RP:The Quest to Find the Cerulean Flowers

From HollowWiki

Part of the Time Heals All Wounds Arc


Synopsis: Okay, so here we go. Kyori was in search of these flowers, right? Well, Penelope totally had the answer to Kyori's problem, but... the adventure lead to more problems. Blobs, ghosts, and demonic creatures in caves. All in all, Kyori and Penelope get what they need and dip. Mind you, Penelope doesn't get to see the waterfall. Thanks, Kyori. You owe her. Anyway, with the cerulean flowers, the healer declares that the oil made from the blue flower will be named 'The Kyori'. You're welcome. Also, Kyori, are you okay?

Halifax Roots

The sky was lightening to a shade of purple. Lithrydel was finally quiet and even the birds stopped chirping throughout the lush forest of Kelay. It was dawn. Yerrel was still tucked in his hut and Penelope was tucked in her home which was up the stairs in her shop. The herbalist was still finishing up a few things to pack. Medical supplies, a book, a map, a compass, a change of clothes, and a change of warm clothes for Kyori. She may or may not have stolen some of Ruari’s clothes. The girl had guestimated that they were about the same stature. She then buckles the mustard-colored hiking pack and throws it on her back. She makes her way down the stairs before she realized that she had told the man she would have coffee. Was it a joke to her, now? Yes and no. She would brew a pot, anyway which would only take ten more minutes. Once that was done, she pours the brewed beans into two jars and twists a lid over the tops, and she races out the door into the cool morning air. She has her hair tied back into a pony tail with loose strands falling to shape her face. The human has a thick dark blue flannel on with a faux-fur vest to keep her warm, a pair of thick black leggings, and some hiking boots. She had told the spellblade dawn. She would wait on a nearby stump with two jars in hand full of brew. Tick tock.


Kyori owned two sets of clothes, one of them he’s worn both times Penelope’s seen him. The other set is a dark blue suit he purchased for that Ball in Larket he attended but that isn’t mountain climbing worthy. The fabric wasn’t sturdy. It’d unravel if he snagged a bush. What he shows up in today is new and judging by his uncomfortably appearance, still not worn in. A black button down, long sleeved shirt rolled up to his elbows and softer jean-like pants complete with passable hiking boots (used by the previous owner). The shirt’s unbuttoned, showing the festive orange tank top he’d been convinced to buy. He knows he looks like a pumpkin in hindsight but he doesn’t want to talk about it. His sword is strapped to his back, predictably, but over his left shoulder he carries a small duffle bag of goods. It is not overflowing. He’s clean, smelling of soap, and it even looks like he tried (and failed) to deal with his blonde hair. Easy come, easy go. The warrior shows up just as the first rays of light dull the sky to a pastel pink. He hears the Halifax woman before he sees her and when he sees her, his gait is unchanged until he reaches the stump. The spellblade flicks his chin at the jars, murky and questionable. “For wearing or for drinking?” He asks, fully aware it’s coffee by smell alone. “Is it a bug repellent?”


Penelope instantly stands as she sees the blonde approach her. “Well, if it’s bug repellent, it’s obviously not working,” she gives him one of those playful gazes. She then extends a jar. “Drink it or don’t. I said I’d bring coffee. It’s gonna be a long journey,” she begins to wiggle the jar in her hand. The woman then takes him in. “Very festive,” she notes his attire before giving a smile. “Let’s not waste any time, shall we?” The woman lifts her chin for him to follow along. “I hope you rested up. We’re headed to Xalious. Once we reach outside of the mines, we will have to pull out a map I found from there.” Wow, she was very upbeat for early morning. “So, tell me about yourself… since your stuck with me for at least a full day. Might as well talk, you know?”


Kyori takes the jar, rolls his eyes at her festive comment and barks a laugh. "Haha, very funny, I'm a fall leaf I get it." He clearly did not get it. He also didn’t get how she was so chipper, it was early as hell. Maybe she was like the plants she loved; powered by sunlight and the possibility for growth. Hmph. Chipper AND talkative. The spellblade twists the lid on the jar and takes a swig before they start off. He slept last night like he slept most nights but he didn’t look worse for wear. “I’m glad you agreed to this.” He would have been in the dark on his own. Plus, her spunk could be contagious, help feed the Kyori spellblade fiction. Solidify him in this new reality. “Not too much to tell.” he lies, tucking the jar into a side pocket on his duffle. “Came here from a different place, Lativu.” That part was true, just in case Penelope has a built in lie detector. “I’ve got five sisters, two older, three younger but the oldest youngest sister is about my age.” Also true, the math worked out. “They’re still back at home.” Lie. “I came here seeking work to send money back home to support them.” Lie. Lie. Lie. The warrior described his fantasy life, where he was here and they were there and all was right with the world. Kyori, should you really be taking up this woman’s time with lies? Is that how you want to establish yourself here? He had to wipe the slate clean. It was the only way. “But that’s all boring, old news.” He shrugs his duffle back up on his shoulder. “What about you? Anything you wanna warn me about before we embark on this journey? I don’t want to encourage you but since I’m new, probably no one would come looking for me if I…disappeared.” He shoots her a dramatic look that cracks into a smile. What did she weigh? Like ten pounds? He could probably toss her into the air and catch her without breaking a sweat. No way was she going to attack him.


The herbalist is all ears at this point. Yes, she was like a non-stop talkative train, but she also had the most patience anyone could ever see. Penelope the patient. That was what a lot of her clients had responded with when visiting her for appointments. “Lativu, sounds fancy,” she responds shortly to him. They were already reaching the turn off to head through the Pass through to Xalious. The streets were still bare. She nods along and smiles about his sisters. Five sisters? Imagine that huge family and the Yule holidays. Bustling. At times, the girl would rest her eyes on him to reassure him that she was, in fact, attentive. Not that it mattered since he was LYING. Penelope, however, would not notice the difference. The two were strangers at this point, still. After this, who knew what would come out of it. Maybe friendship? Maybe….? Who knew if she would ever see him again, and well, right now, since they were just meeting, that did not seem to even worry the girl. So why would a lie matter? Again, not that she knew. “I imagine that Lativu is a small population if you are struggling for work? Also, have you found anything yet?” She was genuine and nosy. As he asks about her in his teasing manner, a smile grows on those unpainted lips. “You found out my perfect plan,” she plays along. “How did you know I was going to bring you where no one can find you? Rats, better find a new candidate,” she snaps. “But in all seriousness, I warn you that I wear a little easy, as of late. May have to take a few stops. Also, in fair warning, I’m not sure what will be out there… since there is a reason no one goes after these… flowers. But rest assured, I was in war once! Though, not combat wise, but if one of us gets hurt, I can help us heal. My combat skills need um… well, I never had any.” Okay, so… They are doomed is what she was saying. “But maybe nothing is out there at all!” Penelope the optimistic. “Maybe people are just afraid something would be out there. It is, after all, away from civilization.”


