Outside Town of Kalmari Ch 1

The Outside Town of Kalmari

Chapter. 1

TEACHER BATE!!! TEACH-“

“Arthur, be quiet!!!” Meta frantically covered his mouth and motioned the Leo next to him to shut the door. She quickly obliged and ran to close it. Once it was locked, Meta released his grasp and spoke in a soft voice.

“Please don’t tell Teacher.” He begged. “He’s gonna send her back if he finds out.”

“Meta, you can’t hide someone in our closet and not expect me to say something!.” He said, still shook when he found the Leo hiding in there when he went to grab one of his toy swords. "What’s she gonna do, live in there forever?”

“Of course not, but….” He glanced at Kesuk who was now hiding behind him. "Maybe for a few days?"

“A few days?! No way, absolutely not!.” Arthur huffed, walking to the door to get his teacher. “It’s bad enough I have to share a room with you, I’m not sharing it with another."

“Awwww, I guess you were right about him, Meta.” She sadly spoke, realizing he wasn’t going to listen. “He really is a joy kill….”

Arthur released his hand from the door nob, his wings twitching in anger once she said that. Glaring at the Leo, he snapped at her statement. “Is that when he said about me?”

“Well it’s true….” Meta pouted. "You won't even let me take her to meet all our friends. That sounds like a joy kill to me...."

“I'm not a joy kill! ” He hissed back, crossing his arms. Even if he did let them go there was no way he was going to be part of this. He knew how strict his mentor was, so for the sake of not getting tangled in Meta's shenanigans, he decided to turn a blind eye. He gripped the handle and flung the door open to let them out instead.“Okay, fine, let her stay! But when something goes wrong and Teacher finds out, don’t come crawling back to me.” He spoke, moving further away from them.

Meta and Kes happily exchanged a smile with one another. He had a hunch Arthur probably wanted to stay on Teacher's good side, and although Meta knew he was probably going to be scolded for not telling him sooner, a few hours showing her around wasn't going to hurt.

"C'mon, let's go!" Meta cheered, taking her hand to lead her to the plaza. With the little time they have, he wanted to make sure to show her everything! "Thanks, Arthur!!" He waved and ran out before his Teacher had the chance to wake.

—--

"So where are we going first, Meta?" Kes happily smiled as she took in the unusual environment. There was some snow scattered through the area, but not nearly a lot like South Nova. No icicles, no blizzards covering the land....it was strange. His home was pleasant, but lacked the touch of a nice ice bench or house. Even so, she couldn't wait to see all the shops Kalmari has to offer.

"I wanna take you to see my friend, Petta! She's a Leo like you...ah, only not frozen."

"A Leo who doesn't use ice?" She tilted her head, unable to imagine such a thing. "That's strange, is she sick or something?"

"No, she's not sick. She's able to use fire instead."

"A fire Leo, really?!!!" Her voice squeaked with cheer. "I...I didn't know they actually existed! My dad once told me a story where Leos were able to wield different elements other than ice. I always thought it was folklore since I've never seen another where I live." She said, quite excited she'll be meeting another. "This is going to be so exciting, I can't wait!!!"

Once reaching the entrance of her parents flower shop, Meta spotted Petta blissfully watering several beds of flowers. The Leo looked up when she heard the door, and waved back at Meta. When she spotted the other next to him, however, her attention was immediately caught.

"Ooooh, who's your friend?" She asked. "She sorta looks like a Leo....just blue." She giggled.

"That's 'cause she's all the way from South Nova!" Meta said, using his wing to push her forward so they could properly greet one another.

"My name is Kesuk, but you can just call me Kes." She held out her hand. "So is it true you're able to use fire?"

"Hm!" She nodded and reached out to shake her hand. She pulled back in surprise from how cold she was. "And....I'm guessing you use ice instead?"

"Yeah! How'd you know?"

"Ah....just a lucky guess?" She lightly chuckled, shaking her hand to lose the cold, numbing sensation. "I never been to South Nova before, I bet your home is super cold."

"Her whole home is like one giant igloo!" Meta Said, raising his arms up high. "I had to wrap myself in Teacher's wings since they were the only thing that kept me warm."

"My home never feels cold to me since I'm used to it, but heat on the other hand...." She weakly smiled as she used her hand to fan herself.

Meta and Petta quickly noticed the discomfort on her face, and suggested that taking her to a much cooler place in the plaza would be for the better. Since winter was starting to end, the only thing they could come up with was the ice cream store. Even if that didn't work, they had large freezers in the back that they can sneak in for a bit until she felt better. Meta took her hand and lead her out of the flower shop before her temperature rose too high.

