Valde Incompertus Silva

[Pureauthor]

I'm a fanfiction writer by hobby, and I've worked a bit on an Etrian Odyssey fanfiction - I hope you like it. The first post will be character profiles.

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Am I the only one who created character backstories? Nothing too detailed, but it's there.

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Eurydice Alexandra Katarn
Female Protector
Age: 22

Hit: Nice, long soaks in the bathtub
Miss: Male Chauvinist Pigs

"What do you mean, 'you forgot to bring any Warp Wires'?"

Leader and creator of the Explorer Guild, Eurydice began her journey into the Yggdrasil Labyrinth for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was to prove her worth as a Shield Maiden under the Order of the Crimson Phoenix.

While headstrong, she still has enough sense to defer to someone else in matters in which she's clearly less experienced in. Commands the respect and loyalty of those in the Explorer Guild.

*~*

Cassandra 'Medigirl' Hoffman
Young Female Medic
Age: 15

Hit: Big, thick tomes filled with knowledge
Miss: Spiders

"Hey, guys! W-wait up! Wait for me!"

Granddaughter of the head of the Ceft Apothecary, Cassandra recently joined the Explorer Guild. Young, bright and optimistic, she hopes to make a valuable contribution to the records and lore of Etria by recording and collating all the wildlife and plantlife to be found within the vast Labyrinth. She is also rather talkative, endlessly quizzing her fellow guildmates on their opinions on the various flora and fauna of the Labyrinth

Remains painfully oblivious to the fact that her guildmates see her as a walking Medica.

*~*

Vante 'Lash' Simern
Dark-haired male Dark Hunter
Age: 18

Hit: Bindings
Miss: Dead knots

'Don't worry, this'll only hurt a lot."

Confident and self-assured (some might say cocky), Vanta sees conquering the Labyrinth as chance to make a name for himself. With the whip as his preferred weapon of choice, Vante often makes a big show out of immobilizing the enemies he faces to his comrades. Will his time spent in the labyrint come to teach him that friendship and camaderie are the true treasures of the earth, not fame or wealth?

Not bloody likely.

*~*

Mihawk
Young Female Survivalist
Age: 17

Hit: Cartography
Miss: Sloppiness

'Lessee, we take a right at the rotted tree, a left at the burnt boulder, and - wha? Oh, man - we're under attack again?'

Mihawk was originally part of some other exploration party that presumably met a sorry end within the bowels of the Labyrinth. Being the only survivor of the party, she managed to limp upwards through 7 floors of the Labyrinth, before collapsing approximately midway through the 3rd floor. Found and returned to Etria by the Metis group of explorers, she later awoke to the realization that she had lost most of her memory. Of what memories that still remained, the burning desire to explore the labyrinth proved the strongest. Adopting the moniker 'Mihawk', she joined the Explorer guild in an attempt to surpass the mysteries of the labyrinth and to hopefully figure out her past.

Is officially designated as the head cartographer of the guild.

*~*

Quark Teknon
Male Alchemist
Age: 30

Hit: Being alone
Miss: Interaction with other human beings

'...Go away.'

No one has the slightest clue why he joined the Explorer guild. A Poison and Volt formulae specialist, he pulls his weight in combat situations but is otherwise reticent and subdued.

Of note is that his contract with the guild is on a strictly temporary basis. The agreement for the time of his leave would be at the 15th floor or 'until I find what it is I'm looking for', whichever comes later.

*~*

Orpheus Katarn
Male Troubadour
Age: 25

Hit: Eurydice
Miss: Peanuts. Especially the roasted variety

'Why, I'd go to hell and back for ya, darlin'"

A master singer and songwriter, Orpheus showed up in Etria while the core group was busy navigating the 3rd floor of the labyrinth (and getting their asses kicked by the Stalkers). Still relatively unused to the rigours of combat, he often accompanies Franz and Ewan (see below) into the Labyrinth for training sessions.

Incidentally, Orpheus is Eurydice's husband, and he originally came to, in his own words, 'look after her', notwithstanding the fact that she is the battle-hardened Shield Maiden and his primary skill is... well, singing.

*~*

Franz, Son of Frederick, of the House Albion
Young Male Protector
Age: 17

Hit: Amelia
Miss: Rainy days, the cold

'Get behind me! I'll protect you!'

An earnest and compassionate knight, Franz's main duty prior to his journey to Etria was patrolling the countryside towns, keeping them safe from bandit assaults or attacks from wild beasts. It was in one such rural town that he met Amelia, the daughter of the village blacksmith. A close friendship soon developed, and whenver possible, he'd visit her and tell her stories of his exploits.

A romance soon blossomed - but at the beginning of the year Amelia fell deathly ill with an undiagnosed disease. The best healers and medic could find neither cause nor cure of this strange malady.

It was known that the Yggdrasil Labyrinth was home to a vast multitude of as of yet unknown and unrecorded herbs and plantlife. If any of those plants held the healing properties to save Amelia... Submitting a request - and receiving approval - for a leave of absence, Franz departed for the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, promising Amelia that he would be back soon.

Upon joining the Explorer guild, he has become fast friends with Cassandra, and is the only member of the guild who actually refers to her by name.

*~*

Ewan Paraji
Young Male Alchemist
Age: 17

Hit: Fire. Lots and lots of fire.
Miss: Water used for any capacity other than direct consumption

'So, Franz, what are the odds on that being flammable?'

A childhood friend of Franz, he agreed to join the knight on the journey to the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, not least because he has a secret crush on Amelia himself. A fire formula specialist, he and Franz have complete trust in the abilities of each other.

Has a reputation for being a bit of a pyromaniac.

*~*

Rosalina 'Ross' Lenson
Red-haired Female Landsknecht
Age: 20

Hit: Roughing it
Miss: Frilly dresses

'What? Lookin' down on me just 'cuz I got a pretty face? Ha!'

Tomboyish by nature, Rosalina often got into scraps with the boys of her village (and more often than not, came out the victor). Raised by her father, she was told of how her mother had been carried off by a group of raiding bandits and never found again; after hearing this Rosalina resolved to become strong enough that she and her family would never have to suffer the same fate ever again.

Upon hearing of the vast and unexplored Labyrinth, Rosalina decided that the uncharted depths would make the ideal training grounds. Journeying to Etria, she met Eurydice and shortly resolved to join the Explorer Guild.

Despite considering Eurydice's fighting style to be too 'cautious' for her own tastes, Rosalina holds the Shield Maiden in extremely high regard, and an exemplary model for women who choose to prove themselves in life. She is somewhat antagonistic to Franz, whose order of knights failed to protect her village against the bandits all those years ago.

*~*

Tonytony, Jack, Chopper, Woody, and Ms. Hart
4 Male and 1 Female Survivalists
Age: Varied

Hit: Gathering materials
Miss: Not gathering materials

'Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go!'

The 'Broke Down Five', as they are popularly known in the Golden Deer, were hired by Eurydice for the purpose of harvesting various materials to sell off and thus keep the group in a steady inflow of cash. However, given the amounts of food they consume on a daily and regular basis, one can't help but wonder if the guild would be financially better off were they not around...

Like Quark, the 'Broke Down Five' have a temporary contract, although this time it's at Eurydice's discretion as to when she evicts them from the guild.

*~*

Fight Bloodblade of the Warsong Clan
Male Ronin
Age: 34

Hit: Fighting
Miss: Not fighting, pathfinding

'So is this my right hand, or is this my right hand?'

As legendary as Fight's fighting skills are, what is even more legendary is his complete and utter lack of directional capabilities. In a rather infamous epside, Fight found himself lost within an enemy's fortress and spent the better part of three days wandering around and cutting down anyone who got in his way.

He's currently heading for Etria after hearing tales of the vast and unexplored Yggdrasil Labyrinth. How long he'll take to find his way to Etria itself, though, is anyone's guess. Luckily for him, he's got a companion.

*~*

Master Heal of the Royal Apothecary Society
Young Male Medic
Age: 19

Hit: Healing
Miss: Not healing

'Just hang on and I'll patch that riiigght up...'

An emissary from the Royal Apothecary Society, Heal has been dispatched to aid travelers in their quest to plumb the depths of the Labyrinth. Brash and easygoing, he has utter faith in his own capabilities as a healer, and isn't afraid to let the world know.

Ran into Fight while at a local pub, and now travels alongside him and ensuring Fight doesn't run off the wrong path.

Also, Fight appears to be rubbing off on Heal, as Heal has claimed to be studying the Caduceus ability, and toughening up his attacking capabilities.

*~*

Shathra Moonsorrow
Young Female Hexer
Age: 12

Hit: The colour purple
Miss: Being called a kid

'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocio... wait a minute! This isn't the Evil Eye spell!'

Over the years, Shathra has gotten extremely adept at projecting a mystifiying and dark image of her personality - an effect that is somewhat ruined when people find that she's about as scatterbrained as they come.

Being twelve years old, she has a serious lack of liquid funds, and has thus far made up for it by Hexing various innkeepers into giving her free rooms and goods. Once, while at a seaside town, she read a flier asking for strong adventurers to come and join the Darkbane guild so as to explore and conquer the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. Seeing as she had nothing better to do, Shathra decided that she might as well, and set out for Etria.

One can only expect that she would be somewhat disappointed to know that the Darkbane club had disbanded some three months prior to her ever laying eye on the poster...

*~*

[Pureauthor]

Valde Incompertus Silva


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Author’s Notes: The title of this story is a rough English-to-Latin translation done by one of the innumerable translation sites they have on the great interwebs. Roughly, it means ‘The Great Unknown Forest’.

That out of the way…

Disclaimer: I own nothing.


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Prologue: Fortuna Ligamen Convoco


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No one was entirely sure when or how it had appeared. The locals claimed that one night there had only been swelling hills of emerald grass – and the next morning, a huge crevice in the land that led into the strange forest, situated just on the outskirts of the sleepy town of Etria.

Some had theorized that it was the recent earthquakes that had been shaking the land, causing this strange new breach in the earth to appear. Others said that some great evil must have been lurking deep underground, and that this meant that it was attempting to force its way back out. Still others laughed and proclaimed that it must have been heaven’s doing, to reveal an entrance to such a lush and uncharted realm to explore.

And so, before long, a team of intrepid explorers ventured in – and there they encountered a strange new world, filled to the brim with exotic plants and wildlife they had never laid eyes on before. As fate would have it, the local wildlife proved hostile – very hostile. They all made it out alive, but some would be scarred forever – and one had his arm so mangled it was all but useless.

Still, the herbs and jewels that the explorers had brought back with them convinced the Radha, the governors of Etria, that this great forest was worth exploring.

A proclamation was thus sent out, proclaiming to all and sundry of the discovery of this strange forest, and inviting anyone to come and prove his mettle by conquering the uncharted labyrinth.

Many came to try their luck – all failed. But the lure of adventure proved too strong to stem the flow of daredevils and bravehearts. Over time, Etria became a bustling city-town, its booming economy geared towards providing for the adventurers that seeked to conquer the wood. And over time, the great forest, that had so steadfastly defied all of man’s attempts to plumb her depths, began to be known as the Yggdrasil Labyrinth.

And as the sun rises and sets, the flow of those who come to seek their fortunes in the vast caverns remains unceasing.


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The Ceft Apothecary was often a busy place. With the large amount of people who got themselves incapacitated (sometimes permanently) while wandering the labyrinth, it was no surprise that the doors to the Apothecary remained open throughout the night and day.

Pale sunlight filtered in through the bay windows of the side room, falling upon and illuminating the desk the sole occupant of the room was currently using.

Brushing a strand of orange hair from her eyes, the girl slowly shifted the position of her magnifying glass, allowing her to see the dried herb on her desk in greater detail.

Apparently satisfied that she adequately committed it to memory, she set the magnifying glass down and turned to a sheet of paper lain down on desk. After several quick, precise strokes, the drawing of the herb began to take shape on the parchment.

A few moments later, she nodded, a brief smile appearing on her face. Then, turning to a blank area of the parchment, she began jotting down several notes.

Mugwort: Viridus Acerbus

Bitter to the taste; warming; increases concentration abilities; is often used commercially as an ingredient for bravants

Often found in the first floors of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, these tiny herbs are green in colour and bitter to the taste. Due to their use in the manufacturing of bravants, travelers into the Labyrinth often bring back a supply of mugworts for the purpose of selling to –

“Cassandra! Cassandra? Where are you, lass?”

Cassandra Hoffman placed the pen down and twisted in her seat. “In here, grandfather!” She called.

A moment later, Dr. Hoffman, head of the Ceft Apothecary, entered the room, a warm smile on his face. “So that’s where you were couched away in.”

Cassandra smiled up at her grandfather. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing much. I was just wondering where you’d run off to.” He moved closer glancing down at the dried herbs on Cassandra’s desk and then the paper she had been making her notes on. “…Still at it, eh?”