Kyori keeps an eye on the path ahead but trust her to navigate. He’d be useless here and he’s sure she knows it. She’s a smart woman, bound to know when a man is useless…but not lying apparently. He breathes a silent breath of relief. This could be the new reality. He’d make sure of it. “Lativu’s a decent sized kingdom, they used to do well for themselves but we’ve fallen on hard times.” Oh Penelope, if only you knew how small the population was. It was almost funny that she’d picked those words. She quips back quickly, though, and he’s relieved. “You look like a woman with a plan; I’ve learned not to cross those.” He waits a minute before adding, “For all I know you’ve got a blood thirsty plant hidden in the mountains and you’re luring me there with your promise of assistance and feminine wiles. If I die, tell people I died bravely at least.” She confesses to being in a war, untold dangers, and needing frequent breaks. He doesn’t look bothered by any of it. “More incentive to keep me alive, I brought a pointy stick and I know how to use it. Combat ready, straight out of the box.” Maybe less doomed than she thought, but only barely. “There’s gotta be a reason they’re in high demand. I bet there are all kinds of rumors about monsters and baddies. That’s how precious treasures are protected. Easiest thing to do; stir up gossip. People’ll take care of the rest, embellishing the story, until the flowers are like…ON the monster. Or the flowers ARE haunted.” He shrugs. “Either way, I specialize in sword swishing, so I think we have an advantage. Especially with your combat medic expertise. Like I said; woman with a plan.” He points at he then touches his own nose to say he’d been ‘right on the money’ with his assessment. A silence slips in between their teasing and after a minute he asks in a low, concerned voice – “Have you been sick recently?”


Mountain Path

Penelope nods her head along. “Plummeting, got it,” she directs her note of the Lativu kingdom. Meanwhile, the girl adjusts the straps on her pack to help ease her shoulders. The two were now surrounded by mountains in the distance. They were on the path towards Xalious, alright. As he mentions that she is a woman with a plan and he should not cross them, her cheeks sort of brighten a pinkish hue. The girl gives a nervous laugh. “Yeah, my brother always mention similar traits to me too. He was always skeptical.” Too skeptical. That was a darker tale for a never time. “Although a blood thirsty plant sounds enticing, I’m unfortunately not the dreary type, if you haven’t noticed,” she was right. She was way too peppy for that gig and comforting. “I promise if you do die, though, I will make the girls write fantasy novels about you. I’ll make sure to keep them swooning.” She offers a wink. She then squints. “A pointy stick? That’s relieving,” her tone throws sarcasm at his choice of words. “We don’t know what we are up against, but I’m sure we will escape in… hopefully a piece where we can still walk and talk. That’s all that matters. Oh, and hopefully you will have at least one arm,” she snickers and then blinks at his nose touching. She shakes her head with a smirk. Penelope did always have a plan. Brains was her specialty not fighting. That was good enough. The silence overcomes them, and she is content with it until he asks what he asks. Her eyes shift and she keeps the air silent still. “Yes…” The girl kind of shifts her pack and tucks a chestnut strand back behind her ear. “There was a plague that washed over Lithrydel. I was one of the suffering. The symptoms were just unbelievable. Vomiting blood, black out spells, hair falling out, sores on the body, the list really goes on.” The story is not pretty, but she was alive, so she calm while speaking. Her voice was soft and her face expressionless. “I tried everything. Everyone tried everything. There was a point…” beat. “Where I couldn’t try anymore. I kept blacking out, so Yerrel just let me rest.” Her eyes stare straight forward as they come to the Rough Ranges. They were coming close to where they would start climbing the mountain trails. “The thought of death doesn’t scare me. I was at peace with it. So many people wanted to help me, but nothing worked.” She then inhales. “But one day, I woke up after a long time of black. Yerrel said I was healing. No one knew how. Though, one day, when I was sick, I ran into a man who said that it may had been connected to dark magic.” She shrugs. “Whatever it was, it stopped. But I lost a lot of weight and muscle,” she finally looks at him. “So… yes, I was sick, and that’s why I get tired.”


Kyori’s taken aback by how honest she’s being about the plague symptoms in the face of all their joking about untimely demise. They were strangers, honestly, and he’d never known anyone to admit to vomiting blood during the first ‘get to know you’ session. The memory of her condition is painful; Kyori’s not oblivious enough to miss that. His innocuous question unleashed an uncomfortable air where he didn’t know what to say but couldn’t interrupt her. “For what it’s worth, you don’t look like you’ve been sick. Maybe neglecting good food, but I guessed it was because you were too busy reading books.” He mimics pushing a pair of glasses up the bridge of his nose with a teasing smile, effectively calling her a nerd. Internally, Kyori is wondering why she agreed to travel this great distance if she was recovering from almost dying. He puts the responsibility for any exhaustion she’s to suffer on himself but does his best not to show that his mood has changed. “If it hurts too much, I’ll carry you.” He looks away afterwards, as if nothing’d been said. His duffle bag rattling it’s contents. “Can we stop here?” He didn’t know the trails but he could tell their uphill climb was less than a mile ahead of them. “Here, we’ll make the conversation into a game.” He drops his bag on the ground and it rattles. What did he have in there? The spellblade adjusts the sword on his shoulder with a shrug, collects his coffee and takes another swig. It’s a pleasant temperate now. “We’ll ask each other a specific question and we both have to answer it.” He tilts his sapphire eyes towards her and smiles encouragingly. So there’s no pressure to dig deep. He feels bad that he’d lied but it wasn’t for her. It was him. “And we get one skip, no questions asked, but we have to replace it with…a bad rendition of a song of the person’s choice.” He blinks at her, waiting to see if she wants to throw any suggestions into the hat. It was all off the cuff. “You start, ask me anything.” But please, please, please don’t ask about Lativu.


The woman is not always open, but since she was in the medical field, why should she lie about that? Plus, like she said, she was not afraid of death. She may, however, grossed and made Kyori awkward. “Oh Yerrel and Mr. Erickson always have to remind me to stop to eat. It’s a bit of a problem, but when I eat. I eat,” she is proud about it. They travel more and she listens to his comment about carrying her. The statement is ignored due to the stubbornness from the herbalist. Carrying her would not happen today. Not on this trip. She had too much pride. She would endure all the pain, if she had to. As he comes to a halt, she stops willingly while twisting open the jar to down more of her drink. The coffee in her hand was almost gone. “You like games,” she makes a mental note. The woman peers and leans forward to see what he had in his duffle due to her nosy behavior. The game did not sound too awful, as long as he did not ask about her brother either. “Wow, I wouldn’t even have to try for the performance. I’m already terrible,” she smirks. “Sounds easy.” The girl then taps her chin for dramatic effect. “What do I want to know about Kyori…?” Moss eyes linger on him for too long before her lips part. “You know, I feel like I’ve seen you before all of this,” she means the adventure. “It’s coming back to me now because I like to people watch and you seemed very familiar since I talked to you. You were at the ball not too long ago with… a stressed out date," she is still stretching out her thinking. "I remember you were yelling at a kid. Not just a kid. Wasn’t it the Queen of Larket’s son? Do you hate children? Or do you just despise the throne?” Her grin is huge at this point. Well, at least the question was not about Lativu.


