52 Phase 44: Different Paths

"Colin, we can't send you any help." Abby said grimly. "Nothing we have in your area can stand up to their guns. If you can get to the Comrade Home, the Breeders…"

"I can't!" Colin said. "They came up and down the road. The river too. They're using spaceships!"

"We know. They shot down our shuttle, remember?"

"Yeah." Colin grunted, pedalling for all he was worth.

He had been cycling through the forest, but the bike wouldn't go much farther. The trees were getting too thick.

Flying saucers passed by overhead, looking for him. Every time he heard them coming, he stopped under the thickest trees around. The thick leaves hid him from them.

{I'll never outrun those saucers. I have to hide. That means…}

Colin left the bike behind with a grimace. "Come on, guys."

Rall and Bubba, sitting in the sidecar, heaved identical sighs. Fireheart and Sonia, running along the other side, gave them flat looks. Kirin, trailing behind with Raiki on her back, nudged them forward.

Colin glanced at Shiro, sitting on his shoulder. "Any ideas?"

They were going deep into the South Sunshine Forest. It was either that, or cross to the East Sunshine Forest. At least here he might make it to Granath, or stop by the Forester's Hut. If nothing else, there was the Chasm of Wind.

Abby, thinking that Colin was addressing her, said, "You can try hiding out with the Megants."

"The MEGANTS?!" Colin jumped. "You want me to crawl into a giant ants' nest?!"

"Well, the Forester has a way of going right in without being attacked. He's the reason we know about the Queen and Drones and Princesses. He even brought out a pair, but they didn't like each other, so breeding Megants in Comrade Homes never took place. Most of us prefer it that way. He's our main supplier of their larvae."

"What's the use of going into an ants' nest?" Colin asked. "If they find out I'm there, they'll just shoot their way in. Or smoke me out."

"Well, if you have a better idea, let's hear it! I'm getting reports from Sunshine Town and Granath Town also. People there are banding together against the Green Men, but it's clear that the saucers there are just keeping an eye out and staying well out of range."

{So much for trying to reach Granath Town.}

"Scarlet was at Maro City. If we can get her to step in…"

"She might have a fighting chance." Abby agreed. "But I heard that she was at Maro airport late last night. She took a flight to the Eternal Winter continent with May."

{May…} Colin winced. He never managed to meet up with her. Too late now. She was going to be sore at him for that.

He glanced back the way he came and was startled to see a big black column of smoke rising.

{The Farm?! They're burning Ed's Farm?!}

***

Katrin saw the smoke over the news broadcast.

{Edward's Farm… it's gone…}

"I don't think insurance covers that." Someone observed.

{I'm too far away now. There's nothing I can do. }

{What do those Green Men want?! Why did they come to our farm?! }

{They knew where to find us. Were they looking for me? Or Colin? Or both? How did they know where we were?!}

"Colin…" Katrin said, looking at the sea from Port Frichi. A notification was coming from her Traveler's Watch.

{Home Base destroyed. Set New Starting Location: Here? Nearest Town Center? Rented Room?}

"Here." Katrin said simply, and her new starting location was fixed to the Port itself.

***

Colin, too, received that notification.

"Uh…" He frowned. "Here?"

{Current site not valid for a starting location.}

"Where's the nearest Town Center?"

{Nearest Town Center is Granath Town bazaar.}

"Do I have a rented room?"

{No rented room registered. Please rent one at a hotel or Comrade Home.}

Colin groaned. "Do I have to decide now?"

{New starting location is required to be set before the night is over. Failure to do so sets last valid position as default.}

He breathed easier, and made his way south through the forest, wondering what in the world he was to do, or where he was to go.

{Maybe Abby has a point. Maybe the best place to hide is a place they wouldn't even think of looking for me. I should talk to the Forester about it… if he's back.}

Colin's watch beeped. He hesitated before taking the call, as if it might risk him being discovered somehow. "Yes?"

"Colin." Edward sounded weak.

"Edward! Are you all right?"

"I died. I hate dying." Edward coughed.

"Yeah. Me too." Colin trailed off. "Who killed you?"

"I did. Made one of them shoot me so I could escape by dying." Edward let out a short chuckle. "I'm safe now."

"But… the farm…"

"Don't go back." Edward said shortly. "Colin, they knew your name."

Colin froze. That was how they got Rita. They knew her name.

{And now they know mine.}

"What about Katrin…?"

"They knew her name too." Edward said slowly. "Colin, I think you should do what you wanted."

"What do you mean?" Colin asked.

"Remember what you said the first time I asked you to stay with me? You said you were a Traveler. You said you should focus on Traveling."

"I did." Colin remembered. "And I've still been Traveling…"

"You've been training." Edward said. "Doing missions, making money and collecting points. You've been investigating and trying to save people, and you've become a Justice Knight, which is good, but…"

Colin fell silent. Edward was right. Somewhere along the line, he'd lost sight of his original goals and intentions.

{And now I don't have a choice. My home base is destroyed. The Green Men are looking for me. They know my name. I have to keep moving, mustn't stay in one place for too long. I have to Travel.}

"How's Katrin?" Colin asked, finally.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since last night." Edward answered. "I'll call her. You should too."

"Yeah. I'll call her once I get to somewhere safe." Colin cut the link, and stood there, looking at his Traveler's watch (which was also his phone, compass, map, journal and a whole bunch of other stuff).

Shiro darted down from his shoulder, stepped forward and glanced at Colin. "Yip."

"You want me to follow?" Colin guessed easily.

"Yip."

Shiro led them south-east, away from Granath, away from the Forester's Hut, deeper into the South Sunshine Forest. Colin didn't need to guess where Shiro was headed.

