"I am having no luck figuring this out..." I commented as I stared at our instructions for the treasure hunt. It had started earlier than expected so now we were playing catch up. But now we were at a complete loss. The instructions implied the temple but the priest said it had to be brought to the temple...
"Maybe it is Nin?" Einervaene then whispered to me. Something I immediately scoffed at as that was ludicrous. Why would it be Nin? The instructions clearly meant something holy.
"Why would it be him? Everyone else clearly thinks it has something to do with the temple."
"I'm just saying, if we think about it, the instructions say to bring back something that knows the gods well. He has met them!" she whispered loudly.
"You don't believe that, do you?" I asked her as I shook my head. Sure, Nin came back to life as an osibindah. But that did not mean the gods were involved! Why would they turn him into an osibindah for starters!?
"Even if I do doubt it, Vadei, it doesn't change the fact that if we don't take this option then we lose the treasure hunt!" she points out before she looked around. Her body stretched itself out too, probably to give her just a bit more height. Not that she needed it given her heels.
"Fine... You've successfully appealed to my love of the material." I tell her with a roll of my eyes. Starting up the same spell I used to track him down before. And once I had a rough idea of where he was. I got my little group moving.
Now if only this festival wasn't such an assault on the senses. It was much harder to track him here because there was so much else in the way. At least with before the smells that stood out did in fact stand out! This time, however, it all blended together to an infuriating degree.
But, if I ignored the frustrations brought on by this ordeal, it gave me some hope that we could win. No alarm had gone off so no one had won yet, which meant the temple idea was wrong. And the hunt was already going late into the latter half of the day. So, gods and goddesses be willing, we would find Nin soon before anyone else catches on.
"The temple?" Larishazza then pointed out as my magic brought us towards the start. But, in a brief moment, I saw him. I saw that bug towering over the rest of the people in the area who were confused. Everyone's trackers were going off but no one could figure it out.
And Nin was moving closer to the temple so did that mean he was also playing? If so, did that mean we could relax? The reward would get shared between us, no? Nah, I wanted to win this!
"After him!" I hissed to the other two as I sprinted off towards Nin. Finding whatever gaps in the crowd I could and moving through them. And, unfortunately, I had to use my tail as a distraction on occasion. But, so long as my lust for victory remained, the embarrassment would stay away.
Yet, just as I was about to grab Nin's shoulder, the alarm went off. He had just won the treasure hunt...
"So what did you win then, hm?" Nin asked while looking down. Confusing me before I realised he was found by someone else.
"I don't know, the Priest never said so. I hope it is food, though. I have been playing a lot today." a little boy said back to Nin. The priest who started this whole race came into view shortly after.
"Aahtha said you'd be coming." he warmly greeted Nin as his arm touched his. A bitter expression formed on my face before everyone who did not win was forced out. A quiet growl then left me before I went back to the other two who had already met up.
"Who found him first?" Einervaene then asked me as I collapsed onto a fence we were near.
"Some little boy..." I moaned as I moved my tail closer. Stroking it harshly to try and get it clean of any muck those it touched might have put on it.
"Well good for him!" Larishazza declared with a smile as she sprung up. Her eyes locked on the temple as it began to glow.
"I wonder what is happening in there..." Einervaene muttered as her eyes followed the beam of light leaving its domed roof.
"Whatever is happening in there, it must have ended." I then point out as the doors open wide again. That same little boy ran out with a smile on his face and a large bag in his hands. Then, Nin came out too before he wandered off into an alleyway. Likely to avoid all the discussion about him that suddenly bloomed into being.
"Let's follow him!" Larishazza then said as she grabbed mine and Einervaene's wrists. Pulling us along in an almost violent manner before we caught up with Nin. And those two slavers who were with him for some reason...
"Why are they here?" I bitterly asked him as I approached the pair. My teeth bared and magic flowed into my claws as I did so. But, Nin's hand stopped me and gently kept me away.
"Because you three ran off before we figured out where to leave them. So, in order to keep an eye on them. I brought them along and let them have fun."
"Let them have fun? Do you need reminding of why they are with us at all!?" I snapped out at him as I moved my face near his. Snapping my jaws together so I could show off my canines. Only for him to take off his mask a bit and show off those rows of needles he had.
"No, he has a point, Vadei. We did just leave him behind with them." Larishazza pointed out before she started patting Nin down.
"I did not win anything if that is what you are looking for." he pointed out as he gently grasped her head and moved her off. Only for her to start doing it again until he let out some kind of laugh or chuckle.
"What happened in the temple, Nin?" Einervaene asked while her eyes looked over at something else.
"Some prayers were recited and I was told to give a reward to the winner, but, I am not sure why I had to. So, here I am, with no snacks now." he explained with a slow, agitated shrug.
"What about the temple lighting up then? The beam of light that went up to the halo?"
"Lights? Only lights were the candles in the temple."
"It must've been an outside only thing, then." I commented to Einervaene once Nin had said that. Then, I looked about as noise returned to the town. Or, well, more noise as it was likely all the stalls and games were opening up again.
"So what games did you three play then?" Larishazza asked Nin as her issues with the slavers were put aside. Instead, she just focused on the trophies those two had.
"Shooting games and a demolition game." Nin answered while pointing at the two trophies.
"You only played two games?" Larishazza asked him.
