The Jellybane Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Hunt

During their lunch, Alice is asked a fair bit about jellies and is only too happy to oblige. She tells the lizard and mouse pair about how the ravenous creatures absorb things they want to eat into themselves, growing steadily larger as they do. Eventually, when jellies grow big enough, they split, creating two identical, if smaller, jellies, each with its own core stone. Alice knew because she had seen them do this. Like everything the jellies did, it was a very slow process but helped explain the monsters' continued presence in the area despite the mounting numbers vanquished by the fox.

Twinkaleni especially asks many questions about the jellies, giving Alice the impression that the girl is rather clever despite her age. The Murrin is interested in various methods Alice has used to defeat the monsters and wonders greatly of their weaknesses to various things. For the most part, Alice had only ever used her sword on them and can't really be sure what effects fire, earth, and even water might have. However, she does know that jellies found in the fields, particularly on hot, dry days, tended to shrink. Their trails would become steadily thinner as the hunter tracked them, sometimes so much so that they seemed to disappear. Every now and then, Alice would follow such a trail only to find a tiny broken core stone left behind.

The little mouse suggests this may be due to them evaporating in the heat of the sun, similarly to puddles left after a rain. She also presents the possibility that their colors may have something to do with what they consume. After revealing that the majority of the jellies involved with the loss of Danahlia and her supplies to be brown, Twinkaleni speculates this may be so due to their dissolving a great deal of tree bark or fallen leaves. She also suggests the greens, common in Alice's fields, may get their hues from all the grass they devour.

Near the conclusion of their meal, the Murrin asks a particularly peculiar question.

Alice raises a brow to it, “Order of who? What's that?”

“The Order of Thermathrogi,” Twinkaleni repeats, “Does it sound at all familiar? Has anyone ever mentioned it in your village?”

Alice thinks, feeling anything with 'Order' in it may have something to do with the army, but not recognizing the word 'Thermathrogi' at all.

“Better if you didn't,” Twinkaleni concludes.

“What is it?” Alice asks.

“Nothing of salience,” the little mouse assures, “Shall we resume the search?”

Alice looks to Danahlia with a questioning tilt of her head. The Liguna only shrugs and the girls get back to their hunt.

They come across two small green jellies moving in near opposite directions, possibly even having split only a short while ago. Alice chases after one while letting the lizard and mouse pair handle the other. With a few calculated swings, the Tokala deftly dispatches her target with practiced ease, collecting its core before heading back to check on her companions' progress.

She finds Danahlia stooped over, tail held tensely crooked behind her as she places, what looks to be, considerable focus on trying to push her jelly's core out with the end of her spear. Twinkaleni stands a few feet away, perhaps offering instruction? Alice isn't sure. The mouse has a small pink hand grabbing at the core stone, though she's well out of reach.

As Alice gets closer, she hears Danahlia grumble, “I can't, it keeps rollin' around. Pull harder.”

“It's resisting,” informs the Murrin, sounding strained, “Get another stick.”

Alice watches the core stone evade Danahlia's spear as the liguna attempts to nudge it closer to the jelly's outer edge. Yet, instead of floating toward the center, like cores generally do when their surrounding goo is disturbed, it seems to wobble with uncertainty, remaining off to the side.

Scanning the ground, Danahlia turns spotting Alice and waves, “Hey, come quick!”

Alice hurriedly jogs over to the pair. The moment Twinkaleni notices her approach, the mouse ceases her strange gesture, the jelly's core then floating to the safety of its center.

Finding the core's movements unusual, the Tokala looks to the Murin while nodding to the jelly, “How'd you get it to do that?”

Twinkaleni only offers a questioning, “Hm?” in return.

Danahlia turns back to the jelly, gesturing with a finger while ordering, “Twinkie, pull it again. Alice can use her sword to slice it off.”

“Danny!” the mouse scolds in annoyance.

The Liguna looks to the Murin, hands open in a gesture of puzzlment, “What?”.

“You were doin' that? Makin' the core float off to the side?” Alice asks the Murrin, redrawing her companion's attention, “How?”

“I don't kno-”

Twinkaleni starts but Danahlia interrupts, “Yeah, Ears here is a mage.”

“DANNY!” the Murrin shouts harshly, tiny fists pressing into hips.

“What?!” Danahlia shrugs widely, then waves a hand to Alice, “She doesn't know anythin' about your Order.”

“Fool,” Twinkaleni hurls, clearly agitated at the lizard girl's lack of consideration and common sense, “Do you honestly not have even the slightest hint of guile?”

