//------------------------------// // Too many familiars face ... // Story: The Adventure Continues // by Dragon Shimmer //------------------------------// Anna felt happier this morning than the previous evening. It was a little strange to wake up in her soft bed after camping and sleeping in the rough for the last few weeks. The archer smiles as she reminisces about talking and stargazing with her friend Sunset last night. Thanks to her friend, Anna has overcome her anxiety. She walks downstairs to join the rest of the team for breakfast.  Anna's mother teases her, "Aw... Looks like our Leafy is still a late riser."  "Mom..." Anna whines as the others giggle so she glares at them." Please don't embarrass me in front of my team."  "Just messing with you sweetie.” Anna's mother laughs and waves her hand, “Come on, eat up, you still have some big adventures ahead." A plate with Anna’s favorite breakfast is placed in front of her.   Anna moans in annoyance but continues to interact with her family and teammates. The archer watches the happy scene with her family and friends. Her father entertains the team during the meal with tales about a pumpkin robot and other area beasts. Both of her parents are proud of Anna for defeating Mighty Oak and passing the coming of age test. Privately, Anna feels both happy and sad because she needs to leave her home again.  After breakfast, everyone prepares to journey into town. However, there is an extra bag among Anna’s things. Anna immediately recognizes the marking with delight. Squealing in excitement, she turns to the team with a large grin holding the bag embroidered with her initials on full display.  “Thank you Mom!” cries Anna and happily hugged her. “In all the rush the first time I left, this special bag was completely forgotten!” The rest of the team experiences a feeling of dread seeing the archer so excited about this pouch, but they decide to stay silent.  Soon the team arrives at Greenwood’s supply shop which is owned by Anna’s uncle. Anna’s father had gone on ahead to the store to make sure not only that it was open, but that his brother had a heads up about the group. By the time the team get into town, the two siblings are waiting by the door.   “Uncle Simon!” cries Anna, when she arrives at the store with Nolegs on her back. The girl hops over to give him a big hug while the rest of the team looks around inside. Sunset looks around in amazement as the dragon is not expecting such a variety of items. The owner must have seen her staring longingly at an extra-large set of beautifully embroidered lightweight hammer-space bags, just dragon size because he stealthily appears behind her.   “You’ll never know if they will fit you unless you don’t try them on.” Says Simon calmly.  “What?” responds Sunset, coming out of her stupor.  A predatory grin spreads across Simon’s face as he removes the gear from its display. Before the dragon could object, she had the transportable bags slung over her shoulder. Sunset was astonished. They are the most exquisite packs she had ever seen and so comfortable! The inside double shoulder straps are padded at just the right places with smaller pouches running down the length of the sides at the perfect angle. There is even an adjustable top sheath for her sword. Every piece was flawless and the material fit her dragon form like a second skin. Sunset stands wordlessly in front of the mirror as stunned as if she had been hit with a freeze spell.    “Wow, that gear is outstanding!” says a voice behind Sunset. Turning around, the dragon noticed her friend, Natalie, wearing a beautiful cloak. “Sorry if interrupted you. I’ve never seen you in the fashion zone before, Sun. Your taste is always so practical.”   “Oh? Look who’s talking!” replies the dragon gesturing to the mage’s new covering.  “Indeed.” Chimes in a third voice. Lance walks up to the two girls sporting an impressively reinforced backpack. Behind him, Matt strolls over to show off a striking sword belt that matches his pirate hat. The group finds themselves drawn to the store’s large mirror to admire the wares.    “Well, this is a first.” Perceives Natalie. “Matt hasn’t said anything snarky for a while.” Turning to her friends, the mage holds out her cloak. “Seriously everyone, perhaps we should stick to the basics. Our team is going to be fighting to save the world again, not go to a fancy party.” The team nods in agreement.  Several hours later… “Ok… what just happened?” questions a still-dazed dragon as she realizes how late in the day it was. “We did walk into town early in the morning, right?” The team has just left the shop.  