In The Meantime...

So while Norman, Jessie, Marcus, and the others were frozen in time waiting for their futures to be written, Mr. Burton and Ezz (the purple alien) decided they'd go on a leisure hike in the mountains. Mr. Burton knew of a quiant little trail that Ezz had never seen before (since this was Ezz's first time on Dot...EVER). So that is what they did.
When they arrived at the trailhead, Ezz suddenly let out a gasp in surprise.
"Wow! Everything is so much clearer and more vivid than the other places on the planet! Why is that!?"
Mr. Burton chuckled, "Oh, that's why I love this trail so much. Instead of the usual bitmap trail, this one is (bum bum bum) a digitally-enhanced trail! It's really quite lovely." (And yes, he did actually say "bum bum bum". It's Mr. Burton we're talking about here, don't forget).
Ezz watched as his red-hatted friend began to rummage through the undergrowth.
"What are you doing, Burt-Man?" (Burt-Man was what Ezz called Mr. Burton)
"I'm getting a stick!"
"What use does a stick have for a stick man?"
"You don't know much about hiking, do you Zoloportico Falagon?" (Zoloportico Falagon was Mr. Burton's nickname for Ezz. Don't ask.)
"No, Burt-Man, I am afraid I do not. You see, on the asteroid I am from, we do not have what you call trails. But we do have perbullas."
"Oh! I've always wanted to see a perbulla!" (I have no idea what a perbulla is, either) "Anyway, this isn't just any stick. It's a walking stick! Most people use it to walk with, to keep balance and ward off scary lions or tigers or mammoths!"
Ezz grabbed Mr. Burton's walking stick. "Then let us both use it!"
"Nope. Using someone else's walking stick is forbidden. C'mon, be original, Zoloportico Falagon!"
Ezz looked around, then grabbed a big leaf from a nearby tree. "I shall then use a walking leaf!"
Mr. Burton guffawed and fell to the ground in hysterical laughter. Ezz did not know what was funny, but he did the same. Then the two made their way down the trail.
They soon found themselves on a bridge, and Mr. Burton said, "See, Zoloportico Falagon, one of the most bestest-fun things to do with a walking stick is to throw it into a creek! Like this!" And he threw the stick over the side and it splashed into the water below. Ezz leaned forward and tossed his leaf over as well. But it didn't splash. It floated.
They watched as their walking...items...raced on downstream with the current. Then Mr. Burton spotted a butterfly. "OOH! Let's go get its license plate number!" And off they went.
Now, ordinarily, I would have followed the galavantings of Mr. Burton and Ezz as they walked on down the trail. But, seeing as how there's nothing very ordinary about those two, I will instead follow that stick and that leaf down the river. Down they went, until they came to rest on a rock. And the stick opened its eyes (yes, it has eyes), and saw the leaf. And the leaf opened its eyes and saw the stick.
"Hello, my name is Xylem," said the stick.
"Hi! I'm Phloem," said the leaf.
And the two new friends remained stranded on the rock.
As for Mr. Burton and Ezz, I think they got lost somewhere in the woods when the butterfly went down the middle of a fork in the trail (Mr. Burton seemed to think it was up to him to write it a ticket).
Well, that is all.