“Are we really going to bring Vesta along?” Lily asked where she walked beside Juniper. The fun at the pool meant it was now deep into the night and the two followed behind the fme of the Foxparks a few meters ahead of them. Not that Juniper minded the te hour. The little distraction was just what she needed to feel better about all this. Besides the obvious, it was also somewhat sweet to see the Pals take care of Aoi like they had. Yes, she would be fine in their care.

  Juniper’s attention shifted to Lily, and she nodded before bringing a hand up and pointing toward Vesta. “We are; however, only until we get to her sisters. Once they’re on board, she can show them the way home and make introductions.”

  “Ah, I see,” Lily nodded before a small smile crept up on her lips. “Then it’s just you and me, eh?”

  “Just you and me,“ Juniper confirmed and then reached out to grab her hand while they walked. She would’ve reached for Aoi’s too, but the young woman had yet to escape the clutches of the group’s Pals. And by clutches, Juniper meant Aoi was currently being carried back to their little camp by none other than the chief instigator herself, Mist.

  The big Katress held the worn-out young woman close while others crowded around. Vesta and Aurora linked arm and arm, and Flora and Mai were doing much the same, with the addition of Sephie between them. How sweet, Juniper thought before the smile on her lips widened. It was a shame that Pesta wasn’t feeling well enough to join them just yet. Hopefully soon, if the grass Pals could get her on her feet!

  “What?” Lily said from beside her.

  “Oh nothing, I’m just…happy. In a way, it’s almost bittersweet. That this has become so wonderful that I hate leaving it all behind.”

  “Not for good. No matter what, I’ll get you back here.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  “Good,” Juniper said with a nod of her head before she brought their hands up so she could kiss the back of Lily’s. “Now, I am beat.”

  “Not as beat as Aoi,” Lily quipped.

  “Not even close, but I’ll probably sleep just as well.”

  And wouldn’t you know it, Juniper nearly passed out as soon as they got home and crowded into the bed. Once Pesta was safely accounted for, of course. Honestly, it was getting a bit crowded at night and if her pn went as well as Juniper wanted it to, they would soon add two more bodies to the mix. Even if the Pals were somewhat smaller, it was still pushing it.

  The next morning, the little campsite burst into a hive of activity as Juniper tried to soothe her worry by working everyone into a frenzy of preparation. The grass Pals were set to another healing session instead of using their energy to grow food. One day wouldn’t hurt, after all. So, Aurora and Vesta tended to the crops the old-fashioned way, supervised by Aoi who was preparing food for the would-be adventurers. For their part, Juniper and Lily walked the edge of the camp in a final inspection that probably wouldn’t do much beyond soothing the building anxiety.

  “I really do love this pce,” Juniper said before her words trailed off like she wasn’t finished.

  “But…?” Lily drew out a moment ter.

  “But it feels so...open. Even tucked away on the far end of the isnd, and with limited ways to get here, I just wish we were even harder to find.”

  “Well, you do have the hidden part where we all sleep.”

  “True, and it will be good for any danger but still, I wish there was more we could do for them.”

  “They’re going to be fine, Juniper. They’ve got Flora, Mai, and Persephone to sense danger and Mist to fight it off. And Aoi’s a smart girl, she’ll help keep them in line.”

  Smart but shy. However, if push came to shove, who knew what she’d be capable of? Hopefully, they would never have to find out. Juniper almost asked Lily if her camp had used the same methods to try and keep her camp safe, but not only did she not want to upset the woman, she didn’t want to know either. If she had to guess, Lily was probably more prepared than Juniper’s little ragtag group. Then again, she had said she was welcoming, right? Maybe if they knew to hide, they would be better off.

  “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

  “Of course, I am. And once you trust that they will be alright, you can better prepare your mind for the trip ahead. It won’t be easy, you know.”

  “Nothing here ever is,” Juniper quipped with a chuckle.

  “No,” Lily agreed. “But it does get easier.”

  Once the two women finished walking the perimeter, they started heading back in, only to see the three grass Pals emerging from their little hideaway. Wait, four Pals? Did that mean Pesta was up? Sure enough, the spiky yellow hair seemed to indicate as much and Juniper picked up the pace until the two intercepted the group before they made it to the small shack.

