Return to Candletown

The air was… eerily cold.

    The kind of cold you’d feel in the presence of a ghost. Connie shivered. The satyr was so used to warmer climates, being back in a colder one in fall without a coat probably wasn’t the smartest choice on her end. She uncomfortably took the two leaves that formed her cloak and wrapped them around her in some pitiful attempt to replicate a jacket.

    Grimm frowned.

    “Do… Do you need a jacket, Connie? You can borrow mine, I’m used to these temperatures so I don’t really need-”

    “No, no, it’s okay, I’ll be fine. Thank you, though,” Connie spat out, trying to sound as confident as possible. 

    Grimm rolled his eyes, and stopped walking. Connie, who was a few steps ahead of him, stopped as well, and turned around to see why. He was removing his coat with an exasperated sigh, now stepping over to Connie and draping it over her shoulders.

    “I know you too well. Don’t pull that on me, seeing you shiver makes ME cold,” Grimm said.

    Connie huffed in defeat, adjusting her hair and sliding her arms through the sleeves. It was a bit small, but it was much warmer than her normal attire of just a tube top and a bikini bottom. Her legs were frigid but she decided not to speak up about it.

    “...Thanks, Grimm. Let’s keep at trying to find Cam, though. I know I saw her run in here, maybe she saw the demon or something,” Connie stated, now standing a bit more upright.

    “Sounds like a plan. But… with such a densely packed garden, she could be hiding anywhere. She knows plants and flora way better than I do. Maybe you, too, but I won’t make any assumptions. Do you think we should spl--”

    “No.” Connie cut grimm off, mid sentence.

    “The last thing we need when a demon is running around and wreaking havoc among the festival is to split up.”

    Grimm sighed.

    “You’re right, you’re right. You suggest where to look first. Once we find her we can keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Maybe sit down for a while,” Grimm spoke, leaning into his hand to crack his back.

    “Oh come on, you’re not THAT old, ya onion.”

    “You underestimate what sitting at home most of the time can do to your joints, Ms. I Get To Travel Everywhere For Free And Get Constant Exercise.”

    Both Grimm and Connie snickered. They were both comfortable with playfully teasing each other, as they had known each other long enough to do so. To their surprise, they heard an ever faint giggle coming from a nearby bush. They both looked at each other, and then at the bush, and then at each other again.

    Connie gave Grimm that confused, ‘is that her?’ look. Grimm shrugged. Only one way to find out.

    With a quiet, gentle step, Connie walked towards one of the glowing orange bushes, and ever so delicately spread some of the leaves. Unsurprisingly, Camellia sat inside, covering her mouth to silence her giggling from overhearing Grimm and Connie’s conversation. Also because she was so close to them and they didn’t know.

    “Aww, you found me!” Camellia exclaimed, the post-laugh grin still spread wide across her face.

    “Heh. That’s where you were. Right under our nose. Maybe if we weren’t so funny, we wouldn’t have found you,” Connie said, extending an arm and pulling Camellia out of the bush. Camellia ran her hands through her hair to get the excess debris out, but among the normal flowers that were entwined in her green hair, a few yellow and orange ones that had a faint glow had added themselves to her collection.

    “Hehe! It wasn’t that funny, I was just laughing that you were right next to me and didn’t see me!” Cam said, now looking at Grimm. “Hi Grimm!”

    “Hi Cammie,” Grimm smiled. Camellia had walked over next to Grimm, who promptly put his forearm on the top of her head and pretending to use her as an armrest. Camellia didn’t mind.

    “So, Cam,” Connie started, “When you were in here, did you see any more of the beast? I’ve heard from around town that it looks like another satyr, it has some orange on it, and it’s wearing a cloak, amongst some other thing.”

    Camellia looked around the garden, turning both left and right, then back at Connie.

    “The only thing I see that matches that description is you, Connie.”

    Connie fake gasped.

    “Are you saying I’M the monster, Cam?”

    “Maybe you ARE!” Camellia laughed.

