AN: I would like to thank Wilhelmina Vandom for helping edit this chapter. Sniper was busy so I asked for a stand in until he can get some free time.
Would also like to thank The Crazy Talk Kid, KnightofFaerun, Mirai No Dinurs, Kitsune6, and Wilhelmina Vandom for reviewing.
For those waiting for Caleb arrive in this fic, that's next chapter. After that the Will x Caleb stuff will slowly build up from there.
Disclaimer: Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D and probably never will. Now on with the story!
Chapter 7: First Adventure Off to a Rough Start
When Will woke up the next morning she noticed her bed seemed much softer than usual. Plus there seemed to be something very warm next to her. 'I must still be dreaming... hope I don't wake up for awhile.' Will thought to her self as she curled up against the warm thing.
Susan on the other hand looked away from the book she was reading when she felt Will pull closer to her and snuggling up against her side. Susan smiled knowing Will must be partially awake right now.
'As much as I would like her to enjoy this rare sleep in, I think I should give her one quick training lesson so she can get used to using a real weapon.' Susan thought to her self knowing the young half-elf had only used wooden swords in the past. The weight of a real sword would be much different so a short practice before the others woke up would be good for her.
Susan placed her book on the nightstand, then started to shake the half asleep girl next to her and said, "Will, time to get up."
This made Will snap upwards as she looked around and blushed in embarrassment when she realized that she had been cuddling Susan's side. "How did I…" Will tried to ask until Susan cut her off.
"You were so worn out from yesterday that you fell asleep while hugging me, so I let you sleep here last night. All the gossiping from the other girls would have only woken you up and I wanted you to be well rested for your trip." Susan explained as she went towards Will's room.
Susan opened the door to see the usual sight of the girls scattered around the room. Hay Lin was in her sleeping bag snoring away loudly while the others had used whatever means at their disposal to drown it out. Elyon, who seemed to have claimed Will's bed in her absence, had her head buried under the pillow to try and block out the noise.
Irma who was lying on the far side of the room was doing the same but using one pillow to lay her head on and a second to cover her ears.
Taranee, the ever-prepared one, had some ear plugs but the look on her face showed that they had only a limited effect against the Asian girl's snores.
Cornelia had used a pair of earmuffs that seemed to have about the same effect as Taranee's ear plugs, while she used her partner as a pillow. The poor tiger on the other hand used its paws over its ears in an attempt to block out the noise.
'The hawk, the owl, Will and the snoring rouge/wizard are the ones who will be the most rested today… Maybe I should have given them that Wand of Silence last night instead of today." Susan thought to her self with a smirk as she made her way to where Will kept her clothes.
Susan grabbed the same red tunic, black pants, and brown leather boots Will had gotten from Sade's servants the day after they met. She had also grabbed a second change of clothes just encase will needed them, along with black cloak much like Will's old tattered one but which was in perfect condition. Once she had them in hand she quietly snuck out so as not disturb the five other girls.
Once Susan was back out she handed the clothes to Will and told her to get changed for a quick training session. The Elvin woman watched Will remove the blue pajamas she had been wearing to make her realize something. Up until now she had not realized Will had finally filled out to a normal body weight.
It was not like an amazing transformation or anything, but now Will was now only a little smaller in build compared to Irma. 'If Will had been that under weight from a month ago she would have been thrown off by Irma instead of being able to force her down yesterday.' Susan thought to herself as she watched Will get dressed.
As Will slipped on her under shirt, Susan told her to put on the chain shirt next. When Will asked why Susan explained it was better for an enemy to not know if the person was wearing armour, thus make them underestimate the target. Will accepted Susan's advice as the truth, which it was but there was another reason as well. Susan did not want the other girls to make a fuss over the fact that the chain shirt was made of mithral.
Normally some one in forced service would not be given such a valuable item by the one who they were serving, even if they did dangerous jobs during their service. This was because the normal view of some one in forced service was some one who was used as cheap labour and was still legally a criminal serving time.
Plus Will, by all rights, was permitted to sell off any thing given to her to help pay off her debt faster and that was something Susan did not want to happen. Once again the Elvin woman had not noticed how attached she had become to this young girl in front of her.
Once Will was done getting dressed Susan helped fasten the sword to Will's side and led her out into the training area. The exercise was simply just to practice the sword drills Will already knew using the sword she was given.