Kyori wasn't grossed out. He'd imagined worse. He was thrown off by her honesty, that's all. The spellblade didn't know Penelope well enough to tell her this but he'd think it with careful precision. Was she depressed? He ponders this briefly, deciding it isn't his business and tossing it out of sight. "Games? I don't like games. I do this with my sisters, that's all." He huffed. Did, not do. This isn't Lativu. You know better by now.The duffel bag beckoned the woman's curious eyes, the core of his items poking through the wide gash down the middle. A plaid ball of cloth, giant metal nails and rope, a dark blue pants cuff and a burlap mass wrapped messily in twine. He highly doubts she's a terrible singer. That's just a thing women say; I'm so terrible at this thing I'm really good at. The spellblade smiles, on to her game but letting her continue her answer. When she claims to recognize him, he holds his breath without knowing it. No. She couldn't. She didn't know about Lativu. Or she did? She did and she let him think she didn't and now they'll have to sort this out. His panicked expression recedes to embarrassment. Why'd she have to recount that? He inhales, holds it, then exhales. "Yeah," he sighs, "I was at the ball with my friend and that kid was screaming at the cat woman and the cat woman wasn't having it and the parents weren't doing anything." He's waiting for an understanding nod or any encouragement to expand on that. "I didn't know he was the prince!" Nat told him later. "And then the cat woman I tried to help out got in a fight with Nat and we were all covered in beer and..." He closes his eyes, shaking blonde hair at a lazy interval. "Not my best moment, I hope you don't count that as your first impression. And I don't hate kids. That kid was just being really rude." The man had a temper but not one that made him shout at children, usually. He's say 9.99/10 times he never shouts at children when annoyed. "And the throne...I haven't heard much that's good about 'em. Nat told me they persecute witches for the fun of it, or falsely." His sapphire eyes connect with the juniper shine of hers. "How do you feel about witches?" He meant it to sound light hearted but he's invested in her opinion. Her answer is important. It'll determine the rest of their trip. The rest of their potential friendship.


“Sounds like a game to me,” she mutters back to him. Though, the not-game goes on and she is still smiling until his face seems a little panicky. The smile forms a straight line. Perhaps that was not the best question. As he justifies his actions, she begins to smile again and she cannot help but laugh at his response. “It’s okay. He seemed like a little spoiled brat,” she says to calm his nerves. “Sounds like a horrid night. That cat woman started yelling at me too, no worries.” Penelope did not seem to be effected. “I think she was having a stressful night,” the woman shrugs. “Glad to see you’re actually somewhat sane,” she grins. The question of witches has the herbalist blinking. How did she feel about the throne? What was her political opinion? “I feel like putting witches into camps and executing them is not the humanly way. I have no problems with witches, when the mess was going on, a lot would escape and come and see Yerrel and I for healing or hiding. I don’t agree with some of the things I hear that witches are capable of, but every person is different and one witch could really just put a bad reputation on the others,” beat. “So, in short, I don’t despise witches, so Larket’s royalty is not really high up on my ‘who should I respect’ list.” Moss eyes linger on him dully. “Does that answer your question?”


Kyori snorts and simpers. It was a game, he figured, with her retort. When the panic dwindles and her smile flowered again, he relaxes. He guards his expression afterwards while she answers his question. The more she says, though, the more lax his stoned face becomes. He exhales a heavy breath and lets it stir in the air between them. Her eyes are on him again but he can’t read them or her expression. Was that a bad question to start things off? “Yep.” He grins boyishly and kicks away a nearby pebble. It rolls away, pulled down a ways by gravity before the ground tapers off. It sucks about the cat woman but it was out of his hands. Maybe the cat woman knew that cat man that attacked him. That’d be hilarious. They’d both hate him. Could he fight two cat people at once? Maybe with a healer on the sidelines. “I pride myself on my mostly intact sanity.” She acted equally sane though her excitement appears to be waning. “Okay, next questions are less serious.” He suggests, stretching the tendons in his legs lazily. “What plant are you most interested in? Like, book nerd levels fascinated?” Whenever she’s ready, they can take up the next bit of their journey. The spellblade’s well-adjusted to social scenarios, especially one on one. Crowds were another story.


Penelope was, in fact, ready. The woman finishes the jar of coffee before moving forward. A mile until they began to climb up the mountain. The spellblade was right to stop for a simple break that way he would not break the herbalist. She places the jar in a side pocket of the backpack before inching forward again. This was a journey, not a Q and A. “Plants? You really want to go there and ask me the most interesting plant? Really?” The woman looks at him with a squint. There was no way. She would bore him automatically with that answer. “There is a very rare plant that only a couple have found because they are a breed that is going extinct. It looks like a large, large flower, but it has no leaves or no stems. A lot say it is a fungus. Really, they say it smells like a corpse, but it has internal benefits that stop internal bleeding and it really helps with healing from after dangerous childbirth. It’s valuable. They call it a corpse lily as the simple version of a name.” She breathes out. The woman was quite an intellect when she wanted to be. “Entertaining enough?” She smirks. The trailhead is in view now, they are almost to the beginning of the climb. “Prepare for the steepness,” she notes before asking another simple question. “Now, what do you hope to gain out of Lithrydel? You say your a swordsmen? Do you want to be a knight or a guard?” He seemed mysterious, and well, she decided to keep the conversation light enough where the two did not have to delve into too much deep conversation as they traveled. The trailhead arrives. "Time to go up and work those leg muscles," she grins.


“Yeah,” Kyori chuckled into his reply. “I asked knowing full well the risk of being bored to death.” She squints at him and he looks away; guilty. He could sell all lies, especially the little ones. Once Penelope starts talking, though, he finds himself immensely interested in this treasured plant. “Rafflesia arnoldii.” He says automatically, but with an unsteady tongue. Like a subject he’d read about but never loved. No doubt she’d expect an explanation so he drew a heavy breath and told her a truth. “My uh, my mom was a herbalist. A ‘healing witch’, if you will. She taught us all sorts of remedies. The plant we’re trying to get, these flowers? I’ve never heard of them but it’s hard to forget a flower that reeks of dead flesh.” As a boy, he’d been so fascinated by it. He thought all flowers smelled beautiful and delicate but the corpse flower was huge and sour. It made it that much more interesting, that it broke from the mold of what people expected it to be. He envied it’s bravery. At her warning, the warrior does prepare for steepness, letting his well-tuned senses guide him over loose and sturdy rock. Her question gives him pause. The spellblade leans a palm into the rock face and stretches his shoulders. This would be the perfect time to tell her more truths. What the hell. “Beyond money for my family, I came to atone for my past mistakes.” They were keeping the conversation light so his voice stayed easy going despite the possibility to expand. She instructed them up and Kyori gestured for Penelope to start. She was the slightest between the two of them and if she’d been sick and easily winded, it’d be better for him to bring up the rear in case she fell. Not that he thought she would, just that he wanted to be prepared for the worst. She came all this way to help him.


