- # # # 1 # # # -

By the time Rocko and Ayo arrived at the Dining Hall, most of the village was already present and seated.

“I win!” Ayo shouted as she melodramatically hopped over the ridge dividing the dry interior Dining Hall floor from the water outside, followed by Rocko a second later.

She won the race.

“You always win,” Rocko blew raspberries.

“Aw, don’t be so sad, Rock! It was a good race! Y’did your best!”

“I’m not sad but ‘you did your best’ is one of the worst things you could say to someone who failed at something!”

“It’s supposed to be encouraging, though?!”

“How?! It’s just another way of saying ‘you can’t do any more than that,’ which isn’t good if what you did was a failure, you know?”

“I... I see...” Ayo pouted, but her face lit up once she noticed, “Ooh! There’s ink tonight!” She ran to the center of the Dining Hall where the food, seasonings, and sauces could be found.

Rocko wanted to gag at her words, but stopped himself.

It turned out that the ink Rocko was poisoned by when he was four and had been using to draw since he was eight was actually perfectly safe for most adults and older kids to consume. Inkbugs were also common enough in the forest above and — ever since that nest was built atop the Dining Hall — even in their own village that obtaining ink from them was fairly easy. From what he understood, the ink was only harmful to young kids because they had weaker immunity to toxins and diseases, but by the time someone usually got a specialty, their body’s defenses had typically developed enough that the ink was harmless. Why they’d actually want to eat something so bitter was beyond him, though, but it was Ayo’s preference.

He, on the other hand, greatly preferred the sweetness of golden nectar, which was similarly produced by bugs, but wasn’t poisonous at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. It actually had healing properties.

Rocko and Ayo collected their food and flavorings. Fortunately for Rocko, there was also nectar that time around. A flavorful meal for them both.

They went and claimed their seats when Ramento finally showed up with the last of the food... but Ryuto remained nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s your dad?” Ayo asked Rocko.

“I don’t know. I thought he was helping Ramento.”

“Yeah, but Ramento’s here, and he’s not. Isn’t that strange?”

Rocko’s eyes widened with furrowed brows. “Did Ramento—”

—What’s wrong, you two? Ryuto’s voice echoed through both of their minds. They turned to see him standing just behind them.

“D-Dad! Where’ve you been?” Rocko asked, relieved. Ayo looked nervous.

“H-hi... Ch-Chieftain,” Ayo said.

“Ayo?”

“Hello, Ayo,” Ryuto said. “Is something wrong?”

“Uh... n-no,” she turned her head.

“Where were you, Dad?”

“I was just doing some last minute things.”

“Last minute things? What last minute things?”

“I-I should probably go...” Ayo interjected, grabbing her tray as she prepared to leave.

“You don’t need to do that, Ayo,” Ryuto said. “You can have this dinner.”

Ayo chuckled awkwardly.

“But before I go take my seat,” Ryuto began as he turned to Rocko. “Rocko, what’s their name?” he asked, pointing to a villager seated across from them, who was oblivious to their conversation.

Rocko looked at Ryuto with irritation, saying, “Wait, we’re doing this now? At dinner?”

Ayo frowned.

“Of course we are,” Ryuto said. “The entire village is here. There’s no better time for it.”

Rocko croakily groaned. “Okay, uh, who did you point to, again?”

Ryuto pointed to them again.

“That’s... He’s Raltono.”

“What does Raltono like?”

“Definitely not this.”

Ryuto laughed. “That’s probably true. Then you remember his specialty?”

“Yeah, he can taste with his hands, right?”

“Sort of. He can tell whether something he touches is edible or not. Though the way he describes it certainly sounds like taste, to me.”

“Whether something is edible or not... huh. That’s useful, I think.”

“Of course it is!” Ayo loudly interjected. “A specialty like that can tell what’s poison and what’s safe! If we didn’t have someone like that, we could be eating poison right now!”

“Well,” Ryuto began, “what Ayo’s saying is half true. It makes the process of figuring out what’s safe to eat a lot faster and a lot easier.”

“Exactly! Isn’t that suuuuuper useful?”

“Of course it is,” Ryuto confirmed.

