Hopping Place to Place II
On the one hand, you feel that there are a lot of things you could ask Penelope, since she’s the first human you’ve come into contact with in this bizarre world where animals are big and can speak, and where people become human-creature hybrids through some kind of magic (or technology, maybe). On the other hand, you also don’t mind if she asks you first, since it would be politer given the fact you literally just met and all.
Then again, since she’s waiting for you… you decide you’ll break the proverbial ice first.
“I think we’re both kind of in the same boat in being curious, yeah?” you ask.
“Oh, most definitely,” Penelope says. “It’s nice to find a friendly face… or, well, a friendly demeanor.” She giggles. “No offense, but it’s not an easy feat to read the expression of a griffin given that beak of yours and those piercing eagle eyes. But had I felt you were a genuine menace to my well-being, I wouldn’t have bothered giving you the chance.”
“That’s fair,” you say, and you shrug. “Would you like to take turns asking questions?”
“Sure,” Penelope replies. “Go ahead, you can start.”
You nod with appreciation. “You said you had to fight someone?”
Penelope grunts. “Ugh, don’t remind me, but, yes.” She scowls. “It was during my first day, probably hours into my time as a humanoid bunny – I was finally getting used to moving around freely, since walking is okay with these huge feet, but hopping is way more useful…. Anyways, I was minding my own business when this big, stinking bear bitch decides to charge at me.” She shakes her head. “I about had a heart attack!”
“I can just imagine,” you say, blinking.
“I dunno what her deal was, but I guess she was hungry or something,” Penelope remarks, with a shudder right after. “There was no greeting, no threats, not even a roar to scare me. Nope, just this big hulking brute of a creature coming at me. I ran at first.”
You stare in earnest befuddlement as you envision this happening in your head.
Penelope shakes her head once more. “I ended up run-hopping until I got to a big, flat area with a hilltop and a bunch of rocks. Froze in place when the bear shows up, until I realized something that the sign didn’t mention… ‘cause, see, we don’t lose what we know when we put these costumes on. We retain all the knowledge and, I’m guessing, our physical abilities provided we choose the right kind of animal to make use of them.”
She cracks a wry grin. “Outside of this world, I took martial arts for eight years. Not to toot my own horn, but, I got pretty good at it, especially when I dealt with someone bigger than me.” She pauses and you both take note of the fact you’re relative equals in height, a fact that doesn’t go unnoticed by Penelope, who shrugs. “Or stronger.”
“So what did you do?” you ask. “You actually fought her?”
“Yep, I fought the bear,” Penelope says, “which is a sentence I never thought I’d utter, let alone while being turned into a half-rabbit. Either way, when I figured out I could basically jump higher than her and that my leg and foot strength are essentially way, way better in this body…” Her grin grows. “I ended up kicking her in the schnozz so hard, she toppled backwards like a sack of potatoes, and even gave her a bloody nose. She looked so gobsmacked by the fact I’d straight up knocked her on her big ass, too.”
“Wow.” You can visualize the event in your head, and it sounds like something out of a video game… but you don’t question it for a second given what you’ve seen already.
“Apparently, the stinky idiot didn’t realize I was a person under the costume,” Penelope says, and she rolls her eyes. “She thought I was a big rabbit and figured she would ‘live like a bear’ by making a meal out of me. I guess the fact my belly button is showing and the fact I’ve got hips and the outlines of boobs wasn’t enough of a tell for her to realize.”
“I just… wow.” You rub the back of your neck. “I was told that some people who come here end up embracing whatever creature they become, twice, in fact, but I suppose I didn’t really stop to consider what that would look like. I’m a little blown away that a person would decide on a whim to maim and, you know, EAT someone so easily…”
Penelope gives a sigh, yet nods along. “Yeah, I picked up on it pretty damn fast thanks to that encounter. I suppose the most credit I can give her is that she became aware of the fact I was a person, and, rather than try to devour my sorry ass, she skulked off to tend to the fact there was blood streaming out of her nose.” Her shoulders droop. “Not gonna lie, I felt a teeny bit bad about it, but, it beats getting eaten alive and all that.”
“I’ll say,” you remark.
Penelope shrugs. “So if you’ve not been here for very long, I imagine you came from somewhere nearby? I’ve explored a little, but, I’m curious what place you entered.”
“I fell from a room hovering over a large, wide grassland,” you say. You turn toward the direction you came from and point. “It’s way, way over that direction. I ended up going through this big foggy biome for a while before I got out here – I owe a lot to this really big owl named Archimedes. He helped guide me, which I’m super grateful for.”
“A talking owl named Archimedes?” she says.
You nod.
“That’s awesome.” She smiles. “And it honestly just tickles my inner Disney nerd… like, a lot, because there’s an old movie where a talking owl character happened to be named Archimedes. I dunno if it’s coincidence or not, but, that’s pretty neat either way.” She snickers at this for a beat, then sobers. “Actually, I know the foggy domain you’re talking about.” She glances toward the exact direction you indicated with a knowing look of annoyance. “I got lost in there for almost a full day about two days previously, in fact.”
“Yeah, it… wasn’t ideal for someone with wings,” you say.
She snorts. “No, nor is it ideal when you prefer to jump to move about.” Her expression turns humorous as she frowns. “I ended up bonking my head and my butt on so, so, so many stinking branches, it isn’t even funny. I don’t know HOW I managed to escape that nasty fog, but goddamn am I avoiding it like the plague. If I ever decide to go explore that way, I’m going around it, no matter how many days it takes me here to do so.”
You nod, because you kind of feel the same, besides maybe finding Archimedes again if you ever want to talk, as he seems to be more earnest and reliable with knowledge.
“So, wait, lemme try to understand,” Penelope says, and she appraises you. “You mean that started in a big open plains area, but then you decided to go into the foggy forest?”
“Yeah,” you reply, and you shrug. “That’s the gist of it.”
She cocks her head to the side slightly. “Do you mind if I ask why you’d do that? I can’t imagine someone in a griffin body would opt to go in there randomly given how hard it is to see and maneuver around with those big wings of yours,” she shrugs and chuckles, “but then again, I’m not the sharpest knife in the tool rack, I can admit that, so I may well be wrong. But color me curious… why would you purposefully venture in there?”
She goes silent after this and looks at you patiently, but obviously hoping for an answer.
You don’t answer right away, mostly because you don’t know this person super well – she seems friendly at the moment, but, you take into account the lack of knowing her and the obvious dangers within this world, and you use this to weigh how to proceed.
You can be truthful, of course, you could also brush it aside, or you could tell a small lie.
So long as you retain being nice, which you intend to do, you feel it wouldn’t be a huge problem since some answer is better than nothing – that said, perhaps she could help you pinpoint where you’re trying to go next in terms of finding Rosha, or she could even serve as a friend for you. She’s got more experience than you do, after all, and she’s the only other person you’ve come into contact with while you’ve been here so far.
The choices fall to you on how you want to proceed, so you mull them over for a beat…
Written by Hollowpage on 30 June 2021