Not a very long session, just thirty minutes or so to allow Will to adjust to the new weapon in her hands. By the time they were done the other girls were coming out the room, and all but one looking half awake and very grumpy.
Susan smiled at them and asked, "Sleep well girls?" This earned her glare from the four of the five while Hay Lin chirped, "Yup!" This only made the glares find a new target but Hay Lin was blissfully unaware while Will was confused at all this.
Irma then walked up to Will and said, "You were warned ahead of time, weren't you?" in a grumpy voice only to make the red headed half-breed more confused.
Susan glared at Irma but knew the ranger meant nothing to the accusation. "Don't be like that Irma, just because you woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Susan scolded the girl, but then put a friendly smile on her face, "Now go get breakfast since you all will be leaving in two hours."
This got all six girls heading for the door though Will had stopped to grab her new backpack before leaving. This had Susan giggling as she watched her student run to catch up with the load on her back.
Sade, Yan Lin and Abele smiled as the girls came down to eat but noticed Will was already fully dressed and equipped. "Funny how the ones who have been asking to be allowed to go alone on this trip are less prepared then the new girl." Yan Lin said as she teased the others.
The other girls paid no attention while Will blushed as she sat down to eat. Instead of the usually present oatmeal and bread that Will normally had after morning training there was a vast selection of food spread out on the table.
There were scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, waffles, toast and all sorts of fruit along with milk and orange juice to drink. Will knew that since guests were in the castle it made perfect sense to have something other then simple oatmeal to eat. The only problem was Will was not sure if she was allowed any of this.
Part of her was hoping, but it was squashed when a servant gripped her arm and said, "This is for the guests. You eat else where." And then started pulling the young girl towards the kitchen.
'The little freak is being treated like a member of the nobility. It's about time she learned that she is nothing more then a mere servant.' The servant thought to herself. This woman was someone called Sara. She had long brown hair done up in a ponytail and had equally brown eyes. By commoner standards she was considered quite beautiful, but her personality did not match her appearance.
Sara hated both half-elves and warlocks like many others did and was part of a group of servants who wanted nothing more then to put Will in what they thought was her place. But Lady Vandom was either at her side at all times or Will was doing jobs assigned to her by her ladyship herself. This made it difficult for the members of this group to corner and target Will.
The fact that almost every single guard seemed to be looking out for the half-elf warlock did not help matters either. Sara could not figure out how the majority, if not all the guards seemed to actually want to protect what Sara saw as the lowest form of life that was ever created. It was ludicrous in the servant's mind but with her highness present perhaps some level of proper treatment could be delivered.
"Excuse me," The voice of said Queen spoke up in a tone that was about to prove the servant wrong. Sara turned around to see a very annoyed/angry Sade, as were all the faces of those present in the room.
This had slightly unnerved Sara, but she kept her calm as she asked, "Yes your highness?"
Sade eyed the woman before carefully speaking, "Why are you taking her away?" She asked simply and waited for whatever pathetic excuse the woman had to come out of her mouth.
Sara struggled to keep her calm under the Queen's gaze as she answered, "Well the girl is under forced service so I assumed Lady Vandom would prefer members of her staff did not eat with her guests." This was said in a clearly nervous tone and the woman was trying to figure a way out of this mess.
"You assume too much." Said another voice that brought a shiver of fear down the servant's spine causing her to turn around slowly to see Susan standing only few feet away staring at the hand that clutched Will's arm. Sara let go knowing the unspoken command and backed away from Will.
Susan temporarily looked away from Sara to look at Will with a gentle smile on her face, "Go and start eating Will before the food gets cold." Will nodded and moved back to her seat while Susan fixed her steely gaze back on Sara and moved right up into the servant's face.
"Pull a stunt like that again and not only will I dismiss you from my service but I'll also do some permanent changes to that pretty face of your." Susan said in a cold and quite whisper that even Will's keen sense of hearing could not pick up but Sara's did.
"Yes my lady." Was all the frightened servant could say as she left the room quickly to avoid any other trouble. After that Susan sat down and watched as Will loaded her plate with large amounts of food that even Irma had trouble matching.
"Not hungry are you?" Irma said only get a glare from the red head as she pointed at the ranger's plate. "Your one to talk." Will shot back and then went about eating her meal.
