Complete Private Eastern Brisshal One Old Expedition

[Crimson Ruby]

"..."

The fungi looked at the flower and at the two girls for a moment, raising an appendage as a goodbye gesture, before entangling its touch around the mushroom that was given to her.

"At the very least now she knows that much." Ruby smiled faintly, ruffling the hair of her sister while watching the fungi walking away with the mushroom, then turning to continue their path until she felt the ground being slightly unstabble. That could mean a lot of things, but before she could open her mouth to mention it, Doggo already seemed to be stuck into some of the swampy ground it had, making Ruby's eyes grow wide open, especially when the creature showed itself.

"Stand still, Bao!" Ruby said, wielding her blade and focusing on the enemy before swiftly swinging her blade with a supernatural precision, trying to reap as much smile from her sister's touch as she could, while trying to tug her sister back and away from the amorphous enemy.

"That's an slime, don't focus on attacking it yet, first you need to get it away from you-" Ruby tried to explain patiently, but also hurried, knowing that soon the pain wouldn't be as 'gentle' as the faint stings her sister was feeling right now.

@Little Doggo

 

[Little Doggo]

Everything had happened to fast for Doggo, all too content between her sister's rewarding praise and the sight of the fungi girl waving back at them that made her heart bounce as hard as her stride did right now, up and down until her foot ended up trapped on gooey transparent mint gum that soon turned into a peculiar looking foe with an interesting skull for face.

EEK!

Her voice jumped a second before her eyes closed in pure fear once she heard Ruby unsheathe her sword and swing it downwards, the steel a blur even for her senses that cut straight through the slime, but not a single noise erupted out of the monster. The threat was recognized by it, pain or not, as it begun to move backwards like the hyper-fast green sludge it is.

Not fast enough to not be caught, but enough for Ruby to easily tell it wasn't just an unintelligent beast, heading further through the path the two had set themselves upon earlier.

Doggo panted audibly, having glued her body against her sister's, and just now the pain begun to catch up and made her wince.

H-Hurts. Hurts hurts hurts.

Fortunately for her, Crimsonleaf was holding her water canteen with it's roots, the showcase making her mind spark: Of course, she is a healer!

T-thanks Jiejie. But since when slimes do traps?! I thought they were just magical blobs or something?

Her voice faltered a little, at least until the liquid begun to flow out of the canteen and wrap around her ankle like a bandage would, moving her foot on circles before finally standing back up with a peerless smile.

I-I'm okay, but- Hey!

Doggo stepped forth, pointing a finger back at the chunk of the slime that Ruby killed, which seemingly tried to follow the main body once again, albeit far slower than that skull-faced gremlin did.

Monsters are so smart... A-anyways! We should probably see if there's an end to it. This is like a maze, right? There's gotta be an exit.

Should have asked our fungi friend.

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby wrapped her sister in a soft and comforting hug, looking at her and flattening her ears against her head when she heard her sister was in pain. "Yes, just touching slimes burn a lot..." She said, giving her sister a hair ruffle before adding: "Traps are the slimes greatest hunting method. They may not be intelligent, but their instincts are sharp, and they aren't as slow and harmless as they look." Ruby explained.

"There is no such a thing like a monster you should underestimate, Bao." A small lesson, even if she knew her sister wasn't at fault for falling for such a trap. But certainly, the arrogance of many explorers was the reason for their doom, and Ruby certainly didn't want it to be the case of her sister.

Her ears perked up at the mention of the fungi person, and gazing back, it didn't seem like there was any sight of it.

"We should've... But it isn't like we could understand it, so we will have to make it do by ourselves." She said, casting a glance at Doggo's legs, wrapped by the healing magic, then at her eyes.

"Can you walk?" She asked, offering a ride if her sister needed, but otherwise, she would wander off by her side, cautious of her.

@Little Doggo

 

[Little Doggo]

I'm fine I'm fine, don't worry Jiejie.

Doggo quietly giggled as Ruby's overprotective side showed up once she got pulled into a hug, but she couldn't resist to not hug her back, if only because it recharged the LIL DOGGO batteries to do so, her eyes closing for a moment when her hairs got ruffled, her tail waving around like a fan dusting off the ground.

