Ribbontail: Enter Emalia
Chapter 32: Into the Memory Dream

Author's Note: Please read my artist's comments before continuing. :3
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Timothy’s briefcase was a scattered mess on the caravan carriage floor. Papers, books, utensils, and numerous electronic devices had been strewn about as the businessman rifled through his things. He had checked everything he owned, once, twice, to be sure that it was all there.

The ferret sat scribbling something on a little piece of paper, which he handed to O’liday. As the feliulf stared down at it, Timothy mumbled, “Address, email, cell number, home number, business number. I don’t get service in this part of Emalia, but if you ever get back to your folks’ home alive, be sure to give me a ring.”

Sighing, O’liday gave the note a long and hopeless stare. “Aww dude, can’t we go with Tim?” he asked then, turning to Ribbontail, “He’s goin’ to Bazaar, too. We can just follow him!”

Before saying anything Ribbontail paused, turning to glance out the window at Infin. After swiping back her map the merchant had stormed back outside and commenced her wailing, and Ribbontail could see her hunched figure still sitting out there before the lead camel. She seemed even more distraught now.

“PuppetRibbontail and I are not going to Bazaar,” Ribbontail reminded him. “And neither of us are going to leave Infin, either. Listen, she’s in a lot of pain right now. She lost one of her camels! So if you’d like to go with Timothy, go right on ahead. I won’t mind.”

O’liday paused. As his ears dropped he scanned the room, looking amongst the other three present. When at last he’d given them all a look of indecisiveness, he turned to Timothy and sighed. “I’m sorry, T-man, I just can’t leave these two. I might’ve told my brother I’d be home in time for his birthday, but I’m just havin’ so much fun traveling with these two. Besides, dude, we’re like s-”

“Sand, surf, and sun. I know,” Timothy said, raising a paw to silence his newfound friend. “And that’s fine with me. Sure. I’ll just foot it alone.”

Silently Ribbontail and her two friends watched as Timothy began stuffing his belongings back into his briefcase. The ferret didn’t once look back at them when he asked Ribbontail, “So you’re positive you’re gonna stay here with Infin? That serial killer? You know, you’re sticking your noses in trouble by doing that!”

Ribbontail snorted. “You can’t prove that Infin is a killer. She’s a very nice person. B...besides, I got her into this mess, so there’s no way I’m going to leave her now.”

“Really,” Timothy retorted, clicking his luggage shut. “If that’s what you want to believe, go right on ahead. I’m not sticking around.”

As Timothy adjusted his suit and sauntered over to the door of the caravan, O’liday shot Ribbontail a look of great anguish and woe. He seemed to be torn between this new businessman friend and his two traveling partners. The feliulf was firm set on following Ribbontail anywhere; she was a god, after all. But he had also taken quite a shine to Timothy, and his trust in Infin’s caravan was clearly shaken. To say the least, he was torn between two big decisions.

Ribbontail shook her head and gave him a smile. Such a loyal friend O’liday was.

Their brief sentiment was broken when Timothy kicked the caravan door open, hopping outside into the night. Almost instantly Infin’s attitude flared, and her anguished voice called the attention of all present.

“Nosy fiend!” she howled, suddenly wrathful again. Ribbontail and her two friends peered out to see her already on her feet, storming over to Timothy. “What are you up to now, you sneak?!”

Timothy was a full two heads taller than Infin. With a look of defiance etched upon his features, the ferret turned and gazed down at her, undaunted. “Leaving,” he declared. Then he pointed an accusing paw down at the merchant. “I don’t know what’s up with you and your little games, but you reek of serial killer. There’s no way I’m sticking around.”

“Foolish!” hissed Infin. “The desert will eat you up. Look at you, sad and weak. You stand no chance against these lands!”

Her mood now had boiled from, in less than a minute, depression to rage then to a deep, loathing contempt. She leveled a glare at Timothy; he returned the look. It was evident that their friendliness from the prior days had been a forced one. These two had no trust left in each other at all, and it was as clear as the desert nights were cold.

Timothy straightened up. “I’ll take my chances with that. It’ll be safer than sticking around here with you.”

