| The Exile of Laju Dang; Supplementary works to main entry | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: January 1, 2016, 9:33 pm (40 Views) | |
| EducatedRodent | January 1, 2016, 9:33 pm Post #1 |
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Picnicker
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Gazing after the back of the departing presence/beast, Laju gingerly worked his fingers. The shallow cuts were nothing compared to the gaping wound on his chest, but they were still a nasty shock that interrupted his healing. Perhaps she didn't like the word 'tool'. He understood how she felt, lots of cands also disliked using tools, even if they made certain jobs easier. It was just unnatural to having to grab something and work with it instead of shaping your own wax. Which brought his attention back to the... the CHISEL lying point-first in the ground. She - her name was Orh Kam or during like that - said that she'd saved his life, and she'd definitely given him this strange sharp tool. Then she left him alone. So it seemed she had a job for him also, though he wasn't sure he met its Requirements all that well. Anyway, better not lose her gift. Reaching down, he brought his hand to the CHISEL again, checking that he was on the skinny side before pouring a lop of wax around its flatter side. Once it set, he grabbed the rough grip and gently plucked the CHISEL out of its hollow. The grip shifted as the impossibly sharp edges began slicing through it, then flowed once more as Laju poured another helping of wax on top. There, he had his tool. Now he looked around. Surrounding him was a drab dirt plain colored a pale lavender, relieved by the occasional spindly tree. Beneath each tree grew blotchy mushrooms, the fungi matching the bulbous leaves hanging down from the thin branches. Back home, oh home, so far away, he remembered watching shows about explorers who lived off the land, trying to find the tastiest recipes. Eating stuff was no problem for him, but some days he needed something different. They ate all kinds of things, from critters to leaves to trees to even the ground itself. Now this place wasn't quite flowing with oil and naphtha, but there was plenty of waxy-looking stuff here. So he hurried to the nearest tree, already shaping his left arm into a club. He jumped up and swung for the lowest branch, cracking it with his first strike. It took him a few more blows to knock it down with its leaves and small fruit. These he gobbled up without hesitation, enjoying the way his flame grew slightly. Only slightly - this stuff was wet. Wet and stringy sourness, but still food. Then he tried the mushrooms, which as he thought were even wetter, but also with hints of alkanes and polyester and maybe even nylon. Ah, if only he had some sweet nylon noodles just now, the way Chiu Chiu always spun them. But that lovely lady and his boys were far away, a whole continent away. In fact, more than them - the others at Allcan like Loong, Shonlon and Kunyao were all gone. Even Old Master Shine was gone along with Ms Safety. He found his vision clogging up. What was he doing here? The bars should never have fallen, Shonlon had welded them just this morning and he was one of the best. "What happened?" Here he was, with a hole in his chest and an impossibly sharp tool, chewing on leaves and mushrooms. "Why?" he wailed. "Why me? Orh Kam, why?" Kicking the branch away, he curled his legs closer to himself, not caring how his flame licked the lowest branches. "Oh heavens, what did I do to deserve this? Spare me, please. I want to go back, I haven't seen my wife for months. Please, please," he sobbed. He felt his face grow heavier as his tears congealed on his cheeks. Fingering the clumps, he realised he must look like one of the Crying Foodies his boy liked to watch. He wasn't going to be able to send the red packet now. Oh heavens! Somehow, he managed to crawl back to his helmet, and scrabbled on the dirt. Finally he found his target in a wax sheath. Breaking it open, he extracted his phone and held it up. *Message sending failed* That was his last memory |
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3:50 AM Jul 11