Flammie Tales Book 1: A Wizard's Trial

Chapter 4: Plushtopia

"Welcome to Plushtopia home of … Seryn? Is that you? Don't you remember? It's me, Rye. I thought you were gone!" There was a stuffed flammie looking and speaking to Seryn. His fur was clearly artificial, but still felt very realistic, and was almost the same color as Seryn's, but slightly darker, and his unruly hair, one of the trademarks of a flammie, was a yellow gold color unlike any other.

His flammie 'scales' from the bottom tip of his tail to his neck was made of a velvety cloth. His wings, though also artificial, looked as though they were made of real flammie feathers, and were tipped, along with his ears, with the same color as Seryn's.

Even though his mouth seemed to be just a few stitches, he could open and close it just like a normal flammie. Finally his eyes were hard plastic, but they still functioned normally. Who was this artificial flammie, and how did he know Seryn?

"It's good to see you again Rye. I suppose I should introduce the wizard whom I entered with. Rye, meet Skyler. Skyler, meet Rye, my husband from my plushie life." Seryn turned back to Rye. She obviously had some major explaining to do. Rye, on the other hand, looked puzzled beyond belief.

"Wait, what do you mean by your 'plushie life'? Is there a secret you've been hiding from me all these years?" (Well, at the time Seryn herself didn't really know the full story, so I'd say it was justified.) "Why did you just vanish so long ago, and why now do you choose to return?" Rye sounded very shocked and confused, but there was something else ... jealousy?

Then it hit me. He was feeling betrayed! Seryn had made a life-long commitment to him, but one day she simply disappeared. Now not only did she suddenly show up in a completely different form, but with another person. But ... he had it all wrong! I mean, Seryn is my friend for sure, but I didn't love her. Even if I did, there would be no way the feeling was mutual. Besides, it'd be ... well ... weird for a human to fall in love with a flammie. Right?

"Rye, listen to me! Stop making assumptions! I didn't just disappear. It was simply my time to ... well ... move on. Listen, right now isn't the time to discuss it. The outside world is in terrible danger, and we came here to seek a place for Skyler to prepare to face the evil that threatens to consume the world. He is training to be a wizard so he can beat the evil once and for all. Please, can we just set up a place for him to sleep and practice his spells? I promise that I'll explain everything to you tonight."

"Oh...okay, but you!" Rye looked at me. "You are not to cast a single spell until this has all been sorted out alright?"

"But I need to practice if I'm ever to be ready to face Ma..."

"No!" He interrupted calmly, but fiercely. "I still don't know if I can really trust you. I'll give you a place to stay, but not a single spell until Seryn and I have our discussion. Understand?" (What else can I say? If I think about it, I would be the same way if I was in his position. But my time was limited! I couldn't just blow my short time!)

"But I ..."

"It's okay Skyler. I'll have this all sorted out by tomorrow. In the meantime, why don't you explore a little and try to find a good place to practice your spells? This is truly a marvelous world, and I know you'll like it. Besides, I doubt Mana will be able to find us for quite a while." This time it was Seryn who had interrupted me. Clearly this was a battle I wasn't going to win.

"Fine." I sighed. "You win. Just show me where to sleep." Rye nodded and beckoned for me to follow. After a short time walking, Rye lead me to what seemed to be a simple one room cottage, but that preconception changed dramatically when I entered the house

Inside the little 'cottage' was a vast hallway with many doors on each side. Rye walked down the corridor a little ways and turned and opened a seemingly random door.

"This is your room. If you need anything, just ask." The room seemed pretty bare. All there seemed to be was a fairly small bed. (Oh well, I'll have to spend most of my time in this world outside anyway.)

"Thank you." I said feeling slightly disappointed. "I'm going to go explore a little like Seryn suggested if it's not too much of a hassle." I had hoped that Rye would simply agree and step to the side, but to my chagrin he had something else in mind.

"Actually, it's getting quite late, and I would greatly appreciate it if you turned in for the night. Going through the plushie gate for the first time takes much more energy than you first realize. When I first got here I didn't sleep right away and ended up snoozing for a whole day. Why don't you just crawl into bed for now and explore tomorrow?" Rye still sounded a little scornful, but it was clear that the walk had softened him up a bit.

"Really," I tried to sound convincing, "even if I did go to bed now, I'd probably have a difficult time actually falling asleep." I had to fake enthusiasm because he was right. I was actually really tired.

