Chapter 9

Later that day, some of the Tims came up to Hunter, chirping happily and one of them had a baby Tim on its head, which amazed Hunter. "Wow," he said as the little one flew up to him and he caught it, holding it carefully. "You guys come in all shapes and sizes, huh?"

"And colors too," came a girl's voice and he turned to see Midnight was there and beside her was a girl with green hair. "Hi, you must be Hunter," she said, revealing she had spoken.

"I am," he said, smiling. "You're one of the inhabitants?"

She nodded. "I'm Cass," she said before seeing one Tim land on Hunter's head and she giggled. "I think you have a Tim on your head," she managed to say though her laughter.

He chuckled and gently grabbed the mischievous Tim before looking at Cass. "Is there something I can help you with?" He asked.

"Actually, yeah," she said. "I was wondering if you were up for a scavenger hunt."

"Sounds like fun," Moon Walker said, coming up to them.

"Scavenger hunt? Like the one we did with Fiona in her world?" Hunter asked.

"Yes," Midnight said, smiling. "Only this time, it's more than just one thing."

Cass nodded. "My cat loves to play with her toys, but she's scattered some of them across my world," she said.

"Okay," the young man said, getting to his feet. "Where is your world?"

"World 6," Midnight said. "Cass, is it alright if my brother and I join you all?"

"Of course, Midnight," the young girl said. "I'll take all the help I can get."

She suddenly yelped in surprise as she was scooped up into gray arms dotted with yellow polka dots. "What are we waiting for then?" Stardust asked with a laugh, making Cass laugh too when she realized it was him.

"Is your brother always that impatient, Midnight?" Moon Walker asked in amusement.

"Occasionally, though I confess that I can be impatient at times too," she said, also amused. "Balan can attest to that."

Hunter smiled and led the way to World 6, opening the door and going through it, holding it open for everyone else. When they were all inside, Hunter went to walk forward and he stepped on something that let out a honk, making him jump before he moved his foot and picked up the item, which turned out to be a colorful ball that made the honking sound. "Oh, she loves that toy," Cass said as she grabbed a woven basket that was nearby. "When she hears it, she likes to bat it around."

Hunter smiled and placed the ball in the basket the young girl had grabbed. Everyone then began searching the areas thoroughly, each taking a section and looking for the cat toys. "I think I found one," Moon Walker said, holding up a wand with feathers at the end and a ball on a string.

"That's one of them," the young girl said.

"I think I found a squeaky mouse," Midnight said, holding up the colorful mouse.

"I found a ball that jingles," Stardust said.

They continued to search until they heard a sound that made them look up and see it was a Negati. Cass gasped in alarm and moved back, bumping into Midnight, who rested her hands gently on the girl's shoulders. "It's okay, Cass," she said.

"That's Kosokoso," Moon Walker said.

Hunter heard something familiar as Kosokoso moved. "Hey, does he have the cat toys?" He asked, quickly running to catch up to the Negati.

"Hunter!" Stardust called out, but the young man chased after Kosokoso, who continued to run, trying to keep ahead of the boy.

"Come on," Midnight said, scooping Cass up and quickly taking to the sky. "'Follow my lead."

Moon Walker caught on Midnight's plan. "Help Hunter catch the Negati by blocking off other paths," he said.

"Right," she said. "But don't attack. I'm actually curious if Hunter will do what he did back in World 5."

The group grew curious at that too, continuing to block off Kosokoso while Hunter chased after it, seeing the Negati did indeed have one of the cat toys they were searching for. He soon cornered the creature, making it look at him with fear. Hunter took a minute to catch his breath and held his hands up. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you," he said. "I just wanted to ask if you'd help us find the cat toys for Cass' cat."

The small Negati looked up at him and blinked. "We've found a few and it sounds like you might have found a few too," he continued. "Will you help us? Please?"

Kosokoso looked up at him before blinking again, nodding after a moment and pointing to an area nearby. Hunter turned to see there was another squeaky mouse behind a few books. "You got good eyes," he said. "Come on. Let's tell the others."

Kosokoso held out the bright blue ball in his hand to the young man, who accepted it and the small Negati took his hand, leading him to where another cat toy was hiding. "Well, look at that," Stardust said, smiling.

"Lance is going to be shocked to hear this," Moon Walker said. "Kosokoso are very timid."

"Hmm, maybe it's a good thing that he's befriending the Negati," Midnight said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean, Midnight?" Cass asked as she was still being held by the purple-haired costume.

