"Journey Part 09 - Barnaby" by Al Howe

Barnaby

The Shadow comes up to walk along side you. "Heh heh... by the way, I like your new outfit..."

"What, this?" You look down... "Ugh! I liked the robe much better. At least it didn't make me look like some crazy barbarian woman who doesn't know how to dress herself."

He reaches his hand over and touches warm fingers against your forehead. "Remember, how you look is within you, not out here. It is the same with me. The feathers in your hair are nice." His voice trails off...

You hadn't even noticed, but yes, there are several feathers woven into your hair. Shades of green and deep blue, spotted with white. Large feathers, at least a foot long.

The next clearing is visible just ahead and to the right. Archimedes, apparently tired, has curled up to take a nap near a crumbling step pyramid. As you round a tree, two large obelisks come into view... tall blocks of obsidian with veins of silver, and gold detailing.

The shadow leans in close... "the guardians."

They stand side by side, reaching up to the sky, as if they have the universe in their hands. Partway up, each obelisk is has a human form carved into it, kneeling, holding up the upper half. They face each other. The female form on the left is unfinished, while the male on the right is well detailed: a beautiful face, soft gold eyes, a straight nose, gold lips that look like they may smile at any moment. Runes are scribed across his forehead and spiraling around his cheeks. Your attention is strangely drawn to this face, wondering if he will come to life and look at you, yet his gaze remains fixed on the unfinished woman.

You turn to speak to the Shadow, but he is gone, entering a nearby fallen temple. Heading after him, you pass between the obelisks and an unmistakeable field of energy... skin tingling and hair attempting to stand up on end. Running past the pyramid on the left, you hop up the steps and into the temple. Large sections of wall have fallen, and rubble covers the floor. What remains of the roof looks like it used to support a large vaulted ceiling which now mostly resides on the floor. The remanants of the walls show that it had many windows. The far wall is completely missing, and the Shadow stands looking out, the golden dragon and phoenix playing in the wind on his back.

The Shadow is talking as you approach. "All the power, and they weren't able to save the temple."

"What was that," you ask as you reach him. Looking out the open wall, a hill slopes down to a beach and then the river. On the ground below are the remnants of a statue.

"It is almost unrecognizeable..."

In fact, it is unrecognizeable you think. You lean against the Shadow's side, rest your head on his shoulder. "You know... WHOOP!" You slip on something, falling, reaching out for anything... surrounded by blackness. Something grabs your right hand and something grabs your left. Two glowing golden forms flank your sides, flapping up and down, back and forth. Golden trails flowing from their bodies into a whirl of shapes behind them. The dragon turns to glance at you, his scales tickling your left ear. His expression eases some of your fears... he looks so gentle. The phoenix then turns to look at you, her silky soft feathers tickling your right ear. You wish you knew where they were taking you.

You have the sensation of travelling through air, and then something solid, and then a void... and then everything feels soft.

"BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...BEEP..." A loud alarm awakens you. Jumping up, you sit on a small bed covered with a soft silvery cushion. The walls are a light metallic blue. A red light is blinking, and next to it is a button. 'Click,' you push the button and a door slides open.

A man is standing there... "Quick m'am, we need you at the hangar. The visitation is about to begin." He starts to run off, but stops himself. "Interesting sleeping outfit..." and then he is gone, the door sliding shut behind him.

The bed is hovering about three feet off the floor. To the right are a table and a small dresser. To the left. an open door appears to lead to a small bathroom. Jumping off the cushion and turning around, you see that there is a one-piece outfit waiting for you, hanging over the bed. A slight pain alerts you that both hands are clenched, and you open them up to reveal a small dragon figurine in one hand, and a phoenix figurine in the other. Placing them on the dresser, you quickly push out of the ill-fitting barbarian outfit, and slide into the one-piece - a perfect fit! All silver, trimmed with violet... a blue stripe starts at your neck and runs down each arm, and similar stripes start at the hips and run down the legs. The inside is as soft as satin. A belt runs around the waist, and a zipper runs up the front all the way to your neck. Soft soled cushions pad your feet, like soft bags of air, as you walk over to what looks like a mirror. Race car driver, you think... with feathers too.

Making sure to grab the figurines first, you push the button and walk out into the hallway. Someone is waiting there for you. He guides you down well-lit hallways, metallic like the room, broken periodically with darker beams. Right, right, left... You come to an elevator. A moment later, and in you go. A small compartment, interestingly decorated in blue carpeting. 'Ding' and the doors open - strange that you never felt the sensation of moving. Out you walk and into a room full of people, all wearing similar outfits with different colored stripes. A resounding cheer raises, and many are clapping.

