Chapter 20: Bog Ruins[]
The next day, Pouchy opened up his eyes. Blinking them around swiftly as a smile began to travel quickly across his face. He looked up into the sky, seeing the brilliant hues of orange and pink stretched out across the vast green landscape like luxurious stage curtains. He speedily threw himself into the air, spinning around as he hit a pose. His smirk widened as he flew over to Spectacles, who still appeared to be sleeping. He tapped his face lightly. “Lights on, Specks!” Spectacles shook slightly, lazilly attempting to move Pouchy’s wing. “Y-Yeah yeah, give me, um.. Just a sec..” He replied drowsily.
He closed his eyes, snickering to himself as he turned towards Brad. “Hey Brad! I think it’s time to-” He opened his eyes to see Brad sitting on the log, his eyes closed, but in a relaxing manner. “..wake up..” Pouchy lowered his wing, flying over to Brad.
“Any reason why ya’ got up so early?” Brad opened his eyes, looking down at the multicolored tinted grass. “Just wanted t’appretiate the scenery.” Pouchy nodded, turning his gaze back over to Spectacles who had just started putting on his glasses.
Pouchy flew up, landing on the log as he pulled out the Present, handing something to everyone. Spectacles pushed up his glasses, waiting to finish the sunflower seed in his mouth before he spoke. “G-Gosh, that thing seems endless.. Um.. how much is in it?” Pouchy rubbed the side of his head with a nervous expression, tossing a sunflower seed into his mouth. “Well, uh.. Enough that we won’t need to stock up for a little while!”
Brad fiddled with his bag, the cool wind ruffling his fur as he occasionally took bites out of the strawberry held in his other wing. “Yeah, uh. On that topic. I’m runnin’ pretty darn low on bullets. Ya’ think we can get some today? Y’know, if we can. Wherever we’re goin’.” Pouchy nodded his head, grinning. “Well that’s a question with a pretty happy answer! I think..” He rubbed his head. “Yeah we’ll get you some bullets!”
Brad pulled out his revolver, cleaning it with his wing as he nodded. “Nice t’hear. We’re gonna need a bunch of ’em given what happened yesterday. Don’t wanna have any risk of bein’ on somebody’s dinner menu. Again.” He enunciated the last part. Spectacles nodded, pulling out his notebook as he began drawing Brad cleaning his revolver. “I t-think we can all agree with that sentiment..”
Spectacles continued sketching, speaking slowly. “S-So, um.. What’s on the plans for today, Pouchy?” Pouchy grinned, tossing a final sunflower seed into his mouth as he pulled out the Map. “Well, Specks, we’ve got.. Wherever the Map takes us! Where that is I have.. literally NO idea!!” He paused, rubbing the fur on the side of his head. “Oh, and Brad’s Bullets! Can’t forget them!”
He turned over to the both of them, grinning with a sharp sense of adventure. “So, are we all ready?” Spectacles gave a thumbs up with his wing, placing his notebook into his belt bag with the other. Brad nodded. “Well then.. Adventure awaits!” They all lifted up their wings, flying into the air. By this time, the sun had completely risen.
Eventually, something started to peek in the distance, contrasting itself with the rest of the bright green landscape starkly. “You guys see that?” Spectacles and Brad both looked at the distance ahead with wide eyes. It seemed to be a sort of forest, though a decent portion of it was covered by a greenish mist. Pouchy spun around, flying faster as they inched ever closer to the mysterious new location.
Soon enough, the mist around them began to thicken, along with the green grass seemingly vanishing, slowly turning into dark teal blades. The three arrived at the entrance to the forest. Pouchy looked down at the Map, the arrow still glowing brightly in green despite the intense mist. Brad coughed slightly. “..This stuff’s kinda annoyin’.” Pouchy and Spectacles nodded as they began to fly into the dark forest.
Upon first entering, they were greeted with very large trees; lengthy branches poking out from them like spooky features, along with a seeming abundance of green colored puddles littered with algae, the green substance adorning the surface around them like confetti after a birthday party. Spectacles pulled out his notebook, beginning to sketch things down as the group continued.
It wasn’t until a couple minutes later that they began seeing stranger sights. Multiple stone statues, all with differing sizes littered the landscape. Some were trapped in the algae infested puddles, others were intertwined with the large trees. They were squarish, resembling a large Bee who seemed to be wearing a tuxedo, crown, and large glasses indented with a “V”. “Who do ya’ think that is?” Brad and Spectacles looked at Pouchy, who seemed to be looking down at the ground. “U-Um.. Pouchy, are you okay?”
