MHO Chapter 42! Don’t worry, I won’t make any Hitchhiker’s Guide references here, as tempting as it might be. Today’s theme is- action, and people getting flustered!

-Llox

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As soon as the portal spat the boys out, they stumbled forward and Lykou grunted as he immediately bumped his head on a chunk of partly-collapsed ceiling. Luckily, it was made of something that was a bit spongey, so it didn’t really hurt so much as startle him. Kuna helped him keep from stumbling back into the portal in surprise, then guided him around the obstruction as they took in their new surroundings.

Wherever they were, it was definitely not outdoors. It looked like they were in some kind of tunnel, albeit at a dead end. Whoever had made it- and it was clearly artificial- had run the tunnel right up to a stone facade just beyond the arch, and it looked like that segment had been left unattended, with bits of the ceiling and wall just… sagging. Fortunately, the hall looked much more stable up ahead and it was lit up with tiny glowing mushrooms of some kind along the ground. The walls also had a faint yellowish glow further along.

“What is this place?” Lykou wondered aloud as they started walking along the tunnel.

“Good question,” Kuna replied, examining the wall as they walked. “I don’t recognize… whatever these walls are made of, do you?”

Lykou paused and took a closer look, prodding at a nearby wall a bit. “...nope. Never seen anything like it. Kind of weirdly soft. What’s your spell saying about where to go?”

Kuna closed his eyes and focused for a minute, then turned to point in a general direction that was close but not quite the same direction the tunnel was headed. “...that way, but first we’ll have to get out of this… whatever it is, regardless.”

“True,” the canid said, and they resumed walking. “Although as soft as this stuff is, I wonder if we could cut through it…”

“Let’s hold that thought- wouldn’t want to piss off whoever built this place, if they’re still around.”

“Good point.”

After a couple minutes of walking, as the walls became more smooth and stable, and the mushrooms more predictably-spaced, they noticed hexagonal lines dividing the walls and ceiling into slightly-indented segments.

“Are those some kind of… what was it you called them? The shaped stone things your people make?” Kuna asked.

“Bricks? I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t see any mortar though… looks more like something solid with weird indents or something carved into it,” the konuul replied, then shrugged. “And like I said, I couldn’t even begin to guess what this stuff is made from. Doesn’t seem anything like stone or wood.”

Eventually they came across what looked like some kind of junction- two large hexagonal segments were replaced with tunnels going off in other directions. Weirdly, one was almost on the ceiling, up at a steep angle. Something at the back of Kuna’s mind began to nag at him, making him feel uneasy, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

“Well, which way?” Lykou asked, looking at their options.

“Looks like it gets a little better lit up there,” Kuna said, gesturing to the upper tunnel. “Weirdly steep though…”

“Yeah… really makes me wonder what kind of people built this place.”

“I don’t know, but something about it is putting me on edge.”

“To be fair-”

“I know, I know,” Kuna cut him off with a small eye-roll. “I get that way around people in general. But something about this specifically feels… off. Can’t explain why though.”

“Well, we’ll just stay alert. Don’t worry, I got your back, Ku,” Lykou reassured him, smiling and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Be ready to use your bracers, just in case, though.”

“Same to you,” the Kuna replied, smiling back.

The konuul nodded, then looked up for a moment before jumping and pulling himself up into the upper tunnel. Once he was sure he was stable he turned to help the sereva up. Once they both had steady footing, they began climbing up the steep tunnel, leaning forward and occasionally gripping the edges of some of the hexagonal indents to help themselves along. Before long, the incline started to flatten out a bit, much to their relief.

Suddenly, they paused as Kuna jumped slightly and withdrew his hand from the indent he’d just been gripping, noticing something goopy and sticky on his hand. “What the-?”

“What’s wrong- oh. What is that?”

“I don’t know, but it’s sticky as fuck,” Kuna replied with an arched brow as he tried to shake the thick goop off. After a moment, he hesitantly brought it to his nose and sniffed it. “...huh. Smells… sweet?”

Lykou glanced at the wall curiously and scooped a little up on a finger, then tentatively licked it. “...yeah. Actually tastes pretty damn good, even.”

“...you really shouldn’t just lick random shit we aren’t familiar with, Kou,” Kuna chided, giving him a look.

The canid grinned sheepishly. “Fair point…”

Kuna poured some water from his jug on his hand to clean it off. But just as they started walking again, he froze and furrowed his brow. “Wait…”

“Huh? What is it?”

The sereva glanced around, taking in their surroundings thoughtfully. Slowly, he reached over with a finger and scooped some more of the stuff up with a finger and stuck it in his mouth.

“Hey, you were just telling me-” Lykou began complaining, the stopped when he noticed a wide-eyed, panicked-looking expression suddenly come over his friend. “...Ku?”

“...we n-need to get the f-fuck out of here,” the sereva said quietly, his eyes darting back and forth along the angled tunnel. “Now.”

“Oh? Something you want to share?” Lykou asked with growing concern.

Kuna gulped and nervously just coaxed him to keep walking. “F-f-fuck… s-surely they don’t get this big…”

“Kuna…”

“Bees, Lykou,” Kuna answered, barely above a whisper. “Ever s-seen the inside of a bee’s n-nest?”

Lykou’s eyes widened. “...n-no?”

“I did once w-when I was little. My Dad f-found one that’d been r-recently abandoned and showed it to m-me. And it l-looked just like this, o-only obviously far, far s-smaller. And it h-had the same s-sweet sticky stuff inside. Honey, I think it’s called.”

