Dan stood, used to the numb feeling that grew stronger and stronger. When he looked at the gate he saw it - a strange, glittering sheen like a strange window between them and the horizon.
He knelt when the tip of the boat passed through it and held onto Ron again. The silence changed from pure emptiness to the quiet crackle of a fire.
A strange voice hummed a tune and Dan heard an odd shuffling sound. Ron’s warm arms let go of Dan and the red puppet opened his eyes.
The room was dark, the only light the warm fire in the fireplace. Next to it was a humanoid being with a round head with three horns sticking up from the top. Glowing rings circled it and little wisp flames hung over the halos. The rest of his body was a cut in the universe that looked out into galaxies. It was painting a pleasant landscape and humming.
“What … ?” Ron whispered.
The being paused, dropped the brush into the cup on the table next to it, and stepped back from the painting to survey it’s work. “Welcome,” it said without looking at them. “I think that’s good enough.” It took the painting down and put it at the front of a stack of canvases. It picked up a blank one and shook its brush in the cup before beating it on the easel leg.
“Who are you?” Ron asked as he stood.
“I think you beings called me ‘Glitter’ which, really, is the cutest name any universe gave me.” It turned to them, it’s eyes two, enormous lights in the center of it’s void black face. “Unfortunately, the gate you two returned from broke from that fool’s attempt to sacrifice you two. He usually kills his sacrifices first.”
The pair’s jaws dropped.
“Don’t worry. He will be punished accordingly for trespassing in our realm. So, where do you two want to go?”
“Home!” Ron blurted out and added sheepishly, “Please.”
“Sorry. You ended up in my realm, which means I can only access realms I’m connected to.”
“Wh-why aren’t you connected to our world?” Ron asked, putting an arm around Dan.
“Well, you no longer needed my input. And, oh, that was my last portal out into your world. The vessel destroyed it with the mast.”
The pair glanced at one another. They held paws as Dan pressed a paw to his forehead to try to process everything. Ron chewed on his claws. Dan’s mind was grasped for a thought, but nothing came. He had his satchel and his Ron. That was it. How could Forgie do that? To bring back his brother somehow? This couldn’t be real …
“Aw, I’m certain this is frightening for you. I can at least give you two a choice as to where to go.” The deity walked over to the canvases and looked through them. “Hm. I think this one and this one should do.”
Glitter held the two canvases up to show them. “How are these? Pretty nice for a new life, huh?” Both were landscapes - one a dark forest blanketed across the foot of a mountain range. Animals and birds dotted the scene. A glimpse of a village was nestled in the trees. The other painting was a desert cast in a purple and red sunset. A huge dragon figure stood at the top of a dune and backed by a strange cloud of bright colors.
“Which one?”
Ron gave Dan’s sweater a tug and the pair stepped over to the side. Ron whispered in their private backlang, “What do you think?”
“I can’t think at all. I - I don’t know what to do.”
Ron held both of Dan’s red paws in his. “Love, look in my eyes. For me.” Dan did so and the pair stared for a long moment. They breathed in sync and Ron whimpered, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have -”
“No, no. You couldn’t control what Forgie did.” Dan shook his head. Then in backlang, “I think we should just make what we can out of this. You know?”
“Yeah.”
“Forest. We should go with forest, don’t you think?”
Ron nodded and stood to face Glitter. “We choose the first one there.”
Glitter placed the one of the desert down and stood the painting of the forest upright. It expanded to the size of a door and turned into an archway. “Here we are,” Glitter said with a small tone of weariness.
“Is there any way we could get back home?” Dan asked the deity. Glitter shrugged and shook it’s head. “I’ll see what I can find, but no guarantees.”
The pair held hands and started to walk forward, but Glitter barred them with an arm. “Wait!” It reached for its paint pallate and picked up a brush. “I almost forgot: You’ll need this to be able to do anything there. Everything will be different. I can’t change your shapes, but I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“Are there others like us?” Dan asked as Glitter knelt before him with the brush covered in a vibrant yellow.
“Oh, sure! Lots.” It painted something on Dan’s chest fur. Then the same for Ron. “Just think of it as an adventure, yeah? I’ll let you two know when I find a way back to your homeworld.”
Glitter nodded to itself and stepped aside to allow the duo through the shimmering doorway.
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