Pouchy continued staring for a moment before his eyes went wide, jumping slightly. “O-Oh! Yeah, of course!” Brad crossed his wings, sitting down on the dark teal grass. He lifted up an eyebrow. “..Yeah right. What’s wrong, Pouch.”
Pouchy rubbed his wing nervously. “It’s just.. I grew up in a Forest just like this, and.. It takes me back. That’s all!” Brad nodded slowly. “..And you don’t have any.. Unsavory memories relating to a forest?”
“W-Well my mom, but.. Nothing really.. Other than that..” Spectacles’ eyes widened for a moment before he turned back to Brad and began whispering something to him. Brad nodded slowly and then turned back to Pouchy. “..Well, uh. Let us know if you need anything, kay? ..And also, who do ya’ think these statues are?”
Pouchy’s eyes drifted to the statues as they quickly lit up with joy. He flew over to one, running his wing over it. “Woah! I, uh.. Don’t really know.. Maybe some town leader around here..?” Brad flew over to Pouchy alongside Spectacles, crossing his wings as he closed his eyes. “Maybe. Though, uh.. With our past experiences with statues, maybe it’s an Event Bee?”
Pouchy placed his wing on his face contemplatively. “Maybe! These’re.. Pretty old..” Spectacles began staring at them, pushing up his glasses. “The algae content s-suggests that these are a couple hundred years o-old, maybe even more..”
Brad turned his head to Spectacles, raising an eyebrow. “..And who did ya’ pry that information from?” Spectacles giggled slightly, doing a sketch of the statues as he responded. “Well, Science B-Bear told me.. Gosh, he w-was one smart cookie!”
Brad looked even more confused, lifting up his wing in protest before Pouchy spoke up, rubbing the fur on the side of his head. “He’s somebody from where we come from.. Maybe you’ll get to see him once our adventure is over!”
Brad chuckled lightly as the three flew away from the Statues. “Maybe I will, heh..” Pouchy turned over to Spectacles. “And also, Specks I didn’t know you talked to Sci! Well I know the Translators and stuff, but it sounds like you guys were buddies?”
Spectacles pushed up his glasses, responding in a slightly sarcastic tone. “Yes, Pouchy, I did in fact talk to him. H-Heck, he’s the reason I know half of the stuff I do!” Spectacles crossed his wings as he soon felt a drop on his wing, followed by another. And another. Pouchy raised up his wing, spinning and striking another pose. “And now it's time to.. Find some sort of shelter because it’s raining!!”
The three looked around at the forest; the vast algae puddles clouding up most of their view. Eventually, their eyes fell on a statue from before. This one appeared to be very large, and had seemingly enough space under it to hold all three of them. “Quick, guys! Over there!” The three flew out of the rain and under the statue speedily.
They all shook rapidly, shaking the rain out of their fur. After the water came out, Pouchy’s fur seemed to be rather.. Large. Spectacles looked at him, trying to cover a laugh with his wing. “What? What is it, Specks?” Spectacles held his wing tightly against his mouth, speaking weakly. “O-Oh nothing’s wrong.. Nothing at all.. Poofy..”
Brad chuckled under his breath. “Yeah, ya’ look great. Poofy.” Pouchy adjusted the straps of his Pouch, looking down at his fur. He was indeed, very poofy. “Hey! Why didn’t you guys tell me??” He said as he began to comb down his fur with his wing, sighing as the rain went on outside of the statue.
Spectacles finally bursted into laughter, pulling out his notebook and drawing a quick sketch. “B-But we did?” Pouchy sighed. “Oh come on, Specks! That’s not what I meant!” He said with mock anger as he started laughing with them, the rain continuing to pitter patter outside.
Brad smiled softly. “Been a while since we’ve seen rain like this, huh?” Pouchy and Spectacles both nodded. “It’s nice though!” Brad looked back at Pouchy, continuing to smile as he turned back towards the pouring rain. “Yeah. It is. Especially when ya’ have good shelter.” He chuckled.
Spectacles looked out at the rain, sighing as he continued to sketch various things. “We reaaally need to g-get an umbrella..” Pouchy placed his wing on Spectacles’ back. “..Hmm.. Yeah, we do.. Guess we’ll get it when we get the bullets? ..Also those’re really good drawings, Specks!”
Brad looked over, nodding. “Yeah. Ya’ should look into one of those, uh.. What do they call ‘em? Art competitions? Eh, I dunno how they work but.. Bein’ that good at drawin’ must be a start.” Spectacles looked rather happy, but also shy. “W-Well thanks guys, but I’m not that good..”
