Buddy was having the weirdest morning.

He woke up as normal in the stable (there was nothing normal about not being allowed to sleep in Cal’s room with her, but that was a whole ’nother patch of canyon flowers) but could feel that something was off straight away. Without even pausing to think, he’d flicked his left ear, activating the communicator device.

“Hey Cal,” he’d wheezed in imitation of a famous actor from Xara, “something’s afoot in ye old mines, y’know?”

No response. Just static.

“Pfft, Cal,” he’d snorted, “it’s illegal to ignore a face this handsome.”

Still no response. Buddy had tried the telepathic link then, reaching for it as confidently as he had always done with his old magic, and felt the first sliver of panic when he couldn’t find it. The link which had connected him with his ker – fairy, whatever – since they’d arrived on Shaman was just… gone.

That was when he’d gone trotting off to go and physically find her, and had accidentally bumped into the fairy goddess of ice instead. Buddy knew what she looked like because Cal had shown him her Alliance files a few times, but he forgot how he was supposed to address her. Rather than stay and be turned into a Buddyburger because he failed to use the right godly etiquette or whatever, he high-tailed it out of there and went running round the barracks looking for Cal. She wasn’t there. Worse, no one had seen her since last night. Had she gone out for some early morning training?

The trainees were already scattering in every direction by the time Buddy was cantering up towards the training grounds, scanning them carefully for a glimpse of vibrant red hair. Cal wasn’t there but Flynn and Dylan were. Buddy skidded to a halt in front of them, forgetting to do his customary neck arch and tail flick for maximum effect. He turned his head away from them, eyeing the trainees.

“Have you seen Cal? I can’t find her.” He flicked his ear again, activating the communicator, but no sound came through it. “Oh also, you might want to head over to the barracks, because I just saw Lorraine over there and she didn't look happy.”

CALDERA