulling her along with him. "Pick up the pace, Susie!" he yelled.
Susie yelped as she found herself being pulled along. Behind them, there sounded a booming, angry bellow that could have only come from the monster.
"Why're you dragging me?" she called.
"You gotta move faster," Calvin answered. "or you'll be hit by electric lugies!"
"Elec – WHAT?"
Before Calvin could answer, the ground erupted beneath them, tossing them both into the air. When they landed, Calvin hurt all over; he had scrapes all across his face, his side was throbbing, his neck had whiplash, he knew something somewhere was bleeding and he had the suspicion that his arm had been dislocated.
"You alright?" he called to Susie.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..." she softly whimpered. When he looked over to her, he saw her clutching her leg to her chest; her arms were covered in scratches and blood was dripping from the side of her face.
There was a soft padding sound as Hobbes rushed back to them. "What happened?" he asked with a look of concern. "You guys alright?"
A rumbling growl brought their attention back to hulking monstrosity as it trudged ever closer to the downed children. Without a single hesitation, Hobbes brought himself to stand in front of Calvin and Susie, a bold, yet feeble barrier from harm. He pinned his ears back, bared his teeth and growled with all the menace he could muster, doing his very best to look intimidating.
It didn't work.
The monster snorted dismissively at the tiger and continued coming closer.
Hobbes' resolve was galvanized. He knew quite well that this behemoth could probably kill him with little effort, but his friends lives were at stake; and if he was to die, he could at least die knowing he did what he could to protect them. With a mighty roar, he charged at the creature, making a beeline for it's neck.
One swing from the beast's massive head ended the fight before it began.
Calvin and Susie watched in horror as Hobbes' limp body was sent rolling across the savannah floor. When he finally stopped, Hobbes tried valiantly to raise himself up, but quickly collapsed.
Seeing the tiger was down, the beast turned it's attention back to the injured children. It opened it's maw to show a vibrant display of energy building up for a devastating blow. The children's eyes widened; they knew for sure, there was no possible way they were going to survive this.
A loud, sizzling CRACK sounded as the electricity discharged. But to the children's astonishment, it wasn't the monster – the lightning had come from behind, striking the beast.
The creature stumbled a bit, trying to recover and get it's bearings back.
From behind, Calvin and Susie heard what sounded like a woman's scream; actually, not really a scream, more like a roar – a battle cry.
A blur streaked in front of them. The animal grunted in pain, raising it's head to reveal two long, red streaks that hadn't been there before.
A lone figure now stood between the creature and the children. It was a woman – at least, Calvin assumed it was a woman; it had a feminine form to it, at any rate. But whatever it, or she was, she definitely wasn't human. She was very tall, taller than anyone Calvin had ever seen – including both his parents. A mass of wavy blue hair cascaded down her back, she had long, bent legs that ended in a set of cloven hooves and out of the base of her spine sprouted a short, blue tail that twitched in a similar way to an angry cat. She held a long dagger in each hand.
The monster glared at the newcomer, furiously. It bellowed at her in rage. She flipped her knives in her hands and snarled back at the beast.
The animal charged toward her, pounding the ground with each step. In response, she raised her foot in the air, and when she brought it down, the ground shook, throwing the beast off balance. Grunting, the beast turned to it's side and swung it's spiked tail at her. She dodged the initial swing, but was nicked across the shoulder when it swung back. It swung at her again, causing her to roll to dodge it. And when she came up, she held some kind of stone statue in her hand – where had that come from?
She planted the stone object on the ground and it came alive with a blazing red light. The object then began spewing balls of fire the the creature.
The woman landed a few more successful blows on the creature's flank while it was distracted before placing another stone figure on the ground. This one gave off a soft blue light and let off pulses of energy every few seconds.
Calvin and Susie continued to watch as the strange woman battled the brutish monster. Though she landed blow after blow, the beast's hide was thick and it was nothing, if not tenacious; it too would land a strike now and then, whether by it's electric surges, it's sharp horn and spikes or simply from it's massive girth.
As they watched in captivated awe, Calvin noticed that he hurt a little less whenever the blue statue set off a pulse. So it was with little difficulty that he could turn to look when he heard heavy footsteps behind him.
"Where'd she come from?" asked Moe, looking at the unusual fight with a slack jaw.
"Who knows?" Calvin replied. "We're just lucky she showed up!"
