[PP-F3] <<Rumor>> On the Matter of Faeries

[Calcifer 0]

”And so I said: ‘Nay! Stay away from that woman, or I’ll have your head!’ And I brandished my sword, ready for a fight. But then the beast squawked at me at ran for it! Can you believe that? Such a cowardly foe.” Calcifer had been prattling on and on for the better part of ten minutes, regaling her new companions with one of her many, many heroic tales.

”Squawked at you…?” One of the two faeries escorting her echoed with a confused, skeptical look. It shared a glance with its kin as they fluttered through the air on either side of the pink-haired player.

”Exactly! Rude and uncooperative.” She shook her head with a sigh. ”I had to chase it down for what felt like ages. I couldn’t, in good conscience, leave it to terrorize the streets.” The intermingling forests and glades they traveled across seemed to stretch on for miles, but Calcifer didn’t seem bothered a bit. She was having a fine time filling any silence as they walked on and on.

”It was a whole ordeal. Feathers everywhere.” She nodded, recounting the conclusion of her great battle with a townsfolk’s escaped chicken back on Floor 1. The scenery had finally begun to change, and the trio reached the mouth of a narrow cavern, dimly lit by a blue glow coming from somewhere inside. Calcifer’s pace slowed to an eventual stop before she’d crossed the threshold. ”This is where you need me to go? In there?” She seemed hesitant. After all, the last time she’d ventured into dark cave she’d nearly been made into bat food. And someone who was very strong had been there to accompany her. Surprisingly, she showed a measure of caution.

”Yes, yes. You must hurry, we need your help in the Cavern. Come! Come!” The faerie insisted. It waved its clawed hand out to her as it beckoned. The other faerie flew around her excitedly, tugging at her hair and clothes as if to pull and nudge her forward. ”Quickly! Go!”

”I… What is it that you need help with, exactly? I must make sure I’m prepared, after all.” Her nervousness was plain as day on her face, and the faeries did not seem one bit amused by her sudden hesitance. ”Oh, I give up!” One declared, throwing it’s small, lithe arms in the air. ”I can’t listen to her yapping any more anyway!” Its passive nature crumbled away in an instant, revealing an irritable scowl fixed upon its insect-like features. The other faerie scoffed loudly and waved its hands in the air. Out of nothing, it produced a small, brightly-colored cupcake with plenty of frosting and sprinkles over the top.

”Huh? Wait–” The moment Calcifer opened her mouth in shock at their sudden shift in attitude, the faerie with the cupcake zipped forward and shoved the whole thing into the girl’s mouth. Her confusion turned to muffled noise while the faerie held its tiny hands firmly against her lips in order to keep her mouth shut. To her surprise, the little creature had no issue doing so.

Then the world became fuzzy. She blinked a few times, trying to focus her vision. The faeries were talking, she thought, but it’s like their words were lost in the wind before they reached her ears. Sound, touch, sight…even the sugary taste and sweet smell of the cake against her tongue faded away. Everything went dark.

[rumor thread] Calcifer | HP: 20/20 | EN: 20/20 | DMG: 5 | ACC:1  NOTES   Hide contents Calcifer's Character Sheet THREAD INFO   Hide contents equipped »Rare Weapon (+1 DMG, +1 ACC) »Vanity Armor   battle-ready inventory »(3) Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP) skills »Straight Sword R1 (+3 DMG) addons » mods » buffs Spoiler »

Edited March 21 by Calcifer

[Azhoda 0]

Be careful. Those executive words were spoken to Az as she followed up on a lead given by her friend Yuuma. Az didn't really bother much. What could things on floor three do to her at this moment? It was just a rumor that Yuuma had heard about before. And rumors tend to be just that, rumors. So yeah, it was logical that Az was not scared or even worried about it too much. She had her cloak on and her hood over her head to avoid being seen by anyone or being recognized. She didn't want people to notice her in her current state. 