Penelope was bright eyed when the man actually spoke of the plant she was speaking of. “Right…” Her eyes lingered for a bit before he explained himself. “So your mother is a witch? Or is that just the stage name us herbalists are called these days?” A smile touches her lips and the two begin to hike up the steep mountain. She is appreciative that he lets her lead. “Atone? You must have done something awful then,” she comments, but she does not expect him to leap at her nosiness. She takes several stops as they walk. “So what would atoning mean to you? Just good deeds?” Soon enough, the mining caves would be just a little further until she would have to start pulling out a map.


"That's what she called herself, actually. She was fond of the title. Would you take offense to the term?" Witches didn't have a bad rep where he's from. No biased views beyond Faes. It wasn't spread throughout Lativu but the warrior himself held the view. When the herbalism notes her perception of his atonement he only grunted. Must have done something bad. He pauses, not bothered by the stops along the way. "Atonement means doing what I wasn't able to before." Good deeds, helping people, saving people over and over until the guilt of the truth would be relieved. He was foolish to think relief would ever come. The warrior waits silently while Penelope consults her map. After a pause he asks, "Do people see atonement differently?" Deprivation of social contact or his own happiness didn't help anyone. Happiness was a tricky maze. Can you be happy, Kyori, with all you've done?


“No, I wouldn’t take offense,” she speaks calmly to his curious remark. “In fact, it’s kind of pleasing. Kind of makes us seem cooler if that was the stage name. I haven’t been able to tap into that sort of magic. I’ve… tried in the past,” she pauses. “Either way,” she moves on. The woman comes to a halt as she finally pulls out the map. East, west, or north… “Let’s head north. There’s two destinations where we can find these flowers. I prefer the shorter and warmer way. The other option is Frostmaw, but I prefer waterfalls,” she gives him a grin before they move again. They walk for a while and proceed on with their conversation. She lets his question hang between them for a while as they walk and by then the sky is becoming grey and hazy. Their feet start trudging through light-covered snow. The woman halts again as she lets the silence reign too long. Finally she breathes out. “We’ll turn west here, from here… it might be a little rocky and not really rocks, if you know what I mean.” She then lets out a small sigh. “As for atonement, I think it depends on the person. I’ve been in that situation. I guess with my profession, that is how I make up for it. I believe in atonement as reparation of a very, very inhumane wrongdoing. Perhaps even just a wrongdoing. Either way, like I said, that’s my opinion.” The girl then looks west and raises hands to place on her head to catch her breath. She inhales in and exhales. “Steep climb. I’m glad we made it to flatter grounds.” Her hands lower. “Kyori,” her voice is stern at this point and she reaches out as if to touch his arm. “Be prepared for anything.” Moss eyes linger before adjusting the pack on her back. “Ready?”


Vulnerable Rope Bridge

Kyori approved of this ‘cooler’ stage name explanation in place of offense. They continue on and he holds his silence until she mentions things getting rocky. He looks perplexed. Why did she say rocky if she didn’t mean actual rocks? “What do you mean?” He squints, shaking his head in her direction. The recipe for atonement gave him more questions than answers. What had –she- done worthy of reparations to the world? The climb is second nature; the man doesn’t even remember they’re climbing until they reach the breech of flat ground again. His body’d moved automatically aware of what was expected of it. Penelope’s serious demeanor and the direct attention of her Juniper eyes unsettle him. “Wait.” He’s still confused. “What do you mean?” He flicks his sapphire eyes to the path ahead and then back to her. “If you know something, I need to know it too.” To keep them safe. Kyori, if you’re honest with yourself, it’s to keep her safe. She’s doing you a favor, staring at you with those eyes.



Penelope shook her head as she walked. “I don’t really know,” she leaves him hanging for another beat. “I’ve heard of people never coming back. I’m not really sure why. We are both walking in the unknown. If I knew why, don’t you think I would tell you?” Those eyes look at him with a squint. “We will be fine. I don’t sense my death today. That would be lame to die finding a flower… for you, especially… right?” Though, she was not exactly sure if she was right. That was why she was asking for reassurance. “No offense, but my calling will be more poetic and complex. I know it.” He was just a stranger, but they were… connecting-ish. Whatever that would mean. “I won’t keep you in the dark… I promise.” So, she seemed depressed, but that was not the case at all. It was acceptance. A thick sense. She would know when death was calling. Her mother had told her time and time again. Come clean and you would be okay. It was not today.


Kyori can’t say why he was certain she knew before he’d asked. Now, in light of her reply, he grunts in acknowledgement. “Thought you might just know a local legend I wasn’t privy to.” Half-truth. He was on edge. The longer they travelled, the guiltier he felt. Every step was the clack of an anchored chain, pulling him deeper and deeper into responsibility for her welfare. Sure, she can handle herself but he’s the reason she’s here. She wouldn’t have gone off on an impulsive journey to find these flowers if he hadn’t brought the idea to her. Or maybe she would have, who knows. He covers up his paranoia with a laugh. “Not just any flower.” He’d die for a RARE flower. No, Kyori that doesn’t sound any better. Ah well. You live, you die, it happens. “But yeah, I don’t wanna be remembered as the guy that died getting a flower.” She had a point. “Besides,” he adjusts the duffle slung over his shoulder. “If I go out and you get away, you have to like…start a foundation in my name or something. Rename the flower after my heroism. Just something modest like that, you know?” The spellblade –had- to clear the air. She was looking to him for protection and he’d lost his cool momentarily. What was he worried about? He’d won a hundred fights, maybe thousands! “So just, make sure to remember my good side for the article in the paper.” He slides her a mischievous smile and clicks the jeweled hilt of his sword. “Alls well that ends well.” He promises, arm sweeping wide in a bow to let her resume her post as guide.


Penelope shrugged. “I wish I did too. I’m sure someone knows the true tale. I've heard of ghosts, but that is just silly,” she rolls her eyes. “Why would a ghost protect a flower? They can't do anything with it anyway,” The girl begins to grin at his acknowledgement that he does not want to die by receiving a flower. She was right. Normally, right. “I’ll name the flower after you for sure. I think that the Kyori is sort of a unique name for a flower. Perhaps I’ll still name one of my oils after you once we find it.” The woman was completely serious. Of course she would still give him credit. “I’ll describe you as very handsome with one of those cut jawlines.” She was not wrong, he was quite beautiful. “They’ll sketch the right angle and it will be the perfect read. And I’ll make sure you have an honorable death.” As he shows that smile, she senses a light charm in him and she finds the man refreshing for a change of pace. Someone who was as playful as her was different. Days pass and she would always inherit the ill. Someone who was healthy was relieving. Let’s hope it would stay that way. The two continue to move until they come to the bridge she mentions. The bridge is hung by rope and is rickety. Beneath the bridge is a huge cliff that drops down for miles. She halts for a moment and a hand reaches up to touch her chest in anxiety looking at the gap within the earth. “Well, I was thinking something a little sturdier, heh…” The woman is almost pale at this point and can feel the cold stress-sweat touch the back of her neck. Across of the bridge is a narrow ledge that still has the cliff side edge. “Maybe I know why people don’t make it back,” so heights were a fear of hers. Who would have guessed?



