Nova asked as her brother led her through the forest.

“I’m pretty sure of it, yeah. Buhav Village should be up ahead.”

Tommy would say back.

Aki had asked the twins the previous day to come and meet her family.

“It’s a little weird that the path is just so rocky and hard to walk through, don’t you think?”

Nova asked.

“Yeah, possibly a little but-”

Tommy’s words were quickly stopped, as his foot stumbled onto a net that would lift up and encase him. 

“W-What the hell!? A trap!?”

Nova jumped back as Tommy got caught in it, but stumbled into another net herself.

“Dammit.”

She tried to break out of it by setting it on fire, but it was no use.

“Why is it FIREPROOF?? Who the hell makes fireproof nets??”

“Tommy, can you break out of yours?”

“You’re crazy if you think thick ropes like this will be broken by ice.”

Both the twins turned their heads to a maniacal laugh in the distance.

“Ahaha! I knew my traps would work!”

The laugh would belong to a dutchie of orange, gold and black color, that would correspond with his butterfly-like wings.

“Well, lucky for you, it did work. Mind letting us go now?”

Nova would ask, kicking at the net.

“Mmmm..not yet. I think I’ll have to bring you two to the village first.”

The figure would respond. Another dutchie of similar colors, but much more white leaning, hopped out of the bushes and gently poked at both the captured felines curiously.

“Oh yeah, 100%.”

He’d say, chuckling a little evilly.

Tommy wriggled about.

“This..doesn’t happen to be the same village that a dutchie by the name of Aki resides in, is it?”

The butterfly winged dutchie tilted his head, confused.

“Uh..yeah, why?”

Tommy shyly chuckled.

“Well..we came to see her, actually. She wanted us to meet her siblings.”

He gasped.

“Oh! Heck. Good thing you brought that up, because we are her siblings!”

He’d fly up and fiddle with the knot on Tommy’s net.

“I’m her youngest brother, Fiore. And the one over there with the weird white feathers is one of her older brothers, Pisces.”

“Hiya! You must be Aki’s friends that she talks so much about. Tommy and Nova, correct?”

They’d both nod their heads.

“Ah...haha. Sorry about that, we’ll let you two go. I’m sure you don’t want to be transported to the village in such an uncomfortable fashion.”

Pisces and Fiore untied the knots, releasing them both.

Fiore bounced a little excitedly, gesturing one of them to hop on his back.

“Yeah, we’ll give you a ride there. Come on!”

Both of them would guide Tommy and Nova to their village. It was settled at the base of the island’s practically extinct volcano, Mount Buhav. Aki and her siblings resided in this once abandoned village that was known for its historic significance, and it's hot springs that survive off the heat coming from the ground below. 

Two very familiar dutchies would appear before them as they approached the entrance.

“Welcome back Pisces, Fiore. I see you two have brought visitors!” the male dutchie spoke.

“Two very familiar visitors, may I add. It’s wonderful to see you again, Tommy! And you too, Nova!” spoke the female dutchie.

Nova chuckled, hopping off of Pisces and stretching her legs a bit. “Nice to see you too, Dulce! Same for you, Aspen.”

“Aki told us you were coming at some point. I see you met Pisces and Fiore already.” Aspen said, smiling at the twins and giving them both a hug.

“Yeah. Definitely not in a way we expected but, hey, at least the traps work.” Tommy would say, rubbing behind his head sheepishly.

Fiore nervously looked away. “Again...sorry about that..haha…”

“I’m sure you’ll see the others the more you look around. Though, if you’re hungry, you might want to go poke Rutabaga in his home over there. He makes very delicious sweets!” Dulce would suggest, pointing towards an old brown trailer that appeared to be run down from the outside.

“Or, well, I’m sure he’s there right now. Go check!”

The twins would curiously walk over to it and poke their heads into the doorway. The inside was much more polished up, with wooden structures holding up most of the trailer. All they would hear is humming, and the sound of whipped cream being sprayed out of its can and onto the colorful display in the bowl. The dutchie would notice them out of the corner of his eye.

“Ya know, if you’re going to be sneaky, you’ve got to do a much better job than that!” 

Tommy spoke up, coming into the trailer. “Sorry! We were both just curious to see what you were up to. Dulce told us to check you out for your sweets and stuff. You must be Rutabaga.”

“Talk about good timing too, it appears you’ve got a few ready.”

Nova would say, eyeing the plate of various cookies, macarons and puffins, as well as the big bowl filled with colorful ice cream scoops.

Rutabaga laughed wholeheartedly.

“The one and only! And yeah, take a few, I’d love to hear your thoughts.”

They both nodded and sat down, taste testing all of them. Nova held her hand on her cheek with a pretty big smile.

“Oh gosh, these all taste so good!”

Tommy took a few more of the cookies, enjoying how they tasted too.

“Especially the sugar cookies! But that might just be me since I’m biased..”

Rutabaga blushed but tried to hide it with his paws.

“Aw, thanks! I just really like making them, heh…”

Two other dutchies would peer their heads into the trailer. Rutabaga looked over at them and smiled. “Hi Aki! Hi Cedar!”

“Hello hello! Making more customers happy with your wonderful sweets, I see!” Cedar spoke.

Aki waved excitedly, and went over to hug both Tommy and Nova.

“I’m so glad you two could make it! I hope my brothers and sister have been treating you well.”

Nova chuckled. 

