Chapter 8
Light filtered through the shady undergrowth, the flickering lighting up the place beautifully. The sounds of birds and insects filled the air intermittently as they passed through.
"You know, I can see why Risu likes staying in the forest," spoke up Moona after a while, "It is quite peaceful. I can only imagine how much more it would be in the circle of hers."
"Hmm, hmm, I can support that," agreed Lamy with a serene smile, "For once, we travel in a pretty place."
"Maybe-" started Polka before shrieking in fright when three constrictors landed on her, the cleric and Botan.
"Don't move!" shouted Botan immediately as the snakes coiled around their respective landing pads.
A large shadow slithered out of the undergrowth and a huge version of the snakes rose up over them, flicking its tongue in and out of its mouth. Everyone became scared and those without snakes around them pulled out their weapons.
"Stop! Stop!" shouted Risu as she raced up to them, placing herself between the giant snake and the party. Looking at the snake, she started hissing at it. It bobbed its head, whether out of surprise or understanding, nobody could tell. It then hissed back. The back and forth went on for a moment before it turned to look at the other snakes and hissed louder. The three snakes uncoiled themselves, slowly slithered off their bodies, and went down their legs, slithering into the underbrush. The giant snake hissed one last time before mirroring the other snakes and slithered away as well.
"Ha... that went well?" muttered Moona once the snakes vanished, "So… what did it say, Risu?"
"Hmm, I asked it to let us pass… then I asked if it saw any tigers..." muttered the dream druid as she tapped her sprig of mistletoe on her cheek, "Or did I ask it the other way around… anyway, it didn't notice any saber-tooths, but it directed me to a cave that might be where they live. It never went inside so it doesn't really know."
"Alright, lead the way," gestured Nene.
The squirrel girl nodded and led the party there. They didn't have to go that far. It was a large entrance, big enough for something large to walk through upright.
"Hey, want me to scout out inside?" asked Polka with a grin, "I can be pretty quiet when needed."
"Well… you are kinda stealthy… I don't see why not," agreed the lore bard.
"Most fortunate to have this kind of help," stated the glamour bard with approval.
"Alright, wish me luck," cheered the monk as she slipped into the shadows. However, after several seconds, she hurriedly came out, looking quite pale. "Umm, no saber-tooths in there," she told them.
"What was inside?" asked Botan curiously.
"Erm… not sure if I should say," she muttered.
"I am sure it would not do any harm saying it," stated Lamy, "Just tell us."
"Okay… I saw two owlbears in-" she started hesitantly.
Botan's eyes immediately lit up and the archer exclaimed, "Let's go!"
"What!? No!" shouted Polka as she tried to hold the lion girl back, "We are here to hunt saber-tooths, not owlbears! If we fight the owlbears now, we might not be strong enough to fight the others. Besides, we can always come back here later. Maybe after we rested."
The archer stared at her for a moment and as the light of battle in her eyes dimmed, she replied reluctantly, "...Fine. But we better get back here after we finish the request. This is a trial that-" She trailed off when she looked over the monk's shoulder. She spotted two gleaming eyes looking out of the cave entrance, illuminated by the sunlight from outside. A large outline could barely be seen. One, very loud screech later, two owlbears ran out of the cave with enraged screeches.
"Nope," murmured Moona as she ducked around a tree. Lamy did the same, but not before casting out a blessing over the others. That did little to help as Nene and Polka got mauled by the owlbears.
"Look this way and fight me!" roared Botan as she waved her arms as she moved back, while Aloe popped out of the Ethereal Plane. When the owlbears ignored her, she shot at them, the arrow grazing the shoulder of one of them. She was still ignored.
"Take this!" Polka shouted as blood streamed down her face as she tried to take on the owlbear that mauled the lore bard, punching it in the stomach area.
"Let the moon grant its aid," called out Risu as she drew a circle in the air with her sprig of mistletoe. The light of the moon then shone on the owlbear that attacked the bard, slowly increasing with intensity.
Moona, aghast at what happened, called out a healing note to Nene, while Lamy prayed aloud, "My goddess, please lend me your aid to protect my friends." A spectral sword of elven-make materialized and swung down on the owlbear, while she sent a ray of frost at its head. As it flinched, the sword missed.
The owlbear in front of the bard screeched loudly as the radiance of the moon burned through its body. Both of them tried to maul Polka, the first one missing and the second one striking as she dodged the first.
"Polka!" shouted the bard as she saw the monk fall by her side. Getting up, she skewered the owlbear in front of her in the stomach. Aloe then swooped down on the other owlbear, clawing the back of its head while Botan shot the first one in the neck.
"The fires of renewal will burn it all away," chanted Risu as she produced a flickering flame in her hand and threw it at the nearest owlbear, scorching its feathery fur.
