Author: Pook
Pook was minding her own business...
Well, technically Pook was minding someone ELSE's business. It was always, "Pook, go get this thing for me!" or "Pook, go kill this person for me!" or "Pook, stop chewing on that!" This time in particular, she was running out to the Sick Land to find a girl with pointy ears to give her some shiny things she'd taken out of the ice in the Snowy Place.
She arrived at a blocked-off road. Certainly this was where the pointy-eared girl was. There were nice big gaps between the huge rocks, tree stumps and other rubble in the way where she could see green grass and trees. She was anxious to get there. She could feel how sick the trees and the ground and the water felt right down to her bones. It was a worse feeling than eating bad fish. It was a worse feeling than a bunch of bee stings in her mouth, which she had unfortunately had basis of comparison when she'd found some innocent-looking sweet stuff one day.
There was a pointy-eared man standing next to the rocks, but he wouldn't even look at Pook. She was feeling so grumpy from the run and the hassle and the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that she didn't look at him, either. She turned her head away and DIDN'T look at him as hard as she could. That's how grumpy she was.
Pook wiggled in between the rocks easily and started to make her way through to where she could almost smell the fresh air. But as she progressed the way grew narrower...and narrower...and narrower...but if she could just reach...the light...at the end...
And suddenly she was through! Her lungs ached in anticipation of a big breath not pressed by tons of stone, but suddenly she came up against another barrier! One she couldn't even see! As far as she could see she was clearly out of the rocks, but something was smashing her back, preventing her from moving even an inch in any direction no matter what shape she was in or how she jumped and wiggled.
Pook pondered her options. She took her Swirly Stone out of the bag she'd come to wear slung over her shoulder. It was certainly a more convenient way of carrying things as opposed to in her teeth, which is how she did it before. She gripped it to think really hard about home when suddenly it slipped from her grasp, flipped on one edge and rolled between two distant rocks.
Pook watched it go, stunned.
P'kow. P'KOW! Okay. Maybe she could think about home anyway without the stone, sometimes that worked! She thought and thought...
Between the rocks, there was a green flash. Pook blinked at it, completely unaffected and out of its range.
GRR! Pook fished in her bag for anything else that might help her. She dug up a vial of stuff that could kill her...that could work! If she was dead she'd be small and round and back at the Feathery Lady, where she could be brought back to life! But there were markings on the vial with a picture of the place where the small green men lived and it would not open...apparently it would only work there. She wondered if she could find a monster or an Other Person who would want to kill her if she growled at them like she wanted to fight...but all she could see around her was stone.
Pook started to get anxious. Her People were having some kind of get together at their Den soon and she had wanted to go...
Her PEOPLE! JinxJinxJinx had a thing that she could do that could pull you from anywhere you were to where she was!
"JinxJinxJinx! JINXJINXJINX!" Pook yelled ineffectually in the general direction of her Swirly Stone. There was no response.
Pook was completely out of ideas. There was only one thing left to do.
"RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOWWWWWRRRRR!" Pook wailed at the top of her lungs. She wished, oh, she WISHED that someone would rescue her!
Some time later when her cries had diminished to whimpers, there was suddenly a booming voice from the sky. "THERE YOU GO." It said simply, and suddenly she was FREE!
She started to leap and cheer over her freedom...and took in a sharp breath. Her whole body was covered with scrapes and bruises from her adventure. She took on her running shape and hobbled back to where the Lion Eagles would take her to Her People. She limped in to the Wisps and Spirits and collapsed in a heap on the floor.
"...and our next order of business is...Oh! My! Pook! Are you all right?" Measha said, kneeling by her side.
Pook was given sparkly fixing spells and fish, and then hurriedly pushed to one side so that the meeting could continue.
"Rrrrowwww..." Pook sulked, climbing sorely on a banister and sitting near the Shiny Hair for comfort. The Mean Sneaky Man seemed to be back, and she went over and briefly declared her displeasure at him, and then went back to her perch. Later, the Shiny Hair Man got mad at her for taking just one or two of his hairs - he had plenty! - and demanded her Shiny Hair Collection back. She was so much not in the mood to give it back, she turned away and DIDN'T look at him as hard as she could. That's how much not in the mood she was. And the people talked about the Pook in MeeshMeeshMeesh's tummy - she was so glad that MeeshMeesh hadn't eaten a kitten like JinxJinx had said! Silly JinxJinx!
Finally things wound down and Pook went to go lie in her Pook Nest by the hearth downstairs, glad for some well-deserved rest...
Suddenly there was a terrible noise outside! It sounded like fire and screaming and a sound like "RRRRROOOOAAAAARRRR"! She ran outside and saw a lot of people dead and running around in panicked circles. What could be doing this?
She headed in the general direction of the worst of the noise when suddenly above her she saw a huge black Dragon! It was shooting fire all over the people below, killing them in just one hit! Pook took on her big shaggy fighting shape that didn't get burned so easily and ran to attack the Dragon!
It seemed to be following a few people who looked like they were having a lot of fun teasing it into attacking them and the people around them, pulling it all around the city. They took it into the big circle room where the Little Boy that seemed so important was, and Pook fought! But as soon as the Dragon started would start to get hurt by the strong men who protected the Little Boy the people wanted to make it go to where people bought things, and then out to the town where people were always dancing and fighting and going off alone together and being silly.
Finally there the people seemed to have their fill of rampant slaughter of innocent bystanders and settled in to fight the Dragon. Pook roared and slashed and even made the green sparklies to keep people alive! There were so many people hitting the Dragon all at once, and it finally died.
Of all the people who fought only a few seemed to think that they were worthy of cutting open the Dragon and taking out whatever was inside, and did a lot of shouting about how they were the best like nobody else had helped them. Pook shrugged this off, just happy the thing was dead, and kicked it sullenly in the neck for making her bad day so much worse. She curled up in her nest again and started to drift off to sleep...
In the dead of night, Pook startled awake. SHE COULD HAVE SENT HERSELF TO THE GREEN PLACE ON THE LAKE WITH HER POWERS to get out of the ROCKS.
P'kow.
((Pook Pics of these True Life Adventures!:
Teremus the Devourer in the Auction House
Teremus the Devourer dead in Goldshire
Aaaand again ))