Chapter 8: Shadows

"Sue?"

The former student's mouth was left slightly agape as she processed the show that had just happened in front of her, the sheer power so casually displayed making her feel somewhat on edge. Were those... fighters? actors? performers? the exception, or was that how strong just everyone in here was? Was there anyone around here that couldn't break her body in half in one way or another-

"Sue?"

Another go was finally successful at snapping her out of her shock, Sue blinking a couple times before looking over to the side, Solstice eying her with a bit of concern.

"Are you okay?"

"I... yeah, I think sho. Just... didn't expect that."

Solstice nodded slowly and have her a light smile, reaching up to lightly pat her shoulder.

"Yeah, that's very understandable."

"It was sooooo cool!"

Spark's interjection made it hard for Sue to worry anywhere near as much, a shaky hand reaching down to continue stroking the kit's head after setting the other little one back down, sixth sense letting the once student know that Joy's reactions were somewhat similar to her own- though with less existential dread and more awe.

"Yeah, it was. M-makesh me wonder how did nobody get hurt."

"Practice, practice, practice. I'm sure they've rehearsed their entire routine in full over a dozen times before tonight, and if I know anything about Snowdrop, she made sure they had a plan for every single thing possibly going wrong."

Sue slowly nodded in response to Sundance's comment, the apparent precautions calming her down a bit, guess it wasn't as insane as it looked at a glance. Still, with the amount of flashy and extremely dangerous looking things suddenly happening in quick succession, she couldn't help but wonder just what would've happened if something did go wrong.

"I-I can imagine. Wouldn't it end horribly if someone did shlip up regardless though? That all looked really scary."

"It wouldn't be pretty and they'd need medical care, but there's no way they'd risk lethal injury like that in the first place."

"Plus- as Snowdrop told me outright a couple times, they're pulling their punches the entire time, they just know how to hide it."

Sue wasn't sure which of these responses confounded her further- the apparent fact that most of the creatures here could survive a burning kick, a thunderbolt, a literal stone spike erupting from the ground, or whatever the hell that laser was, or the casually admitted truth that this wasn't even the worst any of them could do and that presumably if they did put in their worst the results would be even flashier and more intimidating than that.

Plop literally anyone from here on Earth in medieval times and they'd be worshiped as a god.

"And I'm sure she won't mind chatting with you about that either Sue, if we can manage to find her in the crowd at least- but until then, let's not get this cooking get any colder now, eh~?"

As awestruck as everyone still might've been, Sundance's comment did a good job in snapping them back to the reality of having a delicious feast right in front of their faces. Comet tried to excitedly reach out towards the portion of small dumplings on the plate closest to him and his mom, even levitating a couple of them up in the air with his psychic magic before Solstice responded with her own glow, putting one back down.

"One at a time sweetie~. Oh, Spark, do you need help with getting things in reach?"

In her pondering, Sue hadn't even noticed how Spark was trying to reach for things on the table while on her lap, having to stand up on her hind legs and just barely reaching over onto the table with her front paws, ineffectually swatting at the nearby plates and bowls in lieu of asking for help. Or at least, until now when her mom's best friend brought attention to it.

"Yeah..."

"Don't you worry, your evolution is coming any day now and sooner or later all these struggles will turn into distant memories. Don't think there is much space left on the bench, do you mind if I place your bowl on the ground?"

"But then I won't be in Sue's lap- I, I mean, I won't be warming up Joy anymore!"

"I think Joy will manage a few minutes without your warmth Spark, especially with her also being busy eating. Speaking of- Joy, do you want me to help me move your portion to somewhere within reach too?"

The overly toothy creature to Sue's side jumped a bit at being directly addressed by the quasi-mayor of this entire village, getting suddenly snapped out of just taking all the different meals in passively. The newly transformed Forest Guardian could feel a pang of fear rock her small body, a similar one to when Sundance was addressing her back at Willow's clinic, making her instinctively wrap an arm around Joy and hold her a bit closer to the side.

Solstice herself wasn't all too sure what to do either, or why exactly was one of their newer arrivals spooked by her and Sundance all of a sudden- but regardless of why, she decided to play it safe and hopefully try to win some of the trust back, moving Comet to one arm, freeing the one closer to Sue and the little one, before carefully reaching her hand over, offering it to Joy.

"Joy, I promise you, you're absolutely welcome here. Everyone is, no matter their form or shape, and nobody's gonna hurt you here."

While the careful words seemed to be effective in their intended use, Joy loosening up her body language just a bit as she eyed Solstice's hand, Sue could feel another emotion coming from nearby- a brief, if quite noticeable blip of unamusement mixed with scoffing coming over from Sundance, though not vocalized or even displayed on her expression in any way.

So many questions, and Sue was starting to get the feel that most of them are the kind that you don't ask in polite company.

Fortunately, the little one beside her wasn't aware of any of them, the entirety of Joy's attention focusing on Solstice's green hand as she thought it all through, the Forest Guardian's gentle smile helping in making her less and less intimidating. Eventually, she slowly reached back with a hand of her own, the black limb only big enough to barely hold onto a single finger, but the gesture was appreciated all the same.

