The Light Brigade (1)

We're fully geared up in only a few minutes. Our armor is pretty ragged but still functional. Josh, who's the only one of us with metal armor, takes a few minutes to bang out the dents that accumulated during our fight this morning. The hammer he's using is designed for stone carving but also appears to work for blacksmithing. Our reserves of potions are depleted, so I make a mental note to restock them later.

We arrive at the edge of the forest about an hour later, where we meet up with Ironhead. It's the same four members as last time. Yuki is still missing an arm, but all their equipment is in pristine condition.

"Hi." I wave from a bit too far away, which feels awkward.

[Goddammit, why am I so bad at talking to people?]

"Good morning, children. I'm glad to see you're all well prepared." Travis doesn't seem to notice as he beams at us. The other members of his team look nonplussed.

"Yup! I'm so excited." Shinobu says excitedly.

"So am I." He responds. "I know you kids have been staying in the forest a lot recently. What kind of monsters are you running into?"

Shinobu goes on about our adventures while students slowly trickle in. I can tell they're all a little nervous due to what happened during the last expedition. The time of departure soon arrives, and Travis counts us up.

"Nineteen? Is that right?"

"Yes," replies Sam, the Kinesis Mage. She rolls her eyes at his antics.

"Let me just count one more time."

"You've already counted up everybody like sixteen times!"

"Thirteen times." Jim, the archer, interjects in a flat tone.

"Whatever, let's get moving," she says, exasperated.

[Sam doesn't look too happy to be here. Maybe Travis dragged her into this, or she had other plans.]

"Wait, I didn't include our team; let me count again."

"Goddammit!" The Kinesis Mage shouts.

After another hour of counting and arguing, we're finally ready to leave. Ironhead takes the front while my team holds the rear. Tyrion is walking near the back as well. I don't say anything and let him be, but Shinobu and Sakura are more vocal.

"Go walk near the front, two-face. We don't need you back here." Shinobu spits out. The fact that she says 'need' instead of 'want' is odd, but I keep my mouth shut. When the train is coming, it's best to stay out of the way.

"I swear, if you do anything to get in Josh's way, I'll rip your guts out and feed them to you." Sakura's words are a bit more straightforward.

[It's good to see Sakura's feeling better. Now that she has a target for her anger, our training, and Tyrion, she should be able to vent her emotions instead of bottling them up.]

"That's not nice, Sakura." Josh cuts in to save Tyrion from the abuse.

"I'm sorry, Josh; it's just, I get so mad every time I think about what he said to you." Sakura defends herself with her puppy dog eyes.

"Just because he said something mean doesn't mean it's okay for you to say something mean; that's what my mom says." Seemingly immune to the flower girl's most potent weapon, Josh cuts her down.

"Okay…" Sakura sighs. Fortunately, the group quiets down before we get too deep into the forest. If it had gone on much longer, then I would've had to say something. The Argon Forest isn't where you want to be making excess noise. Our path to and from the den is familiar enough for me to chat, but now we're headed towards a deeper section of the woods. Sakura stops talking but glares daggers into the back of Tyrion's head for the entire journey. Despite the chill of winter, beads of sweat still form on the back of his neck.

Our trek is unusually boring. I thought we would encounter a handful of smaller monsters, but it could be the size of our group that is keeping them away.

[Traveling in larger groups may force fights with only bigger and stronger creatures. Only larger predators would be attracted to the noise created by a group, while the weaker ones would surely flee. I guess there are pros and cons to everything.]

I scan the surroundings to look for any creatures hiding in the bushes without any results. After what feels like hours, we arrive at the dungeon.

"Oh, this is the same dungeon we explore," Shinobu says, surprised. The grass is beaten down around the entrance, and a few scraps from our encounters with goblins are strewn about.

"It sure is," I respond.

"I'll keep it under wraps, but you're supposed to report any dungeon you find to the Adventurer's Guild." Travis winks.

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"In fact, most of what you find is supposed to be reported, but I understand you four have special circumstances; that's probably why no one has mentioned it to you."

"That's very kind; I'll have to thank Jezabel next time I see her." I wasn't expecting her to disregard guild policy to aid our party, but it's certainly appreciated.

"And when might that be?"

"I don't know, probably later today. It sounds like you have something you want me to say to her." I turn around to look at the leader of the fairies floating in the air behind me. I'm so numb to her popping up that it doesn't even surprise me anymore.

"Get back, kids!" Travis shouts and runs forward to place himself between Inari and the students.

"That's not going to help." Inari ignores my response and directs her attention toward our instructor. She smiles coldly, and the whole area lights up with countless floating orbs. The fairy village came out in force to greet us. At a glance, there are two to three times more lights than there should be, which means a lot more fairies were just born recently, or she's putting on airs. Either way, I'm not particularly interested in what's going on, so I look around until I see Woohee floating at the back.

"Hey, Woohee!" I call to the small fairy, and she sheepishly waves back. Ignoring the tension brewing to my right, I walk over to her to chat. "I got you something."

I smile mischievously as I reach into my bag to grab her gift.

"What is it?!" All her nervousness disappears as she flies tight circles around my head.

"Foof!" Sakura runs over and waves to the fairy in the rear. He ignores her and levitates over to his usual spot atop Josh's head.

"Hi!" Hai pops out full of energy. Soon, Hai, Rom, and Lala arrive, and we have our whole team together. I can hear Inari audibly sigh, but I ignore her. We all sit down and chat while Travis sweats it out with the fairy leader.

"This isn't what I had in mind, but whatever," Inari says to herself. "More than anything else, I just want to make my presence known, and I've accomplished that. Everyone head back to the village except for the fairies working with Nick and his team."

Woohee looks up with puppy dog eyes at Inari.

"Woohee?" She asks as she points to herself.

"You can stay." I can hear the resignation in Inari's voice as her intimidation tactic falls to pieces. That being said, Travis is still shaking in his boots. His eyes haven't left the visage of the fairy leader since her arrival. His team is also tense. They quietly form up around him in case the situation escalates. "I believe we need to talk. Come with me."