Chapter 7: Spectacle

Once Sue got back on her feet with Sundance's help, the party headed out. Joy was left rather confused by all the commotion until the psychic in the room explained the upcoming feast to her. As much as the little one appreciated the vixen's words, she was still rather afraid of her, opting to stick to the Martian of the group for the time being.

Two kids keeping close to Sue as she hobbled on sounded like a recipe for someone getting smacked with a crutch, but Joy and Spark alike were pulling it off flawlessly.

"Sho, this feast. How will it look like?"

Sundance smirked at Sue from the front of the party before laying it out-

"Those who can, help the cooks and the Elders in bringing the food to the hungry mouths. Those who can't, take a seat somewhere comfortable, and once the meals are dispensed, the show begins."

"The show?"

"You'll see~"

Sue wasn't sure how to respond to the tease. Though, if Sundance wasn't giving her a straight answer, then it was probably gonna be a spectacle she didn't want spoiled. One detail stood out to her afterwards, however-

"Are you not on the Eldersh Council?"

The question visibly took the vixen aback; her smile deflating as she answered.

"Not anymore. I've already had my share of bickering in this life."

Suppose that only made sense, even if Sue wouldn't have thought of that as a position one can just leave.

The plaza was as filled as it had been in the morning, though all the occupants were concentrated to just one half of it; the other left empty, seemingly intentionally. Between plentiful tables and makeshift fire pits on the grass, there was space for everyone- or so it seemed, at least.

It took a moment for Sue to realize why the fire pits were there if there were so many available tables; a glimpse of a large quadruped passing by, making it all click in her head. Suppose not everyone can sit on benches after all.

Though there was that one famous painting of dogs playing poker, so what do I know, anyway?

Spotting 'their' table turned out to be much easier than expected. Comet was already sitting there, distracted by the ghostly prankster from yesterday with the game of peek-a-boo involving the intangible one phasing their face through the bench the infant sat on.

If his elated squeaks were anything to go by, Comet loved it.

"Finally! And here I was thinking I'd have to grab y'all. How's Crutches doing?"

Spook's- no, Hazel's voice was still as creaky and whispered as Sue remembered it, despite Sundance's aid. Rather tricky to parse as a result, Sue almost overlooking her new moniker. But only almost, about to speak up before Willow cut her off-

"She's doing all well Hazel, and you know full well that's not her name~."

"Yeah, but it ain't like she's gonna tell us her real name, eh?"

Alright, now was her moment-

"To the contrary, she told it to us perfectly well; it only took a bit of help."

Not the time, Sundance!

"So her brain's not broken then, eh? Pop was guessin' with all that. What's her face then?"

"Shue!"

The urgency and accidental volume with which Sue'd said that made everyone gathered look at her with confusion and concern. Shortly after, the newcomer cleared her throat and tried again, hoping to save face-

"Um, m-my name is Sue."

"...'Sue', eh? Weird name. You from somewhere far?"

You have no idea.

"She is, but now is not the best of times to chat about that, Hazel. Is Poppy still in her kitchen?"

"Dunno Willow, prolly. She said Solstice was gonna come over once they were both done, though... Y'all are here and can look after the bowl cut, so I'm gonna go check up on them~."

The spook gladly took the excuse to get away from the crowd. Before she left, though, she took a moment to pull one last funny face on Comet, stretching her face far beyond what ought to be anatomically possible. Nobody but Joy and Sue minded; the two left similarly aghast. Everyone else was far too used to the ghost's antics to pay them any mind anymore.

The professors at the biology department would kill to get some locals here under an X-Ray.

With Hazel out of the way, the band got seated. Both Joy and Spark were practically glued to Sue, ending up beside her and on her lap, respectively. Comet wanted to join them too, but was quickly snagged away by the other adults as they sat at the other side of the table.

Plenty comfy, despite how rugged the bench was. Once the entire groupsat down, Spark leaned over towards Joy, extending her affection to the other girl; the gesture was plenty appreciated with all the scary strangers around.

Judging by the plentiful empty spots around them, it'd still be awhile until the festivities kicked off proper.

Not a bad opportunity to sate my curiosity before doing the same to my stomach later.

"So... what ish Hazel?"

She didn't expect a question this simple to be this hard to interpret.

"Whatcha mean, Sue? 'What's up with Hazel' or...?"

Willow's confusion made it clear that Sue would need to phrase it in a cleaner way, but she was unsure how. Asking about the ghost's species felt even more detached than her original question. It wasn't even likely to clarify anything, either. After all, she might have known now what her current kin was named, 'Forest Guardians', but that explained precious nothing about how her newfound magic worked.

Guess she'd have to play even dumber.

"Oh, it's just like, she's khinda like a ghost with how she walks through stuff..."

"But Ms. Hazel is a ghost!"

Spark's cheerful clarification bluescreened Sue's brain.

The assertion of the ghost-like being turning out to be an actual ghost somehow took her completely from the left field, despite her best attempts to brace herself for any more insanity of this place.

