The creature-like being frowned at me while crossing its arms.
Pinky don't leave me!
I silently groaned as Pinky and the other faceless trees slowly moved away from me. I stared at the lion-like creature while trying to suppress my urge to run away.
Any attempt to run away will certainly result in my death. At least I still have my common sense.
We continued to stare at one another while time seemed to move slowly. Slowly, to my horror, I began to become aware of how I looked.
Although I tied my hair earlier, it somehow got tangled up due to the spying I did.
I washed my face earlier, but because of panic, it got tear-streaked. Thank goodness I didn't get a runny nose from crying.
I didn't change my clothes and I slept on the ground in the cave.
Do I smell?
Now I'm flustered. His gaze is becoming more uncomfortable. While I don't like being stared at, I also don't like losing the staring contest.
So here we are, staring at each other until who knows when.
Until I sneezed.
And sneezed.
AND SNEEZED!
In my mind, I spoke all kinds of colorful expletives.
The lion-like being looked fascinated as its tail moved around.
Then it spoke.
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND A THING.
I don't even want to try to describe what it sounds like.
It looked surprised and muttered something, while a stone on one of its rings began to glow.
What just happened?
I looked around and somehow nothing changed. Until it spoke again.
What the?
I can finally understand!
Let me tell you this, whatever it did, I somehow understood what it said. BUT unlike the translators we have on Earth, where you can distinctly hear words being spoken, it's like I just instinctively knew what was being said without understanding the words themselves. It is so hard to describe, but after all, I am in a strange world.
It asked for my name. I told it.
Then it said its name, which was so long that it immediately slipped my mind.
Without thinking, I asked it if I could call it Lion?
It seemed to think for a couple of minutes before asking me why.
Even though I'm not a very patient person, with my life on the line, I gave a long, detailed explanation of the animal that ended up telling it about everything. It looked fascinated and nodded at some parts of my story.
After the story ended, it told me that I had permission to call it Lion.
At which point, I excitedly asked Lion whether it was male or female.
He told me that he's a male and explained that in this world, gender is not limited to only two.
For instance, the triangle creature I saw earlier didn't have any gender at all, as it didn't need a mate to reproduce.
Creatures and beings like him need a mate to reproduce, whereas others need several mates to do so.
At this point, there is a sudden burst of light and I can see two suns.
Huh.
So it's that late already.
Lion yawned and told me I should go with him, saying it was morning and time for the morning creatures and beings to go out.
So he's not a morning...
He told me that he's both a morning and an evening being, but he's been working a lot lately. He hasn't slept well for several days because of an abnormality he found in his magical equipment, which turned out to be me.
He told me to stay still while he muttered several magical words and I floated.
Wowww...
Pinky must have realized that I was going somewhere and squealed so loudly that Lion rolled his eyes. Now, Pinky is floating beside me. The other faceless trees waved goodbye with their branches while we floated away.
I held on to Pinky while trying to absorb what I saw.
So many creatures and beings flying, floating, crawling, riding and walking, in all sorts of sizes and shapes, around me.
Towering high-rise buildings, seemingly higher than any on earth, were afloat, alongside numerous floating structures.
In the distance, the mountains appeared to float as well. The entire scene was truly magical.
After what seemed like several minutes of floating, we arrived at the top of a flying castle. Lion lifted the spell and the three of us walked inside what seemed to be a portal.
Fascinating!
After my eyes adjusted to the darkness, Lion waved his hand and voila, small light bubbles seemed to float around the ceiling.
Now that there was enough light inside, I could see all sorts of equipment and floating devices around me. Pinky kept following me around while I tried to look at the equipment.
Lion cautioned me not to touch anything as he tried to magically clear away the mess of parchments and papers.
I assured him that I wouldn't as I tried to find a place to sit down.
Pinky somehow grew some of its branches into a sort of seat for me, which I gratefully sat on.
Lion somehow finished clearing away the mess and the room finally looked decent. I realized he didn't need chairs, as he could just float around. But after seeing what Pinky did, he sighed and managed to magically create a huge, cloudlike bed.
He told me to sleep, so I went over to the cloudlike bed and sat down.
Oh my gosh, it is soooo soft and warm!
I lay down and closed my eyes. Pinky stood near me and finally settled down. It must be sleeping as it has stopped moving.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw Lion floating near the ceiling, the lights starting to dim. He must be going to sleep, as he kept yawning and his hair was moving slowly. His tail kept moving around until it finally settled down.
This cloud bed is so comfortable that even though I'm hungry, I soon forget about it as I'm getting sleepy.
Am I... safe here?
Can I trust Lion?
The last thing I remember was hearing Lion sigh before I finally fell asleep.