"I can't believe you were trying to save your own ass and ditch me"
Jean was still whining and sulking as two girls in another world grabbed through what seemed to be very wildly grown weeds and reeds.
"Oh SHUT UP, now, will you!", Leah exploded, finally losing her patience.
"I expected better of you, Lola"
"Idiot! I am NOT Lola!"
"Right, Lilly"
Leah knew that talking to this idiot was pointless. She clenched her jaws and ground her teeth. It was a bad habit that her Mom had always scolded her for, but right now it didn't really matter.
They walked in silence for another hour until Jean finally spoke up again.
"Do you know where we are going?"
"You just keep your mouth shut", Leah shut her down, but really, asking Jean to be quiet was as useful as telling an excited puppy to stop wagging its tail. Not that there was any reason to be excited here though
"It feels like we've been walking forever and there's nothing in sight", and of course. Jean didn't disappoint.
"We will come across someplace, eventually"
"What makes you think that?"
"I saw some smoke go up in this direction"
"Really?"
"Could you please pay some attention to our surroundings? We are trying to survive here"
"But we don't even know where we are"
"Well, thanks to you"
"I'm sorry I dragged you into this"
"Now you finally admit it"
"I still don't appreciate that you were trying to run off on your own though. We are in this together now, Lez"
Leah suddenly stopped walking.
"Did you hear that?", she asked.
"What?"
"I heard something. It's distant, but it sounds like some kind of… galloping sound"
Without hesitation, Jean lowered her head and put her ear to the ground.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to hear the sound"
"Jean… we are on wetland. You won't hear very well like that…"
"Oh?"
Jean stood up again, with her one ear covered in mud.
'Sigh… this girl is hopeless'
But there was no time to lament about having an idiot oddball as her only companion in this strange new land, as the galloping sound was approaching.
"Maybe it's someone on horse. We might get some help here", Leah observed, hopefully.
"Or it could be some weird-ass monster animal that's hunting us down"
"Oh, please. There are no true carnivores with hooves"
"I have a bad feeling about this, Lilly"
As the sound approached closer, Jean was getting fidgety.
"I think we should run"
"You can run away on your own. I'm staying"
"You are being too optimistic. We are in some wild world here. This can't be a good idea"
"Just leave me alone"
At that moment, the galloping animal, which the two girls assumed it was, made a leap into the air not so far away from where they were, maybe only about 20 meters away.
It was a truly beastly creature. It had a body of a horse, but was olive green. What was more worrying was that it had the head of a T-Rex and the horns of a buffalo.
"Fuck! RUN!!!"
Jean grabbed Leah's hand and started to run but the frightened girl was rooted to the spot, not being able to do a thing.
The brave one of the two picked up the panicked one, made her piggyback, and started to run.
What she lacked in her head, she more than made up for it with her muscles and athleticism.
Jean ran fast with Leah on her back, almost a full sprint as if the extra weight on her didn't matter at all.
It wasn't enough though as the galloping beast didn't take long to catch up, made the leap, and knocked both of them off balance.
"Kyaaaaaa!"
Leah let out a scream that would have embarrassed her to death under normal circumstances, but desperate times led to desperate squeals.
However, in a moment of incredible bravery and selfless sacrifice, Jean placed herself between Leah and the monster, assuming a boxing stance.
"Come on, you little fucker", Jean grunted.
The beast then suddenly lifted its front legs and the body, standing on its hind legs as horses do. And let out…
"Mooooo~"
"What the hell?", Jean was confused. Rightly so. For this beast sounded exactly like a cow in Leah and Jean's world.
Then it launched itself at the two confused girls. Although it stopped just short of squashing them, Jean got caught off guard as it thrust its head forward and opened its mouth wide.
"Noooooooo!"
As Leah screamed, expecting to see Jean get her head bitten off, the otherworldly creature stuck its long tongue out and licked Jean's face.
"Bwwwaaaaah, it's so slimy!", Jean yelled out but the beast didn't mind. It wagged its ponytail and kept on licking Jean's face like a dog. Now stumbled on the ground and pinned down, the poor girl could do nothing but lay there and be attacked with this show of affection.
"Lez… help me…"
Finally, Leah could find her composure again.
"Ahem, ahem. I told you there are no carnivores with hooves"
"Help, I'm getting licked by a horse-sized dog with a lizard tongue"
Then out of the weeds and reeds, a tall and bulky man suddenly emerged. He looked almost two meters tall and very rugged, with a full beard and muscles on his exposed arms that looked like they were about to burst out. He was dressed like what in Leah and Jean's world would be a farmer.
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down Lanky"
The man commanded and the horse-dog-lizard-buffalo hurried to the man, who patted the creature on its head.
"Are you ladies, alright?"
Leah was infinitely grateful that the man spoke their language.
Maybe they were still on the Earth somehow?
"Thank you, Mister"
Leah almost broke down in tears as Jean got up and wiped the slime off her face.
"Is this your… pet?", Jean inquired.
"Yes, she is! She's marvelous, isn't she? The finest specimen of her kind on this side of the river, I can confidently say"
The giant man put his hands on his hips, standing tall and proud.
As the two girls didn't really know what to say, the man continued.
"But hey, what are you girls doing out here? And you guys are dressed a bit… unusually"
"We died and we got trans-", Leah grabbed Jean by her ankles and yanked as hard as she could, making the blondie face plant.
"Sir, we are travelers. We got lost on the way and didn't know which way to go"
The man narrowed his eyes and asked.
"Is that so? Where do you ladies come from?"
"From Germany", Jean foolishly answered with her face still buried in the mud.
"I've never heard of such a place before", the man answered, scratching his head.
"Yes, Sir. It's a very small town and very very far away from here. We could really use some help finding our way back home"
Although the rugged man still looked a bit suspicious of these foreign girls, he narrowed his eyes for a moment, then burst into a hearty laughter.
"Hahaha! Sure! Us Muskis are well known for our hospitality. I will take you to the village"
"Thank you so much, Sir", Leah bowed her head, truly grateful.
Perhaps the man didn't believe a word of what Leah said. Perhaps he really did. But it probably didn't matter and all that concerned him was that these were the travelers in his beloved land where hospitality to guests was a great virtue that they prided themselves in.
Three of them the weird creature, Lanky, walked toward the direction where the man came from, not where the smoke that Leah saw earlier was. Leah got curious and asked the man.
"I saw some smoke come up from that direction and assumed maybe that's where the village was. What's over there then, Mister?"
"Ah, you'd do well to stay away from there", the man said, not particularly in any fearful ways, but almost sounding like it was a simple common sense like saying don't throw yourself into the fire.
"Why's that?", ever so curious Jean asked the man.
"That's the direction where a crazy old man lives"
"Is he dangerous?", Leah asked this time. Trying to make sure that she knew the dangers of this world.
"No. But once he finds his audience, he can talk for hours, or even days. You'll never get away from his yapping nonsense"
"Right. That is very dangerous indeed"
As Leah commented to close the conversation and move forward with the rugged man, Jean couldn't help but wonder what kind of interesting stories the old man might have.