AberrantKapro | Strohmeier / Senbonzakura

Just as the cramped corridor finally came to an end, the walls, floor as well as the ceiling were all covered in some unknown sludge. The group stopped for a bit so Senbonzakura could help Strohmeier gear up again. Micke and Kinka both loathed the sludge, so as soon as Senbonzakura had finished helping his partner, they were quick to jump up on his back to shake off the slimy substance. 

They looked forward through this new, wider, sludgy passage. The atmosphere felt off, and it was hard to tell at first, but the air was full of some sort of smoke or spores that swallowed any light. Despite the disgust, they knew they had to move forward, the only other option was to go back to their camp through the cramped tunnel, and neither of them really felt like doing so. 

Senbonzakura, fox and shiba in tow, took the lead together with Strohmeier. He could barely see his dark partner due to the dimming fog, but he occasionally heard his barding rattle, so even when they weren't talking he knew he was there. 

The pair did their best to avoid getting too much sludge and slime on them as they walked, but it was impossible to avoid it completely, seeing as it was both hanging and dripping from the cave ceiling. Strohmeier was very curious what the sludge might be or come from. Hopefully it was nothing that would attack or try to eat them, he thought to himself. Hopefully, it was just something seeping through cracks in the stone. 

Suddenly, the two of them lost their footing, the floor seemingly disappeared in front of them, and it was too slippery for them to be able to stop the inevitable. They both started sliding down on the sludge slope that had appeared. 

“Be careful!” Senbonzakura managed to yell before him and Strohmeier had slid down so far that they most likely wouldn't be heard anymore, they just hoped that Söl and Rial wouldn't fall down unprepared like the two of them. 

Well down, they landed in a slimy pile of muck and mud, it saved them from sustaining any injuries, but they were both majorly disgusted and made their way out of the pile as fast as they could. 

Kinka and Micke had fallen off as they landed, and the pair had to help fish them out of the slime. Kinka was whining and shaking, cold by the slime. Micke did his very best to help her get it wiped off, and their owners of course did the same to their beloved pets before tending to themselves. 

Afterwards they took a look at their surroundings. Where were they now? 

450 words

Dillyweed | Söl / Rial

Söl felt free as he finally got to the end of the corridor. It felt nice to no longer need to control his breathing as he tried to not get scratched by the walls. He took a couple of deep breaths. It felt freeing, until a big glob of slimy vegetation touched his head and he felt his entire body shake. He immediately wanted to wash his entire body.

Rial sighed heavily as he took the final step out of the tight corridor of cave walls. Goosebert the peckish, the goose that traveled with Rial, had been grabbing insects from the sides of the walls but as they exited the corridor and the slimy, globby vegetation started hanging down from the ceiling Goosebert started grabbing at it as it hung down. He enjoyed the easy to grab food. 

They took a small break before they continued. Söl was not amused when he realized that they would be walking through a part of the cave with even more vegetation. But he still did his duty. He collected some of the slimy green stuff in one of his bottles. There were always microscopic insects and animals to watch in these if you had the right equipment and they could learn a lot from different vegetation.

Stroheimer and Senbonzakura walked at the front this time. Rial walked behind them and Söl walked at the end of the lead. They could barely see ahead of each other so they made sure to keep close. The dim light barely made the emerald Leopard visible in front of him. But he made sure to concentrate on following and not losing track. He could hear the honking of Rials goose. Bart the Bat mostly hung on him. But would occasionally fly to the front of the lead to make sure that Stroheimer and Senbonzakura still were there. 

Be careful!
The voice was clearly Senbonzakura, but as they were walking close to each other so before Söl could react Rial was halfway over the edge as Söl tried to keep him from going over by trying to hold him with his front legs. He could barely keep himself from also sliding down.
“Get ready! We’re coming down now as well!” Söl yelled down and hoped the other two would manage to get away before they reached the end of the slide. 

393 words