Pouchy waved his wing around. “Oh come on, Specks! Give yourself a little credit! You’re certainly the best artist I’ve seen.” Brad nodded. “Yeah. Pouchy’s right. I haven’t met an artist as skilled as you. (..Granted I ain’t really met many artists where I’m from..) But still. You’re really good.”
“T-Thanks guys..” Spectacles said, smiling as he put his notebook away and began to watch the rain outside. Poucy looked on at the storm. “What do you guys think Snowy’s doing right now?”
Everybody placed their wings on their faces contemplatively as the rain continued to patter against the stone statue in repeated echoes. “Uh. Makin’ toys, I’d guess.” Brad said lightly. Spectacles pushed up his glasses. “M-Maybe guarding? He did have that little blade thingie..”
Pouchy looked at them and out at the rain. “..Well, whatever he’s out there doing.. He’s certainly much happier, that’s for sure!” Everybody nodded as Spectacles soon caught sight of something swimming in one of the puddles. It was a Bee, only possessing dark teal and blue fins on itself. It didn’t seem to notice them all staring. Pouchy looked at it with star eyes through the rain. “Woah! Let’s go-” He almost flew off of the statue before he was abruptly stopped by Brad.
Brad shook his head. “No. For one, it’s raining. For two, we dunno who that is. Could be some wild murderer.” Pouchy rolled his eyes. “Oh come onnn! It’s just a little.. Tadpole Bee! ..I think..” He coughed slightly as the Bee went back into the puddle.
After a while, the rain slowly began to let up, the sprinkling slowly beginning to fizzle out as the rapid pitter-patter of it slowly became nothing but a soft, rain-scented breeze. Pouchy adjusted the straps on his Pouch, grinning. “Well then! Seems like we’re good to get back into the air!” Brad nodded, keeping his revolver on close guard as the three flew out of the statue speedily, flying through the now even more gloomy forest.
The three flew through the forest for a while, noticing how the statues had now started to become less frequent. However, there were still various stone ruins. As if whoever had built the statues, had attempted to move to the forest. Pouchy flew onto the ground, wiping his brow. “Wow! That was a lot.. This forest sure is large!” Spectacles pushed up his glasses, his fur drenched. “..T-That’s one way you could put it..”
Brad cracked his wings, sighing. The three laid down on the soft dark teal grass, looking up at the canopy above. “..You know. I don’t think I ever said thanks to you, Pouchy. Thank you for lettin’ me go with you two.” Pouchy looked over to Brad, as the group were soon startled by a mysterious bubbling noise emanating from one of the puddles. Spectacles sat up, shivering slightly. “W-What was that..”
Pouchy hopped up, laughing hysterically. “It’s just one of the puddles, Spectacles! It’s not like there’s-” The group’s eyes all widened as something began emerging from the puddle in front of them. It stood up outside of the puddle, staring the three of them down with its large piercing red eyes. It possessed a dark teal body, outfitted with various vines that seemed to have small tips on them, as well as multiple fins in the case of webbed feet and additions on its hands. It lifted up one of its very large arms; grassy appendages that had large dark claws protruding from them.
“Um.. Hello there!” Pouchy waved. “Would you.. Like to join us? We’re just hanging out and talking, nothing too much, really!” The creature walked closer, the vines on it appearing to tighten. The claws on its grassy hands flew out like automated springs as it began growling deeply. Brad flew into the air, holding up his revolver as he stood between the creature and Pouchy and Spectacles. “Listen. State your business or.. Move. Like away.”
The creature walked closer, lifting up one of its arms. Pouchy looked at Brad, grinning. “See! I bet he’s gonna-” Pouchy’s heart went cold as the Creature’s hand slammed into the ground, nearly hitting Brad as he rolled, dodging the large impact. Brad signaled for Pouchy and Spectacles to stay behind him as he flew into the air, slamming the Creature directly in the face with a shot from his revolver, making it stumble back a bit.
The creature lifted up its hands, swiping at Brad as he spun out of the wall, rolling himself around and slamming into its side with a bullet. The Creature swiftly spun around, grabbing onto Brad and deflecting his bullet as he attempted to fire at it. Its eyes lit up as it looked back at Pouchy and Spectacles, swiftly reaching one of its vines to grab onto Pouchy as it began slamming Brad into the ground. Spectacles’ eyes widened as the Creature then turned to him after throwing the both of them on the ground.
