//------------------------------// // Drools With Many Ellipses // Story: Shellstrings // by shortskirtsandexplosions //------------------------------// Desert – Buffalo Camp – Morning Lyra stumbled out of the teepee. She stood in place, panting... more like snorting. Only now that her "body" was basking in the sunlight did she realize how truly large she was. Her eye level was easily three times taller than what she was used to... which made it all the stranger when other buffalo wandered by. "Good morning, Shadow Charge." A pair of female buffalo smiled at him. They carried baskets full of corn as they wandered across the camp. Several more teepees and tents filled the nearby vicinity, and smoke rose from various overnight fires. "Glad to see you in such good health." "Yeah..." Lyra nodded dizzily, eyes darting about. "Good... good h-health." She swallowed dryly, then took a step forward. Thwump! She fell on her skull again. "Dammit!" Wincing, she stood back up, wobbling with her uneven weight. She heard gasps and murmurs from a distance. Dozens upon dozens of beady eyes were locked on her figure... or his figure... or—"Rightrightright. Walk it off." She numbly stumbled forward, lurching across the camp. "Walk off the dream. Walk off the dream. Walk off—" "Hiya, Shadow Charge!" Two tiny buffalo children rushed past her, giggling. "Yeah. Hi. Bye." Lyra rolled past a set of logs. "Shadow Charge." An elder in an elaborate headdress bowed, waving an ornamental stick. "The ancestors have been kind to you." "Oh. Yeah. Sure." Lyra limped in a zombie stupor, eyes on the sunrise. "Mama and Pappa butthead. You bet." "Hey! Shadow Charge!" A buffalo called out from where he was grinding his horn against a spinning stone wheel. He smiled sideways. "I thought you were dead!" "Yeah... still working on that," Lyra belched. "How's it hanging?" "It..." Lyra blinked awkwardly, her hairy cheeks blushing. "It doesn't actually hang that much, actually." Just then, two loudly barking dogs rushed past her—and she teetered sideways. "Shitshitshit—!" "Whoah whoah... Shadow Charge!" Another male buffalo rushed over. "Dude! Take it easy!" He patted Lyra's shoulder as he evened the she-he-buffalo out. "From what the elders say, you barely walked back into camp in one piece!" "I... walked... back...?" Lyra slurred, teetering. "Heh... yeah, bro!" The buffalo smiled. "Don't you remember? You stumbled in right as Chief Thunderhooves was setting up another scouting trip to find you and the other lost brothers! Hah! Talk about irony, right?" "How..." Lyra shook her head. "H-how long ago...?" "Just last night! Heh... I guess you fainted pretty hard right afterwards. No wonder you don't remember." The buffalo leaned in to nudge Lyra's furry chest. "Still... totally sweet deal for you, huh? Having Little Strong Heart wait on you horn and hoof?" "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Lyra squinted off into the distance. She could spot the light-brown color of the female buffalo she had awoken to. Far across the camp, the caretaker in question was speaking to several large elders—one of whom was wearing a thick headdress full of feathers that dangled with multi-colored beads. "Heh... Little Strong Heart... I'm tellin' ya..." The buffalo shook his head as he leaned against Lyra with a drunken smile. "If you don't win her heart with this sympathy card, I'm gonna have to steal her from you, bro." As he said this, his beady eyes flickered with a rosy pink hue. Lyra saw it. "What...?" She stared directly at the buffalo. "...just happened?" Just then, a burning fire erupted from deep inside Lyra. ~o~Don't. You're connecting.~o~ A bright green light exploded. FLASH! A Flower Field – Cliffside – Late Afternoon -=Connecting?=- Lyra slurred. She then gasped, for she was hearing her own voice... only she wasn't. -=Wait...=- She looked down to see unicorn hooves and a unicorn chest, only all of her limbs were translucent. -=Where is...?