Part 2 – Acquainted

I left Toffee with a cup of tea I'd brewed earlier when morning dawned, packing up the tent and putting out the dying embers. He did insist on helping me out, carrying on despite my insistence that I could handle myself perfectly fine. We talked more along the way to his village, and consequently, I got to learn more about him, about his motives for being in the Butterfly Kingdom's land despite the ongoing animosity between Mewmans and monsters.

"I suppose we simply try to get by. Starvation is commonplace, so is a lack of land, but we don't have much of a choice. We've had enough of getting driven out of our homes, thus the resistance team set up in my village. We intend to try reclaiming some of the land we once had. We're desperate to survive, really."

"I see… Thank you for filling me in on the situation." I answered as finally, we emerged into a clearing overlooking Toffee's village below. It admittedly looked to be in shambles, barely liveable huts crammed together, a plot for agriculture nearby, and monster children playing along the streets, blissfully unaware of the dire straits they were in, perhaps. He continued down the cliff, leading me across the steep edges – which I really could have just flown down from, but I suppose I would save that in case anyone fell – to the village.

A gasp was heard when we arrived at our destination, followed by several cheerful exclamations as a couple of children ran forth to hug Toffee, squealing in delight that he was back safe. Their happiness was short lived however, as they soon took note of me, the smile quickly leaving their faces. "Mr Toffee… You brought someone… Who is she?" one of them asked, an amalgamation of curiosity and fear in his eyes as he backed one step, then two.

"Don't worry, she's friendly. I promise."

"I-If you say so…"

I was admittedly getting the same wary glances from others in the village, likely due to my rather Human-like appearance. Given the current situation, it was only natural to receive suspicion from the monsters. "If it makes you feel better," I said, spreading my wings and giving them a good stretch, "I suppose this could be confirmation that I'm not Mewman." The children watched in awe, a glimmer in their eyes as they picked up the feathers that had fallen before reaching up to try touching my wings. I gave a nervous laugh, trying to dissuade the kids from doing so – I wasn't exactly comfortable with that action, neither was I keen on the connotations it proposed.

Toffee took note of this, now attempting to usher the kids away back to where they'd been playing previously. He did a rather good job of that, telling them he had some matters to discuss with me, as well as the other adults there. In a few minutes, he was back by my side, guiding me through the village to show me around. I took note of the condition of the place, of everything he said in regards to what drove them this far out and away from the Butterfly Kingdom's territory in the first place.

Having been pushed so close to the edge, I wasn't surprised that they would now retaliate against the Mewmans. As far as I knew, the land had originally belonged to them until Queen Urania came into play… Hell, the ensuing battle in history could hardly be counted fair at all. Eventually, we arrived at Toffee's house, a humble abode that didn't have much in it at all aside from basic furniture and a small bit of food stashed away in the kitchen. "I know it isn't much at all, but at the very least, it is shelter." Toffee said as I looked around the little shack that seemed ready to fall apart at the seams in any given moment.

"I guess everyone's homes look like that?"

"It's the best we can do."

"The kids seem to like you."

"I suppose the people in the town look to me for answers a fair bit. I led them here, come up with the contingency plans if anything goes wrong, and… I try to keep them safe."

"I can see why they look up to you, Toffee. I reckon you're a great leader, then." I commented, turning back to him with a smile. "Now… I don't reckon I'll be of much help, but I'll see what I can do around here." I said, suggesting then that we go out to get some of the supplies that they might have been short of. He listed them off while I took note of them in my head, nodding in confirmation once he assured it would be enough for now.

The first thing on the long list was wood; there wasn't quite enough to keep the fires going through the impending winter, and second to that would have been food. I wasn't exactly sure as to where we could obtain that around Mewni besides the kingdom itself, but we could try. Besides, Toffee likely knew where to acquire the items listed, anyway. If push came to shove, I could pull a few strings and call for help from my counterpart. With that, Toffee led me to the nearby woods, grabbing an axe on the way out from his house for the task, as well as tucking a machete at his belt to use for both hunting and self defence.

He sighed upon reaching the foot of the forest, telling me, "You really don't have to help, you know?" I shook my head and raised a hand, calling forth my Relic. Darkness gathered at my fingertips, forming the double-sided staff. The Darkness shattered to reveal the weapon when I grabbed on to its form, twirling it in my hands and drawing in a deep breath as its influence wrapped around me within, strengthening the magic I had as well as allowing better control over them. Toffee seemed pleasantly surprised that I had a staff, probably reckoning it to the royal magic wand in the Butterfly family.

"How much wood do we need?"

"As much as we can gather. It doesn't hurt to have excess either."

"Got it. Step back, Toffee." I answered, the mist within the orbs at the ends of my staff dyeing a deep crimson as Darkness crackled around the shaft. A wind picked up in the area, stirring up the leaf litter on the forest floor as I raised the weapon before slashing down at the air near the trees in front. A crescent blade of Darkness formed, felling the trees in one swoop, the trunks cut clean and falling to the ground with a deafening thud. The crescent shattered a considerable distance away, the shards of Darkness flaking down toward the bodies of the trees. As they seeped into the wood, crack-like patterns of Darkness began to eat their way into the surface. Before long, they were now separated – albeit rather unevenly – into logs.

"Is that enough?" I asked, turning around to face a Toffee with his mouth agape ever so slightly. He soon regained his composure, getting to tying bundles of the logs together to bring back to the village later. Despite witnessing his display of rather impressive strength, there might have been wounds on his body that I wasn't aware of, and even if there weren't, they didn't exactly have the best of nutrition. He could use the energy should anything bad happen, or to attend to the villagers later if any of them required assistance.

