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twilightprince101 · 4 years

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A Tale of Scouts - The Dimensional Drifters

I decided to write a fic for my Dimensional Drifters AU! This can serve as a way to let newcomers know what exactly this AU is all about, but also was just really fun and self indulgent for me to write! It was fun as hell imagining how the different characters interact and banter with each other!

This fic was based off a previous post I made for this AU detailing what the different “roles” of everyone would be, this story centering around the scouts/supply runners. If you have no idea what The Dimensional Drifters, check out the “Dimensional Drifters” tag on my blog or click here to check out the carrd detailing my self ship AU’s!

With that out of the way, I hope y’all enjoy!

Far beyond the Earth that so many have come to know, there is a sea of alternate worlds. Some are akin to our own, sharing similarities in their people and places. Others are a far cry from the mundane, revealing what the world would come to if humanity had never existed. There are worlds that connect to other universes, having their culture carry on through literature, while others are doomed to isolation, forever remaining out of touch with the rest of its ocean. Few worlds contain unfathomable creations that no mortal mind can comprehend. Other worlds can just be a chair in a room.

In one of these worlds, sentient life had never been created. No culture, no humans, no form of sapience whatsoever. In their absence, competition for nutrients was nonexistent, allowing organic life to thrive like never before. Trees that began as young saplings now loomed high above the clouds that once hung over them. Plants intermingled with each other freely and developed hybrids that would be the paradise of gardeners and botanists everywhere. But in this endless forest lies a special type of fruit that grants whoever takes a bite hundreds of centuries worth of flavor (if they’ll forgive the migraines that comes from them).

These fruits -and the favors that come with them- are why four sunset toting scouts are braving the dense thickets of trees once more.

“Come on M.T., better hurry up or else I’ll beat you theeerreeee~”

A purple dragon teased behind him as he soars through the woods, weaving in and around the trees and letting wind graze past his scales. To give his opponent a fighting chance to catch up, the drake bucked up his horns and released a gust from his golden wings, looping around a branch overhead. Although in the past he had trouble with flying on his own, after getting so much training in these different adventures it came as natural as breathing. Checking if his fellow racer had managed to catch up the dragon peered over the sunset fabric tied around his tail, spotting the white blob of fur that was only a short hop behind.

“Oh yeah?! We’ll see about that Spyro!!”

Two iron wires shot out from handheld blasters, embedding themselves in a branch overhead. With a click from the triggers the rope began to zip back into its holster, pulling its wielder upwards along with them. As the Moomin soared over the branch he gave both hooks a yank to pull them from the wood, making sure his trajectory was right as he repositioned himself to fire the next shot. With another blast and pull, Moomintroll was next to and keeping pace with his racing rival, his multicolor neckerchief flapping in the wind.

“Don’t get so cocky just because you have that gear on.” Spyro dipped down to avoid an incoming branch. “Back home I could outrace anything! Dinosaurs, UFO’s, even some of my own elders couldn’t keep up!”

“Oh yeah?” The Moomin shot another hook above and yanked hard, his tail grazing the hardwood before momentum carried him back down. “Well I may not be able to fly like you, but there’s one thing I have you don’t!”

“Really? And just what might that be then?”

With a toothy grin the grappler shot another target overhead, retracting the wire once more to zip over top. Only this time as he ascended, he clenched his toes and activated the triggers in his boots. In the blink of an eye an aqua aura expands from his boots and outlines his body like a glaze. With this new glow, instead of hopping over the next branch, Moomintroll hurdles over it and continues to soar upwards, the laws of physics no longer applying to him.

“VICTORY OVER GRAVITY!!!”

The dragon couldn’t help but laugh along with his fellow scout as he flew higher and higher. It was certainly true, he had him beat in that regard. The gear he requested from Lindar and Hat Kid work amazingly together, especially in Moomintroll’s hands. Spyro could remember overhearing him asking the inventors for the gear, wanting to find ways to keep up with everything else. It’s hard to believe now that the kid he used to constantly protect was able to keep pace with him now. All that practice he’s done has really paid off.

“Keep your eyes on the prize Moomintroll!”

From the branches to the two’s right, a small black and white blur bounced from branch to branch. With each step he took his large eyes peered ahead to calculate the next three, blue eyes scanning every possible route forward. As the blur approached a large gap between two branches, he reached into one of his several pouches and pulled out a smoke bomb, slamming it against the tree as he soared, the small explosion propelling him just the right distance to make it to the other side. Even though his two partners could soar through the air, his prior training as a Phantom Thief allowed him to match their speed just from natural ability alone. Although normally it would be hard to spot him, the twilight bandana around his neck helped make the job easier.

“It may seem fun but this forest is dense. Think of this like driving a car, if you don’t keep your eyes on the road you’ll slam into a tree!” The cat said, only sparing split second glances away from the hurdles ahead.

“Morgana, M.T.’s never driven a car. Forest world, remember?” The dragon couldn’t help himself from spitting out a bit of snark.

“W-well, then,” despite his continued proficiency bounding forward, the cat fumbled for a recovery, “riding a bike then! Or sledding!”

