"Chaotix Detective Agency reporting a lost child," radioed Vector's scratchy introduction from a black walkie talkie on a white brick wall. "Repeat: Chaotix Detective Agency reporting a lost child."
The nearest police secretary, hurriedly dropping their small stack of documents on their desk, rocketed towards the wall and took the walkie talkie—officially known as a handheld receiver—out of its holder.
"Yes, Station Square Police speaking," she responded clearly.
"This is Vector the Crocodile. At 1:33pm today, Thursday, a boy with blue hair named Sig entered my agency's building. He was escorted in by Espio the Chameleon. The boy said he was supposed to be on a field trip held by…" Vector brought his white sheet of notes up to his eyes. "Primp Magic School."
"Excuse me…" the police officer butted in, her voice filled with stern disbelief. "... but you said a 'magic school?'"
"Yes. The boy insisted on that being the name of the school, and that he 'learned a few spells from there.' He could not demonstrate anything as he said he felt too tired to do any magic." Vector lowered his voice; this next part had to be hidden from Sig. "We suspect that the name could be a mix-up with some organization the school had over."
Causing the kid to protest would waste so much time…
Vector continued: "The name of the school likely has 'Primp' in the name since the boy's school is located in the town of Primp. Unfortunately, after extensive research of databases covering the Golden Bay Zone and surrounding zones, no town with that name was found." He deemed it right to let his voice rise again.
"I see…" the police secretary said. "Can you tell us what the boy looked like?"
"He-"
"Oh wow, what's that bug, Sig?" came from Charmy's blabbering mouth in the hallway outside of Vector's office. "I've never seen one so… red before!"
"It's a cockroach," said Sig just before Vector released his receiver and piped up.
"Charmy! Be quiet! I'm talking with the police!"
"Hm?" Sig pondered, poking his head out in front of the doors to Vector's office. "Why?"
"Vector? Vector, do you copy?" The police secretary asked. She gripped her receiver harder as her palms started sweating.
"It's for- uh…"
Just answer the kid quick!
"It's so they can help us find your classmates. They need to hear everything I'm saying clearly, so, come back later, kid."
"Gotcha." Sig understood the assignment and walked over to Charmy, who kept invading the personal space of the cockroach with his wings' disorienting drone. The bug, also suffering an assault of chilling carbon dioxide, kept itself low, too scared to move after Charmy kept up with all of its attempts to flee.
"Stop." Sig's command had Charmy looking up at the boy. He spoke with a new fervor as he ran over to the bee. "You're hurting it."
Sig shooed away Charmy with his red hand before putting out his normal hand for the bug to crawl onto.
"Wow… they must be like your children or somethin', huh~" Charmy chided.
Vector finally got back to his receiver, catching the police secretary up to speed. "Sorry there miss, had to deal with a… disturbance. He has-"
"... a pair of two tall yellow ears, a round center body, stubby limbs, a face that spans all across its center body, a pink tongue, and a red gem stuck on its forehead," Tails said into his headset.
"Gosh, I've never even heard a child describe something so peculiar!" said a surprised, rough voice on the other side of the call.
"Quite odd coming from Emerald City's hyper-experienced police chief, but I digress~" Tails chuckled.
"Hah! I'm definitely not the only one who hasn't seen such a creature before. It even sounds too small to exist! You said it was…" The police chief looked at the yellow, lined notepad he used to record all of Carbuncle's features. "... nine inches tall?"
"Yep. The little guy was also being cornered by Eggman's robots. There must be something pretty important up with it to get an entire squad like that occupied!"
"I see, young Miles. After this call, we ought to route anyone asking about the little creature to you and Sonic to protect themselves from Eggman. If anyone under my jurisdiction sees anything that highly matches your description, we'll try to take them into the city's care to try and subvert Eggman's expectations while we're still ahead," the police chief promised. "We trust that you'll be able to care for the creature you and Sonic found on your own."
