Broken Ties: An Adventure Forward AU

Chapter Six: Dull, Corrupted Stars

I finally left Woody Forest, as Ploque called Wooden Workshop now. I stumbled onto the pole and slipped. "Owie," I said, rubbing my head. Compale was standing nearby, arms crossed. "What took you so long to get back?" he asked. "Sorry, Ploque kept me in her house for a while. She insisted, and I couldn't resist. She's really nice though," I answered. I decided to leave out the part where I nearly drowned just because I didn't want Compale to think I'm weak.

"What were you up to?" I asked. "Nothing interesting, just gathering data on the points and trying to figure out if I really am the cause of this frustration amongst the points. I can't help it, but I have a feeling lingering in the back of my mind, telling me that there's something else going on as well. It won't stop nagging me," Compale answered. "Sometimes it's good to trust your hunches," I encouraged. "Sometimes?" Compale asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yea, when no facts are lying around, haha."

We walked into a room with green wallpaper. This area didn't look too bad. There was even a balcony. But it still had that look that said "nobody's been in here in a while". "There's the entrance to Star Sanctuary. I think you should check it out. Also, there's another function the symbols have that you should check out. Take out my symbol," he said. I pulled out the white 8-pronged star and looked at it. "Now, I'm going to stand on the balcony, and when I give the okay, say hello into the symbol. Like, not how you would use a phone, but like, well, it's better if you see it for yourself," he informed.

He made his way to the balcony and turned around. "Now!" he yelled. "Hello?" I said into the symbol, not expecting anything. "Hey, it works!" the symbol exclaimed. "You can hear me, right?" "Yea," I answered. "Good," Compale said, walking up to me. I shoved the symbol into my satchel. "Well? Wait are you waiting for? Get the next symbol," he said, nudging towards the portal. I walked over and went into the portal.

I ended up at a long, spiraling staircase that went upwards. The railings were golden, with intricate golden star designs. "Ooo, pretty," I awed. I went up the staircase. It was pretty long, so there was plenty of time to think. The symbol thing is cool and all, but this is supposed to be a sanctuary, at least that's what the name implies. Why would I need to contact him in a sanctuary? Unless something bad is going to happen?

I eventually made it to the top. I noticed two open gates, and angels taking a walk inside. I ran in, only to be caught by two guards. "Hey, what're you here for?" a rough voice yelled. It was one of the guards. "N-none of your business, I just need to talk to the point of this world!" I stuttered. "What for?" he pressed. "Something important. Now let me go!" I tried to wrench myself free from their grasp, but it failed. They were too strong.

All of a sudden, a huge icicle popped out of the ground. Compale appeared and split the icicle into smaller, sharper pieces. He was floating in midair along with the pieces, ready to launch them at any given moment. "Let go of the Trust Savior. N o w." He glared at the two angels. They let go and whimpered. Compale made the icicles disappear as he slowly landed on the ground. I gotta admit, he did look menacing. Thankfully it wasn't directed towards me.

Then, another angel came. He had a scar on one of his eyes, a broken halo, white to black wings, and red splatters on his clothes. His dark blue eyes bore their gaze onto me and Compale. "Cap'n Graynard," one of the guards muttered. Compale tilted his head. "I thought Stormy was the captain." "Yea well Stormy retired ya old man, haha," Graynard laughed. Compale crossed his arms "Now, what's all the fuss here? Can't a man get some peace around here?" Graynard asked. 

"I must admit, you are pretty impressive. Now, the Trust Savior and I have some business to attend to with Mayor Anshine. Please take us to him," Compale asked. "Oh right, you said you'd reveal the location of those two nitwits. Nope!" Graynard grunted. "Anshine doesn't want that information anymore." Compale nodded. "Run Player! I'll handle them." I nodded and began running. The last thing I saw was Compale summoning icicles, blocking two of the guards as well as anyone else who tried to get close, forming a circle around Graynard and himself.

¯¯¯⌜later...⌟¯¯¯

I eventually made it to Anshine's office and barged in. It was a nicely furnished room. A brown desk was placed, along with two green chairs in front. On the desk was a succulent, a bunch of papers, a notepad, and a cup filled with pens. In a huge black chair, there was a yellow to orange point wearing a black tophat with an orange striped band, a white shirt, and a black bowtie. They had white wings with red streaks on them. There were also red streaks on the shirt and the band. On its face, there was a yellow 5-pointed star that was seemingly squished.

The point groaned. "What do you want?" "I'm the Trust Savior, and I need your symbol." Anshine burst into laughter. "You need my symbol!? Trust Savior!? Hahahaha, is that a more ridiculous version of the Star Savior? We don't need another Savior around here," he said, slamming his hands on the desk. "Well, I'm here now, and I'm not leaving without it." 

All of a sudden, Compale teleported and froze the door handle, trapping the three of us inside the office. He grabbed my hand and forced me to sit down in one of the chairs. He sat beside me. "Hello old friend, we have some talking to do." Anshine was in shock "C-Compale? I thought you were dead!" he exclaimed. "A bit rude to assume something without facts, you know," Compale retorted. "This... Trust Savior, they call themself, wants my symbol. Can't you get rid of them?" Anshine asked. "Well, they're here because I called them here." Compale signed. 

"Oh. Anyways, since you're here, that means you found the Star Savior and Stratosfear!" Compale shifted a bit. "About that..." Anshine's spirits dampened. "You didn't find them?" he muttered, sadly. "Stratosfear is nowhere to be found. I do know where the Star Savior is. I last saw them in this Emporium. Allow me to explain. When I got back from my failed search, I was really shocked at what became of it, but then I saw Verano who then tried to attack me without a full, proper explanation. I accidentally stabbed them, but it did no damage and they disappeared. It could have been a hallucination, but I even checked, and I definitely wasn't dreaming at the time."

Anshine just stared blankly at the desk. "You didn't even find Stratosfear..." he trailed off. "I assure you, I checked and double-checked every possible place they could have been, but failed to locate them. I'm sorry Anshine." He just shook his head back and forth, muttering "no no no" multiple times.

Eventually, he summoned his symbol and placed it on the desk. "Take this, and leave me be for a while. I need to grieve." I grabbed it and placed it in my satchel. "One more thing before you two go. Ulipse will be very happy to see you Compale," he said to his old friend. He seemed tired. We nodded and teleported back to the Emporium.

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WOAGH! This chapter was definitely longer than the last ones. Anshine is actually somewhat corrupt, but not fully. Before I was going to make him yell a bunch of stuff at Compale but that didn't fit his personality, so instead, I just made him hide his anger and sadness. Also, I wonder what Anshine means by Ulipse being happy to see Compale? :thinking_emoji: Welp, you'll find out in the next chapter. Also 2 fun facts. 1. Graynard is a tribute to one of my old warrior cats ocs named Stripefur. 2. Graynard also plays a huge role, but not in the way you'd expect. Till then, my birbs :D