“...we’re in a giant fucking bee nest??” the canid asked incredulously.

“It sure looks l-like one. And if the n-nest is this big, I don’t think w-we want to find out how big they are. Or their s-stingers…”

“R-right… if we’re lucky, this one’s abandoned, too.”

“We can only hope…”

“Wait, can’t you use your magic to, you know, sense for them? At least nearby?”

Kuna paused and looked around anxiously. “I guess so… I’m just afraid of w-what I might find.”

Lykou looked back behind them for a moment, then grabbed Kuna’s hand and offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile despite his own growing nerves. “Well… just remember I’m here with you. Between the two of us, I’m sure we can make it out no matter what.”

“I envy your confidence,” the sereva snarked, but then smiled back weakly. “Alright… here goes,” he added, then took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He focused for a few moments before suddenly opening his eyes again with renewed panic, snapping his head up the way they were headed. “Nope. Definitelynotabandoned.”

Lykou didn’t even get a chance to ask. He looked where Kuna’s gaze was aimed and saw an enormous pair of antennae just starting to poke around the corner at the top of the tunnel. “Right, run away time!” he quickly blurted out in a hushed voice, before leading the sereva quickly back the way they’d come.

After a few moments they heard a sudden commotion behind them. Kuna, against his better judgement glanced back and yelped when he saw a suddenly alert and angry-looking enormous bee shuffling down the tunnel after them, making strange, undoubtedly angry noises. “FUCK!”

They quickly activated their bracers and redoubled their retreat, nearly tripping on several occasions. At the buttom of the tunnel, they immediately leaped down and started down the other path they’d seen, hoping the bee wouldn’t know which way they’d gone. Soon it was apparent that they had no such luck, however, as the bee turned down the tunnel behind them. As they ran, they gradually became aware of the din of sounds picking up from all directions- a mixture of buzzing, clicking sounds, hums, and occasional screeching noises. And, much to their surprise, they heard what sounded like muffled… words?

In fact, in their panic, they hadn’t initially taken note, but they suddenly realized some of the noises their pursuer was making sounded like shouting in a very strange, somewhat high-pitched voice. “Intruders! Kill intruders!”

“Shit, they can talk??” Lykou said, though he didn’t stop running. “Wait, maybe we c-”

“I distinctly heard the word ‘kill’, Lykou!” Kuna pointed out. “I don’t think they’re in a listening mood!”

Lykou frowned and started slowing down a little. “It’s worth a shot!”

Damn your sweet optimism sometimes, Kuna thought before quickly grabbing him and urging him onward. “Not worth the risk!”

Lykou reluctantly sped back up. “I guess… but if we get cornered-”

“We’re probably dead meat. Come on!”

They came across another junction and hesitated for a minute, then quickly bolted to the right when they noticed another bee rounding the corner down the other hall. All around them, the noise increased as an apparent alarm was going up throughout the hive. Muffled shouts about the ‘intruders’ could be heard through the waxy walls. Eventually, they entered a moderately-sized chamber, but there was no other tunnel leading out.

“Fuck!” Kuna blurted, looking around frantically. “Dead end!”

“Time to test that idea of mine,” Lykou said, pulling out his knife, then began stabbing and cutting at what looked like a somewhat thinner section of wall. “Give me a hand!”

“R-right!” the sereva responded, pulling out his hatchet to start hacking at the wall alongside the konuul.

The wall was soft enough that their tools had little trouble piercing it- but it was thick enough that it was taking some time to cut through. Kuna glanced up just in time to see their primary pursuer barrel in and lash out at him with its mandibles. Just before they reached him, though, Lykou jammed his wood-protected arm in the way. The startled bee used its sudden grip to jerk the canid up and shake him around. Luckily, he used the momentum to swing himself up on its head and, after freeing his arm, snag a firm grip on its antennae. “Hey, we don’t need to fight! We didn’t mean t-”

“DIE! NOISY INTRUDERS DIE!” the bee angrily shouted as it tried to toss him off.

“Well, I tried,” Lykou said, scrambling to hang on. When the bee tried to bash him against the wall, he jumped out of the way, causing it to bash its own head instead. In its frustration, it whirled around and managed to toss him against the wall next to Kuna- which, thanks to their previous work, resulted in his body punching a hole through it. Kuna quickly scrabbled through after him and helped him up. “You alright?!”

“Yeah… I’m glad the walls are made of this squishy stuff,” the konuul grunted as he got up. Moments later, the bee began jamming its head through the hole, struggling to try and break through after them- though the hole was a bit too small for the moment for its body to fit through. Some cracks began forming around it, however, suggesting it wouldn’t take long for that to no longer be the case.

The boys quickly took stock of their surroundings and realized they were in another tunnel going off in both directions. There was also another angled tunnel in the corner of the ceiling going up and off at another steep angle. Just as they were about to bolt off to one side, they heard bees coming up from both directions.

“Up it is!” Lykou said, jumping up and scrambling into the tunnel. He then turned to help Kuna up again, just as part of the wall behind them snapped away and their original pursuer managed to get one leg through.

“INTRUDERS UP! GOING UP! KILL!”

“Shit!” Kuna said as they began climbing up as quick as they could. After a few minutes, the tunnel curved up to a straight vertical shaft. The good news is that they could see daylight at the top. Hearing the bees quickly approaching, Kuna summoned up his magic and looked around frantically, then caused a pair of the glowing mushrooms to grow to enormous size and block their way, while Lykou tried to find decent hand-holds to start climbing. Once he made it part way up, he turned to give Kuna a hand up. But instead, the sereva found another mushroom to sprout up below them and help them ascend.

