Exposure

Beginning

(AN: It's been over a month, what have I been doing!? Oh yeah... procrastination. I feel bad now... Oh well, here's your dose of my... whatever kind of stuff this is! I also edited the ending of last chapter. Have a great day/night!)

My night was restless. I eventually fell asleep, but I wish I had sooner. Staying awake give you time to think about screwy things that could go awry on long trips. Go thing I'm not going on any long tri- OH WAIT. Sighing inwardly and glancing around for a clock, I slapped myself on the forehead for assuming there would be a clock. I was always insecure about reading analog clocks for whatever reason, so I always look at dressers for a digital clock. Gee, think I could involve the word clock any-clock more times clock? I don't clock think so clock. The smell of vanilla was faint as I recognized anti-mosquito candles. Ah, thank whatever god may be up there.

Know what? Just for laughs, I'm gonna make my own god in this world. A god humans worship. Le gasp! Should I spread the good word of the lord? ... Man, I can't say that with a straight face. I sound like a mix between Mormon and Christian. No offense to any... Mormons or... whatever. The point is, I will make a god. From henceforth, my god is the all-holy:

Marshtak

Pootis

Dinkleberg

Grebelknid

Jason Voorhees

Hingadingadergin

Leaf Erikson

Spongebob

This is dumb

Kill me

Jesus

Cancer

Derp

Damnit, this is impossible! That awkward moment when your aren't sure if you should use "Celestia" instead. Eh, why the hell not? With a dead phone, dead hopes and dreams fresh in my mind, and the idea of using Celestia as a god flopping around in my brain like a dying fish trying to find water, I went to sleep. For those of you wondering why I used such a stupid analogy, it's because now that I've made my decision, I need some reasoning behind it, something to keep it going. I dunno, maybe I'm being stupid.

I woke up to someone poking me. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a giant blob in front of me. Before I could think to run away, it asked if I was okay. Oh wait a minute, my vision was just terrible for a moment. It was Alex. I was laying there, in the sand, a tad damp from the wet sand. "What the-?" I asked, before being cut off by a hand. "Shut up." Alex said, rudely, then removed his hand and wiping it on his jeans, "You were out for a decent 5 minutes. I asked if you would be okay with me being gone. You liar."

"Hey man, good to see you. it's been years! How was college?" I asked sarcastically.

"I forgot my car keys. You have them."

"But I don't even..." I looked at my hand and saw two keys. One for Alex's dorm room (They shipped the key.) and the other for his car. "Dude, you never let anyone touch your keys. How could I... You had your keys when you left!"

"I know," he replied, ever-so-cryptically, "which is why you need to wake up."

I bolted from the covers and sat upright. "Damnit..." I cursed in a low whisper, "That would have been nice." Dreaming was never a problem, but last night it was. I looked over to the window. it looked to be around midday. Strange how it didn't bother me last night that that thing was wide open the whole night. Usually, I'm paranoid over things like that. I feel like someone's going to peep in and take a flattering look at my non-existent six-pack. Maybe it comes with the deal of being here. No paranoia? I could get used to that. I frowned with moderate subtlety. Why did this have to happen? ... Oh, you mean the whole, "Equestria" thing? No, I'm over that kind of. Now, I was looking at my phone, so... I mean my phone. Why did it have to die? I have the perfect departing song. I went into the bathroom and put on my new clothing. They fit perfectly and smell like power.

...

(OLD SPICE BODY WASH MAKES YA SMELL LIKE POWAAAAAAAA! IT'S SO POWERFUL, IT SELLS ITSELF IN OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES.)

Get out, Old Spice. Seriously though, I liked it. Talk about true hospitality. As I strutted out, looking like quite the boss, I encountered a wild Nadene in her natural house-bitat. Ironically enough, she was in the kitchen. "Hello, everyone." I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

"Oh my, that's right, you're leaving today! Better make you something to eat." I didn't protest, because I was pretty hungry, to be honest. I wondered how Nadene's mom knew about all of this and then BOOM! I came to a shocking realization! Nadene is the only other person... cat... thing... in the room with me! I know, I'm a smart son of a bitch, right? So, I walk over and sit down next to her. "Hey," I whisper, "So I heard you're telling people things about me behind my back." She fake pouted and went back to munching on what looked like a juicy fruit. "Hey again," I asked, a tad louder, since I wasn't being a random arse anymore, "Whazzat?"

"Oh, this?" she pointed to the fruit. "Ish a mangoh." She said through half a mouth of mango. "You've gotta have 'em wherever you're from, right?"

"Yeah, of course," I lied honestly, "but no, I don't." Then she gave the most appropriate answer.

"What."

"I have them on the planet, but not from the vicinity in which I live."

"Oh, okay then." She resumed eating her mango. Shortly after, Nadene's mom brought over a plate of eggs and fruit. With some kind of juice. "Um, may I ask what kind of juice this is?"

"Oh, yes, that's pineapple juice! I hope you like it!"

