Filming Day 4, last day.
Frank and Amethyst’s feet splosh in the grass and underbrush full of puddles.
They were especially hard to dodge in the dark gloom of the night forest.
Though only one of them bothered with that, he didn’t exactly have rubber boots to go with the weather.
Along Frank’s yellow umbrella, long drops of black rain stream down, though overhead protection felt hardly sufficient in this near-vertical downpour.
Numerous stray drops left trails of gray on his clothes as they hit and got absorbed in the fabric.
The brightly colored umbrella which Frank held onto like a lifeline, was actually Amande’s.
Grent reluctantly loaned it, after they made a ruckus searching for some protection against the sudden change from the usual hazy heat.
According to the same scientist, the morning should dawn soon, though it was hard to say if it already has, or if it was still ahead.
The darkest clouds of black in all the known galaxy blanketed the sky with no end in sight.
Amethyst walks unfazed, the black drops dripping down from her wet hair, and flowing along her armor.
Embracing the cold wind and the moisture, she looks skyward. On Amethyst’s neutral face, the long dark drops sliding down her face looked like trails of wet mascara.
“I’m not sure... if we’ll be able to hold the class today… I hope we can, it’s the last day after all.”
“Because of the rain?”
Frank still felt on edge, though so far Amethyst hadn’t shown any signs of continuing their fight.
Every question could bring them instantly and unexpectedly back to it; even greater care for his words was required than normally.
“Yeah. As Tyrchids live high in the trees, they might not come down at all. It’s hard for us to fly when it rains.”
“What do you mean?”
Frank narrowly dodges and hops over a puddle of unknown depth, light had just reflected off it in time for him to see it.
“Our wings can’t dry and um, become firm... when it’s too humid.” As a demonstration, Amethyst pushes a drop of her purple substance through one of the bones of her left head wing.
The jelly hangs from her bone crown, battered by rain before falling down. Amethyst catches it on her left hand’s blade. It stretches against the sharp edge but doesn’t break.
“See?” She offers it to Frank.
“T-thanks, I believe you...” He politely declines with an open palm.
The goop breaks in half and slides from her blade, dropping and disappearing into the flowing grass.
“So, that’s how the shards decompose, water just makes them soggy and dissolves them?”
“Yeah. Water interferes with my flames, too, I’ll need to get my blades dry first if I’m to continue building the house.”
“Really?” That’s strange, not like it’s a traditional fire… I guess the substance is water soluble then?
A threatening thought occurs to Frank.
“Hopefully Sabertigers don’t attack us during this rain, it might go even worse than last time...”
“I think we showed them that we can still fight back without our Queen.”
“Yeah, if they don’t know better by now, it’s their fault.”
They arrive at the edge of Pango Grove, tents are set up all around, under which the film crew’s camera and electronic equipment have been safeguarded.
The staff holds out the rain beneath them too, they follow Frank and Amethyst’s arrival with their gazes, some waving at them.
There is also one especially large tent, with a cafeteria-like setup, with a long table. It's surrounded by sitting personnel, their chattering faintly audible.
“I’ll go find Pioneer and talk about the shooting today.”
Frank looks around the tents, they all seem quite crowded.
“Maybe you should go and dry yourself off in the classroom? It's a bit more spacious than my tree house.”
“Alright.” Amethyst conceded Frank hadn't after all yet seen, that it wasn't as much of a closet as it was before.
They go their separate ways, Amethyst steps into the dry insides of the Queen’s tree, though streams of murky water flow inside on the wood ground, forming puddles on the uneven dented floor. Maybe I need to do something to keep out the rain from Frank’s home, too?
Amethyst shakes herself, the water letting go of her armor and blades, but they still remain moist.
At least they didn’t suck in the moisture like her hair; a washed directly downward look.
“How’s it going best friend?” A sweet voice from behind startles her.
“Hi… Luna,” Amethyst turns around, Luna’s covered in a thin veil of a raincoat. A see-through shade of red.
“Oh my gosh, I just can’t get enough of you saying my name.”
She brings her hands to her cheeks and closes her eyes.