"I assure you, you will have no trouble at all sleeping in this bed." He looked down as if he felt guilty about something. The next thing he said shocked me. "I'm sorry about blowing up on you earlier. Whatever happened to Seryn, I'm sure it wasn't your fault. But I still need to talk with Seryn before I can fully trust you, so please, just sleep for tonight and I promise I will give you a tour of Plushtopia in the morning."

"I see." (So the truth is he wants me temporarily out of the picture… great.) "There's not going to be any changing you mind on this is there." He shook his head. "Alright then. I guess I'll see you in the morning.

"Thanks for understanding." Rye began to close the door, but I stopped him.

"Wait. I know you feel a little betrayed by Seryn right now, but I just want to say that our relationship isn't like you think. Yeah, there's no denying our friendship, but I can't exactly say that I love her. So, if not for my sake, than for Seryn's, don't be jealous of us."

He paused a moment before quietly shutting the door behind him. I took a few steps into my new home. As exhausted as I was from my earlier encounter with Mana and now this, I opted against going to bed right away. I wanted to first get a feel for the room I'd be staying in.

I started to look around, and realized that my whole room was made entirely of cloth. Curiosity got the better of my and I decided to touch the wall and floor to see how they felt. The wall had a smooth velvety feeling when I touched it, and the floor was like soft velvet. (If the walls and floor are this soft, just imagine what the bed is like.)

Now looking forward to trying out the bed, I stripped to my underwear and slipped into the bed. The moment my head hit that pillow, I felt an extreme sense of drowsiness. This had to be the most comfortable bed in the universe! It was so cozy and soft. It felt as though I was floating in the middle of some perfectly temperate air. My eye lids began to seem heavier and heavier. I was slipping into a deep sleep.

As I finally closed my eyes, I felt myself being instantly dragged into the Dream World. Was it a charm or a spell? No. No, this was because of a feeling of pure comfort.

I was surrounded by what seemed to be a thick white mist. Suddenly, a voice projected out from the unknown. It sounded cool and collected, and held the authority one would expect from a king, but also the gentle warmness of a parent caring for his child.

"You'll soon begin your wizard training again, Skyler." (Who is this?) I could sense a feeling of concern from the unknown being. "Heed my warning young hero. Your time in this world will be shorter than you expect. Practice well and learn all you can before your time here ends." I felt my self starting to fade away. "There is one, however whose trust you must earn through self-sacrifice. Only then can this conflict truly end. Though your host does not yet trust you, you can place all your faith on him." I faded even further. "Farewell young hero."

"No! Wait! Tell me more!" I screamed as the white mist began to vanish. "At least tell me your name!" It was too late. The entity was already gone and I was already starting to awaken from my slumber. No! There were still too many questions. The dream finally faded into a black nothingness.

I woke up snuggled under the exceptionally cozy blankets of my bed. As I got up, I stretched my stiff limbs and walked over to the window in my room.

(Wait ... a window? Since when was this here? I could have sworn that there was no window in my room when I had fallen asleep.) The window was really nothing more than a hole in the cloth wall. There was no glass in it or anything like that. (Oh well, I guess the sudden appearance of a window doesn't really matter.) I glanced outside and saw that the sun was starting to creep up. Morning was approaching. (How did such a seemingly short dream manage to last all night?)

As I slowly turned to head outside to try to find Seryn and Rye, I noticed sitting near my new window, was a small cloth dresser. (Okay I KNOW this wasn't here.) I curiously looked inside it and found some very odd looking clothes. There was a light green t-shirt with a picture of a pair of flammies on it.

One of the flammies looked exactly like Seryn. I saw that the other flammie was slightly bigger than Seryn, and instead of her creamy yellow fur, this flammie had light mint green color for its fur. Seryn's hair was goldenrod, but this flammie had a dark blue for its hair color.

The 'scales' and pads of the mysterious flammie were darker green than its fur, and the claws were dark brown. The tips of its ears and wings were the same color of Seryn's hair, and finally, its eyes were a deep purple color.

Seryn and the other flammie were flying side by side on a moonlit night. They both looked very ecstatic, and for some reason their tails were twisted together. Who was this other flammie with Seryn? It wasn't any one I've ever seen, but then again, Seryn was literally the only flammie I had seen. I looked on the inside of the shirt and saw that on the tag it read: "For Skyler." Clearly whoever made this made it especially for me.