When the masked merchant said nothing in response, Timothy turned and saluted O’liday and his friends with a classic “V” peace sign. The feliulf returned the gesture. Then with a smirk upon his face the businessman turned, checked his PDA, and strolled out into the darkness. There was a deathlike silence as they watched him go, Ribbontail with a sinking feeling in her heart and O’liday gazing down at the list of numbers and addresses.

“I’m sure he’ll be alright,” Ribbontail whispered down at O’liday, “he-”

“You’re wrong. He won’t be alright,” snorted Infin. She did not once tear her eyes from the form of Timothy, strolling off into the moonlit distance. From what Ribbontail could see the ferret was sauntering proudly, looking like a man who had accomplished something big. Infin paused before adding, “Beasts like him are weak- fragile, used to cool sidewalks and warm, snug houses. Huh! He will be lucky if he can survive the night.”

An eerie silence befell them. Ribbontail and O’liday exchanged looks of sudden nervousness, O’liday clutching his list of numbers with both paws. His face was that of sudden shattered confidence; he seemed to think then that his new friend had made a mistake, yet it was too late now to undo it.

Ribbontail leaned down to give O’liday a comforting nuzzle, but as she did Infin suddenly whirled on them. Holding out her lobster claw as she addressed the three up in the caravan doorway, she spoke with a voice that dripped with hatred. “But you didn’t believe the bloke’s lies, I hope? Going about calling honest creatures ‘murderers’?”

Silently Ribbontail and O’liday shook their heads. Before either of them could say anything the merchant turned again, ranting to herself with an unsteady voice. She seemed to totally forget about the others present.

“That is what you get for inviting commoners to travel with you, nothing but trouble. They don’t understand your ways, your maps, your life. Nooooo, they cause more trouble than anything else. They think everything is top-notch, everything is fine!”

Infin’s tone simmered from furious back down to sad, and she suddenly crumpled back to the ground in a heap of tears and wails. “Oh Arhil, we’ll get nowhere without her!”

It was evident now that Infin was emotionally unstable. Her heart seemed to have collapsed in a mix of frustration, confusion, rage, and anguish, and she crouched there on the ground sobbing to herself in an indistinguishable language.

Again Ribbontail and O’liday exchanged worried looks. O’liday plainly had taken up Timothy’s belief: he feared her now more than ever before. But Ribbontail understood this kind of grief. Loss was something the wolf had once been very acquainted with.

Nudging O’liday back to keep him from further worry, Ribbontail called to the merchant, “Listen, Infin, we’ll try to help. Maybe we can move the camels by...”

“Hush!” Infin’s agonized scream cut through Ribbontail’s words. In a flurry of black robes she surged to her feet, spinning to flail a claw at her three passengers. “I’ll deal with this mess myself. Tis my duty to get it going, no matter how badly whelps like you mess it up. Go! Get to bed. I don’t want to see any of you until dawn!”

With a sudden hiss Infin rushed up, grabbed PuppetRibbontail by the ruff of her neck and wrenched her down out of the carriage. The little Summoning looked quite perplexed when she hit the ground. O’liday and Ribbontail too looked quite shocked for a moment, but remained silent when Infin turned on them.

“To bed,” Infin echoed, her voice wavering.

“Rules are rules,” Ribbontail thought to her guardian, “I’m sorry, but you’ve still got to stay outside. Please don’t get in her way, Puppet.”

Then O’liday and Ribbontail turned, tugged the carriage door shut, and gave each other mixed looks. O’liday was convinced that Infin was dangerous. Ribbontail was convinced that she was merely distraught.

Ribbontail stretched and unlatched her halter, setting it aside as she began finding a comfortable place to lay. When she curled up in a corner she mumbled to her friend, “It’s alright, O’liday. I understand what Infin’s going through right now... she doesn’t know how to feel and she’s just really confused.”

Her feliulf friend looked unsure. “No way, dude, you saw that look in her eyes. She’s PISSED at us. Pissed at YOU. Timothy was right, man, staying with her isn’t a good idea.”

