Chapter 1: An Early-Morning Coast
Chapter Text
The countryside of Prism Plains was often a quiet place. Most of the time, all one could hear in the vast mosaic of prairie and farmland is the chirping of birds or the bleating of sheep. In the wee hours of the morning, it would be expected to be even quieter.
It was not exactly quiet on one stretch of road. The roaring of an engine filled the air with a rhythmic thrum, as the red car who possessed the engine made its way through the countryside.
The car currently held four of the most unlikely passengers. In the back of the car, there was police inspector Jecra, with his fiancé Garlude. In the passenger seat sat the inspector's arch-nemesis: the master thief (and manager of the inspector’s favorite cafe), Daroach.
Most odd of all was their driver. At a passing glance, one could not exactly discern exactly what was driving the posh red carriage: he wore a heavy cape and large hat, disguising his frame. If one were to be able to get a better look at this shrouded figure, they'd find him to be a beast composed of many different caniform attributes: he had the face and paws of a Gaw Gaw, the feathered ears and bushy tail of an Awoofy and the fur and claws of a Gao Gao. His cape hid Pteran-like wings, and his body hid the mind of a Puffal.
In actuality, this hodgepodge creature was none other than Sir Meta: an aristocrat from Diamond Town. Due to a poison currently unknown to him, he was forced to appear as a creature resembling his heraldic animal: a gryph-gaw. His passengers all knew his true identity, and had joined forces with him to help him reverse the effects of the poison.
It had been several hours after the start of this grand adventure, and already most in the car were either half-asleep or fully asleep. Only Meta remained entirely awake, fueled by adrenaline and determination.
Unfortunately for him, his car could not likewise be fueled by adrenaline and determination. He was well aware of it: while he had a spare can of fuel in the back of his car for just this purpose, that had already been used a while back. He looked anxiously at the fuel meter now, which was showing it was dangerously low.
Meta knew what he had to do. He had to alert his dozing co-pilot.
“Gaw! Gaw!” He barked, right in the ear of Daroach. While he wished he could use more eloquent language to alert his copilot, the effects of the cursed poison reduced him to Gaw Gaw-like vocabulary.
“85 lunch specials to go!” Daroach shouted, clearly coming out of some nightmare.”...urgh. What is it, Meta?”
Meta whined, pointing at the fuel meter.
“...I can't see what you're pointing at. Remember, I don't have as good of night vision as you.”
Meta sighed, then pointed again, this time to the floor of the vehicle.
This command was something a bit more familiar to the mouse. “Do we need to stop?” He asked his gryph-gaw driver. When the driver nodded, Daroach used his cane to displace the rock on the gas pedal, letting the car slow down. In a few moments, the car was completely halted, and Meta gestured to turn the car off.
Once that was done, Meta ran to the back of the car, opening its trunk (as he had finally figured out a way to do so even with his clumsy paws). He sniffed around, hoping that he had accidentally put an extra spare can in there. Oh, how he wished he'd remember that in his rush to escape!
“What are you looking for?” Daroach asked, staring into the darkness of the trunk.
Before Meta could even attempt to answer, another voice joined in the questioning. “What's going on?” Garlude asked, now fully awake due to the sudden lack of movement.
“Meta’s stopped us for something. What that is, I have no idea.” Daroach responded to the lady.
Meta was just about ready to slam his head on the car. This whole curse was a massive frustration to him more than anything else. How else was he going to communicate with his companions? He looked down at his paws, sorely wishing he had that chalkboard back at Daroach's cafe with him.
That's when he realized something. He didn't need the chalkboard at this time! He had everything he needed right now at his very paw tips!
He dashed over to a patch of lighter clay dirt that could easily be distinguished in the moonlight. “Ga-gaw!” He cried, beckoning Daroach over. The aristocrat then started to dig in the dirt, using his claws to score marks on the path.
When Daroach made his way to where Meta had dug, he could clearly see what he had written. “Fuel,” He read aloud.
“Fuel! Ha!” A voice shouted from the field across from the duo.
“Who goes there?” Daroach called back.
“I should be asking you folks that!” The voice responded. The sound of an old wheelie puttering then grew more and more apparent to all those awake. Soon enough, a portly cappy rode in, on that same old wheelie.
Meta acted quickly, wrapping his cape around his body as tightly as he could, making sure to tuck his tail underneath it.
“You city folks are up awful early!” The cappy chortled. “At least you two gentlemen; I sees you got some people out cold in the back of your carriage!”
