Valde Incompertus Silva
Eep, I really left a long gap in between update times. Sorry about that guys – I'll try to be better with it.
Negotium Pro Novus Rimor
"Well, how was I supposed to know they wouldn't even let us in until we'd met with the Radha?" Eurydice demanded angrily as the five of them stalked back to town. "Bloody stupid uptight…"
"What I'm more puzzled about," Lash commented as he turned to glance over at their Medic. "Is youl. You've lived here your whole life, correct? You should be well versed in the procedures – why didn't you say anything?"
"I am!" The girl defended herself. "But – but I thought that surely you'd have prepared for something like this! I would've thought it common knowledge…"
"Stuff it, Medigirl." Eurydice snapped.
Cassandra instantly fell silently, her face hot. Mihawk shot her a sympathetic glance but otherwise said nothing – and Quark, as usual, was silent, merely bringing up the rear of their company.
"Look, apparently the Radha wants to ensure we've got the skills not to get torn to pieces the instant we set foot into the Labyrinth, so let's just go find him and see what he says." Lash suggested. "No point grumbling about it on the way over there, either."
Eurydice blew a sigh out of her mouth and nodded.
Cassandra gazed up with a fair amount of trepidation at the ornately designed building in front of her. She'd never actually entered the hall of the Radha before, and this experience was as new for her as it was for the rest of her guild mates.
Eurydice sighed and stepped forward to the guard standing at the entrance. "We're from the Paragon guild, and we were told that we needed to see the Radha before we're allowed to enter the labyrinth. May we?"
"Just a minute!" The soldier replied. Cassandra started – the imposing steel helmet had hidden his face, and therefore it was the youthful sound of his voice that clued her in to just how young he was – he certainly sounded no older than her. "Do you have an appointment?"
"N-no."
"Well, then I'm terribly sorry, but I can't let you into the Hall. If you'd like, you can speak with the scribes near the entrance for a booking, but as a word of warning, the Radha have been really busy of late – the earliest you'll probably get to meet them is sometime next week-"
"Next week? There's no way we're waiting that long!" Eurydice was becoming agitated now, and subconsciously Cassandra took a step back.
"Look, this is just procedure. I'm sorry, but you have to follow the rules, or-" The soldier wasn't too pleased at being questioned, and Cassandra couldn't shake the feeling that something untoward was on the verge of occurring.
"What's going on here?" From the entrance of the Hall emerged a tall, thin man, dressed in the official robes of the Radha. Despite his obvious stature, he carried a friendly smile on his face.
With a sigh, he pushed up his glasses and smoothed back some of the orange hair on his head. "What is it, Loran?"
"Ah, Subaltern Quinn! My apologies, your honour – I was merely informing these people of the procedures necessary before-"
Quinn chuckled lightly. "It'll be quite all right, Loran. As it so stands, I'm free for a while, so I suppose I can entertain these people's issues."
"Oh – uh, very well, then." The soldier saluted and turned to Eurydice. "You can enter, I suppose."
The head of the Paragon guild nodded stiffly in response, and followed the Subaltern into the darkened recesses of the Radha hall.
Once the Subaltern had settled himself down on his desk, he looked up at the group. "Please, make yourselves comfortable." He hesitated, apparently noticing that Eurydice was currently decked in full battle armour, and coughed. "That aside, how may I be of aid?"
Eurydice cleared her throat. "Yes, well, we were informed that all new guilds must meet with the Radha to ensure that they are properly qualified for challenging the Labyrinth. So, here we are."
Quinn nodded. "Ah, you would be the new guild that everyone's talking about – Paragon, wasn't it. The Radha was expecting you, to be honest." He picked up a quill pen, opened a thick, leather-bound book, and began inscribing some notes onto it. "A pleasure to meet you."
"So, what's our task?" Eurydice questioned. "Some beast to fight? To gather ten rare plants – or to face off against your soldiers in combat-"
"Oh, no, no." Quinn chuckled. "Nothing so strenuous as all that. No, your test…" He paused to wipe his glasses. "Is to successfully map the first floor of the labyrinth."
"M-map?" Eurydice stammered. The Subaltern nodded.