Lykou gave him a look. “...why did you wait until now to use your magic?”

“...I panicked a bit, alright?” the sereva replied with a sheepish look, keeping the mushroom growing higher and higher through the waxy vertical shaft. Its edges made a rubbery, squeaky sound as it squeezed through the narrow passage. “Not a lot to work with in here, not like I’m used to.”

The konuul smirked. “Hey, important thing is we’re still al-” he began to say, then stumbled slightly when Kuna abruptly stopped the mushroom as the light from above was cut off. They both looked up to see another bee just starting to crawl down into the hole above them.

This one looked a bit different, however. Where the few they’d seen previously had plenty of hard chitin covering their body and sharp mandibles, this one had much duller mandibles and a somewhat fuzzy, soft look to it. And it look startled to see them, having paused just inside the entrance.

Lykou and Kuna exchanged a look and pondered their options for a moment. Suddenly the mushroom shook slightly as a commotion built up beneath them. The konuul looked back up and decided to try diplomacy one more time, out of desperation. “Look, just let us out! We didn’t mean to intrude! We just want to leave!” he shouted up at the newcomer.

The bee gave them what seemed to be a dubious look, but then, much to their surprise, started to back away.

“It… worked?” Lykou asked aloud, then grinned. “Hey, it worked!”

“Great, but don’t let your guard down,” Kuna said, stumbling again as the mushroom shook. He caused another mushroom on the wall to start growing and hopped onto it, then turned to help the canid up. “Come on, I have a feeling that one’s about to get torn down!”

The konuul followed him up and they rode the mushroom as it grew steadily up towards the exit. Kuna slowed their ascent so they could peak out before climbing out of the hole. The bee that had been entering was standing a short distance away, watching them curiously. Lykou gave it a nervous smile and a little wave before the sereva began tugging him away. “Thanks, s-sorry to meet this way-”

“Chat later, run now!” Kuna insisted, pulling him along.

Soon, however, they jerked to a halt and the sereva stumbled backward when he realized they were overlooking a very steep drop into a rocky crevasse. Looking up, he realized the hive was attached to the side of a large cliffside, with no obvious, easy ways to climb it. “Shit!”

“Fuck… what now?” Lykou wondered aloud, looking around.

“You… did not take anything?” a slightly feminine, if quite strange voice asked. They turned to see that it’d come from the fuzzy bee that was standing nearby.

“No! We didn’t even mean to intrude, we just- it’s a complicated story,” Lykou said.

“One w-we don’t have t-t-time for right now,” Kuna pointed out with growing panic.

“And you have no wings,” the bee commented flatly.

“Not last I checked,” the konuul replied, then turned back at the sound of increasing commotion growing from back within the tunnel they’d just escaped from. “Look, can you please convince the others we’re not a threat.”

“No,” the bee said with a somewhat level expression. “They’re idiots. Warriors only listen to the queen and her royal guards.”

“Damn it!”

Kuna clung to Lykou, trying to avoid a full-blown panic attack. “Th-there’s nothing I can grab with my magic near here… w-w-what are we going to do?!”

“...I can fly you away,” the bee suddenly offered after a beat, walking a bit closer.

“W-… really, you’d do that?” Lykou asked.

“Sure. I see you didn’t steal any eggs or anything. And with the hive on high alert, I’m stuck out here for a bit anyway,” the bee said nonchalantly, then lifted her frontmost pair of legs a little. “Grab on, unless you’d rather hang around.”

Lykou quickly ran over and grabbed onto the one leg. “By all means get us out of here! Thank you!” he said, then turned to Kuna. “Ku, come on!”

Kuna eyed them with trepidation, then sighed and reluctantly wrapped himself around the other fuzzy leg. “It had to be flying again…” he grumbled, burying his face into the fuzzy limb and clenching his eyes shut. After a moment, he felt them take off and begin zipping through the air.

The flight was a fair bit different than their experience with Daisy. Besides the more obvious different position, hanging desperately onto the bee’s legs rather than riding on its back, the movement was less smooth gliding and more awkward bobbing and weaving along among the trees of the enormous forest that surrounded them. And it was noisier as well, thanks to her rapidly-moving wings.

Eventually, they zipped up above the canopy, and Lykou audibly gasped. “Holy shit… Kuna, look at this place!” he called out.

“Nothanks, I’mgood,” Kuna responded, shivering as he tried to imagine he was anywhere other than in the air desperately clinging to the leg of a giant bee flying high up in the air.

“No really, look!”

The sereva hesitantly opened an eye to take a quick peek. He then opened his other eye and gawked at the sight. All around them, the enormously tall forest stretched on towards the horizon, with a ridgeline visible in the far distance. But what really stood out was the make-up of the forest- mixed in among the trees were numerous gigantic white and yellow flowers that challenged their height- surpassing them in some cases.

Eventually, after putting some distance between them and the hive, the bee slipped back down below the canopy and landed at the base of one of the giant flowers’ stems. Kuna quickly let go and stumbled off, then ran over and practically hugged the side of the giant stem. “I never knew I loved the ground so much…”

Lykou couldn’t help but shoot him a sympathetic smile as he climbed off as well, then turned back to the bee and deactivated his bracers. “Thanks for the rescue, um… what’s your name, anyway?”

