Bipo stared curiously up at Kipo's giant mega jaguar form. Did they somehow recognize her? But how? How did Bipo know? What were they doing here?

Kipo gradually felt herself losing height, and her eyes stayed looked on Bipo's eye sockets as she shrunk, her form rapidly changing shape until Kipo was sitting on the ground. She and Bipo kept their eyes locked, now at eye level with each other. Kipo didn't know what to say, or do. She felt as if Bipo was... studying her.

The silence stretched on, probably only for a couple minutes, but for Kipo, it felt like hours. Eventually, Kipo had to blink, and with that the spell was broken. Kipo leaned forward, wrapping Bipo in a tentative hug.

"Bipo..." Kipo's breath hitched. "I'm so glad you're here."

Kipo felt Bipo's jaw moved, and then sighed as Bipo yawned. Either Bipo was back to their old self again, or Kipo had imagined all that before.

Suddenly, a loud buzzing filled the air around them. Kipo jolted, backing away from Bipo and casting a look behind her shoulder. Her eyes widened.

"The dragonflies!" Kipo cried, standing up. "Come on, Bipo!"

Kipo started sprinting off, but she didn't get far before she had to stop. Kipo groaned as she ran back to Bipo, who hadn't moved, and scooped them up. "Bipo, WHY?!"

Bipo wasn't heavy at all, but they were kind of big, and awkward to carry. It wasn't impossible, but it slowed her down heavily, and the dragonflies were gaining on them fast. Kipo glanced nervously at her surroundings. She needed to find somewhere to find, and fast!

The buzzing in her ear grew louder and louder, almost to a painful degree. Kipo winced, and despite knowing that the buzzing was caused by the dragonfly's wings flapping, she couldn't help but think that they sounded angry.

The buzzing was reaching a crescendo now, and Kipo was still wide out in the open. Panicked, Kipo dived left, behind a rock. It wasn't the best hiding spot, not even a slightly good one, but it was the best she could do. She could only hope it was enough.

Kipo held her breath as she watched the dragonflies raced past in the puddle at her feet. Did they still think she was big? This might be easier than she thought...

But Kipo spoke too soon. Just as she was about to relax, a dragonfly suddenly came into view again, apparently coming back from where all it's friends had gone. But why was it back again?

Then Kipo suddenly remembered. The barrel. She'd dropped it when she shrunk, hadn't she? Kipo groaned in her mind. Why hadn't she just thrown it away like she'd planned?

Suddenly, the dragonfly's eyes snapped to her, and Kipo's breath hitched as she froze. There really was no hope in hiding when it was right there, was there? It could spot her from miles away, and with this puddle, Kipo was practically wide open. Still...

Kipo's eyes widened as the dragonfly slowly came closer, its eyes locked onto hers. She sat there, frozen as it slowly creeped forward, eventually dropping onto the rock Kipo was hiding behind and-

A sudden shuffling finally tore Kipo's eyes away from the creature, to Bipo, who had turned towards the dragonfly. Kipo's eyes widened. She turned around, raising her arms to protect Bipo, and then froze.

Bipo and the dragonfly were having a staring contest now, not unlike the one between Bipo and Kipo earlier. Kipo watched, shocked and slightly apprehensive, as the dragonfly suddenly shook out its head, and then flew away.

Kipo didn't know what to say or do as she watched it zoom away. She stared at Bipo, who was leaning against the rock and presumably asleep. But Kipo knew better now, there was no way she'd imagined it that time. Bipo had made the dragonfly leave with just a look.

Kipo bit her lip nervously. Not for the first time, she wondered if Bipo had done anything when they stared at her.

She also wondered whether to tell Adam and Wirt about this.

When Kipo eventually found the two of them again (trying to find the way back to a specific bush after a mad dash was actually a little difficult, apparently, especially when the dragonflies had already picked up the fruit trail she'd left), they were sitting on the ground, leaning against a leaf, waiting for her. The bush was completely devoid of any bug. They'd done it!

Adam noticed them before Kipo could call out. "What took you so long?" he called out, standing up. "Did you get lost or something?"

Kipo shrugged. "Yeah, something like that," she told them, setting Bipo down. She didn't know whether to set Bipo down like a cat or a dog, so she lowered Bipo down to the floor, waiting for them to get their legs under them.

They didn't, and Bipo was set down with a mildly furious expression.

"Huh?!" Adam cried, recoiling. "I thought we left that behind!"