Standing in the afternoon sun, the team looks at each other in stunned disbelief. All of the members have new tents in addition to extra hammer-space pouches on their belts bursting with a variety of foodstuffs. Natalie has not only gotten the beautiful cloak but new boots, an upgraded early protection talisman, and an enchanted rune bracelet. In addition to the embroidered bags, Sunset is now carrying a stack of new spell-books with a floating stand and wearing poison detecting jewelry.  Matt and Lance look at each other’s new gear. They both have form-fitting protective under armor with fireproof padding, better weapon belts, and a neck charm that can turn into an eye shield. Matt has gauntlets that amplify his sword attacks. Lance has not only acquired the fortified backpack but also a portable cannon and a target guide.  Sunset feels slightly embarrassed about her over-indulgence as she glances timidly back at the supply store. She could also feel the eyes of other villagers on her from the surrounding windows. Ever since her transformation from a pony into a dragon, Sunset has been feeling more self-conscious about her appearance. Sunset sighed and concluded the others were just used to it. “Another small town where the strangers are a source of entertainment.”  The main square is much more crowded than earlier in the day so the team moves to a less congested area. The dragon spots her young archer friend with Nolegs still on her shoulder. Anna is still standing in the store’s doorway so Sunset waves to alert her of the team’s location. Then she refocuses her attention back on her friends.  “What’s that paper you’re holding, Matt?” Asks Sunset curiously.  “Well… It’s... Umm…” replies Matt nervously.  Covertly, Lance looks over his friend’s shoulder at the document. “Ahh!” he exclamations “Heaven protect ye all! Tis a sign of the apocalypse!”  “What?” Responds Natalie questionably. Swiftly the mage grabs the paper while the rest of the team gazes in amazement over her shoulder at the document's contents.  “A STORAGE UNIT?” exclaims the team in disbelief.   “So that’s where your bag and the other overextended packs went.” Says Natalie. “Well, it will be easier to move without them.” “Err… It was a package deal?” replied the swordsman nervously.  “Looks like Uncle Simon strikes again.” Pipped up Anna who appeared behind everyone with Nolegs still on her back. The archer and her family laugh before continuing. “Everyone always jokes he can sell rocks to rock eaters. Now that I think about it, uncle must have gotten a big shipment in, because I’ve never seen his store so over-stocked...”  Simon stands in the shop doorway waving some papers. “Wait! I haven’t told your team about our offer for 30% off adventuring insurance...”  “A-a-actually, w-we should head out now as our destination is rather far.” Interrupts Matt with fear in his eyes. “Right everyone?” The swordsman turns to tip his hat to Anna’s parents before quickly pushing Anna towards the edge of town. “So thanks again, er... bye!”  Anna’s dad calls out. “Come back soon. The ranger exams start in a few months.”  "Please don't cause trouble with your teammates, leafy!” Says Anna’s Mom. "I won’t, Mom!" Anna responds, “Bye!” Her mom gives Nolegs a quick ear scratch. The archer hugs her parents once more before running after the rest of the retreating team.  The family waves at the group until they are out of sight.  As Anna’s parents and Simon watches their daughter leave Greenwood village, they are joined by several additional persons. Once the team was out of sight, the others removed their disguises. The clamor inside the main square quiets down as the crowd focuses on the small group that has just sent the team off.  “That was close.” Says a white-haired man. “I thought they may have recognized us.”  Anna’s mom blows her nose and looks nervously at her husband and his brother. They both look very pleased with their accomplishments.  “Don’t worry too much about Anna.” says the white-haired man standing behind her in a comforting voice. “Trust me when I say she is traveling with the best adventure team there is.”  “Thank you Captain Eldaro.” Says Anna’s mother.  "Former Captain please.” Responds the white-haired man. “I’m retired.” Another villager walks up to one of them and asks in a half-whisper. “Are those people the legendary heroes?”  In response, the person pulls back their hood to reveal a blue-haired woman. Turning to the villager she replies. “Yes, they are.” “I knew we would meet again the Black Mage.” “Indeed Krystal, I never thought we would see them again.” adds ex-captain Eldaro. “Retired to this small town for some peace, but I keep running into Sunset Shimmer where ever I go.”  “It’s been several years but it seems like yesterday when they defeated that problematic orange robot.” Says one of the villagers.  “Or that terrible demon Arkon.” Says another.  “And that giant squid in Glacier valley.” Adds someone else. Eldero stands up on a wooden crate to address the crowd. “Alright everyone, first of all, good job! I know a lot of you worked all night to get Simon’s store supplied. Thank you for all your cooperation and for keeping this a secret. To answer your questions yes those adventures are the legendary heroes.” The crowd starts to murmur amongst themselves so he waves for silence.     “Yes, the legendary heroes have done so much without asking for anything in return.” Says Eldero. “But now they finally are getting some of what they deserve. Thank you again for all of the help. It is because our village worked together to pool our resources those heroes have what they need to fight this newest threat to our world.” In response, the gathering starts to cheer.  After the cheering dies down, Eldero continues. “It is for the best our village rangers have left Greenwood Village for Snowfall Town to investigate the stolen jewel incident. If that group was here I fear they would want to join the heroes to save the world. Unfortunately, it would most likely end badly for our local guard. Many of you who live in this village are retired soldiers of the Earth(en) army and have witnessed the terrible destructive power of the wicked demon Arkon firsthand.” Several villagers nodded their heads at this statement.  “Unfortunately, a new foe has come to destroy all we hold dear. The loss of our sacred forest jewel and destruction of our temple is a heavy one. This was complicated further by news from one of our citizens, young Anna, that the second sacred jewel was similarly stolen from Snowfall Town. However, as devastating as the news our archer brought back to the village, she also brought our salvation in the form of the legendary heroes. We stand here together to wish our champions good luck and a safe journey.”  Unexpectedly, one of the villagers shouted out. “Three cheers for the brave heroes!” This is followed by more shouting and cheering from the crowd. Anna’s family glances once more to the vacant area where the team once stood and then back at one another with hope in their eyes.  After running for several minutes, Anna finally catches up with the team just outside of town. Matt and Lance are resting by a bench near a stream. “Hey, wait up!” calls out Anna. “What happened to conserve our energy for the journey ahead?” “That is only after we are out of imminent danger…” replies Matt.   “Ugg!” mutters Lance. “Time fer another long walk…” The team’s archer bursts out laughing. Turning to her friends, she leads the group to a large rune circle. Inside the circle is a decorated pole connected to a large black crystal. The entire team looks at each other with grateful smiles.  “Hoo ya!” Shouts Matt. “It’s a teleport crystal!” “Yep!” Replies Anna happily. “We don’t have to walk the entire way to Lankyroot Jungle with this shortcut.” The archer takes out a small crystal and touches it to the larger one to charge it up. Holding up the crystal she says,“ Just in case. We may need this.”  Lance nods and charges up a crystal as well to complement his assortment.  A bright flash appears at the edge of the Lankyroot Jungle. The team looks around and sees a lot of trees. Some have spiky vines and sharp thorns. Bush monsters peak out from the foliage but don't attack the group. Matt feels annoyed at the claustrophobic setting and starts chopping at a nearby tree. Anna yells at him, "Hey, what are you doing?" Matt answers in frustration, "This place is nothing but trees in any direction. There is no way of telling which way to go. It's all looks the same," Anna giggles and tries to calm him down. Then the archer takes out a map from the special pouch her mother has given her. "There's a river through this jungle to reach the edge of the next village. It is next to the lava cave. From the outer edge northeast map, it appears we should follow the river until it leads us to the north ocean. The last town is close by." Peculiarly Natalie feels a premonition of danger but is unsure about the source. However, she only says, "Hmmm... Good plan." She spots a red flower with a big spike in the middle. Natalie feels creepy about this blossom. "Anna, what kind of flower is this?" Anna smiles nervously, "I don't know... this forest is a dangerous one so not many tourists or adventurers come through here."  