Chapter 15

Initiation

The lighting was dim, the air was humid, yet that was not enough to stop the three little adventurers. The path within the cave had a steady decline. Rose found it slightly claustrophobic since the path was fairly narrow and groups of rocks had blocked off some of their available space. Moisture built up along the walls of the cave, and the echoing sound of dripping water could be heard throughout.

Leading the group was none other than Hocus, he bravely held his wooden sword in his right hand while walking deeper through the cave's throat. Behind him was his sister, Pocus. She donned her bow and sticks, constantly looking around in search of any movement. That left Rose in the back of the pack. She was amused by it all.

They had then finally reached an obstacle that blocked their path. In front of them was a red, tattered tarp. Simple strings kept it held up. Hocus decided to scope out what was behind it. He poked his head onto the other side of the cloth for just a couple seconds before returning. He gave some hand signals to Pocus. She then stowed her weapons and put her hands together. In a matter of seconds, a small, white light had formed at her finger tips.

Hocus then went to the other side and motioned for the other two to follow. As they crossed onto the other side, they noticed how much darker it was. Rose guessed it had something to do with the tarp blocking off light from seeping in. Thankfully, this section was a bit more spacious. The orb of light that Pocus had created lit a small area around them but was not bright enough to hit the walls further in the room.

They all cautiously stepped into the room, prepared for anything. It was also at this moment that Rose realized she had a fear she hadn't known about before, the darkness. Her breaths began quickening and her eyes began making out false images within the shadows. She slowly shuffled closer towards the two espurr.

Suddenly, something whizzed through the air, catching all three of them off guard. A silky string then tangled itself around Hocus's sword. In a swift motion, it was yanked from his nimble hands. Pocus then readied her bow, fully alert for the slightest sound or movement.

"Not so fast," a voice sounded from the darkness. It had a young sound, just like their own.

"Show yourself!" Pocus exclaimed. "Unless you're afraid to lose."

"Afraid?" The voiced scoffed. "Please, Pocus, we've got you completely surrounded this time."

"We?" Hocus said with an unnerved voice.

"Oh yes. You think we wouldn't have learned after bringing your other recruits into our cave? Hah! Pathetic."

"That's no fair," Pocus whined.

"It's not fair that you always come in a group to always beat me. Not this time. I've adapted my strategy, and as the 'heroes,' you too, must adapt."

Rose had been on edge the whole time, but now remembered this whole thing was a game. Everyone who played a part in it seemed to really be in character and took it more seriously than they should have. She had to think now. She was aware that this cave was a bit of an initiation, as Hocus put it. By the way Pocus initially reacted, she felt it was originally planned for Hocus to have had his sword taken away, leaving her and Pocus to fight. However, Rose noticed she didn't have a weapon like Hocus and Pocus did, that didn't necessarily mean she needed one either.

The three of them put their backs towards each other as they faced the shadows. Pocus increased the luminosity of her light, revealing what lurked in the darkness. Circling around them were six spinarak, one of which had Hocus's sword next to it. Everyone remained still, waiting to see who would attack first.

"Rose, Pocus, looks like we'll each have two targets to take down. I'll go for the one protecting my sword and the one adjacent to it. You two go for whichever are in front of you."

Rose hesitated to attack, not sure how rough they would be in their horse play. From the corner of her eye, she saw Pocus ready her bow and launch a stick right at a spinarak. It apparently hadn't anticipated the attack and took the stick directly to the face. After letting out a grunt, the spinarak rolled over and played dead.

Hocus had charged towards the spinarak protecting his sword. It shot a web towards him, but he managed to hop over it. While he was still in the air, another spinarak tackled him from the side. Hocus roughly hit the ground and skidded a few feet. He got back up on his feet, gritting his teeth, and charged back to attack the two.

