Chapter 11
Along the way to the orphanage, they met Risu and Moona. It seems that they were bringing Baloo around to get him used to the city, the squirrel girl having a firm grip on him.
"Haloo, what's going on?" asked the druid.
"We are going to put on a performance for children at the orphanage," Polka informed them happily.
"Oh, can we come and watch!?" asked the squirrel girl, immediately into over-the-top-excited mode.
"Color me interested as well," added the aasimar.
"Sure! The more the merrier!" the monk said jovially.
And so, the party and the additions sauntered on to the orphanage. They still needed time to set up, get into costume, and for Nene, check her lute. Thankfully, this is where Baloo came into play. Risu introduced the owlbear cub to the orphans and soon there was a lot of laughter as the boys play-wrestled with him while the girls laughed and cheered both sides on. The cub had to be gentle with them, as the druid promised him treats. Honey and meat strips. So, it warbled and chirped as he played with the children.
Eventually, the children were called into the building and they settled down in the large living room. Risu, Baloo, and Moona went in as well as sat down on the stairs that were right next to the room. Polka came out of the kitchen in her multicolored costume and pranced around, wowing the young audience.
"Hello, everyone, welcome to Polka's Travelling Stories," she introduced grandly to cheers and applause. Nene then started playing her lute. A smooth stream of soothing melodies set the atmosphere.
The monk told the story of a lion. Mighty and proud. It was the strongest animal in its domain. In came Botan with her lion costume, moving to the middle of the 'stage' and posing majestically. The crowd ooh-ed and ahh-ed with giggles.
"One day, while it was asleep…"
Botan pretended to yawn and lay down to sleep.
"...a mouse walked by and its scratchings woke the lion up."
Lamy scurried into view, wearing a full-body mouse costume. She crawled around the archer, who suddenly 'woke up' and caught her tail.
"Please, o King of Beasts, please let me go," the 'mouse' pleaded, "If you do, one day I shall return the favor and aid you instead."
The 'lion' laughed and said imperiously, "As if a small thing like you can ever help me." However, the 'lion' released its hold and let the mouse go. Lamy scurried out of sight.
"However, one day, the lion was caught in a hunter's trap."
The 'lion' laid down on the floor. Nene stopped playing and threw a blanket over Botan. The audience giggled again. She then continued playing, her strumming suddenly went up in tempo a little. More oohs and aahs.
"It roared loudly. It thrashed around. Nothing it did matters. The trap was simply too sturdy and strong."
The 'lion' mocked roared and waved her arms around, prompting more giggles.
"Suddenly, the mouse appeared..."
Lamy scurried into view and went straight for Botan. "O King of Beasts, let me help you," the 'mouse' requested.
"Do as you will. If I cannot release myself, what more can you do?" the 'lion' stated tiredly as she laid down again.
"... and bit through the trap and set the lion free!"
Lamy lifted the blanket and let Botan crawl out from under it. "How amazing. I was wrong to doubt you, little one," admitted the 'lion' as the cleric dropped the blanket.
"Thank you, my lord. I am always ready to help," squeaked the 'mouse' as both of them crawled away out of sight.
"The lion learned that day that one good turn always deserves another, no matter how big or small you are. Thank you," ended Polka as she walked to the front of the audience and bowed.
She was then greeted with cheers and loud clapping. The party then went to the front and bowed again. The children immediately got to their feet and ran over to hug all the performers, all of them thanking them and saying how awesome the performance was in varying degrees of loudness. Everyone was all smiles, but none were bigger and brighter than Polka's, who wore the biggest smile of all.
"Woohoo, that was fun," said Risu while carrying Baloo as the whole group walked back to the guild house.
"Yeah! Yeah! The first step to making the Polka-riffic circus!" exclaimed Polka as she did cartwheels by the side of the road.
"I do admit, it was very heartening seeing their smiles," stated Lamy.
"Yeah, it was wonderful," agreed Aloe.
"Indeed, whoever thought of taking this task should be praised," added Moona.
"Yes!" shouted the monk, agreeing whole-heartedly as she jumped on the archer's back, "Thanks for taking it, Botan!"
"Hn, no problem," replied the lion girl, grunting a little as she adjusted to the weight.
It was late evening when they reached the guild house. After saying their goodbyes, the group went to their rooms to store their play stuff before going to the bar for dinner. Everyone was relaxed and ate their fill. It was a good time. As they were finishing up, Artia appeared next to their table and asked, "Erm, excuse me… can I ask for assistance?"
The party looked at her for a moment. "Sure. What do you need help with?" asked Nene as they made space for her to sit. It was a squeeze but they managed.
