Stellar and Quartz: Ghost Town Showdown

Stellar and Arcus were roused by intense knocking on the lodge door; as they shot up, they heard Ridgeway calling for her with a clearly shaken voice. Stellar called back, asking for a minute before throwing some clothes on and answering the door.

“Ridgeway, what the hell is…”

“Wheeler is dead.” Ridgeway cut her off.

“What!?” Shock washed over Stellar at the drastic news.

“I went to speak with him to hear his answer and… his entire office was wrecked, claw marks everywhere and his throat was slashed open.” He shut his eyes, causing tears to squeeze free. “It was that damned monster, it had to be.”

“What’s the situation now?” Stellar asked.

“I’ve got the bank barricaded and some of the buffalo watching the door,” He explained. “No one has gone in or out except me. I’ve called the police and they’re on their way, although I don’t know what I’m supposed to tell them.”

“Alright, I’ll get ready and head into town to join you,” Stellar took his shoulder. “Just keep things under control as best you can.”

“Believe me, Ms. Flare, I’m trying.” Ridgeway left her and hurried back into the heart of the town.

“God damn it…” Stellar muttered as she closed the door.

“Wheeler was killed?” Arcus asked from the bed. “I can’t believe it.”

“Alright, whatever this fucking thing is I’m sick of it; I’m going to find out what I can about it and see if there’s some way to stop this.” Stellar said surely as she began changing into proper clothes.

“I’m staying with you,” Arcus informed as he collected his clothes from the floor. “If the Ataata has decided to become violent, I’m not leaving your side.”

Stellar smiled at the valiant notion. “Sounds good to me, let’s go get Cloudy.” The two of them headed next door, rousing Cloudy and letting her in on the grim news. Together, they rushed back into town where Ridgeway was standing before the bank speaking to a crowd of understandably frightened friends and visitors.

“Please listen, everyone,” He raised his hands. “As I said before, the police are on their way and there will be a thorough investigation of this; but given that a life has been lost, I would ask that everyone who doesn’t need to be here head out. To all of you who are visiting, for your safety, please vacate the town. Those of us who live and work here will see to it that you can pack up and move out safely. Dandelion, can you spearhead this?”

“Sure thing,” Dandelion nodded and immediately went about gathering help for the task.

“Hatch?” Ridgeway looked to the griffon. “Take someone and go tell Hathaway so he and his family can be on guard as well.”

“Got it, boss.” Hatch quickly moved out as well.

“The rest of you, stay together and stay safe. All business in the town is officially closed down until further notice.” Ridgeway dispersed the crowd and stepped from the bank porch to Stellar, Cloudy and Arcus.

“What do you want us to do?” Stellar asked.

“For now, we need to wait for the police.” He suggested. “I’m sure they’re going to want to talk to everyone.”

“Fine, but if that’s the case then I want to go talk to Red Sky.” Stellar turned to Arcus. “Do you know the way to the their camp?”

“Yeah,” Arcus nodded.”

“What are you going to do?” Ridgeway asked.

“I want to hear from the experts about this Ataata; there has to be a way to stop this thing.” She started back towards the lodges and her car. “Come on.” Cloudy and Arcus followed and under his guidance she drove back out to the buffalo’s home. The unexpected visit brought out Blue Sky as he recognized the vehicle from their last visit; he met them at the camp’s entrance and could immediately sense the tone.

“What has happened?” He asked.

“Wheeler is dead, apparently by the Ataata.” Stellar informed, Blue Sky’s face hardening at the news. “Look, I've seen this thing first hand and I need to know everything about it, I was hoping to speak with your father.”

“I…,” He slowly nodded. “Very well, please follow.” He led them into the camp and entered the master lodging where his father resided. Within minutes, he emerged and waved for them to enter; they proceeded in and were once again greeted by the reverberating voice of Red Sky.

“So, the Ataata has claimed a life.” He said with deep sorrow.

“That seems to be the case.” Stellar sat across from him, Arcus and Cloudy sitting at her sides.

Red Sky focused his old eyes on her, a light smile forming on his lips. “The air about you is different. You have freed yourself from your cage I see, that is good.”

Stellar recalled his uncanny ability to read creatures. “Yeah, I have.” She nodded, laying her hand atop Arcus’ claw. “You can thank Arcus here for that; I hope that means you can trust what I say now.”

“A clear heart speaks clear words,” He nodded slowly. “What is it you wish to say?”

“The town is in fear of this… thing, whatever it is; can you tell us about it?” She asked.

