The Finest Little Honky Tonk on Skalga [16]

Thank you to u/SpacePaladin15 for the universe and thanks to the other fanfic writers for giving me the inspiration for this little masterpiece of nonsense I have cooked up. Thank you to u/rookamillion and u/Roddcherry for the artwork! Can’t forget, also got an awesome ficnap from u/Heroman3003 and a kickass new ficnap series by u/Thirsha_42

Not to mention, this series has the incredible honor of having an actual written and recorded song for it done by u/AlexWaveDiver and an associated piece of art done by u/RoddCherry !

Thank you to u/Win_Some_Game and u/rookamillion for proofreading!

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I also made a profile post with a synopsis for all four of my stories and each chapter with individual links to everything! If you haven’t caught up with Honky Tonk in a while or want to read the other series, that’s the place to start!

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Intro: Halin and Tiltva go into a state of oppressive boredom as they have a few days off of work. As everyone knows, idle hands are the devil’s playthings. What trouble will these two find themselves in?

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Memory Transcription Subject: Tiltva. Country Singer for Little Branson. Bored Girlfriend.

Date: [Standardized Human Time] March 10, 2138

poke

My pointed claw is quickly swatted away by a stiff tail.

poke

The tail has been replaced by a smack of a paw.

poke

“Tiltva… please…”

No physical response with that one.

poke

My paw is quickly grabbed around the wrist, and a pleading green eye slowly turns to me as if the pain of a thousand cuts were coming from my claw into his skin. Halin’s attention attempts to go back towards his pad, but my struggles in his grasp keeps him distracted as a slinking Kerila shuffles up behind him, stretches her paw and claw out, then…

poke

“Ahhh! Dammit! Are you all really this bored?! Why do I have to be the target for creating entertainment?”

Kerila covers her mouth in whistles as she steps back into the kitchen with Harvid at the table, who is in his own fit of giggles, and Halin gets more and more orange in frustration. I slip my wrist out of his paw and use both of my own to grab his and hold it tight and warm. I give him a look, and his anger fades to that pup-like wonder in his eyes. I fold my ears back, tilt my head, and bat my eyes at his awestruck face.

“Halin, what are you so interested in on your pad?”

“I-It’s… it’s nothing; I’ll tell you if it ends up being interesting."

“Is it perhaps… a ring?’

“A-A ri-”

"Yeah, son, is it a ring?”

“Dad, please don't—"

“Halin, answer your father!”

With a choked yell of frustration, he leaps off of the couch next to me and stumbles for a few steps as his maimed leg tries to adjust without the boot to help. His hands shake as he places his pad down on the table, and then he points one paw at me, one at Kerila, and then the tip of his tail at Harvid.

“C-can all of you calm down for a scratch? I know we’re all excited to be home together with nothing to do, but please.”

“Hah, you think pups are easier? You’re in for a real treat, son.”

His accusatory pointing all falls slack to his side, and he takes his ears like wipers across his face with his eyes closed in thought. He gives a few silent strokes of his head wool with his claws and then limps back over to me on the couch, with his pad slid closer on the table. He leans at me, grabs my shoulders with both paws, and now it’s my turn to bloom orange as he pushes me flat on the couch.

“H-Halin, I don’t think it’s a g-good idea to-”

Before I can finish, he rolls me to my stomach, throws the couch blanket over me, and then lies down on top of me as if I’m the couch cushions. He reaches out, grabs his pad, and then goes back to researching whatever he was doing before. A combined set of awws comes from the kitchen, from my future parents-in-law. I let my tail wag and smack against Halin's thigh above me, but he uses his own to wrap mine up, leaving me totally immobile aside from my flopping ears. Those too are restricted as his free paw then comes over to stroke down my head, and I let myself melt into his grooming.

“Titlva, did you ever imagine that we’d be this lost without going to work for a few paws in a row?”

“No, but it’s not a bad thing if you think about it. We both must love our jobs. Too bad Ray and Thyla are gone for a while, and everyone else is taking the time off as well. Also, it’s still the first paw off.”

“Tiltva, I know what we’re going to do.”

“What’d that be?”

“We’re going to Earth.”

