Firetail and Star walked down the streets, not really knowing where they were going. Fire took a deep breath as he looked at the money he was given. "Looks like we're were given $100, that should cover food for a bit." He said, glancing at Star as she nodded.
"We can make it stretch. What jobs do you think would accept us around here?" She questioned. "Or maybe we can hitchhike away. Honestly, we don't have many options." She said. "Yeah, we'll figure that all out, but let's just get familiar with the area." Firetail pushed.
Star forced herself to stop planning ahead, figiting with the earring in her pocket. The voices weren't nearly as bad here as they were at the lab, but they were still prevalent. "Alright, I'll just listen out for anyone from the lab."
As they kept going, Firetail noticed Star getting droopy as the night went on. She would shake her head and stare up at the stars until it happened again. He wasn't sure how to handle the situation.
——
Gluzze was still in the alley from earlier. "I wish Galaxy was here... she always had plans..." she muttered, tears forming in her eyes. "No you stop crying you useless shit, that ain't gonna solve anything." She yelled at herself and curled into a ball.
She didn't even hear when a voice rang out behind her. "Wait, stop." A female voice said a person beside them, coming into the alley. Gluzze was starting to cry and beat herself up for it. "Useless.... Useless..." She kept muttering. As the two kept approaching.
Suddenly one of the asked, "...hello?"
Gluzze jumped back onto all fours. "P-please, I don't want any trouble." She said, tears still streaking down her face as she looked at a coyote and a fox. "Hey, we don't want to hurt you," the fox said softly as the coyote backed off.
"W-what, no, everyone wants to hurt me." Gluzze muttered and collapsed to the ground again in tears as the black on her fur started to spread a bit. "No.... No no no, please no." She started saying, her eyes widened when she noticed the spread.
The fox started to approach her. "Hey, let us help you." He said. She noticed that the coyote looked really concentrated, before a second later looking as if she were a bit woozy.
Gluzze formed a small wall of ice with spikes sticking out towards the two. "No, stay back, please." She said, then grabbed her head as a sudden wave of calm crashed over her. "W-what was that?" She muttered, a bit more calm but still terrified.
When Gluzze had formed the ice wall, the fox had taken a few steps back. "Okay-" he said, then glanced at the coyote. "Hey Star are you okay?" He asked. Star muttered something, leaning against the wall, before struggling up and looking at Gluzze. "Look, I swear we are in the same situation as you. We escaped from the lab after you set off the alarm. We just want to help." She said in a soothing voice.
Gluzze froze. "What?" She said, looking a bit more calm. "Y-you aren't just saying that and then gonna capture me once you got my trust, cause if you are just go ahead and do it, I don't feel like fighting." She said as the ice wall melted in seconds.
Star approached a bit closer. "Awh come on, do I look like some government agent to you?" She asked. "I-I don't know." Gluzze said, still scared but allowing Star to approach as the fox stayed back. Star crossed her arms. "Nah, I'm not." She said. "We have already looked all around town, all we need is a place to sleep and we'll figure the rest out tomorrow." She said.
"Okay." Gluzze said quietly as the fox approached. "Hey there, my name's Firetail. Do you think you could tell us yours?" He asked softly with a small smile. "Gluzze. It's Gluzze." She replied as the coyote spoke. "I'm Star," she said, "here- we have a map. Do you recognize any of this?" She asked, holding the map out.
Gluzze looked at it. "No, I was only here for a little bit after an.... Incident." She said, tensing up a lot. "Not long after was the Lab." Star put her hand on her shoulder lightly. "Well, come on and we'll find some place together. We've been through a lot. We can at least stick together." She said.
Gluzze yanked her shoulder back. "O-okay." She agreed hesitantly. "Yeah," Firetail concentrated, looking over the map once more. "Hey, there's a motel not too far from here. We could head there to sleep?" He proposed.
Star nodded, standing up and starting to pull her coat off. "Here, put this on. It'll hide the uniform." He said, offering it to Gluzze while walking back to the sidewalk. She hesitantly took it. "Thank you." She said softly as she stood up.
"No problem." Star said, looking to Firetail for further guidance. "Come on, it should only be a few blocks away. It's a small motel. It's cheap, but it's much better than the lab conditions." He said to the two.
"Are you sure we can afford it? We don't have that much..." Star questioned. "Yes. Besides, we all need a good night's sleep." Fire responded, walking down the sidewalk. Star agreed with a enthusiastic head shake. Gluzze followed, crossing her arms and keeping her head down.
Star chirped up again after a minute. "I say we should take shifts sleeping. I'll take first shift up." She volunteered. "No, you sleep, I'll stay up. You look like you need the rest." Firetail objected as they approached the motel.
Star sighed but didn't fight further as they entered. She crossed her arms uncomfortably. Firetail talked to the receptionist. He handed her the hundred and she gave him back change and a room key. Firetail turned back to the other two. "Come one, let's go." He said, looking a bit hopeful.
Star nodded and followed him, more than ready for some sleep. Firetail walked them into the room and held the door open for the two. Gluzze walked in, laying down on a bed and falling asleep almost instantly.
He sat in a chair and host out a comfortable sigh, before turning to Star. "Hey. Earlier it looked like you... went into her mind? When you came out, you looked a little off. What did you see?" He asked curiously.
Star shook her head. "I didn't really access her memories. It was too much chaos. It felt like her thoughts were going everywhere, being consumed by this black mass. Just chaos. I used my powers to just try and freeze it all and bring up calmer memories and emotions. It's all I could do." She explained. "I did see a lot of these two other Dutchies though. One was a bright pink one and the other green. I don't know what happened, but it was bad." She said.
Firetail looked at Gluzze. "What the hell did they do to her..." he muttered. Star shrugged. "Imma get some sleep—" she stopped, hearing thoughts coming near, and fast. "We have to leave. People from the lab are coming. Now." She said, waking Gluzze up. "We have to leave." Dread filled her stomach.
