Chapter 4: The Ant Tunnel
The Ant Tunnel was a dark, and desolate place. It appeared that nothing could grow, or live in there. The only things that would live are the already dead, and yet resurrected Zombie Mushrooms, The Horned Mushrooms, and Evil Eyes. Farther down, where there is no light completely, life can be found. The Cold Eyes, Drakes, and Wild Cargos are able to feed on something, after all.
Akitan walked into the Ant Tunnel next to Jiro, with Miho behind them. There was barely any light, but enough to see where you were going. The cave walls were a pastille yellow. Almost like a plague of rats, the Zombie Mushrooms, and Horned Mushrooms infested the Ant Tunnel. Whatever dug these caverns had to be huge, because they were massive.
One off the Zombie Mushrooms strayed towards the three. Jiro stepped aside, and unsheathed his sword. Then, he stopped, as Miho moved silently. She took a single arrow from her quiver, and slowly, with much concentration, lined the arrow with her bow, and took aim. Her right arm moved back, hand on the string. Without warning, she released her grasp on the string, and the steel tipped arrow shot forward, striking the Zombie Mushroom in the dead center of its Undead Charm, pierced the Zombie, and continued to fly until the arrow stuck into a rock.
A dark blue blood splurted from both ends of the punctures. The undead charm, which was on the 'forehead' of the zombie mushroom caught flame, and burned away. The zombie erupted in a blue flame, and swiftly turned into ash. Jiro, and Akitan turned to Miho, and stared at her. She noticed, instantly flushed red, and retreated a few steps. "...Oops... I forgot to mention... My soul arrows... Use holy energy.. My... Mother was... A priestess..." She said, losing her confidence again.
Akitan smiled, but still didn't fully trust the archer girl. If she fired holy soul arrows, they had an advantage against the undead monsters that plagued the tunnels.
"...Where did Razain go?" Jiro asked, finally noticing they were down a member. Akitan stared, and finally realized he was gone, too. Miho remained silent, but started to continue down the Ant Tunnel. It would take them several miles to reach their rest point, at Ant Tunnel Park. The 24 hour Mobile Store would be located in Ant Tunnel Park, making it a perfect place to rest up, and re-supply for the journey into the abyss.
Akitan, and Jiro both noticed the archer moving away from them, and staggered to their attention. Razain appeared from the shadows right behind Jiro, and Akitan without warning, and spoke. "You're both really slow."
Akitan squeaked, and they both jumped. A slight, and deep chuckle escaped from Razain, and he continued to move, sweeping passed the two. He easily caught up to Miho, whom was walking quite slow. Akitan pouted, then joined back with the group, but not before picking up the loot from the fallen Zombie Mushroom. Unless the monsters decided to attack on their own, the four didn't even bother aggravating them.
A deep scream, obviously from a man echoed through the caverns. It caught the attention of the travelers, whom had been walking for hours through the caverns. They picked up their pace, and followed the screams. Passing the Ant Tunnel Park, they made their way to the Cave of the Evil Eyes, and noticed a trail of blood, as well as a few Evil Eye corpses. They stopped fast, to see droplets of blood, which lead into the Cave of the Evil Eye.
"...You don't think someone went in alone, do you?" Jiro asked, caring like always. Miho nodded, slowly.
"It's on the way," Razain stated, grumbling.
Before they realized it, Akitan had already run off into the cave. The Cave of the Evil Eye was full of rotting Evil Eye corpses, piles of bones, and hundreds upon thousands of eggs. Jumping around the cave, which descended deep into the darkness were Evil Eyes - Hundreds of them. Evil Eyes are just like Curse Eyes, but yellow, instead of green. They are relatively weak compared to Curse Eyes, and their teeth are not as sharp.