Though her hands don’t actually touch her skin, as they embrace the wet surface of her raincoat’s hood, her gesture splashes water all around.
“But you don’t sound that excited, is everything okay?”
“Oh, well-”
“Don’t worry, I’ll cheer you up, I’ve got just the thing in mind.
All this stardom must be exhausting, what do you say we have some quality time, just the two of us girls?
How about a walk down the black river just outside the village, do some fishing, and camp out?
How about after today’s shooting?”
“Frank can’t come?”
“Frank this, Frank that! You are an independent woman, and this is to be our girl’s trip, we can’t just have a man sleep in our tent with us...
Besides what do you even know of Frank, he could be anyone, a heinous criminal, a creepy pervert, do you even know anything of the two men you sleep under the same roof with?”
Luna’s eyebrows curl questioningly as she flings back the translucent hood, brushing her long, dry hair and throwing them back in a smooth motion.
“Do you know where they are from? What’s their agenda? Even their full names? They could be really dangerous you know...”
“I… well, not really, but-” Amethyst's antennae twitch and she looks past Luna, something catching her eye.
“Huh, no? See? It’s good I’m here to make you realize these things, I-” Luna takes a step towards Amethyst, but a voice freezes her outstretched hand in the air, cutting her step short, too.
“Luna, what are you doing? I heard that, you know.” Frank speaks, standing at the entrance, his hands crossed.
“Oh-” Luna quickly reels in her arm and courtly crosses them behind her back. With her back straight in a courtly posture, she continues:
“We were just gonna spend some time together with Amethyst, that’s all, making some plans, just us girls.”
“Just the two of you?” His thin incredulous left eyebrow climbs high, reaching for the sky. “Amethyst, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Luna steps back, in between them like a mediator, addressing Amethyst.
“See? Are you going to let him tell you what you can and can’t do? You ought to be free to make your own decisions. Is he your dad or something?”
“B-but I wanna go and do this fishing thing with her Frank!” Amethyst steps forward.
“W-what, absolutely not!” Frank shakes his head. “I mean, t-that’s dangerous and -”
“Amethyst is a Tyrchid, she can handle any danger that comes her way! And she doesn’t need your permission, right Amethyst?”
Luna tilts her head and gestures for Amethyst to make her stand, throwing some droplets around from her wet coat’s sleeves.
“I… uhh, sorry Luna, I better not come, maybe you can ask somebody else...”
“Hmph, well don’t worry about it Amethyst, maybe we can go some other time...” Luna looks to her before walking off, turning her nose up when passing Frank.
“Why can’t I go with her Frank?” Amethyst asks after Luna has left the premises.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, she seems… off… You know what I think of her.”
“But she’s so nice to me, I think she just wants to be my friend.” Amethyst throws her hair around with her crystalline dagger hand,
“I don’t know… you shouldn’t trust her.”
“Why can’t I have a female friend Frank!?” Amethyst snaps, firmly keeping her quivering arms pointed towards the floor, a stiff and rigid position.
“What? It’s not about that, she’s dangerous! Luna’s trying to manipulate you, trying to separate us... for whatever reason.”
“That’s- I- I know a thing or two about manipulation, I would never allow myself to be fooled again!”
“But that’s exactly what she’s doing! It’s not like Grent’s forceful invention, she’s using sweet words to-
“You’re just jealous I have another friend!”
“It’s not that! Amethyst, please!”
A splashing of water and the squeak of rubber boots against the floor, Pioneer buts into the conversation.
“Everything okay with my two rising stars? We’ve got renovations to showcase.”
“No,” Amethyst says immediately.
Frank slightly slower right after her:
“Yes.”
“Mhm... well, which one is it?”
Amethyst looks at Frank annoyed and rolls her hybrid eyes.
“Fine... let’s go.”
“I’ll escort you under my umbrella so you won’t get wet.”
Amethyst scowls at Frank.
“Can’t you escort me instead, Pioneer?”
“Me? N-no that simply won’t do.”
The rain batters down with a wet splatter and the wind whistles in the branches and leaves outside, filling the silence.
