The meeting between the 'Sun Soldiers,' Ayuka, and Ralphie ended in a flash, just as Ralphie was about to be stabbed by Kizu's sword. Ayuka whirled out from the depths of the ocean and wrecked havoc on the fighting party, managing to create a tsunami of water that slammed down on everyone and swept them away. Ayuka and Ralphie withdrew to the ship and docked it behind a mountain in a separate location to avoid being seen by the 'Sun Soldiers.'
Ralphie lowered the anchor, lowered the flag, and gazed over the ship's fence into the direction of the castle without being disturbed. "It appears like the ship is well disguised, so we shouldn't have any more issues with 'Sun Soldiers' for a time." He turned around and spoke to Ayuka, who was attempting to console Kou by resting him against his body and rubbing his arm over Ayuka's breast.
Ralphie's nose exploded into bright pink blood as he was pushed over the board and into the ocean, perplexing Ayuka who was looking over the calm weather. She stood up and finally felt Kou coughing up water, who then appeared perplexed and sat up horrified, shouting out Tomomi's name.
"Don't worry, Tomomi and you are both safe. You did a great job, Kou."
He was relieved to see Tomomi sleeping in the room's bed and stood up to peek over the ship's fence. The region was different from the previous one, where they had docked the ship, and he pondered and inquired.
"The terrain around us seems totally different. Did we move?"
While Ralphie proceeded to hit the ship's fence in the hopes of repairing it, Ayuka clutched the ship's fence and glanced across with Kou.
"We switched places to avoid being seen by the 'Sun Soldiers.' Ralphie ended up fighting the three of them as you were trying to save Tomomi, but I was able to freeze the water surrounding the ship to keep it in place. You ought to be aware of anything as well. The 'Sun Soldiers' were looking for a woman who happened to look remarkably identical to me, so they mistakenly mistook me for her."
"Is that the reason why something shot at Sanguine Rose and nearly destroyed it? If so, why are they so aggressive on trying to hunt down that girl?"
"I'm not sure, but everything sounds suspicious, but I have a different question, Kou..."
Kou's eyes opened wide. He froze in place and gulped his saliva down his throat, stressing due to a well-known idea of what she was planning to ask.
("Oh, crap, crap, crap! She's gonna ask me about Tim! Don't ask it, please, just don't ask me! Act like you forgot, play it cool, no matter what! You forgot about Tim, right Ayuka?")
"I was sure that Tim was with you the whole time, so would you mind telling me the reason to why you were the only one on the ship, Kou?"
Kou's body and arms dropped downward, and a glimmer of sadness lit up his queasy face. He slowly glanced at Ayuka's menacing position, her arms crossed beneath her chest, giving him a sidelong stare, as he surrendered his belief.
("She did it...")
"Kou...? You didn't lose Tim by any chance, did you? You better tell me you didn't, or we're gonna have a very stiff conversation."
He hurriedly turned at Ayuka with a stressful face and immediately started panicking by waving his arms in front, showing a denial toward Ayuka's inquiry.
"No, no, no, nothing like that! Don't worry about him, as you can see. He instructed me to go look for something he forgot on the ship, so I agreed, but don't worry, I ordered lunch at the restaurant, so he should be right next to it."
When Ralphie detected Kou's deception, his ears perked, and he leapt to his feet, looking at him puzzled. He stroked his chin, then scratched the top of his head after that.
"Actually, there are no proper eateries in Harventona Town. The Primal Restaurant is the closest, and it is the only reason why people frequented it. The majority of our customers came from Harventona Town, so we had a lot in common."
In reaction, Kou's body flinched, and when he realized Ralphie's remark was quite believable and understandable, he gave up, dropped his arms to the bottom of his feet, and groaned. "It was just a matter of time before you ruined it. Yes, I lost sight of Tim as soon as we entered a larger crowd. I was accidentally stopped by a fluffy foam I noticed, and when I turned back to face Tim, he was gone. Throw me in the ocean one more time; I know I made a mistake."
"Are. You. Serious?! You LOST him because you had a damn sweet tooth?! I even told the rest of the crew that Tim was in good hands, by you keeping watch over him! And then you come and tell me that you LOST him?! This is insanity, don't you know how much trouble he could cause without a supervision?!"
"I'm sorry, Ayuka, I really am! I know I messed up, but I'm sure we can find him! He should be on this island, so if we see any action going on, I think we'll know where to look! Please forgive me, it won't happen again!"
