Bai's home in the Valley Of Los
"BABA!" Blake's eyes snapped up as he got up with a start. "Huh?" When his fears and worries washed over, he found himself sitting on a soft mat in a room inside Bai's home based on the design of the place. "I lost, didn't I?" He muttered. with that weird but powerful form Bai and Jiho used coming to mind followed that lightning laser attack hitting him and Baba. "Right, Baba! I should check on he- wha?" He was about to get up from the mat but felt something warm and fuzzy under his right hand while the other had something wet and cold. "Well, that's not surprising." A small smile broke out on his face when he found Gram and Moco cuddling up to him.
"But it does make it hard to move." Blake groaned when he tried to get up again but couldn't thanks to his items unknowingly weighting him down. "Guys, this is nice and all, but, I can't feel my legs." He shook them a little to hopefully get out of this bind.
"Hmm?" The first to wake up was Gram, who simply looked at Blake with his one working eye and sniffed him. "Oh, you're awake? That's good." He muttered dryly, but the constant wagging of his tail against Blake's leg showed just how happy he was that Blake was up and moving.
"Mmm..." Thanks to the sound of Gram's tail smacking on the floor, Moco woke up next. "...hmm..." She stared at Blake while rubbing her eyes for a bit. "...Huh?" Her second set of eyelids blinked, then followed by the main set. "Chum!" She jumped at Blake the moment she realized he was awake and knocked him back to the mat, and then much like Gram, her tail began smacking on the floor while she rubbed her cheeks against Blake's face.
"Okay, okay! It's starting to hurt, Moco!" Blake was glad to see her so happy, but he was pretty sure his skin would come off if she kept going. "Just let me get up please." He picked her up as he got to his feet with the Merchild a bubbly ball of joy in Blake's arm. "Hey! Don't do that I just got up!" He held her by the dorsal fin when she tried to take a bite out of his left arm.
"But I missed you!?" Moco whimpered as she reached out to Blake with fake tears coming out of her eyes thanks to her water powers.
"Ugh, fine..." Which worked on Blake as he held up his left arm out for Moco to nibble on. "Let's go give the others the good news." He went for the door but when he was about to reach the handle the door slid open.
"Can the two of you give him some space already!" Saffire yelled as she walked in with some blankets, probably there to change Blake's bedding and check on him. "Blake?" The moment she saw Blake a smile came to her face. "You're...up?" The Dragon stood there just staring at Blake, giving off some warm heat from herself that left the whole room feeling nice and cozy.
"Aww, it's always cute when you show your caring side! Did you give me a few bathes while I was out?" Which Blake tore down with his badly timed jokes to the Dragon's worry over him. "Goddess, why am I like this?" He asked as the temperature went from a pleasant afternoon warmth to a boiling sauna.
Caused by the growling Dragon girl before Blake. "Want me to put you back to sleep then?" She offered with a fang-filled grin and a scalely fist held up to Blake's face.
"No, I'm good! And...Thanks." Blake quickly declined, holding his hands over his head so that his fiery friend would not harm him.
"He's good! See! See!" Moco still nibbling on Blake's arm added while holding her hands the same way Blake was.
Saffire blew some smoke from her nose at them then crossed her arms under her chest. "Hmph! You're lucky she's cute." She pointed at Moco then went back to softly smiling at Blake. "Well come on..." She turned around and waved for him to follow. "...the others should get annoyed by seeing you or whatever after being out for two days."
"Two days! Was that last hit that bad?" Blake gasped when he got that bit of info and everyone else held their heads low.
"More or less, you and that bag of air got blasted pretty bad after that Bai guy transformed and hit you guys with the biggest lightning bolt I've seen. You two were covered in burns and smashed into a wall," Saffire explained with flashbacks of the aftermath coming back to her mind. Everyone running over to Blake and Baba, Mari and Risabeel in tears, Pius casting a healing spell on them and then bringing them back to Bai's home for proper care.