“C’mon, lighten up a bit! This is the first time he can let loose like this while on a mission, plus you’ve practically been working him to the bone with those lessons. Let him have some fun!”

“We both know this isn’t a place where you can let loose Spyro.” one of the weaker branches snapped as the paws left its surface, sinking into the blanket of clouds without any audible sound. “One wrong step and he’ll become a pancake down on the forest floor!”

“It’s okay teach, I think I got the hang of this!” The phantom thief’s view of the purple drake was obscured by snow white fluff as Moomintroll bounded alongside him with the glow still surrounding his form and only taking occasional glances down to his mentor. “I’m doing everything you said. Arms to the sides, knees tucked in and all that stuff!”

“You forgot ‘Always on the lookout.’” Both teacher and student kicked off the side of a towering birch, both giving stylish and acceptable somersaults in the air before landing on the next branch. “This is like a test run before we have you come with us to more dangerous worlds, if we were somewhere like the deep sea woods doing this you’d fly right into the mouth of a giant antler-fish! You need to have situational awareness whenever supply running in places like these.”

“But we’re not, right? We know that there isn’t anything here, just plants! This gives me the perfect opportunity to get used to these in the field! Here, let me show you something I’ve been working on, you’ll love this! It’s really good to get more speed, but also a bit stylish, just like how you do it!”

With those last few words both grappling hooks were upholstered and the blue glow around Moomintroll’s form faded. Before Morgana could even get a word out he kicked away from their shared path and winked to him, then turned his attention to the path ahead. For a few seconds the Moomin just fell, descending closer to the coating of fluff as his eyes scanned ahead. Despite knowing just how dangerous the scout was doing, Morgana and Spyro couldn’t help but just watch, paw lingering over a pouch and body positioned to take a dive at a moment’s notice.

Then in a blink of an eye Moomintroll spotted it, the perfect opening. A single branch that had not a single branch below it. It was time for some fun.

The snow-furred explorer shot another two blasts from his grappling hooks, disabling the boots and letting gravity swing him under the branches like a pendulum. Wind howled in his ears and his scarf flew like a flag in a hurricane. As he reached the swing’s trough and began to rise again, he pulled the triggers on both the hooks and boots, enveloping himself in blue light once more as he rose, the speed from his fall being nothing compared to now. With a leg kick and hard pull both hooks were released and the momentum from the swing sent him rocketing ahead of the entire pack, all three sets of eyes directed on him. One impressed, one nervous, one amused.

“WAAAAAHOOOOOO!!!”

But in his exhilaration, he failed to notice the oak tree branch that he was hurtling towards.

“Moomintroll, watch out!!” Morgana dug into his pouch and pulled out a grappling hook of his own, preparing to fire it at the living projectile before it struck its target. But with how far ahead he was and the speed he was travelling, it would be a one in a million shot-

“Don’t worry your little paws off, I got this!”

A flash of green and black energy shot past the phantom thief, barely missing one of his whiskers and throwing off his rhythm leading him to tumble a bit on the branch as he landed. The shot of raw chi flew faster than a bullet and sliced through the tree’s body like a buzz saw, cleaving it perfectly in two. Gravity did its work quickly and the oak toppled to the side, falling beneath the clouds and down to the depths of the forest below.

But even though the tree was gone, the suddenness and shock caused Moomintroll to lose his rhythm.

“WoahwoahwoAHWOAH!!” M.T. waved his arms and kicked his legs in an attempt to reposition himself. In his panic the triggers for the boots were released and the aura vanished. Reality grabbed the Moomin’s tail and yanked down hard. He still had a hold of the grappling hooks but with how much he was flailing his head spun along with the rest of him. Even if he reactivated the boots he would keep the momentum and crash course through the clouds and down to the ground to become a Moomin panini.

Working fast, Spyro folded his wings inward and dove down beneath his fuzzy friend. With his superior flying skills and weight he managed to dive faster than Moomin flailed, catching him on his back with a huff. He was normally used to lighter people riding his back like the kids, in all of the excitement he forgot that this is his friend’s natural weight. M.T. didn’t take up much space on his back at least, with the drake being about the size of a horse.

“You okay back there bud?” Spyro kept his eyes forward to ensure they didn’t make the same mistake twice. It took a moment for the freefaller to realize he wasn’t doing so. When the dragon didn’t get a response, he made sure his flight path was clear and took a peek behind him.

Moomintroll was unharmed, no problem there. Instead of terror or injury, the mystified teen was staring down into the clouds that grazed his feet. His eyes were filled with galaxies as the nature of the situation dawned on him. He was riding above the clouds on a dragon. An actual real life dragon! This was something he had never even dreamed of doing back home before! Holstering his blasters, he reached down and let his hand comb through the fluff. Water droplets collected on his hands as the white fingers combed through the mist. The two could smell the water in the air. Without saying a word Moomintroll looked at his friend with a grin so innocent and full of childlike wonder it would rival Mustache Girl’s first flight.

The dragon just snorted in return, returning his gaze to their upcoming destination.