“Trust me, they have. ‘Specially this one with his absolutely wonderful delicacies!”

Tommy tried to count on his fingers.

“So far we’ve met Pisces, Fiore, Aspen, Dulce, Rutabaga...and I’m assuming you’re Cedar.” 

He’d say, looking over to the dutchie with a similar appearance to Aki.

“Yep! Nice to meet ya!”

Cedar winked, and finger snapped at the cat.

A hand would suddenly appear on Tommy’s shoulder. He looked down at it for a quick second; He’d freak out and fall off his chair, extremely spooked by the dutchie the hand belonged to.

Aki sighed and helped him up. 

“Phantom! What did I tell you about spooking my friends!?”

The glowing orange, black and white dutchie giggled.

“Aw, come on! It’s fun!”

She gave him a squint before looking back at the twins.

“You haven’t met Ganseki, Dragneel, or Steel yet, it seems. Ganseki I’m not too worried about since he’s more friendly than them, but...Dragneel and Steel can be a little...”

Aki stopped in her thoughts.

“I don’t want to say harsh but…”

“Hostile. Definitely hostile.”

Rutabaga said, trying to help her finish her sentence.

Cedar rubbed behind his head.

“Yeah. You two are pretty new here so I’m not sure how well they’ll take to you, compared to the rest of us. It’s very rare for them to get along with mortal creatures.”

Aki nodded.

“No stress though! I’m sure if we take a slow, gentle approach, they’ll warm up to you in no time.”

Both Aki and Cedar would take Tommy and Nova to the farthest side of the village, where the hot springs were at their warmest temperatures, and also where the three eldest brothers of the family resided. A green and orange furred dutchie dropped from the trees, landing with a strong punch into the ground and making it rumble beneath them. 

“Well well well! If it isn’t my lovely younger brother and sister.”

He looked over to the two felines, eyeing them both curiously.

“Hmm. New faces I have not seen around before. Who might you two be?”

Aki smiled and stepped forward.

“The one with blue eyes is Tommy , and the one with green eyes is Nova. They’re my friends.”

He’d bow respectfully, having one hand on his chest, and the other to shake both their hands.

“Aye...Well, it’s an honor for us to meet, I believe. But now, that sparks a curious question; how well can you fight?”

Nova scratched her head.

“I usually don’t fight unless I have to.”

Tommy looked away with nervous laughter.

“Like...in terms of… what, hand-to-hand combat or using something like a sword to fight with? Because I don’t think I’m good at either of those things.”

Ganseki squinted at Tommy.

“Is that..a lack of self-confidence, I hear?”

“I- WHAT, NO! Not at all!”

He responded in sheer panic. He knew had a severe lack of confidence in himself, but he definitely hated it when it was obvious.

“Oh nonono, my ears never lie! I can sense that coming right off of you, kitty. Y’know what? I think you’re in need of a sparring lesson from me later on!” 

Ganseki smirked.

Tommy sighed.

“Oh dear…”

The martial arts loving dutchie let out a laugh.

“But for now, you may pass. I’m sure you want to see Dragneel and Steel!”

“And see us for what?”

“Speak of the devil..” Ganseki whispered.

A charcoal dutchie with many horns on his head, as well as another dutchie with red and light yellow fur, approached them. They stared the twins down for a few seconds, resulting in them getting a shiver down their spines from the two’s intimidating presence.

“I assume these two are the mortals you’ve been talking about, Aki?”

Steel spoke.

Aki nodded.

“They are. Please just be nice for once?”

“I can sense a fiery spirit in this one.” 

Dragneel would say, looking into Nova’s eyes.

Nova looked away, trying to avoid making eye contact with him.

“I’m..not really sure what you mean by that.”

He’d give her a slight smirk.

“You must be a fire wielder, like me. What would you say to having a duel? I want to see your strength.”

Nova looked at Aki and Cedar with a nervous gulp, then glanced back at Dragneel.

“...I accept.”

Steel looked Tommy up and down, not breaking eye contact with the cat one bit.

“I’m sensing someone who’s more calm and collected, and is very passionate about anything he does.”

Tommy scratched his head with a slight smile.

“I’m not sure how you guessed that about me, but that’s very on the nose.”

“Dutchies can sense the emotions and auras of other creatures. Judging by your aura, you’re someone who likes to remain very unpredictable. Why don’t you show me your “unpredictability” in a duel as well?”

“I…”

He looked down at the ground, immersed in his thoughts for a quick minute.

“Ah jeez..I don’t know if I’ll be able to take him head on..but I’m not going to know if I don’t try. Besides, if I fail, I’ll just train with Ganseki like he wants.”

“Then again though? I did take on an entire group of villains..and a hypnotized teammate while also saving hundreds of people like a year ago, and succeeded….But that’s way different than fighting a powerful dragon..”

He looked up at Steel with a determined look.

“I don’t know if I’ll beat you, but I accept your challenge regardless.”

Aki threw her hands over her head, sighing.

“Well, this is going to be...interesting…I mean I definitely expected this from them both, honestly, but still though.”

Cedar let out a chuckle.

“I’m sure they won’t hurt them too bad, knowing they are your friends. If anything happens, we’ll be here to stop them.”

Ganseki raised his fist.

“I’m sure your friends will prevail, dear sister! And like Cedar said, we’re their backup if anything goes wrong. You’ve got nothing to worry about!”

Aki gently smiled at them both.

“Alright. If you both say so.”