Fire Emblem: Curse of the Goddess [IC/PG-16/Not Accepting]

[King K. Azo]

It seemed that a fight was not needed today. Out of the bushes popped out a precious, adorable, and too pure for this world wolf pup. It was worrying to Shiro. Where was its mother? Was it alone? Did humans kill its family? He really hoped that wasn't the case.
 
"A forest wolf!" Glenn exclaimed, talthough Shiro barely heard him. "Rare beasts, and not usually the type to approach humans." Maybe because of the two Proteans, it felt safe enough to approach them? The wolf cutely lolled its tongue out at that comment, before getting up and turning around, starting to walk forward. It looked back once, as if saying, Are you coming or not? It seemed pretty intelligent for one so young, that was for sure. "Methinks yonder beast wants us to follow," Glenn said. "Unfortunately I cannot come with. I have my own errand. But I trust in Shiro," he clapped the other Protean on the back briefly, which brought Shiro back to the real world. "He was born with far more stealth than I. If any were to lead thee safely through the foxes' den, t'would be him." He bowed briefly before leaving, the cape whipping out behind him. 

Shiro felt sad as he watched Glenn leave. He really only felt safe because Glenn was by his side, and now he was gone. The lone Protean in a group of humans. Joy.
 
"Should we follow?" The princess's voice caught Shiro's attention. Shiro looked over to her, and back to the wolf. It seemed they were going in the same general direction, and maybe the wolf cub needed help. If its mother was caught in a trap or something, then it would have on them. He looked over to the princess and nodded, before running to catch up to the puppy, getting on all fours and staying at its side.

"Show us what you need to, little one," He whispered to the pup. This was the right thing to do, he knew it.

[Hakima]

---

Link was feeling a tad mischievous now that he was sure the area was secure. He made it back to the cavern the rest of the company was waiting in with no trouble, but didn’t immediately reveal himself, hugging the wall and circling around them unnoticed. Once he had managed to get behind them, he stepped forward out of the shadows and saluted, launching into his report.

 

“Nothing in the left tunnel. Upward slope and natural lighting that I could spot from the end are cause for me to think that it exits out back into the forest, but I didn’t go to the end, so don’t know for sure.” Link broke off to take a long drink from his flask to wet his mouth, to stop his voice from breaking. “After scouting the first fifty yards of the right tunnel, I came to a bend with soft green light glowing from around it. I made the decision to investigate further. It lead into a cavern roughly a fourth the size of this one, with a small natural pool in the center of it. The green light was coming from some rocks that were scattered throughout, but they seemed harmless. There was an object I couldn’t make out sitting at the very bottom of the pool, but it was too far down to investigate alone. There were several sets of footprints, but none were very recent. I would say that no one has been down there in several months.”

 

He watched Penelope intently after he finished speaking, gauging her reaction. This was the true test of a strategist. Many had a mind for tactics looking at maps and playing games, but they struggled once they hit the field, when they were forced to make important decisions quickly without time to weigh every single bit of information. Would she struggle, too?

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 

"You must be like, really smart or something White Hair Girl." She was unsure as to why the girl was still intently staring at her, but as she mentioned something about reading, Tsetseg shook her head once more. "Nope nope, nope. Only the merchants, and some of the adults and some of the smart people, and some of the smart adults are the ones that could read, so I never learned." Her mood seemed to dampen a bit as she said this, but brightened right back up as she looked right up. "But really you'll teach me? Really, really? Man that'd be so super cool and awesome! But uh," she pointed to the tapestry saying, "shouldn't we light the pupil or something first?"

 

Penelope stared at the girl. The compliment, combined with the easy acceptance of teaching, made the Tactician absolutely thrilled. So thrilled that she grabbed Tsetseg's hands and smiled widely at her. "Oh once we're out of here I will teach you so much! We'll be such good friends I can tell, I will show you a whole new world!" The mention of the pupil reminded Penelope of where they were. "Ah, yes, it could be a riddle like before but it seems much more..vague. Hm, perhaps.."

 

Link's sudden arrival startled the girl and caused her to jump a bit. "Oh spirits...hello Link." She said after calming down for a moment.

 

"The left tunnel seems to go to the forest you say...yet it likely is blocked off, similar to here, so I doubt that's the way to go. The footprints and unusual nature of the other path leads me to think there must be something important about it. True they may be old prints but this is a place for testing. Clearly the previous test takers must have gone this way...Tsetseg, Link, I am going to investigate, I would like if you came with. Sienna, Ciela, if you could work on what this." She gestured at the possible riddle "means that would help greatly. Of  course I will leave it up to you, this isn't a battle. If you feel you'd be better off investigating I won't stop you but be sure to not go too far alone."

 

Without further ado she went towards the path that Link indicated. It was quite the pretty place honestly.

 

The water drew her in and she tried to look inside to no avail. She stuck her hand into the water, literally testing the waters, and noticed there was some kind of movement down below. "There's something moving down there." She noted out loud.

 

Pulling her hand out she looked around and reached for one of the glowing rocks. She tossed it into the water and watched it sink to the bottom. Something large, pale, and pink rushed out from an opening near the bottom, ate the rock, then spit it out. It was hard to make details but it was clear it was some living creature. There was also a large, clear, orb at the bottom as well. Which she couldn't help but assume was something important.

 

She tried to grab another light and stuck her hand in the water, hoping to draw the thing up to get a better look, but it didn't seem to work. She then began to splash around with it, making noise and movement, to see if that changed anything. The pink thing from before exited its opening again and seemed to look up, before moving back again. Though it still seemed to be peeking out.

