Faizah and Emilia get wrapped up in something a bit more serious than they’re used to.
Characters: Faizah, Emilia, Leslie (NPC), Titania
Warnings: N/A
Wordcount: 1,023
Vibe: sometimes an ending is just an ending
a shorter one cuz i ran out of steam ASDFGHJ but!! a soft conclusion to the story, maybe not as climactic as i’d wished – but sometimes endings are just endings (even if this one’s ending is different from the PD version)
“That’s… not the city, is it?” Faizah said in response to what was in sight beyond the cliff’s edge.
Emilia softly bapped Faizah on the head.
“Of COURSE it’s not, why do you think it’d be notable if it was?!”
“Oh, I’m sorry! I’ve literally only been there once!!”
“Quit it, you two.” Leslie groaned.
“Something is definitely up here. I’ve walked similar paths around here before, there’s no way an… entire city could just be sitting here, unfound.”
Leslie took out the device he used to pick up on divine energy earlier, and flicked it on – the clicking was a lot stronger and more frequent now.
“We shouldn’t stay here long, but… it’d be hard to admit I’m not intrigued.” Leslie said with a sigh.
“It seems the path of the guzzlord ended here too… where it is though, I have no idea.”
Faizah hummed a little bit.
“Well, how long do you think we’d have to check it out before it got… dangerous?” she said.
“I mean, divine energy wise, and all.”
“Hmm…” Leslie mumbled as he thought for a second.
“45 minutes.”
“Well, let’s get moving then, yeah?” Emilia said in a rather chipper manner.
“If this place is actually some site of ancient uncovered ruins… we’ll be rich! 45 minutes should be more than enough.”
—
After some careful scaling of the cliff’s edge, the group found themselves in the city. It was… a mess, to say the least. Many of the buildings were collapsed on themselves, and the group found themselves hopping between large cracks in the street frequently.
While it appeared deserted, the group kept their guard up – for the guzzlord could be anywhere. This inadvertently led to no words being exchanged, as everyone was so focused on their own awareness.
Click, click, click.
The sound of Faizah’s hooves and the duo lupanthera’s claws echoed rather loudly.
Click, click, tap, tap.
That… didn’t sound like anyone from the group’s footsteps.
Faizah put out an arm to motion for Emilia and Leslie to stop.
Tap, tap.
It was getting closer, and the group was frozen.
Closer, until after rounding a ruined building, it was… something.
Something hard to identify on account of their pitch black, practically shadowy form… they had a foxlike set of ears and tail, and multiple eyes – though the eyes kept blinking in places where eyes logically should not be.
But, regardless… they looked worried.
—
There was… a certain energy to the figure. But Faizah couldn’t read whether it was malicious or not… so she quickly drew her dagger and assumed a more offensive pose.
Emilia quickly followed into assuming a battle stance, but Leslie held his ground.
The figure raised their hands up in the air, as to indicate they were unarmed.
“Please. I’m not here to hurt.” they said. Their voice was… odd. It sounded almost like a man and woman were speaking at the same time, but coming from one individual.
“I need help, please.”
While Faizah got herself ready to snark at the figure, Leslie spoke before her.
“What can we do?”
“Follow me, please. It’s urgent.”
With no room for further input, the dark figure assumed a quadrupedal form and quickly sprinted back around the corner in which they came.
The group paused for a moment, and though no words were exchanged, Leslie nodded and moved forwards in response to Faizah’s look of concern.
Around the corner, the group could see the figure on two legs again, pointing towards a gap in the stone.
“I… I accidentally hurt my friend. She’s trapped in there, I can’t get her out…”
—
Together, Emilia and Leslie’s strength was enough to overturn the debris that had trapped the shadowy figure’s friend.
But upon seeing the friend, Emilia’s shock almost had her drop the debris.
“Emilia?! What is it?” Faizah said in a surprised manner – but she was quick to realize why Emilia was so shaken when the fluffy white pup wiggled her way out of the debris.
“What’s with you two? Is everything okay?” Leslie asked, unsure as to why the others of the group appeared as though they’d seen a ghost.
“That’s…” Emilia mumbled.
“That’s Storm’s kid.”
“Who’s… Storm?” Leslie questioned.
“She’s, uh, an old friend. Ambassador of the Cavern City.” Emilia explained, shaking her head.
“She recently found this like… weird… kid. Look, this is that weird kid, somehow.”
“Ah…” Leslie nodded.
“That certainly… brings up a lot of questions.”
While the group was debating what was even going on, Faizah could see the child, Titania, and the shadowy figure having a happy reunion – with the figure muttering that they were sorry over and over.
Eventually, the figure caught eye contact with Faizah and smiled.
“Thank you.” they said…
Before suddenly phasing away into nothing, which made Faizah jump.
The others of the group were slow to react, but by the time they had noticed the figure’s sudden evaporation, the city was fading away too.
Soon enough, there was just a large, empty chamber… with nothing other than a slowly disintegrating guzzlord, and an unconscious Titania.
There were no words to be exchanged.
Leslie gathered some of the dusty guzzlord remains to bring to the outpost as ‘proof’, while Emilia scooped up a sleeping Titania by the nape of her neck – and the group made their trek back.
It was a lot shorter than the way down somehow, and by the time they all arrived at the city, it was dark out.
Pao and the rest of the metalworkers seemed happy to see them all alive – more so happy to see Leslie with remains of the guzzlord, proving it had been vanquished.
Pao ended up chewing Faizah and Emilia out for lying to her initially, but let it go because they did also get Leslie back alive.
She offered the least she could do, which was give Faizah and Emilia shelter until morning.
Though, she was curious about Titania… she was about to ask, but Titania eventually stirred awake on the blanket she’d been resting on since the group arrived back at the outpost.
She looked over to Emilia with a sleepy, confused expression, and yawned.
“Good morning… where am I? I had a really weird dream…”
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