It was Bow's idea to bring gifts.

Their packs were heavier than usual, both alien girls loaded down with a sack of cooking charcoal along with their typical burdens. They'd had to backtrack, returning to the ship to get them from their feline friend along with a paint set from the gallery. They were peace offerings, an extra precaution in case the fire spirits really did harbor any hard feelings against them.

At one point, Hat Kid felt nothing but fascination toward the fun-loving, mischievous spirits—if always tempered by a wariness against their love of arson. Now, while she did still like them, she better understood their dangerous potential. Sometimes, they made a habit of stealing people away to their realm, like Mustache Girl and herself. It'd taken the help of her friends and a whole lot of luck for her to escape.

Not everyone did, such as the passionate artist, Kit, who watched over her during that time, who was responsible for creating the cursed frames used for their ritual fires. Rather than ever finding escape, she'd twisted imprisonment into familial love. The saddest part was that, in a way, she was right. The foxes were clever and could even master the human tongue, but they weren't fully sentient and had only good intentions according to their nature. It was easier to compare the spirits to pets trying to keep their master from ever leaving the house—but with more than enough power to keep them trapped inside.

Granted, with the woman's mutated body and broken mind, they didn't even have to try now. Hat Kid would never let the same thing happen to her or Bow. Luckily, the Trailblazer Badge she carried limited that risk. It'd been a gift from the Badge Seller, and it gave her the ability to find her way in and out of spiritual realms. They were usually impossible to navigate through, the energies that protected them only allowing passage to those who made their home there or those marked by the spirits themselves.

Still, even though she'd been marked by the foxes, even with the footprint-like impressions that shown before her through her Dweller mask thanks to the badge's power, they journey was difficult. Fog now consumed the whole of the burning wood, obscuring the way ahead. Here, the snow melted before it could even touch the ground. Any ice that managed to spawn instantly evaporated with a hiss of steam at their feet. It was clear as mud, and so hot that the girls took off their coats and tied them at their waists.

At least it assured her that the fire spirits were probably safe. It was more than likely that they didn't even know anything was wrong, since fog like this spawned throughout their home when it rained. Hat Kid squinted up at the treetops, eying the polychromatic fires that trailed their branches. She couldn't spot any of the treehouses that marked the Firelands' borders anymore, so they had to already be fairly deep in.

"Are we close?" Bow Kid asked, eying the surrounding gloom cautiously.

"I think so," she nodded, "We need to make sure we stick together. It'll be easy to get lost."

"I wasn't planning on going anywhere."

They'd just passed a large tree when the stillness was interrupted by the rustle of leaves. The pair stopped in their tracks at the noise, hunting for its source. Not even a moment later, three swift blurs erupted from a pile near Bow. Hat cried out to her in warning, but her friend was already prepared, spinning on her heel to face the newcomers and then tuck-and-rolling out of the way as they lunged for her. With Hat focused on tracing their path, Bow focused on defense. She already had her Brewer Hat ready, grabbing a vile of blue potion from its strap and launching it at one of their assailants.

Hat Kid had faced these creatures before: Wind Weasels. They almost always fought in trios using sneak tactics like this. Thankfully, it only took really one or two good hits to beat them. She wasted no time, launching herself forward to thrust her umbrella at the closest of them. The third tried to strike from the right with a wide slash of one of its sickle-like limbs. She turned to face it with a ready swing of her own, landing a clean hit against its stomach and knocking it back.

Bow moved in to finish the first, this time also attacking with her umbrella. Still trying to recover from the explosion of potion that now coated its fur, the weasel had no opportunity to dodge. She sent it rolling along the ground before it vanished in a puff of air as its kind always did. Bow then joined Hat at her side, the girls moving in synch as if it came naturally to them. The pair went back-to-back, repelling the last of their targets in near unison as the final two weasels dove for them only to be batted away.

Usually, there were some foxes patrolling their borders, but the fog seemed to have deterred them that day, if there were any around at all. Hat Kid remembered the Firelands' unnaturally lazy state during the rains, when the spirits mostly kept to their dens. Clearly, it allowed others like the weasels to have freer range over the area.

They stayed alert for any further sign of danger, which they didn't have to wait for long. The weasels played guard in the fire spirits' absence, appearing from bushes or other large piles of leaves. They were quick as ever, but often gave away their positions with that same, telltale rustle as they braced to attack—giving the kids a chance to readily counter when they finally sprang up for a fight.

The weasels weren't the only ones taking advantage of the weather either. Although they seemed to enjoy it less, fire rats also roamed the wood the deeper in they went, searching hungrily for whatever they could find. If any of them recognized Hat Kid, they didn't take kindly to her return, immediately charging at the two children on-sight. However, so long as they were taken out one-by-one, they were even easier to fend off than the weasels were.

It helped to have a partner working alongside her again too. Besides the basics, physical training wasn't something kids their age were taught heavily as clocksmiths: They were still learning general studies and how to conduct mostly simple tasks for future missions. Those a little more advanced, who were given the opportunity to go out into the field, were still expected to remain on their ships, away from any possible threat. In the beginning, Hat practiced using her unorthodox weapon on crows and mafia goons—with Mustache Girl at her side. She hadn't seen the rebel-turned-villain since they'd last fought, and wondered if Bow would get along with her if they ever crossed paths once more.