She looked down at the ground as she walked and wondered, "Why do I keep doing this for Yuuma?" She said to herself quietly. "I keep getting dragged into his schemes, and what do I get out of it. Just a bit of Col from him and a smile," She paused and looked at the split shield on her, covering her hands and her lower arm. "Okay, maybe I get to keep the things I find along the way," She said as she smiled, knowing she got this shield from one of Yuuma's little rumors.

As time went by and she still had not found anything, she looked up towards the sky and stared for a bit. Did she walk circles? That bush seemed very familiar. Was that the same rock from before? Wait, it was the stick she broke as she stepped on it.

Yeah, she was lost. But she didn't realize that.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of something grumbling, and Az took out her claws as they extended from behind her shield like a gauntlet. "Who goes there?" she said as she stood in a combat position, ready to fight. But when the grumbling sound happened again, she finally noticed that her stomach grumbled. "Ha... Um, I have been walking for a while," she said as she had walked at least seven hours.

She put away her claws again, placed a hand on her stomach, and smiled weakly. "Not now. I am still no further in this rumor," she said, her voice low and calming. 

Not mere minutes later did Az smell something in the air. It took only a few seconds for her to follow her senses and walk into an interesting view. Before her, there was a simple plate with some food, a simple-looking cake, and sweets right there for the picking. "Hello?" she said as she walked into the clearing, but after a minute of waiting, nobody responded, and Az just shrugged her shoulders. "First-come, first-served," She said as she walked over towards the plate and took the cake with one big bite.

The cake was sweet, maybe too sweet for Az to like. She placed it back on the plate before taking a cookie, at least this tasted good. But Az's world felt a bit heavy before anything else could be done. Her head started spinning and twirling a bit, and the floor came closer, and darkness took her. She heard a bit of muffled sounds of voices before everything was quiet

@Calcifer

Spoiler  <<Azhoda || Lv. 34 || HP: 720/720 || EN: 84/84 || DMG: 9 || MIT: 55 || ACC: 1 >> Equipment: Simple Plate: Light Armor || Tier 4 Basic Claws: Claws || Tier 4 Spilt Shield: Shield || Tier 4 Battle ready: ... Skills: Spoiler   Claw Skill R5 A, <<Claw>> Focus Block R5 M, Shield Bash Active Light Armor R5 M, Meticulous Active A, Resolve Charge M, Bull Rush Active Battle Healing R5   Buff: Spoiler Rested: -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat Filling: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30 Col Stash: 5% bonus col from monster kills and treasure chests Item Stash: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot

 

[Calcifer 0]

”Ugh…” Calcifer let out a small groan as the world found her again. Her eyes fluttered open slowly, like waking up in the middle of a deep sleep. Her vision was blurry, her head felt fuzzy, and every limb was heavier than it should. ”Huh…? What…happened?” She muttered and mumbled in her stupor, as if getting words past her lips would help tether her to consciousness.

The low light of the cavern was tinted with a blue hue. This must be the cavern that the faeries were talking about, but from in here it was impossible to tell what time of day it was, or how long she’d been asleep, or– ”The faeries!” Calcifer shot up, eyes wide open, where she sat in the middle of a seemingly makeshift jail cell made out of long sticks wrapped together with vines. Her memory was hazy. A dozen of these strange little stick boxes were fashioned in this wide cave clearing, and the air was still. Calcifer pushed herself to her knees and hurriedly crawled closer to one side of the many thin wooden beams. ”Hello?! Faerie friends!” She called. She cupped her hands around her mouth and tried again. ”Are you unharmed?! Worry not! I won’t rest until I find you!” Her shouts echoed and bounced against the cave walls and down the winding tunnels.

Scrambling to her feet, Calcifer then reached across her body and grabbed…nothing. ”Huh?” She blinked dumbly when she grasped a fistful of air, then looked down at herself to realize that the basic sword normally resting at her hip was missing. The smile plastered on her face was an uneasy one, paired with a cold sweat that began to bead at her brow. ”Oh… I see.” A nervous chuckle bubbled up from her chest, but before she could reevaluate her predicament, something caught her eye. A hint of bright red among the dark grey stone and dull browns and greens of the plant matter.