By both Solstice and Sue no less, the once human moving her light embrace to pet Joy's front head a couple times, a slight blush breaking out onto her face as she squirmed against her.

"So~ want me to move you something over there?"

This time, the little one's response was a timid nod as opposed to being paralyzed in fear- there was still a fair bit of reluctance in her actions and emotions of course, but not enough to make answering the question impossible at least. Joy looked around the table once more, hesitating for a moment before pointing over towards a plate of what looked like sugared fruit slices, confirming her selection with a shaky nod.

The mayor's smile grew that much wider as her eyes lit up, several pieces of candied fruit hovering over into a small wooden bowl, together with several bits of something healthier- a spoonful of a veggie salad, a crispy slice of bread, and a small cup of water to go with them, the latter getting left near the edge of the table as the rest levitated to rest beside Joy. As she was about to bite in, thankfully only with her front half, Sue got her attention with a light pat, failing to hold a large smile of her own.

"What do you shay when someone d-does something nice to you?"

She might not have been her parent, but if she had the opportunity to, there was no reason not to help in acclimatizing the wild child and helping her learn some manners. What Sue didn't expect to happen was for Joy to start staring up at her in utmost confusion, tilting her head as she mulled through the unintentional puzzle, the once human soon realizing that she literally didn't know.

As good an opportunity as ever to teach her!

"You say "thank you"."

The chompy tyke's reaction cemented the realization that she literally did not know prior to this, Joy slowly nodding in response as she turned over to look at Solstice, huddling closer to the friendly Forest Guardian next to her before opening her mouth-

And vocalizing a bit of gibberish, Sue left confused for a good moment before realizing Joy had attempted to repeat the actual words "thank you" the way Sue said them, her mouth completely tripping over several sounds, ending up with something almost incomprehensible. Solstice noticed too, similarly dumbfounded until Sue's thoughts helped her in piecing what had happened together, chuckling quietly before helping to correct her-

"Teehee, Sue doesn't speak the same language as the rest of us sweetie. We say it like "thank you"."

Sue had to concentrate and focus past the translation her psychic link with Solstice and Sundance was feeding her to pick out the actual sounds being uttered, the phrase sounding odd, almost as if it was being whistled out. Weird or not, it seems that Joy got the clue this time, nodding before giving it a shot herself-

"T-t-tha-thank y-y-you."

As understandable as the words were though, Sue's focus on the actual sounds everyone around her was making made her realize that what Joy had said wasn't even close to the way Solstice said it, the little one's sounds dry and slightly harsh, far from the smooth whistle, only the cadence of the sounds matching up.

"There you go~ and you're welcome sweetie, enjoy the feast~! And you too Sue, before it goes cold."

Solstice's response snapped Sue back out of the confused semi stupor, the mystery of the village's language added onto the mental confusion fort as she refocused on the delicious treats in front of her, her attention finally free from any distractions. Having no real leads aside from the two little ones' palates and her own empty stomach, she reached over to grab some fruit slices for herself, giving one a tentative bite.

Sue's attention immediately snapped down to Joy as she savored the bite, watching the little one nibble through a slice on her own, third eye confirming what the first two could see clearly, she was loving it. And... yeah, it did taste good, really good, but not really like something someone so young would usually have much of an appreciation for- what she thought was sugar turned out to be not that at all, the spice tasting very zesty and even a bit spicy instead, leaving behind itself a kind of warmth she usually associated with mulled wine if anything.

The fruit it was on wasn't anything she recognized either on a closer note- the insides looked vaguely citrusy, but the flavor didn't match any citrus she'd ever eaten, nowhere near sour enough to be any of them. Nor were any of them this pink, both on the inside and out. Part of her wondered whether it really was just animals that were different in this world, or whether the flora she was familiar with had doppelgängers on its own here but she just didn't know about plants to realize that.

The musings on the precise nature of this world's ecosystem could be left until bedtime however- Sue might not have focused too much on not having had anything since her rushed breakfast, but now that she took even a small nibble of some actual food, her body was more than keen on catching up food wise. The intensifying hunger made her grab some of the same dumplings Comet had, moving them over to her own plate and beginning to gorge herself on them.

Ooohhhh that crunch was satisfying. And so was the stuffing, mixture of boiled grains and roasted mushrooms in thick sauce that tasted almost like gravy- and even if Forest Guardian Sue was growing increasingly repulsed at even the thought of eating meat, the Human Sue inside her still remembered how good it tasted when done right, and this definitely scratched that itch. Goodness, she hadn't really thought of herself as being bad at cooking or anything- she made it work on a day to day basis even if it was all on the simpler side, but any of the meals in front of her made all her usual dinners feel like buttered toast bread in comparison, the difference between the richness and diversity of flavors was night and day.

She knew because eventually she ended up having a bite of every single dish presented on the table, continuing to feast even as the rest of the gathered group had slowed down, their chatter amongst themselves little more than background noise for Sue, her taste buds in heaven.

