image [https://imgur.com/Gjy3Q29.png]image [https://imgur.com/NzMwYls.png]

Current Location: Rabbitfoot Hills (S.D3)

Note: Treasure detected and marked.

I was currently in the south of these hills…which the parade of boxes had quietly named “Rabbitfoot Hills” right under my nose. Was it because that rabbit had kicked me in the snout? That happened one time! And I clawed the rabbit several times!

Meanwhile, that Treasure the boxes so desperately wanted me to grab was practically right above me. Uh, north of me. Easy, probably?

I took a look around. Wind swept across the land, swaying the rainbow splotches interspersed among the green. Rare trees swayed too; from my current view, I counted three.

Not long ago, I’d reflected that these hills didn’t offer many hiding places for a stranger. There were these flowers, and surely there were animal dens I’d come across on my journey, and those trees, of course, had wide hollows and wider branches. Treasure could be hidden in the crook of a tree trunk, or buried underground.

In fact…it could be buried deep, deep underground. The Map said nothing about how high or low the Treasure was.

Let’s…let’s not think about that part yet, I told myself.

Thankfully, I had all day to find it. And now that I was a little bit tougher, I had a blazing enthusiasm to grab that Treasure, just to prove that I could do it.

And to prove that I could beat up any animal that came my way.

***

I had assumed that the forest at night was the quietest the Vencian Wood ever got. Not true.

It was an odd oxymoron. Everything—every little sound—was separate and distinct. And yet it was all brushed across by the constant wave and churn of the summer wind.

Whenever a breeze blew by, I could tell the rustles of grass blades apart from the petals. I could tell which sound was a distant creature and which was a wavering birch.

Paws padding against the grass. A single dragonfly.

It was calm enough that I felt alright taking an easy pace. Strolling, the way humans did at the park. I wasn’t going to let my guard down, but I wasn’t gonna rush either. I was just walking north along whispering hills, prepared to bite back at whatever might pick a fight with me.

In the pan-shallow valleys between the vast hills, the flower patches and tall grasses frequently grew above my head. They parted sometimes, exposing rabbit dens and—

Woah there.

I nearly stepped on a prairie dog. They were poking their head out of a big hole and staring with wild eyes. I could see the whites of those eyes, which gave the face a weirdly human look.

Oh, perfect target. The universe was being good to me right now!

I got down low, my belly brushing dirt debris. With one claw, I scratched the prairie dog right in the face.

It hit! The rodent squealed, turned around, and scrambled deeper into the hole.

…Oh no. I hadn’t thought this through. Was I willing to go in the burrow to finish this up? And how much power and SP would that take?

The hole was certainly big enough. It was somewhat wider than the rodent, but the perfect size for me. Or, on second thought, maybe a tight squeeze. Sigh…

I paused and took stock of my surroundings. The sun was just shy of noon, and ninety degrees off of the direction it tilted, I saw a wall of distant trees—suggesting the south edge of the plains was far away.

Incidentally, it may sound like I had a gadget in my head, but I don’t know of any better, more natural way to express a feral animal’s inner compass. As long as the sun was up or familiar stars were out, at the slightest glance, any one of us—and maybe human explorers too—would’ve known which way was south.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Wait! That meant the Treasure was nearby, didn’t it? That meant I was practically already there!

image [https://imgur.com/EF5BrmK.png]

Yep! The Treasure icon was right underneath my Taipha icon. (Making the Map a lot less legible, but whatever.)

My human knowledge repository—the same place in my mind that told me what swords and witches were—reminded me that Treasure tends to come in boxes. Really fancy ones, with gold on the edges.

Scanning the hillsides, I saw nothing but grass and grass and more dang grass.

I was beginning to realize what that meant.

I looked at the hole again, my heart sinking. I’d have to kick up a fresh hole using my not-meant-for-digging-in-any-form claws…or I’d have to jam myself into this hole and try not to get trounced by the agile prairie dogs inside—not just for Experience Points, but also for a Treasure. Because you know what pirates do to find loot? They dig…

Tight spaces…my favorite…sigh…

Well, the tunneling prairie dogs had already given my digging a head-start. And maybe they were, like, the guardians of the Treasure. Okay, that sounded unlikely. But if it was a bottle or spring of water—which I’d been craving more and more on my stroll—then it made more sense, maybe?

No more procrastinating. With a spring, I launched myself in. My hind legs flailed in the air for a moment, but luckily I found my footing. I’d try to look cool later.

Total darkness: my element. Tight, enclosed areas: kind of not. And the squeeze was getting tighter, and the air was hard to breathe. Plus, my paws had trouble feeling out the grainy ground here, let alone actually moving my body across it—my claws weren’t meant for burrows in more ways than one.

I ended up doing an awkward shimmy-shuffle down the prairie dog chute. Still not looking cool, but my time would come.

Down and ahead, I heard feet scurrying. This burrow wasn’t just for one rodent; it housed an entire family. They were shooting off like rockets. I guessed they were running for an escape route, or routes. Obviously the entrance I’d taken hadn’t been the only one.

Darn. Unless there was a sick prairie dog in here or something, I’d have to give up on Experience Points.

But not the Treasure. I was so close to the Treasure! In fact, my Map said I was basically on top of it! Or below it!

When I sensed that I was at the bottom of the burrow—the spot where the path both forward and backward arced back up toward the surface—I stopped. I looked around, wondering if the dirt would give any signs of the Treasure. Which direction was it in?

Well, if I dug upward, there was no guarantee that my clumsy paws wouldn’t bring it all crashing down. I’d try downward first.

How would I do this? Maybe a…doggy paddling motion? (The human knowledge repository had given the motion a name that made me cringe. Just awful.)

I moved my paws through the dirt. Slowly and cluelessly at first, then frantically and cluelessly, sending lung-clogging clouds everywhere. I scrunched my eyes closed, held my breath, and kept going for as long as I could stand to.

And then I felt it. Something smooth to the touch.

What could it be? A smooth, lacquered box? A crystal? Or something stranger?

I didn’t pause too long to ask. Instead, I slapped my paws on either side and yanked it upward as best as I could. The coating of dust gave my paw pads a weirdly good grip.

Then I dropped it with a howl of shock. It crashed through the dirt, plunging in deeper. A different box had startled me.

Inventory Unlocked! New Trait Added: Inventory (Stage 1/5)

Your Inventory is an interdimensional hyperspace carrying case for any objects you might find on your journey. Only nonliving, inanimate objects can be carried in your Inventory.

Currently you can hold up to 3 item types in your Inventory. Up to 9 of each item can be carried.

So many words! So much weird terminology about space and whatever! G’augh, it made me wanna vomit! Why did boxes haunt me like this?!

Well, if I didn’t utilize it, clearly I was going to have a merry old time bringing this smooth thing back to the surface, because this burrow was such a fun place to be in.

Tip: Place an in-range item in your Inventory at any time by focusing on it and thinking or saying the word “Inventory.” Do not confuse this with the method of opening your Inventory.

Whatever you say! Inventory! I thought, staring daggers into the unearthed Treasure.

Poof! It disappeared into a puff of whitish-gray clouds.

Augh! More dust, more smoke! I coughed and hacked preemptively until I realized that this time it had really just been steam. Actually, less than steam: when it all dissipated a few seconds later, there was no trace of moisture left behind, not in the air or the mulch.

Treasure Acquired!

Mission accomplished, then. Assuming I could get the Treasure back out. I sped away, shuffling forward through the upward arc of the burrow.

Quest: Explore the Vencian Wood Progress: 7% (2/30)