 

Dropping this rock as well revealed a bit more of the creature. A fairly large, snake-like, fish creature. "It seems to be some sort of guardian, whether intentional or just by virtue of nature I do not know, but this shows to me that this orb must be important..."

 

Penelope stood up fully again. "Tsetseg I will need you at the ready. If that thing gets too close fire your arrows. Shoot first to distract, not injure, unless it seems to be too dangerous. I have read much about swimming and I believe I should be able to do it just fine." She glanced at Link. "I will have to disrobe to my undergarments to be able to be most effective. Feel free to look away if you are uncomfortable with that." She didn't want to let on that she was herself uncomfortable. A leader must be confident.

---

 

Gunther was relieved that Alois was fine going with him. He wasn't sure what he'd do had he said no. Probably just sit somewhere and wait. Maybe see if he could get some cooking tips. Maybe check out that strange, large, paintbrush he saw leaning against the elder's home. It looked weirdly out of place.

 

They eventually got onto a boat with a stern looking man. He didn't seem to say much which Gunther could appreciate but it made the Knight feel he had to speak up. "It's a lovely lake" he mentioned. "And a nice boat. Don't you think so, Alois?" Though he quickly realized how stupid he sounded so he clammed up for a while after.

 

The place they arrived at seemed old, yet, very full of life. It was odd given the season but perhaps these woods were different somehow in that regards. He opened up the gate, wincing as it creaked, and stepped inside. His curiosity was overwhelming and he wondered if this is how Penelope felt all the time.

 

He stared. At the mansion. At Alois. At the mansion. At his feet. "Alois did I fall asleep?" He asked, in awe at the unusual sight in front of him. He glanced at the doorway. "Should...should we...knock?"

[Alaina]

 

Tsetseg was surprised by the sudden excitement that the White Haired Girl showed, but simply smiled back and looked similarly excited to have made both a new friend and a person who would teach her to read. Nodding eagerly alongside the girl, they then had to go back to solving the riddle before them, only for a sudden presence to appear. Being startled, like the White Haired Girl was, the hunter was then made curious about something. This train of thought was briefly broken as the White Haired Girl asked if she wanted to come along in investigating things. Nodding eagerly, the girl began to walk alongside the group. As she did though, with no intention of hiding it, her eyes seemed to be fixated on the Green Man. It was strange as it didn't look so much like she was watching him, as it was examining and studying him. 

 

The group eventually got to a small pool of water, with which there seemed to be something lying at the bottom. While Tsetseg was quite curious about what it was, the White Haired Girl went to go examine it further. After watching the strange fish move about, the girl looked in awe at the new creature. As the White Haired Girl proclaimed that she was going to go diving into the water, and needed Tsetseg to keep watch, the girl nodded saying, "oh, yeah yeah. I can do that. You can count on me." Pulling the bow out, the girl nocked an arrow and seemed ready to fire. The girl's eyes seemed to be laser focused on the fish, and her body seemed to have a stillness to it that far contradicted her usual bubbly demeanor. 

 

 

As the boy started to walk towards the manor, he was stopped by the flower-faced knight, seeming to want come along. With a simple shrug the boy said, "fine with me." With that, the duo made their way over to the lake where there was a strange man in a canoe already there. The boy wasn't quite sure if he was a human or protean, though in the case of the former it would've made him all the more weirded out. The two of them ended up going near the canoe and, Alois started to say, "hey could you take us to-," though he didn't finish. The man was both eerily silent and expressionless as he started to talk, and looked like he already knew what they wanted. While Alois was definitely made uncomfortable by this, he got on the canoe all the same and took the ride down to the manor. 

 

The building they were looking for seemed to definitely be larger than the normal home and was definitely owned by someone wealthy...in a much different time. Currently, it seemed to be in a complete state of disrepair, and Alois was only more confused as to why it was here to begin with. All the same, they eventually disembarked from the boat, with the old man simply moving away from the shore. While he was already a bit on-edge by the atmosphere, there was a strange off-feeling about the place that he couldn't quite place where it was coming from. All the same, as the knight opened the gate, he followed up the stairs with him only to see something that made him stop in his tracks. 

 

"What." The boy was in disbelief, seeing the mansion as if it was brand new. But it wasn't. Well, it wasn't a second ago. Alois blinked a few more times, trying to see if he was just going seeing things or not, only to see the same sight. This intense confusion was only made worse as he suddenly heard music from...somewhere? The whole mansion had just gone from creepy to bizarre and the boy was simply dumbfounded. As the knight asked if he was dreaming, Alois merely said, "I-uh,-um. No?" He was a bit at a loss for words himself at the moment, but continued to walk forward towards the manor door. "Well here goes, hopefully nothing on the other side wants to eat us." With that, Alois knocked on the door seeing what would answer him. 

[Hakima]

---

Link followed Penelope without question, though he wasn’t comfortable leaving Sienna and Ciela on their own. Sienna had been unnervingly quiet since they began the trials, and Ciela was… well… Ciela. He briefly considered asking the archer to stay behind with them, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he realized that she was staring at him intently, as if he was a puzzle to be solved. He had no idea why she was, or how long she had been before he had noticed.

 

It made him uncomfortable. Link pretended not to notice, busying himself with looking everywhere but at the young archer, but the walk to down the tunnel seemed twice as long as it had before. He was just about ready to scream by the time they walked into the small, green-lit cavern.

 

Princess Penelope approached the pool, crouched down and stuck her hand in the water, declaring, "There's something moving down there.” Link came up to stand behind her and peer over her shoulder. He hadn’t noticed any fish when he first investigated the pool, but it had been dark, and he had been more focused on the object at the bottom. He couldn’t rule out the idea that he had missed something.

