Icarus

by D0ubleFelix

Ninten has a gift; the strange ability to connect with dragons, which live freely among Nowhere. He is the Dragon Whisperer. Ness is on the run; he's an ex-witch's familiar and a thief. He is the Rogue Crow. Lucas and Claus are a pair of incredibly rare dragons. If any ragtag team can find the mysterious Alpha, the Dark Dragon, it's surely this one. The flight to the sun begins.

4. Philophobia

Ninten hadn't been grieving as much as he thought he would. Right after losing his two best friends to the deadly winds of a violent hurricane, Ninten had expected to be weighed down by dread and sadness all day. While he missed Lucas and Claus dearly, he felt oddly content as the hours went by. Perhaps it was the fact that all day had been dedicated to nothing but walking. All he had were his thoughts. Perhaps he'd come to accept the loss already. Perhaps it was a fog clouding his mind. Perhaps he was just tired, or thirsty.

Or, perhaps, it was Ness.

They had left Threed in the early hours of the morning, and not a single minute that day was silent. Every moment was filled with conversation. Ninten was surprised to see a much more open side to Ness. When he spoke of things he was clearly interested in, his usually cold demeanor disappeared and gave way to a much more chipper personality. He was oddly entranced by the much higher pitch in his voice and the lack of it's usual monotone. Ninten wondered if it had been Travis who helped Ness come out of his shell a bit, or perhaps it was Ninten himself. Maybe the two near death experiences they'd had in the past few days gave Ness a new worldview. Whatever it was, Ninten couldn't deny how suddenly drawn he was to the shapeshifter.

By the time nightfall had come and the path was shrouded in darkness, the two had reached the large stretch of forest. Together, they carefully made their way through the seemingly never ending field of trees, each not willing to admit how frightening the eerie shadows and distant sounds were. The only sounds now came from the crunching of leaves and twigs from underneath them and the every so often call from an animal. The wind was strong, but not harsh. The two navigated their way through the dark, only using PK Fire every so often to save their energy. They had lost track of what time it was. Ninten was beginning to feel a little dizzy, due to the wound on his forehead he'd received. While he was able to tough it out at first, he was now feeling faint. He stumbled a bit, grabbing onto Ness' shoulder for support. Ness let out a small gasp, startled by this.

"You okay?" He whispered, grabbing Ninten's arms to help him stay upright.

"I-I'm good, yeah...my head's givin' me trouble..." Ninten stammered.

Ness looked around, before spotting a fairly large, clear patch of grass, "Here, um...let's go over here. It'd be best to camp here for now."

"Good plan, I wouldn't mind sitting for a good few hours." Ninten laughed a bit and followed Ness to the empty space. He instantly flopped down, groaning in satisfaction upon finally sitting down after hours of endless walking. He pressed the palm of his hand into his calf to try and ease the ache. "Lord above, my legs feel like they're about to fall off."

"Just think, we get to do this again tomorrow." Ness sarcastically declared, reaching over to grab a cluster of twigs from the ground nearby. He stacked them into a large pile and circled the pile with a few rocks. He aimed his hand, muttering a quick spell, "PK Fire..."

The surrounding area was lit with a gentle glow when the tent of sticks ignited. Ninten closed his eyes against the wave of heat that came near him, and sighed into the soothing warmth. Ness spent a few moments with his hands outstretched around the fire pit, keeping it under control for a few moments, before he managed to get it to stay put. He crawled over beside Ninten and settled down, drawing his knees into his chest. After a few moments of silently watching the embers fly upwards, then drift back to the ground, he found his attention slightly directed at Ninten. His gaze shifted to his friend, who looked utterly exhausted. Ninten stared back at the flames, which reflected a glint of melancholy in his amber eyes. His brow was slightly tilted. Something was troubling him.

"...You thinkin' about the twins?" Ness murmured, breaking the silence. Ninten lifted his head a bit, before sighing and lowering it again.

"Yeah." Ninten said, "I feel like I should be sadder. I don't know why I'm so...accepting of all this."

"The quicker you can move on, the better." Ness shrugged.

"I suppose." Ninten whispered, "You wanna know something cool? In human years, they were about eighteen, maybe nineteen years old."

"Really?" Ness turned to him, "I thought they were younger, like elementary school age. Huh."

"Yeah, they would'a been around our age." Ninten explained, "...Y'know, I should've seen it comin'. Lucas and Claus were one of the rarest species. Practically everyone in Nowhere knows I had 'em, and that they were almost done growing. Once a Tazmilian Devil reaches a certain age, their scales turn into this beautiful gradient, shiny colour. Soon enough, I'd have people try'na steal them and sell their scales. Their deaths were unavoidable. It would happen eventually."

"At least they died by natural causes, right? Not by the hands of some hunter." Ness suggested, immediately regretting it. 'Wow, great comforting, Ness.'

However, Ninten seemed content with this. "Exactly. Fun fact, scales lose their colour when a dragon dies, kinda like how our skin turns grey when we die. So when they're stripped of them, it's usually done while they're alive." Ninten grit his teeth, angered just by the thought, "How sick do you have to be to do that? Just yanking each scale off, one by one, while the poor thing just writhes? I never understood people like that. Dragons are just...so beautiful. How could anyone bring themselves to torture one like that, let alone kill one?"

"Because...well, some people are just fucked up, I guess." Ness said.

"Damn right they are. Dragon hunting is only illegal in a few countries. Can you believe that? Only a few! Thank god it's illegal in Nowhere." Ninten hissed, before pausing, "...Jesus, I'm sorry. I went off on a little tangent there."

"No, no, rant away. Go off." Ness replied.

"Nah, I'm okay. Sorry, I'm just...kinda passionate about that stuff." Ninten admitted bashfully, "But...you're right. At least the twins weren't killed like that."

"...Yeah." Ness quietly replied.

Ninten glanced over, noticing the look of dread on Ness' face. Lower lip drawn in, he scooted closer to him and shook his shoulder a bit.

"Hey. Ness, look at me." Ninten murmured. Ness tentatively did so. Ninten gave his shoulder a squeeze, "It wasn't your fault, okay? You were just lookin' out for me. I shouldn't have blamed you on the spot."

"I know, I know, I'm just...mad at myself. All I had to do was get you to the cellar, then I could've gone after them..." Ness replied.

"And you could've gotten killed just as easily." Ninten said, "Promise me you won't blame yourself anymore. Don't do that to yourself, okay?"

Ness hesitated. He noticed just how close they were, seeing that their arms were touching. Ness was able to see the little details on Ninten's face. The stray strands around his eyebrows. The curve of his eyelashes. The bits of scruff on his jaw. But most of all, Ness couldn't look away from his eyes. In the dim light, they looked almost black, but he could imagine their honey coloured hue with the flecks of green. Even though they were bordered by dark rings from the tears he'd shed, he could think of how much comfort and warmth those doe eyes held.

Ninten, meanwhile, was having similar thoughts. He began to notice things about Ness as well. He saw the slight curve in the bridge of his nose, and the small, barely noticeable feathers bordering his hairline. He looked over Ness' caramel coloured skin and piercing violet eyes. What a unique colour, he thought. He'd never seen anything like it. Unable to bear the silence anymore, he spoke again.

"I'm sorry for...being kind of an ass to you, Ness." Ninten said, "...But I'm not sorry that you're here."

Ness desperately wanted to say something, anything, but no words came out. He looked back at Ninten with a dazed expression. The smell of smoke and the stinging in his eyes seemed to disappear, almost. His body seemed to go numb, and his mind went blank. He could feel the prickling sensation of his feathers puffing out again, but to his own surprise, he didn't feel the need to smooth them down. Ninten didn't seem to notice. He wasn't sure if the heat in his face was from the fire or something else.

Acting only on impulse, he shifted forwards a bit. Ness did the same thing, inching his way closer ever so slowly. His pulse began to race as anxiety began to course through him. He couldn't tell whether this was real or not. He felt like any moment now, he would wake up, all of this having been some dream. But no, this was real. They were so close, he thought. He could feel strands of Ninten's hair brush his face. The two hesitated for a moment. Even the slightest bit of movement from either of them would result in lip contact being made. Reality began to set in for both of them.

'Wait a minute. Are we really gonna do this? Do I even want to?' Ness thought, 'Oh, fuck it. Just do it, Ness. Here we go. Three...two...one...!'

Suddenly, before Ness could lean in, a loud, distant shriek ripped through the air. The two fell backwards in shock, being brought back to Earth. They each yelped in surprise, as the tension from before disappeared in an instant. As the sound echoed and slowly faded, the two boys panted and looked around frantically. The scream was familiar to Ness, as it sounded particularly avian-like. He gripped at his hair and looked back at Ninten, whose eyes were wide with fright. Almost forgetting what had almost just happened, they each scrambled back into sitting.

"The bloody hell was that?" Ness breathed, still struggling to catch his breath.

"I dunno, a bird or something?!" Ninten replied. "That didn't sound human!"

"It definitely wasn't a bird, it was too loud. It had to be something much bigger."

"It wasn't a dragon, that's all I know."

No. Maybe something similar."

Ninten stood up, "Well, whatever it is, it's obviously in trouble! Let's go."