A choked sound and following sputter come from the kitchen as I strain my head out to see Harvid choking on his tea and Kerila with a very rare perplexed look. Harvid manages to catch his breath, wipe himself clean with his napkin, and direct a full force towards his son.

“Eh, sure. Where are we going there?”

“Y-You two cannot just up and go to Earth on a whim!”

“Why not? We have the time and the money.”

“Well, yes, but…”

“But it’s the human homeworld, and you’re terrified of the unrestricted predators there?”

“Correct.”

“We’ll be fine; I think we can just go to Ray’s hometown and surprise him there. If he’s busy, we can still look around.”

“Halin, if we want to go to Ray’s hometown, shouldn’t we leave like right now? How many flights are there per paw?”

"Oh, good point!”

While Harvid and Kerila are having a hushed but intense discussion in the kitchen, Halin slides off of me and lets him take my paw to help me up and vertical. He doesn’t let go as he leads me back to the bedrooms and finally releases me at my door. I head in and use my trip bag to quickly pack a dress, a few brushes, and a few hygiene products. I slip on a light dress Thyla had picked out for me and then run into Halin in the bathroom grabbing the same extra brushes and supplies that I was going for. He’s also quickly put on a shirt from Ray and his pair of boots.

In just a few scratches, we’re both packed and ready to head to the spaceport, but when we head back out to the living room, a cross-armed Harvid and tucked-tail Kerila are waiting for us, like they're ready to scold and ground some pups. Harvid shakes his ears in frustration but is eventually able to get some words out.

“You two… you’re both adults and have been. I don’t need to say aloud how I feel about this impulsive trip, but I can’t stop you.”

He takes a deep breath, steps forward, and wraps Halin in a tight hug. As soon as Halin runs out of breath, he is released, and then Harvid steps over and gives me the same treatment, and I do my best to return the vise-like embrace. Once he’s done, Kerila does the same to us both and steps back to join Harvid at his side. Harvid’s anger is gone and replaced by genuine worry.

“Just be safe, you two. We love you two so much.”

“Love you too, Mom and Dad."

“I love you guys too. I’ll be sure to keep Halin safe for you.”

“Thank you, Tiltva. Now you better get going and grab one of those cabs to the spaceport.”

We give each other all tail-waves goodbye, and I follow Halin out the front door as a cab he must’ve already ordered is just pulling up at the end of the path. He and I slide into the driverless cab’s passenger doors, and it soon is speeding us down the streets of Foggy Cove to the Mirror Lake Interplanetary Spaceport.

We soon arrive at the incredibly busy departures terminal and grab our two bags as we hop out of the cab and head inside.

“Halin, where does Ray live again?”

“Branson, I know at least that much.”

“Okay, because looking at the departures board, not a single one of the Earth ports is called Branson.”

“Damn, welp, to the ticket desk we go.”

I follow behind Halin’s clicking boots as he goes up to the ticket desk, where a uniformed Dossur lady is sitting at the desk, or more like on the desk. She quickly finishes whatever form she had been filling out before giving us her full, undivided attention.

"Hello, sir and madame, how can I help you this paw?”

“Hi, she and I would like to take the first available trip to the Earth city of Branson, uhh, United States of Missouri? I think that was the district.”

She types away at her directory, and after a few scrunched eyes and tail twitches, she must find what we’re looking for. But my hopes are quickly dashed as a small ‘oof’ escapes her lips when she clicks on what must be the final form.

“So Branson is a city in Missouri in the United States of America, and there are currently no direct flights from Skalga to there. The closest primary spaceport is St. Louis, but the last direct flight of the paw has unfortunately already departed. I can arrange connecting flights either here on Skalga or on Earth to try to get you to St. Louis or even to Branson after, but from what I see, it’s not likely two seats are available, and if they were, it’d be rather pricy and take over three claws of layovers. Do you still want to book your travel?”

I look to see Halin staring at me for approval, but he himself doesn’t look very interested given the situation. I give him an ear flick of dismissal, and he returns a flick of agreement.

“I think we’ll have to try again another time. Thank you so much for your help.”

“Of course. Again, sorry about that.”

“It’s alright; it was an impulsive trip anyway. Have a good rest of your paw!”

