"TMC - Part 1 - Chp 1" by R.E. ´Riibu´ Kankaanpää

In the universe there are multitudes of different worlds. There are multitudes of copies of those worlds, with same events going in alternating directions. Let us focus on one of them. This is a world of fantasy. Many mythical creatures live, breathe and have intercourse in here. Let us focus on this part of the world, on this particular forest...





It wasn't a noticeably special forest. There were no mystical shadows leading to secret groves under dark, intimidating trees, no clearings filled with sunlight and unicorns, no magnificent waterfalls or rapids forming sprays of water drops which would glint off the light of the sun in the colours of rainbow. Mostly there were trees and undergrowth. However, there was a family of trolls in here. They liked to eat small animals, helpless or not. Furriness was also an option. Occasionally fish was served.

Trolls live underground. This family had their entry hole near some big mossy rocks. The large cave they lived in was lit with a few strategically placed tiny bonfires. This family had only one daughter. Her name was Grul. The father sat in a far corner in a rocky chair reading some pieces of skin (not human, because it was too weak to write articles on). The mother was bustling near the biggest bonfire, stirring squirrel bone stew in an oval shaped dish (best not to wonder where it came from). The daughter was clanking some long bones together, looking brutish, grave and bored. Perfectly normal for a troll girl of that specific age, when one would rather stay outside until morning with friends doing things parents would certainly disapprove of.

When it comes to trolls, their size and ferocity guarantee that they have no natural predators after them. Except maybe human warriors on a quest. Still, certain creatures these days had set their eyes on trolls and their deaths. These small flying human/insect like beings who were high on dust all the time were on constant move against trolls. They were the foul pixies. Pixies hated only one thing more than they hated trolls, and this was fruitflies who were their mortal enemies. Their dust induced state of confusion led them to believe that trolls were the cause of fruit flies, and as cunning creatures they had long ago decided to tackle the imagined source, rather than the actual enemy.

"Would'ya hear this? There's been another attack by dem damn bugs. They've gone against Brunt Timberbreaker up in Long Wood Forest", the father muttered loudly and humphed annoyed. The mother sighed and glanced tenderly at her husband and then focused on the stew again. The father rolled the skin pieces together and dropped them on the cave floor next to his chair. He humphed again and rubbed his impressive fists together. "I say, something should be done to those bugs. They're seriously endangering our lives", he spoke broadly. "Long Wood Forest is not that far away from here, you know!" he bellowed and the mother turned to look at him reproachfully, then made a meaningful look towards their daughter in the sense of not supposedly upsetting her. Grul didn't look at her parents, because she was trying hard to ignore whatever they said on account of them parents being so darn unbearably oldfashioned and silly, and she missed their face making exhange considering things she should not be hearing. The father coughed, but did not continue. Satisfied, the mother continued to poke the strange bits and pieces in the stew with a long bone. It was clearly a very careful and attention requiring process. After a while she banged the bone against the dish a couple of times and stood up proudly.

"Dinner's ready", she announced and a small chittering sound came from the entrance to the cave. The troll family froze for a second and then turned dramatically slowly to look in to the gloom of the hallway which led outside. The father swore in a low voice and his fists twitched. A soft wind blew into the cave and brought with it intoxicating and unfamiliar flowery scents. The trolls sneezed and grimaced. The overly sweet smell fought the musky and earthy smells of the cave and conguered them too easily. The scent would never leave the rockface and what was even worse, their noses itched again and the scent was going to their heads. As a headache. All three trolls had stumbled closer to each other and they stood looking at the hallway. The chittering sound came again, this time louder. Then they heard an indescribably tiny scream and a flight of fearless pixies flew in. They stopped to scream some special fight cries and brandished their needle sharp little daggers at the trolls. Then they attacked.