"Map. Now, if you'll go see the scribes, they'll see to it that you're provided with some parchment that already has some preliminary drawings done – just a little push to get you started, you know, and of course, the junior pass for entrance into the first level of the Labyrinth…"
"Map." Eurydice repeated blankly as the five of them strolled back towards the Labyrinth.
Behind her, Mihawk kept her eyes low, carefully studying the parchment. It looked rather worn, and it was obviously a copy that had been produced many times before, but it was well detailed.
Silently, she reached into her back and pulled out a piece of charcoal. She usually kept a few of these on her person – never knew when you needed to mark something down, after all, and covered over a line that had been partially rubbed out.
Up ahead, Lash appeared rather relaxed, whistling to himself as he strolled forward. Grinning, he flicked some of his dark blue hair back and turned his gaze to Eurydice. "C'mon, boss! It's not so bad as all that! We were going to need good maps of the place anyway, so we don't get lost – and I wouldn't trust any of the other guilds as far as I could throw them. What better way to ensure accuracy than to make them ourselves?"
"That's not the issue!" Eurydice countered hotly. "Is any of us here trained in cartography? You? Quark?" the raven-haired Alchemist shook his head in response. "Medigirl?" not even waiting for an answer, Eurydice turned. "Mihawk?"
Mihawk coughed shyly. "Well, as it so happens…"
That gave Eurydice pause. "You mean you know cartography?"
The Survivalist nodded. "Uhm… yes. Sort of."
The blonde Protector stood there dumbly for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Well, you're the best we've got, so I guess that's that."
Mihawk nodded, and the tiny group continued their journey towards the Labyrinth.
"Five minute walk from the outskirts of the town." Lash murmured as he gave his whip an experimental flick.
The five of them were arrayed in a loose semicircle formation as they stared down at the path that would lead them into the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. As they peeked past the veil of leaves and branches, they could almost catch a glimpse of the emerald grove that awaited them.
"Everyone ready?" Eurydice called. "Lash, your gear?"
"Ready." The Dark Hunter nodded confidently.
"Mihawk?"
"My weapons have been properly outfitted." Mihawk finished wrapping a thick scarf around her neck – one that also served to obscure her mouth and chin. "I'm ready."
"Quark?"
"…"
"Um, right. Medigirl? You got all your salves, your potions, whatever?"
"Yup! Raring to go!" The orange-haired medic fairly beamed.
"Alright." Eurydice took a deep breath, and as one, Paragon Guild stepped forward.
The lush greenery of the forest closed in around them.
"Wow…" Cassandra whispered to herself as she stood in the tiny grove, gazing around in wonder at the first floor of the Labyrinth. "It's beautiful…"
In the early morning light, drops of dew sparkled on the lower leaves. Around them, wildflowers and grass made soft crunching sounds as they were trodden over. In the distance, Cassandra heard the soft hooting of birds as they flitted about.
"So, where do we go from here?" She heard Lash talking, but her mind was more on the tiny pink flowers that seemed to dot the entire area. Crouching, she quickly produced a tiny garden spade, attempting to dig out one of the nearby flowers.
"Hey! Medigirl!"
Startled out of her task by Eurydice's annoyed snap, she glanced to see the leader of the guild glaring down at her. "Focus, would you? You can carry out your little gardening sideshow later."
Cassandra quickly pocketed her tools and hurried after the group, mumbling hasty apologies as she felt her face go hot.
However, before she actually caught up with the others, Mihawk thrust an arm out, warding her off. "Get back!"
"Wha – ah!" A tiny blur darted out from the undergrowth, narrowly missing a collision with the young healer. And Cassandra stumbled back, she could hear the echoing 'snap!' of biting teeth.
"Aggressive little blighter, ain't he." Lash whistled as he unfurled his whip.
"Watch out – its got company." Eurydice said tersely as she whirled to face another one of the creatures.
Treerats. Cassandra's mind still continued to process the situation as she scrambled to her feet, clutching her staff. Tiny, vicious biters that roam the higher floors of the Labyrinth – they've got a nasty bite, but their strength is in numbers. A tendency for cowardice when facing foes alone.
Zip- thud! Mihawk had drawn and fired, piercing the treerat that had attempted to attack Cassandra. It gave a short squeak and flopped over, dead.
