Chapter Text
“Are you seriously making me go this time?” Zooble glanced at the portal. Caine was staring back at them.
“Of course I am! How are you gonna have fun when you don’t go anywhere? It’s time for a new experience, Zooble!” Caine enthusiastically spun, making a sudden stop as he pointed to the portal. It was purple, warping at the edges.
The circus was a quiet place without the rest of the members, and Zooble found peace in staying inside. But with that comes being left out after every single adventure.
“Ugh, fine.” Zooble gave up. Gangle was going, so how bad could it be?
“I knew you had some obedience in you!” Caine waved as Zooble groaned, slowly walking and entering the portal.
The shift in dimensions caught Zooble off guard as gravity seemed to waver around them, but only for a few seconds.
As the rest of the gang appeared, so did their surroundings. Trees covered most of the land, but the rest was surrounded by plants of all kinds. There were benches near every path.
The air was cold, with leaves and purple dots whirling around as the sky glowed above them.
The sky was a purplish pink, with clouds landscaping in front of it. It reminded Zooble of the cotton candy she used to get at carnivals when she was in the real world.
The gang looked almost shocked to see Zooble there.
“Oh, Zooble, you showed up!” Gangle smiled.
“Yeah, I thought I’d come along today.” Zooble sat down on the bench; this isn’t so bad. At least not yet.
“He forced you, didn’t he?” Jax grinned, knowing he was correct. Zooble scoffed.
“So.. what do we do here?” Pomni murmured awkwardly.
Zooble looked around at the environment. There were 3 brick paths with trees lined up on each side.
“I say we go explore! We can split up into groups and look for clues,” Kinger’s eyes lit up. Pomni nodded.
“Alright. Let’s get into groups and see what we can find. Kinger, wanna team up?” Pomni looked over at Kinger as he gave a thumbs up.
“Alright Gangle, you’re coming with me,” Jax swiftly snatches Gangle’s ribbon, causing her to thrash around. But Zooble was quick to take her back.
“*bleep* off, Jax! If you’re gonna be a jerk, don’t bring Gangle into it for once.” Zooble protested, their eyebrows furrowing at the sight of the purple rabbit. Jax’s grin slightly lowered as he turned around.
“Fine. I guess that leaves you and me, Raggie!” Jax winks at Ragatha. Crossing her arms with a sigh, she responds.
“Fine. So, which way are we going?” Ragatha asks.
“How about this: me and you go to the path on the left, Pomni and Kinger go to the path in the middle, and Zooble and Gangle go to the path on the right. How does that sound?” Jax leans back into a tree. The gang peered at each other before collectively agreeing.
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With Ragatha and Jax:
“Geez, Raggie, why’re you so moody today?” Jax questioned, skipping along the path.
The only thing keeping everything from going completely dark was the lanterns and candles hanging above the trees. The sky was still visible with that purple color, but no longer glowing like before. The stars marched as they elevated.
“I’m not moody. I just.. Nevermind.” Ragatha frowns. And for a second, Jax went silent, trying to remember the last time he saw Ragatha upset like this. His cheeky grin returned as he realized how stupid he looked.
“Whatever.” Jax went back to skipping.
The path was long enough to where they couldn’t see the end. It was like a never ending journey to nowhere. But they kept going.
After about 20 minutes of miserable walking, Jax and Ragatha spotted a red sign hanging from one of the trees. “Mid-stop,” it read. What does that even mean?
“What do we do now?” Jax scratches his head.
“I don’t know, maybe we wai- OH MY GOD!” Both Ragatha and Jax jolted as a bird-like figure suddenly appeared in front of them.
The figure had black, beady eyes and blue feathers of varied sizes. And not to mention it was as big as Ragatha’s head.
“Hey there!!” Its voice was high pitched and annoying. It almost sounded like a mouse.
“What.. are you?” Ragatha stayed back, prepared to bolt away at any moment.
“I’m Ruby, and I’ll be your guide today!” The figure excitedly flapped its wings.
“Our guide?” Jax raised an eyebrow.
“Yes!”
Jax looked to his left. Behind all of the trees, there was a silhouette of.. a house? It looked small and abandoned, with holes as windows and dark grey mist surrounding it.
“Caine went all out for this adventure,” Jax thought.
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With Zooble and Gangle:
This was one of the more peaceful adventures. Caine always got the wrong idea when it came to the members and what they like. And most of the time, he tried to impress Zooble and Zooble only.
Some tried to understand, and some will defy everything until Caine hopefully stops trying one day. Zooble saw both sides of the coin. Sure, Caine put them through agony every once in a while, but at least he was trying, you know?
“Why did we have to take the longer route?” Zooble complained to herself. Gangle made a stop, gazing up at the sky for a moment before continuing.
“The stars look really pretty,” she commented.
“Yeah. I have to say, this isn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Zooble replied.
There was a brief silence for a moment. They could almost hear the trees blowing and the sparkling dots of purple buzzing. The atmosphere was cozy, unlike the spacious scene of the circus.
“Hey, thanks for, you know, saving me from Jax,” Gangle breathed.
“Anytime.”
The path they were on had dozens of twists and turns; it almost looked like it was meant for the average person to get lost. Zooble and Gangle kept that in mind when walking, making sure to map it out in their minds in case they got lost.
“Uhh.. What’s that?” Gangle pointed with her ribbon. There was a big peice of paper on a nearby bench, a scramble of letters covering most of the page.
“This could be a clue!” Zooble grabbed the paper and examined it for a second before folding it up.