The lizard's brow rises, “Hint of what?”

“A mage?” Alice asks, a curious tilt to her head as she tries again for answers, “What's that?”

“Nothing of relevance,” the little mouse is quick to say, with a dismissive wave of a hand, “Ignore her. Likely ingesting the insects in these parts is having some delirious affect.”

Danahlia grins, hooking a thumb to the tiny girl, “Means she can use magic.”

Alice looks to the Murrin in disbelief, a playfully suspicious squint in her eyes, “Magic? Nuh-uh.”

“Precisely right. A foolish thought from a foolish mind,” Twinkaleni nods, arms crossing over chest, “Best left to children's tales.”

“But,” Danahlia presses, “it could help us get these core things faster.”

“Perhaps,” Twinkaleni nods her concession, “had we so gifted a practitioner of such an art, but alas,” the little mouse shoots the Liguna a sharp look, affirming “none are among us.”

Danahlia defeatedly swipes a hand at the Murin, “Psh, fine, be that way,” the Liguna then scoffs “Leave it to me to carry you around, as usual.” Twinkaleni gives a derisive huff, looking away, and the lizard girl waves to Alice, “Come on, Alice, looks like gettin' these cores 'll be up to us.”

“So, can she use magic?” Alice asks, wanting to believe in the possibility but having a hard time of it.

“'Pparently not,” Danahlia shrugs, refocusing of the jelly slowly oozing away, “Know any other ways to take these buggers out?”

Alice doesn't. Her sword had always worked, so she never really felt the need to try anything else. She relays this to the Liguna while defeating the jelly, adding its core to her haul. The three then continue on, letting the previous tension ebb as they discuss alternative strategies for collecting cores. Twinkaleni takes an especially enthusiastic interest in this, bouncing a great number of ideas off Alice. When they do find a jelly, the Murrin has them take the time to test some of the seemingly more plausible theories.

First, the girls all gather sticks in an effort to simply push the core out, only to find this an impossible task. Smaller sticks bend and snap from the pressure of being pushed through the jellies' viscous inners, while larger sticks prove too unwieldy and easily evaded by the core. They try rocks next, Twinkaleni suggesting that since the cores seem to avoid foreign objects, placing enough rocks in a jelly's center might force a core close enough to its outer edge to be grabbed. Though, while rocks are not terribly difficult to find, the experiment reveals jellies are very selective of what they will allow to pass through them. Small rocks are rejected completely, most simply rolling off the blobs. Any rocks large enough to force their way through are avoided by the cores, but tend to be too few in number to fill the constantly moving monsters. The creatures simply leaving them behind in slimy trails.

While discussing other possibilities, Alice and Twinkaleni see Danahlia waddling toward their jelly, a massive stone strainingly gripped in her claws.

Despite considerable struggle, the Liguna seems determined to release it on the monster, disregarding Alice's warning of, “Uh, Danny, I don't think that's a good idea.”

And even Twinkaleni's partial informing of, “Indeed, you'd just end up sending-”

But the lizard girl only calls back, waving herself awkwardly in an effort to build momentum, “If this don't get it, no rock, WILL!” Then dropping, more than anything, her payload onto the jelly.

The creature explodes, corrosive goo flying all over, much of it landing on Danahlia. Alice, partially shielded by the lizard girl, is forced to immediately wet an old rag blouse so she can begin cleaning herself and the others off, while Twinkaleni squeaks derision at the Liguna.

“Hey, I got it didn't I?” Danahlia says in defense. Alice, helping clean the goo from her legs, finally has the chance to discover that the lizard girl's skin is very smooth, firm with muscle but still pleasantly malleable.

“You say that as if you've accomplished something,” Twinkaleni contests, checking over her robe, “Have you already forgotten that our goal is to collect cores?” the Murrin waves a hand at the stone and the splatter under it, “Just how do you intend to collect anything from jellies you dispatch in such a manner?”

“Relax, Twinkie, its around here somewhere,” Danahlia assures, tail and arms waving to maintain balance as Alice wipes off a few goo stained toe talons.

Alice's efforts are rewarded with a wide grin from the Liguna. The girls then search for the core, quickly finding it crushed into a glittering powder under the stone.

Twinkaleni's eyes narrow at the lizard, who negligently waves a hand over her shoulder, “Details. So your idea to use rocks could use some refining,” Danahlia raises her chin to the mess she made, “Don't worry about it.”

“Muh, my idea?!” Twinkaleni squeaks indignantly, and then goes on a tirade, stressing the differences in her plans and the Liguna's actions, which goes largely ignored by the lizard.

