Angel, Yabal, and Léopold remained in Cavally. Angel's stomach eventually betrayed his hunger with a loud growl, reminding everyone of the injuries he had sustained.
"I'm hungry..." he breathed, one hand on his sore stomach.
Léopold nodded, the mood suddenly lighter. "I know the perfect place for that. Follow me."
He led them to a small, lively restaurant nestled between two waterfalls. The air was warm and smelled of grilled meat and spices.
"Server!" Léopold called out as he sat. A man approached. "I want three dishes." He turned to his companions. "What would you like, friends?"
At that word "friends" Yabal, who hadn't said a word since the cave, lowered his eyes and clenched his fists under the table. Guilt was eating him up.
"Léopold," Angel said, too tired to choose, "just pick the best dish for us. Whatever you like."
"Okay, got it." Léopold smiled at the server. "Bring us three plates of Roc-Fer an Cinder."
"Noted."
"Roc-Fer an Cinder is one of my favorite dishes," Léopold explained as the server walked away. "It's a popular dish here. They're cuts from a tough mountain animal, the Roc-Fer. The taste is close to beef, but firmer. It's grilled on hot stones and served with a black sauce made from burnt herbs and violet salt."
He winked at Angel. "You'll see, it'll put you right back on your feet."
Angel, whose mouth was watering, felt his spirits lift.
Not far from them, at another table, a pale-skinned man, clearly drunk, stood up swaying and raised his glass.
"Ah, haha! I'm going to conquer END! I am the great Hymrane! Remember that name!"
His embarrassed companions tried to pull him back down, but he was in a state of total euphoria.
"Conquerors," Angel muttered.
"Yeah," Yabal replied darkly. "They must be here for the tournament."
Their food arrived. The meat was smoky and powerful. Angel, despite his pain, took a bite and his eyes lit up. The fatigue and ache seemed to anish.
"Wow..." he said, his mouth full. "It's smoky, it's strong... it's incredible."
"Right?" Léopold smiled. "It's very popular with tourists."
Yabal just nodded, eating in silence.
Sometime later, the weight of the day pressing down on them, they left the restaurant and headed for the quiet plains just outside Cavally. They set up three small tents.
Angel, exhausted from his injury and the meal, collapsed almost immediately onto his cot and fell fast asleep.
Léopold, however, was not tired. He sat by a nearby lake, contemplating the water's surface as it shimmered under Saturn's moons. Bolt, his dragon, had shrunk to a miniature size and was nestled quietly in his lap.
Late into the night, the sound of footsteps made Léopold turn. It was Yabal.
"Léopold?"
"Hm. Yabal. You're not sleeping?"
Yabal walked over, unable to meet his gaze. He sat down beside him, his head bowed.
"I... I'm sorry," he said in a strained voice. "For what happened earlier. In the cave."
Léopold kept his eyes on the water. "Don't worry about it. It was my fault..."
"No!" Yabal insisted.
"The truth is..." Léopold interrupted him, his voice suddenly softer, "...I didn't think we were really friends. I saw this as my problem, something I had to handle alone. And then..."
He paused, his face sad in the moonlight. "When you said we were 'friends'... I felt something. Something I'd never felt before. I didn't think of you guys that way. I didn't know... I didn't know it only took a few hours for people to become friends."
A small smile formed on Yabal's face. "Hey. Me, Angel, and Rhea, we became best friends in a few minutes. The moment I introduce myself to you, we're friends. That's just how it works."
Yabal suddenly stood up. He scooped up a handful of dirt, mixed it with a little lake water to make mud, and threw it. It landed with a SPLAT on Léopold's cheek. Léopold froze, completely stunned.
"So," Yabal said, his smile widening, "think you can hit me?"
Léopold remained motionless for a second, then a slow grin spread across his face. "Okay. You asked for it."
What followed was total chaos. The two boys, forgetting their exhaustion and their anxieties, dove into a full-blown mud war, laughing raucously under the starry sky. They chased each other, slipped, and slung mud until, utterly spent, they both collapsed onto their backs in the damp grass, covered from head to toe.
"I..." Yabal panted, "...I beat you."
"No..." Léopold breathed, "...I did."
They burst out laughing again.
Silence settled, but it was a different kind of silence. Peaceful. Comfortable.
"It's a draw," Léopold said. "We'll have a rematch later."
They lay there, looking at the stars. Then, Léopold's voice turned serious again.
"What's happening in Cavally..." he began, "...it's why I need to know about the people from the moon. The water. The water the people of Cavally were using two years ago... it was poisoned."
Yabal turned his head, all the joy gone from his face. "Poisoned?"
"Don't worry, it's not anymore. But the Saturn government set up a factory near the waterfalls to extract a precious mineral. The chemicals polluted the water. The inhabitants, unaware of the danger, kept using it."
