Patrols generally ran on strict schedules at Ancient's Peak, and that was a very good thing for Chihiro, as it meant that she generally always knew what to expect of them. Every morning, they'd tally distress calls received from the Missionator, reports of suspicious activity, and other questionable going-ons of a similar nature, and determine which ones would be best attuned to the Skylanders on standby. Then, Chihiro and Master Eon set these Skylanders up in groups, and off they'd go on the portals.

That is, unless the Skylanders in question were assigned to island duty. If that were the case, they'd spend their time stationed at Ancient's Peak, protecting the Core of Light from any possible threats until next shift. At least, that would have been the case if the Core of Light hadn't been blown to smithereens, but it was, so now, they mainly just kept an eye out for if Kaos came knocking. Regardless, this pattern continued through the day, operating on strict, uniform schedules…

Which was why it was quite a surprise when a call for a portal came much earlier than anticipated. Perhaps someone got done early? Either way, Chihiro quickly teleported herself into the portal room, but took a moment to breath in the scent of earth and bask in the gentle light it always bathed in. Ah, she loved that earthy, almost magical smell that the portal room held! It warmed her body with wonder and glee, and she could bask in it forever.

But then, the portal flared and beeped, a reminder to Chihiro of the work that needed to be done still.

"Coming!" she called, even though she knew nobody could hear her in this empty room. Force of habit, she supposed.

She moved over to the portal, took a moment to bask in its motley flash of color, and quickly clamped its stone rim. Energy filled her body the way it always did; it bubbled and fizzed like a freshly-opened soda can as she took it in, welcomed it into her arms. She took a breath as she imagined her team coming right home, all smiles and jokes to crack about the latest mission, and grinned as she released!

The flare of energy that hit her ears showed her work paid off, but what greeted her was definitely not a look of success.

Instead, Eruptor laid face-down on the portal's surface, and shook and groaned as magmatic drool pooled underneath him. Terrafin stood a bit over him, but quickly fell to his knees as he shuffled around the growing pits of magma. It was a good thing that portal magic generally kept portals from being too weathered by the elements, for she couldn't have imagined that the portal could stay in one piece otherwise with all that magma heating it up. Wait, that wasn't important!

"Rupty!" Chihiro cried, immediately springing for the portal. "What happened?"

Terrafin quickly flung a hand up and pushed her back. "I'd stand back a little, Chi," Terrafin warned. "Ruptor's not feeling so hot right now."

Eruptor's stomach gurgled, and he let out a violent hack as the room filled with the burning scent of sulfur and magma alike. It was almost as if he'd perfectly timed it, matter of fact! Magmatic vomit flooded the disk-like top of the portal, and Terrafin let out a yelp as the heat stung his feet.

Terrafin hopped off, yet still circled around it as he tried to urge Eruptor off the portal. "Hey, it's okay, Ruptor," Terrafin winced as he slowly, gingerly pulled Eruptor from the portal. He took care not to accidentally touch the pool of burning lava on its surface. "We're home now. I'll get Master Eon and we can get you set up, alright?"

Eruptor just groaned and inelegantly flopped on his back. He almost rolled over the side of the portal had Terrafin not leaned him against his shoulder. God, he looked terrible! His eyes looked like they were about to roll into the back of his round head, his mouth laid slightly ajar as some magmatic substance trickled out of it (whether it was drool or vomit, Chihiro wasn't certain), and the aroma of sulfur wafted around him in a sickly haze.

Now, Eruptor was known to have a very sensitive stomach, but this seemed way worse than his usual queasiness! What could have gotten him this sick? Actually, no, Chihiro could worry about that later!

"Master Eon!" Chihiro cried as she scrambled for the door. "Something bad happened! We need to get Eruptor to the infirmary, stat!"

Thankfully, she didn't need to run very far. A warble sounded as Master Eon phased through the door, and his round spirit floated just above her head.

"Young Chihiro, what's the matter?" Master Eon cried. "You look as pale as a ghost!"

