>Walking for more than a day along the uninhabited coast of northern point of the ruby isles with pursuers hot on her heals was an extremely taxing activity. The tropical heat and intense humidity of the island made it difficult to keep up a fast pace and after a full day's walk and foraging, Jessica felt like her legs could just about fall off. Huddled under a forest clearing, the pirate queen looked to her companion and sighed deeply.
We can't keep this up like this, not with those scumbags on our tail.
>Looking worryingly at the mountains that towered overhead, Jessica grimaced but looked steadily at the elf.
We'll be heading further inland now and look for a good place to set up an ambush, running away in this kind of heat will just end up being the death of us.
So knife-ears, you up for a little bit of a fight?
>>41304021 >Cassie had long ago abandoned the cloud method of transportation; he hadn't maintained that spell for more than an hour before, and by the two hour mark, he felt drained of mana, so he was left to drag himself behind the pirate captain the rest of the way. A pampered life in the monastery hadn't prepared him well for a whole day on the run.
H-huh?
>He looked up. He'd been watching the forest floor for any more sharp thorns or squishy bugs to avoid stepping on them. As long as waiting meant actually waiting and not moving, he was good.
Y... yeah. Yeah, I can fight a little with magic. W-wind magic isn't as good offensively as other kinds of magic, though, so...
>He reached up and brushed a bit of hair over his ear. Were they really that sharp...?
>>41306211 >Hearing the young elf trail off into uncertainty, Jessica smiled nonetheless at his show of bravery. The youth had been a scholar until very recently, a man dedicated to learning and research though he gave it all up a short while ago in a scenario that left him desperate enough to hitch a ride on a pirate's ship. Shaking her head at the courage it must have taken the man to come even this far on his own, that he was going to push himself and fight against his enemies wasn't lost on Gage.
>With a bright smile, Jessica looked down at Cassie and waved him further up the hill.
Then come on then, we've got an ambush to set up.
>Setting off into the jungle, Jessica shocked in the mounting heat and humidity of the trees. Still she pushed forward and foraged a way into the dim light of landscape. After what must have been a solid half hour of wandering through the jungle, Jessica and Cassie came to a grove in which the tops of ancient ruins propped up through the land. Walking forward, the exhausted pirate captain smiled and said to her companion.
This is perfect, we can take cover behind those structures and give those guys what for!
>With renewed vigor, Gage set off towards the structures only for a part of it to give way under her weight. Sliding off into the darkness below, Jessica screamed as she fell through the hole and wound up inside the ancient structure.
>But as she looked around her new surroundings, the would-be pirate queen's breath caught in her throat at the sheer beauty of what she saw. Here in this ancient place that must have predated the jungles that surrounded it, Jessica could see that most of the structure lay beneath the ground and must have been slowly covered up over an immensely huge amount of time. With pale blue light shining down from the ceiling and ancient banners hanging from the walls, the whole place looked like it would belong in a fairy tale picture book.
>>41306679 >Was she smiling? Had the heat finally driven one of them absolutely mad? Shaking his head at the girl's overconfidence, he pushed forward at a slow pace behind her, sweaty palms gripping the straps of his rucksack. She was insane, that was the only explanation for her sudden confidence in him.
>Eventually, they came upon a small section of the jungle with ancient ruins sticking out. Cassie paused to take in the scene. He'd read about these. Humans liked to ignore the past, and just let the years pile up, leading to historical treasures rotting away under centuries of dirt, but he hadn't read about their presence in the isles. Regardless, a certain degree of caution was needed while exploring them; you never knew when the ground would give out under your feet.
A-are you sure that's a good idea? They could collapse on us just as easily as--Captain Gage!
>Just as easily as that. The elf dashed forward, magic winds swilring at his feet, and jumped blindly into the cavern below!
>>41309476 >The elf sails to the ground as gracefully as a falling feather, riding the amplified wind currents to slow his fall and landing softly. He could admire the surroundings, but his one hope at escaping the godsforsaken island just fell through the earth, so he had other priorities right now.
>The small elf knelt beside the pirate captain, hands hovering over her as if he wanted to examine her injuries but didn't want to get murdered for touching her.