Red Sky sighed and stroked his long beard. “The Ataata is old, older than even our tribe; the embodiment of the land, water, sky, animals and vegetation. It is a spirit that protects and oversees the land, showing no favor to any one species in particular. It allows creatures to inhabit its land, as long as they treat it with respect and care.” He waved his heavy hand over his head. "For all of our generations it has been both revered and feared; we respect it but at the same time we take strides to not rouse its anger. That is why the tribes of this region live simple lives with no need for modern developments; we have all that we need beneath our hooves."

“Are there any stories of this spirit from the times of the mining?” Cloudy asked. “If it acts as you say, surely it did not approve of such a thing.”

Red Sky nodded. “There were stories passed down from that time; always the same chain of events described by wildly different creatures from all backgrounds.” He reached down and took up a handful of soil. “Mining itself is not inherently bad, creatures need the raw materials to construct; but what occurred here was driven by greed, which is what upsets the Ataata. This deal that is discussed is no different; the town is being sold off for profit and is to be abandoned by those that called this land home. No matter what those above you may desire, the Ataata sees only what is before it and acts accordingly.”

“Have anyone here actually seen it with their own eyes?” Stellar followed up.

“No, it has not appeared to any of our tribe in recent generations. Although, that is simply because we have not given it a reason to show itself to us.”

“Do any of these stories say how to stop this?” Stellar continued. “There must be some way to get this thing off everyone’s back.”

“There are old rituals that were used to ward off harmful or corrupted spirits,” Red Sky began. “But the Ataata is not an evil spirit, even though it has taken a life. It is something that was here before us and will be here after us; to my knowledge there is no way to halt the Ataata’s aggression other than to leave the land be.”

Stellar sighed in frustration. “Well, the police are on their way to investigate the death; which is going to postpone any closing of the deal until their investigation is complete.” She made a dry laugh. “Guess it got what it wanted,” She stood. “Thank you, Red Sky.”

The old buffalo nodded slowly. "I know that you are only a messenger, but due to your ties in all this you are at risk. I would advise that you leave this place and enjoy your newfound inner peace." His eyes turned to the young dragon, staring at him for a quiet moment. "Your powerful form holds a gentle soul, young dragon; I offer hope that the bond you two have formed remains a strong one."

"Thank you, sir." Arcus smiled. "I intend to make sure of it."

"And please," He added. “Tell Ridgeway that I am sorry for the town’s loss. Wheeler was a dubious creature, but his life was as valuable as any other and any such loss is a tragedy."

“We will,” Stellar promised, leading Cloudy and Arcus from the lodge.

“Well that was interesting, but not much help.” Arcus noted.

“They revere this creature for what it stands for,” Cloudy said as they headed back for the car. “It stands to reason that they would not have a solid method for interfering with its will.”

“Ms. Flare,” Blue Sky called as he approached from their flank. “I imagine my father could offer little in ways of a solution to your problem.”

“You could say that,” Stellar confirmed. “But I understand why.”

“Well, as sparse as belief in that old tale is amongst the younger members of the tribe, we must admit that something we cannot explain is occurring. I’ll make sure that we are more aware here and pass along word to the buffalo in town. No creature benefits from the fear and panic this situation is causing.”

“Thank you,” Stellar nodded. “I’ll make sure anything we find out reaches you too.”

“Be safe.” He said soundly before returning to the recesses of the camp.

“As big and strong as the buffalo are, even they seem powerless against this thing.” Arcus huffed. “What are we supposed to do?”

“I don’t know,” Stellar shook her head. “For now, we have to get back and wait for the cops. This is going to get real messy before it gets any better.”

Once again they loaded up and Stellar headed back for town; the scene was hardly any better upon their return, the already quiet town was now truly dead as everyone holed themselves up inside their stores or housing. During their absence, Dandelion had seen to it that all visitors were accounted for and were sent on their way home; leaving only those personally involved with the land remaining. The three of them returned to Ridgeway to share updates, the stallion clearly drained and shaken from the jarring events.

“How are you holding up?” Arcus asked.

He shook his head longingly. “I never imagined things would have gone this far… this is my fault; I should have been open about the danger and just cancelled the deal.” He took a deep, teary breath. “And now Wheeler is gone.”

“You cannot blame yourself,” Cloudy interjected. “This situation is incredible and no creature could have predicted its course.”

“Were you able to learn anything from Red Sky?” He changed the topic.

“Just more history, nothing we can use in the here and now.” Stellar relayed.

“I see,” He quietly nodded. “If that’s the case, then the safety of everyone here has to be the top priority. After the police see to this, I’m going to have everyone abandon the town.”

“That seems pretty rash.” Arcus noted.

“I know,” He nodded. “But it’s the only way to make sure no one else… dies, because of this place. No matter how much we may love this town, it’s just stone, steel and wood… none of which is worth a life.”

“If that is our last resort, then that’s fine; but I’m going to keep looking into this until the end.” Stellar headed for the door. “We’ll be back when the police arrive, stay safe.”