The three followed behind Akitan, still keeping up. Razain was quick to take rear guard, and Jiro went on point. Everyone's weapons were ready, incase they were ambushed. Jiro's steel, almost blue armor was covered in dents, and dry blood. Jiro's bandana was still in perfect condition. Akitan still wore her red vest, and travel hat, which she had been wearing since they first met her. Razain continued to wear his clothes, which were abnormal for a normal person. Only a truly worthy Assassin could ever wear them. The giant shuriken on his back had the remains of dry blood, from the incident with the Curse Eyes. His eyes begun to glow blood red, yet nobody seemed to notice. Miho's pink, flowery kimono seemed to glisten with elegance. Her kimono was clean, with no evidence of being dirty. Miho's long black hair made her beautiful eyes stand out, which seduces the men who gaze upon her. Miho's bow, the Asianic Bow was a finely shaped golden bow, with a Garnet grip, and topaz decorations along the main portion. The string, made of a fine material was sturdy. Miho had a pink quiver on her waist, the right side. On her left, Miho carried a pink, one-handed sword. It glowed with a pink aura. It literally seemed like Miho was producing the only light they could actually see with, at this point. But how could such a shy person produce such a bold, and bright light? Another shout broke their silence.
"DIEE!!!" Shouted the male voice. It was really close... Right below them.
A young man, wearing crude leather armor, sewn badly was standing there, bleeding. Around him, the corpses of several Evil Eyes. In his hands, a two handed battle axe. It looked way too heavy for the guy. The axe was covered in the blood of the Evil Eyes.
The young warrior groaned, and collapsed on the ground. His leather armor was ripped to shreds, and covered in blood. He continued to groan, as his skin went pale. He was obviously losing a lot of blood. Under his fruit basket of a helmet, the man had short, blonde hair. The color was a favorite amongst people.
Jiro, being the kind warrior his is, picked up the warrior, and started to walk back to the 24 hour Mobile Store. Razain, watching a group of Evil Eyes close in on them, removed the giant shuriken from his back. Miho removed an arrow from here quiver, and lined with her bow. She aimed, but stopped. Stabbing the arrow in the ground, Miho took out a small bomb, wrapped in a cloth. Setting down her bow, Miho plucked the arrow, and secured the bomb to it. Again, she took aim, yet, instead of the lead Evil Eye, she set her sights on the middle one. Letting loose, the arrow flew free, and hit the middle Evil Eye. Half a second later, the bomb exploded, and echoed through the caverns. Smoke covered the Evil Eyes, and six monsters squealed.
As the smoke cleared, the charred remains of seven Evil Eyes, and a relatively large crater remained. Miho blushed, and again, retreated. Razain nodded, but knew there had been something strange about her, but he could not pin it. Akitan was quick to loot the Evil Eyes of anything they had of value. She made some quick cash. One of the charred corpses carried a Cutlus...
It took only five minutes to make their way back to the rest point, where they laid the warrior down. He had fallen asleep by the time they realized he would survive. Entering the Ant Tunnel Park, from the direction of sleepywood emerged a single, lone Cleric. She wore a White Calaf, a yellow dress, with a white toga-like robe over it, lined in gold. In her hand, a Maple Lama Staff. In her other hand, the cleric carried an Esther Shield. Her hair was black, and relatively short. The girl's eyes were red. She wore Red Heart earrings on her ears. She had a sweet, and innocent look on her face. She was out of breath, and almost collapsed.
"Its hard... To keep... Up... With you..." She said, innocently.
Razain cocked an eyebrow at the cleric. Why was she down here? And all alone, at that? It probably didn't matter to him, so he quickly abandoned any thoughts.
"You're a cleric, right?" Jiro asked.
"Yes, I am. Why?" She asked, having caught her breath.
"Can you heal this guy? He's pretty banged up."
"Sure." She responded. "This'll only take a moment."
The cleric strode over to the unconscious warrior. Raising her Lama Staff, the Cleric glowed green, as did the warrior. His wounds vanished, and he regained his skin color. The cleric smiled, and moved away. Everyone stared at her, and she continued to smile.
