It didn't take long for Ness to finish shopping for useful items at the Department Store, mostly because they didn't have much he or Moondancer could use that was better than anything they already had. The equipment Moondancer had brought with her to share was orders of magnitude stronger than what could be found here, and that left little worth buying. Feeling awkward and like he'd wasted time, Ness led the way back out of the store. "Straight to Polestar it is," he murmured worriedly. "We need to check on Paula."
"Lead the way," Moondancer allowed, letting Ness choose the path and following along.
Ness kept moving south, knowing that Polestar had to be somewhere in that direction. Moondancer frowned as they moved right past it since Ness was so focused on moving, but said nothing. For one thing, she found she was able to sense inside Polestar Preschool, and not only could she not feel Paula, she felt no danger either.
It didn't take long for Ness to realize he'd taken a wrong turn. Looking at his map, he frowned. "Okay...where'd I go wrong...?" Spotting a rather plain house with the sign 'Apple Kid' just outside, he made his way there. "Maybe he can give me directions..."
Moondancer shook her head ruefully. Maybe Ness had learned to rely on himself a little too well, if he didn't ask the pony who'd been there before or the flying member of the party for directions or scouting. Still, Moondancer had decided to trust in Ness' instincts. Alinivar had always seemed to know where he was supposed to go and what he needed to do, as though some unseen, unknown force had been guiding him. Perhaps Ness was receiving similar guidance, and this visit to the 'Apple Kid' would be helpful to them.
Inside the house, the group found a bit of a mess waiting for them. The red room had piles of tools, half-finished tech, and empty cans scattered around. The only furniture was a bookcase filled with technical manuals and a park bench. A rather slovenly young man dressed in red, his only companion a mouse, looked up in surprise as the group entered. "O-oh!" he gasped in surprise. "I wasn't expecting visitors." He moved quickly up to the group, trying to smooth his wrinkled shirt and messy hair as he went. "I...I have sort of neglected my housework," he admitted ruefully. "I know it's a bit of a pig sty, but anyway..." His voice trailed off awkwardly.
"...Apple Kid?" Ness asked hopefully, managing to overcome his awkwardness when talking to someone just as awkward in his own way.
"Yes, that's me," Apple Kid confirmed. "Apple Kid, starving inventor." Noticing Moondancer wrinkling her nose, he chuckled ruefully. "Yeah, I haven't taken a bath in a while, so I may be kind of stinky."
"No may be about it," Moondancer grumbled under her breath as she used her PSI to block her nostrils, breathing through her mouth as carefully as she could.
At that moment, Apple Kid's stomach growled loudly. "Yeah...like I said, starving inventor," he managed to say awkwardly. "I don't suppose-"
Before Apple Kid had finished his sentence, Ness had pulled out three Hamburgers, two bags of French Fries, and two cans of fruit juice. "Eat up," he offered insistently. "I got way more than we needed at the Department Store, anyway."
"Indeed," Moondancer agreed, turning her nose up at the Hamburgers. She didn't know how Ness could bring himself to eat them when he spoke freely with all sorts of animals, cows included. She could only presume he didn't realize where the meat came from.
"Thfanks!" Apple Kid spoke up through a mouthful as he quickly stuffed his face, having already devoured the first Hamburger, most of the second, one bag of fries, and one can of juice. He chewed and swallowed before he wound up spraying when he next talked. "You seem very nice." He hesitated. "Umm...I know it's asking a lot, especially when you've just given me all this food...but do you think you might want to invest in my inventions?"
Ness glanced in his wallet. He'd taken a good amount out of his account - expanded by what his Father had been depositing - for Department Store purchases, and had barely spent any. He still had a good $400 on him. He pulled half of it out. "This enough?" he asked hopefully, not really wanting to leave himself empty.
"That'd be perfect!" Apple Kid declared happily, gratefully accepting the money. "Trust me, you won't regret this!" He turned to his tools as he immediately got to work, mumbling to himself, "Now I can cover my bills for the month, I can focus on inventing..."
"Before you get started," Moondancer spoke up, "we came in for directions."
"Directions?" Apple Kid asked curiously.
"Yes," Ness admitted ruefully. "Which way to Polestar Preschool? I'm from Onett, and never been to Twoson before-"
"Oh, you passed it on the way here, then," Apple Kid explained readily. "It's straight north from here, the large building that looks like a rather opulent two story house. Rather easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for, because that's exactly what it was before the homeowners converted the first floor into a preschool."
"Thanks," Ness offered, his voice both grateful and rueful. Turning, he saw the mouse had blocked the door and was holding a small black device up to him.
I am a mouse, the mouse spoke up, his voice audible to Ness' mind, though not his ears. No one's given me a name yet. You were very kind to my Master, though you did not come for that purpose. Let me give you this to help you. He then placed the device in Ness' hand.
Unfolding it, Ness discovered it was a mobile receiver phone, the sort that could receive calls but couldn't send them. He smiled, and started to respond that it would be very useful, but the mouse stopped him.
Take it and say nothing, the mouse told him. Good luck on your journey. I'll get out of your way now. With that, the mouse zipped out of the doorway.
Shrugging, Ness opened the door to let the group back out onto the street.