Well, that's a point in the not telling them category. "Sorry Adam, but Bipo isn't really the type to listen to that kind of stuff," Kipo explained. She wondered if she should add that Bipo saved her, but then she'd have to explain HOW Bipo saved her.

Wirt looked like he was already calming down, but Adam sent Bipo a suspicious look. He still seemed on edge, and Kipo supposed she couldn't really judge him for that, considering he had found himself in this forest, but she also knew he was reckless. Kipo had to jump in before he did something drastic.

"They weren't doing anything bad!" Kipo told them. That technically wasn't a lie. "We just met on the way here! I think Bipo was looking for me..."

Well. That had at least SOME true parts to it.

Thankfully, Adam just shook his head. "Alright, alright," Adam huffed. "But don't you think it's worrying that Bipo is just out there, wandering the forest by themselves?"

"I think they can handle themselves," Kipo admitted, and Wirt's head snapped up.

"You mean they can disintegrate living things now?" he shouted, and Kipo winced.

'Not... Not helping, Wirt.'

"I didn't mean that Bipo could disintegrate living things, I meant that they were smart, and that they have good survival skills and instincts," Kipo corrected. And they can apparently brainwash creatures, but that's not important... I really hope Bipo doesn't try to brainwash Adam or Wirt. "Bipo's not dangerous, guys."

Probably. No, definitely. Bipo wouldn't hurt them.

Kipo shook her head. "Well, after all that, I'm kind of hungry again. Are there any fruits left?"

Adam gave her an odd look. "Aren't you half cat? Can't you smell them?"

"Half mute," Kipo corrected. "And, uh... yeah! I'll do that..."

Kipo sniffed the air, and then jumped up in a cheer, startling Adam and Wirt. Bipo yawned. "Yes! I smell some more fruit! Let's go!"

Without waiting, Kipo raised off again, her stomach growling as she went. And, just like last time, Wirt and Adam didn't immediately move to follow her. Wirt didn't because Adam wasn't, and Adam...

He turned around, staring at Bipo. Bipo gave him a lazy stare, and Adam frowned. "So... Bipo can... disintegrate things?"

Wirt nodded. "Dead people."

Adam's eyebrows knit together. "Well, that's... suspicious."

Wirt shrugged. "I mean, they haven't hurt us yet?"

"Yet," Adam said. He glared at Bipo, who really looked like they couldn't care less. "Kipo said Bipo's got good survival instincts."

Wirt nodded, slowly. Where was Adam going with this?

"Do you ever get the feeling that Bipo's... actually really smart?"

"Huh?"

Adam rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "When I first saw them, I thought they might be equivalent to a cat, or something like that. But what if they're actually a lot smarter?"

Wirt looked from Adam to Bipo and back. "Like a human?"

Adam nodded. "It's AI is weird."

"Huh..."

Adam shrugged, turning around. "I don't know for sure, but I think Bipo's laziness is an act."

"An act?" Wirt repeated, confused.

"I mean, going on basic video game tropes, I think either Kipo or Bipo's going to betray us," Adam explained, and something sharp twisted in Wirt's gut. Betray....

"Kipo... I don't think Kipo would do that!" Wirt cried, but he wasn't as certain as he wanted to be. He couldn't help but remember Beatrice... but that'd technically all turned out fine, hadn't it?

"It's just a guess," Adam told him. "I'm just saying that it's possible, alright? People like that always betray you in video games, and if it's not Kipo or Bipo, it might be both of them."

"But they just met," Wirt said weakly. "And we're NOT in a video game!"

Adam stared at Wirt, and then shook his head with a sigh. "That's what Mira and Kai said. I'm not saying it's definitely going to happen; I'm saying that it might. Keep an eye out."

Wirt shook his head, but in the end, he couldn't say anything, whether in agreement, or not.

Adam shrugged; that was probably the best he was going to get, huh? "Come on," he huffed, turning away. "We need to catch up to Kipo before she get's annoyed with us again."

Wirt could do nothing but nod.

In the end, Kipo got annoyed anyway. She'd gotten too far away, and had to come back so the two slowpokes didn't get lost. Also, Bipo hadn't moved, and didn't seem to intend to, so after a bit of debate, Kipo opted to carry Bipo.

Kipo gave Wirt and Adam an odd looked as she held Bipo similar to how she might carry a large dog. "They're not heavy, you know," Kipo pointed out. "And there aren't any sharp poking bits... well, there aren't two many of them, anyway."

