This is gonna be ham and cheese at points. If you want something serious, you should look elsewhere. Otherwise, enjoy this corny cliché catastrophic creation! Or don't, it's completely up to you. I'd hope it is, anyway...
Shadow Fall
Arc 1
I was just your average lunatic. Well, lunatic may not be the most accurate way to describe me. I'm not average, but not unaverage? Uh, I am a person, I think that is the best way to put it, I am as crazy and not crazy as any person. Perfectly average in most ways, nothing bad, nothing good, just a guy more or less. Average height, average weight, average build, average intelligence, and probably an average amount of weirdness. Well, okay, maybe a bit above average for weirdness, or maybe not. I find many people are weirder and way more stupid than they would like to admit, but I have no issue with calling myself a "big weird dumb". Weirdness is subjective, is my point. Why am I arguing this with myself when it doesn't really matter?
It should have been a normal day, everything seemed to be typical, but I had a strange feeling it wasn't. Though, I often seem to feel that way for no real reason. Probably because of something my therapist has explained. Something about how I never fully lost that sense of childlike wonder with life, or something, it's been a year or two since then. I do remember them saying that it's not a bad thing if I can be mature when I needed to be. Given my job, I think I somehow balanced that, somehow. I think so anyway, but given my tendency to narrate things to myself and for my own mind to go on tangents loosely connected to the previous point much like this, it can be hard to tell. Anyway, while every day felt exciting and new, today felt different somehow. Perhaps it was the calm day outside, the wind not blowing and birds were calling for me.
A smile crept to my face as I walked out of my house for a bit of fresh air. There was only a month and a week before kids got out of school, and thus only a week or two few weeks until it was going to be extremely busy at work. The summer rush is always busy at all times, whether before or after school gets out. It was a miracle I got the day off this week, and that was only due to state-mandated union laws or something. I don't remember what the laws were, exactly, just that I was thankful for the legally mandated days of peace.
I took a deep breath of the cool, spring air. The winter had finally retreated to spring times, though it did not go easily. Snow from a storm in the last week was still found in piles at the side of the roads. The temperature was in the upper forties, the wind wasn't really blowing, and I didn't need more than shorts and a t-shirt. Everything I saw seemed as normal as can be. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and dogs barked as I passed by. In the far distance, I knew the ferry was being prepared. It hadn't begun its usual trips yet, that was still a day or two away, delayed somewhat due to the late April/early May snowstorm a little over a week ago. Rows of houses passed by as I wandered aimlessly. I was bothered by my own mind, but that was normal. My mind always feels like something's looming over me. It's the way my anxiety manifests sometimes. It's fun being paranoid, makes life a chore. All sarcasm aside, I shook my head, slapping my face once.
I passed my growing paranoia off as excitement for the ending of a harsh winter. While I loved the winter, the snow, and everything about it besides the unbearable cold and lake's snowstorms, at some point you get sick of it. The uncomfortable feeling of wet socks in your boots which you just have to put up with, the mud being tracked in, it gets old after a few months. If only it could snow when it was warm, but alas, the laws of physics seem to hate all types of joy. My wandering mind was suddenly thrown back into reality, however. I found I suddenly had to jump back into the corner of someone's lawn as a car came barreling around a corner, completely ignoring a stop sign. He even nearly went over the curb! I nearly stepped on some flowers, but luckily I managed to avoid that.
"Ack, idiot! Use your blinker before making a turn." I complained. I shook my head and took a breath. I continued walking again. I passed a fallen tree, recently cut to prevent a tree disease from spreading. No, it was because it was infected with a bug? An Ash Borer I think it was. Whatever the cause, the tree was no longer there. I passed a row of seven houses that all were painted green for some reason. With how long it goes on, I call the row of houses "The Green Mile", but that's just me.
Walking across the highway that runs through the center of town, I looked up and noticed a cardinal chirping. Nature was returning, though everything was still muddy and brown. It'd be a few weeks before life properly returned, especially after the cold winter. With the baby vomit-colored grass, the dead trees not yet budding, the wet mud, everything felt dead. However, signs of life returning were scattered about, mostly in the form of the occasional flock of geese honking above and the birds chirping through the trees.
I looked up at a bird on a nearby low-hanging branch and smiled. "Hello, bird friend." Startled, the beautiful red bird flew off to the unknown. My smile grew a bit wider, it was a beautiful crimson cardinal. The directions I took didn't matter, I was simply. However, a tugging feeling in my stomach told me I was getting hungry, thus I began to make my way home. I walked alongside State Street and turned left to Rocky Road, a fitting name for the small and short street that needed repairs.
Turning right this time at the end of the holey street, I found myself back on Rose Lane, the street my house was on. On the far opposite end of the street, a park known as the "Rose Park" was found. Yes, Rose Lane has a place called "Rose Park", it's completely genius and not obvious in any way imaginable. You'd never guess the flowers you could find there! Actually, it's full of flowers and is quite a lovely place to visit, but I digress. There was some debate as to whether it should be renamed "Meadow Lane" many years ago, but the idea failed to gain much attention.
Shaking my head at my bizarre narration, I crossed the road and went into my house. Walking through the dining room, I was on autopilot. I barely noticed when I went into the kitchen. That is until I slipped on the wet floor. I fell on my butt, sitting there for a moment. A blank stare held on my face as I sat in the puddle, getting my pants soaked in the process. Before long I got up again, rubbing my slightly sore posterior.
"Hahahehhahahehaheh! That was so stupid! " I cackled. I was laughing at my clumsiness and was relieved that no one was around to see it. Forgoing a chair, I used the wooden countertop to reach a high shelf. Probably a dumb and disgusting idea to do that with my wet feet, but I was no stranger to danger. I would probably get myself hurt, or worse, someday, but not today.
The thought occurred to me that this was extraordinarily inconvenient, however. I had no idea why I put my food so high up! I didn't have any pets or kids. I worked with kids almost daily, I didn't need one at home. Searching through the cupboards, I found nothing. Looking again, I thought I was going crazy before I remembered I was looking in the wrong spot. I carefully stepped down, my foot splashing into a puddle once more. This time I didn't slip, so that was a positive.