“Actually, my good sir,” Garlude responded, “I am awake.”
“Aw, you can call me Harold; and this ol’ girl is Steady Sue!” He patted the wheelie on her fender, making her purr in contentment. Harold then continued, saying: “So, what's all this about fuel?”
“Well, we're from Diamond Town, but my friend here has urgent business in Tiramisu City, to help a condition of his. We've been driving nonstop since last-.”
“Wait, let me stop you there,” Harold said, cutting off Daroach. “You mean to tell me that you plan on taking that thing all the way over to Tiramisu City without having enough fuel?!”
“I apologize, but none of us barring my infirm friend knows anything about these carriages, and he's not exactly in the best of shape.” As if on cue from Daroach, Meta made a coughing sound to sell the mouse’s story. “We all left town in a rush, and it's very important that we get to Tiramisu City as soon as possible.”
“Well, if you ain't got fuel in that carriage of yours you ain't getting to Tiramisu City as soon as possible! That's the problem with those ‘wheelie-less carriages’: Steady Sue here just needs to chomp some grass to refuel!”
“Unfortunately, all we have is this carriage,” Garlude responded with a polite tone. “Would you happen to know if there's any place where we could get more fuel so we can make it to Tiramisu City?”
The cappy put a hand to his chin. “Well, Quartsun is just a few minutes' ride away from here. You're lucky ‘bout that. Not sure if they have a place for carriage fuel but there's a train station there. If ya really need to be in the city that quickly, yer gonna wanna take that train! It's at least half a day on the train, so who knows how long that hungry carriage is gonna take ya!”
Meta whined quietly, and looked at his car. While he wanted to get to Tiramisu City as soon as possible, he also didn't want to leave his most prized car out in the open where someone could take it.
Daroach, seeing the aristocrat's concern, said, “Is there any chance that you could hold onto his car while we're out taking care of his condition?”
“I'll cover any costs that holding it might bring,” Garlude added.
“Sure!” Harold laughed. “Might make Sue jealous but it'll look mighty fancy in my barn for the time being. I'll have it towed in the mornin. In the meantime, I'll ferry ya over to Quartsun; it'll just be ‘bout half an hour whilst I get Sue some backup and a wagon for y'all's to ride in. Why don't you get your affairs in order while I do that. See ya!”
With that, Harold goaded his wheelie into motion, riding off into the darkness.
“Well then,” Daroach said, turning to Sir Meta, “Looks like we're taking the rail to Tiramisu City. Sorry that your car plan didn't pan out like we had hoped, but at least it was the experience of a lifetime!”
Meanwhile, Garlude was attempting to get Jecra up from his sleep, so he could be ready for the connecting drive to the train station. “Jecra!” She said, shaking his organic arm as she did so, “we need to be moving!”
“Hrrmmm?” Jecra said as he slowly stirred awake. Despite being an early riser for a Diamond Town resident, he was a very heavy sleeper.
“We've got to be ready to head to the train station in half an hour!” She said in a hushed tone.
“I thought we were going to do our train trip after our marriage,” the inspector said, still half asleep.
“It's not for our honeymoon, Jecra,” Garlude said, now with a smile on her face. It sounded like he was ready for that trip too. But now was not the time for things like that: she had to remind him of current events. “It's for your big case.”
“We've had a bit of a communications problem,” Daroach told the inspector, now wide awake. “It turns out that while the good Sir Metians car is fast, it doesn't have good stamina: as such, we need to take the rail to Tiramisu City.”
Meta just stood there, stiffly. He wished he could talk in more than just scratches in the dirt. Maybe soon they'd find a more elegant solution to his communication problem.
Chapter 2: Gryph-Gaws
Chapter Text
The Haltonium Heron screamed down the line. It had a busy schedule to keep, and had to run as fast as possible to make sure its passengers got to their stops on time.
By some stroke of luck, the group of four were able to catch that famous passenger train, as it was the first one through Quartsun that day. Not only that: they were also able to grab a sleeper car on the Haltonium Heron: a rare find indeed, and an expensive one at that.
Not that the price mattered too much: the cost of a one-way ticket to Tiramisu City on that sleeper car didn't even put a dent in one of the boxes full of money that the group had with them. The price was worth it, as well, for one major reason.
The sleeper car gave Meta enough privacy that he could take off his hat and cape and still have his unusual appearance hidden. The fact that the group had beds to sleep on for the ride was just an added benefit: one that Meta in particular was taking full advantage of.