“O-Oh Gosh..!” Spectacles stammered out as he desperately began digging through his bag, trying to find any semblance of a weapon. His wings eventually fell onto the Pencil as his blood went cold. The creature opened its mouth wide, showing off the various rows of crooked teeth as it extended its tongue to Spectacles. Spectacles closed his eyes, holding out the pencil as he braced for the impact. As he opened his eyes, he found a strange black wall in front of himself. “I-I.. Wha..” The creature swiftly lifted up its arm again, attempting to pick up Spectacles as he lifted up the pencil again confusedly, swiping it around and sending various projectiles spiraling at it.
Brad shook his head, waking himself up as he saw Spectacles firing various things at the creature using the Pencil. He lifted up his wings, pushing himself off of the ground as he slammed into the Creature, making it stumble forward into Spectacles’ unsure attacks. The creature began screaming, the vines around it swinging wildly as it grabbed onto everybody, pulling them closer to its crooked and twisted teeth. “S-Spectacles, I.. I don’t know how you’re doing what you’re doin’, but keep doing it!” Spectacles closed his eyes as he created a large wall around the three of them, throwing them out of the creature’s grasp as they speedily began flying away.
The three flew throughout the misty forest, narrowly weaving through the intense brush and vegetation as the creature roared behind them. Pouchy stopped, smiling nervously. “Wait.. That thing’s got fins! I bet it can’t..-” As the three flew high into the air they soon saw the Creature, looking at them with a tooth filled expression. “..Fly..”
They continued flying as the creature raced behind them, tearing through various trees with its claws like twigs. Brad began flying backwards, gritting his teeth as he looked through the scope of his revolver. He swiftly pulled the trigger, throwing a bullet directly into the Creature’s face, creating an explosion. Everybody stopped momentarily as the smoke began settling. Eventually, two red eyes shone through the clouds of smoke as the creature's claw tore through it, revealing itself once more. “What spot in hell did this thing come from?” Brad stated gruffly as the group turned around, flying more.
Brad flew close to Spectacles. “Hey, Specks. Try and use that pencil thingie.” Spectacles turned around nervously as the Creature continued to pursue after them, tearing through the vegetation like a brick wall while screaming at the top of its lungs. He lifted it up, waving it around as he launched rapid fire projectiles at it. The creature tore through them like butter, snarling and gritting its teeth. “Try making a wall!” Pouchy asked breathlessly. Spectacles closed his eyes, holding the pencil out in his wing as a multicolored brick wall slowly began materializing. The Creature slammed its fist through the wall, tearing its claws through it like jelly as the rest of its body shattered it to bits. “N-Nevermind.. Seems like that’s just makin’ it angry..” Brad grumbled out.
The Creature swiftly began swinging its large wings faster, continuing to cut through the forest like nothing in its blind pursuit of the group. All three members began getting tired, sweating profusely. As the Creature got closer to them, extending its sharp hand, the group fell out of the sky, tumbling down onto the dark teal grass like spinning tops. The creature slammed onto the grass with a quake-making roar, immediately running through the grass at top speed. It slammed its claw into the ground, picking everybody up as they winced in pain. Brad gritted his teeth, attempting to fire a bullet at the creature as the revolver clipped. “(Crap, CRAP!!)” He grumbled under his breath as the Creature began inching everybody closer to its mouth. Everybody closed their eyes, waiting in bated breath as they were soon.. Saved?
Suddenly a bubble appeared on the Creature’s hands, knocking the group out of its grasp. It swiftly whipped around, its eyes frantically searching for the Bubble-Maker. A shadowy figure flew out from a puddle, appearing to coat their hands in darkened bubbles as they slammed the Creature multiple times, countering each of its hits. With a grit of their teeth, they reached into a sort of bag, pulling out a large rope as they speedily began wrapping it around the Creature’s Legs, making the Creature get even angrier. The Creature attempted to cut its legs before it was swiftly enveloped in ropes, and slammed onto the ground with a dusty thud.
The figure appeared on the ground in front of the Creature, lifting up their wings as they seemed to hold it down on the ground with Bubbles, popping them and sending the Bubble somewhere far away, while dusting off their wings. The group looked ahead at the figure with their jaws all dropped and eyes bulging out cartoonishly.
Pouchy continued to stare at them, his eyes still sparkling with stars. “W-Who.. Are you..?” The figure flew into the light, revealing themselves. They seemed to be a Tadpole Bee, only possessing dark teal colored skin and various fins on their face and sides. They also wore an armor-looking suit complete with various vines adorning it. “Name’s Finn, however you’d like t’say that!”
