Until Forever (1st draft)

Part the Fourteenth

"You need to bathe!" Geneva repeated adamantly. Minutes ago she had undressed behind thick shrubbery and slipped into a warm lagoon of remarkably blue water. Since then she had been trying to get Steekbunk to do the same. Normally he had seemed like he had good grooming habits for a cartoonish monster. Even his home had been tidy. But for some reason he was dead set against the bathing idea.

"The scent of a long journey disguises a stranger," Steekbunk said. "Bathing will expose me."

"The scent of a long journey makes you smell like poop!" she responded. "And why are you worrying about exposure? You don't wear any clothes anyway!"

"Drawing attention to ourselves endangers us."

"It's going to get dangerous for you if you don't bathe! I can't take your smell much longer!"

Steekbunk waded slowly into the water.

"Doesn't that feel good?" Geneva asked him.

"Yes," was the curt answer.

Geneva ducked her head underwater, swam a bit, then reclined near the shore. She looked over to see Steekbunk standing exactly where he had waded to a stop.

"Oh for crying out loud," she hissed to herself. Then she disappeared under water and swam towards him. She popped up right in front him, startling him and splashing water over him. He recoiled, fell backwards, landing in the water with a huge splash. And then something happened that Geneva had never witnessed before.

Steekbunk Lowbone laughed. His entire round body shook and trembled so much that at first she was worried she had hurt him. But then his face opened with a cavernous, wide-mouthed smile and he bellowed out the most ridiculous laughter she had ever heard. Geneva couldn't help herself, the contorted claymation face laughing so hard made her burst out into giggles herself. Her laughter was completely out of control, making her eyes water and her stomach muscles hurt until she finally climbed out of the water behind the bush, gasping for air. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed, but it felt good.

She rinsed her clothes then wrung them out and put them on. It definitely wasn't comfortable wearing soaking wet clothes, but it was worth it to feel clean. The day was getting warmer already so she hoped she'd be completely dry soon enough.

"We are close to the Treeless Expanse," Steekbunk told her as he approached. "Soon we will reach Cloya the Spinner and she will tell you all that I cannot."

"Seriously? I can finally get some answers?"

"You will get many answers," he promised. "You will learn how to fulfill your destiny. You will learn how to reach your destination."

"Answers about Sir Nellaf Wark?" she asked hopefully.

Steekbunk was silent for a moment, then he gave her a simple, "Yes."

"Well then let's get moving!" Geneva said excitedly. "The sooner the better!"

Steekbunk handed her the ball pack and got them started again, following the winding path as literally as ever. "When we get to the Treeless Expanse our journey will change significantly."

"That's encouraging," Geneva added, not realizing how prophetic her companion's words would turn out to be. "If my shoes would dry out then our journey will definitely change significantly."

Their remaining wooded hike seemed relatively short as Geneva noticed the trees were getting shorter and thinner, while the underbrush was getting thicker. The canopy above began to open up as well, brightening their environment and inviting scores of chattering birds. Despite that gradual change, she found herself completely blinded by the bright sunlight that greeted them as they emerged from the forest rather abruptly.

And that's exactly when their journey changed significantly.

As Geneva staggered at the forest's edge, shielding her eyes with both hands, a sudden gust of air blew directly past her face. It tossed her wet hair right into her face where it stuck until she clawed it way.

Then another brief gust blew by, this time behind her, causing her to stumble slightly. Before she could figure out what was happening, something collided into her and drove her to the ground. Stunned, she rolled onto her chest, trying to collect her senses. Something pulled roughly at her back, causing her shoulders and arms to be bent too far backwards.

"Oww!" she shouted as her ball pack was wrenched from her back. She drew up her legs and started to rise, but another collision slammed her back into the ground with a face full of dirt. This time she stayed put on the ground. Her ears were ringing from the impact but she could hear a loud commotion punctuated by sharp snapping noises. She coughed out the dusty soil and rolled her head enough to look up.

She could see now and the bright sunlight was illuminating a violent scene. Steekbunk stood crouched cautiously on his four legs, sneering at a score of tall creatures surrounding him. They were much taller than her companion, with long legs that were three times the length of their skinny bodies. All of them were shouting at Steekbunk in a yelping language that she couldn't understand.

Steekbunk's wide mouth gaped open as he roared like a wild beast, then he charged them, tearing flesh from one of the long legs with his barbed horn. The creature cried out and collapsed, but the others closed in. The loud snapping noises were apparently from whips, which they all carried. A flurry of strikes from the whips caused Steekbunk to stagger back, protecting his eyes.

He roared again during the respite between strikes, but before he could charge, one of the whips snapped around his horn and two of the tall creatures dug in to restrain him with it. Yanking on the tangled whip, they turned him at an awkward angle, then the rest of the tall creatures closed in tighter and whipped at his body frantically. Bright yellow blood spattered as his flesh was shredded. Two of his legs buckled, but he still had enough strength and balance to swing his horn in the opposite direction, causing the two creatures holding the whip to go flying in the air. Another flurry of whipping caused him to stumble again. Some of the whips now entangled his legs and as the tall creatures pulled on them Steekbunk toppled roughly onto his side. The site of his flayed body brought tears to Geneva's eyes. She rose to her feet and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Nnooo! Stop it! Stop it!"

Two of the tall creatures turned and looked at her, then one of them ran towards her. It was faster than any animal she had ever seen run. It came at her like a bolt of lightning. She turned and began to sprint back toward the woods but she had only taken a few steps before she was knocked to the ground again. Almost instantly her hands and feet were bound, then she was lifted by two of the creatures. They began to run from the scene, off toward the flat horizon of low grassy plains without a single tree in sight. She twisted her head to look back behind her at the increasingly distant conflict. Steekbunk was still on the ground in a tangled bundle while the snapping whips continued to inflict their damage.

"No! Leave him alone!" she screamed, but she was already too far away for Steekbunk or his attackers to hear her.