Ribbontail: Enter Emalia
Chapter 29: The short reunion

Author's Note: Please read my artist's comments before continuing. :3
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Later that night everybody- with the exception of the evicted PuppetRibbontail- sat in the caravan carriage. The twinkling stars and fresh new moon shone brilliantly in the black sky that night, but the inhabitants for once cared less. There was quite a thought-provoking conversation going on between them.

“Interesting,” murmured Infin. She sat on the bench between Timothy the ferret and Scumtrot (quite notably keeping a comfortable space between the hog warrior). Leaning over to gaze at the newspaper Timothy held, she shook her masked head. “So only about 9% of Emalia’s population has gone through full schooling? Awful!”

Ribbontail and O’liday watched the two from their side of the carriage, silent as the elder Emalians chatted. Still visibly uncomfortable around her, Timothy slid a margin of an inch away from Infin.

He flicked his newspaper as he answered, “Very. I understand that their cultures and lifestyles are different than the more modern ones, but the other countries should at least enforce an education law. The two Bazaars, the Rayan empire, and the Eagretese islands are the only countries that have mandatory education. Would you believe it!”

Shaking her head again, Infin grumbled. “Where I grew up we HAD to go to school. Nineteen long years of schooling in fact,” she said, “It’s bloody terrible that so many children grow up without an education.”

Infin paused to look up from Timothy’s newspaper. With a curious, yet also criticizing, tone, she threw a question at O’liday. “So love, what sort of schooling did you have?”

The feliulf scratched his ear with a hind foot, purring elatedly. “Ah I dunno dude. I know my ABCs and 123s, if that’s what you’re askin’. Hehehe...”

“Tsk tsk, tis a pity,” Infin protested, “education is quite important in getting by nowadays.”

Sitting upright all of a sudden, O’liday opened his mouth. For a moment it seemed as though he was about to fling one of his rash insults at Infin, but before he could say anything the merchant turned her attention to Ribbontail.

“Ribbontail deary, you look like you’d be quite an intelligent girl,” the masked Emalian said, “what sort of schooling did you get?”

Ribbontail shifted uncomfortably in her spot. Back on Earth she’d been schooled up until her death, and in those fourteen years she’d taken in quite a lot of information. Conjuring a quick story, Ribbontail cleared her throat. “Good schooling. I’m very good at math and everything, and I always got good grades. But I had to stop in my eighth school grade because I... got in an accident and couldn’t go on.”

A nervous smile curled upon her face.

“Huh, odd,” Timothy said flatly. He raised his eyebrows, scratched the tip of his nose, then looked back down onto his paper, “What sort of accident would prevent you from going to school again?”

Not having thought of an excuse for her own death, Ribbontail blinked frantically. “I... uh...um... I can’t really talk about that. My mom and dad told me to keep it a secret,” she lied.

Timothy and Infin looked up at this odd remark, both evidently perplexed by the situation. But they dismissed it within a matter of seconds. There was a more mature matter to discuss about the statistics, and soon the two began to mumble to each other again.

With a sigh Ribbontail turned and curled up into a ball. It had been well over a month- maybe even two- since she’d left Earth, and she hadn’t once even thought about it. But now the emotions came flooding back to her. There were so many things unanswered: that rabbit hung in the front of her mind now, having been so enchanting and fascinating to her. Any other human would have ignored a little rabbit, so why was she so hypnotized by it? Was it a ploy of the gods, or maybe even an Eclipsian?

Ribbontail heard O’liday’s voice behind her as she realized that he, too, had involved himself in Timothy and Infin’s conversations. Scumtrot gave a burp and cursed to himself. A camel outside gave a little moan, and somewhere in the distance a nighttime bird screeched.

Yawning softly, the young goddess hid her face with her paws. Something in her said that tonight would be a rough night.

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“Follow me. Foooooollow mmmmmeeeee!”

Darkness consumed Ribbontail’s dreams. It was a child’s voice, innocent yet sardonic, that jolted Ribbontail’s eyes open. Suddenly her mind was flooded with images. Ribbontail in school back on Earth, sitting against the fence on the edge of the playing field. Her human body, curled up and aching with loneliness, felt almost unnatural now.

The sounds of distant laughter and joyous voices filled her ears, then suddenly before her appeared a little rabbit. It turned, cricked its head in her direction, and said again: “Follow me, silly. Come on!”

Images flashed by Ribbontail’s eyes. Rolling hills, a final glance at the school behind her, hot asphalt, a playful little rabbit, the unexpected flash of a truck’s front bumper, then red. Nothing but red.

Ribbontail’s next dream dawned upon her with waves of coldness. The wolf forgot entirely that she was still asleep, and she grumbled as she threw her paws over her eyes. Half out of fear and half out of languor, she lay there shivering in the cold ground with the twisting mists chilling her to the bone.

A whispery gust hummed against her and she finally stirred. These were things of dreams she knew very well: the lingering feeling of mist, the ghostly energy, and the odd sense of nothingness that all brought back fond memories.

