Zalroth held the cooking pot above his head with both his hands while Rokai, Rosa (the orange kijin) and Mikou (the artic demi-fox) were rebuilding the make-shift stove. Lola let out a quiet and long yawn as she slowly opened her eyes. She looked confusedly around before noticing what Zalroth was doing. Lola lightly shook Zalroth's shoulder to get his attention, making him turn his head to look at her.
"Papa, what are you doing?".
"Just holding this cooking pot, while they're fixing the stove.". Lola peeked around Zalroth's right arm, spotting Rokia and the others. Lola looked back up at the large cooking pot.
"Do you need any help carrying it?" Lola asked. Zalroth chuckled a little in response.
"That won't be necessary, it's not that heavy. Why don't you have a look around, until they're done?". Lola made a humming noise as she closed her eyes and thought about it, wondering if she'd rather go back to sleep.
"I did sense some highly concentrated energy signatures earlier, pretty sure they were from some mana crystals, if only there was someone who could go check for me." Zalroth remarks while pretending to talk to himself. Lola's star, with five points, shaped pupils dilated when she heard Zalroth's request.
"I'm on it!" Lola declared.
"You sure?". Lola firmly nodded her head.
"Ok then, but make sure you let Sophia know first before you go.". Lola nodded before hopping off Zalroth's back. She curled up into a ball and wrapped her tails around herself before rolling away. She quickly returned and uncurled from a ball before asking where Sophia was. Zalroth sighed and went to point at the tree she was laying on but realised she wasn't there anymore. He sighed with a slightly annoyed tone.
"Does that mean I can't go?" Lola asked disappointedly while twiddling her fingers. Zalroth glanced between Lola, the tree and the wagon a few times before slightly sighing.
"No you can but just be careful, ok." Zalroth requested. Lola said she would before rolling off again. Zalroth watched Lola roll towards the wagon but looked back at the stove when Rokai called out to him.
Scarlett sprang out of the Wagon and noticed Lola rolling past. She watched as Lola circled 'round and came back to the wagon. She bounced off the ground and landed on her feet next to Scarlett. Lola closed her eyes and thought for a second making Scarlett tilt her head.
"Say, Scarlett," Lola said while opening her eyes.
"Yeah...?".
"You wanna help me investigate something?". Scarlett instantly and energetically nodded her head.
"Yeah just give me a sec,". Scarlett rushed into the wagon and came back out with a semi-awake Snow on her back.
"Alright, let's go." Scarlett excitedly exclaims. Lola quickly hopped off the wagon and hurried off with Scarlett close behind her.
Meanwhile, Ruby's ears suddenly perked up while she was watching Xero's scanning lasers. Xero stopped scanning the shiny rock in his hand and slowly rotated his head at Ruby. Ruby awkwardly averted her eyes from Xero's gaze while sweating a little. He slowly looked back at the rock and continued to scan it. Ruby, mentally, sighed in relief and awkwardly scooted away from him. After scooting a few centimetres away, Ruby stood up and hurried off. She wandered around the camp until she spotted Charlotte by the campfire, which has a campfire grill over it.
"Captain! Captain!" Ruby yelled as she ran over to Charlotte. Charlotte turned around with a spatula in her hand.
"What is it, Ruby?". Ruby stopped next to Charlotte. Ruby was about to answer but got distracted by the smell of the meat on the grill. Charlotte waved the spatula in front of Ruby's face snapping her out of her trance.
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"What'd you need to tell me?".
"Oh, umm, yeah. I ah...". Rudy mumbled as she wiped her mouth and occasionally glanced at the grilling meat.
"That's quite impolite of you, Ruby." Elizabeth snarked as she walked past, completely catching Ruby off guard and making her jump. Ruby pinched her nose and looked Charlotte in the eyes. Ruby stared blankly/seriously at Charlotte for a few seconds making Charlotte awkwardly look from side to side. Ruby slowly opened her mouth and Charlotte braced herself for what Ruby was about to say.
