“Its funny you know… how these humans work. They just… keep on living knowing that it will end sometime, but they do the same things over and over again. I mean… if I knew I was going to die I’d try everything!”
The voice was ‘spoken’ by Mikki into the wind, knowing that he was alone in this, the great desert where Gods had fought, blood had been spilt, and life seemingly had abandoned. Here, amidst the craggy outcrops of ancient natural monoliths, Mikki sat perched, looking down below at a lone figure herding what appeared to be a flock of shaggy, brown goats. It was quite amazing how this young boy masterfully tended to the obstinate creatures, using what appeared to be a wooden curved stick and some rather strange language sounds to make the goats follow him through some of the deep canyons here at Godsfall. Every now and then one of them would try to go down a different path, but somehow with a series of clicks, the goat would find her way back to the safety of the flock.
Looking down from his vantage point, Mikki could see that the herd of goats was heading towards a nearby village. How this village survived amidst what probably was the harshest terrain in the world puzzled the puppet for a second, before he realised that thinking about that too much was boring.
Speaking of boring, sitting on top of a rock watching a bunch of goats was losing its appeal. Lying back to stare up into the sky, Mikki started to ponder the meaning of life. Was life simply about leading other people like goats, or trying to break away from the pack to explore new things, knowing that it probably would end your story quicker than if you were boring? His time as a mortal human boy was tragically cut short due to illness, but he often pondered how these humans could enjoy things as much as they did. I mean, eating and pooping was grand, but itching and heat and being sick just plain sucked.
Now, as a puppet once again, the heat didn't bother him at all, and whilst the sand often found its ways into his joints it was at least bearable and less itchy than before. He could eat, but getting rid of the mess could be… difficult. He was sure he could do more things that meatbags could do if he wanted, but that would require another specialised puppet to be made, and that would be gross.
Thus the great mind of a tsukumogami pondering the meaning of life would whir away, as a young boy led a group of goats through a ravine. Naturally, nothing of any interest would occur, because it never did in these stories.
It started with the strange bleating of a goat, well in this instance it was the herds ram, a strange specimen indeed. A raggy brown hide covered a strong form, with wicked curved horns, along a very impressive set of low hanging… identifiers that made it very clear that this was the boy goat. The GOAT to be more exact.
Upon hearing the bleating of the Ram, the other goats in the herd started to panic, running forward through the canyon. The boy, noticing that something clearly was wrong, followed suit in an attempt to stay with and possibly protect the herd. The group moved forward quickly, terrified of whatever it was that the ram had bleated.
Mikki, annoyed with the sound, sat upright and focused on the running herd of goats. Goats tended to be dumb, so probably there was some food or something that one of them smelt and the rest just followed. Dumb, just like humans. Well, thats what he thought until a familiar feeling started to creep through his limbs. If he had hair, it would now be sticking up on his arms and neck.
It was a familiar feeling, mostly because his long-time companion was one and dealt with them on a regular basis. His own former tsukumogami spiritual nature loathed them, but he put up with them because, well, they were funny looking. But this one… this one was waaaayyyy too big to be funny. The feeling grew stronger and stronger, just as the rocks he was standing on and those around started to reverberate as if there was an earthquake.
Looking next to him as several pebbles started to rumble, Mikki actually began to be a bit concerned. The feeling was clear, but something this big having that chakra signature was…
He was thrown forward, almost falling off of his perch but thanks to a quick activation of some fire propulsors he righted himself before looking at the horrific sight below. A mouth, larger than an elephant, had reared out of the sand at the bottom of the narrow cavern, filling the entirety of the narrow passage. A long, worm like body emerged, pale and pasty and decaying as it raced to catch up with its prey - the poor herd of goats.
Mikki would have blinked if he had eyes. An undead sandworm.
He and Migoya in years past had fought one of these monstrosities, albeit a bigger one, but the thought of an undead one of these running amok was frightening, even to a puppet. Who the hell made an undead sand worm?!? Ok, Migoya probably would have if he had the time and inclination, but he was busy wrecking the world or somesuch thing. In any event, the thing was here and was actively hunting down the poor goats. Now, Mikki tended not to care about things like this as they normally would be perfectly natural, that is a predator eating some prey. But this was not a normal creature. It was a stinky, horrible undead thing. And it was big, which meant if he killed it he would be that much more awesomer.
The ram continued to bleat, pushing his herd forward. Unfortunately, it seemed that the small shepherd boy had been pushed over by one of the panicked goats and hit his head, his small body laying on the ground unmoving. The herd rounded a corner behind a large rock plinth, leaving the unconscious boy on the ground with no-one but the ram between him and the fast-moving sandworm.
