Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business A Pack of Words

Just a quick preface to say that the following isn't intended to be considered any sort of LMB canon, or intended to reflect the actual ideas of any of the folks who appear in it.

It's just that I've been hit with some tough emotions over this past weekend over the loss of Language Arts Dave, and I thought I might try to deal with them creatively. I thought at first I wouldn't post this story - just write it it for myself - but then, once I finished it, I realized that the entire point of the story was that it probably should be shared.

Anyway, here it is:


Roll Call:




The battle had been raging on for months when he had gotten separated from the rest of the team.


He had been in the midst of one of the myriad skirmishes which had been increasing in both number and intensity over the last few days, when - deep into a running chase - he suddenly looked around and found that he was completely alone.

No sign of the team, and - what's more - no sign of what he'd been chasing.

In confusion, he stopped running for a moment, pausing to lean up against a tree and catch his breath. He stood silently, listening closely for any sound coming though the forrest. Far off in the distance, he heard the sound of beating wings - but even they sounded as though they were growing fainter and fainter.

He thought for a moment. What had he been chasing? A bird? He scratched his head. How odd that he couldn't remember that. He thought harder, but his confusion only grew. How long had he even been running? He thought back to the battle and the events that had led him here, but the more he tried to recall it, the more it seemed like it was just a distant memory from his past. What was going on here?

As he stood, trying to puzzle out his situation, his reverie was suddenly broken by a voice from above.

"Who are you?"

"I'm sorry... wh...?" He stopped short as he looked up to the voice calling down from the tree and was startled to see a very large cat sitting on the branch above his head, looking for all the world as though it were grinning at him. He shook his head and, against his better logic, called up to the cat.

"D... did you just speak?"

The cat's grin seemed to widen as he replied. "Answering a question with another question. That is a rather inane way to communicate. Are all people as strange as you where you come from?"

Although he was taken aback by the cat's rudeness, not to mention the fact that it was even speaking at all, he couldn't help but challenge him back.

"Excuse me? Listen, cat... I don't have time for this nonsense, I'm in the middle of chasing... well... I can't remember what I was chasing, but..."

"Your tale, perhaps?"

"My ta...? People don't have tails."

"Not always true... but, in any case, I didn't say, 'tail', I said, 'tale'."

He shook his head, not hearing the difference in what the cat said, but not really caring. "Whatever. This is stupid. I've got to go."

"You? Who are you?"

"I'm..." He paused. How odd... he couldn't seem to remember that either.

"No matter," the cat interrupted. "You are on a journey, that is enough. A word of caution... it is always best to be on a team if you plan a journey. I imagine you'll want to speak with the Kid. Don't let his name fool you... he's actually quite brave."

"The king?"

"The 'Kid', actually. He is often found with his Green."

"His queen?"

"Mmm... that, as well." With that, the cat vanished.

The man shook his head in annoyance at this curious turn of events, and was about to start off again into the forrest, when the cat suddenly reappeared and spoke again.

"I'm sorry... who did you say you were?'

"I... I'm just a lad."

"Ah." The cat disappeared again, but even before the lad had time to gather his thoughts again it reappeared. "I'm sorry... did you say 'mad' or 'lad'?"

"Lad! And quit disappearing so quickly like that. It's really annoying."

"All right." This time the cat disappeared quite slowly, beginning with the tip of its tail and working its way up its body until only the grin remained.





As he watched the cat disappear, he slowly realized that his eyes had been playing tricks on him. The bright crescent he was looking at wasn't the grin of a cat, at all, but rather the thin sliver of the moon rising above as night settled in on the forrest.

It was really quite beautiful, if perhaps a bit odd in its behavior. He sat down on a log for a moment to watch the moon rising - all the while observing with fascination as its shape continued to change. For half a moment he thought he again heard the beating of wings but - transfixed as he was by the moon - the sound soon faded. This was really unlike any moon he had ever seen. Instead of holding its form, it seemed to wax and wane before his very eyes... beginning as a thin slice and, over the course of no more than a handful of minutes, swelling first into its fullness, then receding back on the other side.

"Beautiful, isn't she?"

"Wha..." the lad jumped up from the spot where he had been sitting, shocked to see a beautiful woman in a flowing robe sitting right next to where he had been. "Who are you... and where did you come from?"

The woman smiled, "Why... I came from the same place we all come from and, as for who I am, well... just a simple Lass."

"Just a lass, eh? Do 'lasses' always wander around the woods surprising people?"

"Lasses are indeed full of surprises... for those who don't understand our nature. Consider the light above, herself, " she said, pointing her slender hand toward the rising moon, "That lass - all at once - is all the youth, maturity and dotage of life contained in a single white light. Isn't she magnificent?"

