Cornerstone; Sjin and Rythian's plan doesn't quite go as expected... (also I KNOW I've spelt Lalna as Llana [damn you autocorrect!
"Okay, look, Sjin, you've had your fun, alright?" Rythian's voice emerged anxiously from behind some trees as he poked his head cautiously out from behind the tree, glancing around quickly. "They're not even here!" He added slightly louder as a hand reached for him and pulled him back behind the cover of the tree.
"Are you mad? Of course they're here! I know their secret base is here somewhere..." Sjin muttered, eyes sparkling with mischief. Rythian sighed, temporarily ignoring Sjin as he turned his earpiece on, waiting for the static to die down before speaking to it.
"Hey, Lomadia? Any sign of them?" Rythian asked as she mumbled a reply, cut off from the static. Sjin frowned and turned his earpiece on as well.
"Lom?" He asked before a high pitched whine emitted from the earpiece, causing both Rythian and Sjin to cry out in pain as the whining suddenly cut off, to be replaced with static once more. "That was probably the most painful experience of my life!" Sjin complained, taking his ear piece out briefly to massage his ear.
"Believe me, I've had worse..." Rythian replied darkly as the static ceased. "Lom, are you there?" Rythian asked urgently as he heard a brief sigh of relief on the other end before the voice turned slightly more cross.
"You two are miles away and I just got a horrible squeaky sound when I tried to reply! They're definitely not at the main base or the castle or house of flowers; if you saw them go where you are Sjin, then they're around somewhere. I don't want anything else to do with it." Lomadia replied firmly before she dropped the call, leaving the static in their ears again. Sjin sighed as he and Rythian turned their earpieces off.
"Right, so I reckon when we find their base, we go and pour lava on top of it!" Sjin suggested excitedly as Rythian frowned at him in disapproval.
"You've already done that to the Rail Bros base... Which I got the blame for!" He pointed out indignantly as Sjin grinned cheekily in response.
"Alright, okay... How about we blow it up!" Sjins smile fell as Rythian shook his head.
"You did that to the Hand of Truth..." He reminded him, smirking as Sjin made a noise of complaint and lay back on the grass behind him.
"You're no fun Rythian..." He complained sulkily as Rythian laughed.
"Oh I am very fun when I want to be; however, I am merely here to ensure that this time it does not go too far..." Rythian said sternly as Sjin rolled his eyes.
"Fine... Oh wait, wait I've got it!" Sjin sat up suddenly, eyes dancing again. "This is genius!" Rythian shook his head wearily as Sjin stood up, looking around him eagerly to see if he could see the Flux Buddies anywhere.
"Hang on Sjin; this time you tell me exactly what Plan A is, and Plan B, all the way to Plan Z; no surprises!" Rythian growled, causing Sjin to falter slightly.
"Oh okay, here's what we're going to do..." Sjin looked around him carefully before noticing the cliff with a slight platform to it. Sjin nodded towards it. "That looks like a safe space to talk..." He whispered as he flew off towards it, motioning Rythian to follow him.
Nano hummed to herself as she sorted out the chests as Llana worked at the workbench, focussed on creating a new science item. The hot tub bubbled away like her cauldron and Nano stepped back happily to admire her work.
"Llana, look!" She said happily as he glanced up, giving her a brief smile.
"Wow, looks amazing Nano!" He exclaimed before returning his focus to the workbench. Nano frowned.
"You haven't even seen what I've done yet..." She complained as she walked over to her cauldron, putting the lava out so it wouldn't burn the base when she wasn't using it. Llana lifted his head up, ignoring her.
"Fine! How about I go mess them up again...?" She muttered darkly as she moved towards him as he turned to her, puzzled.
"Shush for a minute Nano...?" He asked as he walked slowly over to the hot tub, turning it off.
"Why should..." Nano began as Llana's eyes widened and he marched over to Nano, holding a hand over her mouth.
"Seriously, Nano, listen!" Llana urged her quietly as she struggled to remove his hand. After Llana quickly removed it, complaining quietly at the saliva on it after Nano had licked it, she made her way over to their concealed entrance where she could now hear voices. Llana joined her shortly afterwards.
"... This is actually a nice place to watch the sunset... Reckon the 'Flux Buddies' sit here and watch it together...?" Sjins voice laughed as they heard another voice chuckle in response.
"If they do, that is their business; but yes, it's a nice place to see a sunset" the voice admitted. Nano turned to Llana, an eyebrow raised.
"Rythian." He mouthed to her and she nodded, pressing her ear against the fake stone wall to listen further.
"... So you were saying about a plan...?" Rythian asked, sounding hesitant.
"Ah yes; I though that seeing as we covered the Rail Bros place with lava, we should cover the Flux Buddies place with water! And we could capture a few squids and put them in their for good measure too!" Sjin announced happily as Nano frowned.
"I can't believe this!" She whispered furiously as Llana put a soothing hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright Nano... Wait, what's that he just said?" He asked as they pressed their ears to the wall once more...
"... Plan B, but if I did have a Plan B, it would probably just be to put a camera in their hot tub... Apparently they have a hot tub Rythian..." Sjin chuckled as Rythian laughed.
"Well, they did have one in their last base..." Rythian admitted.
"Exactly! So, is that going 'too far' or can you get behind this?" Sjin asked, Nano and Llana waiting for his response with held breaths.
"I don't want anything to do with it... But I won't stop you either..." Rythian replied carefully. "However," he continued as Nano and Llana looked at each other, horrified, "... You need to find he base first."
"Ah, that's where you come in! You're basically a ninja Ryth, just ask Llana for something which we don't have and follow him back to his base! Simple!" Rythian sighed and Sjin knew he had won.
"Come on, let's go; I don't particularly want to be out at night!" Sjins voice got further away as the voices grew quieter. Nano and Llana drew away from the wall and looked at each other.
"Well... At least we know what they're planning!" Nano said optimistically as Llana frowned.
"Nano, I am not making another base if this one goes, I refuse!" He complained as he started to pace the floor.
"Or maybe... We could create another base..." Nano began to say before Llana cut across her.
"No chance, Nano."
"Just let me finish, alright? Let's set up a really temporary base not far from here... And we'll take the hot tub..." Nano's smile turned wicked as Llana looked at her, confused.
"Why bring the... Oh... Wait, hang on..." Llana said slowly as his mind started to guess what Nano was thinking.
"Oh yes... We're going to play them at their own game!" Nano said smugly as she started to voice her plan to Llana.