"Ooof... hahaha, man, it's really hot out today, isn't it? I'd have thought the labyrinth would get cooler the further we went, not hotter!"
Skylar exhaled tiredly as he looked over his shoulder at the white-coated man who had spoken, feeling the soil crumble underfoot as the heat of the primitive jungle sank further into his bones, numerous beads of sweat rolling down his temples. The swordsman reached up and wiped his face with his arm, reaching around into a small pocket of his backpack, pulling out a canteen, then removing the stopper and taking a hefty swig of springwater, the refreshing liquid helping to lessen his fatigue. At his side, a cream-furred explorer panted heavily, raising her legs high above the swampy ground with each and every step, wearing a tiny pair of sandals to protect herself from the muck.
"Next time we all go to another huge labyrinth, can we make sure we're not gonna be exploring in the middle of the goddamn summer?" Naomi added crassly, her tower shield bumping and clattering against the back of her breastplate, and she gestured in a circle above her head, smacking her fingers against a low-hanging vine and causing it to graze the top of her short hair. "Why the hell are we still down here again? I don't remember what we're looking for again."
"We're here because Chieftain Quinn goaded you into accepting his challenge for us to stay down here for almost a week long," Sahra coolly replied; the young girl was walking backwards, an arrow notched to her bow as she brought up the rear of the group. Skylar chuckled under his breath, reaching out towards the canine next to him and offering her his canteen, which she gratefully took, her tail wagging happily as she quenched her thirst. "The morning after tomorrow, we'll be finished, and we can go back to town and let the Chieftain know that we did it."
The beastwoman suddenly stopped in place, causing Damien to bump into her back, and Skylar slowed down, reaching out and gently grasping the arms of both his teammates to keep them from losing their balance and falling into the mud. The man furrowed his brow with worry when he saw the bushi's twitching ears, and let go of her to signal at Naomi and Sahra. The latter's expression grew sharper as she pulled her arrow back somewhat, and the former grabbed her tower shield, her other hand ready to draw her hammer at a moment's notice.
"Hanae, what is it?" Skylar said gently, wiping another trickle of sweat off on his bracer and drying it off on his shirt. "What's wrong? Are there monsters nearby?"
"Mmph... no, I don't think so. Do you hear that?" Hanae softly answered after a moment, returning the swordsman's canteen and rising to her tiptoes, her muzzle pointed skyward. The five explorers went silent, listening intently for any and every sound. At first, they could only hear the faintest traces of the wind, breezes that were only barely able to make it so far down the labyrinth... but their muscles tensed when a distressed squeak, much louder and much closer than anyone expected.
"Huh?" Damien cocked his head, his messy hair flopping in front of his face, and he pushed his unkempt bangs back with his fingers, his other hand fumbling with the flap of his medical satchel as he tried to dig his notebook out from inside the leather bag. "That... huh. That doesn't sound like a monster to me, either!"
"It's coming from the end of that small trail." Sahra held her bow and arrow outward, pointing towards a small gap between the numerous vine-choked trees, and Skylar shook his head with a smile as the sniper walked ahead of them, pointing out the trampled ferns and bright flowers nearby. "This looks like more dangerous ground... follow my lead."
"Okay, Sahra," Hanae replied. The pale-haired girl gave her friends a curt nod, scanning over the entrance to the hidden path before taking a wide step into the swampy dirt, then taking another, then finally squatting low, pushing off, and jumping the rest of the way into the alcove. Damien carefully nudged Skylar out of the way to get a better look, and Hanae went first, her claws scratching almost inaudibly against her sandals as she marched along Sahra's footprints, leaving indents of her own in the squishy mud.
Once both the sniper and bushi had made it across, Skylar went next, beckoning Damien to come along as well, breaking the medic out of his thoughtful trance and receiving a cheerful grin for his efforts. Naomi was the last to cross, and the fortress grimaced as her heavy, plated boots sank ankle-deep into the muck, causing the rest of the group's footprints to vanish completely, replaced by a fresh layer of dirt once the woman closed the distance. Another squeak pulled their attention back to the end of the path, and slowly, the group inched forward. Hanae craned her neck to try and locate the source of the noise, and soon enough a quiet gasp escaped her throat, her eyes widening to the size of saucers.