Mikki started to move forward, but something quickly stopped him in his little wooden tracks.
Out of a cloudless desert sky, a stream of a rainbow shot down, striking the undead sandworm. The creature reared back, clearly confused and in a bit of pain, as it seemingly searched for the cause of this annoyance. Mikki too now looked confused, well as confused as a faceless puppet could look as he too tried to figure out the source of the magical rainbow. Was it another shinobi? A God? Some freak of nature that was perfectly explainable? He looked once again at the trio beneath him. A scalded but angry zombie sandworm, an unconscious boy, and a goat. There were no other chakra signatures in the area that he could pinpoint, but that goats… what the actually hell!
Having now attuned himself to the goats chakra, Mikki could see it as plain as anything - this was no ordinary goat. He had called down the rainbow, and Mikki soon could see that the Rams horns and fur were now cracking with colours as it prepared to charge the Sandworm.
Ok. This goat was cool.
The creature reared back as the goat, quick as lightning, crackled forward and slammed into the creature’s thick hide. A normal creature would have baulked at the vicious assault, but unfortunately this was not a normal creature. The lightning seemed to have little effect on the undead creature as it reared back before biting forward… swallowing the poor goat in one vicious gulp.
Well, that was unfortunate.
The sandworm clearly hadnt finished its meal as it now lurched towards the unconscious form of the poor shepherd. Now, if there was one thing Mikki hated it was things hurting children, and right now this stupid, undead, giant worm thing was being a very naughty stupid undead worm thing so it needed to be taught a lesson.
And so, a half-foot or so tall wooden mannequin would be seen by anyone watching (unfortunately no one was) leaping off a rocky mound, buzzsaws whittling, as he hurtled down towards an unsuspecting undead monstrosity.
It was a vicious battle, if Mikki was relating it back to anyone, where he hacked through undead flesh, sending vicera flying in all directions. The problem was that the undead creature didn’t seem to notice that he was there. How rude. As the creature started to creep closer to the child, it was time for Mikki to be a hero.
Leaping gracefully so that he faced the humongous beast, Mikki would activate his flamethrowers - an undead creatures most hated, erm, thing. That got its attention.
“You big dumb bully. Piss off!”
If the sandworm was capable of understanding it gave no evidence as it pounced on the small puppet, swallowing him in one gulp. Very heroic.
—--------------------
Utilising his flamethrower, Mikki produced a small flame that illuminated the cavernous and rotting insides of the undead sandworm. Pieces of fetid flesh hung on the strangely moist insides of the creature, strewn with the decaying remains of whatever the beast had swallowed. Some sort of sticky goop stuck victims to the inside of the worms body, slowing digesting… well, it would have if the creature was alive and in need of sustenance. Now it appeared that whoever had been caught was stuck to the walls of this creatures insides until they starved to death.
A small sobbing sound echoed around the cavern and Mikki turned to see the little shepherd boy, now stuck to the wall. Near to him the strange goat was also stuck, its face looking rather annoyed as it struggled against the goop.
Mikki too was having a difficult time detaching himself from the worm’s stomach wall.
“Well. Fuck this.”, Mikki cursed as he focused his flamethrower on the stomach wall. Almost immediately the creature started to thrash, throwing everyone around sideways. The shepherd boy squealed in fear, and the goat looked more and more annoyed. Still, Mikki kept the flame on the side of the stomach.
“I do not think that will help”a monotonous, deep and disinterested voice intoned.
Mikki turned to look at the human boy, somewhat surprised at how deep his voice was at such a young age. “Well at least Im doing something more than crying.”
The boy continued to wail.
“Can you stop that… its making the Sandworm move and its disturbing Metso here.”
Mikki was surprised that the boy could speak without moving his mouth.
“Well you can tell your goat that I’m trying to get out of this stupid beast’s stomach. You might rot away, but I’m going to be stuck here a lot longer!”
With that Mikki’s red flame turned blue as he focused the heat of his flamethrower into a vicious creation. The smell of burnt flesh and smoke started to fill the cavernous stomach. The creature was in obvious pain as Mikki started to carve out a very small hole, just enough for him to creep through. The thrashing continued causing Mikki to be covered with some sort of disgusting fluid.
“This is the last time I try to help out a sparkly goat and a boy from an undead worm thing.” he muttered under his breath - well, under his… whatever he did.
