Moondancer bumped into Ness as he exited Burglin Park. "So what did you learn?" she asked hopefully.
"Paula was taken past Peaceful Rest Valley in the east," Ness explained. "We can get there by heading east from the bus station."
"What about you?" Buzz Buzz asked curiously. "Did you learn what you hoped?"
Moondancer gave Buzz Buzz a significant look. "I learned I was right," she offered somewhat cryptically, "and that they can help us...if we help them first. Unfortunately, their leader isn't very good at handling dollars."
Buzz Buzz nearly fell out of the air before he caught himself. "I see," he allowed, managing to control his spoken emotions if not his physical reactions. "Did they have any other useful information?"
"The locations of two Sanctuaries," Moondancer replied. "One beyond Peaceful Rest Valley, and one in the Threed area. They've offered us a lift to Threed once we've saved Paula if we can get them out of their current contract."
"For now, let's head to Peaceful Rest Valley," Ness suggested. "We should get to Paula as soon as possible."
The trip to Peaceful Rest Valley was rather uneventful, with only the Rambling Mushrooms and some Mobile Sprouts - tiny green plants with two leaves and roots on which they walked - in the cavern path into the valley. The Mobile Sprouts proved the greater concern, as they had the capacity both to heal their allies and leach PSI energy right out of Ness and Moondancer. Thankfully, Moondancer's reserves of PSI were quite large, so they weren't that worried about being short in a crisis. However, between these abilities and the Sprouts tendencies to sow seeds - which could grow into new Sprouts - Ness began to try and avoid them as best as possible. Moondancer eventually reached the point where she reached for the Borange Ray if they wound up facing more than three at a time.
The first time Moondancer had opened fire and obliterated five Mobile Sprouts in a single shot, Ness stared before turning back to her. "Why haven't you been using that more?" he asked curiously.
"Because it uses the same energy that's causing this problem," she explained simply. "It's madness energy, just like Giygas' power. While it can obliterate just about anything we're coming across at this point...it obliterates them. Animals, plants, people...and we're trying to save them. I'll use it if we get into a pinch, but I'd rather rely on your ability with the PSI Bat to thrash the Madness out of our opponents rather than using said Madness to destroy them. Beyond that..." She hesitated, unsure how valid her next thought was.
"If it works by unleashing Madness, is it making the Giygas effect worse every time you use it?" Ness concluded, thinking along the same lines.
"I have no reason to believe it is...but no evidence to prove it isn't," Moondancer allowed. "I'd rather we do as much as we can without."
"Okay," Ness agreed as they walked into the Valley they were seeking.
The valley proved to be as relaxing in appearance as the name suggested, though there seemed to be an odd air of menace. The pale green grass, pale brown cliffs, and dark green trees gave a restful view that hid dangers they encountered along the paths beside the purple rivers...presumably a result of how light reflected off water, rock, and plant life rather than any comment on the water's purity. A bridge that once led across the first river was broken, forcing the group to go around.
"If there were more of the bridge, I probably could have repaired it," Moondancer observed ruefully, "but there aren't enough logs there."
Danger came in a few different forms as they tried to move deeper into the valley. Tiny UFO's, Spinning Robots, and the Mobile Sprouts were quite common...though Shambling Oaks soon proved to be the most dangerous of foes. The UFOs and Robots only had beams to shoot at them, which could be evaded or blocked with Moondancer's spot PSI Shields. The Oaks, however, could use potent PSI to weaken the groups ability to deal or tank damage, as well as scramble their senses with PSI Brainshock. The real terror was when they were about to fall, and exploded into flames. The shockwave of damage nearly caused Ness to black out on more than one occasion. They quickly learned to take them down last when faced with a large group.
Before they could make it very far into the Valley, however, they found the only available path blocked by a large pencil-shaped iron statue. "Any chance you could push it over into the river?" Ness asked Moondancer curiously.
"No," Moondancer replied readily. "This statue isn't actually iron. The alloy looks like iron, but it's PSI resistant. I wouldn't be able to grab hold of it. It looks like..." She pushed her glasses up her muzzle with one hoof. "...we've got a real case of Writer's Block here-"
"YEEEAAAAHHHH!"
Moondancer and Ness both let out screams of surprise as that sound erupted out of Ness' backpack. Scrambling, he managed to pull out and answer the Receiver Phone. "H-Hello?" he managed to gasp out.
"Hey Ness!" Apple Kid called over the line. "I just finished...you sound startled. Something wrong?"
"Just the phone," Ness said as he calmed down. "It's...really loud."
"Oh, right," Apple Kid allowed. "I was trying to give a Receiver Phone ringtones, but I accidentally got it locked on one that was really loud and annoying. My pet mouse seemed to like it, though, so I let him have it. Is that the phone he gave you?"
"Yeah..." Ness allowed, rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, anyway, I've just finished this really great invention!" Apple Kid continued. "Get over to Burglin Park as fast as you can so I can give it to you. It's sooooo cool, and in all likelihood exactly what you need to get past a seemingly insurmountable obstacle you just encountered...or I might just be sleep deprived from working so hard on it. Think I'll take a nap until you get here. The grass and sun are so comfortbasjfjaf..." Apple Kid's words trailed off into nonsense sleep mumbles before the signal cut out.
"...that's going to be hard to deal with..." Ness murmured as he hung the phone up. "Come on, back to Burglin Park."