"You lost the rock paper scissors match, Kipo," Adam pointed out. "Just carry them!"

"Well, I just thought one of you might want to try carrying them!" Kipo frowned, but after seeing how Adam and Wirt didn't seem to want to carry Bipo less, she dropped. "Well, alright. Anyway, the fruits I smelt are just over there. So, let's go! It smells good, trust me."

"You haven't led us wrong yet," Adam shrugged. Wirt stared at it. How could he act so friendly when he was just accusing her of potentially betraying them?

"Wirt?" Kipo said, and Wirt jumped. Had she been asking that for a while now? "You ready?"

"H-Huh?" Wirt asked. "Oh... yeah, I guess..."

Kipo's eyebrows furrowed, and she opened her mouth to say something, but Adam stepped in before she could.

"Hey, is that it?" Adam called, pointing. "Over there?!"

Kipo looked around, squinting at the spot where Adam was motioning to. "No, that's... not even close. Here..."

Kipo started forward, giving Wirt a concerned look before she started off. Wirt and Adam followed closely behind. It wasn't long before Kipo was skipping ahead, and Adam and Wirt were hanging back.

"You know, just because they might betray us, doesn't mean you have to be cold now," Adam said. "Just be cautious."

Wirt tried to think about that, but that little blue bird showed up in his mind's eye again. Wirt tried to shake it out, that didn't make sense anymore. They made up, didn't they? Beatrice and him... they were friends now, right? Why couldn't Wirt get past the fact that Beatrice had betrayed them?

He felt like a jerk.

"I'll... try," Wirt said, but that was all he could say. Adam's eyes furrowed, but he didn't seem to be able to say anything back.

"Alright..."

The two of them followed Kipo, again in silence, but now the atmosphere, apart from Kipo, was tense. As Kipo bounded along cheerfully, Adam and Wirt found themselves looking at anything but their new friends.

If Kipo noticed, her solution was to fill the silence with positivity, and technically not say anything.

However, as soon as Kipo found the source of the smell, the spell was broken, but not by jubilation or by joy, but by... confusion.

"Um... Kipo, the only things we would find in there would be two-hundred-year-old fruit," Adam pointed out.

"It can't be that old!" Kipo cried. "I know the difference between fresh and rotten fruit."

"That place looks like a wreck!" Adam argued. Kipo frowned at the odd little building they had stumbled upon, almost looking surreal as it sat in the sunlit clearing. It really didn't look like it was in the best of shape, with its broken windows and caved in roof, but...

"Well, that's true, but it doesn't look like The House did," Wirt spoke up. "It doesn't look like it's destroyed by decay, but by something else..."

Kipo nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, you're right!" Kipo grinned at Wirt, but to her surprise, he only looked away.

Adam sighed in annoyance, stepping into the clearing. "Well, if that's true, we might as well check it out. If this place really isn't all that old, then the food will probably be fine, and I'm still hungry."

"Are we sure that we should really go near it?!" Wirt called panicked. "It could be dangerous... what if whatever destroyed it is still there?!"

Adam paused, thinking that over. "Well... that's true..." he mused. He glanced at Kipo. "Can't you...?"

Kipo shook her head regretfully. "I don't think that's really a good idea," Kipo admitted. "It was only the sight of Bipo that helped me change back... I don't really want to risk it, sorry. But don't worry, if we ever really need it, I won't hesitate, I promise!"

That wasn't exactly the most reassuring thing in the world, but Adam shrugged it off. Despite this being a clearing, there were plenty of logs and rocks to hide under, so it wasn't as if they were going in completely without a plan. Besides, finding food, now that the eggs had been rules out, was extremely important. "That's good enough for me. Wirt?"

"Um... I don't think we can call it a last resort if we don't have anything else..." Wirt pointed out nervously. "But-."

Suddenly, Wirt was cut off as Bipo yawned. Wirt hurriedly scooted away as Bipo shifted in Kipo's arms, and then hopped out onto the ground.

"Huh? Bipo?" Kipo asked. Bipo didn't even react before they bolted off towards the building. "Bipo!"

Kipo hurried out of the bush, sprinting after Kipo. Adam quickly followed after, and then Wirt.

"Wait! What do we do if there's a monster...?"

Wirt trailed off when Adam quickly turned around to show him a knife.

"Oh."