Facing the Facts

"Come on," you say to Blackfire. "Let's head back." You and Blackfire fly back towards the Woburgins' ship. You fly over the field of fiery flowers, and Blackfire starts to dive in.

"Blackfire, no!" you shout as you grab her arm.

"Saffire, let me go!" she shouts back.

"No, I'm not letting you back in there! You know what those flowers do to us!" You grip her arm tightly.

"I DO know! And I don't care!" She struggles to get free, but nothing is gonna let you let her back down in that field of flowers. Especially if that tentacle-vine thing is still there.

"What do you mean? Why do you want to go down there?"

"I... I just... I just feel so sad!" Blackfire starts crying again. "If we had given Gogorio the beast we killed, the one he was fighting when we met him, he would've succeeded the first time!"

"I know, I know," you tell her, pulling her into your arms. "But that's how it goes, Blackfire. We made a choice, and there is no going back. You don't need those stupid flowers, they'll just make you drunk, and maybe even kill you..." You and Blackfire float there for a while, holding each other, Blackfire's sobs the only sound either of you make.

When you arrive back at camp, you don't see the Woburgins any where, but the ship is still there. The pile of wood for the cremation has been knocked around sloppily.

"Hey, guys!" you yell. "Where'd ya go? You didn't really clean up the ash and stuff very well." You walk over to the wood and ash, and part of it is smeared on the grass, as if someone kicked it. "This doesn't look good..."

"Oh no..." Blackfire looks really worried.

"Don't panic," you say in a hushed voice. "You know how those two are. They probably were cleaning up, then got hungry or distracted, then wandered off." You were saying this more to calm yourself down than for Blackfire.

You and Blackfire look around. No signs of a struggle, save the kicked ash. You around outside the ship a bit more. There seem to be some scuff marks on the ground and some rocks here and there, but no blood or burns, so no lazers or sharp weapons were used. That's a bit of a relief.

"Saffire, I don't think they wandered off," Blackfire says. She picks up something off the floor of the hall. It's a small metal pad, only a quarter inch thick. There's a button on the side.