After almost a week, the Shane Gang had adjusted to a relatively new normal.
They did have to fix their sleeping schedule eventually. Their leave of absence drew to a close, just when the slingers were realizing that without slinging, it was quite easy to get bored of hanging around the hideout.
Luckily, there would always be plenty of things to do around the 99 Caverns, with Blakk or without him. There were plenty of wild ghouls running around terrorizing local slug populations, and while some criminals were desperately trying to lay low after their boss failed, others were trying to seize the opportunity to be the 99 Caverns' next big bad.
One particularly long day was spent in Deaddrop Cavern. The Shane Gang chased and collected ghouls around for hours at a time while trying to avoid the cavern's many perilous drops into pits of stalagmites. Alana and Trixie had been a team, battling against the boys to try to cure the most ghouls in an attempt to make the grueling day a little more fun (it took the boys until the end of the day to realize that even though the girls had less people, they had both Alana and Mage, which gave them a significant advantage).
The gang had taken some time to actually socialize with some of the ghouls they cured, and they all were walking away with at least one more slug. Alana had collected a Diggrix herself after she'd cured her and the slug refused to leave her side.
It took until the gang was heading out, though, for Trixie to suddenly exclaim, "Hey wait! Everyone listen up!"
Everyone paused in their efforts to mount up and ride back to Wild Spores. Alana was already slumped over on Midnight, tiredly petting Mage, who was fast asleep in one of her hands. The two were justifiably exhausted; as was Doc, who was dozing off on Eli's shoulder next to Burpy.
"Okay, okay, we get it, you won," Kord groaned, hopping up on his mecha. He'd been able to ditch his crutches yesterday, and seemed to be savoring every minute of freedom. "Gloating rights are gonna end pretty soon-"
"No, not that," Trixie said. "Well, yes, we kicked your butts. But that's not what I was talking about. We have a change of plans tomorrow, we aren't doing the ghoul hunt in High Plains."
"Why not? Is everything okay out there?" Eli asked, starting Lucky and leading the gang carefully toward Deaddrop's exit.
"Everything's fine, don't worry," Trixie promised. "I checked in with Brodie and she's more than happy to lead a group of hunters. We'll just need to stop by with Doc, Mage, and Alana to cure them at some point. We have other plans for tomorrow."
"Which are?" Eli prompted. But Trixie shook her head.
"It's a surprise. I'm doing the prep and packing, you guys just need to get up when I get you up and do what I say," Trixie said simply. "I've got it covered."
"What are you up to?" Alana asked. "Since I'm the reason we won, will you tell me?"
"Nope!" Trixie said cheerfully. "You'll have to wait with the others."
"Boo," Alana called as Trixie sped ahead, leading the gang through the tunnel exiting Deaddrop. Alana rode up to Eli. "Do you know what she's doing?"
"Not a clue," he said. "But it sounds like she has it covered."
"It better not be more work than the ghoul hunt would have been!" Pronto complained. "Pronto is getting plenty of exercise in chasing those nasty beasts all around Slugterra!"
"I doubt it," Kord said. "We're just getting back into things. I'm sure it'll be fine."
"And if it's not," Eli said, raising his voice so Trixie could hear, "I mean, it's four to one, so we can take her."
"Ha! You wish!" Trixie called back. "But it'll be fine, I promise. I am not ready for any more big fights."
"That makes two of us," Alana said, leaning back and buckling herself into her mecha's seat. "I've healed enough slugs today, I'm taking a nap. Someone link up their mecha to Midnight and don't drive me off a cliff."
~~~~~~~~
Luckily Alana was not driven off a cliff, and made it home in one piece to be gently shaken away by Eli. She did, however, trudge straight into the shower and into bed.
Her energy was depleted after such a long day that involved helping cure so many ghouls, but Alana still felt better than she had in months. There were still ghouls lurking around the caverns, but no more were being made. Every day she and the gang went out to hunt down more ghouls was a day closer to finally having the old 99 Caverns back.
