safe and together

i was more nervous than i thought for our next match, but i thinks that helped us hunker down and power through. Tobias seemed just as wowwied bout bricky as me, so we stayed as close to eachuver as possible. eventually we did gets boxed in by the GIANT minotaws, but by that time we were finally bringing one down (thank gods). even tho she wasnt wif us in this fight, i don think we coulda done it wifout Luna. i dunno why but she seems to look out for my best interest and before the match she gabe me a goop that makes my Saturn poisonous! big guys arent so strong when they feel sick heheh. it was a whole big teamwoek fersure. even i gots knocked out after poor Tobicat was smashed, and then i had to be told the story of how Bricky won the match for us in the end! so proud of him, and kitty for helping keep him safe til the end. i try not to feel bad about getting got, but i thinks i hafta learn to be smort and not just strong. and my eyes can't keep bein too big for my tummy. lesson 1: big guys shoulders look yummy but its better to go for their feets. the meat's still ok too.
 
after the fights, all of us are recovering. we learn that the next match will be against eachuver, and no one seems to know how to feel about it. and there's no real way to scheme out of it either. so we resolve to walk back to the cart. i was holding Bwicky's hand, but the crowd was so thick i still gots seperated. i cant even barely see up at the sky through all these peoples! i did end up finding someone familiar, but it wasn't who i expected. ShadowBricky was there! (so casual). he didn't see me, but i approached him. i tugged on where it looked like Bricky's coat to get his attention. i can't even know how to describe how a shadow feels, and he didn't have no smell. he seemed irritated at the sight of me and wasn't being helpful, so i told him "fine! ill go find my better Bricky all by myself!" i sniff the air and catch Bwicky's rancid smell (its barely mixed with smell-good herbs so i know it can't be any other rando cadaver) and head in that direction. yet ShadowBricky still follows me?? hmph whatever. soon i am met by a floating eye -- Bwicky was looking for me too?! awh yayyy~
 
i am able to follow his fancy eye back to the group, making sure to grab ShadowBricky's hand so he's not left behind in the crowd (shadow bodies are ice cold? hm). once we are all together, we try to mediate this problem with Bricky and his shadow. to our surprise, both Cap'n' V and Tobias can talk magic to him with their hands. they translate for him and he says he's not part of Bricky at all, and how he's mad at Bricky for taking everything he had and trapping him.. this don't sound like the Bricky i know. (but i did notice in our fight that Bricky's attack seems to bring something back to him from his targets, is it a similar ability?)
even though Shadow despise Bricky, he still needs him to not die. Shadow says they needs to find a doctor with a big smile (me too?!) to fix them. so they be different people but still connected somehow.. after we explain to Shadow how Bricky dies so easy without them being together, they make temporary truce and join again. i pipe up and tell the group it might be the same smiley man who drugged me to sleep for the boat ride and i need to find him too. i didn't know he was a doctor, and i didn't expect that Bricky could know him because i thought Mr. V was the one. Luna revealed she was suspicious and really pressed Bricky to get him to say more about the one who smiles. Luna backed off when Bricky stressed that he "can't" hurt me, like even if he wanted to -- his eye only makes green when looking at me.
 
at this point i thinks the conversation will be over and we are ok again, but Bricky still looks with pain in his eyes. he wants to make things more right, and confessed that he was the one who put me in the box.. no no no that doesn't sound like my Brickyfriend at all..
i don't want to be mad at him, my first ever friend. i can't be, cuz its apparent he is not always in control of himself. he did talk before about how he was made at a place where people are mean and order others around.. maybe the smiling man is doing this to Bricky, just like he did bad things to Shadow and me. i want to help, and i think we can help eachuver, but things are not the same anymores. so after some of the group winds down with card games and we all eat dimner, i asked Luna to sleep closer to us tonight.
 
 
in the mornin, i wake to big group combersations. what a way to starts the day -- talking about faeries taking drugs made from faerie wings (Drexla seemed unphased), Tobias's guilt and family ruin, and Luna's horrific visions. after unloading all of that, we all decide we need to gather materials since today is our only free time before our next match. V and Drexla used this time to visit the Kenku leader again cuz i guess her and V are close. Tobias was so nice and gave me the pelt from his hunt, and i gave him the ingredients i found as thanks (i hope i get to eat what he makes from them too hehe). when he starts making breakfast, his golden friend comes around to eat with us. he is gloating about selling the slave hume, and all i can do is glare flatly. Bricky dislikes this even more than me, and his eyes flash red at Goldclaw. i notice the cut on his hand matches what Drexla said about her escape from bounty hunters, and Luna musta noticed too as she confronted him about it with the gold fur she found on Drexla. tho in the end we couldn't do much and he left in a huff. just another reason to avoid that shady guy..
 
not long after this, Drexla zooms back to camp alone and looking scuffed up. her and V were attacked by humes and V needs our help! of course we all run as Drexla leads the way. turns out Drexla is so strong and killed all three humes herself and V just needed to be dug out from under a fallen rooftop, where i also found a stupid metal thing that hurt when i was digging. after V was uncovered, i saw Brickyfriend making use of one of the corpses, since his leg is still hurt. i was inspired by such a smort idea, and i took the thicckest hume of the bunch and skinned for hide. i even gots some meat from it~ now ill have 4 hides to process! so productive hehe. once we are all regrouped, we set back for camp. i am having a whole conversation to Bricky, so proud of the materials we gots (even Drexla has new metal pieces now wooo) but then i notice its only me talking. i look back only to see no Bricky, just the stuff he was carrying left on the ground.. why whyy it makes no sense to leave now. and without a word.. that's not like Bricky at all!
 
like he always says: "sicker un suckamen".. but now we are not together. and i don't feel safe..