    “Wow… I can’t believe… I’m the monster… Will I get reward money if I turn myself in?” Connie chuckled to herself. Grimm couldn’t help but snicker too.

    “Who knows, Con. Never know until you try,” Grimm smirked.

    “Ah yes, how right you are. Here I go, turning myself in, since I’m the monster that’s been terrorizing everything… Goodbye… Come visit me in space jail...” Connie started dramatically walking towards the gates of the garden, but laughed and turned back around. The whole group was now walking through the gardens, talking and laughing and occasionally looking around because they thought they saw something out of place. Nothing ever seemed to be, though. Maybe the monster wasn’t here anymore, and the movement in the corner of all the party members’ eyes was purely out of paranoia. No matter, though. They eventually made it to the top of the hill in the center of the garden. There lay an intricately made fountain surrounded by a stone bench, while the floor was lined with bricks. Some of them had been covered up with chalk drawings that some browlets decided to decorate the garden even further than it already was. Lanterns adorned every corner of this area, most lit with actual fire but some that were in more dangerous locations being lit with magic. It was hard to see the stars in the sky with all the light pollution, but that didn’t matter, since so many lights were floating effortlessly in the air in their place. Connie sat down by the edge of the fountain, while Grimm and Camellia overlooked the rest of the glowing garden.

    To Connie’s surprise, she felt an unusual splash of water hit her thigh, causing her to look down into the fountain instead of staring off into space and zoning out like she was previously. Inside the fountain was her little companion Aprico, Ierie.

    “...Ire?” Connie whispered, trying not to get the attention of the other two. “How’d you get here? I thought I left you with your sitter…?” 

    The aprico simply swam around happily, then jumped out of the fountain and onto the cement edge next to Connie. She made an almost comical flop noise, as apricos had to move similarly to Earth seals. It seemed the Browbirds Connie was with didn’t notice, so she put a hand on top of Ierie’s cold, wet head and gave her a little pat. Ire seemed to like it. How long had she even been there…? Those weren’t the questions to be asking now, though. 

    “So…” Connie spoke up, this time intentionally getting the attention of Grimm and Camellia. “I haven’t actually seen anything, since this is my first day back in town. Have you guys looked anywhere while I was gone? I know I talked to you, Cam, over spacebook, but I hadn’t heard anything about actually embarking on any quests thus far.”

    “Oh! We went to the canals!” Camellia said, excitedly and a little louder than both Grimm and Connie would have liked. No matter, they were used to this.

    “Yeah, the canals were uh… a time. I could have sworn I saw the monster, but the end of the canals were way too dark. It was pretty uneventful. There was another satyr there, too, but we didn’t talk much. She looked relatively new in town,” Grimm explained, taking a seat from his previously standing position. Camellia followed, sitting down as well.

    “Huh. I’ve talked to a few new Satyrs via Spacebook recently too. I wonder if any of them are here. Also, for whatever reason, apparently Ierie got here, somehow? I’m at a loss, but at least she’s unharmed and safe, I guess.”

    Camellia cracked her signature wide smile and walked over to the aprico, picking her up and putting her over a shoulder like a parrot, except it wasn’t a parrot. It was a tiny seal deer thing. Ire made a noise that was supposed to mimic some kind of bird but just ended up sounding like a snort. Camellia laughed.

    Seemingly just as hastily as the three had arrived, it appeared they now had a fourth party member. A browbird with a green lightning bolt crest, long fluffy brown ears, and tipsy turvy pink lemonade horns made the top few steps of the staircase leading up to the hilltop with the fountain. In their arms was a blueish purple kettlecat with bright glowing periwinkle eyes and vibrant teal ear innards. Both of them looked tired and grumpy.

    “Mind if I join you guys?” the newcomer said, slightly out of breath.

    Camellia’s eyes lightened up.

    “COG!!” She shouted, running over to her, wrapping her arms around Cog’s waist.

