Arc 1 - Chapter 3: Mudstane Town
Lavender and Nevermore made their way to Mudstane Town, a relatively small village covered in snow and mud like the rest of the area. Their first decision was to enter the shop posted next to the town entrance. Upon entering, Lavender was greeted by a monster. She resembled that of an arctic fox. "Hello, young one. How can I help you?" She asked.
Lavender looked through the clerk's stock. She saw another tactical glove similar to the one she already had. She then saw a headband with fiery patterns printed on it. She wasn't interested in it. Lavender then looked at the food. She decided to buy a Lemon Meringue Tart. Lavender began to converse with the clerk.
The clerk smiled. "Hiya, welcome to Mudstane. Don't really see new faces around here often. There's not that much to do here. We got food, a library, an inn. You could always watch those two wacky mutants do their thing. They kinda just asserted themselves in this town and now they're basically the face of the place. The town surely got more interesting since then. We used to live in the Overgrowth over westward, course it wasn't always called that. After a fight with the queen, her sister used magic to make the vegetation isolate the place, so we started calling it that. Oh my, I've been rambling, go ahead and be on your way now." She apologized.
Lavender exited the shop. She opened up a chest similar to the one from earlier, and like it said, her stuff was still in there. She decided to put her special brownie from Leni in there since she had more food on her. She saw what appeared to be a christmas tree in the middle of town. After approaching it, a bear monster turned to Lavender.
He began to speak. "Some awful teens tormented an innocent deer by putting stuff all over its horns. Now it's a tradition to put presents underneath this tree as a sign of respect." He said.
Nevermore turned to Lavender. "Monsters and mutants used to celebrate Christmas, but after being sealed down here by humans, most of them stopped celebrating your human holidays." She said. This news saddened Lavender a bit. "Hey, relax, it's not your fault. Just be aware that not everyone will understand that." She said.
Lavender moved on and found a young snake similar to El Diablo from earlier. They were wearing a shirt that featured recognizable patterns of a soccer ball, basketball, and volleyball. "Hey there, you're a kid too right? Ya know, sometimes I wonder how those mutants are so smart even though they're kids like us." They said. Lavender shrugged, not knowing either, and waved goodbye as she walked off.
Lavender looked all around town. There was some houses in the northern branch, some more people standing around, but Lavender knew she wanted to just get out of the Underground, so she made her way east. She approached a large house with mailboxes at the front and a fence beyond it. There was a sign posted out front. In blue it said 'Any problems around town?' Then in orange, it said 'You or someone you know need to pass through?' Then alternating between the colors, it said 'Give us a knock.'
Nevermore inspected. "It seems they run security for the town. Guess they are the closest thing they have to a mayor." She said. Lavender continued onward, noticing a shed connected to the fence's border. She noticed the gate was unlocked with a note attached. In blue is says 'Humans only! If you are a monster that needs to pass, consult my brother. Signed, Lana.'
Nevermore spoke. "I'm gonna go look up ahead. Lana shouldn't be a problem for you." She said as she flew on ahead. Lavender passed the fence. Lavender was now walking along a treeline bordering a river. As she walked onward, she noticed fog forming around her. As she attempted to make her way through it, she noticed she eventually came across Lana, opposing her in the fog.
Lana began to speak. "Human, allow me to tell you about some complex feelings. Feelings like...the admiration of someone's puzzle-solving skills. The desire to have someone look up to you so you can put a smile on their face. Sometimes it's difficult feeling this way, and I know you must be very lonely on your quest. That is why I will help us both and be your..." Lana trailed off to silence and turned away.
"No...I can't be your friend. You're a human, I have to capture you! I want to pursue my dream. To be Lana, member of the Royal Guard who will inspire many!" She said aloud as she turned and pointed at Lavender. The area entered battle mode. The snowy and muddy ground became just mud, as the snow became a shallow layer of water, and the icy fog clouding the field.
*Lana blocks the way!
Lavender lowered her weapon, sparing Lana. Lana was surprised. "So you won't fight? Then let's see if you can handle my Blue Attack!" She said. Lana lifted her hand, and bones made of mud rose from the ground. She then pointed her hand forward, sending them at Lavender as a blue glow surrounded them. Lavender remembered to stand still, as the mud bones passed right through her.
Lavender felt pretty clever, but at her highest moment, she suddenly felt incredibly heavy and fell to the ground as her orange soul turned blue. As she looked up, a small mud bone hit her in the face, splattering all over it. She managed to stand up wiped the mud off of her face. Lana was smiling. "You're blue now! That's my attack!" She said, followed by her laughter.
Lavender spared again. "Behold!" Lana said. She sent mud bones across the ground. Lavender had to try her best to jump over them now that she was heavy. Lavender spared again, and Lana continued to attack. "How high can you jump!?" She asked. This time the mud bones were bigger, taking everything Lavender had to get over.
