Ice & Cream

Timothy, the Comedian

“What’s with all the hurry?” Sprinkle asked, clearly suspicious.

“Orders from father,” Jack said to dodge the issue. “We need to hurry.”

“Wait, we aren’t running away from them, are we? You did talk to them, right?!”

Jack nodded. “I talked to my father. He said that while they are against it, they would not stop me.” Then, he promptly got into the slide.

Jack arrived at the end to stand and look towards the city’s edge. It was getting dangerously close to nightfall.

“Watch ooooout!”

Sprinkle body-slammed into Jack, sending them both tumbling over and into the ground.

“Whoah, you two alright?”

“Yes,” Jack replied to the stranger, wheezing. “Thank you for the concern, sir, but we are well.”

“Who told you to freakin’ just stand there?! Not me,” Sprinkle barked preemptively.  “Anyway, good parents you got there.”

“Yeah,” Jack said while he looked about him for his things, “I like them.”

Grabbing his sword and the rucksack he had been given by Thomas, Jack stood and marched on. He made sure the hilt was still properly in the rope loop. “Now hurry. I am starting to fear we might lose the last departure of the day.”

There were two ways to leave the mountain and travel to Soda City. Climbing across was one, but more conveniently, it was possible to ride a tram that connected both ends.

“Well, I’m seein’ plenty of shadows, Jack. That means we’re good to run.”

“That is because the night is falling,” Jack noted with worry, “and there are no more tram trips once it has.”

“I’m not a fast runner, though.”

“Well, then,” Jack said, bending over mid-walk to pick him up. “There are always alternatives… Wow, you are heavier than I thought.”

“Why do you think I’m so slow, numb-nuts?!”

He was too heavy for Jack to carry him for long, but a short spurt should be alright. Carrying under his arm, Jack jogged to the next slide.

“Well, like I was saying,” Jack told him, and then leaned in and pushed Sprinkle down the slide.

“Whaaaahh…”

“There are always alternatives!” Jack yelled after the little guy, and then followed laughing.

There was a roundabout way to the tram, using slides, but it would be faster than going on foot as far as Sprinkle was concerned. However, Jack's mother might be able to catch up and he was not confident that she would act as his father had. He assumed instead that she would be over-protective and, for lack of better terms, kidnap him and take him back home. It would make for a funny story around the fireplace for years to come, at his expense.

It would also break his heart.

As they came off the last slide, they saw the tram was already letting people in. The driver was outside by the door, welcoming them and checking their tickets.

“Evening, sir!”

“Lad,” the man nodded, and then looked at Sprinkle, flabbergasted. “What is it you have there?”

Sprinkle rushed to speak for himself, unsurprisingly. “Name’s Sprinkle, boss, from Ice Cream City. Like Jack here.”

“Jack, is it?”

“Jack O’ Creams, sir” Jack greeted, handing the two tickets to the man, “ticket for my little friend and me.”

Sprinkle wobbled against Jack’s legs, rocking him with a light head-butt. “ Use short, kid, show some respect!”

“Well, uhh…” He checked the tickets ponderously. “Are you like one of them sweets monsters we keep hearing about?”

“Callin’ me a monster now, boss?” Sprinkle asked, upset.

“Oh, uh, no, no,” the man denied, half-scared. He gave Jack the tickets back and looked away, mumbling under his breath. “Just wondering… been pranked before -- could be a tiny kid in a costume for al I know.”

“I’m something like them, I guess. I’m a proper sweetum, and you know it. But not one o' yours, I'm from Ice Cream City.”

“Oh no,” he reacted, looking at Jack really worried. “Are they popping up over there, too? Have you lost your stone, have you? How is that possible?!”

“The nerve!” Sprinkle yelled in reaction, biting at the air in front of the man's teeth. The conductor flinched away in a fright, and Sprinkle glared away and hopped along into the tram. “Acting like I’m a monster! You need to learn some manners, boss.”

“Everything is fine,” Jack said, nodding reassuringly. “Please excuse his hot temper.”