The other girls giggled as Irma then started eating trying to out match Will in an unofficial eating contest. All the while Yan looked over to Susan and asked, "Did you need to eat that much at her age during your training or is it just her?"
Susan shrugged, "Can't remember. I'm almost five hundred years old. It has been a long time since I was her age." The elf answered, though this was a lie since she actually had eaten the same as Will. Susan just did not want wise cracks or jokes that would most likely come if this was told to any one present. Susan then went about getting some food on her plate before the two tomboys/gluttons ate all of it.
Two hours later the girls were making final preparations for the trip, though Irma was moving bit slower than the others. She won the eating contest but only because Will had learned from experience that eating too much before doing something physical was a bad thing.
"I warned you but did you listen? No!" Will said as she teased Irma as the ranger was reaching for her double-bladed sword. "I'm warning you now, knock it off or you're going to find out why I'm called an arcane hunter instead of a ranger!" Irma yelled at Will with deadly intent but Will kept on teasing Irma until the she snapped.
"That's it!" Irma yelled and was now chasing after the half-elf with weapon in hand while Will held back just enough of her greater speed to stay just out of Irma's reach.
The four adults watched the scene with great amusement but Susan put a stop to it just to insure that no one got hurt, "Okay, that's enough or you two are staying behind." she said with just enough force to get them to stop.
The two stopped on the spot and said at the same time "Yes Susan"
After the laughing fit that followed was over from the whole event Susan gave some last minute instructions, "Okay, you girls know how to get out of there if something is beyond your ability to handle happens, right?" This got a nod from all six girls.
"Good, and just so you know Julian is going to be near that area so if something does happen just look for him on the hunting trails. You should be able to find them, right Irma?" Susan asked getting a nod from the ranger/arcane hunter.
Of course this news made Cornelia's head perk up for some reason and Abele took the liberty to answer the unasked question, "Yes, he is also in the area as well." the woman said making everyone but Cornelia, Will and Elyon groan.
Elyon was just smirking at her best friend who had a dreamy look on her face while Will looked confused. "Corny, we are not leaving at the first sight of danger so you can flirt!" Irma yelled at the noble blooded druid, which only added to Will's confusion.
In a surprising turn of events, Cornelia ignored the nickname and said, "Ya, I know I know," but then leaned over to Elyon and added, "But it might not hurt to try and leave a couple hours earlier than planned, right?" This was heard by both Will because of her naturally heightened hearing and Irma who had well trained hearing.
But while Will remained confused Irma only got more annoyed. "I swear I'll never know how you can be a druid!" she yelled out in frustration. Susan decided to cast the teleport spell before an argument could start.
In a flash they were out side the entrance to the underground ruins, but from what any one could tell it looked like just an ordinary cave. But they knew better because of what they were told. This used to be the location were a group of rogues and fighters, who had teamed up to rob the near by villages and merchant convoys forty years ago, had stayed.
They were not a major success when it came to gathering loot because Sade's mother had made sure to send soldiers to try and squash them fast. But they managed to do one thing very well and that was take down a very large number of men before being brought to justice.
With the clever use of traps and sneak attacks from the rogues and the brute strength of the fighters they had inflicted massive losses on the soldiers sent, but the soldiers kept the group contained until Sade's mother was able to send several adventure groups to deal with them.
It took a number of brave and strong groups to finally win but they did. It was also believed that all the stolen items had been found but there was still the possibility that there were still active traps and minor, but still dangerous, creatures inside so the girls needed to stay on guard.
"Okay, you have three days and Julian will be coming in there by mid day on your last day just to make sure you're alright. Make sure you all are out here when I show up to take you back." Susan instructed then placed a hand on Will's shoulder.
"Just so you can keep paying off your debt I am making it your job to watch their backs, Will. But if you happen to be having too much fun to remember to do that just lie and say you did." the Elvin woman said with a smile then teleported back home.
Will was a little surprised by what Susan had said until Irma piped up, "Well baby sitter, shall we go?" This got Will to look over at Irma and glare at her before marching into the ruins instead of saying any thing. This had everyone snicker at the half-elf's actions but followed after her.
As they traveled they noticed the cave was becoming more building like in design. This was not unexpected because they were told there was a reason why the group of bandits used this place. It was used by some group before them, some forgotten cult, making it easy for the second group to alter the already existing structure to build complex traps into it.