"W-What?! Ninten, hold on-!" Ness stood up and quickly followed as Ninten grabbed his dagger from the travel bag and began to walk in the direction of the noise, "I get that you're super passionate about nature and all, I-I know. But usually, when you hear a super scary noise coming from the forest, you don't go after it! Whatever just killed that thing could still be around!"

"We don't know if it's dead, though! We could help it!" Ninten insisted.

"No, that is a horrible idea. Take it from me, a guy who has been living in forests his entire life. If you hear a freaky sound, you should go in the exact opposite direction. You have no idea how many times I've been killed by a hippogriff or a cockatrice or something while I was a bird."

"Well, you're not a bird now, you're a human."

"And if I'm killed as a human, I die for good!"

"Then we better be careful, shouldn't we?" Ninten replied, "If you want, you can stay here, alone, in the dark. But I'm going after it. It sounded like it was in pain!"

Ness stopped in his tracks, looking back to their campsite, then back to Ninten, then back to the campsite, and vice versa. Ninten showed no signs of stopping. Knowing that there was no way to keep him at bay, Ness groaned in frustration and grabbed a fair sized stick off the ground, before sticking it into the fire pit, setting it ablaze. Carrying his makeshift torch, he ran after Ninten.

'Near death experience number three. Great.' Ness thought in agitation.

Quietly, the pair weaved through the maze of trees and bushes. Ness was thankful that the fire coating his torch was PSI based, or else every tree in the proximity of him would've caught fire by now. He kept one hand hooked of Ninten's arm. He felt a bit sheepish doing so after the awkward moment between the two that had been interrupted, but he was too frightened to pull his hand away. Every creeping shadow was enough to send shudders through him. Ninten, though also slightly frightened, was also amused by Ness' frantic behaviour. He scanned the forest around them for anything out of place.

It was when the sudden illumination of something furry caught their eye. Both boys gasped and backed away. They looked at each other, before Ninten took the first step forward. He gently took the torch from Ness' grasp and held it forwards. Once again, the fuzzy texture was lit up. After a few seconds, he realized that he was looking at feathers. The feathers were quite lovely to look at, each one being dove white and fading to a gentle pink hue. He tilted his head to the side curiously. The mass of feathers was rising and falling. Whatever this was, it was alive and breathing.

"What do you think it is?" Ninten whispered.

"I don't wanna stick around to find out!" Ness hissed back.

"Oh, don't get your talons in a tangle. Hold on..."

Ninten moved closer to the fallen creature. The patch of feathers seemed to fade into a dark brown fuzz. Ninten could make out the shape of what looked like the back leg of some kind of mammal. As Ness stayed behind, Ninten knelt down beside it, fully bathing it in light. He let out another gasp. The creature was much larger than he thought. It was an animal he'd never seen before. It looked like some sort of lion with a beak. It bore a large pair of wings, each of which were tattered and ruffled. Ninten opened his mouth to say something in surprise, but nothing came out. However, Ness took care of saying the words Ninten couldn't say.

"Holy fucking shit..." Ness whimpered, "Ninten, we've gotta go."

"Wait, Ness-"

"Ninten, do you know what that is? That is a griffin, okay? Body of a lion, head of an eagle. These things are completely different from dragons, they cannot be domesticated or trained, and they are violent. If this thing wakes up and sees us, we are going to die for real this time." Ness emphasized.

"But look at it! Its leg..." Ninten observed the back leg of the griffin, which was trapped within the jaws of a sharp metal device. The limb was stained with blood, which streamed out of the wound profusely. Ninten put a hand over his mouth, "That's a dragon trap! What the hell is this doing out here? Poor thing..."

"No! No, don't you dare go all 'Ninten' on it, okay? This is a killing machine, and we need to go."

"Ness, please! It's gonna die if that wound gets infected, and it might starve...!"

"Good! One less death threat to worry about!"

"Hold this, I'm gonna try and help it."

Ness stared back in disbelief as the torch was shoved back into his hands. He stammered a bit, trying to negotiate as Ninten observed the wound further.

"Wha-?! Um?! Am I just talking to myself?' Ness harshly whispered, struggling to stay quiet.

Ninten ignored him, and set his hands over the metal trap. He'd learned how to disarm them by muscle memory, for many dragons in his collection were rescued from the illegal trap. Squinting carefully, he pressed his thumbs against the clamps holding it shut. Ness squeezed his eyes shut and waited for his friend to be mauled right in front of him. Ninten found it hard to get a good grip on the trap at first from all the blood smeared over it, but eventually managed to force down on them enough to slowly pry them open. Eventually, the clamps clicked out of place, and the trap flung open with a grotesque wet sound, sending a few drops of blood flying. Ninten sighed in sympathy.

"Oh, look at this...he probably passed out from the pain." Ninten cooed, setting a hand over the griffon's wound. "He doesn't look too heavy, maybe he's still a baby. Ness, can you lead the way back to the campsite? I'm gonna carry him over there and try to fix him up."

"I have over a million reasons as to why that is the worst idea I've ever heard, but here's one to make it easy: death!" Ness spat.

"It's unconscious, don't get all freaked out." Ninten replied carelessly, scooping his hands underneath the creature's body and hoisting upwards. The years of working with dragons nearly double this size had done him well, as he was able to lift it with ease. Ness winced again, waiting for the griffin to awaken and kill both of them, but it thankfully stayed still.

"N-Ninten..." Ness stuttered, backing away.

"It's fine! We'll just patch him up, then put him back. It'll be like he was never there." Ninten said, as he began to make his way back to the direction of the campsite.

Ness struggled to find the words to convey how disastrously this would turn out, but eventually, he accepted that one Ninten made up his mind, there was no changing it.

"Just...! Fine. Fine, take him back to camp. But I am staying up in a tree, okay? When you get slaughtered, I will say 'I told you so' to your mangled corpse." Ness muttered.

Ness moved as carefully as he could as he led Ninten back to the camp. With each step, he feared that their newfound accomplice would wake up. He'd had plenty of encounters with griffins before, and didn't want to add another one to the list. However, even as they approached the campfire they'd set up and Ninten laid the injured animal down, it seemed to be out cold. He set the torch back into the embers and quickly backed away as Ninten got to his knees and set to work.

"Ninten," Ness whispered, holding out his hand, "Stone, please."

"Here you go, you big baby." Ninten replied, taking the pendant out of his pocket and tossing it to his friend.

Ness didn't hesitate to transform immediately. As the wave of smoke vanished and the scatter of feathers settled, the small black bird quickly took flight and landed on a branch high above the ground. Ninten watched him in amusement, sending a teasing smirk in his direction. Ness ruffled his wings a bit to show his irritation. He gave an annoyed chitter.

"Aw, come on, now. Don't try and sweet talk me, Ness." Ninten replied.

Ness replied again, this time with an loud, agitated squawk. He simply dug his talons into the branch and watched with both fear and interest as Ninten proceeded to dig through the travel bag. Ninten retrieved their water canister and poured a small amount over the wounded leg to clean it. He then proceeded to rid the gashes of any bits of dirt or grass, before deciding it was safe to wrap it up. He grabbed the roll of medical tape he'd borrowed from Zack back in Threed. Following the same process he usually did when treating a dragon, he gently wrapped the bandages into place, hard enough to stop the bleeding, but gently enough to not cause any more pain. When he was satisfied with his work, he bit the bandages free and packed them. Ninten gazed down at the gorgeous creature before him, wondering how anybody could even think of harming such a thing. He began to smooth out the disheveled feathers, plucking out any twisted ones. He heard a sudden caw from Ness.

Upon turning to look at him, he saw the frightened crow shake his head a bit.

"Don't pull the feathers?" Ninten asked. Ness nodded. "Ah, okay. Thank you. I'm obviously a little out of practice with things that aren't dragons."

Suddenly, his attention was grabbed by a sudden shift in movement coming from the griffin. Ninten jumped just a bit, but stayed calm. Ness, however, was clearly terrified, as Ninten could hear him scramble to fly up to a higher branch. Ninten scooted away a bit, keeping a close distance, but reading to sprint if trouble occurred. The griffin moved again, this time emitting a pain growl from the back of its throat. Ninten, entranced by it, crawled towards it. He heard Ness give a hiss of warning, but he ignored it. As the animal began to stir more and more, Ninten's curiosity grew. Closer and closer, he approached it. He drew back just a bit when the griffin's tail lashed. By impulse, Ninten did what he usually did to care for dragons; he laid his hand on the griffin's lower neck.

Just as Ness had feared, this set the griffin off. Letting out a frightened yelp, it quickly lashed out violently, clawing aimlessly at the air around it. Ninten cried out as well, but reacted by throwing his body over the griffin and trying to hold it down. This clearly worked better on reptiles than it did with mammals, because the griffin only grew more hysterical. At one point, one of its talons sliced through Ninten's arm, leaving a thin gash. Ninten bit his lip to stifle a cry of pain and continued to try and subdue the creature. Ness, meanwhile, hastily made his way down and hopped off one of the higher branches, transforming back into his human body before he landed firmly on the ground.

"Ninten!" He exclaimed, ignoring the stinging in his legs.