"Yep! I've got enough food, soft spaces, crayons, and defenses to keep it safe and comfortable! Eggman hasn't cracked into any of my labs in a long while!"
After reaffirming his confidence, Tails thought to sweep his database room to see if Carbuncle was nearby; getting him for a video would help the police better know what they're dealing with. What the fox boy found was not the little yellow lost ball, but a portal into chaos, illuminated through the off-white light his refrigerator gave off when opened. Carbuncle was on the floor in front of the appliance, gorging himself on Tails' leftovers from last night's dinner.
"AH! Oh no!" Tails wailed, not expecting a glutton.
"Tails? Tails? What's wrong, boy?" The police chief said on the edge of his seat.
"The little creature is raiding my fridge! I'll send you a video of it to help you soon! Bye!"
Click!
"Heh… I have a feeling it'd be a real pleasant pet to have…" The police chief wondered while putting down his phone. "But anyways," he looked at his notes. "These need to be typed up."
He took his notes over to the nearest secretary who thankfully seemed mostly through his current task.
"Peter, I need you to add these notes to our zone-wide lost wild animal database. All the info you'll need is on this notepad." The chief ordered.
"Yes sir!" Peter said, nodding while taking the notepad onto his desk. After ten minutes, the chief off preparing an announcement to the entire force, a new document was up and ready to be filled.
"Alright… Name: unknown. Height: 9 inches. Temperament: docile, slightly mischievous. Owner: unknown. Physical appearance…"
Once the man got to detailing Carbuncle's body type, things deviated sharply from his routine. That part of the report read:
"Body type: Unknown. Has a mostly spherical core body with stubby arms and legs. Has large, rabbit-like ears. Has a small gem of a currently unknown type implanted in its forehead between its eyes. Has a mouth that takes up around a third of its body. No scans of the world's animal database were able to identify the creature's body type."
After the software autosaved, an alert flashed across the bottom of Peter's screen.
"Two possible related incidents recorded? That's promising..." He clicked on the alert to then be brought to the missing person database in a new window. Two columns with the names "Amitie" and "Sig" were listed with links to their respective files. Peter clicked on Amitie's first.
"No matching body type… Found in Splash Hill Zone as well… Also targeted by Dr. Eggman's forces…." The 'targeted by' information ended the highlighted chunks of lines the software determined possibly related to Carbuncle's report. Peter then moved to Sig's report.
"Hm… Not much physical data, but the boy did mention the girl, and a few others. Said they were on a-" His eyes froze on the next few words. "O-on a school trip…" His right hand over his mouse clenched with an overbearing grip while his lungs strained themselves to handle his loud heaves of air.
"Chief!" Peter yelled out as he pushed his wheeled chair back so far he needed to slam his feet onto the ground to stop from hitting the back wall. He got up, quivering with fear. "We got a code CS!"
"Look out, fair citizen! Above ye!"
What in the fu-
"OH GOSH!" shrieked from a human woman with bright blond hair. She looked above herself from behind to see a supermodel of a man's body in shimmering gold armor plummeting down high in the air right towards her. Especially at the sight of a long, sharp sword angled at her hairline, she hurriedly did three backflips away from him, evading his landing spot with less leeway than she'd like.
"W-what were you thinking, you smooth-brained ass?" the woman complained to him. "You could've put me in the hospital!"
"I-I apologize, fair, a-angry maiden-"
"Oh, I can already tell you're one of those guys!" she said, crossing her arms.
…Who is she referring to? the late teen asked himself.
"I-I do not know what group you mean, but again, I am sorry for disturbing you. I do not know of this 'hospital' or of the group you speak of. If I did, I would have acted accordingly to-" The woman stuck her finger out at him, her pointer three inches away from his face. He took a step back in surprise.
"Oh, cut the crap already! Just leave me alone!" She used both of her hands to push past him and began walking away.
"I-"
If she said not to disturb her, that means she rebuked her right to hear my verbal compliance…
He sighed, looking down at his booth both out of shame and to check for sand clawing its way down into his armor.