“One-five-four. Or Zygzxng, if you want to be informal.”

The boys exchanged a look. “Er… right, thanks for the ride, Zig… gzee…”

“Zig is fine,” the bee said with a flat look. “Anyway, you’re welcome. But who are you, and why were you in our hive? For that matter, how did you even get in there in the first place?”

“Well, I’m Lykou, and this is Kuna,” the canid explained. “As for how, wellll… that’s a bit more complicated and involves magic.”

“I uh… hope you won’t get in trouble for helping us…”

“Doubt it. You didn’t take anything, so as long as you’re out of sight of the hive, they’ll forget you even existed in an hour or two.”

“Not that we’re not grateful, but… why did you help us?” Kuna couldn’t help asking.

“Honestly? Boredom. Life’s damn tedious and dull. You’re different and interesting. And anyway I won’t be able to get lunch until the alert passes, which won’t happen until they check over the entire nest. So I’ve got nothing else to do for the moment.”

“Oof… sorry we kept you from your lunch,” Lykou said with an apologetic look.

“Eh. Not real hungry anyway. Had a big breakfast. Mostly just take lunch breaks as an excuse to fuck off from harvesting for a little bit anyway,” Zig said, then briefly glanced up at the canopy. “Don’t be surprised if the queen sends a couple drones to keep an eye on you while you’re in our territory, though.”

“Oh, great,” Kuna said, tensing up.

“Don’t worry, they won’t attack or anything. That’s not their job.”

“Oh. So… only warriors attack?”

“Yeah, obviously,” the bee replied, giving them a look. “Don’t get me wrong, we’ll all defend ourselves if we have to. But the rest of us aren’t exactly born for that kind of thing.”

“Born for….?” Lykou asked with a dubious expression. “What, you’re born into a job?”

“Well, yeah… us harvesters were born to be harvesters, builders are builders, warriors are warriors, and drones are drones. A very few lucky ones grow into a new queen or maybe a royal guard, but otherwise we are what we are,” she explained, then gestured to Lykou. “What about you? You’re not dumb enough to be a warrior.”

Lykou arched a brow, uncertain how to reply to that. “Er, well-”

Before he could answer, the bee gestured to Kuna. “And I would have thought you were a queen with all that magic back there, but I’ve never heard of one without a hive or at least a dozen warriors and royal guards standing by.”

“It… doesn’t work like that where we come from,” Lykou answered. “People aren’t born into a particular role where we’re from. I’m something called a spirit chaser, and… er, well-”

“I’m a druna,” Kuna interjected, shooting him a small grin.

Lykou grinned back. “Right.”

“Sounds weird,” the bee said. “You chase spirits? Why?”

“Ehhh, the name’s a bit misleading these days I guess,” the konuul said sheepishly. “Mostly I guess I’m a glorified scout for the tribe.”

“Tribe? That what you call your hive? I’m not aware of another one close to here, let alone one full of… things like you two.”

“Er, no,” Kuna said, rubbing his neck. “We were kind of… magically hurled away by a powerful trickster… thing. Spirit or person, we’re still undecided. But we were thrown far from home an-”

“Ahh, I see. So you’re a new queen and a drone looking for unclaimed territory to start a new hive.”

“Er, no, we’re tr-”

“Not wise to do so without at least a couple warriors by your side, though. It’s a dangerous world out there, and our queen won’t take a neighbor hive seriously if it doesn’t protect itself,” the bee continued. “I suggest you take some time to make some before long. There’s some unclaimed territory northeast from here, by a big lake. Should be relatively safe to settle down there and get busy, even if you don’t ultimately stay there.”

“Make… some…?” Lykou asked, perplexed.

Kuna looked confused for a minute as well, then suddenly blanched, blushing furiously. “W-wait a minute are y-?!”

“You’re a queen- or ‘druna’ or whatever you call it, and he’s your drone, right? Scout and fuck-servant? Shouldn’t take long to make a few eggs.”

“WHAT?!” Lykou loudly responded, looking stunned as a blush crossed his face as well.

“I’M MALE DAMMIT!” Kuna blurted out loudly, clenching his fists and stomping his foot as he was caught between indignation and intense embarrassment. “I’m not a ‘queen’, whatever that is! I don’t lay eggs! A-and he’s not-!”

Lykou, despite blushing in embarrassment himself, couldn’t help but double over as he struggled to contain a hysterical laughing fit.

“Oh! Apologies, I wouldn’t know the difference when it comes to... whatever you are,” the bee said, then glanced away with what might be a mildly annoyed expression. “Damn, here I thought I was helping a fellow girl out.” She turned back to them after a beat. “So you’re both drones then?”

“NO! We’re not fucking ‘drones’!!” the increasingly flustered sereva snapped. “I-...! we’re n-! he-… UGH!” he shouted, tugging at his ears in frustration, then turned and started stalking off, grumbling to himself.

Lykou managed to take a deep breath and suppress his laughter enough to call out after him, wiping a tear out of his eye. “Wait, Ku, come on- she… she didn’t know…”

“You two are definitely odd alright,” Zig said, giving them a look. “You okay?”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. Just some wounded pride, that’s all,” Lykou replied with a snicker, then turned to catch the sereva. “Come on Ku… you’re walking back the way we came from anyway.”

The sereva reluctantly stopped walking, but crossed his arms and grumbled, refusing to turn around. “Should’ve jumped into that damn ravine…”

“...sorry if I offended you somehow. I could… carry you up to the lake, or somewhere else, if it’d make up for it,” Zig offered uncertainly.