“Yeah… well… I didn’t exactly ask for a tsukumogami to stick his… buzzsaws where they weren't wanted.”
With the mentioning of a tsukumogami, Mikkis ‘ears’ pricked up and he turned to face the goat, who he had just figured out was the source of the voice. The goat cocked an eyebrow lazily, and almost seemed to smirk.
“Yeah yeah I’m a talking goat. You’re a talking puppet so… which one is weirder, you tell me”. The goat looked disinterested, clearly not caring that he was in the middle of an undead sandworm's gut, stuck by foul smelling goop.
“I don't think you are weird at all. I've spoken to lobsters and jellyfish and dogs and cats and even a dragon before. A goat…. Eh, not so exciting”.
The response from the goat was strange. He chuckled, stopping the poor sobbing boy from whimpering for a second. “Yeah. People often say that. Oh well. Im happy when they leave me alone.”
Mikki nodded. “I once spoke to a guy and he tried to catch me to pull me apart to see how I worked. Its ok - I returned the favour”.
The goat chuckled again. “You are an interesting one. Not many tsukumogami Ive met would put themselves in danger for a human.”
“Eh - hes young, and we cant have undead beasties going around being stupid and all. Theres already enough stupid going around”.
“You got that right”.
“So - how do you suppose we get out of here? Can you do that rainbow thing again?”
“No. Not a good idea. This area is moist and I’m afraid the electrical current would spread… and hurt our friend here”, the goat said, pointing a horn towards the boy. “Your flames are pretty good, but it’s only causing the creature harm, not enabling our escape”.
“Well, its fun though”. Mikki chirped up, causing the goat to laugh his slow laugh again. “Hmm. Well, its sticky goo stuff. I cant really cut it, or burn it, or hit it with a hammer, or poison it… hmm.”
“Yeah it’s a tricky one”,the goat said calmly. Clearly he wasn’t too fazed about what was going on. He started chewing something absentmindedly.
Mikki thought to himself, which was painful for the puppet. He was stuck in the insides of a stupid dumb undead worm’s stomach that would hold him here forever, or at least until the undead beast was, well, destroyed. He could try and call in Migoya or Yong, but they would tease him. So he tried to think harder.
He tried to remember the time he was human. What did a stomach feel like? Well, it felt funny until you put food in it, then it felt good unless you put too much in it. Then it wanted to explode, and there was this sick burning feeling you got. It wasnt fire it was…
The puppet clicked his fingers. Twisting a wrist a canister appeared in his forearm, which he took out with his other hand. Unscrewing its lid, he then proceeded to pour its contents onto the goop nearest his feet, making sure the vicious liquid from the canister didnt touch him. Almost immediately the goop started to dissolve, the smell something that the puppet would have remembered if he had a sense of smell. Shaking his feet clear, Mikki then proceeded to pour the acid, for that was what it was, near to the boy. He then looked at the goat who had been watching him carefully.
“Hmm. So you used acid to dissolve the mucus, much like the natural acids of a living sandworm would have done. Smart for a puppet.”
Taking a second to figure out whether the goat was being kind or not, Mikki decided that helping it out was the way to go. Something though resonated between the two. He reminded Mikki of Yong somehow. Eh - what harm could it do to let a lightning goat free?
Soon the trio would be goop free, but standing on the insides of an undead sandworm still.
“Well, thank you for setting us free. I guess its my turn now? I guess thats how it works”, the goat muttered. Unexpectedly, the goat ruffled its brown, shaggy woollen fur revealing a pair of feathered wings!
Mikki let out a ‘Whoah’. “I didn't know goats had wings?” he said excitedly.
The goat chuckled. “Yeah, well some of us do. Now, get on - ill have to time this right. This thing should be heading towards that village of yours, and it will want to eat.” Helping the boy get onto the back of the goat, and then climbing on himself and holding onto the beasts horns, Mikki was clearly enjoying himself.
It didnt take long for the undead creature to find its prey, the rest of the herd of goats. Sunlight started to beam into the darkened recesses of the monsters stomach as a gargantuan mouth opened up.
“Hold on tightly”,the goat said slowly.
Mikki didnt remember much other than the whoooosh that felt like a bolt of lightning escaping the mouth of the beast. Coming into the sunlight, Mikki looked down from the back of the flying goat to see the worm focusing on the meal in front of it, failing to see the trio who had just escaped. Clearly this thing was just interested in eating and wasn't too smart.
“Hey… erm, goat. Sorry I didnt get your name. Do you think you could fly a bit lower - lets see if we can distract this thing and get it to follow us into the desert.”