“’Course!” She grinned cheerily as she gazed down at her own work. “The forest’s huge, and it’s filled with all sorts of strange and new plants and animals we’ve never seen before. There’s so much information to be found!” Her eyes grew distant as she rubbed a finger along the crackling edge of the mugwort. “Just think… if someone could make a record of every species of Flora and Fauna in there…” She shook herself from her brief reverie and glanced up at her grandfather.

Dr. Hoffman had removed the spectacles from his face and was now in the process of polishing it with the edge of his coat. “Well, you’re not going to make much headway by studying mugworts, my dear. Any first year student at the Apothecary knows all about them.”

“I know!” She giggled. “But there’re still so many unrecorded plants and animals in there. I want to be the first one to find and study all of them! If nothing else, it’ll definitely be a great contribution to the records of Etria.”

The master physician laid a comforting hand on his granddaughter’s thin shoulder. “You do realize, of course, that this will entail venturing into the Labyrinth on a rather regular basis?”

Cassandra nodded. “And that’s why I’ve been training myself up.” She glanced to her side and reached over to grasp a staff, finely carved from solid oak wood. “I’m not good as a fighter… so I’ll be their medic. I’ll take care of the fighters, patch up their wounds, make sure they live to fight another day…” She grinned and winked at her grandfather. “Just like you, huh?”

He had to chuckle at her brightness and optimism. “Indeed, indeed.” The smile became pensive. “Just like me.”

With a nod of respect to her grandfather, Cassandra got up from her chair and left the room, still clutching her oak staff.

Dr. Hoffman remained behind, lips pursed, deep in thought. Finally, he reached over and picked up the mugwort Cassandra had been observing, turning the brittle plant over and over in his hand.


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The Golden Deer pub was a noisy place at the best of times, Valerie reflected as she gazed over at the chaotic spectacle with her with an amused air.

Explorers and adventurers that had entered the labyrinth were all sitting around tables swapping stories, each more fantastical than the last. The few patrons who wished for no conversation, merely a quiet meal and a drink, were sitting cloistered in their individual booths along the wall. In one smoky corner of the pub sat Ormund, no doubt mangling yet another song to a group of listeners. It was her decided opinion that he was best off sticking to storytelling.

She heard the snap of fingers and saw someone at the far end of the till signaling for a drink. She nodded gamely, quickly preparing the necessary mead – she knew most all of her patrons on sight, including their tastes and preferences.

The drink finished, she set it down on the till, well out the reach of the customer. He shot her a questioning look, to which she merely replied with a smile.

A roll of the eyes and a resigned smile – she saw the customer reaching back into his pocket.

There was a sharp crack! and suddenly a length of dark cord had wrapped itself around the mug. The dark-haired customer smirked and yanked once. The drink slid across the table, coming to rest in the outstretched hand of the whip-wielding patron. His drink appropriated, he flipped a shining coin in Valerie’s direction, one she caught effortlessly.

Vante Simern – Lash to those who knew him well enough – sat back on his stool, tipping the mug and taking a long and thirsty swallow from it.

“Yer not bad with a whip, lad.” An elderly man next to him observed.

“Comes with my line of work.” Lash smirked. “If I weren’t good with my weapon of choice, I’d have no business callin’ myself an adventurer.”

“An adventurer?” The old crone grinned and chuckled. “Round these parts that only means one thing.” His voice dropped to a conspiratorial tone. “How far in have you been, lad?”

Lash gave the man a bored look and swiveled around on his stool so he could gaze out at the rest of the bar. “Oh, I’d say… zero floors.”

“Hah!” His drinking companion chuckled. “All talk! Should’ve known.”

The Dark Hunter rolled his eyes as he took another draught. “If you’d known anything, old man, you’d know that most of the local guilds aren’t bothering to hire any new blood – so most of us newcomers don’t have much choice but to sit pretty on our thumbs.”

“So start your own guild or something.” The elderly man offered.

“Good one!” Lash tipped his mug back again, draining the last few drops from it. “I’m not leader material – I tried that gig a while ago. Better at just fighting when I’m told to fight.”

“So, you’re just going to splurge your cash on drinks and food while waiting for someone to come in and scout you for your ability to snag drinks with a whip. Hmph!” The elderly patron stood up and walked away, shaking his head.

“Ain’t any easier than it sounds, old man!” Lash called after the swiftly departing elder. Then he sighed and leaned backwards, letting the back of his head rest on the hard wood of the bar till. “I swear, if I could just get myself hired by any of those stinking guilds…”


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“I think she’s wakin’ up!”

“Huh? Boy, that’s fast!”

“Yeah, isn’t it now? Especially considering the knocks she had to have taken to get so banged up like that.”

“Hmm… wasn’t sure she was going to make it, at first.”

“Out of the way, out of the way! Give me some room! I need to check up on her!”

The first thing she began to become aware of was noise. A lot of confused talking, the intermingling of voices. Some of it seemed to make sense – most of it did not.

Second, she became aware of what she was feeling. She was lying down on something soft. It was rather rough to the feel, but otherwise it felt comfortable.

She then opened her eyes. She was in a room, simple and sparsely furnished. Several people were milling about, not appearing to be doing much of anything in particular. One of them, however, was leaning by her side.

“How do you feel?” He asked softly.

“F-fine.” She mumbled in response. Hesitantly, she pulled herself into a sitting position.

“We found you on the third floor of the Labyrinth.” One of the men said shortly. “You remember what happened?”

Labyrinth? She closed her eyes, pressing her hand to her forehead. Yes… Yes. Scraps and whispers of memory, floating through her mind.

Screams. Heat. Pain. The roaring of beasts. Dark shapes that flitted about the shadows of her memory.

And blood. The smell of it, the dark maroon stains everywhere…

She hesitated.

“Tenth.”

“’Scuse me?”

“Not third…” She spoke slowly, trying to pull out more information from her mind. “The tenth floor. We were ambushed there…”

One of the men in the background whistled. “You made it up seven floors with wounds like that? You got my respect, girlie.” He received an elbow to the gut from one of the women in the room.

“We found this band on your arm.” A red-haired warrior held up a strip of cloth with an insignia etched upon it. “Turns out it’s the Atropos’ guild’s insignia. Haven’t been heard from in almost a week.”

There was a silence in the room as they let the implications of what had been said sink in. Finally, the healer at her side – well, she assumed he was a healer – spoke up again.

“What’s your name?”

Another uncomfortable silence descended as she kept her head bowed.

“I… don’t remember.” She finally mumbled. And it was true. She couldn’t remember much of anything. Where she had come from. Who she was. Her parents, her friends, everything seemed to have to fallen into some dark abyss that she could not reach. “I don’t remember.” She said again, rising panic in her voice. “I don’t remember anything.”

“Makes sense if ya ask me. She’d taken a couple nasty ones to the head when we found her…” A subdued voice came from the doorway.

“Wait, calm down.” The medic smiled in a calming manner. “Think it through slowly. Try to let it come to you.”

She tried to slow her breathing, tried to calm herself down… She focused, sifting through the murky haze of her mind.

“Archery.” She spoke. “I remember stringing my bow and taking aim at faraway targets that no one ever thought was possible to hit. I remember taking down some enemy beast that tried to sneak up on me – I shot it in the eye. I remember – I – oh!” She fell silent.

“What? What is it?” The healer prompted.

“The labyrinth.” She whispered. “I remember the labyrinth.”

She looked up, looking each person in the room in the eye.

“I need to conquer it.”


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Directly outside the Yggdrasil Labyrinth was a grassy knoll. It was one of several such knolls that dotted the surrounding area, and insofar as the knoll itself was concerned, it was an entirely unremarkable knoll.

What was different about the knoll was the person standing on top of it, glaring down in the direction of the Labyrinth. It wasn’t known how long he stood there, simply gazing down into the vast undergrowth.

Gradually, there came the sounds and shouts of a group of explorers from behind him. A well-armed, well stocked group of adventurers walked by, obviously intent on entering the Labyrinth for yet another go.

The last one of them, a young lad with rust-red hair paused and glanced quizzically at him. “Hey, whatcha doing?”

Quark Teknon turned his red eyes upon the youth. “I wish to enter the Labyrinth.” He said shortly. He paused. “Will you let me go with you?”

The young fighter shrugged. “Sorry, man, that’s up to the boss.”

“…Fine.” Quark turned away and resumed staring impassively at the entrance to the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, his ebon hair swaying slightly in the breeze. The youth watched him curiously for a moment or two before turning and quickening his pace to catch up with the rest of the group.


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Swallowing nervously, he stepped into the room.

A heavy cloth had been hung up across the window so as to keep the heat of the sun outside, the net effect being that the entire room had a hazy, ethereal glow to it. Franz barely paid it any mind as he glanced towards the bed.

Was it his imagination, or did she look even paler than before?

At the sound of his footfalls, she shifted her head, enough so that she could look him in the eye. “Franz…” She murmured.

“Amelia.” Pulling up a chair, he settled down besides her. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” He winced inwardly at her terse reply. He could tell that even these small actions were tiring her out. He shouldn’t have come, he should have just let her rest…

“Franz?”

“Hm?” He glanced back at her. “Yes?”

She was staring at him quizzically, a curious expression on her pale, drawn face. “Franz… you have something you want to tell me?”

He sighed, nodded. “Amelia… you’ve heard of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth?”

She nodded slowly.

“They’ve discovered all sorts of plants and herbs in there, Amelia – Etria’s been making use of them to make new medicines and elixirs.” He paused. “And it’s been said that the deeper you go, the more exotic plants you’ll find. Amelia,” he continued excitedly. “If I could find something that could help you fight your illness-“

“I’ve heard of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth.” She spoke in a measured tone. “I’ve heard… that those who go too deep never make it out again.”

Franz shook his head. “What else can I do, Amelia? The best healers in this land have proved useless – they don’t know what to do. You’ve had this disease for six months now and you’ve only gotten worse. Am I just supposed to sit on my hands and watch you waste away?” He reached over, covering her hand with his own. “I can’t do that. I won't”

She made no response, save for a single crystalline tear that leaked out from her eye.

“Amelia,” Franz continued, his voice steady with resolve. “I'm going to the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. I will find a cure. And I’ll be back soon. This I promise you.”


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As he descended the steps of the house, he saw his gleaming shield, resting against the wall.

A Holy Knight. He thought to himself as he lifted the shield up, gazing upon his reflection in the polished surface. One sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Knighthood under the Order of the Silver Rose had always been in the cards for him, especially since he’d come from House Albion. Upon being knighted, he’d been assigned to the countryside, his duty to patrol the countryside villages with the rest of his regiment, staving off the occasional bandit raids.

It’d been in one such patrol that he’d first entered the village of Messor, on account of having dented his blade in an accident. The village blacksmith had obliged to repairing it for a modest fee, and it had been while he was waiting for his sword to be repaired that he had seen the blacksmith’s daughter.

She’d originally been interested in the fact that he was a knight – somehow, the concept of being clad in steel and being touted as the first line of defense against barbarian hordes or marauding brigands was of great appeal to the peasantry as a whole. He’d obliged her questions, telling him about his latest patrol mission. It had been a profound eye opener to him that what he had hitherto considered a routine – boring, even- part of his life was of the utmost interest to Amelia.

The span of two hours had passed faster than he had thought possible, and before he departed he’d made a promise that he would return to see her again soon. This he had done so – and on a rather regular basis, to the point where the blacksmith and his family knew when he was off-duty.

As the visits continued, she’d began to ask less questions about his life as a knight, and more questions about him as a person. And, in turn, he’d begun to find himself asking more questions about her as well.

The night they’d confessed their feelings to each other had been a rainy one, he remembered. He’d never much liked rainy days, mainly because those days tended to be cold, and he hated the cold. With him not needing to return to active duty until late next morning, and with the rather incessant drumming of raindrops around their heads, he’d accepted the blacksmith’s gracious offer to spend the night here. The conversation that night had been a rather usual one for its ilk – largely upbeat, positive, and punctuated by plenty of giggles. Then, for no discernable reason, they conversation had slowed to a halt, they’d both gazed deep into each other’s eyes, and the words just came tumbling out.

Of course it would have been largely easy to lose himself in the passion of the moment, but being a Holy Knight, he’d had the teachings for virtue and whatnot drummed into his head harder than most, and besides, taking advantage of the daughter of someone who’d agreed to put you up for the night just didn’t seem right. Settling for a rather long kiss, they’d both went to sleep content in what the future held for the both of them.

Except, of course, that the future had thrown them a curveball by striking Amelia down with some strange malady the physicians couldn’t begin to diagnose, never mind cure. Franz frowned as he finished buckling on the last of his armour to himself. And of course that had led to their current situation.