As we leave the desk Dossur behind, I wrap my tail in Halin's, and we stroll back towards the terminal exit to wait and grab whatever cab is waiting. Not more than a few tails from the door, a voice calls for Halin and he unexpectedly stops in his tracks and nearly causes me to tumble forwards. I give him a pinch on his side, which elicits a muffled yelp. We both turn to see whoever might know Halin here and I watch as a taller, muscular venlil man is navigating through the crowd towards us. Halin’s brain loads for a moment as he deciphers the man that I definitely don’t know, but he eventually remembers who it is as the man finally reaches us.

“Oh, Tallis! Right?”

“Hah, you remember this time! Nice to see you again, man!”

“Same to you! This is my… girlfriend, Tiltva! Are you still working at the pharmaceutical factory?”

I give a quick ear greeting, and Tallis returns it as he continues.

“Nice to meet you, Tiltva, and no, I and most of the floor quit when we heard you got served your termination while pretty much still in your hospital bed.”

“Really? Why?”

“What do you mean, why? Every other manager was a complete brahkass. You at least were a real person. It’s whatever, though; I have a much better job now.”

“Same thing! Tiltva and I both work at a human-run restaurant and dance hall out on the Mirror Lake shore. What about you?”

“I was recently promoted to loadmaster at this local shipping company running cargo and sometimes people to Earth.”

“Oh nice! We have a few paws off, and we’re going to go to Earth, but all of the direct flights to St. Louis aren’t available.”

“No speh? I have a combi-flight in a quarter claw going to St. Louis! Want me to check if they have some seats available?”

“Really? Yes, please!”

“Awesome, stay right here. I’ll be back after checking with the captain.”

As Tallis speeds away back through the crowd, I stare dumbstruck at Halin as he has somehow turned into a master conversationalist and just landed us flights directly to exactly where we wanted to go.

Whoa, okay, so he really has been getting good at talking and negotiating since working for Ray. Me likey…

“Halin, that was actually really cool.”

He slowly turns his attention to me, and his ears fall flat as he just seems to deflate right in front of me at my comment.

“What? Did I say something wrong or weird?”

“Huh? No no no, I really mean it; that was cool.”

“Tiltva, can we just do this bit later? I don’t want to-”

Sick of his confused whining, I pull him into a face-lick and hold him snout-to-snout for a few moments before releasing him with his face and ears burning orange.

“There, you’ve become so confident since starting work with Ray, and it makes me feel really proud of you… and something else.”

Halin goes completely struck-stupid at my praise as he looks like jelly, standing there staring at me. I turn quickly and whack him in the stomach with my tail and briefly take the air out of his lungs, which he doesn’t even seem to mind as he starts laughing. I join in but hush him down as my own face burns with the realization that our lovey school-pup actions have drawn the attention from the herd around us. Halin must realize it too, as he falls silent, and we just huddle in on each other and our luggage like nothing happened.

Not long like that as we cool off from our blooms, Tallis comes back through the crowds and waves us over. Halin and I make our way towards him as he seems very excited about whatever news he has for us.

“Hey, so there’s an entire row of seats available for standby, and right now there’s no one on the list.”

“Oh, that’s awesome! Tiltva, it looks like we’re going to Earth after all.”

“There is a catch, though; we take off in a quarter-claw, so you two need to nearly sprint through security and customs to make it on board.”

“Well, let’s go then!”

Tallis flicks his ears in agreement and starts towards the other end of the terminal. Halin and I try our best to follow him through the shifting herds and masses until the flow seems to stop past the main security checkpoints for domestic and Sapient Coalition destinations; the Earth-bound departures are noticeably less populated, and we follow Tallis as he stops right at the checkpoint.

“Okay, this is the security, and then there’s Earth customs on the other side, so you don’t have to do it once you get on Earth. Use this link and code, buy your tickets, go through both checkpoints and then follow the gate directions for the only flight to St. Louis. I’m going through the employee checks and path, so I’ll see you two on board; good luck!”

Halin and I both share a ‘thank you’ with Tallis as he gives Halin a link to the spaceliner service and then leaves us as he heads through the employee routing. Halin pulls up the tickets and I watch over his shoulder as he buy two one-way tickets to St. Louis from Mirror Lake City with doors closing in…

“Halin, buy those right now! Door closes in an eighth claw!”

