They roll up the maps. “To give you a life without having to worry about Damyan’s influence everywhere. But now Damyan is M.I.A… which usually means he’s planning something. But he’s not a danger at the moment, so you can travel wherever. Just… don’t leave before Skystorm comes back, though.” They stick out their tongue playfully. “Don’t leave me here alone!” I laugh. “I won’t, I won’t!” I tell them. I push the tray over to them with my tail. “I don’t know where I’d go, anyway. And I’d need to pack medicinal supplies, et cetera.” I add as they pop a honeycomb in their mouth. “Oo, I think this is your best batch yet!” They say approvingly. I grin. “Really?” And they nod. “I should probably start on the chocolate,” I think out loud. “And you can help, that way we both have a welcome home present for mother.” Crystal scoots closer, stealing another honeycomb. “I’ll take you up on that offer!” They exclaim, and I pull over the basket of cacao beans for us to start breaking apart and grinding. “Go get the bowl and masher, Crys?” I ask, using my claws to puncture the outer shell and spill out the beans inside. “Hey, you’re ‘spilling the beans’!” They joke, opening the chest next to us and pulling out a big, smooth stone bowl and the rock crusher. “Good one, Crystal. Good one.” I laugh, pushing the spilled beans over to them. They use the crusher to mash the beans into a pulp and slide it into the bowl. I continue opening the cases of beans, sliding them over to Crystal to do their thing. Hours later, Crystal smashes the last beans and slides it into the now-filled bowl. “There.” I say triumphantly. “Now we put a bit of water in it, stir it, and add sugar!” Crystal nods and sets the bowl on their back, walking over to the stream-slash-river slicing through the middle of the clearing. They have to weave around the ancient ruins to get to it, and slide the bowl off their back. They dip just a little bit of one side in the river, getting just enough. They take it back over to me and I stir it with a claw. I pull the container of sugar I bought and pour it in, waiting one, two, three seconds before ceasing the flow. I stir it again, and walk over to the still-burning fire. I slide the batch of honeycombs into one of the compartments in my bag, and roll the fresh chocolate into little bite-sized balls and cubes. I line them up neatly on the tray, setting it onto the blazing fire. “Oh, I thought you freezed chocolate.” Crystal comments. I shrug. “I would if I had access to snow and ice, but I don’t. And this gives it the smokey flavor that I think makes my chocolate special!” I smile. Crystal nods. “Yeah, make it your own.” They say. They unroll one of the maps, frowning at it. “This makes no sense. We’ve searched the entire continent! Where could he be?” They growl. “Hey, I thought we were making chocolate over here! Not agonizing about an M.I.A conqueror!” I say playfully. They stick their tongue out at me. “Clearly there’s nothing really for me to do at the moment, so I’ll agonize until you need me again!” They retort. Suddenly we hear rustling in the bushes. Crystal rolls up the map and stands up, heading for the noise. A navy-blue wolf walks out of the bushes, shaking leaves out of her tail. She has amber eyes, and one is blinded with a scar. One of her ear tips is white, and her left back paw is white. “Hey,” she says. I jump to my paws. “Mother!” I call, rushing over to her and touching my nose to hers. “Skystorm! Hi!” Crystal greets warmly. “Hey, sparkle, don’t want your chocolate to burn. Gimme some Skystorm time!” I jump and rush back over to the chocolate and sniff them. They smell sweet, and slightly smokey. Yes! I use my tail to nudge the tray off the fire, accidentally singeing some of my fur in the process. “Oo, more chocolate, Diamond?” Mother asks. I nod. “Want some?” I offer. She smiles. “Not gonna turn down that offer.” She takes one, popping it in her mouth and trotting over to Crystal’s maps and taking a glance. “A map of Myria?” She asks. “You know Damyan is banished from that continent, right?” “When has he ever followed things like that?” Crystal mutters, a soft growl rumbling in their throat. “Fair point.” Boring. I work to slide the chocolate into my bag. Blah blah Damyan’s hard to find. Whatever. Doesn’t matter to me. “I’m gonna go for a walk through the forest,” I call. “I’ll be back!” “Have fun, sparkle.” Crystal says, marking things on the map. I trot into the forest, pouncing on bugs and such and sending them skittering into the dirt. I snicker, lashing my tail. The smells of the forest assault my nose, soil, rabbit, plants, such and… smoke? I freeze, spotting something in the undergrowth. Wait a second… weren’t all those things freed or something? Two glowing red eyes, staring at me from the undergrowth. “Diamond of the caves…” it hisses—which is weird, because wolves can’t hiss.
