Finding The Way Back (A Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts Fanfiction)

[8]Party at an Amusement Park

...Now that he thought about it, he probably has no idea where Kipo and her friends might be in the forest. Chess didn't want to give up so easily, so he stretches out his senses to try and detect the smallest of disturbances outside of the forest's natural atmosphere.

...

Well, he doesn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Maybe the wolves got them?

Sniff...sniff sniff...

No, wait...something else is here. It's...a smell, a really weird smell. It...It kind of smells like Kipo, but...not really?

What happened while he was gone?

His walk turns to a jog, making a beeline towards the smell. His thoughts raced, only to stop abruptly upon finding the group together, and intact too!

"Ah!" he waves to them.

"Oh, Chess! You're alright!" Kipo waves back.

"What did you and Billions do?" Benson asks. "I mean, I probably shouldn't ask...but I am, so yeah."

His thoughts rewind back to what Billions said to him, what Piece revealed. And...the Great Grand Game.

"Should we tell them?"

"IT IS LIKELY THAT KIPO'S CURRENT GOAL MAY CONFLICT WITH PROTOCOL BOARD GAME. THIS UNIT ADVISES TO NOT TELL THEM."

"But...we should, Kipo's been honest with us so far."

"..."

"BILLIONS HAD QUESTIONED OUR EXISTENCE. HOWEVER, HE THREATENED OUR LIVES AT THE SAME TIME, AND THUS WE DEFENDED OURSELVES."

Guilt digs into his heart. Even though he didn't really ask Piece to tell her that, Piece herself already said what her goal is.

The Protocol comes first.

"Huh, that's it?" Kipo questions.

"TIMBER CATS AND NEWTON WOLVES ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR NEGATIVE RELATIONSHIPS," says Piece. "THE CONFLICT WAS EXPECTED."

Mandu squeals as he looks down to find her carrying her axes in her maw. The tuxedo cat gives thanks and takes the axes after brushing the saliva off the handles. He proceeds to merge back into the group, as they're going back to the observatory. Chess remembers that the group mentioned that the use of the observatory could be used to help find Kipo's Dad and her Burrow. But...Kipo doesn't seem so sure now.

Not only that...that weird scent that he smelled is coming off of her.

He leans a little, just to make sure what he's smelling is real.

Sniff... sniff sniff sniff-

"Uh-" says Kipo.

"Dude, what are you doing?" eyes Wolf.

...Oops, maybe he got a bit too close. Wolf had noticed him being weird, and Kipo too. But...he has good reasons! 

"Maybe after beatin' all those wolves made us smell bad." Dave smells himself to see if that's true. "Eh...maybe?"

"Whatever, just...don't be weird like that again." Wolf warns, turning back to face the path they walk.

"Uh...huh," it's Chess's form of an apology, lowering his head.

As they make their way back to the observatory, Jack and Jill are still unconscious from Piece's mental attack with Kingdom Hearts lore. Chess will have to make sure to get them blankets later for sleeping out in the cold.