“I don’t know what the matter is with you two, but try to get along? We’ve got a show to run.”
He steps outside of the classroom and goes on ahead, wearing a very wide hat, like a custom-made umbrella.
This rubbery-like white round hat, akin to a sombrero, with golden linings, protected him from the rain, mostly.
It wouldn’t do for the number one fashion icon to get caught wearing an ugly raincoat or an ordinary umbrella in front of the whole galaxy.
“Come on Amethyst. We’ll talk about this later.”
Frank opens up the umbrella and holds it for her with one hand, inviting her underneath.
Amethyst walks up to him and quietly steps under the umbrella, crouching, so he can hold it for her.
She holds her dagger hands close to her body, but that only makes her elbow blades stick out more, the tiny umbrella in no way fit to house the tall and wide Tyrchid underneath it.
They huddle together, slowly creeping through the drenched village grounds.
“Do you think me weak Frank?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then why? If you think Luna’s going to do something or is somehow dangerous, I can handle it.”
She speaks unusually serious and with strange conviction. “She’s just misunderstood and a bit weird, I think you’re taking it a bit far in your accusations.”
“The way I see it, I’m being completely reasonable about my estimations of her. She’s gotten into your head, so you can’t see it yourself.
Whatever claims or questions she’s presenting, it’s best you start to think for yourself on those, instead of listening to her.”
Frank says his words stinging, seeping with venom. His lips twitch and he continues:
“Sorry, that was a bit harsh...”
“No, you don’t have to hold back your words on my account. I asked you to speak the truth after all. I… I can take it.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Frank grits his teeth as a cold breeze blows, the frigid mood firmly stays with them as they arrive at the renovation site.
Frank lets Amethyst in first, shakes water off the umbrella by opening and closing it halfway repeatedly, then joins them inside.
It’s an open, mostly blank space, a square-shaped room inside a round tree, about six meters in depth.
About two and a half meters high, enough for Amethyst to stand inside comfortably, having managed to get through the human-sized door first.
A stark but tranquil smell of fresh wood rules over the space.
Pioneer awaits them inside, some spotlights set up around in the corners on the entrance-side walls.
Two men carry around smaller cameras, mounted on their shoulders, looks like the hover cameras were too big to fit inside.
“Welcome back, it’s Day 4 everyone! Explorers, those back home, and those on the cosmic roads: this will be our last official broadcast from the wondrous Midnight Iris!
But fret not! We have a very special extra broadcast planned, to give a proper send-off to the Tyrchids and their home!
Those of you who’ve been paying attention from early on, already know what it will be about!”
“While Frank and Amethyst prepare for the dramatic finalization of his house, let’s take a look at this wondrous Black Rain in the meantime.”
Pioneer winks at Frank and walks back outside.
“Armed with my Rainbrero, I can boldly stand here, completely dry, but let’s see this rain, as I stick out my hand-”
Frank is caught off guard, unprepared for Pioneer looking after them in such a way. Or maybe he just wanted to make sure Amethyst’s blades would be dry when she begins working the wood?
“So... the last day is really here, besides the celebration of course… I suppose it was a good call to end it here.”
“How so? Are you in a hurry? Got somewhere to be?” Amethyst looks away, rotating a hand blade on the wall; small splinters of wood fall off.
“No… It’s just that... this show has run its course, we’re just doing sort of the same thing each day.”
“Are you bored of trying to help my kin?”
“No, of course not. It just feels… strange, almost nostalgic now to think back. Sure, it was only a few standard days but, it felt like a lot longer than that.”
“That’s true. I… suppose nothing lasts forever.”
Heh, I really did get used to living here, a nice routine of exciting, if embarrassing G-TV reality acting…
What’s up next…?
The court of ISSA?
After this filming… does she even need me?
She can just march into the courtroom and get approved. I’m sure Pioneer would be happy to give her a lift there.
And just like that, Midnight Iris and the Tyrchids are safe.
Would she even want me to come anyway?
…
Well, it’s probably not that simple…
Also, there is still one threat up in the air…
A sigh escapes Frank as he continues to sink into his thoughts.