Kuna shuddered. “N-no more damn flying,” he mumbled under his breath, still refusing to show his face while he was still recovering from the little moment of humiliation.

“Ehh… thanks, but we can walk from here,” Lykou said, shooting her a sheepish smile.

“Suit yourself,” the bee said with what might pass for a shrug. “Well, I might as well head back and check back with the hive. Nice meeting you two, I suppose. Good luck on your… whatever you’re doing.”

“Thanks again, was nice meeting you too! Sorry about the, er, circumstances…”

“Eh, shit happens. At least something interesting happened for once,” she said as she took off and started hovering. “Bye then.”

Lykou waved as she flew off, then turned back to Kuna and rubbed his back as he continued to brood in embarrassment. “Come on, grumpy-butt, let’s get going.”

“I’m a boy. I have a dick,” the still heavily-flushed sereva mumbled, keeping his eyes downcast and his arms crossed as they started walking. “Not a damn… ‘queen’.”

As tempted as Lykou was to tease him, he decided against it and just patted his friend’s back and rolled his eyes a little. “Mhmm. Yes, you’re a guy,” he agreed, then pulled him into a side-armed hug. “Just let it go, Ku. She just isn’t familiar with non-bee people.”

The sereva continued to pout for a while as they continued walking through the woods. “Stupid… weird… overgrown flies with attitude…”

*****

After spending a large chunk of the day soaring around Clovaria, Daisy eventually honed in on the Dunnyhill caravan. When they stopped to set up camp, the wolpertinger looped around and landed next to a pond nearby. She bent down and sipped some water, then sat back and sighed while she waited for the ripples to fade.

“Did ye ‘av fun?” Aelana asked as her image stabilized in the water’s surface.

“Aye. Wis nice to feel th’ air under mah wings fer a guid while,” Daisy replied. “Ah guess tis time fer ye tae come back oot tho, innit?”

“Weel… onleh if ye want us tae meet up with that Effie lass. We kin always wait, if ye want more time roamin’ aroond.”

“Nice as it is, it’ll get borin’ fast if all I’m doin’ is flyin’ and runnin’ aroond invisibly.”

“Right…”

“Jest promise me ye willnae get cold feet, Lana. We both need this ‘n’ you ken it as weel as ah dae.”

“Aye… ah ken.”

“Dinnae be so anxious. It’ll be great!”

Lana took a deep breath, then nodded and smiled. “Aye. Let’s do it, then.”

Daisy smiled, then summoned up the transformative cloud of magical dust and light, swapping places with her other half. Once Aelana was back in the physical world, she stood up from kneeling by the water’s edge and dusted herself off. “How dae ah look?”

“Ye look fine, dinnae stall.”

“Ah’m nae stallin’. Ah jest want tae give a guid first impression wi’ th’ rest o’ th’ gang.”

“Ye already met ‘em, ye numpty.”

“Ah mean as a druna, Daisy.”

“...right. Weel, guess a flower crown or somethin’ wouldnae hurt.”

“You did always look cute in those,” a third voice suddenly spoke from behind her.

Aelana suddenly went rigid, then wheeled around with fire in her eyes. “YOU!” she practically growled.

“Me~!” Inkari said with a big, impish grin as she stepped out of the shadows under a nearby tree with little wave.

“Is tha’ who ah ken it is?! Ah recognize tha’ voice anywhere!” Daisy shouted from the water angrily.

“What tae bloody hells dae ye think yer doin’ here?!” Aelana demanded as she glared daggers at the jarzin.

“At the moment? Just standing here, watching my favorite little basket case have a conversation with herself,” Inkari replied, crossing her arms. “Why do you ask?”

“LET MEH BACK OOT, AH’LL CHEW ‘ER HEID OFF!”

“You ‘av some nerve showin’ yer face ‘ere efter flagrantly-”

“Ignoring an ancient deal I had no part in? Yeah, wouldn’t be the first time, if you’ll recall.”

“Ah’ve got half a mind-”

“One and a half, technically. Although I think that’s selling yourselves short.”

“...tae let Daisy oot here ‘n’ kip her word,” Aelana stubbornly finished, her eye twitching as she grit her teeth.

“So she finally has her own name now, hmm? That’s quite a development.”

“Aye, ‘n’ powers be damned, yer in oor territory noo, so ah-”

“Clearly forgot how to keep folks from sneaking up on you. Losing your touch, ey Lana?”

Finally, Aelana snapped. She practically snarled as she lunged at the jarzin with an explosion of vines from the ground. Inkari, however, transformed into smoke and whisked herself out of the way at the last moment. The moment she re-manifested, the ground began to swallow her up, but she conjured up a pair of horizontal bolders from its depths to push herself back out.

“Temper, temper!” she taunted, just as she ducked from having a massive, thorny vine take a swing at her. She retaliated by conjuring up a bitter cold frost on the entirety of the vine-y mass that Aelana had summoned up, then half-heartedly tossed a fireball at her opponent.

The fireball landed square in Aelana’s face- yet it had no effect, dissipating around her like so much mist as she stormed through it, her eyes glowing with a blinding light as the ground increasingly started to mutate and transform into wild, unnatural shapes around her. All the while, Daisy was shouting curses and insults from the water, distorted as they were by the ripples and splashes caused by the battle.

