[color=yellow]"We're that close to Occurro?!"[/color] Sunny hollered, her jaw dropped -- and she burst into a laugh. [color=yellow]"This must be it! Laphi! There's something here we need on our way to Whistlehowl! We made it, and we didn't even know it!"[/color] She laughed again and leaped up onto the porch, exhilarated by the knowledge that pure fate had brought them where they needed to go, and had the star-map spread out between her hands. They could cross off another point -- if only they could determine what, exactly, they were supposed to collect. She sat down with a flop and frowned at the crinkled map. [color=yellow]"Maybe this walking house is supposed to be our new transport. But it's broken, and really too big for the roads, and Nyte said it wasn't even balanced right to begin with. Sounds like more trouble than it's worth, ya think? I dunno anything about making a house walk."[/color] Maybe if it was a [i]flying[/i] house she'd have a very different opinion, but she wasn't thrilled about running around knocking down trees and other people's houses. She smirked at the thought.

She raised her head and glanced back -- Nyte hadn't returned yet from wherever she'd disappeared to -- then leaned closer to Laphi to whisper: [color=yellow]"She obviously likes you 'cause she knows all the cat puns!"[/color] She gave him a grin and a wink just as Nyte returned, glinting, with a resounding strike and ring of new armor. The sunlight brightened against her; she looked almost like she was glowing.

[color=yellow]"Whoa, Nyte! You're shiny!"[/color] Sunny hopped to her feet and jammed the map in her pocket again. [color=yellow]"C'mon, let's eat! Either of you good at cooking?"[/color]

Together they could rummage through the stores in the ruined house to discover the hidden food supplies. Sunny threw some of the broken pieces of furniture into the stove and set them alight; after a pan was found among the wreckage, and some butter among the food stores, soon a nice meal was frying and sizzling over the fire. A blanket was spread on the tilted floor, two unbroken bowls found, and soon Sunny and Laphi each had a heaping, fresh hot lunch of salted fish and potatoes and carrots.

[color=yellow]"I'm after the Whistlehowl Star,"[/color] Sunny explained to Nyte over lunch. She produced the crumpled star-map and handed it to the knight. [color=yellow]"The brightest star in the sky and the biggest legend in history. We're gonna find it, and we're gonna be an even bigger legend than Whistlehowl ever was. But to get there, we have to follow Shambler's Dragon -- the stars in the constellation are points on the map. The first point was where Laphi and I met, and we found that map. The second is right here where we are now. So after this, we're on our way to Rymoln Wood."[/color] Her grin turned smug. [color=yellow]"[i]You[/i] should come with us!"[/color]