Spectacles pushed up his glasses, looking at Finn shyly. “U-Um.. Thanks for saving us..” Brad sprung up, rolling his eyes at Spectacles as Finn began talking, rubbing his wing over the side of his head. “No problemo! Saw y’all guys screaming, and.. Well, couldn’t really’a left y’all to fend for yourselves, so.. I intervened. Looked like y’all were doing some good damage to ‘em, though!”
Brad looked at Finn, raising an eyebrow. “What.. Was that thing?” Finn pulled out a notebook, flipping meticulously through the various pages before stopping at one, handing it over to Brad with his wing over the image. “Webbed Titan! They’re.. Not too common, luckily, but boy are they a hassle..”
“..You say after you defeated that thing in a couple’a seconds.” Brad chuckled. Finn rubbed the side of his head, chuckling with slight nervousness. “Well, that’s what years of Royal Guard training does for ya’!” He paused, looking at them intently. “So.. What are y’all three doing here? The Bogs don’t usually have visitors..”
Pouchy hopped in front of Brad, extending his wing and reaching for his Map. “Well.. I’m Pouchy! That’s Brad and Spectacles. And, well.. We’re on a quest to find some Bees!” Finn raised his eyebrow, perplexed and interested. “..Bees? Like different variations, or..?”
Pouchy giggled, grinning. “Well, no.. Have you ever heard of the Event Bees?” Finn looked slightly shocked at the mention, grumbling under his breath. “..Yes, I have..” Pouchy threw up his wings. “Well that’s who we’re looking for! Cobalt and Crimson, to be specific!”
Finn looked at the ground, his smile vanishing for a moment before he swiftly regained it. “A-Ah.. I remember them.. Well, one of them..” Everybody looked at Finn. Pouchy looked excited, grinning. “REALLY? Which one??”
“..Cobalt. Though we weren’t.. Friends. He probably didn’t even know me. But I knew him. What he tried to do.” Finn caught himself being serious, chuckling as he placed his helmet back on. “Well, I have places to be! Happy that I could help y’all out!”
As he tried to fly, Pouchy caught him by the wing. “W-Wait, uh.. I don’t want to seem like I’m asking too much of you, but.. Could you take us somewhere.. Less open?” Finn looked back at Pouchy. “Um.. Sure, actually! There’s a Town not too far from here, I guess I can accompany y’all. Make sure you don’t get into another pickle. Maybe even stock up on some stuff?”
Pouchy nodded at the idea of picking new stuff up. Brad raised an eyebrow. “..Thought ya’ had things t’do..” Finn laughed nervously. “A-Ah, those can wait.. I, um.. Got another day mixed up with today! I’m pretty much free today!” Brad nodded suspiciously as the group continued to follow Finn through the Misty forest.
Pouchy followed behind him excitedly, speaking to him repeatedly. “Soooo, what else do you know about Cobalt?” Finn looked a bit unsettled by the question, continuing nervously. “W-Well, um.. I’m assuming y'all’ve seen the statues if you’ve come this far? That’s him! ..And from him.”
Spectacles pushed up his glasses. “T-Those statues seem quite old.. When did h-he put them there? ..And why??” Pouchy looked at Spectacles, then back at Finn. “Yeah, why? You can’t just drop a bombshell like that on us and leave us hanging, man!”
Finn bit his lip, grumbling under his breath. “You guys really want to know?” He paused, punching through the thick vegetation with his wings as the four continued through the forest. Pouchy nodded excitedly, not catching onto his underlying tone. “YEAH!”
Finn coughed. “..A Long time back, Cobalt came here. Brought with him a bunch of soldiers, too. Strong, fast, ideal warriors thick and thin. Each of them wore shining blue armor suits. I-It was.. Demotivating to people like me, that’s for sure.” He paused, taking a break as he punched through another layer of vegetation, looking back at everybody as they stared at him with intrigue.
“..They marched into the forest. Cutting through anything in their wake. ..Well, trying. We were alerted by our allies, the Bog Bears, of their actions. Everything.. Was just speculation back then. But we know now what he was trying to do. He was trying to.. Uh.. Colonize this place. He would have removed us too, if given enough time. He built those statues to stake his claim, at the start of the forest to make sure people would know this forest was “His”. And then.. Right before we were ready for battle.. He left. Him, his army, everything. We never knew why. Some said it was because his Sister was ill. Some said it was because of the Creatures that live here. Only thing we have now? Those broken statues that you three saw.”
Everybody looked rather shocked. “Wow.. I.. Wasn’t expecting something like that from Cobalt.. He was probably just trying to expand his Kingdom, I doubt an Event Bee would hurt someone! So far, all we’ve seen are nice ones!” Finn looked back at him, smirking somberly. “..You can believe what you want to. I’m not going to tell you to do otherwise. I’m just saying, with what I saw, heard, and what I knew.. I don’t like Cobalt.”