“Yeah,” Rocko agreed. “That definitely sounds convenient, but doesn’t he get overwhelmed by it? If I recall correctly, it’s not something he can control, so he always keeps his shells closed.”

“Good eye. His specialty has a pretty nasty side effect. If he doesn’t keep his shells closed, then he’ll ‘taste’ everything he touches with his hands and feet, which for him can be too much to handle.”

“Wait, wait,” Ayo interrupted, “what do you mean? His specialty hurts him?”

“Not exactly ‘hurt,’” Ryuto explained, “but it’s not all perfect.”

Rocko elaborated, “That’s why I’m not thrilled with the idea of waiting for my specialty, Ayo. What if I get a specialty that causes more harm than good? I don’t want to have to rely on something like that.”

“But that’s...” Ayo looked down slightly. “B-but it’s still useful! So, negative side effects or not, useful is useful. That’s what matters.”

“I’d prefer a specialty that doesn’t have an inconvenience so bad it makes the specialty itself worthless, though.”

“It’s not worthless!”

Ryuto interrupted with laughter. “Well, if you want a more convenient specialty, then can you locate Annoiko?”

“Annoiko?” Ayo tilted her head.

“Uh...” Rocko looked around the hall, trying to spot someone he identified as being the person Ryuto named. After a few moments, he pointed and said, “There! I think that’s her!”

“Wrong. That’s Annoino. Not only is Annoino not Annoiko, but Annoino is a guy.”

“O-oh,” Rocko awkwardly said, his face a little red.

“What’s this? What’s this?!” Ayo asked energetically. “Rocko, are you embarrassed?!”

He was. The difference between guys and girls was pretty obvious, after all. Guys have spots, ladies have stripes. That was how it always was. Yet he got them confused because of their names alone. Yeah, that was just a bit embarrassing.

“Want to try again, Rocko?” asked Ryuto.

“Hey, Dad, can we stop this, now?”

“Sure. I gotta eat, anyway,” Ryuto said, ending with a chuckle. “You two better not get into any trouble.”

“Yeah, yeah...”

“We’ll be on our best behavior!” Ayo said, smiling. As Ryuto left them to their own devices, Ayo turned to Rocko and asked, “Do you remember Annoino’s specialty, though?”

“Not you, too!”

“No, no! I’m not asking because of anything like that! I’m genuinely curious about his specialty!”

“Ugh... he can levitate things.”

Ayo tilted her head, “‘Levitate?’”

While Rocko and Ayo continued to talk, Ryuto walked towards the buffet line to choose what to eat.

Ramento approached Ryuto, who was holding a tray of fish.

“I see you’re back on your feet, already,” Ramento told him.

“Yeah. Is that a problem?”

“Maybe. I’ll see. It’s just interestin’, because it seems like you’re gettin’ better at recoverin’ from it.”

Switching to telepathy, Ryuto said, You should be grateful for that. If the villagers find out what you’ve been doing, or start to worry about me, it won’t be good.

Joining in, Ramento replied, That’s not my problem.

Ryuto gave Ramento a nasty scowl, which Ramento responded to with a smug.

Ramento continued, Don’t blame me for your screwups, Ryuto. I don’t want to do that to you, but you keep askin’ for it.

Ryuto’s fists clenched on the tray he held, almost breaking it. He grit his teeth, and said aloud, “Go sit down, Ramento.”

“Whatever you say, Chief,” Ramento replied. Despite his obliging, his pupils faintly glowed orange.

Ryuto trembled, both in anger and fear. After a few deep breaths, he was able to calm down. He finally collected his food and joined the rest of the village to dine.

- # # # 2 # # # -

After dinner, the children of the village went to sleep, as did many adults. Rocko helped Ryuto and Ramento clean up the leftovers and, once finished, Ryuto and Rocko headed to the Watchtower.

“Do I just put my eye right here?” Ryuto asked, referring to the stargazing device.

“Yeah, exactly!” Rocko confirmed.

Ryuto bent over to put his eye to the lens, and beheld a powerful cascade of stars and nebula. The enhanced sight was almost enough to bring him to tears.

“This is perfect...” Ryuto said, still looking through the scope.

“It’s good,” Rocko said, “but it’s not enough.”

“What do you mean? Don’t tell me you still haven’t looked through it.”

