Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Dare To Dream

Chapter 12

House Call

Felix rapped his hand against the old wooden door. Much like the building it safeguarded, it too was seemingly broken. Many cracks and splinters lined its beaten surface, and where there should have been a doorknob, was a strange device that stuck out and down with a protruding bronze handle, hugging close to the door. Though it was late in the night, he knew there were residents inside. Just within the cracked lit windows, through the wisps of overgrown grass, he could hear the murmurs of familiar chatter and see the occasional animalistic shadow creep on the surface.

After a moment, the improvised handle on the door began creaking, being pulled to the side like a ball on a tether, before the door finally opened. Beady eyes from a familiar plant looked him up and down. Then, becoming irate with a small furrow.

Petal the Twelfth. The old lilligant who was mother to the Petal he was more accustomed to.

"Well, you're the last person I expected," she stated, "but the first I'd like to see the least."

"I know, I know," Felix replied as he fumbled with his hands. "Look, if it's alright with you, ma'am, could I come inside? I need to speak to my friend. I don't intend any foul."

Petal leered him down. "And may I ask what you intend to say to this friend of yours? Do you intend to fill her head with more nonsense about insane jobs?" Felix looked down to his feet. "Or are you trying to put her up to more wild adventures that could get her killed?"

"Look, I'm sorry that's how you see things, but I really do need to speak to her." He raised his hand towards the entrance, meekly waving it at the door frame where she stood. "So… may I?"

The lilligant stared quietly at him, making no attempt to move. Then closed the door, turning the misshapen handle back into its original position. On the other side of the door, he could hear her shuffling away.

"Well," he murmured to himself, "figures." As he turned to leave, the handle began to turn again, slower than last time. "Got one last thing to say?" he asked as he spun back around. The door slowly crept open, a small grunt worming its way out of the growing crack. Once it was adequately open a small amount, a small figure poked her head out from behind the old wood.

Petal. The one he had been hoping to see. "Heya, Blue." She grunted again as she pushed the door open slightly wider, letting some of the yellow light spill out onto the rich grass. "Hurry up and get in."

He accepted the offer, slipping through the cracked door into the dim home. "I thought momma Petal didn't want me in here?"

"Oh, she for sure does not. She definitely doesn't want you in here." Petal's splay of leaves were wrapped around the low-hanging handle, which was just low enough for even someone as small as her to grab it. Try as she might, she could not get the door to budge once more. "A little help? I'm sort of not very good with this thing."

Grabbing the handle from her, Felix pushed the door shut with little effort. Looking around the interior, much of the wooden boards on the floor and nearby stairs were well-strained and rough; the stairway in particular was strange, having been laden with broad planks of wood on top of the steps, creating a flat slope up to the second floor. The walls even more so, their paint cracked and a few large holes dotting their surfaces. He could even see the golden leaves of the trees outside through them. Not to mention the ceiling, which also seemed to hold a few holes and cracks that had yellow light passing through them from the floor above. Hanging from the wooden planks above were nets, each holding more of those glowing yellow fruits that were shaped like lemons, which lit the room.

But something strange about the household caught his eye. The furniture, such as the very low chairs and table he could see in one of the adjacent rooms, were pristine. Numerous black vases decorated with beautiful golden-crowned flowers topped every flat surface on clean, white sheets. Thick-framed paintings of azure coasts and vibrant forests were on every crooked, moss-covered wall as well.

"You know, I can see why that Shane fellow stole from here," Felix remarked, "and yet simultaneously, I can't see why anyone would want to target this place."

"Shut up, Blue." Petal walked past him, stepping onto the broad planks of wood leveled on the stairs. "Up here. Doesn't do me any good to sneak you in here if you're just going to get caught immediately."

Following her up the slope, he noticed that along the wall of the stairs, many portraits of lilligants sitting quietly adorned the space. Most were painted, being recreated in the image of the tender plant. One however was in black and white, and was remarkably life-like: a photograph. All in all, there were twelve of these portraits. "Hey, what's all this?"

Petal slowed to a stop, keeping her back to him. "Petals."

"Petals?"

"Petals."

