The pair lie still for a moment, listening.
Rustle, rustle.
She was coming.
"We have to get out of here," Dib hissed, staring into Gaz's fearful eyes.
They narrowed. "I've been running for four days straight. If I can't outrun her in that time, what makes you think I'll be able to do it in any other amount of time? There's no way. Besides, she's an Irken, so she has those stupid mechanical leg things. She cheats."
"Well then, we can fight her!" Dib mumbled. "Do you have a weapon of any kind?"
Gaz blinked, as if Dib had said something utterly insane, but she sighed. Lifting her dress up slightly, she pulled a machete out of a scabbard around her waist. It was long and dulled with use, and had a few stains on it from its last encounter with a villain. "Will this do?" she queried. "It's not very sharp…"
"It's fine!" Dib said through clenched teeth, ducking as something flew over them. Gaz swore.
"Damn! She brought Mimus with her…" she hissed, readying her blade. "I'm going to kill that thing…"
"Is Takkit powerful?" Dib asked quietly, listening for any more disturbances in the grass. Gaz nodded.
"Oh, yes. She's deadly," she replied, rising slowly out of the grass. Dib grabbed her dress, startled.
"What are you doing?! She'll see you!" he spat, tugging on her outfit, trying to pull her back down. Gaz snickered.
"That's the point."
Dib rose, too, not wanting to be the cause of Gaz's lonely death. He looked around, struggling to see anything that would hint toward Takkit. Gaz brandished her knife, her eyes narrow and concentrated.
Suddenly, she screamed. Dib whirled around and was faced with the red eyes of a small black cat; it stared at him for a moment, processing something, then it hissed and whipped away, flying through the air like a shadow. The pair looked up. There was who Dib guessed correctly to be Takkit. She had green skin and angry, purple eyes, with a matching purple dress that bore a strange symbol on the front, along with red leggings and black boots. A long black cape billowed behind her, attached, or so it seemed, to her puffy black sleeves. She boasted a tall violet witch's hat, two curling black antennae peeking out from underneath it. She grinned, exposing zipper-like teeth.
"There you are!" she screeched, jerking around in midair. She made a movement that was similar to someone reaching for their toes, but instead of grabbing them, she held her palms out and started talking fast under her breath. Her gloved hands glowed with energy. A small monocle moved itself in front of her right eye, to help her aim her spell at the two on the ground.
"Get down!" Gaz yelled, tackling Dib again. A ball of light soared at them, turning the grass and the earth three feet down into dust. Dib gawked at the crater in horror while Takkit screamed at her poor aim. Gaz rose and readied her machete again.
"You have to run while she's distracted!" she ordered, her eyes on Dib. Dib looked up at her, confused. "You're here for a reason! The Veil workers wouldn't have let you through if there wasn't something serious going on!"
"But Gaz, you're—"
"Going to be just fine!" Gaz hissed, turning back to Takkit, who was jerking around again. The Irken thrust her cat at the girl, who was ready. She met Mimus in midair with her blade, hitting it hard in the side. She hadn't been lying, and neither had Dib's eyes; the blow only wielded a small amount of blood on the animal's part. However, it howled in pain, alerting Gaz to the fact that she had broken some of its ribs. She gritted her teeth in concentration.
Dib stared up at her, unsure as to what he should do. He didn't want to leave his new friend here to die; who knew what dangers lie out there, hidden in a world that he knew almost nothing about? The other people might not be as friendly as Gaz. He didn't want to risk that.
Narrowing his eyes, Dib collected a small handful of stones from the ground around them, standing up again and hurling one at Takkit as she readied another spell. She shrieked in anger and pain, clapping a hand against her arm. Tears leaked from her eyes. "You stupid bastard!" Gaz hissed, turning back to him. Her eyes were wild and angry, but Dib could see that deep inside, she was grateful that he hadn't left her alone. He threw another rock at Takkit; this one hit her in the head. She screeched again.
"Throw your knife at her!" Dib ordered, trusting Gaz to aim truly. She nodded and obeyed, heaving her weapon at Takkit as hard as she could.
The Irken's eyes shot open. "I'm not that easy!" she hissed. Four long, jointed, mechanical legs shot out of the small, spotted pack on her back, one of them easily batting the flying machete aside. The blade landed in the grass somewhere with a dull thudding noise. Takkit cackled evilly. "Ganazala, you're so stupid! I told you I'd find you and kill you! Now, just for resisting, I'm going to kill you nice and slow!"
"You'll never lay your hands on me, Takkit!" Gaz shouted back, though now without a weapon to boast, her claim had little validity. Her fists clenched and unclenched in frustration as Dib scanned the grass, searching for the spot where the knife had landed. Please, he thought desperately. We need a miracle. Where's that 'Zim' guy Gaz was talking about earlier?!
Takkit smirked, holding her arm out straight. She pointed at Gaz, a blue light appearing at the tip of her finger. "You're right!" she snickered, "I won't!"
Gaz gritted her teeth audibly, and Dib inwardly cursed himself.
"Violet will be most pleased!" Takkit cackled, the light growing larger and brighter. "He's been so angry with you ever since you stole the Black Solvent! Oh, how he's going to reward me—"
"Augh!"
Another Irken sailed into Takkit, sending her flying off into the grass. Dust flew up behind her, and she shrieked in rage, her feet over her head. Dib looked up at this new addition to their group, in slight awe. He was wearing an outfit similar to Takkit's, only his was made up of mostly red, and his cape was white. His pants were purple.
He laughed.
"Okay, Gaz, I'm here!" he shouted, looking around in the grass for her. He spotted her and Dib, and hesitated only for a moment.