I should have shouted from higher up and louder. If this curse granted me more jump power, then it ought to have made me able to get louder, too…
A bead of sweat traveling down his neck reminded him part of why he sought out a settlement in the first place.
I need to find a square of public respite from this heat. Then may I think about what I did, and search for sand.
Now, he was off walking in the same direction the woman went—the only way deeper inside the town. Unluckily for him, the woman happened to look back at him to check if he was following her just as he started to walk.
"Don't you DARE think about following me to the library, ass! You'll be sent halfway to Tuesday before you can try anything!"
Was my face converted into an ass' likeness?
The late teenager felt up his face, staying mindful to not grind any of his armor around his wrists on his face. He didn't dare speak to the woman shouting at him.
"Godforsaken freak…" the woman muttered while continuing away.
No sign of an elongated nose, mouth, or ears above my head… So what was that fair citizen speaking of in regard to myself?
With his focus returned to his mission, he made the decision to look busy instead of continuing forwards. At first, it was a ploy to avoid the wrath of the woman he upset, but once he noticed the finer details of the buildings next to the flat ground of a road he stood on, he got invested in his observations.
Just what kind of defense system does this place have against sieges? These houses do not possess fortification strong enough to even withstand the lightest of catapult bombardment, nor are they surrounded by any protective wall! If they do not possess some magical trick, they are completely open to being conquered!
"It would be a grave shame to see this place engulfed in the flames of war. It seems so beautiful already…" the late teen mused, particularly liking the ornate, beautiful potted houseplants that lined the sides of most of the houses and stores he saw. He also liked their unique coloring; a pleasant change from the constant wooden browns and rocky blues he was used to.
"If I am to attempt suggesting improvements to their defenses, I ought to find a communal spot to rest first. Hopefully, it is without that fair maiden…"
First, he tried a building not too far off with the words "Guy's Supermarket" above it. His efforts were dashed upon seeing the automatic sliding doors leading to its entrance, and even more so by the sign that read "patrons only."
"Is this some sort of magical brewery? To be honest, the prefix 'super' is well-fitting for one."
His assumption became twice as strong once he felt a blast of cool air after stepping inside the building proper.
Aha! This is some exotic magic shop in this world! The patrons must know their way around, assuming this world also requires a minimum level of intelligence to buy magic. I hope to the gods that I meet that; some more magic along my way would assist greatly!
With his hopes up high, the late teen started towards the cashiers at the registers in sight from the entrance. All five of them gawked at his heavy armor and authentic blade within the brown sheath on his hip. They never expected to see someone dressed like him outside of recreations of hundreds-of-years-old history.
"Excuse me, gentlemen," he said to all the cashiers. "I arrived in this fine settlement rather recently after being summoned to this world." Even his tone matched the chivalrous tone the cashiers saw in the theaters.
"Are you one of the knights Sonic met when he was summoned to that old place with the freaky plant creatures?" The closest cashier asked as he leaned on his computer to get a better look at the new arrival. His smirk went right over the late teen's mind.
"I beg your pardon? I do not know of anything nor anyone you mentioned."
"Wow, you must be from real far away! That story spread like wildfire last April Fools Day!" This time, it was the third farthest cashier speaking.
"I have so much that needs answering, but I will stick to why I came here, good sirs." Ragnus cleared his throat. "I am here searching for the settlement's public reprieve from harsh weather conditions. Do you know the quickest path there?"
All the cashiers scrunched their faces in bewilderment.
"Is bro tweaking?" whispered the farthest and youngest cashier to his neighbor.
"Maybe. Might be on shrooms…" the neighboring fourth farthest cashier whispered back.
"... You mean… What even? Dude, just go to the library or somethin'," said the second closest cashier. "We stopped needing that shit once air conditioning was invented."
"Air may be tamed to the will of man?" the late teen asked, his jaw hanging as open as his wide eyelids.
"...Fucking what?" the second closest cashier said.
