xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Boundary Forest, 7:03 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Okay, you two! Listen up!" Corvus said as he flapped his wings overhead of Bernard and Anatoli, both sitting on one of the logs at their campsite and covered in bruises on their faces from the prior nights conflict. "Because you two twits decided to get into a half-assed brawl in the middle of the woods. You're both sitting here in timeout!" The crow said with a disciplinary tone.
"Why the hell should we?" Anatoli questioned with a bothered tone.
"This really such a good idea? We're still in the middle of this monster infested place." Bernard said as Vulp was directly in front of the two wizards.
"You should have thought of that before you started swinging!" Corvus angrily shouted towards his magical benefactor. "And now, I'm in charge!" He continued.
"Whoop-de-doo." Anatoli thought while propping his left arm on his leg and using it to support his head.
Still unbeknownst to the Psycho Circus group was the trio of treasure hunters from the Chimera's paw guild, watching them while shifting their attention back and forth between the group and the large hulking figure that was also looking on. Covered in a brown cloak and wearing a knight helmet, a mysterious creature was silently gazing at Corvus reprimanding Bernard and Anatoli.
"Now, give some of your power to these weird lizard things." Corvus ordered as Bernard stood up.
Letting loose some of his energy and pointing his right index and middle fingers at them, the beanie sporting wizard begun to power up the Dragonoid golems, one-by-one. Starting to move, the lizard-like homunculi with red Lacrima in their chests begun to turn their heads in the direction of the group.
"Guy's a monster tamer?" Mascar silently said towards his comrades.
"Might be in his "natural habitat" out here." Lagarto commented.
"Shhhh." Nariz whispered to silence his fellow treasure hunters. "Dumbasses. I'm trying to figure out why the guardian of those Lacrima isn't attacking these guys..." He thought.
"Okay, now tell these things to follow whatever I say." Corvus instructed as Bernard sighed for a brief moment.
"All of you, follow Corvus' commands until you return. Got it?" Bernard said as the Dragonoid golems looked up at Corvus.
"Alright then boys. We're looking for a treasure out here. Round orbs." Corvus said as the Dragonoid golems shifted their heads in the direction of Anatoli's Stellanium soft metal ball. "No! Wrong round thing!" The crow Celestial Spirit shouted in annoyance as the Dragonoids turned back towards him.
"Also, there's more than one Lacrima you're looking for." Bernard commented.
"Well, whatever! All of you, head out into these woods and then start looking for anything that resembles a crystal ball with a symbol on it!" Corvus commanded as the Dragonoid's silently walked off in different directions.
"Get down! Stay down!" Nariz said with a quiet but frantic tone as he grabbed both of his comrades by the back of their necks to keep them out of the line of sight for the Dragonoids as they wandered off.
"Vulp, come on. We're going to start searching too." Corvus said as Vulp looked up at him before the fox Celestial Spirit turned towards Bernard and transformed his tail into a furry hand, waving goodbye towards his master before walking off. "All the kid has to do is stay here and he should be fine. He's got that stupid tiger with him, and I doubt the chimp boy is going to abandon him..." The crow thought.
As Corvus flew away to begin looking for the Lacrima treasure, Vulp walked in another direction to begin his search until stopping for a brief moment. His ears and nose twitching, Vulp turned his head as he felt like there was a presence nearby from the campsite and started to look around for anything in the woods out of the ordinary. Noticing Vulp trying to spot it, the hulking creature with the knight helmet stopped moving and held its breath to avoid detection from Vulp's senses.
"Vulp?" Bernard said as Vulp turned his head back to look at his master. "Something wrong? Aren't you supposed to be looking around?" He said from his seat on the log as Anatoli raised an eyebrow.
Turning back towards where he was looking before, Vulp proceeded to walk away from the campsite to begin searching for the Lacrima like the others, leaving Bernard and Anatoli behind. Shifting their eyes towards each other, Bernard and Anatoli shared a slight glance before looking away, leaving the campsite with an awkward silence as the Chimera's Paw treasure hunters and the hulking creature with a knight's helmet watched on.
