The vehicle continued on along the road.
It wasn't all that eventful, much like when they were just simply walking. There just wasn't anything to talk about, and with nothing but open road ahead of them, there wasn't going to be any time soon.
Now, of course, the expedition team's attention was entirely focused on Teardrop, who had just done an entirely unconventional maneuver to get their vehicle on the road. It very much wasn't like her, obviously. She was the silent type: calm, collected, unlikely to break unless forced to. But in the several minutes where they were barreling down the forest, chopping down trees like they were mere traffic cones, what Teardrop was doing was being the exact opposite of that. It was as if all the adrenaline to ever exist (or will exist) in the Universe was suddenly fed to her all at once as soon as she took the wheel, and that drove her mad for a brief, yet glorious, moment. Most of them yelled at Teardrop, shunning her for such a reckless move, with the exception of Match, who was crying on the inside as she felt like she was about to die from all the shock, and a very much panicked Eraser trying to calm her down with hushed voices. Of course, all the racket that ensued didn't exactly help them out with either struggle. Teardrop, on the other hand, just didn't care at all. It seemed as if all her feelings were fully drained in that outburst of excitement, and now she was back to her usual, stoic self. She simply kept her hands on the steering wheel, stomping her foot on the pedals if need be, and kept her eyes fixated on the road even as the expedition team seemed to yell directly into her ear at times.
The expedition team would soon realize that they weren't going to get any answers from Teardrop. She was the silent type, after all. All their efforts would eventually be focused into trying to recover from the shock of what just happened, much like what Match and Eraser were doing. You know that shock you got in your childhood when someone told you that Santa wasn't real for the first time? It was like that. Unless, of course, this *is* your first time someone told you that, so... Sorry. Eventually, everyone began to quiet down again and kept to themselves, sometimes starting up conversation, although they wouldn't really go anywhere and die down after a few minutes. The rest of the day went by as silently as the breeze which blew through the trees, being nearly imperceptible unless you were looking directly at it. Well, not *directly*, of course. The blue hues of the sky turned to a lazy orange as the disc of the sun descended on its trajectory through the sky, which grew into a deep red, and then finally black as night began to set in. As there wasn't really all that much to talk about, the expedition team would mostly spend their time counting down the seconds ticking by, and watching the sun set below the horizon. Teardrop didn't care to do either, however. As the moon rose as the sky gradually grew darker, and as the stars began twinkling in the black sky, Teardrop just continued on driving, doing nothing but drive and occasionally check the fuel gauge to make sure that they weren't about to suddenly stop in the middle of the road, a horror movie staple.
The moon eventually reached its highest point in the sky. By then, most of the expedition team had gone to sleep. They knew they didn't really need to, since they were Objects and had different biological structures (whatever that means) and needs than humans, but it was a habit they had developed. They felt like they needed it, given that Teardrop had just gone insane before their eyes. The only ones that stayed awake was Teardrop, for obvious reasons, and Coiny, who was staring blankly out the window, clearly lost in thought. After some time spent in silence like this, Coiny would eventually yawn as the exhaustion got to him, breaking him out of his contemplative mood. He'd turn to look at Teardrop, who was still as wide awake as ever. Her fixed mouth, perpetually kept in a neutral expression, hadn't moved at all since he last looked at it a few hours ago. As he continued looking at her, presumably to keep himself from getting bored out of his mind yet again, Coiny found it mesmerizing how the view of the world in front of him seemed to be warped and twisted as the individual photons and other science particles bounced across Teardrops H2O and eventually into his eyes. It's almost as if it was a metaphor of sorts, but the author was too lazy to dig into it, since he had an entire pizza a few minutes prior, and he was just full. Long story short: he had writer's block, and he just didn't want to write any more than he had to. We've got 7,000 words to write here.
