[GRP] (currently untitled)

[Cassidy Peterson]

Chinese food!

This was a treat indeed. While Cassi visited the Greenhouse almost daily, she rarely brought food of any sort. When she did, it was usually just a snack for herself to munch on as she helped dig up vegetables or pluck ripe fruit for the Slimes to feast on. But today she had come in with small paper plates, and after ringing the bell had set a plate down for each Set. This alone was enough to rouse the Slimes' curiosity. Then she had left the room, returning with a large bowl and a spoon. The Slimes had squeaked in anticipation as she had approached the first of the plates, and set upon it a steaming spoonful of rice and carefully cut mushrooms, vegetables, and - to their delight - shrimp. Even the crankier Slimes squealed their gratitude as they were served their portions. There would be a lot of fat, happy Slimes sleeping off their meals tonight.

The celebration was briefly interrupted as Cassi reached the back of the Greenhouse. "What the--? Oh, poo! Compass got out again!" Groaning in frustration, she shook her head as she dished out the Ragnarok Slimes' portion. "Well, his loss. He just won't get any Chinese." She wasn't too worried; Compass had gotten out often enough that she no longer worried predators would eat him. She supposed that nothing found the little black blob appealing.

Outside, Compass was mildly disoriented. Not lost, mind you - just disoriented. He had, in fact, been outside for hours, and had gone so far from the house that he couldn't see it anymore. Then he'd fallen down the hill. Dizzy from the steep roll, he had hopped about in a daze for quite a while before getting his bearings again. But by the time he could tell east from west again, he no longer knew which way the house was. Squeaking unhappily, he headed out into the open, crying out in case there were any Slimes in hearing distance. (4)

 

[Moryera]

A faint "plink plink plink!" noise drifts delicately from over a small hill to the southwest of Compass. After a while, it starts to form into what may or may not be a simple melody.

On the other side of the hill, Marin squints at a very large white piece of paper. She had made off with some of Mory's sheet music for choir, and was now attempting to play it on the little keyboard in her corner of Mory's backyard garden. Unfortunately for her, human-sized music is hard to read when you're a little slime, not to mention she was never very good at reading music to start with. What are all these little chicken-scratchy marks at the beginning of the line? Why are those notes linked together? After a while, she just gives up on understanding it and starts bouncing up and down on the keys.

The quiet sparkly sound on the wind soon turns into a loud, discordant, noisy noise. What could possibly be going on over there? (2)  

[Cassidy Peterson]

Compass paused in his calling, listening closely. Turning directly toward the sound, he began bouncing determinedly toward the source. Now that he had a set goal to work towards, he was able to calm down a little. He started scolding himself for never paying attention when Cassi rambled on about who was were in the neighborhood. Thanks to his little tumble, he no longer knew if he'd gone through the small woods or just come out in a neighbor's yard. And even if he found another house, he wouldn't be able to communicate with the human occupants, only the Slimes.

If there were any!

Compass went still for a moment, and started shivering at this terrible thought. Suppose... suppose there were no Slimes in the house he was heading toward? Suppose there were only huge, careless humans who didn't know how important it was to watch one's step when there were Slimes around, or worse, just plain didn't know there were Slimes around! He'd be stepped on for sure! Stuck in the carpet, pushed through a crack in the floorboards... flattened!

Compass almost started crying, but fortunately got hold of himself just in time. If there were no Slimes where the noise was coming from, then... Well... He'd keep going on! He'd find a house where there were Slimes! Squeaking determinedly, he set off again, heading for the source of the plinky sound. (2)

 

[Moryera]

The cacophony continues until a minute or so later, when Marin lands kind of funny and whacks her little 'ponytail' ball on one of the black keys.

"OW~!"

Being an RO-type could be so annoying sometimes. She just lies there on one of the F keys, watching dandelion seeds float by and pondering what would happen if she left her tail in a box somewhere and just bounced away. Or if she buried it in the garden...would it grow into a slime tree? As she muses on how ridiculous the idea of a slime tree is, she hears the sound of slimey shouting from...somewhere. She can't really tell which direction it's coming from, or if she even heard anything at all.

"Hello? Is someone out there? Helloooo?"

Marin decides she must be imagining things. Who would be wandering around shouting like that, anyway? If there was somebody, it was probably just some human kid who would try and eat her or stick her tail-ball up his nose. If she's quiet, she thinks, it might leave her alone. (2)  

[Cassidy Peterson]

Compass began to get nervous as the noise stopped. Was it possible that whoever, or whatever, had been making the noise was moving on now? If it was as big as a human, it would be long gone before he arrived there.