"Ugh. I really need to make less of a mess when cleaning the dishes." I whispered to myself. I didn't need a kid, I was messy enough on my own, even when cleaning things. I got to the fridge and took out some bread. Why was the bread in the fridge I wondered? I stopped and pondered this. It didn't take long before I remembered that the cold helps preserve it, so I put it in there due to the weird heat waves which had happened just two days previously. Up to sixty degrees, because nature can never make up its mind. My stomach began tearing a hole into itself, ripping me from my thoughts.
"Memory capacity at maximum. Delete data to remember bread facts." I stated, waving my arms around like a robot. I had no idea why I said it like that, I was just bored and entertaining myself on my day off. I unwrapped the bread to reveal the pristine, floury, pre-sliced miracle of modern cooking.
"My favorite, plain white bread!" I cheered. I took a bite and swallowed.
The bread tasted like bread, and that was fine. Grabbing some mustard from the fridge, I took two slices of bread and made a mustard sandwich. Perhaps I used too much, as the mustard dripped onto my shirt. I was going to change clothes, anyway. It didn't take long to do so, heading to my small, wooden wardrobe for a complete change of outfit. I took the opportunity to place a towel on the kitchen floor as well.
The food I had wasn't a lot, but I didn't need a lot. Wasn't feeling particularly hungry, luckily. I was feeling too lazy to cook anything and didn't want to order anything, either. For the time being, I had a mustard sandwich. Had a mustard sandwich, that is. Sitting on the blue recliner, I was already pretty much finished with my mustardy, messy sandwich by the time I got comfortable. I turned on the TV. and began flipping through the channels. Show after show of meh. Daytime TV was boring. However, I flipped past a cartoon channel when I noticed something familiar.
"Oh, this cartoon? I haven't seen it since I was a kid!" I shouted to no one. Perhaps I shouted it to the pictures of my late sister on the wall, or maybe to the dead and dried flower in a small display. I leaned forward and watched the episode. The show was about a group of teens who gained superpowers in the form of their own AI companions which could turn from an accessory they wore to a mech suit.
Each character had a different accessory. The smart guy had glasses, and the big guy wore his like a cowboy hat. The girl had a neckless. The edgy rival/second in command carried a sword because of course he did. The hero wore his as a glove. They all did different poses to bring out their mech suits. It was far worse than I remembered, and I loved it. It was horrible and cheesy, and I found myself laughing at how over-the-top everything was. Each character was hilarious, even though they weren't intended to be.
"Oh noooo! You have to get uuuuup!" The girl shouted to the hero who had been hit by a strange energy blast.
"I hate to leave it to you. But you have to, do it!" The edgy rival screamed. An internal monolog was heard from the hero as everything but him faded to black.
"I can't do it. But I can't let them down!" The hero began glowing red as the scenery around him turned white.
"I won't let you DOOOOOOOOOOWWWWN!" The hero shouted as he ran forward with the theme song blaring.
It was so terrible; I couldn't help but love it. It was loud, dumb, and over-the-top. The episode ended all too soon for me. The hero, of course, beat the villain of the week and saved the day.
"The world was safe again thanks to our great heroes!" The hammy narrator exclaimed. I swear I nearly peed myself at that, he sound bored and phoned in. No, he was as hammy and loudest of them all, and that is saying something. I want to see a show with that narrator doing narration of other shows now, it was just so hilarious.
"Great heroes on a grandiose adventure. Hah, if only I could be in a world like that. I'd have a lot of fun." I exclaimed to the empty house. That would be fun, I could be the lovably witty, confident hero others looked up to for no reason other than he's the hero. It was then a weird feeling washed over me. I shook my head. A weird, energizing energy of energyness had suddenly filled me. I wanted to go outside for another walk! I didn't fully understand why, but I assumed the show had given me a bit of energy. I shrugged my shoulders. It didn't matter, did it? If anything, another nice, long walk would be good for my health.
"Ok, why not? The ham has fueled me, and I won't let it doooowwwwnnn! Hahehaheh ack, hahck, cough, ugh how did they say that without cracking up? Hahahah!" I laughed to myself. I shook my head a few times. Standing up again, I made my way outside. With a merry skip, I hopped out the door of my house. Wandering further and further, the sun went from noon to afternoon quickly. I stretched my limbs as I passed by the park.
Many kids were playing, loudly cheering and laughing. Their parents sat down on nearby benches, chatting amongst themselves, looking over at their children on occasion. The completely average day at the park was peaceful. Birds chirped, and squirrels broke sticks above my head as they scurried from branch to branch, everything was nice. I smiled, happy the kids were enjoying themselves on such a nice spring day.
However, something strange was going to happen. The wind began to blow, and the sky began to dim. I looked around, wondering what was going on when a loud crack shook me out of my thoughts. A strange, swirling blue portal opened near the playground. It almost looked like the milky way but flat and on a disk. Many of the kids backed away, but a few remained who were either curious or too stunned to move. Years of retail training prevented my mind from cracking, however. The kids could be in danger, and I had to act.
"Wah!" I shouted. I rushed towards the strange and impossible rip in space. Standing in front of the portal, I turned toward the children. Their parents were calling for them to come towards them. The kids looked at me, and back to their parents. Some parents ran forward and forced their kids away from the potentially dangerous rip in space. I say potentially dangerous because it's only a tear in the fabric of the universe, no one knows what would happen.
"Uh, kids, back away from this, please," I stated, standing in front of them. Hopefully, the kids had enough sense to not try and push past me. I was acting as a human barrier; hands outstretched a bit. I was the last line of defense from the kids possibly being molecularized across the multiverse. They all looked at me, and back at their parents, who were still calling for them. The remainder of the kids finally ran off. I let out a sigh and turned around. Taking a good look, the blue, swirling portal was exactly as fantastical as I would expect a tear in space to be. It swirled and circled, looking impossibly round. Deep blue lines stretched deep into the portal, making it appear to have depth rather than just being a 2d portal heading elsewhere. Was I going to go through it? That was the question of the day.
"Hmm. Probably a stupid idea to touch it. Am I really that dumb?" I wondered. My thoughts ran back to the childish thoughts earlier of an unexpected adventure of the cliché and fun variety. I had an opportunity here, I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't. I can't say I took a breath or held my breath, either. I was pretty casual about touching the hole in space-time.