Of course, just staring at Teardrop wasn't going to do it for Coiny. Wanting to do something with his time other than constantly replaying the same terrible memories of him being captive, he decided to chat with her, even though that was obviously going to be a fruitless endeavor. He'd slightly tap Teardrop on the shoulder, which caused her to stir slightly, but Coiny immediately realized that annoying the silent type wasn't exactly the best idea, and so immediately brought his arm back to him as fast as a bolt of lightning. After spending a few seconds to make sure Teardrop wasn't going to look in his direction, he decided to try to get her attention again, although this time in a less violation-of-personal-space manner. "Psst." Coiny called out to her. She didn't budge, of course, as she thought it was merely the wind. He waited a few seconds to make sure she didn't hear it before trying again. "Psst!" Coiny called out again, although this time a bit louder. Teardrop would finally take a moment to look away from the road, turning her head to face Coiny, although constantly looking at the road for a moment or two at a time. "...You..." Coiny trailed off, not exactly sure what to say to someone that couldn't talk back. "...You want to, like, talk?" Teardrops expression seemed to change, as if she was offended by Coinys unintentional joke, although she wouldn't do much other than that. She'd simply shrug in response, and turn back to face the road ahead.
Coiny sighed. It was a good enough response, he thought. "...But seriously, though." He continued. "...What *was* that?" He'd ask. Teardrop would then turn back to Coiny, raising an eyebrow. "...You know..." Coiny sighed again. "The whole thing with you... Driving recklessly." Coiny stopped for a moment, seemingly tasting the words in his mouth. "...Yeah, that sounds about right." Teardrop stayed silent for a moment, looking at the road for a moment or so every once in a while, before shrugging yet again and returning to her usual duties. Coiny sighed one more time, *very* much regretting his decision to try and strike up a conversation with someone famously known for not being capable of doing so. He knew it was a foolish idea to try and get any answers from one who always kept her mouth shut, but he felt like he just really needed to get some answers to all the questions he had in his head, to try and make sense out of an ever-growing and confusing world. "Like, *why* did you decide to drive us through a bunch of trees?" Coiny continued. "What made you think that it was going to go anywhere *but* poorly? What goes on inside that head of yours? I just gotta know!" He'd realize that his voice grew louder as he got angrier, and so immediately covered his mouth after he was done. All he felt like he could do now was wait for Teardrop to respond, and that clearly wasn't going to happen. As seconds blurred into minutes, Teardrop remained still, continuing to drive.
Meanwhile, from Teardrops point of view, the gears in her head began to turn. Not literal gears, of course, but you get what I mean. She wasn't just the silent type for no reason, like she just decided on a Saturday morning that she was just going to keep her mouth shut for the rest of her life. She had her reasons for what she did. She knew the answers to all of Coinys questions, of course, and so much more than what the expedition team could possibly cope with. Revelations that could shake the foundation of their society. Truths that remained just beyond their grasp, but if obtained could unlock limitless potential. Horrifying events that, while you were unable to look, explained and answered all the big questions that remained floating about their heads, try as they might to excise them from their conscience: Why were they here? When did they come here? Why did they know each other? Where did they come from? Teardrop could answer all of these and so much more with ease and precision, yet always chose to not say anything. It's the standard 'forbidden knowledge' cliche: they just weren't ready for it. Not yet, at least. And there were even times when she felt like even she wasn't ready to bear its weight. But here she was: doing that exact thing. As Coiny continued questioning her about what she knew, the vault she kept tightly shut began opening by itself. The flow of repressed memories began coursing through her: a mere trickle at first, and then a torrent which clashed with her efforts to remain focused on the road. She'd tightly clutch the steering wheel as she felt it happen: yet another episode of her plunging into the past.
-
The waters were calm. As calm as they could get, at least.
The gentle waves crashed against the monolithic gray wall protecting the coast: another one of Man's futile attempts to keep the forces of nature at bay. The wall was created a long time ago, built by people of the past to remedy the problems that they, and still were, plagued with. The memory of catastrophic floods which caused billions and trillions of any currency you can think of worth of damage was still very much alive and healthy. A memory which drove them as they poured concrete to construct massive structures to keep the world's oceans at bay. They did quite well at preventing the flooding, of course. All of Man's creations were successful to some degree. But no project could remain standing forever. Time eventually moves on to ever greener pastures. Years stretched into decades, and later still into centuries. Eras, ages, and generations ticked by, wars and battles were fought, and empires rose and fell. People were bound to forget many things as the pages of history continued being written, and, sure enough, the maintenance of a massive wall was one of those things. The area the wall was trying to protect was eventually depopulated as a result of Mans other desperate attempts to play God, and to control the forces which controlled them. People fled in droves, and eventually, even the most stubborn of folk were forced out of the area. The cities and structures were left behind, to eventually become ruins that future generations would investigate, and perhaps dig out of the ground.
