Chapter Text
“Hm?” Chilchuck had finished restocking the last of his crowbar-shaped picks in a wooden box when somebody knocked on the window. He hadn't expected anyone, not in the dead of night. As long as his family remained sleeping on the floor above, he could accept a surprisingly wide range of things to happen.
Chilchuck picked up the wooden crossbow he hid under the counter, and slowly approached the window. He loaded the crossbow, pulling the strings back until they're taut, aligning the tip of the crossair into the dark side of a building that was the view of the window.
He opened the latch with the crossbow and with a gulp, he pushed the window open.
…
A girl poked her head inside. “Yo.” Her triangular ears flicking, her yellow eyes glowing as the light from the ceiling lamp hit her. Chilchuck sighed. “Can’t you pick a better time to disturb me?”
“Meow.”
“Wha… Meow…?”
“Grown-ass man.”
“Shut up.”
Izutsumi crawled onto the sill.
“No, no, no!” Chilchuck halted her. “Use the door.”
Not before giving him a big old frown, Izutsumi made her way to the front door like a typical, more hospitable guess would. Chilchuck relocked the window, sighing. “Who the hell are you guys?” Chilchuck heard Izutsumi’s remark outside. He ran straight for the door, unlocked it, and flung it open right into something.
Chikchuck swept his peripherals, aiming the crossbow as he did so. On his left, a man had crouched on the road. Not far from them, Izutsumi was armed with a kunai. Chilchuck sighed. “Just some robbers. You said ‘guys’, where's the other one?”
“You slammed him with that door there.” Izutsumi pointed.
“Oh.” Chilchuck looked at the aftermath. He shrugged. “Help me tie them. We’ll give them to the guards later.”
Izutsumi bound the hands together as Chilchuck kept the intruder at crossbow-point. “Why’re you going around stealing things, huh?” Izutsumi asked.
“Tch.” The man threw his gaze.
“They look inexperienced,” Chilchuck said. With the criminals secured, Chilchuck stretched a bit. “Anyways, what do you want to do again?”
Izutsumi scratched her neck. “I’m bored.”
Chilchuck furrowed his brows. “Aren’t you supposed to sleep?” he asked. He got her inside the house along with the tied up criminals just to get out of the cold night air.
“Can’t. I was going to get you to visit Laios.”
Chilchuck held his chin, thinking. “Oh, it's been a while. I just saw him waltzing around some dungeons from time to time.”
“You never met him?” Izutsumi asked.
“Well… no.”
“I thought you guys would be closer,” Izutsumi remarked as she sat on the floor.
“Oh, come on,” Chilchuck retorted. “I have a family and he has a whole-ass kingdom. I think it's completely justifiable.”
Izutsumi poked on the unconscious man. “Do all dungeon party end up like this?”
“Get your fingers off my friend, freak,” the other man hissed.
Chilchuck held his forehead, thinking of an answer as Izutsumi lifted the criminal by his shirt. “I mean, ours are still intact. That's better than how a lot of others end up.”
Izutsumi dropped the man. “How’d they end up?”
“In prison. On death row. I think one literally went to hell.”
“Wow your friends were awful.”
Chilchuck chuckled. “It’s a given. I’m lucky I ended up with y’all and get to settle here.”
Izutsumi stood up. “Well, what to do now?”
Chilchuck sighed. “Let me tell my wife first. Then we’ll head for the castle.”
Izutsumi perked her ears. “You’re really going?”
Chilchuck nodded. “We gotta hand over those two, right?”
Izutsumi looked down at them. The intruders. One angrily staring at the floor, the other unconscious. “Right.”
Approximately thirty seconds after Chilchuck disappeared into the second floor, Izutsumi grew bored. She rummaged around Chilchuck’s little storages behind the counter. Shiny little things, made of metal. She never knew there were this many variants of a simple lockpick.
Izutsumi pocketed one peculiarly shaped. It was zigzaggy from its half to the tip. As she closed the drawer, she scratched her head. “Chilchuck notices something's gone… It's stolen… He suspects me… I will go to jail.”
Izutsumi shook her head. She dropped a few dimes into what appears to be the money box, and made her way into the center of the room. She greeted Chilchuck, who was geared up with his old adventuring clothes.
“You didn't mess with anything, right?”
“Nope.”
He squinted his eyes. “Alright. Those two didn't try to escape, right?”
Izutsumi crossed her arms. “The guy here hasn't spoken a word, actually. Kinda creeps me out.”
Chilchuck crouched near him. “Oi. Who are you two, really?”
The man kept avoiding gaze. “Just some lowlives you two adventures wouldn't care about.”
