Previously in NWC-
Reno insists to Luna that they have to name the future training grounds, which are given the official name "Future Training Grounds." Reno argues with Luna and then fails to simply accept a compliment again. With a new day, Reno and Luna decide to speak to the mayor about the old carpenter's house that needs to be demolished. Reno, upon seeing the building, can't comprehend what he's seeing...
Before him was possibly the worst looking building he'd seen in person. There are wild plants and grass growing out of the building. Multiple animals like birds, squirrels, and even a racoon can be seen running in and out of the building. "This isn't a house; this is a whole ass ecosystem!" He approaches the building, setting the ladder down and trying his best to process the sight. "I was going to try and do thing in a somewhat orderly fashion, but looking at this thing, I think I might just blow it the hell up."
The mayor chuckles as he parks the wheelbarrow next to the ladder, patting Reno on the back. "I'm sure you're more than capable! Be safe, and thanks again, young Reno!" The mayor waves goodbye and begins heading home while Reno tries to make a gameplan.
"How the hell do you let something get this bad? The old carpenter couldn't have been gone for long enough for wild animals to start making permanent homes in here. I think this guy was seriously living like this."
Luna speaks quietly form Reno's shirt. "Perhaps he was a druid? Maybe he found comfort in being surrounded by nature?"
"That's fine and all, but like holy hell! I've seen more animals go in and out of that thing than I've seen in the forest."
Luna tries to think of some sort of justification before realizing that Reno's statement was true. "Perhaps this place is… a bit unkempt."
"This is going to a long project." Reno begrudgingly steps in the building, covering his mouth to try and filter the horrid stench of mold emanating from the floor. "Ugh, I think just standing near this building would lower someone's lifespan. I'm gonna have the lungs of an 80-year-old by the time I get done with this place." His heart sinks as he realizes the building has 2 floors. "Great. This place is the gift that keeps on giving, isn't it." He places a foot on each step and slowly put weight on it as he ascends the stairs. Surprisingly, the top floor wasn't in as bad of condition. "It's mostly birds' nests and a place where squirrels are hiding their nuts."
"It's impressive, when you think about it." Luna says, hiding in Reno's shirt to avoid the smell. "It must have taken years of dedication to get their house this… 'in tune' with nature."
"It's in tune with something, alright.." Reno's voice trails off as he begins looking around. He finds a stack of papers that have somehow survived the test of time. He begins reading them, quickly discovering that the previous carpenter was much more insane than they thought. "This person wrote down that they were taking loans out from businesses in the city, just so he could not pay them back. Apparently he was trying to train wild animals to follow his commands by letting them live in his house. He wanted to use the wild animals to attack anyone who tried to collect on any of his debts and apparently started writing letters to the king himself about how he wasn't paying taxes. He literally sent a letter to the king saying he was committing tax evasion?!"
"Please don't tell me you find this behavior to be applaudable too?"
"The mayor trash talking that knight guy right to his face was awesome. Whatever the hell this guy is doing is just plain insane. This guy was not in his right mind. I guess every town has it's weirdo." Reno quickly makes his way downstairs and out of the building. He moves the ladder and wheel barrow closer to the side of the building for storage. "I think I'd prefer to go clean my area before I start cleaning this. This is gonna take a while." With that, he makes his way to the Future Training grounds, stopping by the barn on the way to grab the axe.
Luna floats out of Reno's shirt and looks around. "This place is already looking much better. I think today should be the last day you have to clean it up!"
"God, I hope so. I'm tired of all this moving rocks and cutting wood stuff. I guess it's better than the abomination in town though." Reno begins cutting the small fallen trees and large branches into smaller chunks, rolling the pieces over and storing them next to his fireplace. After a bit of cutting, the place begins to take shape. "It's starting to look like someone lives here finally! Reno stands back and appreciates his hard work.
"Indeed it does! We should celebrate by having camping out one of these nights!"