“Erm… ok. I cant get too close though. You better know what you are doing… puppet”. The goat responded in a rather strange but bored voice.
Standing on teh goats back and holding onto his horns, Mikki was having the time of his life as the goat flew rings around the sandworms head. The creature did notice them, but the promise of juicy goat flesh had its wrapped attention.
“Ok… fly a bit closer…”
The goat started to hover in front of the sandworm, just staying out of reach. Mikki seemed to be doing something as his wrist opened and a scroll extracted from it. Unravelling the scroll, Mikki performed some sort of strange jutsu…
“You, erm, I hope you are strong”.
Almost immediately the smell of something rather disgusting permeated the air as what looked like a half rotted hippopotamus would appear. The goat, suddenly burdened with a bloody hippo would fall about 20 feet, landing roughly on the ground.
“You - boy, get off and run to the herd”, Mikki ordered. The boy, in shock that his prized ram had wings, that he had just survived a zombie sandworm, the smell of a rotting hippo, and being ordered about by a little puppet, looked blankly for a second before high-tailing it as fast as he could.
“Ok… erm goat. Can you carry this old thing? I can animate it - my friend taught me how - but we need to get the attention of the stupid old worm first.”
“Well… I can, but not for long. I wasnt made for carrying around hippos you know! Oh… and goat wont do. The names Binti.”
Mikki scratched the goats head quickly. “Mikki here. Lets go be heroes!”
With a wry chuckle, the goat started to run, clearly struggling with the weight of the large creature it now had to tow… and not to mention the smell! With a grunt, the goat took wing, clearly both annoyed at what it was doing, but secretly enjoying itself.
Mikki moved from the goats horns towards its hindquarters, holding on for dear life as Binti started to hover once again in front of the sandworm.
“Hey ugly worm thing! Looky here - yummy fat hippo for you!”. Opening up another compartment in his mechanical body, Mikki produced a fan. Soon the ‘delightful’ smell of rotting hippo flesh would waft towards the olfactory senses of the undead monstrosity.
Its focused turned to a flying goat ridden by a puppet, holding a rotting hippopotamus.
“Ok Binti-san… lets get the hells out of here!” Mikki yelled.
The undead creature roared as the goat started to fly away into the desert, trailing the horrid smell of decay behind him. The worm followed, now wanting the taste of hippo. Gross.
Mikki, now confident that the worm had taken the bait, now focused on animating the hippo like he had been taught by Migoya. It wasnt a zombie, and the thing couldnt attack, but it could move and would move forever, like a permanent living puppet. Mikki had hoped to make this one part of his secret puppet zoo, but it was too rotten now. What a waste. His hands flew through the sigils he was taught as a Myakashi, and soon the hippo started to stir.
“Ok Binti-san, lets put this thing down!” Binti, clearly relieved that he would be discarding the hippo, swiftly headed towards the ground. Just before they landed, Mikki let go of the hippo, willing it to run as fast as it could towards the center of the desert.
The creature, as fast as anything on land (they actually are bloody fast!), hit the ground literally running, speeding its way across the rocky dunes like a fat kid after cake. The sandworm, intent on its prey, would follow the creature until both faded into the distance.
Obviously tired, Binti started to breathe heavily, slumping to the ground. Mikki, who never got tired, was still rather excited about the events of the day. He affectionately, at least for Mikki, started to stroke the horns of the ram, eliciting a soft murmur of approval.
“Well Mikki, was it, I can say I have never been eaten by a sandworm, ridden by a tsukumogami whilst holding an undead hippopotamus before… and I have lived a long, long time.” the goat chuckled.
“Well Binti, I can say the same! I mean… you must be a magic goat or something. Lets be friends!”
The goat took on a serious expression for a split second, his almond eyes squinting as if to size up this miniature puppet.
“You know what. Lifes been dull lately. All I have doing is eating and… well, I had a herd of ladies… you know. But its so… dull. I think having you around might change that. Hmm. Let me go talk to my boss and get back to you”.
Mikki, having forgotten the whole contract creature thing, looked very confused as the creature disappeared in a rainbow. He wouldn’t have to wait long as soon something ‘special’ would happen, and the pair would be bonded. What happened is a secret that only the two of them (well, three) would know, but one thing was clear.
Mikki, the former tsukumogami turned living wooden mannequin, and Binti, the magical talking flying rainbow goat and member of the Ungulate contract, found solace in their bond as they flew off into the desert together. Their story would forever echo through the annals of history, reminding all that even the most extraordinary adventures can stem from the unlikeliest of friendships.