He nodded and patted the letter tucked securely into his breastplate – his request for a leave of absence for an indeterminate period of time had been granted. Now all was left was to set out for the Labyrinth.

“You ready?” Came the voice from the doorway.

Ewan Paraji was by no means a blood relation of Franz, but upon first glance, one might note that both of them had blond hair and blue eyes. Of course, Franz’s hair was just a couple of shades darker, almost fading into a glossy brown if one looked at it in the proper lighting. Ewan also had this habit of keeping his eyes hooded, such that it led most to believe that he was either very thoughtful or lazy.

“As much as I’ll ever be.”

There was a soft cough, and Franz turned to see Amelia’s father standing in the dooway.

“Sir Franz…” The blacksmith stepped forward.

Franz dipped his head low. “Master Russell… I’ll be back soon. Please look after Amelia well.”

He nodded in response, a smile forming under his beard. “Take care, Sir Knight. Fare you well.”


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Ewan Paraji was rather reticent and reserved – he opened up only to close friends of relatives. But when he had found a friend, he stuck with that person through thick and thin.

Having grown up as the son of a servant in House Albion, he’d formed a fast friendship with Franz, the only other boy around his age. Later on, he’d proved himself adept in the arcane fields, and Franz had convinced his father to help fund Ewan’s tutelage in the Mage’s Guild – a favour that Ewan had always sought to repay Franz for (Notwithstanding that many in the Guild now viewed Ewan as being just a bit too obsessed with Fire formulae magic).

“…” As the two of them saddled their horses, Ewan paused to glance back at Amelia’s house.

Of course, repaying a favour by keeping silent about his own attraction to Amelia seemed a pretty poor way of going about things. Notwithstanding that Franz and Amelia seemed entirely happy together (or at least they would have if not for this strange disease), she didn’t seem particularly aware that Ewan existed as anything more than ‘Franz’s buddy’.

“Ewan? What’s the matter?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing much.” Ewan gave his old friend a grin. “Well then… to Etria?”

Franz nodded, already astride his steed. “To Etria.”


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Scarcely anyone paid any heed to the cloaked traveler as the person paused in the middle of the Verda Plaza, glancing around to check the surroundings.

As one Etrian villager walked by, the traveler coughed softly. “Excuse me sir, do you know the way to the Guildmaster’s office?”

“It’s that prominent building riiight over there.”

“My thanks.”

A few minutes later, the Guildmaster glanced up as the cloaked traveler entered his office. “Hm, don’t think I’ve seen you before. Come to check out the Labyrinth?”

A nod.

“Well, can’t let you go off all on your lonesome. After one too many people bit the big one, the folks at Radha Hall made it so that only people entering under the jurisdiction of a guild can enter.”

“My apologies, I’ve no intention of joining a guild.”

“What? But then…” A grin spread across the Guildmaster’s face. “Heh. Most of the current guilds are too washed up and stuck-in to be accepting new members. Are you telling me you’re going to be one to look to the needs of those poor souls just lounging around here with nothing to do?”

“Maybe, maybe not.” A hand reached up to throw the hood of the cloak back – revealing the face of an attractive woman in her early twenties, golden hair cascading down the back of her neck. “My name is Eurydice Alexandra Katarn, and I’m here to start a guild.”

“For what manner of purpose?” He asked, though of course he knew the answer already.

A thin smile blossomed on Eurydice’s face. “To conquer the Yggdrasil Labyrinth.”


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End Prologue


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Thanks for reading. Please review.

[Maxine MagicFox]

^_^ Characters sound good. I'm up for reading! I USE to write fanfics and still love reading them. I'm hoping to do a few quickies here soon when I grab some time. Hehe, you got more characters than I have players in my guild. Good luck!!

[Maxine MagicFox]

Oh, btw... it nagged me for a moment but now I know:

Your title should be

Valde Incomperta Silva

My latin lessons were like... 2001, though... so I've forgotten quite a lot.

[Paranoia]

[Pureauthor]

[Pureauthor]

Valde Incompertus Silva

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Negotium Pro Novus Rimor


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“Well, how was I supposed to know they wouldn’t even let us in until we’d met with the Radha?” Eurydice demanded angrily as the five of them stalked back to town. “Bloody stupid uptight…”

“What I’m more puzzled about,” Lash commented as he turned to glance over at their Medic. “Is you. You’ve lived here your whole life, correct? You should be well versed in the procedures – why didn’t you say anything?”

“I am!” The girl defended herself. “But – but I thought that surely you’d have prepared for something like this! I would’ve thought it common knowledge…”

“Stuff it, Medigirl.” Eurydice snapped.

Cassandra instantly fell silently, her face hot. Mihawk shot her a sympathetic glance but otherwise said nothing – and Quark, as usual, was silent, merely bringing up the rear of their company.

“Look, apparently the Radha wants to ensure we’ve got the skills not to get torn to pieces the instant we set foot into the Labyrinth, so let’s just go find him and see what he says.” Lash suggested. “No point grumbling about it on the way over there, either.”

Eurydice blew a sigh out of her mouth and nodded.

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Cassandra gazed up with a fair amount of trepidation at the ornately designed building in front of her. She’d never actually entered the hall of the Radha before, and this experience was as new for her as it was for the rest of her guild mates.

Eurydice sighed and stepped forward to the guard standing at the entrance. “We’re from the Paragon guild, and we were told that we needed to see the Radha before we’re allowed to enter the labyrinth. May we?”

“Just a minute!” The soldier replied. Cassandra started – the imposing steel helmet had hidden his face, and therefore it was the youthful sound of his voice that clued her in to just how young he was – he certainly sounded no older than her. “Do you have an appointment?”

“N-no.”

“Well, then I’m terribly sorry, but I can’t let you into the Hall. If you’d like, you can speak with the scribes near the entrance for a booking, but as a word of warning, the Radha have been really busy of late – the earliest you’ll probably get to meet them is sometime next week-“

“Next week? There’s no way we’re waiting that long!” Eurydice was becoming agitated now, and subconsciously Cassandra took a step back.

“Look, this is just procedure. I’m sorry, but you have to follow the rules, or-“ The soldier wasn’t too pleased at being questioned, and Cassandra couldn’t shake the feeling that something untoward was on the verge of occurring.

“What’s going on here?” From the entrance of the Hall emerged a tall, thin man, dressed in the official robes of the Radha. Despite his obvious stature, he carried a friendly smile on his face.

With a sigh, he pushed up his glasses and smoothed back some of the orange hair on his head. “What is it, Loran?”

“Ah, Subaltern Quinn! My apologies, your honour – I was merely informing these people of the procedures necessary before-“

Quinn chuckled lightly. “It’ll be quite all right, Loran. As it so stands, I’m free for a while, so I suppose I can entertain these people’s issues.”

“Oh – uh, very well, then.” The soldier saluted and turned to Eurydice. “You can enter, I suppose.”

The head of the Paragon guild nodded stiffly in response, and followed the Subaltern into the darkened recesses of the Radha hall.

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Once the Subaltern had settled himself down on his desk, he looked up at the group. “Please, make yourselves comfortable.” He hesitated, apparently noticing that Eurydice was currently decked in full battle armour that would make 'comfort' a rather fleeting memory, and coughed. “That aside, how may I be of aid?”

Eurydice cleared her throat. “Yes, well, we were informed that all new guilds must meet with the Radha to ensure that they are properly qualified for challenging the Labyrinth. So, here we are.”

Quinn nodded. “Ah, you would be the new guild that everyone’s talking about – Paragon, wasn’t it. The Radha was expecting you, to be honest.” He picked up a quill pen, opened a thick, leather-bound book, and began inscribing some notes onto it. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“So, what’s our task?” Eurydice questioned. “Some beast to fight? To gather ten rare plants – or to face off against your soldiers in combat-“

“Oh, no, no.” Quinn chuckled. “Nothing so strenuous as all that. No, your test…” He paused to wipe his glasses. “Is to successfully map the first floor of the labyrinth.”

“M-map?” Eurydice stammered. The Subaltern nodded.

“Map. Now, if you’ll go see the scribes, they’ll see to it that you’re provided with some parchment that already has some preliminary drawings done – just a little push to get you started, you know, and of course, the junior pass for entrance into the first level of the Labyrinth…”

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“Map.” Eurydice repeated blankly as the five of them strolled back towards the Labyrinth.

Behind her, Mihawk kept her eyes low, carefully studying the parchment. It looked rather worn, and it was obviously a copy that had been produced many times before, but it was well detailed.

Silently, she reached into her back and pulled out a piece of charcoal. She usually kept a few of these on her person – never knew when you needed to mark something down, after all, and covered over a line that had been partially rubbed out.

Up ahead, Lash appeared rather relaxed, whistling to himself as he strolled forward. Grinning, he flicked some of his dark blue hair back and turned his gaze to Eurydice. “C’mon, boss! It’s not so bad as all that! We were going to need good maps of the place anyway, so we don’t get lost – and I wouldn’t trust any of the other guilds as far as I could throw them. What better way to ensure accuracy than to make them ourselves?”

“That’s not the issue!” Eurydice countered hotly. “Is any of us here trained in cartography? You? Quark?” the raven-haired Alchemist shook his head in response. “Medigirl?” not even waiting for an answer, Eurydice turned. “Mihawk?”

Mihawk coughed shyly. “Well, as it so happens…”

That gave Eurydice pause. “You mean you know cartography?”

The Survivalist nodded. “Uhm… yes. Sort of.”

The blonde Protector stood there dumbly for a few seconds before shaking her head. “Well, you’re the best we’ve got, so I guess that’s that.”

Mihawk nodded, and the tiny group continued their journey towards the Labyrinth.

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“Five minute walk from the outskirts of the town.” Lash murmured as he gave his whip an experimental flick.

The five of them were arrayed in a loose semicircle formation as they stared down at the path that would lead them into the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. As they peeked past the veil of leaves and branches, they could almost catch a glimpse of the emerald grove that awaited them.

“Everyone ready?” Eurydice called. “Lash, your gear?”

“Ready.” The Dark Hunter nodded confidently.

“Mihawk?”

“My weapons have been properly outfitted.” Mihawk finished wrapping a thick scarf around her neck – one that also served to obscure her mouth and chin. “I’m ready.”

“Quark?”

“…”

“Um, right. Medigirl? You got all your salves, your potions, whatever?”

“Yup! Raring to go!” The orange-haired medic fairly beamed.

“Alright.” Eurydice took a deep breath, and as one, Paragon Guild stepped forward.

The lush greenery of the forest closed in around them.


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“Wow…” Cassandra whispered to herself as she stood in the tiny grove, gazing around in wonder at the first floor of the Labyrinth. “It’s beautiful…”

In the early morning light, drops of dew sparkled on the lower leaves. Around them, wildflowers and grass made soft crunching sounds as they were trodden over. In the distance, Cassandra heard the soft hooting of birds as they flitted about.

“So, where do we go from here?” She heard Lash talking, but her mind was more on the tiny pink flowers that seemed to dot the entire area. Crouching, she quickly produced a tiny garden spade, attempting to dig out one of the nearby flowers.

“Hey! Medigirl!”

Startled out of her task by Eurydice’s annoyed snap, she glanced to see the leader of the guild glaring down at her. “Focus, would you? You can carry out your little gardening sideshow later.”

Cassandra quickly pocketed her tools and hurried after the group, mumbling hasty apologies as she felt her face go hot.

However, before she actually caught up with the others, Mihawk thrust an arm out, warding her off. “Get back!”

“Wha – ah!” A tiny blur darted out from the undergrowth, narrowly missing a collision with the young healer. And Cassandra stumbled back, she could hear the echoing ‘snap!’ of biting teeth.

“Aggressive little blighter, ain’t he.” Lash whistled as he unfurled his whip.

“Watch out – its got company.” Eurydice said tersely as she whirled to face another one of the creatures.

Treerats. Cassandra’s mind still continued to process the situation as she scrambled to her feet, clutching her staff. Tiny, vicious biters that roam the higher floors of the Labyrinth – they’ve got a nasty bite, but their strength is in numbers. A tendency for cowardice when facing foes alone.

Zip- thud! Mihawk had drawn and fired, piercing the treerat that had attempted to attack Cassandra. It gave a short squeak and flopped over, dead.

Meanwhile, Eurydice’s shield had successfully stymied the second treerat’s attempts at gnawing on the Protector’s neck – and a quick strike from Lash’s whip had wounded it to the point where it had decided not to tempt fate any further and scurried back into the bushes.

“Everyone okay? Medigirl?”

“Fine – I’m fine.” Cassandra nodded. “It just… startled me.”

The leader of their group nodded. “Alrght, according to the preliminary map we were given, there’s a large clearing up ahead – and at this time of the day, there’re probably other explorers in the vicinity too. Move out, everyone.”

