Chapter 19: Demi-Dogs (Part 2)
April was astonished at what she was witnessing in front of her, Jogo had literally transformed herself into a large winged wolf in order to protect the small group stuck in a tunnel system for the night due to so called Demi-Dog creatures that came out in massive hoards at night, and only to have one of them wander straight to them.
Arna was not entirely impressed or shocked herself, she somewhat expected it as she did mention that Felynx's tended to become dangerous once they became protective or agitated. And she practically knew more than any of the turtles, Casey and April herself about this Dimension, though seeing something like this actually happening before her eyes was pretty amazing compared to how boring earth was.
April was honestly starting to like it here as she slowly was beginning to compare it to earth based on what she's seen and knows of so far, though she would most likely regret the thought later on.
Arna became worried and frightened suddenly and April noticed this instantly as she was frantically digging around in her bag still, "What? What's wrong?" April questioned her worriedly, knowing something was wrong.
Arna peered into the bag looking with her eyes but gave a sad and worried expression as she moved her gaze back at April, "I don't have the item in order to defeat a Demi-Dog… I don't know where it went…" April only looked at her confusingly as she didn't entirely understand what this item could be, but even so, it was something that could've been helpful considering the only protection they had was Jogo and both Mikey and Leo were literally passed out due to the magic sword.
Both Arna and April moved their gazes towards the fight as they heard a loud yelp from one of the two, the fight had continued and of course the Demi-Dog was the first one to take action and continue it. It was much more nimble all of a sudden, but Jogo managed to keep up with the creature, though not by much.
Jogo was unable to dodge an incoming attack, the Demi-Dog quickly ran across back and forth twice around Jogo and then leapt off the side of the cave wall for a good boost, when it came to using their enhanced speed and strength, they sure as hell knew how to use it. The Demi-Dog managed to grab hold of Jogo with its front paws, then biting down on one of Jogo's front legs.
Jogo let out a large yelp and began to frantically try and break free, though for such a small creature, its strength was greater as she was unable to break free and continued to struggle. Jogo began to whimper constantly, both Arna and April knew right there and then she had been injected with the venom that Arna warned them about, which caused a great amount of pain, usually to the point of making that victim immobile.
Jogo was slowly weakening and struggling less and less, she was attempting to endure the pain and the Demi-Dogs strength that still pinned her down, but the venom became stronger each passing second. April quickly looked at Arna worriedly, "You gotta have something!?" April's expression became a slightly surprised one when she noticed Arna was already digging through her bag a second or third time, continuously and frantically looking for that item, though she still was having no luck.
Though April knew a bit of self-defense, it still wouldn't do any good against a creature like this, in fact, any creature or being they've encountered so far. Leo has pretty much always managed to find ways to defeat or escape most new encounters, such as the golem, and also thanks to the help of Arna. Though based on what they've learned and the founding of the magic sword Leo used, was that he could only use it once a day for a max of five minutes, any longer than that would kill him literally. Both her and Arna felt useless at that point, Arna was no fighter, she was more of an item carrier and a guide.
Jogo finally became immobile, though not fully as she still resisted slightly, mostly due to the fact she didn't return to her original form. The Demi-Dog let loose of Jogo's leg and snarled as it leaned towards a kill bite, the neck. Jogo was frequently whimpering with the amount of pain she was in due to the venom, she only weakly glared at the Demi-Dog that was about to finish her off, she was completely immobile now and couldn't defend herself any longer, Jogo closed her eyes and looked away slightly, showing acceptance to her defeat.
April was about to jolt to a sudden stand and run over to Jogo and hopefully scare the Demi-Dog off or away from her, though it never happened as she and Arna both became suddenly shocked at what they just witnessed before them. As soon as the Demi-Dog went in for the bite, it was pierced and pushed off Jogo, thrown towards the cave wall, with a sword.
April knew instantly due to the sword and the perfection of the accuracy, she quickly turned around to look behind her, it was Leo, he had thrown the magic sword directly at the Demi-Dog, piercing it directly in the chest as it wailed and hang off the wall as the blade stuck into it with the creature still attached to the blade.
The Demi-Dog frantically cried out, giving out hyena like sounds of pain as blood poured out of its mouth and chest. April and Arna were speechless, though April noticed firstly that Leo was in bad condition, especially using that sword a second time in the span of one day, he looked really exhausted and slightly pale as he slowly panted out of exhaustion. Leo instantly collapsed onto his knees, grasping his injured side tightly, he was barely able to stay awake, and despite this, he still fully managed to throw that large sword with such strength and accuracy.
