Friends and Family (2/2)

“Oh no problem! People tell me I'm a lot,” said the tiny toy.

“No, no, it's just... It took me a while to get over the fact I'm gonna be fighting alongside THE Threadbare. Now I find that you're part of this party too? Geeze. Yeah. No pressure, right?”

“I suppose I'm just chopped tuna,” Glub said, putting his feet up on the table.

“No, no, you're pretty awesome, it's just—”

“Ha! No worries. I get it, man,” Glub said. “Just fake it till you make it, that's my advice.” Then he turned his goggle eyes over to Fluffbear. “So how you been little Fluffy? Why don't you start? Tell us what you've been up to?”

“Well I was running around all over the country after the war ended,” she said, rubbing one fuzzy ear with a paw. “You remember that, Threadbare! I was helping fight monsters and protect people! Um... then Garon said he needed me training some juveniles so I did that a while. Then when the RAGS started really getting out there with all the exploration, I volunteered to help out! Mopsy gets nervous around too many people. The wilderness is a more comfortable spot for her!”

“Mopsy?” Apollyon asked.

“My Knightly mount! She's a mountain lion.”

“And I'm guessing she's going to be our seventh party member,” Threadbare said.

“Of course! I can't leave her alone. And we're a team now. I'm pretty sure she's really close to ranking up into... something...” her voice trailed off. “I really hope she is. It's been a few years.”

Threadbare clambered up onto the table and hugged her.

Your Adorable skill is now level 92!

“I know what you're worried about, you don't have to say it,” Threadbare whispered in her ear. “It will work out.”

“I hope so. I really hope so,” she hugged him back, then pulled away to look over the group. “Wow! That's a lot of adorable skill ups! Thanks everyone!”

“On the house!” Buttons gave a thumbs up.

Apollyon coughed and looked embarrassed.

Dracosnack merely nodded, as if he'd expected nothing less.

Glub just laughed. “Man, you toy golems got it easy. All wood guys get is the ability to give splinters to people.” he paused. “Mind you, that saved my butt when I got swallowed whole once. Ever had splinters in the gills?”

“I can assure you I've never had that problem,” Apollyon grinned.

“Trust me, it is NOT fun.”

“Are you well, though?” Threadbare asked, settling back onto his bench.

“I am!” Fluffbear bounced in place a little. “Like I said before it's pretty good out here. The monsters get scary sometimes, but they're good exercise for the recruits.”

“Hmm... speaking of that,” Dracosnack said, and proceeded to tell her about the matterhorn attack.

“Oh wow! That is pretty close. And it's weird to run into three Matterhorns so close together. But then I guess it's mating season so it makes sense, you probably interrupted some married time for them.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Glub said. “I'm glad we just ran them off, then.”

“They probably won't attack the wagon train when it comes, but I'll send a golem bird east to make sure they know there's 'horns on the route,” Fluffbear nodded. Then she stopped and considered. “Or I could go out there and tame one! Having a solidhorn around would help us build proper roads out this way!”

“That would be perfect! We could go and do that in a few days, and it would be very helpful,” Threadbare agreed.

Then he paused, as he remembered Celia's face. Remembered how she'd hugged him goodbye. “No. No, wait. We have a mission that we need to finish first. I need to go back home first, to make sure that everything's all right.”

“And we might want to tell her about that black wagon,” Buttons reminded him.

“Black wagon?” squeaked Fluffbear.

That was another story entirely, and she was frowning by the end of it. Well, as much as she could. Her eyebrows just weren't built to be angry, and her teeny little face could only scrunch so much.

“Some of the recruits came here with some pretty strange ideas,” Fluffbear said. “It didn't take a lot to teach them that they were wrong, but it still took time. I think someone's trying to pretend that we're doing some really bad things.”

“I think so too,” Threadbare nodded. “This is a very different sort of attack than we were expecting.”

“Attack?” Dracosnack asked.

“It's... difficult to explain without sounding horrible,” Threadbare said. “But basically we knew we didn't have to just win the war, three years ago. We would have to win the peace, as well.”

“Boss,” Glub said, gently, “maybe this is a story for another day. Got a mission to focus on first, yeah?”

Threadbare glanced around, and kept his thoughts to himself. He knew why Glub had cautioned him, and though he'd agreed with the others when they made the pact, he still wasn't comfortable about it. Keeping secrets, especially from good people, was against his nature. Toys were made to play with, and play was ultimately a form of education. In that sense, he had been made to help children learn, and he was surrounded by oh so many of his children.

“You're right, of course,” he nodded to Glub, and tapped his rod on the table. The clack made everyone jump, and he looked over to Fluffbear. “I don't suppose we can get a map? I think we can spend tonight putting together a plan, and head out in the morning...”