"I- forgot... wait no... it's coming back to me." Ruby mumbled while scratching the back of her cat ears. After a few seconds, Ruby's ears slumped down as she apologised for completely forgetting what she wanted to tell her. Charlotte sighed while waving her free hand.
"Don't worry about it, we know how you get around food," Charlotte remarked while handing her a meat skewer. Ruby defeatedly sat on a chair by the campfire. She started to eat the skewer while trying to remember what she wanted to tell Charlotte but didn't pay it too much mind as her thoughts were overcome by the multiple flavours of the meat skewer, making her blush.
Meantime, Lola and Scarlett marched in unison through a dense part of the forest while chanting.
"Onwards into the sky-". The two of them stopped chanting as they stopped in front of a funny-looking tree. Lola quickly paced around the silvery and crystally tree, which was slightly shorter than the other trees, with glowing cyan leaves. Lola created a magic circle over her eyes and crouched down next to the tree. Scarlett hurried over and crouched down next to Lola. Lola inspected the tree, first by poking it with a stick followed by her poking it with her hand when it didn't do anything. Mana quickly rushed out from the tree and up Lola's arm. She instantly jumped back, scaring Scarlett and making her fall onto her side, and frantically waved her arm around until it stopped glowing.
"Phew," Lola said before sitting down on the soft and springy grass. She quickly looked over at Scarlett and Snow, who was still asleep, who were bouncing up and down on the springy grass.
"You ok, Lola?" Scarlett asked while lifting Snow back onto her back. Lola looked at the hand she placed on the tree and nodded.
"Yeah, it just took me by surprise is all." Lola noticed that Scarlett's knee was a little scratched up. Scarlett realised this as well but didn't seem too fazed by it, given she was still smiling. Lola looked at the tree while placing her hand on her chin. Scarlett was about to ask Lola what she was thinking but she suddenly took her and placed it on the tree. Scarlett felt a strange/cold tingling sensation course through her arm and down her leg causing her whole body to shiver. Lola intently watched the scratch mark quickly heal. Scarlett had a bewildered expression on her face as she shook her leg around.
"What just happened?". Nola could be seen thinking while nodding her head with an astute expression.
"Humph, humph. I think I remember papa mention something like it before a May...jor...ka Tree, I think.". Scarlett nodded her head before asking what that meant. Lola was about to answer but paused for a second, realising she didn't actually know, before shrugging.
"No clue, papa just said they can heal people.". Scarlett glanced over at the tree and realised she still had her hand on it. She quickly pulled her hand away and checked her palm. It was completely fine and she looked back at Lola.
"So that's what happened to my knee, neat. Say, do you think it would be able to help your dad heal faster?". Lola's ears perked up and her pupils dilated at Scarlett's suggestion.
"That's a great idea, we'll have to wait until night time though," Lola mentioned. Scarlett asked how come. Lola scratched her head as she tried to remember.
"Um, I... think it has something to do with... the moon?" Lola explained while shrugging.
"Oh, makes sense," Scarlett replied while readjusting Snow on her back. The two of them suddenly heard the sound of rustling bushes nearby and darted their heads in the direction of the rustling. The two of them ducked behind the tree while peaking around the side of it. They cautiously watched the bushes, in the distance, as they started to shake extremely aggressively. Lola squinted her eyes and tensed up her ears while trying to hear what was moving the bushes. Her eyes widened and she panically jumped back. Scarlett managed to turn around as Lola quickly wrapped her tails around her and Snow before sprinting away from the noise on all four.
Scarlett tried to ask Lola what she was doing, although due to how much she was moving up and down her words were a little disjointed. Lola didn't respond as she frantically sprinted at full speed while seeming to be preoccupied with something. Scarlett confusedly looked back and spotted something looming in the air behind the moon tree. In an instant, the figure sliced the moon tree into multiple pieces. The leaves on the moon tree shrivelled up as they stopped glowing. The tree pieces crashed into the ground and crumbled to dust which scattered everywhere and completely obscured the area around the figure.