Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

Reflect

Since then, Kipo just started acting like she usual did in her old apartment in the burrow: mostly quiet and respectful of her neighbours, unlike Mabel on her other side. Kipo didn't really mind it all that much (it wasn't like she was trying to sleep), but Mabel gave the impression of a person who's never lived in an apartment a day in her life.

Right now, as Kipo paused by the door, she could hear Mabel singing. It was perfect, but Kipo still thought it was beautiful. That was probably the thing Kipo missed most in this world: the music. She hadn't found a music player since she got here, and while the music nature made was amazing, it couldn't compare to the sound of an actual human voice.

Kipo couldn't really hear the lyrics Mabel was singing, but she still took the time to pause and let it wash over her before finally grasping her door knob and stepping out of her house. She didn't lock it, mostly because it didn't have a lock, but Kipo didn't really expect anything to get stolen anyway. She'd become aquatinted with almost everyone in town, and she was certain that none of them would steal anything. Besides, Kipo didn't have much to steal anyway.

Kipo could still hear Mabel singing out here, but as she walked away, it gradually got harder and harder to hear, until it had completely petered out. Kipo continued on in silence, listening to the fall of her footsteps on the ground and her mostly silent breaths.

As it turns out, fortifying the town was harder than any of them had predicted. As the two days had come to an end, Kipo had been disappointed to find that they had only reinforced two houses. They had done a good job, but in order to reinforce every house with a person in it, plus ones for Adam and Wirt, they'd need eight more days. Of course, they all could probably compile into the houses they were done reinforcing, but Kipo would have liked to save as much of the town as she could.

'If only we knew a little more about the bone dragons,' Kipo thought wistfully. 'If we could find some way to communicate...'

'Done.'

Kipo jumped nearly jumped a foot in the air, whirling around, looking for the new, mysterious voice. In the back of her mind, Kipo noted that the voice seemed to only be in her head, but the wild implausibility of that made her push the thought away.

Well, at least until she turned one more time and finally saw the blatant stark white creature peeking up at her, contrasting harshly with the dark night. Kipo gasped.

"Bipo!?" she cried, and Bipo seemed to scowl, but Kipo didn't care much before she crouched down and threw her arms around the bone dragon. "Bipo! I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried about you! I thought- I thought-!"

'Geez, can you speak in a way I can actually understand?' Kipo's eyes widened, and she drew away from Bipo, staring at them. There was that odd voice again... Bipo stared at her. 'Just talk like this.'

'Huh...? Well, okay... Wait, what?' Kipo tilted her head at Bipo, confused. 'This... What is this, telepathy? How are you doing this, Bipo?'

'I'm just talking,' Bipo grumbled, sounding annoyed. Their voice was... odd, and it seemed to filter directly into Kipo's head. If Kipo wasn't paying attention, she might mistake them for one of her own thoughts... if, of course, they weren't so weird and jarring.

Kipo scratched the back of her head awkwardly when Bipo didn't continue. It almost seemed like they were sure about the answer to that question either.

'Well... okay...' Kipo's eyes suddenly widened as something occurred to her. 'Hey, if you're here then that probably means that Adam is, too, right?!'

Kipo stood up, looking around as if Adam was suddenly going to pop out from a building or something. She felt relieved, like a weight had suddenly been lifted off of her, and at least some of the concern and pain from the last two days lessened. It was enough that when Adam didn't immediately show himself, Kipo didn't immediately start to worry. She looked down at Bipo, confused.