Alice doesn't interfere, finding the exchange amusing, but does bring up her greatly depleted water supply when the bickering subsides. Fortunately, the mouse and lizard pair had previously passed a pond before meeting the Tokala, one Danahlia is confident she can find again. The Liguna does manage, after several hours, to lead the girls to a pond, though Twinkaleni reveals some doubt about it being the same one from earlier. Regardless, it turns out to be a fine location. The pond is large with cool clean water, possibly fed by a spring. There are also a number of large trees around accompanied by a splatter of jellies. This is exactly the sort of spot Alice was hoping to find, and she is made all the more grateful for the discovery due to the lateness of the hour.

Under the dimming orange sky, the girls search among the largest of the trees for a good sleeper. A tree needed a number of merits to qualify as a sleeper. It had to be sturdy enough to hold their weight, scalable enough to make getting up and down not too arduous a chore, and safe enough to let the girls sleep in peace. It becomes harder to see the longer they search, but settle on one they believe will do. After some testing, the trio gathers at its base for another shared meal of Alice's bread. Even eating reservedly, it's clear the Tokala's meager supplies won't last long. Knowing this, the girls make a commitment to get as many cores as they can tomorrow so they'll have plenty to trade in Toki.

Before it can become too dark, the trio prepare to ascend into their bed for the night. Twinkaleni, finding her arms too short to get much of a grip on their tree's wide, smooth trunk, is allowed to climb onto Danahlia's back. The Liguna then, with clawed hands and feet, is able to carry them both up to some of the thick, lower branches. Following, Alice notices that Twinkaleni lacks a tail. Murrin typically having rather long ones, she finds this unusual and inquires about its absence.

The mouse girl hesitates, “Oh, that... isn't a particularly entertaining story. Boring even. You'd have no interest, I assure you.”

As they reach a decent branch, Danahlia comments, “I don't know, Twinkie, I'd say it's one o' your better ones.”

The little mouse quickly scampers over the Liguna to a Y in their branch, “Another time perhaps.” She then gives what looks to be a forced yawn before settling down. “The day has quite thoroughly exhausted me.”

“Yeah, must've been real tirin' watchin' me and Alice do all the work,” Danahlia sarcastically agrees, lying along the same branch upon her belly, toe talons digging into the trunk.

Twinkaleni gives a little 'hmph' as Alice climbs to a slightly higher branch to the pair's right. She places her things among offshoots, keeping all in easy reach, before making a safety line from the bit of rope that was generally used for drying her clothes. While trying to get comfortable, no easy task on an unyielding bit of wood, something touches her dangling tail. She jerks it away, only to find it's Danahlia's long furless one reaching over from the other branch. The Tokala relaxes then, letting the Liguna's lengthy appendage resume its exploration.

“I like your tail,” the lizard comments, “It's all,” she searches for a word, “poofy.”

Alice smiles, surprised to find the contact a comforting thing.

Danahlia asks, “So, your dad gave you your sword? He a knight or somethin'?”

“Mmm, I don't think so,” the fox returns, “My mom said he was a really good swordsman. One of the best.” Although she had come to think the claim an exaggeration, meant to keep up the young Tokala's hopes. She gives a slight shake of her head, “But I don't think a knight. We only lived in a small house, not a castle or nothin'.”

“Hm,” Danahlia hesitates before asking, “He, fightin' in the war?”

“He...” Alice frowns pressing a cheek into her arms, “...Yeah. Yours?”

“Nah, he never really fought in it,” the lizard girl then says more glumly, “Never had a chance to really.”

Sympathetically curious, Alice softly wonders, “What happened?”

Danahlia purses her lips in consideration before saying disinterestedly, “Meh, we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time when it started.”

Getting the feeling the Liguna would rather leave this topic behind, Alice then asks, “So, where you guys goin' next after you get some supplies?”

“Mmm, no real plans for a next,” Danahlia admits, “We just wanted to get out into the east, far as we can from the war.”

“So you might stay?”

Picking up on a hint of hope, Danahlia amusedly replies, “Well, we'll have tah see. See if we can get enough o' these core things. See if that village o' yours has some good eats. If we can and it do, who knows, maybe we'll stick around for a lil' while.”

Cheered by the thought, Alice settles down and eventually falls asleep.

Hours later, her eyes snap open when Twinkaleni squeaks in terror. The fox nearly rolls off of her branch, just catching herself when she hears the Murrin cry, “Feasta!”