Well, Alana thought vaguely as she turned in her bed and looked over at the back of her door, which was decorated with miscellaneous photos taped up, Maybe not exactly the old 99.
In the middle of the mass of pictures of her slugs, the gang, or a couple of her wanted posters from back when the gang first started fighting Blakk, were a few of her old pictures with Will.
She sighed and pulled her hands out from under her covers. Small cuts, almost completely healed, still littered her fingertips from where she'd been desperately pulling at the vines from Dana's Briardrill.
All it had taken was Dana taunting Alana with Will for power to surge through Alana's body. Rage had enabled her to break free of the Briardrill like it was nothing. She could talk to Eli about his own behaviors regarding Will, but she knew she needed work too. Especially when, for the first time in years, a spark of hope was igniting that perhaps he was still alive.
She had the essence of Slugterra's lifeforce at her fingertips. But she'd never felt out of control, even in her most vulnerable moments. Now that Blakk was gone, she had to start working to keep it that way. Alana would be able to devote time into perfecting her grasp on her abilities. Whatever came next, whether it was searching for answers about Will or facing whatever evil emerged in Slugterra, she felt she would need whatever advantages she could get.
Ash chirped loudly from her pillow, causing Alana to jump slightly. The Infurnus was curled up next to Mage, who was still sound asleep from the ghoul hunt. He pointedly flopped his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes, before opening at them and staring at Alana, as if to see if his slinger had gotten the message.
Alana laughed softly and settled back into bed, pulling her covers up and resting her head next to the two slugs.
"Yeah, yeah," she said quietly. "I know. I'm not very tired anymore though, I probably shouldn't have napped on the way home. And I'm too excited for whatever Trixie has planned for tomorrow."
Ash temporarily raised his head and chirped before laying back down. From a shelf over Alana's bed (which sported miscellaneous things for her slugs to sleep in, like socks and fabrics and for some reason a soda can that her Thresher loved), her Slyren popped up. He squeaked and pointed at himself excitedly.
"Aw, okay. Thanks, bud," Alana said, smiling and closing her eyes.
A soft Slyren song filled the room. The notes seemed to settle straight into Alana's heart, and their soothing melody seeped through her mind. Her limbs went limp and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.
~~~~~~~~
One of the best parts of having a Slyren was the wonderfully peaceful sleep. Alana refused to sleep to Slyren's songs every night, because it wasn't fair to her or the slug. Nightly singing would surely exhaust him, and Alana feared becoming dependent on the songs to sleep. But on the rare occasions when Alana folded and let herself be lulled to sleep, it was always the best rest she'd had in a while.
The next morning, this was true so much that when Alana woke up, it wasn't by an alarm or by someone calling her name. Instead, she woke up on her own, greeted by soft morning Lumino light drifting in from the window. She didn't feel groggy or tired, but well-rested.
She sighed and carefully sat up, making sure to not disturb Ash and Mage, who were still both asleep. Alana quietly changed out of her pajamas into her black pants and blue shirt before heading downstairs. The hideout was quiet, still in the morning lull when most of the gang was asleep. The only exception was Trixie, who was closing the lid of what looked like a small cooler sitting on the kitchen countertop.
"Good morning," Alana said, walking past Trixie and grabbing an apple from a bowl on top of the fridge. "What are you packing?"
"None of your business," Trixie replied teasingly, picking up the cooler and heading for the garage. "Perfect timing, though, I was about to start waking you guys up. How'd you sleep?"
"Like a rock," Alana replied, following Trixie to the garage. "Needed a Slyren though. Anything I can help with?"
"Nope!" Trixie said, setting the cooler onto the back of Kord's mecha. Alana noted that all the other mechas had small bags on them as well, but she couldn't tell what was inside. "That was the last of the prep work. Now we just need everyone awake and we can head out!"
Alana shrugged and headed back into the hideout.
"Alright, you're the boss today," she said. "I'll go start waking everyone up."
