Hello there, readers! Welcome to the next chapter of Miitopia: Invasion of the Lost Faces!
NO TIME TO WASTE. LET'S START READING.
Chapter 3: Enter the Strange Grove
The four of us continued along the path ahead, cautious of any sign of danger further along.
Of course, I was a little distracted by our recent addition.
Brave was a chatterbox and a half. If she wanted to say something, she said it no matter what. It didn't matter to her if it was the dumbest question ever, she wanted to talk about it somehow.
It might have just been my imagination, but I swear that she wanted to talk to me the most. She asked me just about EVERYTHING and THEN some.
"So, you're not a Mii?"
"Yeah, exactly.
"Then how did you get here?"
"Umm… this thing changed the world as I knew it?"
"Do you know why it did?"
"Absolutely not."
"Do you think-"
I sighed, and tried to focus on the path ahead of us. I was hoping that there would be another super convenient Inn just around the corner. Not to sleep, it was still the middle of the day, but just as a place to rest. That Inn was one of the only places that felt safe 100% of the time. Everywhere else, it just felt like something was about to jump out from behind a corner…
"Hey guys? Do you see Bob Ross's face anywhere around here?" my Mii asked.
"Very specific." I noted.
"I just feel like we'll find his face first." my Mii commented.
"Wouldn't it be attached to a monster?" Susie asked.
"Probably?" I shrugged.
"Less talky, more looky." Brave responded, skipping forward happily.
The rest of us were left to catch up to her. We started talking with worry about where these faces that the Dark Lord took would be. "Maybe he took them back to his home?" I suggested.
"Where would his home possibly be?" my Mii asked.
"I dunno, somewhere with lots of fire and lava, and jagged cliffs galore? Like most final boss areas?" I suggested.
"You play too many video games." my Mii commented.
"I don't understand that sentence. I don't use 'too many' and 'video games' in the same sentence." I responded. Laughs were exchanged.
The conversation continued for a while, until we were looking around a large clearing.
"There's gotta be something around here…" Susie murmured.
"What could possibly be around here?" Brave asked innocently.
Suddenly, it felt like it got darker. "Woah… is it bedtime already?" Brave asked.
"It can't be… the sky's still blue." Susie murmured, carefully holding her stick up. "Something doesn't feel right…"
I paled. I remembered something from a video game that happened almost identically to this. I looked up.
The sun was being blocked by a dark shape.
And that shape was getting bigger.
"GUYS! HIT THE DIRT!" I yelled, quickly tackling all of the Mii's to the side.
About where we were moments before, a giant shape collided with the ground. The four of us quickly stood up and prepared for a fight.
The thing quickly rose up. Now that we could see it properly, it was a massive butterfly, far bigger than the Rock Moths we had encountered previously.
It appeared as though it was looking at us, but I couldn't see any eyes anywhere on it.
Then, a flash appeared around us, and a bright ball of some kind floated down.
It was Bob Ross's face.
"What's happening…?" the face asked, confused.
The face quickly spiraled towards the faceless butterfly, quickly merging the two together.
It was battle time.
The newly created Butterfly Bob Ross fluttered forward, glaring at us with it's freshly stolen face.
Susie charged forward and slapped the creature in the face, followed by my Mii's frying pan.
Just as I was about to think that Brave was going to go, the butterfly quickly flew forward and slapped both my Mii and then Brave in the face.
Brave tried to sling her microphone at the thing, but she wasn't quite that strong, and it didn't appear to do much damage.
The other two again tried to smack the thing, but it still wasn't anywhere close to going down. The butterfly again dashed forward and slapped Susie in the face, and then again to Susie.
Susie didn't have much HP left to begin with, and that second strike proved to be her downfall.
"Sorry peeps…" she murmured, falling face first into the ground.
The Guardian then whispered to me, "Well that's not good. If their HP falls to zero, they can't fight anymore! Luckily for you, I have just the thing!"
I suddenly felt my pocket grow heavy again, and when I reached in, I found an EXTREMELY small shaker bottle, with pink sprinkles inside.
"These are called Life Sprinkles, and they will restore someone who has been knocked down! But they are extremely precious. Use only in ABSOLUTE emergencies!"
'Right now, this IS an emergency…' I thought to myself, quickly dashing over to Susie. I quickly turned the shaker upside down and gave it a firm shake.