Because there were dangerous traps still present, Irma and Hay Lin took the lead because they both had training as rogues. This made them better able to locate the traps before any one set them off.
They found one and the group stopped as the two tried to disarm it, or at least find a safe way around it. "A rather simple one, but we can't disarm it. We all will need to walk on the right tiles to avoid setting it off." Hay Lin said getting a nod from Irma.
Hay Lin then stood up and took out a piece of chalk before walking on very specific tiles, marking each one she stepped off of. After she was done every one stepped on the spot she had marked, even Snowflake managed to keep on the safe path, much to her druid partner's relief.
Will then asked, "If we had stepped on the wrong ones what would have happened?"
Irma looked over to Elyon and asked, "Care to risk your stick?" This got a nod from the princess who was curious as well and handed her staff over to the ranger. Irma then slammed the staff on one of the unmarked tiles making streams of fire shoot out from the wall.
Irma handed the staff back to a shocked Elyon, an emotion reflected by everyone else with the exception of Hay Lin of course. "Hey, that actually looks pleasant! Any one want to go for a stroll through there?" Irma asked in her usual joking manner.
The others did not find it very funny but just ignored it as Irma being Irma. They had come across several traps ranging from pitfalls to arrows shooting out of walls. Will had to say one thing, "Susan agreed to send us in here!"
The other girls laughed at this statement but knew it was understandable that she thought something like this was out of their league. Will was new to this kind of thing while the others had information and stories drilled in their heads to prepare them for this. Will's training had prepared her for combat not exploration, so they guessed that was a secondary motive for Susan to send Will with them.
'What better way to train some one in exploring then to throw them into one?' Elyon thought to her self, knowing how hard it was during her first time. She was so scared she had clung to her mother almost every time when something happened.
The other girls had similar experiences though for this kind of thing, Irma and Hay Lin were the most experienced. The training for a rogue was to put them through obstacle courses much like how these ruins were designed.
Though the traps were not nearly as lethal since it was just training, the basic idea prepared them for it. Plus they shared the stories with the others to help prepare them for such sights. But Will had not had the chance to hear them so she was at a handicap in comparison.
They knew that if a fight broke out they would most likely be able to count on Will's training to back up Irma in melee combat. But until then they would have to just enjoy Will's rants about having a long talk with Susan in three days which they found entertaining.
They especially broke out laughing when they heard how Will was going to change Susan's face and hair color again. They made Will explain that comment in detail, getting a major laughing fit as they laughed at the images of Susan with pink hair and a cherry red face.
Though Will had skilfully omitted the details of how she came up with idea for it and what Susan had done in response. 'I'd sooner tell them that I am a warlock then let them know about those little stories.' Will thought to her self as they traveled through the maze of trap filled hallways.
They had eventually come to a door that they assumed lead to a room or something. "I swear if this leads to yet another set of hallways I am going to be very annoyed." Irma said while Hay Lin and Taranee were working on the map of the ruins.
This was so they did not get lost and also to know were else was left to explore. So far they had found only hallways or stairways that lead downward into the next floor. They had come across no rooms or chambers of any kind. They all felt the same as Irma, wanting to find something other then the same trap filled passages they had been traveling in for hours.
'No wonder it took so many soldiers and adventures to defeat the bandits. Having to travel three floors worth of these trap filled mazes probably made them all mentally worn out.' Will thought to her self. They had spent the whole day just to get this far and all agreed that no matter what was beyond this door they would call it quits and set up camp.
They needed some rest and the only reason they knew it was night time now was because of a strange amulet Taranee had. It grew darker during the day and grew brighter as night came making it help full to know roughly what times it was.
They all crossed their fingers and opened the door to reveal a large room to their relief. But that quickly faded when they saw what lived in it. About thirty large rats were in the room. Large meaning two-thirds the size of Snowflake. This caused Cornelia, Elyon and Taranee to scream at the sight while Hay Lin looked nervously, but Irma and Will seemed be the least affected at the sight of the vermin.
"Corny, I hope Snowflake is hungry because here comes dinner," Irma said as she drew her double-bladed sword followed by Will, though the half-elf looked less confident than her friend. This was only because it would be her first real battle and not because of the rats. This was because she was used dealing with normal sized pests from her past way of life. These were just bigger versions to her but unlike dealing with the smaller ones these were more dangerous.
