Chapter 13: Jewel
At around noon, the Creation Heroes, their Raposa allies and White Blaze got off the Cavalier Soleil. Though Roselyynn, Thunder and Penelope weren't affected by the heat, and Maelynn, Rikki and Aurora were slowly adjusting, 'Vincent' and White Blaze didn't react to it as well.
White Blaze appeared to be sweating, and her tail was sticking up in the air. "It's… it's so hot! Is there a volcano nearby? I feel like I'm going to turn to ash." The cat complained, fanning herself.
Penelope proceeded to point at the thick cloak White Blaze was wearing. "Well, your cape isn't making it any better. You're probably going to roast if you don't take that thing off right away."
"No! I'm the Chieftess of the Whiteclaws!" White Blaze hissed back. "As the Chief, I must wear this cape! It demonstrates who I am, and my position in my-" Penelope raised her paws up in defense and quieted White Blaze down in an alarm.
"Good god! There's no need to spout a paragraph at me!" Penelope interrupted, sounding exasperated. She pointed at the cape again. "I was suggesting you'd take it off so you don't become a roasted cat by the time we're out of Lavasteam. If you can make yourself heatproof in some way, it'd help, but maybe taking off that cloak is the first step."
White Blaze sighed, starting to mutter something to herself. 'Vincent' was still standing awkwardly, occasionally slicking back the fur that swept across his forehead and was evidently sweating. Thunder appeared to be worried as Maelynn, Rikki and Aurora were discussing a potential game plan for how they were going to handle anything that happened in Lavasteam.
At some point, Thunder couldn't help but walk over to 'Vincent'. "Hey Wil… err… Vincent? Are you alright? Do you need to go back on the ship?" He asked, looking ready to escort him back on if he couldn't take the heat. 'Vincent' proceeded to shake his head and straighten himself up.
"I'm fine. I was just… adjusting myself to how hot Lavasteam is. It's been a while since I've last been here."
Roselyynn glared, and proceeded to rub salt into unnecessary wounds. With harsh whisper, she stated, "Well, this place was probably significantly hotter when you were Sock and Salem, Vincent. Remember the hat? I bet it was so uncomfortable to wear while we were here."
Maelynn, immediately detecting the tension and the fact that Roselyynn was likely to freely antagonize 'Vincent' while they were here, she immediately scolded the Creation Hero for her behavior. "Roselyynn! Knock it off! He's our ally and you have no need to be acting rudely out of spite!" She snapped, and Roselyynn backed off.
From there, 'Vincent' decided to put his acting to use. "Ah, but she was doing no harm. Of course, it's understandable why Miss Rose is a little upset by this situation, but she's still adjusting…" A smirk appeared on the Raposa's face. "…Right, Roselyynn?"
Roselyynn squinted, rubbing on her arms and acting like she was ready to roll up her sleeves (not that she had any) and come at the Raposa once again. "I will throw you into that lava river, you…" Thunder restrained Roselyynn, gripping onto her arms.
"Roselyynn! I get you're mad about this arrangement, but there's no need to try and murder him! We need to get moving and see what's going on." Thunder indicated, appearing worried. The pink-haired heroine sighed, and tapped her foot impatiently. As the heroes walked through the mining town of Lavasteam, for some strange reason, it was eerily devoid of Raposa other than them. Penelope frowned, trying to figure out what was going on.
However, they did start to see a crowd at the Village Hall. Rikki had picked up a crowd from the chatter of voices and music playing. They had no idea if there was a festival going on, as it didn't seem like Lavasteam was prepared for a festival, but it seemed like general commotion.
It took a while to figure out what was going on, though when the crowd of Raposa cleared out, a peculiar figure was left. Maelynn and White Blaze were immediately able to pick something up about them that seemed off. "…A Lapin? That's odd. What is a Lapin doing in Lavasteam?"
"Huh?" The heroes asked. Maelynn awkwardly pointed her paw in the direction of the lapin who was apparently present. They appeared to be female though the only details that could be picked up from the distance where they were at was the fact that she had purple hair a bit past shoulder length, tall white rabbit ears, a brown cloak, and an apple green dress beneath the said cloak. She seemed to be tuning her golden harp.