As the group turned and ventured deeper into the forest, Cassandra gazed down at the defeated Treerat. She frowned. One of its teeth seemed loose…

Reaching down, she pried it out with a quick tug. Quickly wrapping the small fang in a bundle of soft paper, she hurried after the guild.

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The clearing was indeed populated by several other explorers, most of them seemingly content to laze about in the verdant glade without much bother or fuss.

Eurydice paused, frowning uncertainly. There were several paths branching off, presumably leading deeper into the woodlands.

“I wonder…” She murmured to herself.

A soft sccrrch, scrrch noise drew her attention, and she glanced backwards to see Mihawk with the map supported in her palm. The archer was slowly sketching on the parchment with a nub of charcoal. Eurydice shrugged – she could only assume Mihawk knew what she was doing.

“Ey! You!” The sudden shout drew her attention, and she glanced over to see someone approaching the group. Apparently his focus was directed on the whipfighter of the group.

“Lash! That’s you, ain’t it? Lash!”

Lash quirked an eyebrow, before his eyes widened. “Well, knock me over with a feather! If it ain’t Woody!”

The messily dressed man chuckled. “Always wondered what became of you after you up and left our bunch of mercs! And now here we are – in the Labyrinth!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Eurydice caught sight of Quark peering curiously into the trees.

“I suppose. Hey, how long have you been around these parts? I’ve been here a couple months, but I never actually did catch sight of you.”

“Ah, the group I’m traveling with now – we’ve been rooted in Etria for nigh well over a year. We don’t do all that heavy duty exploring and all-“

Eurydice turned away. While she was certain that Lash and ‘Woody’ were in for a pleasant experience of catching up, she herself wasn’t much interested. She headed after the guild’s silent Alchemist.

“Quark?”

“Quiet.” He held up a single hand. Eurydice flung both her arms into the air in a gesture of exasperation (a rather noisy gesture of exasperation, given all the armour she was wearing), and turned away.

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Scrrch, scrrch.

Scrrch, scrrch.

Mihawk’s eyes narrowed as she traced dark lines over the well worn parchment that was to become the map of the area. Standing, she took several steps forward, tracing her progress in relation to the map.

It was extremely imprecise, of course – she could fix things up properly once they returned to the inn – but it was good enough, and she had surprised herself at her apparent ability at cartography. Well, if it could be put to good use…

Loosing her dagger from her belt, she reached up and slashed it across the bark of a tree, drawing a deep gash on it and exposing the pale yellow wood beneath.

“H-hey!”

At the startled call, Mihawk shifted her gaze to the medic. “What is it, Medigirl?” She knew that it wasn’t the girl’s real name, but it fit, and the girl didn’t seem to mind – as far as Mihawk could tell, she even seemed to treat it as a sign of acceptance by her peers.

“Sh – should you do that?” The orange-haired healer said softly.

“Hm?” Mihawk glanced back at the tree. “It’s no big deal, after all – my mark isn’t severe enough to seriously injure it…”

“Yeah, but… I don’t think you should go around making cuts on trees for no good reason…”

Mihawk chuckled. “As it just so happens, I do have a good reason. See this map?” She unfurled it and held it up for Cassandra to see. “When I make a mark on a tree, I make the same mark at the same place on the map – that way, we’ll know where we are in relation to the map, and our best routes out of here.”

“Oh… I see.”

Personally, Mihawk still thought that the medic looked a little too confused, but she let that pass. “Good. Now, shall we-“

She was interrupted by a call from Eurydice. “Over here, people!”

Mihawk shared a glance with Cassandra. “Let’s go.”

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“So, you’re not interested in going in too deep?”

“Nope.” Woody grinned easily. “I figure I can leave that to the foolhardy ones to go as deep as they want – me, as long as I can turn a living, I’m satisfied.”

Lash smirked in response. “You never did have that drive, eh? You always hang back.”

“What can I say? Keeps me safe and comfortable, gets me some coin – I’m not complaining.”

“Hah!” Lash snorted. “You haven’t changed a bit!”

“Lash!”

“Alright, I’m coming!” The Dark Hunter snapped before turning back to Woody. “See you later, man.”

“Sure thing. Don’t go and get yourself killed, you hear?”

“Yeah, yeah…” Lash mumbled as he trotted along after the rest of Paragon. “Easier said than done, amigo. Easier said than done.”

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“So that plant over there, it’s the Hien. It’s among the most common type of wildflower in the 1st Stratum of the Labyrinth, and it’s said to have cooling properties when brewed into a tea. However, there’s a slight amount of toxin in it, so it’s generally recommended that you don’t take more than…”

Quark let the medic’s cheerful voice fade out of focus as he continued his trek through the woods. Regardless of her skill as a medic – and thus far, she hadn’t had much opportunity to demonstrate her ability as one – he had come to the conclusion that this girl was… well, to put it simply, a massive nuisance.

A woodfly fluttered past his ear, and he waved it away with his staff, barely paying it any heed. He supposed the group would take their time in making it deeper to the stratum – they appeared competent enough to know that rushing things would only serve to get themselves killed.

No matter – he wasn’t in any hurry. It’d taken long enough, anyway. A little longer wouldn’t matter… Patience was a virtue, and all that drabble…

“Hm, what’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“That… Is that… a bag?”

Quark glanced over. Yes, it did appear that a satchel or pack of some sort was in the ground.

“Not surprised no one else has found it.” Lash chuckled. “We’re pretty far of the beaten path.”

“I see animal tracks in the soil.” Mihawk reported as she crouched down. Moving closer to the bag, she nudged it with an edge of her bow. “There’s dried blood on the thing.”

“The Labyrinth is filled with dangers…” Quark spoke softly. “Those who venture forth must be prepared for... unpleasant circumstances.”

No one responded immediately, although he noted that the medic – Cassandra, wasn’t it – seemed a shade paler than a moment ago. Meanwhile, Mihawk simply closed her eyes and turned away.

Eurydice shook her head. “D – don’t be silly. I’m sure someone just fled from here and left his pack behind in the process. There’s no body, after all.”

“…” Quark could think of several unpleasant things the local wildlife could do that would ensure that no body was ever found, but decided against speaking up – the argument really wasn’t a big deal anyway.

After several seconds spent in silence, Lash piped up. “So… are we going to see what’s in the bag, or what?”

There was a sigh from the leader of the guild. “I suppose.” She mumbled grudgingly. “No one’s come to claim the pack or anything, it’s free property in the Labyrinth.” Crouching, she yanked the tattered bag closer to her and began to rummage inside.

“Well, based on how badly rotten the food in here is, the bag’s been here for a while.” Eurydice reported. “Boy, does it ever stink.”

Quark frowned. He’d… felt something…

“Hm, a book… ‘The care and feeding of pet crows’. Right. Guy apparently goes for the more exotic types of pets…”

He turned slowly. A rustling in the nearby bush… trickles of dirt being dislodged from the ground…

Out of the corner of his eye, he noted Mihawk drawing an arrow from her quiver and he mentally revised his opinion of her up a notch. Apparently she had noticed the ambush as well.

“And… oh, what’s this? Looks like some sort of HOLY CRAP!” Eurydice threw herself backwards as a dark blur shot from the bushes, gleaming claws extended to slash at the Protector. The Shield Maiden brought her Aspis up in an attempt to block it, but the creature lunged forward, managing to score a blow on her cheek.

Meanwhile, two more of the creatures – Moles, apparently had appeared from behind, apparently attempting to do the travelers in.

“Medigirl, get behind me.” Mihawk said quickly as she stepped forward, loosing an arrow. As luck would have it, the creature had raised its arm to strike down, and the arrow impacted with one of its foreclaws. The bone snapped free and tumbled to the ground, leaving the Mole to let out a screech of pain and anger.

Meanwhile, Lash’s whip was doing an adequate job of keeping the third enraged Mole at a safe distance, but he wasn’t having much success with landing a hit on the agile beast. Abruptly, the creature crouched low and lunged, closing much of the distance between the Dark Hunter and the woodland dweller.

“Whoa! Hey! Hey!” Lash yelped in surprise and alarm as he twisted and swerved, trying to prevent the Mole from scoring a hit on him.

“Stop dodging!” Eurydice snapped at him as she tried to defend herself from the Mole that had originally attacked her. “Just block the attacks – it’ll waste less strength.”

“You want to tell me how I’m going to block things with a whip?” Lash countered testily. Finally, he succeeded in striking his opponent, drawing a red line across the back.

The Mole cried out in pain and anger, and prepared to lunge again.

“Levitas.” Quark said softly.

A bolt of golden lightning seared out from his palm, illuminating the clearing as it came into contact with the Mole attacking Lash. When it faded, the beast was lying still, a smoking hole on its back evident.

Elsewhile, Eurydice had managed to knock the Mole flat with a kick, and before it could recover she drove her blade through the creature. She hadn’t escaped from her battle unscathed, however – Quark could detect several wounds crossing over parts of her body that weren’t covered in metal.

CRACK! The slash of the whip from Lash brought down the last of the Moles, Mihawk stopping her assault in order to regather what arrows she could salvage.

Quark paused, surveyed the area. Not bad for a serious fight, He decided. Of course, we could stand a little more teamwork, but…

“AH! Eurydice!” Cassandra’s frantic call startled him and he glanced over to see the Medic hurrying to the wounded warrior’s side, pulling several vials from her pack. “H- hang on, I’ll fix those wounds right up.”

Hurriedly, but with expert precision, she mixed up several of the fluids, handing it to Eurydice to drink. After that she drew out some salve as well as her staff, quickly applying it to the bleeding areas as the weary Shield Maiden sat silently on the forest floor.

Finally, Cassandra stepped back, a shaky smile on her face. “F- feel better?” She inquired.

Eurydice closed her eyes and nodded, a smile on her face. “Lots.” With a sigh, she clambered to her feet. “Thanks, Medigirl. You know your stuff.”

“Ah – no – no problem at all, really!”

Eurydice frowned. “Mihawk, what’s the map show?”

“Well, we’ve branched off to the left. I took the liberty of talking with some guys back in the main clearing, and apparently there’s another path that curves behind the entrance.”

“Hm… all right. We’ve still got enough energy and time to do one more trek. Then I suppose we can retire for the day. Let’s get going.”

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Later, as the party continued through the woods, Lash sauntered closer to Mihawk.

“Have you noted down the odd stuff we’ve seen?”

Mihawk didn’t glance up from her parchment. “Such as?”

“Well, the spring, for one. The funny ivy covered door, for another.”

“Yep, both of them are noted. If we find out anything more we can always come back…”

“Whew!” Mihawk glanced up to see Medigirl – Cassandra – tottering unsteadily. “Are you tired?” She asked the Medic kindly.

“Y – yeah.” She let out a shaky grin. “But don’t worry. I – I can handle it…”

“… Something I’d rather not risk.” Lash murmured. Before he could continue, however, Eurydice halted.

“Hm, a nice, flower filled clearing.” She paused. “We could use a short rest, couldn’t we?”

Quark closed his eyes. “No objections.”

“Fine with me.” Lash smirked.

“Good idea, I needed to refine this map a little more anyway.” Mihawk replied.

Cassandra tried – unsuccessfully – to keep the look of relief from her face. “That sounds great.” She said enthusiastically.

“Right, then.” Eurydice let her satchel drop to the ground with a thud, and the rest of the group settled down.

Mihawk turned back to her map before noticing that Medigirl was currently fingering a fragment of bone. “Where’d you get that?” She asked curiously.

“Oh, you know those Moles we were fighting earlier? Yeah, After the fight I just scooped up a few of the pieces – I can have them checked later.”

The archer raised her eyebrow inquisitively. “Why?”

The Medic blushed. “Oh, it’s kinda… embarrassing… I really don’t think we need to talk about it…”

“Well, if that’s what you want…” Mihawk picked up the charcoal and was about to return to her map. Then she paused, and frowned.

“Does anyone else… hear buzzing?” She questioned.


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Chapter End.
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Thanks for reading, please review.

[Pureauthor]

Valde Incompertus Silva

(X)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

(X)

Eurydice glanced up. Even in the gathering gloom of nightfall, she could spot several insects through the trees. The presence of woodflies wasn’t unusual – they’d run into a number of them during the journey. However, there was something… different about this bunch…

Purple? I don’t think I’ve seen a purple woodfly before. She thought idly. Well, they weren’t going to be much of a threat either way-

There was a sudden clatter and Medigirl had stumbled to her feet, clutching her staff, staring wide-eyed at the first of the insects that emerged from the dense foliage.

“V- venomflies! They’re venomflies!”

