#aajajsh i spent so very long writing this but i am PROUD

[ctoastwrites]

vine isn’t a word anymore

"do.. not.. wait, no."

jemma was attempting to decipher a warning on a sign while alex inspected the nearby area for traps and cool things he could nab.

pastel stood close behind, listening to what jemma was saying.

robin had gone off in search of adventure.

pastel took notice of the absent lad and decided to go catch up to them, not mentioning she was leaving. she didn't want to distract jemma, and she could take care of herself!

"okay-" jemma mumbled, swiping away at the sign.

"be weary of the... beasts? books? this could be either one.."

alex went back to jemma, quirking an eyebrow at her confusion.

"a-ha! be weary of the beasts that play tame! no clue what that means!" jemma turned to alex.

"hmm.. watch out for animals?"

"yeah- wait, where are the other two?"

alex looked around.

"oh no."

-

robin's sword gave them enough light to see as they sliced through the plants. they had no clue if they should even be doing that, but being slightly afraid probably meant adventure!

"hey!-" a chipper voice called out from behind, footsteps and breaking twigs now becoming very clear to robin.

"!" robin shouted, whipping around and pointing their sword at pastel.

"aH-! sorry!"

"it's okay. just don't sneak up on me!" robin let out a sigh of relief. thank god it was just pastel and not an animal angry at them for interrupting a nap.

they went on in silence for a while.

"what're you doing?" pastel asked, gently pushing aside a vine.

"looking."

"for what?"

"i dunno- shhh!"

robin froze and stuck out a gloved hand to stop pastel from moving any further.

"do you hear that?"

"hear what?"

crunching leaves and random high-pitched sounds (were they bird calls?) swiftly came close, stopping just outside of the reach of the sword's light.

"hold on." robin defensively held their sword, a sudden rush of energy going through the blade and making it brighter (and probably a bit sharper.)

the whatever didn't have much of a reaction, simply tilting its head and blinking.

it was a black figure with large, bright white eyes. if robin didn't know any better, they'd say it was a dog.

"awh..." pastel stepped out from behind robin, smiling at the seemingly harmless being. "hello."

robin stepped back, wanting to pull pastel with them.

yeah, they had gone out in search for adventure, but this could be dangerous!

there was a chirp from the being as it stood, it's small tail going so fast robin was sure it'd fall off.

there was a moment of pastel trying to communicate with the creature. it kept running a little ways away, looking behind, and then running back.

eventually, she figured it out.

"we're supposed to follow you? is there something we need to see?"

the figure nodded, and then bounced off onto a path that had (apparently) already been there. pastel followed almost as quickly, leaving robin to catch up.

"wait- wait for me!" robin called, almost falling flat onto their face. they shut off the sword and shoved the handle in it's spot on their belt as they ran.

"hurry up!" pastel shouted in return.

it wasn't too long before the two were running side by side.

"something-" robin took in a gulp of air. "-something feels wrong."

"we'll be fine!" pastel smiled, although she couldn't be sure herself. she was simply trying to make this feel just a bit better at best.

the figure dashed across an odd setup, but the two thought nothing of it.

that was, until they were falling. and screaming, lots of screaming.

-

"ugh..." pastel didn't know when or how she blacked out, but she felt as if someone was playing with power tools inside her skull.

she tried to adjust the best she could, making an attempt to figure out what happened.

"ow!" she hissed as she poked herself on something. the small amount of light that filtered in allowed her to see the blurry vine that held thorns of many different sizes and sharpnesses.

luckily, she was perfectly positioned so she was supported by a few vines behind her arms and two behind her legs.

robin, not so much.

there was a groan from probably a few feet away and above pastel.

"robin?" she muttered, looking up as much as she could without making her headache too much worse.

"mmh?" they hummed, looking down. "oh, hey. i think."

robin had lost both their glasses and sword when they tumbled down, caught in an odd way. their cloak was snagged on a vine above them and they were stuck tilted with their head down and legs up.

pastel shifted around a bit. "oof!-"

she had pulled on one of the vines when she moved, leading to something falling on her.

"found your sword."

"oh, cool!"

well, at least there was something good from this!

there was silence and more moving around.

and then a snap.

robin shouted. the vines that had supported their upper body were weaker and broke, leading robin to being nearly choked by the cloak as it suddenly tugged upward.

"woah! are you okay?"

"perfect."

-

"pastel? robin?" jemma called, walking through the path robin had already sliced out.

alex wasn't too far behind, but he was busy double-checking there weren't other ways or clues as to where they could've gone.