Chilchuck exchanged some looks with Izutsumi. “Never had any burglar spoke like this. Usually they just spat on my face.”
Izutsumi stuck her tongue out. “Gross.”
“Oh well. Whatever's the case, let's get these two into prison.” Chilchuck crouched beside the conscious man. “Why’d you even do this?”
“Tch,” the man muttered, “you wouldn’t get it.”
“If you want money you can start working on simple things,” Chilchuck lectured, “nothing wrong with picking labor work for a start.”
“I don't care! Ever since that no-good king sealed the dungeon, life’s been rough!”
“Y’know that's a very selfish thing to–”
Izutsumi pulled the unconscious man outside by the collar of his shirt. “Let’s just go.”
Chilchuck stifled a chuckle, and did the same with the other man. “Wait! Let me lock my door.”
They dragged the two men down the road. The lot of residents in the city had rested tight. Some dim streetlamps and the yellow flicker from the window atop the castle at the end of the road, all that illuminated the night. Soon enough, they arrived, and handed the suspects to some passing guard.
Chilchuck sat on a bench near the castle walls. He wiped some sweat from his chin with the green bandana on his neck. Izutsumi panted. The winds traveling around the circumference of the wall made quick work on cooling them down.
“Weirdos,” Izutsumi spat. “Not the good kind, like Laios. They're just stupid.”
A row of armored guards stomped in front of them. The two waved. As they passed, Chilchuck stared on the armors’ back. The reflected skies covering the gray metal. Yes… that color.
He remarked, “Y’know, that armor’s reminding me of the living armor we ate.”
Izutsumi wretched. “You guys ate metal ?”
He shook his head. “They're actually creatures living inside the armor. Take a wild guess on who figured that out.”
Izutsumi leaned onto the wall behind them. “Laios.”
Chilchuck nodded. “And then Senshi cooked those… things.”
Izutsumi grimaced. “How did they taste?”
“Like the sea and iron. The armor parted some weird hints.”
Izutsumi shivered. “I’m lucky I came later to your party.”
“Wait!” Chilchuck stood up. “You wanna get Senshi here, too?”
Izutsumi shook her head. “It’ll take too long finding him. It’s stupid tedious.”
Chilchuck placed his arms behind his head “I kinda miss him, though.”
“Well, I ain't into being killed right now, so.” Izutsumi stood up, hopping on the bench. “If you wanna find him, I’ll go meet Marcille.”
“Izutsumi!” Chilchuck reprimanded, “Don’t stand on a bench like that!”
“I wanna climb up this wall. It's what I usually do, anyways.”
“But the gate’s open?”
“There’s a scruffy old guy there guarding it. I don’t wanna be scolded.”
Chilchuck held his forehead. He turned around. “I went through the trouble of making all those promises with my wife; we’re not half-assing this reunion,” he said as headed for the castle exit, to Izutsumi's dismay.
She armed her claws, testing the wall. Knocking on it… gripping it… “Wait, will Marcille be mad.”
Where’d you send Chilchuck to, Izutsumi!?
Izutsumi flicked her ears, shuddering. “Geh…”
Chilchuck leaned beside the gate, just outside of her view. He couldn't help but put up a smile. Though he couldn't see, judging by the sudden skittering noise from inside, he was fully aware of what she was going to do.
Izutsumi peeked outside. “Chil…? I can smell you.”
Chilchuck assumed a walking position. “Right here. Thought you're gonna be there early?”
Izutsumi crossed her arms. “Let’s just go. Do you even know which dungeon he’s in?”
Chilchuck placed his hands on his hip. “I saw him going in there.”
By ‘there’ he meant a gaping hole beneath a tree. The roots partially blocked the entrance, so they crawled below, careful not to scratch themselves with any knife-shaped pebbles on the ground. Past the entrance, the ceiling was decorated with finer roots from herbaceous plants. They stood up.
“How’d you even see him, anyways?”
“Who? Senshi?” Chilchuck shoved away some roots from his way. “He was bartering some things. I think some spices. I greeted him, talked for a bit, then he went in.”
Izutsumi sniffed the air. “Smells like dead bodies. And something. I dunno what it is.”
Chilchuck nodded. “I noticed. We should move a little faster.”
“We should just call him.”
“I don’t know. What if there’s something here? When there’s a dead body, there’s a murder monster.”
“Got that from Laios, didn’t you?”
Izutsumi closed her eyes, focusing her senses, particularly to her hearing. The crickets always got awfully cheerful in the night. If the dungeon was a bit deeper into the ground, that nature’s chorus wouldn’t be a problem. As far as she heard, there wasn’t any movement in the soggy ground beneath them.
“SENSHI!” she called, “Are you there, SENSHI?”