"All that's here now is those two..." Mascar said.
"Bet you a hundred Jewel they go at it again." Lagarto commented.
"Hmmmmm..." Nariz mumbled as he looked in the direction of the knight helmet wearing creature. "When we encountered that thing the first time, it blew us away with its strength... Yet it doesn't seem to be attacking those two... Does it not know if they're a threat yet? Or perhaps it's weary of the guy with the monsters at his disposal, numbers advantage could be keeping it at bay..." He thought as he attempted to analyze the situation.
"...How's your face...?" Bernard asked while looking away from Anatoli, finally speaking up as the shirtless monkey-like man was also not facing him.
"...Slightly bruised..." Anatoli replied with strain in his voice.
"...Was it harder than when Warwick hit you...?" Bernard said as he turned towards Anatoli, the shirtless wizard making a confused face in response.
"Are you kidding me? That punch you gave me felt like a minor slap." Anatoli said while still looking away.
'"A minor slap?!"' Bernard said with an offended tone. "I put my weight into that strike!" He thought.
"You surprised? You have no muscle mass." Anatoli said as he pointed in the direction of Bernard's arms. "With how much you eat in pastries, you'd think you'd have some fat on you for a decent punch." He said as he stood up.
"That's because I have a decent metabolism!" Bernard exclaimed as he put his hand on Anatoli's shoulder, forcing him to turn around to face him.
"You want go another round?" Anatoli said with a glare in his eyes as he stood up from the log as well.
"...Personally... No." Bernard thought as he scratched his neck for a brief moment.
"...Eh, forget it. It's not worth the crap I'd get from Camilla back home if I kicked your ass." Anatoli said as he rolled his eyes before pacing away from Bernard.
"This wasn't one of her brighter ideas. Sending us on a wild good chase around a monster filled forest to hunt for treasure." Bernard said while putting his hands on his hips.
"She probably thinks us being out here will "hash out" some of the crap." Anatoli said as he turned to look at Bernard.
"You're one thing but what's there with me to "hash out?"' Bernard questioned. "She claimed I'm being overdramatic because I am still mourning the loss of Formosa but that's hardly fair to judge me for." He said before shifting his eyes towards the ground.
"...You're mourning the slime?" Anatoli said while looking at Bernard, mildly surprised by what he heard.
"Why's everyone so surprised about that? It was my strongest monster!" Bernard thought with an annoyed expression on his face. "I was before I came out here... Be nice if people weren't thinking it was strange." He said.
"...Didn't the thing have no brain?" Anatoli said as Bernard put his hand on his face. "Definition of "mindless."' He thought.
"Yes! It was a mindless demonic slime and that pervy half-pint killed it!" Bernard loudly shouted as Anatoli raised his eyebrows in response. "And I am pissed off about it!" He continued to rant.
"You're mad about the slime that didn't know who you even were? I got my ass handed to me by that hedonistic twit!" Anatoli loudly shouted as he stepped towards Bernard, the onlookers watching with confusion. "I have a legitimate reason to be angry!" He screamed.
"Like anybody stands a chance against Warwick! You seriously thought you could beat him, even without backup!?" Bernard shouted. "It still died! I'm being respectful about it!" He thought in his defense.
"I was going to try!" Anatoli replied. "...I wanted to prove-..." He said with a quiet tone before cutting himself off, Bernard looking at him with serious eyes.
"...What?" Bernard said as he looked at his shirtless friend. '"Prove" what?" He asked again as Anatoli glanced over at his ball.
"I wanted to prove that I am not a weakling..." Anatoli said as he walked over to the Stellanium ball, putting his hand on the top of it.
"You're not weak..." Bernard said with an honest tone.
"...We're not exactly a guild of "powerhouses," if you haven't noticed." Anatoli said as he glanced back at Bernard. "Warwick, Camilla, maybe Pietro on a good day... Probably Chester and his crew but other than that... We're mostly all entertainers at our core." He said with a frustrated tone. "Nothing wrong with that per say but... I don't want to be just a great entertainer; I also want to be known as a decent wizard. A strong wizard..." Anatoli said.
