Star vs The Forces of Evil
Earthni Sweet Symphony
Disclaimer: Star vs The Forces of Evil was created by Daron Nefcy and is owned by Disney. I own no part of Star vs.
Episode 6: Camping Conundrum (Part 1)
Episode Summary: Star & Marco invite all of their family & friends to a relaxing camping trip in the forest, but the ongoing after effects of the cleaving threaten their good time. Star's commitment to better balancing her work life & relaxation life is put to the test.
Original Release Date: October 22, 2021
The thing about Earthni? Its weather patterns were extraordinarily unusual. One day it could be exploding in snowy cold flurries, and the next it could be as warm as the Sahara Desert. And of course, hot days didn't exclude the possibility of brief freezing patterns, and cold days didn't excuse the brief occurrence of heat waves. Seasons didn't really exist the way they used to pre-Cleave. What did this mean? Well, all of a sudden it was a perfect time for a weekend camping trip! Marco & his folks, Star & her folks, Janna, Tom, Jackie, and Chloe set off towards the forest for what they were certain was going to be a fantastic weekend camping trip. With Marco riding in the family RV with the others & Star riding in her family's carriage pulled by their horses - which, even after all this time, they still had for some reason - they set off towards their weekend of excitement.
"Hey Mr. Diaz!" Janna yelled from her seat. "Are we there yet?"
Yes, Janna decided that it was high time for her to play around & mess with Marco's parents. Marco, predictably, wasn't amused. "Are you really that committed to asking every five minutes?"
"Oh, Diaz, do you not know me by now?" Janna smirked. "You know my interests in who to mess with constantly vary. Give it, like, fifteen minutes tops."
"It's true." Piped up Tom from the seat next to her. "She drifts from target to target."
A few silent blinks from Marco as his brain made the effort to process what was just conveyed. "It bothers me how nonchalantly you just said that."
"Hey, when you're in tune with your partner, you just know how they roll. Ain't that right?" Whatever he was hoping to accomplish with that line, it...did not pan out. Janna just silently shook her head in his direction. "No?"
"Partner? What? Are we a detective agency?"
"I don't know, you in to that kind of thing?"
For his own benefit, Marco couldn't help but chuckle as he turned his head back towards the window. Taking in the lovely scenery around him always calmed him on road trips. But his intake of the scenic view had to wait as he found himself before tapped on the shoulder from behind, from none other than Jackie & Chloe.
"Speaking of being in tune with your partner, where's Star?" Jackie asked him; Star's absence was undeniably noticeable. She lit up every place she went to, so the mood was considerably dimmer without her in the RV. Not even baby Mariposa's shining smile or her vain efforts to escape Marco's grip could quite replicate the joy Star's prescence brought.
"She's riding with her folks, they're following behind us."
"Why? There's more than enough seats for them here."
"Something about her wanting to ingrain her new brother into their lifestyle or something. They've got horses & fancy carriages, you know."
"Yeah, and she's never invited us to ride in them, has she?" Janna cynically responded, eliciting laughs from the others.
"Maybe it's for the best." Marco offered. "Not everyone likes those carriages, I guess it's better to find out now if Miles like that stuff or if it'll freak him out over the long haul."
Fortunately, Marco didn't have to worry about that. Miles not only tolerated the carriage ride, he outright thrived it in, bouncing constantly all over the place & going from one side of the carriage to the other, looking out the doorways & gazing at the views presented. All of which was accompanied by hysterical giggling. As for Star & her family, all they could do was witness in awe. "I think he likes this." Star whispered to her mother.
"Oh, I'm so happy he does." Moon commented, grabbing her son as he passed by again & bringing him into a big hug. "So, Star, what are we going to do when we reach our spot?"
"I'm taking our boy hunting!" River declared as Moon passed his son over to him, all to an array of laughter. "I'm going to teach him my native food-gathering ways! We'll have the world's grandest feast!"
"And I can see the animals!" Yelped Miles, almost entirely oblivious to River's intentions but nonetheless excited to be included.
