#through another world

[throughanotherworldmsm]

Through Another World- Chapter 3

Another chapter to my msm story. *insert tbh creature yippee*

Pandora's log! (1st September, 12000)

Gwen and I have somehow ended up in the Human World. It's a weird place and we've met this Strombonin named Hermit. I feel so bad for him- he's been stuck here for 15 years. I don't know if my sister likes him, but I hope he'll feel better now that he has us. And that Gwen will stop yelling...

We're going to help him find his Strombone. Then we'll all go home. I can get back to the Institute! When I graduate I can help monsters like Hermit. Hopefully one day everyone can be happy.

Pandora put her notebook and pen back in her bag. Good thing she always carried those. It was good to document anything important. She could look back in it years later, and hopefully it would be fun.

Gwen and Hermit were asleep on the other side of the room, layed out on the carpet and the beanbag respectiveley. Hermit's bunker thing was strange. The walls beneath the gigantic piles of weird human stuff- some of it a lot like monster stuff, and others not- were bare, white, and thick. Hermit said it was old and belonged to the humans once.

Was it just her imagination, or did Gwen shudder? No, she never shuddered in her sleep, ever. Gwen never had nightmares and almost never got sick.

Breathing deeply and calmly, she curled up in the corner, falling asleep in minutes.

_______________

Gwen was running for her life, in some weird broken version of the Collosingum. He was chasing her. Storm killed Firecracker and he was going to kill her too. She had to run.

She looked back at the gigantic T-Rox, his heavy feet shaking the dry, dusty ground each time he took a step. 

A bronze amulet clicked on his chest. That wasn't there before. There was an odd arrangement of symbols on it, but she couldn't get a good look before Storm's gaping jaws closed around their face....

"Gwen,"

The Dandidoo blinked her eyes open, remembering the previous days events and staring up at the pale, scar-covered Strombonin's yellow eyes, the bags under them visible in the slight beams of orange sunlight sweeping into the bunker. 

Through the small shaft of natural light she could see the sun was just beginning to rise. It was fine, though. She got up this early anyway.

Gwen rose to her feet, groaning. The carpet was uncomfortable. She had to get back to her home where things were nice.

Pandora was still sound asleep, pressed against the wall and breathing lightly. Gwen nudged her sister awake as Hermit packed a bunch of things into a bag. Things like weapons, tools, jars of food and bottles of water, all no doubt stolen from the nearby human town. 

"Oh..." Pandora stretched her wings and ruffled her feathers as she rose. "Oh! Yesterday happened! We gotta go!" 

"I agree. I've got everything ready," Hermit responded. He gazed thoughtfully across the bunker. Probably saying goodbye to this messy cluttered place that looked like a rowdy monsterling's room.

She thought about the dream. It was almost exactly like the day before she was forced to leave the Collosingum, the day when everything went horribly wrong- but a corrupted reality where Storm won.

In the Collosingum, the main rule was 'Sing till one falls'. You simply had to bring your opponent to the ground, without hurting them and ESPECIALLY without killing them.

But the T-Rox she'd been put up angainst had taken it too far. And she had to do so too to defend herself. She killed him in the process, but not before the Collosingum's organiser, Firecracker the Congle, ended up dead too.

And so, the very next day she had to leave for breaking the rules. If anyone else knew she'd be thrown straight to the castle dungeons for sure.

"Gwen, are you alright? You look so distant,"

Her train of thought had been interrupted by Pandora. The unusual group of monsters had been walking for nearly an hour, with Hermit at the front with a backpack across his shoulders, constantly holding up one of those human 'gun' things and looking around for threats.

Unusual autumn smells filled her nostrils while leaves crunched under her talons. Gwen took a deep breath. "I don't trust him," she confessed quietly, whispering into her adoptive sibling's ear.

"Well, maybe you should learn to trust others," Pandora responded, the constant calm and comforting energy she had hinted in her voice. "He hasn't done anything wrong at all. Wouldn't you be acting strange too if you'd been completely alone for 15 years?"

Gwen sighed, and then winced as she bumped into Hermit's rough fur and scales. 

He just scowled at her slightly, then crouched, gesturing for the two sisters to keep silent. 

Gwen peered through the bushes. The area right past dipped into a river, with two small boats floating in the middle, each of them containing three humans, all of them laughing and chattering in an incomprehensible human language.