Rose then saw two spinarak charging towards her. Rose jumped up onto her fore legs and used momentum to spin herself around. Though having her back towards the enemy wasn't the best tactic, she had something else in mind. She dug her claws into the ground below her and managed to kick up sand which was flung towards the spinarak. The two slowed down their pursuit after the sand irritated their eyes. Rose then continued by running back towards them. Once she was close enough, she quickly spun around and slapped one of the two with her tail. The other spinarak shot a string of web towards her, but it missed her by a lot. Still having the upper hand, Rose charged towards the other spinarak and slapped her tail against it as well.

Pocus was now readying another stick to launch at her other target. Before her hand could reach into her quiver, the spinarak shot a web that entangled around her hand. Pocus dropped her bow and used both of her hands to pull her opponent closer towards her. As the spinarak was flying at her, she threw her first into its face.

Hocus was still struggling with his opponents. They had him in a predicament where he could only focus on one at a time. His back was currently exposed to the spinarak who stole his sword. It took the opportunity to shoot a string of web at him. Hocus saw it seconds before it hit him. He barely dodged it as he side-stepped to his left. The string flew by his torso and hit the other spinarak. Hocus then ran as fast as he could towards his attacker.

The spinarak tried stopping him by shooting thin needles at him. That hadn't stopped him though, he pushed through the slight pain they caused. As he reached the spinarak, he impaled its face with his knee. The green spider was then hurled into a wall. In a fashionable style, Hocus used his foot to kick his sword up into his hand. He twirled it around a bit before getting in a battle stance and pointing the blade at the other spinarak.

Rose wasn't too sure what attacks she had. She only knew about sand attack and tail whip from how simplistic and instinctive they were. She dropped down low onto the ground and gave off a low growl, it seemed to have intimidated her two opponents. One of the spinarak decided to be brave and started charging towards her. Rose did the same thing. She set off with her hind legs and rushed straight at the little spider. Once she was ready to make contact, the spinarak suprised her by jumping and landing on her back.

The spider then sunk his fangs into her back. Rose gave off an irritated grunt of pain. Rose then rolled around on the ground, crushing the spider beneath her weight, which wasn't too heavy. After getting the bug off her back, she extracted her claws and impaled the spinarak. The spinarak gasped in pain, seeing that Rose was about to strike again, he too decided to pretend to be dead.

At this point, Pocus was now offering to help Hocus in his battle. There were two spinarak left from the original six. Rose's opponent decided to clean the sand from its eyes, only cleaning one at a time as to keep an eye on Rose. The two moved in a circular motion, waiting for an attack. Hocus and Pocus had easily defeated their enemy, now standing back to let the two finish their battle.

The spinarak decided to be the first to attack. It shot a thick string towards Rose. Rose tucked herself in and rolled to avoid the attack. The spinarak seemed to have anticipated this as it shot a couple needles where it predicted Rose to be. One was launched into her left shoulder, while the other buried itself in her left side. Rose felt a little dizzy and felt a sickening pain inside her body. The spinarak didn't stop there, it shot another thick string which came in contact with Rose's left fore leg. The web entangled around her leg and formed itself into the ground too.

Rose tried freeing her leg, but it was useless. The silky web was too strong for her. The spinarak then shot a couple more needles towards her face. Rose reacted by twisting until her right side protected her from the poisonous needles. She then tried using her teeth to pull the web off of her, but to no avail. The spinarak took this moment to charge at Rose.

Rose panicked, not knowing what to do. Her heart quickened its beating and she struggled to focus on anything. The continuous pain pumped through her body and she was irritated being restrained. She gritted her teeth tightly and clenched her claws into the ground. Suddenly, her fluffy tail glowed a brilliant, white light. As the light dissipated, it revealed a silver sleeve around the tail. Rose had lifted her tail and slammed it into the ground. Chucks of rock came flying up, one of which was attached to her ensnared leg. She twisted around for her tail to shatter that rock too.

The webbing then fell off very smoothly. Shards of rock and debris rained from the sky. Hocus and Pocus looked at her in shock, as did all of the spinarak. Her attacker even stopped her pursuer in its path. Rose then glanced towards her spinarak and readied her tail, ready to attack with it.

"I-I concede!" The spinarak pleaded. He then ran away into the shadows, as did the other spinarak.

