Across Time and Worlds

Chapter Three

I picked my face off from the floor and turned around, facing the sky. The grass felt warm, but also off. They didn't have that smooth, wet texture normally associated with grass. But I ignored that fact and stared up at the clouds ahead.

The sky though. Something was off about that too. It looked way more purple than blue. I glanced to my side and gasped, sitting up. "Oh my gosh, Purple!"

The stick figure raised his arm and flashed me a thumbs up, but continued to lay there. I stood up and crouched by his head. "Are you sure?"

He sighed and flashed his eyes open. "Yes! All right? Why do you keep asking me that today? What, am I dying?" He sat up crossly, pointing his back to me.

I watched him. "Well, sorry. You just seemed off."

"I can handle myself," he retorted.

Biting my lip, I stood up and looked around. I stiffened when I saw King nearby. He looked from Purple to me and offered a shrug. So much help right there.

"Where are we?" I asked.

King looked around. "Oh, in the Dry Field." He paused, his face pinched. "Do not ask me how I know that."

"Oookaaay," I said slowly, spinning around. It certainly looked and felt dry. "Where did Dark and Chosen go?"

He shrugged.

"I'm guessing to the cliffside," Purple finally spoke up.

I turned to him. "Why? Where is the cliffside?"

He shrugged. "All I know is that the other Dark had a base there, so I'm guessing that they would head there. Although, I have no idea where 'there' is."

King studied him. "How did you know the story?"

Purple turned to me. "You told me once."

"Um, no, I never did. The only Dark I knew was the good one. Not some stick who crafted tech and still lost a major battle."

"You never . . . Seriously? There was a good Dark?"

I nodded and he sank in his sitting position, peering out at the world. "Huh. I thought you had told me. At a campfire story?"

I balked. "Campfire story? When was the last time we did that? Did we do one with you?"

He sighed. "I thought we had. It felt real, at least." He unconsciously played with a grass stalk.

"There is a cliff," Kind started, "by water. But nothing is over there except for trees and grass. The only civilizations are colonies of bugs."

We both turned to him. "How do you know this?"

His face looked blank.  "No idea."

"Maybe you have something like Purple," I started cautiously. I felt like comparing the two would kindle a fire, but I had to make sense of this place. "He has memories of things that never happened to him. You just have knowledge of landmarks."

Purple blinked at him. "But how could you know that? You've never been here before!"

"You were the one who made up an entire campfire with SC!" King retorted right back.

"It felt real!"

He spread his arms out. "As real as this?"

Feeling the tension in the air, I intervened. "How exactly do you know everything about this world?"

"Well we could stand here, chatting like it is another day, or we could make our way to a village and figure everything out there. A map would sure be handy," he muttered. "I seem to know where everything is, but not in the way a map would explain it."