"And Eruptor might end up being one if he doesn't get medicine soon!" Chihiro spun on her heels and darted for where Terrafin still held Eruptor. "Come on! Hurry up!"

Master Eon's form turned pale and lavender with shock as he flitted beside Chihiro, his glow brightening and fading with urgency. They met Terrafin and Eruptor not a moment too soon, for Eruptor once again planted face-first on the floor and shuddered as his stomach gurgled. Master Eon took one look at him, and then at the lava barf-filled portal, and his purple coloration deepened with urgency.

"What happened to him?" Master Eon gasped.

"Ruptor breathed in something he really shouldn't have when we were dealing with that skunk-raptor infestation," Terrafin winced as he knelt down and rubbed Eruptor's back. "We were fighting them off one minute, I turned around to get some of the villagers out, and next time I saw him, he was face-down in a pool of his own barf!"

"Skunk-raptor poisoning? No wonder Eruptor's in such an awful state. Their poison can induce intense sickness in a matter of seconds!" Master Eon's whole spirit shook as he quickly levitated Eruptor off the ground. "There's no use lingering on it. We need to get him some medicine before it progresses further."

Master Eon and Terrafin hastily fled the scene, and Chihiro followed after she cast a quick spell to banish the lava barf and overwhelming scent of sulfur.

Chihiro's heart pounded against her chest the way her feet pounded against the floor, and her hands shook as she ran through everything she could think of about skunk-raptors. She only vaguely remembered the descriptions from books on Skylands' fauna that she squirreled away from the library: they were flying, furry raptors with a skunk's tail and colors, and a spray just as potent. Whereas skunks usually only tended to make beings reek to high heaven, though, skunk-raptors' spray was straight-up toxic! Even the slightest whiff could leave the healthiest being spending the rest of their day with an upset stomach, and much more intense exposures could lead to nausea, vomiting, fever…

The symptoms played over and over in Chihiro's head, and she winced as Eruptor laid sickly and almost half-dead looking in Master Eon's magical grip. Was he going to die? Chihiro's heart skipped a beat at the thought, but she tried to banish it as they arrived at the infirmary.

The door slammed shut in front of Chihiro as the other disappeared into the infirmary walls, so Chihiro leaned herself up against it. Her ear planted firmly against the thin wood, yet she couldn't hear anything beyond muffled talk. She could maybe make out one or two words: "Condition", "Medicine"… But not much else.

So, Chihiro sighed as she slid down against the door, and time slowed to a crawl as she waited for the diagnosis. She tried whatever she could think of to distract herself, but very little actually helped.

She tried thumb-wrestling with herself, but the prospect of a fight reminded her of the mission that brought Eruptor to his currently condition, and she couldn't bring herself to do it anymore. She tried to think about any number of topics other than Eruptor's current condition, but whether that was whatever this week's latest Beautiful Remedy Songstress episode would be, or the homework piled up back on Earth, or whatever adventures awaited her next, it would somehow always circle back around to Eruptor and she found herself worrying in circles again. So, she tried to do something meticulous that would absorb all her time, like listing off all the things she had left to do—but whoops, once again she was reminded of what led to these things getting interrupted in the first place.

Chihiro sighed as she turned back to the door, and tried to make out something through the silhouettes that moved along the frosted glass window. She could briefly make out what seemed like Whirlwind's form, yet it only lasted for a moment before rainbow light poured out and obscured everything! Whirlwind must have used her healing rainbows right now, and that was a good sign, right? Those rainbows could cure anything from curses to broken bones! Surely that would take care of whatever made him sick, right?

Chihiro winced as she pushed her ear up against the door, tried to make out some kind of conversation—but it was then that someone jimmied the knob and the door flung open!

Chihiro yelped and jumped back before the door could slam her into a fine paste, and a blue glow washed over her with a small chuckle. She looked up, and Master Eon's warm form beamed over her as he flitted back. Well, he was in his neutral blues, so that had to be a good sign, right? He'd be red, or gray, or whatever color he turned in a fury of emotion if something bad truly happened, right? Chihiro hadn't quite gotten his constant color shifting down yet.

