Book 4, Chapter 1: Astonishing Additions
🕑 Added 2024-10-20 20:46:52 +0000 UTCChipper sat on his thinking branch, finishing the last of Walker's Scripture. The knowledge contained within wasn’t awe-inspiring, but it was constructive. Constructive, a word he didn’t know before.
The Universal Translator enjoyed picking up the details of what he was trying to say, bringing forth the word that best applied to the situation. That was how all of the Guardians within the Collective had gained such a thorough vocabulary in their short fifty-year time on Symphony. But Constructive was a new word he didn’t have any basic information on from before reading the Scripture. Walker’s book, or Dante’s, as the religion called him, had taught him much.
As he turned to the final bit of writing, something strange occurred.
Congratulations!
The System Administrator has chosen to gift your interface with multiple upgrades!
Please input your identity before selecting other options…
Before he could parse what his overlay was telling him, another strange occurrence happened. He received a mental call from Speaker Adele, who, for once, didn’t wait for him to accept.
“Chipper! How are you on this fine Symphonic Day!”
“I am-”
“Forget that! Did you see that message? What was that? What’s happening?”
“I do not know.” Chipper replied, “It probably has to do with-”
“It’s the Creator! Walker! I knew it! He’s given us gifts! He’s not evil!” Her screaming in his head only seemed to get louder the more excited she became, “This is going to be amazing! I can just…wait. What’s that?”
“What’s wh-”
Chipper stopped communication as he sensed a change in the atmosphere. Looking up at the small green planet that had steadfastly floated above his world, it changed before his eyes. Suddenly, it was dozens of times larger.
What? He thought in confusion, just as Speaker Adele commented on the same.
“Why is our moon so much bigger? What’s happening?” As she sent the message, hundreds of landmasses appeared from nowhere, surrounding the moon known as Sonata. Great floating pieces of rock and dirt, trees, bushes, and so much more, began blotting out the sky and sun across the whole of Symphony. Darkness prevailed.
“WHAT IS HAPPENING!”
"I do not know.." He thought back to her.
But I have an idea of who does.
However, he had no way of contacting Walker to ask for any form of clarification. While this wasn't as bad as the spread of the Mini-Manticores, nor the odd explosion that had wiped out a small part of the land to the west, beyond the cave, it was still momentous. The next message he received confirmed as much.
Symphony (Planet) message:
Congratulations to all entities touching Symphony's soil! As you are the original inhabitants of Symphony, the Creator has decided to award you a special milestone.
Original.
100 Milestone points!
"What are Milestones?" Speaker Adele messaged him.
"I do not know that either, Speaker Adele. But the moment I learn as much, I will inform you. If you will excuse me, I know this is a frightening time for us, but I must learn about what is happening."
"Of course, friend Chipper. May your Tree grow and shed leaves."
"May your Tree grow and shed leaves, friend Adele."
Chipper felt her disconnect and carefully placed his scripture in the corner of his branch, pressing it down so it would stay still. He wasn't sure how long his forthcoming journey would take him away from here, but he wanted to make sure that nothing would happen to the only item in his possession.
Dropping from his tree in a flash of magic, he quickly sprinted to a seemingly-relaxed Raganoth. While the Poison Wyvern reclined comfortably, his eyes were stuck to the sky.
"Are you seeing this, Chipper?"
Chipper looked at his friend, eye-level, even as he lay down. "Of course. I assume it is the work of our Creator."
A small puff of hazy green escaped from the sides of his mouth, gently dispelling in the air, "Walker, right?”
Chipper didn’t have time to answer as the great pieces of land in the sky began to move, seemingly of their own accord. From a distance, they seemed grand. Perhaps a little larger apiece than the area that Chipper guarded as his own. But even though he knew that distances could be deceiving, nothing prepared him for how large those floating islands would be. One moved out ahead of the pack, a gray coloring to its bottom and several large cyan structures glowing on the top.
Just as Chipper tried to piece together what the metallic ring through the middle was, it quickly accelerated to the west, picking up speed until suddenly slowing as it grew near to the edge. A loud clicking noise rebounded throughout Symphony, followed by the ground shaking and heaving so greatly that even Raganoth was knocked sideways. When it finally settled, a few Mana leaves fell from his tree, gently drifting to the ground. That was the only peaceful thing happening.
“How big was that thing!” The Poison Wyvern yelled out.
“Bigger than all of Symphony put together.” Chipper wrote back, a grim cast on his face. He hadn’t been a citizen of Symphony when everything had been put together. All of this, everything happening, was a first for him. And he had virtually no extra information to share with the Collective.
After the first land was connected, more and more appeared. He’d stopped counting once it passed twenty, with each individual piece larger than the world he’d known and grown to love. It was terrifying: the shaking, the panicked messages from Speaker Adele, Raganoth seeming to be so very calm.
But at the same time, not. There was something about it. Something its appearance seemed to do to him. It made him think back to Dant-Walker’s Scripture. This was a challenge. This was a new way to progress forward not only in power but in character. This was a chance for Chipper to experience Symphony in ways he hadn’t before imagined.
To say he was excited would be a grand understatement of fact.