"i swear, i am going to-"

"hold on."

jemma stopped at about the same place robin had. once again, there was the calls. no leaves this time, they'd already been crunched.

alex got closer, stopping once he was next to jemma.

"is this what the sign told us about?" he whispered as the figure played the puppy act again.

"i think so." jemma responded, leaning forward and getting on one knee. "what do you want?"

it wasn't too hard for jemma to figure out they were also supposed to follow.

"hmm.. fine, but we should go slow. watch out for traps and such." alex reluctantly agreed, the figure huffing and leading the way at a less energetic pace than before.

-

pastel had stood herself upright for the most part, but she'd also managed to get poked quite a few times and make her head hurt worse.

robin had taken the button off of the cloak, now holding onto it as tight as they could so their head was higher than their legs.

they'd gotten poked as well, and they got a cut on their arm from an especially sharp thorn that they now had to watch for.

"i'm going to need like.. four days off after this." robin complained, pulling more.

"uh, pretty sure you'll need more than that."

"ya think so?"

"i know so. ah.." pastel put her head in one of her hands, shutting her eyes tight.

"are you okay?"

"mhm.. just a headache."

"okay. i'm still working on that way out. i can seE-"

robin's grip failed for a moment, leaving them holding on even tighter than before.

"careful." pastel softly advised.

they were going to need some help.

-

both alex and jemma came to a halt when they took notice of the weird way the path ahead of them was laid out.

the grass was a different color- and not because of the trees. it looked almost transparent- was it an illusion?

the being that had led them to the spot whined and scampered off when alex looked up at it in confusion.

he took a moment before looking back to the ground- and oh boy, had it changed.

without the cover of the creature, both alex and jemma could clearly see it was a trap.

the area around changed as well- while it had looked nice, now nearly all but the way they came from was flooded with plants.

"thank god we didn't fall in." jemma said, kneeling down to reach in and test the thick vines.

there weren't as many thorns on the ones closer to the surface. a couple good tugs told jemma it was safe enough, so she grabbed on and slid down a bit.

"woah, hey! what are you doing?"

"looking! i'll be fine! stay there though in case i need help, okay?"

"fine." alex agreed, worried for the safety of all three of his friends.

jemma went further down, slowly becoming more cautious when she got pricked.

"robin? pastel?"

her calls were quiet, so she looked around and went to try again.

she stopped when she saw a pair of broken glasses hanging off a much smaller vine.

someone had to be here.

"robin! pastel!"

not too much further down was a familiar 'hello?' from robin.

"what are you doing down here?"

robin didn't answer right away.

jemma heard swinging and parts of a conversation.

"can you... that?"

"thanks."

there was a sound like a match being lit, and then an electric blue illuminated the hole.

jemma could see the others now, and they could see her.

robin was hardly holding onto the fabric with one hand, very clearly struggling not to fall. they held the sword up in the other, the light flickering between bright and dim. never off.

pastel was doing somewhat better- she had moved upwards and had many handles next to her for her to latch onto.

she was feeling better as well, most of her pain gone.

"okay.. but what are you doing?"

"being stuck!" robin struggled to say, swinging involuntarily this time. they were shaking, body becoming too tired to hold on and to keep the sword powered.

"we got tricked." pastel gave a much better answer. "by an animal thing."

"oh." jemma felt like she knew exactly what pastel was talking about, but now wasn't the time for questions.

well, questions like 'what did it look like?' anyways.

"do you need help?"

both pastel and robin immediately responded with a loud "yes!"

-

alex had been given a small explanation on the situation before jemma practically pulled him into the pit.

robin had moved quite a bit, now in an upright position with their torn cloak back around their shoulders.

it was fairly easy to get the two out once they got unhooked from everything. it was simply a matter of pulling and climbing.

once the four had gotten free alex checked them all over. pastel seemed to have gotten the worst of it- she hit her head and had quite a few cuts. robin was just exausted and a little banged up.

taking advantage of the fact that alex already knew robin felt like nothing more than a pile of mush, they collapsed into his arms and let him drag them.

he didn't mind, and honestly thought it was kinda funny.

pastel (who was much calmer about it) was leaning on jemma as they walked back.

alex would most likely give the two (especially robin) a reminder on 'why we stick together' once they were back home.

-

they sat around a small fire, with robin mostly asleep and pastel taken care of.

the group laughed and told jokes and small stories they'd heard a million times before, but they wouldn't have it any other way.