Kipo didn't know what to make of her surroundings. When she first looked over them, from the cave, it didn't look like there was anything off, but now that she was walking through it...

The fields around were large, stretching out to the edges of the valley the fields were set in. There was nothing wrong with them, in fact, they looked like they were thriving. Which is perhaps why they were so odd.

In Kipo's old burrow, and even outside of it, they had fields, and Kipo knew just from experience how much work and effort were put into maintaining them. Fields that were this big took a lot of effort, and usually had at least two to three people tending to them at one time. But these fields were empty, barren.

Tulip seemed to notice Kipo's troubled look. She followed her gaze out to the sea of green. "They just grow like that."

Kipo's head snapped over to her. "They just... grow like that? All in perfect straight rows without any weeds."

Tulip nodded, and Kipo frowned, troubled. "I don't-how is that possible?!"

"I don't know," Tulip told her. "None of us can figure it out, they just do. You probably shouldn't think to much about it. I mean, I met non-talking, anthropomorphic crystals once, so I think it'll be smart to suspend your disbelief."

Kipo blinked. 'Isn't that what you'd usually say about a movie?' she thought, but she tried to take the advice to heart.

They were almost to the town now, which was probably bothering Kipo more than the fields were. This town looked big, certainly big enough to both need the big fields and large enough to take care of them. But there wasn't a person in sight. This town was the type to look big enough that it would be busy and bustling, but it was strangely still. With every step, Kipo felt her nervousness mounting.

Finally, something moved. As the two of the drew up to the town, the closest house to them opened its door, and to Kipo's surprise, the head of a girl, probably the same age as Kipo and Tulip, popped out. Her eyes met with Kipo's, and she tilted her head curiously. Tulip and Kipo paused as she hurried over to them.

"Kipo!" the girl yelled out, and Kipo jumped, blinking at her in surprise. "You're Kipo, right?!"

"Huh?" Kipo asked. "Uh... yes??"

"Perfect," the girl finally reached them, doubling over and breathing heavily. "Good. Adam's waiting for you in the library."

Kipo's eyes widened. "Adam? He's ok?! And he's here?"

The girl was still heaving. "Y-Yeah... he told us to keep an eye out for Kipo, who is pink, and therefore very noticeable." Finally catching her breath, the girl drew up, flashing Kipo a smile. She had tan skin, and long black hair with black streaks on her bangs. She looked pretty cool, Kipo thought. "Wasn't too hard to make the connection."

Kipo blinked, glancing over to Tulip, who put up her hands.

"I know, I know," she said, sounding guilty. "I, uh... didn't know how to bring it up? Sorry, I wasn't sure if you were the right Kipo or not..."

"She's pink," Mira snickered.

"I know, I know..." Tulip sighed. "Feel free to mock me."

"I will," Mira assured her. She looked over to Kipo once again. "But he mentioned another person, too. Um... Wirt?"

As quickly as it came, Kipo's high spirits fell. She remembered the vision the crystal showed her. "I... I think the bone dragons still have him," Kipo said sorrowfully. Tulip and Mira gave her a pitying look, but Kipo shook herself out. She really didn't have the time for this. "Er... where's Adam again?"

Luckily, the girls told her quickly and Kipo was on her way, speed walking through the town. She tried not to get too distracted by her surroundings, but, really, how could she not? Kipo felt herself looking around the odd little place almost constantly.

It really was a weird place. Every place Kipo would expect to see people, it was strangely empty. There was a long road that was probably used for markets or something like that, but there was no one there. There was a statue, probably in the middle of the town, shaped like a very tall tree, though not nearly as tall as the trees in the forest. But it was also empty. Eventually, Kipo passed a well, but, once again, there was no one in sight.

But it wouldn't be fair to say she didn't see anyone. There was a guy with red hair fiddling with something mechanical in front of a house. He didn't look up as Kipo went by, and Kipo didn't want to bother him, so she hurried along. Then she passed two more people, a boy and a girl with similar light brown hair and faces. They were probably twins. When Kipo waved at them, the boy did a double take, but the girl gleefully waved back. Kipo moved on, and a short distance she saw a boy with dark brown hair that stuck up into the air reading a book. When he looked up, Kipo waved to him, and after a second of surprise, he hesitantly waved back.