The father swung his mighty fists at the tiny creatures. The mother braced herself, watched the pixies calculatingly and swung the bone ladle she still held and knocked one pixie down cold. Grul peered at the pixie on the ground from behind the protective and large cover her parents provided. The pixie was on the floor, its head at an odd angle. The father swung wildly, but managed to knock one pixie down as well. The fight wasn't going too well for the trolls, though. The pixies seemed to have taken an extra dose of pixie dust and were hyperactive in their zooming attacks. They zigzagged effortlessly round the trolls and poked them with their needles. They also threw some sort of dust on them, though not their amazing hallucination and weird dream inducing pixie dust, because this just made the trolls sneeze. Or perhaps the damn pixie dust just worked like that with trolls. Who knew with such strange substances?

The father grunted and glanced around while trying to wipe some dust off from the side of his face. He nudged the mother, but since he was occupied with fighting the pixies, he used perhaps a bit too much force than strictly necessary. The mother pursed her lips and nudged right back. Except it was more like a shove. Fortunately, this was perfectly natural and didn't disrupt the fight at all for either of them. Still, the pixies did not dishearten or weaken. They kept coming and soon they would get to the daughter and she was too young and too inexperienced with courting to have learned enough about fighting. When the pixies backed away a little to form an attack formation, the mother suddenly turned and grabbed Grul. The pixies zoomed. The father drew breath and lunged with a roar at the pixies, while the mother ducked and dragged Grul with her. They ran to the mouth of the cave the father's roars ringing in their ears.

"Okay honey, you're kind of getting in the way, and we'll be needing more space to get these damn critters! You just stay out here and out of trouble, you hear? Behave yourself!" the mother shoved Grul out in to the bright, sunny forest. She stood on the spot for a moment blinking her eyes, to get accustomed to the brightness. The mother had already ran back to join the fight. Grul glanced behind her in to the cave, but she couldn't see in at all. Then she heard an expletive somewhere above her. She looked up. There were drunken pixies watching her groggily and surprised from a nearby tree's branches. There were quite a bit of them. They were still somewhat unclear as to why something that big had come out of the cave, when by all fairness only their kin should've emerged - victorious, naturally. Grul thought it might be a good idea to get a head start and wasted no more time gawking at the pixies. As she ran she heard a shout behind her, a sort of uncertain "Oi!", when people have just caught you were you shouldn't've been and are surprised and just want to ask you what you are doing. Except pixies never asked. They skipped that bit and just got on with the beating. She tried to run faster.

She jumped over a particularly gnarly root. She knew that the pixies were following her and she knew that, while she technically had the strength to fight them off, she didn't really have good enough hand-eye cordination to actually hit them. She also knew that even though she was hardy and should therefore be able to run large distances easily, she was getting kind of tired. Comfortable indoor life tended to do that to you. She wasn't really out of shape, but for trolls perhaps a bit on the heavy side. She had thought it good she was old-fashioned on that matter. These days so many troll girls practically starved themselves to look good by modern fashion standards. She didn't care about fashion and thought she looked rather attractive in a good, solid, old-fashioned way. Who cared what others thought, anyway? But her legs had started to tingle somewhat unpleasantly. The important thing now was to find some sort of shelter, a hiding place where she could catch her breath without having to worry about those damn pixies.

She decided to head for the nearby river in case it offered a solution for her hiding needs. She huffed and glanced behind her; the pixies were hot in pursuit and were screaming obscenities at her. She jumped over another root and stumbled. She could hear water rushing and pushed herself to run faster. Then suddenly the ground beneath her disappeared and she plunged into the cold water. The trees were small and leafy around here and their shadows had cleverly made the flowing river look like odd ground to her at a glance.

Having gasped some water in she coughed and paddled to stay afloat. She tried to wipe her eyes as she turned to squint behind her. The pixies were zooming ever closer, so she desperately started swimming along the current whilst trying to peer ahead of her hoping for somekind of cover. Luck was with her for some way onwards a tree had grown so crooked its branches touched the streaming water, creating a perfect hideout for her. The river was starting to widen noticeably, since it was joined by another wide river from the other side of where she and the pixies were. The current was also becoming stronger, but she just managed to grab the branches as she was floating by and pulled herself beneath them.