"Anatoli..." Bernard thought as he looked at his friend. "I get that... How do you think I feel? It's not easy knowing your strength is so reliant on others." He said, trying to sympathize.
"Yeah, but you got variety. All I can do is mess around with the wind when I'm sitting down..." Anatoli retorted with a bothered tone. "I'm not exactly the poster child for "top tier wizards." Warwick and his crazy battle skills proved that." He continued.
"It's not everything..." Bernard said.
"Yeah, well it means something to me though, alright!?" Anatoli loudly said as Bernard backed up a little. "I want to be a little stronger, maybe prove myself to some "naysayers." But right now... I'm a worse joke than the ones Master Barnum tries out on us." He continued, his voice shifting into a depressed tone.
"I'm good at coming up with circus acts... But he needs an idea for something else entirely..." Bernard thought as he looked at his friend.
"Look at me... I can barely do my magic without sitting on my stupid big balls." Anatoli said as he lifted his leg and just lightly pushed his soft metal ball, causing it to roll against the nearby tree.
"You were training your Wind Magic back at the guild, huh?" Bernard asked.
"Trying to use it without sitting on the ball... Show some improvement..." Anatoli said with a somber voice. "Fat luck that got me..." He thought with frustration.
"...Wind Magic only works with the ball... Hmmmmmm..." Bernard thought.
"I don't have a clue of what to do..." Anatoli thought as he scratched his head.
"Getting personal up in here." Mascar muttered as Nariz and Lagarto nodded.
"Hmmm? Hey look." Nariz said as he noticed something peculiar.
The Chimera's Paw treasure hunters looked on as they noticed the guardian of the treasure started to turn away from the campsite, beginning to walk away.
"Might have grown disinterested in their back and forth. I can agree, these two wizards and their personal problems don't mean a thing to me." Nariz thought.
"Hold on..." Bernard said as he reached into his back pocket, pulling out a pen and his notebook.
"What? You going to go on an "idea storm" of circus acts of some kind?" Anatoli said with a disinterested voice.
"Says the guy responsible for me being named "The Clown Prince?"' Bernard said as he started writing into his idea book as Anatoli raised an eyebrow. "What if he tried doing that?" He thought as he tried to come up with a concept.
Upon overhearing what Bernard said, the large hulking guardian of the treasure stopped moving briefly and then proceeded to turn back to look in the direction of the campsite, now staring directly at the beanie sporting wizard with interest.
"Oh, you found out about that?" Anatoli said with a small smirk forming on his face, smiling for the first time in a while.
"Kind of hard not to know who is blathering around in a guild our size." Bernard said as he looked up. "I never approved of any of the nicknames you've given me over the years." He continued while shifting his attention back and forth between Anatoli and what he was writing in his book.
"Heh..." Anatoli muttered in a brief chuckle. "Be thankful I gave you a cool one this time." He said as turned around towards Bernard. '"Mr. Beanie." "Burning Bernie," "O'hollering." Shit writes itself." Anatoli thought.
"Still. "Clown Prince?" How'd you figure that one would stick?" Bernard questioned as the guardian's eyes widened once more.
"Think about it: your dad's the guild master, you're next in line, the guildhall is now massive and pretty. You're basically a glorified "royal."' Anatoli said with a smirk on his face.
"Oh, now he's smiling." Bernard thought as he put away his idea book. "Don't call me a "glorified royal." The soon-to-be queen of the country already has her eyes on me... For a working reason, of course." He said while putting a hand up.
Upon hearing Bernard talk more and more, the large hulking creature wearing a knight's helmet reached out its massive red hand that had a leather arm guard around its wrist and grabbed one of the trees it was hiding behind, tightly squeezing it until it started to generate a crackling noise. Hearing the sound, Bernard and Anatoli started to turn their heads to look for the source of the sound until the creature stopped, ducking down to avoid being spotted.