As her mind held on to a piece of wreckage to not sink, it eventually arrived at a possible explanation. Maybe the little fox just meant something else by 'ghost'? Maybe it was just a species name, a weirdly perfectly fitting one, and didn't actually mean what she thought it meant?

That didn't sound particularly likely, but Sue wasn't about to waste an opportunity to preserve a bit more of her sanity.

"Uhm, like... ghost ghost? Came bhack from the dead and all-"

"Mom told me it's very rude to ask about that!"

What.

Spark's response wasn't doing Sue any favors; the once-human looking up at Sundance with an unspoken 'help'. The vixen herself looked as uncertain about the ongoing situation as Sue was, though she was willing to give her an out. Both to resolve the awkwardness and to learn more about the world Sue came from, hopefully.

"Sue didn't know, sweetie. She's from very far away."

"Ooooh. Really!?"

The lil' fox somehow got even more excited than before. She turned to look back up at her big friend, her wide-eyed gaze helping melt through any residual embarrassment.

"Yeah! Really far away... I-I've never seen a ghosht..."

"Really!? But they're not that rare... and you knew what a ghost was already?"

Awfully perceptive for a fiery critter that doesn't even come close to clearing my knee.

"Well, I've heard of them, but thought they were jusht a myth, a scary story, y'know..."

"Noooo, of course not! There are many of them in Moonview, and even more in the woods! Most of them are even nice!"

Sue wasn't sure whether the 'nice' category included Hazel, but the reassurance that her soul would probably not be eaten by a wild undead spectre was appreciated. Even with that, the shock of ghosts apparently being real here still hit her hard, as if deities, fox shaped heaters, brain magic martians and plant people weren't enough already.

Then again, not like ghosts didn't fit with all the fantasy wildlife either.

"Uh-huh. Are they... dead?"

"Some are, others hatched like that already. There's no difference between them, and it's considered very rude to ask."

Guess at least she knew that now, even if it wouldn't undo her unintentional faux pas. At least it didn't happen in front of the being in question; something, something, silver linings.

"Oh. Sorry..."

"It's fine, do not worry Sue. No way you could've known, after all."

Sundance's warm smile reassured Sue, bringing relief to the once-human, especially when combined with Joy hugging her hand.

"Though, not like Hazel hasn't been outspoken about having come back from the dead."

Willow's interjection made Sundance tilt her head with an 'I suppose' expression, leaving the outsider even more confused. The medic soon picked up on her confusion, continuing shortly after-

"It's all a rather sensitive issue. There's still some prejudice against ghosts that had returned from the afterlife, painting them as wanting to drag others to the afterlife or hurt the living out of spite. Hard to shake off for many. After Hazel arrived here, many accused her of having come back from the dead, and she eventually snapped and admitted it. She wears it as a badge of pride now."

Seems the ghosts she knew were still here, with the teensy tiny distinction of there also being non-undead ghosts, somehow. Whether the latter could count as alive was a question Sue considered asking for a moment, before tossing it aside; primarily because of not knowing how to phrase it.

"Uh-huh. So, was Hazel someone else here before she... died?"

"No, we don't think so, at least. Personality didn't really match anyone who had recently passed around that time. I was under the mentorship of my uncle at the time, and preparing the dead for burials was part of our duties. We got to see everyone that kicked the bucket, heh."

"Wouldn't she remember?"

"She would not. The returned ones don't get to keep any memories of their past life. From what Poppy had told me, Hazel's oldest memory is finding herself sitting on top of a hill, under a cloudy sky, not remembering who, where, or even what she was."

Sundance's explanation made Sue shudder at the thought.

Her own arrival was plenty traumatic despite being far less drastic; to imagine it with no recollection whatsoever, not even of her own name, on top of everything else, made her want to give the spectral prankster a hug.

"That's horrible..."

The fiery fox nodded, not blind to the parallels between Sue's case and Hazel's. She stretched to reach across the table and lay her paw on Sue's shoulder, the limb's warmth comforting.

"It is. Eventually, she found us, and look at her now. You wouldn't have guessed what had happened to her. It's all gonna be alright Sue."

"Yeah! Mrs. Hazel is doing good, and once your leg gets better, you will too, Sue!"

Spark's enthusiasm and her mom's reassurance brought a smile onto Sue's face, the tiny ear-fluff fox getting her head pet for all it was worth.

"Heh, thank you, Shpark."

Lil foxy's toothy grin was almost as precious as her giggling, though slightly marred by some of said teeth looking way sharper than they ought to for any creature this cute.

"Oh, oh, oh! Where are you from, Sue!?"

"I told you Spark, she's from very far away."

"Yeah, but what is it like there? Oh, oh, oh, is anyone like us there too?"

Sue was unsure how to respond, for multiple reasons.

There was keeping the truth of her origins secret, of course, and while she trusted Willow and Sundance to keep that knowledge to themselves, Spark was another case entirely. Perhaps the even bigger issue, though, was just how uncomfortable the truth was. Especially regarding the similarities between the intelligent creatures here and… at the very least, not obviously intelligent animals of her homeworld.

