The Druids Prompt 1
Anue, Khistmet, and Amais slowly made their way through the deep twisting caverns of The Beneath. The dark and gloomy tunnel was barely illuminated by pale blue crystals that sprouted every couple of feet along the walls and pathway. The stone beneath their paws was well worn, smooth, and pitted by the hundreds of travelers who had gone through this passage long ago.
Anue had a small hand drawn map from the previous clan he had visited and was leading the group through the many branching paths of the cave system. He had heard stories of The Druids and the section of the beneath they inhabited and it sounded amazing. He was looking forward to finding the coziest spot to nap in when they finally arrived.
His companion tyrians that trailed behind him were more interested in meeting the strange creatures they had heard the rumors about. It had been about a month since first contact with the rumored Haedians and the bizarre tales they had heard had peaked their curiosity.
Khistmet had been inspired by the competitions and supposed power of the Brutes clan. When she had heard this little rainbow runner speaking with his friends about visiting one of the clans she forcely made him accept her as a travel companion. The runner himself was nothing noteworthy in her eyes but he was her fastest ticket to excitement so she grudgingly listened to his directions.
Amais on the other hand had been officially dispatched by the royal family ruling a nearby territory of Vitalus. His master wanted him to gather more information on their newly discovered neighbors and as one of the most decorated royal guardsmen Amais was the master's first choice.
Amais frowned to himself as he followed the lack-a-daisical leadership of the rainbow runner. Anue’s laid back attitude irked the high strung tyrian and made him want to forcefully take the lead. The only reason he hadn’t already done so is because this was the runners supposed fifth visit to the Beneath so Amais chose to let the more experienced runner lead. That didn’t stop him from glaring silently as the runner annoying mused which direction was best.
The trio had been wandering through the dark for what felt like hours when they noticed the sparse crystal lighting start to get denser and appear in larger patches. The pale blue slowly shifted as they went deeper, changing to a warm peach color with random large sprouts of rich green towers.
Anue smiled to himself as he noticed the change. Just like when he visited the other clans the borders of their territories were easy to tell apart thanks to the different types of crystals infesting each area. “We’re nearly there!” he called back over his shoulder to his companions.
Khistmet grinned excitedly as she pushed up right behind the runner, eager to catch the first glimpse of her first victim battle buddy. Amais felt his shoulders tense as he got ready to encounter his first Haedian, ready for any situation he might encounter.
After a short while longer of walking the group noticed the formerly empty cave floor began to be speckled by bits of moss. As they continued the moss covering got thicker and other odd plants and fungi could be seen as well. Before long the underground passageway transformed from an empty desolate space into what felt like an underground jungle.
The large tyrians struggled to maneuver through the foliage as Anue led them deeper. They had to weave awkwardly through underbrush and around thick bundles of vines that draped down from the ceiling, giving the appearance of inverted trees. As Khistmet tugged her tail free from yet another bush she called over to Anue, “How much further already?! If this crap gets any denser we won’t be able to move!”
Anue paused and looked back at his struggling companions before double checking his map. He frowned as he stared at it before realizing he had it upside down. He chuckled aloud and flipped it the right way before re-examining where he thought they were.
Amais watched this in horror and realized they were most likely completely lost. ‘I put my trust in an idiot.’ The tyrian thought to himself as he rubbed his temples with his fingers, trying to relieve the headache that was beginning to grow.
“Hmmmm.” Anue hummed as he examined the map. After a few seconds he confidently looked up and announced. “I have no idea!” At the rainbow runners confident smile the fiery tyrian paused in her struggle and stared at him. “What?! What do you mean you have no idea?!” She surged through the underbrush, ripping multiple limbs from the various plants around them as she approached.
She glowered down at the runner who didn’t even blink at the tyrians hostility. “You were supposed to lead us to The Brutes territory. Where the %##-” She began to swear before Amais stepped forward, cutting her off. “The Brutes? I specifically asked to be led to The Tranquil.” He glared down at the runner, waiting for an explanation.