Everything in the bottle quickly fell out, landing over Susie. A moment passed, and then the sprinkles seemed to shine over Susie's bruises and cuts. Another moment, and she was fine, her eyes open again. "Wha-?" she asked, slowly standing.
"They worked!" I exclaimed, quickly dashed back to the side.
Susie stood back up, looking a little disoriented, but otherwise perfectly fine.
The butterfly, despite being quite hurt, still managed to glare at us and attempt to dash forward. However, my Mii was ready for that, and just as the thing reached him he ducked and then threw himself upwards, with his frying pan following in a wide arc in front of him.
The butterfly fell over, completely stunned from the surprise attack.
The fight quickly reached the end as Susie and Brave quickly dashed forward and gave the creature one last hit each. The butterfly shook, and then fell flat to the ground. Bob Ross's face's eyes were closed.
I quickly pointed my 3DS at the thing, out of instinct. However, I lurched forward, taken back by the EXTREME force the thing was putting on me. Even though pretty much all the other monsters had taken quite the amount of effort to absorb, THIS thing was in a completely different league. "G-guys! Help!"
My Mii and the others quickly held onto my back and pulled, heels digging into the ground. It was like reeling in the biggest fish in the lake.
My friends pulled as hard as they could, as did I, as the butterfly slowly slid over.
Eventually, it was fully absorbed into the system again. As soon as the face flew off the thing, uttering a quick thank you before flying off, all of us fell over backwards.
I was winded, oddly enough. Trying to force that thing back into my system was like trying to pull a raging bull backwards when it wants to only go forwards. If I hadn't had my friends behind me there… I shuddered to think.
"So… did… did we save Bob Ross?" I asked, staring at the sky.
"I guess so…" my Mii muttered.
"That thing… was much tougher than I thought…" Susie whispered.
"WE DID IT!" Brave shouted happily, loud enough to where the rest of us jumped up in surprise. "Woo! That was awesome! We took that butterfly guy DOWN!"
Brave merrily skipped around us as we slowly stood back up. I quickly gathered the spoils from the butterfly, a bag of gold and some more butterfly honey, this one purple in color. "This actually doesn't look half bad…" I muttered.
"Eat some, then. We gotta keep our wits about us." my Mii told me. He had a second jar of the pink butterfly honey, and was eating it quite quickly.
"Wait… where did you-?" I started to ask.
"I got this from a previous Moth. I didn't steal it, if that's what you are thinking." my Mii replied. Though… I think his eyes might've twitched to the left juuust barely.
I squinted at my Mii, before turning back to the purple honey. I pulled out a small spoon that I had in my pocket, (don't ask why I had that) and carefully took a small spoonful of the stuff.
I tasted it. I was quite surprised. The taste was like… grapes and honey mixed together in just the right way to taste good together. The sweet grapes mixed together with the sweetened honey, and created a truly unique flavor.
Before I knew it, I had already empted the entire jar, a small amount of purple honey still on my face. It really was good… I found myself almost wistfully staring into the jar.
Susie was apparently watching me the whole time. "Was it good?" she asked.
I jumped a little and spun around. "Oh… I'm so sorry, did you want-"
"No, no… I'm not really a big fan of butterfly honey, to be honest." Susie responded, smiling at me. "I'm just… a little hungry, and wondered if we have any food left over."
I dug around in my bag a little. "Well… we have this?" I intoned, pulling out Goblin Ham.
Susie pursed her lips slightly. "I guess… I can give it a shot…" she murmured, taking the plate.
She tenderly prodded one of the two slices and then gently picked a piece off. "Well… here goes…"
She nibbled at the tiny piece. She seemed to mull over the taste for a moment, before saying, "Actually… that's not half bad."
She gently took a larger bite out of one slice, humming gently. "Yeah. That's actually pretty good."
"Hmm." I hummed in mild surprised. "May I?"
Susie nodded. I took a piece for myself and popped it in my mouth.
The taste actually was pretty good. It was kinda like freshly cooked ham with a slight zing of spices and herbs. "That is pretty good." I admitted.
Susie ate the rest of the ham. "Well… I didn't think that stuff would be good, but you learn something new everyday."
"Exactly." I agreed. "We should probably keep going, who knows what-"
"Hey, guys!" Brave's voice called out. "I think I see something interesting up ahead!"
I looked over. Brave was quite the ways away. My Mii and Susie followed after me and I jogged over to get to her.
"What do you see? A monster?" I asked.
"No! Something better!" she stated, pointing ahead.