 

She reached for a glowing stone and tossed that into the water. It sank close to the bottom, and Link was beginning to think she was wrong, before a huge snake-like creature shot out from somewhere in the bottom of the pool, swallowed the rock in one go, then spit it out once it realized it wasn’t food. He also noticed, thanks to the light, that the object at the bottom of the pool was an orb.

 

"It seems to be some sort of guardian, whether intentional or just by virtue of nature I do not know, but this shows to me that this orb must be important..."

 

Penelope stood up fully again. "Tsetseg I will need you at the ready. If that thing gets too close fire your arrows. Shoot first to distract, not injure, unless it seems to be too dangerous. I have read much about swimming and I believe I should be able to do it just fine." She glanced at Link. "I will have to disrobe to my undergarments to be able to be most effective. Feel free to look away if you are uncomfortable with that." 

 

Link shook his head. He had seen that creature; she had no chance against it, especially underwater, especially when she had said the only experience she had with swimming was from books. He wouldn’t let her go down there if the good King Reginald himself ordered him to. Link wouldn’t let a girl as young as Penelope just throw her life away over something as worthless as an orb someone had thrown into a pool in the middle of nowhere.

 

But still, someone would have to, unfortunately, and that someone had to be him. ”I’ll go.” He started to shuck off his tunic and chain, folding it up neatly and laying it a safe distance from the water, then he took off his gloves and boots and laid those right beside it. By the time he was done, he was left in just a loose fitting cotton shirt and leggings. Link was uncomfortable without all his gear on, because he knew he looked like one of Inera's patchwork abominations, but he said nothing.

 

He pulled a rope out of his backpack, tied it around his waist and knotted it several times, and tied the other end around a big rock not far from the edge of the pool. ”When I yank on this, pull me up,” he told them, surprised that he was able to keep his voice calm in spite of himself.

 

He didn’t want to die underwater. Spirits, Rusl had beaten it into his head how painful it was.

 

Link walked up to the edge of the pool, then hesitated. ”...Have a knife?” he finally asked Tsetseg, hoping she did. His sword would be no use underwater, but a knife would give him a chance.

---

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Edrick had been expecting many things, and a little lost wolf pup was just about the last on the list. He felt he ought to kill it now: every farmer knew that a wolf that wasn't afraid of people was trouble waiting to happen. The mention of these being 'rare beasts' and that it was highly unusual for them to approach humans did not inspire confidence either. He saw the creature as a man-eater in the making, however much it looked at them adorably. Even so, the others were apparently won over by it, and he supposed the frog Proteans would know more about the creatures of their forest than he, an outsider, would. Not that such thoughts made it easy for him to be relaxed around it. The fact that it was a pup just made him more nervous. He could not stop thinking about its mother, or worse still its entire pack, waiting somewhere in the brush to pounce them for endangering it. In fact he was about to suggest they just leave it.
 
"Should we follow?" Catriona beat him to saying anything on the subject, and he quickly affixed her with a confused and horrified expression.

 

"Show us what you need to, little one." And Shiro, their guide, went and sealed the deal before he could protest. Much as he wanted to distance himself from the little creature, Edrick was not going to just run off and get lost in the woods without anyone to show him the way. His sense of direction was good, but not good enough to find his way through this confounded, and seemingly more magical by the second, forest at night. All the same, he took his hand off of Catriona's shoulder, gripped his spear ever more tightly with both hands now, and set about following their guide.

 

"Men that turn into foxes and frogs, and now a little wolf showing us the way. Are serpents going to start trying to sell us fruit next?" He muttered, decidedly frustrated with this turn of events.

[Wind Rider]

Riddles... Nothing but riddles... And of course, a secret door leading into a cavern... And another riddle... Sienna didn't have a problem thinking long and hard on something but she was never one for puzzles.

 

Link set out to scout out the tunnel a bit and returned soon after. "The left tunnel seems to go to the forest you say...yet it likely is blocked off, similar to here, so I doubt that's the way to go. The footprints and unusual nature of the other path leads me to think there must be something important about it. True they may be old prints but this is a place for testing. Clearly the previous test takers must have gone this way...Tsetseg, Link, I am going to investigate, I would like if you came with. Sienna, Ciela, if you could work on what this." Penelope gestured at the possible riddle "means that would help greatly. Of course I will leave it up to you, this isn't a battle. If you feel you'd be better off investigating I won't stop you but be sure to not go too far alone."

 

Sienna watched as the three of them walked off to the other end of the cavern, leaving her with Ciela to look at the riddle. Sienna looked at the riddle for a moment, almost analyzing it before letting out a sigh. She turned to Ciela. "So... Any ideas?"

[Yui]

---

"I thank you. We are truly fortunate to have you at our side."

 

I'd call your group a lot of things, but "fortunate" isn't exactly at the top of my list.

 

Eventually, the plan was laid out. There were bandits and foxes and the Pelinna Patrol, and of course the other party members that had gotten split off from that fox ambush earlier. If all went well, they'd save the rest of the group, deal with those bandits, fix whatever was plaguing the frogs, go back to the frog village, and everything would work out just fine and dandy for this unlucky group Azar was apparently stuck with now. And then they could help her with her own little rescue mission, once she was done helping them with theirs.

 

After some time, it came time for those going with Catriona to move out. Azar included, after everyone had gotten the "masking your scent" bit taken care of.

---

"We should be careful. Foxes have keen senses."