"Well, I'm not sure if Balan, Lance, and Malika have told Hunter, but...I think...Hunter may have to face something after he helps the rest of the inhabitants."

Stardust turned to his sister, looking horrified. "Sis, you don't think...? Lance wouldn't...would he?" He asked.

"No, he wouldn't," Moon Walker said firmly. "Lance swore he'd never use his powers to go into his ultimate form again after Emma and Leo freed him and rescued him."

"No, not him specifically, but...remember how our creator had to face a Negaboss and defeat it to find her brother?" Midnight asked.

Cass gasped. "That's right," she said. "Her brother was trapped and so was she in her world. After defeating the Negaboss, she found out the truth and afterwards, she and her brother were free."

Stardust caught onto his sister's line of thought. "You think Hunter may have to face something like that?" He asked.

"That's what I'm wondering," the purple-haired costume admitted. "And what I'm a bit afraid of."

Cass could see this was bothering her friend and looked to see Hunter and Kosokoso had found more cat toys. She smiled. "I think even if he does have to have a Negaboss, he'll be alright," she said. "Just like with Emma and Leo, he won't be alone."

"Cass is right," Moon Walker said. "Come on, let's continue hunting. I think I see another one of those squeaky balls over there."

Midnight set Cass down and watched her and the other two join the young man and the Negati, but she took to the sky herself, landing on the tower nearby and she heard something behind her, turning to see it was Lance, who looked at her and nodded. "I know you're worried," he said.

"It's true then, Lance?" She asked worriedly.

He nodded, but didn't look happy about it either. "I was hoping it wouldn't be the case," he admitted. "Even Balan was trying to make sure that Hunter wouldn't have to face a Negaboss when he'll be facing the very person that tricked him, but...it's unfortunately inevitable."

They heard laughter and turned to see the others had found all the cat toys and Hunter gently petted Kosokoso's head. "Thanks for helping us," he said and the Negati chirped.

The Maestro of Negativity's eyes widened in surprise. "He befriended Kosokoso?" He asked, stunned.

"Yes, he did," Midnight said. "Even convinced him to help."

Lance was surprised to hear that. "Then...perhaps it won't be as bad as we are worried about," he said before spotting something by his feet and chuckled. "I think one of the cat toys is up here."

He picked it up, revealing it to be a ball wrapped with yarn. Chuckling, Midnight took to the sky with the Negative Maestro beside her and they landed near the group. "There you are, sis," Stardust said, smiling. "And hi, Lance."

"Hello, everyone," Lance said, smiling. "Cass, is this one of your cat's toys?"

He held out the yarn-wrapped ball and she nodded. "Yes, that's actually the last one," she said. "I was wondering where it was."

Her kitten came up to them and meowed happily, rubbing against everyone's ankles and purring. Cass then held something out to Hunter and he accepted it, finding it to be a keychain of a cat. "Thank you for helping us, Hunter," she said.

"You're welcome," he said. "Couldn't have done it without everyone here."

Kosokoso went up to Lance, who smiled at it before looking curious. "Hunter?" He asked, making the young man look at him. "What made you decide to speak gently and befriend my Negati?"

Hunter smiled. "Well, one thing that Miss Camilla taught me is that everyone has thoughts and feelings," he said. "And a lot of times, speaking a kind word can make a huge difference."

"Dad often says the same thing," said Malika as she came up to them, smiling. "Apparently, you've stunned quite a few people, Hunter."

"I did?" He asked.

"Befriending one Negati was amazing, but befriending two of them? That's not a common occurance," she said.

"She's right, actually," Lance said. "You are one of the first visitors to befriend my Negati."

Everyone smiled and that night, Hunter was led to the library by a Tim and Balan smiled at seeing him. "Quite a stir you're raising up, my boy," he said teasingly.

Hunter chuckled. "Well, I figured if palismen could be helpful and Tims are helpful too, why not Negati?" He said.

Balan chuckled. "Quite true," he said. "Now then, I have a favor to ask."

"Yes?" The young man said.

"One of the inhabitants approached me to ask if you would help him with teaching kids about fire safety," he said. "Eis Glover, one of our inhabitants, is a firefighter himself and often visits schools to teach them what to do if fire happens, but he needs some help with the presentation."

Hunter nodded. "I'll help him," he said. "Where can I find him?"

Hunter's off to help our favorite firefighter. :)

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418