>>6309552Zetsun milling about in the square, greeting passerby, ferrying goods from place to place… it’s like something out of an old movie, you think as you sneak past a pair of treethings trimming some growth off the floor, or some kind of documentary…
You’re so absorbed, in fact, that you earn a painful reminder to watch your step! OW!
<span class="mu-r">STUBBED TOE COUNTER: 26! THAT’S RIGHT, BUD, WE’RE BACK</span>
A firm, but delicate gloved hand covers your mouth before a pitiful yowl can escape it!
“<span class="mu-i">Tread lightly,</span>” Toppel hisses as she leans in to address you with a dour look burned into her face, “<span class="mu-i">They’ll eagerly drop their little act if we’re discovered…</span>”
You know better than to fight back on this one–you’ve been surprised in this little adventure of yours far too many times to count. They wanna sneak? You’ll sneak!
So you sneak! The ‘village’ is hardly what you’d call, well, a village–it takes some doing, but eventually you notice all of the colony’s ‘buildings’ are made of the stuff the Zetsun are so eagerly cutting and cultivating growing on the floor–the walls bend at a firm enough push like the ground in a peat bog, but you can’t deny how soft and… <span class="mu-i">ticklish</span> the architecture is?
The smell burns your nose and eyes as you continue to follow Toppel’s brother. Lord knows how Oti intends to catch up…
Your wandering mind causes you to stumble into the soft sorceress as she comes to an abrupt halt! Before you can mutter an apology, Toppel whirls around and points your head towards Obber’s eyes just a stone’s-throw away from your position with an unseen hand!
“There it is. We’ll wait for Oti’s distraction and carve through.” Not a bad call, you think as your eyes fall upon a crowd of Zetsun milling about in the clearing!
You feel heat build up at the sorceress’ sides. “I know you’re an amateur in the arcane, but I’ll ask anyways: do you happen to know any flame spells? Caustic, perhaps?”
You have <span class="mu-i">something</span>, you nod as you feel <span class="mu-r">RED</span> rouse from dormancy in your head, but if she’s got the tools, well…
“Just be ready to act.” Toppel frowns. “We won’t have the luxury of a second chance.”
You just hope Oti puts those Blastcaps in the right sp-
Your thoughts are blown to smithereens by the sound of an explosion on the far side of the colony–one that stings your inner ear and rocks the very foundations of the village itself! Jolting upright as if woken from a dream, the villagers swivel their heads like a pack of robots towards the explosion’s epicenter, their eyes flickering in recognition!
“<span class="mu-s">We are joined.</span>”
“<span class="mu-s">A new voice come to join our chorus…?</span>”
“<span class="mu-s">The Cistern… it creaks and crumbles…</span>”
“<span class="mu-s">Severing our chords…</span>”
>CONTD. 