100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN There was obviously a very good reason why Valdrada was now attempting to make her way through an enormous maze in a cornfield, following after an enormously drunk Seigi. She wouldn't be here if there wasn't a good reason for it. But between trying to figure out which way to go, and also attempting to figure out whether Seigi was all right or not, it was a bit hard to remember what exactly was going on prior to her current situation. And the fuzziness in her head after trying her best to match Seigi in their drinking challenge wasn't helping either. Well, at any rate... Val looked between two equal-looking forks in the path. There really wasn't a difference between them that she could see. Part of her wanted really badly to just keep teleporting until she found the center of the maze, but that kind of defeated the point of the exercise. This was supposed to be for training! To, uh, what was it? Test their sense of direction, and teamwork, and speed, and a whole bunch of other things that Val couldn't quite parse. "It doesn't look like one is different than the other," she said eventually, giving up on trying to discern a difference between the paths they could take. If she wasn't so impaired at the moment, maybe she would've found one. As it was now, she had nothing. "So let's just go this way?" She arbitrarily stepped onto the right path, looking back to Seigi to see if she had any reaction. @Seigi Navigating the Maze / Roll 45 + 0 = 45 Maze Progress: 45 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 100 EN MAX EN In life, there was only one direction! Forward. Always. Even if it led one into some sort of maze that the drunken girl, much to Val's dismay, willingly entered. By the time she realized, for just a few seconds, where she actually was it had already been way too late. Or was it because the maze was supposed to serve for some sort of training purpose? Yes... of course, it did! Totally. A hero was never truly lost and all and even under the most drunken of states, Seigi deeply cared for the teal-haired cub she took under her care. So, of course, being the good teacher she was, this was clearly a great exercise! "...Ma... Maria!" Seigi called out as she grabbed Valdrada somewhere and pulled her, gently, back... her tail was fluffier than Seigi had imagined! "Maria...! Listen to me." Seigi continued. Despite the hazy state she was in it was a wonder she pretty much didn't slur at all, though even she wasn't spared from pausing her spoken words mid-sentence. "A hero!... A hero... lesson! Yes. A hero always knows... the way! Even if not." Seigi nodded a few times as so often before she pointed from the way they came from. "If in doubt... left!" Simple as that, Seigi moved left... which turned out to be the direction her partner initially wanted to move to thanks to the courtesy of Seigi having pointed, and thus faced, into the direction they had come from. "Hmm... Sarah..." Seigi thought out aloud. "I think it's time... TIME for some SERIOUS bonding!... Tell me! Tell me about your- Ooff!" Any warning had already been too late as Seigi crashed into the body of another! "Watch... where you're going...! I'M A GREAT, and rich, HERO!" She simply complained. Navigating the Maze / Roll 19 + 10 = 29 Maze Progress: 74 / 500 Event Roll: Lost Child
100 HP MAX HP 90 EN MAX EN Valdrada was almost embarrassed by the high-pitched yell she had made when Seigi pulled on her tail. She kept forgetting that she had the thing, and even when she did remember that her character had a tail, she never remembered that it was technically a part of her body now, and could still feel pressure and pain. Thankfully, Seigi hadn't pulled on it too hard, and she had let go soon after. Any embarrassment that she might have felt from that was quickly surpassed by concern, though, as Seigi stumbled into another person. Wide-eyed, Val quickly made her way to the scene of the collision, asking, "Are you okay? Sorry! It was an accident-" Seigi's rather loud proclamations kind of didn't help. But the stranger that they had run into quickly began explaining the situation, not even bothering to brush herself off after falling over onto the ground. So, it looked like there was someone lost in the maze? A kid, at that. Nodding along as the worried woman spoke, Valdrada looked towards Seigi. "We'll help you find your son," Valdrada said, taking the initiative and speaking for the two of them. That was what heroes did, right? Spring into action to help people in need! And with both her and Seigi--despite the other girl's condition--Val was pretty confident they could find a lost kid. So, that was that course of action decided. Hashing out some quick plans with the anxious mother about how to get in touch with her or where to meet up if either of them found her son, Valdrada set off with Seigi into the depths of the maze. Taking the left path, of course. Seigi probably had a good reason for choosing that way, if she was so confident about it. Searching / Roll 36 + 0 = 36 Child Found: 36 / 150