"Oh..! Oh my goodness..." The beastwoman exclaimed, her fur bristling as she knelt down and pushed back some of the overgrown bushes, and Skylar blinked in surprise, instinctively gripping the pommel of his sword for a split-second before letting his arm fall to his side. Out of the corner of his vision, he could see Damien's mouth form the shape an O, too distracted to realize he had drawn a thick line fully across a blank page in his journal.
Sitting at the base of a tree, in a pile of ferns and flattened fronds, was a very, very tiny monkey, its dark fur tangled and matted – no doubt because of the jungle mud – and its face bearing a decidedly lost expression. The swordsman winced when he saw the animal's leg, which was twisted at a painfully unnatural angle, and he grit his teeth, tearing his gaze away to look at its tail instead. The fuzzy appendage was curled tightly around a broken stick, and sure enough, the swordsman looked up and saw the stumpy, jagged spot where the tree branch had fallen from. The baby monkey, seemingly unaware of their presence, squeaked yet again, unhappily crying out to its parents for help.
"What should we do...?" Hanae whispered, her hands clasped against her padded dress as she stared pitifully at the monkey with the broken leg. Skylar frowned, then walked over to his friend, affectionately running his fingers through the bushi's long blonde hair.
"We should try and fix it up," He said confidently, leaning sideways to let his backpack slide to the ground, and he peered down at the various supplies and equipment he was carrying, reaching inside and groping blindly for the spare poultices and dressings buried within. It took a good few seconds of searching, but finally the explorer felt gauze at his fingertips, and he pulled out a roll of bandages.
Skylar slowly, carefully, took a couple steps towards the monkey, trying his best not to disturb the plants under his boots. However, the animal's hearing was better than his, picking up the slight rustle of the leaves without delay, and the baby monkey whipped its head around in fright, hissing in an attempt to get the unwelcome intruder to go away. The swordsman froze in his tracks, already having stretched out a strip of bandages, and awkwardly waddled back the way he came, unable to hide his sheepish expression.
"I... guess I should have figured it wouldn't want us to get close." Skylar reached back and scratched his neck, watching as Hanae leaned in to look at the monkey, then shrank back, meekly bowing her head as it hissed at her as well. "We can't just leave it here, though... not like this."
Skylar felt someone poke his shoulder, and he glanced at Sahra, who sidled in between her two teammates, lowering her guard when she got a proper look at the injured animal just a few feet away from them. The sniper let the bowstring slide back to its usual position, returning the unnotched arrow to her quiver and resting her weapon on her knees, staying perfectly still as she scanned the surrounding area from left to right. "It looks like it's been here for a while. Not for days, but at least more than an hour. The branch was leaking sap, but it's all dried."
"Uh, guys? What the hell are you three doing just sitting around? Are we gonna get going again or what?" Naomi barked, the clanking of her armor's joints pulling the explorers away from the monkey's plight, and they stood up and turned to face the scowling fortress. The knight impatiently drummed her fingers against her forearm, and when she saw the bandages that Skylar was holding, she groaned. "Oh, c'mon, really? Don't waste our stuff on that thing!"
"Naomi, it's got a broken leg," Skylar replied, rolling the bandages back up before gesturing back towards the injured animal, running his free hand through his damp hair until his bracer bumped his forehead. "What else are we supposed to do?"
"Hah! That little shit's squeaking so loud that something's gonna hear it sooner or later!" The fortress shot back. "And if we still have two days left down here, we might need all of that later in case one of us ends up getting hurt! Damien has most of the supplies, your stuff's for emergencies only!"
"She's right, Skylar," Sahra agreed, and the swordsman peered at the young girl, who was slipping her bow over her shoulder again, letting her goggles fall down her neck as she continued, her words laced with a solemn note. "I don't like the thought of leaving it alone with a broken leg, either, but with the slimes and scorpions we've run into so far..."
She trailed off, having gotten her point across, and the conversation drifted into a tense silence. Skylar moved his eyes away from the pale-haired sniper and stared at his feet, his brow knit as he weighed both options in his head, and he felt Hanae gently squeeze his shoulder, taking what little comfort he could from the bushi's comforting gesture. The monsters in the jungle were dangerous... but the monkey was stuck, and if they left, monsters might find it before its parents could... but then... and then again...
The swordsman let his posture slacken, a sigh of disappointment escaping his lips as he twisted halfway and gingerly put the bandages back in his backpack, slinging the bag over his shoulders with a shake of his head. "...you've got a point, Naomi. Sorry."