He was currently curled up in the usual manner that an Awoofy would sleep in, complete with ears folded down. He was out cold, completely exhausted from the night’s adventure.
“I'm surprised he can sleep so deeply on a rocking train like this,” Jecra commented to his traveling companions, in a hushed tone. “I doubt I'd be able to sleep with how this train keeps moving!”
“Weren't you fast asleep in the car just a few hours ago?” Daroach questioned, with a bit of a tone in his voice.
“Keep in mind he's practically lived in a train for the past year,” Garlude said, more softly than the mouse thief. “This is probably what he got to live through for most of that time, and in a cage instead of a nice bed like the ones we have. Poor thing. No one should have to live through that.”
Daroach then had a realization. “Oh great,” he sighed, putting his hands to his temples, “I just remembered something important. One of my informants is really going to dislike Sir Metian…”
“What do you mean?” Garlude asked.
“Well, my researcher has a case of cynophobia.”
“Cynophobia? What is that, fear of the color blue?” Jecra questioned.
“Fear of dogs,” was the quick response from the mouse. “And it just so happens that our friend over here has been turned into a dog.”
“Can't you just say he's a gryph-gaw?” Garlude suggested.
“What is a gryph-gaw, anyways?” Jecra said. He wasn't as well-versed in mythical creatures like his companions.
“Meta knight is basically one,” Daroach answered. “It's a mix of a gaw gaw, a gao gao, an awoofy and a pteran: all canines barring the latter, but that only contributes the wings. I doubt changing the nomenclature will make my researcher fear him any less.”
“But where does it come from?” The inspector continued.
“It comes from Delmontan legend,” Garlude said. “It's a heraldic beast with a whole tale tied to it. It's not a long tale, and we've got some time on our hands, so let me see if I can recall the whole story…”
—
Long ago, in the high evergreen forests of Delmonto, was a dragon that terrorized the countryside. Every year, it would choose a town, encircling it with a line of cursed fire that could not be put out, and devour every living thing within it. It would then go back to its lair, high up in the tallest peak.
Warriors trying to prove their mettle would try to go up that great mountain to slay the dragon. There was one safe path up that mountain, to the dragon's den; everywhere else was sheer cliffs with sharp, jagged rocks that would cut anyone brash enough to try it to shreds, long before they could even dare to face the dragon.
That safe path had obstacles of its own. On that route, a giant beast sat, chained like a guard dog to the largest, tallest tree in all of Delmonto. It would pull at its tether with a great force, causing all of the trees of the forest to shake in its struggles.
Most of those going to face the dragon would be scared off by this creature. They'd run back to the perceived safety of their towns, where they'd be swallowed up by the dragon inevitably.
Some would scoff at it, seeing it choke itself on its chain, thinking that the dragon would be a pushover for trying to use a chained creature as a deterrent, especially since it never would actually attack passers-by. Those warriors usually ended up as appetizers for the dragon.
Eventually, the village of Denzeni was marked as the feast village for this dragon. Many of the townsfolk went into despair, seeing as their lives would be ended soon.
There was one boy in that village that didn't fear. He left for the dragon's lair as soon as that horrid creature had made its presence known, barely escaping the line of fire that it would use to hold its prey captive.
The boy was not very well-prepared to face the dragon. All he had was a small handsaw, which he'd use to prepare firewood. He wasn't sure what else he could do, but he figured he'd be able to make a better weapon along the way.
When he made his way to the base of the mountain that the dragon lived in, he came across an old woman. She looked awfully cold.
“Could you please build me a fire?” She asked the boy.
Feeling pity for the woman, the boy took some time to build the woman a small fire, using the handsaw to break down fallen tree limbs into proper firewood. It wasn't much, but it was enough to give the woman some comfort.
“Thank you so much,” she said to the boy. “That handsaw of yours might not appear to be much, but it is a lifesaver. Take good care of it: it will save many more lives.”
Hearing these words of wisdom, the boy then continued his journey up the mountain. He followed the path through the forest, hearing the great evergreens quake all the while.
Like so many before him, he crossed paths with the great clearing on the mountain path. In the center of the clearing was the tallest pine, and tethered to that pine was the guard beast.
Immediately, the guard beast ran towards the boy, golden claws gleaming in the light. Like always, it couldn't go too far before getting choked by its chain.
The boy was fearful at first, but something in the back of his mind told him to stand his ground. He noticed the beast wasn't angry at him, nor wanted to eat him. It looked as if it was asking for help!
