Dull Thoughts

"I think I'm gonna check how Kiki's doing, I haven't seen her in a while." Swift softly broke their silence, Jake nodded and smiled softly, they've been sitting down at the balcony for a while in comfortable silence. Swift's mood was lifted up slightly and the young Phantom crossed her mind, and wondered how she has been. Standing up, Swift nuzzled her boyfriend gently, "I'll be back around sundown, okay?"

"Okay, be careful." Jake murmured, Swift nodded and left, Jake stayed for a few more moments and sighed, standing up to leave as well to find his other friends who have scattered around the kingdom and castle. As he walked along the hallways, his mind wandered to his previous conversation with Swift, his heart sunk almost, it was as if they were nearing their journey's end. After all they went through, leading up to this point, the moment they never expected to reach.

Jake shook his head, so many conflicting thoughts and emotions, he dreaded the day they were going on their missions, their seperate, dangerous, missions. Sure, they were gifted with magic, but just how far could that take them? Magic has endless possibilities, but even it can't just make problems and worries disappear.

Sighing, Jake entered their shared bedroom, opening the door slowly, his whole face perked up when he saw a friend sitting down on a bed, head and ears down. Though when he heard the door creak open he turned quickly to face Jake, his body alert. Yellow orbs met dark blue ones. Lucas. Jake's eyes softened slightly, Luke turned away, looking disappointed. "I thought you were Laika, maybe coming to apologize, but I guess I hope too much." Lucas chuckled bitterly, he clearly still held a grudge against his childhood friend, not only because it happened so recently, but because he felt conflicted. He thought Laika understood him, but—Luke stopped himself, not wanting to think it, he looked up at the ceiling. He heard Jake gently close the door and walk over to him, cautiously taking a seat a foot away from him. "So, what are you doing here? Without the others." Luke told him.

Jake gave a meaningless shrug, "We all wanted to be left alone with our thoughts for a while, I was with Swift earlier then she decided to leave for a bit." He told him, Lucas nodded quietly, the two remained silent for a while, the room was different without their other friends. It felt lonely, lost of energy that brought them to life. "Anyways—" Jake started again, Luke turned to him, curious, "—I'm, sorry for what happened earlier. Even though it isn't my fault." He said, Luke blinked at him.

"You.." Luke trailed, he looked away, "Well.. thanks, but, you don't have to be sorry." Luke mumbled, clearly not expecting the apology, when he was expecting it from someone else. Jake offered a soft smile, looking sympathetic. "Yet you chose to apologize for something you didn't do, and you stopped me, Laika and Kyle from fights, why..?"

Luke was confused, this fox he just met was probably one of the kindest he's ever met, calm, and always thinking through with things. The brown fox shook his head slightly, he looked out a window, the sky was bright, the sun was covered by the clouds, Jake shifted a little from his seat. "Well, for one, I care about my friends," Jake said quietly, his expression softened and looked a little sad, "And another, I don't want to lose anyone else, especially not Swift and the others, they taught me so much, helped me with so many things, stuck with me.." Jake trailed off, memories flashed in his head, their first meeting, their first mission together, defeating the Corruptors.. the founding anniversary, the kiss with Swift. He didn't want to lose any of that, no, he wouldn't allow it. Luke's expression softened as well, he understood where Jake was coming from.

He didn't want to lose anyone else any more either.

Jake stayed silent for a while as he looked at Luke, "But, that aside, you know Laika didn't mean what se said, don't you? Out of all jammers—"

"Out of all jammers, I thought she'd understand me, and not say.. things like that." Luke suddenly cut him off, getting blinded by his hidden anger, his claws dug into the bed sheet. Seeing this, Jake patted him on the back, Luke tried to ease himself, but he barely could, all his pent up emotions rising. "She was the longest lasting friend I had! Heck, she was a freaking sister to me!" Luke yelped, beginning to rant.

"She was my only friend before I moved, and when I did, I barely could make another friend, I almost didn't want to because she was so special to me. And.. when I finally meet her again after so long, and then.." Luke exhaled, his heart pounded against his chest, Jake realizes where he's coming from, sure, his reaction was a little too much though he tried his besst to understand.

He patted Luke's back comfortingly, "I get it, your dad did some bad things but he's still your dad, your family." Jake said gently, Luke nodded, "I'm not saying you were wrong for snapping at Laika, because sometimes there are things she says that aren't right. But, she deserves an apology too, she cared about how you were gonna react, after all." He added and offered a small smile, Luke's ears flattened slightly as he thought about what he said.

