Jimmy the Birthday Boi

🏘️ Chapter 4

— "We've already been there."

Grax sighed. They were, once again, back to where they slept last night. The wood was tucked in a corner of the cave.

— "Impossible. Super's navigation is flawless. Super, where should we go next?"

— "Your confidence is my strength, Vrox-the-Mighty."

Super paused. For the hundredth time, the top of his head opened, and a tiny flower emerged out of it, going up and down, as the robot was calculating the next direction.

— "We must head east."

— "That's what we did the last 5 times!"

Grax put her back to a wall and sat down in frustration.

— "I'm sorry Vrox, but she's right."

— "What do you suggest then? All of the signs pointing to the Breyxers' village have been removed!"

Like Grax, Vrox sat at the wall opposite to her. Flox was feeling skeptical.

— "Doesn't that worry you guys? Our clans have always been friendly with each other. Sure, their food is kind of expensive, but I've never heard anybody complain. Who could have removed the signs?"

— "Maybe they removed them to make better ones?", Vrox theorized, with his usual optimism.

— "I don't think they would just remove the signs before the new ones were ready", Grax countered. "People would get lost...and robots, apparently."

— "What if something bad happ—"

Grax jolted up. She was not gonna hear that.

— "Okay! I've got an idea!"

Startled by her sudden reaction, the two friends stared at her expectantly.

— "Super! Where should we go again?"

— "Grax-the-Fearful, we must head east."

— "Let's go west then! And we'll talk about that nickname."

The boys stood up and started following Grax, not without protesting. However, they did not have any better suggestions. Despite Vrox's faith in his robot, he had to admit they should've found the Breyxers village hours ago.

They walked, and walked, and walked. At every intersection, Grax asked Super for directions, and everytime, she went the opposite way. After a grand total of 30 minutes, they finally reached what looked like an inhabited area.

It was a larger room than the ones they had been traveling through. The floor, unlike the path they had taken, was full of footprints going into different directions. Some materials were left here and there, mostly wood. And at the other end of the room, a big wooden gate.

The kids jumped in joy. They had finally found the Breyxers village. And, thanks to Grax, finding their way back would be a cakewalk, pun intended. Like their parents had taught them, they approached the gate and gave it a strong knock.

— "We are envoys from Glorx village, here to pick up a cake!"

They waited for a response.

Nothing.

They knocked again.

— "We are envoys from Glorx village!"

Silence.

— "Hello? Is anybody there?"

Flox looked at the other two, not sure about what to do. Vrox was bearing a large smile on his face, while Grax had closed her eyes.

— "A mystery. Time to be heroes!"

On these words, Vrox pushed on the big gate. Surprisingly, he managed to open it. In fact, the gate flung open, and the kid fell face first onto the cave stone.

— "Uh, weird, our village gate doesn't open that easily", Flox really did not know what to think about all of that. The gate in their village looked similar, but needed a whole mechanism of chains and pullies to open.

— "Hello? Is anybody there?"

Vrox shouted a few times, but nobody came. They entered the village, and followed what seemed to be the main path. There wasn't a sound. The houses around them looked occupied, and yet nobody was there. Everything was left in place, as if the goblins living here had left in a hurry, leaving their whole life behind them. More concerning, the architecture on the houses looked uneven. The buildings looked like they had been broken and patched up.

They reached what looked like the central square. There was a fountain in the middle, and what looked like food stands around. However, there were still no signs of life. Grax lifted her arm nervously.

— "The...the bakery should be here."

She was shaking.

Unlike the other buildings in the village, the bakery was completely destroyed, like a tornado had ripped through it. The walls were covered with brown stains and fluorescent green stains. On the floor, a broken, dirty banner said "Mary's bakery". It was as if something went through the village and solely targeted this building.

Trying not to think about it, Grax closed her eyes again. Flox was speechless. Even Vrox was showing signs of worry.

— "What...what happened here?"

— "I don't know, Vrox, but I don't like it. We should go home."

— "But..."

— "No buts. Just look at Grax. Sometimes, being brave is the wrong option. Let's go home."

— "...Okay. Yeah, you're right. Let's...let's go home and tell everyone. We can make a cake ourselves."

On the way back, Flox and Super led the way, while Vrox walked behind, trying to comfort his sister.