"Wait, where's Baba? How is she?" Blake was reminded that he hadn't seen Baba yet and some worried thoughts came to his mind by the second.
Gram answered that one. "In her room over there," He pointed his nose at a room next to Blake's.
"Baba!" Blake immediately went for the door and slid it open. "Wha?" The first thing he saw was Ling-Ling's big seashell head bobbing up and down as she was kneeling in front of someone sitting up on a sleeping mat.
"Hmm?" One of Ling-Ling's eyes rolled around to Blake and it sparkled with excitement. "Oh, Blake-dono! You're awake!" She cheered, turning around with a make-up brush and powder pad in her hands that belonged to a set next to her. "Perfect timing! Look at my masterpiece!" Ling-Ling moved over a bit and threw her arms at the person behind her.
Sitting there was Baba but her face was covered by a light layer of white make-up, a heavy amount of blush was put around her cheeks, black mascara around her eyes and her lips were a luscious shade of red. Her face wasn't the only thing to get a change her hair was now a silky black and styled with her bangs combed up, the sides were fanned out then narrowed out to the back and went to a topknot with a few flower pins to it all together.
"Oh? Hubby, it's you? What do you thi-!" Baba was being her usual self by trying to tease Blake.
"I'm sorry you got hurt!" But Blake ran up to Baba and held her close.
Which left Baba in a rare state of being stunned and embarrassed. "Thank, the Goddess, for this makeup." She was glad for Ling-Ling's idea of getting a makeover while she was resting or else Blake and others would notice just how red her face was. "Ahem, now, now! You shouldn't be clinging to a woman while she's in bed unless you want something from her," She regained her composure as she rubbed the back of Blake's head and leaned into him a little. "And I am your shield getting a little hurt is part of my job right?"
"Yeah, but...but...ugh?" Blake was trying to find some kind of comeback maybe something like he should have used her better but honestly, he was just happy she was doing fine. "Yes, ma'am." So he let her be and sat her in his lap to keep an eye on her then waved a hand over his face. "So what's up with the war paint?"
"Oh, I couldn't really move around much so I might as well try a few things, what do you think?" Baba posed for Blake a little even borrowing Ling-Ling's fan to add a bit to the look.
"Looks nice but I kinda miss your hair." Blake gave her a look over even getting a whiff of some perfume on her too.
Baba giggled and pulled at her hair a little to show some of her usual hair underneath. "No worries this is just a wig, Ling-Ling said this is how the most beautiful women in the Tenno Kingdom get dolled up for parties, right?" She asked the seashell woman after closing the fan and pointing it at Ling-Ling.
"Heh, that's right! And I've been dying to try some of these on but as you can see I don't have much of a face, hehe~" Ling-Ling tapped on her shell while giggling and did a few touch-ups on Baba's face. "Oh, but I shouldn't keep you here? Better tell the good news to the others." She helped Baba take off the wig and makeup then everyone made their way out.
"Huh? What's that sound?" Once they were in the hallway Blake heard some pounding and slapping and wondered if someone was fighting for their life.
"Oh, I think that another fur ball is teaching Mari and Bread how to make some kind of sweet to keep them from worrying about you so much? Can't wait to it!" Saffire answered and with a bit of a skip in her step, she guided the others to the kitchen.
"Pound! Mix! Pound! Mix! Pound! Mix!" Where they found Ume chanting while beating a small drum with Bread using a wooden mallet to pound what looked like some white paste in a large mortar bowl, while Mari was quickly dipping her hands in water and folding the paste between each pound of the mallet. "COME ON! FASTER! HAI! HAI! HAI! HAI! HAI!" Ume picked up the speed of her chanting and drumming.
"GO! GO! GO! GO!" And they did as their movement became lightning fast with everything just looking like a blur to onlookers.
"Yeah! Show that weird white stuff who's boss!" Blake cheered them on, pumping his arm as fast as they were going.