While he tried to rush to his friend's aid, he was struck by one of the hind legs, and hit the ground hard. Ninten, meanwhile, continued to try and calm the griffin down. Anxiously relaying calming words, he pinned down its wings and proceeded to stroke its neck.

"Sssh! Calm down, we're not gonna hurt you! Tch tch...!" Ninten stammered.

Ness shakily got back to his feet."Ninten, it's a griffin! That's not gonna work on it! You can talk to dragons, not-"

He stopped.

The area had gone still and quiet. Pulses still raced, but everything else remained calm. Ninten gently ran his hand gently over the griffin's pelt, clicking his teeth multiple times to soothe it. The griffin eyed him with razor thin pupils, but relaxed. Ness stared in astonishment. There was no way. He brushed his hair back and shook his head in disbelief.

"...You can talk to griffins, too?" Ness muttered, "Are you kidding me?"

"I guess I just have a knack for talking to animals in general, then...?" Ninten suggested, seemingly just as surprised as Ness was.

He pulled away from the griffin and let it lay there for a moment. It seemed to be catching its breath, however, the panting slowly turned into heaving. Ninten realized that it was having trouble breathing. Frightened, he rushed over once more. It continued to hyperventilate violently, eventually beginning to gag and choke. Ninten quickly moved to its side and began jamming the palm of his hand into its chest, hoping to dislodge whatever it was choking on, while Ness watched in silent terror. It only took a few sharp thrusts of Ninten's hand before the griffin coughed something up; something shiny. But before Ninten could inspect it, a bright flash filled the area.

Ninten covered his eyes with his arm, before slowly peeking out. Around him, white smoke faded. A cluster of feathers drifted from above and dissolved before they landed. He looked ahead of him with wide eyes, and Ness did the same. Before them was a much smaller figure covered in magical dust and debris.

'It's a person.' Ninten realized.

The griffin had transformed into a human boy. The boy began to cough, shaking the sparkling dust from his body. He propped himself up, glancing around wildly with half closed eyes. Ninten and Ness turn to look at each other. Ninten couldn't talk to griffins after all. This one had listened because it understood human tongue.

"Holy shit..." Ness breathed.

The boy gasped and snapped to look at him. He had slicked back blond hair and greenish-brown eyes. Similar to Ness, his neck, arms, back, and the sides of his face were all lined with feathers. However, these ones took on the white to pink hue instead of jet black. He shifted back into a sitting position and scrambled to back away up against a tree in fear. All he wore was a pair of brown patchy toreador pants and some black boots. His upper half was bare. He seemed just a few years younger than Ness was, perhaps in his mid teens. Ninten wanted to approach him, but Ness grabbed his shoulder to keep him there.

"A-Ah! You mustn't harm me, I was only...!" The boy whimpered.

"Nonono, we don't want to hurt you!" Ninten assured, "We helped you! We found you all snatched up in a trap, so we got you out and patched up your leg."

The boy looked at his right leg, noticing the bandages dressing it and the visible bloodstains on them. As he caught his breath, he looked back at the pair.

"...Th-That metal animal, that's right..." He murmured, "All I remember is getting caught in it...e-everything went black after that..."

"Don't you worry, okay? Your leg's alright." Ninten said. The boy seemed to begin a reply, but he caught sight of Ninten's bleeding arm.

"Oh! Your arm! Did I do that?" The boy asked, horrified.

"Huh? Oh, um...! Well, yes," Ninten stuttered, "But don't worry, yeah? S'alright!"

"Aw, geez..." The boy sighed, "I'm sorry, I must've lashed out..."

"No need to fret, we freed you from it!" Ninten said, hands raised. His eyes trailed back to the glimmering object the stranger had coughed up. He crawled over and picked it up; it was a rock of some sort. Quartz, he thought. The boy tensed and inched forwards.

"Th-that's mine!" He said, "I really need that, please! God, that's embarrassing...I didn't mean to cough it up like that. That happens when we get scared..."

"Oh, sorry," Ninten looked down at the stone again, catching sight of a name engraved into it, "...'Floyd', huh? Pleasure to meet you, Floyd. I'm Ninten, this is Ness."

"You're a shapeshifter too! Smart idea, to swallow the stone. I've never thought of that." Ness breathed. Floyd pocketed the stone and nodded.

"Y-Yes...It lowers the risk of having it stolen..." He said. Floyd seemed to begin to say something else, but upon glancing at Ness fully again, he paused and squinted. Ness froze, glancing around nervously and squirming uncomfortably. Floyd's hackles raised a bit, though it seemed to be more out of surprise than fear or anger. Floyd crawled a bit closer, eyes still narrowed. A flash of shock ran over his face, causing Ness to swallow anxiously. "...You. I know you."

"Yeah, that seems to be the norm for me lately." Ninten proudly said, lifting his head.

"No, not you. You!" Floyd pointed directly at Ness, who recoiled, "You're...the crow guy."

"W-Well, there's plenty of other crows around here, it's not like we're uncommon! I-I've never seen you before in my life!" Ness stammered, gripping the dirt underneath him.

"Oh, you may not have seen me, but I've seen you! You were the talk of Moonside for ages." Floyd said.

"Heh...whaaaat? What the heck is 'Moonside'?" Ness laughed nervously, shrugging his shoulders. "You must be thinking about some other crow."

"Waitwaitwait, one thing at a time," Ninten interrupted, waving his hands, "Seriously, though. The quote Ness, what the heck is Moonside?"

"I think he can answer that question. I highly doubt I'm thinking of someone else," Floyd trailed off, eyeing Ness suspiciously, "...Ness Polestar, the Rogue Familiar and ex-member of The Starmen."

Ness' face drained of colour as his entire body tensed up. His lip quivered as he tried to form words of protest, but eventually, he was defeated. Ness groaned and rolled his eyes, averting his gaze from a smug Floyd and a confused Ninten.

"...Moonside is a city of sorts that lays under this forest." Ness relayed in a deadpan voice, "It's known for shady activity and all. Gangs and shit."

"An underground city? Really? Beneath us, right now?" Ninten breathed.

"Almost as big as Threed." Ness confirmed.

"How does he know who you are? What's a 'Starmen'? What're your ties with this?" Ninten rambled.

"That can all be answered later," Floyd said, pushing himself off the ground and wobbling a bit from his injured leg, "Oof...! Wow, that hurts! Thanks for fixing it up. Please, let me repay you. Just wrapping up that arm of yours without medical attention could be dangerous. I have a mentor who lives in Moonside, she could help you."

Ninten immediately broke into a smile and nodded, "Really? Don't mind if we do!"

Before Ninten could follow, Ness grabbed him by the arm.

"Ninten, I know that you're going to completely ignore me on this, but-"

"Let me guess, it's a really bad idea that could result in us getting killed."

"Bingo."

"I know that going to Moonside seems like a nosedive," Floyd interrupted, "But my mentor is very strong, she won't let anything happen to you!"

Ness turned to him, "How would we even get in before someone...y'know, recognizes me?"

"Not a problem, we'll just disguise you. Brace yourself, you might feel a little buzz in the head," Floyd extended a hand and flicked his wrist, a small puff of magical debris scattering. As he'd promised, Ness felt a slight tingling sensation in his scalp. He clamped his hands over his head at the uncomfortable feeling. Ninten watched in awe as Ness' jet black locks of hair slowly faded into a bright platinum blond. His feathers also turned from a navy to a light sky blue with white and black accents. Ness looked up at his now sun-coloured hair and gasped in horror.

"W-What did you do?! Blond?! I can't pull off blond!" Ness exclaimed, "And these feathers! Blue jay?! I don't have the personality for a blue jay, I won't fool anyone!"

"Oh, you're alright, you're practically unrecognizable." Floyd brushed off, "Anyways, let's not sit and dither. Come on! I'll take you two down there now."

Ninten gawked in amazement at Ness' altered appearance. He felt Floyd take one of his hands and Ness take the other, but he payed them no mind. He turned to Floyd with wide eyes.

"How'd you learn to do that?" Ninten asked.

"My mentor taught me." Floyd proudly boasted, "Physicality altering spells are quite advanced. I think I did alright."

"Well, you made Ness halfway decent to look at." Ninten teased. Ness glared at the two, who burst into giggles.

"Alright, don't let go on my hand. You enter Moonside by teleportation. I can sense a Psychic aura from both of you, so I only assume you can use PSI Teleport?" Floyd asked. Both travelers nodded, and Floyd continued, "Perfect. Activate your spells and close your eyes. Oh, Ninten, don't squeeze my hand too hard. There you go, nice and gentle. Now, let's all focus on the space below us. Wait for our auras to join before kicking into the tesseract. Good, good. On the count of three, launch into the travel. Ready? One...two...three!"

The moment Floyd gave the signal, all three boys performed the teleportation spell, enveloping them in a blast of bright light. Ninten immediately felt his body go numb as the familiar lightheadedness spread through him. He felt the rush of wind, heat, and cold around him, but he didn't dare open his eyes. The travelling tunnel surrounding him would easily blind him if he were to do so.