“No. I did, already. It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough!”

Ryuto chuckled lightheartedly. He stopped looking through the scope and stood up. Turning to Rocko, he asked with a smile, “What do you plan to do, then?”

“Improve it, of course!”

“I look forward to it.”

Rocko smiled.

Ryuto continued, “Do you have a name for it, yet?”

“A name? Hmmm...” Rocko took a moment to think. Ryuto made sure not to intrude on Rocko’s thoughts, not taking any peeks at the possible answers Rocko thought of. After a few moments, Rocko finally gave his answer, “Stargazer!”

“‘Stargazer,’ huh? Dang. Now that I hear it, it just seems obvious.”

“You like it?”

“I think it’s perfect.”

Ryuto returned to stargazing using the Stargazer. Rocko sat next to him and watched the stars with his bare eyes, smiling.

“Since you intend to improve this,” Ryuto began, “do you mind if I make a request?”

“Oh, sure! What is it?”

“It’s unpleasant bending over to look through this. One day, you’ll be my height, too. So, I think it would be better to make it fit for adults.”

“Hmmm.... I’d need to climb on something to look through it, then... Oh! I could make it so the height can be changed!”

Ryuto laughed in amusement. “That’s what I’m asking for, Rocko.”

“No, no. I mean, like, the height can be changed manually. What’s the word...? Adjustable! Make the height adjustable!”

“Adjustable height?” Ryuto stopped gazing and stood up, looked to Rocko, and smiled as he said, “I’m very excited to see how you pull that off.”

“I already have an idea for how it could work!” Rocko declared, smiling. His expression quickly turned to alarm, and he said, “Oh, but no peeking! I want you to see it when it’s finished, first!”

“Understood, sir!” Ryuto said.

The two of them continued to stargaze for a while. Though Ryuto took peeks through the Stargazer every so often, the two of them mostly just sat together and watched the stars with their bare eyes.

After about an hour of this, Ryuto got up and told Rocko, “Sorry, Rocko. It’s getting late. I have to assign the Night Watch.”

“It’s okay, Dad,” Rocko said. “Thanks for spending this time with me.”

“I love spending time with you. There’s no need to thank me for it. Also, I just realized, you should be heading to sleep.”

“Oh, uh, I will in a bit.”

“Okay, well, you can keep stargazing, but make sure you head to sleep soon.”

“Will do.”

Ryuto went to assign someone to Night Watch duty, leaving Rocko to his own devices. With Ryuto gone, Rocko returned to using the Stargazer.

- # # # 3 # # # -

As Rocko continued to observe the stars, closer than he had ever before, an idea struck him.

He returned to his room. Normally, around this time, he’d be getting in his nest to sleep, but instead he went straight to the shelves at the back of his room. He grabbed a paper scroll and took it to his desk, where a short and stubby bottle of ink and a writing utensil — more advanced than the stick he’d used previously, similar to a piece of chalk — were waiting to be used. However, the bottle was empty, and the utensil was dry.

He took the empty bottle outside. He scoured the Residential Level until he found an Inkbug roaming outside one of the huts. He then grabbed the poor bug, causing it to panic and, as it always would, sporadically spray ink all over him.

Or so it would have. But he knew better than to let that happen again. After several miserable attempts at extracting ink years earlier, he figured out a way to safely collect ink. First, when he approached the bug, he made sure to do so calmly. Inkbugs weren’t afraid of the sight of people, as he knew from past experience, so it was fine if the bug saw him so long as he didn’t do anything rash. But once he got close enough, he had to act when it wasn’t looking. They couldn’t see behind themselves, so when it turned, he snatched it in his hands and kept its hind end aimed away from him. He had the bottle strategically placed on the ground nearby, so when he grabbed the bug, he’d be able to swiftly put it in position as it inked. And thus, it sprayed all the ink into the bottle, without ever getting a mess on him. This had been his method of extracting ink for the last few years.

Once he released the bug, it ceased its inky attempt to defend itself, and fled.

He returned to his room and doodled on the scroll. After a little bit of time, he took the scroll and ink outside, and set them by the Stargazer. He continued sketching as he took frequent glances at the Stargazer.

After some time, he finished the sketch and set it on the desk in his room, having it laid out to let the ink dry.