April was about to rush to him, but he stopped her before she could even stand. "I'm...fine!" Leo growled weakly as he pointed towards Jogo worriedly, April only gave him a worried look, he was in worse condition than Jogo herself, but she wasn't going to argue with him.
April stood up quickly and turned back around, she noticed Jogo had transformed back into her little feline form as she was somewhat tightly curled up into a small ball, still giving small painful whimpers. April knelt down onto her knees next to Jogo and gently petted her, providing her with comfort and then glanced at the Demi-Dog that was stuck against the wall due to the sword that was pierced through its chest and into the wall itself a bit, it took its last breath finally as it fell limp.
Arna was by Leo's side as April went to go help Jogo as Leo requested her too, she glanced down at him, she was honestly amazed at how persistent he was and how much he could endure, let alone the fact he was suppose to be completely unconscious and unable to wake up for sometime due to that happening to anyone who uses a magic weapon such as that sword for the first time, and then again, he still was awake after using it a second time.
Jogo was lifted into April's arms as she had picked her up gently and walked back towards Arna and the other two, Leo had collapsed once again and fell unconscious, that was to be expected as Arna gradually had a hand on his shoulder and checked him over to make sure he was fine.
Aside from the fact he now had two broken bones, he was pretty much just extremely exhausted and drained, just needing some sleep and rest. Mikey was practically snoring away as he still was passed out after just touching the magic sword, April and Arna themselves were pretty tired as they were literally woken up and couldn't entirely rest due to this Demi-Dog that pondered in to bite their heads off, or at least attempt to if not thanks to Jogo and Leo.
April sat down close to Arna and Leo as she gradually petted Jogo and gave her reassuring comfort, "The venom will wear off in a few hours." Arna remarked as she sat up and looked at April, reassuring her. April already knew she would, but she hated seeing her in such pain, she hated seeing anyone in such pain as she tended to feel strong pity for them and wish there was something she could do to reduce it or get rid of it for them right away. But knowing she couldn't do such a thing, she only knew the only thing she could do was give comfort and let them know they aren't alone.
"I thought these tunnels were clear from the Demi-Dogs?" April questioned as she glanced at Arna confusingly. Arna lowered her head and sighed lightly, she herself was unsure how it got here, but she had suggestions, "It's possible it accidentally got stuck within the tunnels, or it found an opening entrance and accidentally wandered in. The fact it was alone though makes me worried and confused as they always tend to be in groups, so it most likely got separated somehow. So in a way as well, we got lucky."
April remembered that Arna stated that these tunnels were old, so there was a chance there were other entrances that could've been made throughout the years as it seemed like the tunnel stayed standing and intact pretty well. "How long until morning?" April asked as she didn't entirely know how long the days and nights lasted in this dimension, Arna shrugged and considering they were stuck underground, she couldn't tell.
But based on how much time has passed since they last fell in, "I'd have to say perhaps… eight to nine hours, maybe more?" Arna stated as she tried to add up and think it over, nights lasted longer than day here in Dimension Nether, way longer, so it was pretty much almost always feeling like it was dark and night time here. Which was also an advantage to anything nocturnal, such as the Demi-Dogs and this place already seemed like the type of fantasy place that was kill or be killed, hunt or be hunted during the nights in video games.
Just as Arna remarked, it did take a good and solid eight to nine hours until day hit. They all managed to sleep finally throughout the rest of the hours and get some rest without anymore Demi-Dogs showing up out of random.
Leo pretty much just sat criss crossed with his head slightly lowered as he grasped his injured side while waiting for April to wake up Mikey who still was dozed off and having strange dreams, Jogo was all better and layed in Leo's lap as he genuinely petted her with his free hand.
April tried shaking Mikey awake and even resulted in slapping him, he still wouldn't budge, but he giggled lightly from the slap she did and that angered her. April turned and faced Arna who was reorganizing her bag as she waited, "Does that magical bag of yours have pizza in it?" April asked angrily.
Arna shrugged with an annoyed sigh and shook her head as she continued her organizing, April yielded her direction to Leo, "He's your brother, how do I wake him!?" Leo shrugged, "As of right now, the only thing that would work is the smell of delicious food. Otherwise we would have to wait for him to wake up on his own, I would carry him but I can't."
April resulted into a sad expression with what he remarked, he couldn't carry Mikey in his condition with two broken ribs, nor could Arna considering she was smaller than any of them, April was too frawny and a toothpick and she knew she couldn't. April figured Jogo could if she would be willing to transform into wolf form, but she wasn't going to bother to ask her considering she came to the thought that transforming might drain her and/or would be uncomfortable, especially with what she went through during the night.
