AberrantKapro | Strohmeier / Senbonzakura

The group of now four well acquainted coursers made their way through the tunnels and caverns. The floor was wet and the air humid and slightly warm, an overall nice climate for creepy crawlies for Söl to study, Strohmeier thought to himself. 
Their last campaign did not end too well, after the finally had gotten Senbonzakura out of the undead courser's grasp, they had to retreat to tend to his wounds. They also took that opportunity to restock and relax, as they were all in need of a break by then. 

Senbonzakura was not too shaken up or traumatized by the whole ordeal, his wound stayed clear of any infection and had started to heal up nicely by now. The scab would itch at times, but other than that he felt perfectly fine. Maybe he had been lucky, or whatever ailment the undead one carried had not taken effect yet. He could of course not be completely certain he was in the clear just yet, but so far he felt fine. 

The madder champagne took a halt as he saw something move in the distance, and the group stopped too just in time to not bump into him. It was hard to see due to there barely being any light to light up the room, but across the cavern was some kind of creature. It looked smooth and hairless from a distance, but one could not be sure. It was unfortunately unlike any animal or beast Senbonzakura had ever seen. He glanced over to Strohmeier and hoped that his eyes would say what words could not risk. Stay quiet. 
He also looked over to Röl and Söl, as well as their three pets, who were all understandably acting uneasy from the strange creature's presence. 

The black courser's sharp light blue gaze scanned the whole cavern as best as they could, considering the lack of any illumination. There seemed to be a couple of possible exits for them to choose from, most were a hopefully safe distance from the beast, while others were much closer. He wanted to attempt looking for a way forward through one of the close-by openings, but was worried that his barding would make enough noise to wake the pale creature. At times, the creature moved and snarled, it was safe to assume that it was asleep, but it was no guarantee that it would be a heavy sleeper. It was risky. But they had to move forward. They just started and there was no way Strohmeier would willingly accept defeat this early on. 

Senbonzakura was also scanning the room for potential exits or perhaps distractions. There were plenty of small rock formations, stalagmites and stalactites, if needed, maybe they could kick away a rock someplace in the opposite direction and sneak off? 

His wartorn psyche was wanting to take the opportunity to slay the beast in a preemptive strike before it could wake up and attack them, but he would rather not risk it, as it seemed the others were not as experienced in battle in case one would ensue. 

514 words

Dillyweed | Röl / Söl

After a good rest both Röl and Söl were ready for more adventure. Sure the previous adventure had been a lot. There had been seemingly nothing but danger. But they still managed to get out. Senbonzakura had been hurt but it felt almost like a miracle that there hadn’t been more given what they had been facing. Now they were rested and ready for more. Söl felt reinvigorated by the rest. Röl had a similar experience from it. He had to actually put some energy into not trotting the entire way out of sheer excitement that their adventure was not yet over. Senbonzakura was still leading the group. The previous experience with the boney Courser had not traumatized him enough to take a backseat. Or maybe, Röl thought, he just wanted to get past the experience by experiencing new stuff. He had to take note of that. In case something happened to him. Get back out there. He thought to himself. Perhaps not the best advice. But he had already taken it to heart.

Söl, once again spent most of his time at the back of the lead. Strohmeier kept him somewhat company. It was clear that Strohmeier just wanted to keep the group together as much as possible and he considered Söl to be the weak link in that specific task. That Söl would be the first one to accidentally go missing due to conflicting interests. 
Röl stopped when he saw Senbonzakura stop. He had after all also noticed the big, moving mound of what at first glance looked like dirt but at a second glance clearly was a creature of some sort. He gave Senbonzakura a nod as to say that he had realized why he stopped and he understood the assignment without Senbonzakura having to explain it to him. He had to be quiet. The Pygmy drake that rode on his back by floating and keeping its front paws in his mane had also gone quiet. It clearly understood the energy of his Courser.

Söl was the last one to stop, since he was the last one in the lead. And he didn’t know why they stopped but given the gaze that Strohmeier gave him he just simply kept quiet and followed them.

They walked one and one past the creature that laid quietly snoring by the wall. It was a tight fit, but not too tight. There was room for their gear and the Coursers themselves but they still had to take it one step at a time. Söl was, by default, the last one to pass by the creature. He couldn’t help but to study it as he passed by it. It was intriguing. He mostly dealt with the smaller stuff, such as insects but truthfully he was intrigued by all the creatures and vegetation that he could find. It was just easier to study it the smaller it was. He kept himself in check however. Had he been alone he would have taken his time, but he had to think about the group. He let out a quiet sigh and walked the last part past the creature.
523 words