Blaze took no time to approach her, and the rest of the group followed. 'Vincent' seemed suspicious about her, like he was aware that there was something more going on noting the information they had about the lapin already. The rest of her appearance was visible, being that she had a green, diamond-shaped gem on her forehead and two markings nearby it that put the gem at center.
Just as Blaze was about to say something, the girl spoke. "It's odd that a Gato is in Lavasteam—especially the Whiteclaw Chieftess. Are you here on business?" She asked, continuing to tune her harp. Her dark eyes didn't appear to be paying much attention, though her ears definitely appeared to be.
White Blaze raised an eyebrow. "Business? I suppose I am sort of here on business. We're simply assessing the situation in Lavasteam to make sure that Watersong doesn't happen all over again." The Whiteclaw Chieftess cordially spoke, keeping her guard up around the lapin. The girl almost appeared to be disinterested until Watersong was mentioned.
"Oh? Did something happen in Watersong? Noting how peaceful it is, that seems strange." The girl said, her eyes glimmering softly with curiosity.
Thunder butted into the conversation as White Blaze was about to explain. "The Blackpaw Gato and their Chieftess wreaked havoc onto Watersong and really hurt the city. They're working on repairing Watersong as a whole now."
The lapin's face went blank as she appeared to process everything. Putting a paw to her forehead, she appeared to grumble something under her breath and shake her head before slowly reverting into a calm, serene state. "Ohhhh… that sounds awful. Those poor, poor Raposa. Tis' a shame some creatures can be such brutes." The girl tested her harp, gently strumming the strings.
Maelynn crossed her arms before deciding to speak. "Out of curiosity, miss, why are you in Watersong? I'd expect the lapin to be in their own territory, if you understand my drift."
There was a pause. The lapin girl appeared to be slightly upset by that question, glaring away at a lava river flowing through Lavasteam. Her anger, however, shifted into that of solemnness, and she let out a sigh as she continued to strum her harp. "I have no territory, you see. I was banished from my home kingdom—the Gemstone Isle—by the King for 'treason'. Now I wander afar, learning about the world and playing my harp for those who will listen."
Maelynn, Rikki and Aurora stared at each other in awe. Aurora was quick to make a blunt comment. "How did you screw up so badly that you got banished by the King? It seems kinda off that a lapin would banish another one of their own kind." The girl appeared to be offended by Aurora's comment, resulting in Rikki bopping Aurora on the head.
"Hey, Aurora, would you mind watching your mouth?" Rikki requested, getting cross with her quicky. "You're not doing a good job with first impressions."
The girl sighed, shaking her head. "Oh no, there's no need to shout at her. Though I most certainly didn't appreciate the little rapo's tone, I can at least understand her confusion. I suppose that I didn't necessarily screw up, but the King was getting fearful of how powerful I was becoming and decided to exile me without much of a second thought."
Maelynn blinked, appearing suspicious. "Something still feels off, miss...um… what's your name? I don't believe you said what it was."
The lapin girl blinked before quickly realizing her mistake. "Oh! I'm sorry. I was so caught up in this conversation that I had forgotten to tell you my name. I'm Jewel."
"What, do they name people after gemstones in the Gemstone Isle? Or anything remotely similar?" Penelope asked herself, only for the Creator to speak.
"You wouldn't be too far off on that, as it is traditional for the Lapin living there to be named after precious gemstones. Or metals, if they're willing to go to such an extent."
Penelope sighed to herself. This wasn't as bad as calling a mountain Snowy-Snow Mountain (how that name came to pass was a mystery that stuck in Penelope's head for years), and it did bring up an interesting naming theme, but she didn't get why.
She ended up slightly blurting her thoughts out loud. "Please don't tell me that Lapin are named after gemstones in the Gemstone Isle just because of arrogance or pride or something."
Jewel paused her song, and stared at Penelope. She then noticed Roselyynn and Thunder and didn't utter a word for a moment as she was processing something. "…Hmm. I suppose they do. Lapin are known to be somewhat arrogant." Jewel flipped her hair and huffed. "Not that I myself am arrogant, but I can't just go back to the Gemstone Isle and verify such. King Diamond would likely have me executed… or worse."
"Their king is named after a diamond? Are you kidding me right now?"
"Now, now, Penelope. There's nothing wrong with anyone being named after gemstones. Or anything really. Even a name like 'Diamond' has significance behind it." However, Penelope then heard the Creator sigh. "…Though, I do have to admit something seems… wrong with her statement. Why on earth would a King order execution just for someone stepping back into a Kingdom?"