    “Heh. Hey Cam. Hey Grimm. Who’s this?” Cog said, gesturing to Connie.

    “Oh, you’re Cog?” Connie asked. “I’m Connie! We’ve talked on Spacebook a few times. It’s nice to finally meet you in person!” Connie stood up, and shook hands with Cog, her other arm being occupied with her three eyed companion.

    “It’s nice to meet you in person, too, Connie! I’ve heard a lot about you from these two as well.”

    “Only good things, I hope.”

    Camellia giggled, and Grimm rolled his eyes with a sneer.

    All four moved over to a bench and table that wasn’t too far from the main fountain, Cog across from Connie and Grimm   across from Cam.

    “So, Cog, have you seen anything of interest? I haven’t been back too long and these two’s only adventure was in the canals, and turned out to be fruitless,” Connie asked, leaning forward onto her elbows to give her back a break.

    “Unfortunately, I haven’t seen anything much either. I’ve been meaning to come out and explore more, but I’ve been so cooped up with my work recently that it’s just a matter of hyperfocusing and forgetting to do anything except… work,” Cog explained.

    “Yeah, she’s always busy with her studies and inventions. They’re super cool! But they’d be even COOLER if she ever went OUTSIDE and showed them off,” Camellia teased, making a playful frown at Cog. Cog stuck her tongue out and made a fart noise. Camellia retaliated with an even louder, longer, wetter fart noise.

    “Careful now, keep that up and you might scare the monster,” Grimm said.

    “But isn’t that the whole point? To scare it away?” Cog asked.

    “Well… yes, but it’d be more ideal to catch it or identify it so we can prevent it from causing any more damage in the future, you know?” Grimm responded.

    “Ohh, makes sense.”

    Cog’s kettlecat woke up from its previously sleeping position, all three eyes blinking out of sync. It looked around, shook its head, yawned, and stretched out on its side. Connie had to resist leaning over and (softly) aggressively rubbing its belly while making baby noises. Play em like a meat drum. What else are you supposed to do with cats?

    “Oh, my apologies, Connie. This is Noelle. She’s my companion, of sorts. She doesn’t actually help out with my work - that’s what my machines are for. But she helps me decompress if I need a break from work. Assuming she’s in the right mood,” Cog said, gently running her hand down the length of Noelle’s body. Noelle almost looked like she was going to curl back up and bite Cog’s hand, but simply stayed in her stretched out position. She seemed tired.

    “Hah. Cute. I’d love to see the things you’ve created eventually. And I have a few companions, too! This one,” Connie said, holding up her aprico, “is Ierie. I call her Ire, though. She’s my aprico. She doesn’t do much on land, but she’s really fun to go swimming with!” Connie said, then pausing for thought. “Actually, ALL of my companions are water-oriented. Huh. I need to branch out on my menagerie…” she said, mostly to herself.

    “Yeah!” Camellia said. “She also has two seasuns. One of them is best friends with my seasun!” She pulled out a picture of Coleslaw, Connie’s green seasun, and Mango Comet, Camellia’s orange seasun, to show to Cog.

    “Heh. Yeah. They’re very cute, but by the Celestial Seas they are incredibly difficult to keep in line. Camellia won’t admit that they’re both naughty and stinky,” Connie started.

    “Mango Comet is too cute to do any of that criminal stuff!” Camellia responded, as Connie expected.

    “Whatever you want to think, Cam,” Connie laughed. “Grimm, you have a few companions too, right?”

    Grimm sighed, reaching into a bag he had brought along and pulling out a purple crabit with golden accents. “This is Regalia. She mostly helps me out in my study. I also have a dridgeon, M.ango, but they’re not here right now. Regalia comes with me pretty much everywhere.”

    Regalia took one look at the rest of her company, and turned her chin up at them. She was too good for them all. Cog snickered.

    Things were very good for a while. The four talked, told stories, caught up, and got to know each other further. They could only hope that if the demon was nearby or close, that it wouldn’t care about ruining such a pleasant evening.