The rest of the group was very curious, even beyond Spark's unmistakable enthusiasm. Her sixth sense let Sue pick up on it all; heck, even Joy wanted to hear more, intrigued by the mysterious faraway land her newly made friend had come from.

Comet was the only one that didn't care either way. He was content with his company and having very warm fur to snuggle into, expressing his approval with a high-pitched squeak.

"It's... quite similar to here, in most ways at least. There are many creaturesh there, some like the ones here, but more... mundane."

"Mundane? Like, Normal?"

Sue could tell there was something more to Spark's word choice, but couldn't determine it from her mood alone. Won't hurt to prod some more-

"Like... th-there are creatures there that are shimilar in appearance to you Spark, just... without the whole, uh... fire, thing."

Or sapience, for that matter.

"So Normal then! That sounds boring."

Spark soon realized her gaffe, looking apologetically at the medic before her mom could even give her the look-

"Oh, sorry, Willow!"

"Oh, it's alright sweetie, I get it~. Though, with that in mind, is that true, Sue? Does the place you're from really only have Normal-types?"

They corrected themselves shortly afterwards, maintaining the pretense for the little ones-

"Except for Forest Guardians, that is?"

A truthful answer would've been 'what in the world is a Normal-type'. The most straightforward answer would've been a flat out 'yes'. Sue went a step beyond either of those, playing dumber still hoping to figure out just that bit more about how this weird world worked.

"I-I think so, but I'm not sure about what 'Normal' meansh here..."

"Whaaaaaat? But it just means-"

"No, no, Spark, that's a fair question; especially if Sue had little to do with those outside her kin."

Sue took the cue, nodding along eagerly-

"Yeah, I-I've only lived with other Forest Guardiansh before..."

Thank Duck Solstice wasn't around, else she would've had a hard time not laughing at such an obvious lie.

"See Spark~? Well, Sue, you might've noticed how Spark and Sundance have a particular affinity for fire and warmth, while yourself, Solstice, and Sundance all have the gift of psychic senses. Hazel is a ghost, of course. You, Solstice, and Poppy have a special connection with the Moon. These are what some call 'types', though they're a very vague description. Most have a type or another, or even two, but some just don't. Those that don't have any of those traits or gifts are bundled together as the 'Normal' type."

"But what about-"

"Yes, there's a bit more to it than that, but let's keep it simple for Sue for now."

Sue slowly nodded, the concept making some sense to her. The two fire foxes weren't the only fire themed beings in here, so having a 'type' to bundle them all under felt reasonable at a glance. There were several kinds of these… well, superpowers, and the poor schmucks without them were the 'Normal' ones.

Considering the apparent power level of everyone else around, that sounded… awful.

"Okay, yeah, there are only these Normal types where I'm from. K-kinda sad really..."

In another world, all the critters on Earth could've been sentient beings; able to communicate with each other and live for more than a panic fueled fight to survive and pass on their genes before a brutal death...

"Eh, I'd say it's not that bad, personally~. Though yes, that situation does sound peculiar and hard to imagine. But~ I'm also curious about you specifically, Sue. What did you used to do back there?"

Oops.

Guess if Willow also fell under the umbrella of 'Normal', then that group also had access to magic, and stood a chance after all.

Somehow, this question turned out to be even more difficult to answer than the first one. Sure, she could say that she is, or rather was, a computer science student at a local university. But then she'd have to spend ten hours explaining every word of that sentence, including all the concepts needed to make sense of her original answer in the first place and all the ideas needed for those concepts in turn, and so on and so on, working her way up from the basics the rest of the group would grasp intuitively.

Decent odds the feast would still not have been ready by the time she was finished, but best not press her luck.

"It's... very hard to describe. I-I can say I was studying how to use a certain very c-complicated contraption. For counthing, and other thingsh..."

'Other' was definitely the load bearing word of that sentence.

"Hmm... something like an abacus? I recall a few settlements using those in my travels, and I think one of the recent arrivals has even brought one with themselves. Completely beyond me how they function."

"Uhm, yes! K-kinda like those, bhut more complex."

Sue sighed inwardly at worming her answer to something somewhat coherent. Sundance's answer provided an excuse to redirect the conversation away from herself, at least for a moment.

"D-did you used to travel a lot, Shundance?"

"Oh my gosh, you have no idea Sue! My mom traveled around the world for years! Right mom!?"

Sundance chuckled at her daughter's enthusiasm, moving one paw in a scritching motion; her mental magic helping transfer her affection over towards Spark at the other side of the table.

"I suppose that's not a wholly inaccurate way to describe it, but 'traveled' makes it sound a lot more structured than it really ever was. Never had a grand plan to 'travel around the entire world' or anything like that. I just wanted to wander until my legs fell off, see everything there was to be seen, everything and everyone, and figure myself out while at it."