“You too,” He saw them off, looking across the way at the bank where the body of his friend still lay.

When the trio made it back to the lodges, they found Earnhardt waiting outside of Cloudy’s. Cloudy went to him on sight as the others gathered on her porch.

“Earnhardt, no matter your size you should not be about alone.” She lovingly scolded.

“I’ve got something I need to show you,” He informed, his face stern. “But I can only show you guys, I haven’t said anything to anyone else in town yet.”

“What is it?” Cloudy asked.

“Come on, inside.” He tossed his head towards the door.

Cloudy unlocked the door and the four of them went inside; Arcus shut the door behind them and Earnhardt sat on the bed. “What is wrong, Earnhardt?” Cloudy sat beside him. “What did you find?”

“Well, I didn't want to just sit on my ass with everything going on,” He began. “I figured I could try and look for something about that Ataata thing, so I went back to the mine where it attacked us.” He leaned to the side, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pair of wrecked metal cylinders; the ends were flayed as if blown out and traces of wire could be seen inside.

“What the hell are those?” Stellar asked.

“I found them in the rubble near the entrance; these are what caused the mouth to collapse.” He informed.

“What?” Arcus took one and examined it. “You mean like some kind of charge?”

“I don’t know much about this kind of stuff, but I know gunpowder when I smell it; little bastards were full of the stuff.”

“So a spirit didn’t try to bury us alive,” Stellar concluded. “A flesh and blood creature did.”

“So, the Ataata isn’t real after all?” Cloudy asked openly. “But you said you saw it with your own eyes.”

“I did,” Stellar nodded as her mind began to mull this new development around. “But a spirit doesn’t need explosives.”

“We need to tell everyone.” Arcus suggested.

“Don’t be fucking stupid.” Earnhardt turned his eyes on him.

“Hey, don’t talk to my boyfriend like that.” Stellar slapped his shoulder.

“Your… really?” Earnhardt eyed him.

“Yeah, what about it?” Arcus returned the look.

“Well… anyway,” Earnhardt shook his head. “We can’t tell everyone in town, because one of them is the one that set those damned things in the first place.”

“Oh… yeah, you’re right.” Arcus conceded.

“That’s why I could only show you,” He continued. “You three and Hatch are the only ones I can say for sure didn’t set those.”

“It seems our mystery just reached a new level,” Cloudy looked up at Stellar. “How should we proceed now? This could mean that Wheeler was, in fact, murdered.”

“Not sure,” Stellar admitted. “We have several eye witnesses who saw that monster, but now we have evidence that suggests someone in town could be behind this whole shit show. If we tell the cops, then everyone here will be a suspect and we’ll be trapped here with a possible murderer… if we don’t, then we still run the risk of someone else getting hurt or worse.” She sighed. “Fuck, I need a drink.”

“Perhaps we should start by letting Hatch know,” Cloudy suggested. “We know he is innocent, and he may have some further insight.”

“Fair point,” Stellar nodded but stared distantly into the wall.

“What are you thinking, Stellar?” Arcus went to her and held her shoulders.

“If there was a creature looking to kill this deal, I’d have pegged Wheeler honestly.” She voiced her thought. “Everyone else except for Red Sky was on board…” She stopped.

“You don’t think a buffalo could be behind this, do you?” Arcus inquired.

Stellar laid against his chest. “I don’t know what to think, kid.” She rolled her head up and smiled at him. “I work in executive negotiations, I’m not a god damned detective.”

“Well, in the meantime we should just act like everything is normal.” Earnhardt stood. “The last thing we want to do is spook whoever is pulling this shit.”

“Agreed,” Cloudy concurred. “Doing so may make them even more dangerous.”

“Okay,” Stellar accepted. “We’ll keep low for now; can you stay with Cloudy and go find Hatch?”

“Absolutely,” Earnhardt said proudly. “She’ll be safe with me.”

“Thank you,” Cloudy laid her hand to his arm. “Let us move.” The four of them left the lodge and the pair headed into town to locate Hatch.

“I can’t believe this,” Stellar muttered as she watched them off. “Desert ghosts, bombs, murder… not to sound petty but I’m not getting paid enough for this.”

“Might be a good time to ask for a raise.” Arcus suggested, rolling in stride with her grim jest.

“You haven’t met my boss,” She laughed, reaching back and taking his claw. “I got a pretty amazing bonus, that’s good enough for me.”

Arcus’ tail went around her shins and he pressed himself against her back. “Let’s just make it out of here so we can enjoy it, OK?”

“Trust me, kid; that’s the plan.”

