RPG mission: Part 2

After tossing the letter the guild continues to their journey. Twenty minutes pass and the girls have not stumbled upon anything. Then Ubume who is sleep walking a few feet behind the others, trips and falls flat on her face. “Ubume, are you all right?…” says Ayumi and turns around to check on her. Yukiko and Natsumi continue you to walk and pause as a gust a wind blows the leaves off the trees around them dancing around in the air. Ayumi leans down to check on Ubume but as she touches her shoulder she winces in pain, curling into a field position, “Hey guys I think Ubume might be hurt, I think she may have slipped on the mossy ground.” Natsumi walks over to them, “there may be a town near by, and we will stop at the next town.” “For now maybe we should take turns caring her…” Yukiko suggests. All three of them sighed at the thought.

Within the hour the girls begin to see the forest thin out and the stumble upon a horrific scene, a desert. Most of the girls are dumbfounded since they have never seen a desert as dry and creepy as what was before them. “Oh my.” “What happened here?” “Hey! Hey guys! I think there’s a town up ahead!” Ayumi yells to Yukiko and Natsumi, who began adventuring ahead of the other two. “Alright then, hopefully we can find a place to rest and take care of Ubume.” As they approach the town they see a barn were a hand full of cows graze on the few strands of grass that have grown through the sand. While other farm animals lay in shade behind the barn on slabs of sandstone that have protruded from the ground. An old man with a long white mustache sits outside the barn in paint-covered overalls. “Excuse me sir…Sir…SIR,“ Natsumi says as she approaches the man cautiously while the others wait by the roadside. “…what do you want…” the man says in a raspy grouchy voice. “My friends and I were wondering if the town up ahead had an infirmary and maybe a place for us to get some rest and eat…” “Blahh…all that’s up there is a bunch of no good rotten witches and wizard people that try to cheat poor people like me out of our land and money. You’re better off going back the way you came,” said the short-tempered man. “Please sir! Our friend needs help,” shouts Ayumi from the roadside while holding the now unconscious Ubume. * Sigh * “Alright…There is a women in the town know as the Seamstress she should be able to help your friend. However she lives at the end of the town you must not stop at any of the vendors for if you do your powers and youth will be stolen and placed into magical crystals that have a glint that is so shiny it will light up the darkest cave. There is no way to reverse the spell, for I have tried.” A shiver runs down the girls’ spines as the man finishes his story. “Thank you very much sir.” Yukiko bows along with the others then begins to play a tune as they continue to walk towards the town. As the music reaches the farmer’s ears, a pearl begins to form in the palm of his hand and a glittering teardrop falls from his eye onto the pearl, “thank you girls.”

As the sun reaches its highest point, the girls reached the edge of the town. “Alright, remember we must not stop at the vendors just keep walking straight through the town,” says Yukiko “Right” Natsumi and Ayumi say in unison. The town is bright and full of life, the girls assume there must be a festival going on because the townspeople were dressed in bright, rich, colorful clothes. “ * Sniff * Ahhh it smells like the ocean and seaweed,” Natsumi cheers in a merry voice, “my favorite place to be.” The girls continue to walk ignoring the men and vendor calling out and whistling at them. “Pigs…” Ayumi says under her voice, the other two chuckles at her comment.

Finally the girls arrive at the Seamstress’s shop, which looks empty. * Knock, knock * “hello? Madam Seamstress, the old man sent us here,” Ayumi says as she opens the front door, “our friend needs help.” The candles suddenly light up the room, revealing the elastic and cloth hanging from the walls, a woman descends the staircase at the back of the store. “Excuse me. Are you Madam Seamstress? The old man sent us here? Are friend see she is hurt and we were wonderin--” “Yes, yes I know, I know. I knew you were coming before you did yourselves. Come sit and let me have a look at you friend.” Yukiko and Ayumi sit on a couch outside a cubicle like room as the madam and Natsumi carry Ubume into the room and onto a bed. Natsumi is the first to leave the room and sits beside her friends, “She says she’s exhausted, nothing too serious and Ubume should be able to move around in a few hours” Yukiko and Ayumi breathe a sigh of relief. Madam Seamstress exits the room, closing the door behind her. “I assume you told them about your friends condition. Would any of you want a cup tea or a piece of bread – “ the Seamstress stops midsentence and slams her foot on the ground twisting her foot making a squishy sound “—my apologies it seems that you have been found out, the cockroaches work for the mayor of this town, if there are new comers he casts a spell on them keeping them trapped here in the town for all eternity.” “What?!” the girls shouted. “What should we do then? What about our friend?!!!” shouts Ayumi out of rage. “Shhh…Don’t worry your friend is completely healed she just fell asleep,” Yukiko jaw drops to the floor while Natsumi and Ayumi both slap their heads. Then the three begin to laugh hysterically, the Seamstress gives them a confused look, “hahaha don’t worry Madam Seamstress, Ubume is always sleeping,” Ayumi spurts out between laughs. “Okay then, if you can get her out of bed I’ll show you the fastest way to the other part of the forest.” “Don’t worry that will be easy,” Yukiko begins to play music, while Natsumi and Ayumi follow Madam Seamstress out he back door. As she plays a chicken wing appears floating in front of the door. Within seconds Ubume is lunging at the chicken like a cat trying to catch a bird. Yukiko leads Ubume outside with the others where there the chicken disappears underneath a abnormally large banana tree and an old broken down catapult. “Okay madam now what do we do?” says Yukiko. As Madam Seamstress begins to tell the girls what direction to head into, Ubume begins to stumble around, sleepwalking. Ubume begins to walk up to her teammates but slips on some banana peels that were lying around and falls onto the other three, causing them all to fall into the catapult. Natsumi, Ayumi and Yukiko start yelling at Ubume to get off, “AHHH!!! Crap I think she fell asleep again…” Ayumi moans, “Ughhhh…” reply Yukiko and Natsumi. “Don’t worry girls, that old thing has been broken for years,” the madam says. The girls relax and breathe a deep sigh of relief…. * klack* “Huh? Did you hear that?” Natsumi asks Ayumi and Yukiko. “What? We didn’t hear any –“ BOOOMMMM! “ – THHHINNNNGGG!!! AHHHH!!!” The girls hang onto each other for dear life as they are catapulted into the sky and towards the distant forest. “Well I guess that way is fast too…hahaha,” Chuckles Madam Seamstress as she looks up into the sky and then walks back into the shop.

Meanwhile, a couple miles away…

“AAAAHHHHH!!! OOFFFF...” The girls land in the forest after hitting a couple of branches on the way down, landing on the dusty dirt path. “Ugh that was lovely,” Yukiko as she begins to wipe off the dirt. “You can say that again,” replies Ayumi. “No please don’t” sighs Natsumi. * Snore * they turn to see Ubume asleep while hanging on a tree branch by her cape. Ayumi, Yukiko and Natsumi look at each other, laugh then go to help their friend and fellow guild member out of the tree.