The boy walked up to the beast, looking over the chain it wore. It was a thick coil of some sort of rope: something that resisted pulling, but could be cut. As such, he went to work on that line, cutting through it with his little hacksaw in a few moments.
Once the line had been broken, the beast had a shift in demeanor. It beckoned the boy to get on its back. Once he did so, the beast revealed a huge set of wings. It flew high in the sky, well away from the main path up to the dragon. It landed on a small cliff on the other side of the mountain, in an area inaccessible from the safe path.
This cliff had a small secondary opening that led into the great dragon’s den. Upon entering the main corridor, the two could see clearly that the dragon was lying in wait at the mouth of the entrance on the safe path. It was clear now to the boy that the safe path was only a facade of safety: it was a trap set by the dragon to catch those wanting to kill him!
The dragon knew of the secondary entrance as well, of course. He had a separate trap set up there: a mighty net made from the silk of some ancient spider. Any flying creature would be bound to the silk in an instant, and would make easy prey for the dragon in turn.
The boy's beast companion knew this well, which is why he brought the boy with him. The boy got the beast's idea immediately: with great haste, he went to sawing the lines of the net from their holding places. He skillfully and masterfully cut through each part of the net, letting it drop to the ground, draping over the distracted dragon.
He had gotten through most of the net before the dragon had finally figured out what was happening. He was too busy watching the mouth of the cave for intruders to feel the fine net land on him. Now that he knew there was an intruder on his balcony, he turned and spread his wings to fly to him. However, when he did this, he entangled himself in the threads of the net even more, making it hard for him to move. He tried to open his mouth to belch fire, but found it tied shut by the same threads.
It was then when the beast made its move, leaping off the balcony onto the dragon. It used its long golden claws like swords, taking the dragon's head off with one swipe!
It was over: the dragon was slain. No more would Delmonto be terrorized by this horrid beast! Denzeni in specific was freed from the dragon’s terror, with only a black scorched line surrounding the town as a reminder of his threats.
It was then when that same old woman came in through the mouth of the cave. “Well done, my boy!” She said, arms wide open. The beast brought the boy down from the balcony so he could meet with his old friend. “The real king of this mountain thanks you for saving his kingdom.”
As it turned out, the beast that was tied to the great tree was the gryph-gaw, the true king of the forests and mountains of Delmonto. He was a noble beast, using the virtues of courage, loyalty, strength and grace to rule over his kingdom. He wore these virtues openly, having the head and arms of the most courageous beast, the legs, tail and ears of the most loyal beast, the skin and claws of the strongest beast, and the wings of the most graceful creature in the sky.
The dragon had great jealousy of the king’s reign, and as such plotted to take him down. He lured the gryph-gaw into a trap, ensnaring him with a chain made from the silk of the ancient evil spider. He then tied his foe around the thickest tree in the whole forest, making it so he could not escape by his own power. Only someone matching his own virtues could ever help the gryph-gaw escape his prison.
“It is clear, then,” the old lady continued, “that you have the same virtues as king Gryph-Gaw: as such, you should likewise be king over the land of Delmonto!”
And as such, the boy then grew up to be the first king of Delmonto, and had a fair and just reign over the land.
—
“The end,” Garlude finished.
“You knew that whole story off the top of your head?” Jecra asked. While he did have an interest in stories, he hated to admit that he had trouble recalling everything that happened in a story at once.
“I got to hear it many times from Meta,” the lady said to her fiancé. “There's all sorts of little aspects that I probably missed in my retelling. Meta is way better at telling this story, I have to admit.”
“You told it well, regardless,” Daroach commented.
“Indeed!” A voice from outside the room said. “A very well-told story!”
“And who might you be?!” Jecra shouted, not appreciating having an eavesdropper. Daroach quickly pulled the covers off of one of the currently unused beds and covered the sleeping Sir Meta with it, in case this eavesdropper was trying to peek in.
“Just a traveling entertainer going to Tiramisu City,” the voice replied. “There's a fair going on there, so I thought I'd lend my talent there. I always get antsy on train trips, so I've been pacing through the trains: I couldn't help myself listening to a good fairy tale, however!”
“Well, we're trying to keep our privacy!” Jecra retorted. “Don't you see that we have the door closed?”
“Sheesh, sorry to compliment! In any case, I must be off: if you're heading towards Tiramisu City, I'm sure we'll bounce into each other again. I tend to attract the most interesting folks with me!” With that, the unknown voice bounded off to the cars in front of them, laughing heartily all the while.