The seemingly innocent red flower turns towards the sudden movement in the jungle, then it raises its spike to the sky and releases a cloud of spores. As they fell onto the ground, numerous other colored flowers began to spout. Soon the team was surrounded by blue, yellow, and white blooms.  A nearby blue flower begins the attack by making it rain on the battlefield with the others joining in. Sunset quickly climbs up a tree while Matt charges at the flower and Natalie forms a magic circle. Anna, Nolegs, and Lance aim at the flowers, but the white flowers blind them with a cloud of stinging pollen.  In the meantime, Sunset has flown above the blue raincloud for an aerial view. The dragon perceives the yellow flowers beginning to spin, turning the rain cloud above the team into a thunderstorm. Flying higher to avoid the lightning, Sunset flaps one of her wings hard and begins to spin. She dives at the main yellow flower to stop the attack. Additional red flowers pop up from the ground attempt to block the counterattack, but Sunset’s whirlwind power-dive slices right through them. With the main flower slain, the rest of the yellow flowers die. The dragon lands between the main white and blue flowers and uses "Wyvern Slash" before they can react.  Sunset sighs of relief. "Amazing! Even the flowers can be monsters." Then Sunset looks back to the Team and finds that they are all shaking on the damp ground due to the electrocution from the lighting attack. The dragon teases them, "Wow! You all look like a fish flopping on the ground,"  Anna retorts. "That’s not helping… stupid lizard."  After a healing spell and some dry clothes, the Team finally continues the journey. Soon they find the river. Unfortunately, the waterway is much larger than they anticipate.   Matt takes some vines, ties them to his sword, and then slowly puts them down into the river to see how deep the water is. After the sword touches bottom, Matt gradually pulls it up and tells the team it's too deep to wade across. Since the river is too deep to cross safely, the team looks for other options.  Matt asks Anna, "How can we cross this river? Paddle walking?" Anna is searching her dimension pocket and pulls out a pair of wide green wader boots. After putting on the enchanted items, she begins to float on top of the water. Brandishing a grin, the archer calls out playfully "Like this… See you on the other side." Anna starts across the river but suddenly feels heavy as Matt and Lance have hopped on her back. After five seconds, all of them fall into the river and need to swim back to shore. Anna glares at them, "Hey why did you do that?" Matt retorts, "Why did you only prepare one pair of boots for yourself?" "Because these boots are expensive," Anna answers angrily, "You can ride on the dragon, right?" Anna turns around to point to Sunset and does a double-take. Sunset is leisurely walking on the water with Nolegs on her back. Mesmerized, the team watches Sunset teasingly wave her claws from the other side.  Natalie whines, "Why didn't that dragon teach me that cool spell? I want to walk on water." "Then ask her," replies Matt pointing at the Dragon Mage, "You can ask her nicely and maybe she will show you."  Natalie then retorts, "No, I will figure it out by myself."  Lance smirks at the other two. "Good luck ‘ith those abnormal spells. Dis is the same teammate that can bath in lava." All of the friends nod as they understand how abnormal their dragon teammate is. With a sigh, Anna removes one of her boots. The archer speaks up.  "Okay, we can all cross this river with these special floating boots, I will use a spell to throw the boots back one at a time at you from the other side." “I don’t know about having boots flying at my head.” Notes Matt. "No need." Says Natalie abruptly as her hands begin to glow.  “Ah!” Cries Matt “I’m covering up my head.” The mage grabs all of her present teammates in a hug and they disappear. Sunset is impressed Natalie can teleport with three passengers. However, after her teammates land, the dragon and her feline companion suddenly have a hard time keeping themselves from bursting into laughter.  The team rematerializes safely on the other side of the river. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there. Anna appears first about three feet above a large sludge puddle. A split second later a very muddy archer is lying flat on her back in the wallow. A loud crash heralds the arrival of the others. Sunset looks up and sees Lance and Matt tangled in some vines while Natalie is hanging on a branch. The dragon shakes her head and carefully removes a now incapacitated cat from her back. While Nolegs continues to roll on the ground laughing hysterically. Sunset flies up to rescue her friends.   "Good job, Natalie. You have learned teleportation spells." Praises the still grinning dragon as she rubs the sick mage’s back. Lance and Matt are still a healthy shade of green and sitting under a tree. Meanwhile, Anna, after she has recovered from the fall, immediately runs behind a nearby bush and vomits.  Natalie rubs her head, "Thanks Sun, I still can't teleport myself exactly as you do." "Practice makes perfect, but also never forget about spell side effects."  Replies Sunset. “The teleport crystals are grounded while free teleports are not. These spells result in very rapid relocations …but if you are not used to the turbulence...” “Lesson learned.” Groans Matt, “Next time I’m taking a boot to the head.” After 30 minutes of recovery, the team is now back to normal. Anna takes out another map to check for the best route to the lava cave.  Matt looks at Anna’s map and notes, “Isn’t this the same as your other map?”  “Oh no.” Says Anna removing several more maps from her special pouch to show the swordsman. “You see this is the outer edge northeast map which is different from the outer edge southeast map and this map is the inner edge south by the north map that shows the lava vents…” “Are there any lighting flowers left?” Matt moans internally.  The path up to the lava cave was a wide meadow full of short vegetation. However, the entrance was blocked by a familiar pumpkin-headed robot. Orange metal gleamed ominously as the monster moved forward to face the team. It has two large empty holes in its head to mimic eyes and a bulky metallic body that boasted several weapons.  Matt sighs, "Oh, no! I thought we got rid of this thing seven years ago." He then turns to Anna to continue. “Remember that troublesome Jack-o-lantern robot your father talked about …well this is it.” “Our Team has beaten this robot before and we can do it again!” says Sunset confidently.  "Oh, so it was you that destroyed this awesome robot?" Says a familiar voice. A short man with messy hair and a dirty lab coat appears from behind the machine. "I found this robot in the jungle.” Continues the delusional mad scientist. “So I fixed and upgraded it to get my revenge."  Sunset deadpans. "Oh no! Look, Mr. Stinker, you have already reached rock bottom in this hole you have made for yourself, but you just keep on digging…” “THINKER!” screams the irate mad man. “I'M THE THINKER! No one insults this genius scientist." Then he points at the Team to command the robot, "Get them, Jack. Show them no mercy." The sensor eye on top of the pumpkin robot head flashes as it charges at Anna and throws a punch at her. Matt quickly stands in front of Anna to block the punch. Anna leaps back and shoots three fire arrows into one of the robot’s hollow eyes. Unfortunately, the robot seems to be immune to heat and it continues its assault on the swordsman. Its eyes glow and a pair of machine guns project out of its eye to fire upon the team. The team scatters to avoid the projectiles.  Matt is still fighting the machine's punches however Anna has used a nearby rock to lob several sticky arrows at the robot's sensor eye.  The swordsman uses this distraction to damage one of its legs. A beeping sound emanates from the robot before a rocket launcher emerges from its back.  Grabbing his big gun, Lance moves to intercept the attack, but the robot shoots the mini-guns from his arms, forcing a retreat.  The gunner grabs a grenade while running for cover. Once under a protected rock he primes the explosive and holds it out so the team can see it.  Several rockets blast into the sky from the robot. Sunset perceives the team as the missile's target. Quickly signaling to the archer, the dragon takes a deep breath before placing her clawed palms on the ground. Anna charges another arrow. Sunset’s spell causes the surrounding ground to shake. Rocks and earth rise like tidal waves to all the Team's protected spots. The earth covers each of the members with a protective barrier just as the rockets rain down.  Explosions devastate the area hit by the missiles. A large cloud of smoke covers the battleground, but the dragon is nowhere in sight. Slightly further away from the cave, Sunset has teleported to retrieve a grenade from Lance. Despite the smoke, the dragon can still see the pumpkin robot. She takes out her staff to get its attention…  The dragon smiles as the robot attempt to punch her. “Just as expected… ok come to momma, you oversized Nightmare night accessory.” Sunset’s staff blocks the machine’s attack and gives her the chance to throw the grenade into the eye hole. Cleverly, a light spell has been added to the grenade. Sunset then casts an ice spell to freeze its remaining good leg and teleports away.  