They turned back to the fight to see the woman shooting what appeared to be a blast of frost out of her hands. It hit the animal square in the head, coating in in a shallow layer of ice. This only offered a moments respite as the creature twisted it's head, thereby shattering the ice. It then shoved it's horn at the woman; she caught it in her hands, but the beast pushed her back through brute force. It then swung it's head, whipping the woman around a few times before tossing her to the side. The beast looked ready to end fight, but then it unexpectedly bellowed painfully.
Everyone looked up and was astounded to see Hobbes was on the creature's back and had his claws dug into the sides of it's neck. The creature grumbled irritably, pushing it's front legs off the ground in an attempt to buck the tiger off – but Hobbes wasn't having any of it, not this time.
As the woman picked herself off the ground, see saw the beast pitching and bucking. She realized this was an opportunity, and she took it. She picked up her daggers and plunged them into the creature's exposed throat.
For a brief moment, all was silent.
A low, pitiful moan sounded as the monster slowly toppled over. It fell to the ground with a heavy thud. It's tiny eye, now looking more sad than angry, rolled back into it head before closing for the last time. The creature let out a shuddering breath and moved no more.
The children looked in wonder as the mysterious woman stood over the beast's corpse. Though she had won, her posture didn't look like one of victory – rather, she looked weary, as if she felt sorry for having to kill the creature.
Hobbes, who was clearly still weak from the ordeal, limped closer to the woman on shaky legs. When she noticed him, she reached out her hand and scratched his head in an affectionate manner. Even from a distance, Calvin could tell he enjoyed it.
Then the woman turned and came toward them. She looked just as strange from the front as she did from behind; her skin was indeed blue all over, she had a heart shaped face with a pair of short horns curving back from her forehead, and just below her pointed ears, they could make out what looked like long, fleshy tendrils, and her eyes – her eyes seemed to glow with a bright blue light, making it difficult to distinguish iris or pupil.
The children were so surprised that they tried to back up as much as their injuries would allow.
The woman put up her hands in a placating gesture. "Do not fear. I will not harm you." she said in a soft voice. Once again, the children were surprised, surprised that this alien woman spoke in a language they could understand.
When she approached them, the woman knelt down and looked them over with a critical expression. "You are injured?" she inquired. With their silent nods, she placed a hand over Calvin and Susie.
Gradually, they felt much better. The pain ebbed away, cuts and scrapes closed and wounds healed.
When the woman took her hands away, the children felt just about normal again. They looked up at their unexpected savior in awe. "... Thank you." Susie said, at length.
"You are welcome." the woman responded, smiling warmly.
"But w,... who are you?" Susie asked.
"What are you?" Calvin added.
"And what's yer phone number?" Moe added, grinning stupidly.
The woman chuckled before turning to each of them. "My name is Aligria. I am a shaman... and I am not certain as to what you are referring."
"Alright." Calvin said, nervously. "So uh,... thanks for saving us, y'know, from that monster."
"Thunder lizard." she corrected him. She reached out and pulled them both to their feet. "Now then, might I inquire as to your names?"
"Oh sure! I'm Calvin... Calvin Mitchell... and this is Hobbes." Calvin put his arm around the tiger's shoulder as he introduced him.
"I'm Susie Derkins."
"Moe Stern."
"I see." Aligria nodded. "It is nice to meet you all." she looked around for a bit. "Forgive me, but you all seem a little young to be traveling on your own... Where are your parents?"
"Oh, um... our parents aren't... they're not... around." Susie explained.
"Oh." Aligria exclaimed, her expression falling. "My condolences."
"What? Oh no, no, no they're not dead!" explained Susie. "They're just... not here!"
"... Indeed?" Aligria raised an eyebrow.
"It's a long story." Calvin added. "And kind of incredible."
"Indeed?" she repeated, obviously interested in where this was going to lead. "Well,... you shall have to tell me all about it, then." she sat herself down in the grass, laying her long, ungulatine legs to the side and prompted them to proceed. Following her lead, the children all sat themselves down and began relating their tale.
They spent the next few minutes telling Aligria everything that had happened to them on this very unusual day. Aligria sat patiently as the children spun their tale. When they had finished, she sat quietly for a moment, contemplating what they had told her. Finally, she said. "That is not so unbelievable."
"... Really?" Calvin was clearly taken aback by her response.
"Of course. After all, we draenei came to this planet from another world, ourselves."
The four inter-dimensional travelers took a moment to digest what she had said.
"You're... not from this world?" Susie asked.
"No." Aligria stated, climbing to her feet. "Our vessel crashed onto this world after our refuge, Draenor, was destroyed."
"Then... you could get us home?" Susie asked, pleadingly.