"Welp, I'll either die or not. Let's see." I stated with a shrug, putting my hand out to touch the portal. When my hand had just brushed against it, I felt a tingle shoot through my body. A strange white light enveloped me, and the world went blank. The strange, dark void I found myself in was soon filled with a swirling rainbow color.
"Ok, who drugged me?" I wondered. What the hey was going on?
"Hello! Welcome to the world of Pokémon!" A booming voice rang out.
"Uh, W-huh?" I wondered. What was a Pokémon?
"Before you enter, I must ask you a few questions. Be truthful when you answer them." It continued.
"Uh, okay? Uh, wai-wait. What's-" I wondered. The voice didn't seem to notice or care about my obvious confusion.
"This seems silly, like the cartoo- Hold on, am I actually..." A smile crept onto my face as I thought for a moment, laughing a little bit at the realization. I let out a small, excited squeal. I was either dreaming, drugged, or dead. Either way, this was probably going to be a lot more fun than my normal life.
"Ready? Then let the interview begin!"
"If your friend squirts you with water, how do you react?"
"Uh, hmm. I'd say 'Woo-hoo! Water fight!' Or something similar?"
"If a hand pops out of the toilet, what do you do?"
"Uhm, ask if it needs toilet paper?" Weird question, but probably relevant, somehow. A weird new world will have weird new rules.
"If you make a mistake, can you admit to it?"
"Dhu, Sometimes? Depends on the mistake... and if I can get away with it."
"Do you consider yourself brave?"
"Guh, No? Yes? Some days yes, some days no? At my best, yes. Make of that as you will."
"If you ask your friend to come outside, but they can't, how do you react?"
"I'd understand? He's probably busy with something."
"An important test is coming up. How do you prepare?"
"Uh, honestly? Wing it."
"You fail miserably, and everyone found out. How do you react?"
"Yeah, not surprised. I don't know, eat the test? I've never been good at schoolwork, anyway. If I failed a test, then I failed. I won't feel that bad since it happens sometimes."
"Are you a boy or a girl?"
"B-Boy?" What an odd final question to ask, and with so few options as well. What would the deity voice thing have done if I answered with neither? Probably nothing unless I was really rude about it. Of course, I was much too cowardly to say anything to them about that in the end. It's a weird god voice thing, they could probably smite my soul to nonexistence if I intentionally antagonized them about people who were nonbinary.
"You appear to be quite quirky, but also clearly a bit sassy. However, the best way to describe you is 'unapologetically you'. You live by your own conventions, regardless of what others might see as normal. You love your life and are content being you, and no one would change this. You strive to be the best 'you' you possibly can be, but you sometimes struggle to find a balance that isn't too pushy. Yet, you know that you aren't the bravest, either. You have quite a bit of caution. One could almost say you are slightly timid, yet you are able to work past that when necessary. So, someone as true to themselves as you must be... Zorua!"
The voice responded with a high level of cheer. First of all, what's a Zorua? Second of all, yeah, that sounded just about right to describe me. As a manager, I learned the best way to keep things working was not by taking huge risks. Sometimes risks were useful, but it was not always helpful to just plow ahead without thinking things through carefully. Plus it helps deal with the more rowdy customers if they think you're a bit shy or timid. They're either friendlier or they think they can get one over on you, and it's always secretly fun to see them fail. The voice suddenly spoke up once again.
"Now let's see your aura color. Your aura color helps represent who you are on a deeper level. Red means you are fierce, blue means graceful, green is smart, yellow means stoic, and pink means gentle. There are many more colors than this, however, typically from a mixture of each. Just reach out your hand and touch the bow." A shining white light appeared, blinding me for a moment as I looked away, raising my arm to shade my eyes. From the light, a white ribbon appeared. I shrugged my shoulders. I already took a leap off the deep end and so I had to see the consequences through. I reached out my hand, and hesitated for a moment, before grabbing the bow. A bright light blinded me once more before fading just as fast.
In my hand, I held a dark green bow. A strange feeling in my brain told me it was called "Fun Green". What a weird, arbitrary color. It's almost as if it decided I was a weird, fun person. Not like I didn't just sit down and watch a cheesy children's cartoon while eating a mustard sandwich or anything. Though, there wasn't likely any way they would know about that. Also, I figured they may be able to read my thoughts, so taunting them was probably not a good idea to begin with.
"A grand adventure awaits you. A new body for you and the world! Now, let your journey begin!" The voice shouted. The rainbow light shone bright and rushed past me before everything suddenly became a dark void.
"Hello? Hey? Hello?" A voice called out to me. It almost sounded metallic, but I figured it was just my mind not being entirely awake.
"Uh, huh? Huah. Five more minutes." I groaned. I was exhausted for some reason. That portal must have taken a lot out of me.
"Sorry, I can't exactly let you sleep here." I heard. Suddenly I remembered I was in the middle of the park. I must have fallen asleep after that portal ate me. I apologized quietly. Sitting up, I was greeting face to face with a strange, ovoid, silvery metal creature with magnets at the end. It was just like a UFO.
"You are not what I was expecting to see," I stated. I blinked a few times. What in the world was going on? I looked around, noting a vastly different environment from what I was expecting.
"The townsfolk say you fell out of a portal in the sky. Is this true?" The metallic UFO asked. Did I fall out of the sky? Well, it made just as much sense as everything else going on, I suppose. In the distance, several other creatures stared at me. I had no idea what they were at the time. Still, I had to focus on the current conversation before I did much else. These creatures must be Pokémon. Weird, freaky, I don't know if I liked it.
"I-uh. I don't know? If I did, I was asleep when it happened. I walked through a weird portal, I remember that, but not anything else. If I fell through that portal, then it dumped me out here." I responded. I was internally freaking out, but I also knew I was in a weird new world, so I had to pretend to be alright for a while. I took a few deep breaths, calming myself. What was this world?
"I see. So, you don't know how you got here." The creature repeated. I looked to the ground, avoiding looking at the thing.
"Wherever here is," I muttered to myself. Luckily it was quiet enough that the creature didn't hear me. really though, where was I?
