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*Half an hour later, Sam “Patches” Ben POV*

Right now I’m still leading the humanoid creature around.

“Come on, chop chop.” It said when I stopped in a fork in the corridor, clearly irritated it was taking so long.

Our little village, Hideway, wasn’t much farther, just take a right here, then a left and then p the stairs and we’d be there.

I turned back to the creature and gesticulated for it to follow me.

The I turned and walked to the left.

This is what I’d been doing the past half hour, misleading the creature and taking the longest possible route, hoping we might run into some other scout corp member, or maybe my date would realize something’s wrong and would come looking for me.

Anything.

*bzz bzz*

The sound of something vibrating rhythmically came from the creatures bag.

I would be impressed the bag hasn’t been incinerated by the creature’s fire if I wasn’t so nervous right now.

“Not yet.” The creature says and pats its bag, the small animal next to it looking enviously at its arm.

During this past half an hour I had also been taking care not to tread any paths we’d already walked through; this creature was obviously smarter than it seemed.

I had been forced to listen to it ramble almost drunkenly all this time, I almost even thought it actually was drunk most of the time, but every so often it would let its tongue slip and say something it shouldn’t have.

I didn’t know why it was pretending to be stupid, all I knew was that I didn't have time to try and figure that out.

I knew that if I didn’t put all my effort into tricking the creature I would inevitably be found out and I’m not sure even god knows what it would do to us then.

“Say-” The creature started “-did I ever tell about the time I made a guy- Wait yeah I did tell you…”

The creature paused.

“...multiple times…” *sigh* “I’m starting to run low on stories, we there yet?”

I shake my head in response.

“...Damn, this is a lot less exciting than I was hoping… And my arms getting tired from carrying the hostage as well…”

The creature shook around the purple fleecy a bit with its arm-

-and then it slipped from its grip.

“Oh fuck!” The creature…

‘Okay you know what calling her an ‘it’ all the time is getting really tedious, she’s obviously a woman!’

*ahem*

“Oh fuck!” She shouted as the purple fleecy flew and landed in the corner of the room we were in.

‘An opportunity!’

“Ah- Hey- No- fuck off!” The woman continued shouting as I dashed towards the fleecy.

“Stop that!” Cried the woman. “Don’t touch him!”

A *fwoosh* was heard as a ball of fire flew right next to my head.

This woman really was as crazy as she seemed, lobbing flames and almost hitting her hostage trying to stop me.

‘Maybe I should just leave him here and run… No! I would be no better than that gray guy if I did!’

So then despite the crazy woman continuing to try and rely on her poor aim to fireball me to death I still-

“Litly fetch!”

‘Oh fuck no time for overdramatized drawn-out inner monologues!’

I grabbed the purple fleecy and booked it out of the room with all my might, focusing as much energy into my legs as I could.

*tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap*

My feet tapped the ground as I kept running until I was certain I couldn’t hear any sounds of pursuers anymore.

‘Have to- *pant* -recover energy- *pant* -and get back to Hideway!*

*tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap*

‘I stopped running damnit! You don’t need any more running sounds since I’m just standing still!’

*tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap*

‘I said no more-! ...Wait…’

I calmly turn around and see a light and two shadows at the end of the corridor closing in on me fast.

‘Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! *unintelligible screaming sounds*’

Very calmly indeed.

“Get back here you little fuck!”

‘Nope nope nope nope-nope-nope-nope-nope!’

* * * * *

*tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap*

‘I ain't stopping!’

*tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap*

* * * * *

*tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap*

‘I ain’t stopping!’

*tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap*

* * * * *

*tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap*

‘I ain’t-! Okay I’m stopping.’

*tap-tap tap...tap*

I turn around and listen carefully

*...*

*...*

*...*

*silence*

‘Not yet…’

*...*

*...*

*...*

*silence intensifies*

‘...Okay I think I lost them… Now then...’

I unload my passenger and prop him up against a wall.

‘With how that woman was chasing you you’d almost think she was in love with you… Now where do I even begin; what in the hell did she do to you!?’

The unknown fleecy was in shambles, his clothes were torn at his fingers and toes, his face cover was missing and cloudy blue mud was dripping from his mouth and eyes and pooling up in a…

‘Is that a… a bib…?’

The cloudy blue mud which was dripping down from his face was indeed filling up a bib with a flowery pattern attached to him by his neck.

‘What did she- No that can wait until later, for now I have to get you back to Hideway, take you to a doctor and maybe see if we can’t find at least someone who knows who you are.’

I swing the feelcy back over my shoulder once more and feel his face touch my back with a *splat*.

‘...Also I need a shower when I get back home…’

I stand up and look in the direction of Hideway.