The last few landmasses connected, somewhere far, far to the south. They’d looked different than the others. Much bluer, for some reason. Then, something else happened.
Symphony (Planet) message:
Congratulations to all entities touching Symphony's soil! You have just survived the grand seeding! Nothing as you know it will ever be the same. As the Creator feels you need a fresh start in this new world, he has decided to award you a special milestone.
Seeded.
100 Milestone points!
Again, with the Milestones. Chipper thought as he read it a second time. He needed to dive into the first message he’d received today, the one speaking about his interface, but Speaker Adele would not be put off.
“Yes, Adele?” He answered, skipping the formality as he finally accepted the call.
“Chipper! Stop ignoring me. This is important!”
“Yes, Adele,” Chipper replied, attempting to calm the irritation crawling up his spine. “What can I do for you?’
“I…” She said, pausing for a moment, “I feel something out there, a lot of somethings.”
“Okay?” Chipper replied in a questioning tone. “Adele, as I understand it, your ability allows you to feel many things that the more standard Guardians like myself do not. What are you feeling right now?”
A bit of snark was impressed upon him by the other side of the call, “Chipper, first you’re not a standard Guardian, and it’s laughable that you’d think that. Second, what I’m feeling are…other Guardians.”
“Well,” Chipper said back, thinking quickly now, “It stands to reason that a few of the lands our Creator has given us will have-”
“Hundreds of them, Chipper. Hundreds and hundreds.”
That shorted him out for a moment. Right now, there were only a few dozen Guardians he knew of. To suddenly have hundreds across Symphony was something he was completely unprepared for.
“Chipper? Chipper! Did you hear me!”
“A-Adele, we’re linked by our minds, of course, I heard you.” But how she expected him to respond was beyond him. It wasn’t a scenario he’d prepared himself to accept. Asking for a moment, he considered everything that had happened.
As much as he wanted to leave right now, the world was in turmoil, and he was Chipper the First. Leaving his territory to galavant across Symphony in search of adventure was not a wise move, no matter how much he wanted to go.
No, he would have to be the solid trunk of the Collective, holding their group together by the tips of his paws. Chipper the Adventurer was a nice sound, but sadly, not meant to be.
After asking Adele to speak to their members and hear their thoughts, Chipper looked at his partner.
“What are your thoughts, Raganoth? What do you think this,” He spread his arms out to encompass all of Symphony, “means.”
“I’m old Chipper, by your reasoning. But even I haven’t seen something like this.”
Adele reported back while Chipper waited. None of the Guardians knew what to do, but with the exception of Chipper, who was located directly in the center of all the land, each of them now had a new set of territories surrounding them. And that made them nervous.
Working with Adele, Chipper spent some time making sure Rine the Dark didn’t do anything drastic when he noticed something in the near distance quickly approaching. It was a dark mini-manticore, a little larger than he was used to seeing, and if he wasn’t mistaken…it was running from something. Something blue…
What could make a Manticore run away?
Just as it crossed halfway through the field, Chippers mouth fell open. It’s body exploded, parts and gore flying through the air, as the blue figure in the distance burst straight through it. It almost seemed humanoid. Not knowing what was going to happen next, Chipper pulled magic from his core, pushing it across his entire body in case the creature wanted a fight, and that certainly seemed the case as it sped toward him faster than he’d ever seen anything move.
Just as it grew near, Chipper’s hands already warming with the coalesced power of his magic, it stopped near instantly, a great gust of wind blowing through his fur. Blinking suddenly dry eyes, he found a small humanoid figure dancing from one foot to another.
“Oh my gosh! Did you see that? Bammo!” The figure said, turning to look back in the direction of the carnage, bits of red staining a relatively peaceful field. Clapping its hands together twice, it did a small hop, “That was so much fun!” Reaching up, it took off some kind of head covering, before rubbing a close-cut bit of hair, “Anyways, you must be Chipper! Man, there were a lot of those things back there, but I’m afraid I didn’t catch the big yellow one. It was sneaky.”
Chipper nodded, still confused by what had happened in the last ten minutes. He wrote in the sky quickly, hoping the figure could read.
“Yes, I am Chipper. May I ask who you are?”
it showed a set of brilliant white teeth, then planted a hand on each hip, “The names Runner Grove, and I’m a hero.”
Still not understanding what was happening, he wrote again, “It’s nice to meet you, Runner Grove the Hero. How may I help you?’
She gave a great belly of a laugh. Electricity began to crawl across her feet as she zipped over by his side faster than he could blink, gently rubbing his arm. “No, my friend. It’s I who is here to help you.”
She pointed over his shoulder, where a fluffy white Guardian stood, looking around in confusion. “That’s your replacement if you want it to be. Walker says it's time for you to choose, Chipper. Do you want to be a Guardian who sits beside their Mana Tree, guarding it and your territory from harm? Or do you want to be who you’re meant to be, Chipper, the Alpha Guardian?” She continued to rub his arm, a big smile breaking out across her face.
Chipper looked into the crazy creature's eyes, a spark of electricity zipping there for a moment, and he knew.
He made his choice.
Comments
Joshua David Mullenary
Thank you for the encouragement
Jeremy Young
Nice start to book four. As always, Thanks for the Chapter.
