Prologue - Community

The sun rose heavy over a patchwork sky, rising through streaks of fog and dew like it had something to prove. The once-humble clearing had grown beyond a simple campfire ring and a few makeshift shelters. In its place now stood a knotted little village of tents, wooden beams, and mismatched materials - stone, gravel, and wool.

Just deeper into the mainland, just where the trees and mushrooms bowed back to give breath to the earth, a pumpkin farm began to stretch. Dirt spread beneath hurried boots and the chop of blades buzzing through the quaint settlement.

Fizz wiped the back of her arm across her brow, pink hair tied back and sticking to her neck in tangles. The pumpkins had come in quick this season - maybe something about the soil, or maybe just the way chaos worked around here. Either way, there was no time to wait. Another swing of her axe sent a thick-stemmed gourd tumbling, its orange flesh thudding softly against the soil.

Toni, crouched nearby and already collecting the harvest into a battered barrel, glanced up. "This one’s got stripes. Bet it tastes funny."

Fizz snorted. "I believe it's called texture... My dear boy."

The fruit came up easy. The soil here was rich, damp with the breath of the nearby river. Autumn hadn’t quite arrived, but the pumpkins had no patience for calendars.

Toni huffed, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his wrist. “If I see another orange gourd I might scream.” Fizz laughed. “You said that five pumpkins ago.”

“Well now it’s six!”

The axe’s wooden handle had begun to split - Fizz made a mental note to replace it later. Pumpkins rolled lazily down the furrows, some catching on clumps of grass. One particularly round one bumped into Toni’s boot.

“Your children are escaping,” Fizz teased.

“They’ve tasted freedom and I envy them.”

Their banter, like familiar music. And off in the near distance, a different tone.

Pon and Chaotix, were knee-deep in the fenced pasture nearby, herding the sluggish cows toward a trough. Pon, green-furred and proud as ever, pointed a clawed finger at one.

"That one’s Dingus," Pon declared.

"No. That one is... Cowcifer," Chaotix corrected, his multicolored horns flicking with agitation. "You can’t name a cow Cowcifer. It's too edgy."

"Why not? You named one Dingus."

The pair continued to parry and weigh each of their opinions. Pon was waving a piece of wheat in the air, while Chaotix flailed behind him with his arms out like wings. The two of them had been arguing over cow names since sunrise. The herd, of course, was in different to where they got their fill.

"Those two are still going on about cow names?" Toni remarked.

Fizz smiled to herself as she wiped her hands on her leggings. The place was loud now. Busy. Alive.

Past the pasture, near the shadow of the dark oak forest, Shew and Vanilla took to the edge of a cliff that overlooked the riverbed. The clearing was still bright here, accompanied but tree-like mushrooms. One offered a natural canopy where Shew sat comfortably, hood drawn, phasing faintly between the light and not.

Vanilla, wings still ragged but healing, stood at the cliff’s edge with fire in her eyes. She now sported newly fastened leather bounds across her getup, hopefully to straddle the wind. As she tightened her boots, planting her feet firmly, she readied for the jump.

"Alright, I’m going again!"

Shew raised both hands. "Go off, queen!"

The wind caught beneath Vanilla as she leapt, laughing into the air, spinning as she tested lift, fall, and instinct. Fizz watched the silhouette twist through the sky before falling clean out of sight. Everyone could feel the rush of the breeze, newly accompanied by faint swearing.

Fizz, raking in the scene just beyond her, began to drift.

Toni’s voice snapped her back. "Yo, space-case. Helloooo?"

Fizz blinked. "Sorry. Just... just a nice day. Y'know?"

"Well," Toni said, slapping the side of the crate. "Let’s get more seeds. Gotta make this farm even bigger."

Fizz shrugged and jogged toward their starter shack. It was a lopsided little house pieced together with oak planks, stone slabs, and scraps of old logs. Inside, she dug through a labeled chest, scooping up a handful of pumpkin seeds.

As she stepped out, the wind shifted. She felt it before she saw it. A shape, still and unsure, stood at the edge of the forest.

Tall. Cloaked in purple. Blue hair catching the light.

Fizz raised a hand. "Hey stranger!"

The figure flinched - their eyes meeting hers just briefly before retreating like a shadow swallowed by trees. Startled by the attention.

Fizz’s eyes widened. She dropped the seeds. "Wait! Hey - !"

She bolted forward, boots crunching through underbrush as she chased after the girl. "We’re not gonna hurt you! Come back!" The forest answered with silence. Then: a low rumble. Raindrops began to fall, light at first, then faster, heavier. Her pink curls clung wet against her face.

Fizz slowed. She looked around. Nothing. The girl was gone. She turned, boots sloshing through the now-muddy path, and made her way back to the shack.

Toni was waiting under the awning, arms crossed. "You allergic to the rain or something?"

Fizz blinked, water dripping from her nose. She ran a hand through her soaked bangs.

"Weird," she muttered.

Her eyes drifted to the forest again. Something was stirring out there. And not just the rain.

She squinted through the rain, trying to follow where the girl might’ve gone. Between the trees, the air shimmered faintly. Wisps of something - maybe mist, hung low against the tree-line. Faint traces of purple flickered, like smoke, only to vanish the moment she looked straight at them.

Fizz narrowed her eyes. Was it just the rain catching the light? The way droplets streaked through the canopy could explain.

"Allergic, huh."