Laika cares about him, that's why he got here in the first place, to help him forget about the miserable life that was waiting for him at his home, and the tyrant that his father became. The gray fox went silent once again, Jake removed his paw from Luke's back and hopped off the bed, Luke's ears perked up at this and he looked at the brown fox. "Try to think about it, alright?" Jake told him, smiling once again before leaving the room, a click being heard as the door closed. Lucas was alone again, his ears flopped down as he realizes his mistake, but, his face grows determined when he remembers what he has to do.

...

Meanwhile, Swift trotted through the dense forest, the trees were getting thicker as she goes further, not letting a lot of sunlight pass through. The grass was soft against her paws, the sound of a river nearby calming her, Swift's fur gently bounced with every step as she kept her eyes forward. She luckily remembered where Sean's hideout was, otherwise she might get lost. After a while she found the tall mountain where the hidden entrance should be, carefully, she tapped the rocky surface a few times. Her ears perked up when she saw an outline of a door reveal itself, then it slowly moved, making a scraping sound. Then, when it was opened, a gray figure poked her head out to check who it was, she immediately revealed herself and hugged Swift tightly with joy. Swift landed on the grass and just chuckled at the coyote. "Swift! So happy to see you!" Feather exclaimed, her tail wagging joyfully.

"Hey, Feather, how have you been?" Swift asked, smiling, Feather began talking excitedly at what she's been doing for the past few days, letting Swift in, the entrance closing before they were enveloped by darkness. Swift lit up her paws to light up the way, the young coyote buzzed around with cheerful energy as always, when they reach the main room, Silver and Sean greeted them.

Swift greeted them back and told Feather that she'll be in their room where some of their stuff was, the coyote nodded and promised to make her some snacks, the light gray fox opened the door and stared around the room. It was a very comfy room, with a few beds, a nightstand, a cabinet, a window and a small fridge, the walls were decorated with light green and white wallpaper and the carpetd were made of soft cotton. Swift walked over to her bags after shutting the door, she opened one slowly, hearing the tiny buzzes of the Phantom inside it.

Kiki was curled into a ball, her right middle arm in her mouth, Swift's heart melted as she slowly carried the hatchling out of the bag. Kiki let out a stir, opening her eye to look at her adoptive mother, her top arms perked up like ears and she hugged her immediately. "Mama!" She squeaked, Swift nuzzled her back affectionately, Kiki let out a happy buzz. "I missed you." The Phantom whined.

"I missed you too, sweetie." Swift murmured, she placed the Phantom on her back, Kiki climbed onto the back of Swift's head and giggled, "Why don't we stay outside for a bit? You've been staying inside for a while." Kiki nodded happily, Swift exited the room, they were so lucky that Sean tolerated Kiki being here despite her being a Phantom. Yet her size and personality contradicted every other Phantom, she was a runt, weaker and smaller than normal, and her two signature bruises looked like they wouldn't heal properly. Silver was a little nervous, but Feather loved the littlr hatchling, trying to teach her how to float for longer periods, but sadly Kiki couldn't produce the electricity to help her float longer like all other Phantoms.

Sean believes it's because of her development, which didn't look too good, and hearing Swift's story of how they encountered her, his theory was proven correct. Kiki must've been abandoned, and she's way too young for that and needed further care from her mother. Swift did her best to raise Kiki, though the care the Phantom received didn't help her develop the exact way they hoped. Swift feared that she might have affected Kiki's proper growth by raising her as a jammer would, despite how sweet Kiki has become, the light gray fox couldn't help but think that the Phantom might never be accepted back into the Phantom Kingdom because she acts like their mortal enemies. Swift sighed, they were now beside a river near the hideout, Kiki nibbled on her arm as they sat in silence.

Swift crossed her paws over the other and put her chin on one, her ears folding back, she looked at her own reflection, seeing the water ripple gently. The Phantom on her head shuffled as she leaned forward to see her own reflection, she made a few faces, buzzing in delight when the reflection copied her every move. Swift chuckled, her mood lightening up. "Mama, look!" Kiki squeaked, she waved her arms around at the water, Swift smiled.

She truly was too precious for the Phantoms, or, did she just raise her to be this innocent? Innocent, the word rang in her head, Kiki most probably didn't know much about the dangers of the world. Only knowing the tender loving care she was given, and that she was different from other Phantoms. Swift's face melted into worry, what would happen if the Phantoms would come back for Kiki? What will happen if they were looking for her now? She shook her head, remembering that the hatchling was abandoned, meaning that her parents disowned her. It made her sad as well, Kiki was so young, and Swift sadly couldn't deny that she doubted how long Kiki was going to live.