Up the stairs at a split in the hall, Petal led them right, herding Felix into a small bedroom before she shut the door with another strange handle. Inside was similarly spotty and similarly extravagant. A fine red rug had been draped over the floor and its many holes, with golden lacings dancing around its circumference; a small ribbon decorated in a similar fashion hung around the door handle. A very low, small desk sat against a wall with an impressively small book opened on it, an inkstone, and a glass cup with a glowing fruit wedged in it, shining light onto the text and vial. But to Felix's surprise was the fact that a corner of the room was missing. Where two walls should have connected, there was a gaping hole of missing architecture, letting the sea of golden leaves and glowing and growing produce outside from the nearby field be easily seen in full from the room. A beaten cushion lay at the exposed corner.

"Quite the decor," Felix kidded as he looked around. "Whose room's this?"

"Mine. This is my room," Petal replied.

"Your room?" he chuckled. "What? You mean to tell me this is all your junk?" He went past her to the low desk, spying the strange yellow fruit in the cup. It looked like a lemon, yet its surface was covered in vein-like grooves, and its short stem seemed jagged. "I've been wondering: what even is this fruit?" He plucked it from the glass and held the glowing produce out. "I've been seeing them a lot."

"Oh, really? You don't know what that is?" Petal asked perplexedly. "You get stranger and stranger, Blue. That's a lemon."

Felix shot her a bewildered stare, then began chuckling. "I've seen plenty of lemons before, and this ain't one of them." He dropped it back into its cup.

"No, I'm serious. That's a lemon. Like, me and my family grow fruits and stuff for a living, Blue. I know a lemon when I see one. And I'd be more careful handling those- the acids in these things are no joke, and they can literally zap you real bad if you're not careful with them."

He scoffed. "Sure, fine, lemons here are different from the ones I know. If this stuff is so acidic, what're you doing growing it then? You're not exactly painting a picture of something I'd want to get from the market and give to my mom- I like her unfried, thank you."

"People use them to stay up on their feet when they're drinking or eating fermented apples. Just chomp on a slice, and it'll shock some sense back into ya."

"Give me an afternoon, and I bet I could find a funner use for them."

"Oh, I'm sure that head of yours is filled with fun ideas that keep you awake at night. Now look, you wanted to talk, right? What's got you knocking on our door in the middle of the night?"

"Two things. First, about yesterday."

"Oh yeah, that…" Petal's tone sank. "That Willow trick isn't going to work going onward, huh?"

"No, it's not." Felix cupped his hand around his chin, murmuring in thought. "Me and Star are going to discuss tactics going forward with this job, and try to scrounge up more supplies from the square. We're going to need you there, no helping out here. Got it?"

Petal nodded. "Yeah, I'll be there," she solemnly replied.

A smile crept onto Felix's face. He reached over to her, giving her a small pat on her small shoulder. "Hey, chin up! We didn't nab him yesterday, but those spores of yours definitely slowed him down- even if for a bit." Petal lifted her head. Her eyes seemed to be sparkling at his praise. "I know with you in our corner, we can do this."

"Huh…" Petal murmured. "Thanks. There's also something I need to talk to you about, too."

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"Remember that day back in the fields, Blue? The one where I told you that you shouldn't be trying to get Star killed?"

Felix raised his head from his hand, squinting in suspicion at her. "Look, what happened yesterday was not at all something I was planning on."

"Yeah, that too! I told you to be more careful with her! But that's not just it, Blue!" Petal swung her head around, once more struggling to meet his eyes. "Look, I- what I'm trying to say is that it applies to you, too! You and her!" Her expression became much more serious.

Felix was taken aback. "Me?" he asked almost mockingly.

"Yeah, you. Look, you probably already know this, but you can be kinda of an idiot sometimes."

"...On occasion."

"Yeah, uh-huh," Petal teased. "Look, if we're going up against the big bad wolf and his cronies, can you do me a favor and not die?"

He nodded. "No promises. But I'll try if I'm feeling like it."

"Good," she sighed. "So what was that other thing you came here for?"

As Felix opened his mouth to answer, a small chorus of laughter entered the room from the cracked floor below. Standing over a plank of wood with a hole the size of a can in it, he was able to spy the room below. "Her," he replied, looking down through the floorboard.

"Wait, what now?" Petal blankly asked.

