THE AMAZING DIGITAL SHORT STORIES!!!!

1. Scattered parts

[Ragatha POV]

"JAAAAAAAX! YOU MOTHER!$%@!$" Zooble yelled out. Everyone gathered in the open area of the Tent to see what was going on. No doubt that Jax was to blame for whatever was wrong. It had been a long time since anyone was this mad. 

Jax was sitting on the stage, pretending to check his 'nails' as Zooble limped over to him like a war veteran. Zooble seemed pissed which was odd considering that they were apathetic about nearly everything. They were one of the few people that didn't seem too bothered by Jax's antics.

Jax's grin tightens as he says, "Whaaaaat? What makes you think I did it? I don't even know what you're talking about!" His tone is terribly sarcastic and casual as always. Zooble's eyes were as sharp as razors as they got right in his face. "Jax, has snuck into my room and hidden all of my parts! He even took my arms right off of me!" Zooble announces to the room. They go on to say to Jax, "I swear, I'm going to skin you, gut you, and then make rabbit stew for everyone to eat! Then you'll be useful for once!"

"Whoaaa heyyy Things are getting a little extreme here. Let's, uh, maybe, uh", I try to think of something to say but Jax makes mediating quite impossible. How do you deescalate someone who's missing a ton of their body parts?

Caine, who I didn't even notice was there, swoops down to float just above Zooble and Jax's heads. "A QUEST! We hardly ever have two activities in one day! How exciting!"

"What the F#$%@ are you talking about?", Zooble snipped. They looked very over-it-all. But more so than usual.

Caine floated higher before exclaiming, "A quest to collect all of your parts, of course! Whoever wins gets a prize of their choosing. What do ya say?" Honestly, Caine doesn't seem to fully understand the broad spectrum of human emotion but he has an uncanny knack for turning quarrels into positive memories. At least, for me.

"That's a great idea! What do ya say Pomni? Wanna search the Tent for Zooble's parts? It can help you explore different areas of the Tent if you haven't seen it already. And I'm sure Zooble would appreciate the help." I ask Pomni. I feel bad for her and want to assimilate her to the circus as best I can. I remember how overwhelming it was for me when I first came here. 

Not to mention getting Zooble and Jax away from each other before we eat Rabbit stew for supper....

"Whatever. I better not be missing a single piece!", Zooble threatens. It was odd how threatening they could be whilst missing their arms.

"Um, yeah, I can help.", Pomni says. Despite my best efforts, she doesn't seem to enjoy my company all that much. 

"PERFECT! Now let's vote! Should this be a team or individual quest?", Caine asks the group. Occasionally, adventures/quests gave us the option of working in pairs or as individuals to complete a goal. Competitive adventures were actually a favorite among the humans but they had a tendency to get a smidge too competitive so Caine limited how much they happen.

If you work as a pair, your chances of winning doubles, however, it also means sharing your prize with your partner. So that means it would have to be something you both like and can agree on. People who preferred getting something specific they wanted, tended to opt for playing alone. It was quite an interesting choice to make.

"ooh! Teams!", Gangle suggests first. She seems to really enjoy partnering up on quests.

"individual", Zooble said flatly.

"teams!" Jax let out.

"Sorry, Jax but you're excluded! You know where all the pieces are so you can't participate." Caine explained. Bubble floated next to Jax. "And if you even think about tampering with the missing pieces, I'll [insert long censored threat].", Bubble cheerily warned. Jax's grin faltered as he shivered from genuine fear.