 

The group was finally in fox territory. It was night now. Not Azar's ideal time in the endless day-night cycles. She was more of a daylight type, and the shaman - equipped once again with her cloak - rather wished there was a spell to induce an endless day. Before she was able to really get into the thought of it though, a nearby bush rustled. The shaman reached for her tome. She wasn't sure how much fighting would have to be done here, and she'd rather save her uses of the Rashido Method - especially without a healer nearby - for a bigger conflict.

 

"Whoever you are, come out slowly. e don't want to fight if we don't have to."

 

Azar fully expected to find a fox protean come out of that bush, and a fight to erupt. However, instead what she was met with was a wolf. Not even a fully-grown one. Just a pup!

 

"This is...not what I was expecting."

 

"A forest wolf! Rare beasts, and not usually the type to approach humans."

 

Is that so? We must be a big deal then, if it came to us. A wolf pup was no threat at all. As such, Azar put her tome away. The wolf turned, and started walking off, before turning to face the group. It seemed it wanted them to follow it, but Glenn voiced that he had his own matters to attend to. Shiro, however, was apparently quite the guy to lead the group through fox territory, if Glenn was to be trusted.

 

"Should we follow?"

 

"Show us what you need to, little one."

 

"Men that turn into foxes and frogs, and now a little wolf showing us the way. Are serpents going to start trying to sell us fruit next?"

 

"The world is full of strange things," Azar quietly commented in response to the Pontic's muttering. "But if those things try to point you somewhere, it's commonly the right direction. That's what I heard, anyway."

---

[Sethera]

Les Grenouilles

"Show us what you need to, little one."

 

Catriona was a little surprised at how quickly their Protean guide took to the wolf pup, but, seeing how Proteans seemed so in-tune with animals themselves, there might be some sort of connection there. Either way, if he trusted it, then it would behoove her to follow as well.

 

"Men that turn into foxes and frogs, and now a little wolf showing us the way. Are serpents going to start trying to sell us fruit next?" Edrick seemed less enthused at the prospect, and the lord could understand why to an extent. What they were doing now, following a wolf cub through the forest, seemed like one of the fairy tales that her little sister would read all day long. Catriona had never understood that, having no interest in staying indoors for a prolonged period of time doing what amounted to next to nothing, when she could instead be sharpening her sword on the practice field.

 

"The world is full of strange things," Azar quietly commented in response to the Pontic's muttering. "But if those things try to point you somewhere, it's commonly the right direction. That's what I heard, anyway." Perhaps the shaman had read some of those fairy tales herself.

 

The wolf led them through a winding, but relatively straight path through the forest. However, he stopped dead a little over half an hour later. The why soon became apparent at the sight of lean shapes slinking through the forest.

 

They were a couple fox Proteans. So far, it didn't look like they had sensed them, but were they to continue on this path, there would be no avoiding a confrontation. However, their words made it clear that they were not out on just any midnight stroll.

 

"They said we were stupid, but we'll show them! We'll come back with the head of the frog sage and then they'll see!"

 

"Yeah, it's obvious that the frogs are planning something. I mean, they even found a couple on the territory earlier today. So that means we need to take action!"

 

"They think they're sneaky, but they're nothing compared to us foxes. This'll be a piece of Inarizushi."

 

.

 

Alois' knock, though not particularly loud, was quite a striking contrast to the peaceful music that played within. At the sound, the music halted, then the two could hear a patter of footsteps, before the door was thrown open to reveal a little girl with pointy black ears and four bushy white tails trailing behind her. Her soft yellow eyes were wary but flickering with boundless curiosity. "O-oh, hello," she greeted shyly, ears tucking back slightly. "Are you strangers? We don't get them very often here," she looked poised between staying or running away, eventually deciding on staying. "What're your names, misters? Robbie says not to talk to strangers, but Pally says that if you know their names, people aren't really strangers anymore. So what're your names?" She started to bounce on her feet eagerly.

 

--

 

Les Renards

"So... Any ideas?"

 

Sienna's words rang eerily throughout the cavern. Rather than an answer from her blue-haired companion, it seemed that the cavern itself was answering her through its echoes. Were Sienna to look around, she would see the same sights as before. The strange relief on the ground, marked with a black gem in the middle. The two tunnels, one of which her companions had just gone down, the one that smelled of water. The other smelled of nothing more than cave. And in front, the slope leading up to a second level of sorts with a bowl indent. And the crack that led to the outdoors, with a picket fence marking it off. Oddly enough, she would not scent the usual smells of the forest from it, nor feel any fresh air.

 

.

 

Inside the right room, the pool was still, though the occupants would still be able to see the pale pink nose of the creature sticking out, and the glint of green reflecting off of a bright clear orb from the rocks Penelope had thrown down.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Team Grenouille

The scouting group has just encountered a pair of foxes that seem to be on a midnight mission to kill the Frog Sage, but don't seem to have noticed the group yet. Decide what to do. Also, Gunther and Alois have just met a strange little girl asking for them to introduce themselves.

 

Team Renard

Sienna senses something odd about the cavern. In the pool room, nothing much has changed.

 

 

[Alaina]

 

Alois was a bit startled as the music had suddenly halted, and didn't notice the oncoming footsteps until the door opened. Looking forward, Alois's eyes met with nothing, only to then look down and realize a little girl had opened the door. A little girl who had fox...tails? Alois had a very small sample size when it came to fox proteans, so he wasn't exactly sure if the multiple tails thing was unusual or not, though the white color caught his interest as well. Before he could think any more on it though, the girl hastily greeted them, which only left the boy more confused at the whole situation he found himself in. As such, the boy just decided to go with the flow and said,"I'm, uh, Alois. What's your name?" He then looked around, still unsure of why the quality of the location just shifted, saying, "and uh, where are we?" 

