Black Ice (continued from ...Time Gate...)

[warryn]

"...... Oh really. And how many points did it have on its antlers?" Fluffy said, keeping up the staring. He let one of his ees look to what was in front of him, but quieckly returned to staring with both eyes.

Jeph? Really? He must be getting lonely without Tony. He really only got alnog with Tony, he was much to shy to talk to any of the others. Fluffy mentally shook his head and promised himself that he would spend some time with Jeph the next time he got the chance.

[mugenginga]

"Six," Magus said in a curt voice.

He didn't want to have this conversation. And he had suddenly gotten the impression the fuzzball didn't believe him. He had no idea why it thought he would lie, but that seemed to be what was going through its head.

You are so lucky I'm hurt... Magus thought. Well, on the surface. Fluffy was annoyingly tough, so he wasn't sure he could take it by himself. Wouldn't have admitted that even to himself, however.

[warryn]

Fluffy turned his gaze elsewhere, watching the path Magus walked. Fluffy was still worried for Jeph, but realized he wouldn't of shown himself to someone who might of hurt him. He sighed, she had to rethink what he thought of Magus now. He would stick with him for awhile to see where he went.

"Ok, i believe you. I'm sorry I didn't." Fluffy said, she knew she had to get past her creator if she was ever going to live her own life.

[mugenginga]

Magus heard the shift in Fluffy's tone of voice, but didn't say anything. It looked like they'd be at the base of the mountain in an hour. If they were going to seperate soon...

"Is there anyplace around here where odd things occur?"

He didn't know how to word it, really. He knew that the gates of the times he had visited had always appeared in places charged with energy. It was probably the birthing of said gates that had caused Lavos' energy to appear. And whatever else created the gates. He could check to see if anyone had seen his sister.

And Fluffy seemed capable of sensing magic. If it knew the island it would give Magus a place to start.

[warryn]

Fluffy shrugged, it had explored a part of the forest, but he didn't know where he was now. "I haven't been here before, so I know." Fluffy looked around, it wasn't like he was doing it on purpose or anything, he didn't know where he was.

Inside of Fluffy's fur, a quiet squeaking could be heard. Jeph was doing his job, he had corned a rat that had sneaked into Fluffy's fur a few weeks before. It had been getting into things it should not have and as leaving mess after mess behind it. Fluffy heard the noises and shook off the blankets that were covering him.

[mugenginga]

Magus heard the noise too and paused. It had sounded... well, to pull a cliche, "So close yet so far away." When Fluffy appeared to react to it, he turned his head, "What was that?"

His hand tightened on his scythe. It was a bit odd they hadn't run into anything on this mountain...

[warryn]

Fluffy held up one clawed finger to Magus's question. The squeaking got louder and louder till a rat flew out of Fluffy's fur and tried to run, obvious terror showing from its movements and sounds. But before it could even recover from its landing, something else shot out from Fluffy's fur at it. It looked like multi-colored goo that was alive and sounded as if it was weeping as it moved. It was Sorrow, a thing with no control of its own actions, but felt every moment of its life with such intensity it hurt.

Sorrow incased the poor rat in itself, silencing the rat forever as it shot back pulled itself back into Fluffy's fur and devoured the body of the rat. It would mourn for the life it had taken, but couldn't of stopped itself if it had tried. Fluffy sighed again, "Sorry about that."

[mugenginga]

Magus was still trying to recover. That thing... it had been... what exactly? Magus couldn't find the right words, but just being near it had dredged up memories he didn't like. He thought for a few moments and shook his head. Maybe it was better not knowing.

The head shaking could have been in response to Fluffy's apology as well, so what Fluffy interperted it as was up to its perception.

"If you're new here, than I suppose you don't know when it is?"

Again with the "whens" rather than "wheres".

[warryn]

Fluffy thought about the answer to Magus's question. He didn't really know where here was, neither did he know when it was either. He reached into his fur and brought out a piece of paper.

"Our first and last love...is self love." Fluffy stopped, stuffed the paper back into his fur and brought out another one, "Sorry, wrong one. There is yet time enough for you to take a different path. " Fluffy put away the fortune cookie fortune. He had went and gotten a bunch at a restaurant once and read one when he didn't have an answer for stuff he didn't have the answer for and didn't feel like making one up.

[mugenginga]

Magus scowled. He had no lost love for gimmicks such as that. Those who could read the future were extremely rare and he had yet to meet one who liked the ability. And it struck a different nerve as well. With the way his mind had been focusing on Schala, that "different path" crack... Still, jumping to conclusions was no good.

"What's your point?"

[warryn]

Fluffy shrugged. He didn't know what it meant, 5=that was the point of the fortune. It wasn't to tell the future, it was to make you think about what you were doing and what might happen.

"I don't know, it might mean one thing to one person and another thing to someone else. Whatever it means to you, accept it and move on."

Fluffy jumped down and ran quickly after the blankets he had shook off himself. He gathered them up and put them away into his fur. Then she ran back to Magus, but didn't resume his usual spot on his shoulder, instead staying on the ground.

[mugenginga]

So he doesn't know what I'm doing. Fair enough, Magus thought.

The scenery had slowly been changing as they walked. They were in a more grassy area now. Magus looked around, "We're at the bottom of the mountain," he paused, and submitted to the kindhearted nagging in the back of his mind, "You going to be okay now?"

He said it through almost gritted teeth. But he knew Schala would be upset if he didn't.

[warryn]

Fluffy stopped and looked around the at the area they were in. It was certainly warmer and the grass was nice.

"I'll be fine. But what about you? You who was almost beaten by a small furry woodland creature. You who was and is still wounded from that same small woodland creature."

Fluffy didn't mind calling himself smal, it didn't bother him. But when someone else started to, nope, hewould not deal with it. She would promptly show the person saying he was small that he could still beat them even if they were bigger than he was.

[mugenginga]

"Size rarely matters. And I'll be fine. I've survived on my own for years," not entirely true. There were the Mystics. But Ozzie was a complete idiot, Flea was practically a stalker, and Slash had an ego that rivalled his mother's after she had gone insane. So he might as well have been alone.

He began to walk off. If the creature was going to be fine he was not going to push the issue. He had better things to do.

[warryn]

Fluffy stood their for abit, but followed after Magus. He wasn't going to underestimate Jeph. Jeph had the uncanny lick of revieling himself to good people and people wo might need help with something. Fluffy wasn't going to go against something that hadn't been wrong yet.

He didn't move faster to catch up with magus, just kept his own pace and made sure Magus was always in sight. He was good at tracking anyway, being so close to the ground he noticed more things then most would.