"Reckless," Gaz mumbled, lowering her head. "That's Zimbrit, but he prefers to be called Zim. He's Takkit's opposite, sort of; Crimson's assassin. He's headstrong and a bit stupid, but he's a nice guy once you get to know him."
"So does that mean you work for Crimson, too?" Dib asked quietly. "I mean, since you two are friends and all."
"I work for whoever pays me," Gaz replied stiffly.
Zim landed in front of the two of them, nodding at Gaz before turning suspicious eyes upon Dib. "Who's this?" he growled. Zim sniffed, as Gaz had done so, earlier. They seemed to be able to determine species by doing that. "He smells like you."
"His name is Dib, and he's a human, but keep quiet about it," Gaz murmured, looking at Zim urgently. Takkit had floated back up above the grass again, searching furiously for them. Mimus whimpered at her side, wounded. Zim's eyes widened. "Help us fight Takkit off, and I'll explain everything to you later."
"All right," Zim mumbled, his own mech legs shooting out of his pack. He flew into the air and started ramming into Takkit; she did the same, both of them flying at each other and rebounding, meeting each other in the middle with flashes of light. Zim laughed; Takkit screamed in frustration.
"Takkit's faster than Zimbrit, but he's stronger," Gaz explained as Dib watched the two battle, in awe. "So when they're fighting like this, Zim always wins. That's why he's not using magic. If he did, Takkit would beat him, easy."
Zim swung one of his mech legs around and caught Takkit off-guard, sending her pummeling into the ground again. She shrieked, this time in pain. He cackled. "Go home, Tak!" he ordered, his hands placed triumphantly upon his hips. "We've won! Go back and report to your leader about your loss! I'm sure he'll be most infuriated with you!"
"Go to hell!" Takkit screamed, giving Zim a sour look. But that was all that she could do. Picking up her cat in defeat, she gave Gaz and Dib one final loathing look before flying away, her antennae drooping considerably.
Zim beamed down at the two on the ground, and they smiled back. He swooped down and landed in front of them, smirking victoriously.
"Okay, Gaz, now tell me, who's this joker here?" he prodded, poking Dib in the chest. Dib swayed, but didn't fall down. Zim grabbed his wrist and tapped on his arm with two fingers up to his shoulder, then let go. "He seems a bit flimsy for a human. He looks like you, too. I thought humans were supposed to be muscular and big! This is stupid."
"You put too much faith in legends, idiot," Gaz growled, although Dib could hear a sort of fondness in her voice. "Not all humans are big. My father wasn't."
"Yeah, well, that was a long time ago! Times change, so do people. It's called evolution," Zim growled, still eyeing Dib warily. Gaz rolled her eyes.
"It's called evolution; the thing that takes millions of years. Not hundreds, Zimbrit, my dear," she said, pushing her face into Zim's. The Irken blinked, his eyes narrowing.
"I told you not to call me that!" he growled furiously. His eyes quickly lost interest in Gaz and focused once again on Dib, who had wandered off and was searching through the grass for Gaz's machete. "What's he doing now?" Zim growled, ever-prodding. Gaz growled at him.
"Shut up. He's just looking for my knife," she mumbled, defending her new friend. Zim pouted while Dib found the blade, picking it up carefully and handing it back to Gaz, who accepted it gladly.
"Thanks, Dib," she said, smiling. Zim blinked.
"Dib?" he asked. "What kind of a stupid name is Dib?"
"What kind of a stupid name is Zimbrit?!" Gaz snarled, lashing out and slapping Zim. The Irken glowered, rubbing the side of his face and casting menacing looks in Dib's direction. Dib just blinked, unsure as to how he should feel. Zim seemed to want to be naturally hostile toward him. So be it, Dib thought, shrugging and looking over at Gaz again. She was looking for something again.
"Where's Girgant?" she asked, looking at Zim accusingly. "You didn't tie him up to a tree and leave him again, did you?"
"No," Zim mumbled, still pouting. "He's just stupid and forgot where we were going when we were halfway there."
"Oh," Gaz replied, as though this were not an unusual response. She looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun. "Well, he should be here by now, shouldn't he? I mean, usually it doesn't take him this long to find you again. He's not that stupid. Hmm…maybe he found an animal to chase."
"Who's Girgant?" Dib asked, earning himself another angry look from Zim.
"Girgant is like Mimus, only he's a dog, whereas she's a cat," Gaz replied coolly, making a gesture at Zim. He nodded and held his hands out, murmuring a few words. The grass around them shortened considerably, and they settled down in the shade of the rest of the field. "He's Zim's partner. He's supposed to help out with assassinations, but he's too lovable for that sort of thing."
Zim snorted, floating in front of the pair in a cross-legged position. "Yeah," he mumbled sarcastically. "Lovable."
Dib sighed, running his hands through his sweaty hair. He suddenly realized how hot he was, and took off his trench coat, casting it aside for later. "I wish that I could remember Simartia," he murmured, resting his chin in his hands. Gaz clapped a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.
"It's all right, Dib. Eventually you'll leave here, and you'll get it all back again," she said. Dib closed his eyes behind his glasses.
"Yeah…" he sighed. "But…you seem nice. I don't know if I want to forget about you. I don't think I had any friends in Simartia."
"Well…maybe you can stay here?" Zim suggested, a bit more compassionate now that Gaz wasn't teasing him.
Dib nodded. "But…it's going to be hard to decide," he said. "I have to choose between two different lives in two different worlds…I don't think that would ever be an easy decision."
"I don't think so, either," Gaz said.
She and Zim watched Dib sit and think until he finally fell over out of exhaustion, to sleep in the grasses of a foreign land where all of the strangers were familiar.
And he dreamed of the sea.