Even the drinks were so good! Some of it was just perfectly chilled water, yes, but the juice that was brought alongside it was somehow even better, combining flavors she most readily recognized as apple and mint without any of the usual cloying or unpleasant aftertaste they could leave, with just a teeny pinch of bitterness making it all that much more refreshing.

Hungry as she might've been, eventually Sue began to push her stomach closer and closer to fullness, increasingly heavy feeling head beginning to shift over from savoring every single meal back to pondering just what she was eating, full tummy making for sluggish thoughts as she spaced out. Right as she was about to pour herself another glass of this juice, Sue felt her shoulder get shaken lightly, making for a somewhat startling return to reality as she blinked at the scene around her.

"Hmm? S-sorry, I must've shpaced out bad..."

"Oh you very much did, hah!"

Willow's comment made Sue blush in light embarrassment as the glanced around the now much emptier looking table and the beings that sat at it. Joy was long since done with her portion and had since dozed off in the meantime, resting her head and its large back maw on her lap in a way Sue was baffled she hadn't noticed at all until now, Comet was similarly sleeping in his mom's arms, and Spark was... absent, seemingly.

"It's all good Sue, you really must've been starving, hah."

"Yeah, I haven't had anything shince breakfast..."

"No wonder you cleaned up half the table then. Sating that kind of hunger is its own trance and I would know."

Sundance smirked, helping Sue feel a bit better about it all as Solstice spoke-

"Shook you out of it since Snowdrop is around, and I got a feel you had wanted to chat with her about the show she and the rest of her team put on."

The words helped in waking Sue up even more, her eyes darting around the nearby tables, finding most cleaned up of any food and some even beginning to empty outright, eventually stumbling onto the mostly white figure she saw perform on stage. Getting to see her from closer up made what already looked like weird anatomy go weirder still, the two extensions she had identified as arms seeming to sprout from where ears would usually be. She also appeared to have a couple stubby horns made out of honest to god ice, the sum total of her appearance surreal and tapdancing on the line between ethereal, intimidating, and slightly goofy.

She was presently chatting with someone at another table, one of the massive gray rhino-like creatures she saw topple trees around the construction site the other day, the big one's expressions making it look like they got shot down, nervous smile faltering more and more.

"Should I call her over for you?"

Sue gulped at the idea a tad- the icy coordinator just deciding to float over and chat with the whole table while giving her an opportunity to get a question in or two was one thing, but calling her over just for herself put much more of a spotlight on her, making her feel slightly uneasy. No other way to have her questions answered and she was surrounded by friends though, can't ask for a better opportunity to get used to being more social...

"Shure."

The once human reached down to pet the sleeping toothy creature as she waited for Snowdrop to float over- Joy was no Spark in regards of how comfortable petting her felt, but it was nice in its own right, and when it laid inert like that, even the flat top of the maw looked pettable, the couple tentative motions making the sleeping one try to snuggle over closer to her-

*whistle*

The sound originating from right next to her made Sue jump a bit, glancing over to see Solstice use that particular way of making noise as means of catching Snowdrop's, and quite a few others' attention, keeping it quiet enough to where it was only barely above the din surrounding them, melodic enough to not wake either of the two little ones up, but noticeable enough to accomplish its purpose. The icy creature and the gray rhino next to her turned to look at them, but Snowdrop got the cue that it was about her, quickly wrapping up her chit chat and starting to hover over, the initially inscrutable expression shifting into a smile, seeming at her sight.

"Good evening ma'am~ enjoyed the show~?"

Sue sure didn't expect a creature this ethereal looking to sound so... playful.

"Good evening Snowdrop, and hah, how could I not, your performances are always excellent- my poor heart doesn't always agree though, especially with how risky some of that looked."

"It's all about looking risky indeed~. How can I help you~?"

"Well~ it was Sue here's first time watching a show like that, and she was really impressed and had some questions for you if you don't mind."

Snowdrop's attention shifted from one Forest Guardian to the other, expression getting softer the more of Sue she took in, with one of the ear... hands lifting to give her a little wave, one that Sue soon reciprocated, feeling a little weird at being eyed like that, though she wasn't sure if it was good weird or bad weird.

"Ah, I see~ Oh! Goodness forgive me for not recognizing you sooner, you're the one that saved little Spark, no~?"

Sue simply nodded, squirming a bit at her heroic feat getting brought up again while she continued to pet Joy all the while.

"Well, I've got all the time in the world for you then~. Pleasure to meet you Sue, what would your cute face want to know~?"

...her cute face?

If Sue wasn't busy being dumbfounded by the tone of the question, she would've been able to notice the rest of the table beginning to hold in giggles at her reaction to Snowdrop's tone, instead pushing past it to try to get some of her previous curiosity answered.

"Umm... how d-do you ensure that nobody getsh hurt?"