These slimes look tasty too. Makes me want to cook them.

Doggo added to Ruby's explanation, only for her to blink and let her ears drop down against her sides once a lesson was taught against overconfidence. Silence followed, broke by her once a loud 'mhm!' muttered out of her lips and she assented with her head.

Sorry. It won't happen again, I'll be more careful!

Big blue eyes tagged on Ruby's until they ended up on the giant mushroom the shroomgirl had been at moments earlier, only to find it empty, half-expecting that outcome by now, but the truth rang on her words afterwards as she elaborated on the language barrier being the real problem. They could only rely on themselves for this one.

Taking a careful step made her limp just a little, flailing her arms around to keep herself stable, before turning around one foot at a time to glance over to her sister with a careful nod.

I'm fine, it's just a scratch, it will heal! I just never tried this spell before so it may take a little before it works. I'm...

She paused, fidgeting with her thumbs as embarassment got her cheeks rosy and her eyes dropped onto the ground.

I'm kind of bad at games and this one is very hard without the auto-assist, so I never turned it off before.

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby's lips curled into a faint smile, with a ruffle on Doggo's hair being a sign that she found some fun in her beloved sister's words. "Some slimes are edible, actually... Not this one, it is too acidic. But some are sweet, sour, and even spicy. There is even one that hardens when dead, so they taste like hardcandy." Ruby said, letting out a brief giggle at the idea.

The smile only grew more as Doggo made sure she wouldn't make the same mistake again, which got her a bit more of praise coming from Ruby. "Smart girl. You are learning fast... But really, if you are hurting, you still have your sister here... This expedition is yours, but you aren't alone." Ruby said, placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking her head.

"It is fine, Bao. You will learn, nobody was born knowing everything. This is... This is the type of mentality that should stay back at our old home, okay? Here it is different." She squeezed her sister's shoulder softly, soon facing forward.

"Let's go?"

@Little Doggo

 

[Little Doggo]

Her ears flattened when Ruby rested a hand to ruffle her hairs, only to jump back up once she stopped, wiggling a little as Doggo took on the idea of different slime flavours, and with her eyes closed she could almost taste each of these with her imagination alone.

Y-you making me hungry Jiejie... Spicy slime seasoning sounds amazing.

Her eyes opened once again before any more drool could drop from her lips, giving a glance back to where the slime used to be then back to Ruby as she wished confirmation if she was hurt or not, with her brows dropping down as furiously as possible!

I'm gonna kick that one into a trashcan with this leg!

She nodded, fueled by determination in paying back that sentient green ichor, only to sigh off a second after the angery left her system, in favour to listen Ruby once more. Conflict surged on her features, not because of disagreement-- Bao wanted to do just like Yuhan says, but it was almost automatic for her to steer towards perfection, even if she was far from it.

Ye-yes, you are teaching me right now so I shouldn't feel bad asking. I can't help it sometimes, I don't wanna disappoint you or anything.

Bao nodded, with her little hands reaching to grasp her sister's hand and give it a caring squeeze, and this time she didn't let go of it. Taking her words to heart and with Yuhan to support her every step, Bao rised her eyes back to Ruby, pearly smile parting her lips.

Thanks for helping me, Jiejie-- Yes, let's go and head west, maybe we can avoid these slimes and see if we find that mushroom girl again. There's like a mushroom forest there.

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby laughed at Doggo's statement, shaking her head before the more 'serious' words escaped, making Ruby to look at her sister in an understanding and caring way. "You won't disappoint me, Bao." The small hand she held was softly squeezed. "Mistakes happen, and we will fix any of them together." Ruby said.

Her eyes then trailed to the west, that didn't look that much different from east, north or south, which seemed that her sister had figured something that Ruby didn't. But it was Doggo's decision, so she didn't question, nodding and following to that path, patiently so her sister would be able to keep up.

As they approached the west, the steps slowly became tougher to go through, with each one making their feet sink, hindering their movement and forcing them to use strength to actually walk.

"... This is getting deeper." Ruby said, glancing at the mud reaching her shin, and making her glance around for the mushrooms that towered them.

"We may need to climb, Bao. Can you do it or should I carry you up?"