"Why, quite easily, in fact!" piped up the closest cashier. "With modern magic and pixie dust, anything can be made to do whatever! Just need to have enough money on ya! How much you got?"
"Dude…" the second closest cashier whispered to the closest. "Now's the time to tell dude to leave or buy something, not mess with-"
"Oh c'mon, it'll be fun. He's even digging for gold right now!" the first cashier whisper-yelled.
"Hm…" the late teen murmured, his hands deep into his armor's pockets under the leg parts. All he had to do was slide them forwards to access his money—pure gold coins.
"I have around 600 gold on me."
"Oh really…" the closest cashier wondered. "Show us some of this 'gold,' then."
"Alright…" the late teen reached into his left pocket and pulled out a gold coin as large as a U.S. quarter. All the cashiers gawked as much as the late teen did upon learning about air conditioning.
"Y-you have 600 of those things?" the third farthest cashier asked.
"Technically. I possess grander denominations than one gold, bringing my total amount of gold coins below 600. However, their combined value remains around 600."
"Sweet! Now, if you just give me-" The second closest cashier promptly shut the closest cashier's mouth with the back of his hand.
"Look, dude, the library is down the path this supermarket is on; just take all the right turns and you're golden. Now, take this seriously and buy something or leave."
"I understand," the late teen said with a nod. "Thank you for the directions. Is the library the only public reprieve from the heat?"
"Damn near straight," the second cashier replied.
"...Pardon?"
"Yes." The second cashier's tone sharply rose.
"I see… Does your establishment have any defense potions for sale-"
"OUT! This day was crappy enough before you came here! And didn't you see the 'only patrons' sign?" The second cashier was six seconds away from invoking the store's loiterer policy.
"Y-yes, but I intended to purchase some of your magical possessions…"
"You best leave now before I call security!"
"I-I understand. Good day!" The late teen ran out the way he came plus all the way down the path towards the library until he couldn't see the supermarket anymore thanks to the curve in the path.
This is beyond simple misfortune. This world is very confusing… All I may hope for is that that maiden I encountered does not see me at the library.
"Hm?" the Dark Wizard grunted, a faint burning sensation bothering his stomach after another he absorbed another rabbit's energy.
Is… Is that what I think it is?!
It couldn't have been the slight trepidation he felt at great heights such as the treetops he accidentally flew up to the day prior. That was caused by an instinctual thought towards being unable to get back down, and he's square on the forest floor. Bleeding was also out of the question; aside from a few nicks his outfit suffered from long branches, he was physically fine.
Turning around 360 degrees proved interesting; in one direction, the burning feeling in his stomach grew stronger, and when he turned away from that direction, it grew fainter. There was only one sensation he was familiar with that acted this way…
That must be a strong power I sense! the Dark Wizard thought. He looked at the rabbit's body he recently drove his sword into. That animal must've given me the last bit of energy needed to feel strong people's energy! A strong power usually means an able-bodied person… so I ought to seek them out!
But how… When I looked around that treetop, all I saw was foliage in every direction. However, I did notice signs of human activity around here, like that bush that had fabric in it, so someone must have found a way out!
The Dark Wizard looked for a comfortable place to sit and think his way out. It didn't take long for him to find a large, hollowed tree trunk with jagged wooden spikes pointing upwards around six gaping, sharp holes. Luckily, there was a sizable space between them, splitting the holes into two groups of three.
It's either the murky mud, rugged rocks, or that tree trunk with a seemingly soft seat…
Choosing the latter, the Dark Wizard shook his sword free from some of the rabbit's blood and walked over to the trunk, where a bit of blue cloth caught his eye, stuck on one of the holes nearest to the soft space between the groups of holes. Looking down before the trunk, he saw a bit more pieces of the same type and color of cloth, all of them covered in brown stains.
Interesting… Either a brawl came furiously all over here, or someone miscalculated where to sit. It doesn't matter; I need to think.
Sitting down now, he started taking long, deep breaths and blotted out the natural chatter of birds, insects, and wild animals the forest provided.