Tears began to well in Léopold's eyes.
"One of the polluted waterfalls was near my home. My mother... she used that water for everything. She... she got sick. A terrible sickness. I saw every doctor in Cavally. They even called in ones from the Saturnine City. No one can cure her."
His voice broke. "They wouldn't even transport her to the City, afraid she would 'contaminate' others. They just... they left her there. In our house. A doctor said..." He swallowed hard. "He said she has six months. Six months before she dies."
"Léopold..."
"I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE HER!" he suddenly shouted, his pain exploding. "She only has me! My father died when I was little... THAT'S WHY! That's why I'm looking for the people from the moon... They say they have technology... that they can cure any disease..."
Léopold was openly weeping now. Yabal was pinned to the ground, stunned by the government's cruelty, by his new friend's pain.
"I want to help my mother," Léopold sobbed, "and the whole village. I want to heal them before their sickness becomes as bad as hers."
"All the inhabitants... do they know?" Yabal asked, his throat tight.
"Yes. Everyone knows the government's factory is the cause."
A heavy silence fell. Yabal, his face hardening with a new resolve, stood up.
"We're going to help you," he said, his voice leaving no room for argument. "And if we have to fight to save your mother and the people of this village, we'll do it."
Léopold, still in tears, felt his small dragon nuzzle tenderly against his cheek.
"Get some rest," Yabal said. "I'll be back. I... I have to do something."
Without another word, Yabal turned and ran toward the nearby forest, his anger and frustration fueling him.
"I have to get stronger," he thought, tears of rage blurring his own vision. "Strong enough to protect everyone."
He reached a tree and, with a cry, punched it. Then again. And again. He struck it for hours, his sorrow twisting into fury at the injustice. He knocked one tree down, then two, then three, his knuckles bloody.
Suddenly, a purple light zipped between the trees.
Yabal stopped, on high alert. The light moved with unnatural speed. It returned, stopping in front of him. It wasn't just a light. It was a fox.
A fox with multiple tails, emanating a mystical purple aura.
"Hello," a voice said in his mind. "My name is Angeles, the Sacred Fox of Saturn. I felt something radiating from you. I have been following you since you arrived on this planet, and I believe now is the time to form a bond with you."
Yabal was speechless. "A bond... with me? Wait... but you're one of the Sacred Beasts Yuga talked about! "
"So, are you prepared to form a bond with me?"
"Of course I want to!"
"Forming a bond with a Sacred Beast is not so simple," Angeles said, its voice growing more serious. "Especially with me. Your ideal must be noble."
"My ideal?" Yabal repeated. "I... I don't really know what you mean by 'my ideal'."
"What you want. Truly. In your deepest heart."
"What I want..." Yabal's face darkened. "I don't know if I really want anything."
A fleeting image flashed in his mind. A cold-eyed man. His father.
"Really! You have nothing to say!"
"But..."
"You want nothing! You exist by my will! You have no will of your own! You will do only what I want! Is that clear?!"
"...Yes, Father."
"...I," Yabal whispered, his gaze empty. "I have no ideal."
"Then let me see inside you," Angeles said.
"See inside me? But..."
Before he could finish, a blinding white light flooded the forest. The world disappeared. Yabal was floating in a white void, the fox, now a being of pure purple aura, floating near him.
Suddenly, he felt like he was falling.
When Yabal opened his eyes, he was no longer in the void. He was in a beautiful plain, bathed in golden light. The grass was high and yellow, the sky a perfect blue.
A burst of laughter.
A kid grabbed his hand and pulled him along. Yabal couldn't see his face, but the laugh was infectious.
"Angel! You can't catch me!" the kid shouted.
"We'll see about that!" another voice yelled from behind Yabal.
Another kid ran past him.
Then a girl. "Boys! To the lake! Last one in!"
The three children dove into the water in a massive splash.
Angeles, back in its fox form, floated beside Yabal.
"Hey, Yabal. Let's fight together... so you can live this again. I have seen your past. And this... this is your ideal. Your ideal world."
Yabal stood motionless, his heart aching. The warm wind on his face. The sound of laughter. The golden sunset. It was paradise.
"So this is what I've been missing?" he murmured, tears in his eyes. "These moments... I just wanted to be near him. To laugh with him, to fight with him, and against him. To run, to jump, to shout... with Angel. He was always the friend I dreamed of having. The one who wouldn't leave me alone."
The fox smiled. "So, now that you have seen... what do we do?"
Yabal closed his eyes, felt the wind of his memory on his face, then opened them, his determination stronger than ever.
"We form the bond."
"A wise decision."
Yabal had just had an encounter that was about to change his life forever.