"Lily! You're b-b-back! And who is this lovely lady? Her beauty is making me bash-bash-bashful!" The Hairy Hermit hid his face behind his hammer, sneaking a few peaks at Babs who stood in front of all of her people.
"Tee hee! Flattery will get you nowhere, Mister Hermit! We prefers our gentlemanses with hairy chins, not hairy backs!" Ordelia laughed, hiding her blushing cheeks behind a fanned hand.
Hermit flinched when he looked to Ordelia, a strained smile behind his thick furs. "You're the 'airy 'ermit we've 'eard so much abaht, right!?" Babs clapped as she bounced on her toes, laughing softly. "We've come to live 'ere, if that's alright wiv ya!"
"It's more than alright, young lady! I'd be off my rock-rock-rocker to say no!" Hermit cheered with them, as Lily laughed and Malroth rolled his eyes. Before Hermit could say anymore, Lulu piped up, her brown eyes sparkling.
"We'll need somewhere for you all to stay! We could put you up with the Furrowfield folks until-"
"Actually, Miss Lulu, I 'ad a different idea." Babs turned to Lily, hands on her hips and a pout on her lips. "When I was turned to stone, y'all built the Golden Bar wivout me! I wanna build somethin' big! Somethin' that people will want to come an' see from miles away!" She laughed, throwing her arms up.
Lily scratched her temple, trying to think of something big for Babs to build when Lulu roared in laughter. "The Scarlet Sands is wide open! It'll give you plenty of room to build whatever you want!"
The crew stared up at the new tablet while Lily looked out over the sands, her eyes narrowed as she tried to envision something to get Babs the build she wanted. That's when the vision came to her mind, just before them an enormous pyramid that looked out over the sandy sea. She heard Malroth grunt in satisfaction, she turned, seeing her thoughts scrolled out onto the tablet. "A pyramid! And an oasis for us to take a break in!" Lily beamed, giggling at the awed noises that left the group beneath her.
"What's a pyramid? Like some kind of giant spike? Maybe when we're done, we can throw Lulu on top!" Malroth roared in laughter, ducking behind Lily when Lulu went to smack at him. He gave her a glare, but it was more playful than malicious. "Hit me and I hit back."
Lulu growled at him, sticking her tongue out at him. "Then why are you hiding behind Lily?!"
"Because she'll hurt me worse if I hurt you." Malroth bit back, giving a louder growl than Lulu's.
"The sands, the cactuses… it all reminds me of home. Do we have to stop at the pyramid?! Why not just build us a whole new town!" Magrog whimpered, eyes wide as he looked out to the Scarlet Sands.
Soon the whole group was standing in the middle of the sands, talking over how they were going to build when Tiny turned to Lily on her shoulder, a smile in his eyes. "Lily, I want you to know that-"
"Hey man…"
Lily and Tiny froze, the happy look in Tiny's eyes disappeared, leaving him almost sweating. He hadn't thought Shane would follow them out here. "Where… did they come from? I thought they were ssstill at the docksss…"
Malroth turned, ax out and ready as he glared at Shane and the two casters. "What do you want?"
Shane slowly approached, his attention clearly on Lily and Tiny. "You befriended a Dracky? Right on… I didn't think that was possible." When Shane got too close, Malroth took a step closer, a growl left him; it started in his belly and made a chill run down everyone's spine. "Don't have a cow, man. We're just here to watch the builder do the do. If we missed this chance, it'd be such a shame, man." He rubbed the orb on the end of his scepter, a small chuckle leaving him. "You won't even notice we're here, man. Carry on with your plan, man."
Malroth reached back, grabbing Lily by the waist and pulling her against him, a hunger in his eyes. "Don't worry, if they step out of line, I'll beat the ever-living snot out of them. You just concentrate on building the pyramid, okay?"
Lily gave a slow nod, unable to pull her eyes off of Shane who was focused on Tiny now. She knew she could trust Malroth at her back. She slowly turned back to the area they had focused on before. She pulled out her book and set to work, having to pause every now and again to wiggle the fingers of her right hand.
"Doesss it ssstill give you issuesss?" Tiny looked down at her hand, frowning.
"Sometimes, but I'll be alright." Lily grinned as the others got materials ready for when she was finished with the blueprint. She got up and closed her eyes, feeling the builders magic coarse through her bones. Then a darker power intertwined with it, making her smile, Malroth was giving her some as well. She threw out the blueprint, watching as it appeared on the ground so the others could follow it.
"This is 'uge!" Digby gasped, bouncing around in excitement as Dougie roared and ran in circles.
"Lily! This is huge, how are we supposed to build something this big? We don't have the material for this!" Lulu gaped at the blueprint, eyes nearly popping out from the sight before her.