"That's actually not a bad idea! We should do it tomorrow night, that way we have enough time to get some stuff together!" Satisfied, Reno sits on his chair stump. He admires his work as well as the calming tranquility of the forest. After resting for a bit, he groans as he stands up. "Ughh. I guess we should get started on that damn house."
"I suppose so…" Even Luna was experiencing a complete lack of motivation to get this job done.
"Let's go, I guess." He drags his feet the entire way there, wishing he was doing literally anything but this. Finally, he's standing out front of the masterpiece that is this building. His eyes shoot open, and he begins freaking out after seeing that the wheelbarrow he'd left not even half a day ago was being engulfed by writhing vines. "Woah! What the actual hell is that?! That can't be normal! They need to burn this thing to the ground!" While Reno was having a full-blown melt down, he failed to notice the vine slowly wriggling towards him. The vines originated from an unknown location in the house, reaching out in every direction. "This thing was NOT here earlier! If I'd have known something like this was going to be here I would have NOT said yes to this! FUCK this, I'm LEAVING!!" Reno turns to walk away but as soon as he goes to lift his right leg he's tripped. "What the-" Before he could turn to see what it was, he begins getting pulled towards the building. "NOOOO!" He screams at the top of his lungs as he's dragged into the house. He tries to save himself, clawing at the ground, but all it does is leave a trail where his fingers were dug into the ground. "AHHHHH!!" He continues struggling, but to no avail. Before he's realized it, he's been pulled into the basement which entrance was previously hidden by a stack of crates. He's violently pulled down the stairs, his face hitting every single stair as he shouts with pain. "Ahh! Damn it! Ahh! STOP!!" Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, he's lifted into the air by the leg, hanging upside down. In front of him is a surprisingly small creature. Not accounting for the many vines extending from it, the creature was at most 2 feet tall and appeared to be a plump humanoid figure. The creature itself was dark black, with glowing yellow eyes. It had engulfed the entire basement in it's green vines that continued to writhe in every which way. Reno's entire face goes pale white, and his stomach begins to turn. For the first time in his entire life, Reno felt like he was staring death in the face. "L-Luna! Do something!" In a desperate last-ditch effort, he calls out. "You can't just hide in my shirt and ignore this! If it eats me whole then it'll eat you too! Do something!"
Finally, Luna breaks her silence, her voice equally as panicked as Reno's. "And what, pray tell, do you suppose I do against this thing?! Maybe if someone hadn't wished for red hair we would not be this ill prepared?!"
"I'm about to die and the first thing you do is argue with me?! That's seriously screwed up!" As Reno and Luna argue, the creature cocks it's head. One of its smaller vines begin to reach and touch Reno, slithering up his arms and into his shirt. "I'm gonna throw up… This is so gross!" The vine moves under his shirt, grabbing Luna and pulling her out.
"Reno! Help!" Luna begins hysterically screaming. "Do something!"
"And what, pray tell, do you suppose I-"
"NOW IS NOT THE TIME!!" The creature slowly brings Luna towards it, inspecting her and basking in her blueish-white glow. It brings her directly in front of it's face. "RENO!" Her screaming continues but Reno is incapable of doing anything but watch. The creature makes a hushed high-pitched noise of intrigue as it inspects Luna. After looking at her and gently moving her around, the creature begins rubbing her on its face. "…Huh?" It takes Luna a couple of
seconds to come to her senses. The creature's eyes were closed and turned upwards, almost as if it were smiling. It continues rubbing Luna on its face and making happy purring noises.
"Let her go!" Reno flails around, trying to get loose from the vine that has a death grip on his leg.
"Reno! Can you get out of its grip?!"
"Trying! It'd be a big help if you could do literally anything!"
"The nerve! About the only thing I can do is ask it nicely to set you down, but that's ridiculous!" As Luna says this, the vine around Reno's leg loosens, letting him fall to the ground. "…Eh?"
TO BE CONTINUED...