"Yes Miles, you can see the animals." And his enthusiasm earned him a head pat from his loving sister, whose thoughts otherwise were elsewhere. Beside her seat sat a satchel filled with papers, papers that she designated herself to review, ranging from Buff Frog's upcoming campaign run to plans to improve hospitality for both mewmans and monsters, as well as also faithfully serve the human constituency. She made it an open secret that this was happening, too. It was a test, a self-administered one. After spending the better part of a year having to lean heavily towards work over play & personal health, and then apporximately another year afterwards being forced by her friends & loved ones to prioritize personal health & play over work, she had decided that it was time to find out if she was capable of perfectly, or at least adequately, balancing the two forces.
"Star...?" But of course her folks were skeptical of Star's motivations & intentions. "What do you have there?" Moon asked her.
"What? These? Oh just, you know, blueprints and layouts of the...camp site we're going to." Piggybacking off of Miles's brilliantly adorable idea back in their first city council meeting, Star was aggressively considering ways to expand housing for the monsters & mewmans. Not every monster or mewman that carried over had adapted to humanity's use of electronics & technology, and thus preferred to continue living quiet, uncluttered lives the way they did on Mewni. Thus, it was decided - by the Butterflies at least - that such housing needed to be expanded to accommodate such needs. Unfortunately for them, Echo Creek City Hall wasn't particularly keen on diving into that territory, leaving that primarily in the responsibility of the Butterfly family. What's more, the mayor took personal issue with Star's "staycation" arrangement, one that everyone deemed necessary following a massive breakdown physically & mentally on Star's end, while he continued trudging along on his daily obligations. Thus, the family decided they needed someone to run against him in the upcoming mayoral election, and it was old friend Buff Frog they landed on. For Star, she saw this as an opportunity to prove herself worthy of holding the position of campaign manager.
"Oh sweetheart, no..." Moon attempted to reach for the papers in Star's hands, but to no avail. "That's not necessary. We're going for a relaxation outing, not for monotonous dirty work."
"Yeah Yeah I know I know, but...maybe we'll think of something while we're having a good time?"
"That would be lovely, but that's not why we're going." Moon studied the look of incoming disappointment on Star's face. "Buff Frog would understand, you know that."
"Yeah, probably, but if I'm ever going to learn how to have a good work-life balance, I need to practice, don't I? First it was all work & nearly no rest or play. Then it was all rest and play, no work. That's not sustainable. I just...want to contribute, that's all."
Moon gently caressed her daughter's face & embraced her. "That's wonderful, but don't let yourself be consumed by the burden. You're not alone this time. We're here to step in & help."
"I can help too!" Miles proudly proclaimed, opening his arms up for a hug with them. They were all but happy to oblige.
"I brought some wood & building supplies if the need arises." Globgor announced, lifting Star's spirits.
"Thanks everybody."
"It's our pleasure, sweetie." Eclipsa added to the mix.
At last, everyone had arrived at the spot they planned to use for their camping outing. As both the horse carriage & the RV parked adjacent with each other, everyone gradually began filing out of their respective vehicles. Those that exited first took a moment to gaze at the beauty surrounding them. The beautiful forest trees, coupled with the shimmering Earthni sky, made for one of the most extraordinary sights one could ever comprehend. There was also the small lake located smack dab in the center of the deep forest, the one that Miles said could be used for "swimming."
As everyone filed out, the adults quickly got to work setting up the campsite. The tents all went up at a rapid pace, sitting areas were put into place, and logs were all brought out to begin the process of creating the campfire. Tom, however, had other plans.
"Step aside, everyone, I got this." He began to rub his hands together. "Cold spell is over, which means daddy's got his mojo back." He aimed his hands at the pile of wood & quickly charged up his power, launching large fire balls at the pile...emphasis on "large." Apparently the cold spell also made Tom forget exactly how to control his power. Guess what happened? That's right, he fueled too much fire & caused a minor explosion that would essentially render the pile useless in the future. Mixed with screams from those around him & a personal fear of being burned alive - irony, ain't it grand? - Tom tapped into his powers once more and...began sucking the fire back into him through his mouth. Yes, that's apparently an ability that Tom possessed that had not been known to people in his circle outside of his family until just now. The calamity resulted in a modest fire set on the wood pile, creating an optimal heating area, as well as a bunch of confused people surrounding him, except for Miles, Mariposa, & Meteora, all of whom simply applauded the sight. "...Ta-da?" Needless to say, Tom's efforts to brush off his near-cataclysmic mishap did not go over well.
