Right Behind You

Chapter 11

Forest Path

Rivers POV

"But my king, we don't even know where to start looking, how are we supposed to find Marco?" Feomar, captain of the royal guard, looked concerned "Mewni is a big place sire"

"Never fear captain! Fortunately I had the presence of mind to ask the Hunters Guild to spell scrawl his staff, and the Queen has furnished me with this" River produced what appeared to be a compass from his saddle bag "this is a tracker, at least that's what Moon said, it's tuned directly to Marco's staff" River opened the lid and immediately wished he hadn't, that's not a compass he sighed how on Mewni am I supposed to read this? The device wasn't as simple as an arrow pointing the way at all, no that would've been far too easy wouldn't it, blasted magic. The internals of the device resembled an orrery, with multiple points spinning around a central object "uh captain, I don't suppose you know how to read this..?"

Feomar trotted up alongside River and leant over to get a better look "oh it's an MPS!" he exclaimed "I haven't seen one of those for years!"

River raised an eyebrow "what on Mewni is an MPS?"

"Rare sire, old magic, there's nobody around with the skill to craft them anymore. It stands for 'Magic Positioning System' and it works by tracking a specific piece of magic that you attune it to, with an accuracy of 2-10 feet. Careful with it sire it's worth a fortune"

"Well that explains why Moon had to go digging in the vault for it.. so.. how does one read it?"

"Well, the spinning objects line up one by one from outermost to centre as we follow the correct path. You'll notice sire, the outermost object has stopped spinning and points to our West, so we need to start heading West, the rest will align as we come closer" Feomar looked pleased with himself

"Excellent, well I guess we're heading west then!" River turned to the small column of Royal Guard he'd brought along "Gentlemen! We go West!" and with that pulled his reins to the left and struck out from the main road they were on at a gallop, the Guard followed suit and hurried to catch up to their King.

Marcos POV

Marco studied the map Buffrog had given him, trying to figure out where he was in relation to the small collection of huts that he was trying to find. This map is terrible he sighed I mean it's not Buffrogs fault, I guess Monsters just don't have the same education as Mewmans. Marco frowned I can see why Star is so dead set on changing that, at least if she does if I ever need a map in future I'll be able to read it!

He looked around trying to locate any markers that might tell him where he was, the tree line was some distance away now and he was surrounded by rolling green pasture, with the odd lonely tree breaking monotony. I mean if the tree line is here he prodded the map then surely I must be around here? He traced his finger to the West slightly and tapped it so I need to start heading North I guess? He looked at the tree line again and cross referenced the map North should be that way..? He sighed, I hate orienteering, if I was on Earth and had the stars this would be easy.

"Well" he said aloud "only one way to find out I guess" and now you're talking to yourself, great... well, anything to distract me from how I'm feeling. Marco was beginning to worry, he could feel the emptiness inside him, leeching away at his vitality, it was an effort just to try smiling now unless I think of Star, as he thought of her his heart beat a taboo and a smile unbidden appeared on his face well at least that still works he thought "guess I'll just have to keep thinking about her then" he chuckled to himself "I doubt that'll be difficult". With a small sigh he took one last look at the tree line, he felt drawn to it for a moment, almost like something was calling to him, he shook his head to clear it and spurred his mount northwards. I miss you Star, I'll be back soon I promise.

Stars POV

"He's looking right at us!" Star hissed

"Calm down girl he can't see us, it's dark under here!" Pony Head reassured her

"Plus we all know Marco can't see what's right in front of him anyway" Janna sniggered

"That's not funny Janna" Star admonished

"Yeah that's not funny Janna" Starfan13 echoed

"pfft, it was just a joke" Janna defended somewhat half heartedly

The group of them were hiding in the tree line that Marco had just taken a long look at, Star stared right back at him and practically willed herself to be invisible I really should have changed outfits for this she lamented as her bright purple and orange leggings practically shouted "we're here we're here!". Marco turned away from the tree line and went back to what Star figured was a map.

"Once he moves on we've got nowhere to hide, there's nothing out there but grass and hills" she worried

"You've got a wand Star" Pony Head deadpanned

Star laughed at herself "oh yeah, silly me"

She looked at Marco who was once again gazing at the tree line with an almost wistful expression. She felt her heart beat quicken, her body relaxed and she had to consciously stop herself stepping out into the meadow for a moment, what on Mewni was that? I almost blew it! That was really weird.. Star frowned. Marco was receding into the distance by the time she brought herself back to the real world.

"Star, you awake?" Janna was prodding her arm gently

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay" Star hugged herself for a moment "I just had the weirdest feeling, like I wasn't in control of my own body and it just wanted to walk out there, to Marco"

Janna raised an eyebrow "uh huh.. 'cause you know you've got no reason to *want* to go out there"

"You know what I meant Janna!" Star pushed her playfully "I wasn't controlling it, I had to force myself not to.."

"Weird" Janna commented

"Double weird" Starfan13 chimed in

"B-fly I hate to pour cold water on your mystery urges but Marco is already out of sight, we need to go" Pony Head nudged Star towards the pasture.

"Okay okay, I'll figure it out later. Let's go"

*Authors Comment*

I know some of the chapters have been relatively short, and have been commented on, so from now on I'll be dipping down to the meaty chunks in the hobo gravy by amalgamating any shorter chapters I've written. Hopefully you find this format more appetising :)

Many thanks for your support.