"Well, you see..." she started, poking her index fingers together as she blushed with embarrassment, "I need help with some spell experiments. Mostly just to see if I am doing it correctly. So… if you can get a suitable hunting quest tomorrow, I would like to follow along."
"Sure you can. What time are you free?" asked the bard with a welcoming tone.
"Ah, in the afternoon, after classes are over," she replied gratefully, "Thank you so much! I shall see you all tomorrow."
She then bowed and left in a hurry.
The request was to hunt a brown bear for a pelt. Artia had already picked it out and was waiting for the party in the side room. She was certainly eager to try out her spells. After some preparation, the party left by the west gate. They traveled down the road, intending to go further out before turning off-road. However, there was something they didn't account for.
"Hear that?" asked Botan softly as they made their way westward. The rustling of the leaves was a very clear sign.
"I hear it too," replied Nene, "They aren't making much effort to hide, though."
"It has been awhile," muttered Lamy as she glanced over to Polka, who was busy daydreaming about her circus.
"What are you talking about?" asked Artia in confusion.
"We have trouble coming our way," stated Aloe calmly as she got ready to fly.
"Get 'em!"
Artia and Aloe acted quicker than the others. The wizard ran behind a tree as she shot a ray of frost at one bandit, the beam glancing across his arm. The succubus flew up and dived forward, gliding over to the furthest bandit.
"Hello, can you help me?" she asked as she landed, batting her eyes at him as she tried to seduce him magically.
He stared at her in a daze for a moment before shouting, "Demon! They have a demon!" This drew the attention of the nearby bandits. Two leveled their crossbows at her and shot bolts at her, while her target and the bandit next to him drew their swords to attack.
"Tch," she hissed as a sword slice left a cut on her arm while a bolt went through one of her wings.
"Argh! Try that again! I bet you can't hit the side of a barn!" Nene mocked the bandit leader as she pulled both of his daggers out of her leg.
It wasn't as vicious as it sounded as the man jeered, "Ha, ha! Try saying that while not bleeding, girly!" Meanwhile, the bandit next to him yelled in pain as Botan's arrow pierced his shoulder.
"Hai-ya!" shouted Polka as she landed a flying kick into the chest of one of the shooters. She tried kicking him again but she missed since he was staggering backward.
Meanwhile, the ice genasi had been waving her hands over her spellbook. Then, she ran out of cover and shouted, "With the power of the freezing winds!" Holding out her hands in front of her, her thumbs touching and fingers spread, a wave of blue flames washed over the shooters. Instead of burning them, their bodies and limbs were inflicted with freezing coldness. One bandit collapsed, overcome by the drop in temperature. The other was able to keep his mind and ran away screaming for help into the forest. "By the gods, it worked," she muttered in disbelief as she looked to her hands.
At the same moment, Aloe decided to switch targets and attempted to charm her former target's companion. The man stared at her for a moment and said, "Mistress?"
His friend realized what was happening and shouted, "The fuck?" He then punched the new target.
When he didn't react, the succubus smiled deviously and she ordered, "Kill this one."
"Snap out of it, you dumb shit!" his friend shouted as they traded blows.
"Damned idiots," growled the bandit leader as he threw two more daggers at the bard, who dashed to the middle of the battlefield, one of the daggers nicking her arm.
She then started strumming her lute, singing about being under the pressure. The bandits pretty much ignored her song, save the charmed one.
"You touched in the head, gir-"
"Shut up!" shouted the monk as she surged forward and elbowed the leader in the face. She then pummeled him in the gut before somersaulting back. Just in time too, as Botan's arrow flew true into the bandit's throat and his blood splattered over the bandit leader.
"Damn it all," he growled out as he ducked under the cleric's frost ray.
Meanwhile, Artia tried another spell. As she chanted, she made as if to pull an invisible bow, a shimmering green arrow forming in her hands. As she motioned to release it, she muttered this time, "By the power of the freezing winds." The arrow hit its target, splashing over the bandit and killed him, frost creeping and spreading all around the killing blow.
"Huh, I guess, time to finish him off," Aloe said to herself as she motioned the last bandit over. She then gave him a kiss. Wisps of ethereal energy flowed from him to her, the bandit's body suddenly drying up and turning into a husk in seconds. She released the dried-up remains, the body crumpling to the grassy ground. The genasi noticed this and she narrowed her eyes, staring at the succubus.
"Haargh! Damn it all!" the bandit leader shouted as he charged down the monk, dodging everything that was thrown and shot at him. His sword clipped her arm but she avoided the rest of his swings. She tried to pummel him again, but it seemed that he had enough and his wild swings were masking the fact that he was trying to run away.