Brad caught himself before speaking, remembering their past experiences. “‘Nd even if he is.. Less than savory, that certainly ain’t somethin’ we haven’t seen before. Pouch here is good at talkin’ things out.” Pouchy nodded. “I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding..”
Pouchy followed behind Finn as something caught his eye. “Woah! Look at that plant!” It seemed to be a small greenish cube attached to a base covered in vines. Pouchy flew over to it as Finn grabbed him by the Pouch, pulling him away from it as the cubic portion of the plant opened, revealing mangled teeth and a tongue. Pouchy’s eyes widened. “N-Nevermind! No more looking at plants!”
Soon enough, the group reached a very large lake. “Here we are!” Pouchy looked at Finn, then back at the lake. “..Here?” Finn nodded.
Spectacles looked confused and a bit weary. “Um, Mr Finn.. W-We can’t exactly, um.. Swim. ..Or breathe underwater.” Finn’s eyes widened with a realization. “Ohh, right.. Forgot about dat..” he paused, latching onto all of them as he lifted up his wings, three bubbles materializing into them. He leaned over everyone, plopping a bubble onto everybody’s head. There y’all are! Now c’mon!”
He flew into the lake, the other members trailing behind him into the water. Pouchy’s eyes widened with stars as he looked around. “I.. I can breathe underwater! I’m really breathing underwater!!” He spun around happily, speeding past Spectacles who was frantically moving. He latched onto Spectacles’ wing, following behind Brad as they went deeper into the lake.
Eventually, they came across a large grouping of various structures, all seeming to be made out of slimy soil. Brad looked at Pouchy and Spectacles. “Y’all guys just go look around with Finn. I’ll get stocked up.” Pouchy nodded. “Okayy! Stay safe, Brad!”
“Y’all too.” Brad said quietly as the three of them swam away, leaving Brad alone in the darker, deeper portion of the lake. He reached up his wing, poking the bubble on his head and noticing how it didn’t pop. “..Man this magic crap is weird.” He swam down further, eventually coming into full view of the various buildings dotted around.
He swam over to another Tadpole Bee. “Howdy. Ya’ know where I can get some, uh.. Bullets here?” The Bee looked a bit nervous before nodding. “U-Um.. Sure, look for a Bee covered in grass.. That’s the shopkeeper..”
“Okay, so.. Grassy.. Bee..” His eyes dotted around, his brow furrowing in concentration. Eventually he spotted a Tadpole Bee covered in multicolored grass, striking a pose despite nobody watching. “..Oh dear..” Brad grumbled as he swam over to the stand the Bee was standing at.
The Bee instantly spotted him, leaning across the stand and propping himself up with a wing. “Yo yo yo! Whattup? Whatcha in for radical lookin’ Star Bee?” Brad looked around at the stand, noticing various random things such as small, uncanny looking Bear toys, and small screens broadcasting digital Bees eating treats. Brad’s eyes fell upon the stand name, which read “ZimZam’s Radical Bling Collection” Brad narrowed his eyes as he looked at ‘ZimZam’ closer. He seemed to wear his hair very frizzled up, complete with neon strands and matching neon colors with bright bubble and triangle textures sewn onto it. He also wore sunglasses with sharp reflections.
“Uh.. Just some Bullets, if ya’ got ‘em..” ZimZam lifted himself from his wing, flying up and grabbing onto a package of dark teal bullets that seemed to have fins attached on them. “Word, word. Ya’ looking for any other bling? Just got some new DVDs da other day. Brand spankin’ new! Well, ain’t nothin’ new ‘bout the content of ‘em, but they’re pretty neato, catch mah drift? Limited edition ‘The Bearsons’ DVDs! Got ‘em from outside of da village, don’t be tellin’ on me, star boy.” He chuckled.
Brad narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Uh. No. Just the bullets, please..” ZimZam propped himself up on his wing again, looking at Brad again. “Ya’ sure ya’ wanna bounce so soon, bud? Lookin’ pretty bland if I do say so mahself. Pretty, unradical, ya here?”
“No. Just the bullets. Please.” ZimZam sprung up, nodding as he handed the bullets to Brad. “Sorry if I was blabberin’ mah little wormhole too much. Needa chillax sometimes. Least that’s what my buds tell me. Well, uh.. All’a dat’s on da house! Take it as a ‘pology for mah attitude. Welp, see ya’ on the flipside star boy!”