"We'll see you around, Petta! Maybe we'll meet up again later once she feels better."

"Sure thing!" Petta waved at the two. "It was super nice meeting you. Feel free to come by anytime you visit Kalmari!"

"I will, thanks!!" She waved back and followed Meta to the next store.

"Hopefully you'll feel a bit better after eating something cold!" He smiled, leading her in the shop. Once arrived, Meta opened the door for her and quickly shuffled in after.

"Heya, Meta!" Marlo's voice was the first thing they heard in the bustling shop. With a cheery smile, the Squishy hopped over the counter top to greet them. "New friend?" She asked, pointing to the figure next to him.

"Yeah! This is my friend, Kes. She came here to visit from South Nova. We saw Petta not too long ago, but it was getting too hot for her so we were wondering if we can get a few scoops of ice cream so she could cool off."

"Yeah, sure!!!" She nodded, and introduced herself. "I'm Marlo by the way! If you ever need any sweets or ice cream, my momma has the best in Kalmari!" She said, heading to the back to get a few scoops for her.

Meta watched from afar as she and Marlo happily chatted. It wasn't until she handed Kes her cone did he yelp out in surprise. "Marlo, I didn't mean a mountain of ice cream. Just a small scoop!"

Kes beamed when she saw all the scoops balancing on the small sugar cone. "It's fine, Meta! I'll be able to eat it!" She reassured.

"I wanted to make sure she tried all of our popular flavors!!" Marlo happily spoke as she saw the Leo enjoying it.

"I know, but...." He pulled out his coin bag and took a peek at several of the silver star bits in it. There was no way he was going to be able to afford all that ice cream. Maybe 2 scoops would be fine, but 10?

"Don't worry about it, Meta!" Marlo waved it off. "Any friend of your is a friend of mine, and you know our rule! All friends get their first scoop free....or ah, scoops in this case."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yup!!!" She cheered, preparing another cone. "And you want chocolate chip, right?"

"Hm!" He nodded, grabbing the cone and setting a few coins on the counter. "Thanks, Marlo!"

"Of course!" She smiled, walking to the door to open it for them. "Hey, come back later and I'll see if my Momma can make banana splits for all of us!!"

"W-wha- Really?!!" Hearing that got Kes even more excited. She never had this many sweets in one outing before. She wasn't sure when she'll have another sweet feast like this, so she graciously accepted her offer. "Once Meta's done showing me around, we'll be sure to visit again, thank you!!"

Giving one last wave to the Squid, Meta led Kes out of the plaza and on to their next destination.

"Wow, Meta, all your friends are so nice!! I never thought a town from the outside would be so much fun to be in!" She said, taking a rather large chomp of her ice cream.

"I'm glad you like it! How about I take you to Kalmari Forest next. Most of my friends should be somewhere having a snowball fight, and I wanna introduce them to you!!"

"Oh, okay!!" She said, following Meta as they dashed through the forest. His wings perked when he heard the sound of laughter, and the little Puff eagerly motioned her to follow so he could introduce her. Several eyes quickly glanced at the pair when they burst though the bushes. Dragato and Cite peeked their head above the their snow fort, while Falspar and Nonsurat stopped mid throw when they saw them.

"Hey, guys! I wanna introd-h-Hey!!" Meta yelped when a snowball hit his face.

"Sorry, my hand slipped." Falspar laughed, and dodged several that Dragato threw at him soon after. Kes keeled down and tried to wipe all the show off his face. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, thanks." He said, wiping the last bit of ice from his cheek.

'Geeze, what'd you do to Petta? She's all blue. Arthur won't be too happy when he finds out." Falspar joked.

"I n-never s-seen a blue L....Leo before." Cite spoke. "D-d...Did you j-just m-m-move here?

"I'm only visiting." She said, walking over to greet the Squid. "You can call me Kes."

"N-n...nice to meet you. M-m...my name's Cite."

After throwing a few more snowballs at Falspar, Dragato leaned towards Cite and greeted himself as well. "I'm Dragato!"

"And I'm Falspar." The Puff waved although his body was halfway covered in snow.

"I'm Nonsurat." He sheepishly waved.

"Yo, and I'm Ramset!" The Sasuke called from high above and quickly jumped down from the large tree he was perched on. Meta slightly inched back in surprise. He didn't even notice he was supervising them. It was supposed to be a secret, and now Ramset's probably gonna tell Teacher about it!

