Fantasy Cursed Island

[Fangs9090]

Emil groaned at the sound of the door. "I paid for the room last night..." It seemed he only woke halfway.

Shuffle spotted Asta as he followed after Jerry, calling out to him. "Astaaaa! Come play with meeee!~"

Asta shook his head and focused on Jerry.

 

[Darkling0096]

"Emil?", Veo murmured and reached around the bard to uncover the crystal lantern, "Someone's at the door."

"If you guys don't open up I'm gonna cut it open," Jerry warned, "We've got shit to do!"

"Says the bitch doesn't clean up after herself," Nyah muttered as she went about rounding up the little ones to load them onto the carts.

 

[Fangs9090]

Emil blinked his eyes open. "Is it morning already? Feels like we only just got to sleep..."

 

[Darkling0096]

"I think so," Veo sighed, "I guess we gotta get up."

 

[Fangs9090]

"Right." Emil sat up with a groan. "It's been a long time since I've felt this sore..."

 

[Darkling0096]

"Hehe," Veo shook her head and grinned, "Are you gonna misbehave like that again?", she asked with a wink.

Outside the tent, Jerry was getting more irritable. Nyah kept making comments as she walked past, and these two weren't coming out quick enough. "If you assholes are gonna wake me up early for something stupid you're all gonna wake up early!" She drew her sword and got ready to cut a hole near the grip latch to rip the door open.

 

[Fangs9090]

“I’ll do my best to avoid it.” Emil shook his head. “I hope I’ll be able to walk properly by the time we get moving.”

 

[Darkling0096]

"I'll carry you," Veo promised, giving Emil's nose a light boop. And then a sword came through the door, followed by a hand once it was pulled out to unlatch the door.

"If I gotta wake up stupid early for no reason so does everyone else," Jerry declared, then her face turned red when she realized Emil and Veo had basically the same idea she and Asta did, and slammed the door back shut.

"It's almost noon," Adran raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up, Adran!"

 

[Fangs9090]

Emil smiled at her before looking over as Jerry bust in, shouted, and then withdrew. “...someone’s been having a rough morning, it seems.”

 

[Darkling0096]

Veo giggled as she reached for her clothing. "I think we're going to be yelled at when we get out."

 

[Fangs9090]

“As long as it’s not too loud.” Emil managed to stiffly get dress. His new outfit was loose, at least, so it was easy to get into.

 

[Darkling0096]

Veo smiled and reached for her medical bag to fish out a potion, "Here," she offered the bottle to him, "It should help with the soreness and swelling." It was a greyish blue paste in the bottle, "It's a salve, but it works fast."

Outside the tent, Nyah had cornered Jerry and Asta out of earshot from most of the party and was chewing them out for their actions. "Do you have any idea how irresponsible it was of you to do that?", the djinn demanded, "Look what you've done to Shuffle!"

 

[Fangs9090]

“Ah, thank you.” Emil took a few moments to apply the salve.


Shuffle was on her back, pawing at the air and asking anyone nearby to play with her.

Asta put his ears back. “How were we to know Shuffle would wander in there?”

 

[Darkling0096]

Veo smiled and tied her apron, "I'll see you outside." She exited the tent and looked around to see Nyah was still chewing Jerry and Asta out, but everyone else was getting ready to move on. Nalla and Emfa had gone ahead to clear a path for the carts.


"If we'd intended for Shuffle or any of the kids to come find us, we wouldn't have gone somewhere private, now would we?", Jerry added to Asta's argument. "I went out of my way to make sure no one knew where we were!"

"And yet you put-"

"WE DIDN'T DO THIS TO HER, DJINN!", Jerry barked, "You dumbasses are the ones that sent a child to go look for a romantic couple that ran off in the middle of the night! What made you think it would go over smoothly?"

 

[Fangs9090]

Emil nodded, waiting for the salve to kick in before following her out.


Asta nodded. “If there’s anyone at fault in this, it is not us.”

 

[Darkling0096]

"That would be my fault," Beri interjected, "I requested someone who did not mind being stabbed. Shuffle volunteered." The leopard sneezed again, "Has Shuffle always smelled like that?"

 

[Fangs9090]

Asta looked over at Beri. "Smelled like what? I've not sniffed her recently."

 

[Darkling0096]

Beri frowned, "I do not know, it is familiar, but not." He shook his head, "It smells inviting, at the very least."

"Gods dammit," Jerry facepalmed, "Nyah, Shuffle's not our fault, it's Beri's, be pissed at the leopard. I've gotta bother Veo." Jerry pushed her way past the djinn to drag Veo aside. "Veo, I need a potion."

"Injured or- oh." Jerry glanced back at Asta, and that told Veo enough not to ask more questions than Jerry was prepared to answer, and handed her a vial of the grey paste she'd given Emil. "It's a salve." Veo spun Jerry around and pointed her back towards her tent.

 

[Fangs9090]

Asta raised an eyebrow before heading towards Shuffle cautiously to see what Beri was talking about. Shuffle saw him approaching and quickly flipped right side up, raising her backside and lifting her tail. Asta didn't even have to get close before he caught the scent Beri was talking about. He paused before widening his eyes and scrambling backwards, almost stepping on Raine in his haste to retreat. Once he was far enough back that he couldn't smell it, he stopped, exhaling out his nose and shaking his head.

 

[Darkling0096]

"Do you see?", Beri asked, "I swear, I have smelled it before, but I cannot recall where."

 

[Fangs9090]

Asta rubbed his nose as he looked over at Beri. “Yes, I see... I believe she’s in heat...”

 

[Darkling0096]

Beri frowned. "I see..." So that was why she smelled funny. "That could be a problem." About that time Jerry came out with Asta's saddle harness.

"Ready/", she asked the chimera.

 

[Fangs9090]

Asta nodded before looking over at Jerry. “Ready. As we proceed, I’ll need to keep my distance from Shuffle.”

 

[Darkling0096]

Jerry shrugged, "Hey, I wanna stab her sometimes too, but she's an idiot, she can't help it."

 

[Fangs9090]

“No, I actually need to stay away from her. Apparently walking in on us has put her in heat.”