"You hear that?" Anatoli said as he turned his head left and right.
"This place is definitely not safe..." Bernard commented.
"For you right now." Anatoli said as Bernard shifted his gaze towards Anatoli. "All your pets are out and about, yeah?" He said.
"Nah, I got Tavio." Bernard said as he pointed at one of the pins in his beanie. "He could scare stuff away with his screams... After I tell him to. He's probably going to try to fist fight one of the monsters out here and get hit with the harsh reality that he's not got any muscle mass first." He thought, acknowledging his Exceed cat's weaknesses.
"Why's it hiding from these two?" Mascar asked.
"Not sure..." Lagarto replied.
"I was hoping this thing could lead us back to where the treasure is but why is it so enthralled by the conversation between these two twits!?" Nariz thought in frustration as he and his comrades looked on.
"Guess "your jovial highness" can't be left alone for even a minute without a bodyguard, eh?" Anatoli said as he bent forward, bowing in a mocking manner as Bernard looked at him with annoyance.
"Looks like someone's got their smile back." Bernard said while folding his arms.
"...Eh, just a minor distraction. I'm still pretty annoyed about everything that happened." Anatoli said as he hopped atop his ball, sitting down on it.
"...Annoyed enough to not care about Swan asking about you?" Bernard said as Anatoli's eyes widened. "Only because she's a bit pompous and wants to keep seeing you crash and burn." He thought with minor embarrassment for his friend.
"She... She did?" Anatoli said with interest. "Knew she'd come around eventually! Hahaha!" He thought, believing he had finally made progress.
"Well, if I'm being honest, what she said was-" Bernard said until he suddenly stopped talking upon hearing a peculiar noise.
To the surprise and confusion of the two Psycho Circus wizards, an unfamiliar creature had leaped out of the woods and landed feet first in front of them. Looking up, the two were surprised by the sight of a tall and muscular creature wearing a grey knight's helmet and a brown cloak before removing it from its body, revealing itself to have had red muscular abs with matching red hands and feet, white fur on its upper body with mint-colored circles down its arms and mint-colored fur on its legs and thin tail. Alongside the helmet and cloak, it also wore a pair of leather arm guards on its wrists, a brown belt-like harness diagonally across its massive body with a shoulder guard on its left shoulder and an armored skirt around its waist.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh!" The creature screamed loudly as its shout echoed throughout the forest.
Hearing the scream, Bernard's pets, one-by-one, turned their heads in the direction of the noise. Zaphkiel turning her head as she was caked in blood from another random dead monster, Corvus looking on from the sky, Baurs sticking her head out of the ground and Vulp shifting his attention after slicing a random creature with his tail that was in the shape of a broadsword.
"What the- ahhh!" Bernard exclaimed in shock.
Looking down at Bernard, the large creature reached its right hand at Bernard, grabbing him and then lifting him into the air. Glowing with a magical aura, Bernard suddenly felt strange as his body was disintegrating into particles and then he disappeared into nothingness.
"Bernie?!" Anatoli shouted in shock. "What did you do with my friend, you freak?!" He screamed as he began to generate magical energy, causing his ball to float.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh. Leave!" The knight helmet wearing monster shouted with a masculine sounding voice.
'"This thing can talk?!"' Anatoli and the still hiding Chimera's Paw treasure hunters, Lagarto and Mascar, thought in unison.
"That body shape... And fur design..." Nariz thought as he examined the monster.
Turning around, the knight helmet wearing creature began to run away, pushing through the trees as Anatoli took flight into the air to chase after it. Running away while slamming its hands on the ground to increase momentum, the large creature looked back to see Anatoli chasing after it.
"Get back here!" Anatoli shouted as he generated tornados around his arms and fired them at the creature.
Jumping to the side to dodge, the Wind Magic attacks impacted against the ground as the knight helmet wearing creature was attempting to escape Anatoli's line of sight, using the thickness of the woods to its advantage.
