Fantasy Cursed Island

[Darkling0096]

"I've got an idea," Jerry got off of Asta to go check the rocks around the pools, "I can't make it luminescent, but with our lights, I can make a pigment from the sulfur rock."

"How long will it delay us?"

"Depends. Do you want to have enough paint, or do you wanna run out three turns in?"

 

[Fangs9090]

Niudisa rolled her eyes. "Alright, everyone, that's enough walking for now. Let's take a break, rest our feet."

 

[Darkling0096]

"You have little issue joking, but a small delay is far superior to getting lost," Joanne shook her head.

"It was you who demanded we prepare to move," Beri reminded.

 

[Fangs9090]

"I'm an alchemist. I know that sometimes waiting is required for success. That doesn't mean it's any less of a pain though."

 

[Darkling0096]

"Look, if I knew this would happen in advance I'd have filled a bottomless botle with paint." Jerry shook her head as she started crumbling rocks and mixing it with water in the bucket, "But this is what we've got."

"As long as it works," Adran shrugged.

 

[Fangs9090]

Emil spoke up. "Perhaps a song would help pass the time?"

 

[Darkling0096]

At the mention of a song, Lyak tried to hide behind the cart.

"If nothing else it will make the time more bearable." Adran sighed.

 

[Fangs9090]

Emil nodded and took a seat with his lute. As usual, he took a moment to pick a song before getting started, singing along with his music.

The story of the song gave Shuffle something to focus on, so her incessant rolling and rubbing on things calmed to idle wiggling.

 

[Darkling0096]

It took a while, and a couple songs, before Jerry stood with the bucket of her labor. The bucket was full of a bright yellow, thick liquid. Improvised yellow paint. "There, everyone get a container." Bowls were distributed, the paint distributed amongst the bowls. "When we split, use an arrow to mark the direction you went each turn," Jerry explained, "If it's a dead end, when you come back cross it out."

 

[Fangs9090]

Niudisa gave a nod. “We’ll have to send someone with the members who don’t have hands, but that should work.”

 

[Darkling0096]

"Of course we're gonna split into groups," Jerry sighed, "Half of us would get murdered in a head on fight by ourselves."

"Then it would be best to pick our groups ahead of time," Joanne nodded. "Everyone choose a partner, everyone without hands must have at least one handed partner."

 

[Fangs9090]

Shuffle smiled, but Emil quickly spoke up. "Shuffle is not allowed to choose her own partner." Shuffle pouted and put her head down. "She should be counted as one without hands since she seems unable to focus very well at the moment."

 

[Darkling0096]

"Yep." Jerry nodded, "Shuffle, you're with Fia and Lyak." Lyak made a face, but didn't complain. "I'm with Asta and the turtle."

Adran laid a hand on Erina's carapace. "Erina and Eleonora."

 

[Fangs9090]

Fia nodded and walked over near the cart. Erina gave Adran a smile. Emil spoke up next. "I'll go with Veo."

Corona glanced around. "I can take Raine with me. I'm assuming Beri will stick with Adran?"

 

[Darkling0096]

"Of course," Beri growled, sticking with his master.

"Then I will go with Emfa," Joanne nodded.

"It seems that leaves just Niudisa and myself," Nalla said.

 

[Fangs9090]

Niudisa paused and glanced around, suddenly wishing she'd spoken up sooner. She decided to not make a scene though. "Alright then. So, we have our groups, we have the paint. Are we ready?"

 

[Darkling0096]

"I believe so," Joanne nodded.

"Then let's go." Jerry climbed back into the saddle with the paint, everyone mounted up or strapped back in, and they were ready to go. Joanne and Shuffle had scouted the area, and cleared it of Feeders, so there weren't any blight hounds or saurians in the area. The tunnels were very crammed, so Jerry had to shrink Asta down so he could fit. If Asta, Erina, Corona, or Nalla got stuck, they'd have no choice but to back up, there just wasn't room for them to turn around.

 

[Fangs9090]

Corona groaned as she saw the mouth of the tunnel. "This is gonna be such a pain..."

Niudisa looked over. "Could be worse. Don't ask me how, but it could."

 

[Darkling0096]

"It is only stone, once we uncover a way out it will be open again, hopefully," Beri said, sniffing at the entrance.

"Alright, leave the carts, we split here," Jerry gestured to the entrances to the thing. "At least one of these leads somewhere, so pick one and go." She walked up to one and marked it with an arrow pointing inward, before going to get the turtle out of the cart, "Poli can you make some kind of sling for the baby? Like a backpack?"

 

[Fangs9090]

Poli looked up at Jerry. "I...can try. I'll need some guidance for the form though. This is a new one for me."

Erina went about unhitching her cart. Fia convinced Shuffle to hop down from the cart before leading her to another path. Emil, Corona, and Niudisa each went to their own paths with their designated partners.

 

[Darkling0096]

"Umm," Jerry held the turtle out, "Why don't you just try and make something he can sit in, first, and we'll figure out the rest after that."

Lyak scrabbled after Shuffle and Fia once she'd marked the entrance they took.

 

[Fangs9090]

"Right." Poli moved over to the turtle, wrapping around the lower half before loosening so it was more of a bag, sized according to the turtle.

Fia kept an eye on Shuffle as they went. She was still walking on all fours. In fact, she hadn't walked upright at all since going into heat. Fia just hopped she'd still fight when needed.

 

[Darkling0096]

Jerry nodded and moved the bag around to her back so it sat over her folded wings. It wasn't very comfortable but there wasn't really room in the maze for her wings, anyway.

"Shuffle!", Lyak called, having to stop and catch her breath before she caught up, "Slow down! We need to mark the walls!"

 

[Fangs9090]

Poli formed some tendrils to hold on to Jerry, keeping the turtle secured to her back.


Shuffle stopped and looked back. "Does that help?"

Fia nodded. "Yes, it does. We need to find our way through this maze like the last one."

 

[Darkling0096]

"There," Jerry smiled, "Ready, Asta?" She picked up the paint and led the way into their tunnel.


"Yeah!", Lyak ran to catch up, stopping to catch her breath again once she did.

Everyone found their path split into three, one going up, one going down, and one going straight ahead. The maze seemed to have three levels to it.