The Precious Meadow was a beautiful, sun-drenched place, with tall golden grass that waved in the wind and exquisite trees with gleaming silver trunks so real that only their shine gave away their artificial nature. Even then, the delicate leaves seemingly shaped from tiny sheets of emerald bespoke of an artistry far greater than the comparatively clunky Brass Woods.644Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbzAOMRKNk
Shye and Asriel ran through the grass, the former without a care in the world. It was hard for Asriel not to follow along; seeing such a place made him want to run about, to enjoy the warmth of the sunlight and maybe take a nap under one of the beautiful trees.
Still, the young Dreemurr kept his head about him, his eyes watching for the continuing signs of Golemite's pursuit. The golem had a one-track mind and a remarkable endurance, so it didn't surprise Asriel in the least when he climbed a tree and found the golem's path continuing on as far as his eyes could make out.
He climbed down the tree to find Shye lounging on top of one of the silver tree's great roots, a butterfly perched on her knee. As he approached her, he realized the butterfly was artificial as well; its wings made of delicate bits of stained glass and carefully sculpted platinum.
He reached out to capture it between his paws for a closer look, but it flew away as Shye sat up.
"Any sign of him?" Shye asked, stretching before rising to her feet.
"Not yet." Asriel admitted. "Just more meadow."
"Oh well. I could run around here for days. It's just so relaxing." She turned to Asriel, a gleam in her eye. "Hey, you know what we should do? Follow that twisty stream. There's gotta be a brook or a lake somewhere where we could take a swim."
"I didn't exactly pack extra clothes." Asriel said, prompting Shye to laugh.
"You don't wear the clothes while you're swimming, silly." She told him. "It's fine; I go skinny-dipping with my brothers and sisters all the time. Mind you, the lake we swim in smells like metal and we have to watch our feet for rusty rivets, but it ain't like there's any of that here."
Asriel's felt his cheeks burn. "Um, I think we should keep going. Golemite might be in trouble."
"That big guy? Bah. Anything in his way's what's in trouble." Despite her words, Shye followed Asriel back into the field.
The sun gradually sank straight down into the horizon, only to be replaced by not one but two moons, one crescent-shaped and the other full. The Precious Meadow was no less spectacular at night. Hundreds of bulb-bottomed fireflies flew over the golden grass. They spotted a few smaller creatures as well, sleek-coated ferrets with coats of iron and bronze as soft as normal fur. They followed Asriel and Shye for a while, briefly poking their noses in Asriel's tools and pack before turning on Shye. She giggled as the little creatures climbed over her as well, looking in her pockets for shiny things.
"Shoo!" She tried to say, but the ferrous ferrets continued their relentless assault until she had to put her hands on her knees to stop herself from falling over. For their efforts, the industrious creatures found a half-eaten zapple and a handful of geargrapes, which they shamelessly ate in front of Asriel and a wheezing Shye.
"Maybe we should get some rest." Asriel said, grinning at her. "Maybe they won't be so active in the morning."
"Good idea." Shye said, still breathing heavily.
They fell asleep beside each other, several ferrets taking the opportunity to lie on them for warmth.
Asriel's dreams were troubled. He dreamt the meadow was on fire, and that he and Shye had to cross a wide lake to escape. Asriel made it first, but as he reached for Shye, green leaves sprouted from his arms and hands.
"Kill her!" Whispered Flowey's voice in his mind. "Push her under the water!"
To Asriel's horror, his hands moved on their own, shoving Shye into the water as the flames drew near the edge. The water was soon boiling hot. It stung his hands even as Shye struggled to climb out, but Asriel found himself unable to stop himself.
Shye's body eventually went limp and floated to the surface. as it floated away, the water went still; that was when Asriel saw his reflection ... Flowey's reflection.
"NO!" Asriel awoke with a start, prompting a small amount of chittering from the blanket of ferrous ferrets now resting on him. Shye was resting against his side, still asleep and dreaming about something pleasant from the pleased look on her face.
Sighing, Asriel sat back and tried to go back to sleep. High above the Precious Meadows, tiny lights twinkled on and off.
"Stars. They're stars."
Asriel turned his head to see the shadow girl sitting on a low branch not far from him.
She lay back against the tree, the glowing discs that were her eyes half-open as she softly sang, "Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky ..."
She turned her head to Asriel. "How much do you want to go home?"