Before he knew it, the tingling sensation around him ceased, and it was replaced with a chilly, dry environment. Ninten felt a sudden hustle and bustle around him. As he shook off the remaining numbness, he slowly opened his eyes. He was met with a harsh dim light. As his sight adjusted, Ninten looked around in amazement. Above, there was no sky, only pitch black. In fact, a good portion of the world around him seemed to be black. The ground underneath him was one big shadow. The only light came from the buildings, which gleamed with bright neon beams that caused his eyes to easily strain. For a few seconds, he thought he was seeing in double vision. Ninten's mind began to grow a bit disoriented. Around him, he could feel people milling about, but only saw barely lit silhouettes. He was brought back to reality when Ness shook his shoulder a bit.

"Ninten, you alright?" Ness asked, "You'll be a little loopy for a few minutes, but you'll get used to it down here."

"I feel like I'm in a fever dream or something..." Ninten murmured. He linked his arm around Ness' as he stumbled a bit from the wave of dizziness taking him over, "P-Please don't let go of me."

"Yeah, I've got you, I've got you," Ness assured, putting his arm around Ninten's shoulders to help him stand, "Alright, Floyd. Let's just get him tended to so that we can leave as soon as possible. Being back here makes me wanna throw up."

"Understandable," Floyd said, "Come, this way. Keep your head low, we can't risk having anyone see your face."

Pulling Ninten along, Ness reluctantly followed Floyd through the city's crowded streets. Each step brought a new hit of nostalgia as Ness began to recognize the surreal scenery around him. Even little things, such as the distorted streetlamps or the towering buildings that didn't seem to have a specific height brought back old memories from years ago. As he adapted to the hazy air and dizzying colours, a sense of dread washed over him. He prayed to heaven and back that no one could see past his disguise.

'Here's hoping The Starmen can't remember faces. Don't wanna get mixed up in all that shit again.'

---

"Miss! I brought someone, he needs help!"

Floyd pushed aside a rickety wooden door to a small shack. Ness blinked away the blur in his eyes as he was exposed to natural colour. Although the inside of this new building was dull, composed of browns and grays, it was still better than looking at the bright neon against black outside. The main floor was filled with several metal tools hung up on the walls, the purpose of which Ness didn't know. A large furnace sat against the wall, surrounding by a table, a large metal block, a tub of water, and a few chairs. Floyd motioned for him to wait there, before taking off to look around the home. Ness wasted no time checking up on Ninten, who seemed to be looking better, though still a little drowsy. He nudged him a bit.

"Ninten. Open up your eyes, 'kay?" He murmured. Ninten reluctantly did so, sighing in relief upon feeling the stinging wear away from his eyes.

"Good lord, that's so much better." Ninten said, "I don't ever wanna go out there again."

"Moonside can get pretty intense. I don't blame you." Replied Ness, guiding his dazed friend to a nearby chair.

Once Ninten sat down and took a moment to gather his wits, he glanced up at Ness with a confused, yet concerned expression. Ness bit his lip, as he knew what was coming.

"Alright, Ness. Out with it." He said, "...What happened with you and this place? How does that griffin kid know you?"

"I...don't think it'd be best to tell you here. Not now." Ness explained, looking around the room.

"But I-" Ninten was suddenly cut off by a new voice.

"Well! Stone the crows! Look who my apprentice brought into my shop."

Both boys turned to see the owner of the voice. A young woman stood at the threshold leading to another room, hands on her hips and leaning against the wall. She looked at Ness with striking green eyes and smirked a bit. Floyd stood beside her nervously. The woman looked down at him, brushing a few scruffy locks of bright pink hair out of her face.

"Well, go on, Floyd. Introduce me." She said.

"O-Oh, yes sir!" Floyd rushed over to the visitors, "This is Ninten; he comes from Podunk. And this is-"

"Ness Polestar. No physicality changing magic can disguise that face." The girl finished, approaching Ness slowly. "Never thought I'd see your face around here again, Ace."

"...Well, here I am." Ness sighed, slumping his shoulders, "Now, your face I recognize. You're the blacksmith around these parts, I remember."

"Best in the business." The girl took Ness' hand and shook it, "Kumatora."

"Pleasure."

Kumatora smugly grinned, before turning to Ninten, "And you. You're a pretty little thing, aren't you? You don't look like the Moonside type."

"That's because I'm not. I'm more of a Podunk kinda guy" Ninten replied.

"Sir, they saved me when I was above ground! I got caught by a metal animal, and he got me out of it! See?" Floyd lifted his leg to show Kumatora the slightly bloodied bandages, "But I accidentally clawed at him. We taped it up for the meantime, but I think he needs more than just bandages."

Kumatora scrunched up her nose in thought. She knelt down next to Ninten and motioned for him to give her his arm. Ninten shuddered against the cold touch of her hands, which had obviously been shaped by her occupation in forging. Kumatora inspected the covered wound, before slowly peeling off the medical tape. She flinched once seeing the gash itself, and immediately stood up.

"Yep, that needs to be looked at. Not immediately deadly, but if that gets infected, you'll probably die." Kumatora said as she walked off to another room to fetch something.

"...Oh." Ninten murmured.

"Not to worry, though!" Kumatora called as she reappeared, this time with a few bottles, a damp cloth, and a new roll of bandages, "As a blacksmith, there's gonna be injuries, so I'm always prepared. Lay your arm on the table, I'll fix you up."

"That's very kind, thank you," Ninten chirped happily, "I'm feeling better already."

As Kumatora set to work, Ness sat beside Ninten, and Floyd wavered behind his mentor. Kumatora uncapped one of the bottles and soaked the cloth she had brought with whatever was in it. She positioned the cloth over Ninten's wound and looked him in the eye.

"This is gonna sting like a bitch, can you take it?" She asked. Ninten scoffed and clicked his tongue.

"What is this, elementary? Of course I can take- Holy shit! Ow, god dammit!" Ninten grit his teeth and let his forehead hit the table upon receiving waves of stinging pain rip through his arm. Ness stifled a snicker. Kumatora kept the cloth clamped over his arm, pressing firmly.

"I know, I know, this cleans it-!" Kumatora assured, before removing the cloth, "There, clean."

"Easy as pie..." Ninten rasped, head still laid down on the table.

"Good boy. Anywho," Kumatora continued her work, "Give me the deets. What were you two doing on the surface?"

"We were only passing through; we're travelling." Ness explained, "We were gonna camp out for the night up there, but then we found Floyd all caught in a dragon trap."

"Mmm. So you saved my little student. Thanks for that," Kumatora said, "You sure you had no intent of coming down to Moonside, Ness?"

"No!" Insisted Ness, "We just came down here because Ninten needed help. That's it, end of story."

"Good. I hope you're not gonna get all involved with the streets again." Kumatora replied.

"Okay, now I'm confused!" Ninten began, "What's all this talk about Ness being involved with whatever? I don't wanna be left in the dark on this! Tell me. Come on, Ness."

Kumatora eyed Ness with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. 'Come on, Ness.'" She repeated, somewhat teasingly. Ness clenched his jaw and averted his eyes, before giving a reluctant, frustrated exhale.

"Fine. I used to live in Moonside. Two, maybe three years ago." Ness said, "I got all caught up in some of the shifty stuff going on around here. Moonside has a few gangs that like to hang around, the most dangerous of which is called the 'Starmen'...which I was a member of."

"You were in a gang?" Ninten breathed.

"Pretty much, yeah. I had the role of basically being the thief. It was because I could just transform and make an easy escape after taking something." Ness said, "But I don't do that anymore! I left Moonside a long time ago."

"Yeah, everyone was super surprised when you left. I'd only heard of you a few times at that point," Kumatora said, "So, what're you up to now, then?"

"We're making a cross country journey with danger around every corner, trying to find the dragon who rules all dragons." Ninten bluntly said. Kumatora blinked, then nodded.

"Oh, I see. You're that Ninten. The guy who can talk to dragons." Kumatora said. "Well, good luck to you, I guess! Finding the Dark Dragon is no easy task. What's your plan?"

"Our goal is to get to Onett so that we can find an old friend of Ness' who may know where it is." Ninten said, "But first, we gotta get to Tazmily to find someone to refer us."

"Ah, right. You need some famous wizard or witch, don't you? Well, being a witch myself, I'd help. But I live in a tiny little house underground. Not too many people know who I am." Kumatora sighed. She gave Ninten's now mended arm a little pat, "Aright, Ninten. You might feel a bit of aching, because I'm gonna perform a slow healing spell. My magical aura may interfere with your Psionic one. This is gonna take a few minutes."

"Y-Yes, alright..." Ninten swallowed and nodded. Kumatora closed her eyes and murmured something in a language Ninten didn't recognize. A pale blue mist began to seep out from under her fingers. Almost instantly, Ninten felt an uncomfortable tingling spread through his arm. He simply clenched his fist and toughed through it, deciding to distract himself, "Anyways, um...I'm curious. Why is it that Moonside is...well, like that? Why is it the way it is?"

"It's a long history, but I'll try to sum it up. It's more of a legend," Kumatora began, "Before the city was built, this was all just a giant pit hidden under the ground. It was one of the resting places of a previous reincarnation of Dakudoragon, which is why it's big enough to fit a city in."