"Oh, speh!”

He slams through the checkout and passenger information as fast as he can and then sends me my own digital ticket on my pad, and we do our best to jog up to the terminal security station. We throw our bags on the conveyor as we are quickly ushered through the scanners. Of course, Halin’s mobility boot sets off the detectors, and he is leisurely pulled aside. The Venlil security man seems rather perplexed as Halin does his best to slip it off and hand it over.

“Sir, is this a mobility device disguised inside a human boot?

“It is! Custom ordered and covered insurance-wise!"

“Why do you need it?”

“Nearly lost my leg in a crane accident.”

“Fair enough.”

The guard quickly returns Halin’s boot, and Halin slips it back on, and we are sent on our way with a quick set of compliments on our attire otherwise. We then hurry up to the customs window, where just a few other Venlil are heading through to the Earth-bound gates. Halin and I do our best to quickly present our digital passports to the human customs agent who stares us down. He pulls his mask up and stares at us hard, wordlessly.

“You two seem rather adjusted to humans. Are you both aware that what human presence and culture you have experienced on Skalga is much more diluted and controlled than what you’ll be seeing on Earth?”

Halin again steps forward for us.

“We both work for a human and with plenty of other humans at a barbeque restaurant and music bar.”

The customs agent seems actually somewhat surprised by Halin’s statement, as a smile cracks his lips and his eyebrow raises.

“Is that right? Actual barbeque and what type of music?”

This time, I feel confident to respond in the best way I can think of. 

“həˈloʊ, aɪm ə ˈhɔŋki tɔŋk ɡɜrl.”

The customs agent is now in a full, toothy smile as he rapidly approves our travel and tourist visas.”

“Never in my life did I think that I’d hear the words ‘honk tonk girl’ from a Venlil. You two have a wonderful trip, enjoy Earth, and feel free to report to authorities if you, for whatever reason, feel threatened or unsafe.”

“Thank you, sir!”

Now, through everything between us and the starliner, the only thing left to overcome is the physical distance between us and our ride to St. Louis. We do our best to jog with our Fed-designed knees as we pass by a departures listing and are luckily already heading in the correct direction of our gate. We arrive at a very empty gate area, and a rather bored-looking Venlil is playing with the tip of her tail with the gate door open and empty behind her. We rush up, and I notice that the time on the boarding screen has us with only one-sixteenth of a claw left until we wouldn’t have made it. Halin and I each show and scan our tickets to the gate agent, who gives a dismissive ear flick of ‘welcome’ as we now finally walk past and towards our ship.

We go down the bridge and enter through the airlock and are quickly greeted by a ship steward.

“Hello! Heading to St. Louis?”

"Yes, sir.”

“Welcome! You’re our last passengers, so please take your seats, and we’ll be taking off very shortly.”

We slip past the man and head into the passenger compartment and see that it is very short and separated from the rest of the ship by a folding wall with a folding door in the middle. We head back into our row, and I let Halin take the window seat as I snuggle into his shoulder. I look over the back of our seats, and the folding door opens to reveal a massive container behind the wall. Tallis walks into the passenger compartment and spots us and comes right over.

“Oh, good, I was just coming up really quick to make sure you two made it!”

“We did, cut it pretty close though!”

"Oh, I’m sure, good alignment of the Stars, though, right?”

"Oh, we agree, but I do have a question, though. This passenger area seems very small compared to the size of the ship; why is that?”

“I think I mentioned it earlier, but this is a combi-ship. Combination passenger and cargo. We can swap out more or fewer seats depending on how many are sold and how profitable cargo is that paw.”

“That’s pretty neat, actually.”

“I think so too. Sure, it’s not as luxurious as a dedicated passenger ship, but it’s cheaper and just as fast! Anyway, now that I know you two are good, I have to stay back with the cargo, so enjoy your flight!”

We each flick a ‘thanks’ to Tallis as he heads back in, and the steward announces that the airlocks are all locked and secured and that we’d be getting ready for takeoff very shortly. True to his word, the ship lurches back, and I feel it lift and hover off the ground as it taxis around the starport. The captain of the flight quickly announces that we have clearance for our flight and to expect takeoff in just a scratch.