A chest of some kind was half-hidden in the rocks nearby. If you weren't looking for it, you would never have seen it.
"Oooh… what do we have here…?" I murmured excitedly.
Susie and my Mii joined us as I knelt before the chest. "Whaddya guys say? Open it?"
The other three nodded, so I attempted to open the lid. But that's when I noticed the lock. "Oh. Right. Locks." I muttered bitterly.
Then my 3DS beeped. I looked down at it. Two more options were laid out for me. 'Open' and 'Leave it.'
"Hmm… I guess that works." I murmured, tapping 'Open.'
The lock gently flashed gold, then the lid flew open like nothing was holding it closed in the first place.
The contents literally flew out into my arms. A large bag of gold!
"Sweet!" I laughed, quickly letting my 3DS do the math for me. In one bag, our gold count quickly grew by three hundred G.
"Now that's some good treasure." I stated happily.
My Mii rolled his eyes. "I give it two days tops for us to spend it all."
Brave snickered at that. Susie looked up at the sky innocently, her smile a tad bigger. I stuck my tongue out at my Mii, tucking the money away.
The path forward continued to be nice, and conversation was held all throughout the entire trip.
Though… for some reason, once I picked up the money, I could swear that I felt something watching us. The feeling wasn't hostile, but… just watching us.
I almost asked the others if they felt something similar, but I didn't want to be seen as though I was looking my touch already.
The area around us continued to look more or less the same, but I could swear that trees were starting to become more frequent than the rocks around here.
Then, I found I was right. Before us, suddenly, we found a large tree line. I was confused. "Wait… where is this?"
I looked back down at my reality-controlling game system and managed to pulled up the world map. Apparently we had traveled almost the entire length of Easin Hills. Now we were heading southward towards a rather large forest, apparently called the Strange Grove.
"It looks as though this path doubles back towards Greenhorne." I murmured, giving my friends a look at the map.
"I think we should try to take it. After all… we needed to head back that way one time or another." Susie declared.
I hesitantly looked into the forest. It seemed to be quite choked with more than just trees, and I highly doubted there would be an extremely well-placed inn somewhere in there.
Again, that feeling of being watched struck me again. I turned around, but I saw nothing. Just a lone tree and a small rock.
"You okay?" my Mii asked, looking back with me.
"Just… being careful." I managed, turning back towards the forest. "I guess… we should just dive in."
And we slowly entered the forest.
I don't recommend trying to cross through a forest is you hate the following:
A) Rough terrain.
B) Unidentifiable noises, from you or otherwise.
C) Not being able to see anything but feeling like other things can see you easily.
D) Trying to remember which plants won't instantly give you a rash if you accidentally touch them.
E) Sweltering temperatures.
Or F) Trying to put up with a friend that loves to complain about everything.
In other words, this was JUST a GRAND OLD ADVENTURE.
If you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm. Trekking through the forest SUCKED.
Sure, I could get that it was rather pretty for the most part, and there was more or less a pathway we could travel through without having to push TOO many branches out of the way.
But still… it wasn't a hundred percent fun. I'm a nerd who doesn't like doing much in the way of physical exercise. I SWEAR I was a full course banquet for all sorts of little bugs.
My Mii didn't look totally happy either. "It's so hot in here…"
"You've been saying that for the past ten minutes straight…" I moaned.
Susie wiped her forehead. "It's not THAT bad. Just don't think about it. Oh! And have some water."
My Mii took a quick swig from Susie's canteen. He seemed a little better. "Whew… thank you Susie."
"Can I see that…" I asked. My Mii handed me the canteen and I took a slightly larger drink.
"Please don't drain it all before we even get halfway in…" Susie pleaded with me.
I quickly stopped drinking. "I'm not THAT bad." I complained lightly, handing her canteen back.
Brave was ahead of us, dancing merrily. "C'mon guys! We'll never get anywhere if you keep drinking water!"
"When did she decide to be the leader…?" my Mii asked, nevertheless hurrying up to catch up, Susie and me right behind him.
Brave looked ecstatic. "Oooh! I LOVE forests! They're so… rugged! And lush!"
"And filled with monsters, probably…" I murmured.
"But that just makes it more unpredictable!" Brave agreed happily.
As if to punctuate that statement, I heard something move nearby, to my right. My Mii quickly raised his frying pan towards the noise.
Nothing came out. We stood there for a good minute until we were sure nothing was there.