"Excuse me?"
"How much are you willing to do to see Toriel and Asgore again? To see Frisk again? Just how far are you willing to take this?"
Asriel didn't respond. In truth, he simply didn't know what to say.
The shadow girl stood up and faced Asriel. "I carry part of the Everstar within me. Would you kill me to take it?"
"W-what?"
The shadow girl closed her eyes. Light spilled forth from her chest, coalescing into a glowing star nearly identical to the one on his own chest. He felt his shards respond to hers, making it clear to him that she wasn't bluffing.
"I have a piece of the Everstar." The shadow girl said. "It keeps me from fading the same way yours keeps you from becoming a flower again. If you really want to unite the lost shards, you will need mine."
"What about you?" Asriel asked. "What do you want?"
She closed her eyes. "What I want isn't possible. I lost that chance. I wish only to continue existing here, in the Deep."
"I'm sorry." Asriel said. "Um ... what happened?"
The shadow girl shook her head. "I did something stupid ... I had good intentions, but it didn't turn out well. Worse, I dragged my best friend in the world down with me."
"Is he here?"
The shadow girl looked at Asriel for a moment before letting out a giggle. "He's around."
She rose to her feet, staring off into the distance as though hearing something. Shaking her head, she said, "I gotta go."
"Wait!" Asriel said, sitting up as much as he could with the ferrous ferrets on his chest. "You know my name, but I don't know yours."
She looked at him. It was hard to make out with her skin being solid black, but after a few minutes he realized she was smiling
"Call me Starkid." She said before vanishing.
Asriel contemplated this for a few moments before lying back down beside Shye. Her question stuck with him, however; part of him was assuming that he'd have to fight the other holders of the Everstar shards. He assumed they'd be after him, or would be if he was near. What if they didn't care? What if they needed their shard, and wanted nothing more than to be left alone?
He didn't get to think about it long, however; the ferrets all seemed to wake up at the same moment. Their heads all swivelled in the same direction for a few moments. Asriel strained his ears and found he could hear something in the distance.
The ferrets scattered moments later, the sudden movement waking up Shye. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and asked, "What's going on?"
"Something spooked the ferrets." Asriel said, trying to identify the sound as it steadily grew louder. It was hard to describe, though it reminded hm a little of his mother's mixer; sort of a steady beating coupled with the high-pitched sound of a motor.
The wind was picking up now, the leaves of the trees making a tinkling sound as the brushed against each other. Asriel was on his feet now, trying to find the source of the noise.
"There!" He said. In the growing light of dawn, something tall and silver could be made out in the distance growing larger by the second. It was still hard to make out, but appeared to be glittering.
"Whoa!" Shye said, shielding her eyes and peering at the distant object. "What is that?"
Asriel could only shake his head as whatever it was grew closer and closer. It was a tower, a giant tower. What he mistook for glittering was actually hundreds of long thin metal plates that extended from the top of the silver cylinder, bent ninety degrees and ran the length of the construct before bending another ninety degrees before returning to the bottom of the silver cylinder. There were many levels of these, some spinning so fast that they were only a blur while others slowly circled around the construct.
Shye tugged at Asriel's arm. He tore his eyes from the spinning wonder to find Shye looking worried.
"Um ... I think it's heading this way." She said, taking a few steps from the tree. "Maybe we should ..."
"Yeah." Asriel said, glancing back at the construct. "Yeah, good idea!"
They ran away from the mass of spinning and shining metal, clambering over the roots of trees and sliding down hills. They needn't have been worried, however; the construct slowed to a halt not far from the tree where they rested. Asriel caught Shye when he realized this, and forced her to turn around. They watched together as the thin blades broke apart at various points along the length of the tower, bent the opposite direction, and dug into the ground. In a matter of moments, all the lower blades were anchoring the construct into the ground while the upper blades pressed against the cylinder, leaving only a few to slowly spin.
"It's a tower." Asriel said wonderingly.
"A flying tower?" Shye said skeptically. "What's it doing here?"
Asriel met her gaze with a smile. "Wanna find out?"
Her reluctance gave way in a matter of moments. "Race ya!"
They took off running for the tower, quickly passing the tree they rested beneath and continuing on until they reached one of the blades now dug into the ground. up close, it looked much more complicated, however; two posts as big around as Asriel and Shye combined extended from the end of the ramp into the ground below, framing a large black rubbery conveyor belt of sorts.
