Jason groaned a little as the strange, ethereal energy finally left him. He was confused by- well- everything. It was like reality broke apart and- well- he just didn’t know what to think. He got up, surveying his surroundings. He had been lying down on the base of a huge tree. Curious leaves of green and a very large trunk. It looked … divine. Looking down he saw some kind of squirrel.
“Uh… Hi.” Jason said to it.
“B’pa.” The squirrel replied back. It then gave a few more unintelligible noises seeming to get very angry at something. It was a cute squirrel at least, with light red fur. It had something on its finger.
Jason leaned in a little closer and saw… a ring. “Wait- Steven?!”
“Ch’p!” The squirrel wiggled its tail.
“Oh man- jeez! You uh- you’ve turned into a squirrel. How in the world- I mean- this isn’t possible. I have to be dreaming.” Yeah that was it.
The squirrel’s ears flattened and pointed towards the sky. It made some odd gestures seemingly in panic.
Jason watched the antics in a confusing manner not sure what to make of all this. “Okay okay- so.. we’re in front of a weird tree and you’ve turned into a squirrel. So… how do we get home…”
Steven looked down. She was not able to communicate the details of her situation. She was going to end up stuck here as a squirrel forever! How in the world could she stop the sun from setting anyway?
“Me? Weird?” A voice said- as a strange face appeared in the tree!
Steven and Jason took a step back. “Holy crap!” Jason cried out. “You’re- uh- a tree?!”
“It took me.. centuries… to learn... but .. I speak… human.” The tree said with a gruff tone. It seemed to look like elderly man. “They call me… Temparo.. Tree of .. Time. I .. speak.. squirrel… too. Allow me… to translate. Sorry… human language.. is.. slow.. for me.”
It took a bit of time given how slow the tree spoke. However Jason got the gist of it. “So some lady told him-”
“her…” The tree reminded. “She’s... female.”
“Uh… he- her- she’s a squirrel though. Is that really more important?” Jason muttered crossing his arms. The fact that his friend was now just an animal was more then a little jarring to worry about, even with the whole pro-noun situation.
“… well… perhaps.” The tree chuckled. “In any case… you have a dilemma. You wouldn’t be.. the first squirrel to live with me. I provide.. a good home.” He chuckled again. “Can you stop the sun from setting?”
Jason shrugged. “What do we look like, gods? We can’t stop the sun from setting. It’s impossible.” he gave a reluctant weary sigh. He was very sorry for his friend but… they were powerless. He quietly watched the shadow’s extend. How many hours did they have? One last day? They could chase after the sun perhaps- if they were on an plane but they just had a talking tree. He kicked a stone in frustration.
“ch’a” The squirrel responded with a shiver. She gave a reluctant look as she approached the tree leaning against the side.
To Jason it looked like she was resigning herself to her fate. “So… I guess Steven’s going to just.. be a squirrel forever. What happens to me?”
The tree gave it some thought. “… I could.. turn you into a seedling. Perhaps you could enjoy life here… as a mushroom.”
“… No way.” Jason groaned. “Maybe it’s a riddle. How to stop the sun from setting…” He wasn’t really all that imaginative. His friend was toast and he was lost in this strange place with odd magic around that he didn’t understand. There was literally nothing he could do. “… Steven, I’m starting to wish I never answered your text message.”
“… oh? I can… provide that.” The tree responded.
“What?”
“I am… a time.. tree. I can take you.. to another timeline. One where… you never came. You never meet Steven… though the squirrel will… remain.”
Jason gasped. This was a.. ticket out of this place then! “Well- can’t we get rid of the curse on Steven too? He can’t be a squirrel forever?”
Steven looked up at that hopeful. “Cha’ na’ gar’” The squirrel squeaked and chirped.
The tree listened and nodded. “Your friend agrees… to send you home is best… so that this never happened to you. She will remain.”
Jason felt an eternity wash over him. Steven was certainly doing the right thing. It was only right that he got to be back home! It wasn’t selfish! He didn’t sign up for- well- whatever this weirdness was. He had friends and a life! Though if they could change history... “Well- can we undo Steven getting the ring?”
“… yes… and no. The ring is.. magical. I can alter… the circumstances he got it. The acquirement of a magical item… is fixed. Such events.. can not be altered. Steven is.. destined now.. to get this ring. In some fashion. She is.. destined to be here.. as it happened.. with magic. You are here.. because of.. human means. I can change that.”