  “Pesta,” Juniper said after raising her hand. “You’re up!”

  “I am, Miss Juniper,” she said with a smile before looking around at the three grass Pals fnking her on either side. “Thanks to these three.”

  “It was no problem,” Flora said with a shrug.

  “Just another day,” Sephie added.

  “Still, I’m very grateful to you all for seeing it through. “ Following her thanks, Juniper stepped up and let her fingers brush over Flora’s jaw before gently patting Dia and Sephie’s heads.

  “Of course, but she should still rest.”

  “Ugh, I’ve been resting long enough,” Pesta protested before raising both her hands in front of her chest. A moment ter, a spark of electricity shot from one hand to the other in a small dispy of her power. “I’m practically backed up at the moment.”

  In more ways than one, probably. Juniper left the quip unsaid and her mind soon wandered back to the terminal in their little base.

  “Well, I can think of one way to release all that pent-up... energy.” It sounded like Lily had something particurly scivious in mind but the narrow-eyed stare from Juniper had her raising her hands in pcation.

  “What?” She said defensively. “I meant for the electricity.”

  “Sure you did,” Juniper quipped before rolling her eyes and returning them to Pesta, who shrugged a moment ter.

  “Well, she is right, in a way. I could really use a...discharge.”

  “You better mean your electricity. I’m not having you hurt yourself with vigorous activity.”

  “Fine, just the electricity, then,” Pesta said with a sigh of resignation.

  “Good girl. Now, how about we try that pole inside the base? I can Vesta to light the way.”

  “No need, I can handle it.” With that, the Jolthog turned and started walking toward the entrance once more.

  Whereupon Lily and Juniper started to follow. However, as she passed the grass Pals, she nodded in the direction of the shack. “Can you all go help Aoi, please? She’s prepping some food.”

  “Yes, Miss Juniper!” Came the chorus of replies, followed by giggles as all three Pals ran off to do just that.

  “Well, they seem to be getting along,” Lily noted.

  “Yeah,” Juniper agreed before stepping off with Lily and following a few steps behind Pesta. “I was curious how two groups would mix but I guess I have my answer.”

  “You mean with you and Aoi?”

  “Mhm.”

  “As long as their owners are friendly, there should be no problem.” A shrug followed Lily’s assertion and evidently, she was correct. “In fact, it appears they’re following Aoi’s lead in listening to you.”

  Hmm, that certainly appeared true, didn’t it? Mai and Sephie seemed to listen to Juniper if she commanded something, didn’t they? “Well, I doubt Mist would listen to me if I told her to do something,” Juniper countered.

  “No, probably not if you tried to command her,” Lily agreed. “However, she probably would do something if you asked. Nicely, of course.” Well, Lily had a point, didn’t she? Mist probably would. However, she simply nodded in agreement as the two women reached the door.

  Pesta came to a stop when she did and then held a hand up as a soft glow began to emanate from her palm. The light bathed the living area and allowed them all to move effortlessly through the darkened area. That another Pal that could do that was certainly welcome, even better if she could get these lights working again.

  When they came to the machinery room, the Jolthog moved to the standing post before looking over at the two women. “You might want to back up, I’ve only ever seen this done from far away.”

  So, the thugs really wanted to use her for nothing more than power generation? Assholes. “And you’re sure you’re ready? There is no rush, Pesta.”

  “I won’t push myself, I promise. Besides, it will help in its own way.”

  “If you say so.” Juniper took a deep breath and stepped back with Lily to allow the Pal to work.

  Pesta returned her focus to the coils and held out her hands. At first, nothing happened as the concentration on her face tightened. Then a few sparks shot out from her hands to the pole, lighting up the room brighter than before. To Juniper’s surprise, a much louder crack sounded as a much bigger bolt leaped out from her hand and danced across the metal pole. Another shot out to the side and the stream of lightning briefly jumped from the coils to the wall, leaving a burn mark and causing Juniper to jump where she stood.

  “Sorry!” Pesta called out, but didn’t break her concentration on the task at hand. However, the amount of power leaving her hands subsided somewhat, and before long there was a steady supply flowing.