Sue could relate to Sundance's desire, at least. She wasn't ever in a position to just be able to let go of all earthly attachments and hitchhike around the planet for a year or two, even if she daydreamed about it every once in a while. Hell, even once she'd finished college, she'd need to save up for a good few years afterwards just to afford a week-long vacation, let alone anything more than that...

It felt so much more possible just a few years back.

She was about to wrap up high school, ready to take in everything the world had to show her; dad was still around… and then the diagnosis came, and a few months later, he was gone. Suddenly, any frivolities took a back seat to making sure she could make it through college without taking on too much debt.

Didn't even really have the time to mourn. Just had to grit her teeth and get down to holding on...

"Sue?"

"O-oh, shorry. Just... got lost in thought. I... definitely know what you meant th-there, and can relate a lot."

"And haven't been able to explore like that yourself?"

Not until now, at least.

"Yeah."

She didn't want to be questioned why on the spot, though, swerving the conversation back-

"It's alright. I-I'm curious though, why did you want to exphlore, and what did you shee out there?"

The redirection away from herself wasn't exactly subtle, but Sundance wasn't about to make a fuss about that. She couldn't blame Sue for not wanting to talk about her past life too much, with it likely only reminding her more about being stranded in here.

And even beside that, it'd just be rude.

"The 'why' question is much simpler than the 'what', because it wasn't really my choice."

Sue blinked, the revelation painting Sundance's travel in a wholly different light.

"Wait, what? Were you kicked out?"

"Essentially, yes. It wasn't an act of cruelty. Or at least, not an act of explicit cruelty. It was just how my kin... did things, out in the desert. Females were kicked out of the nest after they evolved and were to fend for themselves. Hunt, build their own nests, look for mates. Gain the experience and wisdom needed to one day be in charge of their own brood."

Spark huddled on Sue's lap as her mom went on, the once-human hoping to Duck that the poor kit wouldn't be subjected to all that. The whole thing gave Sue a whiplash and a half. For how human-like the beings here behaved, this revelation reminded her they weren't humans, and that their animal-ness extended beyond just appearance.

And it's not like Sundance's parents weren't aware of what they were doing, making it even more vile. It was no animalistic instinct; it was a conscious choice.

"H-how could they do thish to you?"

"It's just... how things used to be done. The conditions my kin live in, out in the desert, are unpleasant. Dens are cramped, and food is scarce. Hard to sustain a whole brood, and compromises have to be made. Brood mothers have the final say on everything, and that level of responsibility requires grit and experience. Or at least, that's how my mother justified it. It's heinous, no two words about it. But that's how things were, and probably still are, out there. You won't see me trekking back there to investigate."

Sundance took a deep breath, shaking the mental muck off before continuing.

"I wasn't interested in settling down. The desert sands weren't particularly fascinating, but I knew that vastly different places lied beyond, so I kept going. I wanted to see that another world. Every so often, I ran into someone else of my kin, another den. They couldn't take me in, of course, but it was a common custom to offer a night's respite and for brood mothers to share any wisdom and knowledge they had. And, well-"

The fox mother smirked as she flicked her arm upwards; a stick as long as her forearm sliding out of its hiding spot in her fur and out into her grasp, its tip catching flame immediately.

"Flames might not solve every problem, or even many problems, but they make for a very effective repellent from those mistaking you for easy prey. Especially with a bit of knowledge on how to apply them."

"Oh, oh, oh, mom can you show Sue-"

"Probably not the best idea for me to show off right before the main event, sweetie, don't you think~?"

"I- I guess..."

The table giggled at Spark's enthusiasm being extinguished, Sue not hesitating to make up for it with further affection.

"Besides, I never was the one for strife. I know a flashy technique or two, but most of those are only ever useful in a life of violence, and I-"

Sundance blew off the flame at the tip of her stick before sheathing it as swiftly as she had pulled it out. Its hiding place was effective enough that Sue couldn't spot it, despite knowing it was resting alongside Sundance's forearm.

"-chose a different path. It took me a few moons, the desert was horribly vast after all, but eventually I made it over to grasslands, and eventually, forests. Got to experience how well a good berry could taste and never looked back afterwards. Even most desert dwellers didn't want to risk having a bite at me; you can imagine how much less alluring that became with everything in the vicinity now flammable."

Oh shit.

Of course, Sue didn't suspect Sundance of being willing to resort to aggression like that. Even then, just trying to imagine the sheer damage she could do if she did was unnerving, not to mention humbling.

Hopefully her lessons, be they with Sundance or Solstice, would cover self defense in not too long.

Or better yet, I'd get to go back home...

It was hard for the fiery fox not to sense Sue's desire. Still, she kept weaving her tale, wanting to avoid drawing attention to Sue's distress.

"It let me travel freely and relatively safely, if nothing else. Not to say there weren't occasional fools who tried their luck, but most brawls ended in seconds with one side running away with some freshly charred fur. I saw many settlements, most of them tiny compared to this one, even back then."

The change of subject helped Sue shake the moment of dread from before, eyebrow raising at the prospect of there being more places like this. Many, many more, judging by the way Sundance phrased it.

"So, there are more townsh like this?"

