Lily and Vine Rot's Trouble at the Lake
Lily shivered as she sat by the fire. Her damp dress and fur making her colder than she wished in the midnight air. Luckily Vine Rot is good for more than just lifting a tavern in song, his vine tails rooted into the ground now, swirling around the tree they sat under and gave them a makeshift roof. The dozens if not hundred of vines above their heads are so tightly woven together not a drop of rain has hit them ever since he brought it up.Lily shuddered as she remembers what happened not but a few hours ago, The feeling of the cold water of the lake made her feel so tranquil that she did not pay attention as her tail became damp. Her horror as the water around her became black, and the tears that poured from her eyes as she saw that her tail decided to give her beautiful white dress a new inky black color to it. It took nearly a hour for Vine Rot to calm her down. He had to rinse it with some clean water closer to the tiny stream that flowed into the lake for the ink to come out.Even when it did finally get cleaned, shortly after it started raining, stopping their efforts at traveling by day. For Lily at least, Vine Rot being of flora instead of fauna like Lily made him more cheerful in the rain. He even fell asleep, leaving Lily to her thoughts by the campfire.'Why must I have the most rotten of luck? First Shade leaves me alone with Vine Rot, my dress ruined, and now I am soaking wet in the middle of the night. I hope I do not catch a cold in this weather, that would be dreadful.''I hope Sadhe is alright.... or Shade, damn it Sadhe why must you use such a ridiculous alias, any buffoon can tell your true name easily. Although I suppose not in foreign lands such as this. I can say my name freely for those in this land greatly misspell it. Seriously how do they get L.I.L.Y. from LiLee? I suppose their grammar is simply different...''No body cares about Vine Rot's true name, there is no point in even mentioning it... and what of Lee, Sri, and Umila? Are they not in danger by using their true names?... I suppose it does not matter, casters of names are almost extinct in this day in age. Their mischievous ways got the better of them after all.''Where are we going anyway? All we know is to leave home and find Lee, but where is he? Why do we have to split up? Most of all, Why are we moving? I see no reason to move, we have been perfectly fine in that castle for years. Just because everyone died around us does not mean that we have to move... I just want my dolly and piano back...'Lily flinches as she hears something move behind her, the sound of a twig snap and the rustle of wet bushes only made it clear that it is living. She quickly goes to Vine Rot and hides behind him, shaking his sleeping body to try and awaken him. "Vine Rot wake up, I think someone is out there..."He slowly gets up, stretching his arms and cracking his neck as he does so, "Hm?... Where are they?"Lily
points to where she hear the noise, her eyes too adjusted to the light of the fire as all she sees is the silhouettes of object around her. Vine Rot nods and drowsily stands up, his hulking mass stumbling as his legs seem to want to stay asleep. Lily hugs his left leg and stays hidden behind him."Hey! Is anyone out there!?" Vine Rot yells into the darkness, this only makes Lily roll her eyes and shake her head."Do you want us to be killed? What if they are bandits, wolves, monsters, or worse?" Lily whispers to him, tightening her grip on his leg.Suddenly they hear a voice coming from the darkness, a proud sounding woman calls back to them, "Yeah, it's just me and my sickly children. We have been wondering the woods for days now and haven't found any food, do you mind if we take yours?"Suddenly several silhouettes form around the campfire, they all draw closer as their shapes can now be distinguished. Gathering around them is a band of avian thieves, all of them in what appears to be random armor, some wearing light leather that is either too big or too small, some wearing chainmail that drags on the ground, and the rest just wear whatever they could it seems. However they all had the same look of greed in their eyes and they all carried a large crossbow in their hands, sheathed around their belts rests several knives.The leader of the band now makes her presence known, strutting up through the ring her men have made. She is wearing a thick suit of red leather and underneath is some chainmail, you can tell that unlike the others hers actually fits. On the left side of her hips rests her blade, a long cutlass by the looks of it, with a golden handle and a silk sheath. Her red and yellow feathers seem to shine in the light, which may be because of the rain however none of her companions seem to be shining as much as hers.Vine Rot seems rather