Gathering food wasn't as easy, however. The animals in the woods had become rather sparse, most having already retreated in for hibernation with the food they'd gathered prior. All we got out of that venture was a miserable bag of nuts and berries, as well as a morsel of meat or two. I frowned upon seeing what we were going back the village with, and Toffee simply sighed. "Don't worry. We can get by. You've helped more than enough, Enicara." the Septarian said, heaving a bundle of the logs on his shoulders.

"You- T-There are kids in the village, Toffee. They can't just… Starve like that. One moment." I answered, pulling a piece of parchment, my quill and inkwell out of my satchel to pen a note to Alester. Toffee sat down in silence, albeit a little reluctantly as he watched the already setting sun; it would be dangerous to scale down the cliff once night enveloped Mewni. Once I was done with the letter, I rolled it up and sent it off to the target recipient in flames of Darkness. He'd better get that message soon… Though, there probably was no doubt about that and he might've even been aware of the situation prior already considering how we were deeply connected – to the point that we could communicate via thoughts, in fact. Still, better safe than sorry.

Toffee glanced back to me when I announced that I was done, picking up the bag of food and the bundle of logs and preparing to head back again. I waved my staff over the logs, including the bundle he was carrying, allowing an aura of Darkness to surround them. They levitated into the air, trailing behind us as we walked to the village. "You're a Goddess. So why are you here, helping us?" Toffee asked, eyes transfixed on the sun that was dipping dangerously low.

"I'm here, I might as well. Besides, I should be helping my people, no? I do have things to fix in this Realm as well… Darkness seems to be waning a bit. I'm here to balance the scales again. It's my duty, after all."

"Then, let me at least help you with your duties as well."

"Oh, no, I'm afraid I can't let you lend a hand directly. You have helped me more than enough by updating me on the situation here, actually. At least, I won't get lost."

"Then let me guide you around. You've done us all a huge favour and I'll repay it on behalf of everyone."

"If you insist." I replied as we arrived at the village. Before he could direct me on where I should place the firewood, however, a child came running toward Toffee with the widest grin on her face. "Mr Toffee, you wouldn't believe what happened!" she squealed, tugging on his hand to lead him to where the fields were. He blinked in surprise, allowing himself to be dragged along by the girl while I followed behind. The source of her excitement became clear when we arrived at the agricultural land; the measly few crops that had seemed on the brink of dying had been replaced by a massive plot of Mewman corn, fully ripe and ready for harvest.

The young girl was jumping up and down, managing to reach an ear of corn and pull it off and run toward a small bonfire nearby. She handed the corn to the adults around the fire with a giggle. One of them handed her a cooked ear of corn and she dashed right back to Toffee with it – though he was still standing in shock and silence – presenting it to him with both hands. He took the ear of corn from her, managing a small 'thank you' before she ran back to her parents.

"But… How?" Toffee asked, turning to me for answers as to the miracle before him. I simply chuckled, setting the wood down at the near-depleted existing pile nearby. "Prayers for help have been answered, perhaps." I replied, guiding him to the fire as he munched on the corn. I left him there for food, and out the corner of my eye, I glimpsed a familiar man clad in white robes, snow white hair let down past his shoulders, piercing blue eyes watching the scene. I wandered away from the crowd to meet him behind the shed.

I smiled, giving him a hug and muttering, "Thanks for the assist." He simply laughed, hugging me tight in return and answering, "Hey, it's our duty. Now, why don't you enjoy yourself for the night? I'll keep the village safe for a while… At least until my Watcher of Light realises I'm gone. I see you've made a new friend too. Toffee, right?"

I nodded, and he glanced behind me now, mumbling, "Speak of the devil." I turned around to see the Septarian approaching me with a plate of corn in hand. I thanked him as he passed the plate to me, albeit he did ask, "Who were you talking to?" I glanced back to Alester and he shrugged, snapping his fingers to remove the cloaking spell he'd done on himself. The God of Light gave a small wave to Toffee and held a hand out to him.

"The name's Alester, I'm a colleague of Enicara's. Rest easy tonight, I'll keep you guys safe. And… You'd better be nice to her, alright? Make sure she doesn't die or something while she's here. She has a tendency to neglect her health."

"Is that so?" Toffee responded, casting a glance toward me upon Alester's claim on my habits. I rolled my eyes and mumbled, "I don't exactly need to eat, drink or sleep and you know that, Alester." My counterpart only scoffed in reply as he smacked me lightly on the head, "You shouldn't exactly be out of Eternia so much either. It's not good for you, and you know that."

"I'll make sure to help her out so that she can get back to… Wherever that is, soon. You have my word. You've helped us more than I can repay you for."

"No repayment needed, Toffee. Just keep my counterpart company and we're even." Alester answered, snapping his fingers to do up the cloaking spell again before wandering off. Toffee simply smiled, leaning against the wall of the shed as he glanced up at the stars in the night sky while I munched on my corn… I could see why the Mewmans considered it a delicacy now.

"Would you stay for a while, Enicara? That's if… You don't really have anywhere to go."

"I'd love to stay and help. You said you were in a resistance group as well, correct?"

"Yes. Does that concern you?"

"Quite, yes, but I'm afraid I'm not permitted to intervene in your battles. I can, however, train you to fight."