"Wait for them to leave," Hermit whispered. "We can't risk being spotted,"

"Why did you bring weapons, then? Aren't they to fight off the humans?"

"Only when they attack first or see us! It's safer to sneak past!" Hermit whisper-shouted, moving Gwen aside with his tail.

She hissed at him for suddenly touching her, staying in a stiff position with her feathers spread out. 

Right as Pandora was about to calm her down, one of the humans turned their heads and pointed, causing the rest of the group to follow and begin shouting.

"NOW look what you've done!" Hermit called out.

One of the humans drew what looked like a small pocket knife and stood its ground.

Instinct took over Gwen's mind as she leaped several feet into the air, controlling the plants around and letting them contort into massive vines. She wrapped her talons around one of them and used it to bounce all the way onto the one of the boats, almost capsizing it with the sheer impact of her landing.

The humans yelped in terror, and the one with the pocket knife, a stout one with flowing blonde hair around wrapped around it's neck, slashed it's weapon at the tall Dandidoo, slicing a small cut through her chest. Gwen felt a trickle of blood running through her feathers, but she hardly cared.

Beside her, Hermit burst out of the water, looking extremley angry. That was what sent the humans running, for they all scrambled out of their boats and jumped to the nearby shore, on the other side of where the group of monsters had been standing, some of their feet trailing in the gushing riverwater as they scurried away into the tall grasses.

Gwen sat down in the boat she had just been fighting on, panting. A tiny red pool of her blood had formed on the floor, but the wound wasn't very serious, she would survive. Nearby, Hermit almost tipped over the other boat, taking up most of the space as the Strombonin climbed in.

"What was that for?!" He growled. "You could've gotten one of us killed!"

Gwen didn't respond. She didn't know how.

"Are you ok??" Pandora chattered as she landed hastily next to her sister. "That looks bad! We need to get you healed. Hermit, do you have those medical supplies?"

Hermit didn't even grumble passed Pandora a small first-aid kit.

"How do you get along with everyone?" Gwen whispered. "Even him. He's almost as bad as my boss and he doesn't hate you,"

The Tweedle explained as she gently patched Gwen's wounds. "The first thing you did was yell at him. Of course he'll be mean at first. Apologise and be nicer around him. You two will both get over it eventually,"

"Get over it?" Gwen thought about her nightmare. She clearly hadn't gotten over what happened with Storm.

"Not immidietley, of course. Even with guidance, healing takes time. But it won't happen if you don't at least take steps towards it,"

"I'd rather focus on getting out of here than getting over it,"

"We will. But to do that we have to help him, renember?"

Gwen sighed. "Alright. I'll try to talk to him niceley like you want me tonight, alright?"

"Hey, birdies," Hermit spoke out, holding an oar in each hand. "At least we got free boats out of that fiasco. Come on,"

Grabbing one oar with her beak and talon while Pandora held the other, Gwen swept it through the current, following Hermit down the river.

[throughanotherworldmsm]

Through Another World- Chapter 2

Yay. Please read the prologue and chapter 1 first, they’re on my blog! I will probably make a pinned post linking to all the chapters soon. Like I said everything up to Chapter 3 has been done, but not posted on tumblr specifically until now.

This is a side blog owned by @birbmonster

This is not an AU! All lore is my headcanon and ocs, and a plot within that setting.

Hermit huffed, spread out along the ground. The only sound was the rhythmic tap of his thin tail each time it hit the ground, and his own hoarse breaths.

He looked up at one of the walls of his bunker, the one covered in scratches. Each one represented a day trapped here, and there were far too many to count. They were even beginning to unevenly spread across the ceiling and floor, winding out onto other walls between his strange collections.

Had gazed thoughtfully at his hands, unrecognisable from his years trapped in the Human World. His scales were rougher and dirtier, streaked through with the deep scars of constant fighting for his life.

He let out a deep, lonesome sigh, slowly rising to his rough, dusty feet, boredly running his cut-covered claws along the dusty walls of his bunker.

Hermit slithered out of the small hole in the wall that led to the outside world, pushing through the dense bushes that hid his hideout from the humansd.

The Strombonin stared at his reflection in a puddle, formed from recently fallen rain, looking at the scars across his eyes and muzzle, and his cracked horn and armour plates.

Then he glanced back up at the stars and the shimmering full moon, breathing in cool nighttime air.