"Hmm... well, that's sort of a new-agey way of looking at things."

"Quite the contrary," she smiled.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I really don't have time to sit and talk about pagan magic and mysteries. I'm in a hurry. Apparently I have to go find some... kid, or something. At least..." the lad cleared his throat and, somewhat embarrassedly, said, "At least... that's what that stupid cat said."

"Oh, you've seen him?"

"What... are you familiar with that double-talking, grinning thing?"

"He is, indeed, my familiar. Did he say where he was going?"

"No... he just rambled on with some sort of "Alice-y" nonsense."

"Alice? Now that's a curious sort of name."

"Oh, it's just an old... oh, never mind. So, you wouldn't have any idea how I should find this kid, would you?"

"Well, he tends to spend most of his time with his own gang but, if you really want to reach him, I suppose the best way would be the Express."

"The Express?"

"Yes," she said pointing across to a road just a few yards away that he hadn't noticed before, "It keeps a very exact schedule, so it should be here any momen... ah... there it is now."

All at once, seemingly out of nowhere, a yellow taxicab came roaring up, stopping right across from them. The driver's window rolled down as a large, teddy-bear like man leaned out and called over, "Somebody need a lift?"





"So what's your story?" the lad shifted uneasily in the back seat of the cab, completely befuddled by this strange turn of events.

"Me?" the driver called back in a jovial voice, "I'm just your average John. But I do love driving the 'L.E.G.I.O.N.' - helping people get where they're going."

"I'm sorry.... the L.E.G.I.O.N.?"

"Yeah... stands for 'L.E.G.I.O.N. Express, Going Infinitely Onward, Nonstop.' Pretty catchy, huh?"

"Wait a minute... how is that an abbreviation? You didn't expand the first part."

"Oh, yeah... sorry. I thought you were just asking about 'L.E.G.I.O.N.' The second bit stands for, 'L.E.G.I.O.N. Express, Going Infinitely Onward, Nonstop Express, Going Infinitely Onward, Nonstop.' Kind of a mouthful, so I usually just abbreviate it."

"That doesn't make any sense... it's still..."

"Oh, sorry... you wanted to know what that stands for. That's easy... it's just 'L.E.G.I.O.N. Express, Going Infinitely Onward, Nonstop Express, Going Infinitely Onward, Nonstop Express, Going Infinitely Onward, Nonstop'."

"Doesn't it ever stop?"

"Which... the name... or the cab?" the driver laughed.

"Either one!"

"Of course... both of them stop when you get where you're going. So... where are you going, then?"

"I... I'm not really sure."

"Well, that could take a while, then."

"I... I thought I was chasing something, but now I'm not sure. I thought I head a bird's wings..."

"A bird?"

"I don't know... I'm really confused about the whole thing. And then this cat said I should look for this kid..."

"Well why didn't you say so? I can bring you to the Kid, no problem."

"You can? Great, is it very far?"

"Far? What are you talking about? We're already there."

"Wha..."

Before the lad could even get the words out, the door to the cab opened. A very tall green man - almost a giant - stood dressed in royal livery cut in an almost inappropriately sexy fashion. He bowed down and said, "Well, come on, if you're coming. Let's not dally, darling... destiny awaits."





The lad followed the tall green man down a path to a clearing where, quite incongruently, a magnificent table had been laid out for tea. Sitting around the table were a blue skinned woman, a muscular man dressed in red, and a bald-headed man wearing a yellow robe.

The green man took his own place at the table, then the foursome looked at the lad. Uneasily, he took a place, as well.

The red garbed man looked at the lad and - pointing to the pot in front of him - asked, "Tea?"

"Uh... sure." The lad reached for the teapot but upon attempting to pour it, found that it was empty.

"No tea," said the man in red.

"Well... that was a little rude to offer if there wasn't any."

"Well, it was rude of you to sit down without being asked."

"Wh..." but before he could respond, the lad was interrupted by the tall green man.

"Why is a grey bird like a writing desk?" He winked at the lad.

"What?"

"Don't mind her," said the blue skinned woman. "She doesn't know the answer. She's just a tease."

"Teas? I thought there wasn't any... wait... 'she'? I really don't think..."

"Then you really shouldn't talk," the blue woman said.

"Listen... thanks for the tease and no thanks for the no teas, but I've got to..."

"Do you like songs?" The bald-headed man suddenly interrupted.

"Do I...?"

Again interrupting, the bald-headed man simply starting singing.

"Twinkle, twinkle, yellow kid,
How I wonder what you sing."

"That doesn't even rhyme. Shouldn't it be 'king'?"

"It really should, shouldn't it?"