This was such a reckless and spur-of-the-moment decision, that I never really thought what came after.
Leaving to Midnight Iris, burning all bridges and then some.
Where would I even go if I didn’t go with her?
…
Though honestly, I’d rather not go back to Metropolis regardless.
“I wonder if we did a good job…” Amethyst says, the hole she was carving on the wall, halfway up to her blade by now.
“I’m not too sure of that either” Frank laughs dryly. “But we did our best.”
Pioneer hurries inside, his hands covered in black and gray liquid, he shakes them around, most of the darkness letting go of his skin. He frantically rubs his hands together.
“Brr! F-Frank, aren’t you forgetting something? What kind of a house doesn’t have any sort of heating?”
“Right… Making a fire on the floor isn’t probably that good of an idea… without any windows or chimneys.
Guess this needs some more work, after all, to make it livable. Even after we are done with the interior.”
“Amethyst, won’t you make a fire for me? I-I’m so cold” Pioneer’s teeth clatter, looks like his umbrella hat wasn’t as effective against the fierce winds and pouring rain as he boasted.
Undeniable proof was his white tuxedo outfit now sporting black smeared polka dots all around it, stained with the rain.
Under that cool exterior, he proved to be a flesh and blood human just like the rest of them. Despite his prideful words, not even he was immune to the seeping cold of rain.
Amethyst’s body manufactures more fuel as her gems light up, and her dry, crystalline, dagger hands ignite. She extends them towards Pioneer.
A few drops of dark purple goop fall onto the floor from her hands, the remaining water coagulating some of her fuel pushed out of her veins.
Like on a campfire, Pioneer warms his hands in the glow of the purple flames.
“Ohh, much better. While I warm my hands, why don’t you talk us through some of your building and design choices? Especially those wooden parts jutting out of the wall.”
He looks back at the cameraman with him and nods towards the walls.
“Okay. On the right, and left of the door, I left behind some shelves or small tables, to keep miscellaneous items on. Frank said the more space to keep stuff the better, so I tried to deliver.”
The shelves stick out from the wood but are actually a part of the tree, the wood carved from around them, to form solid, unyielding tabletops.
“On the right, I also made a small chair, next to the table. It can be removed later if it's not good, but I thought it was fine.”
Like the storage elements, the wood was carved around it, leaving behind a smoothed-out, floating stool on the wall.
One won’t much need legs for chairs when they are firmly a part of the wall.
“No, no, that’s perfect! Such quaint and unusual style, and talk about using your materials to their utmost!”
The ruling element of the right wall; a large wall slab protruding out of the tree.
“Here is the main table, I plan to have detachable chairs for it. But I didn’t have time to make them.”
“Very good” Pioneer rubs his hands together and then pulls them away. “Thanks, Amethyst, why don’t you explain more, near the wonderful pieces themselves”
“Okay!” Amethyst walks to the left wall, a cameraman hot on her tail.
“I plan to carve more stuff into the left wall, that’s why it's so empty right now. I’ve put some outlines there already.”
“And here in the two back corners, I left some shoulder-high shelves.” On both sides of the back wall, five stacked shelves are carved, some thirty centimeters apart. “Later I plan on carving the gaps, so that they go inside the wall, so you have storage inside, and outside”
Frank’s stayed silent for the whole time, but this makes his mouth hang open.
“What a brilliant idea! Are you sure you are not actually an interior decorator? Or perhaps an engineer of some sort? Maybe you studied the trade somewhere already?” Pioneer asks, sounding like he’d believe it if she said yes.
“No, no, I saw them… at Frank’s place. I mean, it wasn’t carved or made of the wall back then… but, I thought it might work” Amethyst talks slowly and shyly looks away from everyone else.
“Oho? So Frank’s tree house has been inspired by his old house, what a great idea! Don’t you agree, Frank?”
“Yeah…”
Pioneer gives a questioning gaze at Frank. "You know this showcase was mostly for you, please tell us, what do you think?"