Lavender spared again. "That's right, don't make me use my special attack!" Lana said. She then started to lift mud bones into the air as well as the ground. Lavender jumped over one, then ducked, and repeated. After another spare, Lana attacked using bigger mud bones, which Lavender jumped over with all her might. Then an even bigger wall of mud bones approached, but they were glowing blue, so she stopped and they passed on by. Lana then tried to sneak another small mud bone into the attack, but Lavender dodged it this time.
Another spare, Lana's face grew serious. She sent a wall with a small gap. Lavender dove through, then jumped over a small hill of mud bones. Lana then sent thicker walls with gaps. Lavender put all she could into diving, especially through high gaps. After a couple walls, she froze as a blue mud bone passed, and a regular mud bone came from behind, which she responded by turning around and jumping over. Then two walls came from both sides, which Lavender jumped in between their gaps, letting them both pass by.
Lana grew a bigger grin. "I'll make Lynn proud of me!" She said as she sent multiple hills of mud bones towards Lavender. Lavender jumped over each one, which required a lot of effort from her. Lana then sent low walls approaching from each side slowly. You'd think the attack would be easy, but Lavender had to watch where she jumped to dodge it.
Lana continued. "Perhaps even my brother will be more proud of me then he already is!" Lana said, using a faster variant of the same attack. After Lavender dodged that, Lana sent more walls, each having a higher gap than the last. The last one in particular took a lot of effort for Lavender to clear. Lana then pulled her hand towards her, bringing the walls back.
Lavender had to now clear them in descending order, which despite being a little disorienting, was kinda easy. However, Lana played another trick. At the end of the attack were two more walls that shifted the gap up and down. By timing carefully, Lavender cleared them. Lana was beginning to sweat a little. "Huh, somebody like you is really rare." She said.
She then sent groups of walls that created inclined gaps. Lavender had to carefully dive through the slanted gaps to make it through them, rolling and springing upwards to accomplish this. "I don't think they'll let you go after you're captured." Lana said. She then used a pattern of blue attacks with small mud bones in the middle, creating a jumping pattern that required short hops for Lavender to dodge.
Lana then sent more mud bone hills, but these one were longer, requiring running jumps from Lavender to make it over. After seeing Lavender grow tired, Lana shook her head. "It's no use, give up." She said, growing a little agitated due to also becoming tired. She tried launching more incline walls, followed by walls that open and closed their gaps. Lavender learned pretty quickly, and managed to make her way through it.
Lana pointed forward. "Give up or face my special attack!" Lana said. She then used an attack she already used before, which now wasn't hard for Lavender to dodge. "Yeah, I'm gonna use it very soon!" She said, repeating another attack, but to no success. "This is your last chance!" Lana said before using yet another repeated attack, with no more success than the others.
Lana entered a new battle stance. "Alright, I warned you. Behold my special attack!" She said. It started with two waves of small mud bones, then a couple of larger ones with Lavender had to jump over. Four waves of bones that shifted their height came forward, and Lavender got through by ducking and jumping past them. Lana then tried a couple of inclined walls, but they also failed.
The attack suddenly became more direct, as Lana launched the mud bones straight at Lavender this time. Lavender jumped over the first batch, then the second batch with more energy, and managed a front flip on her jump over the third batch. Lana clenched her fist and rose her arm, creating a tremendous amount of mud bones. She then slammed her fist into the ground, and strained as she pulled up, sending the field of mud bones along with an incredibly huge mud bone that towered in height, causing Lana to sweat even more.
Lavender, feeling confident, ran towards the oncoming attack. Her soul began to shine orange through Lana's blue magic, and unleashed her Faith into a mighty jump that cleared the massive field of bones and even managed to clear the giant one. Lana was in pure shock witnessing such a feat from a human. Upon Lavender landing, Lana tried to send one more mud bone at her, but it fell apart before even reaching her.
Lana began to breath heavily. "Well, it's clear you don't have the will to defeat me by attacking. Therefore, I will elect you into my ranks. I shall spare you human!" Lana said. Lavender reciprocated. Battle mode faded out as the shallow water returned to being snow on the ground amidst the mud. Lana waved her hands as the fog cleared out.
Lana felt defeated. "Oh, why bother? I can't even beat a human child. Lynn will be disappointed, I'll never join the guard. At least I'll still have my brother." She said. Lavender felt bad. She ran up to Lana and gave her a hug. Lana felt tears in her eyes. "Really!? You want to be friends!? Well then, I guess I'll grant you access through." She said.