"But seeing that this was a cave containing a creature literally called the 'Dark' Dragon, it was pretty freain' dark down here. So dark, in fact, that standing in pitch darkness down here would literally suffocate you. Even just looking at it could give you breathing troubles. So when a group of escaped royal prisoners decided to evacuate down here, they invented a special type of magical light source to counter against the spell of darkness." Said Floyd, putting his arms behind his head.

"Anything that isn't said light source appears pitch black. Bricks, wood, and all that is just shadows. That's why every building is lined with those brightly coloured lights, so that people don't run into things, y'know?" Said Kumatora.

"Then how come I get all dizzy and sickish out there?" Ninten asked.

"The counter spell can't completely push away the darkness down here. A few side effects will still occur, but hey! You're not dying." Kumatora shrugged, "Only the insides of buildings, like this one, can completely block it out. That's why you can actually see stuff in here."

"Jesus. That must be some powerful magic out there, if it's able to ward off a spell from Dakudoragon all the time." Ninten said.

"Oh, they're not on all the time. There's a certain time every night where we turn them off to let them recharge." Kumatora explained. Ness suddenly tensed up and his eyes went side.

"Shit! That's right, they turn them off...! What time is it-?!" Ness rushed to one of the nearby windows and threw open the curtain. He slouched in dismay. All he could see was black outside. He let his head hang and groaned in frustration. "Dammit. We've got another roadblock, Ninten. Prepare to stay here for a few more hours until they turn back on."

"Darn. Kumatora, if it's alright with you, could we stay in here until it's safe for Ness and I to go?" Ninten asked. Kumatora shrugged.

"Sure, I guess."

"Thanks, we'll only be here until-" Ninten paused, glancing at Ness in sudden confusion, "...Wait, how did you do that?"

"Do what" Ness asked.

"You looked out the window, and you're fine. I thought Floyd said looking at the pitch black down here could smother you."

Ness reached under his shirt and revealed his pendant strung around his neck, "Because I have this. My energy comes from this stone, not from the air around me. I'm not biological, I'm magical."

"Well, aren't you just so special? You don't even need to breathe. Lucky shapeshifters." Ninten muttered, resting his chin on his hand. Ness sneered in his direction and walked back to the table. He watched as the blue light faded from Kumatora's fingers and she pulled her hands away from Ninten's arm. The spell clearly took its physical toll on her, for she slumped a bit in her chair and took a moment to catch her breath.

"Hah...Take the bandages off..." Panted Kumatora, who used her ash covered apron to fan herself.

Ninten curiously did as he was told, carefully unwrapping the tape. He gasped upon seeing his bare arm. The blood was gone, and all that was left behind was a clean, scabbed over scar. His eyes widened in amazement.

"Holy moly!" Ninten expressed, "That's way more than what PK Lifeup can do! Thank you!"

"Not to worry..." Said Kumatora, "Anyways, it's pretty late. If you're trapped here for another few hours, might as well get some sleep. If I had beds, I'd offer, but all I've got is a floor and a few chairs."

"Trust me, after sleeping in a tree and a basement during a hurricane, sleeping on the floor is a luxury." Ninten snickered a bit, "We really appriciate the help, Kumatora."

"No sweat! I owe you that much at least, for saving this little rascal. I keep telling him not to go up to the surface." Kumatora teased, punching Floyd affectionately in the shoulder. "Alright, catbird. You've had your break, did you get the wood I needed from the forest?"

"Yes, sir!" Floyd quickly set to work, grabbing his apron and digging through his travel bag to find his previously collected materials.

Ness simply stayed in the corner of the room, gripping the fabric of his clothes anxiously. Just being in Moonside again was messing with his head. He leaned against the wall and gazed at the covered window, lost in his own thoughts. As Kumatora and Floyd chatted casually with Ninten, cleaning up their forging area for the night, Ness' mind didn't even process their words. All he could think about was his history in Moonside, and silently praying that he wouldn't be recognized. Even through his now blond hair and blue feathers, Kumatora was able to pick out his face. All he wanted to do was leave the moment those lights came back on. Plain and simple, he hated this place. Every so often, Floyd would glance in his direction with a curious expression. Ness wondered why a shapeshifter of such rarity would even look at a scrap like him in the first place.

He knew deep down that all he could do was wait. The night wouldn't last forever, and soon enough, he'd be able to breathe in the fresh air of the surface, and never have to come back down here again. With that thought in mind, Ness simply waited.

---

By the time the house went dark, the silence was only broken now and then by Ninten's steady breathing and sleep mumblings. Ness laid on his back next to him, one arm outstretched so that Ninten could once again use it as a pillow. He stared up at the ceiling, his mind blank. There was no way he'd be able to sleep. He hated that feeling; being exhausted, but not being tired. He simply observed the curvy patterns in the wooden beams lining the ceiling, tracing them with his eyes to try and cure his boredom.

Suddenly, Ninten muttered something in his sleep again, startling Ness a bit. Ness turned to look at him, but Ninten had gone silent again. He had a content smile on his face. Ness prayed that whatever dream he was having was a good one. He deserved that much, after all he'd been through in the past twenty four hours. Ness' eyes stayed locked on him. Ninten looked peaceful. With only a nearby set of candles to light the room, his face was illuminated by a soft glow. Seeing it reminded Ness of sitting next to him at the campsite they'd made. Ness felt his face grow hot, thinking about how close they'd gotten. He thought about his racing pulse and trembling hands.

'That actually happened, didn't it?' Ness thought. He paused for a moment. Not realizing he was even doing it, he reached over and brushed a lock of Ninten's long hair out of his face. The dragon breeder's face twitched a bit, causing Ness to snicker. His hand trailed from his hair to his shoulder. Ness drew in his lip and furrowed his brow, 'That was all real. I was actually gonna...He and I almost...'

He wanted to retreat his hand away, but again couldn't find himself able to. He almost felt a need to wrap his arm around Ninten, to pull him close and protect him. He wasn't sure entirely what he wanted, all he needed was to be close to him. Ness found himself gritting his teeth with enough force to hurt his jaw. He'd never felt like this about another living thing before. As his feathers began to bristle once more, Ness gently leaned down, and without even thinking about it, gently kissed the top of Ninten's head.

"Cute."

The sudden voice from the other side of the room caused Ness to jump back. He carefully pulled his arm away from Ninten, making sure his head didn't hit the floor. Ness glanced up, until he caught sight of his witness.

"F-Floyd! I didn't know you were awake, I-I...!"

Floyd raised a hand to silence him, "Don't freak out. It's our little secret." He winked, and approached him, "Can't sleep?"

"Ugh, no. It's Moonside, what'd you expect?" Ness muttered, "What about you?"

"My leg was bugging me. Hurts like hell." Floyd explained, reaching down to gently massage the limb, "I can't tell you how thankful I am. You guys really saved my ass."

"It was all Ninten, really," Ness admitted, sitting up and stretching his arms above his head. Floyd leaned against a nearby table and grinned smugly.

"I meant what I said a few moments ago. You two are cute." Floyd chirped. Ness quickly jumped to defend himself, only breaking into a fit of stammers.

"W-We're not...! I wasn't...I don't-! Ninten and I, we aren't...! I'm not-!"

"Don't try and be a tough guy about it. Nothing wrong with catching the love bug." Floyd said cheerfully. This only made Ness break down more.

"No! He just lost someone really important, so I think I'm allowed to comfort him! Shut your trap, alright?" Ness snapped.

"I'm half eagle, Ness, I can see the batting of an eyelash from a mile away." Countered Floyd.

Ness failed to reply. He stared back at the amused griffin with wide, embarrassed eyes. Floyd raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response that Ness couldn't bring himself to give. Ness clenched his jaw and turned away, sighing.

"He's...the only friend I've ever had." Ness admitted quietly.

"N'aww." Floud purred, "Not counting the friends you had down here?"

"They weren't friends. Ninten is. He asks me how I'm doing. He cares, and stuff. He's a little ditzy about things, but...he's doing his best." Ness replied, "Can I tell you something?"

"Have at me." Said Floyd.

Ness hesitated for a moment, before looking him in the eyes, "...I've never cared about anyone before, you know. This is the first time I ever have."

"Mmm. How're you feeling about that?"

"...I'm..." Ness paused, "...I'm scared."

"Huh." Floyd replied, "I guess I understand that. It's just a little weird to hear that coming from you."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Go ahead and tease might as well get it over with."

Floyd chuckled, "No, I'm not gonna do that. Don't worry," He faced the window and glanced through the curtains at the black outside, "How's it feel being back in Moonside?"

"I hate it." Ness said, "I can't stop thinking about going outside and feeling that...daze."

"Yeah, it really becomes a craving after a while. It's like an addiction." Floyd admitted, "It's just that feeling of relaxation, I think. You go outside, and immediately, everything gets calm. I'll admit this; I love it. Once you get past the dizziness, I think it feels great."

"No shame on that. You're right, it's a craving. That's why I hate it down here. Being reminded of how good the environment feels down here...god damn. Staying in this little house is hard."

"Well..." Floyd trailed off, before glancing at Ness with anticipation from the side, "...One shapeshifter to another? I was gonna wander around while the lights are still down."

