Day Four-Seventy-Two: Non Sense

Oh, my daughter, my daughter. Today I sat down during one of our walking breaks and scolded her for coming after me. I mean, dammit, she could have gotten herself killed! What the hell was she thinking? And should I be blaming Julius for bringing her along?! It's not like she could have done much to help!

Oh, my daughter, my daughter. I love you so much.

Also, tarantulas. Tarantulas are awesome.

I've mentioned many times before that Doc is a yappy little prick. That didn't change at all after he revealed his true allegiance - though the tone of his banter was quite a bit darker once he had free rein over his tongue. He's a creepy little fucker, much moreso than I'd anticipated.

How creepy he is… I'll get into that tomorrow. Might as well make this a day-by-day account, yeah?

The first two days of travel consisted largely of silence from five-sixths of the group and an endless sea of talking from the final sixth. Doc never shuts up. He talks when he's happy, he talks when he's bored, he talks when he's angry, he talks when he's tired, he talks when he's inquisitive, and he talks when he's fucking asleep. I guess the rest of the party is used to him by now, because no one else complained.

I did my best to tune him out, though there's only so much you can do when you're flopped over the back of a giant and your hands are tied. I was privy to all manner of inane craziness, little of which made much sense to me. Here are a few samples:

- Doc usually talked about the 'starry darkness', and how much he hated it. More than a few times he mentioned 'kewdspace', which rings a few bells. Not a clue what it means, but, yeah.

- He also went on and on about his 'genius' in creating something as, uh, fantastic, as the combined monster that is now Driscol, Cedric, and Bernard. I suspected it before, but, yeah. He's the one that sewed the three of them together, and he's the one that controls them all. He can pass that control onto other people, if he wants, which explains how Kierkegaard was using them for piggyback rides.

- Doc is fascinated by biology. He went on several long rants regarding human and Non physiology. He also mentioned an 'associate' whom he hoped to work with in this area, and how much he wanted to date her. Woe unto this woman.

- There were numerous debates between the merits of 'the bald one' and 'the dapper one'. More on this later, as well. It's more important than it sounds.

- Doc also seemed intrigued by my hands, and whenever we stopped he would stare at them for long periods of his time, mumbling things under his breath I couldn't hear. I share your curiosity on that one at least, Doc.

Ugh. He's a tiring man. And I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Every now and then Doc would get a burst of energy, and he'd order his chimeric monstrosity to 'prove' itself by running as fast as it could. Blue never bothered to follow suit, so we were occasionally left behind. Usually we would tromp on behind them in silence.

"Hey."

My head lolled against an enormous, sloped shoulder. (Non skin feels like liquid rubber. It's really weird.) "… yeah?"

"How you doing back there? Up there? Whatever?"

I snorted. "Oh, um, peachy. Juuuuust peachy."

"Sorry." Surprisingly, she sounded genuine, her throaty rumble more feminine than I'd counted on. "He's a dick. I know it. We all know it. Try to ignore him."

"Kinda hard, when he talks all the damn time."

She laughed. The vibrations through her body bounced me upward. "Makes it easier for me, actually. Kinda like a rowdy mosquito. Listen to it long enough and it gets boring."

"Fantastic."

She shrugged. We kept moving. Through the trees ahead, Doc continued to bellow out commands to his long-suffering steed.

"You're… Titan Blue, right?" I asked eventually, hoping to capitalize on Doc's absence but not sure what to say.

She shook her head. I nearly rolled off of her shoulder. "Just… Blue. Blue'll do. Emmett doesn't like us using our real names. Always says there's 'power' in names."

I chewed on that for a moment. "But… you just told me his name. I think."

Blue stopped and scratched her head. "Oh. Did I? Yeah, I guess I did. Silly me."

I'm not usually one for kidnappers. But this girl, yeah, I kinda like her. Sassy.

"Why're you doing this?" I asked, trying to put an extra layer of pain in to my voice. "Why're you… Non… things… taking me away?"

"Orders," Blue grunted. "The Baron wants you back home."

"But why?"

"I dunno. Don't think he even told, uh, Doc, what he wants with you. Just that he wants you. He tells, we obey."

I bit my lip. "Okay… why do you obey?"

Blue paused, straightening a bit so her head peaked out over the trees. She's a big girl. "'cause he set us free. Might not be enough for… some folk… but it's enough for me."

"But why -"

That was the end of it. Doc came bounding back to Blue atop CeDrisArd (it's just easier to say), demanding that we pick up the pace. So we did, and the conversation halted, and it remained halted for the rest of the day.

More tomorrow. Eve looks bushed. I'd better see her off to bed, then get some rest myself. I need all the strength I can get to make it home in one piece.

Sincerely,

Dragomir the Mayor