"How is he?" Chihiro spat out, immediately jumping to her feet. "Is he super sick? Is he dying? Is he gonna explode or something?"

Master Eon's eyes fluttered, and he let out a modest chuckle as he nuzzled Chihiro's head. "Fret not, young Chihiro. I understand you might have gotten a bit of a scare, but Eruptor only got a mild case of poisoning. Whirlwind's already taken care of his injuries, so he just needs to rest for about a quarter-week, and he'll be ready to go back in the field."

… If that's what Eruptor looked like when he was mildly sick, Chihiro shuddered at the thought of how he looked when he was seriously ill. Nonetheless, the weight lifted from her shoulders with a sigh, and she made for the door.

"I'd better go check on him—"

Chihiro stopped short as Master Eon floated in front of her.

"I would advise against that. Eruptor still needs his bed rest, and he tends to be extremely irritable when he's ill." Master Eon floated ahead of her, and motioned for her to follow with a nudge. "Regardless, we still have other duties to attend to, so come along. I believe it is about time for us to change out patrols."

Chihiro wasn't quite sure how much time passed, given how much it seemed to slow, but that sounded about right. She dutifully trailed after Master Eon, but still, she couldn't help but sneak a glimpse back at the closed door. She couldn't hear anything but faintly muffled voices and groans still, and it only added to her worries as it grew further and further in the distance.

§ Several days later... §

The days continued to pass, but Chihiro's worries didn't seem to cease. In fact, they only grew a lot more! It wasn't just because Eruptor being out for the count meant they were short on hands at a time when every hand counted, even if drafting up patrols was a bit more of a pain. Chihiro was more than happy to step in and help when he or the other Skylanders couldn't.

No, she knew her friend was surely miserable, being all cooped up in the infirmary like that! She didn't have to guess based on her own experiences with being sick either. She'd heard plenty of accounts for those who managed to visit him.

"Yep, he's still pretty grumpy, and still kinda queasy, too," Whirlwind remarked the day after he was admitted, when Chihiro caught her between infirmary shifts and patrols. "He can't go a second without blowing his top! I know the guy's sick, but I can't exactly heal him when he's flipping out so badly he ends up blowing lava chunks every five seconds!"

That firmly confirmed to Chihiro that she shouldn't have really visited that day, and she was busy volunteering on patrols and training anyways, so she figured she'd try tomorrow.

"Yeah, I'd give him some space, Chi," Terrafin warned as he left Eruptor's infirmary room the next day, fangs clenched and all. "Ruptor's in a bad mood. Really bad mood."

Terrafin let out a small huff after that, and that sold Chihiro on that enough. For all of Eruptor's short-fused moments, he and Terrafin rarely fought despite what one would be led to believe. If whatever conversation they had left Terrafin in that sour a mood, Eruptor must have still been in too terrible an attitude to want company at the moment. So, Chihiro just gave his door a quick glance that she hoped conveyed her wishes for him to get well soon, and she skittered back off to the library to find a few more books on magical fighting techniques she wanted to practice.

Maybe the day after that, then? Well, Chihiro tried, but when she walked by, she immediately heard the sound of retching and sizzling, followed by Master Eon and Slam Bam's frantic shouts as they cleaned the room up. That showed that Chihiro should probably try another day…

And that brought her to today, where she grabbed a thankfully highly heat-resistant basket and combed through the mess hall like she was in a grocery store. She was sure he was hungry, but he'd definitely need some stuff that would be easy on such a queasy stomach. Normally, she'd eat stuff like rice and crackers when she was sick, but she supposed it might be a little different for a lava monster.

Still, she felt like she should get him something, so she glazed over the seemingly always-stuffed cabinets and combed for anything habitable. Her eyes first fell on a box of magma crackers (as in, crackers literally made from igneous rock), and that seemed like a good enough choice to her? So, she snatched it up.

