“Damn you!” The leading thug shouted as he and the rest halted their charge to my surprise. “Get to the tunnels before the collapse!” He shouted as his pal was unsummoned and the group sprinted out of the room in a flurry.
“What the hell?” I stand blinking at the fading figures rushing to who knows where as if their lives depended on it. I store my broken bow away and turn to see no barrier blocking my way. “So the Alpha powers the barrier or something?” The stone wall faded from view to let a torch lit corridor be seen. “I have so many qu-” The cave rumbled as the floor shook as if an earthquake struck.
“Bukaw!” Trouble popped out from his sphere and into the magical new hallway. He waved me to follow him with his tiny little wings. “KAW!” Trouble let out a blast of condensed white glowing air that shattered a falling rock above my head.
“I’m moving!” I yelled back as more rocks began to rain from the ceiling of a collapsing cave. “Wasn’t the exit the other way?!” I yelled as I tried to keep up with my large running Chikipi.
“Kaw?” Trouble gave me a confused look before a bright flash of bluish light unsummoned him.
“Don’t run away! I have no idea where I am-” I run head first into a solid invisible force that feels like I dove into oil. My limbs are restricted and my movement nearly halted. “Wha-?!” I yelp as the force is suddenly lifted and I’m in a small circular room with a large glowing crystal hovering in the center with beams of waving lights flowing into the floor and ceiling from its pointed tips.
[toUCh iT!] A glitchy crackly voice weakly shouted from my Paldex. [nOw!] The garbled voice yelled at me with worry.
“Please don’t ki-” I turn my head to the right as I squint my eyes and brace for something while my left hand smacks against the floating magically glowing crystal. A warmth encases my body as a whooshing sound deafens my hearing. A moment later the feeling vanishes as my ears pop and sound returns to normal. “-ll me. Woah, wha-...” I blink in stunned surprise at my newfound surroundings.
“Eeek!” A shrill shriek from a large bipedal pink fluffy cat grabs my attention. Before I could even react, it turned and sprinted in the opposite direction as fast as its little legs could carry it.
“Why didn’t it attack me?” I watch it run up through the path tucked between two solid rock walls, the one that led me to the cave. “The cave!” I spin around to see a cluster of rocks held together in an archway halfway melded into the cliffside. “What happened to it?” I touch my left hand against the slightly rough cold surface of the cliff.
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[Connection reestablished. Installing updates.] My Paldex beeps as it flashed back to life. A wave of chaotic clashing colors cocooned the device as it went silent once more.
“You’re right, I should head back and update myself as well.” I sighed as I chuckled and shook my head at myself at such a stupid joke. Turning to leave, I started my hike back up the pathway the pink cat pal ran. By the time I got up the incline, I was huffing as my stomach was growling. “So hungry.” I pulled out the cooked snacks to munch on while my mood soured. “Wait… didn’t I leave the little chef guarding base…” I was so lost in thought I walked face first into a tree.
“Ssss!..” I held my head while breathing through clenched teeth to avoid screaming aloud. “Why do the trees feel like metal poles?” I complained to no one as I looked around at a sparse clearing behind the tree in my way. “Wasn’t there a camp of evil people here before?” I glance up at the looming magical tower that fluctuates with some powerful light energies as some large monoliths rotate around the glowing tip.
“Baa?” A fuzzy cotton ball with cute little horns replied to me as it continued to munch on something it found in a bush. It ignored me to continue to graze on whatever food object it had located.
“Wait, does this mean my base might be gone too!?” I freaked out at the thought of the insane magic island swallowing my bed. I sprinted by the grazing pal as my fears poisoned my thoughts. “Please be there. Please be there…” I softly chanted under my breath as I ran across the clearing and down the flights of stone steps.
A cold shiver trickled down my back as the sun set below the horizon. The slow build up as my fears grew while the light began to fade made my heart beat faster as I huffed for fresh air. “Come on torch, help me out here.” I mumbled while fumbling to equip my torch into my hand while I was jogging in the dying light.
“Got it!” I yelled in triumph only for it to shatter as the torch itself snapped in the middle and the flame extinguished itself. “Fuck! Seriously!?” I shouted in rage as I tossed the useless scrap behind me, it fades out of this dimension before it touches the ground. I give up on trying to hold back the nightly debuffing aura and just huff it home.
“A light?.. Yes! It’s still there!” I jump as a joyful and relieving feeling wash over me. “So tired…” I take some deep breaths to regain my energy before I walk over to the other side of the clearing. As I reach the edge where it falls a short ways down, lays my cozy mess of a camp. “Huh, little chef?” I spotted a small Foxspark cooking on the bonfire in front of my little sleeping hut. “But I saw it die…” I just watched in disbelief as the little flaming pal roasted some berries on a magical cooking device.
“I’m too tired to deal with this tonight, Chillet, help me down please?” I drop Chillet’s Pal Sphere onto the ground level of our base. The big blue fluffy guy stretches out his body before giving himself a full body shake.
“Coo?” Chillet blinks around before noticing me snapping my fingers above his head. “Guruu?” He looked at me in confusion, but his head almost reached the top of the cliff’s edge.
“Catch me.” I said as I closed my eyes and fell forwards.
“Coo!” Chillet shouted in alarm.