"That is a one way ticket to getting kidnapped and sold off." Ness said, half playfully, half serious, "Seriously, a griffin like you shouldn't be down here. Crows like me are common as muck. But griffin shapeshifters...those are endangered, aren't they? I would've expected you to be living in a place like Tazmily, or Onett. Being protected by Nowherian authority."

"Heh, really good guess. You're not the only shapeshifter who's gone rogue." Floyd said, "I'm from Onett too, just like you. Except I was born into a really high class family. I got tired of all the smothering and the bodyguarding, so I took off and ended up down here. Miss Kumatora took me in and became my mentor in forging and magic."

"So you're a runaway too. I like it." Ness gave a small nod, "Well, I'm surprised you're alive. No offense. Just a bag of your feathers would sell big."

"Thankfully, the people down here like me. It's not to say I don't get jumped a whole lot. No one's ever gone as far as to kidnap or kill me, but you'd be surprised how many feathers get plucked from me on a daily basis. Your old gang buddies in The Starmen love to take 'em. I swear, they must have a few bags of them."

"Yah, no wonder."

There were a few moments of silence. Floyd fidgeted with his fingers for a moment, before eyeing Ness with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes.

"So...wanna come with me?" He asked.

"Huh? You mean outside?" Ness asked, surprised, "I-I don't think that's a good idea, I could get recognized..."

"No one's out there, remember? We're the only ones who can be out there without consequences." Floyd reminded, "Come on, Ness. Don't you wanna feel that again? How it seeps through your skin and makes you feel revitalized? How you feel weighed down, but light as a feather at the same time? Just for a few minutes, then we'll go back in."

Ness gazed out the window again. The more Floyd described the familiar high that came with breathing in the pitch black air outside, the more tempting it became. Ness found himself craving that sense of euphoria again. He hesitated for a moment, looking down at Ninten, who was still sleeping soundly.

'Just a few minutes wouldn't hurt.' Ness thought, 'It's not like we're doing anything wrong.'

He sighed, and shrugged a bit.

"I...guess it wouldn't cause any trouble." He said, hoisting himself up to his feet.

"Hah! Yes!" Floyd whispered, rushing over to grab Ness' hand, "Come on."

As Ness was pulled by Floyd to the front door, a small voice in the back of his head told him to turn back. He pushed it away. Hell, he'd spent a good few years living here, and he was fine. It wasn't like this time would be any different. He was a bit reluctant on leaving Ninten alone, but his desire to be outdoors calmed that hesitation.

'Just a few minutes.'

---

A few minutes had turned into a number of minutes neither shapeshifter could remember. The two boys wandered freely around the darkened streets, their razor sharp avian vision being the only thing leading them through the darkness. Ness walked slowly, head slightly tilted back, taking each breath gleefully. He'd forgotten just how glorious it felt out here. His heart rate was incredibly slow, and his mind was beginning to become fuzzed. As he walked, he could see Floyd just up ahead. The apprentice had his feathers flared out to take in ever bit of the phantasmagorical spell filling the air.

"Fuck." Ness murmured, his voice low and relaxed, "I forgot how great it feels out here."

"Right? I can't get enough of it...I know people say it's dangerous if you breathe in too much, but I can't help it." Floyd replied.

"Sometimes, me and my gangmates used to just lie in an alley for hours just breathing it in." Said Ness, "We used to see some crazy shit."

"Oh, I bet. The hallucinations this spell can trigger are insane."

"Like when it takes stuff that scares you and throws it in your face?"

"Ugh, I hate that! This one time, I stayed out here in the dark for a solid hour, and the first thing I see when I open my eyes is a giant ass spider on the wall." Floyd explained, "Though, my biggest fear is dragons. I once ran through this entire city being chased by one, but it turned out I was running from nothing. Can you blame me, though? Dragons are freaking scary, especially to griffins. I mean, they eat us."

"That must've sucked. I always saw hawks; that's my biggest fear. I'm terrified of those things. They're birds too! Shouldn't we be on the same page? Why're they trying to eat me all the time?" Ness laughed a bit, "I can remember how real it all felt. Like, you could feel its presence even though it wasn't there."

"Yep. Pretty crazy." Floyd yawned and looked around, "Wait, I've lost track of time. How long have we been out here?"

"Oh, that're right, um..." Ness thought for a moment, "...Much longer than a few minutes."

"Usually it takes bout half an hour to start hallucinating. Lets get back to the house before we start seeing things." Floyd offered, jerking his head to motion Ness to follow. Ness nodded.

"Good idea. I think you should be okay, because you're used to it, but I dunno how well I'll hold up after three years of not being here..." Ness murmured as he briskly followed Floyd.

"Don't worry, we're not too far. Just keep up and you should be fine." Floyd said.

As they trailed through the black streets, Ness' high slowly began to warp into dizziness again. He stumbled as he jogged after Floyd several times, finding it difficult to keep himself upright. He felt something brushed against the side of his face. Impulsively, he swatted at whatever it was, but found his hand touching nothing. Shit, he thought. It was already starting. He struggled to ground himself and to assure himself that none of it was real, but this became harder as reality began to distort in his mind. Even when he saw the familiar shape of the house, he couldn't bring himself to care.

Floyd clearly saw the distress Ness was in. He put an arm around him to help him stand, and led him to the house and through the door, quickly closing it behind them. The nausea faded, but Ness' vision was still affected. He glanced aimlessly around the room, barely noticing as the two were greeted by Kumatora and Ninten, who had both awoken.

"Where have you two been?" Kumatora demanded, rushing to Floyd, "We woke up almost half an hour ago, and you were gone!"

"We just went out to walk around a bit, is all!" Floyd assured, "But..." He looked at Ness, who stared down at the floor with a blank gaze. Ninten took a step forward, eyebrows knitted.

"What's wrong with him?" Ninten asked, "Kid? What's up, buddy?"

Ness lifted his head ever so slightly, "Um..." He paused for a few seconds, "...I dunno."

"You let him breathe in the air from outside when it's dark?" Kumatora gasped, taking Ness by the shoulders and leading him to the living area, seating him in one of the chairs, "Oh, dear god. He's completely out of it."

"W-What happened to him?" Ninten stammered nervously, sitting next to Ness and putting a hand on his arm.

"The air outside kinda does the same thing that drugs do if you breathe in too much. Sure, it gives you a high, but then you start to see shit. Hallucinations, I mean." Kumatora explained, retrieving a damp cloth and gently placing it over Ness' forehead. "The high doesn't last that long, only a few minutes. But the more sober you get, the worse the hallucinations get, and those last for about ten minutes. I was gonna go to the marketplace when the lights turn back on, but..."

"Don't worry about it, Kumatora. I'll sit here with him until he clears up. Go do your work." Ninten said.

"You sure?" Kumatora hesitantly asked. When Ninten confidently nodded back, she sighed, "Alright, then. Make sure he drinks a lot of water, and he should be alright. Floyd, you're coming with me, okay?"

"...Yeah, okay." Floyd muttered. "Sorry about that, Ness, I probably should'a been a little more smart about it."

"S'alright..." Ness replied hoarsely, as Kumatora extended a hand in his direction and cast a quick reversion spell. Ness' hair faded back to its natural coal black, and his feathers bristled into their original shadowy hue. Ness only reached up to touch his hair in response, barely even noticing that it had been turned back to normal.

A bright flash suddenly shone through the curtains. Kumatora sighed in relief and rushed to grab her satchel.

"Right on cue. We shouldn't be too long, Ninten. We you need to leave, go ahead and leave." Said Kumatora. Ninten smiled gratefully.

"Thanks, Kuma. You've helped so much." He said.

Kumatora smiled back, before taking a shameful Floyd by the arm and leading him out the door. Ninten watched the closed door for a moment, before turning back to Ness, who was staring up at the ceiling with a glassy eyed look. He sighed and observed his dazed out friend for a moment. Ness seemed to be almost asleep with how still he was. The minutes dragged on, and life began to return to Ness. The light returned to his eyes, and his pale skin regained it's colour. It was when he groaned in exhaustion when Ninten gave a sigh of relief.

"You okay?" Ninten asked.

"Nhh...yeah..." Ness replied, pinching the area between his eyebrows and squeezing his eyes shut. "God dammit, why did I do that...?"

"It's alright, you just made a mistake. We can get going once you feel better."

"Probably just a few more minutes, then I-" Ness stopped. He glared at the opposing wall, eyes wide. "What's that?"

Ninten felt a rush of anxiety pulse through him as he turned to look at the wall as well, but saw nothing upon its surface.

"There's nothing there, Dollface." He said. Once of the hallucinations, he thought. He wondered what Ness had seen.

"Oh, right." Ness said. "I shouldn't see anything too creepy. It usually shows you what you're scared of the most. I'm mostly scared of foxes and hawks and all..."

He seemed incredibly scattered, glancing around nervously. Ninten kept a hand on his arm, ready to jolt him into reality if he needed to. Ness suddenly jumped and snapped to look to his right, eyes wide. He was startled by something, but once again, nothing was there. Ness shook his head and put a hand to his temple.

"...What'd you say?" Ness asked.

"I didn't say anything."