‘But at least I’m safe. And so are you.’

I pat the fleecy’s back.

‘We’re both safe from that crazy bitch now.’

* * * * *

‘ ‘But at least I’m safe. And so are you.’... Or at least so she must be thinking…’

I take out a small bit of grilled… Well I wasn’t really sure what it was specifically but some kind of meat and gave it to Litly.

“Good girl.” I say and scratch her behind her ears and under her neck after she finishes eating. “I didn’t realise you were that good at acting Litly.”

Litly answered me with what sounded like a mix of a cat purring and a dog barking in a pleased manner.

*bzz bzz*

“Yes yes, I know you’re there.”

I stop petting Litly and reach my arm into my bag.

“I haven’t forgotten, don’t worry.”

When I take my arm back up out of my bag I’m holding a small black box.

[It was very nice of that unknown fleecy to let us walk around and map this place for as long as we did]

“Cy please, their name is Patches.”

[I am absolutely certain that their name is not actually Patches.]

“Well how do you know, maybe it’s a fleecy thing?”

[...]

“Anyways, did the thing work?”

[Take a look.]

I turn the small black box around in my hand until I see the side with a bunch of gowing blue circles layered on one another.

“Let’s see…”

Moving the black box…

“Well I suppose it’s really more of a cube than a box. Box makes it sound too big.”

[Excuse me?]

“Nothing, nothing.”

I move the black cube and look into the blue circles like I’m looking into a loupe.

Then just like when I did it in the Logholm castle I see a glowing blue translucent version of where I am, though a bit different.

The biggest difference where two things, though I suppose three things if you counted this being an old town hall that’s fallen into disrepair and the other place being a big fancy castle.

Not counting that thought; the first difference was that unlike in the castle I didn’t just see the area right around where I was like some shitty echo-location wannabe but instead it showed both that as well as the places I’d already been, like one of those old top-down roguelikes back home.

Cy had added that after hearing my complaints after we came back from the castle last time.

The other difference and new feature was a red line that went from where we were, out beyond how far the map spell let m see, and eventually ended in a yellow rhombus with a red exclamation point in it somewhere.

“And you’re sure this will work?”

[Unless the unknown fleecy decides to leave Plush behind somewhere this should lead us straight to their village.]

“Well, yeah, but…”

[But?]

“Well… It wasn’t Patches I was doubting, it was your tracker.”

[Bollocks to you.]

“Oh, we getting feisty are we? Well I’d rather have you be feisty than too shy to even use your own voice when talking to us like before.”

[...]

Last time while we were in the castle Cy had been using some fancy most-likely-magic voice alteration thingamajig but now, although it was still through the box rather than directly from her mouth, I was hearing her actual voice.

Like how talking to someone on the phone is still hearing their actual voice compared to hearing someone speak over the phone with their voice on autotune set to eleven out of ten.

“Anyways-”

I take out Plush’s book from my bag and start knocking at its cover.

“Hey Lizz. Hey, hey, Lizz, he-”

*knock knock knock knock-*.

“WHAT!?” Shouts the angry fairy as she shoots out

“Go back outside and tell Rosh to go ahead, this will probably take a while. And you might as well go back with him as well.”

“Fine! Ronnie is there too and she’s much more fun than you guys!”

Lizz *humph*s at us and flies out the nearest window.

But then she turns around and looks back.

“Not that I’m worried or anything but how are you going to find your way to the elves’ place?”

“Well if everything goes right we should just be able to ask one of the fleecy, and even if it doesn’t go that well I could probably just ask any of the elves outside. Kosei is their chief after all, most people should probably know where he lives.”

Lizz stared at me oddly with a some concern for a bit-

“Well if you say so.”

-then shrugged her shoulders and flew away.

[And you’re sure we’ll be fine?] Cy asks through her box after Lizz leaves.

“Yes yes, I’m sure already. All we need to do is go wait somewhere outside their… whatever kind of habitation they have… and wait for Plush to come out on his own after he gets better. Long as you give me some food and water from the book every so foten so I don’t starve to death I’ll be just fine.”

[Shiona, Plush showed no signs of getting better at all since this first happened, it could be days, weeks, maybe even months or years until he gets better. We have no idea what’s even wrong with him. He might not even get better at-]

“Cy.” I interrupt her. “That’s too much.”

[I’m just-]

“Yes I know. I know you don’t mean it and you’re saying it so that I can prepare myself for the worst and all the fancy “kind” mumbo jumbo bullshit and I apologise in advance for saying this but please just fucking don’t”

[...]

“Please.”

[...Very well.]

“Thank you.”

I hang the small black cube around my neck with some string and start walking, looking at the map spell every so often to make sure I’m going the right way.