He squeaked in dismay as he almost bounced right into a spiderweb. While most spiders weren't much of a threat to Slimes, even the mighty Lord Squishington admitted to having a foe in the sticky spiderwebs. Sighing, Compass hopped around the section of grass where the web was, paused to get his bearings, and continued onward.

Wait, was that a voice? Was that a Slime voice?

"Hello?! Hellooooo?!" Squeaking loudly, he began hopping swiftly to where the noise had been coming from. "Can you hear me, can you understand me!? Please help me! I can't find my way home!" (2)

 

[Moryera]

Okay. So there is someone there. Relax, Marin, they'll probably just go away. You don't need to go hide under the flower. You DON'T need to go hide under the---wait, lost?

As much as Marin would like to avoid strange squeaky slime strangers, she can't just let someone wander around in circles. They might never find their way home! It looks like she'll actually have to help this poor disoriented traveler out.

"Hello? I'm over here, where are you?"

She rolls off the keyboard and bounces through a few shrubs to the edge of the garden. From the top of the brick garden edging, she can see lots and lots of green, and one little black bouncy dot. Could that be who's yelling? It kind of looks like a slime, she thinks. Then again, it might just be a rock.

"Over here!"

Marin's voice still has a bit of a squeak to it. She still isn't so sure she should be leading strangers right to her house. Despite her best instincts, she hops up and down a little to catch the stranger's attention. (3)  

[Cassidy Peterson]

Ah! If he bounced really high, he could see the Slime in the distance.

"Please help me!" he repeated, as loud as his little Slime voice would carry. He began bouncing as hard as he could, covering as much distance as each tiny leap would allow. Finally, distressed and rather worn out, he arrived at the edge of the garden.

"Please... help me," he panted, almost flat from exertion. He contented himself with a meek squirm to cover the rest of the distance between himself and this other Slime. A slow approach was probably best anyways, as she looked suspicious. "My name's Compass. I live with a girl named Cassi. I fell down a hill and got mixed up... I lost track of where I was before I got my sense of direction back, and now I don't know which way home is. Can you help me?" He closed his eyes, allowing himself to flatten even further. "Or could you at least point me to a puddle so I can drink?" (2)

 

[Moryera]

Marin's tail wobbles nervously in mid-air. She shyly points over to the slime-sized fountain toward the middle of the garden.

"Um, there's some water over there, if you're thirsty... Don't worry, there aren't any fish or anything in it. And don't stop at the pond. It looks tasty, but slimes have been swimming in there."

She blinks a couple times before realizing she hasn't introduced herself.

"OH! Er, my name's Marin, I live here with my person Moryera. She's not here right now. Oh, and I have a sister named Honey, but she's not here right now either because she went to the Temple of Squishy. I wonder if she'll bring me a good luck charm...nobody ever does...er, I'm sorry, I'm rambling again...." (2)  

[Cassidy Peterson]

"Oh, Squishy's Temple? I've been there a few times. Never by myself though, it's too far away even for me." He nodded, squishing over to the fountain where he drank quietly for a minute, sighing gratefully when he was finished.

"Thank you very much, Marin!" He smiled, nodding. "My person's name is Cassi. Do you know which way her house is? It's a really big, really old house with a big glass greenhouse in the back. I live in the Greenhouse with all my cousins. But I've never been so far away from home before... At least, I think I'm farther away than I've ever been. I got all jumbled up when I fell down the hill in the woods." He grinned in embarrassment. "I was trying to get to this really big raspberry, and the wind picked up just as I jumped... a branch bopped me down." (2)

 

[Cassidy Peterson]

Compass turned back to the water, drinking some more. Only when he started to swell slightly did he stop, sighing deeply.

"Anyways, uhm, more about Cassi's house. Well, let me see... The little road where the people leave their vehicles is all bumpy and broken. And... hmm... I never really looked at the house itself. It's so big, I guess I didn't pay attention." He blushed slightly, laughing at his own foolishness.

"Well... Cassi! Cassi's my person. She's tall, and a little darker than some people, though she's still pretty light colored... I wonder why people don't come in as many colors as Slimes do? They've got so many more parts that are colors too. With Slimes it's just... us! But people have hair, and their eyes, besides their skin. Anyways, Cassi is a, uhm, light-dark light color, with dark hair, and blue eyes." He nodded. (2)

 

[Cassidy Peterson]

"Huh?" Compass blinked, turning towards the sound of the new voice. "Hey, Marin, did you hear that? It sounded like another Slime voice!" He squished towards the shrubs, blinking again curiously. "Hi! Hello, who's there? Please come out... there you are!"

Finally catching sight of Ree, Compass bounced towards him. The water had refreshed him and he was starting to feel more energetic again. "Do you live here? Hey Marin, does this guy live here? Who are you?" (1)