Sue could tell Snowdrop was briefly confused by the way she spoke, having to fully rely on the mental link to get any meaning out of her gibberish, but shook it off quickly afterwards and got to answering-

"Well that's an awfully wide question~. Though, broadly speaking, it all reduces to deliberately missing when we can, keeping track of each other's cues, and putting in as little power as we can while maintaining appearances~. A stage like that has its advantages, since everyone is looking from broadly the same angle and from below, so we can move on slightly different planes~."

Snowdrop demonstrated what she meant, lifting both "hands" so that their "palms" faced her before beginning to slide them past each other, the gap between them so small it looked like they were on the same plane and about to bump into each other- until they didn't, breaking the illusion.

"Very important to keep on dodging to maintain the spectacle~."

The weird tone did continue, but at least now she was getting her answers, Sue nodding firmly as her curiosity was being sated, pressing on-

"I-I see. And what was that about putting in little power, pulling your punchesh- how's that work?"

"Tsk~ tsk~ tsk~ I can't just go and reveal all my secrets to anyone who asks now~, not with so many people around~. Though, that latter fact could get remedied if you'd like~."

Sue's initial train of thought went to someplace much, much darker than was intended, Sundance almost spitting her drink at overhearing it before the former student began to catch onto Snowdrop's actual meaning- so she'd tell her at someplace with not as many people around, and was offering her that, so probably a walk or something, possibly on their own-

...

...was she being... hit on?

Sue's face went flush at the thought, wide eyes glancing over at Sundance, the fiery vixen firmly nodding at her to confirm her hunch, leaving Sue in a position she'd never been in in this world or the previous one. The one that followed was one she thought she would never have to be in either, stammering as she responded-

"I-I- umm- I-I'm sorry Snowdrop, I don't- I don't shwing that way."

She wasn't even sure whether that was the case really, but even if it wasn't, she was gonna need better circumstances than suddenly being put on the spot like that to begin untangling her feelings about romantic attraction like that. It took both psychics near her some combined effort to translate the meaning of her phrase over to Snowdrop, Sue's heart sinking a tad as she watched the icy performer sigh in defeat, her expression deflating in a way indicating that this wasn't the first, or even the tenth time this has happened to her.

"That's alright. Oh well. Wish finding someone was easier..."

Snowdrop looked down at the table dejectedly, motion in her peripheral vision catching her attention once more before she waved back over to the rest of her crew.

"I'll have to be going now. Though, if you ever want some more of your curiosity answered, or... anything else, I'll be around Sue~. Until then, have a good night you all."

"Take care Snowdrop- that show was really something."

"Aww thank you Willow~ we wouldn't have been able to go as far as we did if not for your first aid lessons, really made us more comfortable with pushing the limits. Oh, hey there Sparkie~"

Snowdrop's departing comment caught Sue's attention as she heard Spark's vulpine bark responding to it, the fiery little one finishing her dash back to the table soon afterwards and climbing back up onto the bench next to Sue, about to climb onto her lap before realizing it was occupied, tail waving all the while.

"Sue, Sue! My friends wanna meet you, wanna come over and say hi?"

Sue was taken aback a bit at Spark opening with that, but on a second thought, she really wasn't opposed to that at all- though there were some obvious issues with that idea, ones Sundance immediately vocalized-

"Sweetie, couldn't they come here? It's much harder for Sue to walk than them."

"I knoooowww, but their parents won't let them! They're not too far from here though!"

"Will you all even be able to communicate with Sue? Maybe I should come too-"

"No no, we have a psychic that can talk with her! Please mom, pleeeeease~"

Sundance just rolled her eyes and chuckled- sure, sure, don't want herself to get embarrassed in front of her friends.

"It's not me who you should be asking for this sweetie~. If Sue is alright with it, then so am I."

Even in the dim lighting, Spark's puppy eyes were as super effective as ever, Sue just sighing before giving the fiery pup a big smile, hand reaching down to stroke her head as she rolled her shoulders after a couple hours of sitting in one place.

"Sure, sure~. Just need to- to get Joy off my lap and I can come."

"Yayayayay!"

While Spark wriggled in joy, Joy was carefully lifted up with Solstice's magic onto her own lap, the brief period in between making her stir just a bad, but ultimately the little one's rest remained uninterrupted. With that adorable weight off of her lap, Sue could pick herself up, sliding over to the edge of the bench before grabbing her crutch, stretching for a moment more and picking herself back up off of the seat, full tummy and exhaustion making her feel even less mobile than usual.

"Follow me!"

And follow Spark she did, slowly picking up pace as her arm got warmed up again, the fiery kit leading her between tables, small firepits, other beings of all shapes and sizes making their way around, most likely back to their homes, and occasional groups of sleeping creatures, her passage barely catching any eyes at this point. She did spot the leafy caretaker she'd met a couple times by now at one of the tables, seeming to be chatting with a couple other vaguely insectoid looking creatures, all of them similarly oversized.

