Tolin —

Not long after having spent some time with a strange little talkative creature, Shoal found himself with his Captain out in the rift looking for...something. He thought. Maybe they were running from something? Or was it looking for something to eat? No, not a lot of tasty things in the Rift... Didn't matter. There were strange formations of crystals and creatures all around, and it was his job to make sure the squishy little thing with him didn't get eaten. Never mind that said squishy little thing was both bigger and stronger.

Either way, he scuttled along the ground nosing at things and making threatening eyes at the occasional odd critter drifting by.

Kapoodles —

Fettelite wasn’t quite sure where at all he was supposed to look for that crystal Chip talked about. But... It made sense that the deeper they went in, the stronger the crystals were.

Maybe before he’d be scared to keep going in, back when he was a Lieutenant, but now he was much stronger! He had a real weapon, and Shoal at his side, though he had not yet seen his youma fight against anything that wasn’t himself, or an irritating shadow.

“So... Shoal.. What do you think? Do you know where we can find those really strong crystals Chip was looking for?”

Tolin —

"Raah," Shoal replied, a perfectly clear response to him, but...perhaps not so clear. He paused to sniff at a curious crystal formation. Much too small to be what Chip wanted...probably, but sort of resembled a little spiky plant. Shoal tilted his head to the side and bit one of the stalks...which snapped right off. He then presented the little piece of crystal to Fettelite, placing it on the ground in front of the captain's foot.

Kapoodles —

"Hmm... No, not quite, but it's pretty cute." It did look like a weird little plant thing, and he put it on his front breast pocket, keeping it for now.

"We want something bigger... Something like this." Fettelite held up his hands, about a foot apart, then again, about six inches the other direction. Surely Shoal would know about those big ones, right?"

Tolin —

Shoal tilted his head to the side, then a bit more, as if considering what he was told...and then scuttled off once again, deeper into the poorly mapped areas of negaspace, intent on something...maybe he'd find it, maybe not...

...though, not long afterward, he stopped at a cave of some sort, which had a faint glow, and declared, "Rahh!"

Kapoodles —

Fettelite diligently followed after his youma, trying to keep up with each step, but him slithering around was much faster than he could move!

Eventually they came to the cave and... well.. It was super spooky. "You sure it's in there, Shoal...? Seems dangerous..."

Tolin —

Shoal looked up, tilted his head to the side, and then opened his mouth a bit wider. It would almost be a smile, if such a thing were possible on a face like that. Or maybe it was just a request for tasty things? Either way, after a moment, he snapped his jaws shut, and advanced into the cave.

In the shadows, Shoal's glowing markings highlighted his position pretty well.

Kapoodles —

“I don’t know what that means...” He whined, before slowly following behind Shoal. Fettelite, in this moment, desperately wished he had a toddler leash, or something along those lines to keep his youma a bit closer.

With him getting further away, he was lucky that Shoal managed to light up himself! Who knew just how lost he’d get without him.

“Hey! Slow down! You’re gonna leave me behind!”

Tolin —

Shoal paused in the dark, his markings flaring briefly, both as an expression of 'well, go faster,' and a way to show where he was...then he kept on moving. Deeper, deeper...but before too long, he rounded a corner out of sight.

The space he entered glowed from more sources than just the strange little youma: There were crystal formations all around the space that glowed in a few different shades of color, casting strange shadows all around, and Shoal parked himself directly in the center of the space, watching for Fettelite to catch up.


Kapoodles —

Fettelite near broke out in a sprint to keep up with Shoal's skittering. How could his friend move so damned fast?! He hopped, skipped, and jumped to keep up, until he finally skidded to a stop in the middle of something incredible.

Everything was gorgeous, even if the chaotic energy that vibrated around them made his hair stand on end.

"... This... This is amazing!! It's exactly what we needed!!"

Tolin —

Shoal seemed pleased, with his mouth open and teeth sparkling in reflected light of the crystals all around. He also seemed to enjoy being surrounded by all these strange crystals, glowing and vibrating as they did. He was, after all, a being of chaos.

After a moment, he approached a rather large crystal near the ground, tilted his head to the side, and bit it. It didn't budge. Then he took a step back, and it came loose with a dull thunk. With it in mouth, he dragged it over to Fettelite, let it go, and looked up expectantly.

Kapoodles —

Something that big was.. Kinda incredible. And Shoal being able to just pull the big ol' think out without any help was JUST as equally impressive! So much so that it almost seemed.. Frightening.

Not in a oh he can hurt me kinda way, but in the sorta way that just... Made you feel a little less unsure of what could happen should Shoal get angry.

When the youma let it go, it hit the ground with a dull, but audible thump, he just... Well, he just beamed in delight and hopped right over to his sweetly waiting youma.

"That's perfect, Shoal! That is absolutely wonderful!" He gushed, kneeling down to give his youma a big dose of Fettelite brand affection and a few skittles pulled from a pocket he had. "We'll take this right back to Chip, and soon enough, we'll have you talking again! ... Maybe we can take you to see your friend who's worried about you again!"

Tolin —

They served no purpose, but the bright little balls of flavor were always welcome to Shoal's scattered mind...and so naturally, he ate them. He didn't quite know what the point of the big crystal was, but he had clearly chosen properly, and that was good. He thumped his tail on the ground behind him once in an approving sort of way. 'Chip' sounded like something familiar...Something to chew on, maybe?

It would come to him, surely. What ever the case, he followed along in his scuttling manner as they left this place once again, the goal of being here already forgotten. Not that it mattered, anyway.

---FIN---