Chapter 15

Hat Kid POV:

"Okay, we're a bit off course right now, Hat Kid. We'll need to find some way to get to Alpine Skyline from here," Paprika frowned as I looked above us into the top of the area and I saw that there was a large flow of ribbons that went further into the clouds above us.

"I think I just found it... by my calculations, if we were to use our grapplers on that line of streamers, it should get us all the way to Alpine Skyline," I said with a smile.

"We'd better get going then... hoo... hard to breathe up here..." Mustard groaned with a puff of air.

"The air in this place is incredibly thin... but for some odd reason, I'm unaffected by it. What about you, Hat Kid?" Paprika asked me.

"I'm not bothered by thin air either... you must not have the sturdy lungs of a true Hattian, Mustard," I frowned at her, Mustard smiling at me.

"Still, I can breathe okay, just can't breathe enough for shouting and stuff," Mustard said with a sigh. We then moved forward a bit and onto a bridge, where we saw a bell and a sign near it. "Ring the bell for clearance. Only teams of three allowed," Mustard read it aloud.

"Well, we're a team of three. Couldn't be simpler," Paprika smirked as she reached for the bell and rung it, the gate opening and us going forward. We then walked up a long stretch of stairs, needing to grapple on a few hooks along the way until we reached the area with the streamers. All of us then used our hookshots on the streamers and I gasped as, out of nowhere, we were being carried forward with great force!

"WHOA! THIS IS CRAZY!" I exclaimed as we started to pass through the thick clouds.

"C-Can't... breathe!..." Mustard coughed as I saw she was in the middle of our group and she found it difficult to breathe.

"DON'T WIMP OUT, MUSTARD! IF YOU LET GO, YOU'LL FALL FOREVER!" Paprika yelled, Mustard trying to breathe in and out as I looked up and I saw we had passed through into an area that made me mesmerized. We were hundreds of miles above the ground by now and we were being carried to a giant set of mountains in the distance as I saw that Mustard was about ready to peter out.

"Gugh... if... I don't make it... no... s-stay awake..." Mustard groaned as she tried to hold strong and breathed in and out as best she could. By the time we finally got to the end of the streamers and onto what looked like a completely colonized mountain peak, she passed out the moment she touched the safety of flat ground on the mountain.

"Oof... she might need to go back to the ship... but I don't have any Time Pieces on me currently, so I can't exactly warp her back right this minute," I frowned at Mustard with a sigh.

"We may need to think of some way to get her looked after while we go to the different Time Pieces here," Paprika said... and it was then we were approached by someone. It looked like a strange humanoid creature with a completely black face, white eyes, and having a hood on her person.

"Did you say Time Pieces? They wouldn't happen to be strange hourglasses, would they?" the female creature asked.

"Yeah, that's what we're looking for," I smiled.

"I saw five of them fall from the sky and the four I know of fell to four different areas-hugh... the Lava Cake... the Twilight Bell... the Old Windmill... and the Birdhouse...hugh... I wish they weren't so bright. They're blinding-hugh," the creature said, me smiling at how she let out a small puff of air at the end of some sentences.

"Thanks, but can we ask you a favor?" I smiled at her.

"What do you need?" the creature asked.

"Could you look after my sister, please? She's not used to air this thin and she passed out on the ride up here from those streamers. If she would've passed out during the ride, she'd have been doomed. And we can't get her back to safety until we get at least one of those hourglasses. Could you please look after her? Make sure she's breathing regularly?" Paprika smiled at the girl, who nodded happily at that.

"I can take care of her. She looks like she could use some butterbell pie," the girl smiled as she and Paprika picked up Mustard and carried her into the house right in front of us, Mustard sighing a bit as she looked like she was tossing a bit in her sleep.

"She'll be safe here, that's a promise. Now about those Time Pieces, as you call them-hugh... the ways leading to them are currently closed off. You'll need to blow into the ram horns all around the Skyline in order to summon the streamers once more. There should be a horn up by the east side of this mountain-hugh... Just be mindful of the goats. They can be a bit pushy if you get in their way, but they're still nice," the girl said.

"And what's your name, miss?" I smiled at her.

"Hegh, my name is Botzgka. Nice to meet you-hugh," the girl smiled.

"That's a pretty unique name," I smiled.

"On this planet, all of us Mountaineers are given original names based on the first noise we make as an infant that isn't crying," Botzgka smiled.

"Pretty cool. Now I think we should get to those Time Pieces. I can handle the windmill, and you can handle one of the other areas in the meantime, Hat Kid," Paprika smiled at me.

"Then I call dibs on the Lava Cake. Just the name sounds cool!" I smiled. I then started to make my way up the cliff face until I reached the big bullhorn, Paprika joining me soon after.

"Would you like to do the honors, Hat Kid?" Paprika asked.

"With pleasure," I smirked as I put my mouth on the horn and belted out a large and powerful breath, the horn making a deep bellowing boom when I did so that echoed throughout the mountains. And when it happened, a ton of streamers leading to different areas around the mountain range started to appear that led to the different areas of the place.

"Wow, didn't think a girl as small as you could have so much air in her lungs," Paprika smirked at me.

"It's a gift," I smiled back.

Mustard POV:

I didn't know how long I was conked out for, but I eventually came-to in what looked like a very cozy shack and that there was a small alien that looked like it was watching over me.

"Ah, good, you woke up... hugh... I was worried you would've been asleep for much longer," the creature said, her having a female voice.

"Yeah... heh... it was a very fast ride to get here... and I couldn't breathe at all... even now, it's tough," I said as I had to breathe in and out slowly and deeply.

"Your friends asked me to watch over you after you passed out in the village... hugh... I'm Botzgka, nice to meet you... hugh..." she said with a smile, though I did notice how she let out a breath every time she finished a sentence. "What's yours?"

"My name... Mustard... nice to meet you..." I said as I managed to move my body off of the bed and I was able to walk on my own two feet.

"I highly recommend that you stay here for now, miss Mustard... hugh... the skyline is full of streamers like the one you used to get here... hugh... I'd hate for you to fall down from riding them at those speeds," Botzgka said with a warning, me smirking at her.

"I know, I'm not going to do that... I just want to see this place..." I smiled.

"Oh, okay. Come with me, hugh..." Botzgka smirked as she led me out of the door and I saw the beauty of the area around me. It was filled with bright skies, the mountains were beautiful, and there were clouds all over the place. "Make sure you don't breathe in a cloud on accident... hugh... they're filled with water, so you'd choke."

"Got it. No breathing in with clouds... so where'd my friends go?" I asked.

"The one with the hat went to the Lava Cake... hugh... while your mustached companion went to the old windmill... hugh... they're going to find those hourglasses," Botzgka smirked.

"I see... I think I'm just gonna sit here and wait for them... to get me back on Ketchup's ship," I smiled.

"I shall accompany you... we can talk more, if you want?" Botzgka smirked.

"I'd like that," I smiled at the mountain dweller, both of us then sitting on the ground looking over the mountains and speaking a bit to each other as I had to wonder how my sister and Hat Kid were doing.