The pants in the drawer felt strangely ... feathery. I had a hunch and looked at the tag of these pants and sure enough, "For Skyler" was written. I compared the two articles of clothing and noticed something weird, maybe even a little ominous. The color of the feathery pants was the exact same color as the fur on the mystery flammie. Near the end of the pant legs, also there was a change in shade. The light mint green became the darker color of the unknown flammie's pads, and finally about an inch from the end, the green turned into the brown of the claws of the unknown flammie. Weird. Why would anyone go through all the trouble to make the pants fit the picture so well? I tried the clothes on and, to my surprise, they fit perfectly.

Now wearing the new clothes that some unknown force had made for me, I started to head for the door to my room, but I was stopped when I saw Seryn asleep in a corner of my room. I don't know how I had missed the steady breathing I now heard from her, and she looked so cute and peaceful with the steady rise and fall of her pelt. I tried my best to quietly tip toe to the other side of the room to open the door and try to find Rye, but for the third time today, I was surprised.

"Good morning, Skyler." I jumped when Seryn suddenly spoke to me. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I slept wonderfully thank you. I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, not at all. I actually fell asleep waiting for you to wake up." For the first time that morning, Seryn noticed my clothes. "Oh you found them! Rye will be so happy. He made those just for you, you know. Anyway, it's about time for Rye and I to take you on a tour of Plusthpoia. Don't worry. Everything has been worked out between us."

"Wait, back up a moment. Rye made these? For me?" Seryn nodded while her mouth was open wide in a big yawn. "That was very kind of him to do for someone he doesn't trust."

"It's actually his way of saying that he's sorry for not trusting you in the first place. After hearing my story, he trusted you completely and decided to make you those clothes to show it." Seryn looked at my feet. "Hey, you're not wearing the socks." Socks? I looked back on the mini dresser and saw that sitting on the top of it was a nice pair of socks. I picked them up and felt that they were very soft and seemed very comfortable. I noticed while putting them on that they were the same color as the pads of the mystery flammie.

"So, he made these to show me that he trusts me now. That's nice to hear. At any rate, shall we head outside to find Rye for that tour?" I was very excited to see more of this new world, but more than that, I just wanted to ask Rye some questions.

On my way to grab my shoes, my thoughts turned to the words in my dream. Maybe I had gotten Rye to trust me by staying in my room last night and sacrificing my chance to explore around a bit. Maybe that was what the voice in my dream was talking about.

"Skyler?" Seryn's voice made me come to my senses. I found myself looking at Seryn's concerned face "Skyler, we were about to leave to find Rye remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go."

"Are you sure you don't need more sleep or something? You suddenly fainted and I was concerned about you. Maybe we'll reschedule the tour for another day. But today we still need to meet Rye. He found a perfect place for you to practice your spells, and he wants to show it to you." I tried to stand up, but suddenly felt a little light headed.

"Alright, sounds like a plan. I'm sorry for worrying you. I'll be fine; I just need to regain my sense of balance." Starting to feel better, I stumbled over to my shoes to slip into them. "Hey, Seryn. Is there anything else I missed that Rye made last night?" I inquired as I was putting on my shoes.

"No, that's all Rye made." Seryn said. "Are you okay Skyler. You look a little tipsy."

I was feeling dizzy again and was trying to figure out why.

"That's it!" I exclaimed suddenly. "I know why I feel kind of woozy." Seryn just gave me a confused look. "I'm very hungry!"

"But wait; there is no food in Plushtopia for a human. How are we going to find something for you to eat?"

"Maybe Aridos packed me some food in the backpack he gave me." Walked over to where I set the pack down. I opened some of the pockets and searched hopefully. Sadly, I didn't find anything of interest until I saw a note tied to a stone.

"This is a Moon Stone. It is able to amplify moon energy to make it usable by even humans. It isn't fully charged right now and would probably suffice for only a meal or two, but just leave it in the moonlight for a while and it'll charge!

-Aridos-"

I held up the Moon Stone and let its light shine on me. It was just like when Seryn had fused our minds and absorbed moonlight. It was free energy.

"Oh! I see. Aridos packed a way for you to get energy. I still don't think your fit to go on that tour though." She was right. I felt better and was no longer dizzy, but I still felt rather weak.

"I think you're right. Well, let's go find Rye already." I headed for the door and readied my self to push it open, but I noticed that Seryn wasn't following me. "Are you coming Seryn?"

"Yeah, don't wait up. I'll meet you outside." She sounded slightly confused and clearly wanted to be alone for a moment.