Calcifer perked up at the sudden realization: a person! A person was here! A person was trapped here! A gasp escaped her. She hurried and grabbed at the sticks that stood between them. Despite how flimsy or frail they might have looked, they didn’t budge in the slightest when she practically threw her weight against them. ”Miss! Are you alright?!” Calcifer’s volume didn’t lower a bit despite the fact that this person was laying maybe 10 feet beside her. But since she was unconscious, it only made sense to call out for her! Calcifer reached a hand through the bars all the way to her shoulder. Her face smushed up against them as she stretched as far as she possibly could, waggling her fingers and waving her hand once it was clear they wouldn’t reach any farther.

[Azhoda 0]

"Five more minutes, please," her voice came out groggy and slow. She turned to her side, her face turning towards what seemed like someone else. "Who..." Az paused before speaking more and looked around for a second, taking in where she was. 

It took a moment as the other person seemed to try to reach for her. Finally fully opening her eyes, Az looked at the young girl. Her face smushed against a few sticks. "Um..." It was the only word that came out of the redhead's mouth for a second as she sat upright. "You can stop pushing against those, and yes, I am fine, I think, where are we?" Her words were still low and calm. Az scratched the back of her head, but the moment she did, she felt something was missing as she slowly reached down her hand before her eyes to see her shield completely gone. Looking around to maybe see them somewhere, but no luck, "Sh..." she stopped herself from completing her words as she looked back at the girl.

Panic set in, but she crossed her legs and placed each hand on one knee. Az looked up and down for a second and sighed, "Rumors are just rumors... good job, Az." She said to herself, but it was not hard to overhear with the girl being about 10 feet away from her. She gave a smile to the girl and extended her hand towards the girls own hand, "Can't say this is the best place to meet, but I'm Azhoda, or call me Az what ever you wish," She said calmly finally coming to the conclusion that yes, they in fact were stuck in a cage without any of their basic equipment on them.

"You came here the same way I did, lured by food and suddenly awoken here?" Az asked the girl as she opened her menu to check her inventory, only to be disappointed that even her claws were taken away from her.

[Calcifer 0]

Phew. Calcifer nearly let out a huge sigh of relief to know that her cellmate was alive. Though it was unclear as to whether the girl yet realized that’s what they were: prisoners. Or maybe captives? The whole thing was rather unclear.

Calcifer relaxed and pulled back so that she was no longer straining against the wooden bars, but she kept her place on her knees directly next to them. She gave the stranger–Azhoda–a moment to gain a semblance of her bearings. The pink girl’s eyes lit up and she gave a firm nod, ”A pleasure to meet you, Miss Azhoda.” She placed a hand over her chest, ”I am Calcifer. It seems that we’ve been trapped here, but there’s no need to worry! If we work together, we can escape this place in no time at all!” She spoke with a natural and undeserved confidence.

She pushed herself to her feet and briefly dusted herself off. From the little stains and bits of gravel that shook loose from her clothes, it was clear that their captors were not too concerned about dragging her through the tunnels. A finger pulled up to tap at her chin and she frowned in deep thought. ”Lured by food…? That sounds downright sinister.” She remarked. Calcifer was trying to glean anything useful from her memories, but it seemed to be a struggle. She began to recount the day’s events aloud. ”Let’s see… I ran into two troubled faerie folk near the edge of town… They led me through the forest, and we told stories of bravery and justice… Hmm, they said they needed my help in a cavern of some sort.” She mused, shifting her weight and furrowing  her brow. ”The last thing I remember… Yes, that’s right! One of the faeries made a beautiful cupcake for me. I must have been hungry!”

It was truly unclear whether Calcifer’s memory was so hazy that she would rebuild any scenario that made sense, or if her naivete was an outright death flag.

All that to say, she was no closer to piecing together any of the puzzle that stood before them. Or escaping their confinement. Calcifer began to pace, taking only a couple of steps before she was forced to turn back the other way. ”But I haven’t seen a trace of them yet. Oh, what to do…”

Edited Friday at 09:37 PM by Calcifer