"Where are you from?" It asked. That's a good question, where is home from here? Another dimension, that's where. Still, I'd be thrown into an asylum if I just admitted that right away. I was crazy, but I wasn't stupid. Okay, I was stupid, but not quite that stupid, usually.
"Very far away," I responded. I didn't lie, from a certain point of view. Still, it was dishonest. I didn't feel too bad, regardless.
"Do you know the town's name?" He asked. He was treating me like a lost kid, though I felt like a lost kid. Heck. maybe I was a kid to them. Who knows, maybe humans in this world turned into these things or something. Yeah, and I was the king of all cheese in Wisconsin.
"Uh, it was a long name, a lot of vowels," I responded. Manitowoc wasn't really complicated if you knew how to pronounce it, but I didn't feel like risking the need to explain how I came from another world just yet. That was something I wished to avoid forever if I could get away with it, or at least until it didn't matter anymore.
"I see. This is Dune Town." It responded. I nodded. Dune Town? Well, it was obvious I wasn't in Wisconsin anymore. There isn't exactly a giant sandy desert full of mystical creatures there, as far as I knew, anyway.
"Hmm, what to do? I would take you to the police station, but that's in the next town over, and it's getting late so it wouldn't be safe for you to travel, even with me. By the time backup arrives it will be far too late to travel, we could end up getting lost..." He mumbled to himself. The UFO was a police officer or sheriff. Of course it was, why wouldn't it be? That made perfect sense. I tried to wander off. He clearly was too lost in thought to notice anything. On my right was a giant sand dune, clearly denoting the utter genius of the town name. It was hard to walk, everything felt weird. Looking toward my legs, I noticed I was walking on four legs and had paws instead of hands. Dark fur coated my entire body. Turning my head, a large, fluffy black foxlike tail extended from my back. I took a breath, but it didn't calm me down. A thought rang out loud and clear, "When I said maybe humans turn into these creatures, I did not actually mean it!"
"Well, that's all I can take for one day," I mumbled. In two hops I jumped into the nearby sand dune.
I made a soft thud as I impacted. Small bits of sand flew upward before settling, some into my mouth, "Peh, pleh, plah! Bleh." I groaned, sneezing once and shaking my head. The sand tasted like sand, and that wasn't fine. Still, I rolled around in the sand for a moment, feeling its coarse texture along my new fur.
"What? Woah! Don't do that, that's dangerous!" The UFO shouted, dragging me away. Clearly, this guy was a big meanie. Should I say that? No, let's not antagonize the police officer. Not yet, anyway.
"Aw, but saaannnd," I complained. The officer's response was quick
"There are safer places to play in the sand. I'm sure some of the locals could show you. For now, we need to find you somewhere to stay for the night." The UFO responded.
I grumbled. I honestly wanted to play in the sand to distract myself from the utter chaos happening. What was I doing here? I tried to walk forward but tripped, falling onto my stomach. A small amount of sand flew up, landing in front of me. This was going to be harder than I hoped.
"Ow," I complained.
"Can't you walk?" The UFO questioned. I had to think of something on the fly. Luckily my managerial experience meant I could think up convincing enough lies very quickly. Many rowdy customers were dealt with using a quick lie to explain why they couldn't have things their way. It was that or explain all the logistical reasons they couldn't have several thousand dollars worth of goods shipped to us and in their hands by the next day.
"It's weird. Doctors say a weird lump in my brain at birth caused a learning problem? Whatever that means." I responded. I looked at him innocently. If I was going to be trapped in a weird young body, I was going to exploit it for what I could, at least until I could be more certain of what was going on. The UFO seemed a bit panicked and flustered. That caused some problems.
"Well, that's, uh, something best left for your mom and dad to explain." He spoke. The memory of that weird voice suddenly ran through my mind. I clearly didn't have parents, so I could exploit this.
"They put mommy somewhere, someone said she had to go somewhere. I think that's what I heard? They said she didn't want to go but had no choice. I've been living with my grandma for a while, but then people told me I couldn't see her after she got sick, and they were talking about something, late stage something? I don't know what. I don't know dad. Grandma called him a 'low-life'? What does that mean?" I asked with puppy dog eyes. The UFO coughed; the magnets spun in circles. He was clearly completely caught off guard and very unsure of what to say next.
"Well, that's. I'm- I'm sorry!" He responded. I laughed and smiled.
"You're weird," I said, laughing. A big smile was plastered on my face. I was genuinely smiling and laughing; I was having some fun with the UFO. I know I shouldn't have, messing with the police when they're legitimately trying to help is not a smart idea, but I had to do something to stop myself from panicking. I was a few steps from screaming my head off, anything I could do to alleviate this feeling building up was welcome, even at the expense of others. He coughed again. I slowly walked forward, making certain where my feet were. It wasn't easy, but at some point, I would probably get used to it. I hoped I would anyway. We slowly walked over to a large building. A sign in the front read something in a language I couldn't read. Not being able to read would help my lie, at least. We walked inside as the winds began to pick up, throwing sand around. Almost anywhere is probably better than dying in a sandstorm. Hopefully it is, anyway...
"Hello officer Magnezone. Who's this?" A strange brown creature with a skull-like face wondered. The deep green room was sparsely decorated, with only a single plant in the nearest right corner. On the left, a colorful rug held a few small chairs in a semi-circle facing a larger chair. A small bookshelf was in the nearest left corner. A small wall hid part of the playtime corner, where there was probably something else hidden behind. In the far-right corner held a door, and another door right next to them, both closed at that moment.
"He fell out of a strange portal, I'm sure you've heard. I'll send out a report for this, but I don't imagine much will come from it." The creature named Magnezone responded, coughing again.
"Are you okay?" I asked. I had to play up the innocent kid role a bit, at least for the moment. I had nowhere to go, nowhere to live, and no idea what to do.
"I'm fine, just a bit of sand in my throat," Magnezone responded. I'm sure it was, UFO guy, I'm sure it was. Regardless, I saw the opportunity for something cute.
"The sand looks tasty, but don't eat it. It isn't tasty." I responded. I had firsthand experience with that, so I could absolutely confirm this. The others laughed at my seemingly innocent statement.