"YES. I adore this liquid."

And then I chugged.

I'm not going to lie, because lying is hard for me to do an-... What am I saying? Lying's easy as hell for me! Still, I won't do it when I say... Nadene's dad could cook this twice as well. Sorry, but the truth hurts. I'd never say that out loud, but I mean it. Despite it being made by anyone other than the god food maker, it was simply exquisite... Divine? Dandy? How about good? Is that simple enough to maintain the appearance of me that I've built up to make it seem like I'm an idiot? Good. It tasted good. That will totally work. After finishing the meal, I went to back to Nadene's room to gather my things. Not very many things, mind you, but things nonetheless. This consisted of a dead phone, a worn shirt and pair of jeans, and a bundle of non-worn clothing in a backpack.

After collecting my aforementioned possessions, I trudged out and into the kitchen. Nadene was there with her mother and father. "Well," I said, carrying my backpack and plopping it down beside myself, "I should be going soon. I don't want to lose too much daylight." Her ears flicked up for a second and then flicked down, "Oh... right then," she began sadly, "I guess you're right."

"Hey now, don't be sad, please. As much of a jerk as I am, I hate it when people are sad." This got her to do her famous and/or trademarked giggle. I don't think you can trademark a giggle, but if it's possible, it has to be done for her. "I dunno," I continued, "maybe we will meet up somewhere."

"Heh. Maybe... maybe."

I stood up and turned towards the window. I inhaled sharply through my nose and held the air for a moment in my lungs before finally exhaling. Turning back around, I looked at Nadene's parents. Following her father's eyes, I saw he was looking at me. I guess he looks for sounds, if that makes sense. Following her mother's eyes, I caught Nadene in my peripheral vision, looking at me dreamily. Whipping my head around to catch the culprit in the act, she quickly glanced away. "I uh..." I raised my eyebrow, waiting for an explanation. "You umm.." Still waiting. "You smelled..." I put my eyebrow down and gave that looked of, 'Seriously?'. "Unique." And there goes my eyebrow. Well, both, actually. They skyrocketed, to be frank. Even though I'm not Frank... I'm Jason. Yes.

It was then that I realized that cat chick over here along with the majority of her people rely on smell quite a bit. Who knows? I'm not one of them, and I won't just RANDOMLY ask something about their entire race. Oh well, best to let bygones be bygones. I really don't care that much anyway and it just seems like one of those questions where the other person looks at you and goes, "Dafuq man, seriously?"

Dismissing it as nothing, I turned back to Nadene's parent's I gave a quick thank you. Not the kind that practically screams "Kthxbye" but rather says, "I'm in a hurry, but thanks a bunch." Why? I gotta at least make the adults think I'm nice. Wouldn't wanna on their bad side. They're parents, and when I was young, I hated that.... that, como se dice... "Disappointed" look. Nadene's parents said that if I ever returned to the village, I would be welcome any time. That was a nice thing to say. Something tells me, however, that they don't have too much faith in me being able to traverse these areas. That lack of faith makes me frowny face. Meh, like a give a flying damn.

Thanking Nadene's family again, I began to walk towards the door. Then I remembered I forgot something. Sound complicated? Good! I turned around again and grabbed my new backpack. Nuh nuh nuh nuuuuuh! You got a bag! Sorry, that's hard to read in text. It was supposed to be the Legend of Zelda theme when you open a chest.

...

Ahem...

I turned around (Gee, think I've written that enough!?) and walked happily to the door, whistling the chorus to one of my favorite songs. As I whalkled... that's... that is... whistled mixed with... walked. I'm sorry, I'm stupid by nature. As I did those things in combination, Nadene led me to the door and we walked outside together. I finally got my first look of the village from outside. Gorgeous. Not the village itself, because it looked like a moderately larger version of Riverwood... Peace to mah Skyrim fans! So I continued to whistle, which had really turned into more of a hum, piquing the interest of Nadene. "What's that you're humming?" She asked,

"Oh, a song from like... thirty years ago on my planet. Called, 'Kyrie'."

"Oh cool! How does it go?"

"Uh, wow... Jeez. I haven't sung in a while."

"I'm sure it isn't that bad. Give it a try." Well, fine then! Myeh! Thinking of every scenario where I fail miserably and then taping each mental scenario to a mental chair and mentally shooting it's mental out, a began to clear my throat, readying myself. I took a seat on a bench not too far and began quietly.

"Kyyyyrie Eleison...

Kyyyyrie Eleison...

Kyyyyrieeee....

The wind blows hard against this mountain side...

Across the sea, into my soul...

It reaches in to where I cannot hide...

Setting my feet upon the road...

My heart is young, it holds my memories...

My body burns a gem-like flame!

Somewhere between the soul and soft machine...

Is where I find myself again!

Kyrie Eleison, down the road that I must travel!

Kyrie Eleison, through the darkness of the night!

Kyrie Eleison, where I'm going, will you follow?