So, it's not like there's not any people here, Kipo thought to herself. It's just that there's no way this amount of people should be in a town this big. And everyone looked like a kid, too, what was with that? The mystery deepens.

Eventually, Kipo reached the library, and she didn't waste any time climbing up the steps and pushing open the double doors. Was Adam really here? It sounded too good to be true.

And yet, as the doors opened up to reveal the room behind them, there he was: sitting at one of the long tables and reading a book. He didn't immediately look up, but when he did, his book dropped to the floor.

"Kipo!" he cried. "You're alright!"

"You're alright!" Kipo yelled back, and she ran forward to give Adam a hug, who replicated it tightly. They stayed like that for a few seconds, before Adam finally stepped back, looking around.

"Hey... is Wirt here, too?" Adam asked, but he sounded like he already knew the answer.

Kipo stepped back. That feeling was back, the feeling of panicked urgency and fear. "I... don't know where he is. I think the bone dragons still have him... wait!"

Adam started, surprised.

"Bipo!" Kipo cried. "Is Bipo here?"

Kipo looked around Adam, as if Bipo was hiding somewhere in the library, and Adam was hiding them.

A certain look crossed Adam's face, but Kipo couldn't see it clearly enough to decipher it.

"Bipo... I think they're still in the forest," Adam told her. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but Kipo jumped in first.

"While it was flooding?!" Kipo was trying to keep her voice steady, but she didn't think she was doing too well. What if Bipo was hurt? Or worse? Kipo had no clue where the forest was from here, or how long it'd been since that time when the four of them had been ambushed. How long had Adam been here?

"I'm sure Bipo is fine," Adam told her firmly. "It's just like you said, right? They've got good survival skills, or something like that."

Kipo blinked. "Something like that..." she repeated, even though she knew the survival skills she was thinking of were much different from the ones Adam might have assumed. She wasn't reassured at all. "...I think we should go find them. Just in case."

Adam's expression hardened. "I'm... not sure about that."

"Huh?" Kipo backed away, frowning at him. "Why not?"

Adam hesitated, his eyes flickering to the book on the table and then back to the girl in front of him. He should probably tell her what he'd found about the bone dragons, but he suspected that she already knew about it. And, worse, she knew why she'd lied about it: because she suspected that Adam wouldn't trust Bipo anymore.

Well, she wasn't completely wrong about that. At least ONE of them needed to be cautious of that thing.

"Because I think Wirt's in more danger right now," Adam said. It wasn't a complete lie. "We have to worry about him first. Bipo will be fine."

Adam watched as Kipo thought about that, before she slowly nodded. "Yeah... yeah, you're right. But how are we going to find him? The bone dragons usually come to us, but there's no telling when that will happen."

'Probably sooner than we think,' Adam thought grimly, remembering what he'd read. "That's true, but we'll have to wait anyway."

"We can't find the bone dragons ourselves?" Kipo asked, sounding troubled. "But it might take a while for them to find us, and what about everyone else in this town? I don't want them to get hurt."

"If we can get prepared for this ahead of time, then we don't have to worry about that," Adam told her. He'd already thought this through. A lot. "We can reinforce the town and get it ready for them."

Kipo still looked hesitant. "Are you sure that'll work?"

"It'll have to," Adam made sure his voice was solid, despite the fact that he wasn't actually sure.

Kipo paused, thinking that over, and then she replied back, just as resolute: "Alright. Then we should get started right away. We need to start gathering materials."

Adam nodded to doors behind her. "You go on ahead," he told her, and when Kipo gave him a questioning look, he shrugged it off. "I'm trying to research the bone dragons. Find out anything I can about them."

"Oh," Kipo's voice sounded off. "Have you found anything yet?"

Adam felt his mouth grow dry. He knew exactly what she was wondering about, and this might be a good time to admit that he knew what she was hiding and why she did it, and reveal that he understood and while he wasn't happy about it, he wasn't angry either. But in turn, he had to admit he didn't trust Bipo, and Adam didn't want to start a debate. Not right now, at least.

