Chapter Twenty Six: so confusing ow my brain.

"im so confused right now. ow my brain."

-???

eternity sprawled out around them, an endless, moving void of stars and electricity.
999 was gliding backwards, while the others gazed wonderously at the surreal landscape
999 smiled back at them "unreal, isn't it? well, this is the passage of eternity, the pathway leading beyond the realm of existence"
Aeon looked at collin "been a good twenty-or-so years since i've been here."
collin opened his paw "three... two... one..." he counted off on his fingers
banson, carl, kevin, Aeon, and oriado convulsed as they reduced in size.
they stared in shock as they drifted alongside collin, patrick, syrus, lily, amelia and 999.
"don't worry, that's a newer feature, just makes things easier, you see." 999 assured them
Aeon panted "oh my... this is incredible..." he looked at his son, extatic "you're taller than me!"
lily flew up beside benson "well, doesn't THIS bring back memories?"
he laughed "of a month ago?"
"yeah!"

a grey cube appeared ahead of them.
Aeon grabbed his son's arm "let's go, Grey room awaits!"
lily and benson joined up.
kevin and oriado.
syrus and carl.
"it feels wierd being the same size as you, carl."
"that it is."
collin flew aongside amelia, and called out the command with 999
"outside the boundaries of time and space, where human people have no place, the order will replace elzunace, enter his tomb - clear of doom, now... open the Grey room!"
white light flashed, and they all stood in an empty room, the walls, roof and floor were coloured grey.
999 looked up "kierran, mass jump: the arctic"
what appeared to be a middle aged husky appeared on the ceiling briefly, standing upside down "yes sir!"

the floor opened up, and everyone fell through.
they found themselves falling through a blue tunnel, the giants returning to their normal size.
benson quickly gathered lily in his paws "don't worry lil, i've got you."
"thanks ben!"
carl felt syrus grab his ear "you okay, sy?" he laughed
"no i am not, i'd prefer not to end up flat when we land!" he cried out in panic
"oh, right, sorry!" he said apologetically, and reached up to his ear, pressing syrus gently to his head.
patrick meerly shifted into his larger canine form.
kevin offered amelia a paw
"thanks, kev."

collin and the emperor looked at eachother, smirking.
"brace for landing!" they said in unison.

the cold air whipped around them, and the soft, freezing white snow greeted their paws on landing.
"brrr!" lily shivered "i-it's t-t-too cold!"
benson smiled, and slipped her into the padded pocket of his white winter jacket "how's this?"
she bunkered down in the warmth it offered "h-hoh, yeah!" she answered contentedly.
999, collin, and oriado stretched.
the brown wolf sighed "ah, the cold air feels nice, doesn't it?"
kevin shivered "i-i'll never u-un-understand y-you w-wolves and y-your love o-of the c-c-cold!"
oriado wrapped his arm around the german shepherd "course not, it's a wolf thing!"
he hugged him closer to try and help him keep warm.
"n-noted."
syrus shivered, and carl fished into his backpack "know it's in here...." he rummaged around "ah! got it!"
he withdrew a blue woolen beanie.
syrus protested with a shivering groan, but submitted.
"you'll thank me when you don't get frostbite."
as he put on the beanie, syrus pulled his hair a bit "my fur INSULATES ME from the cold!"
"ow. then why're you shivering? ow."
"draught."
nonetheless, carl pulled the beanie on.
"i'm only letting you do this to keep yourself warm, you know." the otter insisted, and pushed the fabric back a bit, giving himself room to move.
"noted." the leopard laughed
syrus tugged his hair again
"ow."