She headed back upstairs and walked down the hall, knocking on the boys' doors as she passed.
"Rise and shine everyone!" Alana called. "Time to go... do whatever Trixie has planned for us! I don't know if we have, like, a deadline or anything, so I'd get up and around. Otherwise Trixie will be the one getting you out of bed and I'm sure that'll involve her using Bluster."
That comment resulted in Eli, Kord, and Pronto being dressed and waiting in the living area less than two minutes later, even if they were still rubbing sleep from their eyes.
"So Trix, are you gonna tell us where we're going yet?" Kord yawned, stretching.
"No, you can wait until we get there," Trixie said, leading the gang to their mechas. "No peeking in the bags I packed! That'll spoil it. Although I think you guys will realize eventually when we get close."
"Pronto will surely be the first to figure it out," Pronto promised, leaping up onto his mecha. "You cannot fool the greatest tracker in Slugterra!"
"I'm sure you will," Trixie assured, climbing onto her mecha. "But when you figure it out, don't say anything, okay?"
"You have Pronto's word," Pronto promised, holding up his right hand. Trixie laughed and rolled her eyes, leading the gang out of the garage. "I will gladly enjoy watching everyone else's confusion!"
Alana scoffed and shook her head.
"You're enabling him," she called up to Trixie, who simply shrugged. Alana hung back and rode in line with Eli and Kord, letting Trixie excitedly lead the Shane Gang out of Wild Spores. "How're you two doing? Sleep okay?"
"Well," Kord laughed nervously.
"The little bit of sleep we got was okay," Eli finished.
"Let me guess. Slug Kart?" Alana asked, raising an eyebrow. Eli and Kord's faces answered the question. "Really?"
"Hey, we're pretty booked up with ghoul roundups for a bit," Kord said defensively. "We gotta be on top of things whenever we get the time."
"We can't stop the grind, Alana," Eli said matter-of-factly. "Not all of us sleep like the dead."
"Hey, that's just because I healed a lot of ghouls yesterday," Alana reminded, gesturing down to her bandoleer, where her new Diggrix sat. "You two'll be eating your words once I'm not working so hard."
"Sure, sure," Eli teased. "You're out of practice. Energy superpowers can only get you so far!"
"Wanna bet?" Alana asked, reaching out her hand, which suddenly sparked to life with blue energy. Eli's eyes widened and he swerved out of Alana's path, laughing and speeding forward, weaving around Pronto. "Come on, coward! You were talking big, let's go!"
"No I'm good actually!" Eli called, riding up to Trixie, who watched amusedly, but let him hide behind her regardless.
"I'm only protecting you because we have plans," Trixie noted. "Just to make that clear. Once our thing is done today, you're on your own."
"I can make do with that," Eli decided.
Alana rolled her eyes, but her smile betrayed her happiness. Even in the weeks leading up to the final battle against Doctor Blakk, the gang had never lost their positive attitudes. Maybe it was because they were young, maybe because it was their confidence that they would succeed. Alana had never voiced her concerns, but even for her, keeping positive in those times had felt fake.
It had been hard with the ever-growing dark energy of Slugterra constantly in the back of her mind. It was a constant reminder of what was at stake. But now, her joy was genuine. She hadn't even realized how tense and wound up she'd been until missions had been less "frantically try to keep civilians from being killed by Dark Bane" and more "make rounding up all these ghouls into a fun game."
This had been what she'd been missing, and for a long time.
So she let herself sit back and enjoy the mecha ride, which ended up being around an hour and a half. Eventually she called a ceasefire with Eli, and the gang peacefully played a ridiculously long game of I Spy, followed by a near miss with death after asking Trixie one too many times if they were there yet.
Eventually, Pronto let out a gasp and exclaimed that he did, in fact, know where they were going. He rode up to Trixie and whispered his guess, and she confirmed it. It took Eli, Kord, and Alana until they reached their destination cavern to realize.
"Undertow?" Alana asked, looking around at the palm trees and winding sandy paths around them. "What, are we chasing pirates again?"