@Little Doggo

 

[Little Doggo]

LIL' DOGGO pulled a little from her sister's hand just as she gave her a squeeze, taking one careful step at a time given the aching on her bruised ankle still made it difficult to walk, her eyes locking up with Ruby's at that promise-made-fact.

The Liang sisters versus the world of Terrasphere!

She swung their hands together, energized out of a sudden, even if they soon begun to slow down to a crawl almost thanks to the swift and almost imperceptible change on the ground.

It had to be fair... For them, hehe.

By the time there was actually some level of effort to move, each swing of her legs had her panting and squirming with all her strength to pull through, as if they were being swallowed by the path!

Y-yeah, I hope this aint' a giant slime or we are done for.

The thought had her sweating bullets in an instant, and a few more taps onto the ground revealed... Nothing, which had her sighing of relief that there wasn't a colossi slime within this dungeon waiting for them to walk into. Her attention (and ears) turned towards the felin, then over to the mushrooms high above.

Are you sure? I can try to freeze the ground and like, we could walk over there. Dunno for how long since that's tiresome but...

She hummed, sinking her mind in thought as she tried to evaluate the situation like an explorer would.Like Jiejie would.

Meh, let's try going up then! Can you like, super jump with me? I could help you out with a place to stand or something if you want.

Doggo said, eager to at least help lessen the burden on her sister. She didn't play much with the UI, but that 'EN' seemed to lower whenever she did anything too fancy with her magic, so maybe that applied for Ruby's super speed too...

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby chuckled and grinned at Doggo's words, with the 'Liang Sisters verus the World' ringing well in her mind.

"Now, if this was all a slime, it would be certainly terrifying." Even if it probably wasn't possible, Ruby glanced at the mud, seeing how it spreaded across a good portion of that region of the maze.

"Freezing could cause other type of problems, like the unstable ground making the ice surface sink with its own weight added to ours." Ruby explained, crossing her arms and twitching one of her ears as she pondered.

"A super jump is probably the way to do it..." Ruby muttered, kneeling and giving room for her sister to hop on her back, adding: "Hold on tight, Bao. This will be a dangerous jump..." She said, taking a deep breath while she waited for her sister to adjust herself, and then propelling herself upward in a long jump, aiming for the cap of the mushrooms and nearly failing to reach it, slipping by the edge and holding on it tightly by shoving her blade on it, piercing its bouncy surface and using it as a support while they wiggled around along with the mushroom.

Ruby used her other arm and hand to hold her sister and keep her firm on her back, until the mushroom slowed down, making the crimson cat sigh while dangling.

"Bao... Can you climb up? If you can, do it and help me to get up. I will be able to catch you if you slip, alright?"

Unfortunately, jumping or any other abrupt movement would probably mean they would be tossed away by the wiggling and bouncy mushroom, that certainly didn't have a firm stand.

@Little Doggo

 

[Little Doggo]

The fact Ruby didn't deny the fact it could actually be a giant slime did make her gulp down audibly, her eyes suspiciously inspecting the mud once again just in case she could spot any kind of oddities that could give it away, yet she swatted the thought away once her sister went over the problematics of simply making an ice surface for them to surf through.

Realism is so BORING...

Doggo huffed, dissapointed that someone took their sweet time to make the game have magic only to force it to abide to the rules of a different world. But if Yuhan said so, then it's most likely out of experience that some other cryomancer failed to do. But pondering left aside, Bao took a few steps back and prepared to jump onto Ruby's back.

Hop!

She exclaimed, as now they were all three making a chain of 'carrying one another', given Crimsonleaf held itself on Doggo's back right now, the flower wiggling it's leaves nerveously so once Ruby prepared herself for a jump. Fortunately, it had no voice of it's own compared to Doggo, who dragged hers along the entire arc they did for the jump.

Y-YUUU!

Her little arms squeezed her sister tighter, resting her head against her shoulder as an involuntary reaction once they almost slipped, and not only that, but begun to wobble around in such a way, poor Crimsonleaf almost fell, having to hold itself to Yuhan's ankle with it's vines. The shroom ceased it's movement shortly after, Doggo's eyes opening one at a time as she sighed off and shook her head a little.