"Thanks, Skylar. Now let's get outta this place! It's too cramped and too hot!" The fortress said, reaching out and lightly punching the man's arm, and she looked around the little alcove, one eyebrow quirking upwards in confusion. "Wait... where'd Damien go? Oh, god dammit, did that dumbass nerd leave without us!?"
"Hoo, okay, that should do it, hehe. There you go, little fellaaah, ahaaa, wait hold on now I'm about to faaaAAAA-!"
The trees shook as a loud thud resounded through the jungle, and the four explorers spun on their heels, returning their full attention to the baby monkey. Hanae's ears perked straight up as she let out a shocked 'oh!', and when Naomi's jaw dropped, Sahra shoved herself against the knight's side to shake her back to her senses. Skylar's mind went blank at first, and then he felt himself chuckle.
There on the ground lay an excited Damien, his limbs, his leather satchel, and the folds of his white coat all splayed out on the ground, giving the baby monkey free reign to roll back and forth on top of the medic's belly, which the monkey did with gleeful abandon. The animal's leg was now wrapped up in a stiff cast, which held fast even with its wearer's sudden movements, and the baby monkey quickly hopped up onto its one good leg, grabbing its savior's shirt and tugging on the fabric.
"Oorgh! Aheheheahahehohokay, okay I'm happy too, but you better get going in case you have someone to go to, okay?" Damien stifled his laughter long enough to sit up and fluff the baby's fur, and the monkey chirped and tilted its head, letting the medic cradle it in his arms and walk over to the tree it had fallen from. Skylar took a step forward, wanting to help his friend lift the little animal back to its perch, but then stopped, thinking better of it. He and his teammates watched as the monkey grasped the hardened vines on the tree's trunk, using its hands, leg, and tail to climb back up to the higher bough.
"Go ahead, we'll be fine!" Damien called out, waving his arms reassuringly, and he grinned broadly when the monkey imitated his movements, chirping spiritedly before finding a vine and swinging away, quickly vanishing from sight as it departed for the distant treetops.
As the small trail quieted down again, the doctor gave himself a once-over, brushing clods of dirt off of his coat and emptying a few from his pockets, then un-tucking, then re-tucking his shirt into his pants. Once he was sure he was ready to go, he looked over to the side and flinched at the four pairs of eyes that were staring at him. "Oh! Sorry about that, were you waiting for me?"
Instead of an answer, Naomi stomped forward, stretching out to snatch up a handful of Damien's hair, prompting the medic to dodge underneath the fortress' gauntlet, circling around the woman as she made a second grab for him. When she missed again, she growled, rolling her eyes. "Oh, forget it, you idiot! Just... aaaaagh, c'mon, we're leaving!"
"Alright then, let's go!" Damien replied, walking backwards, and Hanae and Skylar both stepped out of the way just before the older man crashed into them, and Naomi forced her way after him, Sahra following hot on the armored woman's heels. As the medic, fortress, and sniper cautiously made their way through the swampy part of the trail, Skylar glanced upwards, taking a deep breath as a few scant beams of sunlight pierced through the leaves. He wrinkled his nose as the heat hit him again, and he retrieved his canteen again, draining the last few drops from the bottle and exhaling contentedly.
"I hope it'll be okay," Hanae remarked, pressing her splitting sidelocks firmly into her padded dress, her gaze lingering on the crushed shrubbery where the monkey had been.
"I think it'll be just fine." Skylar sent the cream-furred canine a thumbs-up, and she smiled, tail wagging happily as she nodded back at him. "I'm... eheh, I'm glad Damien patched it up while we were arguing about it. Maybe we'll meet the monkey again, if we're lucky-"
Skylar was cut off by a tired, angry roar that shook the ground beneath his boots, and he hunched low, shifting his weight to try and keep his balance. Hanae instinctively grabbed the handle of her katana, pulling the blade an inch out of its scabbard, and something galloped heavily through the jungle, its footsteps audible even above its ferocious cry.
Even louder than that was Naomi, yelling for her teammates at the top of her lungs. "Oh, crap! Hey, we got a sloth on our hands!"
Hanae sucked in a breath, drawing her katana out fully, tapping one foot to a tuneless beat, and as the sloth slammed a fist into the fortress' tower shield, the beastwoman jogged towards the end of the trail. Skylar grit his teeth as he readied his sword and shield, kicking off into a sprint as the sounds of battle filled the Yggdrasil labyrinth.