Vic and the Secret Door Chapter 41

       Chapter 41:
       The Ribbon and Her Potato
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       The gang wondered into the clinic, still getting used to being back in their bodies and walking awkwardly. Broly looked at the unconscious Ed in his arms as though he was still trying to figure out if he was a friend or food. Meanwhile, Vic and Yukito looked around the room with melancholy looks upon their faces. Vic wondered how far Yukito was in his story, and what kind of memories he'd have of this place so far.

Fai spoke up politely, "Um, excuse me. But if we could please get back to the task on hand…."

Vic blinked. He hadn't realized he'd spaced out so long thinking about this world and the stories it holds. He started by giving out "to-do's", as with all the other quests before.

"Okay," he started, "Dark and Fai, go and find the room where they would keep the spare limbs. If you see anything on the way for Dark to draw with or on, GRAB  IT." He turned to Yukito, "You and I can go and see if we can find someone who may know something about Ikkaku's sword. And Broly," he turned to him, "Just… hang out…. I guess."  

       As the group split up, it became clear that nothing of any sort of help would be found in this clinic. As Yukito and Vic looked for other people to assist them, they heard loud crashes from the back area of the clinic. As they walked over quickly to locate the source of the noises, out popped a rather ruffled, but still smiling Fai, and a disgruntled Dark with a plastic arm caught in his long purple hair. Yukito had to put his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing as Vic did a distressed facepalm.
  
"No sign of Ed's arm then?" Vic asked with a sigh.

Fai shook his head with a 'we tried' look, "None at all. We searched everywhere in that little closest space! I even found a napkin and a pen for Dark to doodle on to compare with, but sadly none matched up."

"Okaaay…" Vic said with a tone showing he was QUITE done with these little games, "Where would we loo-."

"YUKITO!" Yelled a voice, entirely frantic, "Have you seen Potato?" In the doorway of the clinic was a girl with short dark blue hair, some sort of a dress uniform, and a yellow ribbon tied to her wrist. Her eyes were wide and filled with worry; her breath was slightly ragged as though she had been running quite a bit.

"Oh," said Yukito, "Hey, Kano. Why? Has he gone missing?"

She nodded her head quickly. "I can't find him ANYWHERE!" Her eyes pouted, then sparked with curiosity as she noticed the other people in the room, "Who are-?"  
    
Yukito cut her off with a raise of his hand and a roll of his eyes, "Another time, another place Kano. Now, where was the last place you saw Potato?"

"Excuse me," spoke up Fai, "but why are we looking for this young lady's vegetable?"
  
"Ahh….," Vic said, trying to contain a giggle, "Potato is a dog. HER dog. It's kinda small, white, really fluffy and goes 'Piko! Piko!'"

Kano's eyes went wide as she stared at Vic, "How in the world does he-?"

"LATER!" said Yukito with a turn of his head, and a sharp look.

"Can we really afford to be looking for a dog right now?" Dark spoke up, "I mean, we have our OWN problems." Everyone just nodded their heads the way a child would when he couldn't save that kitten in the rain manner.

"Hide and Seek." Broly grunted. Everyone jumped, since they had totally forgotten his presence.

Vic looked at him, eyebrows raised, "What do you mean Broly?"

Broly looked up with a rare never-before-seen intelligent look in his eyes, "Doggie's playing to. Find doggie, find other things."

"I wonder," Fai started, "Miss? That dog of yours…Was he there one second, then gone the next?"

There was more furious head nodding from Kano, "Yes! He was right in front of me as we were taking our daily walk. Then I blinked, only for a second, then poof! Gone!"

Vic nodded darkly, "Then it's part of this," he grimaced, "stupid game. Dark, Fai, Kano, and Yukito come with me. Broly, please stay here and keep an eye on Edward. We do NOT want him awake when we need to reattach the nerves. If he wakes up, please knock him out again so we don't have to deal with a rage-y Ed. GENTLY. Don't kill him knocking him out, either. Okay?" he finished, giving Broly a look like a mother would give a child when scolded.

Broly nodded, "Keep asleep. Can do."

The gang set off into the open air once more, with Vic and Yukito leading the way and the rest following behind. Vic listened closely and smiled at the conversations happening behind them.

"So why do you wear that ribbon?" asked Fai to Kano.

Kano smiled smugly, but in a cute way, "I got it when I was little. I was told when I was old enough, I could take it off and then I could perform magic." Her eyes twinkled.

Fai cocked his head in a curious manner, "Magic you say?"

"Oh yes! But I can't tell you what I'm going to do with this magic. It's a secret," she said as she waggled her finger at him; a smirk of sorts on her face.

"Hey Vic?" called out Dark, "Where are we going exactly?"

"Um, I was just following Yukito. He seemed to know the way," said Vic with a shrug.

Yukito stopped walking and stiffened, "You're kidding. I was following YOU!"

"What!?" Vic said, eyes going wide, "Geez…What now?"

And as if to answer them, they heard a sharp and desperate "PIKO!!!"

"Over there!" Kano pointed over to a woody area, "I'm coming Potato!" And off she ran, piko-ing back to Potato along the way.

The gang chased after her, dodging in between trees and trying not to get separated from one another. Then suddenly they came to a cliff, across of which was a waterfall which fell down into a stream. In the middle of the waterfall was a desperately yipping Potato, perched precariously on a small rock overhang. And, to the gangs relief, tied on his back was an automail arm and a zanpakuto. There was just one little issue….

Vic looked up about 500 feet to where Potato was perched as Dark vocalized his thoughts;
"How the HECK do we get UP there?"

*To be continued….*