“Heads up now and buckle up, we’re going in for a landing!” White fuzzy hands gently wrapped around Spyro’s shoulders as he tilted to the side and let his wings carry the two down to their landing pad: a wide oak treetop decorated in mounds. Although it didn’t seem like much, this little base was their home away from home.

After a slow but steady descent, the two touched down on the bark of their base. Unfortunately before Moomintroll could even get off of his friend he was sniped with a reprimand.

“What did I tell you about being careful?!” With one more smoke bomb propelled launch, Morgana touched down onto their home base right in front of the dragon and Moomin. His eyebrows seemingly spiked downwards from the force of the landing.

“I know this may be fun and all, but you need to keep a grip in these situations! If Spyro hadn’t caught you, you would have been plummeting all the way down to the bottom of these trees, and we all know how big of a fall that is!!” Morgana’s tail is puffed and pointing straight up as he scolds his student.

“S-sorry sir!” Moomintroll instinctively bowed down to his mentor, meeting him at eye level. “T-this has just been the most exciting thing I’ve done! I’ve never been able to keep up with you all, but with these,” he gestures to the boots and grappling guns, “I’m able to stay beside you all and not slow you down!!”

“But still, you could have been seriously hurt! Lindar and Hat Kid made those so you could keep up, not to play around! If you’re going to study under me for phantom thief training, you need to understand that-”

“Aw, c’mon teach, lighten up on the kid will ya?”

A teasing voice from the shadows interrupts Morgana, echoing between the oaks. From one of the higher treetops a slim, feline figure overlooks the three while leaning against the trunk without a care in the world. His hazelnut fur would’ve made him hard to spot if it weren’t for his black and red garb and glowing green eyes. The metal clanked against his body as he shifted, his sunset cloth (wrapped around his shoulder like a bangle) sticking out like a sore thumb.

“You heard him good, right? This is the first time he can run with the big shots instead of hanging back doing paperwork. He’s been looking forward to this forever and was doing well too, what’s wrong with a little slip up?

“Ugh, of course he butts into it.” The small thief groans, not even bothering to look in his direction and wishing he could go back to ten seconds ago when he forgot he existed. Both Moomintroll and Spyro spot him but sport polar opposite reactions. Moomintroll waves up at the figure without a hint of wavering.

“Shu Chi, come on down! We’re gonna take a break before getting more of those fruit things!” The clink of yaoguai armor could be heard.

“Naaaah, I think I’m good up here. Might be good to keep lookout, ya know?”

“There’s nothing in this forest, we’ve already established that a while ago!” Spyro’s tail flicks down and knocks on the ground, creating audible thumps that mix with his yells.

“Well you never know unless you know what you know, ya know? There’s no way we know everything about this world, there might be, oh I dunno, giant woodpeckers to go along with these giant trees! Or maybe even giant beavers that’ll chow us up along with the wood!”

“I think you mean termites-”

“My point still stands!” The yaoguai leans his back against the branch, holding two fingers up to his temple as if he’s making a great deduction. “Might be good for someone to keep an eye out, plus it’s plenty comfy up here! By far one of the best trees I’ve rested in.”

The thief and dragon groan, already fed up with his shenanigans. They’ve been through this routine plenty of times before, they know better than to try and pester him further. Moomintroll, though, does not. Pulling off a backpack he’s kept on him, he takes out a small tupperware filled with a few cubes of yellow, flakey, doughy delight.

“I brought some of Mama’s cornbread if you want some!!”

The spirit’s ears perk up upon hearing the word cornbread, peeking down at the small container. His green eyes stare down at the yellow cubes as he stands perfectly still. When a fanged grin shines from the darkness Shu Chi springs into action, leaping off the edge of the treetop and digging his claws into the bark, slowing his descent while spiraling around the trunk. When he reaches the same level as the rest of his fellow scouts, his entire body glows jade green and he springs from the tree like a baseball pitching machine shooting out a green christmas light. Making sure to do a few flips as he falls, the leopard cat slams down into the tree in a battle-ready crouch.

“We get it, you like to show off.” Spyro rolls his eyes as the glowing light dispels from the yaoguai’s body.

Moomintroll opens up the tupperware for the cornbread and holds it up to the leopard cat who happily reaches in to pull out a slice and take a bite. Shu Chi’s eyebrows slope upward after chewing for a moment, unable to help himself from letting out a “Mmm!” from the taste.

“Yor mofor,” Shu Chi swallows a bite and points down at the Moomin, “makes the best cornbread.”

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Within a handful of minutes the four scouts had settled into their camp away from camp. It wasn’t much overall, only a few chairs surrounding a mound protruding from the tree that acted like a table. Moomintroll went around and passed out the snacks he had packed for everyone, making sure to include a slice of cornbread. He decided to save his own for later though, as a Moomin he didn’t need to eat as often as everyone else.

Shu Chi looked over the edge to do lookout as he said. Whatever it was he was looking out for he didn’t know. While hearing a bit of rustling he took a peek behind him to see what everyone else was up to. Morgana and Moomintroll were making their way over to the mound while pulling rolled up parchments from their bag. Spyro on the other hand gladly munched on a bit of steak while stretching his wings, arching his back like a cat about to pounce. Strategy wasn’t exactly his forte, even back in his own world, so he took the moment to relax.

