They hadn't gotten far from the dining hall, when Zephy suddenly piped up and commanded the crew to form into a single file. Gulping, she was actually rather intimidated by the small Nobody. Every time her dominant voice barked, it caused nervous twitches to involuntarily occur in muscles of random limbs on Jasper's body. She shuddered a bit and stared directly at the floor when she knew the darting glare would soon land on her, feeling its pressuring judgement as she fiddled with the hem of her dress. Luckily, she had packed an extra set of adventure-suitable clothing in her bear bag just for the purpose of these spontaneous emergencies.
"I'll be escorting you to the kingdom of Sol, where we'll plan out our attack. We'll be taking the catbus to the border of Sol, and then proceeding by foot to the castle. We might run into some monsters, but they should be small fry that you guys can take care of quickly, and if by chance a giant powerful one shows up then we run! You all understand? Capiche?"
'Capiche?! No, not capiche. Nothing was ever that easy' she knew that as she just came to accept the task at hand. By now, she had already learned to face the reality of Nowhere and no longer bothered to waste her brain power on questioning its very existence. Let alone what exactly was their purpose for being there. As problem solvers perhaps? Maybe free of charge item retrievers. Didn't matter much. As long as the quests equaled one step closer to home, that's all Jasper really cared about.
The beanstalk ride had lost its thrill by now because it was about the third time she'd ridden it. Don't get me wrong though, just cause the thrill is gone doesn't mean Jasper no longer panics in there and feels claustrophobic. She absolutely still does, but they have toned down a bit since her first go. Maybe packed even closer than they had ever been due to new human additions, the skin contact was strangely comforting. Like the episode with Songbird, she was growing less and less uncomfortable with physical touching than she had ever been with others besides close friends and Rosen. Her very identity had been morphing, though quite slowly, as the journey continued. Fully aware of the evolving traits, Jasper appreciates them, but fears it all the same.
Eyeballs aglow, jaw spread wide, and tuna stench drifting in the air. Jasper was just about to march off with Vince until the new girl grabbed her and Leila by the arms and slid into the bus. Getting hauled around was another act she had grown accustomed to. It was part of getting around, especially with her regular panic attacks and dazed phases, it was a blessing that the others were so willing to get her from one place to another.
The cat's mouth was slimy and food residue lined the inner membrane of its lungs which divided into two separate
canals if you will. The one they took obviously lead to the correct destination and Jasper didn't even bother thinking about the possibilities of landing in the other one. Wait, scratch that. I lied. She did think about the countless happenings that had the potential of actually occurring. Falling into a pit of deadly stomach acid, getting sliced in half by one of the cat's fangs, even randomly choking on some of the fish particles between its teeth. Don't bother asking how she conjured that. Just know that that is the imaginative creation of her extreme paranoia. But oh, was she glad she didn't protest when Riley chose the left airway instead of the right one. If it had been only her, she could've easily spent a good hour deciding on which to choose. Wait, with her nature, it should've been virtually impossible to convince her to go into the cat bus's mouth initially out of her own free will.
But now there she was, sitting on spit dampened cat fur, smelling like rotten sushi. As the mammal began to levitate, she held onto the coated walls of its interior with a green hued face.