Which finally brings us back to the giant concrete wall holding back the ocean. Over the vast stretches of time in which it was left alone, the gradual (and sometimes violent, as storms passed by every once in a while) crash of the waves eventually took its toll on the wall. The concrete, even though it seemed to be so indestructible, was weathered away, particle by particle, to be lost into the sea. Much like a snowball rolling down a white-topped peak to eventually cause an avalanche, the whole process eventually worsened as the concrete aged and grew more submissive and willing to be washed away. Eventually, given enough time, the waters would eventually manage to dig through the thick wall, and eventually begin digging through the dirt behind it as well. These would be slightly easier to weather away, forming small cavities that made the wall not so steady in its foundation. Of course, gravity would push the water downward, and the crevices took a slight dip as soon as it got past the concrete. It would take longer and longer to get the dirt out as the winds had to grow stronger and stronger to sweep away the water that had collected in the holes, but nature would eventually manage. By the time this small story takes place, most of the holes generally had puddles flooding most of the place and generally reaching up to their ankles. There would be some holes which could only be seen in low tide, although this was a rarity.
The wall was in this state when this story finally begins. It was a rough and stormy day, and the holes would be filled up more than usual as the waves grew stronger. Caught in this storm was an unfortunate cargo ship, which, although a massive beast of steel, was helpless as the currents carried it along, despite the protests of its engines. The ship rocked violently as it rode through one large wave after another, and it was clear that the vessel was most likely not going to make it out of the disaster alive. The order was given to run for the lifeboats, and to escape from this steel death trap while there was time. Most of the crew working on the ship managed to make it out on time, with an unlucky few meeting a terrible end either by being thrown overboard (either by the wind of the rest of the crew, either case was just as likely) or tripping and falling into a sharp object. The lifeboats would sail away, and its passengers would watch as their way of living was taken before their eyes. The fate of these vessels, as well as those cowering in fear within them, would be lost to time, much like most of the other small details in the history books. Eventually, the waters would eventually defeat the titanic foe, capsizing the vessel and causing it to sink into the ocean floor. As it descended, the containers it was carrying would come loose and escape the downward trajectory, either floating away (if the contents were light enough) or simply landing several yards away from the main wreckage.
One of the containers would manage to break free from the vessel and go its own way, though it wouldn't be able to go out that far. It would eventually land on the ocean floor, bouncing about slightly, until eventually settling on the seabed. While it was tossing and turning on the deep blue sea, however, it would just so happen to find itself hitting a stray sharp object (which also met the same unfortunate fate in the past) with enough force to puncture the container. When it finally settled, the side with the hole would be exposed to the water, allowing the container to gradually fill up. While it did, however, yet another liquid would force its way out. This other liquid was a strange one: purple in color, one you could mistake for ink from far away, and it seemed to shine like a pearl in such a way that you know that it's relevant to the plot. This liquid would trickle out of the container at around the same pace as the water rushed in through the same opening, and it would gradually make its way up into the surface, being a purple stain in the otherwise-blue ocean, akin to an oil spill. The rough currents would eventually take this liquid over to the wall, where it would crash onto it much like its watery compatriots, or, if it was lucky enough, would enter one of the numerous holes scattered throughout and eventually settle in the puddles, waiting out the storm in relative peace and quiet.
The storm eventually calmed down, and blue skies returned to the area. The purple liquid would gradually pool up in the puddles as the current repeatedly slammed them into the walls over and over. One of the holes in particular would have more of this strange liquid than the others, which is obviously important because the author brought it up. As more and more of it eventually settled on the puddle, it would grow to have a tinge of black on the surface. It was small at first, of course, but it gradually grew larger until it eventually stopped at what seemed like a completely arbitrary size. Some time after the first black pool stopped growing, yet another one would begin forming. The two black pools wouldn't merge with each other, only bounce off each other when they hit, much like how two balls would on a pool table, or something like that. That's enough of the word pool. This one would also grow to be as large as the first one, and then would stop as well. Some time after *that*, one final one would begin to emerge, although this one would be different in nature. As opposed to being a circular puddle, it would elongate in shape, becoming much like a noodle in shape. A pool noodle, if you will. This one would also grow to a random size, and would then stop growing as well. For yet more time, these three black pools would float around and bounce off each other, until one day, when the forces of nature positioned them in such a way that they looked *vaguely* like a face. On that day, something happened which was quite strange indeed.