"We thought Lily might think of something huge for us to build, she knows how much we loved it back home." Magrog grinned as he slammed a chest down.
Den dropped one as well, winking over to the group. Babs draped her arm over Lulu's shoulders, a wide grin on her face. "We went an' tore up an ol' temple, it was wastin' away down in those mines. We thought to put it to better use." She looked to Lily, her thinking face on. "But we also 'ave to build an oasis, that's a lot o' work for just us."
"Don't you worry about that!" Hermit appeared, casting a glare over to the watchers. "Lily can make some-some-something that will let the others on the island know that we need their help over here." Lily gave a confused look, but then an idea popped into her head and she was off running for the builders table next to the tablet. "See? She's top-top-topnotch, I tell you."
Babs watched as the Hermit disappeared and Lily was already running back to the group, slamming a large scroll down onto the ground and writing a few names down. "Alright, give it some time!" She laughed as the others set to work on the pyramid.
"You ra~ng?!" Bonanzo laughed as he ran up with Rosie and Wrigley a little while later. "I knew you lot wouldn't be able to manage without me! After all, I taught the builder all she knows!"
Lily smacked Bonanzo's arm, rolling her eyes. "Right, thanks, Pops." She nervously looked away when she saw the tears starting to form in his eyes. "No, you're not doing this right now."
"WRIIIIIIGLEEEEEEEYYY!"
The group looked over when Lulu came sprinting over, Babs hard on her heels. "Yes, Miss Lulu?" Wrigley gave the girl a grin, a deep chuckle leaving him.
"What are you doing over here?!" Lulu panted, smiling at the giant worm.
"We got the call for 'elp. I 'ear you'm makin' an oasis, an' you'll need some soil for 'im. Reckon I can 'elp you out with that."
"And Rosie and I shall lend our considerable skills to the construction of this spectacular pyramid! Many hands make light work, so they say!" Bonanzo laughed as he went to take off to start helping, but he stopped short when a loud squeal broke through the air. He turned, seeing Ordelia in her cottontail costume.
"What is this?!" She ran over, her fingers immediately diving into Bonanzo's beard, scratching the wiry hairs there. "Lily! Lily! Theys didn't tell us about this! Theys have hairy chin!"
Lily started to get onto Ordelia about personal space when she saw that Bonanzo was enjoying the scratches he was getting from the woman. "I… Whatever." She laughed and turned away, waving to Wrigley. "You ready?"
"Am I ever!"
Two days passed, Lily and Wrigley were slowly working on the oasis, already noticing new plants sprout as the others worked on the pyramid. Lily was working on using a new tool that the Hermit had given her to switch out the ground, replacing the horrid mud for soft, warm sands. She looked up, seeing Den running over to her.
"Lily! Miss Lily! We did it! We finished!"
The rest were right behind him, cheering as they got to Lily. Wrigley came over to Lily as well, grinning at her. "An' our oasis is done!" He wiggled around in the air before disappearing underground again.
Malroth looked at the ground, a brow up. "I've always wondered how he doesn't leave holes in the ground."
"It's his magic. Pastor Al told me about the Wrigley family… back on the farm…" Rosie started with a smile but had to turn away, rubbing her eyes some. "Well, we've got the first part finished, Lily."
"Wot does the next look like?!" Babs beamed, not noticing Rosie's mellowed tone.
"I'm rather impressed by the new arrivals." Lulu looped her arm with Lily's, grinning as she looked to the others. "It only took them two days to build this bit. What else do these people have in store for Lulu-topia?"
"Well, it ain't like this is the first fing we ever made. We 'elped to build the Gold Bar, ya know, an' that place was well glitzy!" Dougie stomped, glaring at Lulu.
"An enormous, glittering gold bar…? Oh, how wonderful!" She clapped, a dreamy look coming to her face. "I can't wait to make my first royal visit to Khrumbul-Dun!"
"We'd be 'onored to 'ave ya, Yer Majesty! If ya like glitz an' glamor, you'll love our mates Goldirox an' Jules – they're the fanciest fellas around!" Babs grasped Lulu's hands, both girls grinning with sparkles in their eyes.
"Hey, man." Shane came up, noticing how Lily instinctively grabbed Malroth's hand. "Watching you build was a real jam, man! The blocks went down with a slam, man. It was like magic – alakazam, man!" He had a grin in his voice as he looked to the others. "You've got vision, man. Real ambition. I think I wanna be a builder too! The real thing – not a sham, man." He looked away, seeming suddenly bummed out. "But sadly, there's another island we've gotta be at – orders from the man, man."
Lily slowly let go of Malroth's hand as she stepped up to Shane, glad Tiny had left to go hang out with Lilian for the last few days. "Why don't you stick around, Shane? If you want to be a builder, eventually you'll just have to forget Hargon."
