Dreams Come True: Colours Of The Rainbow

Shipwrecked Ambition

Caleb awoke with a start when zig crashed through the roof of the hut, looking worse for wear as his head was forced into a tree log. Katania came in looking panicked, quickly healing before the hyena and trying to help him get unstuck. With his concern and curiosity peaked, he moved so he was sitting us, his leg still feeling a bit sore.

"What the heck happened?" He asked.

Katania grunted, trying to wedge the log off their friend. "Me, Zig and Gladdy headed out to try and get some food, but of course we came across a particularly angry gorilla who just gunned it at Zig with no warning. Gladius tried to ward it off...", She paused when her grip slipped, "...But it just booked it and pummelled Zig. And after a good punch... Yeah..."

Caleb frowned and crawled over, grabbing the log with Kat and helping her get it off the hyena. With the extra help, it came off with ease, though Zig's head now looked like it came right out of a pickle jar. He slammed a fist on top of his misshapen head, and it was back as it should be. Letting out a sigh, the hyena sat down on a makeshift stool, looking defeated.

"Everything okay, Zig?" Caleb asked carefully.

The hyena started to sound off his intelligible nonsense, and went into detail about how bad of luck he seemed to have with anything. Even when he went to Africa to be with his kind once, it was failure after failure. And how it was even more crushing considering he came from a family of very prolific fishers. He just couldn't catch a break, and he only really went after Marina because she was a consistent target.

Kat sat next to him and pet his head. "It's okay, Zig. If you just keep trying, someday you will finally claim some sort of victory."

The hyena perked up, and grinned. He let out his signature laugh and rushed out of the hut, nearly knocking Bernie and Gladius over as the two of them came in with various fruits and fish.

"What's going on with him?" The sword asked as he set down his baskets of bananas and berries.

"I think I just encouraged him to keep trying his hardest to bag Marina..." Katania said with a frown. "Uhhhhh... Oops."

Bernie let out a disappointed squeak and a sigh, setting down his basket of fish. He walked over to a stove that Caleb assumed he built, and turned it on. As the fire inside warmed up, the mollusk walked over and climbed up onto Caleb's shoulder, giving the boy a patient and curious look.

"Whatcha' want, Bernie?" The boy asked with a light smile.

The questionable hermit crab made a motion with one of his hands, clearly wanting Caleb to explain his and his friends' sudden appearance. The boy pursed his lips, glancing at his two companions with uncertainty. They both shared a look, then gave the boy a shrug. With a sigh, Caleb decided to just bite the bullet.

"Well, we come from a far away land", Caleb started. "A place where the impossible is possible. About... Three-ish years back, me and Gladius accidentally opened a portal that sent us to multiple worlds where we met fantastic people..."

Bernie looked at the sword, and he nodded. "Yes, and we were desperate to get home. It took us a month or two to finally get back, but along the way we met a lot of fantastic people."

"Kat was living in this fantastical place long before me", Caleb added. "But I found a home there. But now, after a little hiccup, we're stranded here and need to get back."

"It's a lot more complicated than that", Katania spoke up. "But it's honestly not that bad. Everyone is wonderful, and if you could meet them, I'm sure they'd all love you. Zig... That'll take a bit." That made everyone chuckle, with Bernie's laughter dying out quickly so he could spy around the group.