"I see, so you need me to house him for now?" The brown creature asked. She looked at me, and I looked at her, tilting my head in confusion. What the heck was she?
"Yes, if you are able to do so, Miss Marrowak," Magnezone responded. The brown creature apparently called Marrowak assured him it was fine. She seemed nice, though who knows. I mentally prepared myself to flee if needed. I was not going to stick with a horrible person.
"Let me give you the details I know," Magnezone responded and the two of them wandered into a room on the left. Several minutes passed and I was called into a room. Five large hay lumps, which I assumed were beds, sat along the far wall of the rectangular room. The room was empty aside from the beds and a lit torch in the corner. Even the walls remained an unpainted brown wood. Four weird creatures were standing there, looking at me. One was a strange green dinosaur who looked like he was made of rock.
He looked away the moment I looked at him, with a "Humph." One was a rectangular and blocky pink and blue creature who was hovering in the air. I made a mental note to ask him about his levitation later. One was a small brown bunny with one ear curled in. Finally, one was a small blue dog-like thing standing on two legs. It has small bumps on its arms.
"Go on, introduce yourself. Give them your name." Marrowak stated. I blinked.
"Oh no, I never thought about this. What do I do? I can't use my actual name, can I? No, probably no. Stall, I have to stall!"
"Uh, I'm. Uh, well, mom called me 'Little man' but grandma said, 'Young man', so I don't really know which is my name." I stated, looking at Marrowak. This was a good start.
Marrowak laughed and said, "What else did they call you?" My mind was running faster than my mouth, many disorganized thoughts ran around. I looked to the ground for a moment while I took a slow, deep breath.
"Stick with the first bit of my name, I'll be able to respond to it easier than a completely fake name. J..."
"Uh, it started with a... Juh?" I responded. The Marrowak narrowed her eyes. I looked down, averting her eyes. I wasn't lying, again. However, I wasn't exactly being honest, either.
"I'm sorry," I spoke. I was worried I messed something up. The large brown creature walked over to me and gave me a hug. I left my face blank, not looking up. My nervousness was clearly interpreted as either embarrassment or sadness. Though, it's possible they just thought I was nervous because I was in a new and unusual situation. I could make this work for now. She looked at me, still close.
"Okay. So, it begins with Juh. We can't exactly call you Juh, though." She responded.
"Why not?" I asked, looking up at her. Honestly, calling me Juh made me and everyone else sound like a caveman, but I didn't really care. She lightly laughed.
"Uh, Jay?" I wondered. That would work for me, but would they buy it?
"Jay? Hmm, well, if that's alright by you, then okay. Now can you introduce yourself?" Marrowak asked, standing up. I thanked whatever deity would listen for my lie being believed.
"I can," I responded. I stood there for several seconds. I had a joke formed in my mind and I was going to see it through, even if it wasn't very funny.
"Well, aren't you going to introduce yourself to the others?" She asked.
"Oh, you wanted me to introduce myself. But you just asked if I could. I can if you want me to. Uh, do you?" I responded, smiling. She laughed heartily at this, her head thrown back, tears in her eyes. It wasn't that funny, but maybe because I was a toddler or something it became absolutely hilarious.
She wiped away some of the tears and said, "Yes, please. Introduce yourself." She quietly laughed some more.
"I'm Jay! Nice to meet you!" I responded, jumping a little in the air.
"I'm Ray, a Riolu." Ray the Riolu stated, pointing towards himself. He seemed nice, though a bit on the quiet side. I think we'd get along well.
"I'm Squared, but it's spelled with a two. I'm a Porygon." Squared the Porygon, happily bouncing in the air. Smart, I guess? I knew I would probably give up remembering how to spell it after a while.
"You look more cubed than squared, but I guess it fits." I thought, silently laughing at my own dumb joke.
"I'm Nera the Buneary!" Nera the Buneary cheered, hopping up and down while smiling widely. She seemed extraordinarily adorable. They all seemed adorable in various ways.
"Whatever." The rock thing stated. I could tell he and I would get along swimmingly, or not, since he looked like he didn't like any type of water unless he was drinking it. Though they all smelled like they didn't like water. Every single one of the kids had a subtle stench of something unusual. Bathing was probably a weekly event for them, and that was not enough for the desert. Lucky for me my own home was downwind of a sewage treatment plant, so terrible stenches were easy to ignore. My home for the time was a zoo, so of course, it smelled like one, too.
"Okay, Ray, Squared, Nera, and Whatever. Got it." I said, smiling and nodding. The rock thing perked up and glared at me. It seemed to me that got his attention. I couldn't wait to see what made the little rock tick.
"No. I'm Star, the Larvitar." They growled.
"But you said you were Whatever?" I questioned. He growled. Perhaps it wasn't the nicest thing to taunt what was probably the equivalent of a three-year-old, but I still found it weirdly funny.
"Grh." Whatever growled. He looked ready to punch me.
"The one on the far right will be yours, in the corner," Marrowak said, interrupting things before things got violent. I nodded.
"Well, it's time for supper, then a story and bed," Marrowak responded. The four of them all began walking out of the room. I stepped out of their way and watched them as they passed.
"Would you care to join us?" Marrowak asked. My stomach growled in response. I had been so preoccupied with everything else I had let my stomach complain. She laughed.
"Hah, well, I suppose that answers that question. Come along, we're having an Oran Stew tonight." She responded. I had no idea what that was, but I hoped I'd like it because I knew I couldn't be picky. I wasn't going to say no, anyway, even if my stomach answered for me. I was officially an orphan in this world, I couldn't afford to be too picky. Slowly I made my way to the dinner table. The small room on the far right was opened. Five chairs were located around a long, rectangular wood table. Four of the six were occupied. Nera waved over towards me, gesturing to a seat between her and Ray. I slowly wandered my way over there, looking around the room as I did.
The room was lit by two torches along each side of the wall and a metal pole above the table was attacked to the ceiling. At the ends, they curved upwards and held four lit candles. It had to be a simple-looking candelabra. Fancier than anything I'd personally seen, though. The walls were once again an unpainted brown wood. I sat down and the others were sitting quietly. They were quite behaved for hungry toddlers. Marrowak came out and placed a bowl in front of each of us, handing out spoons for us.