calm about the situation and gives her s shrug, replying to the threat as if he is addressing a actual woman with children. His irish brogue also appearing with his ignorance, "Sorry miss but we aren't carryin' any food. If anythin' we're lookin' for some. I have some wine if you'd like, although I would prefer if your little lads would not drink it, they might become unruly, ya know how kids are these days."The woman and her band of men look at him confused, until he removes his helmet and reveals his bandaged eyes. Then they all laugh and nudge each other at the blind fool. The woman in particular laughs the hardest, "Oh I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting to find a blind drunk out here. Let me rephrase that, Me and my very lethal band of bandits, wish to kill you and take all of your supplies. Now if you wo-""I know, I can see ya perfectly well. I can also see that you have a large scar on your side that hasn't healed right, the lad to your right can't shoot fer sh*t, the lad to my left is actually a lass, the lad that is currently tryin' to sneak up behind
me and slit me throat is as loud as a f*ckin' whore on a hot summer day, and that you all have no bolts in your crossbows."Everyone, even Lily, flinch at hearing all of this. It is so dark you couldn't even see if they had bolts on them, let alone in their weapons. The guy who was trying to sneak up on the two now backs away, unsure what to do. The leader holds her side as if she has just been wounded by his words and glares at Vine Rot fiercely. The whole band of mean lower their crossbow in pure confusion and awe, curious as to how a blind man can even see so much detail in the dark.Vine Rot lets out a hearty chuckle and grins at the band of bandits, Lily however hugs his leg tighter, not liking were this is going, "Cousin I truly believe you should not toy with the ones who have us surrounded...""I know what I'm doin'. Now if ya and yer band of lads who are too stupid to uncork a bottle of whiskey and drink it with their lips and not their ass. Would just kindly turn around and go back were ya come from, I promise ya I won't attack ya."They all take great offence at this and unsheathe their swords, tossing their crossbows behind them. Even the leader pulls hers out, glaring at him harder than any of the men around her, "Oh really? And what exactly is a human like you going to do to me?" She replies with a snicker, the thieves around her snicker as well.Vine Rot simply shrugs and grins at her coolly, "What makes ya think I'm human?"Suddenly the sound of rushing water can be heard above them and all of the bandits look up to see the cause.Only to yell in fear and disappear behind a wall of rushing water. Lily looks around and sees that she and Vine Rot are surrounded by a great dome of water, all of the bandits inside it. She whimpers and hugs him tighter, hiding her face in his leg as she waits for the confusion to pass.Soon she feels rain drops fall on her again and she looks up, only to fall to the ground in laughter. All of the bandits are hanging wetly by the leg, all of them being held by a strong vine from up in the tree. The leader of the group seems to be the only one conscious, since she weakly looks up and coughs out a mouthful of water, "What the hell?..."Vine Rot simply sits down and uncorks a bottle of wine with his teeth, taking a large chug before he speaks, "Ya know, I heard that birdies can't fly wet... Ya wanna test that out?" He gives her a ridiculous toothy smile as he laughs. The vines start to move, bringing all of the wet dangling bodies around the leader as she soon gets lost behind a large dangling mess. The vines the start to swing back and forth, making her want to puke at the motion. After a good full minute they then snap forward and let go, tossing her far away behind the trees as Vine Rot laughs happily."That is why ye-" He coughs and struggles to clear his throat, this being very difficult if you are laughing like he is. His accent is now gone
as he hides it behind the normal sounding one, "-That is why you don't threaten me, I may look somewhat human but I can assure you I'm not. Lily are you ok?"Lily sits up and coughs as she tries to stop laughing her lungs dry. She still giggles as she replies, "Yes cousin I am fine, how about you?""I'm fine, although you are the one acting different. You haven't smiled this entire trip and just now you started to. You're a crazy little kit you know?"Lily simply lays back on the ground and thrashes her tail about as she laughs uncontrollably. Vine Rot shakes his head and chuckles at her, taking another swig from his bottle with a sigh. He grabs his helmet from beside him and places it back on his head, "We should leave before they come back. Once you're done laughing your guts out we'll go."