I can't! How am I gonna get to the top like this? W-wait- Crimsonleaf..?

She turned her head a little only to notice the flower wasn't behind, and only when panic got a hold of her and she decided to look down against all reason, she saw it swinging from side to side on Ruby's ankle, getting a sigh of relief out of her.

I think it wants you to swing your leg. Crimsonleaf's gonna do the leap!

Indeed, the crimson flower had started to swing itself back and forth like a pendulum, waiting for Yuhan to match up it's pace to propel itself high up enough to land on top of the cap, which wouldn't take much effort for either given how little it weighed, flying up the air and bouncing over the top of the shroom. Piercing the surface of the cap with it's roots, enough to set itself like an anchor on it, The flower's vines extended over to the pair to reach out for Doggo and help her out of Ruby's back, following by the pair helping the cat up with one hand pulled by each.

Love you Crimsonleaf!!

Doggo exclaimed, giggling to herself as the plant wobbled from side to side like a hula dancer figurine.

He's pretty good, right? No need for rope when you got a flower like him.

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby dangled on the bouncy mushroom, but for most of part, she tried to maintain her calm and focused on her beloved sister's safety first and foremost. "Remain calm, Bao. You can do it." She said, confident on her sister as she held on tight, patiently waiting for her to work on her way back to the top of the fungi. Wobbly, it was hard to concentrate or even actually manage to get up, but eventually her efforts along with the flowers got the back to place, and Ruby sighed as she finally had her feet on a 'ground' again, albeit rather unstable.

"Good job, Bao... And Crimsonleaf too. Both of you are really amazing" She smiled, ruffling her sister's hair, gently brushing the flower petals, and then shifting to look at the surroundings, with the mushroom caps taking over all of the area, making it look like a gigantic bouncy grounds for them to move around.

"Alright, hop on my back again, we are going to have a long trip this time..." Her eyes were set mainly on a high opening by the cave's walls, one that they could potentially reach by bouncing their way through that wide area.

Whenever her sister was ready, Ruby took her on her back, and leaped from a cap to another, using her Dynamism not only to make it quick, but also to swiftly manipulate their movement, averting them from falls and homing their jumps so there would be no miss from them.

Eventually, on the last cap, Ruby would take an extra time to charge a boost, leaping the highest she had done during their bouncing trip so she would reach the opening along with Doggo, using her Dynamism to try and cushion their landing as they finally got there. "Phew... Here we go." She sighed, wiping the sweats from her forehead, and looking forward to see their path lit up by cyan and teal glowy mushrooms.

@Little Doggo

 

[Little Doggo]

With Yuhan setting her mind straight, Bao managed to make the last few pushes needed to reach the top. Slowly, as to try and not get the wobbly mushroom to not move even harder than it already did before, a sweatbead dropping onto it's surface once she made it up, her smile only returning once Ruby had been put out of danger with the help of their trusty third party.

Right?! I'm glad we saved Crimsonleaf. Coolest plant ever.

Doggo nodded her head three times, being caught completely off guard for her sister to ruffle her hairs, while Crimsonleaf wiggled to the touch and it's petal closed and opened several times. It was the first to react to Ruby once she gave out an order, hopping onto Doggo's back once again, while she did the same but with her big sis instead. The 'ground' made it even harder to without putting some strain on Yu's side.

You are planning to jump all over these mushrooms right?

She should have been a little bit scared given how difficult to plan ahead to the fungi's random motions whenever they jumped on them, but given Yuhan's certainty, she would have to obligue with the veteran explorer on this one. Big blue eyes scouted infront of her, squinting as she tried to follow where exactly were they heading, until finally catching up to their destination.

That far? Jiejie are you sure about THIIIIIIII-

Her voice cut off, giving her no time to worry other than to let her heart leap whenever she could peek downwards to notice the never ending height they were at right now between each jump Yu did, her nails digging into her shoulders as she braced herself. Crimsonleaf on the other hand just wiggled it's leaves and cheered with it's characteristic muteness. If only it could sing, it would certainly be doing that right now as it felt the breeze straight out from how fast they were moving.

Eventually the last hop reached this high ground they were aiming at, with Bao's pumped up cries of adrenaline falling back into heavy breathing once they drifted on the floor once they landed.