A spell to summon a dragon of darkness would be most optimal, letting me scope everything out while I approach the strong person. It would also be decently quick. However, I doubt my ability to keep myself upright with my low energy reserves… Plus, even the weakest version of that spell requires a lot of magic. I might go unconscious trying to cast it before being able to ride it.
I suppose the next best option is straight teleportation. Running there with magical speed practically begs all the trees, rocks, and ditches to come onto me, and jumping between the treetops, while safer, is far too slow. Teleportation does take the least physical time, but also opens up a world of… unfortunate circumstances…
His mind drifted back to the same memories of ridicule he experienced shortly before leaping to the treetops. He didn't mean to offend them enough to bring out their wrath, but, like always, one misunderstood phrase led to another, and then there was war.
Maybe I ought to ask Arle how to speak like her. I have just never realized how what felt so natural to me was apparently so vile.
He stood up, almost satisfied with his thoughts.
The only way to resolve this speech issue is to find her, and sitting around won't do that. However, the more pressing stress is finding my way back to familiar ground. In the grand scheme of things, verbal misunderstandings can wait.
The Dark Wizard shut his eyes, grit his teeth, clenched his hands into fists, and yelled his hardest into the sky. A dark blue aura, its edges as fiery as a raging forest inferno, bursted out from his skin and surrounded his entire body.
I just have to hope whoever I'm… I'm…
The Dark Wizard's mind took a closer look at just how the foreign power felt. It tingled in a familiar yet less vibrant way than his brain seemed to have an automatic response for. A response of longing, desperation, and the desire to push him to be stronger than-
Arle. That was Arle's energy this whole time! It should have been trivial to recognize her!
He focused his senses on the direction of Arle's energy in his stomach. From there, he mentally felt out where it was going—where moving forwards would increase the feeling.
I shouldn't dare let myself be so absorbed into myself to repeat this mistake! If that were a nearby foe, I'd get rammed harder than ever before!
From here, all that was left to do was to condense his energy around his skin like a wool sweater and will himself towards Arle. A simple, three-second process.
I'm coming, hopefully without disturbing her…
Comfort, a feeling Arle knew more than anything, was finally back in her gaunt grippers—they were more accustomed to soft blankets, pillows, and civilized meals over harsh plants, spiky wood, and thorns, anyways. Most of the things Arle touched was much needed food, so she was about as happy as she could be. Even though her hands held a fraction of their usual powers, throughout all seven days of recovery up to this point, they eagerly clenched whatever luxuries were placed within.
Once the floating traveler who found her reached the town he spoke of, they were spotted by the locals—a mix of humans and anthropomorphic, intelligent animals—and promptly rushed to the nearest hospital, where Arle still resides. The doctors found all kinds of gashes, infected cuts, barely healed scars, and grime-covered bruises around her body, which they wasted no time cleaning and patching up. They asked the floating traveler how long Arle stayed in that jungle, and when he said he didn't have a clue—not even a faint murmur from Arle to go off of—the doctors hopped to checking her vitals and insides. Her heart rate was fine, but that seemed like the only normal thing about the girl. Her internal temperature neared 96 degrees fahrenheit, her blood pressure was low enough such that blood pressure medication had to be shot straight into her veins, her throat was irritated from top to bottom, and the spaces between her teeth were filled with so many remnants of ants and leaves that the only way to get them out without damaging her gums was by holding her mouth over a bowl and shooting water into it via a small hose so all the pieces would fall out.
Arle was kept unconscious throughout all of the doctors' procedures, so she only knew an unexplainable amount of fresh comfort after a nice, long nap. It failed to bring her magic fully back, like her previous rests, but it was able to restore a semblance of a familiar sense of healthiness inside her chest. She used it as a gauge for how much energy she had; as after she got the ability to start casting spells, the healthy feeling only diminished when her magic was compromised.