  “How do you-“

  Juniper didn’t even have time to finish her question before the built-in lights of the small facility flickered on and lit up the whole room. All the rooms.

  “Whoa.” Juniper’s surprise was not only evident in the single word but also in how her eyes expanded to the size of dessert ptes.

  Lily seemed less surprised though and wore a satisfied grin that indicated she may have even expected as much. Which made sense, she’d been on this isnd far longer than Juniper had. However, the hum of the machinery coming to life finally managed to elicit some wonder in her expression. A little too much wonder all around considering even Pesta turned to look at the machinery, letting her current drop as she did so. Not even two breaths after she did, everything powered down and they were plunged back into darkness.

  “Whoops!” The Jolthog scrambled to focus once more and a few seconds ter, she had the power back on.

  “Is that…does she have to keep it going constantly?” Juniper asked. That would be a lot to ask of one Pal, even in a small space like this.

  “She shouldn’t,” Lily said with a shake of her head. “Most facilities like this have batteries somewhere. I bet if Pesta keeps juicing that generator, she’ll start to charge them. Of course, we should try and find them at some point. Not that I know what I’m looking at or if they’re in good repair.”

  Well, that was good. Tempesta wouldn’t have to sit there the whole day and focus on that one task once she had charged the batteries. Hard to know when that was until they found where they were hidden away but one problem at a time. “I see,” Juniper mused before turning to the Pal still working diligently to push power to the coils. “Do you think you can manage that, Pesta?”

  “Yes, Ma’am!”

  “Good girl.”

  The subsequent rebirth of the console on the far wall drew the attention of the two humans once more. Lily was the first to take a few steps toward it but Juniper soon followed as her curiosity got the better of her.

  “What is it?” She asked before reaching up and wiping dust from the monitor screen.

  It currently looked to be going through some kind of start-up sequence, but the keyboard and trackball were now backlit. A few extra panels were set to either side, including one that looked like it was designed to input radio frequencies.

  That one seemed to catch Lily’s attention too and her hand came up to turn a few of the dials and press the numbers. Nothing happened though, probably because the main terminal was the one that controlled everything. Unfortunately, when the console was done booting, a login screen popped up.

  “Shit,” Lily sighed. “I guess it was too much to hope that we’d get right into whatever the fuck this is.”

  “I guess so,” Juniper agreed.

  However, all hope wasn’t lost as more humming followed the completion of the booting sequence, and one of the ports on the console opened. A rack then extended and in it rested something that looked striking simir to a data pad of some sort.

  “What’s that?” Juniper said as she leaned forward for a better inspection.

  “I don’t believe it,” Lily huffed before stepping forward and picking up the little electronic device. That caused the battery icon on the main screen to disappear and the device to go dark, but she didn’t move to repce it right away. “These are tablets that were used before all the stranded people started showing up,” she expined before handing it over to Juniper.

  It was incredibly light but felt sturdy and looked to be highly advanced. There was a thick border around the edge of the screen and only one side was chunky enough to contain the parts necessary for the actual meat of it. The grip was nice and the bance was obviously designed for one-handed use. “This is more sophisticated than anything I’ve ever seen before,” Juniper mused as she continued to turn it this way and that.

  Lily nodded in agreement and then pointed back at the device. “I’ve only ever seen one used once and it was quite impressive. I’m not sure all the things they can do but the man who used it brought up a map of the whole isnd chain. It could even pinpoint his location, which he then used to show me how to get where I needed to go.”

  “Wow, something like that would be invaluable.”

  “A game changer, for sure. Looks like it needs to be charged though.” Lily’s hand pointed back to the rge console, to the port that had opened and revealed the device.

  Juniper nodded in agreement and then stepped forward so she could y the tablet back in the cradle. “Maybe if we give it a few hours we can take a map with us?”

  “That would be great but if not, that’s alright. I know the route we’re going to take like the back of my hand.”

  “Of course, of course,” Juniper hummed. “I would never insult the back of your hand.”

  “Good, especially if you ever want the rest of it to bring you any kind of pleasure again!”

  “Mm, don’t lie to yourself, dear,” Juniper said before taking that hand and pnting another kiss on the back of it. “You can’t keep your hands off me..."