“It’s fine,” Ribbontail whispered, “give her the night to relax. I’m sure that tomorrow morning she’ll be more contained.”

O’liday stretched his legs and plopped down next to Ribbontail, sighing and hiding his face with his furry paws. “I hope you’re right, dude...”
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Not long after falling asleep Ribbontail found herself laying in a most unusual place. Through her numerous past experiences the young goddess recognized the feeling of these dreams: she always felt as physical as she did in real life, but the world around her seemed to pulsate with a magical energy.

“God dreams” she’d nicknamed them, after the fact that they were always brought about by one of the Emalian gods.

Ribbontail yawned and stretched, automatically lifting herself up into a sitting position. The wolf sat there for a moment, with hooded eyes and a dry mouth, feeling the energy of the dream world around her. Then out of curiosity she lifted her eyes to take in the world around her.

Something about this place seemed familiar. Around her stretched a field of dried grass, brown and spider-like and swaying with a cold breeze. A thick, grayish fog choked the land in all directions. Ribbontail recognized this fog as the magical essence in these dreams, and she rose tiredly to her paws to look around.

“This must be that ‘memory dream’ Pola was telling me about,” thought Ribbontail as she took in a breath of the thick, muggy air. “I wonder if this is a memory of mine.”

“Of course it’s a memory, silly!” called out a childlike voice from behind. “Why d’ya think they call it a memory dream? Heeheehee!”

Blinking, Ribbontail slowly turned around.

Before her stood the most curious little creature. Small, white, and covered in thick fur, it was a rabbit unlike any Ribbontail had seen before. It had large yellow eyes, which glowed in the unnatural light. Neon green fur sprouted in a tuft of hair atop its forehead, and the puff of chest fur had accents of the same color. Unusually large ears flicked and twitched as it looked Ribbontail up and down.

Then the rabbit sat and  stroked the two saber-like teeth sprouting from its upper lips. Ribbontail expected a lengthy, dramatic introduction from such a unique beast, but all that it said was: “Hiya!”

Ribbontail chuckled to herself. “Umm.... hello? Who might you be?”

“Aww ya don’t remember me?” the little rabbit said. By the sound of her voice she was a female, young and playful and full of spunk. “I thought you’d remember meeeee!”

“No, I’m sorry. But I don’t remember. Have we met before?”

“Of course we met, silly! You prolly don’t remember me, though. I don’t remember actually gettin’ to talk to ya...”

Blinking curiously, Ribbontail shook her head.

“My name isssss-”

The young rabbit stopped in midsentence to hop up. Ribbontail saw then that her spine had been lined with four metal rods, each tipped with a little yellow orb. As if to accentuate her introduction, a great arc of electricity suddenly shot into life and began dancing in between the four rods.

“-Electrabbit! Yay!”

Ribbontail was startled by the voltage that suddenly crackled in front of her. This tiny creature Electrabbit became a big fascination for the goddess: she was a rabbit that could control electricity!

“Fascinating,” complimented Ribbontail. The wolf rose to her paws and circled Electrabbit, gazing down on the electrified creature. “That’s really kind of neat. So you’ve got electric powers do you?”

“Gee, thankee!” Electrabbit gave an ungainly bow, stooping her head down so that her ears flopped forward onto the ground. “And I can do all sortsa stuff too, like I can turn into any animal I want, and I can go anywhere I want! Any planet, yep yep. Just as long as there’s electricity, that is. Teehee!”

Stifling a chuckle, Ribbontail gave the young rabbit a pat on the head. “That’s quite interesting, Electrabbit. But tell me, where are we? And where have you and I met? Did one of the gods tell you to come here and speak to me?”

“Oh yes, Pola and your mom Riddle did,” the rabbit said, sitting up and nodding at Ribbontail. “They said that the other day you were feelin’ kinda down about Emalia, and so Pola suggested showing you what it was like back on Earth. Ring a bell?”

Ribbontail paused, ran that through her head, then nodded down at the rabbit. “Yes, I remember. I was feeling a bit depressed and kind of longed for Earth...”