Chilchuck furrowed his brows. “You’re that sure?”
“Hey, I want this to be fast,” Izutsumi retorted. “I hate you people sagging things for too long.”
Chilchuck sighed. “Sagging…”
Izutsumi hollered into the corridor of the dungeon, so he proceeded forward. She was right, though. The riskiest thing was being deafened by her incessant screams. The cave-like dungeon had splendid acoustics, although much of its ceiling has crumbled. Moonlight illuminated their path.
The soil transitioned to brick floors. Chilchuck halted Izutsumi. “Hold on.”
Izutsumi paused. “What?”
“I don’t really have a good feeling about this.” Chilchuck crouched, observing the floor. “Something about it.”
“I walk over this type of floor all the time. Nothing happens.”
“ All the time ?” Chilchuck perked his big ears. “You went to the dungeon all the time?”
Izutsumi shrugged. “I mean, I gotta make money somehow.”
“Wait, you found some gold or something?”
“I killed some monsters and brought them to Laios. He paid me.”
Chilchuck sighed. “And did he encourage you?”
Izutsumi nodded. “With money!”
Chilchuck took a deep breath and resumed his walking. “I have to talk to him later. Also the floor’s safe.”
The sturdy footing provided by the floor allowed them to proceed just a little bit faster. Chilchuck took note of the features around. Maybe those could be clues to where Senshi had been, if he was still there. If he told Izutsumi about that uncertainty, she wouldn’t come along at all. She’d been calling Senshi’s name for a while now.
The path forked ahead, one to the left and one to the right. Sure as his promise he didn’t want to get lost in there, so he joined Izutsumi with the calling, as reckless as it may be. Chilchuck leaned on a tree root, taking a deep breath.
Izutsumi stopped. She spoke with a normal volume, “I heard something.”
Chilchuck flinched. “Oh! Me too. It’s like… Footsteps…?”
Izutsumi perked her ears as high as they could get. “No–” The floor behind cracked open. “Shit!”
Without a roar nor domineering scent, the man-eating plant chomped its flower-shaped mouth upwards, crushing the floor. Izutsumi armed herself with a kunai, though Chilchuck halted her before she could attack. The plant remained still.
Izutsumi tilted her head. “It’s not… attacking?”
Chilchuck, regaining his breath, replied, “Man-eating plants don’t really chase things.”
Izutsumi sheathed her blade. “You got that from Laios?”
Chilchuck nodded. “Never seen this type, though. Best not to get near its vines.”
“But it blocked our exit!”
“You wanna cut it down?”
Izutsumi groaned. “If only you didn’t bother getting Senshi. Now we’re stuck!”
“Hey! I didn’t know, okay?” Chilchuck spat.
Izutsumi crossed her arms. “Senshi’s better be here. Maybe he can cook those, or something.”
She walked into the left corridor. Chilchuck flicked his ear. “Watch out!” he screamed as he pulled Izutsumi back.
Spears pierced through either wall, stabbing the growing tree roots clean through. Izutsumi hissed. Chilchuck held his chest, releasing his breath. “Calm down, Izutsumi–”
A man-eating plant broke open the walls behind the spears, breaking all of it. Not that they wanted to go that way again.
“My God,” Chilchuck said. “We’re… lucky.”
“You”–Izutsumi pointed at him. She glanced at the trap, paused, and stood back up–“whatever.”
“Finish it, Izu,” Chilchuck teased. He stood up.
“Shut up.”
“Well, that narrows our way to just one. Let’s go to the right.”
“This has taken too damn long as is,” complained Izutsumi. She jogged along, hoping Chilchuck would do the same.
He did.
They jogged through the long-winded corridor. Some parts of the wall had big holes left in them. The path led straight ahead, not getting higher or lower. Not a single stair, nor shifty mechanism Chilchuck would detect.
Izutsumi sniffed. “Wait. I smelled something.”
They paused. “What is it?” Chilchuck asked, joining the sniffing session. “Wait… it’s cooking!”
“Smells like meat,” Izutsumi remarked, licking her lips. “Like the kitchen in that inn near your house.”
Chilchuck grinned. He called, “Senshi! It’s us! Chilchuck and Izutsumi!”
His voice echoed into the darkness. A stairway was not far away from them, so the smell must have come from the floor below. Izutsumi stuck her head closer into the darkness, focusing her hearing.
A cricket fell from the ceiling, above her head. She gasped, quickly throwing away the insect right into Chilchuck’s face. He, too, screamed. “Izu! Help!”
She laughed, as Chilchuck flailed around with an insect on his bandana. “It’s just a stupid bug, Chil!”
The cricket hopped into the wall, landing on a tree root, to Chilchuck’s relief. He huffed, “You should’ve thrown it the opposite way.”