The draenei looked at her sadly. "Myself, personally,... no. I'm afraid my knowledge of how traveling between dimensions works is all but non-existent." The faces of the children and tiger fell. "... Of course, there might be others among my people who could help you." she added.
"Really?" Susie asked, her countenance brightening.
"Yes. But for now, we've more pressing issues." she looked at the position of the sun. "The day is fading quickly – come." she turned sharply and started walking. "With a steady pace, we should be able to reach Ratchet by evening."
Calvin, Hobbes, Susie and Moe all looked at each other – having no better ideas or alternatives, they wordlessly got up and followed after the shaman.
They had been walking for several minutes. No one really said anything – too overwhelmed by the events of the day. Eventually, though, the quiet started getting to Calvin. And he being as curious as ever, decided to strike up a conversation with Aligria.
"So,... um, what can you tell us about this world we're on?" he asked.
Aligria looked down at him. "The residents of this planet call it Azeroth." she answered. "Presently, we are on the continent, Kalimdore, in a land known as the Barrens."
"And... what about this place you're taking us to – Sprocket?"
"Ratchet." she corrected him. "'Tis a port town. Ships sail regularly to and from Stranglethorn."
"Is that where you're taking us?"
"To Stranglethorn? Heavens, no! If anything, that jungle would be even more dangerous! No, in the morning we shall fly to Teldrassil. From there, we'll make our way to the Exodar."
"Right." Calvin continued in silence for a while. As the shadows grew long across the landscape, he found himself growing tired and sore. "How much longer 'til we get to Ratchet, anyway?" he wailed.
"See for yourself." Aligria gestured forward with her hand. The children stopped and looked ahead. They saw many buildings clustered about in a hodge-podge array. Buildings that looked old and weathered; many looked to have been partially demolished and hastily patched up.
"That's Ratchet?" Moe asked, dubiously.
"Perhaps not the most posh of lodgings." Aligria sighed. "But it will have to do." And with that, the group descended into the town.
When they entered Ratchet, the children saw many creatures bustling about the streets. These creatures were short – no taller than they were, with green skin and large, bat-like ears. Many of them had very shrewd, calculating expressions on their faces, some looked positively sinister. Thankfully, none of the green midgets molested them in any way; a few cast curious glances their way as they passed, but then turned back to their own affairs.
"Aligria,..." Susie's voice became very high pitched. "What are these things?"
"Goblins." the shaman answered. She turned to look at her charges to see they all wore looks of shock on their faces. "Do not fret," she said, reassuringly. "just be sure to mind your own business and show respect and they will not bother you."
Though her words were reassuring, that wasn't the cause for their startled looks. It wasn't the fact that they were goblins, so much as the fact that they were goblins! Beings that on earth had been relegated to the realms of myth and fantasy – stories parents told their children to frighten them into behaving – were, on this world, actual living creatures.
Before any of them could voice their thoughts on the matter, though, Aligria was strolling over to one the goblins who held a long blade and a shield shaped like a gear. "Pardon me," she said. "but could you direct us to the inn, please."
The goblin looked up his rat-like nose at her, his face formed into an uncaring expression. "Sure." he said, gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder. "It's right up that hill, there. Look for the building with the mailbox out front, ya can't miss it!"
Aligria thanked the goblin and led the group up the hill. Before them stood a large structure that looked big enough to be an inn. And on the ground in front of the building was a little wooden box with several slots in it; the box was bedecked with a piece of wood shaped to look like a sealed envelope. It was attached to the box by a spring that swayed back and forth as the wind blew.
"... I guess that's the mailbox." Calvin stated, looking at the odd structure.
"No kidding." Susie said, dryly.
"Well, no sense staying out here all night." Aligria said, she turned and strode toward the door of the inn. "Come."
They quickly followed her, but as the were entering, Aligria stopped them. "Wait." she did a quick head count. "Where is the big boy,... Moe, was it?"
Calvin and Susie blinked in surprise, then turned to see Moe wasn't with them. Calvin quickly spotted him, still standing where they had been, staring at the mailbox.
Sighing in exasperation, Calvin bounded over to him. "Moe, c'mon! You're keeping us waiting!"
Moe made no response, only staring ahead, blankly. Calvin looked to see that his gaze was fixed on the bobbing envelope as it swung back and forth and back and forth. When he looked back at Moe, Calvin saw his face was lax and his mouth was cracked open; he also swayed ever so slightly in tandem with the letter.
Calvin groaned when he connected what had happened. "Moe, snap out of it!" he barked. He snapped his finger right next to the larger boy's ear.