Though he tried to get sleep, he couldn’t get his mind off the stars.

He returned to the Stargazer, and continued watching the stars.

- # # # 4 # # # -

The stars. Bright. Alluring. Floating through space. Surrounded by colorful celestial clouds. Enough to make one lose all sense of self, and soon enough, Rocko became completely lost in them, losing his sense of self.

In a kaleidoscopic display, the stars fell to Rocko’s feet as the world beneath him disappeared.

Rocko took a step forward. The colorful celestial clouds flowed between his toes, like stepping barefoot into a river. He looked around at each and every passing star. He smiled as he thought about which one he would visit first.

Finally arriving at an answer, he stepped off the path and flew towards a star, excitedly flapping his wings.

As he got closer, the star opened itself up to him, revealing a village inside.

Arriving at the village, he looked around, excited to explore this new world.

A blinding light shone from behind him, drowning out all other light even as he faced away. He turned to face the light, and saw Ryuto. The light was coming from the halo above Ryuto’s head.

“I’m so glad we did this, Rocko,” Ryuto told him.

“Yeah,” Ayo interjected as she emerged from Rocko’s shadow, “this is nice.”

The stairway of stars approached Rocko, so he walked up the stars with Ryuto and Ayo.

He kept climbing the stars, every world was another adventure worth a thousand lifetimes. He didn’t have that time, though. Time was running out. He could see it in the face of Ryuto’s, who was leaning on him. Rocko used Ayo as a crutch as Ryuto’s weight increased the further they went up, despite his increasingly brittle appearance.

Rocko feared Ryuto might break, so they stopped at the next star.

Ayo told him, “These things happen, Rock.”

“No! No, no!” Rocko refused it all.

“It’s okay, Rocko,” Ryuto reassured him. “You did it for me.”

“No, no, no, no, no!” Rocko denied existence itself.

“What did I tell you?” Ramento interrupted as he ate the stars beneath them. The rest of the village followed him, eating whatever was left.

Seeing this, Rocko quickly pulled Ryuto and Ayo up as he ran up the stars, trying to get away.

Ramento continued, “This might not have happened if you just worked for the village, instead of going to the stars.”

Rocko looked to Ryuto, whose hand he was holding, but all he saw was a series of muscle and blood ripping away from an increasingly bare skeleton. He jolted back, accidentally letting go of the skeleton as he fell off the starry staircase. He noticed he was still holding Ayo’s hand, but that’s all he was holding. Ayo herself was gone. The hand quickly decayed into nothing as he fell into Ramento’s mouth, consumed by him.

He continued to fall. As he fell, he heard countless whispers coming from the darkness around him, “Moron,” “Idiot,” “Fool,” “Dumb,” “Disgusting,” “Selfish,” “Loser,” “Failure,” “Disappointment,” “Lost cause,” “Hopeless...”

He fell into an ocean of fire, and continued to fall as he burned. He burned and burned.

The fire cooled into water, and he stopped burning as he sunk.

At the bottom of the ocean was the surface of the water. As he fell through the surface of the water, his feet landed on dry ground.

He arrived at a plain. There was nothing in sight. The sky was gray and cloudy. The ground moved like water but remained solid like stone. Noticing this, he began to think about it too much, and found his feet swept along with the movement, falling to his back and facing the sky.

The clouds swirled above him. Spinning, twirling, turning, swirling, over and over.

The ground quaked. It cracked. Out of the cracks came Ramento, titanic in size.

Ramento said, “Give up. You are their Chieftain, now.”

Ramento’s foot came crashing down onto Rocko, holding him in place as he struggled to break free of the giant’s grip.

Ramento leaned over to Rocko, and repeated his statement, “Give up. You are their Chieftain, now.”

A villager, Ranoiko, rose from the ground and stood next to Rocko. They said, “Give up. You are our Chieftain, now.”

Two more villagers rose, Annoino and Annoiko, and said, “Give up. You are our Chieftain, now.”

More villagers rose, the entire village guard, and said, “Give up. You are our Chieftain, now.”

The children of the village rose, and said, “Give up. You are our Chieftain, now.”

Each of their parents rose, and said, “Give up. You are our Chieftain, now.”

