The chomp gathered all the remaining reserves of strength he had left for one decisive chomp - his mouth opened wide and clamped down on the region of weakened gate material. The candy stuck in his teeth and on the roof of his mouth, and he regretted chewing on it instead of letting it melt on his tongue. He was parched from a long night of arduous slurping, so that only made the discomfort worse. But there was a hole in the shutter now, and he could crawl through.

He gave Floof a light smack on the rump.

"You did well girl! Run away and hide now. I'll come find you later, I promise!"

But the patoot did not budge. Instead, she looked hungrily at Mo and stuck out her parched tongue to lick her snout.

"I'm not on the menu!" Squeaked Mo angrily. Tiny dollops of ice-cream fell from the mochi onto the ground, and Floof wasted no time in licking them up immediately.

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"Find the stable I paid for girl. I know you know where it is. If you can find me, you can find it as well. They'll have plenty of food and water for you."

Floof did not budge.

"Go on now!" He smacked her rump again. She moved a few metres away, and stood in the middle of the street, licking ice-cream from her snout.

"We can't afford to waste any more time!" Squealed the mochi.

It was right. They had to go in now. He would have to trust Floof to fend for herself, which was a decision he would later come to regret...

The chomp could smell the odors of stale pie and ripe berries. It was dark inside the shop, but Mo had no issues navigating for them.

"Quick, to the cool room!"