If she had defects like abnormally slow healing of wounds, and not being able to produce the electricity that made Phantom's fly, she was worried deeply, her ears flattened. Kiki, sensing this, looked down at Swift, her tail wrapped around herself as she sighed. The hatchling tilted her body in curiosity, her mom was sad, how could she cheer her up? Doing what she could, Kiki climbed down Swift's head and nuzzled her cheek, buzzing softly, Swift noticed this and smiled warmly, her tail wrapped around the Phantom affectionately. Her thoughts being put to rest for the moment. Swift's heart melted with joy as the Phantom curled up beside her paws, purring gently in delight, she may be a Phantom but the light gray fox didn't want to let her go. Kiki was like her own daughter now.

The sun was setting in the distance several hours later, and Swift realized that she and Kiki fell asleep to the peaceful forest, her ears slowly raised as she she woke up. Swift let out a yawn, she looked down at the snoozing Phantom beside her, then looked up the sky, it had different orange and red hues and the sun was slowly setting. She remembered her words to Jake, and was slightly sad about leaving Kiki. Swift gently surrounded Kiki with her blue aura and levitated her to the hideout, she quietly opened the room door and placed the hatchling inside her bag. Kiki stirred slightly, Swift planted a kiss on her forehead, and the Phantom was comfortingly sleeping again. Swift smiled softly, hesitatingly walking to the door, she glanced at the Phantom one more time before quietly closing the door.

Feather met up with her and handed her a paper bag with the snacks she promised, the coyote hugged her and bid her farewell for the time being, Silver and Sean said their goodbyes as well and Swift left, a gentle breeze welcomed her as the entrance closed and the hideout was now hidden. Swift inhaled deeply, and exhaled, she glanced back at the sky, and began her journey back, trotting before going into a sprint. The forest became a bit of a blur as she ran, her fur and tail swayed in the wind. After a couple minutes she saw the kingdom, the sky was almost dark so she picked up her pace, she saw the main entrance with two guards. They bowed and let her inside, she quickly thanked them and rushed to the castle, she was panting but continued until she climbed up the last of the stairs.

Swift exhaled and inhaled deeply, her energy running low, she slowly trudged into the castle, her tail hanging low, showing her exhaustion. Swift glanced around the hallways for the door of her and her friends' shared room, finally seeing it, she gently opened the door. Taking in the inside she noticed everyone was inside now, Hunter and Izzy were on one bed, Izzy was curled up beside him as he gently stroke her head while looking distracted, Laika and Luke were talking quietly in a corner, their expressions sad and apologetic. They were making up, it made Swift smile, then there was Kyle who was laying down on his bed with a blank expression, lastly Jake was near the door, smiling as he saw her. They gently nuzzled each other, "Welcome back." Jake murmured.

Swift smiled, sitting down and leaning on him in exhaustion, Jake nuzzled her head and let her. The atmosphere was dull, no cheery energy whatsoever, just a lifeless aura reasonating around the room. A few knocks interrupted them, all the friends turned to see the royal siblings at the entrance. Swift, Jake and Kyle gave quiet waves while the others greeted them quietly, Raven noticed how everyone was behaving, Alexander noticed as well and whispered to his sister.

"They're a little.. dull in here." He said, Raven sighed.

"You don't say." The princess said, her brother tapped his sister's shoulder and whispered something else, Raven nodded and put on a smile. She cleared her throat and caught their attention. "Soooo, we noticed that you guys aren't.. well, in the best mood." She started.

"Understatement of the day." Kyle grumbled, the others gave him glares, as well as Raven.

"We decided that you guys need to take your minds off.. whatever you're thinking about, and have a little day off from all the trouble." Raven announced, the friends looked at each other, thinking it over. Alexander and Raven waited for their responses.

Jake rubbed Swift's back gently, "I suppose that'll be good for us, we aren't thinking of doing anything else." He said, turning to the others, some gave shrugs, some gave nods.

"Great! Tomorrow we'll be spending time near the shore, hopefully long enough to count as relaxation." Raven said cheerfully, the siblings turned to leave, Raven glanced at them once more before the door closed. The two walked toward their own bedroom, the princess sighed, "You think it'll help?"

"Hopefully." Alexander murmured.

"I hope it works, because I need it too. They're not the only ones going." Raven said quietly, her heart beat picking up slightly. Her brother patted her back gently.

From another room, the king and queen heard what their daughter and the Magic Alphas were gonna do, the plan was pretty necessary though, they can't be downed by what's about to come. The king stared thoughtfully out the window, the stars appearing and the moon slowly rising. His wife walked over to him, she glanced at some pictures of the Magic Alphas on their walls, then she looked at her husband. "Do you think they'll be able to get those items? Alive?" She asked.

The king's ears perked up, he glanced at her sideways, "They're the only ones who can get them. They have to be able to retrieve them in one piece."

He turned to face her fully, "They have to."

To Be Continued...