Lian -"Where are we going?", asked Liandan after a while of not seeing an end in sight. Just more of the same brown vista as usual.
Blitz scoffs at her question and sends arrows through his gaze to others to say something in his stead. The Captain was almost ready to bite back, but then Goidel gently elbowed him. - "He is kinda right, you know? I understand that you want to play your games with them, but she is also in the right to be curious."
Krass -" Well, miss, I don't get the opportunity that often to wow people with what comes next, so what do you say we play a traveling game to pass the time ?" He then used his cat characteristics to charm the duo with his big, round eyes.
Ogda was immediately persuaded and agreed.
Liadan, to her disappointment in herself later that day, was also immediately convinced.
Krass -" Questions then! You get to ask one and we serve it back. Alright?", to which both nodded yes. "And none about our current destination. You first."
Lian -" Bastard", groaned Liandan. She knew what her question would be then, and almost asked it, but then stopped. After which she asked Ogda to stretch to a whispering level -" What do you say, should we ask about the pact things?"
Ogda -" Well, whatever you say is fine by me", replied agreeingly Ogda, which made Liadan happy for a second. But then felt a slight twist in her stomach, saying that it wasn't fine and she felt a bit indignant about his reply.
Lian -" I guess that's what I want. But what do you think we should ask?
The monster was a bit confused by the occasional acidity in her voice and wasn't sure why she insisted on it. " Are you feeling ok? Are you tired?" he asked instantly while his unblinking eye got closer and closer to her face.
Lian -" No...I'm fine. Just tired…maybe", she shrugged, then addressed the hunters. " You mentioned something about a pact. Between humans and your kind?"
Blitz -" Firbolgs, not your kind", replied with venom Blitz, which was becoming concerning to both of his colleagues. The Captain took him aside while leaving Goidel to answer the question.
Krass -" You've got this, boy", which did not encourage the bird-masked warrior.
Goidel -" Right…" Goidel paused for a few seconds. " Sorry for Blitz, uh, first. He's been a bit…explosive… since we chose Krass as a Captain for this mission. They've been kinda equal in the Union, but now that his rival's a rank over him, well…"
Ogda -" I don't get it", replied Ogda, with no real interest in their problems.
Goidel -" Anyway, the pact. Yes…So, I read all the books in our library about it, but to keep this brief, it's just like it sounds. A human and a Firbolg pick or make a totem to create a bond between them. After which they can share their powers to aid each other. And by the look on your face, I'm guessing you have no idea what I'm talking about…miss? Girly?"
Lian -" Liandan, or even Lian is fine. By the way, power? What are you…" she tried to ask before being interrupted by Krass and visibly dejected Blitz. Who then, somewhat sincerely, apologized to them…in a monotonous voice, repeating a verse like a bored child.
Blitz -" I let my animosity get the better of me and I shouldn't have acted so rude to you…Is that ok?" he dejectedly asked Krass at the end.
Krass -" Perfect. Now, back to the game. It's our turn, right? So then…you", he intentionally pressed the last letter when addressing Ogda. " I know some elementals, but none of them are transmuted by their element like you are. And you are still able to think. Curious… So then, my question is", he paused for dramatic effect "Where do you see yourself in the next five years?"
Liadan was bewildered by the question, but then even more by Ogda's serious response- " By Liadan's side, as her guardian and probable pact partner." He was sternly convinced that this was his path in life, while the girl was unsure what the next day would bring. Still, it brought a bit of joy knowing that he would be there for her, but also a bit of concern about how quickly he attached his loyalties to her.
Then, an intrusive thought went out of her mouth without her consent -" Ogda…but what if I turn out to be a bad person?"
Ogda -" That's fine. I know my role, I feel it etched into me."
Lian -" But…", but she stopped. " Ok…I'm just probably jinxing myself, let's forget it. Our turn then. Ogda?"
Ogda -" Right. So, what are those weapons you've got? The Captain's chains, especially, were pretty weird back there."
Blitz and Goidel, for the first time, had the same annoyed look and in unison shouted " Keep it brief" towards a surprised Krass by the matching shouts.
Krass -" Fine, fine. So…our God", to which his colleagues mumbled under their breath, while Krass ignored them " Made the world. Probably. And we, the Firbolgs all rose from the primordial water they brought with them, but not entirely…we are still malleable, and much easier to change ourselves. Mostly by inspiration, accidents or…how should I put this? We can't directly choose how to change, but we can guide it. Blitz, for example, is a fan of humans flying inventions. Which is how, after years of obsessing over, gathering materials, building tons of models…his body copied characteristics of them and made him into this ugly block of steel and flesh."
Blitz -" Says the zealous cat lover. I'll buy the fact that there's a flying city of a beast out there, but the God thing is way too much; I still don't understand how what happened years ago convinced you so hard that it exists. You weren't…"
Before the two could devolve into a shouting match, they reached the endpoint. Literally. Goidel jumped ahead of everyone and, with his right, he touched the horizon.
Goidel -" Ta da…", he proclaimed awkwardly like he was a performer. Fortunately for him, the act was good enough to leave the duo dumbfounded. "WHAT?!", they asked in sheer surprise, while Krass snorted angrily as he wanted to present it.
The world, after all, has an end, where the skies can be touched. Or, as Goidel tried to academically explain it, "A layer covers it, the land, everything around here. A shell, I let's say, that mimics types of skies and weather patterns… randomly, is my guess for now." He then stops to take a break and relaxes his breathing from too much talking.
Goidel -" Also, there are multiple biomes like this. Or layers, as we call them. Divided by a space which can't be easily crossed, and neither of us has seen it. I did find some descriptions of it in the library back home. The few Firbolgs that can travel it tell of a colorless void, stagnant in its lack of motion or rhythm. There is no sound, no light or energy, just a lack of anything."
Blitz tried to add his bits of knowledge to add to what his traveling companions were lacking. He was short in his words, but his loud tone made up for the lack of the usual arrogance. They learned that each layer is of different sizes, they are either stacked on one another, parallel to each other, or like in their current one," it's like a satellite, around the size of a medium country in the human world. And right now it's hovering around a large layer, a continental one the size of those Americas from Earth. Can't remember which one." He still ended with a pointy-" Do you get it?"