There's Always Time to Shop

I heaved a deep sigh, falling to the ground. "That was a doozy." I say. I looked over to my companion, a young human with a head shaped like…well, an onion. "But we made it."

The young human smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

I didn't know what his name was. He never spoke. All he ever did was act. Due to his apparent inability to communicate using speech, I simply called him 'Onion'. I know, I know, who in their right mind would ever name someone Onion? Still, it was the best choice, at least in comparison to just calling him 'human'.

Yes, I owed my life to this human. I met him back in a different timeline.

I had been hopping through to different universes, trying as hard as I could to escape from the plague. I eventually came to a very peculiar one. Did you know there's a type of timeline with a Lapis Lazuli that can summon a machine gun, an actual freaking machine gun! And, she wasn't friendly in any sense of the word either. She was bent on killing me from the start, and that was before the plague claimed her. Next thing I knew, I was dealing with a monster who could shoot the plague at me, and she could do it quickly. I thought I was a goner.

Thankfully, I was saved by my current companion. To make a long story short, the kid makes great use of a harpoon.

It wasn't long after that the monsters swarmed that timeline too, forcing me to continue my search for some sort of safe haven. Though this time I didn't leave alone. For the first time since I had left my home timeline, I had a companion. And this companion wasn't just someone I was working with, like on Homeworld. No, this was something more than that. He was someone I could and would call a friend.

We traveled for quite a bit, eventually finding our most recent timeline, some place where the residents were successfully fighting back, one where there were actually a few other refugees. They were even on the verge of developing a cure for the plague. I had thought that we'd finally found some semblance of hope in this mess I caused, some sort of light within the darkness. Oh how wrong I was.

It started as a single gem being caught off guard, then another, then another, until finally it evolved into another hive for the plague. Onion and I barely made it out…and many others didn't.

Now though, we were still here, we still had our lives.

I turned my head to the boy as I heard his stomach give a grumble.

I sighed, looking to a knapsack I had, nothing other than a few tool and half built machines within. "Guess we better go get you some food, huh?"

Onion's expression soured.

I smirked. "Where there's food, there's Guacola." I sang.

Onion was on his feet in a second, making me chuckle at the sudden eagerness and energy he held.

Ah, Guacola. I hated everything about ingesting that stuff, but it quickly became a tool I used to get my stubborn little companion to do the things he needed to do to survive. All in all, he was rather compliant about most things, except when it came to food. After a few timeline jumps, I became very concerned for his health. Humans needed nutrients from food to survive and my Onion wasn't getting any. Then came the day we stumbled upon a treat that he had some odd love of, Guacola. And that very drink, that weird, slimy green liquid that hardened in my throat and almost destroyed my physical form the one time I tried it, became the tool I used to get him to do what he needed.

"Alright, let's get a move on." I said, standing up and stretching. "We better hurry if we want to stay ahead of the plague."

Onion didn't hesitate, jumping immediately on my back. I smiled, my bat wings gently spreading out from my back. With a powerful flap, we were off.

I smiled as I felt the wind against my face, chuckling as I felt my little companion's hold on me tighter. With the assurance that he was secured, I began to fly even faster. I felt pleasure at my reward for doing so, a little laugh. It was the most beautiful noise I had ever heard, his laughter. It was something I looked forward to, something I strived for. In all the darkness, through all the hardships, his laughter was one of the things that kept me going, it was something that, to me at least, banished the darkness for a few brief moments.

As I was enjoying his laughter, Onion was still searching for the location of his prize. He poked my shoulder and pointed in the direction of our desired location, the one place that had it. It was the one place that sold it, some wall themed mart (I don't get it either) from which humans could purchase goods. In truth, the store itself didn't actually sell the product Onion wanted (or walls for that matter). In fact, they were pretty adamant about keeping it out, at least in every timeline he had seen. The actual person selling it was tall, skinny, bald human in some very shiny transportation vehicle. He always seemed happy about someone actually purchasing his drink, which made me happy…until he would end smiling which temporarily blinded me.

I descended to the ground, Onion hopping off. I was beginning to go into the store, only for Onion to grab my hand and point in the direction of the van.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine," I put my hand up to the obsidian gem on my forehead, pulling out some of the green paper these humans used as currency from the rock. "but don't drink it all before I get out because I'm not giving you anymore of this stuff."

Onion nodded happily, accepting the green paper before bolting off to the car.

Human currency was something I began to collect after I gained my companion, giving us a way to purchase the organic matter he needed. It was rather easy to find. Onion showed me this great place that just had a whole bunch of it just sitting around, something called a "bank". You know, for a bunch of people not using it, they get pretty mad whenever you take it from them. It's much easier to do right before we leave to go to another timeline.

I smiled in Onion's direction before turning to the store, stretching my arms and my bat wing out before folding the black and gray wings back into my back, the wings turning into what humans call a 'tattoo' on my back. I casually made my way into the store, vaguely aware of the humans giving me odd stares. I didn't pay them any mind. For one thing, this was perfectly normal whenever we arrived to the area, no matter the timeline. For another, I knew good and well that their opinions didn't matter; they were going to be dead anyway when the plague arrived.

Oh yea, finally made a good version of my device. Finally, now I can go from one timeline to another without having to lurk around and hunt for pieces again. Hopefully, I can hop far away from this plague now…though, it doesn't look to positive for me. Everywhere I go, it looks like the plague is one step ahead of me. Oh well, at least that helps me understand it a little better, helps give me something to think about other than how I might die.