Kyrie Eleison, through a highway in the light!

When I was young, I thought of growing old,

Of what my life would mean to me!

Would I have followed down my chosen road,

Or only wished what I could be!

Kyrie Eleison, down the road that I must travel!

Kyrie Eleison, through the darkness of the night!

Kyrie Eleison, where I'm going, will you follow?

Kyrie Eleison, through a highway in the light!

Ohh ohh ohhhh...

Ohh ohh ohhhh...!

Ohh ohh ohhhh...

Ohh ohh ohhhh...!"

As I started to sing the next chorus set, and last part of the song, Nadene surprised me by singing along!

"Kyrie Eleison, down the road that I must travel!

Kyrie Eleison, throught the darkness of the night!

Kyrie Eleison, where I'm going, will you follow?

Kyrie Eleison, through a highway in the light!

Kyrie Eleison, down the road that I must travel!

Kyrie Eleison, throught the darkness of the night!

Kyrie Eleison, where I'm going, will you follow?

Kyrie Eleison, through a highway in the light!

Kyrie Eleison, down the road that I must travel!

Kyrie Eleison, throught the darkness of the night!

Kyrie Eleison, where I'm going, will you follow?

Kyrie Eleison, through a highway in the light!"

We left out the last line because I forgot. Also, Nadene has a good sense of rhythm! She stopped right when I stopped! An awkward silence quickly encased the area, but Nadene took a hammer to it. "Wow..." She began, "You're good at that... Singing, I mean."

"Uhh... Thanks. You weren't half bad either."

"So. What does, 'Kyrie Eleison' mean?"

"Well, it was taken from an ancient language called Greek. You see, in Greek, 'Kyrie Elesion' meant, "Lord have mercy."

"Oh, okay... Who's 'lord'?"

"Well, I don't want to get too into it, but think of it like this. You know that pony princess, Princess Celestia, right?" She nodded, signaling for me to continue, "Imagine if there were great tales about her, but there was no actual proof that existed. However, nevertheless, millions of people believe that she still existed and still could do amazing things."

"Alright, alright... Seems interesting enough. My question for you is, how did you know who Princess Celestia is?" Oh shit, she was right. Time to think fast.

"Magic." And then I snorted twice. Hells yeah, Mister Bean! "No, in all seriousness, I don't think I want to tell you. Maybe one day if we ever met again. Say, one last thing."

"Of course. What is it?"

"Where's the nearest city?"

"Well, you could always go to Stalliongrad. It's the nearest city I know of, although it's a pony inhabited place. From what I hear, it's pretty discriminatory. It's in that direction." She pointed to the trees on a certain side of the village. "Oh! Wait a minute! I'll be right back!" Nadene quickly jumped up and ran into the house. I looked back to the direction she pointed in, aaaand perfect! It's right where the sun would set. Hope she's right. I'm really in the dark otherwise. Nadene came running back out with.. a canteen! Oh wow! How nice. "Here," she said, handing it to me, "This is for you."

"No, really? I thought it was for my uncle!" I replied sarcastically. Which -mother effin' gasp- made her giggle. "Dang it, stop being so adorable. Makes it harder to leave." I took off my backpack and put the canteen away, before putting my hand on her shoulder. "Thanks again, Nadene. I'm really grateful to you and your family." I tapped said hand on said shoulder and with that, stood up and looked to the sky. It was about 3pm, from the looks of it. Not too much time to get going. God, I hoped I could find that river again. Maybe I'd find the remnants of my face-period. I sighed out loud at that thought. Fucking thu'um... Then, I slowly began to walk away. "Tell your parents I said 'thanks' again! Goodbye!"

Then she surprised me again, "Kyrie Eleison on the road the you must follow, Jason!" I chuckled quietly and shook my head, thinking to myself. 'Silly cat girl... I really hope I meet up with her again.' I raised my hand and waved goodbye before disappearing into the forest line, clad with trees and brush. Once I feel I'm far enough out, I start quietly muttering to myself. "Well... This is where things pick up for me. Nay, this-! Is just the beginning.

After walking for Celestia knows how long, I heard the sound of rushing water. "Fuckin' wha? No way!" I race through the wild plants and sprint to where I find a river! I dip my hands in to rinse them off and when I pull them out, I smell them. They don't smell salty! That must mean that this is drinkable water! Cupping my hands and placing them into the water, I take a sip to see if my theory is correct. If I had a red hat, I would wear it, because I took out my phone and looked at it, all the while making a fist and chanting, "Yes! ...Yes!" To add epic to something that was indeed already epic, the river was flowing in the direction of where I needed to go, albeit drifting a bit to the right. I decided that it was okay and well worth that sharp left turn I would inevitably take. Yeah... this was quite the beginning.

(AN: Hello once more, if you see any spelling errors, grammar errors, or whatnot, please message me and let me know. Or just comment. I type very fast, and it annoys me when I screw up. Thanks a bunch, and I hope this was worth the weight.

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