"DONK...DONK... Is this thing on?" You hear over loud speakers.

Someone at a podium is giving a long speach, but you aren't paying attention... You are stuck looking out giant windows to the vast expanse of space, and a huge ship approaching... white, not metallic looking, like an angelfish with waving wings. It pulls up close and you hear several creaks and groans.

People are clapping again, and someone has grabbed your arm. You are being escorted up to the podium. "Speech... speech... speech..." everyone is chanting.

"Ummm..." you say, not quite sure what is going on. "I don't know what is going to happen... uh... I hope everything works out okay."

"Yay," everyone is cheering and claping. A clear helmet is placed over your head, and a small tank is attached to your back. A man walks up and escorts you over to a door... an airlock? It opens up, you step in, and it is closed behind you. A walk down a short hallway, and a door on the other side opens, a dark room beyond. The hall immediately fills with a heavy gas. You step forward as if walking in to a dream. Billowy clouds flow around you, and several forms colaesce before you. Tall white figures, glowing. One approaches you, a body so slim... long arms ending in slender fingers, flat gray fingernails. Glowing tendrils on energy flow off its arms as it reaches forward and removes your helmet and airtank.

"But..." you think. "No air!"

"Relax..." comes to your mind, so soft, so much pleasure. The gas comes in, flowing around your head... invigorating. The creature leans in close to get a good look at your face... It gazes intently with large purple eyes, eyelids fluttering. Its face, round, with no visible nose or mouth.

You didn't even realize your hands were rising up, brushing against its skin, tingling. He stands back and looks at them as you turn them over and open them up. Its eyes change to a soft shade of cyan, and it picks up the dragon and phoenix in each hand, to hold them close and examine them, then turning to the others and showing them off, their eyes turning the same color. It leans in close again, its eyes now vibrant green and rubs its cheek against yours, so soft... You lean back and drift off to sleep.

You are awakened by the feeling of things poking you all over, mostly along your arms and legs. It is pitch black... you lay there afraid to move. One of them is at your belt, and begins poking you in a pattern up your side to your belly button, poke... poke... poke... poke.... It then continues up your stomach and along your breastbone to your neck where it finds the zipper pull, and starts pulling it down, poking along the way. It stops about halfway down, and then pokes its way back up to mid-breastbone, where something large and bumpy pushes against you there. You lay in silence, your heart pumping loudly in your ears, and then it lifts up.

"She's alive," a little voice pipes up, inches away from you...

And then another voice, "she's alive! Barnaby saved her!" This is followed by the sounds of whispering and chittering.

You struggle to lift your head up, "uhhh..."

The little voice again, "are you okay, miss?"

"I feel okay, but I can't see anything..."

"Oh no," he calls to the others, "she's blind!"

"No she's not," another voice calls back, "she's a Topworlder... she can't see in the dark like us."

There are some sounds of scurrying, and then something is being pushed into your left hand. "Here, put these over your eyes," a tiny voice says. They fit over your eyes easily, like glasses, but without side supports, they just balance on the bridge of your nose.

In moments, your eyes adjust and take in this world, painted in monochromatic hues... well, they are tinted slightly, but it's mostly greens. A large cavern surrounds you, stalactites above. Several natural columns stand in the distance, complex flows down their surface have carved multiple tiers into them. Rocks lie here and there, and a small critter is sitting on your chest... Barnaby. Skinny arms and legs stick out from a small pot-belly, the bottoms of his big feet facing you, and a small neck supports a triangular head with huge eyes, and large upturned ears.

Without thinking, you struggle to sit up, sending Barnaby tumbling. Fortunately he catches on to the zipper pull, and zips down to your belt, where he stops and tucks in behind the cover or your outfit, peeking out. His skin feels like a dry prune rubbing against you.

"Are you okay?" You call down to him, trying not to laugh.

"I'll be okay, just give me a while to slow my heartbeat back down. Plus, you know... it's nice and warm in here?"

Another voice calls out from the crowd, this voice deeper then the others... "In honor of Barnaby saving the Topworlder, I propose we have a feast!"

To this, a resounding 'yay' fills the cavern as the troop heads off. As free space opens up, you push yourself to stand, Barnaby holding on for the ride, and then you head after the others.