“I just don’t know what to say... I didn’t realize before, just how much the shape and size resembled my old living room… Don’t tell me you were trying to recreate the whole thing this entire time?”
“Mhm…”
“You wouldn’t have any stairs hidden anywhere here for a second floor?” Frank asks with a glint in his eye.
“No, nothing like that.” Amethyst smiles faintly.
“It would actually be pretty easy to make a second floor, wouldn’t it? I mean, easier than in a normal house, just need to carve stairs higher and carve the space out.
Don’t have to make any supports for it, probably. The floor’s already there and everything.”
“Are trees the future housing of mankind? Such a versatile and ecological way to build!
Though, one can only wonder how many hundred, or even a thousand years these massive trees have been growing here already.”
Pioneer muses to himself.
“Just have to start growing your house a few generations in advance. No big deal.
Well, if nothing else, I can certainly keep this in mind for future Sapient Species encounters, maybe some are facing a housing crisis when we meet them.
Explorers! Note that down, if I ever wonder about such a problem that can be solved by tree houses, just barrage me with the Tyrchid and the Tree chat emotes until I remember!”
“Chat… emote…?” Amethyst tilts her head.
“Yeah, of course, every sapient species we visit gets at least a few of their own. Or even some of those we haven’t.
But such legends like Flibma’s deserve their own animated dancing one!
You should see it jig while going through all the colors of the visible spectrum, it’s simply amazing, truly breathtaking!”
“Umm… okay?” Amethyst responds confused, she had never before felt a concept fly higher over her understanding than just now.
Frank holds his head.
I’m so out of it all. Am I too old for this or what?
Pioneer checks his communicator.
“Okay Explorers, stop it with the Flaming Blades, and Sabertiger emotes, I get you want to show them off, but let’s get some real discussion going on.
Ahem, if you would continue Amethyst.”
“That’s about it, for what’s ready. As I mentioned, I plan on doing some more shelves, and detachable chairs.
Also some, um… wardrobes on the back wall between the shelves and a bed on the left wall.”
“A bed?”
“It’s going to be… a bit hard to lay on… maybe I’ll carve it out so that a mattress can be put on it...”
“Please do, I’ve been stiff ever since we slept on the ground in the forest… Hard wood is definitely no better…”
“Oho...? Amethyst was there, was she?”
“That was the day we met, but let's not get into it more than that.”
“Aww, Explorers, start theorizing now! What forest was it and where? Though it probably was here in Midnight Iris.
Or maybe not, Amethyst did say she’s seen his old house… Oh, but anyway, let's continue. Though, I must ask, is sleeping in forests a habit of yours…?”
“Kind of, I suppose, but it’s usually called camping. I used to do it quite a bit, I lived my childhood at the edges of Metropolis, so it was easy for me to camp out.
Though, even then I had a sleeping bag at least…”
Frank continues with a smirk: “Certainly the mighty Pioneer has had his fair share of uncomfortable forest naps during his wild adventures?”
“Right, of course, I have, that one time when me and my crew got lost on Klorns 6, we couldn't find our way back to our campsite, so we all had to spend the night out.
Amidst terrible trouble, harsh winds, relentless rain, and erupting volcanoes-
Pioneer looks at his communicator.
“Shh… Explorers, don’t you remember that time? Surely you all must have just forgotten.”
Frank looks at Pioneer victorious, his arms crossed.
“Anyway, I think that about wraps our renovation of a Tyrchidian Tree, into a habitable house!” He looks at Frank and Amethyst, who have nothing more to add.
“After these messages, we’ll catch you in the classroom for the final lesson! So don’t go anywhere!”
He gets closer to the camera and whispers.
“During this ad break, maybe you’ll see the first merch preview for you know who’s...”
Amethyst speaks out hesitantly.
“Umm… Pioneer, there might not be a final lesson…”
“Huh? You're telling me this now!? Why?”
“We can’t fly well in the rain, so our students might not leave their homes as long as it rains.”
Pioneer peers outside, the clouds sail in the sky, though a ray of light is visible in the distance.
“Hmm, fortunately, it looks to be clearing up. So, what did you have planned for the last lesson anyway?”