collin growled as he shifted into giant-feral mode. (smaller than megalith)
Aeon and 999 hummed "good idea."
they changed into the same form.
patrick raised an eyebrow " i didn't know you could all do a partial transformation?"
the brown wolf seemed to smile at him
"i taught him, after i taught myself."
everyone jumped back
"oh, right. yes, i'm still able to speak in this form."
kevin stared "h-how?" he shivered
"because, i'm the original Glilouted one. my variation is the strongest one."
"i s-see"
"also just because i wanted to."
everyone looked at him confusedly
he seemed to laugh
"hello? Demigod!" he yipped.
everyone 'ahed' and nodded.
the brown wolf strode forward "follow me, they're this way!"
he broke into a run
everyone followed.
kevin shivered as the winds bit at him, his fur wasn't thick enough.
he envied the wolves thicker fur.

they continued running for about six minutes.
kevin was barely able to keep running due to the cold, but oddly, benson didn't seem to mind how cold it was.

"hey, b-ben?"
the fox turned his head "yes?"
"how c-can you d-deal with the c-cold so w-well?"
the fox flashed a toothy smile "in my infant years, i lived at the base of an ice mountain, then, my grandparents' underground home had an ice cavern, which i played in nearly every day."
"ah..." oriado nodded "...you've built up a resistance to the cold, then."
the fox nodded "yep. only took the first third-of-my-life-or-so"
"third?" patrick asked, just barely keeping up with his father.
"part one: with my biological family. part two: my assholish adoption. part three: now."
amelia was shivering in between kevin's paws "i s-see."
kevin looked down "s-sorry, amelia."
she shook her head "n-n-not your f-fault."
"w-wish i'd b-brought a w-warmer..."
his vision clouded
"warmer w-what?" she asked
kevin stopped.
oriado looked back and saw "guys, hold up!"
everyone stopped to see kevin hunched over, trembling.
"kevin!" benson exclaimed, and rushed to him.

"i-i'm o-k-k-kay"
"no, you aren't." he looked right into his friend's eyes, putting himself in the center of his vision "what can you see?"
"a w-white blur?"
"he's snowblind, and he's beginning to freeze." the fox analysed.
he took amelia from his grasp, and put her with lily.
then he rubbed his paws together rapidly.
he placed them on the back of kevin's head.
"kevin, can you hear me?"
"s-sorta"
benson looked around, panicking
"there's gotta be a cave... or... something!?"
999 grunted "get back!"
everyone bolted as he entrered megalith-size and drove his paws into the ground.
he removed them and downsized. he had created a place for them to rest.
"inside!" he barked (literal)
everyone clambered inside.
999 growled, and spat fire onto the ground.
"use that, i'm going to determine our direction."
he ran out of the cave.
benson yawned "come out please, i need to rest for a bit."
benson put two fingers into his pocket, and the girls grabbed on. he withdrew his paw and let them settle on his chest as he lay down to rest.
lily smiled up at him and sighed "i wonder what he dreams about?"
"not sleeping yet." he said tiredly.
she giggled "sorry~!"
he kept his eyes closed and yawned "you're forgiven..."
his breathing deepened, and he fell asleep, the girls rising and falling with his chest.
"i stll wonder." she said to her sister.
"`probably about you.`"
lily blushed "`maybe`..."
benson snored quietly.
amelia scoffed "`well, 'ats a dealbreaker, right there.`"
benson's ear twitched.
lily shook her head "`i think it's nice.`"
"`the snoring?`"
"`yeah... i dunno, it's... comforting. let's you know he's peaceful`" she said, gazing at his slumbering face contentedly.
carl sat with his back to the wall, keeping his beanie on "you okay up there, sy?"
"yeah, i'm fine. you gonna keep this thing on?"
"yeah... sorry."
"meh, you gotta keep y' head warm."
carl sighed "does your fur really insulate you that well?"
"well" syrus said proudly "it IS meant to keep the bone chilling cold of the ocean out"
carl yawned "i see..."
"you gonna sleep?"
"yeah..."
"i'll keep an ear out."
"thanks sy..."
"no problem."
and carl fell asleep.

kevin sat beside the fire, shivering.
oriado sighed dissapointedly "sorry, kev... i forgot about how the cold affects you."
"it's-okay..." he shivered.
he hugged him "this help?"
"a--little--i--guess..."
he laid kevin's head against his chest "it's my fault, i know my fur keeps the chill out, but..." he smiled wryly "...yours... doesn't..."
kevin glared at him "please... stop... t-talking..."