100 HP MAX HP 90 EN MAX EN "Aahhhh.... I'm so proud of you, Valy! Helping people in need is exactly what heroes dooooo!" Clearly, Seigi was fully on board with the Felis's decision. She... she even took the left path! WHAT A CHAMPION. "D-Don't worry! We'll find your son! All alive and well... because we're HEROES. Yeah." The kung-fu girl gave the parents a thumbs up before she was about to follow Valdrada. "A-Ah and don't be too harsh on the kid! It's all about the ADVENTURING SPIRIT, y'know." Seigi nodded. Unless the son was kidnapped it surely just wanted to ha- kidnapped?! As Seigi and Val got further away from the worried parents she leaned closer to Val's ear. With her stench hopefully not being too unbearable, she tried to whisper. "M-Maybe the poor kid got snatched by a vengeful... ghost! A GHOST, Yuki!" Still ended up yelling though. Seigi seemed worried now as she made a step back from her partner. In fact, the hero-girl didn't just seem worried but rather mortally terrified. What a pitiful state for the hero. "I... I don't have the right tools with me. NOT AT ALL. How are we supposed to beat a ghost with- Valencia! Did you bring your Proton Pack with you?!" If this was had been the usual Seigi, the answer to that question would have been all too obvious. Searching / Roll 56 Child Found: 92 / 150
100 HP MAX HP 80 EN MAX EN Whatever happened to Seigi, Valdrada hoped that it never happened again. The smell wasn't great, to start off, and Seigi's volume control on her voice appeared to just vanish completely. Val winced at the loudness, but processed what the other girl was saying. "Ghosts aren't real!" Val insisted automatically. Her older siblings had used to try and prank her by convincing her that their house was haunted, and switching around her things when she wasn't looking. When she was younger, she's believed them to the point that she would hide under her bed at night so the 'ghosts' couldn't get her. But she caught them in the act once, and then she wouldn't fall for it anymore. But now, Val took a glance around them. Tall stalks of corn that obscured her vision. A cold wind that whistled lowly through the plants, causing a rustle that seemed like something unseen rushing through. The eerie silhouette of the castle in the distance, black against a dark purple sky. Ghosts didn't exist. Not at all! They'd find the kid, and everything would be totally fine because ghosts did not exist!!! Searching / Roll 32 + 0 = 32 Child Found: 124 / 150
100 HP MAX HP 80 EN MAX EN "WHAT?!" Seigi seemed majorly offended at that declaration as she looked at Val in surprise. Her gaze changed into something like... disappointment? "H-How dare you to say that, Lucia! Just because you haven't seen any Ghosts doesn't mean they aren't real." Seigi herself had been very well aware that ghosts were just a myth. A recent encounter only proofed that further. It was a bummer. But right now she made even less sense than usual anyway. "Have you never seen Ghostbusters?! You know..." With that, Seigi started to hum a part of the Ghostbusters theme as suddenly something behind Val, in the grass, started to rustle. "...Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!" Just about then, the rustling that had been going on for a few seconds turned into a 'BOOOH!' as an annoying brat jumped out and giggled at their reaction. "Aaahhhh!" Of course Seigi was shocked at first. Unlike the Scaredy Cat, however, Seigi decided to punch the kiddo! At least as far she managed to as the clinging Felis made it kinda difficult to really move. With the sudden surprise gone, it soon turned out that the kiddo was the actual missing child. Doing exactly what Seigi had thought a kid this age would do: SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE! "You... you shouldn't go around... scaring people like that y'know! I nearly punched your head off... YEAH! A HEROIC PUNCH OF JUSTICE... pranks are EVIL. I should spank you..." Of course, it never came to that as the two took care to properly send the child on their way home. With him gone, Seigi's attention turned to Val as they continued properly left. "If you meet a real ghost... just PUNCH it! It solves most problems. HERO WISDOM. Yeah." But didn't she just speak about some Proton something or whatever to get rid of them...? "But... don't worry... you can also stick close to me. You ARE my cute little tiny adorable pupil, after all. Seigi protec! But she also attac!" Someone just end the poor girl's misery already. Searching / Roll 76 Child Found: 150 / 150
100 HP MAX HP 80 EN MAX EN Ghosts don't exist, ghosts don't exist, ghosts don't exist... The mantra repeated over and over again throughout Valdrada's mind as she and Seigi continued searching for the lost child. It was actually doing a pretty good job of calming her down- "BOOO!" -Or maybe not. Suddenly finding herself clinging to Seigi's side, Valdrada stared in the direction that the loud yell had come from, watching some hulking form emerge from between the tall stalks of corn- Oh. It was- it was the kid. Face turning bright red from embarrassment, Valdrada untangled herself from Seigi and stood to the side as the other girl lectured the boy, for a given value of 'lectured', about not scaring people while in a haunted maze. Gahhh, not a haunted maze! It wasn't haunted! Any and all ghosts were just naughty young children pretending to be ghosts in order to scare people. And there'd be no more of that now that they'd found this kid and sent him off to his mother. Yeah. No more ghosts whatsoever. When Seigi insinuated that Valdrada would be able to stay close by in case she got scared again, the felis