‘Rightmost’ Stratagem
(17:3:22:10:34:55.8)
Bombi noticed the scratches she’d left in the clouds with her left hand were deeper than those of her right. In her panic that suggested she feared the left pathway. Hesitation would only bring her closer to not going at all, to staying with the cloudfeet, to laughing and dancing until she starved and they rolled her off the side like a sack of garbage. Continue reading
‘Leftmost’ Stratagem
(17:3:22:10:34:55.8)
Bombi noticed the scratches she’d left in the clouds with her left hand were deeper than those of her right. In her panic that suggested she was already more committed to the left pathway. Hesitation would only bring her closer to not going at all, to staying with the cloudfeet, laughing and dancing until she starved and they rolled her off the side like a sack of garbage. Continue reading
‘Wreck Everything’ Stratagem
(17:3:22:10:53:46.2)
She might never have another moment like this, with a bastion of authority frozen at her fingertips. Here was proof of the rigidity of every rule that had forced her to live as a creature of the background. Even with her dramatically arched metal eyebrows and stern expression, Champion Iuda still looked complacent. Continue reading
‘Desk Throne’ Stratagem
(17:3:22:10:53:46.2)
“Too rigid to rule!” Bombi screamed at the faces of the Win State while they couldn’t scream back. “Everything has to be one way doesn’t it? And it’s your one way because you’re part of the one way! Damn you!” She wanted to keep screaming, she wanted that more than anything, just a chance to burn out loud after suppressing herself for so long, but there wasn’t time. Continue reading
‘World Bottom’ Stratagem
(17:3:22:10:32:46.7)
Before Bombi’s mind caught up she was already in the air. Her feet passed straight through the grassy patch while it was simply a patch. It didn’t feel like water, dirt, or even a light breeze. The ground simply didn’t exist beyond what her eyes saw. Nothingness opened up under her, an endless expanse of white space, causing her to yelp and flail for purchase. Continue reading
‘Orchard’ Stratagem
(17:3:22:10:32:46.7)
Bombi practically glided forward, right past the flickering grass patch. She moved into the tinkertree orchard, only stopping when her nose filled with the smell of wood chips, apples, glass, and machine oil. It certainly was an interesting combination. She turned to ask Morphib what he thought of it, but he was clearly enthralled by something else entirely. Continue reading
‘Shut Mouth’ Stratagem
(17:3:22:12:58:08.7)
“I’m pretty sure I heard several lies,” she offered.
“That’s… something,” Chagrinn said with a slight head tilt. “You definitely can’t rely on this crowd to tell you the truth. They are the competition after all. No matter. It’s time I prepare you for your first boss encounter. Walk with me.” Chagrinn took her by the shoulder and walked her around the glade, which he kept referring to as ‘the arena’. Continue reading
‘Swallowing Mesa’ Stratagem
(17:3:22:12:58:08.7)
“I did hear about something,” she whispered to Chagrinn, eyes darting back and forth. She leaned in, she wanted it to feel like a precious secret, something barely alive passing between soft hands, but he did not reciprocate. Continue reading
‘Sisters’ Stratagem
(17:3:28:5:08:54.8)
“I will help you,” Bombi said, surprising herself. It must have been the raw desperation on Twixit’s face that convinced her. Yes, she had been part of the Win State, but she paid her recompense in suffering. What good is punishing the wicked if I can’t also help the deserving? Twixit was down there in the bottom of the world with her, flouting the rules she used to live by; she lived only to be restored. “I really don’t know how.” Continue reading
‘Walls’ Stratagem
(17:3:28:5:08:54.8)
“You heard him,” Bombi said coldly, but she swallowed hard and it betrayed her apprehension. Sister Twixit stood, but her posture was feral. Her twisted cheeks reddened at the seams. Bombi slowly circled around her, trying to find a position directly under the dark interior of a wall. She didn’t know what to do with what the tool gave her, but she knew it was still there as a ball of green light lodged in her memories, somewhere between learning what walls were and meeting Chagrinn. Continue reading