Give me a one two three next time!

She pouted, but suddently realizing what Yuhan had done just to keep her safe, DOGGO got herself off from her back and looked over to the catfolk in search of any visible scratches with a concerned frown on her face.

Are you hurt, Jiejie? Jeeez, I'm never letting you fly a plane if this is how you gonna land it!

Doggo giggled, pulling out one of the torches she had stashed away in her backpack to help them with another light source beyond just the fungi in the path ahead, only one problem surged once she looked up to her sister with a pleading look:

I actually don't know how to lit these... Do you have a lighter or uhh fire magic, Yu?

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

A smirk and a laughter from Ruby were all that Doggo would need to see to know that her sister knew exactly what she was doing. There was a bit of playfulness in her movements, and as they eventually reached their destiny, Ruby's double-tails swayed as she turned to look at her sister when she showed her concern. "Don't worry, Bao. I work a lot with directions and flow of movements, this landing, even if harsh, wasn't painful at all."

When questioned about the torches came up, Ruby looked at Doggo- "To lit up torches, you generally need a campfire... A lighter is a bit harder, only those with magitech can make those things easily." Ruby explained.

"Someone with Alchemy probably have an easier time, a Pyromancer, even more... Alternatively, you can focus your mana on its tip, hoping to create enough energy to heat and lit it up." After explaining, she took a torch herself, peering at her sister and raising a finger.

"Try yourself first, if you can't manage it, I will lit it up for you."

@Little Doggo

 

[Little Doggo]

Half of her felt washed with relief once Ruby proved this was all according to plan. The other half was furious that this is the case, a temporary hot-headed moment coming from the scare it gave her. Even when her sister told her not to worry at all, Doggo made SURE she could tell just from the squint on her eyes and the way her hands rested over her waist.

Coincidently, if she were to look down a little to the side, she would notice Crimsonleaf humourously mimicking Bao's pose.

Well you better! Or I'll spray you with water you two-tailed... Cat sister!

Doggo proclaimed. Hopefully that worked as a threat, given cats don't like water, or so cartoons depicted. Her attention returned once Ruby begun to explain the impossibilities of a lighter right now - something that in hindsight she should have expected and felt dumb for mentioning it - and how alchemy could have made their job way easier.

Wait, then how did people lit torches in the past? Magic ain't a thing outside of the game, right?

She wanted to laugh, but a part of her almost held onto the suspense of what Jiejie was yet to reveal. Sure, it sounded just as dumb as asking for a lighter inside Terrasphere... But what if? That alone kept her fidgeting with the torch, drumbing her fingers across the wood, while Crimsonleaf didn't know who to look at right now, switching back and forth between the beast sisters like they were speaking mandarin to him.

The option to heat it up made DOGGO rise a brow as high as her face allowed, a comical smirk flashed back to Ruby as if to highlight the absurdity of using ice or water to 'heat up' a torch.

Sure... Let me just use my ice magic to heat up a torch...

She giggled, holding the torch away from her face as she begun to do exactly as her sister asked. Perhaps it was the fact she didn't expect it to happen that attracted Karma to bite her back, or Yuhan was genuinely right about this, because soon a spark bursted from thin air alone and set ablaze the flammable oils wrapped around the torch, getting Doggo to yelp in shock and almost drop the whole thing down.

...N-never making fun of Jiejie again. Uhm- Need help with your torch?

Doggo rised the torch high with both hands to get a better glance at what surrounded them. The walls dripped with ooze and some of the fungi growing on the sides had gotten their glow muted as the slimey substance dropped on top of it. Still, it gave them a better insight on the terrain, which felt better to walk upon compared to the large open area they left behind.

Jiejie I'm curious: Why two tails? Can you like, move faster or something?

Is more actually better? Glancing back at her own bushy tail, it felt unlikely having two would be of any use, if only it would get more on the way than it already does.

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby narrowed her eyes at Doggo. "You will spray water on me?" She inquired, leaning in and tilting her head, looking at her sister with a small grin on her lips. "To think you would grow to the point you are rebelling at me... It must be a phase." She joked a bit, letting out a small chuckle and leaning away, rubbing her chin.