pouted. "I'm not going to be scared again! I- I don't need to stay close to you. I can handle myself!" Not that she'd demonstrated any of that ability, of course. But it was the principle of the matter! Navigating the Maze / Roll 95 + 0 = 95 Maze Progress: 169 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 80 EN MAX EN "Good." Seigi nodded. "That's the spirit....!" The girl added before thinking a bit. Right, Val needed some motivational motivation! "If you're going to be scared again... then... THEN...." I shall disown you? No. That'd be too harsh! Having a cute little Robin around had its merits! Even when drunk. She was, however, a Felis! Which meant, with Seigi being a self-proclaimed... "As a connoisseur of all that is fluffy and smooth, you have to allow me to touch your tails and ears as much as I want!" Seigi declared. "Wait... no... I'd do that sooner or later anyway." The girl could still recall the feeling of heaven back in that rescue mission. Inside the wagons, that one Felis who had such a fluffy tail she was able to wrap her entire body inside it... that was... "A PUNISHMENT!" Seigi yelled out as she shook her head. "Yes. But since you won't get scared again, I don't have to think about it... r-" She had to stop talking suddenly as she vomited into the opposite direction. Just because the girl was still talking more-or-less normal didn't mean she was all good. "I'M A GENIUS!" She suddenly yelled out after having recovered for a bit, seemingly having forgotten about whatever they just talked about? "...Where am I?" Seigi added as she suddenly looked around. "HANNAH! Have a piece of heroic wisdom: If in doubt, left!" The kung-fu girl nodded to Val before moving right! Navigating the Maze / Roll 62 + 10 = 72 Maze Progress: 241 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 80 EN MAX EN But- but that wasn't left, that was right- Oh, who could reason with Seigi when she was in this state? Valdrada did the mental equivalent of throwing her hands up in the air and just trailed after Seigi as she took the right path. Truth be told, Val had no idea whether or not they were making their way any closer to the center of the maze. So it wasn't like picking either left or right would make a difference. At least they had appeared to leave the endless fields of corn. Now, it looked like the maze took them underground, into some damp tunnels that crossed over themselves and spiraled around into dead ends. Valdrada was on alert as they made their way down--she would be vigilant, and keep an eye out, and nothing was going to scare her- Wait. What was that crying sound in the distance? It echoed off the rocky walls, multiplying until it was like an eerie chorus of spectral sobbing that seemed to surround them. Oh no. Ohhh noooo was this another ghost? Were there more than one this time? -Oh. Once Valdrada's eyes adjusted to the darker underground, she could make out a small form huddled in a corner. It was another little kid, hugging her knees to her chest as she cried. She looked at Seigi. "Uh, I think there's another lost kid," she said. Navigating the Maze / Roll 31 + 0 = 31 Maze Progress: 272 / 500 Event Roll: Lost Child
100 HP MAX HP 80 EN MAX EN "Aaaawwwwhhhh....." It was like a lost little puppy! "Hey, little one." The hero girl kneeled down to be at the same height as the little kid. This one didn't make fun of them! "Only weak kids cry! Are you weak? WELL, I DON'T KNOW." Maybe if she wasn't drunk her pep-talk would have been better? That, and her drunken smell turned the kid rather silent. Simply staring at Seigi in some sort of fear and confusion. "You better come with us and... and NO TRICKS... like that last kid... OR WE SPANK YOU. ALL HEROIC, YEAH." Maybe the kung-fu girl just wanted to punch things? Nonetheless, as Seigi finally got up and tried to grab the kids arm forcefully to pull it up, its fight-or-flight syndrome kicked in. "Hey, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? THAT'S IT. YOU WILL BE PU- Owh." Trying to run after it, Seigi simply stumbled: Her face planted into the ground. "I'm fine... I'm fine... WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU ONLY MAKES YOU STRONGER." She responded in a mumbled voice. "Dirt tastes dirty..." Navigating the Maze / Roll 91 + 10 = 101 Maze Progress: 373 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 80 EN MAX EN "W-wait!" As the girl ran off, probably frightened off by Seigi's loud yelling. Not that Valdrada could really blame her, given that Valdrada probably would've reacted the same way if a loud stranger had come up to her while shouting, as she was lost in a dark area. She tried to go after the girl, but Seigi fell over in the process of trying to reach her, and Valdrada got tangled up in the pile of limbs and tripped as well. By the time she managed to scramble back up--wincing, as she felt like she skinned her knee there--the girl was long gone. "I hope she'll be okay," Valdrada murmured, frowning as she looked through one of the possible directions that the girl had run in. There were a lot of other people who were running through the maze. Hopefully the girl had run into one of them, because Val didn't think that she and Seigi would be able to find her again anytime soon. In fact, they were probably even more likely to end up awfully lost and wandering through the maze for ages if they tried. Navigating through the underground section was difficult, but eventually she and Seigi managed to get through. Being back up in open air was refreshing, but at the same time it was disorienting after spending so much time underground. Squinting, Valdrada tried to make out whether or not they were closer to the center. "I think we're nearly there?" she said. "The castle looks closer, anyway." Navigating the Maze / Roll 65 + 0 = 65 Maze Progress: 438 / 500