Stretching her limbs and yawning, Ribbontail grumbled as she reluctantly forced her eyes open. The spirit realm! The last time she had been to this domain was weeks ago, back when they were in the company of kind old Kerberos. It had been so long!

“S...Sasha?” Ribbontail yawned as she lifted her head.

Gone was the blackness that had plagued her previous dream. All around her she lay in that familiar realm, of dull purple hues and a great expanse of fog. Somewhere beyond the fog, she knew, lay the River of Life; she could hear its quelled howling in the distance. Ribbontail let out a deep sigh of relief.

Something was different this time, however. It didn’t quite seem the same. The air felt more vaporous and thick, as though permeated with tiny droplets of ice.

“Sasha, are you there?” Ribbontail called while she shook the last bit of sleep from her eyes. “Hello? What’s going on?”

Thick, crisp air filled Ribbontail’s chest as she rose up into a sitting position. There she sat for the longest while, tiredly listening to the distant river. This realm had always brought her a certain air of comfort, a feeling of relief unlike any other. It was almost a maternal emotion, like how a child would feel when comforted by her mother.

“I may not be that great old dragon,” came a voice from behind Ribbontail, “hoohoo... but will one Pola do?”

The sound of that soft, caring voice shot through Ribbontail like an arrow. Pola the Loving!

Instantly Ribbontail was up off the ground, the fog swirling as she leapt to her feet. Effervescence filled her every being as she whirled, jumped back, and almost fell over. “Pola! Oh wow, is it really you?!”

The mist before her began to part, glimmering with a light that shone even through its thickness. From this screen of magic the brilliant white ox emerged. No longer a mere god that had graced Ribbontail’s memories, Pola cut through the fog with her shining antlers and looked down upon the wolf with adoring eyes. “Rib...bon...tail,” she mouthed slowly as she approached.

Breathless, Ribbontail was transfixed. The gorgeous goddess was as lovely as she remembered, standing there proud and shimmering with elegance. Pola the Loving stood poised, her usual motherly smile curling across her cow-like features.

Pola did not wait for a reply from Ribbontail, as after a few silent breaths she lowered her head and nuzzled her.

“Oh... Ribbontail, it has been a long time now, hasn’t it? We’ve all been waiting to speak with you again.”

Returning the nuzzle with one of her own, Ribbontail whined. She almost choked on her own words as she scrambled to form a sentence. “Pola I... why are you... where’s...?”

Pola lifted her immense head and looked down on the small goddess. Her tender presence seemed to make her the very incarnation of warmth; it was no wonder she carried the title ‘the Loving’. The ice goddess took notice of Ribbontail’s confusion and chuckled.

She said, “Oh dear. You’re always getting so confused. Hoohoo...”

Ribbontail approached the ox and, without even asking permission, pressed her face into the thick coat of fur. She gulped down a knot in her throat. “Oh Pola,” she began tiredly, “I missed you so much...”

The elder goddess gave an empathic laugh and nuzzled Ribbontail with the curve of her neck. “We back in the Realm of the Gods have missed you and Fidei as well. We can’t simply watch what is going on in the mortal world, you see, so we’re always so worried sick. But I trust that things are going okay? Is your quest going alright?”

“I’m doing fine,” Ribbontail said with a bleak smile. Her mind ran past the vast list of events she’d gone through while in this world. “PuppetRibbontail is a big help. And so are the mortals, too. I met this guy named O’liday, and he’s been traveling with us all this time. We’re being helped right now by this merchant named Infin, and some time ago an old man named Kerberos... he...”

Ribbontail stopped suddenly, her ears drooping. Seeing this change in emotion, Pola brushed her face up against Ribbontail. The ox seemed to know just what had happened. “The great one, Sasha, has already told us about Kerberos. It isn’t every day that a mortal gives his life for a god... we should all be grateful that the mortals recognize your godly energy.”

Nodding, Ribbontail lifted her eyes to Pola. “I really love this world, Pola,” she said with a smile, “I like it a lot better than I thought I would. There are some things that I don’t like, but... it’s a wonderful place. I just hope that I’ll be a goddess fit for it.”

“I’m sure you’ll be one of the best gods around,” Pola assured with a smile.

Ribbontail lifted her snout and rubbed cheeks with the dignified goddess. Such a sweet being Pola was, and the young wolf could not help but want to stay here forever. She missed her and the other gods so much; she’d only known them for a few hours, but to her it felt like a thousand years.

Then without warning Ribbontail’s eyes shot open and she blinked at Pola. “But wait... wh-why did you bring me into the spirit realm? Is Sasha here too?”

“No, Sasha is not here now,” Pola said as she shook her head, “the great one only shows up when she feels needed. Tonight I just wanted to bring you two messages, from the other gods.”

Ribbontail cocked her head to the side.

“Earlier tonight, before you went to bed,” Pola said, “you felt pangs of sorrow from the memories of your death. They’re feelings we gods have wanted you to forget... the emotions that overtook you as you left Earth. You’re still wondering about that fateful day, are you not?”