"That was amazing, Rose!" Hocus exclaimed. "I had no idea you knew iron tail, and the way you battled, man, it was just... amazing!"

"Yeah, Rose. You're so strong and great at battling. You didn't even need a weapon like we did. You fought them off using only your wit. The way you smashed those rocks and sent the spinarak running was great!"

Rose blushed from the apraise she was given. "I had no idea what I was doing. I've never battled before... I just did whatever felt right."

"What about your iron tail, though?" Hocus asked. "That's not a move eevee usually learn. It usually takes years for them to learn it. Well, that's what Starshine said anyway."

"I don't know, I was just struggling and wanted to break free-" Before Rose could continue, she felt a pain shoot through her body again. "I-I think the spinarak poisoned me though..."

Hocus rushed to her side and pulled out an item seemingly from nowhere in particular. Hocus had what appeared to be a pink berry with faint yellow spots on it. "Here, take this pecha berry, it'll help."

Rose bit into the large berry and felt satisfied as she tasted its juice. The pain slowly died down and she was feeling as good as new again. "Th-thanks for that."

"No problem, we're supposed to look out for each other after all." Hocus then lifted up his sword and pointed it into the dark depths of the cave. "Onward, we're almost to our goal."

The trio began trekking even further into the unknown, Pucus' light still providing some visibility. The scenery didn't change much, it was still a rocky cave with unexpected twists and turns that slowly descended into the belly of the cave.

Rose had gained a bit of a confidence boost after her battle. She was surprised how easy the battle felt and how natural all of her moves felt. She had only used sand attack, tackle, and tail whip during previous encounters she had when she traveled with Flint, but they weren't serious battles. What had surprised her the most was that she was able to use iron tail. It seemed just as natural as all of her other moves, but was definitely more powerful. She began wondering what other moves she subconsciously knew.

Before she could dwell on the thoughts too much, a faint glow of an aquamarine color came into view. They were slowly approaching another room, one of which both Hocus and Pocus were familiar with. Rose started assuming the room was more important because of its vibrant glow.

After entering the room, Rose took notice of its round, squarish shape. The room had various puddles of water scatter around the room, as well as stalagmites that provided as obstacles. Most importantly, Rose's attention was drawn to the object located in the center of the room. A chest. On all of its faces were illegible symbols that provided the glow that lit up the room. Because of this, Pocus had dispelled her source of light.

"There it is," Hocus said. "That's the treasure. It's up to you, Rose, to open it."

Rose nodded her head and walked steadily towards it. She was in a trance as the mystical lights obsessed her, and the mystery of what was inside the chest attracted her curiosity. She was now just a few feet away from the treasure chest. Her heart beat increasing with every step she took. Just as she was about an arms length away from the treasure, a loud shriek sounded from above.

A rather large creature with gangly legs dropped from the rocky ceiling, barley missing Rose as she hopped back in fear. The creature was red and had four yellow legs with purple rings on them. It had two similar appendages on its back. From its head grew a sharp spike that was as intimidating as its dark eyes. It was the evolved form of the pokemon they had fought in the previous room: an ariados.

Standing in front of the luminescent chest, the ariados casted a shadow that loomed menacingly over the three children. Hocus tried hiding his fear by pointing his wooden sword towards his foe. The ariados was quick to dismissively fire a string of webbing in his general direction. Pocus seemed to be the one with the quickest reflexes as she shoved her brother out of the way and took the blow instead. The webbing entangled Pocus onto a stalagmite, her bow just barely out of her reach.

Hocus rushed to aid his sister. The spider took notice and charged in to intercept his actions but was interrupted as Rose flung a pile of sand into its sensitive eyes. Rose had bought Hocus just enough time to cut his sister free. Afterwards, Pocus went to retrieve her bow, but was cutoff by the ariados. The ariados shot a few needles at her, but she was able to dodge them. The ariados seemed to have predicted her moves as it tackled into the pink espurr shortly after she touched the ground. Her body skidded across the room, eventually landing in a puddle. Pocus struggled to get back up, but before she could, the ariados shot two needles into her sides, causing her to collapse. Pocus curled into a ball as the poison began spreading throughout her body.