'Don't worry, just make sure not to get bit and you'll be fine Will.' The red head told her self in her mind as she, Irma, Irma's hawk and now a very furious tiger stood at the front of the group. The rats attracted by the screaming were advancing quickly towards them.
"Stop your attempts at singing and help! Besides, you're horribly off tune!" Irma shouted in a mocking tone at her screaming friends while she and Will started to slash and thrust at the rats.
Snowflake was swiping her claws at them and Irma's hawk clawing at them from above followed by Trainee's owl. Hay Lin's cat tried to join the fray but her owner was keeping a tight grip on the feline knowing it would only be eaten. Since she was doing this the rogue/wizard was pretty much out of the fight as were the three still screaming girls.
"I don't believe this! It's your first time and you're actually doing something while the three experienced ones are freaking out! Just because of a few over sized vermin!" Irma growled out to Will as they kept the rats at bay with their swords swinging.
The rats were not charging the group because the swinging blades and the snarling and swiping tiger kept them backing off when they tried to get close. The tiger was the main reason for this because even though they were in closer size to the large cat they still had a natural fear of its kind.
The hawk and owl team were the only ones doing any real damage by swooping down and raking at the giant rats with their talons then pulling back up to avoid attacks.
Cornelia was finally coming back to her senses as was Elyon as they watched the three animals and two sword swingers combat the vermin. Well that and the fact that Irma was constantly shooting insults at them. They then helped Taranee snap out of it as well and planned a counter attack to finish the vermin in one fell swoop.
First they helped Hay Lin secure her familiar in her backpack so she could focus on the plan. They would need her, Elyon, and Taranee to pull it off with a spell they all knew. Cornelia would be left out of the loop because she was unable to cast the spell because it was arcane and she could only cast divine spells.
"Nice of you to join us." Irma growled at them as she kept trying to strike one of the rats, but they all kept just out of range of her blows. Will was just focused on the battle so she did not say anything, though she seemed to be more accepting towards the others girls' fear of the vermin army.
The first three girls knew they deserved the chewing out they would get later, but they also knew Hay Lin would be spared. She after all was trying to prevent her familiar from getting killed something that was acceptable while their mindless panicking was not.
Cornelia knew now was not the time to start apologizing just yet so she just spoke out. "Don't worry. We are going to make up for that. Just make sure the air attack force stays out of the way" the druid instructed. Irma not knowing the exact plan was curious to why, but knew better then to ask and at a time like this.
Both she and Taranee called off their partners and then Will and Irma were told to get behind Elyon, Hay Lin and Taranee. Once they did and Snowflake followed after, the three casters used their Burning Hands spells.
With that three cones like shaped blasts fired from the three pair of hands and like a tidal wave swept over the vermin. A few either managed to avoid or survive the three spells but that was when the original attack force moved in.
Will, Irma and Snowflake charged in to finish off the remainder of the vermin but this time Cornelia also joined in since she had not been able to help with the first part of the plan. It was a quick final attack, the only part that scared any one was what happened to Will.
While she was finishing off an injured rat the last one leapt at her to try and bite her. But Will noticed it at the last second was able to dodge the leap and grabbed the rat by the tail. Then with her Shocking Grasp spell she electrocuted the rat to death.
After every one had calmed down from the battle they started to set up camp for the night. They noticed this room might have been a barracks for the bandits. On one side of the room it looked like what could have been weapon racks though now they had been chewed up or have fallen apart now. There were a great deal of tables and chairs that were in the room as well. In the center was a fire pit and above it was a large hole that most likely acted as a chimney.
Once they cleared away the dead and chard corpses of the rats they lit the fire pit using old wooden objects in the room as fire wood. They ate a simple meal of rice, salted strips of beef and dried fruit. The food was meant to last a few days so it was ether heavily salted or dried out so it would last long enough.
For Snowflake she just ate some of the less burnt rat corpses, which the girls just ignored so not to get sick to their stomachs. After their meal they all turned in for the night though each took turns doing night watch just to be safe.
The next morning after they ate another small meal they had set out to search more of the ruins. They guessed they were now in what the bandits used as their base because there were less traps in this part of the ruins.
The group was large so most of the chambers they found were much like the ones they slept in last night. Though they were all hopping to find some treasure to keep as keepsakes, all they found were old rusted weapons, armour and dead bodies. Well that and more large rats that had moved in over the years.