“Oh… um, to teach them the relation between their Tyrchidian words and the English counterpart. I think that’s the next logical step to take.” Frank explains after catching his train of thought.
“Ah, of course-”
“I don’t think that will work,” Amethyst interjects.
“Why?” Frank’s demeanor asked the same question as his words.
Amethyst crosses her arms.
“They could barely say their own names using non-Tyrchidian words, back then. They won’t be able to do it now.”
“That may be, but shouldn’t we still try?” Pioneer asks.
“No.”
“Shouldn’t you be on their side, to believe that they can do it?” Frank says matching Amethyst’s pose, crossing his arms.
“Of course, I am on their side, but… “
“Besides, isn’t it proof enough that you can pronounce English? What’s the problem?” Pioneer comments and looks between the two.
Amethyst grinds her mandibles together inside her mouth, barely visible from the outside as movements of her jaw.
“Never mind that...”
“What do you suggest then? That we just skip today’s lesson, the final one, entirely?” Pioneer asks with a harsh tone.
“Maybe we could teach them math…? Ah... Tyrchidian doesn’t have numbers… maybe they could learn…”
Frank shakes his head.
“That probably won’t work either…”
“Uhh, my dear stars, the break’s time is running out, I thought you had a plan ready!”
“We did…” Frank says pointedly.
Amethyst glares at him.
The heavy black rain gradually lets up and turns into a mild drizzle. A few more drops and it stops entirely.
Wind’s gales die down to gentle breezes that blow into the makeshift hole-home, as the clouds part and a ray of light shines upon them.
“This might sound stupid… but maybe we- they could sing?” Amethyst looks outside, at the sky, her skin and hair sparkling.
“I think… we can do it.”
“Sing?” Frank asks unsure.
“They can sing um… his song as a choir. Don’t those have many members, that each sing? Each bringing their unique voices?”
“Oh! I like this, what a wonderful idea! Why would we want to sing the Tyrchid’s own song, when they can give us a demonstration of it themselves!
Such cultural showcasing, what peerless tradition!”
“Why do you think they’ll manage that?” Frank asks still not sold on the idea.
Amethyst answers sternly:
“We can use the words they already know, and… I know it's possible. We are… quite vocal.”
She steps outside, into the growing, warm sunshine.
“The rain’s stopped, they should come out now.”
“Alright, fine. But you’re forgetting just one thing, do you think-” Frank lowers his voice, “Grent has finished the song yet, the notes and the lyrics?”
“Oh… can you ask him?”
“I… suppose.”
Pioneer follows them outside and with his rubber boot, pokes the low amount of melted, purple goop lying on one side of the tree.
Most of the sharp shards had decomposed, liquidated by the fierce rain.
He powerwalks to his stars:
“So, whatever you’re doing, make it snappy. Finish your preparations, I can buy you some time, but I or my audience won’t wait for you forever.”
“Thanks, it’ll take just a moment.” Frank’s eyes shine with newfound determination.
“We’ll make it happen Amethyst.”
“Thank you…”
“Welcome back everyone! You won’t believe what happened, during the break, the endless rain stopped! Just look what it did to these shards! -”
Pioneer prattles on in the background, as Frank takes out his communicator.
He scrolls through his contacts and-
“Wait. I don’t even have his number-! We gotta go back to-”
Frank’s legs disappear from below him and for a moment, he feels like floating, flying in place.
Before landing on his back, something hard holds him from right below his shoulders and from the back of his knees.
Amethyst’s face appears above him, as she spreads his wings.
“Let’s not waste any time.”
Frank finds himself in Amethyst’s arms, just like back then, carried by her.
“P-pioneer, we’ll just be a moment!”
Amethyst jerks upwards and Frank’s hands frantically look for a solid surface to hold, finding purchase from her back and shoulder.
“W-what! L-ladies and gentle-intelligents, there they go! Amethyst and Frank are off, I hear they forgot-”
The whistling of the wind covers the rest of his no doubt ‘hilarious’ quip as they soar higher into the sky, clear from the storm clouds.