WC: 3790
The voice was ‘spoken’ by Mikki into the wind, knowing that he was alone in this, the great desert where Gods had fought, blood had been spilt, and life seemingly had abandoned. Here, amidst the craggy outcrops of ancient natural monoliths, Mikki sat perched, looking down below at a lone figure herding what appeared to be a flock of shaggy, brown goats. It was quite amazing how this young boy masterfully tended to the obstinate creatures, using what appeared to be a wooden curved stick and some rather strange language sounds to make the goats follow him through some of the deep canyons here at Godsfall. Every now and then one of them would try to go down a different path, but somehow with a series of clicks, the goat would find her way back to the safety of the flock.
Looking down from his vantage point, Mikki could see that the herd of goats was heading towards a nearby village. How this village survived amidst what probably was the harshest terrain in the world puzzled the puppet for a second, before he realised that thinking about that too much was boring.
Speaking of boring, sitting on top of a rock watching a bunch of goats was losing its appeal. Lying back to stare up into the sky, Mikki started to ponder the meaning of life. Was life simply about leading other people like goats, or trying to break away from the pack to explore new things, knowing that it probably would end your story quicker than if you were boring? His time as a mortal human boy was tragically cut short due to illness, but he often pondered how these humans could enjoy things as much as they did. I mean, eating and pooping was grand, but itching and heat and being sick just plain sucked.
Now, as a puppet once again, the heat didn't bother him at all, and whilst the sand often found its ways into his joints it was at least bearable and less itchy than before. He could eat, but getting rid of the mess could be… difficult. He was sure he could do more things that meatbags could do if he wanted, but that would require another specialised puppet to be made, and that would be gross.
Thus the great mind of a tsukumogami pondering the meaning of life would whir away, as a young boy led a group of goats through a ravine. Naturally, nothing of any interest would occur, because it never did in these stories.
It started with the strange bleating of a goat, well in this instance it was the herds ram, a strange specimen indeed. A raggy brown hide covered a strong form, with wicked curved horns, along a very impressive set of low hanging… identifiers that made it very clear that this was the boy goat. The GOAT to be more exact.
Upon hearing the bleating of the Ram, the other goats in the herd started to panic, running forward through the canyon. The boy, noticing that something clearly was wrong, followed suit in an attempt to stay with and possibly protect the herd. The group moved forward quickly, terrified of whatever it was that the ram had bleated.
Mikki, annoyed with the sound, sat upright and focused on the running herd of goats. Goats tended to be dumb, so probably there was some food or something that one of them smelt and the rest just followed. Dumb, just like humans. Well, thats what he thought until a familiar feeling started to creep through his limbs. If he had hair, it would now be sticking up on his arms and neck.
It was a familiar feeling, mostly because his long-time companion was one and dealt with them on a regular basis. His own former tsukumogami spiritual nature loathed them, but he put up with them because, well, they were funny looking. But this one… this one was waaaayyyy too big to be funny. The feeling grew stronger and stronger, just as the rocks he was standing on and those around started to reverberate as if there was an earthquake.
Looking next to him as several pebbles started to rumble, Mikki actually began to be a bit concerned. The feeling was clear, but something this big having that chakra signature was…
He was thrown forward, almost falling off of his perch but thanks to a quick activation of some fire propulsors he righted himself before looking at the horrific sight below. A mouth, larger than an elephant, had reared out of the sand at the bottom of the narrow cavern, filling the entirety of the narrow passage. A long, worm like body emerged, pale and pasty and decaying as it raced to catch up with its prey - the poor herd of goats.
Mikki would have blinked if he had eyes. An undead sandworm.
He and Migoya in years past had fought one of these monstrosities, albeit a bigger one, but the thought of an undead one of these running amok was frightening, even to a puppet. Who the hell made an undead sand worm?!? Ok, Migoya probably would have if he had the time and inclination, but he was busy wrecking the world or somesuch thing. In any event, the thing was here and was actively hunting down the poor goats. Now, Mikki tended not to care about things like this as they normally would be perfectly natural, that is a predator eating some prey. But this was not a normal creature. It was a stinky, horrible undead thing. And it was big, which meant if he killed it he would be that much more awesomer.
The ram continued to bleat, pushing his herd forward. Unfortunately, it seemed that the small shepherd boy had been pushed over by one of the panicked goats and hit his head, his small body laying on the ground unmoving. The herd rounded a corner behind a large rock plinth, leaving the unconscious boy on the ground with no-one but the ram between him and the fast-moving sandworm.