Felix went prone, lying down on the floor as the light below flooded onto his face. Just through the opening, he saw Petal's mother rounding a small table with a plate of drinks, setting them down for her guests: Caelum, Lyniar, and Lyniar's kid, Trace. One of the cups became enwrapped in a pink aura, floating towards the musharna.

"Scoot!" Petal ordered as she laid beside him. Pushing against his head with her own, she was able to force a small viewport beside him. "There we go," she remarked as she made herself more comfortable. "So who are you looking at? There's like three different 'her's down there."

"That one." Felix pointed a finger at Lyniar. She was lying on some red carpet, wrapped around the zigzagoon who seemed close to nodding off in his mother's embrace. A small bag rested at her side.

"Oh, her? Specs from yesterday? What about her?"

Another round of laughter from the women rose from the room. Felix raised his hand to Petal, silencing her.

"Yes, yes," Petal's mom spoke, "it was that rat boy. He was looking for my daughter, but I just closed the door," she mimicked her arms slamming a door shut, "and sent him on his way!"

The three chuckled once more.

Lyniar cleared her throat, getting the others' attention. "Anyhow," she announced punctually, then turning her body to fetch a small bag beside her. Flipping it open, she retrieved some battered papers. "Here's the papers, Caelum. Again, thanks a million for this!"

A strange pink aura surrounded the papers as they were lifted from Lyniar's small paws, then floating towards the musharna. "But of course," she spoke, "I am always willing to aid in these matters; you know this well. And you are sure these documents are of utmost importance?"

"Not a doubt in my mind! I would've loved to see the look on my face when I found these!" Lyniar's eyes closed contently as she began rubbing her own cheeks with her claws. "When have giant human buildings surrounded by flags of a bygone evil empire never been fun to read?"

Caelum's brows furrowed at the eccentric researcher's remark. "Do not be so rash as to dismiss the Paldean Empire as 'evil,' Lyniar," Caelum reprimanded. "We must approach eras not of our own with the understanding that we do not possess all the information to make such a broad claim."

Felix's pointed ears perked. "Paldea… evil?" he murmured to himself. "What a load of-"

"What about some old empire, Blue?" Petal whispered. "This human-stuff interesting to you?"

"They've been a real good friend to Marea," he recounted. "Had our back when we needed it, and gave us some nice tools to play with."

Petal's eyes narrowed. "What? You're acting like you knew them."

He raised his hand between them. "Pipe down for a second, they're still talking."

"Regardless…" Caelum continued after giving a huff. The documents began folding themselves, becoming a small square that was then tucked into the Caelum's curled form, vanishing from sight. "You simply could have had these mailed to me."

Lyniar began snickering to herself. "Maybe. But we both know we can't trust the attendants lately to do anything right. I kinda want to make sure these got to you, and didn't wind up in who knows what sector in the Undercast. And also…" Lyniar's head turned to Petal's mother across the low table from her. "It's good to see you again, Petal."

The old lilligant nodded her head contently. "And it's wonderful to see you as well, Lyniar! It's been far too long!"

"For you, maybe," Lyniar teased. "How've you been holding up?"

The lilligant notched her head to the side. "Been doing well, I suppose. Had a big client recently: a cute sylveon had me and my girl cater an auction of his, and our payment was absurd. By far the biggest profit we've turned from catering I've seen in my life!"

"Oh, do tell! How much are we talking?"

The lilligant let out a soft chuckle. "Enough that if we wanted to, we could close up shop for a few months and rest. I do have to wonder where that sylveon got all that money, but that's the least of my worries." She let out a groan. "The event wasn't without its share of troubles. They left one mother of a mess, and I still have people walking up to me in my shop asking if I've found their bag yet after some thief worked the crowd."

"Mm," Lyniar murmured in acknowledgement. "Sorry to hear that, but…" Using her snout, she gently prodded at a tuft of hair on the resting zigzagoon's head tucked in her side. "Tell me: where you surprised when this little tyke showed up here?"

The lilligant threw her head back with an exaggerated gasp. "Oh my god, I was so shocked! I could never see myself turning my little girl loose on her own in some new place! But you just sent your boy here without you or your other half!"

Lyniar chuckled as she used a single digit to comb her son's hair. "My parents were pretty hands-off with me, but I'm grateful for it. It gave me plenty of room to grow, so I'm hoping it'll do the same for him. But of course," she pressed her muzzle against Trace's head, "I think I might try being there more for him than they were for me. Especially now that my workload is lightening up." She readjusted her focus back onto the lilligant. "And yeah, that's right! Last I saw you, you were a little chute, but come a year later, I meet your kid on my way here!"