Meanwhile, Eurydice's shield had successfully stymied the second treerat's attempts at gnawing on the Protector's neck – and a quick strike from Lash's whip had wounded it to the point where it had decided not to tempt fate any further and scurried back into the bushes.
"Everyone okay? Medigirl?"
"Fine – I'm fine." Cassandra nodded. "It just… startled me."
The leader of their group nodded. "Alrght, according to the preliminary map we were given, there's a large clearing up ahead – and at this time of the day, there're probably other explorers in the vicinity too. Move out, everyone."
As the group turned and ventured deeper into the forest, Cassandra gazed down at the defeated Treerat. She frowned. One of its teeth seemed loose…
Reaching down, she pried it out with a quick tug. Quickly wrapping the small fang in a bundle of soft paper, she hurried after the guild.
The clearing was indeed populated by several other explorers, most of them seemingly content to laze about in the verdant glade without much bother or fuss.
Eurydice paused, frowning uncertainly. There were several paths branching off, presumably leading deeper into the woodlands.
"I wonder…" She murmured to herself.
A soft sccrrch, scrrch noise drew her attention, and she glanced backwards to see Mihawk with the map supported in her palm. The archer was slowly sketching on the parchment with a nub of charcoal. Eurydice shrugged – she could only assume Mihawk knew what she was doing.
"Ey! You!" The sudden shout drew her attention, and she glanced over to see someone approaching the group. Apparently his focus was directed on the whipfighter of the group.
"Lash! That's you, ain't it? Lash!"
Lash quirked an eyebrow, before his eyes widened. "Well, knock me over with a feather! If it ain't Woody!"
The messily dressed man chuckled. "Always wondered what became of you after you up and left our bunch of mercs! And now here we are – in the Labyrinth!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Eurydice caught sight of Quark peering curiously into the trees.
"I suppose. Hey, how long have you been around these parts? I've been here a couple months, but I never actually did catch sight of you."
"Ah, the group I'm traveling with now – we've been rooted in Etria for nigh well over a year. We don't do all that heavy duty exploring and all-"
Eurydice turned away. While she was certain that Lash and 'Woody' were in for a pleasant experience of catching up, she herself wasn't much interested. She headed after the guild's silent Alchemist.
"Quark?"
"Quiet." He held up a single hand. Eurydice flung both her arms into the air in a gesture of exasperation (a rather noisy gesture of exasperation, given all the armour she was wearing), and turned away.
Scrrch, scrrch.
Scrrch, scrrch.
Mihawk's eyes narrowed as she traced dark lines over the well worn parchment that was to become the map of the area. Standing, she took several steps forward, tracing her progress in relation to the map.
It was extremely imprecise, of course – she could fix things up properly once they returned to the inn – but it was good enough, and she had surprised herself at her apparent ability at cartography. Well, if it could be put to good use…
Loosing her dagger from her belt, she reached up and slashed it across the bark of a tree, drawing a deep gash on it and exposing the pale yellow wood beneath.
"H-hey!"
At the startled call, Mihawk shifted her gaze to the medic. "What is it, Medigirl?" She knew that it wasn't the girl's real name, but it fit, and the girl didn't seem to mind – as far as Mihawk could tell, she even seemed to treat it as a sign of acceptance by her peers.
"Sh – should you do that?" The orange-haired healer said softly.
"Hm?" Mihawk glanced back at the tree. "It's no big deal, after all – my mark isn't severe enough to seriously injure it…"
"Yeah, but… I don't think you should go around making cuts on trees for no good reason…"
Mihawk chuckled. "As it just so happens, I do have a good reason. See this map?" She unfurled it and held it up for Cassandra to see. "When I make a mark on a tree, I make the same mark at the same place on the map – that way, we'll know where we are in relation to the map, and our best routes out of here."
"Oh… I see."
Personally, Mihawk still thought that the medic looked a little too confused, but she let that pass. "Good. Now, shall we-"
She was interrupted by a call from Eurydice. "Over here, people!"
Mihawk shared a glance with Cassandra. "Let's go."
"So, you're not interested in going in too deep?"
