Whee chapter three. o_ So this is going a lot slower than I imagined. Oh freakin' well.
Um. Okay - so the story's all out of whack but think about it. Across the world stories change right? So through word of mouth words will change, and while the story is largely the same, Gabby's gonna be in for a surprise if it ever meets the hero. 83;
Oddworld is not mine.
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There wasn't much to do except go downstream as far as he could. The Grubb had been standing for some time, carefully navigating his boat downriver, chatting with the cheeping gabbiwog in the back. He knew it was scared. But there was nothing he could do. This was the only way it could survive. Now he had to get far enough away from those hunters. Every time he came to a waterfall, no matter how small, he would carefully make his way down or get off the boat and pull everything off, bring the boat down, then put it back on. He'd had this happen a few times now, and already it was well after dark.
The sky was overcast, unfortunately, and he had no idea what time it was or how close he was to sunrise. Using his lantern, he'd managed to get around most of the sticky parts. When he came to the fields that had taken him weeks to cross, he climbed out of the river and fed Gabby, who was all too happy to have the cover taken off its trough. It didn't like being trapped and he knew it.
"Not much further," he said, "I promise. Soon we'll stop and it won't be so bad huh? At the first pond we come to okay?"
Ponds were safe, right?
He had in his mind a vague memory of a map of Mudos. If he headed northeast he would come to another river, another world where it was wetter, cooler, and much closer to the source of legends and stories. It was in the east that a creature called Abe had single-handedly destroyed four different industrial factories. Whether it was true or not no one really knew.
But the Grubb is very fond of storytelling, and in his old age he was beginning to feel that very urge - the urge to teach another. And the only one around to listen probably didn't understand him anyway. It was very early in the morning by the time he found his first pond. It was very small, but upon tasting the water he decided it would be fine. He carefully reached into the water, and the gabbiwog swam right into his hands, which delighted him. Quickly, he dumped it into the pond.
It took Gabby a moment to adjust to the different temperature, and with a shudder it was back to normal, swimming about and inspecting its little pond.
"Not so long ago," he said slowly, ignoring his sheepishness. The gabbiwog perked up and swam closer to him. "There was a terrible place called Rapture Firms. Profits were grim and the CEO wanted so desperately to save his company. So he put his own slaves on the menu and sold them as food."
To his surprise, the gabbiwog's eyes went wide. Or maybe it was his imagination.
"One of the slaves, named Gabe, decided he had to get away. He escaped Rapture Firms, but he hit his head and some say that he died." He paused for effect - the gabbiwog was stil watching him. "But an old wiseman appeared before Gabe, and told him to wake up. He told Gabe that he must go through many trials - the likes of which would transform him into a god. Then he must go back to Rapture Firms and take back the imprisoned slaves!"
The gabbiwog burbled underwater, the overcast sky hiding the shimmer that the moonlight would've given it. It seemed thoroughly interested.
"So Gabe did just that. He battled all kinds of sacred creatures and acquired their powers, then returned to Rapture Firms and saved his people. But then, he was caught! Just when things looked at their blackest, a lightning bolt shot down and stopped him from being destroyed, whisking him away to his true home and destroying Rapture Firms forever!"
The little gabbiwog spun about and chirped almost happily.
"So you understand me?"
There was a moment of silence and the Gabbit blinked, staring at him. The Grubb frowned.
"Ah well. Just for the record, whenever you can talk, my name's Zeke." He held out his hand towards the water and the gabbiwog swam closer to the surface. "The way you do that makes your water look like a prison."
He sighed heavily and looked up at the sky, resting momentarily.
----
The sun hadn't risen yet, but the Outlaws were wide awake - or at least, their leader was. And he was proceeding to awaken his two partners.
"Wake up, ya shmucks!" He proceeded to kick the smallest one in the ribs and walk past him, gathering his things and slinging them in a bag over his back. "The sooner we get this done, the better!"
The smaller of the two Outlaws groaned, "Awh, c'mon, Hal! Can't we wait until sunrise?!" He got up nonetheless, grumbling and swearing the whole way.