Petal began softly grumbling. "I'm not a kid."

"Yes, I have my little girl now. She's…" the lilligant trailed off. Her eyes swung about the room as she looked for the right words. "She's my baby girl. And I know she doesn't like hearing me say that, but it's true." The lilligant reached across the table, grabbing a teacup for herself and dipping the tip of her flat, round arm into its earthly brown content. Its liquid began to slowly drain into nothing.

"Is she… drinking it?" Felix asked with a disgusted squint.

Petal snorted. "Still getting used to how we do it?"

Her mother blew out an exhausted breath, slinking back against the battered couch. "She has her head in the clouds. Lyniar, I'm so very sorry to drag you into this, but I'm sure you understand: I don't have a lot of time… just… I do not."

The linoone looked down somberly, and nodded. "I know," she stated. "But it can't be helped; it's just life."

"I have a month or two left in me at most," the old lilligant continued. Petal's head stooped down, turning away from Felix. "And when I'm gone- when, not if- I want to have gone knowing that my girl has a bright future ahead of her. This farm, the catering we've done… I inherited it all from my own mother, and she got it from her mother before her. This business we Petals have been running so passionately for so long is our lifeblood. When I give the house, the fields, even the plates and all this junk to her," she gestured her arm about the cluttered room, "I want to know she has her life figured out. Maybe even meet someone nice for her. But…" The lilligant's head drooped as she leaned towards the tabletop.

"But…?" Caelum spurred. She levitated the cupware closer to her curled mouth, taking a brief sip. "Has she been receptive to this?"

"No," the lilligant muttered, "not at all. She has her head filled with these ideas- and I'm not saying they're bad, but… they're not for her. She always tells me she wants to travel, go out and see the world. I keep telling her 'no,' and we go at it and blah-blah-blah, you know. But she doesn't understand that's just not the life for our kind. We don't have the time for that. I just hope she sees that, and that she sees the wonderful opportunity she's been blessed with." Her bladed hand began tracing the rim of the cup. "She has a successful business to inherit that won't be going anywhere, and a beautiful, calm village with a modest house to live in. So many people would kill for the opportunity she has."

"And what has she been doing now?"

"She's been off doing who-knows-what with some riolu boy that just showed up here someday, along with that Star girl."

"Riolu boy? Ah, I'm familiar with him." Caelum took another sip from her floating cup. "He's a strange character." Caelum began softly chuckling to herself.

"What's so funny?" Lyniar asked.

"Felix, I think his name is. I think he's one of those Darkest-Day deniers. He's been in my home and seen for himself how the land and civilizations might've been ravaged by those black skies, and sulked off rejecting the whole notion."

Lyniar made an exaggerated gasp, covering her open mouth with a claw. "No way! There's still people like that out there?"

"I am afraid so. You could give them all the evidence they would want: texts, photographs, ruins, and they will still deny it all. But we know better than to pay them any mind. You cannot reason with someone out of a belief when they never used reason to begin with."

Felix began grumbling to himself as the two chuckled amongst themselves.

Caelum's laugh quieted, becoming a contemplative frown. "I still wonder why Star is traveling with him. That old log should've been the first to keep her away from such a bad influence, but knowing him, he's likely slunk away somewhere again."

"Oh yeah," Lyniar added, "the vulpix." Lyniar glanced around the room as if to check for any prying eyes, failing to scan the ceiling above. "Do you think she'll do alright? I mean, I'm not saying I doubt her, but that is a pretty big role to fill."

Caelum's body rocked softly in the air as she thought. "I'm sure she will do fine. She has everything she needs to excel: an understanding of her position and its expectations, excellent teachers, if I may say, in myself and… though it pains me to admit it, Willow, and the wisdom and knowledge required of her for the role. Just this summer, I forged her diction into something eloquent and fluent. I hold full confidence in her."