"Guh!? Whe-where did you go?!" Anatoli said as he frantically looked around. "That bastard did something to Bernie, I- huh?!" He thought with sweat dripping off his face until noticing a familiar trio of treasure hunters running through the woods.
"Nariz! You still see him!?" Lagarto questioned as him and Mascar ran behind their comrade, his long-nosed mask's eyes glowing.
"Yes! Hahaha! Who knew those wizards worked so well as bait!" Nariz said with a gloating tone.
"You planned for this?" Mascar asked as Nariz made a nervous expression behind his mask.
"Uh! Ye-yeah! Of course I did! I planned the whole thing out like clockwork!" Nariz said with a rather unconfident tone. "Not really but I'll take the credit while I'm at it!" He thought.
"Now all we have to do is follow that thing!" Lagarto said.
"Yup! And soon, that treasure will be all ours!" Nariz exclaimed.
"The heck are they doing here?! Ugh, there's no time to focus on them, I gotta save Bernie!" Anatoli thought as he looked down at the treasure hunters from the air until refocusing himself on the creature, noticing some of the trees rustling. "Hiyah!" He exclaimed as he sped up, heading for the location of the movement.
As he got closer, the large, armored right hand of the creature appeared from within the tree and grabbed Anatoli, its massive hand ensnaring most of his body and causing his Stellanium ball to fall towards the ground below. Jumping out of the tree, the muscular creature squeezed Anatoli in its hand with the shirtless wizard struggling to free himself.
"Argh! What did you do to my friend!" Anatoli screamed in pain as the knight helmet wearing monster looked at Anatoli, examining him for a brief moment.
"Ooh-ooh- fah!" The knight helmet sporting creature muttered until its body suddenly glowed a bright white aura, causing it to drop Anatoli onto the ground.
"Guh!" Anatoli grunted as he landed on his rear. "What the heck...?" He quietly muttered to himself as the large creature suddenly fell to its knees and begun to tightly clutch at its chest.
"Oooohh! Stop!" The knight helmet sporting creature exclaimed as the aura dissipated around its body before standing back up and glancing at Anatoli.
"Where's my ball?! Where's my ball?!" Anatoli thought upon noticing the big monster looking at him, desperately searching for his means to use his powers before seeing the creature reaching out its hand at him again.
The white aura appearing once more, the large monster was overwhelmed as it fell back onto its knees a second time. Anatoli, looking at the monster with confusion, turned around as he overheard rustling in the bushes behind him.
"I think he's over here!" Lagarto exclaimed.
"Find and catch him! He knows where that thing went!" Nariz shouted.
"Those guys..." Anatoli thought as he recognized the voices as those of the Chimera's Paw treasure hunters.
"Ooh! Ooh! Stop! No harm!" The knight helmet sporting creature exclaimed as the aura dissipated one more time. "Ooh-ooh-ooh! Take with!" It said as it reached both of its large arms out and grabbed Anatoli from behind.
"Ah!" Anatoli shouted in shock as the massive creature carried Anatoli away. "Put me down- orugh!" He complained before the knight helmet wearing monster lifted one of its huge fingers and placed it over his mouth before it ran through the woods, carrying him off deep into the forest.
Reaching the area where Anatoli and the monster were, the trio of treasure hunters stopped to look around for any signs of the shirtless wizard or the guardian of the treasure they were looking for. In a moment of frustration, Nariz walked over to one of the nearby trees and punched it, leaving an indentation in it.
"Gaaaah!" Nariz screamed.
"You see them?" Lagarto said until Mascar walked over into a nearby bush.
"No, Lagarto! I don't see them!" Nariz said in anger towards his comrade.
"Hey! Don't get snippy with me! I'm just asking!" Lagarto said.
"That was our first chance in over a week to find that dumb-" Nariz ranted until Mascar cut him off.
"Hey!" Mascar said, causing his comrades to look at him. "Get a load of this ball! It feels like it's hard but it's also kinda soft!" He said as he held Anatoli's Stellanium soft metal ball in his arms.