Mikki started to move forward, but something quickly stopped him in his little wooden tracks.
Out of a cloudless desert sky, a stream of a rainbow shot down, striking the undead sandworm. The creature reared back, clearly confused and in a bit of pain, as it seemingly searched for the cause of this annoyance. Mikki too now looked confused, well as confused as a faceless puppet could look as he too tried to figure out the source of the magical rainbow. Was it another shinobi? A God? Some freak of nature that was perfectly explainable? He looked once again at the trio beneath him. A scalded but angry zombie sandworm, an unconscious boy, and a goat. There were no other chakra signatures in the area that he could pinpoint, but that goats… what the actually hell!
Having now attuned himself to the goats chakra, Mikki could see it as plain as anything - this was no ordinary goat. He had called down the rainbow, and Mikki soon could see that the Rams horns and fur were now cracking with colours as it prepared to charge the Sandworm.
Ok. This goat was cool.
The creature reared back as the goat, quick as lightning, crackled forward and slammed into the creature’s thick hide. A normal creature would have baulked at the vicious assault, but unfortunately this was not a normal creature. The lightning seemed to have little effect on the undead creature as it reared back before biting forward… swallowing the poor goat in one vicious gulp.
Well, that was unfortunate.
The sandworm clearly hadnt finished its meal as it now lurched towards the unconscious form of the poor shepherd. Now, if there was one thing Mikki hated it was things hurting children, and right now this stupid, undead, giant worm thing was being a very naughty stupid undead worm thing so it needed to be taught a lesson.
And so, a half-foot or so tall wooden mannequin would be seen by anyone watching (unfortunately no one was) leaping off a rocky mound, buzzsaws whittling, as he hurtled down towards an unsuspecting undead monstrosity.
It was a vicious battle, if Mikki was relating it back to anyone, where he hacked through undead flesh, sending vicera flying in all directions. The problem was that the undead creature didn’t seem to notice that he was there. How rude. As the creature started to creep closer to the child, it was time for Mikki to be a hero.
Leaping gracefully so that he faced the humongous beast, Mikki would activate his flamethrowers - an undead creatures most hated, erm, thing. That got its attention.
“You big dumb bully. Piss off!”
If the sandworm was capable of understanding it gave no evidence as it pounced on the small puppet, swallowing him in one gulp. Very heroic.
—--------------------
Utilising his flamethrower, Mikki produced a small flame that illuminated the cavernous and rotting insides of the undead sandworm. Pieces of fetid flesh hung on the strangely moist insides of the creature, strewn with the decaying remains of whatever the beast had swallowed. Some sort of sticky goop stuck victims to the inside of the worms body, slowing digesting… well, it would have if the creature was alive and in need of sustenance. Now it appeared that whoever had been caught was stuck to the walls of this creatures insides until they starved to death.
A small sobbing sound echoed around the cavern and Mikki turned to see the little shepherd boy, now stuck to the wall. Near to him the strange goat was also stuck, its face looking rather annoyed as it struggled against the goop.
Mikki too was having a difficult time detaching himself from the worm’s stomach wall.
“Well. Fuck this.”, Mikki cursed as he focused his flamethrower on the stomach wall. Almost immediately the creature started to thrash, throwing everyone around sideways. The shepherd boy squealed in fear, and the goat looked more and more annoyed. Still, Mikki kept the flame on the side of the stomach.
“I do not think that will help”a monotonous, deep and disinterested voice intoned.
Mikki turned to look at the human boy, somewhat surprised at how deep his voice was at such a young age. “Well at least Im doing something more than crying.”
The boy continued to wail.
“Can you stop that… its making the Sandworm move and its disturbing Metso here.”
Mikki was surprised that the boy could speak without moving his mouth.
“Well you can tell your goat that I’m trying to get out of this stupid beast’s stomach. You might rot away, but I’m going to be stuck here a lot longer!”
With that Mikki’s red flame turned blue as he focused the heat of his flamethrower into a vicious creation. The smell of burnt flesh and smoke started to fill the cavernous stomach. The creature was in obvious pain as Mikki started to carve out a very small hole, just enough for him to creep through. The thrashing continued causing Mikki to be covered with some sort of disgusting fluid.
“This is the last time I try to help out a sparkly goat and a boy from an undead worm thing.” he muttered under his breath - well, under his… whatever he did.
“Yeah… well… I didn’t exactly ask for a tsukumogami to stick his… buzzsaws where they weren't wanted.”