Now here’s where Kyori will tell Penelope a very secret truth about himself. He looks around, clears his throat and leans in precisely the right amount for her to hear him (if she doesn’t move away) but not touch her. (The secret is redacted for the wiki ) He pulls back, as if he’d never leaned in. Her proclamation to make an oil in his name was charming. She makes note of his features and he poses, pulling his broad shoulders back and his spine painfully upright to accept the praise. “Just doing my job.” The spellblade pushed his voice down an octave, letting it rumble like gravel in his throat. That done, he follows her to the bridge and examines it from behind her. If her heart rate accelerates he can hear it. Sapphire eyes move back and forth between her and the questionable structure. “Hold on.” His voice is low but not commanding. He tosses his duffle bag down and roots around until he produces a climber’s rope and subsequent carabiners and one massive metal spike, barbed and immovable. He sets up the contraption efficiently; spike is hammered into the ground with a rubber mallet, rope is secured about him, clipped to the original rope circling the spike several feet away. He hands Penelope a wide loop for her to wear. It’ll adjust with a tug or two until it’s snuggly around a part of her anatomy with cloth hopefully. Rope burns are a pain. He takes great care to bind their harnesses together with slacking rope, which will give them free movement a good distance away from each other if they need it. Once his showmanship concludes, he stretches his arms over his head, one side at a time then picks up his bag. He clips it his waist and zips it. They can dig another spike in on the other side if need be. “Go on, I gotcha.”


As the man lowers his voice and she sort of leans in to listen. The air was tense and serious. No more jokes? His words send an odd chill down her back. He was not lying. “You can… hear them…?” The woman lets this hang between the two. The woman had never actually seen a ghost, but there were tales and there were also tales of the undead. Either way, he is digging in his satchel now for rope and rock climbing supplies. The herbalist thinks he is goofy, but she finds some small trust within him and finds comfort in that manner. As he makes a loop for her to place over her waist and straps it down as tight as she can from fear. “Please for the love of Sven,” she is almost saying a prayer as they are harnessed together. Although he creates enough space, she is like a magnet near him. Nervousness floods her features. He has her… Does he? The stranger has her? Her mind spirals for a moment or two. “I—“ she takes a step forward on the swinging bridge. “Oh, Sven. Oh, Sven. Oh, Sven,” she automatically swings an arm back to try to grasp onto his wrist for comfort, although a stranger. She then takes another step forward. “Please, please, please, please…”

Kyori did not know why he told Penelope that. If it leads to more questions, he’ll be sorry. He keeps both booted feet planted on solid ground while she tests the limits of her fear. She mumbles what he can only assume is a prayer to a god he’s never heard of and starts her journey only to swing back and grab his wrist for stability. The spellblade leans forward, letting her hold on while keeping his feet planted as long as possible. Her slow progress is more likely to break the bridge than not but he doesn’t dare tell her that. “You’re doing swell,” he calls, voice echoing up from the air beneath them. He listens to the rope groans, board creaks, and wind’s threats as they go but he lets her set the pace always. With his other hand, he keeps a tight grip their land line. Her heartbeat blares through her fingertips into his ears like a megaphone. Not much he can do until they reach the other side, and they do without incident after an excruciating amount of time. The bridge remains intact after they dismount. He’ll undo his makeshift harness while simultaneously showing her how to get out of her own. He winds it up, keeping the length grounded on the other side and leaving it here for their return journey. Kyori whistles a note of robin’s song and looks over to assess his companion’s nerves. “That wasn’t so bad right?” He grins, trying to reassure her but the reassurance is short lived. Behind her, hunched under brush and shadow, a predator lies in wait for their advance.


Penelope appreciates the man’s patience as she slowly sways on the boards of the bridge. For a moment, she does look up to the sky to blow a shaky breath. She is wobbly and his reassurance is only slightly comforting. She hears a small snap on a board, but realizes it is the inner core of the wood. She screams before moving quicker to reach ground. She shivers and shakes her head. The woman was not scared of death, but she wished it would be less painful. She did not want to die falling. The fear of falling. As he grins that childish grin, she squints at him in a mock glare. Shakily she undoes her harness as well before giving him the rope. “Thank you.” The woman nods in appreciation. The woman does not notice the predator as it is behind her back, but she notices the change in the atmosphere of his reassurance. "What? What's wrong?"

Kyori holds in a laugh when Penelope screams at the board. That heartwarming moment is extinguished by a new development. His face is severe, voice stern but steady. “We have to go back.” He reaches for the rope but directs her only to hold it, better even if she has time to re-tie the harness. The spell blade doesn’t break eye contact with her but there’s a dark ring around his sapphire eyes that suggests a change. He can’t say ‘everything is fine’ because people seldom believe that when it’s spoken. The natural reaction is to panic, which is the last thing he wants her to do. If she panics, they’ll be at a disadvantage. If she gets close enough to the warrior, he’ll hold her small shoulders in his calloused hands, keeping her facing him. If she tries to turn around, he’ll shake his head in a stiff, subtle jerk. “No.” He’ll whisper. “Don’t look.” Whatever Penelope couldn’t look at was rustling the brush behind her. A stench more vile than even that of the corpse flower assaults their senses. It was so putrid; Kyori struggled with his attuned sense of smell to not throw up on the spot. If she struggles against him, trying to turn, he’ll tighten his grip. His eyes will be pleading, begging her to trust him. “Go.”


The woman gives him a confused look that turns into concern. “What do you mean go back?” Moss eyes graze over his stern face. He was serious. Kyori was serious. “We can’t go back. The next trek is in the Frostmaw mountains. That’ll take longer. We don’t have gear to last that long. There’s no other way unless we start over and plan to go to Frostmaw. A lot of people get lost in the snow out there.” Out of curiosity, she tries to turn her head but he holds her shoulders and she cannot budge. The woman felt way too controlled in this moment and she has a quiet and stern outburst. “Kyori, we made it this far,” she says stubbornly back that was until she smelled death. Her stubborn gaze fades as the scent seeps through her nostrils and she begins to squint her eyes and crinkle her nose in disgust. This was not your average smell. It smelled of the corpse flower, but Kyori sensed danger. Was this… a creature that he knew of? The girl caves and nods rather quickly. “Okay, I believe you,” her gaze is soft. She trusts him. “We’ll find another way to the waterfall,” she peers over his shoulder to look at the cliff beneath the rope bridge. Just breathe, Penelope. As soon as he says “go”, she does not need the rope. Instead, she stares completely forward as she sways across the rope bridge.