'"Shut up Mascar!"' Lagarto and Nariz shouted simultaneously.
"This thing belonged to that shirtless wizard!" Mascar said.
"And?!" Lagarto said with a disinterested tone as Nariz stared at his comrade.
"...Leverage?" Mascar said with an unsure tone.
'"Leverage?" "Leverage?!" How the hell is a big dumb ball a form of "leverage" for us?! We don't even know where to find-" Lagarto said until Nariz raised his hand slightly to stop him from speaking.
"...Actually... Hold on..." Nariz said. "...I think I have an idea..." He said with a smile forming behind his mask.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Boundary Forest, 9:00 a.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Far within the confines of Boundary Forest, the large creature with a helmet on its head that was holding a still struggling Anatoli in one hand as it used its free hand to push a boulder out of the way against the side of a mountain, revealing a cave. As Anatoli was still squirming, the monster walked inside and covered the entryway to the cave back up with the same boulder.
"Mrigh! Hiemifmh! Igsimgm!" Anatoli screamed as his mouth was still covered by one of the fingers of the large knight helmet wearing monster.
Someways inside, Anatoli stopped squirming as he spotted a small campfire in the cave. With enough light illuminating the cave, the shirtless wizard saw the unusual sight of a pile of random fruit on a pile of leaves on the ground, a long single sided axe with a mint green blade, a blue and yellow shield on the ground, a mannequin with a similar set of armor on it and a large figure of the same size as the monster laying on a makeshift bed of leaves nearby, grunting as if it were asleep.
"What the hell place is- pulguh!" Anatoli thought until the big monster dropped him on the ground. "Ow..." He muttered as he rubbed his rear in pain. "You freaking-" Anatoli said with an angry tone as he got to his feet until the monster looked at him.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh, quiet!" The knight helmet wearing monster said as he pointed at the figure in the nearby makeshift bed. "Sleeping." It continued as Anatoli looked on, bewildered.
"Oh, my bad. Didn't mean to- wait! No! You did something to my friend!" Anatoli said in anger as he looked up at the monster. "I don't have my ball... I can't generate much magic and I'm pretty beat up from yesterday too..." He thought as he put his fists up.
Lifting up its hands, the monster removed the helmet from atop its head, revealing its singular horn on the top of its head, long ears, long chin and monkey-like face. Anatoli, eyes widening in response to the reveal of the creature's face, recognized the monster as a Vulcan, albeit one of an unfamiliar color scheme to him.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh, prince is safe." The armored Vulcan said as it extended out its hand.
Its body glowing with a bright aura, a familiar beanie wearing young man had appeared from thin air in the massive hand of the Vulcan as the gorilla monster gentle placed Bernard down on his feet.
"Hauh!? Wha?!" Bernard said with a startled voice as he was unsure of where was until turning towards Anatoli. "Anatoli!" He said as he recognized his friend. "It was like I was in a dark void or something!" Bernard thought as he recalled where he was for a brief moment.
"Yo! You alright?!" Anatoli said as he approached his comrade and friend to check on him.
"Ye-yeah! I'm-I'm good, I think..." Bernard muttered as he started to check different areas of his body and then his pacemaker under his shirt. "How's this look?" He said as he lifted up his shirt to show his pacemaker Lacrima to Anatoli.
"Looks fine to me, not the best judge..." Anatoli said as Bernard put his shirt down. "Though... We might have a different situation here." He said with a serious tone as he and Bernard looked up at the red, white and mint green Vulcan, looking at them with an equally serious expression before reaching over towards Bernard.
"Urgh!" Bernard mentally grunted in response to the incoming hand as he reached upward to grab the pin for Tavio on his hat. "Hey!" He exclaimed as the Vulcan removed Bernard's beanie, preventing him from getting any help. "I don't see Anatoli's ball anywhere and it has my only pin! This isn't good!" Bernard thought with worry as he and Anatoli both stepped back slightly from the Vulcan as it looked at Bernard's beanie.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh, crown?" The armored Vulcan muttered as it looked at the beanie before gently placing it in front of the duo, confused by its actions.