Eurydice frowned as she drew her sword. She didn’t claim to be intimately familiar with the fauna of the Labyrinth in the least, but something with a name like ‘venomfly’ didn’t conjure up too many positive connotations.

Mihawk had likewise leapt to her feet, smoothly drawing her bow. “Here they come.” She warned.

Eurydice shook her head. Obviously this bunch was going to be a lot more hostile than the woodflies. The swarmed through the trees, several dozen, all told.

CRACK! Lash had decided on a ‘strike first, ask later’ policy, and his whip slashed through the air, scattering the venomflies.

They were coming in thick now, and as they fluttered over the area, powder floated off their wings, sprinkling the area in a sparkling dust. Eurydice frowned as some of the powder landed on a flower – within seconds, it began to wither.

Potent stuff. She thought as she swung her shield in an outward arc, once more scattering the flies and preventing them from getting too close to her. Guess we know how they got their name…

Zip! Shrrk! An arrow loosed by Mihawk flew through the air, shredding the wing of a venomfly. The creature spun about in a dance as it rapidly lost altitude and velocity, finally crumpling to the ground.

“Fulgaralis.” The word from Quark was so soft it was almost a whisper, but the streaks of golden lightning sprouting from the Alchemist’s hands were undeniable in their efficacy. Three of the insects were flash-fried by the powerful spell, and another had its wing punctured, dooming it to the same fate that had befallen the one targeted by Mihawk.

Eurydice and Lash, whose weapons were less effective against the tiny insects for a variety of obvious reasons, focused on keeping the venomflies away from the party so Mihawk and Quark could finish them.

Then, abruptly, one of the venomflies darted forward, latching onto Mihawk’s neck. The archer gave a cry of pain and surprise and instinctively reached up to yank the offending insect away. As she crushed the bug in her hand, Eurydice spotted a tiny bite-mark on her neck, and what appeared to be a bit of a dark stain.

Shaking her head, she turned back to the battle. The distraction had cost them – the venomflies had approached much closer now, and everything was becoming a lot more harried.

Tightening her grip on her sword, she continued the fight.

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Quark could feel beads of sweat forming on his brow as he prepared another spell to hurl at the hostile creatures.

Well, that was perfectly natural. Spell-casting – and especially of the sustained nature required in combat – was taxing on just about anyone, and he had trained himself to be able to keep at it for a long time.

He wasn’t an expert in the intelligence of insectoids, but he wondered if the venomflies were aware that they were losing the battle.

Another bolt of lightning, another short jump back to avoid the darting tackle of a venomfly, and Quark felt the rough bark of a tree pressed up against his back. Hm – that changed things.

Two more of the venomflies fluttered up menacingly, about to lurch for him. Quark sighed, bringing up his carved oaken staff. As the first one charged he sidestepped and swung his weapon like a club, batting the insect to the ground. A crude way of fighting – but effective.

Before the other could make a move, he had already pointed at it, uttered his incantation, and incinerated it.

“They’re backing off!”

The shout from the excitable Dark Hunter caused him to glance up. Yes, what remained of the venomflies (and it wasn’t much, really) were flying back into the woods. Lash paused to flick his whip out at the last of the tiny figures, and turned back.

Fresh from a rather taxing battle, they paused to assess the damages. Quark turned and cast a critical gaze upon the group’s Medic. Naturally she hadn’t partaken in the battle, and now she was glancing around nervously.

“They… they’re usually seen a bit deeper in.” She mumbled. “I wonder why they’d be all the way up here…”

Before any of them could respond, Mihawk stumbled, and leaned – nearly fell – against a tree, gasping heavily for breath.

It was only then that the party remembered the archer had earlier been poisoned.

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If Cassandra had considered herself nervous during the battle, then she was on the verge of a breakdown now. She’d thought they were safe! How could she have missed Mihawk being poisoned?

There was a dark blue-black patch around the area where the venomfly had bit Mihawk, and the archer was sweating and shivering violently.

Venomfly bites contain Aunim poison… causes massive exhaustion, shortness of breath, muscle aches… Medigirl rummaged around in her pack. It – it’s a miracle Mihawk was able to keep fighting for as long as she did… She paused. She probably got some of the powder on its wings on her too…

Finally grabbing the necessary materials, she hurriedly mixed all of them together, unhappily aware that the rest of the team was standing around in an awkward silence.

“Here, drink.” She said quickly as she placed the vial at Mihawk’s lips, tipping the Survivalist’s head back enough so that she could drink it.

As the thick green medicine worked its way through the brunette’s body, Cassandra stood back, a look of concern on her face.

She turned back to look at the others. “We need to get her back to town quickly.”

Eurydice frowned. “What, the medicine you gave her wasn’t enough or-“

“It can counteract the poison, but we need to be more thorough.” Cassandra shook her head. “Please, just – just hurry.”

“You heard her!” Eurydice snapped. “Get our gear and move it!”

----------------

They had ended up taking a wrong turn along the way, but it had turned out to be a stroke of good luck, for the clearing they stumbled into had a path – long hidden by trees and undergrowth that led them almost right to the entrance. A few of the forest denizens had tried to give them a hard time, but they were beaten off with little effort.

Through it all, the survivalist had demanded that she carry herself, and not be treated as an invalid. And despite the suffering that she was obviously going through, she’d persevered all the way to the town square, where Medigirl had quickly bundled her off to the Ceft Apothecary, while the others had headed off to the inn.

The Shield Maiden sighed to herself as she leaned back in her wooden chair. “Well, close calls aside-“

“We’ll be seeing a lot more of those the deeper we go, eh?” Lash grinned.

“I guess. Anyway, as I was saying, close calls aside, I think we did pretty well for our first trip in.” Eurydice glanced over at Quark, who was sitting quietly in the corner. “What say you, sir Mage?”

“…More teamwork is needed.” Came the terse reply.

“…Right.” Eurydice blew out a breath of air. “Teamwork.”

“Speaking of which, anyone else feel like a nice meal?” Lash stood up. “C’mon, let’s hit the pubs or something. I know a place that serves a great roast-“

“I don’t want to leave before Mihawk gets back.” Eurydice paused. “And Medigirl too, of course.”

“Oh, yeah, her.” Lash gave the Protector a lopsided grin. “And where’d you dig her up? She looks like she barely stepped out of her nappies.”

“…Don’t ask.” Eurydice closed her eyes. “She’s shown herself to have a good head on her shoulders, and enough in between her ears to keep us from bleeding to death, and that’s good enough for me.”

“True enough – and speak of the devil.” Lash waved as the two warriors stepped into the cheerily-lit inn. “Heya! How’re you holding up, ‘Hawkeyes?”

The archer smirked slightly at the moniker the Dark Hunter had chosen to bestow on her. “Fine. It was a pretty easy process to purge the poison.”

“Yeah!” Medigirl nodded enthusiastically. “Grandfather really knows a lot about dealing with poisons and stuff!”

“Capital!” Lash slammed one hand onto the table. “Now, as I said before you fine ladies made your way over, I’m starving, so how about we head out and find ourselves a nice, hot meal?”

Eurydice chuckled as she stood and stretched. “Well, that sounds like a fine idea. And in honour of our first successful venture into the labyrinth, allow your caring, generous guild leader to treat you all to dinner tonight.”

“I can get behind that.” Lash grinned.

“W-wow, thanks!” Medigirl looked positively radiant.

“Well, shall we be off?” Mihawk said softly. “Our bellies aren’t getting any more full just standing here.”

-----------------

“One lousy meal and you freeloaders nearly cleaned me out!” Cassandra heard Eurydice ranting rather noisily in the background. The young Medic chuckled – she knew there was no real ire behind the Shield Maiden’s words, despite her raised volume.

She glanced over – Lash was grinning widely as he tipped back a mug containing some sort of drink, letting the contents wash down his throat. Quark had his eyes closed as he chewed away at some sort of meat, and Eurydice was standing and pointing at Lash.

She blew out a long breath of air and turned back to the book she was reading – she was never that fond of being loud and boisterous, and she was just uncomfortable enough of the others to not want to get too involved in the party.

After several seconds of reading, she noticed a shadow being cast over the pages and she glanced up to see Mihawk standing beside her silently.

“Oh, h – hello!” She stammered. “Do you need anything?”

“Nah.” The archer allowed the trace of a smile to grace her mouth – Cassandra could see the edges of it peeking out behind her thick scarf.

“So… what are you doing here?”

Mihawk blew out a sigh and sat down on the stool next to Cassandra, her back against the table. “Nothing much. I just wanted to say thanks for your aid back in the Labyrinth.”

“Oh! Uh…” Cassandra managed a smile. “It was nothing, honest! I’m trained in all those sort of things. It’s my job, you know.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you helped me out.” Mihawk extended her gloved hand to the young Medic. “Thank you… Medigirl.”

Cassandra smirked at her nickname and reached over to grasp the archer’s hand. “You’re welcome… Mihawk.”

-------------------

As he watched the two of them, Lash’s grin grew wider. “Well, looks like Medigirl and Hawkeyes are hitting it off pretty well.”

He turned his neck to look at Eurydice. “Oy, fearless leader! Where’d you find Mihawk from, anyway?”

“She was originally from another guild, that’s all I know.” The Protector replied distractedly – her attention was mostly diverted by the large bowl of meat stew she had in front of her, and given the wonderful smell emanating from the thick broth, Lash couldn’t say he half-blamed her.

“The Atropos Guild, if you really want to know.” Lash swiveled his chair as he heard the voice of Valerie from the bar counter.

“Figured you’d know about her.” The Dark Hunter chuckled. “You keep tabs on everyone in Etria.”

“It wasn’t a secret by any means.” The woman shook her head, letting some of her chestnut hair splay across her shoulders. “They were among the best explorers the town had seen thus far – they were almost always trying to be the first to dig as deep in as they could.”

“Then, about a month ago, they went into the Labyrinth…” Valerie pursed her lips. “And they were never heard from again.”

“…” A silence descended them until Valerie broke it again.

She shook her head, ‘Oh, don’t let me get you kids down. Just remember you’re never too good for the Labyrinth to claim you.”

“Mmhm.” Eurydice swallowed rather noisily and turned to Valerie. “So, uh, what about Mihawk?”

“No one really knows – not even her.” Valerie’s smile gained a tint of melancholy about it. “A group found her lying in a broken heap in the third floor of the Labyrinth – and just in time, too, since there were some wolves nosing around the area. They took her back to Etria, and when she woke up a week later she didn’t remember much of anything – including her name. I suppose ‘Mihawk’ is as good a name to go by as any – but you can’t help but feel that she’d be happier knowing who she really is.”

Eurydice and Lash both shifted their gaze to look at the table where the young archer was holding a rather animated discussion with their medic.

Valerie chuckled sadly. “She deserves that much, really.”

-------------------

After the meal, they’d continued chatting for a few more hours before splitting up and heading back to wherever it was they had their lodgings. Eurydice had holed herself up in the Golden Rooster Inn since her arrival in Etria, and it had held up well enough – especially in the arena providing her a nice, hot tub to soak in at the end of a long day.

Stripping herself of her rather dingy tunic and pants, she paused to look in the mirror. Sharp blue eyes gazed back at her as she flipped her golden hair back over her shoulder.

“Not bad at all, even if I do say so myself.” She chuckled wanly and removed the last of her undergarments before stepping over to the bathtub.

“Aaaahhhhhhhh…” A long sigh of contentment escaped her lips as she immersed herself in the steaming water, all the way up to her neck. Living as a wandering adventurer meant that you had to get used to dirt and grime covering your body – and she had, but she doubted anything could ever get her to give up her love of a nice, warm bath.

She closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the metal rim of the tub, and let her mind sift through the experiences of the day… and the challenges that lay ahead.

“…We’re going to need more people.” She mumbled after a few moments of silence.

-----------------

“We’ll reach the town in a couple of days.” Franz said softly, and Ewan nodded in reply.

The two horseriders were little more than dark blurs against the backdrop of night as they rode steadily onwards.

The blonde-haired alchemist shifted his gaze over the quiet landscape – despite the relatively cooler atmosphere, few travelers chose the nighttime paths – partly because of the lack of visibility and the ever present fear of bandits.

Well, it was no big deal – between Franz’s blade and his formulae, it wouldn’t be much of an issue dealing with bandits that showed up along the way. It was pretty much a moot point regardless, since they hadn’t met much in the way of trouble for the duration of their journey.

Well, that also gave some time for introspection, and pondering about their task.

Ewan sighed and gave rise to the thoughts that he had been entertaining for a while. “You sure about this, Franz? We don’t know much about the Labyrinth – for all we know, finding a cure for Amelia could take months, if not years,” he hesitated, not wanting to confront his friend with the harshness of reality. “…If we can find one at all.”

“…” Franz bowed his head.