"...Dude. Really?" Spoke Marco.
"Oh cut me a break, we've had nothing but chills the past couple of weeks and now all of a sudden we've got warm, sweaty weather and my powers function like normal again? You can't expect me not to want to use them."
"Sure but we'd like you to have at least some control over them."
"...Okay, maybe I was a little too amped up back there."
"We just don't want any of us to get burned to a crisp, dude. Especially not in a place where you can easily bury the bodies." Of course leave it to Janna to make the morbid jokes. "Firewood is for cooking grub, not flesh."
"...Speaking of grub...are we good on food?" Jackie may have been someone that loved being outside, but that wasn't the same as "camping," of which she was not really an expert.
"Oh yeah, totally." Star reassured her. "We stocked up on enough for the weekend to last us, especially in case things don't go so well with Dad."
"What about your dad?"
"He insists on hunting for all of their camping food every time they go out." Marco explained to her. "He's...not exactly the best hunter."
"He tries, bless him, but in all the camping trips our family has ever taken, he's caught, like, maybe 2 or 3 animals for us to actually cook?" Star continued. "So we bring some reserves just in case so nobody actually starves."
"And I am most grateful that we do, pumpkin, but by the power bestowed in me by the great land of Mewni, I shall not fail this time!" River declared, stepping into their circle & triumphantly raising his fist. "Failure is an impossibility now that I have my new secret weapon with me!" That secret weapon in question, Miles, started squealing at the top of his lungs & dashed his short legs over to River, who patted him on his head and hugged his shoulder. "We shall be unstoppable! Come, my boy!"
"Yay animals!" Shouted Miles in his always adorable voice, which won over the lot around them as he was whisked away by River into the forest.
"You better be careful out there!" Moon yelled in her husband's direction. "If there's even a scratch on our new pride and joy, I swear..." Moon began shaking her fist at him, only to stop when she realized everyone was awkwardly staring at her. "What?" But fortunately for her, everyone proceeded to laugh it off. Except for Star, who found herself drifting away from the group & beginning a short walk around their camp site. Her objective was simple: survey the area and see if it could serve as a sustainable housing market for mewmans who weren't interested in living in non-huts. For her sake, she had hoped she could have some sort of positive news to report back to her family & Buff Frog. But whatever deep thoughts she was about to sink into were interrupted by Marco putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Maybe you can wait until tomorrow to get a clean start on things." He suggested. "It's gonna be getting dark soon. There's not really much of a point in trudging through the pitch black night just doing some land surveillance." Yes, he was also aware of Star's intentions for this camping trip, and he was determined to help her pull off the balancing act.
The skeptical girl raised an eyebrow but ultimately relented, loudly sighing as she handed Marco her satchel. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm just really nervous & excited about this. If I can somehow pull this off, it'll prove that one, I haven't lost my political touch, and two, I can perfectly balance a work life and my personal life equally, instead of just leaning towards all work or all play."
He kissed her forehead & elicited a giggle from her. "How about you come help us set up the tents. We're gonna be sharing with Jackie & Chloe."
An audible gasp escaped Star's mouth. "What!? Wait, why?"
"Well, between you and me..." He leaned in to whisper. "It was their idea."
And just like that, Star's face lit up in a dark shade of red. "Why does she & Chloe insist on messing with us like this!?"
"Because, in her own words, 'we're adorable when we're flustered." He kissed her cheek once more before returning to the campsite to help with setting up the tents. Star wasn't that far behind, however.
"Okay, but she's not wrong."