April growled lowly as she became annoyed, she resulted to one last measure on what Leo said and directed her attention back at Arna. "Got any food?" April questioned her as she raised an eyebrow slightly, Arna looked at her confusingly, "Nothing that smells good…" April shrugged with a small sigh, "This is Mikey… anything will smell good to him and he'll eat pretty much anything…"
Leo had a small smirk on his face because April wasn't wrong, Mikey was strange in his own ways but it was also interesting and weird. Arna noticed this expression from Leo and gave a small sigh as well as she reached into her bag and pulled out something semi-small, "A cooked frog leg perhaps?" April glanced at Leo for an answer to see if that would work, but he only slumped his head back down with a small smile still, he didn't know himself if a frog leg would work as it was always pizza that was the charm.
April rolled her eyes slightly and snatched the piece of food, it for sure had a smell to it, the smell of sitting in a bag far too long. April put it close to the front of his nose, and of course, Mikey immediately snapped his eyes open to the smell of the food and slowly raised himself like a mummy out of a coffin and it creeped her out a bit honestly. Mikey snatched the frog leg from April's hand quickly and munched on it with a smile on his face and letting out delicious sounds, everyone else had a small disgust look on their faces.
"You realize you just ate a leg of one of your cousins… right?" Arna remarked disgustly, Mikey instantly came to realization and heard what Arna said and instantly began to freak out and hang his tongue out, "Nooo! Im sorry! Not my cousins!" Mikey sobbed. "I am never touching a frog leg again…" April sobbed lightly as she stood up slowly, but she was glad it worked as she didn't want to stay stuck down here in the tunnels any longer.
April walked over to Leo and offered her hand to help him, Mikey was crawling and following Arna around as she had already finished organizing her bag so that she could find stuff easier and he was wanting something to drink to wash out the frog leg he ate. April gave Leo a gentle look and small smile, Leo returned it with a subtle one and gave a small sigh as he accepted her offer, Leo came to the conclusion that he himself was persistent when it came to protecting and injuring himself, but April was far more persistent when it came to conversations and large words, he knew he would never win in an argument against her now.
Jogo trotted behind the small group as they all made their way through the tunnels, following Arna as she knew about these tunnels best. Arna was unsure herself as the tunnels were like a maze in case Demi-Dogs managed to slip in like the one during the night, but she tried her best to remember the map her good friend showed her of the old tunnel system here, and considering she got rid of it long ago, she had nothing to go back to and take a look at.
April noticed the magic sword carried on Leo's third strap over his left shoulder on his back, they all resulted into calling the sword the LynBlade instead of just a magic sword. She honestly despised the blade as it could kill Leo the longer he used it over his limit, though it also helped them against the enemies they've encountered so far and would unlikely be able to defeat if not for the LynBlade, so she let it slide for now and looked away from the blade as she was walking behind Leo who followed right behind Arna who was struggling.
April became annoyed a bit as Mikey would not stop moaning behind her, wanting water as he was thirsty. Though she didn't have contempt for it, she was also thirsty and so were the others most likely, also hungry as they all hadn't eaten or drank anything since they arrived at Leeri, and thanks to the sudden golem showing up, it became a nightmare.
"You're lost aren't you?" Leo questioned Arna who immediately resulted into a sad sigh, "I'm sorry… It's been forever since I last reviewed the map for the tunnels, and I never actually came to them in person to see for myself." Leo gave a small subtle smile as he placed a hand on Arna's shoulder reassuring her not to blame herself or be mad at herself as he did not, "We'll just keep searching then." Leo stated as he took the lead.
Leo was slow, and it wasn't because of his ribs, it was the fact he was cautious and monitoring every surrounding of the tunnel they were in, he was scanning for cracks, crevices, holes, and anything that seemed off, he was tracking, finding the way out by looking at claw marks and footprints left from the old people or the Demi-Dog that wandered in. Arna didn't even think of this as it most likely wasn't possible down here with how old the tunnel system was, but he was proving her wrong as they were all beginning to feel fresh air and breathe easier knowing they were getting closer.
Leo and the others instantly jolted to a stop as they suddenly heard voices, Mikey ran up front and next to Leo as they both became defensive and protective of Arna and April. April glanced down and noticed Jogo standing right next to her, just flickering her tail and hardly reacting to the voices, April relaxed herself as Jogo was always strange but always correct with her positions when it came to expected threats. Leo and Mikey also relaxed when the voices came closer and louder and were more clear, and understandable as they recognized them immediately.