Inkari summoned up a pair of shimmering blades made of chaos energy to begin parrying the numerous chunks of terrain that starting getting hurled at her, slicing them to bits. But every time they disintegrated, they re-formed behind her and came flying back. She narrowly dodged them for a few minutes, then transformed into smoke and bolted out of the way as an enormous cluster of debris suddenly swooped in to enclose her.

Storm clouds started forming overhead and the wind began whipping up intensely. Rain began pouring all around them. Bolts of colorful lightning shot down after Aelana, but each time one struck near her, they curved around her, around some kind of invisible dome. By that point, she was in her full ‘halfie’ form, and strange sparkling silvery and orange energies were crackling between her antlers, paired with the intense glow in her eyes and veins of squirming energy coursing over her limbs. She raised her hands and shot back bolts of orange energy that sizzled across the ground, then jumped up and seemingly cracked the air all around Inkari.

The jarzin raised a brow in surprise and conjured up some stones to protect herself, but found them flying in random directions instead. When she tried to back away, she found that the space around her had become fractured and distorted, and she was randomly jumping around unpredictably between different sections of terrain as she moved. Disoriented, she conjured up a wild torrent of wind into a massive inverted tornado to carry herself up into the sky. But as soon as she was above the fractured minefield of shattered space, monstrously huge vines and roots burst from the ground at breakneck speed and ensnared her, glowing with an eerie, violet light. The jarzin tugged against the vines. She tried summoning up some chaos magic to cut them, but somehow it kept getting snuffed out. She tried changing into smoke, but something was suppressing that, too. The tornado winds and storm above the two quickly began dissipating. After a few moments, Aelana slowly rose up on a mass of vines of her own, and she leaned in close with a sneer. “Yer. In. Mah. Domain. Bitch.”

Inkari stared at her flatly for a moment, then grinned. Suddenly she tapped into one of the only two kinds of magic she knew the Sylthean couldn’t suppress and transformed herself… into her male form. She- or rather, he, then immediately leaned forward… and kissed her.

The effect was instant. Aelana jerked back and gawked for a moment, then all the vines dissipated and dropped them both to the ground as the half-lepne sputtered and rubbed her mouth frantically, blushing. “DAMMIT INK!”

Inkari casually stood up and dusted himself off, laughing. “Pity. I was hoping that’d end differently.”

“Oh fuck you, ye stupit sexy…” Aelana grumbled, shuddering.

“Damn cheap shot, ye fookin’ bastart,” Daisy spat out from the water nearby as it settled. “’n’ tha’s comin’ fra me, ye ken.”

“What, jealous?” Ink said, glancing down at the water and crossing his arms. “Tell her to swap back out and I’ve got some for you, too, if you want,” he added with a wink.

Daisy gagged and made a face. “PASS. She’s the one tha’ still feels mixed up aboot ye, nae me.”

“Daisy!” Aelana snapped. “Really??”

“Sorreh.”

“Aww, I’m flattered you still have feelings for me,” Inkari said, holding his hand over his heart dramatically. “How sweet.”

“...tis jest memories. If ah didnae remember th’ guid times we ‘ad back then, ye’d be fertilizin’ Whitlan’s crops right noo,” Aelana said, scowling and glaring at him through narrowed eyes. The faint blush gave away her conflicted feelings, though. “’n’ there’s still time fer me tae come tae mah senses aboot that, so dinnae test me.”

Inkari chuckled. “I’m flattered, really.”

She glared at him for a few more moments, then grumbled and buried her face in her hand in frustration. “Change back, dammit. Ah ken yer jest stayin’ lik’ tha’ to mess wi’ me.”

“What, not enough of that old flame left for me?” he teased.

She looked back up with another withering glare. “Ah swear tae Sylthea ah’ll end you...”

“Fiiine,” Inkari conceded, rolling his eyes. He transformed back into female form, then conjured up her pipe and lit it up. “I ‘ken’ those days are long past, but you’re too fun to tease.”

“Ah’ll show ye ‘fun’, ye bloody weapon,” the halfie grumbled.

“Oh, such a tease.”

“Ugh. Whit da ye want, Ink? Why are ye here ‘n’ why did ye send them lads here?”

Ink’s playful expression softened into a more genuine smile. “Honestly, is it so hard to believe I’m worried about an old friend?”

“Aye,” Aelana and Daisy said at the same time, the latter giving her a flat look.

The jarzin’s expression fell. “…okay now we’re even, you know that’s a low blow.”

“Are ye sure? Since when dae ye do ennything tha’s nae part o’ one o’ yer ‘lang-sighted’ grand schemes tae ‘perfect th’ world against corruption’ er some shite?” the half-lepne asked snidely with a brief, humorless smirk.

Inkari winced and looked away, trying to conceal how much that stung. “...fine. I’ll admit that was part of it. I knew Clovaria would be a good experience for them, whatever happened here,” she admitted, then rallied a bit and turned back to face her again. “But other than sending them here, I had no hand in anything here, you know that. I might not give a shit about that stupid ‘arrangement’, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still respect you, dammit.”

Aelana looked somewhat taken aback. “...ah… er… realleh?”

“Yes, really,” Ink said, then sighed. “Look… setting our… separation and whatever differences we have aside, I still do care about you, even if I can’t be that romantic twit you wanted me to be,” she continued with a small eye-roll. “I do genuinely care about you. And I mean more than just your importance to Clovaria. You know I’m different from the others.”

The half-lepne stared at her with an uncertain expression, seemingly at a loss for words. Daisy, on the other hand, had no such handicap. “Ye mean aside fra yer unnatural lang life, prolly through dreich means?” the wolpertinger sassed from the water.