Everyone - minus River, who had taken Miles with him to show him his "hunting ways" - pitched in to set all the tents up. As advertized, Marco, Star, Jackie, & Chloe all shared one tent. Janna, Tom, Eclipsa, & Globgor (plus Meteora, obviously) shared another. Angie, Rafael, & Mariposa had one to themselves, which left River, Miles, and Moon in the final tent. That is...whenever River actually returned with their son. So in the meantime, Moon elected to stay with Marco's parents & Mariposa...the latter of which elected to partake in a game of peek-a-boo with Moon. Just like with baby Miles, Moon was smitten over baby Mariposa.
"Where'd she go? Where is she?" Moon baby-talked to the young tike, covering her eyes in preparation for that all important "peek-a-boo." "Here I am!" And each one ended in the same way: an uproarious laugh from the child. "I think she likes me."
"How could she not? She likes everybody!" Rafael regaled proudly.
"She especially loves Star." Angie commented, taking notice of how Moon hesitated once that information was conveyed.
"Well...who wouldn't?" Moon awkwardly continued the conversation while continuing to play with Mariposa. "Clearly she has a way of charming those around her that I never really noticed." One of the few remaining lingering weights of baggage was the idea that Star preferred Marco's parents to her own. Or rather, she preferred Marco's parents to Moon specifically. Despite subtle hints towards clearing the air in this regard, it hasn't fully been accomplished yet. At least if you were to ask any of the involved parties.
"We hope we haven't caused any problems with you and your daughter..." Angie somberly begged, as if she was anticipating a backlash from the former queen. But none was to arrive. Moon had long since internalized that, as a mother, she was not the most nurturing or emotionally attentive. Having to run the kingdom of Mewni played a significant hand in that, forcing Moon to harden & thus keep her daughter at an arm's length. Now, in the post-monarchy days, she was working tirelessly to change that around her, to admittedly mixed results. Star was only so comfortable showing affection towards her mother, and the guilt associated frequently gnawed at her.
"No, heavens, of course not. I preferred that she had been in the capable hands of a family that could take care of her until it was time for her to come home." She explained.
"She's been nothing but a delight for us."
"She's brought out the adventurous, brave young man we always knew lived inside our boy." Rafael added. "And he's been a wonderful help keeping her grounded."
"Her departure from our kingdom was a desperate measure on our part. We needed to ensure she could learn magic without...obliterating the remainder of the kingdom. But, in hindsight, it was the best thing that could've happened to her. It found her her forever partner, and...it got her away from me. She needed that more than anything else." It was evident that all of it still stung at Moon's heart. She couldn't afford, at the time, to be a less-strict, more-lax parent that Star clearly needed. She felt she had to put the pressure on her to be a proper princess. And now it was difficult for her to move past it & accept what was, just as it was difficult for Star to embrace Moon's attempts to change her ways & love her the way she needed.
"You can't do that to yourself." Angie spoke softly as Mariposa found herself continuing to try & keep Moon's attention, cutely reaching her arms out as if to grab her dress & babbling cutely. "Things were far different then. You're not the same person you were two years ago just like she isn't the same person she was two years ago. A lot has changed in those two years." As she saw a smile slowly start to creep onto Moon's face, they also caught a peek at baby Miles standing in the open shade, slowly stamping his way into the tent, having returned with River from an extended night of food hunting in the forest. Miles was holding a tiny pinecone in his hands & giggling.
"Hi Mommy!" He announced himself happily, waddling over to the adults & preparing himself to be embraced.
"Oh hello you silly little boy, you." Moon was all too happy to reunite with her new son. "How did hunting go with Daddy?" Her question was immediately answered by the sound of thunderous moaning & groaning coming from right outside. In came River, flat on his stomach, crawling into the doorway with all of his might. His body had clearly taken a bit of a beating, having himself run into Earth's animals that couldn't be classified as Mewni monsters. His efforts to reign even any of them for means of food failed miserably.
"Hello, Moonpie!" He blurted out before collapsing again, spurring Moon to take action & help him into the tent.
"River, what in blazes happened?"
