- # # # 1 # # # -

All through his life, Rocko had dealt with vitriol, disapproval, anger, disgust, and various negative sentiments sent his way. But now, even Ryuto had gone against him? Even his own father was willing to destroy his hard work?!

Just like that, Rocko’s thoughts spiraled out of control.

Rocko never went to his nest on his own, and Ramento rarely left his hut for anything unrelated to food. Furthermore, any villagers who kept guard wouldn't have any reason to destroy it, as they didn't even know what it was or who it was connected to. The only guard that would have known, Ryuroito, wasn't on duty that night, and he had no reason to tell other guards about it, either. Of course, Ryuto had no reason to do it, either. Ryuto had always openly supported Rocko. Always the first to defend Rocko's ambitions. But Ryuto was undeniably weak to Ramento, wasn't he? Even if Ramento didn't do it, he may have ordered Ryuto to. In that case, what would stop Ryuto? Ryuto was also the type who would carry Rocko to his nest if he was found asleep, and if Rocko fell asleep by the Stargazer... then it only made sense. Rocko was certain. Ryuto destroyed his Stargazer. His own father.

Despite any and every argument that could be made in support of why Ryuto wouldn’t do that, Rocko couldn’t think of any other possibility. The spiraling thoughts repeated as he struggled to accept it, despite being the one insisting upon it to himself. He continued to internally panic, and he panicked, and panicked. Unmoving the entire time.

After some time, tears welled in his eyes. He struggled to hold them back, and finally he let loose. He cried. He bawled. He alleviated the dark feelings that welled inside him in the healthiest way he knew possible.

Once he finished, Rocko finally realized the gravity of the situation he was in. After all, beyond the dilemma of his destroyed creation and his father’s apparent betrayal, he was now in a strange place with nothing in sight and no way out.

There was nothing. Not even darkness, as Rocko was perfectly visible. He could see his own hands, his own feet, and anything one would normally be able to see of themselves when they tried to look.

Yet, there was no clear source of light. There was no sky, no ground, no lanterns, no fires, no sun, no stars, nothing. Likewise, there were no shadows or dark areas on his skin, and therefore nothing to give away the position of a light source. There was nothing, yet he was visible. The color? His natural red. The most natural version of his red: untainted, pure. Unlike how they’d appear in an environment where light carries the pigments of everything around, subtly imposing the most present color on other objects before finally being received into the eye. There was none of that. None of that distortion, none of those false colors. They were his colors, as they truly were. Not too bright, not too dark.

Rocko was absolutely — literally — nowhere. There was nothing in sight. Nothing around him. The only perceivable thing beyond himself was pitch blackness. Yet, it wasn’t the same sensation one’s eyes get when surrounded by darkness — especially a darkness as sudden as this was for him — but the sensation one’s eyes get when receiving a warm, gentle amount of light.

There was no ground beneath his feet. No walls around him. No sky above him. No living things. No dead things. No things at all. He was floating in a literal void. Yet, for some reason, he could breathe. For some reason, he could see. For some reason, he wasn’t cold, nor was he warm, but the perfect temperature for himself. The temperature was such that one wouldn’t even remember ‘temperature’ was something that existed, nor would they care.

Like a void that wasn’t void, or an existence that didn’t exist. There was nothing, but it didn’t matter, because Rocko could continue existing there as though there was something.

Rocko had already vented all of his frustrations through tears, to the point he should have run dry, yet he found himself on the verge of doing that all over again mere seconds later.

Where was he? How did he get there? How could he get out? Where were the stars? Where was the village? Where was his dad? Where was Ayo?

Ayo. She was... the only person left who he could trust, wasn’t she?

He wanted to see her.

The sensation of falling overcame him. An unceasing, irrational notion that something massive was charging towards him at lethal speeds.

With a full impact, he finally crashed into the impending object. He couldn’t help but violently jolt in the split second before he realized he stood on a hard, wet surface. There was water raining around him, but it stopped quickly. A shallow pool of water somewhat violently collected around his feet. In the distance were a series of huts, from which villagers gradually exited and headed to the platform he was on.

Somehow, he had returned to the village.