Splitleaf might not have noticed her passing by, but Hazel did, Sue and the ghostly prankster's eyes meeting briefly before the once human took a closer look at the situation the ghost was in, gently petting Poppy who laid asleep on the bench and partially on the ghost's lap, her motions slow and affectionate. For once, it was Hazel that was flustered, looking away from Sue's direction while not ceasing her affection even slightly, the Forest Guardian just giving them a soft smile as she walked by.

Okay, yeah, even Hazel could be cute.

Sue didn't have too long left to linger on that topic though, Spark taking a sudden turn away from all the festivities soon after, looking over her shoulder to see whether her big friend was still following her before making her way into almost pitch black treeline, making Sue pause.

"Shpark?"

She knew that the kit couldn't understand her, but the question in her voice was still clear enough, the little one scrambling back out of the foliage to gesture for her to follow her again, woofing a couple more times afterwards with urgency in her voice. In absence of any communication, it was the best Sue was gonna get, sighing before taking a hesitant step into the dark, then another, then another, moving as slowly as she could lest she accidentally trip on a sneaky root or another and collapse without anyone to pick her up.

"Spark, wh-where are you taking me..."

The answer turned out to be just a few meters ahead, the kit stopping and turning around in the dark, her fiery eyes piercing the dark enough for Sue to make them out as she closed the final few feet between them, taking yet another step-

Before flinching at the sudden light that hit, almost throwing her off balance as she shielded her eyes from the small bonfire just a couple feet in front of her that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. After recovering from being so suddenly startled, she could take a look at what was going on in here, her new surroundings providing many fewer answers than they did further questions. Spark was still here, scrambling over to nuzzle her leg in hopes of calming her down, but she wasn't alone- not too far from her sat the lil' dark fox she'd seen a couple times by now, as invisible to her sixth sense as always, a faint blue sheen filling their eyes as they looked up at her with an excited expression.

The other creature around the fire was not necessarily harder to describe, but for sure harder to make any sense of anatomically. They appeared to be mostly composed of a... large pastel colored hat, reminding her of something Merlin might've wore, with a small, pinkish, humanoid body just hanging from underneath it in a way Sue couldn't imagine was in any way comfortable, almost pinprick-like eyes staring at her curiously. The whole body appeared to be supported on the two bluish extensions from the back of the hat of this hat creature, looking kinda like braids, kinda like hands, and more than kinda like neither.

While she was gawking at them, Sue began to feel a rather uncomfortable wriggling in her mind, not too dissimilar from the sensation she felt after waking up back at the clinic before Sundance first spoke to her, but feeling clumsy, uncoordinated, and more than a bit painful, her free hand reaching up to rub the side of her head. Thankfully, it was over before long, pain fading and being replaced by a very high pitched, very squeaky, very girly voice that reached her mind-

"^Okay I got it! She can hear you now Pollux!^"

"Yes! Thank you thank you thank you Thistle!"

Before Sue could process the words, the grey fox had scrambled over to her and began nuzzling her legs not too differently than how Spark did it, the combined affection making it a bit difficult to keep standing, forcing the once human to take a look around her surroundings. She carefully took a couple steps over before sitting down on a nearby fallen log, both foxes scrambling up beside her, with the hat creature following soon after, walking up to her side and seeming to wince in pain as a result, one braid reaching up to rub the side of its hat-

"^S-so many people...^"

Overwhelming as the scene might've been, everything began to click into place soon after, the darker fox, apparently named Pollux continuing in the outpouring of their- or judging by the boyish voice she had heard, his- affection, in much the same way as Spark did up until now, eventually looking up at her with an excited expression.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you Sh-s-Shue! We were goners if not for you, I-I was s-so scared, a-a-and-"

The excitement in his voice began to crack at the recollection of that almost tragic day, words stopping as he pressed his increasingly teary snout into her side, Spark pressing herself into him to counteract the terrible memory with her own warmth. Sue didn't need to see anything more to spring into action herself, one hand reaching to pet Pollux as the other resumed its Spark subroutine, the darker kit much more unused to the sensations, jumping lightly at her touch, before eventually calming back, and huddling even closer.

"Y-yhou're w-welcome P-Pollux."

The little one sniffled for a bit as he calmed back down, the hatted creature scrambling in closer themselves all the while, eventually climbing up onto the empty space on Sue's other side, observing the scene with as big of a smile as their tiny face could contain.

"...a-and I-I'm sorry f-for stealing your P-Pecha..."

Guess now she knew the name of at least one of the fruits here.

Sue couldn't help but giggle tiredly at Pollux deciding to apologize for that after all- which she did definitely appreciate, she well remembered how badly all that had spooked her, even if now she knew that the only thing the little shit that stole her peaches wanted to do with her now was cuddle. She made sure to reflect her appreciation through her pets, Pollux's fur nowhere near as soft or warm as Spark's, but still comfy to snuggle into, the little one calming back down all the while.

"Apology accepted~."

"I-I just thought it was Solstice and d-didn't see the difference until after..."