"I...I was going to show our little boy how his father earned his reputation as Mewni's greatest hunter! And bring a bounty of a meal back for all! Alas...I have failed..." Despite not fully understanding the source of River's disappointment, Miles approached him to hug him out of pity anyway.
"Oh River, my love...you were never Mewni's greatest hunter." And leave it to Moon to let River down as gently as she knew how. "But that's alright. We came prepared with nourishment in the event this happened."
"She is right! There is plenty of food in our RV fridge. Please, help yourself!" Rafael backed her up.
"You are...too kind..." River wheezed out before Moon managed to help him into a sitting position. As she helped put him into a comfortable sitting position, she took notice of the pinecone that Miles was cutely holding in his hands. His goofy smile could not be swayed.
"Miles, sweetie, what do you have there?" Her acknowledging him resulted in him giggling like there was no tomorrow & holding the pinecone up.
"This is my friend. His name is Bob." He proudly proclaimed. Momentary silence filled their tent, but it eventually gave way to laughter. How could they not be amused by his adorable charm?
"Hi Bob." And Moon had no problem entertaining his childish imagination. "Are you hungry, sweetums?" He feverishly nodded as River was getting himself upright. "Why don't you follow Daddy into the RV? There must be something you can enjoy." He didn't need to be told twice. He squealed & helped his father get onto his feet, then led the way out of the tent and into the parked RV, which thankfully happened to be equipped with a portable fridge with backup food stored in it.
In one of the other tents, Star, unable to sleep, watched with a smile as her adorable baby brother & her disheveled father ran past their opening and towards the RV. She was taking in as much of the scenery & atmosphere as she could, an action she felt so often in the last couple of years that she couldn't. Even with what she wanted to accomplish on this camping trip, she was still eager to enjoy as much of it as possible, creating an unintentionally uneasy aura around her. It was an aura that Marco noticed, as he sat up & comforted her. "What's up?" His whispers snapped her out of her trance.
"Hmm? Oh, nothing, nothing. I'm fine. Just can't sleep yet..." She whispered back, engaging him in a kiss. Her line of vision took her over Marco's shoulder, where he saw Jackie & Chloe sleeping peacefully in their own sleeping bags, Jackie facing the two lovebirds & lightly snoring, and Chloe having herself wrapped around her girlfriend. Ah, the Jackie Lynn Thomas conundrum, one that felt like it would never die, one that felt like none of the involved parties really wanted it to die. Marco again took notice of this change in demeanor and worked to keep her calm.
"Remember your breathing..." He stroked her hair & kissed her cheek; he felt both her face and his own start to go red.
"Sorry." A heavy deep breath was enough to satiate her for now as they both returned to their sleeping bags. "Got a lot on my mind."
"Really? I couldn't tell." He responded rather sarcastically, which earned him his girlfriend sticking her tongue out at him.
"Well can you blame me?"
"What? You mean about Buff Frog and the whole mayor stuff?" She nodded rather somberly.
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that." As they both settled down again, he brought his girlfriend in close to console her. "What if...what if what we're doing fails? What if...Buff Frog doesn't win?"
"Star, people in my country have been living in what they keep calling a "democracy" for generations. Having your preferred candidate not win isn't exactly a new phenomenon."
"But the stakes are too high here. What if we lose and...you know, the mayor retaliates against us?" Her question was enough to give Marco pause.
"Was that a thing on Mewni?"
"...I mean, sorta...well, you remember what they did to Eclipsa, right? All she did was fall in love with Globgor and yet the entire kingdom saw it as an act of treason, and they retaliated against her."
"I doubt anything like that is going to happen to use. Magic doesn't exist in the world we know anymore, remember?"
"Not what I mean, Marco. What if the mayor, like, makes my family leave town or something? You saw the way he snapped as us. What's to say it won't be worse if he wins?"
The boy brought her in as tightly as he could, instantly sensing the tension in her body tightening. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. I doubt it'll ever get to that point, but If he wants to kick you out of town so bad, he's gonna have to kick me out too."