"Here we are." She stated with a smile. The stew looked like a brown slop, but my stomach growled so I was going to eat it anyway. Wouldn't be the grossest looking thing I've ever eaten.
"Thank you." they all said in unison before grabbing their spoons and eating. The spoon in front of Squared began to glow with a faint blue light as it seemingly moved on its own. Unfortunately, I couldn't properly grasp the spoon. My hands weren't made for that. That was going to be a problem if I didn't figure something out. I rested the spoon on my paw again and dipped it down, watching it sink into the hot stew before it fell off my paw. Trying once more, I stretched and tried to be quick, but ended up nearly flinging the spoon off the table. Nera was splattered in a bit of stew in the process. She stared at me. I quietly mumbled an apology as I stared sadly at the soup. That was incredibly embarrassing.
"What's wrong?" Marrowak asked. I attempted to pick up the spoon but couldn't hold it in a usable manner. I managed to get the spoon in and up, but when I lifted my paw a small chunk of something solid weighed the spoon down. Without anything to stop it, the spoon quickly tipped back into the bowl. The strangest part was that isn't the first time I had severe issues holding onto silverware. Though at the time my arm was going through weird spurts of numbness due to my nerves being pinched in all the wrong ways. The alternative was excruciating pain, so I was fine with being a klutz until it went away. Still, I didn't use utensils that day, nor did I need to, either.
"Oh, I see. That is a problem. We don't have any spoons made for quadrupedal forms. Hmm, I'll make sure to fix that tomorrow. For now, please try to use the spoon." She responded. Screw that, I was hungry! I looked down and began lapping with my tongue.
"That- that's bad manners." She spoke gently. She seemed worried in some ways as if I was going to get myself hurt doing that. The food was still steaming in places, to be fair. Still, if I got hurt that was on me. I lifted my head.
"Yes, but I'm hungry," I complained. I was hungry, honestly. I didn't really know what was going on, or why I was hungry, but I was. Perhaps the contents in my stomach didn't carry over. A bit of stew dripped from my muzzle. I'm sure I looked like an adorable mess. The soup tasted better than it looked, at least. She went quiet, muttering and trying to find the right words. As she muttered. I began to lap the stew again. I didn't care how it made me look, this stew was going in my belly one way or another.
"I know dear, and I- *sigh*." She sighed, finally resigned to the fact I was unable to eat properly.
"Don't imitate him, please." She stated. Is that what she was worried about? It made sense, honestly. The others giggled, except Star who looked away in disgust. I didn't blame him; this was going to leave a mess. Eventually, the stew was finished, and we made our way to bed.
"It's m'turn to read!" Nera cheered. Marrowak handed her a book with a story. It was about three 'Gogoats' and a Grimsnarl. It was clearly a version of Three Billy Goats Gruff. As she finished up, I didn't really feel tired. Even after the most amazing story time read by a mostly illiterate three-year-old, my mind was too busy to relax. What was going on? Why did I jump through a portal to this somewhere? What was I going to do now? My thoughts were interrupted by the three walking up to me.
"Is it true?" Nera asked. I took a breath. What did she want to know?
"Yes," I responded. Sure, let's go with that, no harm in answering a question without knowing it, right? She giggled, covering her mouth with both hands.
"I didn't even ask anything yet." She responded. She got the joke, luckily.
"Did you fall from a portal in the sky?" Ray asked immediately. That's what they wanted to know? Did they wake me up from sleeping because of that? Fair enough, I'd probably do the same in their shoes, er, paws.
"Yep," I answered. The others took a step back. Even Star the Whatevertar looked towards me.
"Why?" Squared wondered. I don't know.
"I saw a big weird glowy portal and thought 'Imma touch!' and now I'm here," I responded. That was true, not even a half-truth this time.
"Why?" Nera asked. Honestly, I wasn't sure myself, but I gave the most honest answer I could.
"It was a big, weird, glowy portal. Why not?" I responded. I really had no idea what else to say if they followed up with anything more. I said the truth, as much of it I could afford to say, anyway. Luckily the others nodded in understanding, not thinking to question me more on that subject. However, another question came from an unlikely source.
"Are your parents really dead?" Star asked. The others looked at him. I could only see Squared's face, and he clearly looked angry. I sensed an opportunity to continue our little taunting match from earlier. Keeping my face blank, I quickly responded.
"Dead?" I questioned, tilting my head. I was far smarter than someone who would probably barely be in preschool, thus I knew I could be a bit mean. However, I wasn't going to go too far overboard, just a little light taunting.
"Don't you know what dead means? Gone, not coming back, no more. Nonexistent. Rotting away and somewhere else. Get it?" He grumbled.
"Oh, your parents must be dead, too, then, right?" I responded, smiling. I didn't even hesitate to ask.
"No! They're-they-they're coming back, someday. I j-just don't know when." He responded, folding his arms, and looking away. That got him where it hurt.
"But you said-" I began, but Ray interrupted me.
"Don't listen to him. He's just grouchy." Ray responded, looking at me and pointing at him.
"Am not." Star grouched. Ray ignored him, which seemed to annoy Star even more.
"At least my parents are alive, unlike yours," Star shouted to Ray. Ray shrugged, clearly not too bothered by the taunting. For a moment I worried I went too far, but my thoughts were interrupted.
"So, who were your parents? Did you know them?" Squared asked. I thought about my answer for a moment. When a toddler tells you a story, you listen, and so they sometimes listen to your stories just as intently. I had to be careful about what I said here, as I knew these guys would repeat it to anyone who cared to listen, which was a lot since they were toddlers. I had to make sure everything I said lined up with what I had already stated, or close enough to not be questioned by any of the adults.
"Mom looked kinda like me, but bigger. I don't know what dad looked like. Grandma also looked like me, but also a bit bigger, though smaller than mom. She also complained about her back sometimes." I responded. I don't know why I added the detail about her back, but I figured this was fine to say. I could probably add to the lie and say it's where the people were mentioning the "late state something", a tuna maybe I'd call it. I can put the tuna in the old fake fox's spine. With that impossibly bizarre sentence, I jerked and shook my head, letting out a small groan.
