DRIFA
I guess I said I’d go in as long as I was told what to do.
Jogging up behind Ismund I feel the cold knife he handed me. After a few seconds, I decided to hold it with two hands because I was shaking so badly.
At least I’m safer if I’m beside him, right?
Chuckling nervously at the thought I pause my stride for a moment.
Why shouldn’t I just wait behind? I don’t think I’m doing anything and Ismund knows what to do anyways. I thi-
I interrupt my thoughts, Ismund turns back towards me and my vacant expression.
“I need you to get a hold of yourself. Just keep trailing me and you’ll be fine.”
Looking up at the hill I hope he’s right. It was empty before but now it was full of ugly rabbits skiing towards us.
Jerking into motion, Ismund runs towards the stairs leaving me in the dust.
Running with all my might wasn’t enough to make up a lick of distance and was exhausting.
“Slow down!”
Thankfully Ismund heard me and stopped so I could reach him. Right when I arrived at the stairs I saw that the rabbits noticed me as well.
Shoot.
I couldn’t hear them, but I could tell by the way their throats bulged they were screaming as loud as their little lungs would allow.
Glad I don’t have to listen to that.
Using the weird slope things on either side of the stairs we were scaling the rabbits used them to get air so they could stab us with their wicked sharp ski poles.
Crouching and covering my head with my arms from fear, Ismund drags me up by the back of my collar.
“We need to get moving so we’re not overrun. Stand up!”
Flushing a bit and sucking at my teeth I shiver a bit watching Ismund whack the critters out of the air with his katana thing.
Please don’t let them get me.
Eyes flicking to the side I notice something.
“Mm, h-hey, Ismund. The rabbits are, uhm, dis-disappearing when they, ah, reach the bottom…”
“Yes.”
Viewing the top of the steep hill again my eyes catch sight of a rabbit with a missing ear, a replica of the one that had just vanished from the bottom.
“The rabbits might be teleporting back to the top?”
Simply grunting in affirmation, he starts stomping up the stairs while still somehow hitting, blocking, or dodging the mangy fluff balls.
I wish I could do that.
Pausing my thought I redirect it.
I will. I just need to figure out my magic.
I nod at this, briefly distracted from the rabbits.
Whack!
Snapping back to attention, I see a gutted hare fall to the ground by my feet making me yelp in surprise.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
I guess I could hear that because it came from Ismund.
“Pay attention! We’re moving. Standing there like that, you’d make you weren’t afraid of these monsters!”
Letting out a huff of, excursion or annoyance I couldn’t tell, he picked up the pace till I could hardly keep up.
My lungs are burning.
Looking up from another ragged breath I see the sweet relief of stairs coming to an end.
Finally!
Glancing down to my belt where my borrowed knife is, I reach down to grab it only to be interrupted.
“Catch!”
Blanching, I turn towards Ismund who’s throwing a stunned rabbit at me.
“Hold onto its neck with one hand and legs with the other.”
Spinning through the air like it was in a trapeze act I tried and failed to catch it.
Pluff,
Plump,
Piff.
Bouncing and rolling onto the ground beside me it starts to twitch.
“Eeep!”, After letting out a squeak of protest I did my best to hold it as directed, which, I’ll admit, involved some struggling since the creature was waking up.
Before I can close my hand around the rabbit’s lower leg all the way it tenses and kicks my arm.
Letting out a huff of pain I start to lose my composure as it kicks at me again.
Swish.
Before it hits me I let go of its legs jumpily, only holding on by the neck now.
What now?
Furrowing my brow in concentration and concern I let it dangle by its neck. A mistake.
Gripping my hand tightly and lightly puncturing it prepares to bite me.
No, you don’t!
With my free hand, I reach out and grip its ears to keep its head from going forward.
letting a single frozen tear of pain travel down my face I feel a bit of relief, “Gotcha.”
Grimacing I stare back and forth between the unnerving, now frothing rabbit, and Ismund. He was currently ripping the rabbits to shreds and spawn killing whenever possible.
As I look around, my lip quivers from the sight of the hoard.
I can’t do anything if they jump at me right now…
For the next quarter of an hour, I watch Ismund helplessly again, the only difference being that I’m closer this time.
Eventually, the beast's numbers start to die down leaving a few that were teleporting back up from the bottom far apart. Far apart. Each was a few minutes of running across the top of the ski hill.
Unfortunately for me, I had to keep chasing Ismund and his shadow to stay safe. It was Exhausting.
“Drifa, scratch the rabbit!”
Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion, my mind races while I look down at my knife.
Why would he want me to scratch it? I don’t want it to suffer, ugly as it is.
