Catching Dreams With Butterfly Nets (Island Expedition Event!)

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

@Razor-D-Belphe @Whim

It was shaping up to be a beautiful morning. The sun hadn't quite peered over the horizon yet, but the edges of the sky were beginning to turn pink. The sounds of both the Hivan ocean and the jungle melded together, and a thin morning mist permeated the air.

Adrian Ajurrem stood on the beach, a little over a mile from the Port of Jin'ta. Behind him was what appeared to be the start of a trail leading into jungle. In the distance a few houses could be seen, but apart from that there was no sign of any other humans. The young man tapped his foot on the ground expectantly, checking the time on his wrist-mounted sundial. "Where are they? I said to be here before sunrise..."

He was, of course, here for a reason- the Silver Dreamcatcher. Wyrdwood's alchemical stock of dreampearls was running dangerously low, and rumours of the near-mythical spider's whereabouts pointed to a particular swath of Kunata's jungle known as "Agrawal's Undergrowth". Said area was notorious for being full of dangerous flora and fauna, and those who entered rarely left alive. Adrian had hired a couple of adventurers to help, but if they didn't show...

The sun began to to rise, and the young man was beginning to get antsy...

[Razor-D-Belphe]

A figure appeared downshore, materializing out of the mist -
a tanned woman who looked to be in her early twenties, with sharp, icy eyes, and spiky blue hair tied back in a ponytail. On her back was a sheathed katana with an ornately engraved hilt. A long silver pipe, just as ornate, hung from her mouth, streaming smoke over her shoulder as she strutted down the beach.

She stopped a few paces from her client and crossed her arms. Her cold eyes surveyed him.

"You have me as your weapon for the duration of this mission. I think that's worth a preview of the payment, yes?" she said mechanically, devoid of emotion.

There was an aura of danger around her as she spoke.

"I usually take a down payment from my clients. It's a matter of insurance."

[Whim]

Ollie hurried along the beach, smoothing out his bangs and straightening his serape. The young man wished he could walk a little slower and enjoy the morning beauty of the jungle or feel the sand between his toes. He'd never seen oceans and beaches before, not like this. The lakes in Altas Verde were very pretty but mostly mud or stones and you came out filthier than you went in. Kunata's ' jungles seemed a paradise by comparison where you could bathe in streams, eat fruit from the trees, and live in comfort forever.

But all that had to wait. He was very late.

The boy found Adrian, who he'd sailed with, and a strange woman on the beach. "Sorry I'm late!" he called out nervously, fiddling with a blonde mop of hair. "I got a bit tied up."

"A FIGHT!" echoed a throaty voice. It was his sword.

"Well, I guess so. Some islanders didn't want me having a sword." He sighed, "I mean they bend the rules a little since Jin'ta is a port and all. They wanted to wrestle or something. I don't know."

"HE WOULD NOT ANSWER THEIR CHALLENGE. AND SO I MADE HIM."

"Well I won. Anyway, that's the story of why I'm late. Whose your friend? She doesn't look like a locale. I'm Oliver by the way!" the heavily muscled youth gave a shy wave.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Oh..."

Adrian's normally cheery smile became apologetic as he looked over the blue-haired woman. "Um, funny story..." he said nervously, rummaging through his pockets. "I... didn't actually bring my coin purse with me. It's back at the hostel." He shrugged. "I just kinda figured if we were in the jungle I probably wouldn't be making any purch-

The young man was cut off as the other mercenary- a Verdan man named Olliver- approached them. "Ollie!" he said, smile returning to normal. "Do you have any money on you? I don't have any and-"

He looked at the woman. "Oh! I haven't introduced myself!" he said, beaming as he outstretched his hand to shake. "My name is Adrian Ajurrum! What's yours?"

[Razor-D-Belphe]

She regarded his outstretched hand a moment, then cracked a small smile. She shook his hand and spoke. "Chikita Ora. I suppose that's fair, on account of my lateness."

Her grip was like a vice.

"In any case, my job is to guard you as we trek to and through Agrawal's Undergrowth until such time as you retrieve the Silver Dreamcatcher and leave the jungle. Those were the terms of our agreement yes?" she said.

Without waiting for an answer, she began stretching her legs and cracked her knuckles. When she was finished, she turned to Oliver.

"You must be the other hired hand. Just don't get in my way."