"No, it's just that for the most part, she just wanted to shoot things." Nin said before he gave a brief gesture towards the younger slaver. That prideful smile they had irritated me to an indescribable level.
"Well we played-" Larishazza began to say before I blocked her mouth. If she started we would not hear the end of it given how much we had done.
"Nin! Me and Larishazza won this game on giant plants in water and this was our reward!" Einervaene said excitedly to him before she showed him the flower.
"Fancy, this actual gemstone or glass?" he asked as he likely looked at it wearily. His claws were holding it very cautiously.
"I don't know, but watch this!" she told him before she let some of her magic light the area up. And then, hers and Larishazza's names ended up plastered on the nearby walls.
"At least we know who it belongs to, then." he said to us with a light chuckle before he stared at what we had.
"Oh, that reminds me! We got you this!" Larishazza told him as she took his ice cream from me.
"Can you open it for me?" he then asked with a meek tone. Clearly embarrassed by the fact he couldn't open the tub given his lack of decent digits.
"Sure! Want me to feed it to you too?" Larishazza asked him with a wide smile as cool mist left the now open tub. The magic in the tub has kept it frozen solid throughout the day.
"I'll have it later. For now, I want to find a good spot so we can watch the..." he said before he came to a stop.
"The light show?" I then said to him, not really caring to recite the whole title as Jhermonikran's like to do.
"Yeah, that thing they're doing at night." he said before he looked up to the sky.
"We have plenty of time before that, so do you want to go do something until then?" I asked him as now that we were a whole group again. We could do everything that detail entailed.
"I'll probably just watch like I did with these two." he said while pointing at the pair behind him.
"Well, at least that solves us keeping an eye on them." I say back him before I began to leave the alleyway. The other five were right behind me before I pulled out our map so we could go and do something else.
"We haven't done anything in this part of the town." Nin said as one of his claws tapped the upper part of the map.
"We haven't either, but it's mostly just small games up there." I tell him while pointing out their details. That area was pretty much food stalls and food-related games. Instead of fancy trophies, you got snacks and treats. Which, admittedly didn't sound too bad...
"LOOK!" Larishazza then shouted at point-blank range as she began to tap one spot.
"DON'T SHOUT SO CLOSE TO MY EAR!" I shouted back while clutching said body part. A wordless sorry came from her before she started touching the map again.
"Photobooths! Let's get some pictures!" she said while hopping up and down. Yet, somehow, she kept her arm straight and firm in the same spot.
"Eh, surely there's something else?" Nin said in an uncomfortable tone before he looked away.
"You won't have to, you know, Nin!" Einervaene told him while rubbing his arm. A soft smile being directed at him which only seemed to make it worse.
"No!" he told her with a surprisingly aggressive tone.
"Alright, alright," Larishazza began to say as she put her hands up, "How about this then? Just one photo with you? Mask and that can all stay on. Just one where us four are all in it together?" she said to him while trying to ease him into the idea.
His body was stiff but it began to relax alongside his breathing which steadied.
"Fine..." he said with clear reluctance as he looked away from Larishazza.
"Yay!" she quietly cheered before she took his claw and led him. All of us were now on our way to the part of town with the photobooths. We passed many shops and were surrounded by many tasty smells. We even had to keep bringing people back who stopped to stare, me included.
But I was justified! They had lots of meat just being spun about on spits! How could anyone not want to just stare and drool at such sights!? It was spit-roasted meat!
Einervaene might have wanted to ignore it, though. If only because her eyes were locked entirely on a clothes shop. And, admittedly, they did have quite a few cute outfits that were easy on the eyes. Their prices weren't bad either all things considered...
"Photo time!" Larishazza suddenly called out as she hopped around near one of the machines in question. The two slavers had been put into their own so we four could have our one picture.
"Wait, who goes where?" I asked as we gathered around.
"Nin goes in the middle and the rest of us trap him in!" she said with a grin before she dragged Nin in. I myself climbed over her and him so I could be on his back. Einervaene, however, went around and sat on his right.
"Don't you say something before a picture is taken in these? Or you do something funny at the very least?" Einervaene asked us as her face went red. Her body being so close to Nin's after all.
"It's a matter of taste." I said with a shrug from up on high.
"Yes, and our tastes will be to pose around Ninno and say... Friends!" Larishazza explained while grinning sheepishly.
"Friends? Fine..." Nin sighed out as he looked at her. A certain level of regret for some reason is mixed into his words. It was clear he was still reluctant to be here so I was getting curious. He was still dressed up so what was the issue?
"Alright, girls, pose!" Larishazza told us as she smooshed her face up against Nin's mask. Something Einervaene ended up copying while also just hugging him. Meanwhile, I just got my tail out and hid behind its tip. Letting only my eyes show.
"FRIENDS!" we all then shouted out loud with the exception of Nin who just mumbled it. And then, the machine went off and the photo was taken. A picture of said picture appeared before us so we could look at it beforehand.
"Here you go, Nin, look after it." Larishazza told him as she handed the actual one over. My body slid down into the middle as he squeezed out. But I was worried because he was just quietly staring at it last I saw him. Yet, for now, I was a little too involved with these photo's we were now doing.
"Okay, now, let's pretend we are all sleeping!" Einervaene then suddenly said as she grabbed my tail.
"Hey!" I let out loudly as the stronger woman began to treat it like a blanket. Something that set off so many triggers for me given its importance. I shared my tail in naps and sleep with people I cared about dammit!