"Yeah, guess you're right. Still…" Lyniar paused. "It couldn't have been easy on her when she heard her mom died. I mean, could you even begin to imagine how that's gotta feel? Finding out your mom's dead and all that responsibility just thrown onto you in the same notice?" Her cheeks puffed out as she blew out an empathetic breath. "I don't want to gossip, but I'm sure there's some baggage she's got under wraps from that. I guess I just hope it all works out for her in the end."

"Dang," Felix quietly remarked. "I… didn't know that."

Petal finally looked up from her averted state, meeting him with lukewarm eyes. "Yeah, happened awhile ago when she first came here with that deerling girl and some others." She slowly got up off the ground, seemingly avoiding looking directly at him as she did so. "Come on, Blue," she said. "I know you're a big fan of snooping, but I think that's enough for now."

Felix peered back down through the cracked floorboard. The three were back at it, talking mundanely amongst themselves. "Yeah, suppose you're right." Looking back at Petal, she still was hanging her head down. "Hey, you doing alright?"

"Blue, I…" She stops. Closing her eyes, she takes in a deep breath and exhales. "No, Felix: let's maybe not talk about this."

"Oh, uh, sorry." He was not sure what topic she wanted to avoid, but he thought it best simply comply. Over the soft ambience of the room below, he heard the all-too familiar scuttle of short, stiff legs over wood behind him. Reluctantly turning around, he saw Wimpod clinging to the remaining boards of the collapsed corner of the room.

Giving Petal a soft tap, she looked up and saw the bug as well. "Oh, now isn't this just great," she remarked. "We've got the little scamperer here, too."

"You really do have a habit of just showing up whenever, don't you?" Felix added.

Wimpod leered at the two. Twitching his antennas, he forced his focus onto Felix. "Come outside," he ordered. "You need to see this."

—-

Wimpod had shown him it there in the sky. something that stirred concern within him. Gliding across the black night, upon silver and obsidian wings silhouetted upon pale clouds, was the bombirdier allied with Cobb. It loomed nearly as a speck above the village, encircling it throughout as long as Felix and Wimpod had observed it, not making any advance towards the location.

Observing, as they were.

Having briefly thanked Wimpod, Felix dashed past the golden trees of the village, past tent after tent towards where he believed Star would be: the briar.

Getting closer to the illuminated tower, paper lanterns tied to the limbs of trees and colored like the leaves of summer and fall became more abundant, blanketing the area in a warm orange glow. And warmer. And warmer. At the briar's foot, the chill of the night had been kept away by the blazing emerald fire atop the tower: even three stories up, the magnificent green flame emanated below.

Felix began looking around, only spotting a few creatures with their heads low, almost in a trance, about the area, much to his confusion. Beasts could not worship, after all; they were only ever in service to themselves.

Realizing the thought that had crossed his mind, Felix fiercely shook his head, dispelling the notion. He had met a few individuals here that proved otherwise, that he knew would help him or others of their own will.

He continued his search, spotting a taillow rested on a nearby laced branch, eyes closed in either prayer or sleep- he could not tell. The conkeldurr he had seen on occasion sat stiffly on one of its pillars laid on the ground, hand on its chin as it pondered a thought before the altar. And to his surprise, Jeral, the hakamo-o that traveled with the deerling, was kneeling right before the briar, in front of a statue larger than him which lay in the tower's center. It was marvelously crafted. The effigy was chiseled to near perfection with impossible minute details, depicting Ho-Oh as if it were to take flight off its stone pedestal at any second. Many bundles of crimson and gold flowers were piled around it.

Jeral held in his claws a bowl of various seeds, then delicately placing the dish before the stone statue that depicted the great phoenix, joining other offerings like it. Bowing his head, Jeral quietly whispered something, then stood up. Turning around, he spotted Felix as he drew near. "Didn't take you as a religious type," Jeral stated. "Here to offer thanks? Or ask for favor?"

"I've done well enough on my own. Tell me, have you seen Star? Small, red, wears two gaudy feathers?" Felix motioned about the area. "I can't find her."

"Her? You know I know her, and I've seen her. She's with Fawna, just there." Jeral pointed to a large tree a stone's throw away. "They're talking now."

Felix nodded, but before he could take more than a step towards the tree, Jeral grabbed his shoulder. Felix looked at him with a raised brow. "Something you forgot to add?"

