Into the Gourd
The trio had been traveling for about half a day now, not going anywhere in particular. Mya and Steph had been avoiding the issue of the indecipherable Answer, and had told Grundy to just lead them around the safe parts of Xanth. Really, they weren't going anywhere at all. And poor Grundy still didn't know who they were.
"Hey, girls, why don't we sit down and take a break?" Grundy suggested. He was still really curious about who they were, and truth was, he was getting hungry!
Mya and Steph stopped walking. They exchanged glances with one another. Then they both nodded. "Ok, Grundy. We'll take a little break," Mya said.
They all sat down under an umbrella tree. It wasn't really necessary, since it wasn't raining, but it looked safe, and provided them with shade from the sun. Mya picked three pillows from a pillow-tree, and they were sitting on those. It was quite comfortable.
"Ahh, this is nice," Mya sighed.
"Yeah, it's pretty comfy," Steph agreed.
"Now all we need is some food," Mya added. They both looked at Grundy. He sighed.
"I guess you want ME to go get the food," he said. They nodded. "Well, I guess I have to, since I'm your Companion." Reluctantly, he got up and walked a little ways off. He had spotted a pie-tree on their way over, and thought that would be suitable to snack from.
"Hey, what's that?" Mya said, pointing at a shell-looking thing, a little ways off.
"I dunno!" Steph said, "but it's pretty cool looking!"
"Wanna go check it out?" Mya asked.
"Damn right I do!" Steph answered.
So they walked over to the (what they now realized was a patch), of these shell-type things. It wasn't too far, but it was a fair distance. There were a variety of shapes and sizes.
"Hey look!" Mya said excitedly. "They have little holes in them!"
"Should we look inside?" Steph asked curiously.
"Sure! Why not!" Mya answered, just as curious. So they both knelt down, and put their eye to the peephole of one of the things.
Suddenly Mya found herself in a graveyard! How had she gotten here? She looked around, and all she could see was graves. Graves upon graves upon graves. It was dark, and where she couldn't see graves, she could see mist. That was it. Mya shivered, and sat down. She didn't like this place at all. And she was alone. Where was Steph?
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Steph blinked, and found herself surrounded by statues. Everywhere around her were little brass statues. Well, actually, they weren't that little. In fact, they were the same size as she was! They reminded her of the suits of armour that palaces and stuff had. But where was Mya? She shrugged it off. This place was cool! She walked forward. It was time to explore!
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Grundy selected a few pies that he thought the girls would like. He got a blueberry one, a yellowberry one, and a redberry one. That should be enough, he thought, satisfied. He nodded and gave himself a little mental pat on the back, then started back to the umbrella tree.
"Hey noodlenoggins!" he called. "I got us some pie! And there's a milkweed bush right there that we can drink from. Noodlenoggins?" Grundy looked around. Where were Steph and Mya? He had a panic attack. (Literally. A little panic bug started flying around his face, making him panic) He was the girls' Companion! He wasn't supposed to let bad stuff happen to them! And despite his better judgment, he was really starting to like them.
He did a quick survey of the area. Where could those two have gotten? Off to his right a little ways off was a gourd patch, and beside that was just some trees- wait! A gourd patch! Oh, Grundy hoped they hadn't stumbled into there! He ran over to it.
Sure enough, there were Mya and Steph. Both were laying on the ground, eye to a peephole. Grundy knelt down and put his hand in front of Mya's face, then Steph's, breaking contact.
Mya blinked. She was out of the scary graveyard! She was so happy she could kiss someone! So she did. "Oh, thank you Grundy!" she exclaimed, hugging him and giving him a kiss. "That place was awful!" Grundy blushed.
Steph, on the other hand, didn't look quite so happy. "Why'd you pull me out?" she asked. "I was having fun exploring that castle!"
Mya gave her a strange look. "Castle? What castle? All that was down there was a graveyard! And boy, was it scary! Why would you want to stay there?"
"There's no graveyard!" Steph argued. "It was a castle!"
"Graveyard!"
"Castle!"
"Graveyard!!"
"Castle!!"
Grundy decided to intervene before this got more serious, and progressed to capital letters. "Um, girls, I can explain," he said. "You see, you looked into hypnogourds, or gourds, as we call them. When you look into one, you can't get back out, unless your gaze is broken by something. And everyone sees a different scene when they go into a gourd. So that's why Mya saw a horrible graveyard," indeed, she still looked shook up, "and Steph saw a castle. Understand?"
Settling down, both girls nodded. "Thanks for saving me then, Grundy," Steph said.