As soon as the pseudo-face appeared, the black pools immediately stopped moving, not even wobbling a bit on the surface. A few moments later, the entire puddle would begin to bulge outward as it rose up, becoming a watery mound at first, until becoming a floating sphere of water as it fully left the surface. The pseudo-face would suddenly come alive, as if it was a real face. Mostly because it was at this point. The 'eyes' would blink several times, seemingly blinded as it saw the world for the first time. The black puddles eventually moved around again, moving to face the holes exit, before becoming fixed again. As the face continued looking around the area, the sphere of water began to change in shape. Whatever this was, it definitely didn't seem to want to remain a floating sphere. The water reshaped itself, much like clay, until it took the shape of... A Teardrop. Yeah, you can see where I'm going with this. As it shaped itself, four more black puddles began to appear on the water's surface, appearing where one's arms and legs would normally begin. The liquid would protrude outward, forming said arms and legs, until eventually solidifying once the hands and feet had formed, much like rheum (that's a word for you to look up). Once Teardrops body was fully formed enough, gravity would finally begin pulling it/her (pronouns or something) back down again, causing her to immediately fall down and collapse onto the floor.
It took her a minute or two to figure out how her newly-formed appendages to work, and managed to get up with ease after that. She was quite the fast learner, and that attribute would seem to stick with her for the rest of her life. She did a quick 360-degree look around where she was, seeing the hole in its entirety, and her gaze was immediately fixated on the outside, with the rolling blue waves and clear sky above it. That definitely enticed her more than having to spend the rest of her dull eternity hanging around the cold and dark hole. She took a few brave steps towards the outside, but immediately stopped as she took a step and found nothing to rest her foot in, causing her to immediately recoil back in fear. After a few more minutes to gather up courage, she'd take the steps again to look down. She saw the waves crashing onto the wall just several feet below her, and didn't really feel good about that. She didn't know how to swim (even though she was made of water), and she also didn't know what would happen to her if she fell into it. Not wanting to be hurled head-first into a whole mess just mere minutes after she popped into existence, Teardrop would quickly retreat back into her hole, and would begin contemplating what to do next. She'd spend the next hour or so trying out all the things her body could do. She figured out how to run, jump, and grab clumps of dirt with her hands. She also found out that her entire hand could easily go inside her body, and her entire arm as well, although that took a bit more work. Finally, she discovered that she could open her mouth, and noises came out of her whenever she did so, but she couldn't figure out how that was ever going to be useful.
She spent the early times of her life stuck on that hole. She didn't really know how long it was, because there wasn't any way to tell time other than the course of the sun and the moon, and that was way beyond her. Days passed, then weeks, months, and years. It didn't really take all that long for the puddle to be refilled by the waves, but it still took some time: it was only about a month or so into her existence when she realized what she looked like. She mostly spent much of her time just laying down and thinking about things in her own twisted language that formed gradually in her head. She pondered the reasons for her existence, just what this place was, and what there could possibly be beyond this boring hole. Whenever she wasn't contemplating the meaning of life, she was building (and maintaining) a dirt mound which covered up the entrance to the hole, just to make sure the nasty water didn't flow inside at high tide. She'd also create a dirt seat (although she didn't know the word for it) for herself for better contemplation. There is, of course, a correlation between how comfortable one person is, and how likely they are to crack the meaning of life. Whenever she didn't feel like doing either of those things, however, she'd try and make it out of this desolate wasteland. She discovered that there were other, smaller holes dug into the wall that she could hang onto and stay in, and it could possibly be a way to get out of there. She'd do this wall climbing in her spare time, and she would have a few near-death experiences whenever she accidentally fell into the ocean below, but she would always somehow manage to make it out unharmed. That was how things were, for a time.
-
Not all things last forever.