"Alright, suit yourself." I pushed the door open. You see, this building was made entirely out of cloth, so there was no need for doorknobs or latches. Every door could just easily be pushed open. I started heading down the stairs to the door to outside the house. As soon as I walked out of the door, I noticed Rye asleep near the door. He had obviously been waiting for Seryn and me for quite awhile. I walked over to him and gave him a little nudge to wake him.

"Huh? Oh. Good morning Skyler." He said with a yawn. He gave me one look and his eyes were suddenly shining. "You wore them!" He was talking about the clothes he made me. "I made those just for you to apologize for the prejudiced way I acted toward you yesterday. It just wasn't right to assume that you stole Seryn from me. Besides, now that I know more about you, I know that even if you and Seryn were to fall for each other," (Was that a gleam in his eye? Does he know something I don't?) "You two would make a very good couple. She really wouldn't be able to find a better catch than you, Skyler." I blushed at what he was saying.

Seryn and I didn't love each other. Plus, it was obvious she was meant for the green flammie on my shirt. "Speaking of Seryn, where is she? She insisted on sleeping in your room to 'make sure you noticed the clothes.' Oh, never mind, here she comes now. Up there, out the window." I looked up and saw that Seryn was now flying down to greet us. She was excited about something.

"Good morning Rye. Sorry I'm late. Skyler is a little weak from not having food for a while, so can we just take him to the training spot we found and reschedule the full tour?" Seryn got right to the point with Rye. I suppose it was something that needed to be said so I didn't really think of it much.

"Sure I guess. If that's okay with you, Skyler." I nodded. (Seryn and I had already agreed on this.) "Then follow me." We started walking along a path and soon we reached a forest of trees made entirely of cloth. "Just a little bit into theses woods and we'll be there." Rye assured me as he grabbed some of the cloth leaves and started munching on them.

We walked straight for about two minutes until we came into a clearing with a small pond. "Here we are." Rye said. "I thought this would be perfect because the water could be frozen for Ice spells. I also called in a favor with Aridos and got him to make the ground here just like normal ground. So, what do you think?"

"It's perfect." I agreed. "Say, Rye. Can I ask you a few questions about yourself?"

"Sure. Ask away." He clearly didn't mind.

"Thanks." I decided to start with the obvious question. "Not to be offensive or anything, but what are you anyway?

Rye chuckled and answered, "Oh! You mean Seryn never told you? I am a flammie-plushie. You could say that I'm a living breathing stuffed animal. I can turn any cloth directly into energy when I digest it so that's why you saw me snacking on some cloth leaves earlier. That was actually my breakfast for today."

"Oh I get it. And that answered one of my other questions too. On to the final one. How did you make these wonderful clothes for me in one night?"

"Let's just say that being made entirely of cloth and living off cloth has its advantages. But better than explaining the process, how about I just show you? I've been meaning to make you a hat to match those clothes anyway." Rye didn't wait for me to answer or try to say what I might have wanted the hat to look like. He obviously already had something in mind.

He stopped for a moment to visualize the article of clothing he was about to form and, before I knew it, his stomach gurgled a bit, and I watched in awe as a lump started to form in his throat. He then suddenly spit out a stylish blue baseball cap. "Go ahead, try it on!" He encouraged.

Reluctantly, I picked it up. It was warm as if it had just come out of a dryer, not like a being had just spit it up. One look at the color of the hat and I recognized it as the same color as the hair of the green flammie on the picture on my shirt. The hat was also tipped on the bill with the same shade of purple the flammie's eyes were. Why had he used the same color scheme as the flammie? I tried on the hat and, sure enough, it fit perfectly like my pants, shirt, and socks.

Seryn whispered something in Rye's ear, and then he said something very sudden. "Skyler, do you trust me?" Slightly startled at what Rye just said, I was only able to nod. I had complete trust in him. Not only because of my dream, but he had shown me how much he trusted me. I figured it was my turn. "Good. Then believe me when I say that you will greatly enjoy what's about to happen. Please, don't struggle or fight it. Just relax and let what's about to happen, happen. You will come out completely unharmed."

To my surprise, Rye lifted me up so we were looking face to face, and next thing I knew, I was sliding head first past his rubbery tongue and down his throat. What was he doing? He said I wouldn't be harmed, but how couldn't I be? HE WAS EATING ME!

END OF CHAPTER 4!

Author's Ending Notes: I challenge any of you to try to make a character in a story fall asleep in a convincing way without getting sleepy yourself. Anyway Chapter 4 re-read and re-edited just for you. Yes you. If you're behind a computer screen reading my story, then this re-edit was done for you.

Look out for:

Chapter 5: Trust