Shane let out a chuckle as he reached out with his good arm, touching Lily's shoulder. "Baby steps, am I right?"
Lily hadn't noticed that he had slung the arm she had broken. Or someone else had done it for him. She forced out a calm breath, making herself relax so she didn't shrug his hand off her shoulder. "Baby steps…"
"Well, you're wel-" Bonanzo let out a grunt when Malroth hit the older man in the gut, effectively shutting him up.
"We might be missionaries for the Children of Hargon, but we won't force you to believe – we respect your freedom, man. But now we gotta scram, man." Shane reached up, musing Lily's hair. "Peace, my little dudette."
The group watched as the three suddenly vanished, leaving Lily a boiling mess of anger. "Weirdos. What did they even come here for?" Malroth reached out, his hand brushing Lily's so she would calm down.
"Tiny says they're missionaries second, scouts first." Lily turned away from them to go find herself a quiet place to think of another blueprint.
Lily and Malroth stood on the shore of another small island, Rosie had asked them to go find more crops that they might plant so Lilian could practice cooking for the restaurant she wanted. Lily looked to her counterpart, smiling as she watched him look around.
The two walked around for a few hours, snacking on plumberries as they walked. Lily befriended two dogs, happily digging into the ground to pull strawberry seeds. She bit into one of the red berries, an ecstatic noise leaving her as she whirled, forcing the fruit into Malroth's mouth.
Malroth tried to fight it until he got a taste. "Holy shit! This is good!" He reached into Lily's pouch, digging out another berry. "Perry isn't gonna get any of these!"
"Mal!" Lily laughed as she moved the pouch closer to her front, as if that would stop him from being a berry thief.
Malroth grabbed Lily, grinning as she squealed and laughed as he tickled her with one hand and the other dove into the pouch, searching for more strawberries. The two froze though, seeing a girl wandering around ahead of them. "Oi… she looks lost."
"Hey!" Lily waved her arms, easily getting the girls' attention. "I'm Lily, this is Malroth. Are you lost?"
The girl broke into tears as she ran up and hugged Lily. "I am!" She sobbed as her knees gave out and she nearly dragged Lily down with her. "My name is Lacey and I'm totally lost! I wanted to go on an adventure and then a huge storm hit and ever since I've been stranded on this island!"
"You can come back with us." Lily patted the girls' head. "Do you like to farm?"
"I do!" Lacey's eyes were wide as she looked up at Lily and Malroth. "Do you have a farm?"
"We're collecting seeds to take back with us, you've been here for a while, do you know of any good spots?"
"I do!" Lacey took off, rubbing the tears from her eyes as she led Lily and Malroth around the island.
Lacey had gotten settled into the Green Gardens with the thanks of Lilian and Perry while Lily and Malroth had gone back to the Scarlet Sands. The group had finished the second part of the pyramid while the two friends had been away, but they had come up with ideas for things that needed to be built while they waited for the builder to come back.
Lily finished up the bathrooms and the two rooms that Den had mentioned, grinning from ear to ear until Malroth came up to her, a concerned look on his face. "What's up, Mal?"
"Is it just me… or does something feel off to you?" He grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the group of farmers and miners.
"I hadn't noticed anything…" She looked around, closing her eyes so she could try to feel what Malroth might be talking about. "Tiny is still with Lilian, should I call him here?"
"I would. Just to be safe." Malroth followed Lily closely as she made her way to the scroll and sent out a call for Tiny to come back to the sands.
"In the meantime, I think I'm going to build a bar for everyone." Lily whispered, her chest tight as she looked to Malroth, the way he was on edge had her worried. She moved to her workbench when Malroth suddenly grabbed her, eyes wide. "Mal!?"
"That's it! Monsters. And it's not the wild ones that live here." Malroth growled, it was loud enough that the others came running over, worry on their faces. He flinched when a cold raindrop hit his nose, making him look up when the sky started pouring down on them.
"W-We think you might be right about that, Malroth! Oh, deary us! Oh deary, dear us!" Ordelia hunkered down, shaking as she tried to hide from the thought of monsters.
Malroth looked at Lily, frowning. "I'm going for a closer look. Get them ready and then follow me, alright?"
"Nothing like this has ever happened before…" Lulu put her finger to her chin, frowning at Lily. "I've got a sneaking suspicion as to who might be behind this."
"I know exactly who's behind this." Lily whirled, nose to nose with Bonanzo. "No allowing monsters onto the island in carefree manners anymore. You see a ship that isn't Brownbeard, you hide."
Bonanzo stuttered but he gave a soft nod. "Right…" He looked to where Malroth ran off to, then back at Lily. "What are we supposed to fight with? Our swords will be useless."
"I'll make you new ones, we've got the ore here to make some." She turned and set to work as fast as she could, making new swords and shields for everyone there. She let out a cry, grasping her left arm as if she'd been hit. "Wh-What the hell!?"