"And ruin two lives? Not to mention our friends & family?"
"But doesn't your family still have, like, a lot of pull here? They are on the shadow council, aren't they? And it's not like the mayor can just fire them, r-right?"
"I'm not entirely sure how it works, it's...not something that's come up often in conversation."
"Yeah it's not exactly quality dinner talk."
She shrugged & yawned. "This is what happens when I can't get to sleep. My mind races on its own."
"Then maybe that's a sign that we should go to bed. Follow their lead & all that." He pointed out Jackie & Chloe again, still out cold as they were before. "Let's get a fresh start tomorrow."
Despite her anxious mind, she could only nod in agreement. With his help, she settled back down into her sleeping bag. "You know, the only lousy part about this trip is that you and I don't have any privacy." Leave it to Star to take the conversation in that direction. Every time. Marco could only chuckle.
"Hey, it's not the end of the world. We can always pull double time when we get back home." Marco joked with her. But did he really?
"Ooh, I love Double Time Diaz. He always brings the goods." Unfortunately, for now, they'd have to settle with just flirting instead of the real deal. There were too many people around them, after all.
The following morning started out just like any other morning out in the wilderness, with everyone minding their own business while the adults used their campfire to cook up some of the food they had brought along, including weiners, steak, and fish, just to name a few. For the moment, all seemed calm. Once the meals were cooked, they were distributed out to the children. For Miles in particular, it was his first foreay into the world of campfire-cooked meals. He took his plate of fish, carefully took off a meaty piece from it, and began to eat it. Within three bites, he was completely enamored by the taste, giggling to himself & aching for more.
"Ooh, somebody likes their food." Star teased in a motherly tone. "Yes you do, yes you do." Soon enough he was scarfing the whole thing down. "Easy, buddy. Pace yourself. You don't want to choke."
He minded Star's advice but found himself struggling to avoid just scarfing the rest of the fish down. But just as he was about to take another bite, there was some rustling in the forest. Everyone took a defensive position, with the adults gathering the babies for their own protection. Eventually, out came two separate groups, one comprised of a few mewman families, and one comprised of just Mewni monsters. All looked disheveled, tired, & hungry. Soft groans eminated from some of the travelers. Everyone was left in confused silence, with the exception of Miles.
"Hi!" He loudly & proudly waved to them, and to the absolutely shock of everyone, most of them waved back. This was the cute that Miles needed apparently to stand up & race over to them, sticking his arms out & finding the first one of them he could to hug. Of course, everyone was naturally concerned. But Miles wasn't stupid. He was friendly, outgoing, & affectionate, but he wasn't stupid. "Do you wanna have food?"
"Miles, wait!" Moon yelled out out of instinct. "You don't know these...erm, fine folks."
"Yes I do!" He answered, turning to face his mother. "Daddy and I saw these friends in...in the trees."
His admission resulted in Moon spinning her head around to face her own husband, as if to validate what he had just claimed. Unfortunately, during the previous night, River was too busy trying to hunt Earth's animals down & bring them in for food for the group. He wanted Miles observe his "tactics" so that "one day he could become the breadwinner the family deserved." But he was so enamored with the sights around him that he got distracted. Eventually his distraction led him to run into the group of mewmans & monsters that now stood before them. He didn't have anything to provide for them - namely food & drink that they were seeking - but his adorable charm allowed him to quickly befriend them, all without River knowing.
"Is he yours? He's adorable." One of the monsters spoke up, earning a hearty laugh from Miles.
"They're hungry." Miles continued explaining to the others. "They don't have food, a-and the water has icky fishies. They gots stuff on them a-and it tastes bad and it's smelly, an-"
"Hold up hold up hold up..." Marco intervened, approaching Miles & kneeling to him so he was more eye level. Star followed suit behind them. "Icky, smelly stuff on their scales? Miles, what are you talking about?'
"Do you wanna see?"
A silent exchange with Star, and the two nodded in agreement, seemingly on the same page. "Yes, we would."
"Okay! But we gotta feed my friends first. They want food."