- # # # 2 # # # -

Rocko stood in the Residential Level. Despite the time he had spent in the Void, the sun was in the same spot as when he left.

Nearby was a small group of villagers who, for some reason, were all lying on their backs in a rough circle around him. The villagers groaned in pain as they gradually got back on their feet.

One of those villagers was Ayo.

“Ayo?! What are you doing on the ground?”

As Ayo got up, she looked in Rocko’s direction with wide, furrowed eyes, and a slightly agape mouth. “Wh-who're...?” she looked him over several times before finally saying with a somber tone, “R-Rock...?”

“Oh, little dude...” said another of the villagers once they stood up. It was Ryuroito. “That's a good look. Where’d ya come from?”

Rocko chuckled nervously. “I don’t—”

“Rocko!” shouted a distant voice with a familiarity that made Rocko recoil.

Rocko subtly looked over his shoulder and saw the perpetrator, Ryuto, waving at him from atop a Watchtower.

Ryuto hurriedly disappeared from sight. No doubt he was on his way over. He’d arrive in a minute, tops.

“C-can I hide in your hut?”

“Why?” asked Ayo.

“I don’t want to deal with him right now.”

“‘Him?’ You mean your dad?”

Rocko hesitantly nodded.

“Whoa, what?” Ryuroito interjected. “Why not, little dude?”

“He destroyed my Stargazer.”

“Your wha...?”

“Oh? Wait...” Ayo said. “You mean that thing you had me look through last night?!”

“Yeah.”

“It was destroyed?!”

“Yes!”

“Why would he do that?!”

“I don’t know!”

“Hold on, ya two!” Ryuroito interjected. “The Chief wouldn’t do something like that.”

“That’s what I was getting at!” Ayo shouted.

“What?” Rocko asked. “You mean you don’t believe me?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you... just that... I think you’re jumping to conclusions, maybe? Like, how do you know it was him?”

“I... don’t.”

“Yeah, exactly. It could be anyone, couldn’t it? Why would he do that of all people?”

“Ayo’s right on,” Ryuroito said. “Not the dude who insisted my Rano make all that stuff for ya. Why would he do that if he was gonna destroy it? Makes no sense.”

Rocko grumbled. “That’s true...”

“Ya don’t think it mighta been Ramento?”

“I don’t. Because Ramento would never carry me to nest.”

“Carry ya to nest?”

“I fell asleep by my Stargazer last night. Or, at least, I think I did. I don’t remember ever going back to my room, though.”

“I see. So ya thought the Chief carried ya to your room after ya fell asleep, and destroyed your thingy while he was at it?”

“Yeah.”

“I understand how ya got to that thought, but ya definitely didn’t think it through. I’m confident he didn’t do it.”

Rocko remained silent as he contemplated.

“Rocko!” shouted an approaching Ryuto, gaining everyone’s attention. As he reached them, he said, “I... I know what happened, now, Rocko.”

“H-heya, Chief?” Ryuroito interjected. “What’s going on, exactly?”

“I uh... I’ll explain in a bit,” Ryuto said. “I need to have a talk with Rocko, first.”

“W-wait!” Ayo demanded. “Was it Rock who did this?!”

“Did... what?” Rocko asked.

“Little dude,” Ryuroito began, “we were up early for the Harvest so we could beat everyone else to line up, y’know? But the next thing we — er, at least I — knew was my ears were ringing and my body ached and I couldn’t really tell where I was.”

“What?! Are you serious?”

“Y-yeah,” Ayo affirmed. “It was the same for me.”

“Why... me?”

“Because you were standing there, even though you weren’t before.”

“O-oh.”

Ayo struggled to maintain her smile. “Rocko...”

“Yeah?”

Her lips trembled, but she composed herself. She closed her eyes and showed her teeth in a beaming smile. With tears running down her cheeks, she finally said, “C-congratulations on getting your specialty!”

Rocko’s eyes widened.

His specialty...? If that’s what it was, it would certainly explain a lot.

Before Rocko could respond, however, Ayo ran away.

“A-Ayo?!” Ryuroito called out to her.

“Come on, Rocko,” Ryuto said. “Let's talk about this in private.”

- # # # CHAPTER END # # # -