When the dragon noticed the actual cat eyeing him down, he stood upright and returned his gaze with the same amount of wariness. Neither were exactly sure what they were waiting for, scanning for any move they could make until they couldn’t take anymore. Flicking his head up Spyro tossed the last bit of steak into his mouth and chomped down, not once breaking eye contact. Shu Chi turned back around and took a bite of his sandwich, returning his gaze downwards. The arm that bore his multicolor bandle felt a little tingly so he loosened the fabric a tad.

“Alright, so let’s map out our route.” Morgana spoke between bites of fatty tuna, standing up onto one of the chairs. Moomin nodded, pulling out a rolled up map from his backpack and spreading it out over the mound. The parchment held several crude drawings of trees surrounding a small multicolor circle-their entry point. The drawings seemed intricate at first, meticulous in detail, but the farther away they got from the portal the more messy they became. The outer layer is just a green circle scribbled with big green crayon and the words “IT’S ALL JUST TREES!!!”

“The last few times we’ve been here we’ve had to look for specific trees to get the miracle fruits.” The mapper pulled out a red crayon from his bag (it was the only thing Hat Kid gave him with the map) and pointed to a large pine tree that most likely was drawn in five seconds. “This one right here has been our main supply, but considering we’re getting enough for everyone, it won’t be enough.”

“But we know that there are other trees that have this fruit. The first time we came here and explored the ground level, there were some rotten fruits at the base of trees right by the portal.” Morgana circled around the portal with his paw. “But even though those fruits were there, we haven’t been able to get anything from that tree every time we looked.”

“It could just be because the tree has grown too old. Compared to the rest of them, the bark seemed pretty faded.”

“That doesn’t help us though. What we need is to find trees that are young enough to have ripe fruit.” Morgana pulled away from the map to munch thoughtfully on his snack, hoping that it could stimulate his brain. “Mmm… dogh yogh remumbuh wha thuh othah treesh wahr?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, hang on a second.” The cow/hippo hybrid put crayon to paper, taking a moment to think before marking off different trees with a tick mark. When finished the two stepped back, hoping to find some sort of pattern. There were only about eight tick marks on the entire map of the known forest, all dispersed seemingly randomly. Some trees didn’t have fruit anymore, some they have picked once or twice, but all of them combined wouldn’t give them enough for everyone, not even including the timeframe it would take to reach them all.

“Well we can rule out the trees all spreading out from one source.” Mona sighed in frustration and scratched a bit behind his ear. Moomintroll stared speculatively at the map trying to recall any other instances they had found a miracle fruit. Most they found on the ground was on the verge of decomposing if they weren’t already splattered from the fall. Meanwhile the ones they found on the trees were hidden within the leaves, barely visible to the naked eye. If they wanted to make dinner by tonight, they would need to know which trees to hit and only go for those ones.

“How’s it going over here fellas?”

Both Moomintroll and Morgana jump back a bit from the sudden voice right over their shoulders. Morgana once again groaned at the sight of Yan Shu Chi, leaning on one foot with his elbows stretching above his head. Spyro peeked out from behind him, lowered in a preparatory stance just in case he tried anything funny.

“We’re trying to figure out where we should look for miracle fruits next, Leopard.” Mona spits out the name as if it was a cherry pit. The cat seems unphased, stretching a bit more with his eyes closed. “Aren’t you supposed to be keeping watch like you said you would?”

“Meh, I think you guys might’ve been right, there probably isn’t anything here we need to worry about. Besides…” he winks open an eye down to the Phantom Thief. “From the sound of it you need a bit of help over here, kitten~”

“I am NOT a CAT!!!” Morgana hisses and nearly jumps a foot in the air at Shu Chi, barely even trying to hold back a chuckle at the reaction. “We have been over this SEVERAL TIMES!!! I may look like a cat, but I’m far from a hairball spitting animal like you!”

“Aw come on now boss, you really playing this game again?” Shu Chi itches the bottom of his nose with a finger, still looking down at the scout with only one eye. “Look, I’m just sayin’ there’s no harm in just admitting it.”

“I’ll NEVER admit it!!” Mona hisses once more, catching himself on the end. “B-because there’s nothing TO admit!!!”

“Really doing this now, huh? Here, I’ll spell it out for ya.” The yaoguai approaches the cat once more, lowering his arms and reaching down to the phantom thief.

“We both have pointy ears…” Shu Chi tugs a bit at Morgana’s ears, making him let out a little Mrah!!! While trying to bat his hand away.

“We both have claws…” He pinches Mona’s tiny hands, using a paw to tap on said claws that were peeking through his white fur.

“We both have fluffy tails…” Mona jumps a bit when he feels Shu Chi’s tail patting and lifting up his own.

“And of course, we both irresistibly cute~” Shu Chi holds his chin aloft with his fingers underneath, sticking out his tongue a bit and winking to further prove his point.

“Oh actually, wait a minute… That only really applies to me…” False realization takes over his expression as he taps his chin, then snapping his fingers with a playful glance back down. “Maybe you’re not a cat after all! My bad!”