The jarzin sighed and rolled her eyes up with a mildly bemused look, then waved her hand with a blue glow. A chunk of water that contained the wolpertinger’s image suddenly hovered up out of the water and rotated, flattening itself out into a perfectly smooth, reflective surface. “If you’re going to insist on chiming in, you might as well be up here where we can see you better, you know.”

Daisy blinked and gave her an odd look. “...ye tryin’ ta get me tae lower mah guard er somethin’? Isnae gonnae happen, ye ken.”

“I said I care about you, and I meant both parts of you,” Ink said, glancing back and forth between them. “I should have checked in more over the years. Maybe I could have helped with, well… this,” she said, gesturing between the two halves. “But you know how it is with my… ‘schemes’.”

“Aye. Alwis mair important than anythin’ else,” Aelana accused, then sighed. “...bit ah appreciate the sentiment, ah suppose.”

“Anyway, long life aside, you know I-”

“Ah ken, yer nae as up yer arse as some o’ th’ others. Bit ye still put that shite above everything else, including… weel…”

“I know, Lana. I can’t help who I am. I have immense power and experience, and unlike you, I know I’m not supposed to still be here with it all, so I can’t just sit here and make everything personal, much as I might want to,” Inkari said, then sighed heavily. “Doesn’t damnwell mean it doesn’t suck sometimes. You know probably better than anyone how hard the whole ‘detachment’ thing can get after a while.”

Aelana eyed her for a minute. “...aye. Obviously. Ah jest dinnae unnerstan’ ye sometimes. Other jarzin are up thir arse thinkin’ they ken better than anyone how th’ world should be, bit wi’ you, it seems mair lik’… lik’…”

“Lik’ yer tryin’ tae mak’ up fer somethin,” Daisy suggested suspiciously.

“...which mak’s it feel more genuine, bit also worries me, tae be honest.”

Ink looked away for a minute, then shrugged. “Fair.”

The trio sat in awkward silence for several minutes. Then Aelana grumbled and stalked over, wrapping her arms around the jarzin in a warm embrace. “Damn yer complicated arse.”

Inkari chuckled a little and returned the hug. “Says the one that split herself into two people,” she said.

“Watch it,” Aelana replied with a smirk as she separated again. “Or I’ll let her out and so she can chew on you a while.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t object if you do sometime. It’s only fair after all,” Ink said, shooting a smirk over at the wolpertinger. “Seriously, congrats on getting this twit to show you some of the respect you deserve. About time you had your own name.”

“Oy!” Aelana snapped lightly, giving her a light shove. “Who ye callin’ a twit?”

Daisy smirked. “Well, damn if ye dinnae ‘av a point.”

“Ach, both o’ ye goan boil yer heids then!”

Inkari snickered. “Hey, sending those boys here did do you both some good, didn’t it?”

“Aye, thir guid lads,” Aelana said, smirking over at Daisy, then turning back to the jarzin. “Leave it tae you tae find th’ right ootsiders tae get me tae re-examine things.”

“Good. You deserve friendships and love, Lana, even if I can’t always be here to give you what you need and deserve,” the jarzin said with a small smirk. “You know, having known you since before all, well… this,” Inkari continued, gesturing between the two. “It’s fascinating seeing how you both develop. I hope you’ll give Daisy more time out here in the fleshy world.” She turned to the wolpertinger and winked. “You did get some of her most fun bits, you know.”

“...kip sweet talkin’. Yer nae gettin’ me oot there jest fer a damn smooch, witch,” Daisy snarked with a quirked brow.

“Drat, guess my schemes aren’t what they’re cracked up to be,” Inkari replied, then stuck her hands in her pockets with a grin. “Imagine what it’d have been like back in the day, if you both could be out here at the same time. Would have made for interesting threesomes.”

Aelana blanched and sputtered at that comment. “INKARI!”

“What, can’t take a little playful teasing and banter anymore?”

“Normalleh, aye, bit ye should be skelped straight inta th’ spirit world fer tha’ one,” Daisy commented flatly.

Inkari threw her hands up and rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright, if I can’t even get a smirk out of gigglebox over here, I’ll tone it down,” she said with an amused tone. “Sorry.”

“GIGGLEBOX?!” Daisy sputtered. “Yer damn lucky ah’m nae th’ one oot there right now!”

This time, Aelana did snort as she quickly stifled a snicker. “Pffft… okay, that one was good.”

“Oy, who’s side are ye oan?!”

“A’right, a’right, enough banter. So whit dae ye want noo, Ink?”

“Honestly, just to chat. Catch up, you know? I’m letting my… thing, with those boys, sort of run its own course for a little bit, so I’ve got some time to kill, and I really do want to try and make up for some lost time with you.”

“Mark this in th’ legends, Daisy,” Aelana said with a smirk. “The a’mighty Inkari jest wants tae blether o’er a cup o’ tea.”

“Tea works, or something stronger if you want,” Inkari replied with a grin.

“Lik’ thir’s anythin’ strong enough ‘ere tae affect either o’ us, ye twit. Anyway, whit ye want tae blether aboot?”

“Well, like I said, we can catch up. Though I am curious to hear how it went with the boys, too.”

“Ach, thir guid lads. Didnae jest help us, either. Saved Kerny ‘n’ tha’ caravan up th’ way fra a dreich mess.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

Aelana put her hands on her hips and shot her a look. “Ah dinnae ken. Fra whit ah unnerstand, ye scared tae shite oot o’ them, so mibbie ye dinnae deserve tae hear tha’ story.”

