[DD3] Food Chain
As you make your way across the Moor, you encounter a spectral Courser wandering aimlessly, its armor aged and torn. A second, human specter – or perhaps an extension of the same spirit – straddles the Courser’s back for some reason. They don’t seem to threaten you, but it’s unclear what would happen if they were to see you…
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Cithis’ and Logue’s journey through the dungeon continues, with both Coursers chattering away. The grullo kept asking for stories about the mercenary’s past adventures in the ruins of the Kingdom, and in exchange, she shared a few stories of her past, when she was a smaller foal and mostly her dealings with the various creatures living on the first level of the dungeon. About how she managed to always come back to the surface with even a tiniest scratch, to the time where her mane got all messed up because of a slime, and she had to spend hours to fix it to its proper state…
The carefree talk, along with Mothra’s presence against her body was helping her ease up from the earlier nightmare, and the weird visions she saw in the pond – new questions kept popping up in her head, demanding to be answered, but there was no one to give her the answers she sought. She had always thought of herself as mostly yearning for the adrenaline of the dungeon, and that Hillcrest was better suited to the more philosophical and historical aspects of the Ruined Kingdom, but now, after descending deeper and deeper, she began to find the inkling of curiosity to learn more, in herself.
Just as she was about to tell Logue another joke, her gaze landed on spirits traversing The Moor of Sleep, and they…
They looked like exactly what she saw in the pond earlier.
Her first instinct was to hide, and she immediately scurried behind a ruin, holding her breath, with her heart beating fast as a galloping Courser, and Logue follows behind, a little more composed than the younger Courser. She made sure Mothra was still on her back, cooing at the pet to calm it down a little bit. Being a dungeon creature itself, it was probably safe from the maybe-vengeful spirit, but… better safe than sorry.
“It’s fine as long as they don’t see you.” he informed, looking out a bit out of their hideout, before hiding himself back, nodding to Cithis.
As much as she was terrified – after making sure she was in a place, where she wouldn’t be so easily seen – the grullo glanced out from behind the ruin, dark brown eyes focused on the ghostly visualisation of a Courser’s spirit… and that weird, two-legged creature she saw earlier in the visions of the pond. She remembered how one side of the weird monsters hurt the other, composed of the same two-legged weirdos like them… what was their point? Not only they hurt each other while being of the same kind, they also brought pain onto the Coursers of the past, and Cithis felt anger bubbling inside her. They brought the Coursers, her kind, as some type of… of… servants, to fight for them and keep losing their lives for them, one after another!
“I’ve heard our kind was used as an easier transportation method for them.” Logue commented, nodding his head in the direction of the Courser and human spirit duo. “But apparently it’s been long, long ago… Who knows what’s real or not. But it’d line up with what was recorded from history of that age in that pond.”
Cithis only hummed, still feeling the anger brimming deep inside her heart, along with… sadness. Watching the Courser spirit wander aimlessly, or probably still guarding the battlefield after their death… The two-legged creatures were truly despicable, and she was thankful that she has never seen any in her life on the surface – every single one of them would have gotten a kick to their heads!
“Maybe, but still… I can’t help but feel bad.” she sighed, unable to break her gaze from the wandering ghosts of a Courser and a human, a weird pressure against her heart. The pair wandered further away from the two, very much alive horses, making their surroundings safer now, with the never-ending croaking of The Moor of Sleep’s atmosphere. She could only hope that the Courser’s spirit will be finally able to rest one day after centuries of torment. They deserved it – and now Cithis was even more thankful than before for being able to lead her life freely, away from any masters, or hurtful wars. She looked back at her pet, no, friend. She’d never threat Mothra like this, even if it could immediately bring her the most expensive and shiniest loot from the dungeon – no, it wasn’t her servant, and even if they were two completely different species, Cithis still didn’t think of Mothra as a being deserving of lower amount of respect than her.
“We should go, while they’re still away and not guarding the passage.” the mercenary commented and Cithis nodded her head. They waited a little bit more, making sure the spirits were far enough and swiftly started trotting, soon entering another corridor, one that’d lead them to yet another cavern in The Moor of Sleep, and the grullo only hoped - once again - that maybe now they’ll find something… a bit more positive and heart-warming.
reference to: [DD3] Battlefield Mirror
Submitted By vrlenvy
for Level 3 Dungeon Dive
Submitted: 2 months ago ・
Last Updated: 2 months ago