=- "Come on, Swift Breaths!" a young voice echoed from uphill. "You're going to miss the fireflies!" "Just a second!" chirped another voice. Lyra looked to her right to see a tiny male buffalo foraging through the flower field. He plucked the last of several daisies from the tall grass, smiling victoriously to himself. Then—after a dreamy sigh—he clutched all of the flower stems in his mouth and scampered up to the edge of the plateau. Lyra's vision followed him. Her lips pursed in wonder... for the entire landscape had a dreamlike emerald hue to it. The colors rippled and tapered off as if she was watching it all through a smokescreen. -=Okay...=- She murmured aloud, or so she thought... or felt. -=NOW the dream decides to shift gears? Just what is going...?=- "Shadow Charge!" Lyra looked at the plateau's edge. She spotted another young buffalo male—rushing up to where several children were squatting. As the sun set, fireflies peaked out of the tall grass, causing the youngers to coo and murmur in innocent wonder. A pre-adolescent Shadow Charge plopped down beside a young Little Strong Heart. The two leaned in together, rubbing noses in an affectionate gesture. Immediately, Lyra heard a pathetic whimper. She looked over to see that the young male with the flowers had stopped completely in his tracks. His eyes watered with tears... and he dropped the daisies to the floor altogether. Instead of joining with Little Brave Heart, Shadow Charge, and the others—Swift Breaths chose to wander off and sit lonesomely behind a tree stump. Lyra wasn't certain how she knew that the young buffalo was named Swift Breaths, but it was as if the very scent in the green-tinted breeze was painted with his name, his feeings, his desires— Desert – Buffalo Camp – Morning FLASH! An emerald flame dimmed in Lyra's eyes. Her lips pursed, and she murmured: "Swift Breaths." Her voice was several pitches higher all of the sudden. "Your name is Swift Breaths," she said to the buffalo next to him. "Well... yeah, dude." Swift Breaths turned around. "What, were you born yesterda—?" His eyes widened, and he hopped back a full three feet. "Whoah! Little Strong Heart!" "Huh?" Lyra blinked. She looked down at herself. She was suddenly half her previous size, and her coat was a light brown. What's more, her body was considerably less stocky. "Hey... four legs again." "I... uh..." Swift Breaths blushed noticeably as he backed away from the female buffalo. "Eheheh... I was only chatting with Shadow Charge about... about..." He gulped. "Where the heck did he go, anyway?" Lyra blinked. "Who?" She looked at her suddenly dainty hooves. "How?" She reached up—feeling her considerably tinier hooves. "Why?" "Uhhhhhh..." Swift Breaths spun around at least twice, scouring the camp with his beady eyes. With a confused shudder, he stepped away from the scene. "I'm going to... uhm... go over there. And... uhm... have some cornbread... and stuff." A dry gulp. "See ya!" Lyra gazed after him. She then glanced all around—and found a bucket of water. Leaning forward, she stared at her own reflection—seeing now the fuzzy face of the buffalo she had awoken to. "I guess... he was always jealous of us." Her buffalo eyes crossed. "I mean... jealous of you two... Little Strong Heart... and Shadow Charge?" ~o~Concentrate. You are losing focus.~o~ Lyra gnashed her teeth. "Shut up..." ~o~How are we to gain control at this rate?~o~ "Grrrrr!" Lyra spun around. "I said... shut up!" "... ... ..." A tall mountain of buffalo flesh was staring down at her. Iron-thick nostrils flared beneath an elaborate headdress. Lyra's buffalo ears drooped. "Uhm... eheh..." She produced a combination of a whimper and a chuckle. "If th-that's alright by you..." "Little Strong Heart," the elder spoke in a deep, booming voice. "I thought I told you to wait by Shadow Charge's side." "You... did...?" Lyra glanced past the massive buffalo to where several other elders were gathered. "It is important that you keep him calm until the medicine doctor can examine him." "Uhhhhhhhhhh..." Lyra's eyes traveled back up his leering figure. "And you are?" "Chief Thunderhooves." He snorted. "We just spoke two minutes ago. Honestly, is this some kind of ridiculous joke?" Lyra wheezed. "I'm starting to wonder..."