Yet another storm had hit, and strong waves were once again battering the wall. Teardrop stayed in her hole, huddled up and constantly worrying that her mound wasn't going to hold. She waited patiently for the storm to be over, unsure of what a storm even was, but definitely knew that she didn't like it, for it brought the terrible water closer to her. Her fear would only intensify, however, when a clump of dirt would suddenly drop down and fall into her, floating and breaking apart as it did so. Suddenly, she felt that not even her humble abode was safe from the wrath of the storm. Her paranoia quickly took over, and she reckoned that it was only a matter of time until the rest of the holes roof collapsed, burying her in dirt. Although she hadn't experienced that, she already knew she wouldn't like it. Now desperate, she would quickly rush out, climbing up the dirt mound and facing the furious wave. She'd turn her head and look at the holes above, recalling the ones she used most frequently due to their perceived safety. She'd then look down, and saw the waves slowly but surely coming closer, threatening her with a watery demise. She'd stay still for a moment to calm herself down, and would then immediately begin climbing up the wall. She was quick on her hands and feet, those skills honed in by countless wall climbing expeditions. Although her grip would be a bit slippery due to the conditions, that didn't seem to bother her one bit.
It took a few minutes for her to go through her usual wall climbing routine, going through all the holes she grabbed onto, because she was exercising a slightly greater degree of caution. She immediately recognized she was in unfamiliar territory as she reached for holes that weren't there. It took her a bit longer to find the next one to grab onto, but she would eventually manage it, although she was now going at a slower pace than before. But luck wasn't going to be on her side forever. Eventually, she seemed to find herself at a dead end: seemingly no further holes to grab onto, and with no way to go other than back. By the time she had realized this, however, it was far too late: the arm she was using to hold on would suddenly give out, and she would begin plummeting down into the rough waters, impacting at a high speed and with a loud splash.
Fear immediately filled every nerve (if she even has those) in her body as she found herself submerged in the sea once again. She had found herself in this predicament several times by then, but she hadn't managed to get used to it. It was simply just too foreign of an experience compared to what she was used to. She had spent pretty much all her life above the water, and never spent any time in it, even though it seemed that both she and it were made of the same stuff. It took her a minute to float back up into the surface, mostly through her flailing her limbs around to try and 'swim' up. Once she finally managed to surface, she'd see the world that she was familiar with gradually disappear behind the waves. She'd try flailing her limbs around again to try and 'swim' back, but the currents were just too strong. She'd try again, exerting a lot of force as she did so, but nothing would happen. She'd helplessly watch as the wall gradually disappeared into the wall of mist in front of her, casting her off into the unknown. Of course, that wouldn't do for her. She'd try again, one final desperate attempt to get back home, giving her all, for *real* this time. She'd close her eyes in concentration, and...
It immediately surprised her when she opened her eyes and saw herself a good few yards away from where she was before, having seemingly traveled in a near-straight line when she blinked, ignoring the waves as if she was a boat with the most powerful engine in the world on her back. The wall was in clear view again, and hope began to return to her. She'd do it again, and the second go at it was much, *much* easier than the first. She'd open her eyes and find herself even closer to the wall. The third time, she didn't even bother with closing her eyes. She had gotten curious, and wanted to see just what was up. She'd concentrate on the wall, and she would suddenly sink into the water, her face floating on the ocean's surface. She'd quickly move along the waves in the direction she was facing, completely ignoring the current, and eventually emerging again once she stopped focusing. She was now directly in front of the wall, close enough to poke it with a fully outstretched arm. She'd quickly look around, desperately searching for her home, but didn't find it. Perhaps from here, it looked just like one of a thousand similar holes, or maybe she had just drifted too far when she floated up. Whatever the reason was, she couldn't help but cry because of it. She didn't know what sadness was, and she never experienced it until now, either. But she knew that it was the right thing to do. Mourning the loss of her home, she let a single tear roll down her cheek, the mini-self eventually becoming one with the ocean.