"Are you okay?" Nera asked. I shrugged, a lie already having formed in my mind.
"I've had a weird day. I fell through a portal." I responded. The others nodded. They quickly dispersed and went to their beds. Ray was sleeping next to me, then Nera, Squared, and finally Star on the other end. I had no idea why that worked, but it did. A few hours passed, but against all odds, I managed to fall asleep.
"Ok, ready? We're going to practice writing your names!" A fluffy pink Pokémon exclaimed. She had introduced herself as "Miss Clefairy" and was the preschool teacher. Apparently, I had been conscripted into preschool with the others because I was around that age. This was both fortunate and unfortunate. I could learn about this world slowly and surely, maybe learn how to read and write in a language they knew. On the other, it brought up weird thoughts for the distant future, assuming I was stuck here.
Puberty in this alien body was going to be an experience I wish I could skip. Who knows, maybe I could, though I doubted it. I only ever needed to go through it once to know I never wanted to do it again, same with high school. Also, I couldn't explore the town if I was being monitored for most of the day. The unfortunate side of being a three-year-old again. I was handed a pencil made for my form. It had a band that looped in a full circle which I slid my paw into. It gently hooked underneath my furthest down claw. Unfortunately, it was a bit uncomfortable as it was designed for the right paw when I am apparently left pawed.
"Even in a world full of fantastical creatures, left-handers are ignored." I thought. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. I looked around the room. The desk was made of a tree stump, and there were no chairs. The room wasn't really a room as much as it was an alcove dug in the side of a nearby rocky hillside. The only other students were my friends, Star, and two red cricket twins who were a bit older than the rest of us. I began to write my name in English. No one would recognize it, I was sure. It'd just be a bunch of scribbles to them. What else could it be, right?
"J-A-Y" I spoke, removing the pencil. I was smiling. The teacher walked over and inspected each of their writing.
"You're certainly improving, Nera. Ray, you're doing well. Impeccable as always, Squared." She stated. When she got to me, she let out a small gasp.
"These are. Wh-what?" She stuttered. My smile faded instantly.
"Is something wrong?" I asked. I was concerned. I had apparently done something, I hoped it wasn't bad. Had I accidentally written in demon script in this world? Saying that'd be bad would be an understatement.
"Wh-where did you learn to write this?" She asked. I closed my eyes and thought. I would have to pin the blame on one of the imaginary parents. I was not going to take any blame and be accused of trying to summon Hastur or something. Mom, I decided, I would blame the mom. She left some books out with these in them, and I was copying them. She was rarely home to tell me not to write with this, so I ended up learning how to read and write with these things instead of the other things. That was the story I went with. Once I relayed it to the teacher, she took half a step back.
"You-your mom taught you? No, you taught yourself. That's even... but the proof is here. That's, uh." The Clefairy mumbled. That was probably not good.
"Is that bad?" I asked. I gave her as innocent a look as I could. What did I do? What do I do? Would they blame a three-year-old for trying to summon an Eldritch Horror? I don't think they would, but I hadn't been there for long enough. What would that even be like? Could I be arrested for them thinking I was trying to summon Nyarlathotep? I could only hope not.
"No, it, it's impressive. Do you know what those are?" She asked. Impressive? Why was writing my name was impressive? What in the world did I just do?
"Letters," I responded bluntly. She laughed. I mean, what else were they but letters?
"No, well, yes. But more than that, they're Unown runes. It usually takes scholars years to learn and a lifetime to become fluent in, but you've learned how to write when you're barely even a toddler!" She exclaimed. Runes, of course they were runes! What else could I have done to make myself seem more suspicious than before? I already fell out of a portal, there was no way I could make things harder on myself, I thought. Nope, somehow now I'm the kid who can read and write in ancient runes. Great job, me, great job.
I didn't exactly mean to make myself seem like anything more or less than normal, but that happened anyway. Because it had to happen, didn't it? I couldn't live anything less than an intriguing life of mystery and adventure while in this world, now could I? The day continued on. Passing by some houses, a few creatures pointed at me and whispered. It really didn't long for the information to spread about the barely toddling kid writing in ancient runes, because of course it wouldn't. My life was only going to get interesting, I could tell. Oh how right I was.
Later that day, I was sitting at the orphanage, trying my best to figure out how to read a simple book. It wasn't going well. Marrowak had to point out I was holding the book upside-down at one point, which was quite embarrassing. Nera and Marrowak were sitting in the large chair together, reading something. Star was skulking in the corner being the edgy loner of the group.
"Hey." Squared and Ray walked up to me.
"Hi!' I said, closing the book before returning it to the shelf. Nothing of value was learned from that book, anyway.
"You can read Unown runes?" Ray asked. I tilted my head.
"Yeah. What, do you want to learn?" I asked. Ray shook his head.
"Not me, I'm still struggling to learn my Ps and Bs. But Squared is super smart, and he wants to learn." He responded. I looked at him. He clearly looked embarrassed, looking down at the floor. I walked around, grabbing a pencil and paper. I wrote the "Unown" alphabet. I went over it with him, starting with A. I turned the paper over and handed him a pencil. With psychic powers, he wrote the entire alphabet down perfectly.
"That was quick," I responded. Squared was insanely intelligent, a genius of a level I couldn't even begin to imagine.
"He's a super genius," Ray responded. That was understating it, I felt.
"I have a photographic memory and one hundred point five zettabytes of data storage with a twelve-point eight yottabyte download speed and one point three yottabyte upload speed. " Squared responded. My memory was overloaded by this. He had over a hundred zettabytes of memory?
"Ten point five zettabytes, that's, uh. One zettabyte is more than one thousand times a terabyte, so that's a lot." I responded. Squared was a living computer, I realized. No, he was a living supercomputer, something far beyond anything we had achieved back home. Well, as far as I was aware, anyway. We were up to the gigabytes I think.
"You know what he's saying?" Ray wondered, folding his arms, and tilting his head slightly.
"Not entirely," I admitted. That was the entire truth of it. The numbers were far bigger than anything I could imagine. There were yottabytes between them and terabytes, I think. This was insane!
"More than I ever will." Ray shrugged, walking away. Squared looked at me and smiled.