"Rose, follow me!" Hocus instructed. Rose didn't argue. Hocus then tried running around the room, trying to possibly find something in the room that would give them an advantage. There was nothing, though, just the same old rocks, stalagmites, and puddles of water.

"I hope you have a plan," Rose said, noticing the ariados was closing the gap between them. Hocus had to think, not having much battling experience and not having complete control of his psychic abilities, he wasn't quite sure what to do in the scenario.

Like a strike of lightning, one idea had popped into his head. "I've got one idea. It'll mainly buy you some time, but I'll be able to deal a good amount of damage to the ariados. It's imperative you finish it off."

Rose wasn't sure what he had planned, but he didn't show any sign of elaborating it to her. Just as the large spider closed in, Hocus jumped towards a rock in front of them and used his momentum to shoot off of it like a spring. His sword was aimed directly at the ariados. With a speed that surpassed the ariados, the blow was delivered.

A pained shriek escaped from the mouth of the ariados while a few inches of Hocus's wooden blade stabbed into its side, blood lightly trickling down the hilt. This was just the right amount of time Rose had needed to flee the scene, she decided to take cover elsewhere in the room. Now enraged, the ariados slammed into Hocus, throwing him into a wall. Using one of its legs, it pinned him in place, precisely what the ariados wanted for what it intended to do next. Three needles were shot directly into Hocus's hip and before he could react, each of his arms were pinned to the wall via a web.

Hocus struggled against his restraints, but found it futile. Sitting just out of his reach was his sword. Try as he did, his legs just were not able to reach his sword. The poison began taking its toll as his teeth tightened to embrace its unpleasant pain. He began feeling weaker by the second. Slowly losing hope in continuing his efforts.

The spider continued its hunt for Rose, keeping its sand-filled eyes open for any sudden movement. It had actually now come to its attention that the sand was agitating its eyes, assuming the coast was clear for now, it used a puddle to cleans its eyes. Suddenly, a loud smash was heard, but it was too late for the bug. Rose's iron tail had cut through a stalagmite as if it were butter, the chucks of rocks bluntly assaulting the ariados.

The ariados weakly looked towards Rose, a small bit of fire still burning in its eyes. It launched a few string shots, all of which Rose could easily dodge. Next, it shot some needles that barely missed her. Not wanting to fight much longer, Rose went in for the final blow. She went in for a tackle, and just before coming in contact with the spider, a large web entangled her from behind. Her eyes widened to look behind her, seeing another ariados. She looked in front of her and saw the previous one fading away like dust in the wind.

"How?" Rose couldn't help but ask. The webbing now ensnared her like a cocoon.

"Shadow sneak," the ariados said, his voice confirming his gender. "The string shot and needles were to buy me enough time to get the jump on you, which has more than apparently worked in my favor. Looks like this is the end of the line, adventurer."

The ariados closed in on the eevee, preparing for his next, and possibly final, attack. A visible string of poison could be seen dripping from his fangs. Rose's heart began panicking up as she tried finding a way out. It was too late, the ariados was standing right above her and was ready to sink his fangs deep into her. At an alarming speed, the spider went in for the finishing blow. He was interrupted with a blunt object slamming into the side of his head.

The ariados backpedaled a bit and rubbed its head with one of its legs. The most notable thing he felt were splinters. Looking back, he saw Hocus weakly standing in front of Rose. One hand firmly held his sword while the other cupped his wound that previously housed three needles. Hocus tossed his sword aside and clenched his fist.

Rose had a surprise expression on her face. She was more than relieved to see Hocus come to her rescue. Hocus took a quick moment to ask if she was okay. Still shocked by being saved, her heart nearly skipped a beat, she nervously looked away and confirmed she was still alright.

"How did you escape?" The ariados asked, clearly annoyed.

"I used telekinesis on my sword to cut me free. In my spare time, I was able to cure my poison with a pecha berry. Now," he said, adjusting himself into a battle stance, "let's finish this."

"Let's."

