Nature's Plight

Walking over to the trunk of the large, confining tree, Bo

raised one of his clawed hands and swiped it across 3 thick vines, allowing the

plant-based ropes holding the party's cages to lose their hold. Falling a good

distance, the Samanian, elf, and orc crashed onto the ground, having the wind

knocked out of them as they laid in pain.

"Good, it work." Bo said, "Now, Bo can have kiss?"

The Urosite ambled towards Kantuta, puckering his dry, scaly

lips in anticipation. The mage, however, rose to her feet and held up her hand,

giving the lizard a strict look.

"Not yet, Bo." she stated, "I require some time to prepare."

She let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose as she

shook her head.

"Oh, what unpleasant circumstances these are. I, Kantuta, a

distinguished, intelligent elf, am about to be violated by a common Urosite. How

humiliating. Ah...well, at the very least, I still possess my..."

She turned to face the pile of branches and vines behind her

before shifting her expression to one of shock and disbelief.

"What in the...my staff! What has happened to my staff?!"

Bo looked past Kantuta and frowned, narrowing his eyes in

contemplation.

"Mm...Bo might know where stick go."

Kantuta spun around to face the lizard, holding her hands to

her chest in a pleading gesture.

"You do? Oh, please, indulge me!"

Bo nodded, turning to the west and waving his hand forward.

"You follow. Us go to shaman."

Kantuta pulled back in surprise, raising an eyebrow in

wonder.

"A shaman? Did he..."

She thought to herself for a bit before shaking her head and

walking after Bo.

"Ah, there is no time to ask such questions. Come, you two, we

must go!"

Too disorientated to point out the fact that he was supposed

to be making the calls, Siquioce stumbled after his friend with Yuchauzch,

ignoring the irritating feel of the pointy grass beneath him as he travelled

with the group to a new location.

Moving past the prison grounds, Bo led the others towards

another grove of trees in the distance. After reaching that point, the quartet

traversed past more roots, fronds, and puddles of mud before coming across a

simplistic hut of sticks, leaves and dirt tucked between two big trees. At Bo's

motion, the others walked through the unprotected opening of the shelter,

feeling the squish of dirt under their feet as they entered the humble abode.

Sitting on a chair made of hollow, jointed stems, a Urosite wearing

a lizard skull mask adorned with feathers of red, blue, and yellow, a grass

skirt, and a necklace of smaller skulls of some smaller mammals. Turning to

face the group, the magic practitioner asked, "What son doing here? Was too lazy

to even finish simple job of watching?"

Yuchauzch turned to face Bo, asking, "Hey, this your dad or

somethin'?"

"Yes," Bo said with a frown, "Unfortunately."

He sighed before gesturing towards Siquioce and the others,

giving his dad an annoyed look.

"No, father, Bo no quit. Just take break. These new friends

I make."

"New friends?" The witch doctor inquired, "Why make friends

with outsiders? They could mean harm! And the fish..." he sniffed the air, "He

is food! Why spare him?"

"No, father, they no mean harm. In fact..." he gave a sly

smile towards Kantuta, "Elf say she kiss me for nice deed. Is very kind!"

The shaman stared at his son for a few seconds before

shaking his head and looking down at the ground in disappointment.

"Oh, Bo...so misguided. Jumka so sorry elf get caught in

trap..."

"Whatever, father," Bo said, rolling his eyes, "Anyway, elf

lose magical staff. Give it back."

Jumka groaned before getting up from his seat and rummaging

through a chest made of arranged branches. Following a quick search, he

produced Kantuta's prized possession, walking forward to deposit it into the

elf's eager arms.

"Here. But Jumka only return it because he feel sorry for

you."

As Kantuta took hold of and affectionately cuddled her

stick, Jumka made his way back to the chest and retrieved a familiar bluegull

chick, holding it up for the party to see.

"Also find bird. Was alone in big puddle. Is also yours?"

With a gasp, Siquioce ran forward and took the chick from

Jumka's hands, holding it close to his face in deep affection.

"Oh, it's you! I cannot believe that I forgot about you! Oh,

I hope that you didn't get too lonely without me..."

Observing the tender connection between the Samanian and the

bluegull, Jumka tilted his head in confusion, wiggling his small tail around as

the scene played out in front of him.

"Hm...this is real? Fish care for...bird?"

Yuchauzch turned his attention towards the shaman,

responding, "Oh, Siquioce? Yeah, he adopted that chick not too long ago. Ever

since then, he's done a pretty decent job of taking care of it."

"...Hm. Interesting..."

Jumka thought to himself for a moment before nodding in a

decisive and focusing his gaze on Siquioce.

"Okay. Fish and others seem trustworthy. Perhaps they can

help after all..."

"Wait, what?" Kantuta asked, snapping out of her gleeful

trance, "Help? With what?"

Silently, Jumka turned away from the group and walked into a

room further into the hut. After a short while, he returned with a large leaf

that looked normal and healthy...except for the fact that it was drained of color

and wilted.

"What the..." Yuchauzch muttered, staring at the leaf in

disbelief, "What happened here?"

Jumka lowered his head solemnly, "Corruption start not too

long ago. First, trees, bushes, vines wilt in center of jungle. Then, fruits in

farms grow smaller. Now, village begin to get destroyed.

Bo nodded, adding, "Urosites live in trees. If corruption

spreads, no home for us."

"Oh no," Kantuta said, frowning sympathetically, "Are you

telling me that your homeland is slowly withering away? I am so sorry to hear

that..." her face changed to one of skepticism, "Wait, but this hut is doing

just fine! What makes this place different?"

Jumka answered, "That is simple. Magic of Jumka slows

decay...but it cannot last forever. Is why I...we need your help."

Yuchauzch nodded, thumping his trunk with his fist to pump

himself up.

"You got it, magic man, we're up for the task! What do we

gotta do?"

"Hm..." Jumka said, scratching his chin, "Jumka not sure.

But Bo can lead you to heart of jungle to look around. Elf is magic-user, yes?"

Kantuta's ears perked up, and she raised a finger in

objection.

"W-well, yes, but..."

"Good. Should be able to figure something out. Now go, Bo, lead guests. No wimp

out this time."

Bo groaned, spinning away from his parent as he walked

towards the hut's entrance/exit.

"Bo told you, Bo change. Ugh…come, you all, we go."

As the Urosites made his leave, Kantuta stammered, "B-but,

I, you, we…"

Alas, her words fell on deaf ears; the lizard was already

set on his mission. Seeing this, Kantuta let out an exasperated sigh before

turning to whisper at Yuchauzh, her narrowed eyes portraying bitter annoyance.

"Yuchauzh, you meat head, why did you have to force us into

this situation? You know that none of my magic pertains to plants!"

"Eh, so what?" Yuchauzh retorted with a shrug, "I have some

control over plants, remember? Plus, Siquioce has that Heart Spring move; that could

be useful."

"Yes, but…"

Kantuta hung on her words and thought things over before

giving up and shaking her head.

"Ah…fine. But what we do next is up to our leader. So,

Siquioce, what should we do?"

Siquioce, who had barely been following the conversation,

nodded and pointed forward.

"Yes, I believe that we should look into this matter." he said,

attempting to make himself sound regal, "Despite our differences, the Urosites

deserve some help with…this problem."

Kantuta gave her leader a skeptical look, crossing her arms

in a distrusting way.

"Really? Were you even paying attention?" she sighed again, "Ah…whatever.

Let us get this over with."