“Hot? Me? There ain’t nothing hot about me, kid.”

“Right, right…”

Jack walked in sideways after Sprinkle, bowing in apology. He could tell they were leaving the man feeling a bit ashamed that he had hurt Sprinkle’s feelings. Sitting down, Jack slid his rucksack off his shoulder and put it in between his legs, so as not to occupy a seat. Sprinkle took the seat next to him.

They didn’t have to wait long. Before they knew it, the door closed, and the conductor was taking his seat.

“We’re leaving!” the man yelled out for outside, directing it at some colleagues. He pulled the window shut and that was it. Jack couldn't see into his cabin.

The tram was almost empty, carrying only a few individuals, so Jack and Sprinkle had room to relax.

It geared into movement, and Jack’s heart rocked along with it. He felt the whole construct hanging on by a few ice cables as it left the side of the mountain.

That was it. He hadn’t even considered it clearly, but he was leaving the only land he had ever known. After stressing about it during his whole trek to Slurpy City, he had gotten it over with without any ceremony.

Looking back at the mountainside in a melancholic moment of farewell -- mostly so he wasn't looking at the empty sky that made up every other angle -- he saw his mother running up to the ledge.

He reeled back reflexively just as she leaned over, as if to jump.

“JAAAAACCCK!” Her voice startled everyone.

Jack glared at her. He was more intimidated than anything.

“YOU ARE ONE CRAZY BOY!”

For a second, Jack truly believed she was about to jump. That she was going to dive for the ice lines and rappel down to the tram. Instead, she just waved goodbye. “I LOVE YOU, SON!”

Jack froze out of shock.

“I LOVE YOU, JACK! PLEASE! STAY SAAAFEEE!!”

Sprinkle whistled, impressed, watching the distant figure of the woman that was Jack’s mother. “You really do have great parents.”

“Yes,” Jack nodded with teary-eyed grin. “I love them.”

Jack gulped and took a breath. He wiped his eyes while he tried to calm down his heart.

“Wow, that was certainly something,” said a voice from the side.

Jack looked over to see a fellow standing in the middle of the tram, watching his mother. He was nodding. “I wonder what crazy story is behind that little interaction!”

Jack saw Sprinkle frown, displeased, but he still offered the stranger a polite smile.

“You can call me Timothy. Timothy Mac’Slippery!” the boy announced, and though he did so without hesitation, and without a single c***k of a smile, Jack still chuckled.

“Oh scoop!” Jack immediately said, covering his mouth, “Sorry, I meant no offense.”

“None taken, my friend, that is very much the desired effect!” Timothy said with a kind laugh. He had noticeable blue hair, artificially colored, of course. He leaned his head aside so his eyes could see them clearly. “What can I say? Comedy runs in my family, and that goes for how we name our own.”

Timothy laughed lightly and then crouched near Jack. “Might I ask, Jack…” he said, mimicking the way his mother had said it. “What is your story?”

“Uhm. I have no problem telling you, Timothy… but please, take a seat, it is weird if you keep standing. Sprinkle, would you mind?”

“What?!”

The trip would take about an hour, and there was less to see than Jack had anticipated. Between the night and the thick white clouds that they were traversing, it was like the outside was just empty space. For that reason, Jack was happy to engage in conversation with a friendly stranger.

Even if he was a little bit odd, and much too forward for Jack’s liking.

“I mean, who wants to go to Cookie City, things as they are?”

“It is for my friend that I do it,” Jack explained again.

“To give her the ice cream, right. A very reasonable goal, to be sure,” Timothy said sarcastically.

“You don’t have to justify yourself to him, Jack!” said Sprinkle, "he's just some random guy."

Timothy brushed his long blue hair aside to get a better look at Sprinkle, “Ah, yes. I keep forgetting about you there, short-stuff.”

Sprinkle replied by hopping against his kneecaps.

“Ow!”

“Guess I’ll remind you every once in a while, then!” Sprinkle said angrily.

“It was but a joke, my little buddy, but a joke.”

