Week 2: A Twig Named Twig and Other Strange Plant Life
Time: Unknown...Location: Unknown
Jamie inhaled dust as he opened his eyes, quickly pushing himself into a sitting position in surprise. It was so...quiet. He could hear the chirping of birds in the distance. Jack lay sprawled out beside him, unconscious. 'It'd be really easy to get him back for Babylon now,' Jamie thought. 'But... I guess I'll save that one for later.'
Getting to his feet, Jamie took in their new surroundings. Instead of the crystal cavern in Babylon, they were in a forest clearing. Jamie could hear laughter from somewhere close by, followed by a series of soft tapping sounds. Wondering if he should stay with Jack, Jamie got the sense that this forest wasn't the kind to harbor any serious dangers, and he moved toward the source of laughter, wanting to find out where he and Jack had ended up. He didn't have to go very far. In the next clearing, Jamie saw two flowering cherry trees playing Ping-Pong, hitting a small stone back and forth across a wide, fat boulder. One of the trees was using a silver spatula for a paddle; the one had nearly hit Jamie in the face back in his attic.
"Spatula!" Jamie instantly wished he hadn't said anything, clapping a hand over his mouth. The small stone/Ping-Pong ball fell to the ground, rolling to a stop at Jamie's feet. Then, as he looked at the trees with what he hoped was an apologetic smile, he realized that it hadn't been the trees laughing; it was an old man, who materialized out of thin air in the middle of the grove. He was wearing a blue pointed wizard's hat and flowing purple robes that all culminated in having a strangely intimidating effect on Jamie that had nothing to do with the clothing's color. This "wizard" was NOT someone you would want to be an enemy of, and that was in comparison to Sandy!
His eyes trained on the wizard, Jamie took a step back onto a twig. There was a high-pitched scream and the wizard's eyes snapped open. There were literal sparks shooting from the wizard's eyes, one of which was orange and the other purple. 'Could this day get any weirder?' Jamie thought to himself.
"Intruder!" the wizard bellowed. A staff made of rubies materialized in his right hand and the wizard flew toward Jamie, stopping inches from his face. "How dare you step on Twig! How would you like it if you were stepped on? I bet you wouldn't!"
"I don't know what you're talking about! I don't know any twigs— and NO, I wouldn't like being stepped on! I'm sorry for whatever I did." Jamie protested, holding his hands up defensively in front of his face. The wizard was getting uncomfortably close, and his intense sparking gaze was rather unnerving.
"Yes, you do know what I'm talking about, intruder! You're stepping on her. You should be ashamed of yourself!" The wizard yelled, sending some spittle flying. "Now... How shall we get rid of you? Because, I'm sure as you can understand, we can't have intruders ruining the place."
The two cherry saplings agreed with the wizard in unison. "Yeah, watch your step. And get off of Twig!"
"I still don't know who Twig is," Jamie protested weakly, trying to back away from the wizard.
"It's ME!" A small voice coming from somewhere on the ground startled Jami so much he almost trip backward over a small stone. When he looked down, he finally realized who "Twig" was, for a small twig with a tiny pink bow on, was smiling sweetly up at him.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, I did NOT mean to step on you!" He quickly apologized, stumbling backward in his haste to get away from the talking twig he'd evidently hurt.
Twig was broken in half; each of the two sections was about three inches long.
"I TOLD you," The wizard said, crossing his arms.
Jamie was about to reassure the wizard that he probably heal Twig with the magic he'd accidentally gained the last time he and Jack went through an attic portal, when an icicle suddenly flew over his shoulder toward the wizard.
The wizard ducked and the icicle narrowly missed him, crashing instead into ground next to the cherry sapling holding the spatula.
"Hey, how about you stop threatening my friend?" Jack's voice was their only warning a moment before he dropped into the center of the grove. With a blast of blue light, ice and snow covered everything around them.
"Oh great! There are two of you," The wizard muttered.
Walking on its roots, the cherry sapling with the spatula tripped over its roots when the ground became icy smooth. The spatula flew out its branches. Jack caught it in mid-air.
"Thanks!" Jack said to the sapling, "This is really all we came for so we'll be leaving now. Sorry for any disturbances we caused."
The wizard fumed, getting angrier with every word that came out of Jack's mouth.
"Wait!" Jamie protested, turning to the wizard. "I'm sorry, my friend has a talent for dramatic entrances. I may be able to heal Twig; I can try, if you want. And then we'll be on our way, I promise." The wizard did not reply, but motioned with his staff toward Twig, lying on the ground. It was clear that he was waiting for her to be healed.
When Jamie bent down to examine Twig, Jack joined him. "A talent for dramatic entrances?" The Guardian whispered, raising an eyebrow. "I would've thought North, or Pitch, would qualify for that one more than me."
"Sorry," Jamie whispered back. "But that wizard was probably going to turn you into a toad and banish you to outer space if I hadn't said something."
"Fair enough. I don't think I want to be a toad. Now let's see you work your magic." Jack gave him a small smile.
Jamie nodded, then took a deep breath and said to Twig, "I'm sorry I stepped on you. Would it be okay if I tried healing you with magic?"
"Yes, I would very much like to be healed." she replied.
"But...did it hurt you a lot?" Jamie asked, sincerely hoping that since she was a twig and didn't have nerves like humans and animals do, he hadn't caused her much pain.
Twig rolled from side to side, as if she were shaking her head. "No." she answered.
Raising his hand over Twig, Jamie focused the sun's energy onto her. He closed his eyes, and in a flash of golden light, Twig was made whole again. Behind them, the wizard huffed somewhat approvingly, conceding that at least one of the intruding humans had some redeeming features.
"Great job. Can we go now before anything else happens?" Jack asked. "And for interest's sake, where the heck are we, anyway?"
"Why you little impertinent-" The wizard fumed, speechless with anger. "You storm in here, frost my grove, and then you dare to ask me where you are? It's Atlantis! Now get out! OUT WITH YOU, I SAY! Before you cause more damage here!" He pointed a finger over Jack's shoulder, and the Guardian of Fun felt a strong force begin pushing him backwards. Jamie covered his face with his hand as he thought, 'First Babylon, now Atlantis. What's next? Neptune?' Immediately, he wished he hadn't thought of Neptune. A time portal appeared, and they heard the now-familiar whispers of the Ocean of Time being stirred. The world of Atlantis and the wizard's magical grove disappeared as Jack, Jamie, and Twig were whisked off into yet another time.