Kyori holds his breath, gritting his teeth when she tries to refuse. If he looks at her long enough, serious enough, she'll get it. He trusts her to get it. He watches realization bleed into her eyes and only then does he spare a glance behind her. His hands give her a gentle, reassuring squeeze before letting her go and stepping out of the way so she can start back across the bridge. And she goes, much to his surprise. The rope remains in his hand and he tightens his grip, blocking the path to the bridge from whatever the amalgam was. Gelatinous and slow, the grey blob inched towards him at a steady speed. Visible inside the belly of the beast are body parts from various creatures; human arms, horse legs, bird beaks, a bee hive with individual bees trapped and decomposing in the suffocating (possibly acidic) goop. The spellblade looks back, urging Penelope. "Don't look back." He's afraid she'll freeze. Afraid she'll start to question her decision to run, that she'll try to linger and save him. Nope, she absolutely should not play the hero with this thing. As it grows closer, a maw full of rancid sharp and broken teeth open to grant him entry if he so chooses. Kyori, strange as it seems, does not want this. He backs away, rope in hand, while his weight makes the bridge sway against Penelope's progress. He tries not to move any more than he has to. Long tendrils of sludge bulge and stretch out from the creature, no eyes to speak of but an awareness that shows no need for them. It's whip like arms stretch out towards him, quickening his step backwards until the monstrosity slinks towards the bridge. It's existence causes the wood planks and rope at this end to fade and sag. To rot. The spell blade looks back at Penelope and shouts a hoarse 'run' before the bridge starts to jerk and buckle with threatening tremors.


Might have actually listened if she could feel him follow behind. The bridge was moving, but not as much as it would be if they were –both- running for their lives. The woman halts in the middle of the bridge and she pivots and grasps the roped handles of the bridge to steady herself. The woman was nosy, so really, she could not last long without turning around to see what was holding Kyori up. The black blob. “Holy shi—“ she is cut off by the visuals of body parts that are wrapped in the blob. The woman had never seen quite a thing. As the arms of the monstrous creature stretch out towards Kyori, the freckled-girl is idiotic enough to step in. His words of going onward only pass through her ears. The girl is on her way back to help. “You idiot, you’re not dying from a stupid flower adventure!” She tries to tug onto him to assist him to run although holding onto the roped bridge for dear life. “That thing is like SLIMY!” She shouts in grossed out horror. The bridge is creaking even more with the amount of force from them running (not to mention it was disintegrating). Time passes whether Kyori is following or not. “Wait a tick…” The girl wants to pause, but the more they wait, the less time they will have to get across the bridge to actually survive. “Slime!” She shouts at Kyori. “Vinegar disintegrates slime--don't ask me how I know that until after this. You think alcohol for wounds might have the same consistency?!” Would she even have time to try to pull that medical supplies out of her bag? Probably not.


It's safe to say Kyori does -not- know if vinegar and alcohol react the same on slimes. He can, with one hundred percent certainty, tell you he does not know. He can't even -guess-. The answer is very important and can't be guessed wrong. She loops back to grab him and he's shouting over her nerd gibberish. "What do you mean? Yes it's a slime!? Go!?" But she isn't. She's messing with her bag while the beast advances. Boards root away to mush under it's bulbous presence as it crawls it's way on to the bridge with them. The ropes hold the bridge upright fray and creak. They're eaten away by acid in the same way they would be eaten by flame. The rope blackens and sheds until it snaps and their side of the bridge gives in to gravity's call and starts down the expanse. Kyori wraps the rope, still in his hand, around his wrist thrice before the fall started. His other arm snakes out, trying to hook Penelope since it's falling with him in front (aka going down) first. She'd hit him regardless unless she tried to spin off the bridge. The slime monster weighs down the severed end of the bridge and what remains of the structure slaps hard into the rock face on the other side. The rope he's holding burns against his wrist, fingers, and palm but he still won't let go of Penelope if she indeed agrees with being caught. Once they get rid of the slime, which holds on for dear life, at the end of the new 'ladder', they can climb their way back up with Kyori's rope and spike, using the bridge's planks as 'steps'.


Penelope rifles through the pack that was on her back quickly. Why did this woman over pack? She could have had the alcohol by now! As the creature inches towards them on the bridge more, the woman rummages quicker. Her hand touches a bottle with a nose on it that seemed familiar to what she was looking for. Her arm pulls back and the bottle of alcohol is in the air in a victory pose. “Got it!” Snap! Fear of falling. The bottle falls out of her hand and down the trench of the cliff, though the way the gravity takes the bridge, the girl is able to catch the bottle even though the fear overwhelms her. Perhaps it was a conscious thing that she knew she needed to do. Her arm slinging to get the pack back onto her backside. Her stomach drops and her breath gets caught in her chest, so she is not able to scream. Instead she is wiggling in Kyori’s arm in full panic mode until she bumps into him. Well, thankful she was a petite thing. Her eyes stare into his own and they are widened. Like a deer in the headlights. “Oh, damn,” she breathes in a hefty panic. As she notices Kyori’s tightened grip turning red and burning, the girl shifts her body to look down. The girl twists the cap off the bottle of rubbing alcohol to pour down on the slime beast that is chasing after them below. To give Kyori some slack, she places a foot within the plank of the bridge and holds a free hand on the rope he holds to take off some weight for him. Would the slime thing begin to break apart due to the harshness of alcohol with the similarity to vinegar? Find out next episode of—oh, wait.


Thank whatever gods preside over this place. Penelope is slight, but the bag she wields is not. She hits him with enough force to knock summon a grunt. All the air is knocked out of him. His chest is on fire, lungs scrambling for air while he focuses on staying still a second more. The slime isn’t discouraged by the bridge’s collapse. It must have experienced this several times over to be so nonchalant about it. What must life as a slime be like? To be so care free? Penelope puts all the warrior’s musings to rest with the splash of alcohol. It cuts through the creature without the least bit of resistance. After a shuttering pause, the goop melts and drips away. The half-digested bits of flesh and bone were likewise released to finish the fall with thick, wet splats echoing back up at them. Hardened warrior, unflappable man that he is, Kyori’s struggling to not get sick. Penelope’s shift eases the tension on the rope but doesn’t change the fact they still have to climb. The bridge wasn’t trustworthy as a bridge, so he can’t be sure how trust worthy it’ll be as a ladder. The spell blade looks up at her, trapped in her wide Juniper eyes, while the adrenaline soaked air began to dissipate. “Pen? You good?” He asks, prematurely, gesturing up with his free hand to encourage her to go ahead. “Gimme that bag. I’ll be standing still for a minute.” Sapphire eyes and ashen blonde hair flip down to confirm the slime beast dead. The smell alone told of it’s demise. That nerd spit came in handy.


As the air is knocked out of him, Penelope does not even bat an eye. Adrenaline has taken over her witty, nerdy brain. A giant smile is present as the alcohol cuts through the slime, though the stench is unbearable and that crinkle in her freckle-dusted nose comes back. As her eyes connect to his sapphire eyes, she slowly nods. “Y-yes. Are you?” Her reality is sinking in that they are hanging over a cliff on a broken bridge. The hairs prick on her neck. “I-I—“ The herbalist was frozen for a moment before slowly nodding at his request for her bag. The girl would slink the bag off her shoulder and hand it to him as they swing on the broken bridge. The world was silence except the creaking of wood and rope swaying across cliff gravel. She automatically looks up as his hand gestures up. She then begins to climb with one hand on the rope and one on the plank of the bridge. The woman is quick and pushes her arms up on the cliff to lift herself on the edge. Sweet, sweet land. Penelope turns her body, still on hands and knees to make sure Kyori gets up safely as well. She would grab the bag back from him if he let her. “I have never seen something like that in my entire twenty-six years of living.” The woman breathes out.