Eventually, the police did arrive. Given the situation, a squad car was sent with three officers and one pathologist; assisting them was an ambulance with two EMT’s to eventually take the body. Things went as imagined, the bank was taped off and the crime scene was thoroughly inspected. One of the officers met with Ridgeway and he gave his statement of how he discovered his long time friend's lifeless body. He was then questioned further and he divulged the nature of the town and what was happening with the impending deal concerning the land. After much interior debate, he also divulged that an unidentified animal had been seen about the town; not linking it to the myth of the Ataata, he detailed the events in as normal as manner as he could. After Ridgeway, the officers then spoke with all the individuals who had claimed to see the mystery animal, Stellar included. It was a long day for everyone and the next day held promise of more; the EMT's took the body away and the officers set up one of the now vacant lodges as their base of operations. Later in the evening, the bar was full but dead silent as the tired and mourning little family that had formed over the past years sat in reflection of their current situation.

“Normally I’d pay you all to be this quiet,” Stormy said with a lifeless chuckle. “Now I just wish we could go back to normal.”

“I think normal is out the window at this point,” Dandelion, a rare patron, countered from her spot at a table. “There isn’t any going back from this.”

“I heard Ridgeway is considering just having us abandon the town altogether.” Oak noted with a sigh. “Just a year ago that would have been unthinkable, but now… maybe it might be for the best. I love history, but I’m not too fond of the idea of becoming it just yet.”

“Really?” Legerdemain raised his head from the bar. “What would that mean for the sale?”

“I imagine it wouldn’t come to pass.” Oak informed. “I can’t imagine anyone wanting to buy a potentially haunted parcel.”

“I don’t think the police cared much for the suggestion that the “mystery animal” might be a spirit.” Ledge idly made his napkin disappear. “Magic is rarely an accepted answer.”

“The claw marks Ridgeway said he saw on the walls beg to differ.” Dandelion sipped her drink.

“I guess the buffalo chief was right after all.” Stormy laid her head in her talon. “Nobody take this the wrong way, but I imagine they might be pleased about all this; they wanted the land to change hands the least and even if we all go they’ll still be here.”

“Is there a right way to take that?” Dandelion looked at her disapprovingly.

“I’m just saying.” She defended.

“Makes sense,” Ledge concurred. “I mean, they don’t feel threatened by the Ataata; they feel they’re on its good side.” The doors parted, Steller and her ensemble entering and surveying the room. Ledge spun on his stool and waved lightly. “Finally done getting run through the wringer?”

“More or less,” Stellar noted as they fanned out and took spots.

“Hey sis,” Hatch climbed up onto a stool, Cloudy at his side. “How you holding up?”

“Good enough,” She turned and went to get a beer. “Any news?”

“The cops are keeping a tight lid on everything while they process it all,” He answered, accepting his drink. “And they do have a lot to process.”

“This will no doubt carry on for at least a few days.” Cloudy added.

“You guys want anything?” Stormy called over to Stellar. “On the house, at this point I’m just liquidating inventory.”

“A shot of rum sounds good about now.” Stellar answered.

“Beer.” Earnhardt ordered.

“Just some water, please.” Arcus requested.

Within a few minutes Stormy brought a tray with their drinks of choice. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Stellar took the glass and downed the shot; as her glass hit the table she looked around, unable to avoid thinking that one of them could be an enemy.

“How did ol’ Hath take the news?” Stormy asked as she returned to her brother.

“They were pretty shocked,” Hatch informed. “I asked if they had ever seen that thing before, no one in his family has had an encounter with it.”

“Well, they are farmers.” Oak noted. “I suppose it respects them more.”

The conversation died off as there wasn’t much more to be said. Eventually, Stormy closed down and everyone barricaded themselves up for the night. Hatch gladly offered to stay with Cloudy and Arcus and Stellar found themselves alone in her lodge once more. Stellar showered, tossing her towel on the chair as she emerged from the bathroom.

“This has been one hell of a day.” Arcus’ head followed her around the room. “I hate to think that one of my friends here could be a killer; it just sounds so crazy.”

“We don’t know what’s going on just yet,” Stellar reminded. “Hatch said that those devices were pretty sophisticated and were detonated by relay. I don't know that much about everyone here, so I don’t want to leap to conclusions about anyone.” She headed for the bed and got in beside him. “I just want to relax now,” Her hand traveled up his neck to his cheek. “Kiss me.”

Arcus lowered his head and sank his tongue into her waiting mouth; his arm worked itself around her and he draped his tail across her legs. As they parted, he buried his beak in her neck and sighed. “I’m worried something is going to happen to you, you’ve already been attacked twice now.”

She smiled and cradled his head. “I’m not scared; you’re here, right?” She said as she reached over and turned off the lamp.

Arcus felt his whole body warm. “Yeah, I am.” He curled up with her as if to shield her from the world and they tried to get what sleep they could.