I hope Silver comes back soon with curry or at least something sweet… Arle thought, opening her eyes from another long rest on the white, blanketed hospital bed. While her improvements were good, she was far from going back out onto the battlefield of the sidewalk; she would run out of breath too quickly. She thought her favorite food would help boost her spirits, and the floating traveler, who only realized he didn't tell Arle his name four days after he met her, agreed.
As Arle's vision settled onto the nearby window, her mind floated back towards Carbuncle. While the comfort was nice—minus the medical pad on each of her arms and her face—she could not truly rest without knowing that Carbuncle was safe.
I wish I was still strong enough to search… Arle thought while now eyeing the houseplants by the windowsill to her right, remembering how her entire body flashed with intense pain the first and only time she tried getting up and walking without help. She could perfectly envision Carbuncle hopping up and down around the window playing with any leaves that were blown into the room, and naively wanted to make it a reality.
She could have imagined more of what Carbuncle would do in her presence if a teenager in a dark blue cloak with a familiar looking sword on his hip didn't teleport into the room right in front of her bed's foot.
"Sch-Schezo?!" Arle was bewildered. The thought of anyone else being in this foreign land never crossed her mind.
"Arle! How grateful I am to see you again!" the Dark Wizard replied before the room's layout caught his attention. Despite his cave life, he was familiar with what people kept in their homes and medical wards. But the multiple pieces of machinery with flashing lights and illuminated screens boggled his mind, moreso when he realized that two machines were linked to Arle's body by thin string-like wires connected to pads on her skin.
"Arle… What is this place? Where is it?"
"I… I don't know, Schezo…" Arle replied, her eyes wandering up his body until she reached his eyes. They stayed there, staring directly into his mind, probing his intentions.
He's always up to something, even at the worst times…
"All I do know…" Arle said, her frustration rising as she put her arms down onto the bed to help prop her upper body up. Her tone rose alongside her head, inversely affected by her tolerance for Schezo's schticks. "... is that Carbuncle is missing again, and that I can't go get him right now because I'm too hurt."
Schezo's eyes widened. "I-I see-"
"This isn't an excuse for you to get happy, Schezo!"
"I wasn't intending to-"
Arle cut him off with the hatred bubbling under her tongue. "I have been searching for Carby for who knows how long, struggling to even find enough food to think straight."
"I-" This time, twin Bzzzt!'s from the monitors with green and red statistics respectively cut the Dark Wizard off. The big, bold numbers that displayed on both were replaced by rapidly scrolling values that were impossible to read. Schezo could only recognize the words "blood" and "rate" on the screens before Arle continued speaking.
"Every day and night I've stayed up over Carby." Her hands started squeezing the sheets they were on. "I hoped to the gods that he wasn't wherever I woke up in. I hoped to whatever was around me that he never saw a fraction of the harshness I saw!"
The beeping from the technology around Arle started getting faster, and the numbers started scrolling too fast to make out individual numbers.
"A-Arle, calm down!" Schezo cautioned.
"He could be safe in the Dark Prince's arms, captured by poachers, at the bottom of a cavern; I don't know, Schezo!" In no time at all, she yanked the Dark Wizard's left hand over to her hard enough to make him lose his balance and bang his head on the railing preventing Arle from rolling off the bed. She didn't stop there; she snatched his other arm right below his wrist and pulled him back up to look her in the eyes.
"I'm going to get better without your meddling and leave this place…"
"Ah! Ah! Arle, stop! That hurts!" Arle's nails, rigid after snapping on the faces of numerous rocks, broke the skin on Schezo's arms and started going after his muscles and veins.
"... and then I'm going to find my best friend!" The whole room started to shake as Arle's voice kept growing louder and louder, drowning out the machinery even amidst the blaring warning siren that would summon doctors into the room.
"And I'm not going to let you come in here and just steal my power!" A brilliant blue aura surrounded Arle's body as Schezo's oozing, dark red blood started marking up Arle's fingers as it started flooding down his arm. The blood veins in his wrists unfortunate enough to be under a nail starter gushing out all over Arle's blankets as well.