"Plenty. Ones as large as this one are few and far between. This town and the Central City, where me and Solstice just got back from, are the only two in any sort of real vicinity. To get anywhere else you're looking for a weeklong trek, if not longer. Most settlements I've seen were much more modest, and didn't let outsiders in permanently for the most part. They were more so several families banding together to share resources and watch each other's backs than anything else. Still, they were usually welcoming, if briefly and at arm's length. Many had unique spiritual traditions, which was the other thing I wanted to explore and witness."

Sue thought back to the Duck's shrine, wondering how it stacked against other religions of this world; especially with Duck being real to some extent, at least as far as her dreams implied so far. Of course, they also implied that the Night Father was real, too.

Monotheistic religions are… probably something of a hard sell here.

"What did you shee?"

"Almost anything you can imagine, really. Worship of one deity, worship of multiple, worship of all, worship of none. Beliefs in uncountable numbers of spirits all around us from times untold, in an upcoming end of the world, in the natural order, in a cessation of the natural order, in reincarnation, in hells and heavens of myriad forms. Far too much to summarize. Thoroughly humbling, one and all."

Sundance paused to catch her breath; briefly closing her eyes as she sorted through a lifetime of experiences in her mind.

"I was never particularly devoted to my worship of the sun, and seeing it all made me relax even further. Nobody really knows why we're here and what awaits us after death, so might as well be kind to one another, and to ourselves. An afterlife may or may not exist, but this life sure does. Why not make it a pleasant one?"

The insights weren't anything extraordinarily deep, but they were reassuring.

"Heh, I-I kinda thought you would've found some deeper truth of the univershe, or shomething..."

"Oh, there definitely are deep insights to be had. But the deeper the insight, the more specific it is. As far as broad principles go, being kind and not doing to another as you wouldn't want done to you are the ones I've grown to appreciate the most over the years. I've heard more than one truth so stabbing it made me want to incinerate the person I was talking to because of how painful, yet unerringly accurate, it was. As true as they rang, none of them would mean anything to anyone in a different position."

Sue's resulting look made her quickly follow up with-

"I- I never actually incinerated anyone like that, just to be clear."

Okay, phew.

Sundance chuckled softly. If it was someone more familiar with her, she would've gotten a bit offended by someone presuming something like that about her. In Sue's case, though, it was more than forgivable. Especially with the girl having no prior experience with fiery beings and Sundance's soft brag about how fearsome she used to be.

Once Sue had calmed her heart down a bit, she could chew through Sundance's words proper. And yeah, they largely made sense. It's not like she knew just what kind of deep wisdom she even expected to hear.

Maybe the golden rule was more profound than she had originally given it credit for?

"Okay... n-now I'm curioush, what was the weirdest religion you've seen in your travels?"

"'Weird' is a very subjective metric, you know. I'm sure I was the weird one for many. I can't deny that one place in particular was… memorable."

The entire table listened in closely. From Sue and Joy ready to hear about that encounter for the first time, to Spark wanting her mom to tell it again, to Willow not remembering the details all too well, to Comet just reading the room and keeping himself quiet and comfortable in Sundance's hold with a bubbly squeak.

"I take you're not too familiar with the Allfather, right Sue?"

The name strongly reminded her of the Abrahamic deity, making the once-human want to reply with a tentative nod. Still, she couldn't be sure if that was quite it, leading her to shake her head instead.

"Allfather, Allmother, the Ancestor... quite a few names for them. They are said to have populated the world with living beings. How they did it depends greatly, of course. I've heard tales about them creating life from dust, from mud, from salt, from their own wishes, or even by breeding with themselves. A lot of variation on that particular point. They're most often depicted as a small, pink creature with a long tail."

"Do you really not know about Allfather, Sue!?"

She was unsure how to answer Spark's question. Sundance's brief description did indeed make the being in question sound even more like the monotheistic deity, though it had elements of other religions' creation myths, so it was really hard to know for certain.

Won't hurt to ask.

"I- maybe? They also created the resht of the world, right?"

"Not typically, no. Most many-god faiths I've seen assign that feat to another deity. So, that eerie place I mentioned had a faith centered on the Allfather, but according to them, they were an evil deity."

Evil creation deity was a new one.

"How sho?"

"Their logic is rather sound on this. If Allfather created all the creatures, then they did so deliberately and with a plan. The circle of life, the split between predator creatures and the prey creatures, and so on, are all deliberate. Which makes the Allfather evil, profoundly evil, for knowing about the unceasing misery they were sentencing their creation through, but going along with it, anyway. Unsurprisingly, that faith was mostly held by lowlier, 'prey' species."

Sue nodded along for now. The idea was outlandish enough that she'd need more than a moment to chew on it and find out if it truly made sense to her, but wanted to hear the rest of it.

