A life of adventure was always something Giu thought about as a kid. Hearing Immy’s stories. Looking at Maria’s poster. Even when he thought about Dad, he’d imagine little scenarios where he’d go out to reunite with him. Wherever he was.
It was an adventure he always thought he’d go on with Immy. But life always had a way of throwing him curveballs. One of which just happened to be an extortionist pixie he met when they separated.
“Tsuchluyavan!”
Fire burned a swatch in front of him, a shadowy arm disintegrating in front of him.
Tea arced in the air, dive-bombing only to stop themselves as more shadowed arms came lashing out like black whips. Giu jumped into the fray, smashing away so his partner could gain some distance. He quickly did the same as he saw James consolidating more tendrils around himself.
For a crazed cult leader, the man was a lot more annoying to deal with than either had expected. But then, that was half the fun of their escapades. Brute forcing their way through any and every solution they came across.
“Hey, Gi.”
“Yeah.”
The fox before them wrapped himself in shadowed limbs, several digging into the ground as he started to look less like a canine and more like a mutated spider.
Giu nodded. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Any chance you got some shadow-proof weapons on you?”
They both broke apart as limbs came rushing towards them, some rising out the ground while others seemed to fall from the liquid sky above. But as Giu turned to try to help Tea, he saw a flash of metal cut through the dark limbs.
“Not quite shadow-proof,” the pixie said. “But still useful.”
Giu frowned as he recognized the blade in the pixie’s hand. That annoying little…They were using Immy’s sword!
“Hey!” he shouted. “Who said you use that, pixie?”
Tea grinned, flying away as more shadows came to catch them.
Immy sword made short work of all of it, Tea spinning and slashing through the air like a razor-sharp hummingbird. It actually made Giu a little jealous.
“You gonna share at least?” he called, ducking and rolling away as shadows came after him. “T?”
The pixie snickered.
“Help yourself!”
He looked up to see the sword getting chucked across the field. You crazy little- He caught it just before it could hit the ground, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Phew.”
The blade shined in the light.
“Tea you annoying little-“ The words cut off as more arms came, rising out of the ground in droves. Some of which managed to wrap around him, though Giu quickly went to work cutting himself free.
For as much as he knew he shouldn’t be using his master’s sword, it felt so light and effective. Everything it touched seemed to blow apart on contact. Giu dropped to the ground, his tail wagging as he couldn’t help beaming with pride.
“Gi, be careful with that!” Tea shouted.
He groaned, flicking the blade. It made him feel the slightest bit of childish glee. Like he was a real swordsman. But he could see Tea already in need of the sword again.
“T, switch!”
He tossed it in the air, Tea flying over to catch it. Just in time too as the homing shadows met nothing but sharpened metal.
The two continued like this for a while, Immy’s sword tossing between the two as more and more shadowy appendages tried to grab at them. But as Giu dodged and sliced, he noticed that James remained in the same spot in front of them. Not even moving his arms as he commanded his shadows to attack.
In fact, now that he thought of it, had James moved at all during the entire fight?
A smile crept across his lips.
“Hey, T.”
“Yeah?”
The pixie tossed the sword back, Giu cutting through a wall of ten or so shadows.
“I got an idea,” Giu said. “This guy’s keeping his distance, right?”
“Yeah. He’s a mid-range fighter, Gi. They tend to do that.”
He tossed the sword over again, though this time he turned and ran straight towards James. Something he knew before they even came would make him a target for shadow assault. Tea came flying after him.
“Gi!” They sliced through shadows, pieces falling around him though he didn’t lessen his pace.
“Keep it up, T! You’re doing great!”
“What are- You crazy dummy!”
He didn’t listen to them, too busy sprinting along and trusting the pixie to keep any arms from reaching him. Which they did. For as much as they complained and berated him, they made sure to protect Giu as much as they could.
“Would you both just die already?” James was shouting. “Stand still so I can hit you!”