The recently transformed Forest Guardian didn't comment on that, filing that admission into a mental drawer to come back to later- right now the little ones needed affirmation, and she could use some answers about what was going on here, starting with their talents-

"It's okay, it's okay. I-I've gotta shay, I've never ran into someone that can do what you did, with that d-disguise and all..."

The comment perked Pollux back up, his expression turning more playful and even a bit sly as he repeated his feat from the previous day, turning into the orange striped lion-dog once more- but only for a moment this time, resuming his former appearance afterwards.

"Hehehe~ we're hard to find with our illusions~. And Spark told us you're from really far away!"

"^Yeah! And that there are only Normal types and Forest Guardians there- does that mean you've never seen a Dark type before?^"

The hat creature's high pitched words inadvertently helped Sue steer the conversation over towards where she wanted it to actually go, the once human nodding firmly in response.

"^See! I told you Pollux!^"

"No way! Really!?"

"Mhm~. You gave me a bit of a shcare!"

"Teeheehee... s-sorry."

"Don't worry P-Pollux, it's okay. I'm glad I finally got to meet you. Though- you're not a D-Dark type, are you~?"

Sue turned to look at the hat creature on her other side, a quieter moment letting her lean further into her tugging sense, both confirming her suspicion and letting her realize that they weren't just not Dark, but a fellow Psychic, answering yet another riddle- namely how were they all even talking right now.

"^Of course not, didn't you feel me connecting us all?^"

She gulped quietly, realizing only in hindsight how weird of a question by someone who'd supposedly been a Psychic her entire life it was to ask, trying to justify it somehow-

"I-I did, I-I just wasn't shure, I've never seen a- a you either."

"^I can tell, you're not scared! My name is Thistle!^"

The immense whiplash between Thistle's upbeat tone and the incredibly unnerving implication of her message felt like it slapped Sue across the face, making her blink her confusion away as she stared at the cotton candy colored hat-girl, asking the obvious once she'd recovered-

"...wh-why would I be shcared of you?"

"^My mom told me our kin is really mean and aggressive in the wild and almost everyone is scared of us because of that...^"

Having to explain it like that finally poked a hole in Thistle's enthusiasm, some of it escaping as she talked on, excitement turning into more somber, sadder feelings. Sue was still confused as all hell- her brain having a rather hard time imagining the goofy pastel Psychic next to her acting aggressive in any way, or being scary for that matter. That didn't stop her desire to cheer Thistle back up, slowly reaching a hand over to try to pet her- and realizing that she wasn't sure where it was fine for her to touch. What in the world was this hat-like growth anyway-

"^That's my hair! And anywhere on it is fine!^"

That was the one answer she absolutely wasn't expecting, but the clarification was nice she supposed. After how subtle Sundance and Solstice were, she was not expecting the very next Psychic she'd end up meeting to be so nonchalant about acting on her thoughts, making Sue hesitate a bit before shaking it off- she really doubted a little girl this frank and cheerful would do it out of any malicious reason. With her newly received explanation, she could begin petting along the large blue "brim" of the hair "hat", the surface feeling much closer to skin than bundled up hair to the touch. At least she could be sure the little one was enjoying that, Thistle's pinprick eyes closing in response as she lightly swayed in place.

Three different kiddos to pet, a nearby campfire- as unnerved as she was walking here, this little scene turned out to be much more pleasant than she could've hoped, letting Sue close her eyes for a bit and try to savor it all as she dispensed affection indiscriminately. Before long though, the burning question on her mind reared its head up again, making her finally speak up-

"So, why are we hiding here-"

The louder call coming from somewhere behind her made Sue jump in her seat, a glance behind her letting her barely make a figure looking over towards them from the edge of the clearing. Pollux's and Thistle's reaction was instantaneous, all the firewood comprising the bonfire getting suddenly suspended in an intense pink glow and smothered in a split second as they took off into the pitch black tree line, Spark barking something back at the voice while scrambling off off of the log Sue was sitting on, the Forest Guardian just left stunned at the abruptness of it all, frozen in place.

It was only the little firefox gently yanking at one of the flaps of her skin dress that finally snapped Sue out of her startle, eyes needing a hot moment to get used to the absence of light again and spot where she'd left her crutch before she shakily got up, following Spark out of the dark woods and back into the light, somehow managing to be end up even more confused than before. What they were doing here in the first place? Why so close to the village? Why did Thistle run too? How come nobody noticed them sooner? How come she didn't see the bonfire until she was right next to it? Could hair that looked so hat-like really be called hair anymore?

And of course, the question at the root of it all- why was Pollux hiding from the village like that in the first place?

In her dejected pondering, she almost didn't notice the appearance of the creature that startled them all in the first place, which would've been one hell of a feat had she managed to keep that up. The red, angular head stood out right away, the expression looking angry if anything, but not matching the largely confused emotional state she felt the creature emanate. Sue had no idea just what they were- part of her thought dragon, another part of her thought something closer to gargoyle, the end result of a mishmash like that intimidating if nothing else, though the contrast between that fiercely red head and the dark blue body was a bit amusing.