"As such, they worship another deity, whom they call the Usurper, because it is destined to usurp the Allfather's throne and reign over mortal beings. According to them, this Usurper will bring on a new era, one that can scarcely even be imagined right now. One where the circle of life has been broken and its suffering ended. Its form is said to be beyond comprehension; an ever-changing mass of sunset and midday, of orange and blue. That wasn't even the memorable part of it; it would have to be the chanting. I was hungry, tired, and had stumbled upon their ceremony; they invited me over and promised food afterwards, but until then, we were to chant, chant for their deity to come, 'Arise Usurper!', 'Arise Usurper!'. It was... surreal."

"Did they at least feed you after all that?"

"Oh yes, they did, Willow. They were rather hospitable, but I opted to get going by the next day's sunrise. It all… unnerved me past a certain point."

Wonder what, or who, would they have had for their next dinner had she stayed…

"Why did you stop traveling, mom?"

Spark supported herself on the table with her forelegs as she looked up at her mom; all the tales so far exciting enough to make the little one wonder why would one ever stop.

"Why did I stop? I don't think there's a simple answer. Part of it was exhaustion, no doubt; I had been wandering around the world for over a decade by then, almost a decade and a half. I was tired physically and mentally, felt like I had learned enough, and perhaps most of all, I finally wanted to contribute to somewhere where I could spend the rest of my days. After going over every single memorable settlement I had visited in my journeys, a decently sizable village by a small stream back in the south caught my attention. By the time I got back there, it had grown a lot since I last saw it, and now it's plenty bigger than that still~!"

"To this day, I'm not sure if I really remember when you visited us for the first time, Sundance, or if my failing memory made it up after you brought it up. By the Pale Lady, do I remember when you arrived for the second time, ha!"

"Oh oh oh, what was mom like then, Willow? Did she do something cool!?"

"She looked like she hadn't slept in a week beforehand. The moment we sat her down and gave her food, she dozed off and slept for two days straight."

Sue tried and failed to hold in laughter at hearing that. She sure didn't think that herself from the last semester would have so much in common with her newly found mentor, or at least her past.

"Yes, that entire time period was a blur, but it's hard to forget just how profoundly exhausted I was, and how relieving having somewhere safe to rest was. It's something that I would never want to deny from another being, no matter their kin or type."

The indirect jab in Sundance's response went over the heads of everyone but its direct target; Willow sighing as Sue took her sights on them.

"How long have you b-been here for, Willow?"

"How long~? My dear, my family founded this place!"

Now that was an interesting twist.

"Really?"

"Mhm~! Well~ I suppose if you get down to the nitty gritty, someone else had a hand in it too, but that's the gist of it, indeed."

Spark might have heard this story enough times to not be as curious about it anymore, but that couldn't be said about Joy. The little big maw creature stood up to peek at Willow from behind the table; Sundance holding in a smile at her antics while not looking at her directly, lest she'd got spooked.

"I had to elaborate Willow, I think we have the time for you to go into detail, don't you think~?"

Sundance's tone was playful as she winked at Sue. The once-human reached down to hold Joy closer while avoiding her back maw; the girl briefly wincing at the touch before relaxing into it.

"We do, indeed. So~ a long time ago, before even my grandparents had hatched yet, my clan had a modest dwelling here. Just a large burrow and a small wooden hut on the outside. We weren't proficient craftsmen, and, well, I suppose it's not much of a surprise that we didn't have the shared strength to put together a sturdier shelter, ha."

Sue chuckled inwardly at Willow's admission.

That's one hunch validated.

"We took pride in healing anyone who came, staying neutral in any larger conflicts and trying to compile all the medical knowledge we could. Part of it was tradition, of course; one started so long ago that the bones of anyone that saw it take form have long since become dust. But the rest was… us being rather easily pressured into inaction. We were bad craftsmen, but we were even worse at fighting, including any self defense."

"If only you had someone soft spoken yet carrying a flaming stick to stand up for you back then~."

"Well, we do now, better late than never, ha! It was an actual issue at the time, though. We were at the mercy of the woods in a very real way; pleading for them to not send someone mighty with a vendetta our way. Fortunately, that wouldn't be the case forever, thanks to Granite's forefather."

Sundance pointed out the person in question; Sue's attention getting psychically drawn to a gray creature with four arms sitting beside a small firepit off to the side. Despite it being her second time seeing them, their similarity to a human being didn't result in any less of a whiplash this time.

Sue might not have known how to redirect Joy's focus in the same way, but she could point well enough.

She lightly tapped the back of Joy's front head before pointing out the villager in question, trying to keep it inconspicuous. Though, considering the sudden uproar of laughter that took over Granite and the rest of their band shortly after, they probably weren't paying too much attention to their group.

"Thank you, Sundance. Sadly, his forefather's name has been lost to time, but not his actions. He had stumbled upon our little shelter in need of aid after getting poisoned, which, of course, we gave. In return, he vowed to repay us once he had completed his pilgrimage to a sacred mountain, which he was in the middle of. We were used to promises like that; most of them were never acted upon, and we didn't expect much once he'd left. A moon passed, then another, then a few more. I believe it had been almost two years since his original visit, but he eventually came back with a mate, and proclaimed that he was settling down near us and had taken it as his life mission to aid us and our cause."

