Chapter 2

A week had passed since the first unfriendly encounter with a flower cub. The small confrontations became the norm; flower cubs were to be shot on-site or avoided entirely. Some pignons had popped up here and there, but for the most part left the three alone. The air was still clear, the skies still sunny, and despite the occasional minor strife, everything was fairly normal. Until Balrog got bored, that is.

He voiced his concerns to his friends one day in the garden, which they had resolved to put a fence around. "What do you mean, you're bored?" Curly was very confused. Their current lifestyle of lazing about in the sun, tending to flowers and using tiny hostiles as target practice pleased her greatly.

"I mean, there's nothing going on here!" Balrog seemed to pout a bit. "After I was freed from the Crown's rule, I was looking forward to a life of excitement and adventure!" Balrog looked up and off into the distance, puffing out his figure as best he could. "Tending to flowers and basking in warmth is satisfying on a normal day, but today," at this, he looked back to his friends. "Today is different! We shall go on a trek! A quest!" Balrog's eyes sparkled with excitement. "We shall find grand treasures and wonderful sights! Does it not sound glorious?"

Curly thought for a minute before replying. "Well," she did like the sound of a walk, a hike, something... She supposed this could do. "Okay! Today, we go on an adventure! We will set off now while the sun is still low, and spend the night in the outdoors!" Quote nodded. He was excited too, and found this idea to be a quite spectacular one. "When the sun rises tomorrow, we'll head back home."

Balrog was ecstatic. "Huzzah!" He had secretly been longing for something like this for some time now, and was thrilled and simply overjoyed to hear his plans come to light.

"Where should we go to first?" Quote asked.

"I was thinking we would head towards the mimiga village first," said Curly. "Maybe they know the land a bit better, and can give us some hiking tips!" Quote nodded, the plan was solid.

"Let's be off then!" Balrog jumped up into the air, and began to fly about, indirectly making his way towards the mimiga village. The two androids could hear him singing pleasant tunes in the air. Quote chuckled and began to walk towards the village himself. As he walked, he felt someone grab hold of his hand. He turned to see Curly, smiling, and he smiled back. They walked together, hand-in-hand towards the mimiga village, only occasionally shooting a rogue pignon.

"There it is!" Curly exclaimed as the mimiga village came into sight. She let go of Quote's hand and rushed towards the settlement. She stopped after a bit, realizing Quote wasn't running with her. Turning around and running back to him, Curly grabbed his hand once more. "Come on!" She pulled him forward with a force that could dislocate a human's arm. Luckily, his joints were reinforced, several times stronger than said human's arm. They laughed as they ran together towards the village.

As they neared the establishments, some of the villagers spotted them and waved; the locals had grown very fond of their new and exciting neighbors, and loved it when they paid them a visit. On the surface, the town seemed to be extremely small, but this was not so. What laid on the surface was really only that - the surface. In the center of the town was a structure that vaguely resembled a well, yet upon closer inspection was really a staircase down into the rest of the village, which was underground.

This was a feature unique to mimiga settlements, as they preferred burrowing in the earth to sprawling villages and cities. One mimiga alone would build a house upon the earth, as any normal man would do. However, when two, three, four mimigas join the first in the same general area, the site becomes a village, and the mimigas begin building - not up, not out, but down. As the village becomes bigger, the network of caves and tunnels sprawl out and it becomes a town, then a city, until the cave system becomes much too big and complicated to navigate. At this point, much of the outer caves become abandoned and are usually taken up as mines or oil wells by humans. The mimigas who previously lived in these caves would then branch out and start their own settlements. It was a way of life amongst the mimigas, dating back as long as anyone could remember.

Quote remembered when he first visited the village. The vast cave system amazed him, but did not surprise him at all. He'd already spent some ten years in a cave himself. He had spoken to the elder of the village, introducing himself and his friends, as well as telling her their story. The elder was awed at the courage and integrity of the heroes, and in return she relayed to him the vast history and ancient ways of the mimigas. The entire encounter lasted about an hour, and needless to say, Balrog became bored halfway through, deciding to explore the rest of the village rather than stay and listen to the elder ramble on. That had probably been one of his better ideas, as the rest of the history lesson had nearly put Quote and Curly to sleep.

These were the memories that Quote enjoyed. He thought of them very fondly, trying to remember them over those of his experiences on the floating island. These were the times that made him smile, which he did so as he entered the village.