"Divine right, probably."
"Divine right dictates the right to rule, not necessarily the right to do whatever you wish. That would be a tyranny." The Creator replied back, earning a hearty sigh from Penelope. Jewel continued speaking, and from what Penelope could tell when she had tuned back into the conversation, she seemed to be talking about the King.
"King Diamond has become somewhat of a ruler presiding with an iron fist over the Gemstone Isle. His council helps bring out his orders, though the King himself hasn't been publicly seen for a few years. He's become that of a cold shut-in, but nobody can stop him."
'Vincent' appeared to frown, puzzled by why that was. He then proceeded to make an inquiry to Jewel. "And why might the King be 'unstoppable'? If there is a problem and this has apparently been lasting as long as you claim, it would make sense that someone would step in and attempt to stop King Diamond."
Jewel sighed, stopping her strumming and putting her now-free right paw to her cheek. "Ah, but alas! the King is much too strong. The Lapin Kings of the Gemstone Isle are known to possess strong magical power. Tis the same with Diamond—who is especially powerful noting that he can't be killed with magic and can supposedly cast without speaking. Crossing him can lead to an unfortunate death."
'Vincent' paused, listening carefully to what Jewel was saying. "I see. If you've been exiled and it's dangerous for you to go into the Gemstone Isle now, why are you travelling around?"
The lapin songstress smiled and went back to strumming her heart. She looked down at the instrument she held in her arms. "Ah. I've been travelling to broaden my worldview and to get stronger so I can eventually confront and take Diamond down. If I hope to get into the Gemstone Isle and see what's going on, I have to sneak in undetected or else harm could end up coming to me."
Roselyynn shrugged a moment, flipping her long, pink hair. "That makes sense, though one thing doesn't," Roselyynn began, her lilac eyes with a curious sparkle. "How did your travels bring you to Lavasteam?"
Jewel paused, stopping her strumming of her harp. She went silent, pondering the question. The girl appeared to be unfazed with the question, though the length of time in between the question and her answer seemed off. "…Why? I wanted to see the culture of Lavasteam, but get a read on the environment."
"A read on the environment?" 'Vincent' butted in, appearing even more suspicious. "That's strange. Was there something in particular you wanted to see?"
Jewel glared at 'Vincent', and then huffed, looking away. "Yes. I was going to see the Robosa Factory." She said haughtily, and then decided to move in that direction. "I don't want to be late going there, as it may close down for the day. Until then, I'll see you…"
As Jewel was walking, she stopped at 'Vincent', and lowly said something in his ear. "…I know it's you. I recommend that you try and be careful, or else you'll end up in hot lava. You wouldn't want to perish, would you?" She coldly whispered, walking off before he could answer. 'Vincent' appeared to be unamused, glaring back at Jewel as she was heading off.
With a scoff, 'Vincent' spoke again. "…Let's search around Lavasteam and see what's going on, shall we? Hopefully we don't run into that rabbit again."
Thunder seemed concerned upon analyzing the result of the matter and trying to figure out what was going on. He didn't feel the need to actually speak to Jewel like the others did, but something about Jewel rubbed him off the wrong way. He could almost sense something that seemed off about her. "…Is it me, or did something feel weird about Jewel? Something about her just doesn't seem right to me."
Maelynn shook her head in disagreement. "If anything felt weird, it was probably because of the magic aura she was radiating. Lapin naturally channel magical energy, so you might've just felt her aura. I personally didn't see anything off with her, though she did get somewhat frustrated at the end with our dear friend Vincent."
'Vincent' could pick up the sarcasm in Maelynn's tone at the end, but he took no heed to it.
Thunder tried to accept what Maelynn said and then was supposed to take such salt when dealing with Lapin, but something about Jewel was something that Thunder simply couldn't shake off.
Her magical aura wasn't of concern to him. It was more of her behavior. How she acted seemed false and abnormal to him, but then again, there was the likelihood that Lapin may have generally been like that. As of now, Jewel was technically the only lapin they had ran into.
Penelope had a similar feeling, though she wasn't willing to admit it. She was able to deduct one thing, however.
It was very likely that this wasn't the last time they'd see Jewel.