Hat and Bow continued to cover each other's backs as they worked their way through the wood. The latter smirked as she twisted around a tree for cover, then struck the rat that chased after her with a backward swing, "Should we be keeping score?"

"I don't think it would matter at this point," Hat teased back, jumping over one rat that tried to scratch her, blocking the bite of another, and then whacking them both. Although the rodents were easy combatants, their sheer numbers were beginning to exhaust them. It was hard to tell how many they'd fought through by then.

At long last, however, both the fog and trees were staring to clear a bit to instead give way to the orange backdrop of the Firelands' searing landscape. When they were close enough to see its familiar, barren clearings, Hat Kid signaled the other child to charge past the remaining rodents. As they ran, Bow tossed a pair of potion vials behind her as a parting gift—making it impossible for them to keep following as the girls raced away.

The large, blue explosion that blossomed at the treeline also signaled their arrival to the fire spirits. Hat Kid slowed back down when she saw the first foxes, perked up at attention from the high rocks they'd been lounging on. The area was still hazy, but their fur shown like beacons through the mist. Nevertheless, it was hard to read their expressions from a distance.

Bow Kid hushed in awe when she saw them. While she was a great tinker, she always had an interest in animals. Maybe it was because there were so few of them on their own world, not counting the leviathans than roamed the distorted skies. It was actually one of the things she loved most about this planet; its wide variety of life. Any reservations she came with seemed dashed at the sight of their graceful, lithe figures.

Hat Kid still held tight to her own, especially as the nearest fire spirit rose in place to stand on its toes and peer at them closer. Its ears fidgeted in a curious way and then, after a long pause, it went down on all fours in a pouncing position. Tail wiggling behind it, the fox threw itself toward them.

"Hatted child!" it cried excitedly, loud enough to echo across the area, "You back! You back!"

Hat Kid felt the tension in her shoulders ease at the happy squeal, thankful that it didn't seem like the fire spirits carried a grudge as she'd feared. What was unnerving, however, was the mob that soon came bounding toward them like a rolling wave of flames. The spirit's shout had not only been heard by those around to see the aliens for themselves; it also drew the attention of the foxes ducked within the nearby trenches that cut through the land. Soon, tall, fuzzy ears and long snouts of all sizes peeped up to see what the fuss was about and came running not a second after.

"You back! You back!"

"Hatted child here! She's come back!"

"New friend! Who friend?!"

At this range, without their sprint hats in hand, there was no chance of outrunning them even if they planned to. Instead, all Hat and Bow could do was brace themselves against the storm. Nearly knocked to the ground right from the start, waist-high pups scampered around their bodies and grabbed at their arms to swing by. Slightly older spirits, at the girls' own height, circled them curiously to get a scent for where they'd been and tug at the extra layers they wore. The eldest stayed the most relaxed, keeping the most distance, but energetically bouncing in place as if it took every effort just to contain themselves. All the while, they continued to shout over one another:

"You come back! You stay now? You stay this time?"

"You bored? Shadow boring? We have fun!"

"How are you back? Who this?"

The last set of questions were asked by the older and more thoughtful foxes. Hat Kid quickly took her mask off, sticking it under her arm to cover the Trailblazer Badge. She didn't think they'd fully understand what her badges were for to begin with—not without seeing their abilities firsthand at least—but she did worry that they might be able to sense whatever powers the Badge Seller used to make that one. It was meant to be a secret, and there was no telling how the spirits would react to a tool that let them slip past their homes' barriers so easily.

Her friend jumped in, quickly shifting the attention onto herself. "I'm Bow!" she introduced with a light giggle, tickled by the pups still curling around her legs.

"Bo!" some of the fire spirits repeated, if largely in a choppier fashion. They seemed thrilled to add the name to their modest vocabulary, "Bo! Bo!"

Hat Kid quietly slipped the Dweller mask into her pack as more and more focus fell on her companion. Whatever they thought of the sudden intrusion, they were clearly curious and felt no fear. Why that was—especially with the warnings the Badge Seller had given her—was beyond her.

She had a sneaking suspicion that the foxes could read feelings about people though, to get a general sense of their personalities and pick their favorites from that. Kit's passion and motherly tenderness exuded a genuine warmth that was impossible to dismiss. Mustache Girl's temper gave her a fiery determination that refused to burn out. Even Snatcher—who was nothing if not antagonistic toward them—still couldn't scare them away from him or his home, so maybe even they sensed there was more to his demonic persona, just as she herself knew.

Bow continued to laugh, clapping her hands as the foxes kept chanting her name, seemingly bouncing to it. Hat never would really describe the other child as having a fire about her; however, her gentle and kind nature was something that could win anyone over. Maybe it was that that they sensed, allowing them to throw a bit of caution to the wind.

As much of a relief as it was for things to be going this well, Hat Kid figured that it was best to take the opportunity to hurry things along. She looked at the older fire spirits again, uncertain if the youngsters would remember the nickname she'd given the painter, "Can you take us to Kit?"

The stared at her for a long moment, as if struggling to decipher what she meant themselves. Finally, they gekkered briefly in their own tongue to each other before one of them looked back at her with a soft hum, "Kit. And kits. Follow us!"

It was easier said than done, wading through the pups that only tagged along after them all while keeping clustered around their legs. The walk was slow and the girls had to be careful not to step on any of them. Meanwhile, only more spirits joined them as they crossed the open field like a parade of lights.