"yes, please do."

oriado turned and looked out the entrance to see 999 and collin sitting just at the mouth of the cave, guarding it.
collin moaned: *it's getting a little annoying.*
oriado sighed "sorry."
"get some rest, all of you. Aeon, you should stay in that form for a while."
the black dog nodded.

an hour passed before he heard collin's voice in his head again

*ori? ori get out here, 999 needs to rest.*

the black and white wolf slid the sleeping german shepherd off of him, and moved to the entrance, the brown feral wolf reigniting the fire as he passed.

oriado sat with collin, and they engaged in a conversation.

*do you really like him?*

"kevin? definitely. i'm just sorry that i forgot he couldn't deal with the cold as well as we can."

*yes, he is no wolf. he is a dog.*

"like you're one to talk - err... bark, right now."

*i am still a wolf, nonetheless.*

"you'd be great as a pet"

*what does that mean?* collin asked, leering.

"y'know, like, undercover or whatever. you could probably pass for normal on earth."

*perhaps. but i can turn human whenever i want now.*

"by the way, why did you become a wolf?"

*no idea. ask 999, he'd know.*

"yeah, yeah. oh look, the blizzard's dying down."

*that will help the others.*

they looked back into the cave, watching everyone sleep
"shall we wake them?"

*yes. let's.*
"hey..."

colin looked at him and tilted his head: *what is it?*

"if the whole 'ninja' thing doesn't work out, you're welcome to be a domestic"
he patted collin on the head

*please refrain from doing that, i'm not a pet.*
"you'd be a good one."

*please shut up.*

"seriously though, will you consider it?"

the white wolf smiled
*i might.*

collin padded back into the cave, and oriado followed
"okay, guys, wake up! we gotta get moving!
kevin, patrick, Aeon, and carl yawned and stood up.
999 rose to all-fours, stretched, and yawned "ahh, everyone ready?"

benson loosed a cavernous yawn, and opened his eyes.
he put his paws at stomach height, and sat up, catching the sleeping sisters.
he deposited them in the pocket, letting them keep sleeping.
they extinguished the fire, and 999 approached kevin.
"can you cope with the chill? the blizzard has ended."
"i should be able to deal"
they exited the cave, and ran west.

collin ran up beside 999

*ori and i were wondering, why did you turn me into a wolf?*

"collin, the glilou is determined by the person themselves. it is not my choice."

*really?*

"yes."

oriado ran beside kevin, holding back to stay beside him
"you okay?"
the german shepherd huffed "i'm fine. it's not as bad this time..."
oriado's ears splayed "are you... mad at me?"
"no."
"really?"
"really. now, i've gotta catch up!"

benson ran near the front, just behind 999 and collin.
a buzzing went through his head.
"stop."
everyone stopped

999 looked curious "what is it?"

"my.... shadow..."

(that is correct, it is me. but, can you not sense that?)

benson looked up "what... is that?"

everyone looked up, but saw nothing.

(not with the eyes! use your mind.)

benson opened his mind, and heard voices.
"voices..."

""how much further?"" the first voice asked
""they're supposed to be headed to the ruins up here, but it's not far now..."" another voice answered
""bro, seriously, are they going to be there?"" a third voice complained
""yes. they should... hey, can you feel that?"" the second asked
""yeah... what is that?"" asked the third
benson cut off the 'transmission'

(they are headed to the ruins, they are looking for you.)

"agh... this doesn't make sense..."
999 opened his eyes "i heard them, too."
benson winced "my head... hurts"
"that's natural, between your shadow, and that 'transmission' ... it'd be pretty stressful."
kevin looked at him "can you continue, ben?"
"i can"

ahead lay the location they were searching for.
like hell he was going to give up!