"False alarm." I called out, straightening back up again.
The way forward continued. Noises continued to sound out all around us.
I felt my stomach growl. Even though I had eaten that butterfly honey moments ago, I was still quite hungry.
"I'm so hungry…" I murmured.
Brave didn't look better. For once, she seemed a tad less energetic than before. "I forgot to eat breakfast this morning too… I'm hungry as well…"
Then I heard the sound of chewing. "Omm nom nom…"
I turned just in time to see my Mii wiping his mouth, like he just ate something. "You better have brought something else for us, bud! We're hungry too!"
Susie nodded. "I'm hungry too… what food did you bring, anyway?"
"Oh, I didn't." my Mii replied casually. "I didn't eat anything."
"Whaaaaat?" the three of us asked him ludicrously.
"I'm trying to trick my stomach. If I make eating noises, perhaps that'll make me feel full." my Mii explained.
"This adventure is taking a real mental toll of Cameron…" Susie blubbered, crying a little bit. Out of hunger or from my Mii, I couldn't tell.
"I just hope he'll last till we find somewhere to buck down for the night…" I murmured, shaking my head in disbelief.
Indeed, the sun was slowly sinking, if the golden color that shined through the trees was any indication. "We have to be getting close to something by now…" I murmured.
Then…
*snap!*
A twig snapping.
Instantly my friends drew their weapons, looking all over for the noise.
Then, from some nearby shrubbery, out came…
A mushroom.
A literal mushroom started hopping out of the brush in our general direction.
It… started dancing.
"What… the…" I murmured, completely confused.
"Is that a dancing mushroom?" my Mii asked, just as lost.
"See! This forest is awesome! Even the plants have a song in their heart!" Brave insisted, dancing with the mushroom playfully.
Then another came from behind the first one. Now we had two dancing mushrooms, both of them… rather good at it. Believe me, I know absolutely nothing about dancing, but I could tell that these things were actually putting some work into it.
I almost involuntarily started to smile. "These things… are actually kinda cool…"
Then I heard something else. And my eyes detected movement just behind the mushrooms.
"Brave! Hit the dirt!" I yelled, tackling my Mii to the ground, getting a yelp.
If Brave had been any less of a good listener, she would've been knocked in the back of the head to the ground by the third mushroom flying out of the shrubbery like a rocket. It slammed into a tree, making the other two quickly hop to it.
That's when I noticed that the eyes on the backs of the mushrooms.
"They're monsters!" I yelled, quickly pulling my Mii back up.
The mushroom trio, which my 3DS quickly identified as a horde of 'Smileshrooms,' quickly regrouped and, now with their eyes facing us, gave us another dance, I guess trying to distract us or something. But that wasn't going to work this time.
Susie quickly slapped one with her stick, and my Mii followed right behind her. Brave stepped forward, but this time my 3DS beeped. It read, 'New Skill!' and then, 'Encore!'
Brave did a little twirl, then stood in front of my Mii, our hardest hitter. "Encore!" she shouted happily, notes flying off of her mic and around my Mii.
He seemed inspired. "Okay!" he agreed, and thus, he got another turn.
"I have an idea…" my Mii murmured, then seemed to charge up.
My 3DS beeped again, reading, 'New Skill!' and 'Flambé!'
He held his frying pan before him, and the thing seemed to get searingly red hot. He charged forward and then slammed the first Smileshroom with everything he was worth. Even though the creature didn't fall over, it was still quite damaged.
The first two mushrooms attacked, but the third… just stared at us.
Then, it hopped up a little, and then… seemed to start making a funny face. A mouth hidden on the underside of the mushroom cap was revealed, and it joined in making the funny face.
And it appeared as though it was looking at me while it did so.
For some reason, that face…
Why was that face so funny?
I snorted. Then that turned into a chuckle, and then laughter, and then full-on laughter. Like… 'about-to-start-crying-your-eyes-out' funny.
If the others looked shocked, I couldn't tell. I could barely stand up, I was too busy laughing.
I did my best to focus on the fight. Susie just went, and slapped the first Smileshroom again, this time defeating it.
I attempted to direct my Mii, but I found that impossible from how hard I was laughing. I could see on my 3DS, however, now there was another option present on the thing, labeled 'Autobattle,' and it was checked.
My Mii prepared another Flambé, and aimed it at another Smileshroom, while Brave threw her mic again and defeated the second one. That left one more.