>>41309476 >>41309480 >Covered in thick layer of dust and debris, Jessica coughed and gagged on the thick cloud of particles that clung to her as ancient cushioned her disgraceful fall bellow. Once the dust settled enough for the to look see where she had landed, the first thing she saw was the cautious elf she had picked up hovering worryingly over her. For some reason or other, the sight of it brought a smile to Jessica's face and the pirate girl's voice broke out in affectionate laughter whose echoes rang off the ancient stone walls of the ruins the pair lay in.
I-It's nothing, just a scratch I promise.
>Standing up and dusting herself off as best she could, Jessica looked past Cassie's concerned self to the ruins that surrounded her. With the light shining down through the ancient glass ceiling around them, the ancient place looked truly beautiful. With an ambiance that told of once great things being conducted here, Jessica felt old aspirations stir within her as the inspiration to create great art rose unbidden within the pirate captain. But even as she carefully stored away the memory of the place they found deep in the uninhabited wilds of the ruby isles, her more practical side was already finding a good vantage point for her above a nearby raised alcove draped in shadows.
Better get yourself ready Cassie because something tells me we'll be fighting real soon.
>That being said, Jessica thumped the small elf of the shoulder with a big smile.
Don't get yourself killed now.
>That being said, Jessica climbed into the shadowed alcove with her esteemed rifle in hands, lying in wait and waiting for the confrontation she believed was to come.
>>41311265 >Aforementioned cautious elf would've brushed the dust off and helped clear the air if he wasn't afraid of the pirate captain. Her laughter stunned him, making him flinch back. Did he say something wrong? Were humans really that unconcerned with others that a little care was seen as hilarious? His cheeks turned a rosy tint.
I-if you say so...
>Like the captain, he turned his gaze to the ruins around him. Decades spent in the low light of the frozen mountains gave him a bit of an edge in seeing into the shadows. Still, there weren't many good hiding places that didn't involve climbing, squeezing into a tight space, or breaking a poor spider's home. The pirate caught him off-guard, again, this time making him stumble forward with the force of the smack.
I--huh?
>What was the hit for? Don't get killed? What? The elf shook his head and scrambled into the closest available hiding place before she decided to hit him again.
>>41311265 >>41311522 >Once they had hidden, silence fell. Only the sounds of the wind blowing through the ruins around them gave them a sense of life. Whatever small critters that had made the old stone building their home were either asleep or keeping silent all the same.
>Until the sound of laughter could be heard in the distance. Gehehahehahehahehaaa! I smells'em! Oooooooh I smellsemIsmellsemIsmellsem! Gehehee! But wheeeeeere didjago? Hrm? Wherja go? Wherja run off to? Capn'll be pissed if I don't find'em ooooooooooh I better find'em quickky.
>Rummaging from above, looking around the piles of stone sitting atop the surface, rustling from the bushes, the leaves of the trees. The spot they'd fallen through wasn't exactly obvious, a small gap in an otherwise toppled ruin. Hrrrrmmm, ticktock, ticktock! It's time to play the BOOM game, gehehahehahahehahehooooo! Come out, come out, wherever you die, kitties!
>A sudden beeping sound rung from the surface, along with a metallic clang, before an explosion rocked the ground above them. Pieces of rubble fell from the ceiling, clattering the surface below and making an audible echo throughout the large chamber the two had found themselves in.
>>41311632 The tock has rung and the rock is dead, I can smell it cooking! Ticktock, ticktock! Is it time for round two? You're heeeeere, I smellsya!
>Clearly the insane person above them hadn't heard the ringing from below, or even knew that a below existed, but he had more explosives than that with him and obviously wasn't afraid to use them. The pair were hidden for now, but if this guy kept throwing bombs around he was liable to bring the whole ceiling down on them from above!
>>41311632 >>41311634 >With the pair lying in wait in the ruins bellow whilst the maniac pirate threw grenades off into the ancient grounds. With no target to aim for, it was clear that the lunatic was trying to flush the pair out for him to get a clear shot off but Jessica kept her cool and remained in her secluded hiding spot. Whilst she couldn't see him per say, she could nonetheless follow his voice from up above and aim her rifle in the general direction of the sound. For now, all she could do was wait for the time to strike and hope that Cassie would have the nerve to stay hidden until the idiot pyromaniac made a mistake of his own.