"Arle! I-I wasn't coming for- AAAAUU-AAAAGH!" Schezo felt something pop in both of his arms, and the only thing he was able to touch there was blazing pain. He tried pulling away, but that just let Arle's fingers dig deeper, and let the ridge between in-tact skin grow larger and larger.
Finally, Arle deemed it right to release Schezo's arms; she favored yanking his collar with enough force to rip the cloak in half down to his stomach as she pulled his head towards hers just in time for the doctors to see.
"Schezo, you're going to leave me in peace until I come and find you. Got it?" Both of them knew the burning salt his tears were made from wouldn't satisfy her; she needed a promise.
"Y-yes! Just stop! I'm sorry!"
Arle did what she was told and let go of Schezo. Not one for needless danger, he dashed away from Arle and towards the exit swarmed by doctors as fast as he could. What he thought Arle would do if he stayed vastly trumped any concern for himself bleeding out worse by running into people.
"Sir, are you in pain?" hastily asked a lone, hedgehog doctor.
"I can heal myself—just get me far from here!" Schezo pleaded just as one of the vital monitors exploded from an over-influx of readings while the other doctors tried calming Arle down.
I-I need to hide… Schezo thought. … from her, and whoever brought me from my cave.
The Lone Rider's two yellow horns at the edges of her forehead shook with a condition worse than chills—fear. She would've traded the humid, dense jungle she found herself in for a barren, frigid wasteland if asked; at least then, she'd know if something dangerous was behind her. She would've still traveled as she was now, though—slightly hunched forwards holding her hands close to her mouth with her oversized green and yellow sleeves as if blocking her vision would make it so any monsters couldn't see her. This 'defense' made it too easy to trip on overgrown roots, sleeping animals, and fall into rushing rivers barely wide enough to fit her entire body. Instead of discouraging her stance, however, it just made the Lone Rider want to hide her face even more to stave off the embarrassment of having stains on her jumper dress.
Who did she need to worry would make fun of her as she took her jittery steps down a barely distinguishable ground path throughout the forest? The mosquitoes who buzzed around her horns—which she kept wrapped around her green hair in two neat buns—always buzzed faster and louder next to her, making their amusement clear. All the frogs she passed would croak a few feet ahead of her per normal, see her, silently track her with their eyes, and then get to croaking rapidly after the Lone Rider passed by; an obvious guffaw. Even worse than those creatures were the orange monkeys with perplexing metal hands, mouths, and faces accompanied by glowing, empty blue eyes. These jokesters up and came out with it, laughing so hard they dropped little, black spheres that exploded once they hit the ground. The Lone Rider took it as them finding her so foolish they didn't even want her around them. So, she ran at even the smallest sight of one.
She was used to running, always being frightened from what her friends would barely flinch at, but even as she often tripped, got up, and rapidly switched directions, the Lone Rider never broke a sweat from the action.
Hey… what's that thing out there…? She thought while coming to a halt and squinting. Past just a few trees in front of her was a dark, wooden structure that let in soft rays of sunlight through an open window lacking any glass on the left and right sides of the back of the structure. The front of the structure was an open porch with wooden steps leading to a round base which had a singular light hung from the roof over it. Only the back of the structure resembled something near a house with its 4 enclosed walls and wooden door.
Is that maybe a place to rest? I really need one…
Looking over her shoulders, the Lone Rider walked at a slightly faster—albeit still slow—pace towards the building. Just as she stepped onto one of the wooden steps…
Creeeeak!
"Ah!" she yelped, sure that if anyone was in that house they would've heard her. Sure enough, heavy footsteps spawning thousands more creaks started heading towards her. Before she could even turn away, the owner of the wooden structure opened his door and came face to face with the Lone Rider.
The giant purple figure with a patch of fur larger than the Lone Rider's entire body looked at her and said:
"Hello," softly waving his hand covered by a large, yellow glove at her. "Are you lost, little girl? Rarely anyone as small as you comes around here…"
To the Lone Rider's surprise, his voice was invitingly slow and calm.