Susan and Sade certainly showed they had faith in the six girls' ability to handle all this, not that the rats were not much a challenge despite their abnormal size.
This made Will glad because so far she had not needed to risk using her warlock powers. That meant all she had to do was hope she could make such a good friend with them that if they did find then maybe at least one or two will still talk to her afterwards.
Though right now she was more focused on the fact that Irma and Cornelia were arguing which way to go. "It's the left path we should take, we will reach a dead end if we keep going right!" Irma yelled at the blonde as she pointed to map that Hay Lin was putting the finishing touches on.
"That's why we should keep going right then we can chart the whole side then go the other way!" Cornelia shot back making it a never-ending cycle of disagreements and insults as the two girls argued on and on.
"They have been at it for ten minutes now, how can they do that while nearly using the same sentence over and over again?" Will asked as she sat on the floor to wait for the bickering pair to come to an agreement.
Taranee who was sitting next to Will just shrugged, "No idea, they just seem to be able to." Then looked over to Elyon on the opposite wall. "Elyon, shouldn't you try to stop it, it looks like they're about to start going at it with weapons soon." The dark skinned wizard asked.
Elyon shook her head frantically. "No way am I getting in the middle of them now. They are way to mad at each other to listen to reason right now." The princess said knowing there was no way for her to break this argument between her best friend and Irma.
Will on the other hand was getting sick of it and decided to end this. Some people would think she was either very brave or just plain crazy for doing what she was about to do. She walked over to where Hay Lin was, just right behind the bickering duo.
She was just finishing the new addition to the map when she heard Will ask, "Can you give me the map for a second?" the Asian girl only nodded with a confused look on her face as Will read the map. Will then started heading towards Cornelia and Irma.
'Why is she heading towards them?' Hay Lin wondered then saw Will hold the map for both to see and the Asian girl's jaw dropped at what happened next.
Will walked up to them and held up the map pointing to a spot on it. "We are going right there, there should be only one room at the end of the hallway from what I can tell from the rest of the layout so lets go." With that she started heading down the hallway to the right.
Every one was staring in the direction in shock. Will never spoke with a level of authority to any one but those who still had some reasoning power guessed it was just because Will was tired of the argument and chose to make the decision for the group.
Hay Lin had recovered first because she wanted the map back so she could keep adding new details to it. Taranee and Elyon had quickly followed after that only leaving the still shocked druid and ranger.
"Did she…" Cornelia started to ask while Irma finished as well as answers the question "Tell us what to do? Ya, I think so." This greatly confused the two but they took off after the group so not to be left behind.
Once they reached the end of the hall it seemed will had guessed right, there was just the one room at the end. "How did you know this would be here?" Taranee asked the half-elf who was now giving the map back to Hay Lin.
Will looked over to the wizard and said, "Like I said the pattern of the lay out seemed to show that there would be one final room so…I took a guess." Will answered getting Irma looking over to Cornelia and stuck her tongue out at her.
"Told ya it would lead to a dead end." She said and was angering the druid until Will spoke again. "That is enough, we want to explore not listen to you two argue all day." Will said in a tone that everyone recognized as one Susan would use to get the two to stop arguing.
Elyon smirked at this as she thought to her self, 'Susan is rubbing off on her, I bet once Will gets a little more confidents she will be the one running this group.'
This train of thought made the princess a bit envious of the red headed half-elf. She was after all born and bred to rule the kingdom one day but she could not even act as peacemaker between two of her friends. But Will on the other hand could make them stop so easily once Will put her mind to it, not that the half-elf realized this of course.
Elyon continued to watch Will lay down the law as she spoke to Hay Lin. "How long will it take you add this to the map?" she asked the unofficial mapmaker of the group.
Hay Lin thought for moment and said, "Five to ten minutes." She answered getting a nod from the current leader of the group. "All right, ten minute brake for Hay Lin to do her thing." Will said as everyone entered the room.
This room looked like it was shared by several people like several other rooms they found that were most likely used as sleeping quarters. This was assumed because of the worn down bunk beads in the rooms.
They had encountered some of the large rats in some of the rooms but as they had noticed as they traveled down three more floors that the rats seemed to be thinning in number the further they went.