>>41311632 >>41311634 >The elf, with sensitive hearing and a timid demeanor, predictably wasn't pleased by the crazy man above. He covered his ears and squeezed tighter into the dusty alcove that now served as his hiding place.
>>41311937 >He had a feeling the captain didn't want him to do anything without her permission--not that he could really do anything, anyway. He wasn't a fancy lightning mage that could strike foes down from across the room. The most he could do was pick something up with the wind currents, and even then...
>Cassie looked up, eyes widening with an idea. It could go horribly, terribly wrong, of course, but if they continued to sit down here, the crazy guy would smoke them out. He looked over to Gage; she was too focused on taking aim to notice. The elf bit his lip, and returned his attention to nervously watching the man above.
>>41311937 >>41312440 If yooooouuuuu go down to the woods tonight, you're in for a big EXPLOSION! Gehehehooo!
>Whilst it wasn't a particularly creative or inspiring take on the rhyme, it was definitely accurate. Rather than simply handling one of the various explosives himself, Ferret pulled out a small launcher and loaded it up with several different kinds of crystal in no particular order, giving the rotating chambers a spin or two while he lined up a shot.
Eeny meeny miny mo, catch a tiger by their shrapnel-torn corpse!
>Which a quick pull of the trigger, Ferret blasted out a crystal grenade towards the next place where he figured they might be hiding- Roll 1d4 = 3 >1) Into a moss-covered portion of the glass roof >2) A section of stone close to the entrance hole to the ruins >3) One of the trees nearby >4) Somehow straight through one of the holes in the roof, the grenade tumbling down into the open area below. [Element] Roll 1d4 = 1 >1) Fire >2) Lightning >3) Ice >4) Somethin' special
>>41312722 >>41312723 >>41312724 >The fire grenade hurtles over into the nearby tree, exploding in a great ball of fire that quickly set the entire tree aflame, leaves and branches burning brightly and casting a very eerie glow over the entire battlefield. In the middle of summer, such a fire would be very difficult to put out. Suddenly the situation had a timer, and it was already ticking.
>The portion of trunk that the grenade hit first was also heavily damaged, the large hunk of wood beginning to teeter over towards a large section of glass roof. Ferret, meanwhile, seemed to be reveling in the destructive implications of a forest fire.
Ohohohohohohoh I did good, I did good! People can't hide in fire!
>However destructive the grenade had been, it was clear he still wasn't at all aware that there was something below the ground. Cassie and Jessica would easily be able to see the burning tree, but the dancing shadows and roaring flame made their opponent above more difficult to locate than before.
>>41312725 >>41312722 >Watching the madman hurl off a grenade in some random direction and its detonation being very clearly heard to her, Jessica gripped her rifle just a little tighter as she focused in on the lip of the roof from which the maniac's voice was coming from, following his movements thanks to the incessant sounds he was making rather than the shadow he was casting over the glass roof. For now all the pirate captain could do was bite her lip and calm her breathing, waiting for her chance to strike whilst the lunatic rampaged above ground. At this point the smartest move for her to do was to sit tight and wait for an opportunity to strike. Sniping like a great many things in life was all about patience and now more than ever her nerves and skills were being put to the test.
>Cassie couldn't see what was going on from down here, but he could smell it. The acrid smoke made his nose scrunch in irritation.
>Sitting ducks, that's all they were down here, and if they didn't do something, they'd be crushed, literally smoked out, or just generally screwed over. They had to take out (a scary proposition, for somebody who could hardly fight the weird human before that.
>The little elf looked over to the captain. From there, there was no way she could get a good shot; the angle just wasn't right. They could barely even see the target. Was the guy aware of their presence?
>The elf climbed out of his hiding spot, brushed the spiderwebs off his clothing, and made himself plainly visible in the shaft of light from the hole above.
H... Hey!
>He shouted, waving his arms.
D-down here!
>The wind danced between his fingers and swirled up his limbs in preparation for a spell.