“We could be going off on some wild goose chase, while Amelia-“

“I know.” Franz said abruptly, cutting Ewan off. “But what do you want me to do, Ewan? You and I are warriors. Even if I were to stay at Amelia’s side, I wouldn’t be able to do anything for her – that’s the job of the apothecaries and medics. The Labyrinth has produced various medicines that can be found nowhere else in the world… it’s the one place that my skills as a fighter can be put to use for Amelia’s sake.”

“…” Ewan closed his eyes. Franz had obviously thought long and hard about this, and while he couldn’t refute his friend’s logic, he still felt troubled by having to leave the village girl behind as they went out on their expedition.

“Whoa!” Franz’s startled call snapped Ewan back to alertness, and as his eyes darted across the area, he caught sight of a dark shape at the roadside.

As he pulled his steed to a stop, Ewan began to distinguish more features about the ‘shape’. For one thing, it was a man, dressed in the robes of a traveler. He smiled up at them as he chewed away at stalk of grass in his mouth.

“Evenin’ gents!” He touched his forehead in a brief gesture of welcome. “Am I right in guessin’ that you’re headed for the fine town of Etria?”

“You are.” Franz said cautiously. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, as it so happens, I’d huntin’ for a ride there myself. Whaddya say to a givin’ a weary traveler a lift, ‘m?”

Franz’s hand strayed to his sword. “How do I know you’re not a bandit or thief who’d just as soon slit our throats and rob our corpses?” He said sternly.

“Ha! You don’t mince words, that’s for sure.” The man gave an elaborate bow. “The name’s Orpheus, and I’m in the trade of making music. If you want to see my harp, it’s right here.” The man brushed a strand of silver-grey hair back from his forehead. “Now, if you fine gents like, I could play you a ditty or two to-“

“That won’t be necessary.” Franz cut in. “As it so happens, we’re in a bit of a hurry.”

“Hm.” The man sighed. “Well, if that’s the case, then feel free to move along. You’re not the first bunch to have turned me down, and I’d wager you won’t be the last either.” She shook his head.

Ewan frowned. “How’d someone like you get to be out here in the middle of nowhere anyway?”

“Ah, well, I was traveling with a caravan of sorts, and, well, to cut a long story short, they kicked me out on the roadside. They said that I was a nice fellow and all, but they couldn’t stand another word of my songs.”

Franz and Ewan paused to trade looks of disbelief. “So… why didn’t you just stop singing?”

“Why, masters, how could I possibly do that?” Orpheus looked positively aghast. “A song’s not just some words with a tune! It’s a cry from the heart, a melody of the soul, a-“

“Yeah, yeah, okay, we get it.” Franz snapped. With a sigh, he turned to look at Ewan. “Your thoughts?”

“He seems harmless enough.” If slightly off-kilter.

“Alright.” Franz nodded and turned to Orpheus. “Master Orpheus, we’re not opposed to having you travel with us, but under one condition.”

“Name it, my good man.”

“No singing. At least until we reach Etria.”

Orpheus sighed and gave a disconsolate strum across his harp. “Expected as much. Very well, good masters, you’ve got yourselves a deal.”

“Good, then hop on. You’ll probably want to take Ewan’s horse – I’m carrying a lot of armour and I’m not sure the horse would do well with the extra weight.”

As the Troubadour saddled himself, Ewan and Franz shared a look and a nod, and then they were off, heading into the night.

------------------------

“Th – this is all I have! I swear!”

“Shut up! Don’t you dare lie to me!”

“It’s the truth! I – I promise! Please!”

While Franz and Ewan had not been the target of any bandit raids, others were not as fortunate. A particular merchant had been planning on changing his residence, and had brought his family along with him. Unfortunately, the hired guard had proved… less than adequate.

Which is to say they dropped their weapons and fled at the first sight of trouble.

The merchant was now forehead to the dusty ground as his trembling wife hugged their weeping son and daughter close to them. The leader of the party stalked around the merchant, howling demands at the shivering figure.

Meanwhile the four bandits were busy ransacking the caravan, stripping it of whatever valuables they could find.

So engrossed were they in their search that they failed to notice the approaching figure – until a gleaming axe was planted into their leader’s skull.

As he fell to the ground with a thud, the others glanced up to see a wild-haired woman wielding a hefty hand axe, eyes narrowed at them.

There was a moment of shocked silence as the bandits paused to consider this new factor, and then an explosion of movement as the bandits advanced, drawing weapons and yelling battle cries.

She shifted her position to dodge the first blow – a strike from an axe much like her own, before retaliating with an uppercut that quite literally sent the man flying. As the next one stabbed downwards with a dagger, she blocked his arm with her own and slashed his belly open, staining herself with a swathe of crimson blood.

The last one wielded both an axe and a blade – both rather crude but deadly tools. He advanced, weapons flashing in the sunlight, forcing the unnamed woman back. He grinned fiercely – she couldn’t retreat forever and then-

A sudden flash of movement and suddenly the man found himself on the floor. A second later the pain hit him and he realized what happened. Somehow, he’d never taken a woman for the type who’d go for a cheap shot like kneeing someone in the groin.

A sudden shout startled the axefighter, where the last of the thugs had grabbed the infant son and was now holding a dagger to his neck. “You – you come any closer and this kid gets it!” He snarled, trying to keep the tremor from his voice.

The female merely gave an elaborate sigh. “Using a child as a shield?” She said in a rather rough voice. “Now that’s low.”

Zip. Thock!

The bandit’s frozen expression of shock remained as he collapsed to the ground, the dagger still sticking out from his forehead.

The Landsknecht walked over and pulled out the dagger. Wiping it slightly, she tucked it away. “You guys should be fine,” she said without looking back. “You got rope, right? There’s not much fight left in the survivors so tie ‘em up or something and leave ‘em on the roadside. There’ll be a patrol in a few minutes anyway.” Saying so, she began to walk away.

“W-wait, please!” The merchant called after her. “I must at least repay you for your aid!”

She turned back with a fierce grin. “Oh, don’t bother, gramps. Smashing in bandit heads is its own reward.”

And with that, Rosalina Lenson continued on her trek towards Etria.

------------------------

Thanks for reading. Please review.

[Pureauthor]

Valde Incompertus Silva


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Disclaimer: I own nothing

Guys, while the view counter seems to indicate that people are, indeed, paying some attention to my work, some comments would be nice. Just a little bit of constructive criticism, or something?

(I have no idea what sort of pidgin accent Shilleka is supposed to be talking with, so I just winged it.)


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As Eurydice descended the stairs, she was both pleased and unhappy that everyone else appeared to be ready and waiting for their second venture into the labyrinth. Pleased because it signified the group had discipline and punctuality. Unhappy because it meant that she was the last to arrive.

“Right,” she began as soon as she reached them. “Lash here says he knows a dealer that can hook us up with good equipment at a reasonable price. I know most of our weapons are rather simple ones, and I thought it’d be a good idea to go check out this store first. Any objections?”

Mihawk raised her hand. “Not really an objection, but I’d like to go show the Subaltern my map – I think it should be good enough for his purposes.”

“Hm, good point.” Eurydice pursed her lips. “I think we should all go together for that one. Make it look more… I dunno, official or whatnot.”

Lash nodded and stood. “Well, let’s be off, then.”

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“Ah, you’re the new guild I met the other day!” Quinn smiled broadly as he extended his hand in greeting to Eurydice. “Have you come to deliver any good news?”

Eurydice shrugged ever so slightly. “Well, that would depend on what’s good in your worldview – however, our cartographer believes that the map of the first floor of the labyrinth should be up to your standards.”

Cartographer? Mihawk suppressed an urge to roll her eyes at that remark. It made it sound so… stiff, so formal – words that she was fairly certain didn’t apply to her in the least.

The Subaltern chuckled. “Well, good work. But I’m really not the one you should be presenting the map to. Please show it to the scribes down the hall – once it has been approved, then you can return to me and we’ll carry on with procedure.”

“Oh… okay.” Eurydice glanced behind her shoulder. “Uh, Mihawk? You come with me. The rest of you can wait here and… don’t get into trouble.”

As the two departed, the Radha member glanced around at the three remaining members. “Hm… only five members total for your guild? That’s rather small, isn’t it?”

Lash shrugged. “Well, we’re always hiring. If more want to come, they can.”

Quinn nodded and turned back to his files. After a significant pause, he looked up at Quark. “I don’t mean to intrude… but… I’m almost certain I’ve seen you before.”

The Alchemist folded his arms and looked away. “Perhaps you have. What of it? I do not recall meeting you.”

“Perhaps not,” Quinn chuckled. “Please, forgive my lapse in decorum then.”

The group remained silent until Eurydice returned, a smile on her face. “It’s been approved by the scribes,” She said as soon as she came within hearing distance. “Here’s the seal of approval to prove it.”

“Excellent work.” Quinn nodded. “Very well, then.” Reaching into a cabinet, he pulled out a tiny sealed mark. “Here – your pass certifying you as a genuine explorers of the Guild. If you show it to any of the shopkeepers they’ll start selling you Warp Wires.”

“Oh?” Eurydice glanced up. “Warp Wires?”

“Yes, we’ve usually discouraged shopkeepers from selling these to explorers not officially sanctioned by the Radha since it’ll mean they’re less likely to take foolish risks and get themselves killed.” Quinn gave a weary shake of his head. “You know how it is.”

“O – of course.” Eurydice nodded. “We’ll be leaving now.”

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“Warp Wire?” Eurydice muttered as soon as she was out of the place. “What in the blazes is a Warp Wire?”

“You don’t know?” Lash snorted. “They’re special wires that allow to get to the geomagnetic field at the town square. You’ve seen it, haven’t you? The huge glowing sigil? Yeah, you connect both ends of the Wire together, and the charge teleports you and anyone in you immediate vicinity to the town square. Once, some idiot tried using a Warp Wire to escape from a bunch of monsters chasing him and ended up bringing them back to town with him. Another managed to drag along a guy from a totally different guild out with him. They were only on the second floor down, so he wasn’t too pissed, but you best be careful when fooling around with that thing.”

“I’ll make a note of it.” The leader of the Paragon guild sighed. She took a couple more steps and frowned. If these Warp Wires are meant to help you out of binds… She turned to sneak a glance at Mihawk, walking alongside Cassandra. Then why didn’t Mihawk use one when she was trying to get back from the tenth floor or wherever it was she ran into problems?

Possibly something that merited further study. Right now they were fast approaching the shop that Lash had talked about, and thus she had more important things to do right now.

Still, she filed away that question for later perusal. Just in case.

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Shilleka glanced up from where she was manning her till, and as she did, a wide grin spread over her face. “Ey, if it ain’ Lash!” she grinned. “Been too long sin’e I saw ya last! An’ who’re these fine folk you brought wit’ ya?” She glanced over at the rest of the group. “Don’t tell me you wen’ and found yerself a guild?”

“Indeed I have.” Lash’s nodded. “Shilleka, wave hello to Eurydice here, head of the Paragon Guild, and my boss for the foreseeable future.”

“Hello.” Eurydice bowed her head in a gesture of welcome. “Uh… your store… it’s kinda… well, barren, isn’t it?”

Shilleka glanced over the shelves. “Well, I’ve got enough stuff t’ equip most explorers fer basic level jungle-huntin’. Most don’ go deeper ‘n that. Still, yer right in sayin’ I could have a touch more stock up here.” She chuckled. “Mos’ everythin’ in this store is made from stuff y’ can get from the Labyrinth. If I had t’ supplies, I’d have more stuff t’ put on the shelves, no problem!”

“Stuff?” Eurydice’s interest was piqued now. “What sort of stuff?”

“Oh, bones ‘n’ fangs can be used t’ make weapons, hides ‘n’ shells can be used t’ make armour – the likes. Basically what you can pick up or hunt down in there.”

“I see…” Eurydice mused silently. Behind her, Mihawk silently glanced up and down the selection of bows. Picking one off the rack, she gave it an experimental twang.

Shilleka glanced over. “There probably ain’t much for someone like you here. Your own bow’s quality work, and no mistake.”

“…” Mihawk nodded imperceptibly. Just then, Eurydice cut in again. “Say… Shilleka, was it? How about we make a deal?”

The dark haired girl folded her arms across her ample chest. “I’m lis’ening.” She nodded.

“You need materials for your work, right?” A nod in response. “We can gather those materials, can’t we?” Another nod. “So… what say we help you gather the materials?”

“And what d’ ya get out of it?”

“Well, I’m thinking you could offer us some discounted-“ Eurydice hadn’t even had time to finish her question before Shilleka grinned.

“Knew you’d ask fer somethin’ like t’at.” The storeowner shook her head. “Nope. No can do.”

Lash grinned across at his guild leader. “What, fishing for lower prices? Shilleka’s stuff is already pretty cheap compared to most other outfits in the area – and in terms of quality, she’s all but unmatched. Her dad taught her everything she knew.”

