The Forever Land: Kangaroo Dreaming

 

"The Forever Land"

Route 4: Kangaroo Dreaming


Six days spent dancing in the space. They touched down on the Ttasiformian planet on schedule, always a good thing. As the dust and debris settled, four mechanical sounds filled the air. Their pods opened one after the other, first Recoom, then Dodoria (breathing apparatus settled snuggly on his head), Jeice, and lastly, Zarbon. Goldeneye stumbled out as quickly as he could, letting out a huge sigh of relief and glad to be free of that shell and back on terra firma.

The four floated out of their respective craters and settled on the earth. Zarbon breathed sharply through his nose as he surveyed the area. Nothing but an expanse of red earth and orange sky as far as the eye could see.

“Sun’s getting’ low,” Recoom addressed the whole of them, casting his gaze to the horizon ahead. “Deserts get pretty cold pretty quick at night.” He then turned to the lapdogs. “You guys’re leadin’, so whaddya wanna do?”

Zarbon remained silent and let his scouter do the talking. He scanned the area for life forms within a 100-mile radius, but nothing registered within his field. “Well, if there is any sentient life on this planet, it certainly isn’t anywhere nearby.  It’ll be difficult to spot anything of interest once night falls. For now, let’s split into two groups and survey the area. Jeice, is it? You’re with me.”

“Rorf, told ya, dude,” Recoom elbowed his orange comrade, playfully knowing and snickering all the while. Jeice just dismissed him and sided with the Azureman. Dodoria crossed his arms. “Guess that means I get the behemoth…”

“’Ey, my name’s Recoom. Remember it.”

“Yeah, yeah…” he muttered, fidgeting with his helmet, uncomfortably snug against his spikes.

“We’ll reconnoiter and meet back here in two hours. Synchronize scouters.” They all set their timers accordingly and set off, the ogre and the behemoth to the west, the Azureman and the Kaijin to the east.

____________________________________________________________________________________________


“Pick yer pace, mate,” said Jeice to Zarbon. He knew he could fly circles around his new blue temp any day of the week - they didn’t call him the Red Magma for nothing - but Captain Ginyu told him and Recoom to play nice, so he would, if only as a courtesy to him. Goldeneye simply scoffed, although knowing full well the meaning behind Jeice’s words. They roamed for the first hour, scanning the land from the skies above.  Red earth and the occasional smattering of trees here and there comprised that first sixty minutes before something different came into view. That something turned out to be a settlement.

The two dropped down quickly, but with an air of caution, not really knowing what to expect. They had stumbled upon a village, it seemed. Pristine, clay brick huts, some with thatched roofs, surprisingly well-maintained in this seemingly harsh environment. “Would ya get an eyeful o’ this?” The Kaijin breathed, taking in the village in a tourist’s delight. “Guess there really is sentient life here. Beasts don’t make this kind o’ stuff, although I’ve seen some impressive termite mounds in my time…”

“Keep your voice down, moron,” Zarbon hissed. “I don’t want to risk any unnecessary confrontation between us and the natives.”

“Of course you don’t, not if it turns out they can whoop yer arse,” he chuckled. “Don’t you worry, Zar, that’s why I’m here with ya, ain’t it?”

The Azureman didn’t reply. He was more concerned as to why he wasn’t getting any readings on the scouter, despite having come across a settlement, one that was clearly still in use. He had heard of types that could conceal their power level, but… He simply shook his head and carried on, signaling for Jeice to look around at the opposite side of the village. Goldeneye crept inside a hut, sparsely decorated and not much to look at. There was a rectangular, wood framed platform at the far end of the room, a padding of dried grass systematically throw inside. He assumed it was their attempt at a bed. A few racks and shelves, also wooden, were backed again the wall housing terra cotta cups and plates.

He took the most notice of the few fetishes - three tiny sculptures of prick-eared beasts, clay like the hut in which they resided - sitting at the very top of the primitive display case. Confident that no one was about, he stepped in further and plucked the center fetish, rolling it around in his fingers. The creature was sculpted to be sitting with its knees drawn up to its chest. On both hands, each only with three fingers and one thumb, the forefingers touched their respective thumbs, while the remaining fingers were left extended. Its face, pulled back in a toothy grin, was beset by a broad nose and perfectly round eyes, accented with pricked ears shooting straight up. The fetish had an aesthetic quality that Zarbon couldn’t deny, and so he kept it for himself, carefully tucking it into his leg sheath. Seeing no reason to stick around, Zarbon returned to the village’s main thoroughfare and inspected a few more huts, not differing much from the first. Frustrated, he regrouped with orange partner to see if he had made any discoveries.

Such had not been the case, as he expected.

“It’s no good, Zar,” Jeice began, scratching his head. “Just a whole lotta houses with a whole lotta trinkets and not much else.”

“Mm. It’s almost as though the population just up and vanished…”

Not vanished. Dreamin’…

The Azureman spun around. “What?”

“What?”

“What?”

Jeice threw up his hands in defense. “I didn’t say anything!”

He blinked, only half-believing him. He knew from experience that the Ginyu weren’t above juvenile pranks. But as far as he knew, the Kaijin didn’t have a repertoire of voice talent… Frustrated with the lack of progress and his company, Zarbon uncharacteristically threw down his hands, resigned. “Let’s…” He sighed a bit. “Let’s just get back…”
 
They were just about to blast off when Jeice’s scouter chirped. “Yo, Jeice!”