No way. I step back as it steps out. A wolf with swirling black goop over it and the glowing red eyes, looking sick or something. The Servants of Shadow?! Is Damyan still giving them orders?! “You’re coming with me.” Ewww, poor wolf! I didn’t think wolves were still getting infected! As it lunges for me, I jump back. No no! Don’t bite me! I turn tail, dodging another swipe at me, and sprint back the way I came. That’s when another bursts out of the bushes in front of me and blocks my path. I yelp, sliding to a stop. Not cool! I lash my tail, digging my claws into the soil. Both Servants are ready to attack, and I stay ready for just the right moment. Wait… NOW! I duck just as both lunge, instincts taking over. They crash into each other, and without thinking, I kick upwards with my back legs. Crystals sprout from who-knows-where and spears both. I yelp. Is Crystal here? Looking around, I don’t see them. Then how–? I scoot away from the speared bodies of them. Ohhh, poor things! They didn’t know they were trying to hurt me! They’re just infected! I didn’t mean to hurt you, I’m sorry! But I gotta go now! Before even more show up! I break into a run back the way I was heading, not wanting to lead anyone to Crystal and Skystorm. And I crash into someone. Again. FOR STAR’S SAKE. I feel strong jaws grip my scruff, heaving me to my paws. At first I think it’s more of Damyan’s Servants, and I scramble away. Shade flinches slightly. “Whoa! Okay. Are you okay?” I let out a relieved breath. “Thank the stars, it’s just you.” He snorts. “Why do you look so happy to see me? I was just tracking some Servants of Shadow and–” He looks past me, and his mouth drops open. “Okay… you just destroyed them. Cool.” “I didn’t mean to!” I yelp. “They just appeared and started attacking me, and I tried to get away, but they cut me off, and I did this freaky trick thing and crystals sprouted out of nowhere!” “The poor things didn’t know what they were doing! I didn’t want to hurt them!” “I’m not saying you did something bad, or anything.” He says quickly. “You were scared, that’s okay. I was just thinking it’s better if we keep as many alive as possible. We have a way to restore them.” “But that’s not important right now. Are you okay? They didn’t get you, did they?” He adds. I scan my fur. “No, I don’t think so?” Shade nods. “Good. Now… I believe I have some explaining to do with my squad leader.” My eyes fall onto a golden leaf earring he’s wearing now. “Oh! You’re a rebellion soldier?” “You just noticed that? I’d think the daughter of two important squad leaders would be able to notice immediately.” I shrug sheepishly. “Not really.” “Fair. Now we should get away before more come. Come on. Is there anyone back the way you came?” “Uh, yeah. My parents.” I say. “You didn’t mention that?!” He yelps. “They can take care of themselves, I’m sure. I’m just going for a walk. I was gonna loop around and go back to them.” I flick off a shiny beetle trying to make a burrow on my tail. Shade groans, walking back and passing the Servants of Shadow. I follow, listening as he mutters about being late and his squad leader yelling at them and crazy she-wolves not mentioning important things. I just reach into my pouch and eat a few honeycombs. We burst into the clearing, and Crystal jumps, falling off the tree where they were perched. Skystorm yelps. “That’s WHY you don’t sit in trees, Crys!” She squeaks. “Oh, hey Shade.”