Their purpose became clear a few moments later. The ferrous ferrets had returned, seemingly carrying something. To Asriel's astonishment, it was the still forms of other ferrets. Some twitched as though trying and failing to move, while others simply didn't move at all as though broken.
It wasn't just ferrets either; more artificial animals were approaching; platinum-coated bunnies, gem-scaled lizards, Tall and graceful clockwork deer, and even a few of the crab-bots all lined up patiently to place some of their own on the conveyor belt.
"It's like some kind of mass burial." Asriel said, looking sad.
"Maybe." Shye said. Once the last of the animals had dropped off their dead or malfunctioning and departed, Shye hopped onto the conveyer himself.
"Shye!" Asriel said, standing at the end. "What are you doing?"
"I'm getting inside the tower." She said, grinning at him as she jogged to stop herself from getting too far ahead of Asriel. "You comin' or are you just gonna wait out here?"
"But ..." Asriel stopped; some of the 'blades' in the distance were rising back up to join with their upper halves. He'd have to make a decision, and make it quick.
Sighing, Asriel hopped onto the conveyor belt. Shye beamed at him grabbed his hand, tugging him along down the conveyor belt while avoiding the bodies of the animals and insects.
The tower grew more magnificent as they grew close. The spinning blades obscured much of its surface, which was practically covered with glowing etchings of every color. The entire structure seemed to resonate with power. Every time the power pulsed, Shye and Asriel's fur would stand completely on end.
The conveyors ended in a great opening at the base of the tower. Inside was a maze of conveyor belts going every which way. Fortunately, there were some platforms with railings alongside the belts as well, giving Shye and Asriel a place to get off the conveyors.
They watched the various creatures get sorted for a few moments before moving on. The platforms circled upwards to a small circular chamber in the very center, though Asriel knew they couldn't even be close to the top of the tower. Shye and Asriel walked into the chamber, only for the doors to close around the room. Before they could react, the chamber shot into the air so fast it knocked the Bossun and the bunny-cat girl to the ground.
"Asriel!" Shye said, struggling to rise as the lift continued to shoot upward. "Maybe this was a mistake."
"Bit late for that now." He said. "Just ... hold on, okay? We made it this far, didn't we?"
With an extreme amound of effort, Asriel managed to rise to his feet. He immediately regretted it, however, upon the sight of the lights inside the tower flashing by at an alarming speed. They were going up, and fast.
He'd just made it over to Shye when the lift came to a halt. Unfortunately, at the speed they'd been going, Asriel and Shye continued going up, flying through a large hole in the top of the lift into a larger room above. Both of them cried out at the sight of the ceiling approaching fast, but their upward momentum only carried them about three feet from the ceiling before they started to fall.
Four segments of a massive circle of cushion-covered panels slid over the lift opening, catching Asriel and Shye as they fell. They sat there for a few moments, both dazed as their minds struggled to finish processing the trip.
Asriel pushed himself up, knees shaking a little. He went to help Shye only to find her already on her feet as well.
"That was fun!" She said, grinning. Asriel couldn't help but laugh. Shye's resemblance to Chara in that moment was uncanny.
Asriel started to reply when the sound of humming caught his ears. From the way her long ears twitched, Shye heard it too. She pointed up, head tilted to the side and a finger over her lips. Asriel nodded and glanced around the chamber a moment before pointing to the stairwell that led up and around the tower.
They hurried up the stairs as quietly as they could (a surprisingly simple feat for those with paws instead of feet), and found themselves in a room that reminded Asriel strongly of the Skyway Workshop. The whole room was workbenches of various sizes, piles of parts, and tools haphazardly scattered around.
At a workbench on the far said of the chamber, near another set of stairs leading further up the tower, a short figure sat on a stool and hummed to himself as he hunched over the workbench, clearing working on something small.
Feeling Shye's hands on his arm, Asriel turned and realized she was behind him, her eyes watching the figure warily.
Realizing he'd have to do the talking himself, Asriel coughed and said, "Excuse me, mister ..."
The figure turned, a wide smile on his face even as Asriel let out a gasp. The figure was a construct of wood and metal much as the creatures of the Precious Meadows, with ivory teeth, a metal face, and a gem-like blue eye, but the resemblance was just to uncanny to be coincidence.
"S-sans?"