"My look-alike! Get it together!" my Mii shouted.
"I… I can't…" I breathed, trying my best to stop laughing. "Too… funny…"
Then the mushroom again showed off it's funny face to me.
Now I really WAS on the ground, unable to stand as the face refreshed itself in my mind. I was laughing harder than I ever had before, rolling all over the place in a frenzy.
Thankfully, the fight was soon finished, with all of my friends quickly vanquishing the last monster.
As soon as the battle was over, I felt the feeling of laughter slowly die down in my throat, and it became easier to stop laughing.
"Hahh… hah hah… hooo…" I breathed, finally calming down.
"Are you okay?" Susie asked, looking down at me.
"I-I'm… I'm okay." I breathed, the laughter almost all the way gone. "What… what was that?"
"I should've mentioned this… some monsters know how to exploit our emotions, like you've just seen. Those mushrooms were using some sort of magic on you." Susie explained gently, helping me back up to my feet.
My 3DS was beeping more and more, trying to absorb the bodies of the mushrooms. I quickly allowed it to do so, albeit I was a little shaky from laughing so hard.
"That… that was not fun…" I murmured, once the mushrooms were safely back inside the system. "That… honestly hurt after a while…"
"Maybe we should rest for a little. You would do well to have a short break after that laughing fit." my Mii responded, partly looking worried for me, and partly looked rather tired.
"No… I-I'm okay. I can go." I insisted.
Even Brave looked nervous. "I'm normally not one to agree with breaks, but… are you sure, Cameron's look-alike? You were laughing really hard, and you look kinda pale…"
"I-I'm fine… we just need to keep going. The longer we stand here, the more monsters will try to find us. We can't just take a break every thirty seconds, especially when it's getting so late."
I had a point. The sky was quickly growing darker, the noises around us were becoming slightly more frequent.
"Still…" Susie tried one more time.
"Come on, guys. I'll be fine until we find somewhere safe to duck down for the night." I insisted one last time, brushing myself off.
My friends didn't seem to like it, but they finally agreed and we all continued along the way.
The noises of night were surrounding us at this point, and I was growing nervous. It would be very easy for something, or someone, to ambush us here, in this thick vegetation…
"Am… am I crazy…" my Mii started, pointing. "Or do I see a light over in that direction?"
We looked. It was small, yes, but I could agree that there DID seem to be some sort of light over there.
We headed for that. We didn't know what it was, but something that had light couldn't be ALL that bad, right?
However, the light… faded the closer we got to it. We tried to run for it, but the terrain was far too rough for that, so we could only speed walk.
Eventually, however, the light disappeared.
Now we were stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no idea where we wer-
"Wait a minute! Guys, look over there!" I called out.
I saw an all-too familiar sign nearby. An Inn.
"Oh, thank heavens!" Susie exclaimed happily.
We all quickly ran for the Inn.
Despite being pretty much in the middle of nowhere, this Inn looked just as nice as the one back in Easin Hills. Why it was here was beyond me, but at this point I could've cared less.
The four of us quickly entered. There were a few Mii's lingering about in the Inn, but for the most part it seemed pretty empty.
This time Susie said she'd get the rooms, to which Brave responded by saying that she wanted to help. The two of them headed off to find the room, leaving me and my Mii alone.
"Ugh… what a day…" I murmured, slumping down in a nearby chair.
"I know, right?" my Mii agreed, sitting down next to me.
"I'm bushed…" I breathed.
"I'll bet you were." a third voice spoke up.
I whirled to the other side.
Leaning against the wall not far from us, that strange man from the last Inn, Purple Guy, was watching us carefully.
"Y-you!" I murmured.
"So you do remember me." Purple Guy stated, almost sounding amazed. Almost. "I would've figured you forgot me by now."
My Mii looked confused. "Who's that?"
Purple Guy slid into the seat opposite us. "Name's Purple Guy. I've met with tall guy over here, so introductions shouldn't be long."
"You mean you essentially forced me to meet you yesterday." I corrected.
"Forced meeting, introductions, what's the difference these days?" Purple Guy responding, lazily waving his hand.
My Mii was watching our exchange like a tennis match. "So… it's good to meet you, Mr…?" he cautiously greeted.
"Purple Guy." Purple Guy responded.
"Er… okay. So… what'cha doing here, Purple Guy?" my Mii asked.
"I'm just looking for opportunity." Purple Guy casually answered.