Thankfully for her, Spark took all the talking upon herself as the gargoyle dragon escorted them back over to their table, thankfully splitting up at some point, letting them complete the trek on their own, a fact that Spark in particular found greatly relieving. Quite a few tables were completely empty now, many creatures now cleaning up after themselves, various wooden dishes getting moved back towards the pantries, both Poppy's and others that stood next to hers.

Who would've thought, bestial freaks of nature having better table manners than most of her college year.

Which included their table of course, all of it having been cleaned up in the meantime, seemingly together with Willow, the medic gone from the scene by the time they got back, Sundance visibly sighing in relief after they walked back into view, wasting no time before linking them back up-

"Goodness Spark, where were your friends at, the Central City?"

"Sorry! Driftwind's family was almost at the other end of the clearing, it took us a while to get there!"

Sue rolled her eyes a bit at the blame for them being gone for so long as indirectly placed on her, though Spark blatantly lying like that was also noted- she had no idea whether either her mom or Solstice had noticed or whether they had already been too tired for that- even if they did, they didn't show that in any obvious way at least.

"Alright, alright~. High time for us to start heading home as well, isn't it?"

"Y-yeah-yaaawnn-"

Now that they were back with their group, excitement quickly drained from both Spark and Sue, replaced in both cases with exhaustion, but also with some nervousness in the latter case, nervousness at all the unanswered questions that continued to swirl around under her skullcap, questions she was quickly growing too tired to think much on. Instead, she took a closer look at Solstice as Sundance got up from the table, the other Forest Guardian herself looking like she was only keeping herself awake through the sheer force of will, the two sleeping ones in her arms and on her lap sure not helping any.

"Mrs. Solstice, what about you? Aren't you and Sue going to bed too?"

Spark's question helped in staving Solstice's sleep off that bit more, the village's mayor yawning and stretching as she switched to telepathy to answer-

"^We are- just waiting for Astra to come pick Joy up and we'll be heading out too- oh there she is, thank the gods.^"

Sue followed Solstice's line of sight, looking over her shoulder and up at the sky, spotting a large silhouette approaching them fast, much larger than almost any other creature she'd seen in this place so far. Their size and speed made her back a couple steps as they landed near, wings blowing a couple gusts while she came to a stop. Now that she could finally take a closer look at the scout, she realized she'd already seen her before, if very briefly- and while the orange coloration was still as nonthreatening as it was those couple days ago, the sheer size advantage Astra had on everyone else and the draconic parts of her soft appearance did their best to make up for that. The satchel she wore on her side was big enough to act as a full on hiking backpack for someone Sue's size, for crying out loud.

"Phew, finally back home- oh no, don't tell me I missed it all!"

She didn't expect the dragon to be so soft spoken considering her size- or to be so outwardly disappointed at the prospect of missing out on that ceremony, whole body slumping forwards with a loud groan as Solstice's nod confirmed her hunch.

"And I didn't even find anything of note... is there at least some food left?"

"Mhm~ Poppy saved a hearty amount of it for you, though you'll have to find her or Hazel to see where they'd stashed it."

"At least there's that, hah- oh no, Joy! Where's-"

The dragon's eyes went wide at the realization she'd left the little one without anyone to look after her for so long, about to get panicky before spotting the toothy tyke snoozing on Solstice's lap, careful telekinetic touch lifting her up and moving her over into Astra's arms, the dragon's embrace surprisingly gentle considering her massive size. She couldn't help but not notice the bandage wrapped around Joy's maw, the sight making her gasp as Solstice explained-

"She's alright, but some other kids got physical with her and hurt her a bit, doubt she'll want to spend much time with them on her own now."

Astra was aghast at the news, holding the little one that much closer in response, expression and emotional state in a superposition of anger and sadness.

"Oh gods, I'm s-so sorry. It all took so long, I had to dodge thunderstorms on my way back, couldn't fly as fast because one of the snow people thought it'd be oh so funny to toss an Icicle Spear my way- and Joy got hurt a-and I couldn't be there for her, and-..."

She choked on her words a bit, voice wavering, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

"I-I can't split myself like that... I-I don't know wh-what to do..."

Solstice took a deep breath, holding her own little one closer to herself, having little concrete in terms of advice for the scout in the immediate moment, but wanting to reassure her none the less, walking over to her and gently laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Take the next few days off Astra, scouting new lands can wait a bit longer. But you're right, we'll need to think of something in the long term, or someone..."

The mayor glanced up at Sue, thinking of how fond Joy was of her, gears in her head turning at the idea- though that came with its own host of issues, especially if Sue's stay would indeed turn out to be ultimately temporary. Still, it was something to consider.

Consider tomorrow in either case.

"But- we can do that tomorrow, no need to rush anything more today. We all deserve rest first, you especially."

The dragon scout nodded at Solstice's response wordlessly, a couple tears rolling down her cheek as she held Joy as close as she could, deep breathing slowly calming her back down.