"Hold on... are you the kid I'm supposed to find?"

"Guilty," he replied, grinning. "You know, if I had a nickel for every time I've admitted to being guilty... well... I'd have a nickel. You wouldn't happen to have a nickel would you?"

"I'm afraid not."

"That's all right, you can owe me. So... what did you think?"

"I... I'm sorry," the lad stuttered in confusion, "Are you asking what I think of your song?"

"No... of my gang, of course," he said pointing at his companions around the table. "They can be a bit testy, I know, but they really are a work of Art."

"Look... I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm leaving right now. You people are mad."

"I'm sorry... did you say 'mad'... or 'LAD'?"





At the emphasis on the word, the lad suddenly did a double take.

He looked again at the bald-headed man and, cocking his head to the side, narrowed his eyes.

"Wh... what's going on here? Where exactly are we?" The lad looked at the bald man, who smiled back kindly. This couldn't be right. He stared at the man - little by little, the memory of that last battle beginning to coalesce.

The lad put his hand to his temple and closed his eyes "Did I...? My god... I... I didn't remember." Slowly - in the background of his hearing - the sound of flapping of wings began again.

The bald headed man spoke, "You know where you are... don't you, LAD? This isn't my world... it's yours - the world you created. It's a pack of words, a house built with the language arts, which is why you were able to navigate it so quickly. Are you all right?"

"I can't... is it real?"

"Was the world you came from?"

"But... what are we supposed to... what do we do now?"

"Well," the bald man said, pensively, "We can help you with what's next, if you like - but that's really up to you, isn't it?"

"Is it?"

"It's like like the cat says - in the end, each one of us is just chasing down his own tale. But - you know, LAD - my favorite tales were always the ones I chased with other people. I think - if we stick together - we can go anywhere... do anything. Me? I was actually thinking of forming a new team."

"A new team? What do you mean?"

"Well, these guys are great, of course," he waved around the table at his colorful gang, "but they won't be able to go with me on my next mission. I'm going to have to leave them behind."

"Next mission?"

"Of course. You took the express here, right? Infinitely onward... nonstop. Where I'm going next, I need people I can trust... teammates who have been through it, you know? People who know what it's like to face adventure, twenty-four/seven."

"You're asking me to join your team?"

The bald headed man smiled. "The best worlds are always the ones we build together. You've already met a couple of my teammates, I believe... but I don't think you've met our pathfinder."

The sound of the beating wings, which had been steadily growing throughout, suddenly reached a near-deafening crescendo, as a muscular winged man in native garb descended from the sky.

The lad sprung to his feet, as the bald man greeted the new arrival. "Welcome back... were you able to find the way?"

"Was there a doubt?"

The lad couldn't believe his eyes. He looked at the man and all but sputtered, "You... you have wings!"

The man grinned ruefully, reaching out to put his hand on the lad's shoulder. "If I've said this once, I've said this a thousand times... we all have wings."





"Are we ready?" the lad asked his bald-headed friend, pausing to look around at his teammates. The beautiful shimmering pagan lass... the teddy bear like L.E.G.I.O.N. driver... the winged man who resembled a magnificent grey bird. Truly, this was a team whose tale would become legend.

"Not quite... my old gang has one last thing to do before we can leave. Guys?"

The tall green man smiled at his old boss and turned to his two other colorful companions. With a look of determination, the three locked hands as a glow began to form between them. While the others watched on in amazement, the three people - seemingly so real just a moment before - began to melt away, their very bodies transformed into three orbs of color - one red, one blue, and one green.

Slowly, the orbs began to rise into the air and - as if driven by some creative force - wrapped around one another, the three colors combining into one incredible white orb of light. The orb grew larger and larger, rising up into the night sky, becoming the largest and most magnificent full moon any of them had ever seen, filling the entire sky with a glorious white light.

The lad marveled at the sight, and - choking back his tears - said, "You were right, kid... my god, you were right. That world is where our next mission lies. Come on, Legionnaires... let's fly!"


After a time - long after the five of them had soared off into the light toward their new world - the orb began to recede, growing smaller and smaller... until, at last, it resembled nothing more than the thinnest grin of a cat... and disappeared.

Ex... that was beautiful. Really beautiful.

That was moving...and it helped me feel better too. Thanks for that.

Thank You.

Wow.

Very, very nice.

A decade plus on - though the online landscape has been re-sculpted over and again - from time to time, my heart still calls me back to reread this particular thread.


Thanks again, Art, John, Steve, Dave and Chuck for passing the hours with me, whether in collaboration or debate; as well as David - whose writing inspires me to this day; and, of course, Michael - without whom... so much.


A toast to you, "absent friends, lost loves, old gods."