I have my Fusion Swords back. Durasteel coating made them a little bit heftier but just a little bit. To me. Penguin Pete said if I find one of the more exotic metals I should give that a try next, they're a bit lighter with interesting properties. What kind of properties he didn't say, but I'll find out sooner or later. Right now, my swords are tougher than ever, and I'll want that extra bit of toughness as I roam the universe.
We also discussed arrangements for a motorcycle and what specs I wanted. He gave me an estimate and I'll have to save up a little more for it, but it'll be worth it. I miss riding Fenrir, and I'd love to not have to walk everywhere. It'll mean I can see more, faster, on other planets. This new one is gonna have sword compartments like Fenrir, run on Erchius fuel, and we're working off of a particular hoverbike model one of the space penguins brought us. The new bike should look kinda like Fenrir, but there won't be any wheels. I'll have to get used to that.
Denzel's ankle is feeling much better now, and I think he's learned his lesson. He's more cautious about where his feet land while he's away from the farm. Pyre seems to watch over him a bit more, too. It's amazing how affectionate that Fennix is towards Denzel after such a short amount of time. I think it's a good thing of course, just a little surprising. I know I've mentioned it before...maybe Denzel hit him just right with that spear. He's slower to bond with the rest of the family, but we're letting Pyre take his time with that. He let me feed him a table scrap, and Tifa scolded me for that. I wasn't very interested in the meat in her new casserole. Sorry, Teef.
Tifa and I explored together. I had upgraded her EPP while Denzel was injured, so we could go as a pair. Hoo-boy, this place was just plain weird. And smelly. It was full of eyeballs. Squishy, staring eyeballs. How does that even work? I thought the meat cave was strange enough, now there's forests that stare at me as I walk over jiggly eyeballs...I can't stop shuddering. Most of the time the ground was thankfully dirt, but a few times it had to be eyes. We'll explore underneath this strange biome another day. I saw a cavern near our teleport point that looked sticky with tar, so there might be some oil and a whole lot of ore waiting for us both.
If that wasn't strange enough, we found an edible plant. We must have stared at that thing for a good five minutes, pressing the flesh, sniffing it, wondering which of us would actually try what was for all intents and purposes an eyeball on a stalk staring at us. How do you eat it? It's ghoulish. I very tentatively licked the thing, and it tasted sour...in a strangely good way. Tifa laughed at the face I made as I licked it, I probably looked disgusted and surprised at the same time. I don't know if we're ready to eat it, but we snatched some up and the seeds, too. They look like hard, tiny eyeballs.
The Floran told us what we can do with Oculemon. I was half listening as Tifa was given a few recipes, still wondering how we landed in a universe with eyeball planets. We gave them half of our haul before going home to stare at the bizarre fruits. Tifa said she had a few ideas of what to do with them, and I just left it at that. As long as she doesn't make anything that stares at me as I try and eat it. Yuffie thinks it's gross we're even trying them at all, and I think she's right. At least they aren't Pussplums. Oculemon don't ooze.
Marlene and Denzel ended up finding the Oculemons and took one to play catch with in the house. We found out because Pyre eventually snapped at it in mid-air, thinking it was a real eyeball I suppose, and exploded...stuff...all over the floor. I wasn't even sure what to think. Is it juice or eye fluid? I guess it's juice. Pyre dropped the deflated Oculemon, salivating from the sour taste. I made them clean the fruit and the drool up and told them if they did that again they were gonna be fed Oculemons for a whole week. I wouldn't have actually done that. But hopefully the fear of being fed eyeballs keeps them in line a little. Tifa and I aren't strict at all, but we don't want alien fruit juice staining the floors. Or fox drool.
Next week is the big Floran hunt. I told Stabs I'd go after showing off my improved swords, and I asked him what we were hunting exactly. Stabs said he wasn't sure and neither were the other Floran, but they call it the Red Ghost because it looks like a red phantom that floats through the trees. A few Floran have tried and failed to kill it, and it became the focus of the hunt a while ago because it seemed like a worthy challenge.
So, Stabs, Azalea and I are going to the planet where this Red Ghost is and we're gonna compete for the trophy. There's no groups, no one is allowed to attack anyone but hostile creatures and the Red Ghost. Winner gets the title of Great Hunter and some Floran trophy. With the Fusion Swords upgraded, this Red Ghost doesn't stand a chance.