Of course, she didn't want to give up that easily. She had just discovered that she could effortlessly move along the water, and so finding her home didn't seem all that difficult to her. She concentrated again, trying to remember which direction she floated off in, and went in the direction she reckoned was the opposite of that. She floated along the waves again for a few minutes, but wasn't able to find it. What she did find, however, seemed to be way better than a return to her mundane existence: a good few feet above where she was was yet another hole, similar in size to her home, but it didn't open up to the dirt, like all the others did. It seemed to open up into an unfamiliar scene: green at the surface, and with the open sky above it. She didn't know what she was getting herself into, but it seemed way better than spending the rest of her life in her corner of the world. Like any normal person would, she desired to go out and explore the wider world, not being satisfied with the luxuries of her dirty (literally) home. She'd quickly float up to it, and would grab onto one of the smaller holes that were within arms reach. From there, it was a somewhat easy job to make her way up, somehow immediately finding the next one to grab onto, and she would manage to make it up to the opening after half a minute. She gazed upon the open land before her: flat green plains and a few trees here and there. She remained there for a moment or so to calm her nerves, before going through the opening and immediately collapsing in exhaustion.
-
The sky was blue again.
Teardrop regained consciousness some time after the storm had passed, and immediately got up and wiped away the dirt from her face. She took her first good look of the area, and it was exactly how she last saw it. Immediately, a whole bunch of questions flooded her mind: What was this green stuff that was on her feet, and why did it feel funny compared to the dirt? What were those things off in the distance? They were trees, of course, but Teardrop had no idea what those were. All she could go off of to guess what it was was the color: the trunk was brown, so was it made of dirt? And was the top made of the same green stuff as she was standing on? As time continued to tick on, the answers grew larger: How come she didn't pop into existence here, instead of the cramped hole? How large was this place? Was there more to the world than just the wall, the holes, and whatever this place was? What even *was* this world? Although she had so many questions she wanted to answer, those had to wait. For now, she only had one priority: to get as far away from the water as possible. Although she was perfectly fine when she was submerged in it for minutes at a time, she didn't particularly enjoy the experience. She immediately began running away. Away from the wall, the sea, and the world she knew, and into the great unknown. That strange ticklish feeling she had when stepping on the green stuff disappeared as she got used to it, and she was able to run for pretty much most of the day.
And once again, that was how things were, for a time. For almost every single waking moment, Teardrop would simply be running. She didn't find a purpose to doing anything else, so she decided to just go with what she knew. Of course, as she was inquisitive, she'd stop sometimes to look at something new. At first, it was some bushes, and then the purple berries that grew in them. Then it was some larger trees, with green things that were darker than the ones she was used to. Then it was something else completely different. She'd come across several ruins along her way, monuments to what Man once was, but as she had no idea what any of it meant, all she did was hang around them for a day or so, checking every nook and cranny for something interesting, before heading off once again. She woke up, she ran, she stopped, she ran again, she passed out in exhaustion, and then she woke up again, and the cycle repeated itself. As she continued on and on, the green stuff she stood on gradually changed in color. It was a rather vibrant green at first, but as she got further and further away from familiar territory, the lands eventually became lighter shades of green, until eventually it wasn't green at all. One day, she would stop running as she found that the green stopped completely, giving way for this strange new yellow stuff. It was somewhat similar to the dirt, although more coarse, rough, and irritating. After having a particularly nasty experience of it getting everywhere in her body, she decided to just go along with it and continue running.
She wasn't able to run for long, however. It wasn't all that long until she found herself feeling something that she hadn't felt before: she felt hot. She began feeling herself becoming lighter, and she eventually managed to figure out why: the individual water droplets making up her body were evaporating, although she wouldn't word it like that, of course. It was slow at first, with only several droplets dissipating at a time, but it gradually accelerated as she continued running. Becoming lighter was obviously advantageous, as she could now go faster, but the obvious problem was that there was the risk that she could disappear entirely. She'd eventually come across yet another ruin, this time smaller than the ones she had been seeing, and took refuge in one of its structures, as it made her feel cool again. There she would stay, feeling as if she was about to die right then and there. Although she would obviously be freaking out, she would paradoxically feel calm, in a way. The place was quiet, and it didn't seem like there were any immediate threats. It was quite the shame that she couldn't enjoy it, however. She took a minute to poke herself to see how much she had shrank. She felt that about 60% of her original body had evaporated away, although she wouldn't word it like that, of course. She'd begin to panic. Was it going to be permanent? Was she going to continue disappearing until she finally died?