“HEY!!!” Morgana just jumps even higher in the air with his tail erect like a pole, hissing at the audacity of his fellow scout. The leopard cat doesn’t even try to hide his chortling laughter, successfully pissing off the little cat once more. Moomintroll and Spyro both give each other a glance, one of unease and one of annoyance. They were getting nowhere fast.

“Well are you going to help or not then, mister cat?” Spyro knocked the back of his tail onto the yaoguai’s back, knocking him out of his chortling spree. Waving off his mischief and Mona’s attitude as if it were nothing, Shu Chi mutters “fine, fine mr buzzkill…” and peers over the map. As Morgana’s fur smoothes back down the grin across Shu Chi’s face fades away along with it, his expression turning inquisitive and brows furrowing rigorously. Both paws spread out the drawing as he hunches over to get a closer look.

“Oh, did you figure something out Shu Chi?” Moomintroll unclenches the crayon from his teeth, wiping away a few bits of red wax from his mouth. The yaoguai points a claw at one of the tick marks closest to their current location where the drawings still have a hint of effort.

“This tree right here. Isn’t it that one right over there?” His brown and white tail points off into the distance. After going through the same routine Moomintroll nods. The three could see the wheels turning in the leopard cat’s head, claw tapping on the wood as he stared at the bark. It was only when the tapping could be mistaken for a tap dance troupe that it ceased and his head jerked up. He spun back to the map and snatched it up and paced along the perimeter of the base with his face buried in the parchment of crayon and marker.

“Well? Don’t keep us in suspense, tell us!” Morgana and Moomintroll followed close behind but their ally didn’t give a response, only muttering to himself and pointing in different directions. After walking a third of the treetop’s rim, Shu Chi stops again and looks off into the distance with a squint, blinking a few times to be sure.

“Hey purple pal, c’mere for a sec.” Shu Chi motions the dragon over with a wave of his fingers.

“My name is Spyro.”

“Yeah yeah whatever you say Silo. Can you do me a favor and check out that tree over there?” He lowered down to the dragon’s eye level and pointed off into the distance.

“Umm…. the big tree or the big tree?”

“The big tree. As in,” Shu Chi pressed the dragon’s cheek to his, pointing with a claw directly to where he looked so there would be no mistake. “The tree waaaaaaayyyy back there with a broken branch a little lower towards the clouds.”

Although it took a moment the dragon found the broken branch in question. It must have been over fifty meters away, even Spyro was surprised he was able to spot it.

“Uh huh…” The dragon nudged the cat with his horns to shove him away. “And why exactly should I do that?”

Shu Chi, brimming with confidence, looks down to the dragon with eyebrows raised and a knowing glint in his eyes.

“Humor me.”

Both exchange cold stares with the other. The dragon is well aware of the mischief that the yaoguai brings, he’s seen plenty of it from how much he lies back at camp. A stolen hat from Moominpappa, a few swapped plates in the dining hall; nothing explicitly harmful, but enough to get himself on enough nerves he could make a harp out of them all. For all he knows this could be another elaborate prank, planting something in the tree to get a reaction out of him. But despite all the tail knocks and suspecting glares, Shu Chi’s expression never once changes, unwavering even in the face of a dragon.

After an overexaggerated eye roll and sigh, Spyro spread his wings, hunched down, then let the wind cary his wings as he flew into the distance to follow his ally’s request.

The phantom thief and Moomin rush to where he lifted off to watch as he flies up and away into one of the tree’s leaves. Although initially hesitant about Spyro following the advice of somebody who mocked him moments before, the anticipation began to well up within Morgana right alongside his student. Meanwhile the yaoguai waltzes up behind them, double checking the map to make sure he’s got it right. It was taking a few seconds longer than he expected. Maybe he pointed to the wrong tree? But after his ears catch a far off gasp a wide, toothy grin breaks out across his face.

“JACKPOT!!!”

An explosion of leaves bursts from the distant blur of green vanishing to show a blur of purple and gold. The dragon is brimming with enthusiasm and vitality compared to when he took Shu Chi’s request, his flight path becoming much more wild and varied than his previous straightforward line. He rolled, flipped and spun more than his first ever flight session. Moomintroll and Morgana followed him around the tree as he took a victory lap, all the while Shu Chi rolled up the crayon map and held it on his shoulder like a baseball star.

The reason for such a sudden boost in enthusiasm was clear: in each claw, wrapped in his tail and even perched in his maw was a plump, bright orange, football sized fruit.

After letting go of the edible ambrosia and piling them up, the dragon slammed down so hard that cracks shot out from his landing pad. All three of the starstruck scouts circled around the small treasure trove of spice fruit, marvelling at the horde their friend had brought in.

“There’s a whole bunch of them in there!!! I just grabbed as many as I could, but there must still be around ten of them!” Spyro circled the small pile like a dragon examining its treasure horde, marvelling at its beauty.

“Th-this is amazing!! We’ve only been able to find one or two every time we’ve searched, with this much alone we could get enough for TWO feasts!!!” The small not-a-cat couldn’t control how much his tail was wagging, already salivating at the thought of being able to eat so much.