The glamour bard turned the healing note to the monk while the half-snow elf cleric continued pressuring the first owlbear with spirit weapon and ice. It screeched loudly as the moonbeam continued to scorch it, and it mauled the one that got up to attack it. The other owlbear ignored Nene and tried swiping after the flying succubus.
Aloe blew a raspberry at the second owlbear while she clawed the head of the first as she dive-bombed it and flew out of range. The lion girl shot that one in the neck again while the fennec fox monk jumped to her feet.
"Haiya!" she shouted as she aimed a jumping kick at its head. It leaned back, the kick missing, but she smirked and with a twist, she turned it into a jumping roundhouse. The ball of her foot slammed right in its throat. It gurgled and collapsed backward under its weight. As she landed on her feet, the druid then mystically moved the moonbeam over the remaining owlbear. She then produced another flame in her hand and threw it at the monstrosity.
Moona moved the healing not back to Nene. Lamy turned her ministrations to the other owlbear while it still tried to reach out and swipe the succubus, its feathered fur burning and scorched by flame, moon, and frost.
"Just go down already!" shouted Nene as she got up again. She joined the rest of the party in raining it with attacks. Magic, arrow, and blade made it bloodied and burned. It was still able to swipe Polka one last time before going down to the lore bard's rapier. She then quickly sang out the note of healing, the regenerative aura washing over the monk and closing her more grievous wounds.
"Ha…. I don't want to do that too many times," the fennec fox girl grumbled as the lore bard helped her up.
"...you still looked really cool when you kicked that owlbear," spoke up the druid as she pointed at said monstrosity.
"Eh… I guess?" the monk admitted embarrassedly, unsure on what to say to that.
"Trophy, trophy, trophy," hummed Botan happily as she examined the bodies to see which head was in a better condition.
Suddenly, a screech sounded out, coming from the cave. It was not as loud as the other owlbears, but more like a low warbling. Everyone was on guard and all eyes were drawn to the entrance. Seconds ticked by and a faint scratching was heard. Then, a much smaller version of an owlbear walked out haltingly and then clumsily fell down. The cub then warble-screeched again while looking around.
"OH, MY GODS! SO CUTE!" exclaimed Risu as she suddenly raced forward and pounced. The young cub squirmed as it was hugged from behind, away from its already sharp claws.
"Ah, yes, go ahead and hug the baby that can claw your eyes out," snarked Aloe as everyone else watching giggled at the druid's antics.
"Oh, oh, no," the lore bard muttered after realizing something, "Did we kill its parents?"
"Very likely," the glamour bard stated, somewhat confirming it, "Do remember that they tried killing us."
"I know… but… will it survive out in the wild without its parents?" she asked.
"It can't. That's why-" was the reply but was interjected by the one hugging the cub.
"That's why it's coming with me!" exclaimed Risu, "I will give it all my love and care, and it will stay with me forever!" The owlbear cub just squawked and continued to struggle.
"Well… I guess that's something?" she admitted questioningly.
After some discussion, they decided to rest a little while to help tend to Polka's and Nene's wounds. Moona decided to aid in accelerating their healing as well, lacing a song with healing notes, singing of the return of life after the end of winter. It was admiringly melodic and after she was done, they clapped. Several extra pairs of hands joined the claps and a lot of screeching and hooting. Before they knew it, a troop of apes clambered down from the trees and started jumping and chattering around the glamour bard.
"Er, what is..." she stammered, unable to find the words to describe this.
"Ah! Hold on!" requested Risu as she grasped her sprig of mistletoe, "I used this spell earlier in a hurry. Now that they are acting friendly, we can do this normally." She hurriedly pushed the owlbear cub into Botan's hands, who held it at arm's length.
She then started waving the mistletoe and chanted in a mystical manner as she walked around the troop of apes, lightly touching their heads as she passed them by. The commotion they stirred up before lessened as the apes stood still and looked at her in wonder as each of them was touched with it. Once she was done, she then started making light chattering noises as she communicated with the apes. The noise level then went back to normal and they made a lot of noise. Eventually, the troop clambered back up the trees with the druid waving after them.
"Alright, they can't really tell the difference between saber-tooths and normal tigers, but they did see some cat-like hunters south of here," she informed them.
Amazed by what they saw, the party continued their hunt. Before going, Botan requested that they return to this place to harvest an owlbear head. After they reluctantly agreed, the party proceeded to move southward. It was now evening and the bright orange sun created more shadows as it made its journey down. However, it was only ten minutes into the trek when Botan's ears twitched as she heard something slinking around and disturbing dead leaves.
"Something is stalking us," she announced, causing everyone to stop in their tracks.
"I thought so," muttered Lamy as she grasped her amulet, "Is it the saber-tooths?"