The fourth floor was heavily populated with giant vermin as was the fifth but this floor was strangely barren with the exception of a few in some of the rooms here and there. Irma said that it should have been the other way around in most cases meaning that there might be something else besides rats in the ruins. Irma knew this because of her training as a ranger and they all knew to take this warning seriously.
But from what they were told there was only seven floors to this place so all they had to do was finish charting this floor today and then just explore the last one for an hour or two before heading back up to meet up with Susan.
By the time they get the chance to come back to finish the ruins they would all probably be stronger and better able to handle what ever was on the seventh floor. That was if they were not able to handle it already, that is seeing how the rats were hardly a challenge once the girls got their act together.
Though if Will could keep squishing the arguments between Cornelia and Irma then they might even be able to start the last floor today. Everyone had to admit Will being able to deal with those two's arguing in any form was impressive. The sudden show of authority seemed to keep Irma and Cornelia quite as if they were nervous to make Will do that again. This was strange since Cornelia and Irma were the two big shots in the group, though overall Cornelia seemed to be the one in charge.
Elyon took charge at times as well but normally left her best friend to the role of leader. The fact that some one else put their foot down seemed to make the two a little humbled by the experience…for the moment anyways.
They had managed to finish the floor by the end of the day despite the better cooperation in the group but it was still done much quicker then normal. They had set up camp in an old bunkroom near the entrance to the final floor and every one was doing the normal preparations for the meal.
As they waited for the food to cook, Irma asked, "Hey Will, how come you went into leader mode all of a sudden earlier?"
Will looked a little embarrassed at the memory as she answered, "Sorry about that I just wanted to move on so I guess I got impatient. I know I…" Will was saying until Irma spoke up again.
"You got us back on track, that's all that matters. I want to know how does this effect our unique little group seeing how we got four potential leaders?" Irma said and every one knew what she meant by that.
When this group was first formed Cornelia tried to encourage Elyon to be the leader since she was the princess and could use the experience for when she became queen. But Elyon lacked confidence back when this group was formed and Cornelia some how ended up in charge.
But Irma was a bit of a free spirit and liked to do things her own way so it ended up with her being another candidate for leadership of the group. Elyon seeing this tried to act as mediator between the two making her the third possible leader but lacked the will to get between the other two when they were in their most heated arguments.
But now Will showed she was able to get between the druid and ranger when they were at their worst, even if it was due to loosing patience with them. 'Plus it probably injured some of Cornelia's pride.' Taranee thought to her self, noticing the druid was staying silent.
This was very unusual for the noble blooded druid who did not like being ordered around by most people of their own age. Elyon, and to an extent Irma, were the only ones who could pull that off.
Will on the other hand was now panicking at what Irma said. "Hold it, I am no leader, I just wanted to get moving and did something stupid by telling two more experienced people what to do." The half-elf said hopping she had not angered Cornelia seeing how she had been so quite since then.
After the meal they all turned in for the night. Like the night before they took shift on watch even though they were in a room with the door barricaded. This was just to play it safe just encase something was more dangerous then the giant rats in the ruins.
Will was being woken for her shift to see Cornelia was doing the shaking. "I thought Hay Lin was…" The half-elf started to ask thinking the Asian girl was the one before her but Cornelia interrupted by saying, "I asked to change shifts."
Will was nervous about why until she heard the blonde speak again. "I'll admit I was a little mad at the fact you jumped in and took charge earlier but I know you only meant to help so it's no big deal." The druid explained making Will feel less worried about being eaten in her sleep by Snowflake.
But it seemed Cornelia was not finished yet, "Also, thanks for getting us back on track earlier. Just try to be careful about doing that in the future, me and Irma can get in some heated arguments over little things and I don't want you to get your head bit off because our tempers are flaring up." The druid said then headed off to bed and left Will to her shift.
Cornelia had said this for another reason though she did not realize it yet. She was afraid Will would become the leader. Over the years she had been in charge for the most part, even though she originally wanted Elyon to have that role. Since her best friend did not though, Cornelia took up the role despite Irma often rising up questioning this position.
Some part of Cornelia's mind made her say those things in hopes of convincing the red head to back down with out resorting to petty fights like her and Irma had. But no matter what the druid did, nothing would stop what was to come. Change was coming and there was nothing no one could do to stop it.
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Well there you go, hoped you all liked it. The next chapter should be out soon.