“Well, minus one.” The leopard cat bent over and picked up one of the five orange footballs, examining four little holes on opposite sides. Spyro wiped away a bit of orange juice from his cheek.

Shu Chi tosses the fruit over his shoulder, not bothering to eat anything that already had teeth sinked into it.

“Thankfully, we should be able to get plenty more where that came from. If we just pick the rest from the tree over there, we’ll be set for the night! Maybe even have a few extra servings cooked up for us as well. I don’t know about you all, but I’d gladly eat an entire pan of that cornbread!” The cat stroked the fur on his chin, dreaming of the mountains of golden, flakey delights he’d get as a reward back home. Moomintroll made a mental note to tell Mama when he got back home as he approached.

“Shu Chi this is amazing!! How did you know so many were in that tree?!” The Moomin bounced on the balls of his feet in front of the yaoguai, eager to know his secrets.

“Hm? Oh, well I didn’t know that this many would be in there, but... “ His head jerked a bit upwards when he spoke-most likely being knocked out of his flakey fantasies-but the spirit gladly smirked and unfurled the map, pointing to the center where actual effort can be seen.

“You see how all these trees here actually have detail? Now, do you see this one here with a few more branches at the bottom than the rest?” A claw points to the single center tree with a tick mark. “Even though the rest after this circle decreases in quality, those kids still went through the effort of drawing every little detail for this group. And as luck would have it,” he points to where Spyro found his treasure trove of miracle fruit, right around where it begins to dip into the layer of clouds, “that one over there has a fair bit of extra stumps on the side, wouldn’t you say?”

The dragon, Moomin and thief all followed Shu Chi’s claw to the jackpot tree once more. It took time for their eyes to adjust, but sure enough there were traces of branches near the base of the clouds. It was too much of a coincidence to be a prank he set up.

“So this whole time… we had it all wrong! There wasn’t any sort of pattern or discoloration, it was just just how many branches there were!!” A small paw paps onto Mona’s head, the realization hitting it harder than an electrified punch from Likulau.

“Yup! That’s right, I managed to figure out something that you didn’t knooowww~” A larger paw paps onto Mona’s head, rubbing the fur hard like an oversized noogie and ruffling it all up, only earning Shu Chi more hisses and growls. “I guess that means the student has become the master, yes? Gotta say, for someone so small I’m worried about you becoming a bit senile.”

“It was only a minor slip up!” Morgana batted away the giant paw, smoothing down the top of his head. “With what little resources we have, it’s only natural we couldn’t figure it out right away.”

“Aw come on now, there’s no shame in admitting you couldn’t do it. I mean if you really are getting too old for this job I can happily take over for you, no questions asked. Wouldn’t it be great to retire on a nice, warm beach somewhere after all your one years of work with us?”

“Oh be quiet you, you’ve been here less time than I have and a year is barely even that long!”

Moomintroll looked back and forth between the two as their tones increased with intensity, thoping he didn’t have to step in. Shu Chi had caused more than his fair share of mischief in the past, but the Scouts had this chaos injected into their lives via daily doses, a full 50 CC’s of mischief and teasing every day. After nearly a year in the group, the Moomin has gained the title of peacemaker by necessity.

Spyro could see the anxiety welling up in his friend. Already antsy, he stepped forward, raising his tail up like a teacher and their ruler.

“For the last time! I’m not OLD, I’m not SENILE, and I’m NOT A CAT!!”

“You sure you don’t wanna take me up on that offer? I have plenty of things I could teach the kid you know. Maybe…” A flash of a toothy smile. “Felinology?”

“Why you lITTLE-”

“Would you two stop bickering already?”

As a paw reached into one of Mona’s tool pouches and swirling energy manifested around Shu Chi’s arm, the golden tip of Spyro’s tail slapped the yaoguai’s hand away like a nunchuck attached to a whip. With a yelp of pain the yaoguai backed off while flicking his hand back and forth to soothe the pain.

“S-spyro-”

“Don’t worry M.T., I’ll handle it.” Although it was meant to be reassuring, Spyro’s glance and nod back didn’t help suppress the feeling in his friend’s stomach.

“Aw c’mon Gyro, I was only ki-”

“Shut your trap already!”

Shu Chi shut his trap already.

“We just found the motherload of spice fruits and know where to look for even more! Both of you remember the first time we ate this stuff, how we almost spent an hour eating these in just tiny bites, can you imagine eating an entire all-you-can-eat buffet with these as the main dish?! If we get all of them from that tree we could be back in an hour! So quit the teasing and arguing and let’s just get going already!”

Spyro stomped right up to the two and got right up in their faces. As he spoke his eyes took periodic glances back at the pile of football fruits. After getting a direct taste from one of those miracle spices himself, it was only natural that they were the main thing on his mind. He must have been holding himself back from gorging the rest of the miracle fruit he had eaten earlier. Although they taste like the heavens, eating an entire fruit so fast would be like chugging a swimming pool’s worth of vodka.