"Not much," Adam lied. "Only that they're practically constantly flying, and hard to track because of that."

"Oh." Kipo seemed to relax. Slowly, she started turning to the door. "Well, good luck, Adam!"

Adam gave her a nod, and then watched as she pushed through the doors. He didn't move until after the doors closed, and at that point, he only moved because he was startled.

"Didn't you find a lot more than that?"

Adam jumped nearly a foot in the air, turning around to find Dib staring at him owlishly through his round glasses that somehow stayed on his big head. Adam had kind of forgotten he was here. Had he really just been sitting there the whole time, not saying anything?

"Uh..." Adam suddenly remembered Dib had asked a question. "Well, technically. Only a little bit, though."

Dib frowned. "I don't think the fact that the bone dragons are telepathic is little. Or the fact that they can't survive for long periods of time on the ground. Or the fact that they are extremely loyal to their kind. Or that-."

"I get it," Adam snapped. "I read all that. Shouldn't you be focused on your stupid space book instead?"

Dib glared at him. "It isn't stupid. We have to know our enemy if we want out of here."

Adam rolled his eyes. Yeah, their 'alien' enemy. Dib was annoyingly insistent on the 'an alien named Zim or something trapped us in a virtual reality simulator' theory.

"Whatever," Adam huffed. "I'll tell her about all that when I get back."

Dib paused. "When you get back?"

Adam opened up the map he'd been studying. The forest had been circled. "When I get back."

Supplies, supplies... Where, exactly, was Kipo supposed to get supplies from? She probably should've asked Adam, but the urgentency to set up some kind of protection drove it from her mind, and Kipo didn't want to interrupt him when he was researching. So who else could she ask for help...?

Thankfully, Kipo didn't have to pounder long. As she wandered around, Mira approached her, waving at her in a friendly manner. Kipo waved back.

"You look lost," Mira remarked when she paused by Kipo. Mira cocked her head at her. "Didn't you find the library?"

"Yeah, thanks for your help!" Kipo replied enthusiastically. "Me and Adam talked, and we agreed that we should fortify the town for when the bone dragons come."

"From what Adam told us, yeah, probably," Mira said. She looked around Kipo. "Is Adam looking for materials or something?"

"He's still researching," Kipo told her. Mira froze. "We need to know everything we can about the bone dragons before they get here. I just hope he finds a solution where we don't have to fight them..."

Mira stepped back from Kipo, a puzzled look on her face. "Still researching?" she repeated. "But he'd been doing that for days. What else does he need to research?"

'Days?' Kipo thought, feeling distraught. 'How long have I been asleep?!'

Kipo bit the inside of her mouth. No, she couldn't worry about that. She had other things to worry about. Like the question Mira just asked, for instance.

"He said he hadn't found anything yet," Kipo told her. Mira blinked.

"Oh," she said. There was something odd about the way she said that, but before Kipo could question what it was, Mira continued. "I... see. Yeah, as long as I've known Adam he's never really amazing at researching stuff. Don't tell him I said that."

Kipo laughed at the joke before what Mira had said stuck out to her. "As long as you've known him?" she repeated, before her eyes suddenly widened. "Wait, are you one of those friends he mentioned?!"

Mira giggled. "Yep! We were stuck in The Hollow before all this with Kai. He's the red head wandering around."

Kipo beamed. "So, he found you guys! That's great!" Suddenly, Kipo's smile fell as something occurred to her. "Wait, if you were stuck in The Hollow together, do you also think I'm a video game character?"

Mira's smile grew uncomfortable. "Uh..."

Before she could properly answer, Kipo continued as another question suddenly occurred to her. "Wait! Is there a kid named Greg here? A little boy?"

Mira blinked, and then frowned in thought. "A little boy named Greg? No... not as far as I know..."

Kipo's cheerful mood suddenly plummeted. Apparently, Greg wasn't here either... but that didn't mean anything! This was a big world, Kipo reminded herself. She needed to stay hopeful.

Kipo shrugged off her disappointment as Mira stared at her questioningly. Right, she didn't know who Greg was... but Kipo could probably wait to explain it to her. But, in the meantime...

"Let's go look for some supplies, okay?"