Sprinkle scoffed and walked in a circle. “Only reason I’m down here is ‘cause you took my spot.”

“You offered.”

“He offered,” Sprinkle protested towards Jack.

“It is called courtesy, Sprinkle.”

“Yeah,” Timothy agreed, and smirked down at him. “Courtesy.”

Sprinkle whined softly to show that he was upset, but had nothing else to argue.

"Anyway. You really are the crazy fellow, Jack. But… to brave a battlefield for the favor of a lady? Succeed, and you might be the stuff of legend, not mockery. I would certainly envy you.”

Jack blushed. “Nah, I doubt it. It is just a silly promise. But what of you?” Jack redirected, “why do you travel?”

“For the sake of traveling.” Timothy said, his cyan eyes glowing. “Is there a need for a better reason?”

“If you’re not mental,” Sprinkle put in.

“Oh shush,” Timothy called with a wave of his hand.“I expect to meet people and experience places.  I was not born to be a plant, growing roots in the same place where I was born, but rather to soar and explore the world ,” he proclaimed, gesturing widely with his arms.

“Wooow, you are really brave,” said Jack. 

“Yes! Minus the foolish, which is why I am staying well away from the main warring cities. Cookie City, Bubblegum City, Cheese city…” he took out a paper, some kind of list, from his pocket.

He was about to read from it when Sprinkle interrupted. “Only thing that’s foolish here is the war! There’s nothin’ in the world that should stop two friends from sharing an ice cream.”

The statement was so simply true, and put so casually and bluntly, that it startled both of them for a couple of seconds.

Timothy recovered first, putting his list away.  “Well, should, could, would. If there is something that can do anything, it is a war.”

“We will find out, I suppose,” Jack simply said.

Timothy shrugged and leaned back, crossing his arms. He looked young, younger than Jack, and Jack already looked young. However, none of them were that young anymore, most especially not in their hearts and minds.

His grandmother had always said that the heart gave shape to everything around it.

“Way I hear it, we better be careful in Soda City,” Timothy decided to say, suddenly.

“Yes, I heard. They do not have a stone anymore, do they?”

“The stones are the magical cores of the cities, which is why we built around them. They say when you take out a stone, the city starts dying. And by that, they mean its magic, of course.”

“It has not been long since they first lost theirs, correct?” Jack asked.

“Nor have they been conquered in the slightest,” Timothy said in agreement. “It was not an attack that conquered their stone, the war has yet to reach the mountains, but a small group of thieves. Rumors blame mercenaries from Fish City.”

“Fish City?” That was confusing, “but Fish City is neutral, right?”

“I said mercenaries, Jack, do pay attention,” he emphasized, winking in amusement.

“Oh, I see. Right, so the city is still safe.”

“For the time being.” Timothy looked out the window, still smiling. “Safe enough, I hope, since we will be there shortly. We should go and drink together, Jack. Get to know the city. It would be good to have a companion in my travels, and I can already tell that you are good company to keep.”

“I would not idle in the city unnecessarily,” Jack put in, hesitating to commit to traveling together..

“You would not travel in the night, either.” 

“Why not?” Sprinkle again spoke, “best time to walk around if you ask me. Which of course you wouldn’t…”

“Best time for all manner of beasts and monsters, as well,” Timothy teased, “not meaning anything by it.

Sprinkle scoffed sarcastically. “Yeah, sure."

“I guess it would be cheaper to share a room,” Jack mentioned, thinking of a reason to be polite and accept the offer. “We could spend the night together?”

Timothy gaped and grabbed at his chest dramatically. “Why, Jack! You are so forward!”

“What?” Jack asked, caught off guard and confused. “Uhm, it just seems to me that you are not so wealthy, much like me. So it sounded like a good idea.”

“Of course it is, of course, I was just taking you for a ride,” Timothy said gladly, and put his arm around Jack, “while taking you for a ride!” he announced, motioning at the tram around them.

He laughed, and Jack was happy to follow in his example.

Meet people and experience places, Jack recalled.

That was not the mission, but he supposed it was something to look forward to.