Both Morgana and Spyro locked eyes with their object of annoyance. Shu Chi’s gaze flicked back and forth, not just to their eyes but everywhere else. Mona’s paws lowering to his toolbelt, Spyro’s brows narrowing, Moomintroll’s hand inching forward; he scanned the situation in front of him like a machine looking for errors. The way the cat’s stance shifted ever so slightly didn’t escape the Moomin’s eyes either, knees just barely bent and feet slid around an inch farther apart. It was subtle, precise, muscle memory.

After the leopard was done sizing up the situation, he took a breath and relaxed his stance, showing both of them his back. His tone was lower, more monotone.

“Alright, fine, I got the memo.” Shu Chi walked back to the mound, waving a hand over his shoulder. “You all get back to doing what you were doing, don’t let me keep you.”

“Ah, okay.” Mona scoffed. “Not even gonna help us then.”

“Would you even want me to?”

No words were spoken between the four of them. Although his back was turned to them, the tension still wasn’t lifted. This wasn’t the worst it’s ever gotten between the three of them. At the very least it’s the fastest Shu Chi has ever backed down, Moomintroll was thankful for that at least.

Morgana smoothed down his ruffled fur and hopped off the stump, glancing to the dragon with crossed arms as he tipped his head to the cracks in the tree. He got the message. Moomintroll took a breath as they walked away, unable to tell himself if it was one of relief or exhaustion. Shu Chi looked down into the sea of clouds, paw tapping as both prepared for liftoff. As Spyro spread his wings and Mona kneeled down, the leopard’s ears managed to pick up a faint mumble.

“I told you before, you can’t let him get to you like that.”

Then the two were off once more, flying and bounding from branch to branch as they went off for another trip to the miracle fruit tree.

Moomintroll and Shu Chi were left alone on the tree top, both simply trying to process the events that had just occurred. One didn’t know what to say, the other didn’t want to say anything. The pacifier glanced back at his friends, then to Shu Chi. Even though his face couldn’t be seen, the paws shoved into his armor and mumbling told the story for him.

The yaoguai turned around and walked to the mound where they sat before, spreading out the rolled up map and grabbing a few of the fruits as paperweights. The usual flair and showmanship from before was gone as he carefully examined the parchment, taking note of the different tick marks and the detail of the inner circle. Little white feet stepped closer to him.

“Um, Shu Ch-”

“I’m gonna look around the forest a bit more,” he interrupted, “try and find a few more trees that could have these fruits. Now that we know what these look like, it wouldn’t hurt to know where some more are in the future. Never know when we might have to come back here again.”

Moomintroll just stood in place for a few moments, just watching as he took the red crayon and circled the tree he deduced the pattern from. He unwrapped a few bandages from his arm and held them in his palm to write down any additional differences between the two he didn’t see before. Although the white-fluff mediator felt like Shu Chi was at fault for the teasing, he still felt partially to blame for the argument getting out of hand. Spyro tried to be nice and handle it for him and he appreciated the effort, but he also wished the dragon handled it a bit less harshly.

“I can already tell what you’re thinking,” Moomintroll shut his mouth before a word could even be said, “and let me stop you right there. I know fully well it's my fault we almost started fighting, so you don’t have to give me a speech from the heart about learning when I’m in the wrong or whatever.”

“Th-that wasn’t-”

“Look, I’m sorry, alright? I keep forgetting that not everyone here likes my antics. Back home gramps, Kulau and L-they all eventually… got used to me. I can’t help it at times.” The tone of the leopard cat’s voice didn’t change, but he was now leaning in a little closer to his hand to jot down details. Crayon on bandages doesn’t work too well though, especially on a soft surface. “You can tell the guys I said sorry if you want. Doubt they’d believe me, but it’s up to you.”

Moomintroll felt like he was playing tug of war with himself. He wanted to go up to him and say something, but kept holding himself back since he didn’t know if it would be appropriate to do so. Usually whenever Shu Chi got upset, he’d go off and do something for the Drifters as an apology, not wanting to talk about it afterwards. But even still, he could feel that the yaoguai would leave at any moment.

Right as Shu Chi finished with his notes, the Moomin managed to force the words from his throat.

“I-I’m… sorry.”

The cat’s head raised up a bit, fingers hovering over the parchment with the crayon in between them.

“I… I understand how you feel. About not feeling like you fit in here.”

“Kid… you don’t need to-”

“Just listen a bit, please?” Fuzzy feet stepped silently closer on the treetop. “I know you don’t like talking about this stuff, so I’ll just say this and then you can go. Promise.”

A sigh and a clattering of a crayon. Yan Shu Chi returned to stand straight up, head aimed down at the notes he’s written. His ears are pointed backwards.

“Shoot.”

“U-um… back when me, Mamma and Pappa first joined everyone. The world we came from was a lot different from everyone else’s. Nothing much happened, especially compared to everyone else’s. It was so peaceful there, we didn’t have to worry-”

“I’m sorry, but could you get to the point please?” The yaoguai cut him off fast, feeling he was going to be roped into a long winded speech about his home. His manner of speaking had a sense of urgency, of wanting to leave the conversation fast. But there wasn’t malice within it. Moomintroll took another deep breath.