The ship soon stops, and I feel squished into my seat as it lifts up, and the world outside the window slowly starts to turn, but the downwards feeling never vanishes. The brief flashes of orange flame die out, and for the first time in my life, I am in space above Skalga. I poke at Halin as we look out over our shrinking home.

“You know what’s funny, Halin? Neither of us ever saw Venlil Prime from space, only Skalga.”

“What do you mea- ohh, that is funny. Huh…”

The captain then warns us to prepare for subspace travel, and then the whole ship shudders as the uncountable stars start to lose their definition and streak into an endless blanket of stripes. I lean into Halin's shoulder and hug his arm into my chest as we both settle in, leaning against the window.

“Halin, how long is this flight again?’

“Just a claw, I think.”

“Perfect, wake me up then.”

This time he surprises me with a lick on my snout as I wiggle even closer to him.

“Will do, Tiltva, love you.”

‘Love you too.”

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The ship shudders and rocks as I open my eyes slowly to an unfamiliar sight out of the window. A vast white, blue, and green world is brightly lit below with the bright lights of cities glowing in the dark edges. I pull my head back up off of Halin’s shoulder and cringe as I see that I’ve drooled a large stain into his shirt. I quickly try and wipe it away with the inside of the bottom of my dress, but it only barely disappears. Halin himself wakes up as the captain is announcing that we’ll be on the ground shortly in the great port city of St. Louis with mild dusk-side-like weather for the day down there.

It takes Halin and me nearly the entire time of the descent to fully wake back up, and as the ship finally stops, out the window, I can see a city skyline and a weird, massive, shiny arch in the distance. The door behind us opens, and Tallis steps through just as the rows in front of us are clearing off the ship.

“Hey Halin, Tiltva, how was your flight?”

“Good, we both slept through the entire thing, I think.”

“Good for you two then! Well, welcome to St. Louis! I’ve been here plenty of times. They have a large park with a free art museum and, get this, a free zoo full of wild animals. They also have sports teams that play at their stadiums. You get a discount if you show a Skalgan passport.”

“Thank you again, Tallis; it’s been nice to see you.”

“Same to you. That same link I sent for this flight—keep it on your pad if you plan on flying back out from St. Louis, because we have flights back and forth from here rather often. Oh, looks like it’s time for you to go; have fun!”

“Thanks!”

Halin and I both get up out of our seats way too fast, nearly jumping into the air. Halin and I both stare at each other, surprised as Tallis laughs behind us.

“A lot less gravity on Earth—enjoy your newfound strong legs!”

Halin and I both do a few test squats to see just how easy it is, and we smile as we skip down the aisle and off the ship onto the bridge. We make it inside the terminal and see a vast number of different SC species and, of course, humans walking about, busy catching flights or getting in line at the terminal restaurants. Halin and I scan the signs from the ceiling and eventually find an arrow pointing towards the terminal exit.

We pass right through the terminal exit into a massive baggage claim area, and Halin and I come to another shared realization.

“How do we get to Branson?”

I scan the vast room and spot a desk labeled in many languages offering information. At the desk, a human and a Yotul are yapping away with another Venlil couple, and their conversation finishes up just as we arrive, and the other couple heads off. The human smiles big at us, less as a test like the customs agent and more like the genuine happiness we’ve seen at Ray’s.

“Hello and welcome to St. Louis, the old Gateway to the West and now the Gateway to the World. How can we help you? I can see you are both at least a bit familiar with local human clothing."

“We need to get to Branson. What’s the best way to get there?”

"Branson, huh? Heading to Silver Dollar City?”

“No, our friend lives there.”

“Oh, wonderful, your best option would be the Ozarkan Express train. Talyo, when’s the next train departure?’

“Next departure is in… half an hour. Just head in through those doors to the attached train station and buy tickets for the 12:30 Ozarkan Express. Enjoy your time on Earth!”

“Thank you!”