Another pause from Ness, who stared just past Ninten's shoulder.

"...Can we wait a few minutes before that?" Ness said, completely ignoring Ninten. Ninten squeezed his arm.

"Hey, I didn't say anything, okay?" He repeated. His pulse grew faster; he didn't like where this was going. Ness' eyes suddenly filled with alarm, and he shifted in his chair.

"Wait, hold on, Ninten-!" Ness called, "Just gimme a few more minutes, okay? You can't just leave me here alone!"

Ninten watched in stunned, unsettled silence as Ness stood up, glaring at the empty space before him.

"Where're you going...?" Ness choked, before clenching his hand into a fist, "N-Ninten, wait a minute!"

"Ness...!" Ninten got up and rushed to his side, shaking him a bit. Ness didn't budge.

"Ninten, don't! You can't, I don't wanna stay down here!"

"Snap out of it, Ness! I'm right here!" Ninten replied.

"No! Ninten, don't! Don't leave me! Stop it!" Ness sprinted towards the door and began aimlessly clawing at whatever he was seeing, frustrated when he couldn't grab on to empty air, "I-I don't wanna be alone again! I can still help! I can still be useful, I promise! I-I need to stay with you!"

"Hey, calm down, I'm here-"

"Ninten, please! Please let me stay with you, don't leave me in the dark!" Ness pleaded hysterically, nearly shrieking at this point. His face was stained with tears, which spilled uncontrollably from his red-rimmed eyes. Ninten stumbled back in shock at the rare sight. Ness continued to shout at nothing. "I can still be helpful! It wasn't my fault, Ninten, it wasn't my fault!"

Ninten was beginning to grow desperate. Acting on impulse, he charged up his Psionic energy and grabbed Ness' arm.

"PK Thunder...!" Ninten stuttered.

A sharp shock spread from his fingers and jabbed into Ness' skin. Ness jolted a bit and staggered on his feet, gasping violently for air as he was startled back into reality. He grabbed onto Ninten with enough force to nearly draw blood with his fingernails. Ninten grasped his shoulders and locked eyes with him, relieved to see his eyes regaining their gleam. Ness took a moment to catch his breath, nearly at the brink of hyperventilating. He looked absolutely terrified.

"N-Ninten..." He gasped, "D-Don't go, okay? Don't leave me, I-I..."

"Ness! Hey, deep breaths, love," Ninten whispered, "Look at me. In the eyes."

"I...I don't wanna be abandoned, Ninten..."

"I know. I'm not leaving, alright?" Ninten assured, cupping his face, "I'm not going anywhere."

"But you...you said you didn't want me around anymore."

"No, I didn't. That wasn't real."

Ness looked horribly confused. He looked towards the door again, then back to Ninten. Ness' grip on him weakened as his legs buckled from underneath him. Ninten was quick to catch him, though he couldn't stay standing, because Ness didn't seem to be putting any effort into standing up. Deciding it was safer to simply take a knee, Ninten carefully helped Ness settle on the ground. He noticed a few feathers drift to the floor. Ness was shedding, he realized. He hated to think of what was going on inside his head. Ninten guided Ness to look at him again.

"Ness," Ninten murmured, "We're a team, okay? I couldn't do this without you." He brushed a bit of hair out of Ness' face, "I need you just as much as you need me, got it?"

"I-It just looked so real..." Ness whimpered, "How do I know you're real right now?"

Ninten paused for a moment to think, before gently taking Ness' hand and placing it over his chest. Ness felt a steady, pulsing rhythm.

"Because you can feel my heartbeat, yeah?" Ninten said, "No hallucination's gonna have a heartbeat, I bet."

"Yeah..." Ness replied. He wiped his arm over his face and sniffled a bit. He was clearly fighting back tears. "I've never known what it's like to be abandoned...I guess that just comes with being alone your entire life."

"Shh." Ninten pulled him close, letting Ness burrow into him like a young child to a parent.

"But if that's what being abandoned feels like..." Ness ignored Ninten and continued, "...God dammit, why did I even like being alone in the first place?"

Forgetting any sense of his pride, Ness allowed himself to be coddled. Ninten threaded his hands through Ness' hair and feathers. Somehow, he felt genuinely guilty about what he did in Ness' imaginary vision of him. Ninten cursed at the version of himself that even dared to leave Ness behind. While it was always a thought in the back of his mind, Ninten had never taken the time to realize just how fragile his friend must've been. He grit his teeth and pulled away, taking Ness' hands.

"We gotta get you outta here." He said. "Come, on your feet."

Ness only weakly nodded and shakily stood up with Ninten's help. He wiped away the sweat building up on his face and took a deep breath, finding comfort in Ninten's gentle touch.

"I think that whole episode sobered me up." Ness said.

"Good, because we're about to teleport. Have you got enough energy?" Ninten asked.

"Should be enough to get us to the surface." Replied Ness, closing his eyes and focusing on his Psionic energy. "Can you find the surface above us."

"...Yep, got it." Ninten confirmed, closing his eyes as well and pinpointing the forest above them, "Ready?"

"Ready." Ness replied, before adding, "...Hey, Ninten?"

"...Yeah?"

As a soft glow began to fill the room and the two boys felt the same tingling as before wash over their bodies, Ness gave Ninten's hands a quick squeeze.

"Thanks."

Ninten paused for a moment, before smiling.

"Don't mention it, Angelface."

The spell activated, and the two were surrounded by a flash of light; their ticket to freedom.

---

The feeling of freezing night air had never felt more heavenly. Ness' skin felt numb, and the roots of his feathers stung from the harsh temperature, but he relished it like the warmest of summer days. As he and Ninten navigated through the forest once again, deciding it'd be best to get away from Moonside as quickly as possible, they exchanged no words. That being said, neither of them knew what to say. Ness longed to defend himself, to explain why he of all people would break down like that. He couldn't deny that he was terribly embarrassed by what had happened. Ninten, on the other hand, was longing to know more about his history in the city. But with neither knowing how to put it, neither spoke. For now, they were just savouring the feeling of being able to breath in fresh air.

As they made their way through the now thinning trees, Ness felt a deep, unsettling sense of anxiety growing inside of him. He chalked it up to being a remaining hallucination, but he swore he could feel another presence in the area. Every snap of a twig, every rustle of leaves, and every chirp of a cricket was enough to put him on edge. Ninten noticed his friends odd, frantic behaviour, but chose not to say anything in fear of sending him into another panicked trance. Ninten didn't know exactly what Ness had seen in his visions, but he didn't want to know, and he certainly didn't want Ness to see it again.

Minutes passed. The sky above had faded to a slightly lighter shade, and the birds within the trees were just beginning to chirp. Ness knew that the effects of Moonside's air definitely would've worn off by now, but he still felt a creeping sensation. He could feel eyes resting upon him. All it took was the sound of something brushing against the foliage to set him off. He snapped to turn around, startling Ninten enough to make him jump.

"A-Ah...!" Ninten gasped, "Kid, for god's sake, what is it?"

"There!" Ness pointed to the shadows, "Stop following us! Get out!"

"You're seeing things again-"

"No! I know what I sense!" Ness advanced on the trees, "Go away and leave us alone!"

Ninten took him by the arm and tried to lead him away, but Ness continued to fight against him.

"Stop freaking out! You're gonna wake up every predator in this forest, then we'll be done for!" Ninten exclaimed, "Just calm down, your mind is playing tricks on you again! You just need to-"

He stopped dead in his tracks. Ness froze as well, two hands raised, ready to attack whatever he saw. Ninten stared ahead with wide, unblinking eyes. He'd seen just a small glimmer of movement. But what frightened him was how familiar the movement was. He'd seen it before, and he'd seen it recently. Ninten's grip on Ness' shoulder tightened. His blood curdled as a low, threatening growl came from the darkness. The pair huddled closer together.

"N-Ness..." Ninten whispered, "We gotta split."

Ness didn't answer. Ninten could feel his friend's aura charging up. He mentally sighed. Ness was planning to fight.

"C'mon, we need to-"

Ninten paused once again. The growl grew louder, and suddenly, a visible shape slowly slid out from between the trees. As the creature stepped closer, pawstep after pawstep, Ninten began to see a familiar texture in the light; feathers. Finally unable to stand it any longer, Ninten held out his hand and lit up the area with a bright fire spell. Instantly, their follower hissed and backed away. Both Ness and Ninten's eyes widened.

"Floyd!" Ness gasped, upon seeing the familiar griffin cowering before them, wings tightly closed and tail thrashing. Floyd narrowed his eyes.

"Thank god, it's only you." Ninten sighed in relief, "We thought that maybe you were-"

Suddenly, Floyd attacked. Catching Ness completely off guard, the griffin broke into a sprint, using his wings for extra strength, and tackled Ness to the ground. Ness cried out in both shock and pain as he hit the forest floor, but was quick to defend himself. While he tried to kick his attacker away, Floyd dug his talons into his skin to pin him to the ground. Ness struggled and thrashed, trying to break himself free, but Floyd was quick to pin his legs down with his strong back paws. Ninten, still in a state of disbelief, grabbed a large branch off the ground and sprinted towards Floyd, ready to do whatever it took to save Ness, but Floyd was quicker. Ninten was thrown back by one of his wings and skidded against the ground.