"Nope." Woody grinned easily. "I figure I can leave that to the foolhardy ones to go as deep as they want – me, as long as I can turn a living, I'm satisfied."
Lash smirked in response. "You never did have that drive, eh? You always hang back."
"What can I say? Keeps me safe and comfortable, gets me some coin – I'm not complaining."
"Hah!" Lash snorted. "You haven't changed a bit!"
"Lash!"
"Alright, I'm coming!" The Dark Hunter snapped before turning back to Woody. "See you later, man."
"Sure thing. Don't go and get yourself killed, you hear?"
"Yeah, yeah…" Lash mumbled as he trotted along after the rest of Paragon. "Easier said than done, amigo. Easier said than done."
"So that plant over there, it's the Hien. It's among the most common type of wildflower in the 1st Stratum of the Labyrinth, and it's said to have cooling properties when brewed into a tea. However, there's a slight amount of toxin in it, so it's generally recommended that you don't take more than…"
Quark let the medic's cheerful voice fade out of focus as he continued his trek through the woods. Regardless of her skill as a medic – and thus far, she hadn't had much opportunity to demonstrate her skill as one – he had come to the conclusion that this girl was… well, to put it simply, a massive nuisance.
A woodfly fluttered past his ear, and he waved it away with his staff, barely paying it any heed. He supposed the group would take their time in making it deeper to the stratum – they appeared competent enough to know that rushing things would only serve to get themselves killed.
No matter – he wasn't in any hurry. It'd taken long enough, anyway. A little longer wouldn't matter… Patience was a virtue, and all that drabble…
"Hm, what's that?"
"What's what?"
"That… Is that… a bag?"
Quark glanced over. Yes, it did appear that a satchel or pack of some sort was in the ground.
"Not surprised no one else has found it." Lash chuckled. "We're pretty far of the beaten path."
"I see animal tracks in the soil." Mihawk reported as she crouched down. Moving closer to the bag, she nudged it with an edge of her bow. "There's dried blood on the thing."
"The Labyrinth is filled with dangers…" Quark spoke softly. "Those who venture… must be prepared for… unpleasant circumstances."
No one responded immediately, although he noted that the medic – Cassandra, wasn't it – seemed a shade paler than a moment ago. Meanwhile, Mihawk simply closed her eyes and turned away.
Eurydice shook her head. "D – don't be silly. I'm sure someone just fled from here and left his pack behind in the process. There's no body, after all."
"…" Quark could think of several unpleasant things the local wildlife could do that would ensure that no body was ever found, but decided against speaking up – the argument really wasn't a big deal anyway.
After several seconds spent in silence, Lash piped up. "So… are we going to see what's in the bag, or what?"
There was a sigh from the leader of the guild. "I suppose." She mumbled grudgingly. "No one's come to claim the pack or anything, it's free property in the Labyrinth." Crouching, she yanked the tattered bag closer to her and began to rummage inside.
"Well, based on how badly rotten the food in here is, the bag's been here for a while." Eurydice reported. "Boy, does it ever stink."
Quark frowned. He'd… felt something…
"Hm, a book… 'The care and feeding of pet crows'. Right. Guy apparently goes for the more exotic types of pets…"
He turned slowly. A rustling in the nearby bush… trickles of dirt being dislodged from the ground…
Out of the corner of his eye, he noted Mihawk drawing an arrow from her quiver and he mentally revised his opinion of her up a notch. Apparently she had noticed the ambush as well.
"And… oh, what's this? Looks like some sort of HOLY CRAP!" Eurydice threw herself backwards as a dark blur shot from the bushes, gleaming claws extended to slash at the Protector. The Shield Maiden brought her Aspis up in an attempt to block it, but the creature lunged forward, managing to score a blow on her cheek.
Meanwhile, two more of the creatures – Moles, apparently had appeared from behind, apparently attempting to do the travelers in.
"Medigirl, get behind me." Mihawk said quickly as she stepped forward, loosing an arrow. As luck would have it, the creature had raised its arm to strike down, and the arrow impacted with one of its foreclaws. The bone snapped free and tumbled to the ground, leaving the Mole to let out a screech of pain and anger.