She paddled the water trying hard to hold onto the branches and peered through the leaves into the forest. The pixies were flying around nearby, but they had not noticed where she had hidden. They were very angry and were zooming aggressively trying to find their prey. She sighed quietly and tightened her hold. The water was terribly cold and soon she was shivering, but to her dismay the pixies seemed to show no intention of leaving.

All of a sudden the pixies flew away from her, upriver, and she felt a stirring of hope. Perhaps the pixies had given up and they'd keep on going and she could get out of the water? But no, the pixies did not leave altogether, but instead yelled frantically and pointed their tiny daggers towards the adjoining river. She looked that way also and saw a merrily coloured ship slowly sailing closer. It swayed and she briefly saw oars on the other side of the ship going down. The ship started to turn to the mainstream.

As the ship came closer she saw thin figures walking around the ship. The ship was painted with mostly blue, but it had purple streaks on it sides and colourful shields had been attached to the hull. Vibrantly coloured scarves were tied to the railings. By then she could hear someone playing the flute and beautiful laughter coming from the ship. Clearly this was an elf ship and the thin figures were elves. The pixies flew up and down and a few were making little zooms toward the ship, but always turning back before reaching very far over the water. They seemed to be afraid of the river. Then one of the elves onboard spotted the abruptly flying pixies and pointed them out with a clear voice.

Elves gathered around the first one and many took out bows. Grul could see their beautiful faces breaking into dazzling smiles as the elves took aim at the pixies and let some arrows go. The arrows hit their mark and several pixies screeched as their kin were pierced and thrown backwards. Even in their muddled state they figured the best tactic in this case was to get away as fast as possible. She watched as the pixies quickly retreated behind the trees and swooped down to check on the arrowed pixies, but the swarm did not start to fly away. She shivered and looked at the elf ship. She figured she had two choices: first to get up and go back into the forest and face the pixies. They probably couldn't kill her, but getting slashed by their tiny daggers would be like getting dozens and dozens of papercuts all over and she just didn't think that a good idea. Second, she could swim to the elf ship and hide there. She saw there was a handy cabin on the boat and if she climbed up at the hull the elves most likely wouldn't notice her. And if they did, well, they'd probably just throw her back into the river and could then swim ashore and go about her business as she liked. She made up her mind and pushed herself into the current from under the branches. She swam across the water and reached the elves' ship.

It was tricky getting aboard first, but as she found suitable holds she could pull herself up to the deck. The elves were all gathered to the bow of the ship and were laughing loudly. The cabin was smack right in the middle of the ship, conveniently keeping her unseen from the elves. As she could see no better place to hide she slipped in there, thinking that in a tight situation she could possibly bar the door so that the elves could not shoot her and not many elves would fit in there to fight her at the same time anyway. She quietly closed the door and looked around.

It was dark in the cabin and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. The cabin apparently also served as the hold of the ship, because just ahead of her were stairs down. There were round windows near the ceiling over the benches lining the sides. Blankets and random clothes were thrown about and on the benches. The elves either sleeped here, or just messily changed their clothes. Since she saw no pillows or other comforting objects she figured the latter would be more true. Elves preferred to sleep outside in any case. Perhaps they would set anchor by nightfall and leave the ship mostly unwatched so she could slip out easily. She felt a bit dismayed about discovering all the space under the deck, since it trashed her 'not much space for too many elves' –fight idea.

She clambered down and snagged a blanket to hide under. She went to the bench nearest to the stairs because it was slightly shadowed by the staircase. Pulling the blanket over her she opened the round window and peered out. The ship was going at a faster speed now, having reached a good flow in the currents of the river. She watched the trees going past while trying to listen in case any elves felt like getting a different attire.