Lana then took a step back. "I'll tell you how to reach the surface. Continue along this cavern until you reach the end. When you reach the capital, you'll have to cross the barrier. That's the magical seal that keeps us underground. Anything can come in, but nothing can escape unless they have a powerful soul, like you! That's why the queen wants to have your soul, to use soul power to open it and let us return to the surface. Unfortunately that means you'll have to get past the queen. She's... grown to become a pushover. Anyway, I'll be at home. Feel free to hang out anytime!" Lana said.
Lana proceeded to dive to the ground hands first, and then catapulted herself over Lavender by pushing herself off the ground. All of a sudden, Nevermore came flying back from the other side. "Hey, I saw that last attack, I'm glad you got past that, I didn't expect that from her. Anyway, how about you go and talk to her, she looked pretty down." She said.
Lavender turned back around and went back to Lana's house. She made her way through the gate, which no longer had that note on it. She walked up to Lana, who was standing in front of her house. "Oh! Back already? You must be very serious about this. Well then, let's head inside!" Lana said, as she opened the front door and took Lavender inside.
The house featured a simple living room right inside the door, connecting to a kitchen and a staircase that lead to a narrow hallway of a second floor that featured two bedrooms. "Welcome! Look around and make yourself at home!" Lana said before going to stand by the stairs. Lavender looked over at a table to see joke books and quantum physics books.
Lana noticed. "Those belong to my brother. No organization whatsoever. Not only are they all over the table, there's books inside of the books in more books, I don't even want to look in them anymore." She said. Lavender, not even asking how that was possible, looked around and made her way to the kitchen. Lana followed her. Before being able to look at anything, a rat ran out of the house with a piece of cheese.
Lana looked at the door. "Darn it! I really need to patch the hole in that stupid cabinet!" She yelled. The sound of a door opening upstairs could be heard, followed by the sound of a signature 3 note failure sting played on a cello, and then the door closed. Lana turned to the stairs. "Bro! Stop plaguing my life with incidental music!" She yelled. Nevermore, who was just watching the whole thing began to laugh.
Lavender went up the stairs and looked around. The door near the stairs was covered in various decorations such as warning signs you'd see on a street. The door down the hall was very bland, except for the odd color-shifting lights coming from under it. Lana followed Lavender up the stairs. "Well, if you're done looking around, how about we play in my room?" Lana asked.
When they went inside, Lana pulled out a game board along with a collection of figures. "This a fun game I like to play with Lincoln sometimes. I have a lot of figures because, well, let's just say a man in a famous red hat. That's right, Santa!" She said.
Lana laid out the game and the two began to play. Each piece had a card with the information on what they did. The game was pretty standard, take down the enemy pieces using strategy and positioning. Having Nevermore on her side was a helping hand, as her intelligence helped Lavender make good strategies against Lana, who was pretty good at the game herself.
The match was hard fought and lasted a while. Lana took the lead at the beginning, taking out pieces like Lavender's Orcanado and Stone Bird, but with Nevermore's help, she began to take pieces like Lana's Alien Scout and Haystack Ninja. The match was cutting close, both Lana and Lavender only had 2 pieces left. It was Lavender's move.
Per Nevermore's advice, Lavender used a special charge from her Nimbostratus to have her Pan Man upgraded to Gold Pan Man, which allowed his charge attack to take down both Lana's Troll Soldier and her Drill Worm. This ended the match. Lana stood up. "Well played human. I have used that strategy on my brother before, likewise, he has done the same to me. It's a really good one. You have won." Lana said.
Lana then handed Lavender a piece of paper. "If you ever wish to hang out or want some advice, just call me and I'll be glad to chat and arrange hangouts. Like maybe with Lynn. Well, I have to go. I'll see you around!" Lana said before leaving. Lavender got up and went down the stairs and left the house. After going to the shop to buy another tart, Lavender made her way eastward and passed the area where she fought Lana about an hour ago.
After heading down a descending ramp of a pathway, Lavender was reaching the end of Mudstane. As Lavender made her way forward, the terrain became stone-like, and was a darker orange in terms of color. As she walked, she looked around, noticing what appeared to be waterfalls that were yellow in color. Nevermore flew in front of her.
"We're approaching Goldenfalls, it get its name due a phenomenon that causes the natural water here to gain a yellow/gold color. I believe it might have something to do with the magic glyphs seen printed inside the temple-like structures around here." She said. Lavender took note of this and came across that Snake Kid from earlier.
"Yo! You sneaking out to see her too? Isn't she great!? I wanna be like her when I grow up." He said. Lavender waved goodbye as she made her way further down the path to see a sentry post positioned in a curve in the road. The path curved around an area where the golden waters flowed into a waterfall.
*Making a new friend out of Lana made you feel happy. You have Faith that you'll make it out. Goldenfalls - Sentry Post
As Lavender passed by the empty post, she heard a sudden voice.
