Chapter Song: White Cloth

Beings of the lost. Damned to traverse the same planes of existence for as long as they could. Until the day they faded away, they would only peer into the abyss that was nowhere. Trapped in a fake world, they served the purpose of being something they were not.

One of these beings was forced to stray off its path. Void of its own volition, it hurtled toward places it could not understand. Without senses, it gave in to the power of the universe and traveled the only path it could go.

It did not travel forever, nor did it fall into the abyss with nothing. Every moment it gained something. A sense that it could not understand. The only knowledge it held, was the job that it held. To speak to the ‘Subjects’. There was no other meaning to its life, but the things it had acquired during its short journey, had changed it.

The being did could not see before, but the vivid colors it could see before it was undoubtedly real. It knew the sight before it had to be true, for vision was only granted to the higher beings, not for the likes of a drone.

Strangely colored fogs and objects clouded it’s vision, as it fell endlessly through the abyss. Within moments it could tell what certain shapes were, especially the form of a sphere. For it was the basis of the universe.

Time was something it could not tell, nor did the spatial dimension make sense to it. This being that could only take the path of least resistance, shot through the innermost workings of the verse.

Enormous spheres whizzed by, so did smaller ones, followed by the brightness of what it would call, a higher being. More giant spheres passed by and the plane of existence it saw had suddenly turned blue. It passed through strange white objects, then through shapes that could not be described by it.

Quickly, before it even had time to assess what it saw, it’s sight turned black.

Instincts and memories of life began to flood into its body, burning into it the billions of years of creation. it could finally make sense of what it had seen.

A problem had occurred to it. If it were to be branded by this world it fell upon, what would become of the life it knew before? It wanted answers and the time was now, to find them.

Light suddenly found its way to its eyes, but it could still not see. Sounds were produced from its throat, but it could not speak words. It was just like before, but the only thing different was the feeling of warmth and the voice of something it felt was familiar. An odd sensation occurred when it heard something speak. It knew it was directed toward it when it said “Jing, my dear sweet child. Be strong.”

Her short black hair shook carelessly from the breeze that ran through the room. The broken windows and old worn decor of the walls contrasted to the red robe she donned. Her red eyes stared at the floor sleepily, as she laid her head into her knees.

I can’t fall asleep here. I need to go find that boy. He could lead me to those people, but I’m so tired. I need food. But I want to keep going. The town isn’t that far. I can make it.

Jing stood up and stretched her legs and arms. Resting in the abandoned cabin was a whim, but she felt it saved her a little energy from walking all day.

Ahhh, that feels good! Maybe I can find something on the way. According to this map, hmmm. She pulled a small crumbled map from her pocket. The poorly drawn pictures were confusing to her, but she still was grateful to the traveling girl who gave it to her. Ah! I see, somewhere near the north huh. There are forests with edible fruits. It's along the way too! I'm getting excited!

A loud complaint from her stomach, begging for contents, echoed through the small cabin.

Uugh, fine, I’m going!

Jing dusted off her robe and buried the map into its pockets. Excitedly, she ran up to the broken down door and pushed it to the side. For some reason when she tried to close it, the hinges just wouldn’t give in, so she left it open and thanked it aloud for letting her stay.

Without a second thought, she ran straight for the dirt road that leads to the nearest town, Pioneer. The delicious aroma of fresh fruit picked at her mind.

It’s only a couple dozen miles to town and only an hour to food! You got this!

Her internal monologue gave her the motivation she needed to get started on another day of travel. This was only the beginning of yet another long path, to discover the truth about her, and the strange world she now fell in love with.

Agh! I’m done! Time to walk.

The road leading to Pioneer looked endless. Stretching forever, even past the drifting mountains that bumped and smashed each other. The constant boom of giant mounds of dirt and rock constantly hitting each other was more than enough to drive her mad.

Where is this turn suppose to be? And what is this doodle? A fork? A tree? Jing sighed into her hands. She looked behind her and saw the same scenery, an endless stretch leading to her start. I guess I just have to keep going, no point in walking back to nothing. Still, this map could be drawn better.

Jing resumed her walk toward what she could only hope was the right direction. She kicked a sole rock to bid time as she traveled. After about 15 more minutes of walking, she took out her satchel from underneath her robe and took out the lukewarm bota bag filled with water. The liquid was far from refreshing but it staved off her dehydration just like it needed to.

After parching her throat, she returned the bottle and satchel to their original place. Before she continued to subject herself to more grueling leg labor, a sound coming from behind her captured her attention.

What is that? She turned around and looked into the sunset, a black wide shadow slowly came in her direction. A carriage? Best to hide.

There were plenty of trees, rocks, and crystalline structures to hide behind. Her choice was a nearby bush that was obscured by a couple trees off the side of the road. A quick jog over to her point of concealment, she laid back into the bush to further hide her body.

The sound of rough wheels and heavy hooves, crept closer and closer every minute.

A couple more minutes had gone by and the sound was only just beginning to be close enough to her, but they still hadn’t passed.