The entire village rose, and said, “Give up. You are our Chieftain, now.”

Ryuto rose next to Rocko, lying on the ground with him, and whispered to him, “You are their Chieftain, now, so you have to stay. I’ll go see the stars alone.”

Ayo rose next to Rocko, lying on the ground with him opposite of Ryuto, and shouted to him, “You are my Chieftain, now, so you’ll make use of me, right? Or are you going to abandon me, too, and go to the stars?”

In unison, each and every one of them chanted, “You are our Chieftain, now. You are our Chieftain, now. You are our Chieftain, now. You are our Chieftain, now. You are our Chieftain, now. You are our Chieftain, now. You are our Chieftain, now.”

From the ground, a seed emerged. Rocko looked at it curiously. It was more vivid and realistic than anything else he’d encountered since the stars had fallen to his feet.

The chant changed, and got gradually hastier and hastier, “Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us. Don’t abandon us.”

After a few moments, the seed shot up into the air. Hovering several feet over Rocko, it emitted a bright white glow.

“What is it you want most?” asked a booming, unfamiliar, ethereal voice, completely disrupting the chanting villagers and drowning them in silence.

Complete silence.

Rocko answered.

There was silence.

Tiny seeds shot up into the air from all around. Seeds were everywhere, starting from mere feet above Rocko, the air was filled with seeds like a mist. The ground appeared as though it was riddled with bullet holes reaching as far as the horizon.

One by one, each and every single seed glowed a bright white. The entire region was enveloped in a blinding glow, brighter than if the sun were brought to the surface.

With a thunderous roar, the light dissipated. Rocko had broken free of Ramento’s grip, forcing himself to stand up. Before he realized it, Ramento’s foot had shattered. In a cascade effect, the rest of Ramento shattered as well, until the fragmented pieces were eaten by the ground.

The villagers all disappeared into dust, floating in the wind. Ryuto faded in beam of light. Ayo dissolved into the ground.

The sky was clear of clouds, and on the horizon was the setting sun. From the opposite end of the sunset, stars quickly rose.

In a matter of seconds, the sun had fully set and the stars devoured the sky.

Beneath Rocko, the ground disappeared, and all that was left were stars. Bright and alluring. Rocko peacefully floated through them as his mind faded, and he lost all sense of self.

- # # # 5 # # # -

Before Rocko realized it, he was lying in his nest, and the world outside was illuminated by a rising sun.

Rocko was colder than normal. Getting up, he noticed that the walls and floor of his room near his nest were dripping wet. The model in the center of his room was also drenched with water, though it was unharmed. His nest had half as much water in it as normal.

“Did you... sleep well?” a voice asked from the doorway. That voice belonged to Ryuto, who Rocko somehow failed to notice was there until that point.

“Not really,” Rocko said. “I don’t remember going to nest. Did you carry me?”

“No. When I went to sleep, you were still stargazing.”

“Is that so?”

“Also... um...” Ryuto had difficulty finding the right words.

“What is it?” Rocko asked.

Ryuto sighed, and said, “I need to show you something, Rocko.”

Ryuto led Rocko to the Watchtower, where the Stargazer... was broken. In pieces.

Rocko fell to his knees.

“W-what happened to my Stargazer?” Rocko asked, lightly trembling.

“I don’t know.”

Rocko chuckled lightly, nervously.

How did Rocko end up in his nest in the first place? Rocko definitely didn't go of his own volition. He had passed out by the Stargazer, yet he woke up by his nest. There could have been no other explanation: Ryuto must have carried Rocko to his nest... and destroyed his Stargazer. Why...? No, how... how could he have done such a thing?!

Ryuto began, “R-Rocko, are y—”

With a deafening burst of thunder, Rocko vanished from sight. One moment he was there, the next he was gone. There was no warning. No sign. Nothing. Rocko disappeared in a literal instant, and Ryuto’s ears rang from the subsequent sound.

Rocko's disappearance was immediately followed by the small section of floor he had knelt on erupting into fragments, as if there was a tiny explosion just below it. There had been a similar hole in the floor near the remains of the Stargazer.

“W-well... I think I know, now,” Ryuto said to himself with an increasingly unsteady voice.

- # # # CHAPTER END # # # -