100 HP MAX HP 80 EN MAX EN "Castle? What castle?" Seigi asked confused. She still wasn't all too sure about why they went in there. Oh right, Team Building! But a castle?! What would they do with that anyway? "Are we going to find a princess?! But what if she`s in another castle?" Would they just find another castle? But... weren't they the ladies?! The princesses?! So would they find a prince or? Would they find a princess?! Did Seigi even swing that way? And... anyway, she was already engaged! Or was Val about to find her dream husband? Oh... oh... they grew up so quickly. Way too quick. Was this what it meant to be an adult or... As Seigi had yet another existential crisis, she wasn't able to realize that someone, something, had sneaked up from behind them until it was too close. A monstrosity well-known to all children of Terrasphere. An otherworldly being from bed-time stories to make them behave. A monster that should not exist. Literal Nightmare stuff. "Shapely, and Succulent." The voice declared its presence in a shrill voice. As Seigi, at first confused, turned around she could feel turning 10 years older. It was... horrible. It was an Ultimate Nightmare Carrot. "A-Ah..." She took a few steps back as her voice escaped her. She wasn't scared. She wasn't scared. Not at all. Especially not when drunk. Seigi was the type to punch, rather than hide anyways! Yeah... she just had to punch things... really hard. And all problems would be solved. Navigating the Maze / Roll 36 + 10 = 46 Maze Progress: 484 / 500 Event Roll: Monster
90 HP MAX HP 70 EN MAX EN Valdrada didn't notice the giant carrot monstrosity at first. Only when the loud, whiny voice spoke did she realize that something had snuck up on them. She spun around in a panic. Was it another gho- Val blinked once. Twice. Then rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating. When she looked again, the giant carrot was still there, grinning like a demon as it loomed over them. It was a giant carrot, walking on two legs, just- "Why is that a thing?!" she asked, still in disbelief. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't get an answer as the root vegetable's fist swung down at her. Out of instinct, Val leaped out of the way and scrambled back, trying to keep a distance between her and the monstrous thing. "Eat your veggies!" it roared as it continued swinging. Looked like it wasn't going to just let them pass by. So, it seemed like they would have to resort to battle. Valdrada drew her sword and readied her shield. Well, fine! If that's how the carrot wanted things to be, then Val had no problems with stabbing it to submission! With a teeny little war cry, Val jumped ahead and struck! Fighting Monster / Roll 45 + 15 = 60 Monster Name: 90 / 150
90 HP MAX HP 70 EN MAX EN "IT'S PURE EVIL!" Seigi cried out to Val's rhetorical question. "Puuureee Evil." She nodded. Clearly, it was a positive thing that children were taught to eat their veggies, so wasn't this monstrosity one of the good guys? No way! Clearly, it wasn't very heroic for Seigi to let Val do all the work alone so she quickly had to take action as well! While punching things might have been one option, considering its nature, Seigi had an actually alternative idea. "A Genius indeed..." She whispered before announcing her move. "SUPER SEIGI TACKLE BITE SUICIDE ALE INFLUX!" Starting to rush the Nightmare Carrot, tackle it onto the ground and take a bite out of it! Not letting go of it, Seigi yelled out after she swallowed the monster's meat. "YUKI! NOW! OUR DINNER!" Fighting Monster / Roll 47 + 20 = 67 Monster Name: 23 / 150
80 HP MAX HP 60 EN MAX EN Valdrada thought she was doing great with her sword! After her haphazard first steps, she was pleased to see that she was able to hold her own in a fight. She got the timing of blocking with her shield, and her grip on her rapier was better than ever! Even if she did have to suffer through the somewhat painful process of developing calluses on her hands during all her practice. But this? She watched Seigi tackle the creature to the ground, shouting a long war cry, before taking a bite right out of the live, screaming carrot monster. That stopped Valdrada dead in her tracks. Uh. Uhh. What? Her? Val glanced between Seigi, still with a mouthful of carrot, and then back at the flailing creature. She was supposed to do that...? "Uh. Uh, uh. S-SWORD STAB... HURT... ATTACK...?" Val tried her best to follow Seigi's lead, but couldn't get through the war cry without stumbling over her words. And she didn't have the heart to just go down and eat something that was alive and screaming, no matter how much like a delicious carrot it looked. So instead, she walked over to the prone monster and stabbed it a lot of times in the head. Well, it worked. The thing was no longer moving by the time Val was done with her attacks. Fighting Monster / Roll 31 + 15 = 46 Monster Name: 0 / 150