“Everyone treated me like a kid. Moreso than the actual kids there. They’ve been through so much more than us even though I’m much older. I didn’t catch on to some jokes people told, they didn’t understand me when I tried to find good parts to bad situations, I didn’t even know what sarcasm was at first. We never had stuff like that back home. It was just how things were.”

Shu Chi could remember that part well. Lin Hu, Likulau and himself joined a little after the Moomins had. Their nearly always optimistic logic baffled some of them, like the time Likulau and Bubba got into an argument that ended up with a few broken plates. It was after Moominmamma had spent a while making everyone a meal, using some of their own plates to serve people. With so many people from so many worlds, there would clearly be a bit of discord at first.

Although others began to scold both sides after the fight, Mamma just shrugged it off and sweeped up the shards, smiling and talking about how she could use the fragments for decorations. She didn’t blame the two for arguing, saying they both had some pent up feelings and needed to talk it out. Everyone else was dumbstruck, Shu Chi especially.

“But after being part of this group for so long, people are now treating me normally, like I’m part of the team. They got used to the way we act, accepting us as we are. It took some time, sure, but we’re still here. A-and… although I do think you should maybe… not, tease, as much…” Saying those last few words were a struggle on their own, but he swallowed the lump in his throat and forced the last bit out.

“I’m sure people will do the same with you. You deserve to be in this group just as much as everyone else.”

Only the sound of wind rustling the leaves filled the two’s ears for a moment. Moomintroll wasn’t sure if he overstepped his boundaries, he noticed he’s done that quite a bit since joining unfortunately. But no matter what the scout’s reaction was, Moomintroll had managed to tell him his thoughts. As he promised, he wouldn’t try to keep him or talk more than necessary. All he hoped was that Shu Chi understood he meant it.

A shift in Shu Chi’s posture knocked the peacemaker out of his head. The movement was slow and gradual, like a robot swivelling from its spot on the floor. With his unbandaged hand grazing the mound, Moomintroll could see a hint of the yaoguai’s face. He seemed conflicted about what to say, brows furrowed but his mouth not contorting into any sort of frown. It was as if he were still wary of him, wary of everything he said and was struggling just as much as him to force out any words.

With a gulp in his throat and adjusting the sunset bangle a tad, Yan Shu Chi sucked up his feelings and turned to face his fellow drifter, seemingly having made a decision. His eyes held a certain softness to them and the faintest hint of a smile could be seen on his face.

“Yeah…” He nodded a bit. “Yeah. Thanks bud.”

Moomintroll just nodded. That was all he needed to hear.

Shu Chi lifted his bandage notes back up, reminding himself of where exactly he needed to go. A quick glance back to the tree where Spyro found the fruits had Moomintroll spot a bit of movement in the leaves. They would be back soon, and Shu Chi would most likely leave before then. Seeing as he said what he wanted to say-

“Oh!”

Moomintroll’s head popped up, realizing something at the last second. As Shu Chi walked to the rim of the treetop, M.T. rushed over to his backpack that he left by the mound. Right as the leopard cat kneeled down and chi swarmed around his legs, Moomintroll found what he was looking for.

“Shu Chi, wait up a second!”

The cat’s ears perked up, the swirling energy dissipating before it could even be used.

“C’mon kid, I thought you said I could go after that. Going back on your promises isn’t a cool thing to do you know.” The usual mischievousness had returned to his voice as he turned around, hand on his hip as his head bent forwards.

But to his surprise, what he found was a small, flakey, golden cube held up right to his face. The last slice of cornbread.

“Here. As a way of saying thank you. None of us had figured out the pattern with the trees, if you hadn’t helped we probably wouldn’t have been able to figure it out. You deserve it.”

Out of all the things able to make a century old yaoguai speechless, nobody would have expected a simple snack to do the trick.

With a delicate pinch Shu Chi picked up the slice, a few crumbs remaining in the white palm of who offered it. He was half expecting him to ask for it back for a bite since he hadn’t eaten anything yet, but no confirmation for that was given, just a simple smile.

“Keh…” The yaoguai couldn’t hold back a snicker, taking his free paw and ruffling up the top bit of Moomin’s head. He was a bit protestant, but couldn’t resist laughing along with him while gently trying to pat his paw away.

“You’re alright Moomintroll. You’re alright.”

Both sharing a smile together, the two drifters nodded to each other and waved, getting back to what they had came to this world to do. Moomintroll slipped into his boots and put on his grappling hook holsters as Shu Chi scarfed down the corn cube, relishing in its taste. Later that night, he would eat to his heart’s content, perhaps even share a bit with his other scouts. Time would tell by then.

Both approached the rim of the treetop, kneeling down close to each other as their respective auras surrounded their bodies. Right as they were about to leap away, an idea hit Shu Chi.

“Hey Moomintroll, how ‘bout we play a game? You and me.” The mapper’s head perked up, his hands only just reaching down to the holsters. “Whoever comes back to camp with more fruit wins the right to pie the other in the face at dinnertime, flavor of the winner’s choosing. Whadda ya say?”

A wide grin split across the Moomin’s face, his mind racing with possibilities of what to do if he won. With a snicker, Moomintroll holds up both blasters and makes eye contact with his new rival.

“You’re on.”

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