Overflow Whales

The Overflow was not hot, exactly (well, it was hot, but it was also fire, so that was only to be expected), but it felt different today. Tempest wasn't really sure what to think, exactly. The Overflow didn't usually do different.   They moved through the fire with very little effort, not sure what to read in the currents and gouts of flame. They knew they were close to one of the new realities, but they couldn't really get a read on it. It was like there was something very big between them and the reality they were trying to go to.   MUR UURRRRR   "What the hell was that?" Tempest asked, startled.   MUR UURRRRR, was the only response they got.   "It that a... whale?!"   They moved forward, a hand extended out before them, the tips of their fingers disappearing slightly into the flames. They touched something blubbery and hard. They snatched back their hand with a startled yelp as something huge loomed out of the fire in their direction. They caught a glimpse of a fiery orange and red whale.   "Nooooooooooooooope!"   Without a second of hesitation they dived into the new reality behind them, not bothering to read the signs around it to find out what kind of reality it was turning into. Once they were on solid ground in that reality they started to run, eventually smacking into a wall and huddling against it for several shaking moments.   "Excuse me?" a voice asked nearby.   They turned, curious, and foudn themself looking at a very large, very feathery talking bird.   "Uh?"   "What are you, please?" the bird thing asked.   They ran a hand through their hair uncertainly. "Hard to say some days, honestly. Leaving, I think. I'm leaving."   "Oh. Okay. Are you alright? Where are your feathers?"   "I left them in my other pants." They opened a firey portal to the Overflow again, hoping the whales were gone. "Um, nice chatting with you, I gotta go."   The bird person was already running away.   They stepped back through the portal and moved through the Overflow once more. The whales were, indeed, gone.   "Well that was weird as hell," they muttered before moving into their home reality, using their tie to Sable to pop up somewhere in the Warren.   Their phone pinged, then pinged again, then about twenty more times in rapid sucession. "What?" They pulled it out and went through the messages, dozens of them from Sable. They all had times and dates. The dates didn't make sense until Tempest went to their calendar app, which calmly informed them they had been gone for two weeks in the space of five minutes.   "Shit shit shit shit SHIT!" They raced through the halls of the Warren, hoping they weren't too late.   Also, Buddha was going to be pissed when they went home.