Walking away from the duo, Bernard and Anatoli watched as the gorilla-like monster approached the area where the axe and shield was. Fearing the worst, the wizard duo made fearful expressions until they noticed the Vulcan placed its helmet on the ground next to the weapons then started to remove the metal skirt and guards from its body.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh, food." The once armored Vulcan said as it pointed towards the pile of fruit on the ground. "Eat. Enjoy." It said as Bernard and Anatoli each raised an eyebrow towards each other.
"Did... Did a Vulcan just offer us food?" Anatoli whispered towards Bernard as he put his beanie back on. "And it was acting rather cordial when it didn't want me to wake... Whatever that is over there..." He thought.
"And isn't attacking us like a wild maniac?" Bernard replied quietly as the Vulcan walked over to the makeshift bed. "Must have been the possession spell, "Take Over." I've heard certain species of Vulcan can use that spell... So, it was possessing me to leech off my magic but... It was weird, I didn't feel like it was taking much out of me." He thought.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh..." The Vulcan muttered as the figure in the bed turned over onto its back.
Laying on the leaves was another Vulcan but unlike the red, white and mint green Vulcan in armor that abducted the Psycho Circus wizards, this one had dark blue fur on its upper body with yellow muscular abs, hands, feet and face with yellow circles down its arms with black fur on its legs and a black tail. In a deep slumber, the dark blue, yellow and black Vulcan was sweating profusely and clutched at its stomach in pain as the white, red and mint green Vulcan made a troubled expression before turning to look at Bernard.
"Guh..." Bernard grunted as he and Anatoli weren't sure how to respond as it approached the duo once more. "Another one?" He thought as he spotted the other Vulcan on the makeshift bed.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh, hungry?" The Vulcan said as it pointed at the food again.
"Uuuuhhh... N-no, I'm good. You?" Anatoli said nervously towards Bernard. "We got to get out of here..." He thought with growing concern.
"Ye-yeah, I'm fine..." Bernard replied. "I don't know what is happening here, but it doesn't strike me as normal... Where the heck is Corvus and Vulp when you need them...?" He thought as the Vulcan looked at Bernard.
"...Think it might like you, Bernie..." Anatoli whispered.
"...Back to joking, huh?" Bernard thought with frustration.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh, help." The Vulcan said as Bernard and Anatoli's eyes widened toward it.
'"Help?"' Bernard and Anatoli thought in confused unison before the Vulcan walked over to where the shield, axe and armor was.
Obscured behind the weapons and gear, the Vulcan reached over and pulled out a wooden treasure chest, lifting it up with both hands. Walking back over to the duo and placing down the chest, it reached a finger down and opened it, the duos eyes widening as they looked inside to see the six Lacrima they and the treasure hunters who hired them were searching for.
"The Lacrima?!" Anatoli muttered loudly.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh, trade." The Vulcan said as Bernard and Anatoli looked up at it. "Prince help fellow knight. Heal." It continued as it pointed at the other Vulcan.
'"Prince?"' Bernard reiterated.
"You mean Bernie?" Anatoli said with confusion as he pointed at Bernard, the Vulcan nodding in response.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh, prince." The Vulcan said as Bernard looked at Anatoli with half-closed eyes.
"That nickname is really biting me in the ass right now, you know that... Now the hell am I supposed to heal a Vulcan?!" Bernard thought while judging his friend, Anatoli making an embarrassed expression.
Sorry, I was asleep behind the wheel last time. Won't happen again but luckily, I read the chapter this time! While on a boat with his friends, Emmanuel started to take large amounts of liquor and started to forge his name on a bunch of papers. With nowhere to turn, the footless- okay, sorry. I read the wrong thing. My bad. I'll make sure the next chapter I read; I got shit to do... Fucking tax documents. I don't live in a council flat beside a river!
Author's Note: (Keep on trucking folks. That's all I'll say this time.)