Kyori watched Penelope, making sure her feet didn’t slip on the boards. Once she’s safely at the top, he hikes her bag over his shoulder and tugs himself up with the rope. His boots fit awkwardly in the slates but his progress is swift. Penelope will find no resistance in taking her bag back before the warrior surfaces and flops backwards on the rough earth. He stares skyward, letting out a long sigh. His wrist is red from rope burn but no serious injuries. They were lucky. Very, very lucky. He rolls his head in her direction when she comments on the slime. “Right?” He laughs, adrenaline still blasting in his ears. “You saved us.” He declares, all the mischief spreading back into his face. The serious life and death situation is over now, back to business as usual. He looked her over discreetly and determined she looked okay. Scared, tired, and alive. “We’ve earned a break.” He declares, reaching over for his bag and rustling around inside it. A second later, he’ll hold a crinkled brown bag out to woman. Inside is a jumble of dried fruits, nuts, and sparse chips of dark chocolate. “Eat a thing.” He insists, sitting upright and popping a handful in his mouth. He hasn’t noticed yet, but the bottom of his left shin is likewise singed by acid or rope burn from fight. Not lethal, just annoying. “C’mon.”


A long breath is let out of her mouth as well as she leans back in the dirt. Her hands propping herself up. “No, you did. You caught us. We could have been long gone in that trench,” she breathes out in relief. What a team. The strength and the brains. “I agree,” the woman does not oblige to the snack he offers towards her. The woman knew how to eat and would never hold back. She stuffs a few pieces in her mouth. Her eyes dance over his frame in observance and she notices his singed shin. It looks burnt, but he is moving steady for now. The girl would keep an eye on it, so it would not get infected. “Your—“ he cuts her off. “Right,” she stands. “So we need to figure out a different path.” The woman nears him to grasp for her bag to pull out the map. “Well, the bridge is not in question. But we do need to go where the bridge was leading.” The woman looks around the area. “Do you see if we can climb anywhere to get across or… any makeshift things?” The girl then shows him the map. “Any other route we can take…?”


“Guess we’re just a fit skeleton crew.” Kyori tries, jumping up and dusting off his pants. He wore nice clothes and for what? He’s chewing another mouthful of trail mix when she asks him to consult the map. He wasn’t much for maps, but this one looks simple enough. “Mmm.” He nods, a plan coming to fruition. “Okay, so if we can just toss the rope to the other side…” He can’t finish the bit and ends up laughing too soon. “Nah, nah. Damn.” He leans back towards the map again. “Looks to be some odd cave…” He spins his head around, assessing directions and getting his bearings before pointing North of their current location. The destroyed bridge was to their South West. “…that way?” The spell blade looks up, consulting the plant woman and waiting for her input. In the meantime, he goes about pulling his spike out of the ground and winding up the used rope. Could always come in handy later.


Moss eyes widen at the thought of tossing the rope to the other side. “You’re insane,” and she is relieved when he laughs at the realization of that plan not working. She then forcefully sticks her hand in the paper bag before throwing trail mix in her mouth with a crinkle-nosed chew at his terrible idea. The woman then glances back at the map. “A –cave-? We just almost died and now we want to go through a –cave-?” Silence falls. A digit points in his face. “Fine, but if I die and you survive, then –you- have to write how amazing –I- was. Also, I want peonies and lillies at my funeral. Not daisies. Too tacky. Maybe even throw in some cerulean flowers were finding for effect,” she concludes as she snags the parchment map out of his hand. “Also, dibs on holding the lantern.” The girl then begins to walk. “Let’s go.” And she is off expecting him to trail behind as he takes out the spike from the ground. Time to find the cave. It should not be too far off from here probably half a mile away. The woman holds the map under her nose wandering in the south west direction.


Kyori rolls his eyes at Penelope’s dramatic reaction, grin sneaking back in place. “I’m already drafting the article.” The spike pulls loose with some persuasion and he’s back to good. “Wanna hear what I got so far?” He asks rhetorically before breaking into his monologue. He doesn’t stop when she calls dibs on the lantern. He has decent night vision. They’ll be fine. “She was a plant lady. The best plant lady I’ve ever known, save my own mother, which should tell you just how fine of a plant lady this plant lady was.” Dodge herbalist at every turn. “She sort of yelled at me once but then begged for my forgiveness by agreeing to undertake this quest with me.” He steps to her side, using his broad forearm to lift low brush up so she can pass unbothered. “She killed this one slime with her bare hands.” He mimics choking someone out before digging in his pocket for his cigarettes. “Wrestled it to the ground and cursed it’s mother. Pretty sure she spit in it’s eye too, wouldn’t be surprised, she was feisty.” Here he stops to pull the match’s flame to life in the tip of his cig. He wags his hand and drops the match, digging it into the ground with his heel. “How’s that sound so far?” Then, looking ahead, the spellblade gestures at a large cave opening ahead. “Think we’re here.” He offers, observantly.


Penelope continues walking and does not say yes to hear anything. The herbalist has a stubborn face on to pretend like she did not care. She continues walking as he mocks her. The first lines of his monologue makes her give a ‘you’re stupid’ scrunch of her face at him. She then faces the opposite direction and pretends to look at the map, though she has full attention on him. She ducks under the brush automatically as he pushes it aside. The plant lady sure was amused at his improv article, but she would not let it show. As he asks her how it sounds, she halts and pivots on one foot. “I think you need to send it to the editorial. Also, I prefer herbalist. I think it sounds,” her voice turns into a hush, “a little less crazy, don’t you think?” She is snarky. Her voice then turns back to normal. “I like the part about the bare hands, but I also think that you’re going to kill yourself with that death stick before you can even read the article to anyone,” she tries to pluck it from his lips, but who knew if she was successful or not. If she was, she would toss it to the ground. The woman then looks back at the massive cave. “I, uh, think so too,” she looks at the map one more time before folding it and putting it away. She then digs in her bag for a lantern. “Hey, hero, why don’t you use your matches for good and help me light this lantern?” Once the lantern was lit, the two would be able to move onward in the cave. Who knew what rested inside.