Vision still blurred from sleep, Alice feels a sudden chill and then spots a flash of orange fire nearby, igniting the still gray morning.

Terrified, she holds tight, hearing Danahlia shout, “Ah! Twinkie! What the tick?!”

Her companions slowly come into focus, both still on their own branch and appearing unharmed.

Staring intently at the ground, the Murrin replies, “There, there was a creature of some sort.”

Danahlia joins the mouse girl's search, tail unwrapping from around their own branch, “What?”

“An insect, I think,” Twinkaleni gives a quick, disgusted shiver.

Alice looks down as well, though insects were a common thing in the forest. What she wants to know is, “Where'd that fire come from?”

Danahlia makes a disinterested noise, “Pff, Twinkie just freaked over a bug.”

“It was crawling on me!” the little mouse erupts, and then begins a jittery check over herself as if to make sure no others are present.

Confused by Danahlia's apparent lack of concern over what had just happened, Alice inquires of the Murrin, “How'd you make fire like that?” The Tokala had made many fires herself and such a thing tended to require a great deal of preparation, time, and effort. To be able to conjure up such a significant flame as she is certain she saw, seemingly out of nowhere, was a feat beyond her reason, no matter how brief it was.

Twinkaleni pauses at the question, saying rapidly, “Uh, what fire? There was no fire. You must be mistaken. Still partially asleep perhaps. Seeing the end of some dream.”

“I saw it,” the fox insists, “Right after you shouted somethin'.”

“Dew, reflecting the sun, more likely,” the mouse returns, checking over herself once more but with less urgency, “There is a great deal this morning.”

Alice looks to Danahlia, “You saw it, right?”

“Uh,” the Liguna looks between the mouse and fox, both focused on her, “Uhhhhh, I gotta go water the plants.”

The lizard girl immediately swings down from her branch, landing deftly, and running off out of sight. Alice looks to the Murrin, who purposely avoids eye contact while straightening out her robe and fur.

Danahlia had mentioned the tiny mouse could use magic. Alice had never known, or even known anyone who had known, someone who could. Her only references to such phenomena were from stories she'd heard, mostly from her father. Yet, she was fairly sure the jelly the pair had tried to fight alone, just yesterday, had a core stone that was moving abnormally along with the mouse girl's strange gesture. Then there was the flash of fire only moments ago that, if she remembered right, seemed to have arisen from the Murrin's hand. That was where spells typically came from when wizards and such were casting in the stories. This was all too coincidental in Alice's opinion.

She interrupts whatever the mouse was about to say by asking, “Are you a wizard?”

Twinkaleni looks to her and gives a little shake of her head, “No, no, I don't consider myself particularly wise.”

Alice works to untie her safety line, “But you can use magic?”

The mouse hesitates, looking rapidly around, “I, well I...”

“I saw yesterday, that first jelly you guys went after,” the fox puts an upward inflection on the last though it isn't a question, “The core was movin' weird. And it looked like you were doin' it.”

“That, could have just as easily...”

But before the tiny girl can find purchase, Alice accuses, “And then the fire this mornin'. I know what dew looks like. That was fire, and it came outta your hand.”

Twinkaleni searches for an escape, but the drop down for someone so small must appear too daunting, “Wha-, I honestly don't-”

“And Danny said you could use magic, too,” Alice adds, collecting her things.

“Th-that fool doesn't-”

“Might as well come clean, Twinkie,” chortles Danahlia's voice from below, “She's not dumb.”

Twinkaleni zeroes in on the Liguna, pointing an accusing little finger, “This is entirely your fault! If you hadn't blundered into her and then brought her along,” the little mouse exclaims as if it were the most idiotic thing anyone could have ever done, “we wouldn't be in this mess!”

“So you can use magic?” Alice asks, ears angling as all other things suddenly become irrelevant next to the answer.

The tiny Murrin glowers at the Liguna, who tosses up, “What's the big deal? They don't even have your Order out here. Plus, it could help us get those cores. Which we kinda need if we wanna, ya know, keep being alive.”

“As usual, you act without properly assessing risk,” Twinkaleni fumes back, “Your recklessness may end up costing us dearly.”

Danahlia waves a dismissive hand at the Murrin, “Psh, it's gotten us all the way here didn't it?”

Alice remains focused on the mouse girl, feeling something big might be coming.

Twinkaleni turns to her, taking in a deep, calming breath before letting it out, “To answer your question, yes, it is accurate to say I can occasionally manipulate the forces of nature to some limited degree. Nothing overly impressive really. I am far from the only one with such an ability.”