"Y-yes… I am…" she replied, still shaken up by the experience. "I just… opened my eyes and was here."
"Oh, that's no good," the large figure said, shaking his head. "Good thing I know of a quick way out of here and to some people who could help you. It's a-"
The Lone Rider's stomach rumbled loud enough to reach the big guy's ears in perfect condition.
"Oh… Sounds like you're hungry. It might be a bit before you're able to eat if you go. Why not come fishing with me?" the purple giant with cat-like ears on top of his head and a long, fluffy, and striped tail. "I've got some good fishing equipment in there…" he said, pointing back at the house he exited.
"Um… okay, m-mister. Is it that thing I heard a friend talk about with using sticks to fling things into the water?" Lidelle faintly recalled someone in a purple graduation cap—which he wore constantly— flexing his arm downwards as if to hit a fly with a fly swatter while describing something related to fish.
"Yeah. You're on the right track. Here, I'll do a quick demonstration before we go…"
The large cat went back into the wooden structure, and after a minute, reappeared with two fishing rods and a jar of worms.
"Ah! W-what's in that jar?" the Lone Rider asked, putting her hands even higher over her face.
"Don't be scared; it's just the bait. They might look real, but aren't the real thing," the large cat explained calmly.
"O-oh… They…" the Lone Rider said, squinting past her hands at the jar. "They look like worms…"
"Exactly! And they go on the hook of one of these fishing rods here…"
The large cat set down the jar of bait as well as the smaller of the two fishing rods—a yellow and black rod with a shaved, wooden handle—by his side. He unscrewed the jar's lid and took out one of the lifeless, unmoving worm replicas.
"See, you put it on the hook just like so…" the cat explained. The Lone Rider leaned in with her hands on her knees to carefully observe how he dangled the worm replica onto the hook.
"First, you take an end with your fingers and stick it onto the sharp part of the hook." The large cat saw the Lone Rider's eyes widen with fear as he pressed the fake worm onto the hook's point. "Don't worry, it was never alive in the first place. It can't feel a thing."
"R-right, right…" she said, sighing in relief after seeing how the bait didn't react to being impaled.
"Now, just wrap the bait around the hook like a string… and there you go. Now comes the fun part…"
The large cat walked past the Lone Rider carrying the fishing rod strung over his right shoulder; a much larger, heavier yellow and black fishing rod with a fireproof, soft wooden handle. He stopped right by the river the Lone Rider crossed to get to the wooden structure, and didn't continue his demonstration until she walked up beside him.
"Now, watch how I cast it…" the big cat instructed. He slowly raised his right arm back behind and over his head, aimed, and then brought his hand down and in front of him quickly. The hook, attached to a black string stored under the black and yellow rod by a metal spinner and holders—both used to contain the string and guide its trajectory—was sent flying down the river, landing five feet away from them.
"Usually at this part, I wait for a fish to come by, but since there aren't any here…" the large cat said. He then started turning a crank on the spinner with string all around it; the hook with the bait slowly started returning to the fishing rod as a result.
"I'll be able to finish showing you what to do once we reach a large body of water. Come on, it's not too far from here."
"O-okay, mister. I'm a bit excited to know what comes next," the Lone Rider said.
"Ho ho, glad to hear. It's Big, by the way," the large cat clarified.
"Big?"
"Big the Cat," Big said.
"Oh! Nice to meet you, Mr. Big. I'm Lidelle, a student at Primp Magic School."
"Hm, haven't heard of that before. What were you doing out here? Were you on a field trip?"
"Y-yeah, actually. One moment, we were walking through some woods…" Lidelle's voice grew fainter as she recalled her last moments with her peers, the realization that she didn't know how she ended up here settling in her stomach with a loud Thunk!
"... and then… nothing, until I woke up here."
A/N: Fucking "RIDER" was Lidelle's translated name for faaaar too long- How tf do you look at a small, timid horned girl and get Rider? All jokes aside I'm genuinely curious-