As Anue tried, and failed, to calm down the increasingly angry tyrians someone else was quickly approaching their location. Their magic had alerted them to the damage some of the plants had sustained and so they had come running immediately. As the unknown creature suddenly busted into the small chamber they saw three surface dwellers.
Anger surged in the unknown Haedians chest as they shouted at the arguing trio, “What on earth are you doing?! How dare you destroy the flora we work so hard to maintain!” The trio whipped around at the sudden enraged voice that screamed at them from the entrance way of a passage they hadn’t noticed till now.
Khistmet dropped the runner she had pinned to the wall and turned to the Haedian who had suddenly appeared, her eyes wild with excitement and battle lust. This wasn’t a Brute haedian but she certainly liked their attitude. She smiled wickedly as she shouted back, “Hey you! Fight me!” The Haedian blinked at the sudden provocation from the surface dweller.
The red and teal Haedian peeled its teeth back in a snarl as it began to get into a battle stance. The surface dwellers were nothing like the rumors they had heard from the other clans! They were vicious brutes who had no right to trample The Druids sacred lands!
Amais quickly realized that things were getting out of hand, he had been on guard as soon as the Haedian had appeared but before he could do anything the stupid fiery female had immediately ruined their first impression. As Khistmet started to stalk past him, the pale purple tyrian swiftly slammed the wrist of his wing into the back of her head.
The sudden blow from behind knocked the aggressor out temporarily. The Haedian paused, confused by the surface dwellers actions which was just enough time for Amais to turn to them. “I deeply apologize for this one’s behavior.” He bowed deeply as he spoke and draped his tail in such a way as to hide the orange tyrian from sight.
“We are not here to fight and are very sorry for the damage we have caused to your habitat. If it's alright with you, we would like the opportunity to make up for what we have done.” Amais spoke eloquently in the manner of a well trained servant who was used to defusing the anger of the noblemen whom he served. He stayed bowed waiting for the Haedians' response after he finished apologizing.
The Headian slowly lowered their raised hackles and silently assessed the purple tyrian and the rainbow runner who was standing awkwardly beside him. They didn’t like how well the tyrian spoke, it made them feel like they were speaking with a snake. “How do you plan to make this right? The plants around you have already been destroyed!” They angrily questioned while pointing at the many limbs and stalks of plants that Khistmet had ripped apart when she had lunged for Anue.
Amais didn’t raise his head as he spoke of his proposed solution. “That will not be an issue, I can easily mend all of the plants that the idiot damaged.” Picking up what the purple tyrian was suggesting Anue quickly picked his way around the now snoring Khistmet and picked up some of the uprooted plants and carefully started moving them back to their original location.
The Haedian blinked and frowned at the tyrian, “How could you possibly mend these plants?” the hostility they were holding onto till now slowly drained away from both their voice and their body language as they kept a wary eye on the smooth talking tyrian. Amais turned his bowed head toward a small plant next to him whose stalk had been snapped in half. “It would be easier to show you than explain.”
Amais slowly draped one of his wings over the small plant and used his magic to heal the damage done. When he moved his wing away the plant was whole again, as if it had never been damaged to begin with. The Haedian gasped in astonishment at this and incredulously stared at the healed plant.
“You… You can heal plants?” They questioned disbelievingly. Many Druid Haedians possessed magic that allowed them to tend to plants, whether that was to improve their growth rate or to control them but it was exceedingly rare for one of them to develop healing magic strong enough to affect plant life. Amais silently nodded his head to answer their question while waiting for the Haedian to accept his offer.
The Haedian shifted back and forth on their feet uncertainly, as much as they still didn’t trust these surface dwellers some of the plants that were damaged were very fragile and there wasn’t much hope for them to survive without using the purple ones magic. Eventually they grunted unhappily before reluctantly agreeing to the proposition. “Alright Surface Dweller. I’ll accept your offer but make no mistake I do not trust you.” They glared warily at the purple tyrian as he nodded and quickly stood up from where he was bowed.