"I'm going to blame you if we find them dead!" Raph shouted angrily as he, Donnie, Casey and Charl were in the tunnels finally able to search for the others. Raph was squishing Donnie's cheeks angrily as he cried and sobbed painfully, Casey was just chuckling away as he followed behind but both him and Raph came to a sudden stop.
Donnie rubbed his cheeks with a small sob as he raised himself confused of why it got quiet all of a sudden, Donnie immediately bursted into tears, "Leeeoooo!" Donnie rushed at him with his arms held out, Leo stepped back slightly not wanting the hug due to his ribs but he got it anyway as Donnie was too relieved to see him and get Raph off of him. Donnie hugged him tightly as he cried, Leo painfully endured the pain as he patted Donnie to reassure him, "D-Don, ouch… watch the ribs…" Leo sobbed weakly.
"We thought you guys were dead, buried alive!" Raph growled, "Yeahh, until Charl here showed up and told us about the underground tunnel that you guys most likely fell into and were ok." Casey added. "I wouldn't say….ok…" Leo sobbed, "Donnie… for the love of.. Just let go…!" Leo growled painfully.
"Dude, you should've seen it up top during the night, it was wicked!" Casey mentioned as him and Mikey instantly reunited into their strange talk. "Well you should've seen it down here last night, had a Demi-Dog come across us." Arna stated unamusingly, Charl tilted his head, "Just one?" He questioned her.
Arna nodded hesitantly, "Just one, thanks to Jogo and Leo, it's dead. But the fact it was alone bothers me and I feel like it wasn't alone unless it really did accidentally come across the tunnel." Arna still was uneasy though, primarily from the fact of the weird sounds the Demi-Dog made during its fight with Jogo, including during its death, she never remembered a Demi-Dog making hyena chuckle sounds before like the one did back in the cave, were they evolving?
Charl noticed that Arna was disturbed by this, she couldn't stop giving an unamused and confused expression of complete deep thinking. April had to help get Donnie off Leo as he was practically clinging to him and still sobbing because of Raph threatening and bullying him along the way and Leo usually was always the one to stop Raph, but he also was worried about his older brother.
Charl walked up to Arna and placed a hand on her shoulder which made her jump slightly and breaking her out of thought, he gave her a reassuring look, "Well, why don't you all come on up and eat something, it's the least I can do for taking care of that golem." Charl stated as he glanced at everyone. Mikey immediately sobbed happily as he was pretty much the only one remotely showing that he was starving and thirsty.
After a short walk and leaving the tunnel systems finally after being stuck all night, they all received some breakfast to eat as much as they wanted thanks to Charl who offered it as a thanks for taking down the golem that came unexpectedly. Arna went to talk to Charl alone for sometime, April knew she was most likely warning him about the Demi-Dogs from the fact it could most likely be them evolving into something smarter and stronger compared to how she originally them to be, though April honestly was too worried about it as they all were leaving Leeri anyway after they all finished eating.
April tapped Leo on the shoulder to get his attention, he had a piece of bacon sticking out of his mouth as he wasn't really eating and was primarily lost in thought, just as she was a minute ago. He looked at her confusingly not knowing what she wanted but she pointed at Arna and Charl off in the distance, "You're good at observation, no? Can you read lips and know what they're saying?" April questioned him.
Leo broke off part of the bacon as he glanced at Arna and Charl, "You still suspicious of Arna?" He questioned her as he glanced back down at her and raised an eye confusingly. April shrugged slightly, "Not Arna." She gave an unsure glance at Charl, "I've honestly been feeling some weird presence following us for a while now since we arrived here, he gives off that same presence a bit."
April wasn't one to lie, like at all unless it was necessary, Leo too was feeling something off of someone following them, but he was too much down in the ditch to bother taking any precaution, so he didn't question her. Leo stared over at Arna and Charl, due to the fact Charl's back was facing them, he couldn't make out anything he was most likely saying but he focused on Arna as he munched on some more bacon.
"She's just warning him about the Demi-Dogs possibly evolving." Leo began, April shrugged again slightly with a small sigh, "Well I figured that much out already." Leo glanced down at April, "And something about an elder, that's all I can make out." April looked at him confusingly but he only shrugged at her not knowing himself as he turned back to finish eating, April had already pretty much ate enough and she couldn't stop glancing over at Charl, she just felt something really off about him.