I hate my writer's block sometimes. I don't have much of an excuse for not working on this story though as I have quite the big plans for it and its story arcs, but now, we can finally get to Watersong and see what's going on there.
Like usual, I own nothing except for my OCs.
Here's chapter 5!
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Chapter 5: The Isolation
The Cavalier Soleil moved across the seas faster than Roselyynn, Thunder or Penelope expected, which the first two found amazing as they had to ride on Turtle Rock throughout their adventures. But one thing was definitely for sure, and that thing was that this boat was amazing.
Maelynn seemed pleased to find that the heroes were rather happy as they sailed, and she smiled at them. "I'm glad to see you like the voyage. If I remember correctly, did the Western Village have a vessel of their own?"
"It was a gigantic turtle called Turtle Rock. It had a whole village on its back." Thunder answered, and now Maelynn felt like their boat was inferior. Then again, the Western Village was much needier than the Renard Raposa were, so it made sense too.
And yet, she still appeared disappointed. "Maelynn, what's wrong? You're not upset about Turtle Rock, are you?" Thunder asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Maelynn didn't know exactly how to feel with the concept of a gigantic turtle. Man, did the Creator spoil the Western Villages' Raposa.
Then again, why was she complaining? They had a golden, flying sun boat! Though it didn't meant the concept of a Turtle with a village on its back wasn't cool, though it would be quite the sight to behold.
She adjusted her neckerchief and turned around, her golden blonde hair dancing in the wind, and she shook her head. "Never mind. I feel that I was getting emotional over nothing. Regardless of that, we should arrive to Watersong in around an hour or so, considering our ship is going as fast as it can."
The three heroes appeared to be amazed how Maelynn said they'd be there so quickly, and Aurora, Rikki and Maelynn didn't seem to understand why. Penelope was amazed that they'd get there so quickly (considering that she never rode on Turtle Rock and relatively wasn't with Roselyynn or Thunder during their adventures).
Though Roselyynn and Thunder was amazed they'd get there so quickly. On Turtle Rock, it would take all day for them to get to their destination. Either that, or all day and longer. It wasn't fun sailing on a ship all day, to be honest, as the heroes were more used to being able to get through with their adventures relatively quickly.
Time flew by as they waited for the hour to pass and eventually, they were at the shore of Watersong. Nothing seemed to have changed as much in the beach area. Though for some reason, there were very few Raposa about and they were unsure why. However, they did spot one Raposa, who seemed familiar with her fluffy brown hair and her thick glasses.
Roselyynn and Thunder took it upon themselves to interact with her and see what was going on. They got off the ship first and approached her. She seemed to blush at their presence. "Oh… h-hello. How may I help you?"
"Where is everyone? Usually, this part of Watersong has more Raposa." Roselyynn explained, and then, she recognized them with the adjustment of her glasses.
"Oh! You two must be those heroes that helped our village a while ago," she began, and then getting to answering Roselyynn's question. "Though yes, there usually is more Raposa. Everyone is mostly working on repairing the city from recent attacks."
Roselyynn and Thunder looked at each other worriedly, hoping it wasn't who they thought it was. As they were talking, Maelynn, Rikki and Aurora, with Penelope following, got off the Cavalier Soliel. Overhearing the conversation, Maelynn approached the Raposa girl. "I apologize for interrupting, but would you care to explain what you mean?"
Out of some panic, Thunder interrupted the girl (or Constance, as we shall call her) before she was able to speak. "Did… did Bakibeard come back from the dead for a third time?!"
"…No, no. Out of the blue, there was a tribal attack on Watersong, and it damaged our buildings in the city. Nobody knows why they attacked, but they definitely weren't Raposa."
Maelynn continued to inquire. "Okay then. How did these people look? And was there a Raposa with them?"
Constance shook her head in response. "There wasn't a Raposa with them. But they had cat ears, and they were led by a girl with sharp green eyes and short black hair with a black tail and black cat ears."
Rikki looked at Maelynn. "It must've been one of the Gato clans and their leader, who goes by the name Black Cat."
The heroes went silent and stared at her in complete and utter disbelief. Nobody really knew what to say at all, but Penelope had plenty of things, and the other two allowed her to speak first as a result.
"Who calls themselves Black Cat? That is one of the most uncreative villain names I've ever heard other than White Tuxedo." She calmly stated. Maelynn flipped her hair and shrugged in response. Though that wasn't all of it, of course. She had more to say on the matter.
"She likely picked that name as for one thing, it seems simple, and it sticks into your mind. Despite her name, she and her Gato clan are much stronger than they look."