Her paranoia would then suddenly come to a complete halt as her ears picked up noise. It was a rather low humming sound at first, but gradually grew louder. She reckoned that it was because it was coming closer, because she observed that same property as she listened to the waves crash onto the wall. The noise would eventually stop, and then she would hear more noises, although she would be familiar with what these were: footsteps. The footsteps grew closer, far closer than she was comfortable with, until eventually, the worst of her fears came to fruition: an unknown... Creature, would enter the same place she was in, and would then make its way towards her. The... Being, was just as alive as she was, yet didn't seem all that concerned about the desert heat. She took a moment to familiarize herself with the... Figure, as it grew closer. Not much could be seen of its actual body, as it was covered by a dirt-colored cloak. The only part of its body that could be seen was its head: sand-colored, and with a face that's the same color as hers, permanently fixed into a smile, as if it was happy that she was suffering. The figure eventually went in front of her, crouching down to be level with her. She'd try to back away from it, but she was dumb enough to have rested in a corner, leaving her with no way to escape. It seemed as if there was only one way this could go, she thought: badly.
The creature stared at her for a little while, seemingly doing the same thing she was doing to it, before doing something that was quite surprising to her: it opened its mouth. "هل انت بخير؟" The noises which came out made absolutely no sense to Teardrop, as she was never taught of the concept of language. All she could do was raise an eyebrow in confusion. The creature then seemed to frown, although whenever she looked at its mouth, she'd notice that it hadn't moved at all. "Uh..." It would scratch its head, which would be noticed as its cloaked move a bit. "Est-ce que tu vas bien?" It'd ask again, which only confused her further. Whatever the being was saying was pretty much just white noise to her. The being then sighed in frustration. "...Alright, it's worth a shot." It'd stop for a moment to breathe. "...You alright?" Of course, Teardrop wouldn't be able to understand that either. The being sighed. "Alright, I give up. You're clearly one of those desert wanderers." It'd then pause for a minute to think, and would then do a series of hand motions that would normally convey about the same information as what the being was trying to say in three separate languages. Unfortunately, Teardrop was foreign to that idea either, and remained perfectly still, still bewildered that there were other... Things, like her that were just... Living.
The being (which I'll now refer to as 'the man' because you probably already know who this is, no point in making it a secret) would then sigh in defeat, giving up in trying to communicate with her. He'd then snap his fingers, and a bottle of water would appear in his hand. He'd point to the water bottle with his other hand, then at her. Teardrop was still incapable of understanding *that*, as she was somehow dumber than Snowball at this time, and would continue to stay put, trying to comprehend what was going on. The man would repeat the pointing again, and nothing would change. They had gone absolutely nowhere with this """conversation""". He'd sigh yet again, and would open up the water bottle, then poured out some of its contents. Teardrops gaze would immediately be fixated on the water: the glorious blue liquid substance which seemingly fueled her will to live. Although she didn't understand much, she did know at least one thing: she *hated* having water being wasted, especially when she needed it. She'd immediately get up and begin fluttering her arms towards the water bottle, obviously indicating that she wanted it. The man sighed, although this time it was in relief. "Finally. I thought you couldn't understand *anything*." He'd then stop pouring the water and give the bottle to her. She'd immediately then pour the rest of the water onto herself, causing her to begin growing in size. By the time the bottle was emptied, she was now somewhat back to her usual size.
The man would raise his hand to protest against what he thought was yet more wasting of water, but then immediately noticed what she was doing. "That's not..." He'd quickly trail off as he became mesmerized by her suddenly growing by about three sizes. When she was done, the man would stare at her for a moment to comprehend what he just saw. "...Alright, then." He'd look around, trying to find a way out of this awkward 'conversation'. "...Will that be all?" The man would ask, to which Teardrop would obviously respond with a whole load of nothing. "Oh, right." The man would sigh. He would then get up and turn to leave, but just before exiting the room, he'd stop and look back at Teardrop. Even though they clearly didn't know or understand each other, he didn't feel like it was right to just leave it at that. He'd hesitate for a moment, but would then turn around and walk back to her. He'd crouch down for a moment, staring at her, and 'smiled'. Teardrop would perceive this as the man's smile growing slightly, though once again, absolutely nothing had changed with it once she focused on it. "Be safe out there, alright?" The man said, even though he knew at this point that she wasn't capable of processing anything he was saying. "I believe in you." He'd then reach out to her with an arm, and would lightly poke her 'forehead' (or where it should be, anyway) with a finger before getting up and actually leaving.