"Huh!?" Both of the children stopped the instant they heard Blake's voice. "Blake!" Just as Moco did earlier they jumped at him.
"Whoa!" And right into his arms with Mari working her way to his neck while Bread hung off his forearm.
"You're back! You're back! You're back!" Mari buried her face under Blake's chin and stayed there as if that spot was made for her.
"Heh, yeah I'm back." Blake gave her a light pat on the head and then held her up with his free hand. "So you've been keeping up with your training while I was out, right brat?" He grabbed Bread by the back of his shirt like a cat. "She can do what she wants but not you on the other hand..." He flicked his head at Mari while looking intently at Bread.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Bread's face turned from excitement to dread under Blake's gaze. "Y-y-yeah! Making that mochi stuff is really hard work! Yeah!" He slapped a hand to his biceps and flexed a little for Blake. "Huh?" Then got pulled into a hug next to Mari.
"I'm joking, kid," Blake roughed up Bread's hat a little then dropped him on his ass. "But don't get too clingy with me, we're getting back to it after I talk with Bai about that weird ass power of his, where is he anyway?" He looked around a bit for Bai and then another person came to mind. "Wait, where's Risabeel?" With all the hugs and smiles, he didn't realize that he hadn't seen Risabeel who after Mari should have been the person most worried about him.
"Well, after crying her eyes out for you for a day and messing up some of the housework around here Bai's been keeping an eye on her by taking her with him on his trips around the Valley," Baba answered, floating over to the bowl of that mochi thing the kids were working on with Ume picking and pulling at some of it. "Is that done or did, Hubby, mess it up?"
"Mmm? Mmm! Hmm!" Ume stuffed a bit of it in her mouth and after chewing on it she gave a little nod of her head. "Prefect! I wish I could keep them hehe!" She rolled over to Bread and hugged him then rolled back to the bowl. "Lunch should be ready soon!" After that, she went on to start preparing a few other stuff around the kitchen.
"Which means someone has to drag Bai-dono away from his work to fill his belly." Ling-Ling eyed Blake as she spoke then pulled out what looked like a compass from her robes. "Here, this is a Hawkeye Compass that our dear Bai-dono made in case we need to find him quickly. It'll take you right to him!"
"Thanks, not sure if I'll need it since I have a bit of read on Risabeel too." Blake took the compass and got a good look at it. It looked a bit like a bird's nest and its face showed a hawk with its wings outstretched while the beak was pointing east. "That's about where I can feel Risabeel." He thought using the pack he had with Risabeel for once. "So who's coming with me? Before I kill over agin- ugh?" He joked at first but Gram and Moco stuck to him like glue. "Guys, I was jo-"
"Zip it!" Saffire jabbed a finger into Blake's face to shut him up. "And I'm coming with you too but that's just because it was my turn to watch you today got that!" She snarled when she took a spot by Blake's side.
"Yes, O'mighty Dragon, and I'm most thankful for it." Blake shook his head at her and then looked at Mari who had a bit of a conflicted look on her face. "Not sure about coming with, baby sis?" He asked with a bit of a confused look on his face, he was half expecting her to tell him to just stay with her and wait for Risabeel to come back.
Mari puffed out her cheeks and jumped off of Blake. "I was helping Ume make food for when you got up and now I really need to get it done!" She ran up to Bread and pulled him along to the kitchen to help with things. "Oh!" Then ran up to Gram and whispered into his ear. "Watch the girls around him please?"
"Sure." Gram nodded, earning him a rub under his chin, and wagged his tail happily.
The last of Blake's friends was Baba, who was currently making her way back to her room with Ling-ling in tow. "I do want to spend some time with you but like my little sister-in-law Mari I got something planned for you and I need some time to prepare okay?" She winked at Blake before leaving him to himself.
"Oh, it will be a treat for the eyes I promise you that, Blake!" Ling-Ling declared with a glint in her eyes as they rolled around on her shell and followed after Baba.