We leave the human Yotul at their desk and follow their directions through the doors of the baggage claim, and then we find ourselves on a long and steep moving staircase. We are pulled into the basement of the spaceport terminal and see that an entire train station has been built deep beneath the above structure. We go up to the ticket machine, and I watch in amazement as the text on the digital screen shimmers from a human language like Ray's to Venlang as we approach. Halin and I scroll for and find the Ozarkan Express and buy two tickets for the earliest departure. Surprisingly, the tickets are all nearly the same price regardless of which stop you choose, so we pick the station two stops after Branson, just in case he lives on the far side of the city.

We head through a ticket-scanning gate one at a time and then wander onto a long and sleek station with a massive train dominating the platform. Halin and I follow the signs above down the side of the train until we reach another gate agent with a ticket scanner waiting at the door.

“Howdy, looking for the Ozarkan Express?”

Halin wags in excitement as he tilts his ears down in greeting to the human man.

"Yes, we are! We’re going to Branson to visit a friend.”

“Glad to hear it! Welcome aboard!”

We both scan our tickets and climb up the steps onto the train. We don’t seem to have any assigned seats, so we just take the stairs up inside the car to find that the upper deck is a massive glass-domed viewing platform. Plenty of seats are still available, so we sit in a window and aisle seat right in the middle of the car and stare up at the concrete ceiling above us. Not much longer, and a call of “all aboard” goes out, and the train honks a few times as it jerks and begins to rapidly pull out of the station into a dark tunnel.

The lights from the station disappear, and our space in the car becomes uncomfortably dark with only two strips of lights on the floor to tell us that our eyes aren’t closed. I’m suddenly blinded by a flash of bright yellow sunlight, and we exit beside a massive river with a steady stream of barges being pushed up and down the current. The leafless trees turn from individual plants into a steady brown blur as we continue to accelerate. 

Finally, the relentless pull stops, and we can relax as the train finds its steady pace.

“So, Halin, do we actually know which town or area we’re going to? Like, where do the Oakleys actually live?”

“I… I’m not really sure. Oh! Is there anything on social media to tell?”

“No, we’ve talked about this; Ray’s social media and all of his family are pretty much nonexistent. It’s just pictures of Thyla- oh! Last time they were home, he posted her in the snow in a park with the sign next to her and said they walked there! Let’s see…” I quickly pull up Ray’s linked accounts on Bleat and see the picture I’m thinking of. The sign names the park, and I type it into my navigation app to see that- “Oh, he actually pretty much does live in Branson, just on the far edge.”

“So what does that mean for us?”

“Get off at the first Branson stop, I guess, and then take a cab over.”

Halin and I stare out the domed train car as the Earth countryside rolls by. The rivers and valleys and tall forested hills do look remarkably like the Mirror Lake District as we make quick stops in the town of St. James, and then Rolla, and then a human military base named Fort Leonard Wood, in the woods of course, and then three times in Springfield which quickly clicks in my head as the name of the barn in Little Branson.

We pass through Springfield, and the scenery takes a somewhat dramatic turn as the hills grow massive and valleys deeper. The landscape makes a shift in my perception, and it begins to really feel like home in a way. Finally, the first Branson stop comes up, and we scurry down the stairs and off the train with a cheery goodbye to the conductor into the brisk air.

I take my pad out and try to navigate to the first cab company that appears in the local search results, but Halin tugs on my dress and points his tail forward. Almost annoyed, I look up to see a few parked cabs sitting there, without drivers and passengers, of course. I take him by the hand, and we descend the ramp to the row of cabs and get in the furthest forward one. I use the town location pin and tap the info to the cab interface. Again, the UI changes into Venlang, and the car begins to whir away.

I take a look at the remaining time and see that there’s just enough for my favorite car activity. I reach down and grab Halin’s bad leg and pull it right up into my lap. I wiggle his boot off and enjoy the smile that comes across his ears as he closes his eyes, and my hands get to work on the scarred and damaged muscles. I chuckle a bit in nervousness as the driverless cab is roaring down the roads, and we are joined by other driverless cars doing the same, all without active input from a person.

“Humans really like their driverless cars, don’t they?”

“Mmhmm, Ray told me that car crashes and deaths in accidents nearly ceased overnight when they switched over. Also led to bars and restaurants making a huge comeback since people no longer have to worry about driving home intoxicated.”