Gulping and sitting down before the mighty being, Ribbontail nodded. “Yeah... I... guess I just remembered it. I’m still really curious about what happened. What was up with that rabbit? And the truck? Was that just all planned out or something?”

Pola nodded her big head, and as she did the spell tags tied to her antlers twirled and flicked. “Yes, it was indeed a planned event. But I cannot explain it to you, as I wasn’t there. We’re still trying to locate the spirit that helped carry out the plan. She will be of help, I assure you.”

Curiously Ribbontail blinked, giving Pola an unsure smile.

“That’s why I’m here today,” the luminous ox continued, “To tell you to expect a dream sometime soon. It will be a memory dream, replaying your past just as it was. All your questions will be answered, yes, and perhaps it will provide some closure for you. Are you alright with this?”

Merrily Ribbontail nodded. “Yes yes, I understand. Sometime soon right?”

Relief shown in Pola’s eyes as she bobbed her head again, and just then she added, “One other thing! Why-Yeh and I both have an urgent request to ask of you. It’s regarding Fidei.”

Ribbontail looked up. Fidei? It had been a good two weeks since she’d seen him. A while ago he had totally abandoned Ribbontail and her friends, turning in the face of danger and running away. Ribbontail’s fur stood on end and her paws clenched at the thought of him. “What’s wrong with him?” she mumbled.

“Well...as you should know, he’s not the most competent traveler. He’s safe and sound, mind you, but his mission is not going so well...”

For a moment Pola paused, snorting  back a little bit of laughter as she shook her head with disgust.

She continued with a rather amused tone. “You see, his mission requires him to collect certain artifacts for a certain shaman in the city of Bazaar. The artifacts are found all around the land of Emalia, thousands and thousands of miles apart. Coincidentally Fidei missed one that lies in a cave not far from where you are now. Nde cave is the location, I believe...”

Ribbontail lifted her ears. “So you need me to get some artifact so that I can give it to Fidei? That sounds nice and easy, but how will I get it back to him?”

With a shrug of her heavy-set shoulders, Pola answered with a sanguine, “Fate always brings the gods back together. I’m sure that if you hold onto whatever this artifact may be, you’ll come across Fidei again.”

Then the ox smiled down at Ribbontail, until finally the little blue wolf responded. “S-sure,” Ribbontail said, “I guess I can do that.”

“Oh marvelous! Why-Yeh will be most pleased to hear that you’re willing to help his son. I’m sure Fidei will appreciate it too.”

Ribbontail flicked her tails apprehensively. She certainly hoped that Fidei would appreciate it; he owed her and her friends much after leaving them at the hands of Screech. Sensing the change in Ribbontail’s mood, Pola did a quick little dance with her hooves. The soft clicking sound they made in this featureless world was absolutely adorable, and Ribbontail looked up with a little grin across her face. Her features were alight with optimism once more.

“You are an absolutely astonishing young one, Ribbontail,” Pola said at last as she leaned down and gave Ribbontail one last hug, “you’ve got a mighty fire within you that’s only just begun to burn. I’m sure that in time it’ll turn you into the greatest god Kuutamo has ever seen.”

Her face glowing with the radiance that emanated from Pola’s halo, Ribbontail smiled back. “Thanks, Pola.”

“I won’t be able to see you for a long, long time,” finished the frosty goddess, “that vile Eclipse, Sasha says, knows now of your presence. He and the Eclipsians will stop at nothing to get you slain. Please... be careful.”

Then in a flurry of silvery fur and fluttering spell tags, Pola turned and kicked off into the air, vanishing with a puff of frost. Her departure was so sudden, so abrupt, that Ribbontail barely registered it. The little blue wolf sat there alone. Tired, taking it all in, and feeling the waves of morning ebb closer, she sighed. “The greatest god Kuutamo had ever seen” was definitely an overwhelming title to live up to.

After a long, silent pause there came a presence Ribbontail barely recognized. It felt as though somebody were watching her- or had been- and the young goddess turned and glanced behind her.

Before her, not far away beyond the skeins of fog, loomed a tall, obscure figure. It reminded her much of a centaur of sorts, standing there looking much like two beasts in one. But between the shadows of the spirit realm and the great curtains of mist, Ribbontail could barely make out a distinctive shape.

Had the being, whatever it was, been watching her and Pola speak? It seemed fully captivated by Ribbontail, almost unresponsive and unmoving. It must have been a spirit.

“Just some spirit... standing there. Maybe it needs my help!” thought Ribbontail. She scrambled to her paws and turned to the great shadowy figure. “Hello? Who are you?” she called to it. “Are you lost?”

Much to Ribbontail’s dismay, the form did not reply. It remained perfectly still. Yet when the little goddess began in its direction, it stumbled and turned, dissolving into the darkness of the spirit realm.

Ribbontail only had a second to take this in. As soon as the unknown being departed, the dream world instantaneously began to fade away. Everything grew darker and darker until there was nothing left at all.