Moe stuttered a bit, looking around dumbly. "huh, wha – "
"C'mon," Calvin repeated. "we're headed for the inn!"
Moe blinked, then shrugged his shoulders, tromping off to rejoin the group as if nothing had happened.
Inside the inn, the group walked up to a bar behind which a goblin was seated, leaning back in his chair with his feet resting on the bar and his hands folded behind his head. He made no motion as they approached, only continuing to snore quietly. They waited a couple moments longer; when he still made no motion, Aligria cleared her throat pointedly.
Immediately, the goblin leaned forward, pulling his feet off the bar and resting his hands before him in a business-like manner. "Ah, potential customer!" he said with a wide smile when he saw them. "What can I get for ya this fine evening?"
"We require two rooms with two beds each for the night." Aligria answered.
"Right then, lemme see what I got." the innkeeper turned and began looking through various cards and papers scattered across his workspace. Eventually, he turned back to them, saying "I can getcha two rooms, but only one has two beds."
"That's fine." Aligria replied. "We can sort it out ourselves, later."
The innkeeper turned to the wall behind him. One the wall was a plaque with several nails protruding out of it. A few of the nails had keys hanging on them. He pulled two keys off the plaque and turned back to the group.
Before handing over the keys, Aligria pulled a small pouch out of her pocket. She reached into the pouch and pulled out a number of silver coins. She placed them on the counter as well as a few more, saying "Could we also get something to eat, while we're here?"
The innkeeper grinned. "Sure thing. What'll ya have?"
"Whatever you've got." Aligria said as she pushed the money toward him.
The innkeeper chuckled as he accepted her coins. "Ya got some gumption toots, I'll give ya that."he handed her the keys and said "Take a seat, I'll have yer food out in a jiffy."
Everyone followed the draenei to a table in the corner where they all seated themselves. No one had mentioned it, but they were all quite hungry (it's amazing how being transported to a new world, wandering around in the hot sun and being chased by monsters can work up an appetite.)
After a few minutes, the innkeeper returned and set four cups and a platter on the table. The platter had a loaf of bread, a large cut of some kind of meat, a wedge of cheese and a bottle containing some kind of beverage.
They thanked their host who gave a frank nod and returned to his post.
Aligria ate her food slowly and calmly while the inter-dimensional travelers devoured theirs with gusto. It felt so good to have food in them again and they took each bite as if it would suddenly vanish again. The food itself was probably delicious, but they were all too hungry to really care what it tasted like.
Once the food was taken care of, they all laid back with content sighs and satisfied stomachs.
As the sky outside turned dark, Aligria led them to where their rooms were. She unlocked the first room and peered inside. "Ah, this would be the two bed room." she said as she fully opened the door. "I believe it would be best if you boys would sleep in here."
Calvin, Hobbes and Moe quietly went into the room, Calvin looking at Moe a bit dubiously – he was not thrilled with the prospect of sharing a room with the oaf. They all said their goodnights and Aligria and Susie left them.
Moe shuffled toward the first bed and fell into it with a grunt. In a second, he was breathing heavily.
Calvin removed his shoes and socks and pulled back the covers on the second bed. He and Hobbes climbed in and made themselves comfortable.
Calvin looked out of the room's only window at the stars twinkling in the night. He had been worried at first, but now that they had found civilization – of sorts – and weren't in any imminent peril, he found himself growing excited about the situation they were in. "Isn't this awesome, Hobbes?" he whisper-shouted. "A whole new world with magic and monsters! And we're the first to see it! Just imagine all the things we'll be able to tell people when we get home!"
"If we get home." Hobbes grumbled.
"Aw, c'mon. There's sure to be a way back to Earth – we just have to find it."
"How? We stumbled into that void by accident! And the portals that lead into it can't be seen – how're we supposed to find one? And if we do, by some miracle, happen to find one, how'll we find the right portal to get us home?"
"Calm down, the draenei are from another planet, too; remember? I'm sure they know all about navigating through dimensions!"
From the other side of the room, Moe's voice growled "Hey shut up! I'm tryin' ta sleep!"
Calvin and Hobbes glared in the direction of Moe's bed, then looked at each other before nestling down.
Calvin gazed out the window once more, looking at the stars keeping their diligent vigil. Somewhere out among the vast expanse of the universe was home. Somehow, he knew they would find their way back their again, no matter what. But for now, there was an exciting world outside full of mysteries and adventures just waiting to be explored. They had been thrown into the adventure of a lifetime, and he indented to savor every moment of it.
Slowly, he drifted off to sleep, eagerly awaiting what excitement the morning would bring.