Broken Ties: An Adventure Forward AU

Chapter Four: Frosty Reveal

"YEOWCH IT'S COLD!" I exclaimed. I quickly opened my satchel, pulled out some winter clothes, and put them on. "Whew... How cold is it?" I pulled out a thermometer and looked at it. "0 DEGREES CELSIUS?! WHAT THE HECK!?"

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If you're American (like me woah), 0° C is 32° F, just a little note I put here

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I walked on the slowly rotating snowflake and quickly hopped onto solid ground. "Whew!" Compale was standing near the fence, staring at the ground. "Heya!" I called out. He didn't answer. "Uh, something wrong?" I asked.

"Do you think it's possible that despite the points having a conflict with each other, they still consider me their friend? One that's alive and well?" he asked.

"Of course! Why wouldn't they?" I don't like where this is going. Not at all.

"Then what's this?" Compale said, moving away to reveal a small memorial. Unlit candles and flowers were surrounding a picture of him, reading a book.

"What the heck!? How long were you gone for?!" I said, turning to face Compale after staring at the memorial for what felt like hours.

"Five years," he said after a long pause. "I was looking for Stratosfear and the Star Savior for 5 years." He sat down on the soft snow and started crying.

"I was gone for 5 years, this entire thing is my fault. I didn't think it would be this bad, but it was. This entire predicament is my fault. If I hadn't gone after them, you wouldn't even need to be here. WHO KNOWS IF THEY ARE EVEN ALIVE!? I PROBABLY WENT ON A WILD GOOSE CHASE FOR NOTHING!" he said, choking the words out in-between tears.

I knelt down and pulled Compale into a hug. "It's alright." "No it's not "alright". My own friends think I'm dead. You saw it yourself," he retorted. "What if they're dead as well? What if Signol, Shallare and I are the only ones alive!?"

Compale pushed himself away and got up, wiping away a tear. "Anyways, you should probably get some stars, instead of trying to make me feel better. They're scattered around Frosted Snowland." "Okay," I said, getting up and walking over to the spinning snowflakes, hopping on each one of them.

¯¯¯⌜later...⌟¯¯¯

After getting all 4 stars and 16 red coins, I walked on over to where Compale was standing. "Greetings Player, sorry for my behavior a while ago. I wasn't feeling the best at the time. On other matters, it seems you have 6 stars, but I require 8 for my challenge course. Where are the other stars?" he asked.

"Funny story... I helped Shallare make a robot and I had to rap battle Signol, and they just straight up gave me their symbols. No challenge course or stars needed, haha." Compale facepalmed. "Very well, I guess you have a valid point. Come on, let's get on with the challenge course." "Alrighty then!"

I was immediately teleported to the course. More spinning snowflakes. He sure does have a thing for snowflakes. Then again, his world is literally a winter wonderland, and every winter wonderland needs snowflakes. I walked across the snowflakes, hopping to the next and avoiding the lasers on the snowflakes, then I hit a button, dodged a thwomper, went into a marble, and rolled my way to victory.

Kidding! I ended up on a huge blue circle with the cardinal directions printed onto it. Compale was standing in the middle of it, his cloak billowing in the wind. A breeze that I can't feel. Weird. I walked up to him.

"Spectacular! You've beaten my challenge course without a sweat! However, that won't be enough to earn my trust," Compale noted. "OH COME ON! What'll it take for me to get your symbol?" I exclaimed. "Now now, no need to be hasty. Unless you're not skilled in sword fighting," Compale chuckled.

"Swordfighting?" I asked. "Yes. I wanted to spice things up a bit. I hope you're an excellent swordsperson. Take the Star Sword when it appears next to you." He disappeared, and in his place, was a sword unlike any I've seen before. The handle was purple with a light purple stripe down the middle. The blade was an elongated purple star with a lighter, smaller one in the middle. I grabbed it, and Compale immediately showed up with his own sword. It was, as expected, a normal sword made out of ice. I grinned, and we both immediately clashed.

¯¯¯⌜later...⌟¯¯¯

"Congratulations Savior," Compale panted. "You managed to defeat me. Take this symbol as not a trophy, but something that'll remind us of the exhilaration we felt in this fight," he said smiling. A white 8-pronged star appeared beside him. I smiled back as I grabbed it. Compale patted my head before sending me back to the Emporium.

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As you can probably tell, this chapter felt a little shorter than the others. I know. I'm like that, very lazy. Also, I cannot write swordfight scenes for the life of me. Anyways, uh- Compale crying. Did anyone expect that? Probably not. This is one of, if not, my favorite chapters so far. I hope you enjoyed this, and see you soon my birbs.