"I can't really tell," the lion girl admitted as everyone formed a circle, all pairs of eyes in every direction, "But I bet that they are hungry and are on the hunt. Let's hope they are desperate enough to-"
"I see one!" called out Nene as she threw her dagger, the weapon ending up embedded in a tree instead of an enemy.
"Too soon!" shouted back Botan while Lamy called for blessings.
Tigers charged at them, targeting the bards and the monk. They were not saber-tooths, but that didn't make their claws hurt any less. Nene and Polka were between two of them, pushed back to back, while the third one knocked Moona off her feet. Thankfully, she rolled to the side and avoided getting bitten. She quickly got to her feet and attacked with her daggers. At the same time, the monk lashed out with a kick to the head. Risu defaulted to throwing fire while Botan used her claws.
"Under pressure, walls closing down on me, surrounding my life, looking down on me," Nene hurriedly started singing, the magic in the words prompting roars of pain from the tigers, as she didn't have time to use her lute. It was a general melee from then on. The cleric and the succubus aided the monk with her tiger. The archer helped with the lore bard's tiger and the druid lit the glamour bard's one on fire. It didn't take long before the monk's tiger died and the other two ran away with grievous injuries.
"Well, those were not the tigers we're looking for," stated Botan with a frown, "I guess we have to continue looking."
"Moona, Moona, can you help me feed Baloo while I heal Nene?" asked Risu as she pointed to the owlbear cub, who was pawing the tiger body and sniffing the wounds, "Just cut off strips for him to gobble."
"...okay..." relented the aasimar bard reluctantly.
"So, what should we do now?" asked Lamy as the druid rubbed her glowing green hands over the lore bard's wounds.
"Maybe retrace our steps?" suggested the archer, "Maybe… well, the dead owlbears might draw them in. I don't think anyone could turn down free meat. Plus, I still want my trophy."
"Good idea, Botan," praised Nene with a smile.
After the druid's owlbear cub had its fill, they retraced their steps back to the cave. The evening had just passed on to twilight at that point and there was thankfully still enough light to see. As they reached the vicinity of the cave, Polka volunteered to scout ahead. With everyone in agreement, she dashed on ahead. A few minutes later, she came back looking excited.
"They're there! The saber-tooths," she announced, "Four of them. They're surrounding one of the owlbears and busy eating."
"Yosh… alright, we do this quietly. We will sneak up on them," planned the archer, "I will start it off with a burst arrow. When they are coming at me, take them out from the side with your attacks. Then, by the time they reach us, they should be weakened enough to finish them off."
Everyone agreed that it was a good plan and they set out. As they neared the area, they took up positions and waited for Botan. Carefully, she nocked the arrow and pulled it back, the projectile taking on a silvery sheen. Upon release, it streaked through the air like a bolt of lightning, striking the first saber-tooth and exploding in a burst of energy. The beasts flinched and after shaking it off, charged straight at the archer. That same saber-tooth took on the burnt of magic and projectiles being thrown at it. At the same time, Nene started singing with lute accompaniment, the magic in the song causing a loud ringing in the saber-tooth's ears.
With a yell, Moona's eyes gained an unearthly glow and a pair of luminous, incorporeal wings sprouted out of her back. The moonbeams and frost rays continued to make their mark.
"Ha!" Polka shouted, taking the chance to dart in and land a flurry of blows on the already battered saber-tooth and somersaulting out of the way of its claws, landing next to the archer, who sent another bursting arrow. Aloe swooped in to do the same.
All that attention it received caused it to run away, but the other three piled onto Botan and Polka, the archer deftly dodging their claws but the monk wasn't so lucky. She only survived thanks to Lamy's timely healing.
It then devolved into the fennec fox and the lion's efforts to draw the saber-tooth's attention while the others wailed on them. Moona joined in the fray, mimicking the succubus' tactics. One by one they died. One tiger tried to fight back; it leaped away and pounced onto Botan, grounding her and biting her arm, drawing grunts from her.
"Argh, get off me!" she roared as she head butted its nose. It roared in annoyance and leaped back.
Unfortunately, this allowed the other saber-tooth tiger to sink its teeth into her shoulder, prompting her to yell out in pain. Once again, she survived thanks to the cleric's intervention, her magic knitting up the most grievous of wounds.
"Quickly, they shouldn't last much longer now!" shouted Moona as she landed, carving out a saber-tooth's flank before flying up again.
And they did. With several close calls, the battle was won.
AN: Hello, readers. Welcome to the next chapter. So... about that hunt. As we can see, knowing how to speak to animals is a good thing. You always want to have a squirrel with you to help you find your way in the jungle. She can also help to pacify baby owlbears. Hmm... wait, owlbears. Much pain. Avoidable by flying. If you can't fly, maintain distance. If all fails... it's been nice knowing you.
And thus, the hunt for saber-tooth tigers comes to a close. Time for Botan to get yet another trophy... a more expensive one. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.