Mya nodded. "I really, really appreciate it."
Grundy blushed, and looked down. Apparently he wasn't too good at taking compliments. "It's no problem," he muttered. "I'm just sorry I let you girls walk into here. This patch is so overgrown, I didn't even know it was here!" Without a doubt, there were many gourds here, twisting around one another. It was quite the sorry site.
"Don't worry about it, Grundy. We shouldn't have wandered off in the first place," Mya said. "Speaking of wandering off, where did Steph go?"
Grundy moaned. "Not again!" he said.
"Guys! I'm over here!" Steph called.
Grundy breathed a sigh of relief. He and Mya walked over to where Steph was calling from. "What'd you find?" Mya asked, her curious nature perking up.
"I think it's a shoe!" Steph said. "And…it's attached to a leg!" Indeed, the shoe was attached to a leg. "I think it's a girl! She's buried under all these gourds! Help me dig her out."
"Uhh…I don't know if that's such a good idea," Grundy started to warn. But it was too late. Both Mya and Steph were already on their hands and knees, moving gourds away. Soon enough, they had unburied the girl. She was about 5'6, laying down, and had long brown hair. It was splayed across her back and over some of the ground. She was wearing what Grundy guessed had been at one time a nice dress, but it was now in tatters around her body. She must have been here quite a long time!
Beside her, oddly enough, was a little body. Grundy figured it was about the size of an elf, which was pretty small. But it wasn't an elf. At least, not as much as he could figure. It had pointy ears atop its head, and instead of hands, it had…flippers? And it had short stubby legs, with wide, flat feet. But aside from that, it mostly resembled an elf. Grundy wondered what it was. He didn't have much time to wonder, however, as the girls were getting into more mischief already.
"Look, she's got purple eyes!" Mya exclaimed.
"That's not purple, it's violet!" Steph argued.
"Same difference!" Mya stuck out her tongue. "They're neat looking, all the same!"
"Oxy- moron," Grundy muttered. These girls sure were a handful.
"Well, let's wake her up!" Steph suggested.
"Ok!" Mya said, reaching her hand around to the front of the girls face.
"I'll wake up this thing!" Steph said, doing the same to the small creature beside her.
"NO!" Grundy yelled. But he was too late. Both girl and creature had been awakened. Why did no one ever listen to him until it was too late?
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The trio had been traveling for about half a day now, not going anywhere in particular. Mya and Steph had been avoiding the issue of the indecipherable Answer, and had told Grundy to just lead them around the safe parts of Xanth. Really, they weren't going anywhere at all. And poor Grundy still didn't know who they were.
"Hey, girls, why don't we sit down and take a break?" Grundy suggested. He was still really curious about who they were, and truth was, he was getting hungry!
Mya and Steph stopped walking. They exchanged glances with one another. Then they both nodded. "Ok, Grundy. We'll take a little break," Mya said.
They all sat down under an umbrella tree. It wasn't really necessary, since it wasn't raining, but it looked safe, and provided them with shade from the sun. Mya picked three pillows from a pillow-tree, and they were sitting on those. It was quite comfortable.
"Ahh, this is nice," Mya sighed.
"Yeah, it's pretty comfy," Steph agreed.
"Now all we need is some food," Mya added. They both looked at Grundy. He sighed.
"I guess you want ME to go get the food," he said. They nodded. "Well, I guess I have to, since I'm your Companion." Reluctantly, he got up and walked a little ways off. He had spotted a pie-tree on their way over, and thought that would be suitable to snack from.
"Hey, what's that?" Mya said, pointing at a shell-looking thing, a little ways off.
"I dunno!" Steph said, "but it's pretty cool looking!"
"Wanna go check it out?" Mya asked.
"Damn right I do!" Steph answered.
So they walked over to the (what they now realized was a patch), of these shell-type things. It wasn't too far, but it was a fair distance. There were a variety of shapes and sizes.
"Hey look!" Mya said excitedly. "They have little holes in them!"
"Should we look inside?" Steph asked curiously.
"Sure! Why not!" Mya answered, just as curious. So they both knelt down, and put their eye to the peephole of one of the things.
Suddenly Mya found herself in a graveyard! How had she gotten here? She looked around, and all she could see was graves. Graves upon graves upon graves. It was dark, and where she couldn't see graves, she could see mist. That was it. Mya shivered, and sat down. She didn't like this place at all. And she was alone. Where was Steph?
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Steph blinked, and found herself surrounded by statues. Everywhere around her were little brass statues. Well, actually, they weren't that little. In fact, they were the same size as she was! They reminded her of the suits of armour that palaces and stuff had. But where was Mya? She shrugged it off. This place was cool! She walked forward. It was time to explore!