With the magma crackers safely deposited, she quickly teleported away. One blink she was in the mess hall, and the next, she stood right outside the door to Eruptor's infirmary stay. She took a glance over a cabinet of board games that were mostly provided for deeply-bored patients to keep their minds sharp, mentally picked out a few just in case, and rapped on the door a little bit, but all that met her was a groan.

"If you're gonna bother me, go somewhere else!" Eruptor moaned on the other side of the door, sounding a bit sicklier and unlike his normal, gravelly tone. "Lemme be sick in peace!"

"Rupty, it's me!" Chihiro shouted back. "Got a delivery for you!"

Silence met her for moments, but finally, another low grumble came from the other side.

"Come in."

Gently creaking the door open, Chihiro tip-toed inside. She'd taken extra caution, for she wasn't entirely certain that all the lava barf was cleared out yet.

Thankfully, it was. The room was as pristine as any other infirmary room, and even the sulfur smell she'd expected was completely absent; instead, it was replaced by the sterile scents of medicine and hospital material. Eruptor sat in a bed that was thankfully heat- and fire-proofed, but he didn't seem all that thankful for his lodgings. His lava veins seemed a little duller than normal, and he still had a half-dead look on his face, one accentuated by his firm pout.

"How're you feeling, Rupty?"

"What does you think?"

"Pretty bad, I'm guessing." Chihiro chuckled as she skipped over and deposited the magma crackers beside him. "I don't know if you're up for eating anything, but I thought I'd bring something that might be easy on the stomach."

Eruptor took a whiff of the crackers, gave them a side-eye, but finally reluctantly accepted the box. A quick squeeze of his hands popped it open, and also scattered magma crackers all across the bed. Couldn't win them all, Chihiro supposed. Eruptor gritted his teeth like he would explode, but he only let out an exasperated sigh as he gathered them up and tried to eat them.

"Thanks for the thought at least. It'd be nice to have something that won't make me hurl my guts out more than usual." Eruptor groaned as he shoveled a handful of magma crackers into his mouth. "I haven't been this queasy since when I lived underground! I wake up sick, go to bed sick, and all I can do is stare at the ceiling and watch the flies buzz while I try not to get even sicker than I already am! What happened to keeping this place clean, anyways? It's an infirmary! Why would there be bugs in an infirmary?" Having had his fill of magma crackers, Eruptor somehow knocked the box clean onto the bedside stand. "Ugh, this is worst than the last time I ate spicy food." Eruptor groaned as he tossed and turned in his bed. "Forget that, it's even worse than that!"

"I know, I know," Chihiro sympathized as she patted his back, "but hey, at least you've got company. When I got the flu when I was little, I had to stay home for a week, and the only ones I could talk to were my plushies! I got to get away from school, but then I had a ton of homework I had to catch up on! For however bad it is, at least you don't have to go to school anymore."

Eruptor seemed to get a chuckle out of this, and Chihiro laughed as well.

"Thanks, Chi. That did make me feel a little better."

"No problem, Rupty!"

With a snap of Chihiro's fingers, a few board games landed in the space on the bed between them.

"And since it's kinda boring, I figured I'd bring some games too! Don't worry, I made sure they were enchanted so the pieces would move by themselves, so you don't have to worry about being able to move them with no fingers!" Chihiro let out a chuckle as she levitated the boxes. "We've got Skyopoly, checkers, Not-So-Sorry, Get a Clue Already, Word-Descrambler 9000…"

Eruptor's eyes seem to bulge at all the choices, so Chihiro quickly snatched the checkers box from the air and banished the other boxes with a blink.

"Checkers it is!"

SNAP! The box opened in a flash, and the board magically unfolded as checkers lined themselves along the board. She thankfully also made sure to double-check that everything was heat-proofed to the nines, so they wouldn't have to worry about any emergency fires here, either!

"You wanna be red or black?"

"I'll take red."