Ayuka spun around and let out a loud exhale, then clutched her own brow in dismay, her expectations dwindling. "Since we crossed the Vast Expanse, I swear, this has started to become more and more common. I can't think of a single instance on the island where we didn't get separated or lost. I'm starting to believe that I'm the only person qualified for the task of looking after Tim. Whatever the case may be, it occurred, and I suppose we should go seek for him in the morning. Let's hope he doesn't get into any problems today..."
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Meanwhile, Yumiko made it to the coast, where the Sanguine Rose had been docked previously, but there was no sign of a ship there this time, but the storm gradually subsided, and Yumiko glanced around, her clothes and hair soaking.
"What the hell is going on here? Tem said something about the ship being docked somewhere else, but all I see now is beach and the sea. Come on, I couldn't possibly have gotten lost on my way here. I mean, there's one more location I could look, but given my function, I should definitely scout this area more extensively. I'm not supposed to be able to miss a ship."
Yumiko investigated every corner and position of the shore and the island around her, but she was unable to detect the ship and confirmed that there was no ship after many minutes. "I looked in every direction. I believe it is past time for me to check somewhere else..."
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Tem followed Yumiko's shadow and was led to the Spookscale Woods, where she experienced strange ideas. She was led to the center of a crossroads, where she discovered two signs pointing in opposite directions.
One of the signs had a skull image and the word "dangerous" written on it, while the other said "Harventona Park." Tem cocked her head, unsure which way to turn, and crossed her arms hurriedly.
"I have two choices, but I don't know which way Yumiko went, so I guess I have to pick one by myself. Let's see, which sounds the most fun option; "Harventona Park" or "dangerous".... Hmm?"
Without any reservations. Tem took a left and rushed in the direction of the "dangerous" sign, passing through the forest with black foxes crouching behind the woods' shrubs, keeping a watchful eye on them, and someone coming in between these animals, a stern expression on their face. They scratched the tops of their heads and hopped out from behind the bushes, their arms, mostly extended outward, immediately following Tem.
Tem began to get more and more careless as she traveled down the road, but she continued to wonder which way Yumiko went, and by sheer chance, she was greeted with Yumiko's figure standing in front of her, waiting for her to approach her.
"Hey, Yumiko! It's me, Tim! Have you-" Tem saw Yumiko whirl around with her arms stretched back and run away from her, going to the right, unable to continue his sentence.
"Okay, this is getting foolish! Stop running away from me, Yumiko!"
Tem raced and kept up with Yumiko, who was only a few steps away from her reach. She leapt forward and threw her arms around Yumiko's torso, collapsing and rolling down the big slope, where Tem shouted. "Gotcha!"
While Yumiko struggled to escape Tem's grasp, Tem laughed in response with excitement and cheered over with fun. She let go of Yumiko's body and sat down on the floor, laughing out loud. "I suppose it was quite fun to chase you down, but please, I've been starving now. Did you get the clothes and a basket of food?"
However, in the mist of the Spookscale Woods, Tem heard voices singing and looked around for the voice. "Gho-Ro-Ro, Gho-Ro-Ro!" While Tem sat motionless, they repeated the same words, Yumiko's body transformed into a white liquid that created a little ghost that appeared like paper. Tem's eyes bulged out of their sockets as the ghost gently glided through the air, preparing to join the song.
"You're not Yumiko! What are you?!"
Tem shook her head and lunged for the ghost, capturing it with her arms around it and dropped back onto the floor, where the spirit fought to flee, sweating as he saw Tem's face up close.
"You're so cool, and you're so comfy! Can I keep you, pleaaseee?"
She continued to cuddle with the ghost that was continually trying to get away from her clutches, but it was unsuccessful, and it eventually gave up when Tem got up and looked forward. Hundreds of the same species were fluttering and singing in the air. Tem grinned and went deeper into the woods, where she came across a building with a half-lit sign mounted to the top of the building's wall spelling out the word "Ghast Interface."
"Is this a factory of some sort? Why's it so far into the woods? It certainly doesn't appear to fit here..."
Tem's unamused ghost continued to stare straight before suddenly smiling in response to seeing a few ghosts hovering in front of her face, giving her a cute expression.
"Uhh..."
"Gho-Ro-Ro... Gho-Ro-Ro-Ro!"
Tem lowered his gaze to the caught ghost, which reached forward with its arm. "Gho-Gho!" It fought to escape Tem's clutches, but Tem finally realized what was going on, and she smiled. "Do you want to join them in the dance? You've got it!"
Tem observed the ghost, they grabbed float in the gathering of the rest and quickly aligned themselves together, where they soon began to dance and sing together. They swirled around Tem's body or approached from afar, bringing some type of pail into which they were creating a children's toy.
To be continued...