"By the way, what is your name?" Jiro asked.
"Oh, It's Diana." She replied. "And yours?"
"I'm Jiro. This is Razain, Akitan, and Miho." Jiro said. "Pleasure to meat you."
"No, the pleasure is all mine." She said, in a squeak. "Who is this guy, anyways?"
Diana's eyes rested upon the unconscious warrior.
"Wish we knew." Razain interrupted.
While they were talking, Miho had removed her quiver, and rested it under the warrior's head. Her pink glow was very eerie, indeed.
Deep below them, deeper down than the Cave of the Evil Eyes, a few explosions rippled. It was virtually silent, but the sound waves had to escape somewhere.
The salesman in the The 24 hour Mobile Store leaned out the window. "Yo, he alright?" He asked, dipping his shades for a better view. "I can give you something to help him - On the house."
"No thanks, he'll be fine." Miho gently said. "Thank you for your offer, though." She smiled.
"Alright. Well, do you need any supplies? Oh, by the way... A Ranger, and Sniper went down there. I ain't seen them for almost two days. They didn't supply here, either. If they're alive, I hope they're okay." He informed them.
Jiro nodded. "Thanks for the info." He said. "Oh, Razain. What'll we need for our trip? I've got no idea."
"Why don't we sleep on it first. Then decide. We're losing light. Besides, the morning is wiser than the evening." Razain responded.
"Miho glows. There's our light." Akitan said, intentionally drawing attention to Miho.
"...Er..." Miho muttered, and retreated again.
Jiro's mouth opened wide, and he yawned. It was quite a loud yawn. Finding a nice, smooth surface, Jiro started to move toward it, but stopped. Turning around, he smiled. "Any of you ladies want this spot? Its nice, and smooth." He asked.
Miho blushed, and looked away. "N... No thank you.." She said.
"Its alright." Diana stated, and rested next to the unconscious warrior.
Before anyone realized it, Akitan was fast asleep in Jiro's spot. She seemed calm and silent. Just like he remembered her to be. Razain vanished into the shadows, yet again, to keep an eye on the group as they rested. "Its like every time I turn around, he adds a new member to our group." Razain thought. "That Miho girl... She wasn't part of the prediction... Who is she?"
The archer, Miho went off on her own to find a secluded area to sleep. She unsheathed her blade, and stabbed it into the ground. Like herself, it glowed pink. Leaning against the cave wall, Miho slowly came to a sitting position. He facial expression went to a sad, and troubled look. "I can't tell them.. My love, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. If I hadn't come down after you..." She said silently. Tears begun to accumulate in her eyes.
Quietly, the group slept. A majority of the members, it seemed, had emotional trouble. Jiro quietly slept, alone, with his shield protecting him. Diana slept silently next to the unconscious warrior. Miho didn't sleep, she was in tears still. Akitan slept like a baby, while Razain kept watch.
"Razain, what's up with the chosen one?" A voice asked. "I trust you're keeping him out of harm?"
"Yes, Jax. The master won't be displeased when we're done. I plan to meet up with a few people, and we'll go to his grave. Jiro'll learn his destiny then." Razain said. "By the way, thanks for taking care of the Curse Eyes."
"Don't mention it. Dana's worried about you." Jax said. "Don't fool around with the 'Rog. Remember what happened to Tristan."
"Tell Dana not to worry. I'm with a Cleric, Hunter, and a Fighter... We'll be fine. I'll meet up with Eglado and Genrou farther down."
"Good luck. I'll be watching from a distance."
"Understood."
With a small compressed burst of blue light at chest level, Jax vanished from view. That Priest and his teleport sometimes caused trouble...
And so, a plot was revealed. Razain was assigned to watch Jiro by some unknown force. But, what for? Who's grave were they going to visit? Who was Jax? And who were the two Razain spoke of? And the Balrog, why would they go that far? What destiny befalls Jiro?