"Okay. Okay. Tomorrow. I'm- I'm sorry for all this-"

"Don't be Astra, you did all you could, I don't doubt that one bit. I wish I could say that of the rest of us. Take care, and may She keep your rest peaceful."

"M-mhm. Y-you too Solstice, a-and Sundance, and Spark, and Comet, and-"

Sue's eyes finally met the dragon's, the fiery fox helping the latter out as she walked over, almost asleep Spark already in her arms.

"Sue. The Forest Guardian you rushed back to the village."

Astra's eyes shot even wider at that, exhaustion making it that much harder to connect the dots between the bloodied, muddied and otherwise grimy being she helped save just a few days ago and the unassuming Forest Guardian next to her. Sue's eyes shot wide as she was suddenly pulled into a massive hug, Astra thankfully orienting her so that she wouldn't inadvertently end up stabbing her with the chest-mounted extremity.

"YOU'RE ALRIGHT! Oh my gosh I kept thinking of you while flying back and forth, you got hurt so bad and I was so worried but I never had the time to check up on you and you're alright, oh my gods I'm so happy you're alright. That looked so scary."

The emotional outburst almost overwhelmed Sue's sixth sense, but she was too preoccupied by trying to return the hug to care, her one free arm wrapping around as much of the dragon as she could, managing maybe one fourth of her torso as her own emotions suddenly swelled. She was much too tired and much too small to even come close to returning the embrace, but that didn't mean she couldn't try goddammit, her own tears slowly dripping down her cheek.

"Yeah, I'm alright! I-I can't thank you enough for helping me there, I-I thought I was dead there, I-I-"

Lacking any words, Sue tried to hold Astra even more, once more not accomplishing much- the gesture was appreciated much the same though, a large, scaly, surprisingly soft arm holding her close in return.

"You're welcome! I just happened t-to be at the right place, at the right time... and from what Spark told me, so did you to save her, right Spark?"

Little fox's only response to that was snoring, having lost the battle with her own body in the meantime, everyone still awake gathered giggling or chuckling at the adorable sound.

"I think she's got the right idea~ we can wait with all the thanks until tomorrow too."

Astra nodded shakily, slowly letting go of Sue, the once-human quickly stabilizing herself on her crutch, staring up at the dragon with an expression full of gratitude, the latter clearly wanting to say something more, but deciding to keep her words to herself for now, just nodding deeply in affirmation instead.

"Tomorrow."

"Mhm~ and seeing how much Joy liked Sue today, I've little doubt she'll try to drag you over to meet her anyway, hah!"

The dragon's expression turned to brief surprise, looking between the little one sleeping soundly in her arms and the still-relatively-rather-small-one she helped save nearby, really wanting to express her happiness at that development- but the resolve to wait until tomorrow held, an almost comically large smile filling her face instead.

"Yeah. T-tomorrow. Sleep well Sue, a-and... thank you so much."

Astra finally collected herself enough to take to flight again, holding Joy as close as she could as she flew towards another corner of the clearing, eyes scanning the area for either half of the couple. Sue wouldn't get to see whether she'd end up finding them though, Sundance worldlessly tapping her shoulder and tilting her head to get her to follow them out of the clearing and back further into the village.

Guess all the lanterns she saw the previous were indeed lampposts after all- though she had no more of an idea of what they housed inside them than when she first looked at them. "Fireballs" was an answer of course, but not one that really explained much of anything at all, especially with how weird they looked, hue seeming to waver between anything from red and purple, usually sticking closer to the former, thankfully.

Their walk back over towards the clinic was short and uneventful, the settlement feeling so different like this compared to daytime- so much quieter on all her senses, so much more serene, nowhere near as alive, and yet, just as oddly safe. A glance skyward revealed a brightly glowing crescent moon smiling down at them all from amidst a sea of stars, the sight deeply comforting in a way Sue couldn't hope to fully describe.

"Even at her weakest, Her visage is full of splendor, isn't it?"

Sue nodded automatically to Solstice's words, needing a couple moments afterwards to actually consciously decipher their meanings, thankfully ending up fully agreeing with her initial reaction, even if the extent of religious reverence in the mayor's words felt odd. She didn't have too much time to think about that though, the clinic coming into view shortly afterwards, the group stopping in front of it as Solstice addressed her again-

"It was a pleasure to finally meet you Sue. My schedule is much clearer tomorrow, so if you'd want, you could pick your lessons back up with me after breakfast- how's that sound?"

"I'd love to, th-thank you."

"Wonderful. See you tomorrow Sue, may She keep your rest peaceful."

"Good night Sue."

"You too..."

With a by now well practiced motion, Sue managed to scramble through the doorway once more, the light pouring in through the window only barely sufficient for her to navigate over to the bed. Her exhausted body gave into the desire for rest the moment her head connected with the pillow, not even having noticed her crutch banging loudly against the floor moments afterwards. The two women outside doubled back to check up on Sue at overhearing that, only finding her already falling into a deeper and deeper sleep with each passing moment, the sight bringing a smile to both their faces.

Deeper and deeper, darker and darker...