As the poke made ripples which coursed through her body, she suddenly felt as if her brain (or whatever she called something inside her head) was suddenly expanding in size, and was no longer capable of fitting in her head. She suddenly knew of a whole bunch of concepts: of speech, of language, of math, of science, and a whole load of other things she didn't even know existed. She suddenly had a vocabulary of words, millions in size, and spanning a dozen or so languages. She knew that she was called Teardrop, and that she was a member of an incredibly vast and numerous species known as the Objects. She knew of the man, and how he was a disfigured species of human. She knew of the centuries of history this place had, and of a hundred thousand other places she was yet to see with her own eyes, yet already felt like she was there. She knew of the past, present, future, and all the silly things in-between. She saw the universe and the grand structure of it all, and of the realms beyond as well. She felt like she knew everything there was to know: a man (or woman, in this case) of pure intellect, cursed by her knowledge, and was doomed to wander the Earth as this man was doing, although she didn't know where she got that bright idea from. She knew everything, pretty much. Everything but... The man's name. When she finally recovered from the high she experienced from suddenly gaining all (at least to her) knowledge, she'd look up to see if the man was still there, perhaps to ask his name, only to find that he had already gone and left. She hadn't even heard the noises of the vehicle he was riding on as its engine kicked back into gear and got going.
But that didn't really seem to matter all that much anymore, Teardrop thought. She suddenly gained a whole bunch of insights on pretty much everything, and she could do a whole bunch with said knowledge. In fact, one of the little tidbits of information the man gave her told her exactly *where* she could do just that, and it wasn't that far from here. Well, it wasn't *that* far in terms of distances possible on Earth, but it was plenty far for a little old Teardrop that could run pretty fast. And since it *was* quite far away, she knew that there was no time to waste. She had to make haste. Haha, get it? Waste? Haste? Whatever. She immediately got up, ran out of the ruin, and began running through the desert once more. Although this time, she wasn't planning on running away from the sea anymore. She was homeward bound.
-
"...Teardrop? You there?"
Teardrop opened her eyes at around the 14th time Coiny pestered her. To her surprise, she managed to keep her grip on the steering wheel and her feet on the pedals despite her zoning out for what seemed like... Two minutes. She then quickly turned to face Coiny, mildly disgruntled that she derailed her train of thought. "...Were you going to answer me?" Coiny asked. She contemplated answering his questions for a moment or two. Coiny had only experienced a mere fraction of what she had, yet that meant he was millions of times more capable than the others of handling the information. Besides, he was only asking about why she was being so reckless, right? Surely she can answer that without exposing too much of the grand structure of the universe, and of the strings that they, as puppets, were tied by as they were controlled by forces above them that they will never be capable of comprehending.
She was just about to put her hands away from the steering wheel for a minute to do a whole load of sign language, but a sudden feeling would overtake her just before she could do so. Once again, it was that whole 'forbidden knowledge' cliche: not now, maybe later. She tried to shake the feeling off, but the more she loosened her grip from the steering wheel, the stronger it got. Perhaps, if it was so insistent in keeping it a secret, it was the right thing to do. Maybe it just wasn't the right time for it, or maybe someone else will do the explaining for her. Would most definitely save her a lot of exertion of her hands. And possibly her vocal cords.
...Nah, definitely not the latter.
Teardrop simply shook her head, and got back to driving. Coiny clearly wasn't having it though. "*WHAT*?" Maybe it was expected that he'd be outraged that the answer was a flat-out no. He had been waiting for a long time for that answer. But Teardrop simply didn't care all that much. "What do you mean, *no*? I want- *NO*! *NEED*! *WE* need an answer as to why you could've possibly gotten us killed! *TEARDROP*!" As Coiny continued shouting (and possibly waking up the other members of the expedition team), Teardrop simply paid him no attention and continued on driving.
He *clearly* wasn't ready to learn the truth.
YOU ARE READING
Battle for Some Actual Peace and Quiet for Once
Fiksi PenggemarThe Battle for Dream Island is now over, yet the memory of it still haunts them. Part 2/3 of the BFTMTMAADI Trilogy, a BFDI Fanfiction series. Logo made by @catsanddogs3333. Everything else made by me. Battle for Dream Island made by jacknjellify.