“Cheap’s not good enough.” Eurydice snapped. “In case you haven’t forgotten, our liquid funds are not infinite in supply. Sure, we could earn a bit more through odd jobs or whatnot, but-“

“Ah, so t’at’s what it’s about, eh?” Shilleka leaned across the counter. “Well t’en I have a proposal for you.” She paused. “If you can bring me th’ stuff I need t’ make new weapons in ‘quipment, I’ll buy ‘em from you.”

“…” Eurydice folded her arms. “And then you’ll make equipment from them… and we buy it back from you?”

“Uh-huh!” Shilleka winked at Eurydice. “Deal?”

“…” Eurydice folded her arms. Lash grinned.

“C’mon, boss. By selling the stuff to her before buying it back, we’re getting the discount you wanted anyway.”

Eurydice blew out a sigh. “Fine. Now we’re running jobs as a supplier…” She shrugged.

“Much obliged.” Shilleka leaned back in her chair. “Now why don’t you go and pick somet’in’ out fer y’self. Got myself some decent shields over yonder…”

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Cassandra walked over to a rack of staves. Picking one out, she swung it about slightly, feeling its weight in her arms. She wasn’t really sure she wanted a new one – her old oak staff suited her just fine – for now, anyway.

Still… she knew she wasn’t much use in direct fights, so maybe a tougher, more durable weapon would be better? Silently, she turned over the weapon in her hand, pondering.

Her reverie was broken by Quark tapping her on the shoulder and indicating that she should move out of the way. As she did so, he stepped forward, lifting one of the staffs out of the rack. Closing his eyes, he held it in his hand for several long seconds, apparently focusing on something only he could discern. Then he turned to the shopkeeper. “I’ll take this one.”

The shopkeeper… Cassandra looked away. She wasn’t exactly familiar with ‘the ways of the world’, but she still felt rather awkward around someone who was wearing as little as she was. It was rather warm in there, probably a product of the smelting fires in the backroom, but still…

Silently, she replace the weapon on the rack. It could wait until later, she told herself.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group continued looking over the available wares, once or twice haggling with the shopkeeper, and generally… well, shopping.

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“Okay, we’ve all gotten what we needed.” They were once more huddled around the entrance to the Labyrinth. “Based on the map, the way down is at the far end of this clearing. Our goal for today is to get there as fast as we can, check around the second floor, scout out potential paths, and then we’ll retire for the day.”

“Heh – wanting to take things easy, boss?” Lash grinned. “I can respect that.”

Quark glared silently at the Dark Hunter, although of course Lash didn’t notice. He talks too much.

“All right, if there’re no further issues…” Eurydice nodded. “Let’s move.”

Once more, they descended into the lush greenery of the forest. After taking a few quick glances around, Eurydice beckoned the group further in.

As they progressed, they encountered a few more tussles with the woodland denizens, but nothing that they couldn’t handle. A brief moment of alarm was had when they chanced upon a strange crab that had an unusually tough shell – but Quark was able to slay it with his magic. True to their promise, they began gathering various parts of the animals – the tough shell of the crab could probably be used as some sort of shield – to sell back to the store later.

Abruptly, Mihawk signaled the party. “Over here, everyone.”

They gathered around the staircase. “Built into a tree.” Mihawk mumbled. “Just like the main entrance.”

“Beggars, choosers, and something like that.” Lash glanced around. “Anyone else wants to take first chances?”

“We’re just going to the second level, Lash.” Eurydice snorted. “It’s not like anything that dangerous would be waiting for us.”

“Fine, then I suppose you won’t have any trouble forging ahead of the pack, fearless leader?” Lash aimed the question back at her.

Eurydice merely shot Lash a barbed glare before tightening her grip on her sword and stepping cautiously into the darkness.

After several seconds of hesitation, the others drew their weapons and followed.

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Mihawk could hear Eurydice talking as they emerged into the second floor of the area. “There – like I said, there’s barely any difference between this floor and the last in terms of aesthetics – it’s just green and - and flowery.”

“Duly noted.” Lash shrugged. “So, which way do we go? Right or le-“

It was at that moment that several rabbits chose to jump the group. Acting more on instinct than anything else, Lash slashed his whip forward, sending one of the furry creatures to the floor with a squeal of pain. Another was quickly taken out by a combination of Quark’s lightning and Eurydice’s blade.

The remainders fled.

“Nasty little buggers.” Lash muttered to no one in particular.

And with that, they continued further into the forest.

As they rounded a corner, they met a soldier loitering there, apparently having nothing of importance to be done. As he caught sight of them, an easy smile appeared on his face. “Well, well, explorers! Are you well equipped for your journey?”

“I… suppose so.” Eurydice replied with a frown. “What’s it to you?”

Mihawk’s ears pricked up. She’d thought she’d heard something off in the distance… almost like hoof-beats. Strange.

“Well,” the soldier continued on. “As it so happens I’ve some spare supplies I could part with, if you’d like. Here – some medicine, or a weapon.”

“Or? Why not both?”

“Heh. Call me equal opportunity.” The soldier shrugged. “Others will come by sooner or later so I’ll need to have some stuff for them as well, won’t I?” He grinned. “What it’ll be?”

Eurydice sighed. “Fine. We just got some new gear, so – the medicine it’ll be. I assume you’re not going to hand it over out of the goodness of your heart?”

“Nah. 100 En, if you don’t mind?”

“It had better be bloody worth it, too.” Eurydice muttered under her breath as she dug around for the requisite amount.

“Much obliged.” The soldier nodded and pulled out a tiny bottle. “This stuff’s pretty rare, so don’t go splashing it all over yourself when you get a scrape. Be seeing you.”

Eurydice stared at the tiny brown bottle. “A… Soma?” She said.

Medigirl walked over. “It’s really powerful stuff. Just this one bottle should be enough to treat all of our wounds at a single shot. Problem is, it spoils really quickly once it’s exposed to air, so if we’re going to use it, we should use it all at a shot.”

“Huh – when most or all of us are bleeding, then…”

Mihawk barely heard them, she was creeping forward deeper into the forest, bow nocked, ears straining to catch that elusive sound she’d heard a moment ago. She wasn’t too surprised to note Quark stepping forward too, runic gloves at the ready position. She’d always pegged the Alchemist as being the sharpest out of the others…

“What is it?” Lash called as he came up behind them. “Some new monster?”

“Can’t tell.” She said tersely. “Get Eurydice and Medigirl up here.”

In a few minutes, they were slowly advancing forward. Distant rumblings could be felt through the earth.

“Whatever it is, it’s not another person.” Eurydice said softly, bringing her shield up.

Before anyone else could say a word, something charged – fairly exploded – from the bushes, eyes burning with a feral rage. Eurydice barely had time to bring her shield into a position to block the creature before it slammed solidly into her, knocking her off her feet and onto the ground.

As the stunned Protector fought to regain her footing, the creature wheeled away and spun to face the group. Snorting and wheezing, it pawed at the ground, obviously preparing to charge again.

“A – a Ragelope!” Medigirl blurted out as she subconsciously raised her staff. “It – it’s a Ragelope!”

“Rage – wha?” Lash questioned as he got his whip into a striking position.

“Ragelopes – they’re found in places like these – in the local ecosystem, they’re among the toughest monsters you’ll meet.”

“And whoever first discovered these things saw fit to name it a Ragelope[i]?” Eurydice shot a disbelieving glance at the Medic.

“W – well, from what I understand he wasn’t too coherent when the rescuers found him…”

“Doing wonders for our confidence, Medigirl.”

The creature charged again, once more at Eurydice, seeking to gore the blonde Protector on its sharpened antlers. But this time she had a chance to prepare herself, and she managed to hold her ground.

In that instant that the Ragelope’s attention was preoccupied, Lash struck with his whip, wrapping it tightly around the creature’s horns. Quark dashed forward, running his palm along the hide of the creature and leaving a discoloured stain across its fur. [i]A poison-based spell, Mihawk realized.

Out loud, she said, “Hold it down, Lash! I’ll shoot the eyes!”

Easier said than done. With a toss of its neck, it jerked away, sending Lash sprawling across the grassy floor. Eurydice uttered a curse and raised her blade, trying to stab it in between the eyes.

It was then that the Ragelope let out an earth-shattering bellow of pure anger. From where Mihawk was standing, it was deafening enough. But for Eurydice, who was standing not half a meter away from the Ragelope, the sound was unbearable.

With a cry of pain, the Protector staggered back, dropping her sword and shield. The archer’s eyes grew wide and this and she leapt into action – Eurydice was the sturdiest out of all of them. If she couldn’t protect the more fragile ones in the party.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blur as a rock whizzed forward to smack the creature in the eye.

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Cassandra hadn’t been sure what she was trying to do by throwing the rock at the monster – she merely wanted to buy Eurydice some time to recover, maybe catch the creature’s attention.

In the latter, she certainly succeeded. The beast let out another bellow of rage and swung around to face her. Trembling, she tightened her grip on her staff.

And then it was charging her, sharpened horns gleaming with the dried blood of former foes, and Cassandra did the only thing she could do.

She fell backwards.

As she lay there, paralysed by fear, the creature loomed over her, ready to end her life with a single sweep of its mighty horns-

Then it jerked back. Glancing over, Cassandra caught sight of Lash, Mihawk and Quark tugging on the end of the whip that had earlier been tangled around the beast’s horns, trying to drag it away from Cassandra.

Somehow, their combined strength was enough to give the beast pause. Bellowing yet again, the Ragelope swung around – just in time to receive a lightning bolt to the face, courtesy of Quark’s incantation.

With a screech of pain, the creature staggered back, and never one to waste an opportunity, Mihawk quickly notched an arrow and fired it at the creature, piercing its haunch. They were winning, they could do this-

Suddenly, with a renewed surge of strength, the creature lurched forward, straight at Mihawk. Before the Survivalist could make a move to get herself out of the way, Lash leapt in front of the creature, dagger in hand. Cassandra failed to stifle a gasp of horror as a spray of dark blood covered the area. The Dark Hunter stumbled back and collapsed, unmoving.

Clambering to her feet, she darted forward. I have to – I have to get to Lash – have to help him! Of course, there was still the problem of the glowering beast in between her and him…

The Ragelope, sensing Cassandra, swung around once more, and with a feral roar lowered its head for yet another charge.

And then Eurydice, fully recovered from the debilitating effects of the roar, lunged forward with broadsword clasped firmly in both hands. With a cry and a mighty overhead swing, she brought the blade crashing down onto the creature’s head. There was an audible snapping sound as one of the horns was severed and the blade bit deep into the creature’s head.

With a final, weakening cry, the Ragelope collapsed.

Cassandra had already scrambled to Lash’s side. Predictably his stomach had been the area to suffer the wounds, and so acting quickly, she began murmuring a healing spell under her breath whilst simultaneously reaching for a medica. The wounds weren’t that bad, but they were awfully messy, and it was hard to remember her training to always, always be calm.

Several tense moments later, she sat back. Eurydice had taken a medica to deal with her own comparatively minor wounds, and she was standing slightly away, gazing off further into the forest.

“How’s he?” Mihawk questioned worriedly as she stood over him.

“He’ll be fine.” Cassandra gave her an encouraging smile.

Mihawk nodded and turned to Eurydice. “Uh… Eurydice? What now? Do we wait for Lash to wake up and we go further, or…”

Eurydice started slightly at Mihawk’s question. “Huh – what? Oh! Uh…” she glanced up, where sunlight still filtered softly through the trees. “It’s still pretty early. Depending on how long it takes Lash to wake up, we can continue on. We’ve got some Warp Wires in case anything goes awry.”

Satisfied with the answer, Mihawk settled back and leaned against a tree, glancing around. Quark closed his eyes as he sat on the ground, meditating… or something like that. Eurydice resumed her vigil, a troubled expression on her face.

As for Cassandra... she would later swear up and down that she had had no intention whatsoever of falling asleep.


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Chapter End
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Thank you for reading. Please review.

[Hino-kun]

[Pureauthor]

Valde Incompertus Silva

*~*

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

*~*

It was several hours later that the group resumed their trek through the verdant woodlands. Mihawk stalked ahead, eyes alert for any signs of an enemy. Lash whistled to himself as he followed behind her, giving the impression of being out for a leisurely stroll. Medigirl walked alongside Eurydice, clutching her oak staff protectively as she cast furtive glances at the landscape, and Quark brought up the rear, arms folded, face as impassive as ever.

To any observers, it would have appeared that they were all singularly focused on their task at hand, when it truth only four of them were. One of their member’s mind was a world away.

It took a while for Lash to spot the distracted look in his leader’s eyes, but when he did he slowed his pace enough that he could walk beside her. Offering her an easy grin, he opened his mouth. “Anything on your mind, fearless leader?”