"How'd you even get here?" I asked. "Last I saw you, you were over at that Easin Hills Inn. How'd you get here by yourself?"
"It's called 'traveling.'" Purple Guy retorted, with a faint trace of sarcasm.
I sighed exasperatedly. "I mean HOW did you. I mean, we were making pretty good time and we only got here now, but you look you've been here for a lot longer."
"Oh believe me, I took my time." Purple Guy responded. "I actually only just got here… you got any food?"
"No." I responded.
"Hundred gold for any food." Purple Guy added.
I tossed him a Goblin Ham.
He took a few nibbles at it, setting down the aforementioned pouch of gold.
At that point, Susie came back. "Guys, I got the roo-"
Then she saw Purple Guy. Her eyes widened. "Who…?"
"Well, hello there sweetheart." Purple Guy greeted. "Don't mind me, I'm just having a chat with your friends. Nothing wrong with that. Fact, I was 'bout to leave."
He did just that, standing up and then walking away. Again, I had that weird moment where one second I could see him, the next, he was gone. Like he never was there to begin with.
"That guy weirds me out…" I murmured.
"Really?" my Mii asked. "I thought he was kinda cool. I mean, he was very calm, collected… he was sure of everything he did and said."
"I guess that's true… and he honored his deal of paying us…" I agreed, taking the gold. Sure enough, a hundred coins were inside, which quickly joined our other ones.
Then I noticed someone missing. "Hang on. Where's Brave?" I asked.
"She went ahead to see our rooms we got. Kept saying something about 'wanting dibs on the best bed.'" Susie responded.
My Mii rolled his eyes. "Guess we should hit the hay. I'm bushed…" he murmured.
I agreed, and the three of us headed for a room.
Turns out that Brave had already fallen fast asleep. When I opened one of the doors Susie said was ours, Brave was already buried into a bed, sleeping soundly.
"Huh. I'm surprised she managed to sleep so quickly." I murmured, closing the door. "Probably best to not disturb her."
Apparently that's a trait shared among ALL Mii's, as both my Mii and Susie fell asleep mere moments after climbing into bed.
I, once again, stayed up. I made sure all of my things were properly put away and everything was nice and orderly before heading for the bathroom.
I washed my face, staring into the mirror once the water cleared up. I could still feel a small ache in my gut from when I had been laughing.
"So that means they can attack or affect me…" I mused.
All this time I thought I had been just a bystander. That the enemies would more or less ignore me as long as my friends were there, swinging their weapons around. But… that Smileshroom definitely looked at me before trying to make me laugh.
Meaning that the enemies can and probably would try to attack me at some point, and I would be pretty much defenseless against them.
"..."
The thought frightened me.
'What… what do I… do?' I thought.
No answer came to me.
I took a deep breath. 'Okay… just, calm down. Odds are good that enemies will probably still ignore me… mostly. Just… don't worry about it right now.'
I found it much harder to sleep that night.
Once I managed to fall asleep that night, I started having really weird, random dreams.
I imagined that I was clinging to my Mii by his hand as he dangled precariously off of a cliff.
I dreamed of a dark, damp cave with Susie looking around, calling for me.
I dreamed of the feeling of having your face stolen.
Most of them made no sense to me, and I didn't remember them clearly.
However… one stuck out very well to me.
It was about Purple Guy… as if I was looking through his view. I knew it was his view because I saw a large knife in 'my' hand. He was peeking through some bushes and… he was looking at our group And we were getting attacked by something, and losing quite badly.
Exactly what we were being attacked by wasn't clear, but it was clear from the way I was shouting and how the others were barely able to stand that were were getting our butts handed to us.
He gripped his dagger a little tighter and then…
That's where it ended.
When it did, I slowly opened my eyes in the real world.
Morning sunlight streamed through the window.
'M… morning already?' I thought. 'I just laid down though…'
I blinked a few times, before slowly sitting up.
'That… that felt real… but we haven't been getting owned like that…' I thought quietly. 'And… Purple Guy was following us?'
That felt a little creepy to me. Maybe I should confront him about it? Surely he's still here.
Without waiting for the others to wake up, I quickly gathered myself and then quietly left the room.
The day must've been really early, because hardly anyone was in the lobby or the dining hall.
Thankfully, Purple Guy was up. He was sitting at a table in the dining room, his feet kicked up on the dining table. He wasn't facing me.
I slowly approached him, suddenly unsure of what I would say. 'Hey you! Are you following us?'