"No no, please, don't let us inconvenience you-" One of the mewmans attempted to persuade them otherwise only to be stopped by River.
"Nonsense! None shall go hungry under our watch!" River turned to the campfire, to which the flame had already gone out. "Bugger. Erm, Tom, dear boy, would you be a dear & relight the logs?"
The demon boy cracked his knuckles and prepared himself to do his thing...only to be stopped by Janna, who pushed in front of him, holding a lighter in her hands. "H-Hey, he asked me to do it." The teen demon objected.
"Yes, and the last time you did, we all almost died."
"It was one time!"
"And I'd like to keep it that way, thank you!"
So after the wandering group was cooked a decent breakfast meal to devour, they & Miles led the charge deep into the forest towards the center, where the body of water rested. At first glance, it appeared to be perfectly normal. But that was without any action. Soon enough, they were greeted by some fish that leaped out of of the pond. Again, on the surface, they looked normal. But a few more jumps and everyone was able to realize that something was wrong. The fishes looked incredibly unhealthy. Scales were missing, eyes were rolled back into their heads, some were covered in an unidentifiable gunk that clearly shouldn't have been there. River, to his credit, was able to leap into the water & successfully rangle with a fish before catching it with his bare hands. He returned to the surface, where everyone examined it thoroughly.
"This is the sickest, filthiest fish I've ever seen." Angie remarked. "It looks positively sickly."
"I wouldn't serve this even to our most trecherous of prisoners!" Moon exclaimed, obviously without thinking about her word choice. "I mean, if we had prisoners still."
"I'm starting to see why your little rendezvous with Mina didn't work out the way you thought it would." Janna joked, earning an annoyed glare from Star in the process.
"See? It's icky!" Miles leaped into the conversation again. "And it tastes bad!"
"And it's clearly not the only sea creature in this lake with this problem." Marco pointed out as more fishes continued jumping out of the water, showing off just how far gone they truly were. Pretty much everybody was left stunned. "Why do so many of them look so sickly? This is supposed to be one of the healthiest bodies of water in Echo Creek...even with the cleaving."
"Uhh, Marco..." Star tugged on the boy's hoodie & pointed outward towards the other side of the lake. In the distance, a bunch of human workers with garbage trucks & hoses could be seen, and it appeared that they were dumping waste & garbage into the body of water. "What are they doing?"
"Ahh, the sweet sight of corporate greed continuing the ruination of our precious world. How I've missed thee." Janna remarked, clearly sarcastic. "So that might explain what's going on."
"Blasphemy!" River roared in protest. "I was going to dive into these lovely waters tonight & round up all of the sea creatures that I could gather!"
"That's absolutely out of the question now." Eclipsa objected, an objection that literally everybody agreed with.
"It might also help explain why the mayor wasn't so keen on listening to our idea of expanding hut housing for our people around these parts..." Moon theorized, a point that made most of the Butterfly clan stop in their tracks. "And here I thought it was exclusively due to animosity towards out little miracle." Again with the gushing. Star couldn't be mad at her mother for trying, but that didn't mean she had to love it. "Why would they want to use a place that could provide housing to misfortunate ones to dump garbage?"
"The same reason that most rich people do morally unethical things in life: they're rich and they can." Janna explained.
"Welcome to the world of stupid corruption." Jackie legargically noted. While everyone else was bemoaning the state of affairs & looking in in hopelessness into the distance, Miles turned to his sister again to ask a very important quesiton.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Star? Does this mean we can't go swimming?"
To be continued...
End of Episode 6!
So this one took longer than I had wanted it to take. It was almost the first month where I didn't make a post since I started this epic journey. But I did it! And I'm much happier with this chapter than the last one, even though it's technically only a part 1. I should note that in November I'll be partaking in NaNoWriMo 2021, where I spend the month of November trying to write a book. Not sure how it'll go but I'm doing it with a friend so it'll be fun! And if I end up not updating this story in November, that's why. And that's just one of the personal life things I've got overwhelming my schedule. But I hope this chapter fills your needs for the time being.
And as always, please read & review!