“Yo, and, uh. One other thing?” Brad rolled his eyes before he turned around, placing the bullets in his bag as he looked up at ZimZam. “Yo, has ‘nybody ever told ya’ that ya’ got great eyes? Real.. Radical if I do say so mahself.”
Brad’s face flushed slightly at the comment. He coughed, swallowing as his face went back to normal. “Uh, thanks. Nobody’s.. Ever told me that before.” ZimZam leaned on the counter, propping his head up with his wing and winking. “Could probably reel someone in real quick with eyes like dose.” He chuckled, waving at Brad. “Welp, see ya bud!”
Brad’s face flushed again as he swam away from the shop, feeling a strange emotion in his chest that he pushed down. “Now then.. Where..” He looked ahead of him, seeing nobody but a large share of Tadpole Bees and various Frogs. He looked back at the stand, the event from earlier repeatedly playing in his mind. “They’ll know where to find me. Maybe it’s time I find myself.”
He looked up, seeing Pouchy and the others swimming around happily. “Better not spoil their fun, huh Brad?” He chuckled to himself as he lifted up his wings, swimming back over to the stand with ZimZam. ZimZam instantly recognized him and propped up his head once more. “Yo, yo! Back for dose Bearsons Disks I see? Or are ya’ make for more of mah sweet sweet compliments?”
Brad laughed, shaking his head. “No, I.. uh. I wanted t’talk. I don’t think I ever introduced myself.” ZimZam nodded, his head still propped up as he tossed a Bear plushie up and down in his wing. “Ah, no ya’ didn’t, star boy!”
“..Well my name is Brad. I, uh. Don’t come from here.” ZimZam looked him up and down, snickering. “Yeah, I could telliditytell, Braddy boy. So, where ya’ from, anyway?” He continued tossing the plushie up and down, blushing lightly.
Brad rubbed the side of his head. “The Desert. I’m takin’ a.. Temporary time off with these new friends I met.” ZimZam looked up into the water, smirking. “Ah, so that’s who da Pouch wearin’ bee is with huh? Makes sense. I’d imagined ya’ to be a friend magnet. Maybe even more.” He laughed, looking down slightly.
“Yeah.. Maybe one day. Ain’t got too much time for all that mushy gushy stuff though. Got people to protect, places to be, things to d-” ZimZam raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Sure didn’t stop ya’ from comin’ t’talk t’me, now did it Star Boy?”
Brad’s face flushed again as he coughed gruffly. “Well I, uh. I don’t really talk t’people that much. So worried about keepin’ my friends safe, I.. often forget to speak to other people.” ZimZam smiled, looking up. “Ah, yeah I know dat feelityfeelin’ well. Ain’t easy to get rid’a, either.”
Brad rubbed the side of his head. “Well that’s kinda all about me. How about you? What do you, uh.. Do for fun? Besides, y’know, talkin’ funny and runnin’ this business?” ZimZam smirked, closing his eyes. “Well, as ya’ can tell, I’ve always had a habit for collectin’. People throw out alla their stuff when it gets outta date. All’a dere bling, as I call it. Nobody likes t’live in the past. But, y’know, Star Boy? Without acceptin’ the past, ya’ can’t have a good future. That’s why I do what I do. Somebody’s gotta appreciate alla dis stuff, and I guess the universe chose that radical person t’be me.”
Brad looked down, his eyes slightly shocked. He looked back up, smiling softly. “That’s.. A pretty good sentiment. Certainly wasn’t expecting that from you, uh.. No offense.” ZimZam lifted up his wing, shaking it around. “No harm taken, Star Boy.”
Brad lifted up his wing as he opened his mouth, “So, uh, do you wanna maybe hang o-” Pouchy suddenly swooped in, spinning around underwater with Spectacles in his wing, followed by Finn. “Hey Brad! How’d it go??” He looked over at ZimZam, grinning. “And who’s your new friend?”
Brad’s face flushed lightly. “We’re not friends, I was just.. We were just.. Talking.” ZimZam flew over to Pouchy, extending his wing. “Yo! Your buddy here was talkitytalkin’ about you! The name’s ZimZam, yours?”
“Well I’m Pouchy, and this is Spectacles!” Spectacles waved shyly, pushing up his glasses as he smiled softly. “Yooo! Sick names!” Pouchy looked down at his outfit, his eyes sparkling. “Thanks! Love your outfit too, man!”
“Thank ya’! Found it in a puddle’a mud one time!” Pouchy stared at him for a moment before ZimZam spoke up again. He looked behind the group. “Yo hey Finn! Ya’ takin’ care’a dese guys?”