Kyori is taken aback. "Whadya mean crazy, freckles?" She's playing at indifferent but fine, fine. He'll go along with it. "What death st-" The cigarette bobs on his lip and she snags it mid-sentence. "Sassy." He stares longingly after his fallen comrade and gives it a respectful moment of silence. To mourn. He'd really wanted that cigarette. They'd almost died. That has to be the second best time to have a cigarette. "Quick reflexes too." Penelope fumbles around in her bag and he watches, bemused by her playful irritation. Nearly dying would make anyone grumpy. And she's on this journey at his behest so he'll table that discussion and let her vent however she pleases. "Wow, 'alleged' hero, thanks." The spellblade pops another match out of the box and lights it in a flash. The red center spiraled around a whisping blue core. It lit the lantern in due time and then he repeated the cycle of grinding it into the dirt alongside the cigarette. May it rest in peace. Now, as far as things he's scared of goes, Kyori does not love caves. They are, in his personal opinion, stone cages with unlimited possibilities for destroying anything and anyone. And if you are stupid enough to walk into the maw of a beast, well you deserve to get eaten right? So far those ocean eyes snag nothing of concern, just boring ol' cave fauna. Moss. Other assorted green things. No flowers though. "What kind of environment did you say they grew in?" He hesitates at the entrance, staring down down down into the dark past her lantern light.


Penelope is pretending to flip her hair back with the description of sassy. Only when she wanted to be. The rest of his commentary, she is rolling her eyes at him. The woman stares at the outside of the cave. “Warm, dim-lit, but damp areas,” suddenly, a realization comes to her mind. “In fact, we might be in the right area! Which means!” Her face falls flat. “It’s a possibility.” The girl then is the first to move forward. “Let’s get through this sucker, shall we?” Kyori would now have to follow because the light was now disappearing within the cave. As they entered the mouth of the cave, the roof begins to become bioluminescent. The cave glows a faint hue of glowing sapphire. “Wow,” she examines before continuing onward. About a half mile down the way, there is a small white light that appears to be the opening. The echoing in the cave has the sounds of rushing water. “We’re close to where they are!” She would look at Kyori and bounce up and down. “They can be absolutely anywhere! Keep your eyes peeled!” Although the dark cave was hard to even see anything.


Kyori walked a stiff path behind Penelope. Not too close but closer than before. She had the light and he could see but…what if there’s a cave in and they get separated? Or water floods in because a rock elsewhere shifts and lets it leak in? Or what if blind goblins charge them for trespassing? The sea was less terrifying. Give him a ship any day of the week. The cave turns out to have it’s own light source. It looks like clustered, off colored star light. It’s strange and beautiful. Penelope calls to him and he turns back around, trotting to close the gap that’d grown in his wonder. “Eyes peeled, right.” He makes a show of opening his eyes as wide as possible and scanning the immediate area. Nothing of note yet. Back towards a pitch black corner, the spell blade does see a light. It’s faint and reflective, like mist or fog. “Hey.” He tilts his head in the mist’s direction. “Shine it there for a sec.” If she does, he’ll trot in that direction to find a white, wispy woman crying over a mud caked cluster of leave. He knew instantly it wasn’t a real woman and slowed out of her reach. The ghostly woman looked up at him, surprised, and reached her arms towards the leaves in vain. Her hands swept right through them. “Issac, Issac.” She howled, looking at him urgently. “Issac, get the herbs. For Jeremy. We have to.” She reaches again for the plant and it doesn’t stir. “My hands. I’m shaking too hard Issac, please, you have to.” Kyori looks back at Penelope, not sure if she can see or hear the specter. He leans down, propped up on his haunches to appraise the dirty plant. “Okay, one sec.” He turns over his shoulder to quietly call Penelope’s name. “Did you bring water? Hand me a little?”


The woman shines the lantern towards the dampened floors of the cavern. “Come on…” The girl trails out of searching frustration. She notices roots that connect together that start to form a web that creep across the dirt. ‘Hey’. The herbalist turns shining the light in his direction indicating that her attention was present again. Feet shuffle across the floor until her freckle-dusted face is visible behind the light of the lantern. Penelope does not hear the weeping wispy woman instead she gasps after hearing a small crunch of leaves. The herbalist, however, brushes the noise off to be a rodent until her eyes fix on what appears to be an orb. The orb is vaguely visible as Kyori nears it. “What are you—“ She is cut off when he asks her for water. “Uh.. yeah, I…” The girl shakes the pack off her back and unbuckles the straps before rummaging through. A canteen is pulled out and is now being passed off to the blonde before her. She trusted him. “Here.” Behind her now, she feels a gush of cold air that blows past her quickly. The woman turns around to see nothing in the dim-lit darkness. “Kyori,” she whispers, “did you feel that?” The woman shakes her head to brush off whatever she felt before stepping a little closer to Kyori. “What do you see…?”


Kyori calmly takes the water, watching the ghost woman, and dumps it on the mud caked plant 'Issac' needed to get. It's blue petal glowed in the dim light while the ghost woman begins to sob. "You did it." She cries, rising off the floor and drifting towards the cave entrance. "Hurry! We must get back!" The ghost woman calls, drifting through the darkness, through the herbalist, and out into the light. The spellblade stays on the ground. He closes the canteen and hands it back without a sound. Again, he looks vexed but points to the flower. Turns out there's a sweet little bushel here, hidden under muck and grime. "This is?" He asks, ignoring her question about what he'd seen. "Oh, I just saw these flowers." Lie. Then Kyori hesitates. "The, uh," He points in the direction the orb had gone. "The woman helped, I guess." No time to dilly dally. Issac. Jeremy. Are these people also dead? What else is this flower capable of healing that people would risk their lives for it? All he needed was stupid ink. "Y-you saw her too?"


Penelope could hear something behind the two as Kyori scrambled on the ground to find the bushel of cerulean flowers. The woman forgets the other noise she hears in the distance and is now giddy with joy to see the flowers blossoming out of the cave ground. They blended in with the lit cavern. Blue glowing ceiling with blue flowers beneath them. As Kyori points towards the orb, she sees the ball float in the direction and blinks wide-eyed. “Her…?” The woman is confused for a moment before coming to a moment of realization. The tales of ghosts were true. “Is that a ‘her’…?” She points to the orb. “I see a hazy glow,” she admits. Though, if they were ghosts... how did they die? There is a chilled breath that runs over her neck while Kyori remains in her front view. What else was in the cave with them? Was their a ghost by her? “Kyori…” If Kyori would look at her, there would be a tall and lanky, black figure with a hunched spine and a shadowed face. There were lifeless, translucent eyes staring at the two before trying to reach with a long clawed hand at the girl’s shoulder. “Grab the flowers and RUN!” She screeches before automatically skidding against the floor. Forget the waterfall. It was time for these two to bolt.


When she screams Kyori's out of the dirt, grabbing Penelope by the elbow. He pulls her forward, and himself back. They've switched places. Mid-turn, he hands off the mud caked bushel of flowers he'd ripped up before the swap. The black figure's clawed hand lands on the spell blade's shoulder but he's prepared for it. Or so he thought. One claw melts through his shirt and skin. Blood rushs to fill the void between his shoulder and neck. It was so sharp and so clean Kyori didn't register the injury at first. It's the coppery tang in the air and his warm, damp shirt that alert him. "Go!" He roars at the healer, digging his sword off his back and mumbling gibberish phrases. The black being doesn't spare Penelope a second glance. It lifts it's second clawed hand high in the air, over the warrior. The sound of the waterfall drowns out whatever happened next.