I wasn't even sure how he would take seeing me this hour. Fortunately, I got my answer for that one pretty quickly.
"Kid, you know you shouldn't sneak up on people, right?" Purple Guy asked, turning around to look at me.
I froze. "How… how did you know that was me?"
Purple Guy rolled his eyes. "Who else would be trying to talk to me at five in the morning?" he asked.
I blushed hotly. I suddenly realized that not many people must've really talked with him as much as I had been these past few days.
"Anyway…" Purple Guy intoned, motioning for me to sit. "What's got you looking for me at this hour?"
Suddenly, the moment I sat down, I started losing my nerve. How could I just accuse him of something like following us?
"Well… I'll just give it to you straight." I started. "Last night, I had a dream that you helped us when we were getting owned by some monster in these very woods. I don't know if it was just a dream, or if it was some sort of sign, or what… I just thought you'd have some idea."
If Purple Guy was confused or off-put by the news, he didn't show it. "Huh. Now that IS rather interesting… almost as much as the one I had about you."
THAT took me back a few steps. "Wait… what?"
"Last night, when I managed to fall asleep, I dreamt that you and your Mii were fighting something, but then you started falling, so you pleaded for someone to save you. But no one did."
It was quiet for all but a few moments.
"D-did… did we… you know…" I asked, unable to finish the sentence.
"Not from what I saw. It ended just before the enemy landed their last attack. For all I know, a hole swallowed both you and the monsters." Purple Guy stated, still in that extremely relaxed position.
It was quiet again, before Purple Guy started talking again. "Hey kid. Don't take these things to heart. I mean, how many dreams have you had before this one that could allude to something that might happen in the future?"
"...none." I stated.
"Then there you go." Purple Guy finished.
"You know…" I started, unable to contain myself. "I still don't think you're being 100% honest with me about things. I mean, you were a LITTLE too confident in your answer when you said that you arrived not long after we did..."
Purple Guy glared at me. "Are you insinuating that I followed you here?" he asked, his voice a little gruffer than normal.
My face paled. That had been exactly what I was thinking, but I didn't want to say it aloud.
"Listen, kid." the thief explained, leaning forward. "Next time, don't accuse someone of something you don't know about. Besides, what reason would I have to follow your group?"
I don't know if it was fate or the Guardian, but suddenly my mouth opened.
"Because you're curious about me and my group." I stated plainly, before slamming my mouth shut.
For the first time, Purple Guy looked taken back. "...what?" he asked. His voice sounded another tad deeper than normal.
I started to sweat, but it was clearly too late to back up now. "You… you just met this group, and… we've run into each other twice now. You can't say that you aren't the LITTLEST bit curious as to what we're doing. Why else would YOU approach me both times we've seen each other?"
I must've hit a mark. For the first time, Purple Guy looked flustered and slightly confused, though only slightly. He quickly stood and muttered, "The day I'm curious about what you're doing will be the day the monsters grow friendly. Now, I have things to do. Leave me in peace."
He dashed off far faster than normal.
'Did… did I just make him leave in confusion?' I asked myself, almost… satisfied.
I sat there for a moment, making sure that he wasn't coming back anytime soon. When I was sure he wasn't, I slowly started my way back up to the bedrooms.
Since I was fairly sure the others were still sleeping, I decided to see if Brave was up yet.
She was. The moment I entered the door I found her gently humming a song to herself, staring out the window without her bow. Otherwise she was already dressed and ready for the day.
"Mornin'." I greeted, knocking on the door.
Brave stopped humming and turned around. "Oh! Cameron's look-alike. Sorry, did I wake you?"
"Nah, I've been up for a while now." I denied, leaning against the wall. "How'd you sleep?"
"Honestly? That was the best snooze I've had in years…" she stated, stretching gently. "I don't usually sleep that well."
"That's good though, right? You got enough sleep today?" I asked.
Brave grinned. "Yep. Are the others up yet? I'm starving!"
The thought of food made my stomach roll over too. "I'll go check. Surely they must be by now..."
"I'll come with." Brave added, grabbing her bow.
We left her room and headed back for my Mii's room. I knocked on the door, to which I heard my Mii groan.
"Lemme sleep for five more minutes…" I heard him complain.
"Cameron, don't be rude." Susie's voice quickly responded. "Who is it?"
"I stepped out for a bit. Are you guys up yet?" I asked, opening the door and stepping in.
