Where Time Stands Still

Finders Keepers- 2

Content warning: This chapter contains stuff that may not exactly be rated E for Everyone.

Starting at "A chill shot up Mu's spine..." and continuing to the end of the chapter, the girls occasionally hallucinate eyes staring at them. A bit of mild blood too, but it's barely any. Not sure if either of these are severe enough to warrant a warning, but I wanted to make sure! Stay safe y'all!

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The girls were fairly silent as they traversed the islands.

Mu couldn't think of anything to say. She had never been good at small talk, and years of isolation after the mafia took over her home had not helped that. Instead, she just tried to focus on the scenery and not falling to her death instead of the persistent awkwardness.

It was pretty nice scenery.

As they travelled, the girls had run into a few enemies. As it turned out, Sky's sentient bush was unique in the fact that it wasn't trying to kill them. A few other bushcats were lying around the islands, and if the girls got too close, they would charge. Bow was very upset about having to fight back.

There were also a variety of flowers that tried to kill them. Flowers. There were giant pink flowers and small yellow flowers, both of which would try to bite the kids once they were in range. The yellow ones were easy to take out, but the pink ones needed a few hits to defeat and both kids were bitten at least once. There were also white flowers, which usually nested on the sides of rocks or in trees, higher off the ground. These ones spat balls of blue fire at the girls. It was while fighting one of these that Mu learned she could use her shield not just for jumping across islands but also as an actual shield, able to block small attacks. She alo learned that if he jumped into the air and attacked, performing a homing attack as Bow called it, that she could teleport.

The islands themselves were all pretty similar. Rocks and moss, giant trees, floating hookshots and blue launchpads between each. Every now and then, they found a structure in ruins. As the islands got closer to the palace, the amount of structures increased, though it was still a rather small amount.

"You think folks used to live here before?" Bow motioned to one of the structures. "And they got attacked or mysteriously disappeared?"

"Yeah. Someone probably lived here a long time ago. Maybe they got chased off by the Moonjumper when he showed up."

"But why would he do that if he's self-proclaimed king? You can't rule over a kingdom if there's barely any subjects." Bow paused, looking off at the palace. "Maybe he showed up and decided the place needed a few more cryptic ruins and added them just to mess with people. That seems like something he'd do."

Mu laughed.

"Don't tell him I said this, but it really does."

Both girls whipped around, pulling out their weapons. Timmy was sitting on top of the broken structure, looking down at the girls. He had a solemn look on his face. "Sorry, little misses. Didn't mean to scare you."

"Then stop showing up out of nowhere," Mu hissed.

"What do you want?" Bow demanded.

"I'm just here to ask you something. Rethink your decision. Moonjumper may not seem like the best person, but he only wants to help. And he can protect you, much more than that renegade can."

"He tried to stab us the last time we talked," Bow said.

"...Well, good point. But still, he's your best bet if you want to survive here. And trust me, you'll have to survive for a long time."