"No, thank goodness," Trixie said. "This is a more remote area. No pirates to worry about."
"Then what are we doin'?" Kord asked. "From what we could tell, there weren't many ghouls here."
"Correct. So I thought now would be the perfect time for..."
Trixie finally slowed to a stop, leading the gang down a narrow, sandy path surrounded on both sides by vibrant pink flowers. The path opened up into a small, secluded beach. Clear blue water gently lapped at the shore, and there was no one else in sight.
"A beach day! Tada!" Trixie exclaimed, hopping off her mecha. The rest of the gang followed suit. "We've been working our tails off, so I thought we could use a day trip. And besides, I owed Alana a trip to the beach."
Alana's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered a conversation she'd had with Trixie after the gang's run-in with the Game Master. It felt like a lifetime ago.
Alana was hugging Trixie tightly, tears rolling down her cheeks. The Game Master's 'challenge' still rocked her to her core - tempting her to stay in his simulation, living in a false reality in the Western Caverns, able to have fun with the family she would never know.
"You know, when all this stuff with Blakk is over, the five of us should take a day off. Go to Undertow, enjoy the beaches," Alana had said, overrun with the need to relive that peace.
Trixie had smiled warmly up at her and nodded.
"You can bet on it."
Alana hadn't thought about that conversation since it happened. She certainly thought of the Game Master's simulations, and the few wonderful moments she'd been able to spend with her family in Cay Cavern, even if it hadn't been real. But she certainly hadn't expected Trixie to remember what she'd said, let alone follow through on the promise after things had gotten so chaotic.
"I... thanks," Alana managed, unsure how to express how touched she was. "I didn't think you'd actually..."
"Of course I would," Trixie said, hugging Alana. "We all deserve some time to enjoy things again, and I'm a girl of my word."
"I am not swimming," Kord deadpanned. "But... I am going to build the best sand castle known to Slugterrans!"
"And Pronto will be burrowed into the sand all day long!" Pronto exclaimed. "His luxurious coat is in need of it!"
"This is great, Trix. Thanks," Eli said. He picked up the bag that had been packed on his mecha. "I assume these have our swimsuits?"
Trixie nodded, picking up her own bag.
"Yep - swimsuits, towels, buckets for Kord to build a sand empire, with, I don't know, probably functional mecha beasts. And the cooler has lunch and snacks for days," she added. "We're all set. Brodie said she's got the High Plains ghoul hunt all under control. We can head over tomorrow to cure them. For today, though, we are off the radar."
~~~~~~~~
"Are you sure you don't want to go snorkeling with us, Kord?" Eli asked. He, Trixie, and Alana were all in their swimsuits and sporting masks and snorkels. Eli had his teal swim trunks, Trixie had a bright green two-piece, and Alana was sporting a one-piece of her favorite light blue. Kord was wearing black swim trunks, but was a good distance from the water, currently constructing what appeared to be a sand replica of the Western Beast Forge.
"I would rather eat a ghouled Flatulorhinkus," Kord said. "I can't believe you're willingly going out."
"It's too shallow here for sharks," Trixie said.
"There is perfectly good sand up here!" Pronto exclaimed from nearby, where only his head was sticking up from a small sand dune he'd dug himself. "And you want to go in the water with who knows what swimming around in there. Humans, I tell you!"
Kord nodded somberly. Alana laughed and shrugged.
"Okay, your loss. Some of the slugs are staying with you guys," she said, nodding over to where the cooler was sitting. A handful of slugs were playing in the sand and eating snacks, including Burpy and Ash, who had been spitting out flames to make glass sculptures. "Don't let them burn down the palm trees or something."
"No promises. Pronto is not moving," Pronto said, snuggling down farther into the sand.
"Noted," Eli said, walking down the beach with Trixie and Alana. "Uh, not that I'm worried or anything, but is it actually too shallow for sharks?"
"Yes, don't worry," Trixie assured, stepping into the water and pulling her mask down. "I figured it would be nice to not worry about getting eaten?"
