Pandora's Observations: The Great Outdoors
15th night of the 11th moon of 485
An intrepid group walked through the forest, lit by the moon above and sparks below. Juno led with her spark arm extended, lighting her steps and ensuring she kept to the path. Her black scales reflected the yellowed light from her spark as her slow amble led her up the trail. Behind her Leo advanced in bits and spurts, grey hairs of his survivalist form flashing throught the night. He would walk up right behind Juno, then dash off into the forest and change the color of his hairs to blend in. Pandora and Delphia trailed behind, looking out into the woods trying to spot Leo before he would eventually reappear somewhere. Neither of them were terribly successful. Once, while they were distracted looking for him in the bushes, they accidently bumped into him on the path.
At the tail end of the group was Pluto, spark providing additional light from behind, and making sure the children stayed with them. He hummed absently as he walked behind the playing children.
-o-
As minutes turned to hours, the children's game shifted, now with Leo and Pandora seeing how far they could travel without touching the ground by jumping from trees in their survivalist forms. Within a few more minutes, Leo and Pandora were exhausted, and returned to the group. Pandora took on her scout form to watch from above as Leo and Delphia started chatting.
-o-
The scenery around them began to change, as trees spread out, and the path started going up. The children, now worn and tired, had lapsed into a quiet trudge between the adults, requiring occasional kind reminders that they had asked to go. Juno and Pluto's trudging pace remained unchanged.
-o-
Uphill turned to rolling hills, which eventually became a single, never-ending incline. The path switched back and forth on the way up. Distinct trees were replaced by thick shrubbery on either side of the group.
Leo was the first to discover a new method of transportation when he asked Juno if he could practice his camouflage from her back, securing a place on her shoulders. After watching her stumble and nearly fall several times, Pluto suggested Pandora ride atop his, from which she could look around with impunity. Delphia turned down Pluto's offer of riding with Juno and matched Pluto and Juno's pace on foot.
While riding on Pluto's shoulders, Pandora looked about her, casting her scout avatar around and looking. She cast her gaze above, from which she could see their group, with yellow sparks in front and rear, advancing up the mountainside. She could see their farm off in the distance, and could just make out the road leading away to Delos. She saw the vast expanse of hilly forest they had walked through to get to where they were. She saw the edge of the trees, where the forest had turned to alpine zone. She also saw their destination: the top of Mount Giona.
By the time they reached the summit Leo was asleep on Juno's shoulder, held in place by her right arm, and Pandora was beginning to nod off atop Pluto's shoulders. Delphia looked about ready to fall over, but turned down offers of help. Pluto and Juno looked as fresh as when they'd started hours earlier.
Pandora came to with a start as Pluto set her down
"We're here." Pluto said simply and gestured away from him.
Pandora looked around. They had gone over the edge of the mountain, and were now on the other side. She looked where Pluto pointed, and thought it all worth it. They stood at a sheer cliff looking over a forest. Pandora could see the rolling expanse ahead of her, but some of it seemed blurry.
"The edge of the barrier." Pluto said grandly, "Or, well, one of the edges." He scratched the back of his head, "As you know, the barrier only touches the ground at the edges, rising and falling with the land in the middle. But here," he gestured forward, "the land drops too fast. The barrier falls, and we can see the edge. Even without the scout form, you can make out the dropping edge, and the definitive edge in the distance." He glanced at Pandora and Leo, "And with the scout form, you can see outside the barrier."
Pluto transformed into the red skinned scout form and indicated a ledge. "If you stand there, and cast your gaze out as far as you can, you can glimpse outside."
Pandora stood where indicated and cast her gaze outside. It was majestic. The moon, instead of a travelling smear in the sky had distinct edges! And she had heard of the stars, but never seen them. Now she could see the guiding light and one of the travelers, having just risen above the horizon. She'd been told about the stars, but hadn't seen the before. She shifted her avatar's position, and could see another of the travelers as if it were the late afternoon sun, though much smaller. Pandora smiled, now she'd seen three of the five stars, and was looking outside the barrier. All thoughts of sleep were forgotten.
Pandora continued to watch the moon and three stars with rapt attention as first Leo then Pluto's scout avatars popped up near her. Leo's barely made it outside the barrier, but he could still see the moon and stars. The three avatars occasionally shifted, making frames in still motion as one would point to a star, the others would look at it, then jump into the field of view of each other to point their attention elsewhere. Pluto tended to point towards the edges of the barrier, where the forest became distinct and clear again. Pandora tended to look upwards, having seen forests before but not the moon and stars. Leo played with shifting his avatar right at the edge of the barrier.
Eventually, the sky began to light up from the sunrise. Pandora had never seen a sunrise this clear before. It was as if a fog was lifted as she watched the wispy clouds turn a bright red. She, Leo, and Pluto all watched silently as the stratified shades of red, yellow, and purple progressed up the sky. Eventually, the sun itself became visibility, and looking at it prevented Pandora from seeing well.
Pluto's avatar became agitated, and started pointing off into the distance near the sun. Leo and Pandora turned to look, and they saw a black shape, silhouetted by the sunrise begin to advance towards them. It grew larger and larger until it blotted out the sun.
Eventually, they were able to see it distinctly, and it was terrifying. It's wingspan was at least twice as wide as Pandora's house. It was covered in glistening black scales, and had a brown beak sharpened to a tip at the end of it's mouth. It spotted them, opened it's maw and began to advance.
Pandora felt something shake her, so returned her scout avatar to her body.
"'-andora! Pandora!" Delphia was shaking her, expression alert and muscles tense, "What was that?"
"Some kind of bird I think." Pandora responded. "Don't worry, the barrier will protect us." She looked back at the edge of the barrier, "I'm going to go take another look."
Pandora cast her vision out beyond the barrier, and was surprised by what she saw. By now the bird was upon their avatars. Leo had his semi-transparent avatar mostly behind the barrier, but Pluto kept appearing just at the corner of the monster's vision. It would spot him, charge the stationary avatar, try to eat it, and just pass through it. Then, Pluto would reappear at the corner of it's vision, and it would fly towards that.
Laughing (though she could not hear herself), Pandora joined her father in dancing around the giant bird. Eventually, Leo joined in. Whether by coincidence or design, the bird began to follow Leo's avatar, and he was unable to stay far enough outside the barrier. With maw open, the monster charged the barrier. Instantly, the world lit up white. Even after returning her vision to her body, Pandora could barely see. By the time she could, she was surprised at what she saw.
Down the mountainside, lay the charred body of the once proud creature. It's beady eyes seemed to have burst, it's brown beak stained red with rivulets of blood. It was unmoving.
Pluto and Leo also returned to their bodies.
"Well. That was exciting." Pluto said. "We'll want to strip the body for materials." He glanced at the children who had stayed up through the night, "Later. For now, we should start going home." He threw both Pandora and Delphia on his shoulders, ignoring Pandora's laughs and Delphia's protests and began to walk back home.
As the shock wore off, and Dada's ambling steps and gentle humming rocked her, Pandora found herself getting sleepier and sleepier, eventually falling asleep securely on her father's shoulders.