Chapter 3: Monsters, Miasma And Myrrh Trees, Oh My!

"Get up, lazy bones!" Kaegomé shouted, nudging at Kazuo with her foot.

It was no use; the rancher just catnapped on, snoring peacefully. With a sigh, Kaegomé turned and hopped out of the caravan to see the rest of her companions. They had slept somewhat uncomfortably the night before, all except Kazuo of course. As far back as Kaegomé could recall you could always count on the Clavat rancher to get enough sleep. Heck, if you let him, he'd even sleep standing up! He'd done it many times during schoolings, and many times when he was home alone. Sometimes he would even do it when they were talking, which made her feel boring sometimes.

It was another beautiful spring day, though on that day, the wind was silent. It left the prairies to b bathed in the warm glow of the sunlight. The long grass stood straight up, absorbing this life-giving glow with all its might. Insects chipped within the grass, calling out to one another, and just making noises to make sure they were heard. The sky was littered with white, fluffy patches of cloud. The oak trees were still, standing tall and proud in all their glory. It seemed on that day; the mightiest of axes could not strike one down.

"Man..." Kaegomé whined with a yawn. "I barely got any sleep."

"... It seems that the caravan is very uncomfortable." Snow said quietly, just sitting at the very edge of the barrier surrounding their caravan from the miasma, just looking out into the distance.

Senken was sitting at the rider's seat on the caravan, his feathered digits snaked under his helmet to rub his weary eyes.

"Seems you guys had the same problem." Kaegomé said with a giggle.

"I wish we could say the same for Kazuo." Snow said.

Senken snapped his fingers then, as if he had an idea. He waved an arm, getting the Selkie and the Clavat to look over. With the sun gleaming from his helmet, he called them over. Following his request, they walked over to him, and he helped both of them up into the rider's seat. Gesturing for them to hold onto something, they did, grasping onto something tightly. With that, he cracked the reins and sent the oxen running, towing the caravan behind them.

As they raced along the dirt road, the caravan rattled and shook behind them. They heard Kazuo let out a cry of fright as he was startled awake. They would have laughed, if Snow and Kaegomé weren't screaming along with him. Senken on the other hand remained focused and quiet, just cracking the reins to make the oxen run. The caravan would also sometimes lift off the ground onto two wheels when they turned; making audible crashes sound from within the tarp.

After rushing past a different caravan, probably Marr's Pass's, Senken jerked back on the reins. The oxen roughly dug their hooves into the dirt, quickly sliding to a stop. The caravan made one last jerk forward, another few sounds coming within it until everything remained silent. The grass made no noise; the oaks in the thick forest were still. Everything was in muted harmony. This silence was broken by a soft cough from Snow.

Senken let go of the reins and looked to the Selkie and the Clavat. Both of them had frightened looks on their faces, neither of them could move. He noticed that both of them were holding onto the wooden beam in front of them tightly, as if they would die if they let go... even though the caravan was at a complete halt. Senken nodded to them, brushing his digits across their hands. With that, they released their firm grips and slowly got down out of the rider's seat, as if their joints had been petrified.

"Whoa..." Kaegomé said, blinking her eyes once, bearing shrunken pupils. "Wh-What just happened?"

"I think... I don't know." Snow responded, looking around shakily for his cap.

Going around to the back, Kaegomé opened the tarp of the caravan. With that, the form of the lazy Clavat rancher fell out from the safety of the caravan and onto the dirt ground. Some supplies fell down on top of him, starting with the supplies for refining. The chunks of bronze and alloy fell onto the Clavat's back, making him since, though he was quiet as well. When he lifted his head to speak, food fell onto him second, striped apples showering his head and bouncing off onto the ground. Lastly, a wet, smelly fish landed right on his eyes.

"Kazuo? Are you alright?" Kaegomé asked, still a bit shaken as well.

"I..." Kazuo said weakly. "I... could see up your skirt..."

The Selkie was startled, quickly becoming furious as she took hold of the hem of her skirt and tugged it down to cover herself more. Kazuo gave a weak laugh as he pulled the fish off his face. Blushing furiously, the well-bodied Selkie let out a cry of frustration and kicked the rancher right in the nose, storming away. Snow and Senken were both baffled at Kaegomé's sudden furious appearance. They looked at one another and shrugged before Snow, walking to the caravan, found his cap.

"What's wrong?" He called out; hopping into the caravan and grabbing his cap, putting it neatly back on his head.

"Oh Kazuo is just fine!" Kaegomé responded in a flat, harsh tone.

"Who did this?" Kazuo shouted as he appeared from behind the caravan, having a small band-aid over his nose.

Senken folded his hands behind his back and looked away.

"You!" Kazuo exclaimed, storming over to the Yuke. "You were driving the caravan yesterday! You were today, weren't you? You stupid... Ugh! What's the big deal? Don't you have any respect for anyone?"

"Well maybe if you respected other people a bit more..." Kaegomé said, her back to Kazuo. "... Then you'd get some too!"

Senken then pat Kazuo on the shoulder and walked away.

"Why do you have to take his side all the time?" Kazuo mumbled.

After that, the caravanners went along with their business. They all helped reorganize everything within the caravan and set everything back the way it was. Making sure the crystal chalice was all right, they then continued on their way. Senken rode in the rider's seat, being the only one who seemed to do that. He made sure the oxen were nice and calm while they walked. Kaegomé and Snow walked along beside the oxen, though Kazuo was in the caravan, searching for something. After a few moments, Snow wondered what he was going for.