The two sprang into action towards each other, both exchanging a barrage of various attacks. Rose observed her surroundings and noticed a puddle not too far away. She took the opportunity to roll towards it. Once the water came into contact with her webbed confines, it began dissolving, thus freeing her.

Hocus put both of his hands together and fired a pink beam at the ariados. The blow staggered him slightly, but he didn't let up. The ariados shot a fury of webs at Hocus which he was easily able to dodge. After jumping back from one of the webs, Hocus felt a sharp pain ran into his back. The ariados had used shadow sneak once again.

Hocus was completely winded at this point. He barely had energy entering the battle and now he had taken a pretty rough blow. With what little strength he did have, Hocus began dragging his body away from the ariados. The ariados was amused by the pathetic attempt to escape and let out an audible laugh which was cut off just as quick as it started.

A force in the shape of a star collided right in the creature's face, another two on its side, and a fourth one hitting his neck. The ariados fell helplessly on the floor and looked on the direction of his aggressor. His eyes met with Rose, who was wearing a look of shock. She looked down at her paw and then back at the ariados.

"What did I... just do?" Rose asked astonished.

Hocus smirked. "That was the move swift, and there was probably no better timing for that either."

It was now the ariados's turn to speak. "Younge eevee, what is your name."

"My name is Rose."

"Rose... you have bested me this evening, not just me, but the rest of the dungeon too. You have proven yourself worthy of being an adventurer. I grant you permission to open the chest."

Her ears perked up. She looked behind her, still seeing the same chest. It's alluring nature unfazed by the heat of the intense battle that had occurred. Before going to the chest, she helped Hocus back up to his feet and acted as a support to help him walk. On their way towards the box, Hocus insisted leaving him behind so he could help his sister recover. She didn't argue and continued moving forward.

And there she was. Face to face with her reward. An unexplainable feeling built up inside of her. She wasn't sure how, but she already knew exactly how to open the chest. She put her paw up against it and the lights intensified. She shielded her eyes instinctively. As the lights died down, she noticed the lid had faded away, granting an opening into the hollow box.

She used her hind legs to support herself as she looked inside. Inside the box were two items. One was a narrow object made of stone that had two holes at both ends and one that protruded from its top. The other notable object was a gem that had a diamond-like shape to it. The gem had a clear color to it while an image was somehow etched on the inside. The image bared a similar design as the infinity symbol.

"Whoa," Hocus said, his voice startling Rose.

"What is that?" Pocus asked for both herself and Rose.

"The stone object looks like an instrument, not too sure about the gem."

Pocus gasped. "An instrument? Rose, do you know what that means?"

"...No?"

"That means the dungeon has chosen your fate!"

"Rose," Hocus began, "you have been chosen to be a bard." Rose perked up her ears. "You are basically best as a support in our groups and you use music as your weapon."

"Music?" Rose said, now showing more interest. "As in songs, yeah?"

"Unless there's some other type of music. Wow, this is great! The dungeon has yet to choose a bard before."

Rose was now a lot more excited. Though it felt a little childish how everyone acted in the 'game,' she would be interested in playing more if it meant she was going to practice playing music.

Mystic had now shown up to her house and was engaged in some random conversation with her husband and Nixie. The three seemed to also be having a glass of wine, though Nixie hadn't really appeared to have drank any of hers.

"It's getting pretty late," Nixie addressed, "Rose and I should head home pretty soon."

"Yeah, our kids spend a lot of time playing outside, and whenever they get new friends they do this 'initiation' for their game that they play." Psyche explained. "I'm sure they'll be back eventually."

A knock had then came from the door. Psyche stood up to answer it but was interrupted by Mystic putting her hand on his shoulder and sitting him down. She walked over towards the door and opened it to reveal a flechinder who looked completely out of breath.

"Misses Mystic, I have some news I need to address..." he nervously glanced into the house, seeing there others, and then back at Mystic, "in private."

Mystic looked back in the house, seeing the other two taking notice of the bird. She bit her lip a little before letting out a sigh. She stepped outside, closing the door behind her. "This had better be of most impotence."

"Gods... you don't even know..."