“...Weird,” was the only thing Garlude could muster.
“I hope we don't bounce into him again,” Jecra commented.
At that point, the now-hidden Meta had stirred from his slumber. He crawled out from the bedspread, sniffing intently in the air.
It didn't take long for the others to figure out exactly what was happening, by what followed. The door of their room got knocked on several times, followed by a much more welcoming voice, saying “breakfast service!”
Chapter 3: The Splendor of the City
Chapter Text
“Attention passengers: we have now arrived at Affogato Station. All passengers visiting Tiramisu City depart here.”
It had been several hours on the railway: it was a rather pleasant ride for the group, given the rather hectic night they had before. Other than the disturbance from that other passenger butting in early in the morning: that had Jecra on edge for the rest of the drive, with him opening the door just a bit to peek out. Thankfully, no similar events happened for the rest of their trip.
With the trip behind them, they left the train station, out into the streets of the great city.
And what a sight it was! In terms of technological advancement, Tiramisu City was way ahead of any town in the region, and it showed in the streets. There were way more lamps on the streets than even the Piazza della Luce back in Diamond Town, and the station wasn't even in the aristocratic portion of the city! It was clear that in a couple of hours these streets would be lit up brilliantly.
The lights weren't the only thing of note in the city: many vehicles populated the streets of the city, puttering up and down in a relatively orderly fashion. The cars had to, in order to avoid colliding with the streetcar that cut right through the center of the wide road.
For Jecra, who wasn't much of a traveler, this was all so new to him. All the sights and sounds of the city were quite overwhelming to the inspector. He couldn't fathom handling the hustle and bustle of such a large town…
“You see why I moved out to Diamond Town?” Daroach said, leaning over to Jecra as the group walked through the streets. “While I grew up here, I definitely think of myself more as a country mouse. If we're going to find anything about this poison we're investigating, it'll be here, and with my group.”
“So,” Garlude said, soaking in the beautiful architecture of the city, “where is this group of yours? How far will it be before we find them?”
“We're not too far from my old hideaway. It's quite convenient, my lady: whenever I need to catch up with my companions it's just a short walk away from Affogato Station.”
Daroach then turned his attention to Sir Meta. The aristocrat-turned-beast was once again using his full disguise now that he was out of a private car, and was using Daroach's cane as a crutch to walk upright. “Everything good back there?” Daroach asked him, which got a nod in turn.
Daroach then continued, tone becoming more hushed and apologetic, “I'm sorry, but even when we get to my hideaway, I'm going to need you to keep an obscured silhouette. You see, I've got a companion who might be a bit apprehensive of your new appearance. I'll try to get things smoothed out with her, but don't take it too harshly if she's not exactly happy with seeing you.”
Meta Knight made no sound, but his lowered ears made it apparent he wasn't exactly the happiest Puffal on Pop Star. “Just great,” he thought to himself, “I'm going to be just another scary animal to another person…” Admittedly, he wasn't happy with his current appearance either, but he at least hoped this stranger might have a little compassion with his plight.
Eventually, Daroach took a sharp left down an alleyway, the rest of his group following close behind. It was a lot less crowded now that they were off of the main streets. While this region was nowhere near as opulent as the primary thoroughfare, it was still very nice-looking.
Eventually, they made their way to a side-entrance of a building. Daroach rhythmically knocked on the wooden door of the building, then whistled twice. The rustling of some scurrying creatures could be heard behind the door, and then there was a short period of silence. Soon enough, though, someone opened the door.
The oddest of contraptions greeted the four at the entrance. It was a red saucer-shaped clockwork chair held up precariously by six extremely thin jointed legs. Sitting at the center of the saucer, piloting the whole thing, was a tiny mustached mouse with extremely thick glasses.
“Hello, Dorocche!” The mouse greeted Daroach. “I thought you weren't coming over for the inventors fair, because of work. What brings you here…” he trailed off, looking at the three behind Daroach, “and with company?”
“They're my guests for the time being, Doc,” Daroach responded. “We're working on something big. I'll tell you when we're all off the street.”
“Well then, come on in! Any friend of Dorocche is a friend of mine!” The mouse, who's name was now known as Doc, then moved his contraption out of the doorway, waving one of its legs in a greeting manner.
Daroach turned to his traveling companions and said while taking a bow, “Welcome to my old home and my secondary headquarters. While it might not be exactly as luxurious as you all are used to, I promise it is very comfortable. In any case, it shall be our base of operations for the time being!”