Roselyynn got slightly fed up when the "Gato clan" was brought up again. She didn't understand who they are and why she kept mentioning them. At one point, the pink haired heroine rashly interrupted Maelynn and Constance's conversation and she angrily stamped her foot.
"Who are the 'Gato'?! I've never heard of such terminology before this happened!" She exclaimed out of her impatience, and startled them.
Maelynn frowned at Roselyynn and Penelope remembered something she forgot to explain, which was when Wilfre drained out the color from the world. She quietly tugged on Maelynn's violet dress and the blonde looked down at her. "Yes? What is it?"
From there, Penelope went into a long explanation. She spoke of her experiences when Wilfre surrounded and covered the world with shadow, of their late Mayor's death, and of Wilfre's first defeat.
They spoke of their second adventure together, as they were all there, and they talked of Circi and her attempts, the gathering of the Items of Power and also Circi's "fall" before the village was flooded with ink. Afterwards, they spoke of the grand feast they had before going back to their normal lives, finding that Circi wasn't dead* oddly enough though all seemed fine. And Penelope vanished after that period too, and they couldn't figure out where she went.
The third was done by Roselyynn and Thunder, who explained the draining of the world's color and their escape, the journey on Turtle Rock and the "End of the World" after Wilfre's second fall and his "death", only to find that when they returned, all was in peace and prosperity, and Penelope had also returned to the village.
Maelynn pieced it together while Rikki and Aurora seemed stumped, unsure of how it could work. Then, the Renard Mayor had a "eureka" moment and understood.
"No wonder I didn't understand. You were referring to the events of 'The Isolation'! Now it all makes sense."
In unison, the three heroes asked, "The Isolation? What is that?"
Maelynn smiled. "It began when an outside force came into contact with this world due to an accident. The specifics are hard to draw, though it possibly began when we were fully cut off from the West when your village was covered by shadow. Then, the period of the Isolation began, where it was impossible to make contact with your village, as it was too to make contact with other areas, such as the Eastern Winds, and the civilizations of Watersong, Lavasteam and the Galactic Jungle." She replied to them in her calmness.
"Huh? What do you mean? That barely makes any sense. And what does this have to do with the Gato clan?"
Rikki started to understand what Maelynn meant, and he added onto that. "Basically, what she's saying is that because of the Isolation, the ones chosen to participate were cut off from the rest of the world. And you three were created as a result of the Isolation, so it made you ignorant to the rest of it."
Thunder sighed. "Okay, but if we were created in that period, how do you guys know that we even exist?" He questioned them, crossing his arms. Maelynn was able to answer such to, in regards to the Creator.
"That's the thing. If the Creator too were fully isolated, the world would be left in ruin. She was able to still make contact with us, but she was brought and locked into the isolation sometime during the period of your second adventure."
"And the Gato? What about them?"
"The Gato are a naturally reclusive race for one thing, and they try to keep others out of their affairs. The Raposa make up most of the world's populace, but there are a few other species similar to ours, not just us, the Gato, the Baki and the other creatures that live in the wilds of our world."
The three heroes didn't exactly believe this. Though considering that the Gato did in fact exist, and there were apparently more, it would probably be a good thing to know the others. "…If there's more creatures like you and the Gato, what are they?"
Aurora hopped excitedly, raising her paw and saying, "Ooh! Pick me, pick me!"
"…Tell them, please, Aurora." Maelynn instructed and Aurora squealed excitedly.
"There are us, the Raposa, who are the common folk of many trades; the Gato, a cat-like race of warriors who go by tradition and religion as well as war," she began. "Then there's the Lapin, a bunny race that is said to be very intelligent and wise in the arts of magic, but they're more reclusive than the Gato. Lastly, there are the Mus, who are a mouse-like race of farmers."
"…Is Mus just another term for Baki? Baki are mouse-like." Roselyynn stated, still trying to grasp all of it, but the Mus confused her the most.
"Nope. The Mus and the Baki are similar, but different." Aurora replied, and the heroes were still trying to understand what they meant. It was then decided to not go any further, as it was only causing problems, and Maelynn went back to conversing with Constance, who stood there and heard the whole conversation awkwardly.
She then apologized for how rude they were to spark such a strange yet complex conversation in the first place, but fortunately, Constance didn't seem to mind this so much. They allowed Maelynn to have her space and speak with the other Raposa girl, leaving Roselyynn, Penelope and Thunder to investigate the area and see what had changed.
Maelynn, Rikki and Aurora were left to converse with Constance in order to understand from her what was going on. Upon getting all their needed data, they regrouped and discussed what they had just learned.
Roselyynn and Penelope let Thunder speak, considering how he had received the least amount of so-called "screen-time". Recalling their investigations, Thunder began to speak.