"Well, that's them all squared off, ready to go guys?" Blake shifted his attention to the three items coming with him.
"Hehe!" Moco's answers came with her latching on to Blake's back by wrapping her arms around his neck from behind. "Adventure!"
"We're just going to pick up Risabeel and the other hammerhead." Saffire rolled her eyes at Moco as she came up to Blake. "What's your deal, furball?" That is until Gram came between them for some reason.
"Nothing." Gram muttered to her then sniffed at Moco. "That should be fine."
Blake just shook his head at this item before moving on.
----------------------------------------
Valley Of Los Restoration Block 5
"Mortar paste! 5 Buckets!" A Dwarf woman yelled down to a cart carrying supplies while she and a group of masons were working on a set of broken pillars belonging to an upside-down castle-looking place coming out of a wall. "That's the wrong piece!" She nearly threw a pickaxe at someone who was about to make a mistake. "And send up some smarter hands too!"
"Are all you hammerheads so loud?" Saffire groaned, trying to block out some of the noise from the construction site they had walked into.
Restoration Blocks were as the name suggests areas of the Valley that required repair, even if most of this treasure trove of crafting history and knowledge was much better well-kept compared to other ruins of similar age it was still the duty of crafters of any worth and pride to ensure that it would be visited by other generations hundreds or thousands of years later.
"Well, depends on the job really? Most of the stuff around here is construction work so being loud is a given. Could use some magic to keep the noise down but that's dangerous..." Blake started to explain while feeding Moco some jerky he brought from a stand a bit ago. "...there are blacksmiths like me who are mostly hammering and shoveling coal into a furnace." He then looked around a little and pointed to a group of sculptors working on some statues. "That's a bit on the quiet side if you want." After that, he held the bag of jerky out for Saffire. "Want some? I think it's deer and that they might vanish soon." He offered while keeping Moco's face out of the bag.
"Oh than- dog!" Saffire was about to grab one when Gram bit the bag and ate the whole thing. "You are worse than the airhead today! WHY?!"
Gram just chewed on the bag while Moco and Saffire stared daggers at him. "Hmm? That carrottop's around here?" His nose twitched and turned to his left.
"Carrotop?" Blake looked up to think about who that could be until a hammer hitting an anvil appeared over his head. "Oh! Anthony! I was kinda wondering where he was?" He looked where Gram was sniffing and decided to make a little detour for a bit. "He's our ride home so best to check on him too."
After moving through a bit more loud and cumbersome busy work of the Restoration Block things slowly got a little quieter as they came to a workshop of some sort with whirling gears and clanging metal replacing the crumbling of rock and constant yelling all over. "Over here." Following Gram's nose, they found a room filled with minecarts and iron contraptions."
"Hmm? So if the mana intake connects here...then the gearbox should be here...then where do the controls fit in?" Working on one of those contraptions was Anthony surrounded by tools, mana stones, and metal parts. "Blast, if only there was a blueprint to work with!" He tossed up his hands in frustration.
"Huh? Don't know what this thing is but those handles kinda look like stops for a cart so maybe you stick 'em on the wheels?" Blake came up to him after looking over some of the parts. "If we do that you have some space for some junk over here I guess?"
Anthony nodded to Blake's suggestion then held up a a weird t-sharped iron. "Then I could have some room for the controls if I modify one set of wheels to turn! Excellent! Thank you, Blake! Master Deller did always say having another mind helps..." He bumped fists with Blake after solving this puzzle that was bugging him for a while then stared at Blake with his monocle lighting up for a bit. "...you're awake! What are you doing here though? You should be resting still no?"
"Eh, unless I can't move staying down just makes me sick." Blake shrugged it off then held up the compass Ling-Ling gave him. "We're here to get Bai to make sure he eats and to find Risabeel since she went with him." He explained and waved a finger around everything inside the room. "What about you?"