Even as he said this, the fox wasn’t moving. Just as Giu thought. He picked up the pace, already close enough that he could see his line of attack. A mid-ranger like that. He’d have no defense if he got up close and personal.
Magic coursed through Giu’s veins, the canine leaping forward to smash his fist into James.
The shadows vanished away in the blink of an eye.
“Gra!”
Giu’s hand stopped in the air, metal holding it in place.
“Don’t get cocky, Gustav,” James said, his sword having saved him from a form-changed punch in the chest.
Giu frowned. Well, there goes that idea. He briefly considered trying to swing again but ultimately decided against it. The fact that he got close at all was good enough.
Because in doing so, he made James ditch the shadow magic. Which left him wide open to attack.
“Now who’s a dummy?”
James raised a brow at that. Or he did, until the small pixie came crashing feet first on top of him, burying his face into the dirt.
“Still you, Gi,” Tea said. “Still you.”
There was a small groan from under them, but a second kick knocked James out cold.
***
Giu smiled proudly at their handiwork after all was said and done.
Of the few crystallites still alive, most were in such a sorry state they’d be out cold for a while. And even those still conscious were so freaked out by the dead bodies, they decided to comply. Something that Giu was happy for since it made tying them up a lot easier. The Seladon guards could have them when they were done.
For now, though, celebration was in order.
“You make a good swordsman, T,” Giu said, slinging the weapon around his shoulders. “Something else you pick up from the bears?”
“Actually, it’s something I learned in the Syd. You remember Elly?”
“The rabbit chef? Yeah.”
“She taught me the basics. Never really got a chance to show off until now, though.”
They flashed a smile, which Giu couldn’t help but return. It had occurred to him in the midst of their fighting that a lot of Tea’s moves were overly…flashy to put it mildly. But he didn’t really mind it. Or more so, he was a little impressed by the pixie.
Speaking of which… He walked over to them.
“Oh, and before I forget,” he said. “For saving me from those mystics.”
Tea gave him a confused look, which turned to surprise as he leaned closer, planting a small kiss on their cheek.
“Oh, and for helping me with this whole ordeal.”
He kissed them again, stepping back to see the pixie red in the face and frozen in shock. It was actually a little cute. He fixed a smile, turning his attention back to the task at hand. Now that the Crystallites were gone, he could smell the air clear as day.
“C’mon. We got a fox to find.”
He ran out ahead, Tea eventually snapping to attention and flying to catch up.
“Hey!” they called.
But he was too busy focusing on that familiar scent in front of them. Like woody fur. As he ran, he found the path curved and grew, less of the moss trees appearing. The path ended with a wall of black in front of them.
Huh. More shadows.
Tea caught up just in time to burn it all out the way.
A smile rose over Giu’s face the minute the flames cleared.
A field of flowers. Waterfalls. Shadowy appendages rising from the ground. He recognized it all too well from both James’s photograph and the false image the mystics showed him. But a look to Tea confirmed he wasn’t caught in another illusion, the pixie’s face still tinged red even as they nodded for him to go on ahead.
Right. Finally time.
He steeled his resolve, approaching the spacious meadow.
Here goes nothing, I guess.
The smell was even stronger up close.
Giu’s tail started to wag again. He’d forgotten how much he missed that smell. How much he missed her. Even as she was bound by shadows, he could hear faint breathing. See her chest rising and falling. See her tail swaying. He reached out to be on the safe side, smiling as he actually managed to touch Immy’s fur.
She was real. This all was real.
“Huh. Hey there, Immy.” He laughed. “Guess you’ve been waiting for me to show up a while, huh?”
He looked up at Immy’s face, the fox at least looking somewhat peaceful in her unconscious state. Like she was having a nice dream. But he was more than happy to disturb it.
“Sorry, Master,” he said. “I’m here now. So it’s about time for you to wake up.”
He stepped back, drawing Immy’s sword and taking aim.
“We’ve got a lot to talk about. And I’m sure you’ll want this back, too”
With one quick step forward, he sliced the captive fox free.
