"The Wolf" [Blue Card quest]

Kaida's eyes widened as the voice sounded nearby, shooting away and raising her hands in some make-shift defense as if she expected some kind of blow. Instead, two packets of food were plopped down. She bared her teeth threateningly and growled, that was surprising, she hadn't done such a threat in a while...

Then again, she had never thought she'd face such a threat right now, and alone no less. Her eyes flicked down, and she took a clumsy step toward the food, relieved of the task of watching Charlie by Jorgie's vigilant eyes. As soon as she grabbed the bags, she hastily jumped back a safe distance. She felt a mingled fear and exhilaration, along with a bubbling fury that made her want to spit. If her hair could stand, no doubt it would, and Jorgie's scales already rippled in agitation. She wanted to punch him, rip him to shreds, but concluded out of both of them, she'd be the one torn to pieces if she struck right now. She needed to play along, perhaps she'd get an escape if these two didn't decide she was weak.

Jorgie sniffed the bags experimentally, and gave a surprised sound, "It's good!" No poison, and it was decently good smelling! The serpent dived in, bag rustling as he devoured the contents, and Kaida slowly reached into her bag to do the same. Both were about done in a minute, and listening closely to Charlie's offer, and what an offer it was. There was no doubt what he was holding was a Blue Card, barely discussed by Kaida and Jorgie, but recognized by both.

Kaida stepped slightly closer, skin tingling as if her hackles were rising. Her eyes possessed simple intent and animalistic desire. She had no idea if this was some kind of trick or if she'd be dead before she could earn this, but she knew one thing, if Jorgie had that, they'd be above who knew how many who only had a Rookie form...it was only sane that she would need this...and giving Charlie a good fight? She was planning on doing that anyway.

"Yes." Her voice was clipped and low, "What do you want?"

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This was already a fucking terrible idea

Kaida remained on her safe perch for a few moments, and Jorgie tapped her legs with us head. While he was at home in the uncertain water, he'd never seen a bipedal creature like her swim, and he wasn't sure he was strong enough to pull her out if she started to drown. As if sensing the dark turn Jorgie's mind had taken, Kaida tilted her head at the serpent and let a smirk flow over her face. She looked confident. "Little swim like this? We're fine."

They certainly were not, she knew the sea was dangerous, in ways that other water just wasn't. At the very least, she knew any living creature would probably not attack with the foreign serpent in the waters. She stripped off her jacket but tied her bandana around her mouth, tying the sleeves of her jacket around Jorgie's neck. At this point, protecting identity was pointless around Charlie, but it felt like the right thing to do, and she didn't want to lose her jacket, nor drown in it. "Heavy?" "No."

And that was it, she jumped, and it was cold. She fought for the surface, feeling a dull splash to her side as Jorgie joined her in the water. His only problem was the dragging jacket pulling him along the currents, and he made a beeline for the before mentioned pipe. Kaida had a bit more trouble, kicking the water as the current helpfully pushed her forward but threatened to push her head under...

EMaVG52i (12 athletics! Two rolls!)

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Kaida burst out of the water, wringing out her hands and grimacing as the cold bit through her skin and sent chills through her spine. Behind her, Jorgie let out a very vocal hiss as he struggled to remove his jacket necklace without any help. Ultimately, he failed and froze angrily as Kaida leaned down and unraveled the sleeves, much easier due to the presence of actual hands.

Both perked up as a tremendous voice crackled through the tunnels, Kaida in particular rubbing at her ears as if to ward off the noise. "Great." She snapped sarcastically, shaking her head a final time and glaring at the tunnels with enormous suspicion. She wasn't stupid, she knew that much, and while she squeezed the worst of the water out of the jacket, she studied this strange tunnel.

(Checking for anything strange!)

Kaida remained impassive as she glared down the hallway, but she was fiercely happy that she took the time to look. She wasn't an expert in traps, hell, she had never even dealt with a trap before, but she was naturally inclined to be suspicious of the perfect slits in the walls. She couldn't see any on the floor, but it wasn't the time for taking chances.

"Jorgie. Get on, I'm faster." Her statement seemed to come as a surprise to the soaked serpent, but he obeyed, rearing up and wrapping around her midsection. He could feel her breath coming in short bursts as she started backward as much as possible, leaning forward as if to spring...and spring she did.

Kaida felt her heart pounding in her throat as she raced forward, she didn't even bother covering her face, she didn't plan on getting hit through this run, and Jorgie was covering her vitals anyway. She ran like a madwoman, confident her speed was enough to evade whatever this trap was.

Mz41wKZX +48

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Kaida stumbled to a halt as Charlie's voice invaded the hallway, still uselessly glaring about, as if she might locate where he was talking from. It was useless, but she wasn't enjoying the feeling of solitude mingled with an ever watching eye, she'd rather have him right where she could see him, rather than some dreadful dungeon master...and her desires did not change under the effects of the next trap.

This was getting ridiculous, and stupid. Everything. Even joining this had been stupid. This felt like some kind of sick joke, even if she survived, what was keeping him from murdering her...here, alone, and near water. She might as well have served herself up on a platter. Or cooked herself, the fire was doing a good enough job of that from this far.

Kaida bristled slightly as she stumbled backwards, only stopping before she revisited her previous trap, she didn't need to discover tgat once was not enough, this fire had to go.

She shuffled her card, face starting to melt into a scowl, teeth on display, as she met with only two possible options. Metal Wolf Claw. Marching Fishes. For one thing, the passage way looked far, so Metal Wolf Claw was out...but Marching Fishes only worked near water, was this close enough? And would a water based attack be enough?

Before she could think about it too much, she wrapping an arm around Jorgie to keep him close, then swiped Marching Fishes. Immediately, she flattened against the wall and prayed this worked how she hoped it worked, lest she waste a card.

xiii (Using Marching Fishes!)

Kaida remained still for an agonizingly long time, awaiting the effect, then sighed and rubbed at her eyes. Of course it wasn't working, they were in a tunnel, so what if water was close?...and she kicked off the wall, clenching and unflinching her fists as she paced the edge of the fire. Perhaps the following event was a good thing, as ideas of crawling under the fire were starting to surface, at least until she felt the ground rumbling under her heels, and felt her breath stop as she looked over her shoulder.

No, no, no! There wasn't supposed to be that much fucking water!

She tried to jump back to the side, reaching for some kind of handhold, just a little too late. The current swept her up, and a breath later, she was underwater. Instinct took over momentarily, and she swam up, wall...wall...wall! Trapped! Now there shone panic in her eyes, even as she was carried further and further from the entrance. She was going to die!

A different kind of panic entered the Serpentemon's eyes as he was pried from Kaida, and his tail swiped through the water as he surged forward against the current and seized Kaida's sleeve, pulling her with him, even as she struggled upward uselessly. He could only pray that they'd find air very, very soon!

LTbICVWj

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