 

 

As the archer girl kept her eye trained on the fish creature in the water, she wasn't entirely paying attention to the conversation going on near her. The best she had gotten was that the green man was instead going into the water instead of the white haired girl, which didn't really change what she had to do at all. As the green man had walked over to her, without looking to him she nodded, saying, "yep, yep." Slowly relaxing her pull on her bow, the girl placed the arrow on the ground, taking the knife out from a side pouch, and gave it to the man without her eyes leaving the fish creature. With that done, the girl simply resumed her aim at the water. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 

Gunther braced himself as Alois knocked on the door. What could possibly be behind it? A strange building that seemed to have changed in the blink of an eye. In an unknown territory. It could be anything....

"What're your names, misters? Robbie says not to talk to strangers, but Pally says that if you know their names, people aren't really strangers anymore. So what're your names?"

Gunther stared at the child for a while. What? No this just made no sense...well actually it probably made just about as much sense as what had already happened.

Alois answered first, seemingly to be quite calm about the situation, and Gunther took a deep breath. He couldn't let himself panic when his comrade was being cool and collected.

"I am Gunther, it's nice to meet you. I have to wonder, though, why is it you're here? This is Frog territory is it not?"

---

 

Penelope paused in her taking off of her top when Link stopped her to offer to do it in her stead. She frowned. The Tactician had wanted to go in first because the others would more easily be able to assist if anything went awry. Plus...if someone was going to take such a risk, due to her plan, it should be her.

 

However...she rarely saw Link take such an initiative and she had an inkling that it would be good for him to do this. So, with some reluctance, she nodded. "Very well, you may go. But be careful." She glanced at the knife. "And I know it's a selfish request but try not to kill the creature unless necessary. This is its home we're in after all."

[Hakima]

---

Link took the knife from Tsetseg and tested the blade against his arm. It was sharp enough to cut his arm hair and leave his skin red, so it would work, even if the long single-edged blade was very obviously intended to be used for cleaning game. He dipped his head toward Tsetseg in thanks.

 

"Very well, you may go. But be careful." Penelope glanced at the knife. "And I know it's a selfish request but try not to kill the creature unless necessary. This is its home we're in after all."

 

Link saluted smartly, flipping the knife to hold it in a reversed-grip, so that the flat of the blade was pressed up against his arm. Good for slashing, which was less likely to be lethal to a fish, and easier to swim while he held the knife that way.

 

He stood on the edge, his toes hanging over, and took a deep breath.

 

...Spirits watch over me.

 

He jumped.

 

Link slid in gracefully, without much of a splash, and jetted toward the bottom with strong, synchronized strokes. The freezing cold water was a shock to his system, and it sunk into his bones and slowed him down, but he did his best to keep pushing forward. He was a powerful swimmer, but he had no delusions of beating the fish; the creature lived in water, and he had seen how fast it was firsthand.

 

He gripped the knife tighter and readied himself, still pressing forward.

---

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

CIela spaced out for longer than she expected. Was it fatigue? She did spend a lot of time handling Remy last night, but that wasn't out of ordinary. Perhaps it really was nothing more than a random bout of passing out.

 

"So... Any ideas?"

 

"You have no ideas about what lies inside here...? Well I guess, we can go on another path from the others or something."

 

There were two paths left for them to follow. They could follow the slope leading up, or they could instead go into the second cavern. As much as Ciela felt like she'd like to check the upward slope, she felt that since it seemed to lead outside, going out there would mean she gave up on this trial. Like hell she would. Making up her mind, she went down on the other tunnel instead, the one that didn't smell like water.

 

"Let's go here then unless you have a different idea. Also...don't get too close. Please."

 

---

[Yui]

---

The wolf pup that the group had been following suddenly came to a stop. Was something wrong? Azar glanced around, and kept her ears open. It didn't take long for her to spot just what had stopped the pup. Fox proteans. Two of them, and judging by their little exchange of words, their intentions were less than beneficial to the mission Azar and the others were on. Detrimental, even. They had to be stopped, before they got to the frog village. Doing so quietly would have been ideal, but quiet wasn't exactly Azar's strong suit. A frog protean's, on the other hand, as Azar understood it...

 

"We need to deal with them, quietly," she observed. With a nudge at the nearest and only frog protean available, she said "I can cover you if you can get in there." Every moment mattered in a fight. To save herself the time in advance, Azar reached for her tome and opened it up, ready to unleash magical fury upon an unsuspecting pair of foes.

---

[King K. Azo]

"Men that turn into foxes and frogs, and now a little wolf showing us the way. Are serpents going to start trying to sell us fruit next?"
 
"Is that not what every merchant is?" Shiro quipped as he followed the wolf pup. He stayed quiet for the rest of the time, about half an hour of following the wolf pup. It was kind of amusing, trusting a canine inside of another canine's territory, but if there was one thing Shiro knew, it was that wolves and foxes were very different. They soon came across a group of foxes, which put Shiro on edge... and the words he heard made him even more so.
 
"They said we were stupid, but we'll show them! We'll come back with the head of the frog sage and then they'll see!"
 
"Yeah, it's obvious that the frogs are planning something. I mean, they even found a couple on the territory earlier today. So that means we need to take action!"
 
"They think they're sneaky, but they're nothing compared to us foxes. This'll be a piece of Inarizushi." Shiro growled under his breath, gripping the tree he was leaning against. They would dare raise a hand against the Frog Sage? Shiro was not going to stand for this!
 
