Dillyweed | Röl / Söl

The group decided that they would do the smiling door. Senbonzakura muttered and Söl decided to pass through the door first as a sort of show of fate. He was prepared to be wrong. It wasn't that he believed himself to be a hundred percent right but he was quite sure of himself as the smiling doors followed him with its gaze. The frowning door had by now closed its eyes and he was unsure if it was because he had made the wrong choice or if it had simply accepted its defeat. He turned around on the opposite side of the door, looking around to see if there were any obvious traps but nothing. He was curious as to what was behind the second door but he had a feeling they would never find out. The doors would remember their choice even if they circled back. There was no magic reset button for this part of the cave. 

“It is fine.” he told the other Coursers as they looked at him, almost expecting something to happen. “I can see nothing like a trap on this side of the door at all.” And to prove his words he trotted up and down the tunnel.

Röl was the first one to pass after Söl. It had been the way he walked up and down that convinced him that there was no danger behind the door. And when Röl passed through, so did Strohimer and Senbonzakura as well. The door however stayed open behind them. 

“I doubt either of us will ever be able to choose the other door now. It will remember each of our faces.” Söl said, clearly disappointed. But at least it seemed that they had made a good choice. They were alive. The tunnel seemed to curve and as Senbonzakura took the lead once again Söl stayed at the back of the lead. He studied the insects and the moss and was surprised to find that it seemed as if it was the same that was near their camp. Despite the fact that they had been walking in an almost straight line away from their base. It made Söl suspicious but as he looked around at the other three Coursers he decided to not say anything. The odds were that this was simply similar moss and insects that happened to live in a different part of the cave system. It was big, and it was the first time he had encountered this specific species of moss since they had set up camp earlier but it was still the same cave system.

Röl had, for a while now, experienced something weird. He looked back at Strohimer and Söl who walked at the back of the group. He had been able to smell them ahead of him. He had not said anything for fear of being lectured and deemed an idiot for the second time in a short while but it really smelled like they walked ahead of him. Not only that, he could smell himself. Neither Senbonzakura nor Strohimer had said anything so neither did Röl. But it was weird. It had to be weird. There was barely any wind in the cave as is and it wasn't coming from behind him so how could he smell Söl and Strohimer so clearly? He considered saying something when the tunnel made a sharp turn and it opened up. They all stood and looked at what was their camp. But it couldn't be, could it? Had they walked in a gigantic circle? Röl recognised their things, especially Söls disgusting bug collection and the tent he had put up above the insect cages to shield them from dripping cave water. But it wasn't only their stuff. Walking among their stuff were individuals. They threw around their stuff with a carefree energy. They didn't really care if stuff broke or went missing. Röl saw how they tossed one of his shields to the side, nearly scraping it. He gave Senbonzakura an angry glance. Clearly asking what to do here but Senbonzakura looked as livid as he felt.

“What do you think you're doing!?” Söls' voice echoed in anger as one of the individuals had kicked his bugs to the side causing it to tip over. They suddenly had their attention. “Those are to be studied.”

“They are maggots.” one of them said with a disgusted snort. 

“They are priceless.” Söl angrily answered. The individual nearest to the insects smirked as he lifted his hoof.

“How much are you willing to pay to not have them smashed then? If they're that amazing.” Söl pinned his ears back as he stuttered. “Not that priceless then.” 

“Enough!” Söl didn't know who said it but he was thankful for it. The other individual put his hoof down without harming the insects.

804 words

AberrantKapro | Strohmeier / Senbonzakura

Senbonzakura and Strohmeier both were surprised as they reappeared at their camp. They both knew that even if they had not walked straight, there was no way they should have come back to their camp so soon. They had walked far too long for that to be possible. The dungeon had surely changed.

Senbonzakura was quick to lock his sharp yellow eyes with one of the intruders pushing around their stuff. He knew Strohmeier wouldn’t approve of a sudden attack, so he didn’t bother to ask.

Just as the echo of Söl’s scream for the ruffians to stop faded, the madder champagne launched at the nearest intruder and bit down hard on his throat, effortlessly flinging him to the ground.

“Don’t you DARE touch our belongings you scum!” he snorted and stomped hard right in front of the downed courser. He wouldn’t cause him more harm than necessary despite seeing red. While unnecessary bloodshed was against his belief, violence was not.

Strohmeier was majorly displeased at this, he would’ve much rather tried to reason with them rather than start an unnecessary fight, but now there was no way peace was an option. He decided to go for the more defensive approach rather than Sanbonzakura’s overly offensive choice, and stood on his guard.

“I’m not going to let you scoundrels get away with this.” he said, which seemed to have taunted one of them.

“Then perish, you FOOL!” one of the ruffians screamed as he lunged for Strohmeier, who just in time managed to turn away and land a kick in the stranger’s flank. Not where he was aiming, but it would hopefully do.

Kinka and Micke did their very best to bite the strangers’ ankles and distract them to leave them open for attacks from their companions. Micke jumped up on one of the intruding coursers and shrieked before biting down on his neck, which drew Senbonzakura’s attention and prompted him to act. He rushed the courser, who was screaming in agony as he was trying to shake Micke off, and tackled him right into a rough rock which caused a wound that immediately started gushing blood all over the damn stone floor. This wasn’t necessarily the outcome Senbonzakura had wished for, but he did what had to be done, he couldn’t risk letting Strohmeier’s little fox get hurt.

Micke had swiftly jumped off before impact and was once again running around with Kinka as decos and distractions. Sonboinzakura stood tall over the bleeding courser and angrily looked down on him.

“Leave.” he said harshly and threateningly, hoping that all this violence would be enough to convince them all to leave, but he didn’t have too high hopes.

446 words