"Just a couple things: first, wait for them to stop speaking, yeah? Judging by the looks of their faces…" Jeral winced, "I'd say it's pretty serious for them. And second of all…" He pulled Felix closer, then leaned closer to his ear. "Keep an eye on that bug-eyed freak," Jeral whispered.

Felix's head twitched as he did a double take. "What?" he finally was able to get out. "You mean Wimpod?"

Jeral raised a finger up to Felix's lips, hushing him. "That waste of breath, yes."

Though he hardly knew the bug, Felix felt a tinge of anger build in his throat at the remark. "That 'waste of breath' saved Star's life!" He brushed away Jeral's hand. "Maybe even my own, too, if that wolf had the mind to keep going after her!"

Jeral took quick glances around to see if they had attracted any attention, then leaning back closer once more. "True as that may be, anyone could've done that," he said in a slightly louder tone. "And keep your voice down! I saw the bottom-feeder scuttling around here- I think that thing likes to hide about, listening, looking, observing. Where did he even come from yesterday? You know scavengers can't be trusted."

Shaking his head, Felix walked around Jeral towards the tree. "Like I even know what a 'scavenger' is," he remarked as he walked past.

As he approached the tree, he could see the tufts of Star's tails peeking out from behind it. Star was revealed, as was Fawna, as he circled the tree. Illuminated by the faint glow of an orange lantern above, he could see both of their faces seemed saddened. Though the two were alone, they were struggling to look one another in the eye. A small bag laid beside the orange deerling.

"So…" Fawna sighed, "I see you've found a little team. They seem nice. Are they with you on Team Horizons? Or is it a new team?"

"Oh, uh…" Star stuttered. "It's a new team. We're still thinking on the name. We want to make it really sound great, you know?" She began awkwardly giggling, then cleared her throat.

The two once more looked down at the grass beneath their feet.

Felix opened his mouth to get Star's attention, but the situation in front of him made it too awkward for him to get a word out. Begrudgingly, he propped himself against a nearby tree.

"I suppose we shouldn't drag our feet on this…" Star continued. "You want my answer to what I want to do going forward."

"I do," Fawna agreed. "I just… it's been eating at me. Are you going to go through with it?" She lifted her head, eyes filled with a stone-cold formality. "The ordination?"

"I…" Star pressed her paw into the ground, grinding the dirt beneath her. "I am. I need to. There are so many people who expect it of me." She finally looked up, staring into Fawna's gloomy eyes with determination. "And so many more who I can help by doing this."

Fawna held eye-contact with Star for a brief moment, then let her head slump back down. "I had a feeling it's what you wanted to do. You really do take after your parents." She softly chuckled before frowning once more. "And… you'll be way out of my league."

"Don't say that," Star interrupted. "We can still make it work. Remember the summer here? How we agreed we could do anything if we put our hearts into it together?"

A fond smile etched its way onto Fawna. "It was a fun summer," she reminisced. "Hard to believe we actually thought we had any chance of taking on Willow together." The gloom returned. "But… we need to be realistic. They'll have you swamped with work, tied to one spot, and I need to travel with Jeral. We have jobs to do, and you'll have your own responsibilities, too."

"I mean… you could still visit," Star feebly stated.

Fawna shook her head. "I appreciate you trying to make this work Star, I really do. But you'll be a household name, and I just can't see myself being comfortable in the spotlight with you." Taking her hoof, Fawna gently pushed the small satchel towards Star. "So… I'm sorry." Star stared emptily at the bag, her mouth slightly parted. Taking small steps towards her, Fawna leaned in and pressed her muzzle on Star's neck, then pulling away slowly. They stared at one another with sunken, shimmering eyes. "We have to move on. But know I will always be there as your friend to support you. And…" Fawna's voice cracked as her lips trembled, "I know you'll do great." Fawna quickly turned away, taking quick steps as she left Star alone beneath the lantern, and disappeared into the night.

A tinge of guilt encapsulated Felix like a blanket of shame as he peeked around his barked cover. He knew this was not something he should have been prying on. Star had not moved an inch since Fawna left, staring deeply into the bag she had left behind with a look he had not seen from her before. Her eyes seemed to shimmer against the pale light of the lantern above, betraying the building well of tears she was fighting to hold back. The many tails behind her sagged to the cold earth, as did her ears and mouth. Deftly, Star threw her head down and grabbed the bag with her jaws, then turned and ran towards the tower.