Alice's eyes widen, tail beginning to wag involuntarily, “Does that mean you can use magic?”

Looking back to the Liguna, Twinkaleni hesitantly offers, “Some, may, call it that.”

“She can do all kinds o' stuff,” grins Danahlia, “It's kinda nuts how much Mini-Mage came packed with.”

“So you did make that fire,” says Alice feeling a mix of amazement and now, strangely, skepticism, “And it was you makin' the core move like it was, too?”

Twinkaleni sighs heavily, “...Possibly.”

Eager to know more, Alice begins to climb down to the Murrin's branch, “How? Can you do it again? Can you show me how to do magic? Why would you hide that?”

Twinkaleni sighs again, looking down, “Perhaps we should discuss things in a less precarious location.”

After the furred pair make their way to the ground, the little mouse needing a bit of help, Alice asks her questions again.

Seeing no way or reason to stall and avoid it any longer, Twinkaleni admits, “I am a mage. This means I was born with an innate quality that, through extensive study and training, allows me to manipulate energies in ways most cannot. This manipulation is commonly referred to as, 'magic.'”

Giving her undivided attention, Alice asks, “And that means you can make fire fly out from your hands? How did you do that? Can you show me how to?”

Twinkaleni shifts uncomfortably, “Oh, uh, well, not entirely. First of all, one must be born with this particular ability, and if you haven't discovered it within yourself yet, it is very unlikely that you will. Second, I cannot create fire exactly-”

“But I saw it,” Alice protests.

Twinkaleni raises her tiny pink hands, “Yes, well, what you, so unfortunately, witnessed was the result of me gathering all the available heat in the immediate area, thus intensifying it significantly, and then allowing it to burn a portion of my mana.”

“You can do that?” asks Alice, not entirely understanding but still very much impressed at the result.

“Well, I did feel rather threatened at the time...” the Murrin admits.

“By a bug,” Danahlia chortles.

Twinkaleni narrows amber eyes at the lizard girl, “A rather large bug, I assure you.”

Danahlia laughs some more, “You gave your whole game away because you got scared of a bug and you're over here blamin' me.”

Alice excitedly wonders, “Can you do it again?”

“I, suppose I could,” Twinkaleni then shakes her head, “but there's hardly a need for it now. Performing such feats costs precious energy and I believe we should focus ours on the gathering of more core stones.”

Eager to see another display of the Murrin's mysterious powers, Alice agrees.

The girls refresh themselves with some water and begin anew their hunt for jellies. Fortunately, quite a few have congregated around the pond, mostly greens and browns, but also an olive colored one, it's hue similar to some of the moss growing about. Not wanting this rare jelly to slip away, the party approaches it first.

As they do, Twinkaleni mentions a tactic she and the Liguna had developed yesterday but struggled to employ, one involving her magic. Alice, listening intently, hears something about an invisible force called 'gravity' which is supposedly holding them and everything else to the ground. The little mouse then claims to be able to use her magic to alter this downward pulling force by changing its direction. And further, that she can focus this pull on various objects.

This doesn't mean a tremendous amount to Alice, so Danahlia reiterates as Twinkaleni positions herself near the olive jelly, “She's gonna pull the core thing off to the side so you can chop it off. Lot less jelly to go through.”

'Chop it off' sounds simple enough and Alice draws her sword, watching the Murrin with great anticipation. Twinkaleni takes a moment to observe her foe, positioning herself off to its side so as not to impede its slow oozing along the ground toward a moss ladened stump. A small pink hand then extends toward the monster, as if holding an invisible ball, the Murrin mumbling something that sounds like, “Telefuss.” She then begins to pull the hand back, though with some effort. And the jelly's core moves with it.

Cores tend to move fairly freely within their gelatinous confines, only really keeping to the center when the jelly is disturbed. Yet now, there is a clear correlation between the core and the Murrin's movements. As the mouse pulls back, the core follows, being pulled in the tiny girl's direction despite no physical contact being made. Mouth steadily dropping open, Alice watches in awe, approaching. The mouse has the core inches from the jelly's outer edge but the monster is uninterested in relinquishing the treasure.

With obvious strain in her voice, Twinkaleni gasps, “Now, would be, the opportune, moment.”

Seeing the opening, Alice rushes forth, giving a heavy, overhead chop with both hands. The keen edge of her sword parts thick goo, separating the portion with the core from the rest of the jelly.

The fox, needing somewhere to send the cored bit, commands to the Murrin, “Get behind me.”