"Heya bud." It said. Lavender turned around to see Lincoln at the post. She walked up and asked him what he was doing. "What, you never seen a guy with two jobs before?" He asked. Lavender gave him a smirk. "Heh. So, I saw what you did back there, and I really appreciate it. However..." He trailed off before diving through the gap in the booth. Lincoln then stood, opposing her.
"Unfortunately for both of us, I'm a sentry too, which means I have to at least try to capture you." He said. Lavender looked like a mixture of sad and worried. Lincoln sighed. "Well, let's not beat around the bush." He said. The area entered fight mode. The dark orange stone shifted to a dark blue, and the golden waterfalls next to them became a bright cyan.
*Lincoln blocks your way.
Lavender just stood there. Lincoln decided to make the first attack. "Hey pal, I don't know if you noticed, but I'm a very busy guy. So I'd appreciate if you made this fast." He said as he formed a real bone in his hand, unlike Lana's mud imitations, and one side was a needle. Lavender was scared. Lincoln threw it at her, and it came forward, but it fell short.
Lavender was confused. Lincoln winked. "Wow, you marrowly escaped that. Had me worried there, it was a very dangerous attack after all." He said. Lavender smiled and told a pun about 'calcium all coming' and stuff. Lincoln's smile grew. "Nice, but I've already heard that one." He threw another needle bone, but this one flew off to the side.
Lavender was getting annoyed, and insulted his aim. Lincoln responded. "Bonehead? Ya know pal, flattery might work on human guys, but I'm not that easy. Besides, I'm clearly giving you my all here." He said. He formed two more and threw them, but they missed. Lavender sighed and spared. Lincoln took notice. "Oh, you're sparing me? Well, that's makes this easier." He said. Battle mode ended and the orange and yellow colors returned to the area.
Lincoln dusted himself off and checked the time. "Well, that was exciting, and it seems we finished in time for my break. I'm heading to the Burger Joint, wanna come along?" He asked. Lavender and Nevermore agreed. "Alright then, I know a shortcut. Just close your eyes." He said. Lavender closed her eyes, and after waiting a couple seconds, she heard him talk again. "You can open them now."
Lavender was shocked to be inside the restaurant she passed by in Mudstane. The Swamp Unit took up the tables on the west wing, while some other monsters occupied the east wing and counter. "Hey everyone." Lincoln said to the crowd.
Everyone greeted him, from a simple hi from the swamp unit to a flirty response from one monster, which he brushed off with a standard greeting. Someone on the counter chairs asked him why he was here today. "Eh, I already got so many joints, one more wouldn't hurt." He said, getting a lot of laughs. He took Lavender up to the counter seats, where they sat at the two stools on the end. Nevermore just laid down on the ceiling above them.
Lincoln turned to Lavender. "So, what do you want to eat?" He asked. Lavender pointed at the number three. "Ah, great choice. Ey Steamy, two number threes if you please." He asked. The cloud-like monster nodded in response and went to the kitchen. Lincoln looked back at Lavender. "So while we're waiting on those, tell me, what do you think of my sister?" He asked.
Lavender responded by saying she was cool. "Of course she's cool. You'd be cool too if you worked your heart out every day." He said. The two exchanged for a bit before Steamy came back with the food. "Looks good." He said, he then lifted a glass soda bottle. "Want some cola?" He offered. She declined. "More for me." He said. He popped the cap off and took a sip through his smiling teeth. He set the bottle down.
"Cool or not, you have to agree Lana tries really hard, especially to be in the Royal Guard. Our sister Lynn is the captain, and when she saw Lana's dedication and work, she started training her. In my opinion, it's still a shaky work in progress." He said. Lincoln took a deep breath, and Lavender noticed the shine in his eyes caused by the lights vanished. All of a sudden, everything seemed to stop except for them, and everything except their little area went dark.
"I've been wanting to ask ya something. You ever hear of a talking shadow." He asked. His tone was noticeably more direct. Lavender nervously nodded. "So you know all about em. The shadow stalks. They're all over the falls. You say something, they say it back over and over. Recently, Lana told me something interesting. When she's alone, a shadow appears and whispers to her, compliments, advice...predictions. Somebody must be using a shadow stalk to play pranks on her. Keep an eye out, kay?" He said.
The shine returned to Lincoln's eyes as the lights came back and everything began to move again. Lincoln took some odd coins out of his pocket and laid them on the counter. "I'll be taking my food to go." He said. He noticed Lavender ate hers while he was talking. He pocketed the meal in its magic form and walked out. Nevermore came from the ceiling to meet Lavender and the two left.
Lavender walked her way eastward back to the station Lincoln was working before. She noticed on the way there that the Snake Kid was no longer there. She guessed he must've been waiting to slip by while Lincoln was on break. When she got to the post, it was still empty. She made her way past, officially entering Goldenfalls.
To Be Continued...