"You figured correctly," Alana confirmed. She pulled her mask down and let herself fall backwards into the water, splashing into the crystal clear water. "I'd like to not get eaten."
The three slingers swam out to where the sand gave way to a small coral reef. Stray Aquabeeks dashed around among brightly colored, slightly bioluminescent fish. Soft anemones swayed in the gentle current. Small shells littered the seafloor, some empty, some inhabited by small purple hermit crabs.
Alana let herself drift along after Trixie and Eli, gazing down peacefully at the beautiful scenery. She relaxed as much as she could without interrupting her floating, letting her senses spread out. As Trixie had said, Alana hadn't felt the presence of a single ghoul the entire day. It was nice to feel around the entire cavern and, for the first time in a while, feel no chills from ghouls.
She could feel the small school of Aquabeeks dashing around Eli, who was blowing bubbles for them to happily pop and swim amongst. She could tell there were more slugs deeper down, probably Jellyish, or maybe even some Bubbaleones- sometimes they would leave their cooler waters.
Then, like a small bolt of lightning, Alana felt something... else.
She darted upright, raising her head out of the water and pulling down her mask to look around. But there was nothing nearby. Only the beach, where Kord and Pronto still were, and perhaps in the very distance, some kind of island, barely visible. Nothing that seemed responsible for the feeling.
It wasn't dark energy, she knew that much. It was also different from what she was feeling around her with the wild slugs darting around. It was stronger, and it was definitely far away. And just as quickly as she felt it, it was gone.
Eli and Trixie uprighted themselves as well, pulling down their masks and looking at Alana with concern.
"What's wrong? Are there ghouls?" Eli asked, turning around in the water to assess their surroundings.
"No, no," Alana assured, taking one last glance around. "It was... something? It felt like a lot of energy in one small place. And it felt familiar. I don't know."
"But it wasn't dark energy?" Trixie confirmed.
"No, it wasn't. It was light energy. The closest thing I can think of is maybe the Lightwell? But it wasn't free energy. I don't know," Alana said, rubbing her head. "I mean, as long as it's not dark energy, it isn't really a problem. It just caught me off guard is all."
"I mean, maybe it makes sense. The energy of the caverns is probably starting to settle back in after being under attack," Trixie suggested. "Things might be shifting around a little bit."
Alana nodded, pulling her mask back up.
"Yeah, that makes as much sense as anything," she admitted. "For real, as long as it's not ghouls, I could not care less right now. Sorry for the scare."
"It's okay," Trixie assured, at the same time Eli teasingly said "Always something with you."
"Big talk, Shane," Alana replied, grinning and sinking down a bit in the water, her eyes flashing blue before she dove down and, arms glowing light blue as strength surged through them, yanked Eli down by his ankle just as he pulled his mask back up.
Eli grinned and pulled away, still underwater. He grabbed his blaster- because no matter how few ghouls were out there, some habits would never die off- and fired his Aquabeek right at Alana. She shouted, releasing some bubbles, as the slug shot a jet of water right at her stomach, sending her flying up and out of the water.
She laughed as her ascent stopped about twenty feet up, waving to an appalled Kord before cannonballing back down into the water. Eli and Trixie laughed when Alana surfaced, spitting out water.
"It's on," Alana laughed, loading up her own Aquabeek, Blue. "Ocean duel!"
"Wait, wait, hold on," Eli said, quickly dipping back under the water for a moment. When he resurfaced, so did several of the wild Aquabeeks, who swam over to Eli, Alana, or Trixie. "There we go, plenty of ammo! They want in on the fun. I wouldn't recommend using the accelerators for them, though, I'm not sure if now is the time to be megamorphing wild slugs."
"I'm fine with that. They might not be able to handle megamorphing," Alana said, smirking and raising her blaster. "But they can definitely handle some energy boosts."
"Can I be on your team?" Trixie asked quickly, swimming over to Alana.
