Megrez saw fit to power up at one point during the festival just to do a quick scan for any troublemakers. She remained around the perimeter of the festivities to avoid making too much of a ruckus, but she kept a close watch on her senses. She was fairly confident that she’d be able to sense any Chaos agents from where she was, but they could be slippery. She knew that well.

While walking under some trees that had been decorated with streamers, Megrez heard the branches rustle, which reflexively made her stand still and assume a fighting stance. There was no aura, but anything could happen in Destiny City. Cats could mask auras anyway, which would double the danger she was potentially in. The branches continued to rustle, and something fell. It fell, and bopped her on her right shoulder, causing her to spin around and search for the would-be attacker.

Said search was immediately called off when she heard a familiar voice from below. “Buu.”

“Puffy? What are you doing here?” Megrez saw her puffball companion looking up at her. “You’ve got to be more careful! I know it’s boring on my planet, but I know you can go other places. I think.”

Puffy once again said “buu,” looking a bit put out. He gave a huffy noise and put his nonexistent nose in the air.

“If anyone sees you here, it’ll make a mess. Don’t you remember what happened when you came by and brought all your friends here? It wasn’t a mass panic but it was all over the news.” Megrez sighed and scooped up the puff, giving him a scritch on his nubby head. “People aren’t prepared for aliens.”

“Buuuuleh.” Bleh. Bleh was right. As much as Megrez wished she lived in a world where aliens and magic could fly freely, Destiny City was Destiny City. Weird, but not weird enough.

“So, are you here for any particular reason?” Megrez asked Puffy, scooting her finger down his back, which he always liked. “Or do you just want to patrol with me?”

“Puu!” Puffy began to pick around in his belly fur, tucking his head in. A curious little gesture, but Megrez waited to see what was on the other side. Soon, Puffy emerged with a small glowing stone. “Puuresent!”

“A present? For me?” Megrez took the stone with her free hand and inspected it. It had a glow to it for sure, but no kind of identifiable aura. It wasn’t shaped or structured like a starseed, so at least she didn’t have to lecture Puffy on what to do if a misplaced starseed was found. “Thanks, but… what is it?”

“Bunno.” Puffy was good at finding things of interest, but puff for brains when it came to explaining them. That was okay. He didn’t need to explain this one. Random space crystals were an acceptable find for a powered person in Destiny City.

“Well, thanks.” With a nudge to subspace, Megrez found that the crystal could be stored there like any other important artifact. How curious.

“Puu!” Puffy puffed out his chest, proud of his delivery. He then hopped off Megrez’s hand and scuttled off. She waited for the green flash that indicated he’d left for elsewhere, but it never came. Only an impatient “Puu-uu.”

“Aw, Puffy, I don’t wanna have to chase you all over Destiny City today,” Megrez whined, but she begrudgingly followed, because the puffball had a knack for finding places of interest.

[Word count: 581]