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Adventures in Transdimentia
by Shala
Part One
"That's it, Rowen!" Shala exclaimed. "If you're going to have sugar . . ." He looked up at her from the depths of a giant Pixie Stick and laughed. "You'll need someone to get hyper with." She sighed, then made as if to pull an object out of thin air . . . and ended up holding a blonde girl with green streaked hair by the arm. "This is Laila," she continued, "and she likes sugar too. Why don't you let her have that other Pixie Stick? You don't need more sugar . . ."
Rowen looked up and pouted like a petulant child.
"Don't wanna," he said, slurring a bit. "SUGAR!" He collapsed in an immense fit of giggles.
"Laila, you can slap him around if he won't let you have anything," Shala ordered. "Not like he'll get hurt. Just pretend he's one of the guys back home."
"Sure thing. He's Rowen, right?" Laila asked.
"How'd you . . ." Rowen said, momentarily shocked out of his sugar-high.
"Blue hair. She always said you had blue hair."
"CAN SOMEONE HELP ME IN THE KITCHEN?" Sai yelled.
"Gotta go!" Shala popped off to the kitchen within seconds. "Have I got the girl for you, Sai!" she said to the Ronin of Torrent.
"A girl?" Sai said dubiously. Shala nodded and made another pulling motion. A slightly stocky girl with light brown hair appeared.
"This is Norrie-chan," Shala said triumphantly. "She knows how to cook and stuff and her dad is somewhat of a gourmet chef. Ciao!"
She popped off again, leaving her two friends to get acquainted.
"So," said Sai, "I'm Sai. Is your name really Norrie?" The girl laughed.
"Oh, G-d, no," she said. "At camp, Shala used to call me Norus . . . I can't tell you my real name or I'd have to kill you. How about my middle name, Rachel?"
"Sounds ni-" Sai said nervously.
"I HEARD THAT!" Shala yelled. "Sai, call her Penina!"
Norrie/Rachel/Penina shook her head and sighed.
"Let's get to work," she said, grabbing a frying pan.
"Soooo . . . " Sai said nervously, attempting conversation, "what did you call Shala at camp?"
"Gorus." Penina said grimly.
"Figures," said Sai. "What should we make for dinner?"
"I'm bored," Kento said. "And hungry."
"You're always hungry." Sage said. "I'm bored too."
"Did I hear the magic words?" Shala cried, running to where they were sitting.
"Um," said Kento, scratching his head, "what magic words? I thought it was please and thank you."
"You said you were bored!" Shala bubbled. "Have I got fun for you!" Sage perked up.
"Girls?"
"No! Even better!"
"Food?"
"A whole bunch of girls?"
"NO, YOU IDIOTS!"
"Well, then what?" Kento whined.
"A boy with a sense of humor who's girl crazy for you to talk to!" Shala exclaimed triumphantly. The guys exchanged looks. Shala reached again, but this time she had to rummage around a bit. She pulled out a duck, a poppyseed bagel, a lava lamp, and finally a boy. He had funny hair, freckles, and a confused expression on his face. He took a good look around, then focused on Shala.
"Shala?" he said incredulously. "I haven't seen you in like, forever."
"Yeah, but you IM'd me last time I was online," she pointed out. "Cole, this is Sage of the Halo, and Kento of Hardrock. Sage is girl-crazy and Kento is a goof-off. So of course I thought of you." Cole sighed.
"Oh, thanks," he said sarcastically.
"I detect sarcasm." Shala replied. "Guys, this is Cole. You'll be talking to him. Kento, no tackling." She popped out of the room.
"How does she do that?" asked Kento.
"Never ask Shala how or why she does anything. She yells," said Cole. "So do most girls I know," he added thoughtfully.
"I hear you." Sage sighed, and felt to make sure his hair was okay. Cole did the same. Their eyes locked into a kind of kindred spirit mode, and they immediately began chatting about girls.
"I'm still bored." Kento said. Sage grabbed the duck. He handed it to Kento.
"Play with this, Kento," he said.
"A duck?" Kento looked askance.
"Of my creation." Cole grinned. "Ask him about his life. His name is Chuckles." Kento sighed, and went to a corner to talk with the duck. His startled "WHAT THE -" moments later didn't even faze the girl-loving boys. Kento settled down again and kept listening to Chuckles. His extreme confusion gave all the Ronins splitting headaches.
Shala was bored. She wanted someone to talk to, something to do . . . anything! She bumped into a confused Kento in the hall. Relief spread across his face.
"Shala, you're smart, right?"
"Not as smart as Rowen, but yes, I should hope so."
"But he's sugar-high," Kento pointed out, "and there's something I need to know now."
"Shoot."
"So anyway, I was just wondering if it's possible to be born after you've died and had a family." A fleeting look of concern crossed Shala's face.
"You talked to Chuckles, didn't you?" He nodded. She sighed. "He came out of the twisted nether regions of Cole's mind. Don't worry about it."
"Oh good! Also, d'you know when dinner is?"
"Sai and Penina are cooking it right now."
"Who's Penina?"
"You'll see!" Shala bounced off to find someone to bug. Spotting Ryo with White Blaze, she suddenly became very lonely.
"There you go, boy," Ryo said, as White Blaze licked him.
"There you are, kitty," Shala crooned to the black cat in her arms. Ryo looked up.
"Huh? What's that cat doing here?"
"Ryo, this is Max. Max, this is Ryo." Max the cat sniffed Ryo's hand, then leapt out of Shala's arms to sniff White Blaze. "Max, White Blaze, White Blaze, Max."
Max gave Shala a look, then sauntered off alongside White Blaze. "Don't even go near Sai's fish!" Shala called after them.
"No, really, who was that cat?" Ryo asked.
"My cat Max. He's such a great kitty."
"Yeah, but how . . ."
"Trans-dimensional portal." Shala shrugged. "Ask Rowen to explain it to you sometime. Cats go where they will. You know that."
"But -"
"Do I hear Mia calling?" Shala said innocently. Ryo ran off like his trademark wildfire. Shala giggled, then wandered along her way. As she went, she contemplated who to bring for a "visit" next.
Hmm, she thought. Let's see . . . no. Doesn't like the Ronin Warriors. Thinks the Ronins are girls, thinks the Ronins are stupid, might think I'm two-timing him with a Ronin, and doesn't like Lady Kayura. What about Jing? She's not like the others . . . yes, that's perfect!
"What's perfect, Shala, huh?" Yuli said. Shala hadn't realized she'd spoken aloud.
"If you don't bug me, I'll let you play with my cousin again." Yuli nodded vigorously. He liked to play with Shala's cousin. She pulled a small boy about Yuli's age from thin air into a hug, then shooed him off to go play with the annoying one.
"I've got to get you home by seven this time!" she yelled. The two boys went happily frisking around outside.
Shala poked her head into the kitchen.
"How's it going?" she asked.
"Great!" Sai exclaimed. "Penina makes a great Eggplant Parmesan! We've almost got enough food for Kento by now!"
"How many people can we expect for dinner?" Penina asked practically. Shala stopped Sai before he could count.
"I think about, um . . ." she trailed, eyes crossing, ". . . let's see now . . . maybe fifteen or sixteen if you include the cats?"
Sai and Penina glared her out of the kitchen as they kept their conversation going.
"Well, there's lots of stuff you can do with duct tape." Rowen could be heard saying as Shala passed the room she'd left him and Laila in.
"Totally," Laila agreed. "I mean, you can even make jewelry out of it."
"Really? Never thought of that . . . "
Shala smiled and kept walking.