"I didn't know Wheezy was housing guests. Why didn't he tell me." He spoke, looking at the unusual Leo. "Are you a friend of Bate?"

"I...uh....." Kes stepped back and looked at Meta for help.

"She's my friend. She ah.....I...I mean I bumped into her while I was practicing my flying. She's from the outskirts, so Teacher doesn't really know...." His wings slightly drooped from lying.

"The outskirts, huh? Well, it's a good thing you arrived in time, then!" He clasped his hands in excitement, not giving a second thought what Meta had just said. "I was about to treat my lovely students to a nice bowl of Nova Crunch. Surly you'd like a bite of the tastiest cereal in all of West Nova."

"Yeah!" Falspar said, jumping into Ramset's arms. "You gotta taste it! We'll even give you a box you can take home!!"

"Well, sure, if you don't mind...." She said, not as intimidated as before.

"Anyone else is free to join!" He smiled, heading back to his home. Meta, not wanting to leave his friend alone decided he'll join as well. Cite, Dragato and Nonsurat declined since they weren't in the mood for cereal at 2 in the afternoon. They bid farewell to the group and headed back to Gordon and Bate's home to tell them about the strange Leo they just met.

------

"Welcome back Nonsurat." Gordon smiled when he saw his student walk in.

"I brought Dragato and Cite along, if you don't mind." He opened the door a bit wider to let his friends in.

"Of course not. C'mon in, I've just about finished preparing a nice warm kettle of hot chocolate." He smiled, motioning them to join the rest. Bate, who was currently reading to himself, gave a welcoming nod to the group. Arthur quietly sat by the fire place across from Bate to warm his wings, and was too focused by the pleasant warmth to say hi.

Cite and Dragato joined Arthur to warm up while Nonsurat helped Gordon pass out all the drinks. Once everyone was settled in, Gordon glanced at his student.

"So how was the snowball fight, did you have fun?"

"Lots of fun!" He smiled, taking a sip of his drink. "Oh, and Meta introduced us to one of his new friends he just met!"

"A new friend?" Both elders took interest in his words.

"Yup, she's really nice! Teacher Ramset invited her to eat Nova crunch with everyone else, but I wanna introduce you to her once she's done. She....sorta reminds me of Petta."

Arthur slightly flinched from the mention of Meta's friend, and he scooted further away from the group as they were discussing it.

"A Burning Leo, ay?" Gordon beamed and nudged Bate. "Seems like both your students are quite the charmer when it comes to befriending them."

"Strangely enough, Meta befriended a Leo back in South Nova." He smiled. "Who would've thought he'd make friends with another so quickly. Did she just move here?"

"Didn't Meta say he found her in the outskirts?" Dragato asked Cite. He gave a small nod, and Gordon and Bate exchanged glances.

The outskirts? He didn't remember Meta saying anything about flying over there. Did they mishear? Surly it couldn't be that, it was much too far for Meta to travel.

"I think that's what he said." Nonsurat nodded, looking back up at Gordon. "She's blue and has really sparkly hair, sorta like the snow."

Blue? Snow?!! Bate ended up choking on his tea upon hearing that. Everyone in the room quickly noticed his ragged coughs, and Gordon frantically went by his side to hit him on his back.

"Bate, what's wrong? Are you okay?!!" He started to panic.

"N...name...." The poor elder managed to wheeze out. "W-what..w..was...h...her name...."

"Bate relax." Gordon hushed when he saw him struggling to speak. "We'll talk about his friend later, just calm down."

Bate tried to argue back, but ended up coughing more as a result. Listening to his friend this time, Bate took a few slow breaths and did his best to calm down even though his fear of the Leo he befriended might be true. With his fit now passed after a few minutes, Bate tiredly hunched over and rubbed his temples.

"Please don't tell me the Leo you just met was named Kesuk......" He softly spoke since he was still fatigued.

The room went silent, and all the kids nervously looked at one another. Bate watched them try to avoid eye contact, and it was then he knew.

"Gordon..." He gripped his spike and pushed himself up. Whispering so the others couldn't hear, he instructed to keep everyone inside until he brought the pair back. Gordon gave a nod and followed him to the door before locking it once he flew off. He didn't know why Bate behaved as such, but his reaction alone was enough to slightly worry.

End Chapter 1

Chapter 2 >>

Artist Comment:

Date: N/A

-----------------