He cleared his throat for a moment before a look of determination appeared on his face. "There's little ruin in this area from what we saw as there's a smaller populace than in the city. However, we did notice that the lighthouse that the Creator had drawn had some damages, which we found odd as it wasn't in that state before."
"The lighthouse… what kind of damages did it have?" Maelynn asked out of curiosity. With Roselyynn and Thunder following, Penelope led the Renard Raposa to the lighthouse.
As said, it appeared to be damaged, especially where the gong was and it was chipped and cracked along various places. Maelynn had a closer look before noticing a familiar symbol. She ran her paw against it, murmuring, "The Blackpaw Clan…"
"What?" asked the others. Maelynn pointed to a symbol, which appeared to be a paw with a circle around it.
"…The Gato are really bad at coming up with names, aren't they?" Penelope asked upon examining it.
" I don't know. But we should investigate the city. Staying out here won't help us with finding out the truth." Maelynn answered, before looking for a way of travel.
Thunder went over to the canal and pointed at the Gondola. Maelynn frowned. "…Do you think it will fit all of us? There's three heroes and three Raposa, and the gondola doesn't look as if it will fit more than three."
"You go first, we'll come after." Roselyynn explained, allowing Maelynn, Aurora and Rikki to head into the city on the Gondola first.
"We'll meetcha in the city!" Aurora called, waving as the gondola left. The three waited. "Thank god they're not too pushy. Or forceful. I was worried that Maelynn would be like Mari and Rikki would be like Jowee."
Penelope shook her head at this. "No. Rikki and Jowee are basically polar opposites. Rikki seems more likable and less pushy though."
"And Maelynn seems intent on helping the Watersonians too." Thunder pointed out, though Roselynn seemed displeased at the name.
"…Watersonians? Really, Thunder?" Roselyynn asked, and he sighed and shook his head at her.
"They are basically the Watersonian Raposa though, Roselyynn. I'm unsure what to call the others." Thunder explained to Roselyynn, and she sighed at him, shaking her head.
Penelope smiled. "Wow. You two really like shaking your heads at each other and disagreeing, huh?"
"Penelope, shush!" Roselyynn and Thunder ordered her, and she put a hand on her hip, frowning at them.
Eventually, the Gondola came back for them. The heroes got on and rode into the city, wondering what was going to happen next.
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So before you all ask why there are other races in this in stuff and why there's this "Isolation" thing.
It's kind of a head canon thing that came up a while ago, considering how there's the Gato and the Raposa in this story (in fact, the original story had the Gato in it). So it's like a "What If" in a sense.
I also wanted to try dabbling in the concept of other races in the Raposa world, especially considering how Raposa are the main race. I mean, we've seen a few different ones in Drawn to Life such as Baki and other enemies, and humans have shown up too (mainly in the secret area of DTL though, other than Mike).
It also had something to do with Next Chapter (DS) and the first game. To an extent, Next Chapter (Wii) did too, but I have a bit more experience with Next Chapter (I've played it over and over) and the first game. With Wilfre covering the village in shadow, it cut the Raposa in the main village off from the outside world. This may have caused limited contact with the outside world.
Another thing is also the map layout in Next Chapter (DS). What does that have to do with anything?
Well, it's because Turtle Rock, Watersong, Lavasteam, Galactic Jungle and Wilfre's Wasteland all appear to be on books. I mean, those are the five chapters of the story, but it's almost like it's another thing about the world being cut off. And only certain parts of the world are allowed to be in the story.
I mean, yes, the Raposa world has many areas in it, especially in areas around the Raposa Village, but I also wondered what the world could possibly be like outside those areas.
Besides that, in Next Chapter DS, Mike had a great influence on the world and if he were to wake up, it'd be erased from existence.
So that's why I thought when furtherly building on this version of the world in the story, considering how there's many "third chapter" like stories out there, "What if this made this happen, and what more is the world like?".
Despite this Author's Note is getting quite long, I have to add one last thing, which is the role of the Raposa in the story. In this first part, Mari, Jowee, Heather and most of the main village Raposa don't have much of a role. That's because they can't be as involved due to being captured.
In some other stories I've read, such as Drawn to Life: The Final Arc, the creation hero isn't the hero of the story, and instead, the Raposa are. So, before the question that is "Will the Raposa be heroes of the story too", the answer is yes.
In fact, we'll be seeing more of that in the next chapter. Maelynn, Rikki and Aurora won't be sticking in the sidelines and just be standing there, nor will the characters that join the party in the future.
So, to end off this long Author's Note, like usual, please review if you'd like, please refrain from flaming, and please tell me how I can improve.
I will see you all in the next chapter.
Ciao!