Amais turned to destroyed plants and quickly got to work healing everything Khistmet had ruined. By the time he was about half way through the mess Anue had finished moving the displaced plants back into their original positions. Amais noticed this and inwardly, though somewhat begrudgingly, acknowledged the rainbow runner’s attempt to be helpful. He still didn’t forgive him for not keeping his word however.
As Amais finished healing all the plants Anue awkwardly stood between the Haedian and Khistmet who was still asleep. The rainbow runner glanced back and forth between the two before clearing his throat, “ahem… sooo… You’re a member of the Druids? That’s cool, that’s cool… say how far are the Brutes from here?” The unnamed Haedian stared down at the runner questioningly not saying anything.
Before the rainbow runner could make things more awkward Khistmet began to stir behind him. With a startled noise Anue quickly moved away from the tyrian and hid behind the Haedian, much to their annoyance. The Haedian crouched down in anticipation of a fight but as Khistmet regained her senses and rubbed her sore head she caught sight of the red and teal haedian once more.
They both froze for a moment before Khistmet broke out in a big toothy grin and laughed heartily before jovially trotting over to the Haedian and slapping them on their shoulder. “Oh man! I didn’t stand a chance!” Confusion befell both the Haedian and Anue as they watched the fiery tyrian act like they were best friends with the Haedian. “Uhh Khistmet? What’re yo-” Anue began to question before the fiery tyrian heavily brushed her fanned tail over the runners head, silencing him and knocking him down.
“You knocked me out so fast! How’d you do it? You used magic right? That’s awesome!” The fiery tyrian continued to blabber on as she draped a wing over Haedians shoulders. The red and teal Haedian was extremely confused and uncomfortable with the sudden attitude change of the tyrian. They looked over to the purple tyrian who had just finished mending all the damage that Khistmet had caused, seeking assistance.
Amais, upon seeing what was going on, gave the Haedian a sympathetic look and mouthed the words, “Just go with it.” The purple tyrian walked over to Khistmet and with a stoney face said, “Get off them.” Khistmet merely rolled her eyes and ignored the male tyrians demands. “Anyways~ You said you were a Druid right? S’there more strong guys like you back at your place?”
The Haedian awkwardly shuffled while trying to move away from Khistmet, but the tyrian was practically stuck like glue. “Uhhh I don’t know about strong but there are more Druids than just me…” Khistmet gave a hearty laugh, gave the Haedian a noogie and then moved toward the pathway the Haedian was still standing in the entrance of. “Lead the way bro!”
All three of the reoseans in the cave stared at Khistmet incredulously but she was not picking up their disapproval at all. Amais sighed and grudgingly admitted that he was slightly envious of her simple mindedness. Meanwhile, Anue still didn’t really understand what was going on but was okay with the shift in attitude because it meant he wasn’t in trouble anymore. The Druid Haedian on the other hand wasn’t sure how things had turned out like this but before making their decision they looked back at Amais.
The two useless surface dwellers aside, the purple tyrians magic was exactly what they needed right now. They thought about the section of garden that had recently been lost due to a partial cave in. If this tyrian agreed to help them, The Druids might be able to salvage the lost flora. “Fine,” they decided as they turned to move past Khistmet into the tunnel. “I’ll lead the way back to our grotto, but I’m not doing so for free. Once we get there you are going to have to help the clan with our problem.”
Amais frowned, not willing to write a blank cheque but before he could voice his doubts Anue stepped forward, cutting him off. “Sounds good to us!” The rainbow runner spoke for the group much to Amais’ annoyance. “Whatever you guys need.~” Anue and Khistmet happily started to walk down the tunnel, not even waiting for the Haedian to lead the way like they had asked. Amais and the Haedian shared a glance with each other before both sighing simultaneously, and then following their headache inducing companions.