"Soundsh... rather drastic."

"Oh, it absolutely was; we were just as dumbfounded as you are. Took a while to get an answer out of him; he was so dedicated to working hard that he never sat down for long. In short, he had walked towards a sacred mountain in search of guidance from the spirits, and help in finding a virtuous deed to dedicate his life towards. And, as he sat meditating on the mountain's peak, he realized that our little clan was the right choice."

"Didn't he already want to help?"

"Yes Spark, but that revelation changed it from maybe building something for us once as thanks to settling down permanently and helping us expand. And help us, he did. That building you sleep in, Sue, was supposedly one of the first to be built by him. He helped us grow, and even more importantly, he made for a very effective bodyguard. We still healed all who came, of course, but now could afford to be more assertive and work to make our woods safer for everyone. And from there on... more people kept showing up. Much easier to grow past a certain size. You'll have many travelers come by, and some will decide to settle down. Years passed, people kept coming, we kept growing. We took to Pale Lady's worship, our nameless village turned into Moonview, we carved out a decent clearing that we're only now finally filling in, continued to gather our knowledge and pass it down the generations…"

Willow took a deep breath, chuckling to themselves.

"And now, there's just me left."

Wait, what?

"Wh-what do you mean, only you?"

"I'm the last of my clan, Sue. Once I'm gone, that'll be it for us."

The casualness with which Willow said that was chilling. For a moment, Sue thought it was a sorrowful resignation, admitting the inevitable, but the medic truly wasn't all that bothered by the harrowing realization, remaining as upbeat as ever.

"B-but how?"

"We kept expanding for a while, but there's only so much you can grow if you want to avoid mingling with close relatives. It wasn't an issue since we had the people to pass our knowledge and mission on. All things end; that's just how life is. Considering everything, I'd say we had a pretty good run, wouldn't you say, Sue?"

How do I even answer that?

The prospect of accepting one's demise so calmly was completely alien to her. Any occasional trains of thought about her death that occurred to her in bed had to be exorcised with hot cocoa and funny internet videos, just to distract her from her own mortality. Even brief forays into that subject threatened to send her into a panic attack, and Willow just... didn't care.

"I- I guess. That's shtill sad though, isn't it?"

"In a way it is, I suppose. At the same time, the sorrow of a loss is offset by the joy of giving something else a chance to grow instead. Life keeps going, after all."

Guess this was something she'd be taking to bed with her tonight, and without a pleasant distraction no less.

"I guess I-I never thought of it like this."

"Makes sense! You're still young, whole life ahead of you, little point to coming to terms with one's death just yet, ha! And speaking of things ahead of us~!"

Willow looked away from the table as their expression lit up; the reason not being hard to figure out- food was on its way!

Oh, and Solstice, too.

The other Martian was holding a bowl of freshly roasted treats in each hand, with a few more suspended in her magic in front of her. Her glowing eyes were even starker as the sunset crept on them, though Comet's excited squeaks made it hard to focus on it.

"That ought to be most of it~. Apologies for the delay; there was a sad mishap in one kitchen and it took longer to get everything prepared, but we should be ready to start soon. Are you all feeling alright?"

Solstice leaned on the table, catching her breath while magically pulling her son out of Sundance's arms and into her own. Joy huddled closer to her big friend at the Mayor's appearance, but kept watching.

"We're doing alright~. We were just telling Sue about Moonview's history, and Sundance reminisced about her travels for the hundredth time."

"Sounds like her alright."

Sundance couldn't keep herself mature enough not to stick her tongue out in response, sending the rest of the table giggling.

"As if you don't have your own share of stories~."

Solstice rolled her eyes at that, the sight slightly unnerving considering their size.

"Touche. I suppose I can be swayed into telling some of them again after the show~. But first, mind lending us a hand, Sundance? We're wrapping things up, and a couple extra pairs of hands would help a lot."

"You got it."

The vulpine mystic slowly got up from her seat as Comet was begrudgingly left in Willow's lap. With the two women gone, Sue had a wonderful opportunity to inspect the food left in their wake, the display making more than one gathered stomach rumble in anticipation. Grilled berries looking almost like cuts of meat, thick stews, browned and spiced root veggies, even ice cream! Or at the very least, something very similar looking, smelling of sugared fruits and radiating cold.

Spark's excited barking interrupted Sue's observation, making her acutely realize that she wasn't exactly gonna be understanding much of anything being said with Sundance gone.

Despite the safety surrounding her, being left with nobody who could understand her was still chilling.

Sue tried to piece together what she could make out of the conversation that followed. Spark's barks, a question most likely, were responded to with Willow's firm squeak. The cub then tried to bargain a couple more times, eventually giving up and laying down Sue's lap with a small grumble.

Sorry Spark, we all have to wait, which means so do you~

The once-human's pets helped her feel better, as did Joy joining in on them, even if hers were much clumsier and had nowhere the reach. Humble as her efforts were, Spark got noticeably happier at seeing the toothy girl join in and be more active. Having the bridge of her snout pet made the kit sneeze shortly afterwards, though, a handful of sparks thankfully redirected into the air.