{He's taking us to the Chasm of the Winds.}

{What's going to happen to all my other Comrades? Only he and Raiki can get in with me. But the Green Men are watching the roads and the towns. I have to get away, and that Chasm might be a way through the Mountains.}

The Forest seemed restless. As another pair of saucers swooped overhead, Colin saw more and more Wilds stir around him. All of them seemed nervous.

{Mustn't step into someone's nest or den. They're so nervous, they'll attack me at once.}

"Shiro…" Colin began.

"Yip." Shiro said quietly. Colin paused, then nodded. Shiro understood the need to avoid fights too.

Carefully, they Traveled together, Dreamer and Comrades, through the forest, until the saucers no longer flew overhead, until Colin wondered if they were already through the mountains and hadn't realized it yet. All he could see around him were trees.

But at last, they started seeing fog, and Colin knew that they weren't far from the Chasm. They took a short break.

"I haven't seen any saucers for a while." Colin noted. "I don't think they can search the whole forest for us, even if they decided to come on foot. I think we're safe for now."

He called Katrin.

"Colin?" Katrin sounded worried. "Are you all right?"

"For now. You?"

"I'm on a ship, heading north." Katrin said. "I saw what happened to the Farm. Colin, I…"

Colin waited, but Katrin said nothing more. "What is it?"

"Never mind. What are you going to do?" Katrin asked.

"I'm going to keep Traveling." Colin said. "Kat, I found M-1 and M-2, but I really doubt they'll bond me at my level. I want to go back to the Forest of Legends too, but again, it's too dangerous for me right now. I have to..."

"Get stronger?" Katrin sighed. "That sounds way too familiar. I'm almost bored of hearing that."

"But it's true. I need to train up my Comrades, and my tactics. Meanwhile, I'll keep asking around for the Journey's End, and explore the world."

"You should ask Abby about the Journey's End. I'm sure the J-Knights have lots of data on it." Katrin said. "Colin, I've changed my Knight status."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I'm switching from a Resident Knight to a Detective Knight. I'm going to do detective work."

{Detective work…?} "I thought you'd try for a Hunter Knight or something."

Katrin paused. "I don't think so, Colin. Hunting dangerous Wilds and rogues might be something you can do, but it feels too dangerous for me. I'll just point out the targets; you can go after them."

"Kat, you just won our last Farm Wars… your forces are stronger than mine."

"Playing with friends and fighting enemies are entirely different things." Katrin said. "I'm… not ready for that."

"Oh well." Colin sighed. "I thought we might be able to hunt together sometimes."

There was a pause in which neither of them said anything. Then, "Colin, do you… usually… um…"

Colin waited, feeling that if he said something, she'd stop.

Katrin was struggling now. "K-k-k…"

"YIP!" Shiro jumped up, barking a warning, and all of Colin's Comrades got to their feet.

"Kat, something's come up." Colin said. "I'm going to have to call you back later, okay?"

Katrin didn't say anything.

A big rhinoceros with what looked like a gigantic turtle shell on its back came charging at Colin. {One of the aggressive Wilds…?}

"Yip!" Colin's Comrades charged into battle.

Colin glanced up at the sky. He hadn't seen saucers overhead for a long time now. It should be safe to fight.

"Colin… I'm not sure I should… call you."

Now, that really worried him. {That's it! I've had enough!}

Colin walked away from the battle and let Shiro handle it. "Come on, Katrin, you've been acting weird since last night. Tell me what's wrong! I don't understand! What's wrong with me joining the J-Knights?"

"It's not… that. It's nothing to do with you joining up." Katrin said, slowly, softly.

Colin stepped farther away, so he could hear her better as his Comrades blasted their target. "Then what's the matter? What did I do? Whatever it is, I'm sorry, okay? Stop leaving me in the dark like this! Tell me what's wrong!"

"You're… sorry?" Katrin whispered. "You don't even… remember…?"

Katrin sounded really, really upset.

Colin sat down, scratching his head. What did he do? Something other than tell her about joining the J-Knights…? When did she start acting funny…? Immediately after he called Dad, like she said, he'd gone over and told her…

Wait. She was already acting funny when he told her about joining up. Something before that…

"Kat, can't you just tell me?" Colin asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"I… don't know." Katrin answered.

"Don't know…?" Colin blinked. "You don't know? Did I do something wrong or not?"

"That's what I don't know!" Katrin said, sounding torn.

"You don't know what I did, or you don't know whether it was wrong?" Colin had to wonder.

"I don't know if it was wrong." Katrin said at last.

"For mercy's sake, just TELL me what I did!!" Colin groaned. "Please! Or at least tell me {when}!"

"After I said to call your dad." Katrin answered.

{At last! A clue…} "And I went and called him. Then I came back and told you…"

"Before that."

Colin frowned. "I called dad?"

"Before… that."

"You told me to call him."

"After that."

Colin struggled to remember. "I said 'thank you', and…" He froze.

{And I gave her a hug… and a kiss.}

***

{Was it wrong?}

Katrin couldn't decide. "Colin… what do you think of me?"

"T-t-think…?" Colin sounded really uncertain. "I… uh…"

Katrin leaned over the railing of the ship she was on, looking at the peacefully glistening waves below, struggling to make sense of it all, wishing she could be as calm as the sea. {This sort of thing isn't supposed to happen like this! He hasn't even asked me out yet!}

There were explosions sounding over on Colin's side of the comms link. "Colin… I need time to… think."

"Y-yeah… time… think… good…" He sounded even more unsure than herself.

This was going nowhere… and he was in the middle of a pitch battle. Part of her was happy that he talked to her rather than concentrate on the fight, part of her was worried he'd be in trouble because of her, and part of her itched to let him stew in his worries for a while.

All things considered, there was only one thing to say for now. "Um… you're busy. We can talk later. Take care. Bye."

"Uh… yeah. Bye."

Katrin cut the link.