Why are they going so slow? That doesn’t sound like a horse gait either.

The clop of the hooves was just as slow as someone taping their finger at bar stand.

It won’t hurt to peak. Jing tried to make as little noise as possible while she got into a low crawl bedside the bush.

Bathed in sunlight and covered in old white fur, was a large animal that had the looks of an Ox but carried the stature of a hippo. In fact, Jing was sure that it was an Ox, but on a much larger scale than normal.

So fat. What are they feeding that thing?

To find the culprit of the animal's large size, she looked at the driver seat. In the pilot seat was an old man wearing some type of form of a sweater and a hat design that she had never seen before. Another pile of fur sat beside him, which seemed to move and be looking in her direction.

Crap! It’s a dog.

Jing retreated backward into the bush, hoping that the dog wouldn’t come after her. A quick yelp like bark came from the carriage, followed by a whistle and the stop of the Ox’s hooves.

"…."

The sound of boots walking on wood clearly resounded from the direction of the carriage.

"It's alright, I saw you long ago back when I was on the path!" A heavy yet old southern accent came from the carriage. "I ain't gonna hurt cha, even my boy Mali took enough liking to you to bark. I got pretty keen eyes so I know you're behind that bush there."

"…."

“If ya need a ride I can give you one.”

Should I just stay here? Maybe, he’ll just go away. He has a dog though, if he really wanted to hurt me he’d send it after me. I guess… he’s harmless.

Jing slowly peeked over the bushes, letting only her hair and eyes take a gander at the man.

He stood atop of his carriage, with an arm leaning on the wall behind him. The black hat he wore was tipped upward, letting anyone see the man's full facial features. His skin was a light brown shade and his hair was on the grayish black side. While she thought he was an old man, the lack of wrinkles on his face definitely gave a much younger image than his voice made. The dog didn’t get off the carriage but instead darted all over it with his long shaggy gray hair flapping with each look.

“Hey there. You heading to Pioneer?”

Jing nodded.

“Do you need a ride?”

Her answer was silence. Giving into such a random offer wasn’t normal.

“Quiet one huh. Well then. If you don’t, then I’m just going to continue.” The man sat down and took up his reigns. “Have a nice one young lady.” He gave a soft whip to the reigns and the Ox slowly walked forward. The wooden wheels crushed the small pebbles and dirt leaving imprints in the ground.

If he’s going to leave that easily, then I guess he’s just traveling. It should be fine. Plus, there might not be another chance to hitch a ride before it gets dark.

Jing stood up from the bush and dusted herself off. The carriage wasn’t the fastest and an easy quick pace was all she need to walk up next to it.

“Will you really give me a ride?”

The old man didn't look at her but only stared out into the distance. "Yes indeed. Helping out travelers is just a habit of this old man." He tapped the empty space of the seat. "Besides, I'm sure you don't want to get caught up in that red spray far ahead."

Just as he had said, far off in the distance and high in the sky was a large red mist that could never be mistaken for anything else. It was going to rain, but if only it were a normal rainfall. If she were to get caught in it, the effects would leave her sick for days.

"I'll take your offer, Mister."

He had finally looked at her and gave a warm smile, “Well then hop on up. Whistle right there will get us” to the town in a few hours flat.” The old man rubbed the Ox’s hind with his boot.

JIng grabbed hold of the metal handles and climbed aboard with the stepping stool. The dog that was aboard, came straight for her face for a nice wet lick. The old man grabbed the dogs collar and slid him back.

“Back boy, let the girl climb up.”

The dog settled down and laid on its stomach awaiting her arrival.

She made it all the way up and took a seat as far as she could from the old man. Her view of the Ox’s back seemed grand in a way.

"Its name is Whistle? Why? What's the dog's name then?"

“Why the name huh? Well, if you ever camp out with that big oaf then you’d see why you can’t even get a wink in. As for the walking carpet here, his name is Alps. Found him as a puppy long ago, in some snowy mountains.”

This old man is… something.

"I see. My name is Jing," she knew it'd be rude not to introduce herself, she wasn't that skeptical. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet ya too Jing, I'm Jav. That's the short version but, that's all ya really need for my name. The rest is too much for most people to say."

"What's the rest?"

The old man gave a raspy chuckle, “Javier Perez Aguilar Garcia De la Santa.”

Jing stared at the man's crooked-toothed smile. For some reason, she couldn't help but smile at the man's gestures.

He seems alright.

JIng rested her back against the wooden wall and looked out into the distance. The warm orange hue of the sunset's light, mixed with the far dark gray sky, made a nice warm reddish color around the area. The far down forest that could be seen below from atop the hill, was also a gorgeous sight.

The dog next to her slowly pawed his way up to her lap and rested his head as he looked up at her. She gave a hesitant rub to his backside in which he reacted with a slow sway of his tail.

The relaxing pace they traveled at could easily put her to sleep. She knew better though than to fall asleep near a stranger.

But.. trusting some people isn’t so bad every now and then.