I got my answer immediately. Susie was up and already dressed, holding her stick. My Mii was hidden underneath a bundle of blankets, quietly praying for more sleep.
I lightly groaned. "Come on, dude. Let's go."
"No. I just found a position that's comfortable…" he complained.
I pulled the covers off him. He was lying on his side, his arms by his head and his legs crossed together. "You look like you were slapped in the face by a monster. Now come on."
"Uuuughh…" he moaned again.
Brave offered her own idea. "C'mon Cameron! You'll wake up quick if you get up and dance with me!" she exclaimed, starting to dance on the spot.
Susie offered a different solution. "Maybe we should just let him sleep. He looks tired still..." she mumbled.
"Relax guys, I've got this..." I whispered, before turning back to my Mii. "Alright then. More food for the rest of us." I reminded him, turning around for a second and then turning back.
"Where's food?" he asked, suddenly fully dressed and his bed neatly made. "I like food, so where's the food?"
I grinned. "And that's why I like this guy." I stated, clapping him on the back. "Hopefully they started on breakfast downstairs by now."
We left the room, the talk mostly centered around what food we'd see today. We entered the dining hall and found a bunch of Mii's starting to mill about. Perhaps some Mii's would start cooking like last time?
We patiently took a seat and waited.
Slowly, a small force of three chef Mii's entered the room, much less than the ten they had back at the previous inn. They started cooking, and I started growing more and more hungry.
"Let's start a line now, so that we have first picks." Brave offered.
"I wholeheartedly agree with that plan." I agreed, and we all ran to start the line.
One breakfast sequence later…
"Mmm… that was good…" I mumbled, slowly walking with my friends back up to the rooms we had.
"Yeah… that should keep us full for a while…" my Mii mumbled, gently rubbing his belly.
I rolled my eyes. "Maybe, but I feel like YOU should be joining those chef's in cooking. I'm pretty sure I saw two of them shoot you a dirty look while you grabbed sausages."
My Mii shrugged. "They're part of the staff, I'm not."
I rolled my eyes again. "What difference does it make? You could still help, ya know."
My Mii and I continued to lightly bicker back and forth for a bit, but in the end we gave up and finished gathering our stuff.
"Hey, Cameron's look-alike?" Susie asked, straightening her hat.
"What's up?" I asked, turning.
"What's that thing you have in your pocket?" she asked. "I noticed it when I woke up, but I didn't know what it was..."
I pulled out my phone. "What, this? It's my phone." I stated, handing to her.
Susie's eyes gently widened. "You mean, like, a portable one?"
"You've never seen a cell phone before?" I asked, honestly taken back.
She curiously tapped the touch screen. "I mean… I've heard of them, but I didn't really know anyone who had one, so I had no reason to get one either…"
"Fair enough, I suppose…" I murmured,
"Soo… does it work?" she asked.
I sighed. "If it does, I can't get to anyone. I've already tried calling at least three people I know, but it just rang a little and then went to voicemail."
Susie looked at me a little sadly. "Your family?" she asked.
The words felt like an anvil resting on my back. "Yeah… my family…"
I really wanted to know where they were. They had to be somewhere, right? I can't be the only one who was swept up in this mess.
Susie gently patted me on the shoulder. "I'm sure they're okay. And I'm sure we'll find them somewhere."
I looked up to see her gentle face and… I slowly managed to smile a little. "Thanks… Susie. I appreciate that…"
Gently, I reached up and gently rubbed her head. I remembered that Mii's liked that from my old Tomodachi Life game, and Susie was no exception.
When I let up, Susie seemed much happier than before. "How'd you know that I like that?"
I shrugged. "Pure dumb luck?" I asked, though I purposely smirked at her.
I soon after called a quick meeting to make sure everyone was ready to go, and then we all started to head out.
Back into the forest.
Little did we know…
What would be waiting for us when we left.
Soo, what do you guys think? Am I doing good here?
I hope I am, anyway. This is the first story where I felt like I'm really being creative with the original game.
Oh, and… I can already see that some people will probably want to be some of the heroes in this story. But, ah… I'm just gonna say it now, I've already determined the characters that'll be the heroes.
BUT!
I haven't said that no one can't offer their suggestions for some of the minor characters! 'Course, I have some ideas already for some of them, but if you guys have a particular character in mind, let me know and I'll think about it!
But until next time guys, I have only one thing to say…
Stay awesome! =D