With the mentioning of a tsukumogami, Mikkis ‘ears’ pricked up and he turned to face the goat, who he had just figured out was the source of the voice. The goat cocked an eyebrow lazily, and almost seemed to smirk.
“Yeah yeah I’m a talking goat. You’re a talking puppet so… which one is weirder, you tell me”. The goat looked disinterested, clearly not caring that he was in the middle of an undead sandworm's gut, stuck by foul smelling goop.
“I don't think you are weird at all. I've spoken to lobsters and jellyfish and dogs and cats and even a dragon before. A goat…. Eh, not so exciting”.
The response from the goat was strange. He chuckled, stopping the poor sobbing boy from whimpering for a second. “Yeah. People often say that. Oh well. Im happy when they leave me alone.”
Mikki nodded. “I once spoke to a guy and he tried to catch me to pull me apart to see how I worked. Its ok - I returned the favour”.
The goat chuckled again. “You are an interesting one. Not many tsukumogami Ive met would put themselves in danger for a human.”
“Eh - hes young, and we cant have undead beasties going around being stupid and all. Theres already enough stupid going around”.
“You got that right”.
“So - how do you suppose we get out of here? Can you do that rainbow thing again?”
“No. Not a good idea. This area is moist and I’m afraid the electrical current would spread… and hurt our friend here”, the goat said, pointing a horn towards the boy. “Your flames are pretty good, but it’s only causing the creature harm, not enabling our escape”.
“Well, its fun though”. Mikki chirped up, causing the goat to laugh his slow laugh again. “Hmm. Well, its sticky goo stuff. I cant really cut it, or burn it, or hit it with a hammer, or poison it… hmm.”
“Yeah it’s a tricky one”,the goat said calmly. Clearly he wasn’t too fazed about what was going on. He started chewing something absentmindedly.
Mikki thought to himself, which was painful for the puppet. He was stuck in the insides of a stupid dumb undead worm’s stomach that would hold him here forever, or at least until the undead beast was, well, destroyed. He could try and call in Migoya or Yong, but they would tease him. So he tried to think harder.
He tried to remember the time he was human. What did a stomach feel like? Well, it felt funny until you put food in it, then it felt good unless you put too much in it. Then it wanted to explode, and there was this sick burning feeling you got. It wasnt fire it was…
The puppet clicked his fingers. Twisting a wrist a canister appeared in his forearm, which he took out with his other hand. Unscrewing its lid, he then proceeded to pour its contents onto the goop nearest his feet, making sure the vicious liquid from the canister didnt touch him. Almost immediately the goop started to dissolve, the smell something that the puppet would have remembered if he had a sense of smell. Shaking his feet clear, Mikki then proceeded to pour the acid, for that was what it was, near to the boy. He then looked at the goat who had been watching him carefully.
“Hmm. So you used acid to dissolve the mucus, much like the natural acids of a living sandworm would have done. Smart for a puppet.”
Taking a second to figure out whether the goat was being kind or not, Mikki decided that helping it out was the way to go. Something though resonated between the two. He reminded Mikki of Yong somehow. Eh - what harm could it do to let a lightning goat free?
Soon the trio would be goop free, but standing on the insides of an undead sandworm still.
“Well, thank you for setting us free. I guess its my turn now? I guess thats how it works”, the goat muttered. Unexpectedly, the goat ruffled its brown, shaggy woollen fur revealing a pair of feathered wings!
Mikki let out a ‘Whoah’. “I didn't know goats had wings?” he said excitedly.
The goat chuckled. “Yeah, well some of us do. Now, get on - ill have to time this right. This thing should be heading towards that village of yours, and it will want to eat.” Helping the boy get onto the back of the goat, and then climbing on himself and holding onto the beasts horns, Mikki was clearly enjoying himself.
It didnt take long for the undead creature to find its prey, the rest of the herd of goats. Sunlight started to beam into the darkened recesses of the monsters stomach as a gargantuan mouth opened up.
“Hold on tightly”,the goat said slowly.
Mikki didnt remember much other than the whoooosh that felt like a bolt of lightning escaping the mouth of the beast. Coming into the sunlight, Mikki looked down from the back of the flying goat to see the worm focusing on the meal in front of it, failing to see the trio who had just escaped. Clearly this thing was just interested in eating and wasn't too smart.
“Hey… erm, goat. Sorry I didnt get your name. Do you think you could fly a bit lower - lets see if we can distract this thing and get it to follow us into the desert.”