“Oh come on, don’t begrudge me a little fun. You know I enjoy some theatrics. I’ve got a reputation to uphold, after all.”

“Hmm. Mibbie. Bit ye’ll ‘av tae promise ta mak’ it up tae ‘em.”

“...oh trust me, that’s already in the plan.”

“Aye? Tha’s guid,” the half-lepne said, then crossed her arms. “Still tisnae right takin’ them sae far frae home, ye ken.”

“Oh trust me, I have good reasons. Not just for them, but everyone they’ll meet. World’s changing, and it’s going to need heroes, Lana. And after a lot of careful consideration, they’re the best chance I’ve found to get things started so it gets more.”

“Sylthea forfend ye let it happen nat’rally.”

“You know how messy that gets. The fewer broken souls in the world, the better.”

“Ah’m sure tha’s nice comfort fer th’ poor souls whose lives ye upend. Lykou’s folk are prolly sick wi’ grief over him.”

“Sure. I could have left him there where he was bored but safe. And Kuna would still be all alone and… well, I’m sure you took a peek at his soul.”

Aelana winced. “Aye. Poor lad. Gonnae have tae ask ‘im aboot things sometime, bit ah cannae imagine it’s easy tae talk aboot. Must be a dreich story there.”

“Darker than even he’s yet aware.”

“Damn, realleh?” Daisy chimed in. “What dreich folk did tha’ poor lad come across?”

“The ‘dreich’est type. Lets just say as rough as being abandoned by his tribe was on him, he’s lucky he’s no longer with them.”

“Damn, tha’s bleak. Nae wonder his soul’s all… cracked lik’ tha’.”

“Still, ah’m sure ye could ‘av helped him withoot draggin’ poor Lykou away fra his oon lovin’ folk,” Aelana pointed out.

“Maybe, but not as effectively. Now at least he has a chance to not just survive, but to shine,” Inkari said, then smirked. “And besides. Don’t tell me you can’t see what a spark there is between those two.”

Daisy giggled. “Aye, tha’s pure true. Bright as noon oan a sunny summer day.”

“Anyway I’m assuming you didn’t leave them empty-handed, now did you?” Inkari said with a smirk. “Give them a pair of certain old toys of yours?”

“Aye, ‘n’ dinnae even think aboot tryin’ tae take ‘em away. Thir soul-bound.”

“Obviously, or they wouldn’t work,” the witch said, then shrugged. “Not that I’d want to anyway. I’m actually glad you’re getting involved.”

“Oh realleh?” Aelana asked, arching a brow.

“Mhmm. Should make things more interesting. Besides, you need more friends to chat with regularly.” The witch glanced up at the hill briefly. “Speaking of which, we can chat a bit more later, but I take it you were planning something with that little caravan up there?”

“...ach. Right,” Aelana said, glancing up at the sky. The moon was just starting to creep up over the horizon as the sun was making its way down towards the other side. “...ah guess tis aboot time...”

Daisy sighed. “Lik’ ah said, dinnae goan get cold feet noo. It’s gonnae be fine! Thir good folk!”

“She’s right, you know. Hey, if you want, I’ll even play at being an evil spirit you can ‘vanquish’ to impress them. ‘Spooky and ominous’ is my specialty, after all.”

Aelana smirked and rolled her eyes. “Ah dinnae need yer halp, ah’m a big girl,” she retorted. “Bit thanks.”

“I’d say I was surprised all our commotion earlier didn’t get their attention, but I’m assuming you had us cloaked the whole time.”

“Obviously. Last thing ah need tae deal wi’ as ah’m tryin’ tae open up tae folk is them bein’ all bewildered by an earth-shatterin’ magic fight wi’ an ex, then havin’ tae explain it.”

Inkari snickered. “I suppose you do have more than enough to reveal already.” She pulled the halfie into a light hug. “Hey, as long as you’re not officially kicking me out, I’ll be hanging around Clovaria for a few days if you need me. We really should catch up some more when you get the chance.”

“…yer really takin’ a few days awa’ fra shapin’ bits o’ th’ world tae yer whims?” Aelana asked incredulously. “Who are ye ‘n’ whit ‘av ye done wi’ the Great Fate-Weaver?”

“Spirits, I always hated that one,” Inkari said, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I roped someone into keeping an eye on the boys intermittently in my place for a bit.”

“Since when dae you delegate?”

“Hey, I’ve spent all these years building up ‘legend’ status, I might as well make use of it occasionally, right?”

“First time fer everythin’ ah guess.”

“...truth be told there’s a little more to it, and you’re the only two people I’d trust to tell,” Inkari admitted and glanced away, then sighed and shrugged. “But let’s save that for later. You’ve got socializing to do, and I won’t hold you up any more.”

“Aye, fine, ah cannae kip stallin’, ah ken,” Aelana said and rolled her eyes. “Guess ah’ll meet ye later. Ah’d ask where ye want tae meet, bit knowin’ you, ye’ll jest pop up a’ th’ right time anyway.”

“You know it,” Inkari said with a wink. She then turned to Daisy. “Guess I’ll see you later too. Time to put this water back where it belongs. See you later, Daisy.”

Daisy smirked despite herself. “Ach, ye too, ye mad bampot.”

With a wave of her hand, Inkari returned the water back to the pond it came from, then stalked off into the shadows as Aelana took a deep breath and started up the hill.