"What is he doing?" Snow said, looking over the oxen at Kaegomé.

"I don't know." Kaegomé responded. "Probably being an idiot."

"Hm, hey Kazuo!" Snow shouted, probably the loudest he had ever spoken.

"What?" Kazuo called back.

"What are you doing in there?" Snow asked.

"Looking for my... oh here!" Kazuo exclaimed as he soon came hopping out of the caravan and running to catch up to the others. He was holding a piece of paper. He unrolled it and looked at it, it appeared to be a map. "Seems we should start by going to the Belle River Path."

"The Bell River Path?" Kaegomé asked, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "Oh, I've never been there before!"

"Of course not, dummy." Kazuo said, looking at her. "You've never left the village before. I don't think any of us have been there. How about you, Snow?"

"... I haven't." Snow responded quietly, shaking his head.

"Exactly. So this is a new place, said to be full of monsters, and have a myrrh tree within it." Kazuo said.

"Oh, so we need to stop there?" Kaegomé asked.

"Yes." Snow said, answering the question. "Just so long as it still has it's myrrh drop, and no one beat us there."

So slowly, they walked north. The plains and they sky were the only thing that greeted their eyes for hours. But after some walking, they saw a clearing within a group of oak trees. Listening for a moment, Kaegomé could hear the sound of rushing water. They had gotten close, to the Belle River Path. The young Selkie smiled to herself, finally able to see new places for once. The Clavats, too, were excited. They were going to be able to test out their new weapons.

Walking up to the very entrance, they stopped the caravan. The four caravanners immediately began to set up, and prepare themselves for the adventure. Each of them took their respective weapons and such, also grabbing supplies. They each grabbed some meat, though most didn't like it. It was the only thing they had an abundance of. They then took the crystal chalice and hopped out of the caravan and set out to the Belle River Path. Just stepping in was a new experience to all of them. Kaegomé especially was astounded, letting out an audible gasp as she looked around.

The path was beautiful, regardless of its state. To the left was a path, parted by a nice grass hill. The rest of the path was lined thickly with trees, and within them, some insects were making their chirping noises. Looking to her left, she saw a draw bridge, though there didn't seem to be a way to lower it along the rushing waters of the river. The water too looked clear, despite the miasma in the area. And the sky still looked clear and peaceful. It was a wonder to the farmer how any sort of monster could inhabit such a place.

"Wow, this place is beautiful." Kaegomé finally said. "I've never seen any place like it."

"Yeah." Kazuo said, handing the chalice roughly to Senken, making him stumble a bit. "But then again, we have to be careful."

"We'll need to develop a strategy." Snow said. "We need to know our strong points."

"Well, that's easy." Kaegomé said with a smile, turning back to her chipper mood. "I'm a Selkie, so by nature I am quick and agile. Plus I'm no weakling. Senken is a Yuke, and he's always reading old books and things, so he's probably great with magic. You two, Kazuo and Snow, are probably strong, or tough."

"Hm, well, I'm definitely strong." Kazuo said. "There's no doubt about it."

"... I've been known to take a punch or five." Snow said with a smirk.

"There we go." Kaegomé announced. "So what should happen is that Kazuo and Snow should be our full force fighters. I can be backup, using items, or fight when people need me to. Senken can stay back and use magic if he wants to, but if he has no spells, he could fight too."

"Sounds good to me." Kazuo and Snow said at the same time.

"What about you Senken?" Kaegomé asked.

Senken nodded in approval and held up the chalice, signaling that he would hold onto it as well.

With that, they began. Of course, it didn't take them long to find a fight or two. They decided to go up the right path, since the drawbridge was up. A sign said that it was the roundabout route. Moving up that way, they were surprised to see a goblin. They'd never seen anything so warty and ugly in all their lives. It was wearing a small battle helm and some armor, carrying a large sword. Its appearance was generally offsetting, so they wasted little time and immediately attacked it. Of course, it had a hostile nature, meaning it had no problem attacking them back.

Kazuo and Snow rushed right in. They wasted little time, attacking it at the same time, slicing an X pattern in its stomach. When that was done, Kaegomé used her dual shooter (a weapon that looks a lot like a tennis racket) and smacked it over the face. The goblin's face jerked to the side, but it didn't die. It only reacted by swinging it's sword, and hitting Kaegomé back.

"Hey, don't hit a girl!" Kazuo shouted as he slashed it one last time, slaying it. "Even I know that's not dignified."

A small glowing orb was dropped by the Goblin. The four walked over to it and looked at it curiously. It has an odd blue-ish glow to it. Snow went to reach for it, and it reacted to his hand, little sparks of lightening appearing inside of its blue depths. He quickly took his hand away, not knowing what the orb was. Senken though put down the chalice and picked the orb up within his hand. Everyone else looked to him as he looked at it. Holding it up to the sky, he made a small shock of lightening appear in a place close by. The rest of the group was surprised.

"What did he just do?" Kazuo asked.

"It... must be some sort of magical orb. This blue orb, it's enchanted with lightening." Snow said. "I guess it enables its user to cast spells of that element."

"Cool..." Kazuo said. "... But he still sucks compared to me."

"Kazuo!" Kaegomé scolded.