And so, the war of checkers began! Chihiro grinned as her own black pieces skipped across the board, and bounced to and fro as Eruptor's red pieces claimed hers and vice versus. She admitted, she let him win just a little bit; she figured he could use a little pick-me-up. Granted, she also didn't pay too much attention between the small talk they made.

"Everyone's still pretty busy. Kaos doesn't take any sick days, unfortunately." Chihiro hopped a checker and sighed. "Sure wish he would, though."

"You and me both." Eruptor's own checker snatched the one Chihiro just moved.

"In fact, maybe the Ancients should take your stomachache and give it to Kaos! No, make it ten times worse and then give it to him! If he gets that sick, maybe we could finally actually clean up this whole mess!"

The two of them shared a chuckle, but as they laughed, Chihiro's own laughter rose with excitement! Her checkers were all lined up, and she had the perfect move. "Just like I finally got a triple jump in! My checkers now!" Chihiro quickly snatched her prizes and made the best smug grin. "How're you gonna top that?"

Eruptor scanned the board, and grinned as one of his pieces nudged… Right next to one of her kings! Dang it!

"And I've got your king! Checkmate!"

"Eruptor, that's chess, not checkers!"

"Then why do they call it checkmate if it's not something you say in checkers?"

Chihiro frowned and rubbed her chin. "I don't know, actually."

Eruptor managed a small laugh, and Chihiro grinned as warmth flooded the room. The veins in his body seemed to be a little brighter, a little toastier, and the light started to shimmer in his eyes once more. It was almost as if he'd started to recover just from a simple conversation. Well, she supposed friendship was the best medicine after all, so they carried on their game as the warmth and light of conversation filled the room.

§ The next day... §

Chihiro hummed a tune to herself as she skipped through the infirmary halls. A basket with another offering of magma crackers rested in her hand, and the faint flicker of the overhead lights accented her descent into the lengthy hallways. Though the walls around her were stark, Chihiro's imagination was vivid with excitement.

After all, she was sure Eruptor was going to get better soon, and once he did, it was back into the fields! She'd hoped he was better by now, at least. He seemed like he was recovering yesterday, and surely that meant he was almost clear to enter, right?

Chihiro skidded to a stop by Eruptor's infirmary door, which seemed to have an ominously warm glow. Maybe that was just the light playing tricks on her? Chihiro shrugged and tossed it open without a second thought.

"HEY RUPTY—"

"BLEGH!"

Chihiro let out a startled yelp as she jumped back, for the smell of sulfur filled the air! Eruptor laid hung-over the side of his bed, and retched into a lava-proofed bin as his magmatic veins flickered like the infirmary lights. He rolled back over in his seat as he finished, confirming Chihiro's suspicions about his state of health. He looked almost as bad as he did when he was first admitted; he was all dead-looking eyes, drool spilling from his mouth, and low groans as he shuddered uncomfortably in his seat.

Chihiro dropped her gift of magma crackers and teleported to Eruptor in a flash. "Eruptor! What happened to you?" Catching a whiff of the sulfur smell, Chihiro shuddered and covered her face with a magical face mask. "You look like you're about to erupt, and not in a good way! You looked just fine yesterday, too…"

"I'm just as stuck as you are, Chi," Eruptor groaned. He rolled on his side and then the other, and shuddered the whole time as he struggled to find some kind of balance or comfort. "I just woke up and my stomach started grumbling! I can't stand it! I'm sick of staring at the ceiling and laying in bed! I'm sick of the infirmary food! And I'm especially sick of those bugs! I've had to start burning them every time they buzz around because they keep buzzing in my ears!"

Chihiro cast a glance to the ceiling, where several singe marks she hadn't noticed before affirmed Eruptor's claims.

"If I see another skunk-raptor again, I'm burning them to smithereens! I'll cook them like they're a chicken dinner! I, I'll, ugh…"

Eruptor frantically flipped himself over, and Chihiro just barely jumped out of the way before he puked his guts out once more. His rage from earlier dampened, as he groaned and withdrew himself into the blankets. Yeah, Chihiro could probably guess how he ended up getting so sick again in the first place.