"They just used fire as normal. Campfire, and this kind of thing." Ruby explained, pondering for a moment. "And they used torches to lit up other torches too. Unlike in movies or games, they didn't just lit up torches as soon as they take it out of the inventory without a fire source." She said, hoping the explanation would suffice, and then crossing her arms when her sister decided to joke about Ruby's suggestion of using mana.

When the torch actually lit up, she shook her head at Doggo's surprise.

"It lit up because you didn't use ice magic, you used mana, that is essentially a type of energy." Ruby explained. "And energy... Well. It usually sparkle things up. Nothing compared to pyromancy though."

After the explanation, Ruby continued her travel, wandering and pushing through the bad smell of the fungi and its creeping appendages that nearly brushed on the tip of the felis' ears, twitching in mild disgust and forcing her to lean down a bit.

"These two tails help me with balance. It is great for defensive movements and acrobatic maneuvers." She said, swaying them and then peeking at Doggo's tail.

"Yours should help too, have you ever tried using it?"

@Little Doggo

 

[Little Doggo]

The way Ruby pointed out her spray threat and leaned down only made her hesitate for half a second before puffing her chest out.

Yeh! I'll spray you!

Confident on that, Doggo opened her eyes and shrugged a little as Ruby pointed out it was but a phase, smirking

Learned to be rebellious from the best. Step up your game, Jiejie, Crimson Doggo is gonna release a hit one day!

She giggled, watching her sister be the epitome of an encyclopedia, as she knew every little thing they needed for their expedition, including the history of torch-litting, which she listened to intently, laughing at the mere mention of the torches having an 'on' switch of sorts on games that happened as soon as they were taken out of their inventory.

I wish it was like that! But having torches like that would be boring. Flashlights are better though, Crimsonleaf is afraid of fire.

Something easy for her to point out given how the flower kept a distance from the pair once they both pulled out torches of their own, Crimsonleaf tagging along once they begun to move down, with Doggo holding a hand for her nose once the swampy smell hit her straight.

So any magic can use mana? Is it like, necessary? I thought mana was just an energy bar or something.

When Ruby got forced to lean down, Doggo let a confident grin plaster her features until the other noticed. Of course, being small as she is came with the advantage of not having to deal with any of that save for the scent, and Crimsonleaf didn't seem to mind it whatsoever given how at home it felt, despite being far from it.

I mean, your tail is slim and moves a lot, but mine is kinda there. I hug it when I feel lonely while playing, it's super fluffy!

She would have showcased it, but having to hold a torch up made that hard, so instead she wiggled it to the side.

Not sure if mine can do stuff like yours though... It's a bit rigid, but it doesn't get in the way at least.

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

Ruby shook her head. "Not all magic use mana. But it generally does... There are exceptions. Divine Magic can also use powers that are more related to a greater being giving you power. While Magitech is more of tools being created with magic, and you use said tools." She explained, with her eyes turned at Doggo as she mentioned hugging her tail when feeling lonely, which made the crimson cat's ear to twitch, finding the mental image of it being rather cute.

"Do you feel alone a lot when playing this game?" Ruby asked, wondering about it, just as they continued moving until the fungi lowered more and more, as if the tunnel was narrowing.

It reached a point, Ruby couldn't simply dodge the fungi unless she was crawling, and for that, she preferred to bear with the fungi instead of putting herself in a disadvantageous stance.

"... Tsc... Maybe I..." As she drew her sword out of her sheath, the fungi seemed to recoil at the blade for a moment, which made Ruby's eyes widen, and her grasp be immediate at her sister's arm.

"Bao." She muttered, but the primal response was quick and firm.

That fungi was 'awakened', and it was aware of them. An urge of caution rose, and she kept Doggo a bit closer.

@Little Doggo

 

[Little Doggo]

Now that you mention it, there's so many types of magic I don't even know about. But like, I don't think I can cast anything divine or craft stuff. That all sounds so cool...

It almost made her want to have chosen any of these instead of hydromancy, but perhaps that's just her mind playing tricks on her: everything sounds cooler when you don't have it. Not like Doggo could ponder much into it, as she gave a little smile over to her sister.