Anthony let out a small sigh and looked back at the things before him. "I've been studying some mechanical crafts found within the Valley to little success on how some things were put together...simply breaking them down to their smallest parts usually does the trick but the method in which they were put together, fools me to no end! Not to mention that some parts are missing altogether."
"Well if you need some parts made I'll give you a discount, hah!" Blake offered with both him and Moco rubbing their hands like any scheming merchant would.
"I may take you up on that offer?" Anthony didn't catch those two looking suspicious and instead was making some notes or drawing a blueprint of this thing he was working on. "You said you were looking for Bai, yes? He and I actually came here together but I got so focused on this as you can see...if I remember right he was planning on looking into an unopen 'Storage House' around here?"
"Okay, rain check on that job offer if they're going into another of those things it might be trouble!" Blake made a quick turnaround and started walking out of there, 2 out of 3 of those storage Houses had him fighting off Golems and Moco, and while he did get a front-row seat at how strong Bai was Risabeel being in danger was still a worry. "Haven't felt anything bad but still."
"Ah, that's understandable be safe!" Anthony yelled at Blake as the Smith-Knight and his items left. "Now let's see if what Blake said was right then this should fit here?"
----------------------------------------
Storage House with Bai, Jiho, and Risabeel
"Sir Bai, I have found another brazier!" Risabeel called out from across a large room after she had found a black iron brazier hidden under a few fallen rocks. Their exploration of this Storage House was going smoothly until they came to this room which seemed to have a large locked stone door with 5 hollowed-out slots to it and no avail in sight for Bai to hit but there were a few braziers still filled with oil around. Once Bai lit one for some more light one of the slots in the door got filled in with a red glow.
"Good that should make 4 now." Bai came over to Risabeel and with some help from Jiho, they cleared the rumble and lit the brazier. "Not where could the last one be?" He did a once over of the room and that seemed to be it for the most part. "Could it be in some other room?" He held a hand to his chin while walking around a bit with Jiho following behind him closely.
"But I do not believe we saw anymore on our way here, yes?" Risabeel double-checked the room as well then eyed the door again. "Hmm?" And noted that the slots were placed in an x with four of them placed diagonally to one in the center. "Then it should be in the middle? Oh?" She moved to the center of the room and found what looked like a small and empty pool about the size of a birdbath. "What could this be?" She leaned over it a little to try and make sense of it. "Ah! Vas don't jump like that!" She jumped back when Vas leaped out of her hood and onto her head.
The frog croaked loudly getting Jiho to look Risabeel's way and snorted at the frog when it jumped to the empty pool at Risabeel's feet.
"Oh come now, Vas, that pool is not even filled with water to bathe yourself, hehe." Risabeel giggled at the frog as he jumped around it a bit. "Hm?" that is until she heard a clicking sound under her feet. "Vas! Get back here!" She gasped when the flood around the pool started to break apart and held out her hand to catch Vas jumping back to her. "Ah!" Then she was picked off her feet by Jiho lightly bitting at her dress.
"Risabeel! Are you alright!" Bai came running over as soon as he heard the ground crumbling.
"I am well. Thanks to Sir Jiho." Risabeel bowed to Bai and Jiho after she was set back on her feet. "But I believe we have found the last brazier!" She declared while pointing at the last brazier coming out of the ground with that small pool actually being the bowl for it now filled with oil. "Great work, Vas!" She patted the frog on its head earning her a joyous croak from him.
"Indeed and now to see what our prize is." Bai walked up and lit the brazier and with that came the last slot filled in on the door. "Oh?" Which then caused it to start sliding open to show nothing but darkness until a row of touches on the side of a pathway lit up. "And Deeper and deeper we go..." He eyed the path for a bit and did not notice anything dangerous. "Jiho take the back I'll keep to the front.
"And I in the middle, yes?" Risabeel asked as she took her spot between Bai and Jiho as their dungeon exploring continued.
Chapter End