"I know how you feel, Rupty, but you should probably cool down a bit," Chihiro warned, drawing the blankets over him. "I'm pretty sure getting yourself all worked up like that isn't good for your stomach."

"What else am I supposed to do?" Eruptor pouted and crossed his arms. "I've been stuck here for days!"

Eruptor's veins crackled and flared like he was itching for a fit, but quickly dulled as he let out an exhausted groan. He slumped over on his pillows, and looked so much smaller as he buried himself in the blankets. A couple cold shudders emitted from him still as he entangled himself, and Chihiro sighed as she cast a glance aside. Most of the usual infirmary staff would be on patrols for another hour or so, and Master Eon and Hugo were pretty busy, so she supposed it was up to her to make him feel a little better.

"Anything I can do while I'm here, just to make things a little easier? Any snacks or drinks, fluffing some pillows, a little freshening up?"

"A little cleanup would be nice. This place smells terrible."

Chihiro grinned and snapped her fingers, donning a doctor's scrubs made of magic. "Just leave it to me! I'll have this place sparkling in no time!"

A few more snaps rang out and Chihiro's magic did its work! The bin magically changed itself out before Chihiro even had to glance at its contents, and magical gloves armed with cloths and mops scrubbed away any spittle that remained on the floors. Heck, some of them even cleaned the singe marks off the ceiling and chased off some stray flies with a bug swatter!

One hand floated by and offered Chihiro some scent vials. Chihiro perused them with a curious quirk of her brow; these were all the kind used to give rooms a quick refresh, and they had a nice variety of scents: vanilla, lavender, peppermint, ocean breeze…

"Any of these to your liking, Rupty?" Chihiro asked as she pushed the vials his way.

Eruptor turned on his side and groaned. "Just open up a window. Stuff that strong just gets me even sicker."

"Will do!"

Chihiro pawned the vials back off to the glove, skipped over to the window as it floated off to return them to their proper place, and yanked the window wide open!

The autumnal breeze flooded the room, banishing what remained of the sulfur scent. A couple of birds sang their tunes as they flitted past the open window; one even sat on the rim and gave Chihiro a curious chirp before it dashed away! Faint conversation layered over the birdsong as Chihiro took a glance outside, and she couldn't help but take in a breath. Something about it brought a little peace to her heart, and the gentle crackle of lava behind her showed Eruptor felt the same.

He'd managed to sit up, and for once that day, a gentle smile crossed his face as he took in the smells and sights. His lava veins brightened from both the beams of sunlight that gentle cascaded down, and the gentle sounds of birds and breezes rustling branches.

"Much better," Eruptor said, leaning back in his seat. "Something about the breeze up here always makes things easier."

Chihiro quirked a brow, and the faint memories of yesterday's conversations came back to her mind. She took a seat on a nearby chair as she moved her curious gaze in Eruptor's direction.

"That reminds me. Rupty, you said you used to live underground, right? What was life like down there?"

Eruptor's smile soured into a scoff. "Terrible. It was was too stuffy and hot, even for me! Imagine the biggest underground volcano community you know, but it's filled wall to wall with a bunch of angry lava monsters that completely heat the room every time they blow a fuse! It was way too crowded, too! You couldn't go a minute without bumping into someone or stepping on their foot!"

Eruptor's stomach growled a bit, but it seemed to settle as he took in a breath of autumn air.

"The neighbors were the worst part of it, though. They'd lose their minds over the tiniest things! Your lawn phoenix is crooked? The HOA would scream your ear off about it until it got fixed! You accidentally kick a rock or step on a creaky rock shaft, and someone flies off the handle because the noise bothered them!"

Heh, kinda sounds like you, Chihiro mentally chuckled.