************************************************************************
Grundy selected a few pies that he thought the girls would like. He got a blueberry one, a yellowberry one, and a redberry one. That should be enough, he thought, satisfied. He nodded and gave himself a little mental pat on the back, then started back to the umbrella tree.
"Hey noodlenoggins!" he called. "I got us some pie! And there's a milkweed bush right there that we can drink from. Noodlenoggins?" Grundy looked around. Where were Steph and Mya? He had a panic attack. (Literally. A little panic bug started flying around his face, making him panic) He was the girls' Companion! He wasn't supposed to let bad stuff happen to them! And despite his better judgment, he was really starting to like them.
He did a quick survey of the area. Where could those two have gotten? Off to his right a little ways off was a gourd patch, and beside that was just some trees- wait! A gourd patch! Oh, Grundy hoped they hadn't stumbled into there! He ran over to it.
Sure enough, there were Mya and Steph. Both were laying on the ground, eye to a peephole. Grundy knelt down and put his hand in front of Mya's face, then Steph's, breaking contact.
Mya blinked. She was out of the scary graveyard! She was so happy she could kiss someone! So she did. "Oh, thank you Grundy!" she exclaimed, hugging him and giving him a kiss. "That place was awful!" Grundy blushed.
Steph, on the other hand, didn't look quite so happy. "Why'd you pull me out?" she asked. "I was having fun exploring that castle!"
Mya gave her a strange look. "Castle? What castle? All that was down there was a graveyard! And boy, was it scary! Why would you want to stay there?"
"There's no graveyard!" Steph argued. "It was a castle!"
"Graveyard!"
"Castle!"
"Graveyard!!"
"Castle!!"
Grundy decided to intervene before this got more serious, and progressed to capital letters. "Um, girls, I can explain," he said. "You see, you looked into hypnogourds, or gourds, as we call them. When you look into one, you can't get back out, unless your gaze is broken by something. And everyone sees a different scene when they go into a gourd. So that's why Mya saw a horrible graveyard," indeed, she still looked shook up, "and Steph saw a castle. Understand?"
Settling down, both girls nodded. "Thanks for saving me then, Grundy," Steph said.
Mya nodded. "I really, really appreciate it."
Grundy blushed, and looked down. Apparently he wasn't too good at taking compliments. "It's no problem," he muttered. "I'm just sorry I let you girls walk into here. This patch is so overgrown, I didn't even know it was here!" Without a doubt, there were many gourds here, twisting around one another. It was quite the sorry site.
"Don't worry about it, Grundy. We shouldn't have wandered off in the first place," Mya said. "Speaking of wandering off, where did Steph go?"
Grundy moaned. "Not again!" he said.
"Guys! I'm over here!" Steph called.
Grundy breathed a sigh of relief. He and Mya walked over to where Steph was calling from. "What'd you find?" Mya asked, her curious nature perking up.
"I think it's a shoe!" Steph said. "And…it's attached to a leg!" Indeed, the shoe was attached to a leg. "I think it's a girl! She's buried under all these gourds! Help me dig her out."
"Uhh…I don't know if that's such a good idea," Grundy started to warn. But it was too late. Both Mya and Steph were already on their hands and knees, moving gourds away. Soon enough, they had unburied the girl. She was about 5'6, laying down, and had long brown hair. It was splayed across her back and over some of the ground. She was wearing what Grundy guessed had been at one time a nice dress, but it was now in tatters around her body. She must have been here quite a long time!
Beside her, oddly enough, was a little body. Grundy figured it was about the size of an elf, which was pretty small. But it wasn't an elf. At least, not as much as he could figure. It had pointy ears atop its head, and instead of hands, it had…flippers? And it had short stubby legs, with wide, flat feet. But aside from that, it mostly resembled an elf. Grundy wondered what it was. He didn't have much time to wonder, however, as the girls were getting into more mischief already.
"Look, she's got purple eyes!" Mya exclaimed.
"That's not purple, it's violet!" Steph argued.
"Same difference!" Mya stuck out her tongue. "They're neat looking, all the same!"
"Oxy- moron," Grundy muttered. These girls sure were a handful.
"Well, let's wake her up!" Steph suggested.
"Ok!" Mya said, reaching her hand around to the front of the girls face.
"I'll wake up this thing!" Steph said, doing the same to the small creature beside her.
"NO!" Grundy yelled. But he was too late. Both girl and creature had been awakened. Why did no one ever listen to him until it was too late?
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