Unfortunately for him, Aloe blocked his way and said, "Can you look into my eyes?" As she bat her eyes at him, he stopped in his tracks and stared into space while asking, "Yes, mistress?"
"Hmph, are you going to kiss him too?" asked Artia.
"Umm..."
"What are you talking about?" asked Lamy as the rest of the party gathered warily.
"Ah… I got some… extra sustenance?" said the succubus very hesitantly.
"Your friend just sucked out that one's soul," said the wizard as she pointed to the drained husk.
"Eh?" sounded Polka in disbelief as she stared at their friend.
"...That… doesn't sound good," stated Nene, "Why did you do that, Aloe?"
"Uh..." she uttered sheepishly as she poked her index fingers together, "I… It's been some time since I had something like this? I guess next time… I'll do it out of sight? If it makes you that uncomfortable."
"Hnn, I rather you don't do it at all, to be honest," muttered the monk, after most of the others nodded, "I mean, I heard stories of succubi draining souls."
"I agree," affirmed the cleric, "Absolutely under no circumstance should you do so again. I mean, if you must consume souls, then I suppose we should have you work as an executioner of sorts in the city. But you speak of it as if talking about a delicacy, which means you can live without it. So, no taking souls!"
She groaned and said, "Fine… I won't go sucking out anyone's soul… in front of you." Then, she turned to the bandit leader and asked, "So what do I do about this guy?"
"Um… have him turn himself in to the guards at the gate," suggested Nene.
Everyone agreed with it. Aloe then sent him on his way, with orders to surrender to the gate guard and confess his banditry. With that settled, the party dragged the bodies into the forest and continued on their way. They moved further into the forest, keeping ears out for bear-like sounds and eyes for signs like scratches on trees, so on and so forth. There were quite a few. But, zero signs of any bears, which was puzzling.
"Hng, I wish Risu was here to guide us," muttered Botan as her eyes darted around, "The day is going and still no sign of any bears."
"Truly vexing," agreed Artia, "We should have met at least one by-"
"Hey, there's a cave there!" shouted out the monk, pointing to a cave entrance under a hillock.
"Hmm, maybe there's a bear inside," mused the archer, "Better be careful. Maybe Polka sneaks inside first?"
"No problem!" the fennec fox girl exclaimed and she crept in from the side of the mouth of the cave. The rest waited outside off to the side. A few minutes went by and she came out, looking a little shaken.
"Are you alright?" asked Nene, wondering what happened to her.
"Something weird is going on inside," she told them after calming down a bit, "So, it's one big cave and I saw a woman inside. She was dressed in a green dress and a green shawl. She had this… unnatural beauty to her. She seemed to be living there. But, I also found rats. Lots of rats. I also saw hairy goblins sneaking around in the shadows. Thankfully, they didn't see me, although I think she almost detected me. I swear there was one time I think her eyes were following me. It was so creepy."
"Hmm… I think I heard of something like this but I just can't remember," muttered Artia in confusion.
"Is she responsible for the missing bears?" asked Botan, deep in thought.
"I don't see how one woman can remove All the bears in this forest," snarked Aloe.
"Then, let's ask her then," the archer stated. She then got up and headed to the mouth of the cave.
"Are you sure about this?" asked the bard.
The lion girl shrugged and replied, "Sitting around outside won't help us."
The rest looked at each other for a moment. Then, the lore bard said, "Alright, but we better keep our eyes and ears open for sudden attacks."
"Agreed. This woman doesn't sound trustworthy at all," supported Lamy.
Having made the unified decision, they headed into the cave. It was dark, lit by a strange green glow as they passed the area lit by the sun outside. It opened up to a large cave. An alcove to the side of the cave entrance had straw bedding and a glimpse of a wooden thing further in. There was a naturally raised area on the other side leading to another alcove. At the furthest side of the cave, there were barrels and all manner of foodstuffs as well as a firepit with a bubbling cauldron. The green woman Polka saw stood in front of the cast-iron pot, peering into its roiling depths. Suddenly, she looked up and turned to face them.
"Hello, children. What sort of help can I do for you today?"
AN: Hello, readers. Welcome to the next chapter. Right, it's playtime. Holo5 playing with some kids. And after that, Artia is asking for some help. Testing out her skills so to speak. As the Order of the Scribe wizards can modify the damage type of their spells, I decided on 'the freezing winds' line as her trigger word. So, she will be coming along while they hunt for bears. However, not everything is as they seem. Where have all the bears gone? Then, they meet a mysterious woman living in a cave. Hmm...
Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.