Nervously peering through the smoke, Anna attempts to hold her fully charged arrow steady. These shell arrows are strong but take a long time to set up. When she sees the light in the smoke, she immediately shoots the arrow at it.  A huge explosion rocks the area after the arrow finds its target inside the robot's head. After the dust settles, the pumpkin robot is still standing but has a large hole in its body. Sunset grins as she cancels the ice spell and flaps her wings to make the smoke fade. Without the ice for support, the robot falls to the ground with a loud crash.  Staring in disbelief at the robot’s defeat, the mad scientist stands for a while as stunned as the machine.  However, he quickly regains his wits and tries to run away. The Thinker is a short way down the path when he spots a blue obstacle in his way. It is a small armored cat. Foolishly thinking this was not a threat, the now twice disgraced scientist tries to kick the little cat away. It was a very, very big mistake.  Watching the scene below in amusement, Sunset flies down to join her feline comrade. The thinker is rolling on the ground in pain. Nolegs has slashed both of the mad man’s legs and is watching him from on top of a rock. Sunset waves the rest of the group over to the fallen scientist.  Natalie arrives first, followed by the others. After looking at the man rolling on the ground, she walks casually up to Sunset and asks. “He tried to kick Nolegs?”  “Yep.” Replies the dragon coolly. “Wow, congratulations! You have officially done something none of us would ever dare try.” Says Natalie to the mad man who was still holding his leg. “You really are an ignoramus.” Nolegs waves his sword and ‘Meows’. “But…but… but…” stutters the Thinker. The dragon kneels and grins at him, "No you are a gross ignoramus – 144 times worse than a regular ignoramus..." Sunset boops his nose, which makes him angrier about her. “What should we do with him?” asks Anna “W-wait a minute.” The Villain retorts, "Y-you can’t do anything to me! This is a jungle that is far away from any civilization." “Ya know what? Ye actually have a point.” Says Lance. “But don’t worry about making a long trek anywhere. Ye thinks me friends have their little side project done by now so goodbye…” Taking a small black crystal out of his pouch he throws it at the mad scientist. In the flash of light, the man is teleported away.  "Hey, what are you doing? Why did you let him go like that?" Anna shouts at the gunner. Lance pats the archer's head and explains, "Did ya ever say that ya would let ‘im go?" Anna asks him," Then why did you give him the teleportation crystal?" Lance simply answers, "Well... ye will explain on the way." Anna grumbled but continues to lead the Team to the lava cave.  “You know.” Added Matt. “If we ever do see the Stinker again, perhaps we should help him out instead.” “What do mean?” Asked Natalie. Matt replied. “Well, somewhere out there is a village that is missing its idiot.” It is a beautiful sunny day so many people are outside. Nearby, a new enchanted rune circle has been installed by the cave entrance. This will function as a secondary travel route in case there are any future issues with the cave systems.   Former employee April is cleaning the mess brought about by a previously out-of-control waste processing factory. The people in Whitefall Town are grateful for all of the help from the former plant hostages. With a lot of hard work, most of the garbage is in a tall smelly pile ready to be incinerated.   Several people, along with April, are taking a break to admire their work. There is a lot still to clean up. Suddenly a bright flash appears nearby, followed by the sound of screaming. The town guards and a group of townspeople took up just in time to see a man fall headfirst into the rubbish pile. Everyone is shocked when a man squirms from the revolting mound of filth.  Suddenly April shouts, "Hey everyone, it’s the crazy scientist who caused us all to suffer!”  A group of people grabs some rope and yells “Let’s get him!” The scientist tries to run but due to the injured leg doesn’t get far before he is captured by angry townspeople and ex-employees.  “Pew! This guy sure smells.” Remarks one of the townspeople.  “You’re right.” Replies April with a grin. “He really is the stinker now.”