The third Outlaw, a tall, slender, effimate creature, stretched and yawned. "Hal's right, let's just do this." He urinated on the fire and kicked some dirt over it to finish putting it out.
The shorter Outlaw raised an eyebrow. "What IS it with you and pissin' on fires, Bill!?"
"Puts 'em out," said Bill, "Besides, I'm not gonna do it in the RIVER. People drink out of that!"
Hal laughed. "And you call yourself an outlaw. C'mon, let's go."
The three of them trudged lazily up the hill, towards Ma'Spa, a place they'd been several times over the months, harvesting the last remaining Gabbit eggs to be sold and eaten. It was simple work - all they needed to do was go in there with a net and a stun-gun - just in case there were any adult Gabbits - and swipe them up. But as they climbed over the hill, Hall stopped.
"Ya smell that?" he hissed, inhaling deeply. The other two began to sniff as well.
Bill grinned. "Yeah. Looks like we weren't the only ones 'ere. Smells kinda familiar too. What you think, Shorty?"
Shorty, the smallest Outlaw, inhaled. "Hmmm. Yeah. Can't put my finger on it."
The three of them moved on, following the scent back to Ma'Spa. As they grew closer, Hal's eyes narrowed dangerously as he inhaled, moving closer and closer to the pools. The other two could sense his growing irritation and fell back.
"I know I've smelled this scent 'ere before..." Said Hal as he walked along the edge of the pool. "Lotta wood too." He snapped to attention. "Bill! Shorty! Go investigate around here and report back if you find anything." As the others left, he sneered, "I got a hunch."
The sun had risen over the horizon when the others returned. Hal was standing chest deep in the water, arms folded over his chest, a rather sadistic grin upon his face.
"Well?" he asked.
Bill spoke first. "We found a damaged tree around the southern bend over there, looks like it was chopped by an ax."
"And I have this!" said Shorty, jumping up and down on his short legs. "These are ashes from a campfire!"
Hal grinned wider. "And y'know what I smell over here?"
The others looked up at him in wonder.
"Gabbit. And you wanna know what else I smell?" His grin vanished, twisting into a savage snarl.
The others hesitated, backing away.
"I SMELL BLOODY GRUBBS!" Hal roared, cracking his knuckles. "Now let's go get that Gabbit-Thief and chop him up!"
It can be said that Hal, Bill, and Shorty were quite possibly the most underestimated Outlaws in the West. It can also be said that because of this, they were sent on unorthodox, often pointless missions, which caused their tempers to rise. Still, they were a team, and worked very well together. Because of their powerful senses and tenacity, they rarely failed missions. They were, in fact, a force to be reckoned with. And when that force set its sights upon Zeke and the fleeing Gabbit, they were not about to stop until they had it.
The three of them started sniffing, heading downriver. It was the only place they could go. While most creatures are stopped by moving downriver, the three of them were not fools. Two of them moved on one side of the river, the third moved to the other, and each of them started sniffing. They weren't about to lose their quarry now that had just eluded their grasp.
Several hours later they'd come to the cave where the waterfall lived inside. Hal grinned. There was no way to take the Gabbit down into the waterfall.
"Sniff around!" he commanded.
The search wasn't long, and it was Shorty who located where Zeke's scent led.
"Right here!" said he, "Right by this pond here!"
Hal grinned. "Of course. The lil' Gabbit's still too young to breathe air." He took another sniff and followed it a few steps. "Northeast eh? Commere, friends."
When the others approached him, he put his arms around the two of them.
"What do we know about the Northeast?" he asked.
Shorty tried, "Uh... they got a lot o' trees?"
"No, idiot," sneered Hal. "Industry. Don't you read the stories?!" He slapped Shorty. "They're going east - it's rumored there's a population of Gabbits in the East. Now imagine what would happen if we got the last can BACK?"
"We'll be rich?!" Bill sneered.
Hal grinned wider. "Oh yes. Rich beyond our wildest dreams." Suddenly Hal jerked back and raised an arm in gesture. "Come on then! His scent isn't too old - let's follow him right to the sea - no doubt he's gonna set that Gabbit free!"
And thus, the persuit began again.