Finn nodded. “Well, I was mainly showing them around, but.. I guess you could say that, yes!” ZimZam tipped his shades, smiling. “You’re doin’ a great job, Finn. One’ada best guards I’ve seen.”
“Really..? Thanks, man!” ZimZam put his shades back on, hitting a pose as he smirked. “Both you and Star Boy o’er dere got some neat talents.” Brad looked down, smiling as Pouchy swam over to him, moving his eyes up and down. Brad shook his head.
“We were just talkin’ Pouch.” Pouchy nodded knowingly as he flew back over to Finn. “Well, I’m assumin’ y’all guys gotta bounce soon?” Pouchy nodded, adjusting the straps of his Pouch. “Well.. Yes! Gotta lot of things to do!” He giggled.
“Well, then I won’t hold ya’ guys hostage. Take good care of, ‘em Finn! You too, Star Boy!” He smirked at Brad, causing Brad to look down. Finn looked back at everybody. “So, did you guys get what you needed?”
Brad didn’t speak, simply holding up his wing as a thumbs up. “Well then, let’s ‘Bounce’!” He said as the four of them began swimming upward, waving back at ZimZam as he began pulling out one of the small screened devices from earlier and feeding the digital bee a treat.
The quartet surfaced above the water, finding themselves right back in the misty swampgrounds. Finn straightened his armor, pointing ahead of them. Pouchy took out the Map, looking at the arrow that pointed in a similar direction. “Let’s go, guys!” Pouchy called out as they all began following behind Finn, slowly making their way through the misty forest.
Pouchy flew backwards, grinning smugly at Brad. “Soooo, how was ZimZam?” Brad’s face flushed lightly at the name. He coughed roughly. “It was fine. He was nice to talk to. Just was gettin’ my stuff when y’all arrived.”
Pouchy smirked. “Sure, I’ll believe that..” Brad coughed, trying to change the subject. “So, what did y’all guys do?” Pouchy grinned, throwing his wings up as he orchestrated the entire thing as the group continued throughout the damp forest.
“Oh it was awesome! He showed us all the little pages in his book! Did you know there are some plants here called Bog Flowers? Apparently they have a natural smell that’s absolutely disgusting!” Brad nodded slowly, confused as to why Pouchy was so excited. “..Neat..”
“And that there’s also these types of Bears that have long claws and live in the trees! Apparently they also have little curly tails! How cool is that??” Brad nodded, smiling lightly. “..pretty neat..”
Pouchy looked up, his eyes sparkling like glitter. “Man, being a guard sounds so cool!” Brad smirked at Pouchy’s naivety. “Y’know there’s more to bein’ a guard than just knowin’ a buncha animals, right Pouch?”
“Yeaaah, I know, but I’d be happy to do all of that too!” Brad laughed under his breath as the three continued following after Finn. Finn looked back at everybody, his fins blowing in the wind. “Well y’all, we’re almost outta here!”
Eventually, the three reached the edge of the forest, the trees slowly beginning to dissipate as the mist began to clear away. Finn turned back towards everybody, smiling and rubbing the fins on the side of his head. “Well, looks like we made it to the end! Now, if you’ll excuse me, um..” Pouchy smiled. “Thanks for helping us, man!”
Spectacles looked at Pouchy, then at Finn. “Y-Yeah.. We would’ve been a snack for t-that thing..” Brad looked at Finn, smirking. “Yeah, that was a real good combat job earlier partner. Couldnt’a defeated whatever that thing was without ya’.”
“Well thank you guys! As a guard, it is my duty to help people out. Even guests, though.. We don’t typically get that much.” Brad flew up to Finn, whispering to him as he rubbed the side of his head. “H-Hey, uh. Can ya’ tell ZimZam t’have a good day, since, y’know.. It’s your day off?”
Finn smirked at Brad. “Sure, I’ll do that!” He looked everybody down, adjusting his armor. “Well then, my guarding time is up. Have a good journey you three. Goodbye!” He waved back at everybody as he flew away, dashing away far into the distance, presumably into a puddle.
Pouchy crossed his wings, smiling. “Man, that guy was so cool!” Spectacles pushed up his glasses. “Y-Yeah, he really knew his facts..” Brad coughed. “And the guy could fight well too.”
Pouchy looked back at everybody, adjusting the straps on his Pouch as he held up the Map, pointing in front of him. “Well then, team, something tells me we’re getting reaaally close to Crimson and Cobalt!” Everybody nodded as they followed him, flying far out of the forest and into their next destination.