Eurydice didn’t respond for a long moment, merely looking away tersely at the surrounding foliage.

Lash rolled his eyes. Perhaps it was time to change tacks… Unfurling his whip, he flicked it about experimentally. “Medigirl’s the medic. Her job’s to look after us, make sure we make it out of the Labyrinth.”

This time, Eurydice did give him a questioning glance. Pretending to ignore it, Lash continued. “Mihawk here’s our scout. Her job’s to map the Labyrinth so we don’t get hopelessly lost, not to mention to keep an eye out and to be our advance guard for run-ins with the locals.”

“Lash, where are you going with this?”

“Now, Quark? He’s the brains of the operation, whether we like it or not. Nothing here ruffles his cool – he seems to know a lot more about the Labyrinth than we do. He’s our guide to the flora and fauna – and we need one, really.”

“…” The Protector flipped a strand of her golden hair behind her shoulder. “Your point being?”

“You, Eurydice, you’re the leader,” The whip-wielding warrior continued on as if she hadn’t said a word. “Your job’s to look out for the crew, for the lot of us, and to lead us in a manner that will give us the best chance of fulfilling our goals. Not any easy task by any means, huh.”

This time, Eurydice remained silent.

“And of course, the right-hand man’s job… is to look out for the leader.”

A snort, half of amusement, half of contempt, came from the Protector. “What, you’re my right-hand man now?”

“It was either that or ‘errand boy’, and it just doesn’t have that same dramatic flair, y’know?”

She shook her head. “Right, well, you can do your ‘looking out for the leader’ in terms of a combat situation. Eyes forward, Lash.”

The Dark Hunter shrugged and headed off with a somewhat resigned smile.

And as he moved off, Eurydice bit her lip, trying not to let her actions be seen, trying not to let the inner turmoil show itself.

She was, after a Protector. She was a Holy Knight, the party’s leader… and their shield. Like it or not, Lash was right in saying that her job was to look after her men.

Just now… with that… Ragelope... She’d lost control when it had screamed at her. She’d dropped her weapon, her shield – a cardinal sin for any warrior on the battlefield. Because of her, Medigirl had been put in danger, Lash had been wounded, and…

She shook her head. Her failure (for that was what it was) could not be denied or ignored. She sighed, tightening her grip on her blade. She could not afford to let down her men again.

Her reputation as a leader was at stake, after all.

*~*

“Definitely didn’t taste as good as it looked.” Mihawk muttered with disgust as she threw the juicy red fruit onto the ground.

Cassandra frowned as she stared at the red pulp. “I – I don’t think you should have eaten that.” She mumbled. “It could have been poisonous.”

“We saw creatures like those rabbits chewing on these earlier,” Mihawk shrugged. “If it were that virulent, they wouldn’t be eating it. Still tastes like crud, though.” With that, she returned to mapping out their position in the floor.

Cassandra blew out a breath of air. “I wonder why so much of the wildlife here is so… hostile.”

“Who knows.” Mihawk quirked a smile. “Could be the rumours about them being guardians of some great unknown treasure are really true.”

Cassandra chuckled in return. “Wouldn’t that be something. I guess that’s why so many adventurers want to conquer the labyrinth.”

“Fame and fortune are powerful incentives for many.” Mihawk replied distractedly as she continued sketching out pathways they had explored.

“Well, what about you, Mihawk?” Cassandra turned to her, an inquisitive look in her eyes. “Why do you want to conquer the forest?”

“Why do I-“ Mihawk jerked slightly. “I… I… I don’t really know.”

Cassandra’s eyes widened. Her memory! I forgot it- “I- I’m sorry… I should’ve…”

“No, it’s alright.” The archer sighed. “I suppose that’s part of why I want to explore the Labyrinth. I feel such a strong urge to… I just… I can’t help but wonder if it’s got some connection with my past.”

“Oh… well, uh, I hope you get your memory back.”

Mihawk grinned slightly. “Thanks for the encouragement, Medigirl.” Then she cocked her head to one side. “And what’s your reason for plumbing the vast, treacherous depths of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth?”

The healer flushed. “Well… it… it’s kind of a dumb reason…”

“Oh, try me.”

Cassandra glanced at the ground. “Well, it’s… I’ve always had a dream about cataloging every single animal, plant, mineral… basically everything in the Labyrinth. It… it would be an invaluable resource to Etria, you know…? And so… so whenever I enter the Labyrinth, I collect samples, I study the flora and fauna… you know… stuff like that…”

There was a pause in the clearing for a moment. Then Mihawk burst out.

“You’re crazy!”

Taken aback by this outburst, Cassandra glanced up into Mihawk’s face, which currently bore a frown on it as she crossed her arms.

“How in the world could you possibly think that’s a dumb reason?” Mihawk continued. “It’s a heck of a lot more selfless and noble than a whole host of other motivations I could think about.”

“R- really?”

“Of course!” Mihawk slapped Cassandra on the back encouragingly, knocking the frail medic forward slightly. “Chin up, Medigirl!”

“Yeah, chin up… I guess.”

“Break’s over!” They heard Lash call out. “Back to the hunt!”

Nodding to each other, the two friends set off deeper into the woods.

*~*

Quark paused to look at several claw marks laid upon the tree’s bark. “More of those moles…” He murmured to himself.

The group he was traveling with was making rather speedy progress. Well, that was a good thing, he supposed. Still, he was rather concerned about them overextending themselves and running into dangers they had no business facing.

Enough have been sacrificed to the depths of the Labyrinth already.

Even as he was musing, he heard a startled cry, and out of his peripheral vision he noted their leader facing down a trio of the hares they had fought off earlier.

“Aggressive little fools…” He growled as he prepared another set of lightning spells.

The battle was quickly finished, and as the trio continued, Quark noticed the medic crouching over the defeated creatures and extracting some samples from them. With a mental shrug, he wrote it off to curiosity and continued on his path.

The current section of the Labyrinth wasn’t overly complicated by any measure, but it was winding and tedious, filled with several unpleasant dead ends. More than once Quark found himself wondering why they hadn’t simply appropriated maps from people who had ventured deeper.

The obvious answer was that no one would share maps, of course – each guild guarded their own charts with a jealous fury. And it probably couldn’t be helped, especially with so much prestige – here Quark had to restrain the urge to roll his eyes – at stake.

So here they were, and of course they would have to do things the hard way. Quark was glad that their cartographer appeared by all accounts to be a rather competent one, but still… he couldn’t help wishing they were farther than they were now.

Patience, patience. He reminded himself. As long as they continued on their way, he’d reach his goal… sooner… or later.

*~*

While the majority of hares that live beyond the labyrinth are omnivorous in nature, the Hares within the Yggdrasil Labyrinth are, from analysis of their dental structure, quite clearly carnivorous. This is a fascinating insight, yet it also poses a host of problems towards the nature of the ecosystem of the Labyrinth, not the least of which is the fact that we have yet to run into any herbivorous creatur-

“Yo, Medigirl!” The shout broke her from her hastily scribbled notes, and she looked up to see Lash gesturing at her. “Mihawk’s gotten herself a little cut. If you could come look at it?”

“It’s fine, Lash.” The archer sighed. “I am trained in the basics of first aid, you know. I can look after myself. Don’t bother her unless it’s something bigger, okay?”

Medigirl was already jogging over regardless, but any other potentially forthcoming reply was drowned out in a roar as an enormous creature burst from the woods. For a split second, Cassandra thought it was a bear of some sort, but the humongous horns on the creature revealed itself to be of a decidedly different sort.

A Kuyutha… Amongst the upper echelons of the Labyrinth, the only beast more feared than the Ragelope was the Kuyutha. Wherever it roamed, all the lesser denizens of the Labyrinth knew to get out of its way… or else. Still, they’d managed to take down a Ragelope with relatively little injury… maybe, just maybe, they could handle this as well.

Still, they’d started off on a bad foot. The Kuyutha had clearly caught them by surprise, and as the tiny party moved into battle positions, the rampaging bull-like creature lurched forward, smashing its body in Lash’s general position. The agile whipfighter managed to roll out of the way, but just barely. If he’d gotten caught in the rush… Medigirl shuddered.

The huge bulk of the Kuyutha afforded the fighters a singular advantage – it wasn’t maneuverable, and since the majority of its attacks consisted of throwing itself at its foes, it allowed the warriors ample time to strike the beast.

A seeming blob of darkness burst from Quark’s hands, landing on the Kuyutha’s furred hide and quickly soaking into the skin. The Poison spell completed, the Alchemist returned to preparing more lightning spells.

Eurydice rushed over, silver blade flashing as she stabbed at the creature. Unhappily enough, her sword refused to cooperate, bouncing off the Kuyutha’s toughened skin. Before Medigirl could do or say anything, the creature tossed its neck, slamming its sturdy horn into the Protector’s body. Eurydice was sent sprawling.

As Medigirl rushed over to administer aid to the fallen warrior, Mihawk quickly took up the slack of distracting the creature. Her sharpened arrows were able to pierce the creature’s hide easily, and the Kuyutha’s furious bellows were proof positive that it had (for the moment) forgotten the hapless protector.

The swift Survivalist was now playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the Kuyutha as she ducked and weaved through the trees, making use of her smaller frame to duck away in smaller recesses. The Kuyutha had nowhere near that level of subtlety, choosing instead to trample everything in its path.

And then it happened. Lash and Quark were rushing up provide aid, the Alchemist’s hands already glowing with barely-contained energy. The Kuyutha was once more bearing down on the archer, eyes blazing. Mihawk had loosed another arrow into it’s frame, and was preparing to leap nimbly out of the way… when a Hare darted out from the bushes, sinking its sharp fangs into her legs. The Survivalist let out a tiny yelp of pain – which quickly translated into a cry of horror as the Kuyutha slammed into her with all the momentum it could bear. With a sickening crunching sound, Mihawk was literally sent sailing through the air until she collided with another tree, flopping limply to the ground. Meanwhile, the unlucky hare was quickly trampled underfoot.

“Dammit!” Lash spat. “Quark, stand back! I’ll distract the thing, you blast it with what you’ve got!”

The Alchemist obliged, and streaks of blazing lightning erupted from his gauntlets, searing into the beast’s skin, drawing agonized bellows of rage. The Dark Hunter, meanwhile, stood in front of the monster, taunting it, drawing it away from Quark, letting the spellcaster continue his lethal work.

Meanwhile, Medigirl frantically mixed up her health-giving concoction, checking the fallen Protector for serious wounds. Her heart screamed at her to go to Mihawk’s aid, but she had to finish looking to Eurydice first.

“Ugh… I… fine…” Eurydice muttered as she pulled herself into a sitting position. “Go… Mihawk…”

Pausing to give her leader one more worried glance, the medic stood – just as a cry of alarm rang through the woods. Snapping her head up, she saw Lash in the process of being flung through the air as if he were nothing more substantial than a feather.

Now unprotected, the dark-haired alchemist nonetheless stood resolute, one final thunderbolt searing its way through the air before he, too, was slammed by the massive beast. He fell, rolled, and lay still.

And there were only three – Medigirl, the Kuyutha… and Eurydice, who could barely stand.

A long, tense silence ensued as the bull-like creature slowly wheeled around to face the two of them.

“…” Cassandra stood frozen, backing up.

“Medigirl. Go.” Eurydice snapped. “Find a safe place – use that Warp Wire. And don’t stop for anything.”

“Wha- no! No! I’m standing here to-“

“I said GO! And that’s a damn order!” The Protector snapped before exploding into action, charging the behemoth. The Kuyutha growled softly, took a step forward, and slumped to the ground.

Pulling herself to a stop just before she slammed into the unmoving bulk, Eurydice gasped for breath as she stared curiously at the unmoving creature. Behind her, Cassandra clutched her staff, trembling.

The… the poison… Quark’s poison… it must have been eating away at it the whole time… She trembled violently as, ahead of her, Eurydice slumped to the ground, her injuries getting the better of her.

“Medi… Medigirl…”

“Wha – huh?”

“The Warp Wire. You have it, right? Use it.”

“Oh… oh! Right.”

Hurriedly gathering their fallen allies into an enclosed area, Medigirl activated the Warp Wire, and the five of them vanished in a burst of light.

They had survived. And for now, that would have to be enough.

*~*

Chapter End

*~*

Thanks for reading. Please review.

[Hino-kun]

[clockworkspider]

I agree...I hope you eventually complete this story, since I'd love to see just what Quirk is looking for, and what happens when Franz and co. arrive...

[Shiela]

I like this story, the characters are believable and lovable, nice descriptions of what's happening, the surroundings as well.
I would say it's very well written
It would be nice if you could write some more

[Tola_9]