"We need to deal with them, quietly," The one he assumed was a mage observed.   "I can cover you if you can get in there." Shiro nodded, rapidly climbing into the trees and moving silently directly over the foxes. He waited however, for a sort of signal to attack. It wouldn't do any good to rush and be abandoned by these 'allies', after all.

[Wind Rider]

"Let's go here then unless you have a different idea. Also...don't get too close. Please." Sienna watched as Ciela made her down the cavernous path. Something about the other path that seemed to lead outside didn't rub her the right way though, if it did lead outside then why could she not feel a fresh breeze?

 

"Ciela hang on!" Sienna said catching up to her, not getting too close as she asked. "Let's go down the other path, call it a hunch... But I don't think that path actually leads outside." she stated as she looked back at the sloped path.

[Sethera]

Le Rane

"We need to deal with them, quietly," Azar observed. With a nudge at Shiro, she said "I can cover you if you can get in there."

 

The frog Protean nodded, rapidly climbing into the trees and moving silently directly over the foxes.

 

Catriona seemed not to hear them, her hand edging toward her sword as she glared at the two in front of her. Would-be assassins, then. Her lip curled in contempt. She despised assassins. Cravens that could only take advantage of insidious means to kill their opponent. She had seen her father dispose of them a couple times, more often had he refused to eat his meals, quietly ordering a member of the kitchen staff "taken care of." She herself had been the target of assassins during the border skirmishes, though not as often as she would have thought. The Garou's name itself seemed to have been sufficient to deter most of them.

 

"We strike," she growled, just loud enough to be heard by her companions. A part of her cautioned that she was being too rash, that she needed to remember Alois' words. But here, with the enemy in front of her, it was as if she were back on the battlefield again. There was nothing more to be done than to cut her opponent in twain with her blade. Which is what she did, jumping forward and stabbing outward at the nearest vulpine Protean.

 

The fox let out a startled yelp, its chest soaking with blood. The other turned, "Asafoetida!" he shouted, before turning to the woman. "You'll regret that," he snarled, quickly transforming into his bestial form. In his anger, he didn't seem to have noticed any of the others, though his injured companion had backed away, a wary look on his face, before transforming as well. He looked on the verge of flight.

 

.

 

"I'm, uh, Alois. What's your name?" The fighter then looked around, "and uh, where are we?"

 

Beside him, the blond took a deep breath. "I am Gunther, it's nice to meet you. I have to wonder, though, why is it you're here? This is Frog territory is it not?"

 

"Alooois and Guuunther," the girl drawled out the vowels as if playing with the sounds, before giggling. "Funny names. Human names are funny, haha!" She recovered enough to point at each of them in turn as she spoke, seeming a lot more confident now. "You're now Allie, nah, too close to mine, you can be Louie, and you're now Gunthy," she proclaimed, before clapping her hands together. "There, that's better! And you guys can call me Ahri," she smiled cutely, curtsying. "I do a great curtsy, right? Pally taught me how, he's super nice. And super smart too. He's always talking about really complicated stuff. And since you're strangers I can tell you that I'm smart too, cuz I can count to four hundred and fifty-five."

 

The girl seemed to realize that they had asked questions. "Oh yeah, you guys had questions, silly me," she giggled. "Where are we? We're at Robbie's new manor! You know, he said to Gusty," and here she shook her head and frowned, deepening her voice to a shockingly low level for a little girl. "Sorry, but I am a common man through and through, I cannot accept this." She giggled, "But he ended up taking it in the end cuz Gusty can be really stubborn when he wants to be. And why am I here? Cuz I'm visiting!" she twirled in a circle. "Well actually, I'm living here for a while until I find a home myself. And I don't know what you mean about frogs, cuz they only eat insects and stuff, so there won't be any fighting over territory."

 

--

 

Le Volpi

The pale pink creature in the water lay still until Link was almost near the bottom, and then it struck. Whipping out of the hole and lunging at the mercenary, it revealed itself to be a huge eel, about the width of Link's torso and long enough to wrap itself around him several times over.

 

Its sudden movement had the water boiling with activity, bubbles rising up to the surface and obscuring the vision of the observers in the room.

 

.

 

The left tunnel led ever so slightly up. Ciela, and Sienna, if she followed, would notice the lack of wind movement that heralded a way outside, like Link had hoped. They did, however, see light, but as they got closer, they noticed that it seemed to be dancing on the walls in a rather familiar way. As they entered a small room, they would realize just how familiar.

 

Most of the room was taken up by a large fire. They could barely make out a dark object through the flames, but they would not be able to step further into the room lest they risked catching on fire themselves. Oddly enough, however, the flames gave off no heat, nor was there any smoke.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Team Rana

Catriona has attacked one of the fox Proteans, both of which have now transformed, though the injured one looks ready to flee. Meanwhile, Gunther and Alois are talking with a rather chatty Protean girl who doesn't seem to understand their questions all that well.

 

Team Volpe

Link is now fighting a giant cave eel! Penelope and Tsetseg have obscured vision, only having caught a glimpse of the creature before the water started to bubble. Meanwhile, Ciela and maybe Sienna go down the left tunnel, where they find a room filled fire. There seems to be something through the flames, but they can't make out details.

 

If any of you want information on the setting and stuff for any of your actions, feel free to message me.