As much as the sight took Joy aback at the sight, it did made her giggle too. The sound was rather hoarse, but adorable all the same.

The rest of the wait went by quietly, the encampment quickly growing calmer as the sun set and the last dishes were handed out. Even the firepits were snuffed out in not too long, the tension in the air feeling downright palpable.

Sundance and Solstice kept quiet as they snuck back over to the table; shuffling silently through the dark as they took their seats. The Mayor sat down beside Sue after grabbing her little one from Willow.

"When's it gonna shtart?"

Sue whispered in anticipation, green hair standing on edge.

"^Any second now-^"

*PFOOOM!*

A plume of flames erupted suddenly at the far side of the clearing, cutting Solstice's answer off. Joy got swept up in Sue's arms as the latter noticed her desperately trying to peek over the table; weighing more than Sue'd expected, but nowhere near enough to dissuade Sue as the show got started.

The inferno burst into a five-armed shape at its apex, raining embers over the modest, raised stage. The distance obscured most details of the two beings that stood at each end of the stage.

Red and yellow legs, white top, humanoid shape.

Blue body with white accents, bulky build with a massive tail-

And then they charged at each other, stopping Sue from taking any more detail in.

Blue one's horn glowing bright purple took Sue aback; the display intimidating. It was matched moments later by the red one's flurry of burning kicks, brilliant flames leaving fiery tracers in the air. All the while, the blue one dodged and weaved, much faster than its size would hint at it being capable of doing.

Flames and violet glow mixed chaotically in a blazing fast back and forth of swings and kicks; the two contenders moving around the stage as they expertly dodged anything the other tried to dish out. With one last kick, the red one jumped into the shadows behind the stage; an unfamiliar creature taking their spot.

White with a single red part, smaller, a levitating torso.

Immediately getting to work.

They launched volley after volley of glistening ice shards at the blue one, forcing them into endless dodging. Eventually, the latter counter attacked, spouting a gout of purple liquid at the white one. Their target faded from where it stood, disappearing into thin air-

And reappearing all around the blue one at the same time. Each clone laughed to itself, cacophony filling the air before the bulky one stomped the ground with all its might. Moments later, the earth erupted from underneath it, demolishing the stage it stood on and the illusions of the white one surrounding them.

The tremors made the dishes on their table ring a bit; Sue's breath growing more shallow. She was utterly transfixed by the show; too focused to notice anyone else's reactions, or that Joy was observing the spectacle from behind her fingers.

Suddenly, the white one reappeared behind the blue one, a sphere of dark, crackling energy between its hands. An instant later, the shadowy projectile was launched with a blistering speed, the crowd gasping-

Only for yet another contender to leap onto the ruins of the stage and take the projectile onto itself.

Brown, vaguely bear shaped.

Sue's heart skipped a beat, only to see them get only barely staggered by the blow. The blue one leapt back into the shadows as the brown one swung at the white one, its claws leaving dark tracers that distorted the air.

It was time for the white one to be on the defensive this time, forced to dodge constantly. They finally made some solid ground with a hefty leap before answering with a brilliant blue beam that cut through the darkness; the brown one dashing away just in time for the ground behind it to erupt with massive ice crystals.

Their dodge didn't give them any breathing time, the white one tagging out and the red one leaping back in with a fiery roundhouse kick. The brown one had to keep backing off from their aggression, aggression which left them open to a counterattack. The opening was capitalized on by the blue one reemerging from the shadows, stomping the ground with their heft again. Instead of an explosion, a massive stone spike erupted from underneath the red one; the fiery one only narrowly avoided being impaled.

At the same time, the brown one was charging up.

Small wisps of yellowish light gathered around its mouth before erupting into an honest-to-god laser, aimed at the red one and shooting off way into the sky. It looked almost like a thunderbolt against the backdrop of the night. But only almost, and actual lightning wasn't about to be outdone.

After weaving and dodging the ray for a few moments around the tip of the stone spike, the red one leapt high into the air.

Yellow, bipedal, hidden in the dark.

Roaring.

Their roar was accompanied by a Thunderbolt shooting out of its body, up into the sky, and down onto the red one in the middle of an overhead kick. The bolt of electricity struck its leg before getting redirected downwards onto the blue one as they completed their kick; the intensity of the attack kicking up dirt all around the stage, shrouding it for a few moments as everyone's hearing recovered.

Once it had settled, the performers were all standing next to each other on top of what used to be their stage. They faced the audience, lit up by fading embers- and struck a pose each.

The crowd's reaction wasn't too different from what Sue was used to, though; erupting into a mix of loud cheers, claps, and cries of adoration.

"By the Pale Lady, it feels like they cut it closer every single time..."

Solstice's words fell on deaf ears, though; Sue stuck staring wide eyed at the scene as the torches around the plaza were lit for illumination, a singular thought rushing through her head.

What.

The fuck.

Was that.