Meanwhile, Lash's whip was doing an adequate job of keeping the third enraged Mole at a safe distance, but he wasn't having much success with landing a hit on the agile beast. Abruptly, the creature crouched low and lunged, closing much of the distance between the Dark Hunter and the woodland dweller.
"Whoa! Hey! Hey!" Lash yelped in surprise and alarm as he twisted and swerved, trying to prevent the Mole from scoring a hit on him.
"Stop dodging!" Eurydice snapped at him as she tried to defend herself from the Mole that had originally attacked her. "Just block the attacks – it'll waste less strength."
"You want to tell me how I'm going to block things with a whip?" Lash countered testily. Finally, he succeeded in striking his opponent, drawing a red line across the back.
The Mole cried out in pain and anger, and prepared to lunge again.
"Levitas." Quark said softly.
A bolt of golden lightning seared out from his palm, illuminating the clearing as it came into contact with the Mole attacking Lash. When it faded, the beast was lying still, a smoking hole on its back evident.
Elsewhile, Eurydice had managed to knock the Mole flat with a kick, and before it could recover she drove her blade through the creature. She hadn't escaped from her battle unscathed, however – Quark could detect several wounds crossing over parts of her body that weren't covered in metal.
CRACK! The slash of the whip from Lash brought down the last of the Moles, Mihawk stopping her assault in order to regather what arrows she could salvage.
Quark paused, surveyed the area. Not bad for a serious fight. He decided. Of course, we could stand a little more teamwork, but…
"AH! Eurydice!" Cassandra's frantic call startled him and he glanced over to see the Medic hurrying to the wounded warrior's side, pulling several vials from her pack. "H- hang on, I'll fix those wounds right up."
Hurriedly, but with expert precision, she mixed up several of the fluids, handing it to Eurydice to drink. After that she drew out some salve as well as her staff, quickly applying it to the bleeding areas as the weary Shield Maiden sat silently on the forest floor.
Finally, Cassandra stepped back, a shaky smile on her face. "F- feel better?" She inquired.
Eurydice closed her eyes and nodded, a smile on her face. "Lots." With a sigh, she clambered to her feet. "Thanks, Medigirl. You know your stuff."
"Ah – no – no problem at all, really!"
Eurydice frowned. "Mihawk, what's the map show?"
"Well, we've branched off to the left. I took the liberty of talking with some guys back in the main clearing, and apparently there's another path that curves behind the entrance."
"Hm… all right. We've still got enough energy and time to do one more trek. Then I suppose we can retire for the day. Let's get going."
Later, as the party continued through the woods, Lash sauntered closer to Mihawk.
"Have you noted down the odd stuff we've seen?"
Mihawk didn't glance up from her parchment. "Such as?"
"Well, the spring, for one. The funny ivy covered door, for another."
"Yep, both of them are noted. If we find out anything more we can always come back…"
"Whew!" Mihawk glanced up to see Medigirl – Cassandra – tottering unsteadily. "Are you tired?" She asked the Medic kindly.
"Y – yeah." She let out a shaky grin. "But don't worry. I – I can handle it…"
"… Something I'd rather not risk." Lash murmured. Before he could continue, however, Eurydice halted.
"Hm, a nice, flower filled clearing." She paused. "We could use a short rest, couldn't we?"
Quark closed his eyes. "No objections."
"Fine with me." Lash smirked.
"Good idea, I needed to refine this map a little more anyway." Mihawk replied.
Cassandra tried – unsuccessfully – to keep the look of relief from her face. "That sounds great." She said enthusiastically.
"Right, then." Eurydice let her satchel drop to the ground with a thud, and the rest of the group settled down.
Mihawk turned back to her map before noticing that Medigirl was currently fingering a fragment of bone. "Where'd you get that?" She asked curiously.
"Oh, you know those Moles we were fighting earlier? Yeah, After the fight I just scooped up a few of the pieces – I can have them checked later."
The archer raised her eyebrow inquisitively. "Why?"
The Medic blushed. "Oh, it's kinda… embarrassing… I really don't think we need to talk about it…"
"Well, if that's what you want…" Mihawk picked up the charcoal and was about to return to her map. Then she paused, and frowned.
"Does anyone else… hear buzzing?" She questioned.
Chapter End.
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