 

 

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Edrick had remained silent as the others prepared to deal with the foxes. Whether he was just starting to take up some of Link's habits or if he was actually hesitant about attacking them he wasn't sure, but something certainly did not feel right about killing them here and now. Especially with the idea that the Frogs' issues with the foxes could perhaps be connected to one apart from their tribe. Even so, these two were obviously assassins planning on killing the Frog Sage. Though that raised further questions. The foxes they had encountered in the woods earlier, the ones that had taken their friends, had strongly opposed the idea that they had been responsible for killing the Frog that had started all this. If these two, here and now, were off to kill the Frog Sage then that meant one of two things. Either their friends had failed to win over the foxes were now most likely dead as a result and the Foxes had decided to escalate the conflict, or this was a ruse. An effort by the real perpetrator to cover their tracks and further cause conflict. Well, whatever the case this proved to be an opportunity to get some answers.
 
"We strike," Catriona had said, or more accurately growled. He agreed with the order, but knew she intended to kill. He was not opposed to killing their enemies of course, but right now he was seeing the usefulness of an alternative. The Princess proved to be a most able distraction, though the one she had not skewered took up their bestial form. Harder to get answers out of them that way, but not impossible.
 
"Take that one alive." He said as he put down his lance and braced himself. Without waiting for a response, he bolted out of the cover and leaped hopefully onto the fox's back. His intention was to get his arms around its neck and grapple it to the ground, or at least distract it long enough for the others to help him with that. If they decided to listen to him that is.

[Hakima]

---

Link saw the eel tense just before it rocketed towards him, and he slashed it across the face, but the resistance  of the water robbed the attack of any real force. The eel shrugged the minor wound off and and headbutted his stomach, hard, nearly knocking the wind out of him. He wheezed out part of the breath he was holding in before he could even think to stop himself, sending a flurry of bubbles up to the top of the water

 

He couldn’t afford another hit like that. He was already dangerously short on air now, and he hadn’t even gotten to the bottom of the pool. Link threw Penelope’s non-lethal request to the wind, driven by the primal urge to live and not die slowly underwater.

 

The eel began to wrap around his stunned figure, and Link plunged the dagger deep into its soft flesh, dragged it down several inches, and then twisted it. Blood tainted the water, and the eel’s stranglehold loosened enough for him to squirm out and dive for the orb at the bottom of the pool.

 

He didn’t look back to see if the eel pursued, just swam as fast his powerful strokes would carry him. He had no time to waste; he was running out of the air and the blow he had dealt the eel was far from lethal.

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

 

Gunther couldn't help but smile at the cute child that was before them. Even while he was still confused as to what she was doing there. He still managed to relax slightly. Children were much easier to deal with than adults.

 

Though her words did nothing to explain this rather...odd situation. As much as he didn't want to he should probably speak to an adult about what was going on. And so it was, with great trepidation, that Gunther asked. "So who is...Robbie? Could we meet them?"

He glanced over at Alois, giving him a "This doesn't feel right." look. Something is incredibly wrong here and he hoped his partner here was prepared for...whatever was to come.

---

 

Penelope watched with great nervousness as Link went into the water. Though part of her couldn't help but think about how that's not exactly how she had pictured swimming, from what she read. She wondered for a moment if Link didn't know how to properly swim. That thought left her swiftly as the eel thing attacked.

 

She could tell, though it was hard to see, that Link was in danger. It seemed that he would not be able to follow the order of not killing the creature. It was a sad affair but she was certain the object down there was important.

Penelope looked to the archer. "I don't know if it will work but try and hit it with your arrow. We need to keep it away from Link." Upon saying this Penelope realized she couldn't do much.

 

Would her magic reach the eel even? She wasn't so sure. So instead she aimed her attack at the surface of the water, in the opposite direction of Link, in the hopes to distract the eel long enough.

[Alaina]

 

"Louie?" While that nickname was a first for the boy, the more this girl, Ahri, explained the less Alois felt he actually understood. Though the girl seemed harmless enough, her child-like explanations and mannerisms didn't do much to make him feel at all like he knew what was going on, and the fact that there were probably a few more people here did little to calm his nerves. As the knight next to him gave him a look, Alois gave one back that stated that he was equally confused by the whole thing. Though, he decided to follow up on the question, saying, "yeah, being able to meet the man in charge here would be cool. After all, this place is uh, something else." Though it was supposed to be a compliment, the tone of his voice sounded more unsure than flattering. 

 

 

Tsetseg's focus stayed on the pool as the green man dove underneath. With bow at the ready, the girl followed the man's movements, until her eyes darted to the eel that shot out at him. Being too fast for her to shoot on its initial dash. While there was a clear struggle between the two of them, Tsetseg couldn't see it due to the water starting to become more obscured. Only having a general idea of where they both were, the girl couldn't risk firing on an approximation, as there was a real chance she would hit the green man instead of the fish. As the white haired girl told her to fire, Tsetseg held her shot, until her eyes went wide at a certain sight. A red coloration in the water had risen up. Blood. While it was possible that the fish had bitten the man, it was more likely that he had managed to stab the long fish with her knife. And so, looking at the blood and using it to help her approximate where the fish was supposed to be, she fired an arrow into the water. 

[Wind Rider]

As she thought, the crack didn't lead outside as they initial thought. Instead it seemed to open up to a room of sorts. Entering the strange room with Ciela, Sienna was astonished by the sight. A very familiar room, but it was covered in flames. She backed up a bit before noticing something strange, the flames seemed... Off. There was no heat or smoke to them, light for sure but everything else about the flames didn't make sense.

 

"Uh... Ciela... I'm gonna try something... So uh... Worse comes to worse... Please be ready with your staff..." And with that, Sienna took a step towards the fire, she was planning to walk into the flames, or at the very least touch them. She prayed that the fires were an illusion.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Wait, e-eh??"