The river snaked its way across the forest, getting joined by other rivers until it finally reached the ocean. But Grul knew it would long until they would get to the ocean. She wondered how it would be like, seeing the sea. She'd never been this far from home and momentarily she felt afraid and sad. She growled at herself and made herself vow to survive as best as she could and enjoy the journey as long as it lasted. She could return home later and everything would be fine. Anyway, she was getting old enough to leave and even if this wasn't exactly the way she'd imagined her own life to start, it could've been worse. She couldn't imagine how, but she was sure it could've been worse, somehow.

Suddenly she saw movement in the trees. She stretched and peered carefully at the treeline. Something appeared for a moment on a branch, jumped and landed on another branch. There was a squirrel following the ship. Grul rose to her knees and poked her head outside the window. The squirrel noticed her and dropped an acorn from alarm.

"Oi! What are you doing there?” it shouted shrilly at her. She noticed another squirrel jumping next to the first one.

"That's an elf ship!” the second one yelled at her.

"They'll kill ya!” the first shouted in turn and jumped forward some way.

"And more!” the second followed.

"Aye, wouldn't put me worst enemy up against elves!” The squirrels turned to each other and bobbed up and down in unison, agreeing heartily. Then they jumped forward again to keep up with the ship.

"Get away from there!” one of them yelled at her, she couldn't tell which was which anymore.

"Aye, but not too close to us!”

"Damn trolls.”

"Always with the bones!”

"Wouldn't want to meet any of them pers'nally.”

"Aye, bloody creatures...”

"If you don't keep a good eye on'em, you'll lose yer nuts bef're ye know it!” The other squirrel paused at this briefly and twitched on the branch before jumping along again.

"Wha', trolls?”

"Oh, no! Elves of course!”

"I thought we was talking about trolls here!”

"We was!”

"Then why'd ya go on about elves?”

"As... a reminder!” The squirrels paused to bob at each other knowingly.

"Mind you, trolls'd do it too!”

"After killing ya, aye!”

"Bloody trolls!” At this Grul was starting to get a little annoyed and let slip a growl. The squirrels seemed to panic.

"Wha'd'e say? What did 'e say??”

"It just growled!”

"It growled at us! Damn!”

"It's gonna come out! Protect yer nuts!”

"Run fer yer lives!” the other squirrel screamed shrilly hands held wide to warn the whole world, and then they scarpered away. Grul stared at the spot they disappeared in utter disbelief. She had no idea squirrels were such a crazy bunch. Made her feel glad they so often had delicious squirrelsoup. If not for much else, as food squirrels weren't so bad. She'd have to remember to thank her mother for hunting those things when she got back.

She shook her head, closed the window and sat down. After a while of listening to the creek of the sailing ship she yawned. Then she looked over her hands and brushed some of the hair a bit straighter. She also went over her arms and picked off any leaves that had clung to her despite the swim. By then she was absolutely bored and so she stretched on the bench, thinking it was safe enough to take a nap. If anything started happening, she'd be up and about and doing whatever needed doing, fighting, running away... A nap would be safe enough.

There was something soothing about the creeking and sloshing of water and so Grul fell asleep quickly. On the deck the elves pitched up a party. They danced and played music all the while looking otherwordly beautiful. The ship sailed on and the waters got wider and wider. The elves seemed content on merrymaking and when Grul finally woke up, refreshed and undisturbed, it was late evening.

She rose carefully, her back stiff and aching from sleeping on the rather uncomfortable, hard bench. Grul looked outside. The sun was setting and the shore was a dark line further away. Feeling a bit annoyed she wondered if the elves were going to just keep on sailing till they reached ocean. Then she heard noises from the deck and she looked at the door, alarmed. She quietly jumped up and the blanket fell on the floor. She trod on it uncaring as she made her way up the stairs and listened at the door. The noises had stopped and she could not hear anyone approaching. Not that that meant no one was, but the handle did stay peacefully put.