“Not my fault I got startled–” her ears flicked. “Chilchuck!”
She pulled him by the hand. A similar plant burst from the side of the wall, clasping its jaw with a loud crunch. Chilchuck hit her legs, flinging her off-balance into the stairs. They rolled down in unison, screaming along the way.
Chilchuck felt a sting as something landed above him. Izutsumi had extended her claws, sinking them into Chilchuck’s chest, as she had landed on all four of her limbs. Promptly, Chilchuck screeched.
“Get off me! Get off me!”
Izutsumi hopped in front of him, hitting his stomach with her legs. Before Chilchuck could complain, her straightened tail hit him at his eye, sending him to the floor yet again.
She took out her kunai, and pointed it into the darkness. “Don’t you dare come any closer.”
“What, me!?” Chilchuck exclaimed.
“No. Someone. Something. It’s”–she sniffed–“oh.”
“Did ye two call me?” a deep voice replied. Izutsumi lowered her kunai, regaining her breath. Senshi’s footsteps were distinctly heavy.
Chilchuck flipped around. “Senshi!” he called. The tiny poke wounds on his chest crippled him down. “Ow, ow.”
Senshi whipped out a torch. Chilchuck found his face was right behind Izutsumi’s kunai, as she had hovered it in front of him. He gently pushed away her hand, giving Senshi a wave. “Hi.”
“Ye shouldn’t have made a ruckus. It’s nighttime, ye know?”
Izutsumi sheathed her kunai. “I didn’t even want to go here.”
“Ye two want to help me?” He lifted a pillow, opening the covering revealing a pile of clams. “I found these, wondering what to cook with it.”
Izutsumi took the pillow, peeking at the inside. She poked her finger into the sedentary nightmares, and got bit by one of them. She lifted her finger up, before trying her best to pry open the nightmare on it.
“Lucky you didn’t fall asleep, huh?” Chilchuck remarked.
Senshi nodded. “I was resting a little after eating. If it weren’t for ye, I would’ve slipped into a nightmare.”
“So there’s no food?” Izutsumi asked.
“I didn’t expect anyone to come in here, especially at this time. What’re ye two doing, by the way?”
Chilchuck resumed, “We–”
“You!”
“I want you to join us. We were going to visit Laios.”
Senshi tapped his chin. “Well, I wouldn’t mind cooking for ye all again. I didn’t get so many chances nowadays.”
“There’re two big-ass plants blocking the way.” Izutsumi pointed into the stairway with the nightmare that was still clamped down into her finger.
Chilchuck held his chest as he tried his best not to writhe at the pain as he stood up. “Can you kill them, Senshi?”
Senshi glanced at the huge axe leaning on the wall. “I’ve harvested a few already. I don’t know about killing more.”
Izutsumi sat down, opening the nightmare forcefully. “So are we stuck here?”
Senshi pointed. “Let’s try repelling them. With fire. Let me gather my stuff first.”
He held aloft a large bag from which Izutsumi could smell meat. Vegetables too, she guessed, but she didn’t care. Senshi told her to carry the pillow, so she did. He himself carried a small chest that he couldn't open.
The trio made their way up the stairs, Chilchuck having the hardest time along the way as his chest wouldn’t stop sending jolts of pain at each of his steps. Senshi offered him a ride on his back, which he sternly refused. Not because of ego, or the fear of being insulted by the Izutsumi, but because he didn’t know how long it had been since Senshi washed his hair.
The plant, anchored to the side of the wall, pulsated rhythmically. Its flower-like mouth was purple in color, dotted with white. Izutsumi stood at the very back as Senshi approached one of the vines with his torch. He ignited the tip.
The plant retracted into the wall, leaving a large gaping maw that was quickly filled with dirt. Senshi observed the print for a bit. “Interesting. I could hide inside there and come out again once it detects prey.”
“How does it do that?” Chilchuck asked.
Senshi pointed at the walls in front of them. “See those root-looking things? I think those’re actually sensory organs.”
Izutsumi shivered. “Wait, so we’ve been walking through a field of them the entire time?”
Chilchuck rubbed his neck. “Seems so. We’re very lucky.”
“I’m not joining you at another dungeon party,” Izutsumi said, squishing the pillow she was holding.
And so Senshi repeated the same procedure for the other plant later down the trail. They made sure not to make contact with the wall as they reached the final crouch out of the dungeon. The winds blasted their faces in an instant.
Izutsumi stretched out her body. “Ah… finally. Out of that muck.”
Chilchuck patted his chest. The pain had subsided. “Just gotta walk there, now.”
“Lead the way, ye two,” Senshi said.