"Once, some guy punched out my lights just because he decided I was breathing weird and he didn't like it!" Eruptor rolled his eyes. "I hope he landed in an ice pool when the volcano erupted. Glad I never have to see him again."

Chihiro winced and shook her head. For all his short-tempered moments, that was definitely not something Eruptor would do.

"Man, that place sounds awful! I don't blame you for moving."

"Oh, I didn't move. Not voluntarily, anyways." Eruptor scratched his head the best he could with no fingers. "The whole volcano erupted and everyone in there got forcibly evicted. I barely remember what happened, personally. Some fight broke out at a lava pool party, went from a regular fight to a full-blown riot, and the next thing I know, KABOOM!"

Eruptor let out a sigh as he snuggled into the blankets once more, but still spared a glance to the outside world. A flock of birds soared across the skies, probably migrating south for the colder seasons, and he gave them a chuckle.

"The volcano got so hot that it couldn't take it, and next thing I knew, I was on the surface, listening to the birds sing and smelling the fresh air. Heh, just like right now!"

Chihiro managed a chuckle of her own, and Eruptor joined in her laughter as his veins and stones warmed.

"You feeling any better, Rupty?" Chihiro asked. She paused and gently laid a hand against his forehead, noting the rising temperature. She supposed that was a good thing for a lava creature?

"I guess." Eruptor rolled over and tucked himself further underneath the blankets. "I'm just gonna try and sleep this stomachache off. Thanks for the help, Chi."

Eruptor stilled himself as his eyes closed, but a particularly loud snore confirmed he'd quickly fallen asleep. Huh, never would've guessed he was a quick sleeper, but maybe all the sickness tired him out.

Chihiro withdrew her hand, and gently patted his back as the flickers of a healing spell slipped from her fingertips. Most of the healing magic she used was more adept for battle wounds and curses than sickness, but she figured she could at least give him a little boost.

"No problem, Rupty. Feel better soon."

§ The day after that... §

The moment she finished sending out morning patrols, Chihiro hurried to the infirmary without a second thought. She figured Eruptor could use a friend after how awful he felt yesterday, or that hopefully, he might feel a little better now. Her footsteps pounded against the floor in a rhythm that became quite familiar to her over these past few days, and her heartbeat similarly chimed in tune.

She rounded the corner as she turned to where Eruptor's infirmary stay was, but when she arrived, she found the door wide-open and the room pristine and empty! Chihiro skidded to a stop as she peered inside, yet found not a trace of Eruptor remaining. Raising a brow, she craned her head around the halls.

"Chi?"

Chihiro let out a yelp as she turned around, but instead of empty halls, she found Eruptor right beside her with a questioning look!

"Eruptor! There you are!" Chihiro chirped. "I was just looking for you! You feeling any better now?"

"Yep!" Eruptor grinned and stretched out. "Just got dismissed and I'm back to burning again!"

Truthfully, he didn't need to tell her that; Chihiro could see from his face that he was fit as a fiddle! His rocky skin was back to its bright red flush, and his veins of magma burned and popped with a bright light as he radiated with heat. Whatever sickness he held long purged itself, and his bright smile only affirmed it! Somehow, a weight lifted from Chihiro's chest at the sight, a bit of relief as the memories of his infirmary stay grew fainter and smaller.

"In that case, I'm guessing you're all ready to kick some bad guy butt?"

"As long as there's no skunk-raptors involved!"

Chihiro and Eruptor both shared a laugh as they strode down the halls.

"Then we'd better get you on the next shift of patrols! Seems like Kaos's cronies are extra rowdy today, 'cause the Missionator's been going non-stop! We're down to just five beings for island duty because we keep getting emergency calls!"

Chihiro let out a small laugh as she skipped ahead, but a gentle brush of her shoulder turned her gaze to Eruptor. He gave her a smile once more, a small, genuine one, and gently patted her head.

"Oh, and, thanks for visiting while I was out sick."

Chihiro let out a chuckle as she gently patted Eruptor's back. "Of course! That's what friends are for!"