“I can see that. Huh…”

I continue my work on Halin’s leg as he can’t help but tap his tail against the door in a wag, which gets my own going. The cab rounds a few bends, and suddenly we break through the valley we had been travelling down, and we’re now in a town full of hard, angular brick houses and shops. The car slows to a stop in the middle of town, where a big ornamental building occupies the center of a large square park surrounded by shops. Halin and I quickly exit into even colder weather than was at the train station, and the car rolls over to another small row of parked cabs and goes back to waiting. Halin bumps into my side, and we quickly wrap tails as we both go about the same task.

How are we actually going to find Ray and Thyla?

“Halin, how are we actually going to find them?”

“I think we give it a shot of just walking about, and if not- eh, never mind, there he is.”

I follow the direction of his ears, and across the square, I see what actually looks like Ray standing outside a shop on his pad. What little doubt I have of it actually being Ray is erased when a small Farsul girl pops out from inside the shop and starts bouncing and barking up at the man. He quickly reaches down, picks her up, flips her upside down, and then back before resting her on his shoulder.

Yep, that can be no other Farsul pup. Only one would be that obnoxious and cute. Why aren’t they heading- Oh?

A human woman in a big coat walks out of the store where Thyla had just come out of, and she gives Thyla a big kiss on the nose as the three of them now start to walk off directly away from us and out of the square. Thyla is set back down on the ground and skips off between the two humans. I start to mindlessly follow after them, but a question from Halin beside me snaps me back.

“Tiltva, are we just going to follow them?”

“I mean, we should probably call out to them or something, right?”

“We could, but… oh! What if we follow them to the next store, and then when they enter, we’ll go in and pretend we’re just shopping there until they notice us?”

“That would actually be pretty funny; let’s do it. Also, wait, wait, wait, is that who I think it is with them?”

“No way, Mrs. Oakley, for real.”

Now with a mini plan in mind and a realization that we’re actually going to meet the legend herself, Halin and I walk calmly behind the trio as they continue past a few shops, only taking a few stops to quickly peek inside a couple through the street windows. Surprisingly, we spot a few other non-humans, mostly other Venlil, whom we greet with tails and ears to avoid making a sound.

Ray, Thyla, and Mrs. Oakley randomly turn down a residential street, and somehow we’re not spotted by any of them, especially Thyla, who should have the visual range to see us easily. I cringe a bit as we turn down the street after them, and the reality of what we’re doing strikes me.

“Halin, it’s probably not our best move to stalk our boss and his family while they’re home on vacation. We… we need to just go up and say hello.”

Halin’s eyes cringe along with mine as the same thought clicks in his own head.

“Yeah, not a good look even being their friends. I have to say, though, as I’ve been looking more closely, Mrs. Oakley looks a bit differ-”

“Wait a moment, where did they just go?”

We both hear a distinctive Thyla squeal come from our right, inside a spiky fenced park. Halin and I come up to the large metal arch gate and look inside to see the family far inside the park wandering down the meandering path through the stones. Halin and I step in after them on the trail in the grass as the air seems to thicken and the sky becomes even grayer than it was before. I pay closer attention to the numerous stones around the field, and the purpose of the park becomes very clear.

“Halin, this is a cemetery. Maybe we really shouldn’t bother them here if they’re visiting a buried family member.”

“Sure, but we’re already this far; let’s just go greet them and then wait outside the gate.”

“Okay…”

We try our best to catch back up with the Oakleys but can’t seem to find a clear line of sight on them as the park becomes divided by old hedges. A low whine pierces my ears, and instantly I hone in on a small Thyla somewhere to our left. I wrap Halin with my tail and pull him as I focus on the Thyla sound on the other side of a tall hedgerow. 

We round the end of the hedge and see the three of them around a headstone. Thyla is standing there in her coat, and Mrs. Oakley is standing next to her; each of them has a single hand resting on Ray’s back as he sits there kneeling in front of the grave with his hat in his hands. Halin quickly begins tugging on my dress sleeve, and I whip around to see what he needs me so desperately to see or hear. In his paws, his pad has a picture of the headstone translated.

“Tiltva, that… that's—"

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