Fantasy Cursed Island

[Fangs9090]

Erina and Niudisa went back to their work. Shuffle decided to go take a swim since gotten started thinking about it. Fia went with her for company.

 

[Darkling0096]

Over lunch, Nyah had continued working, manifesting several more arms to speed up the process, having produced blanks for two pairs of pants, and was working on the third. once all four pairs would be finished, she'd apply her other skills to put them together into a completed pair for finishing touches to be added.

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina raised her eyebrows as she returned to her loom. "Oh. You work fast. Thank you for offering your help."

 

[Darkling0096]

"I can produce more at once than one person with two arms," Nyah shrugged with two of her arms while the other six kept working, "And I don't need to eat, sleep, or rest except to recover mana, so I can work for longer."

 

[Fangs9090]

"You're certainly efficient." Erina settled down to continue working finishing the other pieces.

 

[Darkling0096]

"Efficiency gets the job done," Nyah smiled, "Emil's pants are by far the smallest, I should have the blanks for his done and then most of Emfa's done before I have to go put the little ones to bed."

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina nodded. "I'll focus on his top piece then. Perhaps we can get that to him tonight."

 

[Darkling0096]

"We shall see," Nyah nodded, "Your hydras went quiet a while ago, they all vanished."

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina blinked and looked around. "Ah... Oh, dear..." Her work forgotten, she started looking for any trace of where they'd gone.

 

[Darkling0096]

Fortunately, the soil down here, on account of largely being ground stone, was sandy enough that the snake tracks were visible. And since the snakes were smaller than anyone's dragging tails, their tracks were easy to pick out. They all led in the general direction of behind Emil and Veo's tent, where a large ball of hydras, about the size of Jerry's dragon turtle egg, was found curled up, apparently sleeping.

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina followed after the hydra tracks before letting out a sigh of relief as she found them, heading over to make sure they were alright. She was unfamiliar with snake behavior, so she wasn’t sure if this ball formation was normal. She leaned down and looked them over before carefully trying to pick them up.

 

[Darkling0096]

The ball undulated into a long snake as it was picked up, with five heads. Just one hydra there, and much larger than any of the original three, and no trace of any of the other two. It cocked its heads at Erina and opened its mouths slightly in aproximations of smiles.

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina raised an eyebrow as she saw there was only one hydra, glancing around. “Where did your siblings go...?” Did she miss some other tracks?

 

[Darkling0096]

The hydra looked confused again as Erina spoke, trying to figure out what the flapping of her face hole meant. Deciding it didn't really care, it slithered up Erina's arm to drape itself across her shoulders, and that was when the blood on its scales and Erina's hands and arms became more visible.

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina froze as she noticed the blood. Blood in itself didn’t bother her, but she was trying to think whose blood, and the answer that came to mind was not the one she wanted. “Nalla!” She looked towards camp before getting up to find the Druid. She knew of animals. Perhaps she could explain or clarify.

 

[Darkling0096]

The druid was at the edge of the grove, stirring trees to live and sprouting plants. She looked up when her name was called, "Yes?"

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina quickly headed towards her when she found her, still looking quite concerned. "You know about animals, yes? Is normal for snakes, or hydras, to....eat their siblings?"

 

[Darkling0096]

"It is not uncommon," Nalla shrugged, "Many snakes eat members of other species, sometimes cannibalism occurs, why?"

 

[Fangs9090]

That wasn't comforting. "I had three of these hydras hatched recently, but they wandered off while we were eating and when I followed their tracks I only found this one with blood on them." She glanced at the hydra on her shoulder. "Plus, they've grown much larger..."

 

[Darkling0096]

Nalla raised an eyebrow, "If it is bloody and you can only find one, then it is likely that it ate its siblings. I am unsure how its stomach could hold its twins, however."

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina furrowed her brow and sighed before looking at Nalla. "Can I ask you a favor? I'd like to know I can come t you when I have questions regarding these- ...this one. I should've figured before that I don't know very much about their kind. I don't want any more surprises like this."

 

[Darkling0096]

"Monsters are not my expertise, unfortunately," Nalla shook her head, "I believe that is Joanne's specialty. But I will help where I can."

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina nodded. "Thank you. I'll ask her about it as well. Hopefully her knowledge is more than just how to kill them." She looked at the hydra. "And next time we all gather, I'll need to tell this one to never hurt anyone in this group."

 

[Darkling0096]

Nalla dipped her head, returning her attention to undoing Erina's deforestation efforts. The hydra gave another approximation of a smile when Erina looked at it again. They'd both need a bath later to wash the blood off.

 

[Fangs9090]

Erina gave a weak smiled before started heading to the pools. "Let's get cleaned up, then I'll show you a place you can go to sleep."