“What’s up, Recoom?”

“Come to point 6824110!  You have got to see this!”

“See what?”

After about 30 seconds of dead air, Jeice signed off, wondering just what had gotten the behemoth so excited. “Change o’ plans, Zar ol’ buddy,” he spoke, stretching his legs a bit. “Looks like ‘coom and Dodo-brain had a spot of better luck than us.”

“Natives?”

Jeice shrugged. “Didn’t say, but whatever it is, it practically left him speechless.” Though, it wasn’t often that the behemoth had anything of real merit to say, but he left that part to himself.

______________________________________________________________________________________

They arrived in just under seventy minutes, orange and blue, but they were able to make out what it was that shocked the sentient word out of Recoom in under sixty. At first, Zarbon thought it was a mountain range, but mountains peaked and fell; this just went on rolling in a perfect row, never changing. Picking up a power that was unmistakably behemoth, he veer east to his and Dodoria’s location. The sky had darkened considerably from two hours prior, and the chill of a breeze blew through the Azureman, wondering if he should have opted for a full- body suit before the departure. The two dropped down to find Recoom pawing at the structure, while Dodoria stood at a distance, spiky arms crossed, seemingly having had his fill of the whole thing in the hour they‘d spent waiting.

Zarbon gaped at the sheer size of the thing. It extended so far into the sky that his neck couldn’t bend far enough to take all of it in, and if he looked to one horizon or the next, it seemed to snake on forever in either direction. Most notably, though, were the bas-relief carvings that covered the entirety of the wall. They were considerably worn, probably created long before his line was even thought about. Curiously, he ran a hand over a section. There was great usage of curvilinear designs, and well as what he could guess as being stylizations of humanoid forms, as well as designs that he couldn’t place.

“Made from taipa, I’m guessing,” Recoom blurted out somewhat absently, still feeling about every in and out available. Jeice joined his comrade in the scrutiny. It was different to see him fascinated with something other than his soaps, especially something with a bit of substance, though that had yet to be determined. He also kept that part to himself. “Well, I‘ll say this much: At least this proves that this mudball was able to sustain sentient life, at least at some point.”

“Some point, nothing. It still can..!” Said the Kaijin excitely.  “While you guys were pokin’ around this place, Zar an’ me found a village!”

“A recently abandoned village,” Zarbon interjected, tugging his arm sheaths upward to shield from the chill of the wind. “But no sign of intelligent life to be found.”

“I already told ya…”

They all spun around. “Dey did not vanish, nor leave out no place. Dey be…”  The creature paused to bring his thumbs and forefingers together. “Dreeeeeamin’…” His toothy grin lingered long after his words.

The Azureman bristled. How in hell was this creature able to approach without the scouters picking it up? The creature in question grinned at them a little while longer from his sitting position, its gaunt brown body spilling out of a large red over-shirt and dingy, tattered shorts. It was offset by a greatly contrasting wide, strong jaw, shart cheek bones and broad nose. It eyes were like marbles, a glassy powder blue, so much in fact that he wondered if the creature was blind. Those large prick ears moved in opposite directions -- hard to ignore -- as though acting as its own scouter, and relaxing even more, scratched his neck with a four-fingered hand.

Narrowing his eyes, he brought a finger to his scouter and checked the thing’s power level. The machine went through a round of beeps before settling on a power of 750. Zarbon scoffed and announced over his shoulder, “750.”

The other three were taken aback. Power levels of 750 did not take the backs of  Elites and beyond, and even a power that small would have been traceable.  He wondered if the rumors of power suppression were real… “We was dreamin’ a while…” It began again, tracing circles in the dirt. “Of rainbow men.”

Rainbow men? He couldn’t help smirking a bit. They were a rather colorful lot.  “But we be feelin’ great sorrow for de whole of ya,” it continued. “Rainbow men got no dreamin’. Naturally……” It turned its head toward Zarbon.

“What do you call this planet?” Asked Jeice.

“Home.”

“I mean, what is the name of this planet?”

“Dat, we be callin’ Ganggur. Dat also be what we call ahselves.” The Azureman was suddenly grateful that it at least spoke the Standard language, albeit a corrupt form. Finally, something of note to add to the report.

“And this?” Recoom piped up, gesturing to the wall. The creature regarded it thoughtfully, as if trying to place words. “Dat be dey bordah. Ya can’t pass through if ya got no dreamin’.”

“What are you talking about?” Dodoria spat. “We could fly right over this heap, or just blast our way through if we felt so inclined.” He made sure to annunciate the last part.

Prick-ears nodded in agreement. “Oh, ya can fly and tear it down, dere’s no questionin’, but ya can‘t see what we see...”

They simultaneously turned to the wall, wondering just what there was to see other than red dirt on the other side. Zarbon turned again. “Which would be?”

They wouldn’t find out today. Prick-ears vanished as quickly as he appeared. It was then, he realized it. He pulled the fetish from his sheath. It was the spitting image of the gangly humanoid, right down to the pointed, toothy grin. Replacing it, he wondered if these Ganggur people had some ability to manipulate time-space, in addition to being genuinely confusing creatures.