Fantasy Cursed Island

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle followed after her, tail wagging happily.


As the fairies concentrated on their spell, something started to emerge from the vortex. It appeared to be some sort of bleeding lump of flesh with a tooth-filled mouth. As it as appeared though, it attempted to snap at one of the Niudisa's. Seeing that it wasn't controlled, they both moved back and closed the vortex on the thing, severing it's head from whatever it's body could've been. The toothy maw writhed on the ground for a few moments before lying still. Niudisa and her reflection looked at the nasty thing, rubbing their chins thoughtfully.

 

[Darkling0096]

Beri frowned. Niudisa practicing Summoning? "Do you intend to take Adran's position as the party summoner?", he asked. The failed summon smelled strange. Similar yet different to corruption, and somehow just as evil feeling. "I think you should leave the summoning of eldritch horrors to the warlock."

 

[Fangs9090]

Niudisa looked over at Beri. "Adran deals with demons. I've found...something else. It didn't work anyway, so don't worry about it."

The other Niudisa spoke up as the first set the flesh maw to flame. "If you're here, then the others must be awake by now."

 

[Darkling0096]

Beri decided to trust Niudisa on her failed summon being nothing to worry about, for now. He'd definitely tell Adran and the paladin later. He shook his head at the other fairy, "Most of the group is, yes. Emil, Veo, Asta, and Jerry remain barricaded in their tent or hidden elsewhere."

 

[Fangs9090]

Niudisa huffed. "Romance. Well, if everyone else is ready to move on, let's track one pair down and wake up the other. We can't just sit around waiting for something like that."

 

[Darkling0096]

Beri gave a leopard shrug, "I attempted to sniff Jerry and Asta out, scents do not stick with flowing water overnight." If Niudisa thought she could track them down, she was welcome to try.

 

[Fangs9090]

“They’re wearing enchanted items, so they shouldn’t be hard to find.” Niudisa took a moment to focus on her magic sense.

 

[Darkling0096]

Jerry and Asta's magic item signature pointed to one of the waterfalls a bit up the slope. There was actually a good bit of magic in that area, which made sense considering the amount of things taken from the decks of folding furniture to make that romantic getaway happen.

 

[Fangs9090]

“They’re behind that waterfall there.” Niudisa pointed as she cast a spell, sending a magic bolt over. The bolt stopped in front of the waterfall, outside the cave, before it burst, making several loud pops and a few bright flashes before it was gone.

 

[Darkling0096]

Inside the cave, most of the noise and flashes from the bolt were lost to the waterfall. Such features were amazing at blocking and confusing sound, and the flashes didn't really get through just by how opaque water can be when stirred so. Jerry stirred a bit and pulled the blanket up to her chin, but wasn't any closer to waking up.

"I do not think it worked," Beri noted after a few moments when nothing happened.

 

[Fangs9090]

“Well, you know which one it is now, right? Surely you can get someone on that.”

 

[Darkling0096]

Beri raised an eyebrow, but turned around to pad back towards camp and get someone to wake Jerry and Asta, right as Joanne and Shuffle returned.

 

[Fangs9090]

Niudisa herself wasn’t about to go in, partly because she didn’t want to get into the waterfall by accident. She did leave a marker next to the correct waterfall to be sure people could find it, in the form of a little totem of broken bones the Phoenix had left that she used her necromancy to hold together.

 

[Darkling0096]

"We have news!", Joanne declared when she entered camp.

"And we have a request," Beri said, denoting himself and Niudisa. Joanne raised an eyebrow, but Beri motioned for her to go on with his paw.

"Shuffle and I have found the next area. It is a complex maze, so we will require extensive teamwork to navigate."

 

[Fangs9090]

Corona looked over from where she was getting the top half of her armor on. “I hate mazes. Is there any way around it?”

 

[Darkling0096]

"I do not believe so," Joanne shook her head, "So far progressing through these ruins has been very linear. If there were multiple paths I would think this group to have split apart long ago."

 

[Fangs9090]

“Hm, alright then. No choice, I suppose.” Corona sighed and looked to what she was doing once again.

 

[Darkling0096]

"Is there anyone in this group that is not averse to being stabbed?", Beri asked, "We need someone to wake Jerry and Asta."

 

[Fangs9090]

There was a moment of silence before Shuffle raised her hand. "I can go! Even if I get stabbed, I can heal quickly."

 

[Darkling0096]

Beri gestured with his head, "Go, Niudisa has left a marker."

 

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle nodded and, after being pointed the right way, ran off to go find the missing pair.

 

[Darkling0096]

Down where the marker was, the waterfall remained undisturbed. Thick stone and a loud waterfall, with a hidden cave underneath, like in one of the stories Nyah told to entertain Shuffle and Fia. Unlike that story, behind the waterfall was not a hidden kingdom of monkeys, but the aftermath of Jerry and Asta's date night. There wasn't any broken furniture this time, but the place was a mess. bits of clothing were strewn around, a couple empty bottles floated in the water around the little island Jerry and Asta's bed was on, and the whole thing smelled off, dimly light by crystals hung in places, though Shuffle didn't have any issue with darkness.

 

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle managed to find the marker and the cave shortly after. She'd barely stepped in when she was hit with strange, unfamiliar scents. She paused, sniffing at the air before opening her mouth to really get a sense of it. She could pick up Jerry and Asta's scents somewhere in there, but the main smell was far more distracting. She stepped further in, looking around for the missing two. "Jerry? Asta?"

 

[Darkling0096]

There wasn't an immediate answer, or really any answer. Jerry and Asta were sprawled across a large mat of tangled and ruffled blankets, which was large enough that both Jerry and Asta at full size fit with room to spare. Jerry hadn't woken at Shuffle's call, but Asta might have heard.

 

[Fangs9090]

Asta shifted at the sound of Shuffle's voice, but it didn't register with him just yet. His moving drew Shuffle's attention, and it wasn't until then that she realized was that lump of blankets even was. She stepped closer, finding that that scent was only getting stronger as she went. It made her head feel fuzzy, but a different kind of fuzzy from the alcohol, and it felt really warm in there. Passing by the table, she couldn't help but rub against one of the chairs in passing for some reason, which knocked it over. Asta flinched slightly and blinked his eyes open at the sound of the chair falling over, glancing around before he spotted Shuffle. "...Shuffle?"