Cursing to himself, Felix ran after her as she ascended the ramps that encircled the structure, winding their way up to a small platform near its peak. Following up the slopes, Felix slowed his pace as he looked at the tower's skeletal interior, wrapped in colorful ribbons and filled with more lantern glow. Looking out, he ascended past the pointed tips of the many tents that laid below like rising teeth, and further up the tower he was able to see the fall treetops below as if they were a sea of gold, ebbing slowly in the night.

He finally reached the top of the tower. Just above was the iron casting that held the intense heat of the village's fire, burning with such ferocity that he immediately broke out into a sweat. Sitting at the opposite edge of the platform was Star, the bag laid beside her. She was quietly staring out into the calm, dark horizon. Taking quiet footsteps closer, Felix could see far off in the distance three dark spheres that protruded from the earth like tumors: more of those distortions, he figured. She had not yet noticed him.

He cleared his throat.

Star's ears perked. She began to turn her head around towards him, but stopped before he could see her face as she stiffly looked back to the distance. "Oh, uh, is there something you want?" As if realizing what she had said, she meekly cleared her own throat. "I meant… has something urgent occurred?"

Felix walked over and sat down beside her, dangling his legs over the edge. Star turned her head further away. "Come on then," he softly spoke. "You can drop it."

"...What are you suggesting?" Star asked.

"That's not how you normally speak, is it?"

She did not answer.

"You can drop the act. I won't judge you for it. And… not really my place to say it or anything, but sorry for... you know…"

Star's head slowly turned to face him. The corners of her mouth were pulled down, and a glistening streak had traveled from her eye down the side of her face. "I…" her voice trembled.

Felix lifted his arm, gently placing his palm on her back, then rubbing it sympathetically. "Look, can't say I know what it's like to be in your shoes, but… I don't know, just keep your chin up is all I'm saying. You're a good friend, so… so… bah." He groaned. "Never was any good with this 'pep-talk' stuff."

A small, brief giggle escaped Star, followed by a sniff. "You're right," she said more clearly, "you're pretty terrible at it."

Looking back at her, a faint smile was on her face, though her eyes remained saddened. "Yeah," he chuckled. "I'm pretty terrible at it." He patted her back.

"Thank you."

He retracted his arm; his expression becoming serious. "Look, something urgent did come up. That bombirdier, with Cobb? That Wimpod fellow spotted it scouting above the villager here, see?" He pointed at the distant bird flying in circles far, far away. "There's no two ways about it: he's planning on making a move here soon."

Star took in a big sniff, blinking fiercely to get the tears out of her eyes. She looked up at the bird, and leered. "I guess we should've seen this coming," she spoke confidently. "Cobb knows that Willow isn't here with us anymore. I suppose it figures he would come after here." Taking her eyes off the distant bombirdier, she looked to him. "You're time with the Toreros: how long would you say scouting would take for a small area?"

"Not long," Felix frowned. "Not long at all. He's gonna be on us soon, and who knows how hard he'll hit us, but at least we can prepare."

"Prepare…" Stare repeated. She looked up with a renewed strength. "That's right! We can prepare!" She hastily stood up, nudging Felix back onto his feet with her snout. "We need a plan. I'll go out right now and warn everyone that they're coming!"

"It's the middle of the night, they'll all be sleeping!" he protested.

"It's better they wake up to a fox than a wolf," she countered. "When you were with the Toreros, they had organized roles and tactics in their operations, correct?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but I was just only ever in those plans, not the one creating them."

"Then let's hope you saw what worked and what didn't. I know you're the leader, but I need to ask this of you: while I wake everyone up, I need you to look at who's willing to help defend the village, and sort them out. We also need to find a location where people can hide safely. Then, when Cobb comes, we can defeat him!"

A sly smile crept on Felix's face. "Oh, I'm liking this side of you better. Alright, I'll give it a try. I can think of a few who'd help off the top of my head: Petal, Jeral and Fawna, and if that Wimpod is so keen on keeping you alive for whatever reason, he'd probably help, too. I'll see what others I can find. And I think I know a little offshoot place where we can send the rest."

Star smiled fondly. The heartache in her seemed to have largely been forgotten for now. "Alright," she stated as she turned towards the ramp. "Sounds like a plan."