Lulu grabbed her friend, helping the builder back up so she could finish the weapons before handing them out. "Are we ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be." Lily snarled as she ran after everyone else, her heart sinking when she saw the outline of a ship when a flash of lightning struck somewhere farther out. "Mal…" When they got out from under the alcove, she saw Malroth, seeing the sleeve of his jacket was torn on his left arm where she had felt pain moments before. "Mal!"
"Don't worry, it was just an arrow." Malroth gave her a grin, his ax out and ready for a fight. "There's a ship up ahead, they're preparing to come ashore. That was a warning shot." He crossed his arms and frowned at the ship. "I don't get it… what are the Children doing here? Why now?"
"To stop us before we ruin their plans, more than likely." Lily frowned as she walked up to him, taking a look at the cut from the arrow. It was already healing, it hardly bothered Malroth. She gave a sigh and held up her shield, feeling herself shake as she waited with the others as the ship drew closer.
"Look who it is." Malroth snarled as the ship came into better view, Shane was up top, arm no longer in a sling.
"Hey there, Lily! We're back! Sorry we had to scram, man! I said we'd stay out of your way, man. I said we'd never force our beliefs on you, man. But that was all just a sham, man!" He let out a roar of laughter as he raised his scepter. "We're back to give your island the slam, man! Wham, bam, thank you, man!"
As the group of fighters took on the monsters, Lulu and Rosie dove in to grab anyone who started to go down; pulling them to the side to give them medicine that Lily had given them. It didn't take long to knock them out, Malroth was beaming, unable to contain his satisfaction at kicking Shane's minions' asses. It was short lived though, when Shane laughed from his perch on the ship. "We're not beaten yet, man! The Children of Hargon are just getting started!"
Rosie looked in her pouch, frowning at Lily. "We don't have much medicine left!"
Lily scoffed; her knuckles white from how hard she was gripping the blade in her hand. "Use them as you need to, we'll be fine."
"The runts of the clan were too easy for you, man. It's time we step up the plan, man!" The group watched as eight large monsters dropped from the ship, eyes locking on Lily. "Here's the plan, monsters! The builder's the boss of this island. Take her down and win the crown, man!"
"Nah, mate! I ain't 'avin' it! I won't let ya pinch our mate off us – not on your nelly!" Dougie roared, his sword raised as he challenged the monsters.
"Tha's right! Lily! Ya need to get aht of 'ere pronto! Yer too important! Don't worry – we'll look after these numpties!" Digby grabbed Lily's hand urging her to run back to the mainland.
"He's right! Malroth, set sail for another island, protect her!" Lulu grabbed a sword from the pile, eyes narrowed on the darker male.
"We can't just leave-"
"You stay and Lily is gone!" Lulu barked, jabbing a finger at the ship. "If she's off this island, she's safe! And no one can keep her safe like you can! Now stop arguing and go!"
Malroth snarled at Lulu but turned, scooping Lily up as she fought his hold, screaming to stay and fight. Once the two were back to the pyramid, he saw Tiny flapping towards them. "Tiny! Get over here, now!" He kept a tight hold on the screaming builder as he grabbed the map, ripping it away from her hip and laying it out. "C'mon you stupid dracky!"
Tiny landed on Malroth's shoulder, glaring at him. "What'sss happening?"
"The Children attacked, Shane was a bad case like you said-" The three disappeared, only to land in front of Brownbeard. As soon as they landed though, a small group of skeletons came around, smacking their swords against their shields. "Damnit! It's an ambush. Lily are you-" Malroth couldn't finish his words before Lily was off and attacking the monsters. "Damn…"
Lily slashed and bashed against the skeletons, Malroth eagerly joining her once he recovered from the shock of seeing her so fired up. The two took out the group quick, but Malroth had to grab Lily to keep her from running back to the others. "Lily! I know you want to stay and fight, believe me, I do too! But this is for the best."
"Lily! Malroth!" Hairy Hermit appeared in front of them, his hammer hitting Lily in the head lightly. "I know you want-want-want to fight, but this is for the best. The Children seem dead-dead-dead set on getting their grubby mitts on you, go. The island will be safe while you hide-hide-hide."
"Are you sure the others will be alright?" Malroth had his arms wrapped tight around Lily's middle, his eyes narrowed on the hermit.
"They'll be dan-dan-dandy! You let me worry about the Children – you just con-con-concentrate on protecting Lily." The Hermit winked at Malroth before disappearing.
Brownbeard ran up to the two, holding out a map. "Where to?"
Lily stared at the map for a moment, tears of frustration making it hard to see what she was looking at. She pointed, seeing the large sandy island beneath her finger. Goldirox could help them somehow, right?