The little mouse starts, dropping whatever magic holds the core and hurrying around the fox, gaining distance. Alice notices the small olive marble, now freed from the spell, try to maneuver over the blade bisecting its body to rejoin the main mass. Before it can, Alice flings her blade out to her right, sending the core, and what little jelly remains to it, flying out a few feet to plop wetly in some grass. The cored portion then reforms from the impact into a tiny hemisphere while the majority pools in defeat.

Generally when facing a jelly, Alice would have to chop off and fling small chunks away, steadily and exhaustingly reducing its size until small enough to safely pluck out the core. But with the Murrin's magic, she was able to separate the core from the majority of its goo with a single swing.

Excited by this, Alice asks, “How were you doin' that?”

“Oh, well, in short, I localized the downward gravitational force imposed on the core, as well as from a few other sources, and altered it into a pulling force directed toward me,” The little mouse then ponders, with a tiny hand on fuzzy chin, “Though I wonder if a pushing force wouldn't be more efficient.”

“Nice!” exclaims Danahlia, having used her spear to prod out the core from what's left of the olive jelly. She holds the acorn sized prize up to the others, “We should be able to get a bunch like this!”

“And you gotta be born with magic? You can't teach people how to do it?” Alice wonders, watching Danahlia rush off toward the pond to clean off the new core.

“That is accurate, yes,” Twinkaleni nods.

“Why were you hidin' it?” the fox asks, unable to imagine why anyone would keep such a secret.

Twinkaleni takes in a breath as if pondering where to begin, “Well,” she then looks sharply at the Tokala, “and you're quite sure you've never heard of the Order of Thermathrogi? Not a single reference?”

Alice shakes her head, “I don't think so. What's that?”

The little mouse makes an uncomfortable noise, “I suppose some basic understanding couldn't hurt then. You see, magic is a gift given to few in this world and, as you may come to recognize, it can be a tremendously powerful gift indeed. Naturally, those without want it, and if they could not possess the power of magic themselves, they would have to settle for possessing those that do. The Order of Thermathrogi is the most prominent such organization in Arsalia operating under this sort of doctrine. It seeks to control all magic wielders, and thus, all magic, so that it may be used to their own ends. I much prefer my freedom and desire to avoid such a fate, and so I choose to keep from overt uses of my magic when in sight of those who may alert the Thermathrogi.”

Interest peaked, Alice asks, “You're hidin' from 'em? The thermath-oh-geye?”

“In a sense, yes,” the mouse nods.

“More like runnin' from 'em. Mini-mage was part of that Order a ways back, but managed to get away,” Danahlia reveals, joining the two.

“Are they still after you?” Alice wonders, feeling a bit alarmed.

Twinkaleni sighs, “That I cannot say. It has been some months since then and I've not percieved any hint of pursuit, though Danny and I have been in near constant motion.”

“I think we're well far enough from 'em,” Danahlia assures the Murrin, then looks to Alice, “'Specially if you've never even heard of 'em. Must mean they don't got anyone out this far.”

“A reassuring thought but hardly a guarantee. While The Order holds greater influence in larger cities, this does not preclude their reach extending to the countryside. Agents and sympathizers could be lurking anywhere,” the worried little mouse looks to Alice, “And so I do hope you understand my desire to keep an air of anonymity about not only my abilities, but our very presence here. Any hint of us given to others may alert The Order. And so we must ask yet another great favor of you, Alice. When we travel to your village, I would very much appreciate if you made no mention of any magic you have witnessed. If at all possible, make no mention of our existence so we may pass as perfect strangers and fade from memory just as quickly. Will you give us your word in this?”

Twinkaleni and Danahlia both eye Alice intensely.

The young fox, despite very much looking forward to telling Ashley of the pair, senses the seriousness of this request and nods, “Yeah, promise. I won't tell anyone about your magic.”

A relieved grin appears on Danahlia and Twinkaleni presses her tiny pink hands together, “Excellent.”

The trio then resume their efforts to collect core stones, Twinkaleni using her magic to shift the cores off to the jellies' sides so that Alice can hack them off. After a few, Danahlia, wanting to contribute more to the effort, asks if she can use Alice's sword.

In the past, anytime someone would be allowed to hold her sword, they very often had a difficult time handing it back. This causes the fox to hesitate, then considering the trust the pair had given her with the sharing of their secrets, she decides to trust them in return. Fortunately, she is not disappointed. Working together, the trio defeat every jelly they find, collecting more cores than Alice has ever had.