The goddess’ voice trailed off when she suddenly recalled just where it was that they were. The land they stood in now was the old dry field that stretched out beyond her old school! Swishing her ribbon-tails, Ribbontail gave a little gasp and turned to stare about. Indeed this was the place, right down to the distant mountains and old road that ran adjacent to the school.

“This was where I... died...” Ribbontail reminded herself.

Electrabbit seemed to pick up on the thought, evidently being a mind reader as well. “Eeheehee, yep indeed, this is where ya died. Erm, I mean, this is where your OLD self died.”

Staring now into the distance, Ribbontail paused and sucked in another breath of icy cold air. The weather in this dream contrasted that of the real thing. On her last day Ribbontail recalled that it was sunny, but now the magic of the dream realm encompassed everything in a shroud of mist. It made it cold, thick, and puzzling, a dissolute version of what had once been lovely weather. Ribbontail shuddered.

“Right,” she recalled, “I was sitting watching the other kids play when all of a sudden I saw a-”

“You saw a rabbit!” interrupted Electrabbit. The electrical animal bounded in front of Ribbontail and, in midair, flashed like a ball of lightning. When she hit the ground she had taken the form of an everyday Earth rabbit, with tawny brown fur and beady black eyes.

Ribbontail blinked down at her for a moment, waiting until Electrabbit hopped up and returned to her regular appearance. Then Ribbontail nodded. “Oh yes, I see. So THAT is where we met. You were that little rabbit who kept wanting me to follow you. I never quite understood what that was about... it’s not every day that a rabbit will keep asking you to follow it.”

For a moment Ribbontail paused, sitting down in the brown grass and turning to gaze uphill. The wolf let out a deep sigh as she turned to gape down at Electrabbit. “So how did you get involved in my death? Did the gods ask you to do that for me?”

“Yep! Riddle was becoming impatient. She wanted you to come to Emalia sooner, so that you could take her place as a full goddess. Heehee! So she paid me to travel all the way to Earth, and find a way to have you killed. The rest was all my idea... the road, the truck, blah blah blah. I’m pretty smart, huh?”

After hearing this explanation Ribbontail was aghast. But her pains from the experience had healed over by now, and she acknowledged it with a grin. “I see. Thanks for the explanation, Electrabbit. But why did they go through all the trouble of bringing me a ‘memory dream’? Are you going to show me something here?”

Electrabbit sprang up, wiggling her ears and clapping her paws excitedly. “Oh yeah! Riddle and Pola told me to show you what went down on your death day. Come on, I’ll explain it on the way!”

Stealthily Electrabbit turned, gesturing for Ribbontail to follow. The goddess did as she was told as the two stalked their way through this foggy, eerie dream world.

“This is kinda like a movie,” Electrabbit giggled over her shoulder, “only you can walk through it and stuff. You can see what’s goin’ on and everything. But you’ve gotta keep in mind that it’s also very very dangerous. Stuff like fences and people are really strange in memory dreams. If ya walk into something solid, you can’t move it no matter what. Something as simple as a playground ball will knock you aside. Heehee!”

Ribbontail turned and looked over her shoulder, back downhill to where the cracked old road was. That was the exact spot where she’d died.

“So if I were to do something like step in front of that truck when it passes by, it would kill me?” Ribbontail asked suddenly.

“Ouchies, definitely! That would really hurt, too...”

“Wait, does that mean that I’m going to have to see myself- my old self- die?”

“Yep! And everything before that, too. Heehee! You were really sad looking.”

Lumbering up the hill, Electrabbit hummed herself a happy tune. Together she and Ribbontail made their way through the foggy realm. The ailing and muted light of this dream made Ribbontail uneasy, and the tiniest sound resonated through the mists. Ribbontail kept having to glance back. Something was out there, hidden from sight behind the thick screens of haze.

There was no time to mention this sensation, however, as they halted at what appeared to be a chain link fence. This was the fence that enclosed the old soccer field, and at this height it seemed monstrously large, stretching up into the great gray sky. Being the size of a dog made such a difference!

“C’mon,” called Electrabbit as she hopped through a hole in the fence, “this way. Time to get this memory dream rollin’. Eeheehee!”