She waited a little longer in case someone did decide to bother her, but nothing happened. Grul stepped down again feeling a little nervous. She went to the window and looked out. The ship had turned to steer towards the shore. Grul smiled hopefully. Apparently the elves had finally tired enough. Perhaps it wouldn't take so long for her to get away anymore.

When the ship was close enough for Grul to see individual trees her calm was disrupted again. Just as she was about to go wait at the door she heard someone walking to it from the other side. The handle turned and the door opened. She was lucky she'd been on the bench that was shadowed by the stairs as she made for cover under the bench. Several elves jumped merrily in and proceeded at the back of the hull. Grul was lying as flat as she could under the bench and saw the blanket she'd dropped earlier near her. She reached out carefully and pulled the blanket to her.

Her heart beating fast she looked at the elves and hoped they wouldn't notice her. The elves were mostly turned away from her. They were gathering different garments, bantering about something or other in their light voices and even occasionally throwing each other with a piece of cloth whilst laughing beautifully. Grul cautiously raised the blanket on the bench and let its other end fall down so it shielded her from sight. Well, mostly from sight since it wasn't a particularly big blanket. She hoped she had extra good luck due and stilled on the spot.

Another elf appeared at the door and yelled the others to hurry up. The elves gathered the clothes and blankets they'd been handling and turned to leave. As the elves passed Grul and went up the stairs she heard one exclaim: "Oh, I'm so tired! I'll be happy to dispell the glamour, totally. It is, like, sooo tiring, honestly!” and then they were gone and the door slammed shut. Grul drew a shaky breath and waited. Nothing seemed to have been forgotten for no one came in again.

Grul pulled the blanket down and crawled up. Her hands felt clammy and she just had to shudder a bit to shake off the nervousness. She peeked out the window, but saw nothing but trees. She went to the door and leaned in to listen. Again, she heard nothing. Grul drew in a breath and tried to psych herself the courage to open the door. There could be elves right there and she could end up in big trouble. But if she did, she could just jump into the river and swim away. But then again she didn't the waters around here (wherever they were) and that potentially a very bad thing. She could stay in the hold for a bit longer and then try sneaking away, but she felt like she really, really needed to get out already. Any longer and she would start to go crazy.

"Maybe I'll start talking myself...” she whispered, just to spite herself. Obviously, she had to leave now and hopefully get away too. Anyway, she felt really lucky.

Grul swallowed and wiggled her fingers. After a moment she decided that she should just do it now. Now. Okay, right... now!

She decided to try listening one more time, just in case. Despite hearing nothing her anxiety just got worse. She just knew there'd be elves there. She'd been too lucky, now was the time the luck would run out and the elves would shoot her full of arrows and laugh while doing so and she'd die and never go home and never see her parents again and never find that wonderful trollguy to settle down with, have a family and-

Grul slapped herself and opened the door. Nothing bad happened. She peeked out. The deck was empty. She edged outside and the cool air relaxed her. She breathed deeply. It was good to be alive, indeed. She walked to the side and looked at the forest. From where she was standing she could see a glow behind the trees and guessed that that was where the elves where and the glow was a bonfire. She paused to consider.

Grul went and fetched the blanket she'd twice used succesfully, wrapped it around her shoulders and left the ship. She stayed away from the direction the elves where and started walking along the riverside. She wasn't going back, but instead continued on the way the ship had sailed on.

Eventually, when the night had set and was bored of nothing happening, she stopped. She looked around and tried to find a place to rest. Maybe she should try sleeping and continue in the morning. After wondering some way away from the river into the endless forest she found a lovely dying tree. The ground was soft with old leaves near it and she laid down comfortably. She sighed and pulled the blanket on her. Grul closed her eyes and waited for sleep.

Finally, after restless turning about sometime in the small hours of the night she finally fell asleep.