When I first started playing? All the time. But now I made a few friends around my age, and I have Crimsonleaf with me, so I'm not that alone anymore.

Most importantly, I have old Jiejie with me... But I'll probably keep hugging my tail because it's like a pillow!

She beamed up, distracting herself enough to not notice how the ceiling kept tightening up around them, to the point she had to lean her head down a little to avoid the fungi, her eyes cast over to Ruby with a concerned glint on them.

Maybe we should-

That thought was put on hold, a quiet yelp escaping her lips once Ruby took a grasp of her arm, a glance taken over to Ruby's blade then back to the fungi once it 'reacted' to them. Her steps got more careful from then now, making sure to not trip on her own feet in the process.

An idea got her head janking in Ruby's direction as her own Primal Aura triggered, and the idea portrayed was... Warm. It was fire itself, like that of their torches, what she let the veteran explorer know.

Maybe they could roast the fungi like they roast mushrooms..?

@Crimson Ruby

 

[Crimson Ruby]

A warm smile crossed Ruby's lips when her sister seemed to be in awe about the types of magics available in Terrasphere.

There was also a relief that washed the crimson cat when Doggo spoke of a friend of her age. It seemed like she was going along with the people in this world, which meant more people to protect her in case anything went wrong, but... There was no room for her to question any further.

With the mushrooms tightening their surroundings even more.

Ruby shielded Doggo with her own body, though the Primal Aura sparkled the idea of using fire, and so Ruby did.

Shaking her torch toward the fungi, it seemed to retract upon the touch of the warmth, with a summoned flame appearing at the right time to help out in it. A path opened, somewhat, and Ruby tugged Doggo's forearm and urged her to rush forward, seeing that her sister was smaller and could probably afford to run in that narrow space, unlike her.

However... As soon as they slipped out of that fungic tunnel hell, a tall figure loomed over them.

Spoiler: ???

It remained quiet, for most of part, using all of its two and a half meters of height to impose its presence on the two explorers.

Ruby hissed, trying to take the vanguard and keeping her sister behind her blade.

"Who are you?" She questioned, thrusting her Primal Aura to voice her question as well.

@Little Doggo

 

[Little Doggo]

Even without a word muttered, the way Ruby smiled at her said plenty. At least she could rest assured her new friends weren't being judged the way she was by the catgirl before the secret slip out.

Yet... It became harder to focus on their topic, if only because the threat of being squished against the floor became more apparent to them, what started with just a minor inconvenience turned out to be a load of problems, an appreciative smile given over to her sister as she sheltered her. Crimsonleaf didn't have as many issues as they did given he was even smaller than either of them, yet the torch on Doggo's hand made it harder for her to keep the pace once more as she sought to avoid getting it too close to their bodies.

Her lips parted in awe once the flame forced the tunnel to give them space once more, one that went beyond that of a torch. The way this tunnel reacted reminded her of a mouth for some reason, as grotesque as that sounded. Her fears and curiosity over that summoned fire were slipped out of her mind just as soon as a tug on her arm reminded her to not have second thoughts, giving a short nod as she bent over to make herself as small as she could and push onwards with hasty little steps, until the exit let her breathe some fresh air (or as fresh as underground labyrinth air could be), offering a hand over to Ruby to get herself off that nightmareish tunnel.

Well that wasn't so bad! You didn't told me you were a pyromancer, Jie-

She glanced to the side casually, until her head tilted upwards and the tower of a lady blocked their path no sooner they got out of it in the first place!

-JIEEE!

Doggo took a step backwards, just in time for Ruby to take the front with blade at hand, and in Bao's case, her torch up should the walls betray them once again.

Jiejie, I think she's like the one we met earlier...

She mumbled, clearing her throat a little, her body thrusted forth a little once she felt the weight of Crimsonleaf climb up onto her back, with the sunflower glancing with it's 'head' towards the fungi woman.

[ We seek no quarrel. ]

The flower transmitted through Primal Aura towards the shroom, with Doggo smiling nerveously up to her- Compared to the last fungi girl this one was... Surprisingly intimidating, but strangely fond to look at. Almost like this was the Mushroom Ruby and the one they met Little Fungi.

@Crimson Ruby