Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

Campfire Songs

Kipo walked through the town with a heavy heart. None of the roads remained, so the little group of Kipo, Mabel, Fei Fei, Luz, Coraline, Kai and Tulip had to pick their way across through shattered bits of wood and debris of the destroyed buildings and the trees.

Little bits of things Kipo remembered from before leaving were scattering around, like little moments. A dozen flowers from the garden that had been torn up... and pages of books that had been ripped from their books and were now just scattered around, ruined and completely unreadable, reminding Kipo of the state of the notebook in her pocket. Every book in the town probably had a similar look to that one.

Even though the look of the town seemed completely detached from what it was before, there were still a lot of things that link this town to the one that the little group had been living in just before. For one, scattered around, little pieces of the art they made, most of it Mabel's, but sometimes others had tried their hand at it, or just picked up a brush for fun. Beside her foot, Kipo saw another such painting, one of three frogs, one orange, one pink and one purple. She swallowed, quickly turning away.

The only thing in the town left standing was the community center, and even then, only barely. Most of it was destroyed as well, with most of its walls missing and a good chunk of the insides being torn to shreds. However, despite all of that, the short, flat building was now the tallest thing in a town that had been almost completely level to the ground.

And, thankfully, it still had food. A lot of food.

The kitchen had not gone untouched by the storm, just like everything else, but where the stove and the cooking utensils had unfortunately all been destroyed, the food in the cupboards remained plentiful and pristine. Kipo could have nearly cried at that. She had only been gone for... well, a long time, technically, and was starving. Splitting the group up into jobs was easy, everyone was too tired and hungry to complain. Luz and Kipo gathered as much food that didn't need to be cooked as they could, and brought it over to Coraline, who was making them a spot to rest since their homes were now gone. Fei Fei had gone off scavenging for seats and, if they were lucky, somewhere actually nice to sleep, as well as medical supplies for Kai and Tulip. And speaking of which, Kai and Tulip weren't doing much to help, but nobody could really blame them. They were resting near Coraline and Mabel, out of their way as they did their best to try and get out all the water in the little alcove she had found at the back of the community center.

No one was interested in waiting too long for their food, so they were all finished in record time, and soon enough sitting in Coraline's little alcove spot with logs as seats and a fire burning in the middle. They practically scarfed down all their food, and, when it had all disappeared, Luz had reluctantly went to get more. Coraline went with her, and Mabel, too, though Kipo wondered if she was just going to eat the food rather than carry it back.

In the meanwhile, Fei Fei set to work on Tulip's leg.

"Um... brace?" Fei Fei asked when Tulip had told her what the old woman had done before. Fei Fei tilted her head, clearly trying to understand what that was.

"It's like... when you put a piece of wood under the bandages to make them stay straight," Tulip told her. She went white as Fei Fei's frown only deepened. "You know what that is, right?"

Slowly, Fei Fei nodded.

"I think," she said.Tulip scowled.

"If you don't know, maybe it's better if you don't," Tulip told her nervously, but Fei Fei reached for a splint of wood anyway. Tulip stiffened, but she seemed relieved Fei Fei seemed to get what a brace was. Now the only question is if she can actually pull one off.