Jason was not impressed. “Why don’t we just try? We can stop her from turning into a squirrel.”
“You risk.. great ruptures in.. the cosmos. I can not… change a fixed point.. in the time line.” The tree responded.
The squirrel patted Jason’s hand. It seem to be upset. For a moment Jason was reminded of that young kid.. she was just a kid- just a young girl now. How could Jason leave her? Yet the girl was insisting to send him away. To let him go back to his own life now having had it so .. disrupted.
Was it a bad thing that Jason.. wanted to just… leave? This wasn’t what he considered fun after all, and this was a ticket back home. “Okay.. but… I’ll stay for a bit- at least until the sun goes down- or I think of something.”
Time went by quite quickly.
No ideas came to Jason or Steven.
Jason patted the squirrel’s head. “You know, even if you are stuck like this at least you’re pretty cute,” he chuckled. “I’m… I’m really sorry you know.”
“Cha.” The squirrel responded back.
“Yeah I know. Not really how I thought your life would go. Um- after this I’ll never know what happened to you. Hey- maybe if I never arrived.. that girl will never appear either. Maybe… you’ll be okay.”
The squirrel-girl looked glum at that. The tree explained that the events leading her here were fixed now so.. she couldn’t change ‘being’ here. She could only save Jason. “Tsh’s” She said.
“The time is now,” The tree said with a rustle of its leaves. A branch came down with some strange fruit. “Consume this, and it will make your past self fall asleep.. unable to respond to your friend’s summons. You will never have come here… ”
With the sun about to set now and no ideas.. Jason was the only one who could leave. “Yeah.. okay. Take care Steven.” After a moment of hesitation, he ate the fruit. Jason felt strange. Everything around him was shimmering away.. of course it was his own body fading.
Jason turned sightly to see a squirrel. It seemed important… but then the reason why began to leave him too. Until his whole body just vanished.
Steven watched him go. It was strange.. she remembered him being there and not being there now. Was that how time worked?
“The man.. Jason.. is back home. He never came here.” The tree affirmed .”Well, you still have some time before sunset.” The tree said with a sigh. “Do not worry child, I’ll take care of you.”
“Yeah… I guess I’m more worried about my own family now. All because I found this stupid ring.” She closed her eyes feeling tears. She was upset. She tried to do a good deed for someone and it ended up as the worst thing possible. She was stuck in this body! “Games are not supposed to be impossible.” She lamented. “Why would anyone do this!”
“No.. they are not. However, those are the conditions you were… given.” The tree quietly thought.
“Do I have any choices? Is there any way I can get rid of this ring?”
“…possibly.” the tree responded. “Your issue.. is that you have been trying to remove the ring… but .. you never tried.. to give it.. to another. In your.. circumstances, the ring must be given to another.”
“Well- then you take it!” The squirrel girl gasped. “You have it. You know more about this then I do!”
“… I can take it.. but … the ring, once it goes on my branches will go all across time. There might be some.. odd ripples in reality. You might find yourself in different circumstances.. perhaps being a squirrel will be better..”
“I’d rather take a chance then nothing at all! Being an animal sucks!”
“.. very well.. I’ll accept the ring.”
Steven looked at her hand. “It’s gone.” she sighed in relief. “Oh thank… goodness?!” She blinked. She was lying down in a bed of some kind.
“Quiet will you!” A voice rang out. “You’ll get us in trouble again.”
The girl leaned on her side. Her huge squirrel tail was still there. However she was human again! “What- where the heck am I?” She was wearing.. pink pyjamas?! For some reason there was a hole for her tail. She was in a room with a bunch of other beds and large windows.
“Still in the orphanage silly Sally!” The light came on and Steven was face to face with some kind of demon girl!
The girl had horns on her head. Bony ones that came out to each side. She had red skin and cloven hooves. A pair of small wings were on her back. Steven, naturally, screamed.
“Hey quiet!” The demon-girl groaned. “What’s your problem!” she said confused as her tail wiggled behind her.
“Keep it down would you two!” Another voice groaned. This one belonging to some kind of cat-girl. “Unlike you two I’ve actually got someone interested in adopting me.”
“Pft.. cat-girls, they are always popular.” the demon-girl sighed stretching a bit. “I can’t imagine why nobody would want to adopt a squirrel-girl though. Must be that instinct to nibble on the furniture,” she laughed.
Steven was still trying to understand just what the heck was going on!