"I never knew you were so intelligent!" Squared shouted.
"I'm not, really. My mom was, I was just reading the things she left out. Sometimes she would leave a lot of books out since she was often busy with something." I responded, shaking my head. I really didn't mean to make myself seem a prodigy. It was then someone opened the door. Magnezone had walked in, followed by two other Pokémon, a large, bipedal yellow dragon, and a small, blue, bipedal ovoid bunny. The dragon walked up to me.
"D-Dragonite!" Marrowak shouted, standing up. Nera jumped up and rushed towards him, as did all the others. Even Star stopped skulking and ran over to him. Clearly, he was someone important, I could tell from their reactions.
"You're the one who can read Unown runes?" He asked.
"Uh, yes?" I responded. I shrunk back. I didn't mean to say that. He gave a friendly smile, though I wasn't certain if he was lying. He looked at the bunny and called out.
"Azumarill, if you would." He stated. The Azumarill walked over and placed a stone slab in front of me. It was dusty and a bit hard to make out, but read it I could. While not the exact same, it was similar enough.
"What, he's only a child, you can't expect-" Marrowak began, but I interrupted her by reading the tablet. It looked like English, so it wasn't too difficult to translate, though some were a bit harder than others.
"Find, the fow-no. Uh, oh, must be four. Find the four, stones for the wul, no. Ah, Ultimate. Ultimate. Power. Find the four stones for the ultimate power." I stated, looking up to them. They looked at each other before looking back at me. Marrowak's jaw was wide, and Mangezone was buzzing loudly behind them.
"You- you can read this?" Nera questioned. Was it really so difficult? I wondered why briefly, but shook my head, then nodded violently
.
"I can read this," I responded, shrugging my shoulders. The two large Pokémon looked back at each other and nodded.
"We've heard about your situation from Magnezone. You don't have a home or place to live, so you were put into this orphanage. Well, a Pokémon of your capability would have a place at our guild." Dragonite responded. I took a step back. A dragon wanted me to join a guild as a transcriber of ancient runes?
"You're being recruited to the guild by Dragonite!" Nera shouted. I looked at them. Who were these people-er, Pokémon? I had to ask.
"I'm not from around here, so I have no idea who you are," I responded. I knew it was a dumb thing to say the moment I said it, but I still didn't expect the horrified look from the four others. They looked as though I had murdered someone in front of them. Dragonite let out a strong laugh.
"Well, I can hardly be expected to be known by everyone, now, can I? Very well, proper introductions first. I am Dragonite, Guildmaster of the Dragonite Guild. We're the foremost exploration guild on the Sand Continent. We are known worldwide as a tough and experienced group of explorers. And here," Dragonite gestured to the blue bunny next to him. "Is my right-hand Pokémon, Azumarill. She's quite friendly, though she can be strict when she needs to be." Azumarill smiled and waved. I nodded in response. That didn't clear much up, but it was a start.
"I'm Jay. I fell through a portal. I don't have a home, I think." I responded. Dragonite smiled and kneeled towards me. He reached out his hand, which was massive compared to my current size.
"We can give you a home. If you'll take it that is." He responded. I was about to take his hand, but then I stopped. If this was going to be a proper Saturday morning cartoon adventure, I needed my lovably quirky companions. The energetic and lively Nera, the relatively calm and undaunted Ray, the hyper-intelligent Squared, and even the brooding loner Star should come along.
"If I'm going, then they are too," I responded, looking toward the others. They clearly didn't expect that.
"Whaaat!" They all shouted, jumping a foot in the air. Dragonite didn't seem surprised. In fact, he smiled and chuckled.
"I figured you would ask that, so we'd prepared four extra rooms if you four don't mind that is," Dragonite explained. They all fell on their butts except Squared, who gently floated to the ground. It was the first time I'd seen him not floating at all. He floated even when he slept, so this was a first.
"We-live-lived-uh-I- Huhaah." Squared mumbled, completely at a loss for words.
"What do you think, Marrowak?" I asked. She looked at me and sighed. She seemed melancholic. Not too much of a surprise, these kids were probably like her own children in a way. Still, I knew if they were happy, she would be happy.
"Follow your hearts." She responded, smiling gently. As expected, the motherly, kind caretaker wanted us to be happy. Soon enough, Ray stood up.
"It's been my dream to join your guild when I was older. I'll go." Ray responded with a firm nod.
"All the information I could ever want will be obtainable at my leisure. All the artifacts and ancient languages! Of course, with no doubt, I will go!" Squared shouted. Why did that not surprise me? A single, quiet laugh escaped my lips.
"I'll go. Someone has to keep an eye on you dummies, and I think I know how Dragonite'll react to anything bad you do as well, so I have to keep you from getting thrown
out." Star responded, rolling his eyes before turning away. I could see the hint of a smile on his face.
"If you're all going, then I'll go too!" Nera responded jumping up and down. Paperwork was signed, and we were all officially adopted by Dragonite. I can't say I ever expected to be turned into a fox and adopted by a dragon, but there I was, an almost purply black fox monster being adopted by a dragon. I looked at the orphanage and at Dragonite. I had no idea where life would take me, but I was excited to find out. Hopping on Dragonite's back after he assured us that he could carry the six of us, we flew off to our new
home.
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
So here we are, writing a silly story with a silly concept. This is gonna be a fun, dumb story that I might not focus a ton of my time in, just a side project to something bigger. Anyway, I hope you enjoy ham because it's only gonna get bigger from here. Drown in it, the glorious ham and cheese! Besides that, thank you for reading! I will see you some other time!
Minor update, this has somehow become my number one writing priority on my fic list by accident. Not that anything else is canceled or even on hiatus. It's more that when I work on stories, this is what I will likely be working on. Anything else will be much slower. I guess it's because I have a few fun ideas for this, and I like writing this story. So I hope all of you out there who stop by will enjoy this... whatever it is.
I'd call it a fanfic, but by this point, it's almost a novel. I wish I could be more productive on my ACTUAL novel, but my brain doesn't always wish to cooperate. Oh well, it's just one of the joys of being on the spectrum, though your experience may vary. Regardless of my lack of ability to concentrate, I hope you enjoy it!