“Erm… ok. I cant get too close though. You better know what you are doing… puppet”. The goat responded in a rather strange but bored voice.
Standing on teh goats back and holding onto his horns, Mikki was having the time of his life as the goat flew rings around the sandworms head. The creature did notice them, but the promise of juicy goat flesh had its wrapped attention.
“Ok… fly a bit closer…”
The goat started to hover in front of the sandworm, just staying out of reach. Mikki seemed to be doing something as his wrist opened and a scroll extracted from it. Unravelling the scroll, Mikki performed some sort of strange jutsu…
“You, erm, I hope you are strong”.
Almost immediately the smell of something rather disgusting permeated the air as what looked like a half rotted hippopotamus would appear. The goat, suddenly burdened with a bloody hippo would fall about 20 feet, landing roughly on the ground.
“You - boy, get off and run to the herd”, Mikki ordered. The boy, in shock that his prized ram had wings, that he had just survived a zombie sandworm, the smell of a rotting hippo, and being ordered about by a little puppet, looked blankly for a second before high-tailing it as fast as he could.
“Ok… erm goat. Can you carry this old thing? I can animate it - my friend taught me how - but we need to get the attention of the stupid old worm first.”
“Well… I can, but not for long. I wasnt made for carrying around hippos you know! Oh… and goat wont do. The names Binti.”
Mikki scratched the goats head quickly. “Mikki here. Lets go be heroes!”
With a wry chuckle, the goat started to run, clearly struggling with the weight of the large creature it now had to tow… and not to mention the smell! With a grunt, the goat took wing, clearly both annoyed at what it was doing, but secretly enjoying itself.
Mikki moved from the goats horns towards its hindquarters, holding on for dear life as Binti started to hover once again in front of the sandworm.
“Hey ugly worm thing! Looky here - yummy fat hippo for you!”. Opening up another compartment in his mechanical body, Mikki produced a fan. Soon the ‘delightful’ smell of rotting hippo flesh would waft towards the olfactory senses of the undead monstrosity.
Its focused turned to a flying goat ridden by a puppet, holding a rotting hippopotamus.
“Ok Binti-san… lets get the hells out of here!” Mikki yelled.
The undead creature roared as the goat started to fly away into the desert, trailing the horrid smell of decay behind him. The worm followed, now wanting the taste of hippo. Gross.
Mikki, now confident that the worm had taken the bait, now focused on animating the hippo like he had been taught by Migoya. It wasnt a zombie, and the thing couldnt attack, but it could move and would move forever, like a permanent living puppet. Mikki had hoped to make this one part of his secret puppet zoo, but it was too rotten now. What a waste. His hands flew through the sigils he was taught as a Myakashi, and soon the hippo started to stir.
“Ok Binti-san, lets put this thing down!” Binti, clearly relieved that he would be discarding the hippo, swiftly headed towards the ground. Just before they landed, Mikki let go of the hippo, willing it to run as fast as it could towards the center of the desert.
The creature, as fast as anything on land (they actually are bloody fast!), hit the ground literally running, speeding its way across the rocky dunes like a fat kid after cake. The sandworm, intent on its prey, would follow the creature until both faded into the distance.
Obviously tired, Binti started to breathe heavily, slumping to the ground. Mikki, who never got tired, was still rather excited about the events of the day. He affectionately, at least for Mikki, started to stroke the horns of the ram, eliciting a soft murmur of approval.
“Well Mikki, was it, I can say I have never been eaten by a sandworm, ridden by a tsukumogami whilst holding an undead hippopotamus before… and I have lived a long, long time.” the goat chuckled.
“Well Binti, I can say the same! I mean… you must be a magic goat or something. Lets be friends!”
The goat took on a serious expression for a split second, his almond eyes squinting as if to size up this miniature puppet.
“You know what. Lifes been dull lately. All I have doing is eating and… well, I had a herd of ladies… you know. But its so… dull. I think having you around might change that. Hmm. Let me go talk to my boss and get back to you”.
Mikki, having forgotten the whole contract creature thing, looked very confused as the creature disappeared in a rainbow. He wouldn’t have to wait long as soon something ‘special’ would happen, and the pair would be bonded. What happened is a secret that only the two of them (well, three) would know, but one thing was clear.
Mikki, the former tsukumogami turned living wooden mannequin, and Binti, the magical talking flying rainbow goat and member of the Ungulate contract, found solace in their bond as they flew off into the desert together. Their story would forever echo through the annals of history, reminding all that even the most extraordinary adventures can stem from the unlikeliest of friendships.
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