"Hey, no fair-" Eli began to exclaim, but was quickly interrupted by Alana firing Blue, who dove down into the water before flying back up, a large wave following after him that crashed into Eli.
Trixie snickered and fist bumped Alana. The two took a second to laugh at Eli when he surfaced from the sea, sputtering water, before reloading their blasters.
~~~~~~~~
"You three are ridiculous," Pronto noted when the slingers finally returned to the shore, drenched and exhausted from their sudden water battle. One of the Aquabeeks had decided to stay with Trixie, and hopped down from her shoulder to join the other slugs, who were now milling about Kord's sand empire.
"I think that was time well spent," Alana gasped, laying out a towel and promptly collapsing down on it facefirst.
"Agreed, even though you cheated," Eli replied, doing the same and laying down next to her.
"Did not. It's a natural advantage. All you said was no megamorphing," Alana mumbled into her towel.
"Yeah, well I thought not boosting literally every shot you make was an assumed rule."
"Your fault for assuming," Trixie laughed, grabbing her camera to film Kord's handiwork.
"Thank you, Trixie," Alana laughed, finally rolling face-up to stick her tongue out at Eli.
The Lumino light was slowly darkening, softening the hues of the sand and sea. Alana sat up and took a deep breath, looking around.
She could almost imagine this was Cay Cavern. Her mom and dad would be sitting in the sand next to her, along with the other Paladins. Ray, and maybe even other friends Alana would have made in the Western Caverns, would be with her. For a moment, she let her heart ache for what could have been.
Then she turned around and looked at what was.
Trixie laughed as she carefully walked around Kord's sand sculptures, filming the different structures he'd built and commenting about how you just couldn't take him anywhere without him feeling the need to create something.
Kord himself was standing back proudly, his tattooed arms crossed over his chest. He certainly wasn't one to want to spend the day at the beach, but he hadn't complained one bit, and had found something he could do that was a safe distance from the water.
Pronto was just now emerging from his sand haven, shaking himself off. For all his delusions of grandeur and lack of tact in the field, he created a much-needed sense of fun and humor in the gang. And regardless of the teasing he got from the gang, everyone knew he was a lot more knowledgeable than he typically let on.
And then...
Eli was watching Burpy and his other slugs play in the sand, a relaxed smile on his face. He may have taken the Drop a while ago, but this was what Alana had been waiting for, for nearly five years. The chance to explore and enjoy Slugterra with the friend she had made over the years through Will's letters.
Alana would always wish things had gone differently in the West. She would always wish she could grow up with her family, grow to become a protector of her own home. But she also knew that everything terrible that had happened had led up to where she was now, with her best friends, in caverns she loved and would always protect.
"Hey, I- I love you guys," Alana managed, looking up at Trixie. "Thanks for pulling this together."
"Aw, we love you too," Trixie smiled, sitting next to Alana and hugging her. "And no problem. I'm glad we could do something fun."
"Yeah, we've got your back. We don't need a psycho with a deadly game to get us before thinking about going out," Eli laughed. "We'll try to do this more often."
Alana nodded, relaxing and looking out at the glittering blue ocean.
She still had plenty of things in the back of her mind. Dana's whereabouts, and whether or not she would continue to be an enemy of the Shane Gang without Doctor Blakk. The possibility of Will being alive, and the much more concerning possibility that he was in the Deep Caverns. The fate of the West, which was still unknown to her, including where the realm's frightening conqueror went. Her energy, and how it would develop unchecked without someone to guide her.
There was a lot. A slinger's work was never done. Especially not when their bandoleer brandished the Shane star.
But it would be okay.
Alana knew that for sure.
~~~~~~~~
that's a wrap on tbtl, folks
thanks to whoever's still reading this. it makes me happy to see this part of alana's story finally have some closure. as of now i am still planning on continuing, although i will be taking a break to figure out my next steps
you should hop in me and ally's slugterra discord if you are 15 or over, link in my profile's announcement page!
votes and comments are much appreciated!
cyan out!