Ness, meanwhile, tried to aim any Psionic attack he could, but every blast of fire or ice missed his target. His first instinct was to transform, but he knew that this would only make him weaker, especially against a much larger bird. Upon looking up and seeing Floyd nipping at his collarbone, Ness realized what he was after. He quickly shielded his neck by tilting his head to his chest.

"You can't have it!" Ness snapped, "You can't have my stone! You're a shapeshifter, god dammit! You have your own! Fuck off!"

Floyd was having none of it. He continued to try and snap at the pendant. At one point, he accidentally latched onto a cluster of feathers and ripped them away. Ness cried out in response to the stinging pain. Floyd only got more and more violent, as he ripped through Ness' undershirt to try and get to the magical stone. Ninten snapped out of his daze, wincing. Upon seeing Floyd tearing through feathers and fabric, he forced himself to him feet and once again broke into a run, raising the stick into the air.

"Go get your own Ness!" Ninten shouted, aimlessly jamming the branch downwards.

He struck the area just below Floyd's wing, causing the griffin to shriek and released his grip on Ness, who scrambled away to a safe distance. Floyd hissed again, feathers flared with rage as he settled his gaze on Ninten, who gripped the stick tighter and backed away a bit. Ness, thinking quickly, slipped this pendant off from around his neck. He bit the string loose, and without hesitation, put the stone in his mouth and forced himself to swallow. He gagged a bit.

"Oh my fucking god, I just ate a god damn rock!" Ness cried

Floyd, seeing this, let out another irritated growl, before swiftly transforming back into his human form. He glared at the two with a dark stare.

"What the hell, Floyd?! Explain yourself!" Ninten demanded.

"You really thought you were gonna leave Moonside without losing something?" Floyd hissed.

"Why my pendant of all things? You have one, why the hell do you need mine?!" Ness exclaimed.

"You may be just a lousy crow, but do you even know how much those things sell for?" Asked Floyd, "Especially one with an entire soul bound to it? If I got my hands on that thing, I'd finally be able to get me and everybody else outta that literal hellhole of a city!"

"You want to sell my stone? So that you can-" Ness paused, squinting, "Wait, who's 'everyone else'?" He approached Floyd slowly, gritting his teeth, "Who're you talking about?"

"You know them. You know exactly who I'm talking about." Floyd growled. Ness clenched a fist.

"Don't tell me you..." Ness muttered in disbelief, "...You joined the Starmen, didn't you?"

"Very good." Floyd smirked, tilting his head a bit, "You don't actually think I asked you to come out into the darkness with me for no reason, do you?"

"It was an ambush?!" Ness advanced on him, only being held back by Ninten, "You bastard, you were planning all of that?!"

"The minute I saw your feathers, I knew I'd find a way to trick you," Floyd said, "But then you started getting drowsy, and I knew the lights would come on soon. That plan went down the drain quick. But now, I can just take it by force, I suppose. And seeing as you swallowed the damn thing, I'm gonna have to tear through a lot more than just your clothes!"

With his last sentence, Floyd transformed again, and threw himself at Ness, who was quick to dodge this time. He somersaulted out of the way and shot a wave of flames in Floyd's direction, once again missing. Finally deciding to take the risk, Ness shifted as well, immediately taking flight once he'd transformed. Taking advantage of his speed and smaller size, Ness weaved as quickly as he could through the dark shadows of the trees. Floyd instantly took chase, using several trees as launchpads to speed up. As the two shapeshifters continued the display of cat and mouse, Ninten hastily sprinted after them. He struggled to keep his eyes on Ness as he followed the two, and it became easier as the trees became less frequent.

Eventually, the forest faded into field. Ness swerved towards the ground and morphed back into a human, quickly turning and sending a powerful blast of icy shards back at Floyd. The griffin was struck by several sharp ice chips, and proceeded to waver, before eventually landing. As Floyd gathered his wits and shook the blood and ice off his pelt, Ninten and Ness ran to each other, ready to defend with whatever they had. Ness muttered a spell under his breath, but found that nothing happened.

"Shit, my energy...!" Ness cursed, "I can't use PSI."

"Mine isn't strong enough!" Ninten replied, voice high with worry.

"Then we'll just have to use whatever we can. There's two of us, and one of him."

"B-But he's...he's a griffin! He's gonna kill us!"

"Hey, it's okay! It's okay," Ness assured, keeping an eye on Floyd as he slowly began to advance on them "Ninten, listen, i-if we die, you need to know something...!"

"U-Um, okay, but this may not be the time to tell me!"

"It might be the only chance I get to!" Ness replied, "I-I...I need to tell you that...that I..."

Suddenly, Floyd shot forwards, claws unsheathed and eyes piercing. Ninten yelped and burrowed into Ness, who grabbed his dagger and prepared to do what he needed to do. He squeezed his eyes shut on impulse and waited for the impact, ready to use the blade to the best of his ability.

However, Ness felt nothing. Instead, he heard a bloodcurdling shriek come from Floyd, and a muffled thump. Ness opened his eyes to see the griffin skid against the ground away from them, and was shocked to see flames licking at his feathers. Floyd quickly squirmed against the dirt to put the flames out, and scrambled to his feet. Ness wondered if it was Ninten who performed the fire attack, but realized that Floyd was glaring right past them. Letting his guard down, Ness turned, and went still at what he saw.

Just a few yards away, was the clear shape of a person. They wore a large black hooded cape that covered their face. Their hand was outstretched, and a stream of smoke rose from their palm. Ninten felt a strange shiver go through his body upon spotting the person. It was a slight twinge of familiarity.

To both boys' shock, Floyd immediately cowered away, letting out a frightened whimper. Ness' brow furrowed in curiosity. Surely this stranger wasn't that scary. Floyd backed away a few steps, and the person followed in response. The stranger extended their hand again, letting out a strangely animalistic hissing sound. Floyd yelped again and scrambled back. It was as if he didn't even notice that Ness was there anymore.

"Go away!" The stranger ordered. By the sound of their voice, they sounded male. Floyd obeyed like a trained dog. He slowly backed away, tail between his legs.

"Who the hell is that?" Ness whispered to a trembling Ninten.

"I dunno, but we owe him our lives." Ninten replied.

The stranger, finally having enough, broke into a run. Floyd cried out and spread his wings, instantly taking flight. And just like that, he was gone, having disappeared into the trees. The person nodded in satisfaction.

"And don't you dare come back, stupid!" He yelled after him.

"Whoa, language." Ninten muttered under his breath.

There were several awkward moments of silence only filled with heavy breathing from Ness and Ninten, who clung to each other in relief and fear. Ness wondered if perhaps this person was dangerous. The person turned to face them, lips slightly parted, as if he wanted to say something. The pair watched as he seemed to gasp a bit. The person approached them silently, mouth open in surprise. To Ness' relief, the strange boy lifted his hood and pulled it back, revealing a head of messy, sun coloured hair. He didn't seem to have any intent of malice. In fact, he had a mixed expression of shock and melancholy. Finally, it was Ninten who decided to break away from Ness and approach the stranger.

"Um..." Ninten began, clearing his throat, "Hello! Thanks for getting rid of that guy...?"

The person failed to answer, for the sight of Ninten was enough to leave them stunned. Ninten glanced around awkwardly, waiting for a reply, but nothing came. He observed the boy's face; he seemed to have strange patterns on the sides of his cheeks, similar to Ness' feathers. Another shapeshifter, he thought. He couldn't quite tell what the patterns were. However, he had no time to think about it, because the boy's shock expression turned to one of pure delight, as he broke into a large smile.

"We found you!" He breathed. Ninten paused, confused. This stranger sounded like he could cry due to how happy he was. Perhaps he was being recognized again.

"...Sorry, 'we'?" Ninten asked.

His question was once again ignored as the stranger suddenly ran up to him, and without warning, fastened his arms around Ninten and pulled him into a tight hug. Ninten grunted a bit, nearly stumbling. Over the stranger's shoulder, he could see Ness, who gazed back in confusion. Ninten mouthed the words 'Who is this?' to him, receiving a clueless shrug back. Ninten slightly tried to pull away, but the person had no interest in letting go.

"Wow! Um...thanks for the very nice hug, I love hugs, but..." Ninten stammered, "...I don't know who you are, so maybe you could-"

Ninten was cut off when the person gave a gleeful purr, and nuzzled the top of his head against the bottom of Ninten's neck. Ninten froze in shock. That was an action that was way too familiar to be a coincidence. He looked down at the stranger, and realized that the patterns lining their neck and face were scales. Ninten's heart nearly stopped as he came to a shattering realization. He gently pulled away, keeping his hands on the person's shoulders, and looking him straight in the eye. His eyes were sky blue. Ninten quietly gasped.

'I could recognize that blue anywhere.' He thought, gently cupping the boy's face and tilting his head up just a bit.

He took a shaky breath, and muttered the only word on his mind.

"...Lucas?"

The boy's smile grew bigger, and he excitedly nodded, giggling a bit.

"Mmhmm!" He hummed, "That's my name, Master! It's me! I'm Lucas!"