“I can’t! My hands are full!”
“Then just hit it on something! You just need to injure it!”
Looking down at the stairs we were passing by, one of the only solid things I could hit the wild-eyed creature against in the area, I hesitate.
“NOW!”
Jolting into action in fright I bash its ribs into the steps.
Skush!
Wincing, I looked at the sad ragged-breathing animal, the hit had made some matted hair fall free and broke and bruised its ribs.
I can’t cry, I can’t cry. It’ll make it so I can’t see. The world is so unfair sometimes.
I take a big sniff and clench my jaw.
Why do I have to make it suffer?
After cleanly decapitating another slightly-fluffy creature we run after the last bunny, not counting the one I’m holding.
“Again!”
Looking towards the rabbit I again set my face in determination.
Poor guy.
“No. I won’t do it!”
Pounding his feet harder Ismund lets out a frustrated grunt explaining, “If we don’t injure it in time we’ll be teleported into a pit full of ‘em!”
“What?”
“DO IT!”
Face recoiling back in a grimace I flick it pretty hard.
That counts as damage right?
“The timer didn’t stop! Don’t give it a love tap for goodness sake!”
“Uhm…”
This time I flick its bruise causing it to do what looks like a violent screech.
“There we go.”
After some more steps, Ismund reached out and decapitated the last rabbit. Turning smoothly and grumpily towards me, surprisingly wet and red, seeing that I had only seen his back the whole time, he gestures to my hand.
“Kill it.”, Upon looking at my expression he clenches his jaw, flicks his brow up quickly and adds, “It’s a monster, not an animal. It’s been trying to kill you the whole time.”
Pursing my lip I pursued a question that had been nagging me and the System had been somewhat useless concerning, “But can it be turned back into a normal rabbit?”
Letting out a slow breath to maintain his cool he untangled my thought, “These ‘rabbits’ are monsters. They were never a real, true, and genuine rabbit. These monsters are invaders from a different plane of existence or something. That part I can only speculate. Simply, the rabbits at the town gate were originally normal rabbits mutated by the dungeon. These ‘rabbits’ are invaders that look similar to the wildlife that naturally inhabits Earth.”
“So no fixing them?”
“Yes, fixing them would be killing them.”
Hesitantly nodding, I look tentatively back to the convulsing creature in my hands.
So you’re an alien.
Trying to ignore the misery it was going through I looked away, snapped its neck, and left it on the ground where it quickly rotted with the other corpses in the area.
> [Room Cleared.]
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> [Body D (250/500)-> (251/500)]
Ahah!
before I can rejoice any further my attention snaps in the direction of a whistle. Ismund waves me over towards him and points a large, heavy-set, wooden door.
Wow. That’s big.
“There’s another door on the other side but I want to test to see if this is locked first.”
Nodding quietly and shuffle behind him pursing my lips, unsheathing and tightly gripping my knife.
Walking up tensely he stops a few feet in front of the door to crouch. Gathering some snow in his hand he makes a hard-packed neat-looking snowball.
Ooh. That’s a good-lookin’ one.
Things were happening too quickly without a break for me to process much of anything, so I just watched as he threw it towards the door.
Fump!
Nothing happened other than a snow globe sticking to the door.
Turning slightly red he explains, “I wanted to check for traps.”
Nodding with a small smirk I follow him towards the door once more.
Jiggling the handle a few times, and trying a few different door-opening techniques Ismund decides to call it a day, figuring it’s locked and we need to do something in the other
nearby room first.
“How do you know that we don’t need to keep fighting the rab-, uh, monsters to stop the trap anymore.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I frown letting out a huff of frustration.
How does he know the System?
> [User Drifa does not have access to that information.]
Frowning, I face back to what’s happening around me.
“Be ready, we’re heading towards the other room.”
“Why don’t we take a break?”
“It’s usually a better idea to take a break in a safe zone. Even if this fight is cleared that doesn’t mean it’s safe.”
“Why?”
“It’s what all of the dungeon parties that survived in past have done. Sometimes there’s a weird gimmick in the fight room.”
“How do you know there isn’t in the hallways?”
Sighing and running a hand down his face, leaving a smear, he responds, “It’s rare for it to be in a hall. For example, the trap in this dungeon is in the fight rooms.” Nodding hesitantly at the info I’m bombarded with a notification.
> [Negative, it is more common for hallways to have traps. However, since dungeons are so varied it cannot be predicted. There can also be traps in hallways that don’t necessitate the ‘if then’ sequence of magical traps (such as the one in this dungeon).]
“Hey Ismund,-”
Before I can say anything further, he jogs in the direction of the door leaving me to follow.