 

Having Remy, who was still reluctant to move around, to guide her way for her, Ciela was later surprised when the room the horse led to was in fire, and both horse and its rider jolted back in surprise at the sight. She was prepared to turn around, but something was off. While she did have made some distance away from the fire, she saw it herself that the fire lacked smoke, but more importantly, she couldn't feel any heat emitted by it. A fire this big, even on this direction would feel really hot to approach, but the fact she could randomly stumble upon it without feeling anything meant something was off with it.

 

"Uh... Ciela... I'm gonna try something... So uh... Worse comes to worse... Please be ready with your staff..."

 

Sienna seemed to have the same idea about the nature of the fire with her, and the fox went on to try approaching the fire, or at least touch it to see its nature. Ciela was going to follow suit but Remy didn't seem like he's willing to budge for the time being. He really didn't like this place, apparently. Though, when asked, Ciela understood that he would rather she's in a good condition to do anything to Sienna if she ended up hurt.

He was right, and moreover, right now Ciela wasn't walking on her own two legs. She couldn't take risks on her own, she had to care about Remy's well being too.

 

"Don't do anything too reckless, Sienna."

 

---

[Sethera]

Die Frösche

Catriona grunted in frustration when she saw them assume their vulpine forms. Seeing Edrick go for the nearest fox, she decided to continue her assault on the rear one, her sword whipping out and catching it in the legs. The enemy yipped, and stumbled backward to avoid her, and she used that time to quickly move to the side, intent on hemming it in.

 

Meanwhile, Edrick would find his foe a harder fight. The fox, while not as large as the others they had seen earlier that day, was still plenty strong. He growled and started to shake as soon as the lancer climbed onto its back. However, the boy alone wasn't enough to bring it to ground, and it looked like, at this rate, he would find himself thrown off.

 

.

 

"So who is...Robbie? Could we meet them?"

 

"Yeah, being able to meet the man in charge here would be cool. After all, this place is uh, something else."

 

Ahri tilted her head to the side. "Robbie? Sorry, he's not here at the moment. He should be back anytime though, he said he'd go explorin' the forest with his friends." She clapped her hands together. "Which means we can play a gaaame! Ooh, that'll be so much fun!"

 

The animal-eared girl let them into the house at that moment. The interior was just as opulent as the exterior, with polished stone flooring, patterned Locrisian rugs, and of course the large glass windows. On the walls hung various tapestries typical hunting scenes, most prominently displaying an archer with a feathered cap. One of the scenes showed him chasing after a fox while also being chased by a man with a large pouch of gold at his hip.

 

The two would see the source of the music in the instruments that lay scattered around the room. One looked rather like a lute, but with only three strings and a smaller, square-shaped body. There was another instrument that looked like a collection of strings draped across a long, curved piece of wood. However, there were other, more familiar instruments, as well, such as lutes, lyres, and pan flutes.

 

The girl sunk into one of multiple chaise lounges, gesturing at the other two to sit as well, either in those or one of the many cushioned chairs or settees in the room. Immediately afterward she engaged them in various games such as "Guess What I'm Thinking About" or "Do You See What I See." Not too long afterward, the front door opened, and a man stepped in.

 

He walked like he owned the place, with a swagger in his step, but he stopped soon after seeing the two and they could see just how easily he slid into the role of warrior, or rather, sniper, if the large longbow at his back was any indication. Yet the sword at his hip said otherwise. The cloak swirled ominously about him as he stepped forward, and his leaf green eyes were hard and narrow in suspicion. His shock of orange hair was the only thing warm about him at the moment.

 

He would also look somewhat familiar to Alois.

 

"Well, this is a surprise," the man drawled in an accent similar to the fighter's, a country accent. "And what can I do you fine folks for? I must say, I didn't 'spect company today."

 

--

 

Die Füchse

Link had just managed to wrap his hands around the orb at the bottom of the pool when he felt something brush his feet. Then it moved away, as if distracted, and then he would feel a shock reverberating from somewhere nearby, and a screech ripple through the water.

 

If the man looked, he would see an even larger cloud of red than before, and the a feathered arrow sticking out of pale pink scales. The eel paid no attention to him, and instead seemed intent on swimming toward the surface itself, eventually charging out of the water in a giant splash, jaws gaping toward Tsetseg, showing sawlike teeth.

 

.

 

Sienna would find that the fire did not hurt her at all. In fact, she felt nothing from it, and when she reached the center of the flames, she would find herself blinded by the sight of a paper lantern with the emblem of the sun painted on it. It emitted a strong glow, giving the whole area the illusion of daylight, and also explaining Link's earlier confusion.

 

As soon as she picked up the lantern, the flames would disappear, showing nothing but a small stone room, empty save for the two people, the horse, and the lantern. Remy would calm down soon afterward.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Team Frosch

- Edrick's fox has almost shaken him off. Catriona is preventing the other fox from running away at the moment.

- A strange, but familiar-looking man has appeared, and he doesn't seem happy.

 

Team Fuchs

- Penelope's Wind spell and Tsetseg's arrow both managed to hit the eel, diverting its attention from Link to them. It is trying to bite Tsetseg at the moment.

- Sienna found a paper lantern that emits a strong light. Other than that the room is empty now, the flames disappeared.

 

 

[King K. Azo]

Shiro sighed to himself as he watched the group struggle with the foxes. At first, it was a bit amusing to watch them struggle. After all, they needed to realize what they were up against. Animals were physically superior to humans, and with a Protean, they were bigger and had the intelligence to boot. They needed the wake up call that they could not take this lightly.

Still, after a few minutes, he figured they got the point. He dropped from the tree, quickly turning into his frog form as he landed behind the fox Cat was fighting, using his mighty frog legs to kick it in the back, hopefully preventing any escape.