He remembered his days living on cold island- the snow beneath his feet all year long, his family surrounding him, the Werdos that he admired visiting every few weeks. What was it that they sang?

Look at the stars in the big black ink....

Tell me what you feel and tell me what you think...

Is it cold outside?

Is it cold out...?

He paused, trailing one foot-claw through the puddle, sending gentle ripples dancing across it's sleek surface. He felt lonely. And bored. And it was, indeed, cold outside.

Hermit perked up as he heard a rustle in the bushes. Humans? His faint thoughts whispered to him. He dashed silently across the moist grasses, diving swiftly into his bunker and nearly slamming into the wall as he skilfully skidded across the ground, grabbing one of the weapons in his collection of human stuff.

He held the gun tightly in shaking hands, peering out of the bushes in a stealthy crouch. An owl hooted in the distance. The human-world critter flapped off at the sight of him.

He waited with his gun lifted and one claw on the trigger for what seemed like forever, silencing his breathing.

Then he heard a louder rustle and saw a shape move. With a loud bang, he winced and pulled the trigger, hoping he hadn't hit an innocent critter.

But instead, the bullet whisked at breakneck speed just over the feathers of... a Tweedle. The stranger yelped as she was almost hit, falling back as a loudly screaming Dandidoo followed her.

"HEY! YOU! STOP WAVING THAT CRAZY THING AT MY SISTER BEFORE I GIVE YOU ANY MORE SCARS!"

He gasped as a blast of sudden wind knocked him over and vines grew around his feet. His breath was knocked out of him from the impact. He'd never seen someone actually use Collosingum magic, but that was not the thing to mention right now.

"Wait! Stop!" He shouted hoarsely, his voice damaged from years of little speech. "I haven't seen other monsters in forever!"

"Gwen!" The Tweedle shouted at the same time, pulling the intimidating Dandidoo away. "Be nice!" 

"Yes! Now let me go!" The Strombonin gasped.

The vines released Hermit's legs, allowing him to jump to his feet.

"Thank Galvana you're here! I've been alone for so long!"

"Not to be rude, but how long?" The Tweedle asked politely. She was brightly coloured, with feathers so long and thick they were tied back in braids. A necklace of wooden rainbow beads hung around her neck, clicking each time she took a step. 

"I don't know for sure," he responded with a slight stutter, his head down. "But... it was the thirteenth of September, in the year 11985 when I came," My birthday, he thought with a frown. "Must've been... five years or so?"

"I don't think so, sir. You see..."

The Dandidoo (who seemed to be named Gwen) interrupted. "It's the first of September, 12000,"

Hermit felt like someone had just torn a hole through his chest. That was far longer than he'd expected. 

I missed the new millennium. I'm in my 30s.

How...

Am I still alive...?

"Sir..." The Tweedle whispered calmly, placing a wing on his shoulder to comfort him. "Deep breaths,”

Hermit just stayed silent. After all these years he didn't realise he'd forgotten how to communicate.

"Come in," he said, awkwardly leading the newly-met monsters into his bunker. His mind was a tornado of thoughts and emotions, of excitement, confusion, worry. 

He curled up on a beanbag in the corner, staring nervously as the two sat on the carpet in front. I never expected visitors.

"Uhhh... I'm Hermit,"

"I'm Pandora, and this is my sister, Gwen," the Tweedle responded. For the first time he noticed that Gwen had a crack running along her beak. He didn't even wince. He'd seen much worse wounds on himself. 

The silence was broken suddenly by Gwen. "So. Are we going to be trapped here for... that long?"

Hermit sighed. Was he doing it too much? Was he being normal right now? "I've seen portals, but I can't leave without my Strombone. I'm convinced it's alive. I saw the humans taking it somewhere. But it's too dangerous,"

"So you've been moping around here for this long?!" Gwen shouted, her painted talons scraping the ground. "And not even trying?"

"Gwen!" Pandora yelped, turning to her sister. "Do you need help, sir?"

Hermit just nodded in silence.

"Here's a deal," Gwen snapped. "We help you find that Strombone of yours, and you help us ALL GET THE HECK HOME,"

Hermit perked up in excitement. He'd get his Strombone back. He'd go back to Cold Island... back home.

And see Harebell again.

He nodded and awkwardly shook Gwen's talon, meeting her eyes with a mutual serious gaze.