She drew on her pipe and emptied it, then put it away and spoke again to Adrian.

"Shall we proceed?"

[Whim]

"Well I mostly have what you paid me, and some pocket money." The young man fetched a pouch of coins from his belt, twirling it about by the string. He flashed a shy smile to Chikita. She must be stranded or something if she's taking this kind of work. Right? No wonder she's so grouchy. "Here. Adrian can always pay me when we're back at Wyrdwood. I'm-"

From behind Ollie came a hissing laughter. "HAH! Perhaps you should consider not getting in ours, little creature! Show her your STRENGTH boy! It is in your blood."

"Maybe later." The reluctant warrior sighed sharply, "Sorry. That's just my sword. He's called Kaaruthux

"I'm really just here for fun, really. I have never seen Thanatos before! Look at all the flowers in the trees. I can't believe there's actually necromancers here."

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Adrien watched the two mercenaries for a moment, then raised his butterfly net above his head enthuesiastically. "Alright! Now that that's all taken care of, let's go~!" The young man turned on his heel, walking briskly down the jungle trail...

The outskirts of the rainforest didn't quite live up to the dangerous expectations Adrian had, though he supposed the scary stuff probably lived deeper in. For now it was just birdcalls and pretty flowers. He thought he'd heard a monkey, too- though when he stopped to look, he couldn't see any.

He looked back at his two companions, grinning. "So are you guys impressed or what?" he asked. "I read there's more life per square mile in this jungle than anywhere else in Le'Raana! That's pretty cool, at least to me." Adrian glanced at Chikita briefly. "I like your shirt, by the way. Fun design!"

[Razor-D-Belphe]

Chikita cracked an awkward smile and said her thanks for the compliment.

She eyed a fruit hanging from a nearby tree. She equipped her double-bladed kusarigama, feeling the cool grip of the handles before flinging one end upward toward the tree. The scythe blade pierced the fruit through as the black elastic cord connecting the scythes stretched out taut. She yanked the cord and the fruit was ripped from the tree. She caught the handle of the returning blade expertly and plucked the fruit from it before returning her kusarigama. Chikita pulled it into three sections and handed one each to Adrian and Ollie, keeping the third for herself.

"Don't let your guard down and keep your energy levels up. More life per square mile means more things that can attack us."

She turned to Ollie.
"So, your sword - Kaaruthux - why exactly is it sentient? And what was that about necromancers?"

[Whim]

Ollie squinted at the fruit. The boy moved to take a bite but stopped himself, suddenly remembering how his uncle had told him once that toadstools were called toadstools because sometimes they'd turn you into a toad. That was all a silly fairy tale but you never knew what these strange jungle trees. He held the section to Adrian for inspection; this girl didn't look like a native but Adrian knew his way around the woods. "Does this look safe to eat?

"Oh! Well Thanatos was settled by necromancers chased out of Serendipity you know. That was all a very long time ago, but you never know what sort of weird magic they get up to out here. I hear all sorts of stories about people who change sex, grow extra limbs, and raise the dead." His voice dropped to a shy mumble, cheeks flushing. This was all third-hand gossip from Llewellyn's Guide to Le'raana. "In every story I've read you need blood and souls and whatnot for that sort of magic. But I'm sure we're not going to just bump into one, randomly, while butterfly hunting. You and me are just here in-case of big cats or wild-boar or whatever. Right?"

A pale light shown from the blade. "I am old. With each hand that grasps me and each foe I kill so does my memory grow. I simply am."

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Beats me!" Adrian said with a smile. "Nobody actually knows what's in the Undergrowth, since people don't really come out alive. There could be necromancers!" He glanced at the fruit Oliver was holding. "And I wouldn't eat that. Might give you the runs."

As the group trekked deeper into the jungle, the foliage got denser and denser. As ghe path grew more narrow, it would feel like they were surrounded by thick walls of green. Adrian payed this no mind, humming cheerfully. It wasn't long before he pointed to something half-hidden in the shrubbery, grinning madly. "Look! That must mean we're close to the Undergrowth!"

Following the young man's finger, the two mercenaries would see the mutilated corpse of an elderly man. His body looked like it had been there for a few days at least, and as they moved closer a rotten smell permeated the air. Horrifyingly, the man's face was gone- as if it'd been ripped clean off. "See, that's why I brought you guys!" Adrian said with a smile. "Wouldn't want that to happen to me!"