The land is dark and cold with a gloom ruminating through the echoing caverns as the only sound that can be heard is the dripping of the water left on the nearby rocks. Silently, in the void of the cave a black mist swirls together. The mist forms together into the shape of two humanoid figures embracing. In a flash the two figures flip over and become real out of the collected mist.
"OH MY GODS! WHAT WHAT!?" Shouts a woman's voice.
"Calm down, Aria." Speaks a man's voice.
"Zilo!? Are we dead!? Where are we?!" Asks Aria, confused and panicked.
"We aren't dead, just... it's complicated." Aria begins to stand along with Zilo. Both have their hands locked and Aria looks to the bard and asks, "Well Uncomplicate it, Last thing I remember is falling into lava."
"You were, so I jumped after you to try and save you and used a little power of mine, Shadow Walk"
"What does that mean?"
"Basically since there was lava and doom where we were, I teleported us to a plane that didn't have those, My home land."
"You mean the Plane of Shadows, right."
"Right, this plane is connected to the material plane. Hence why we popped out in this cave, a mirror of the other cave." Remarks Zilo looking around to the cave.
Aria Pokes Zilo on the shoulder and says, "I can't see crap big guy, I'm just human, remember."
Zilo looks back to her with his red shaded pupils and looks to see her goblinoid disguised face looking around blindly. Zilo places his left hand onto her's along with his clasped right hand and begins to speak.
"Well I have your hand, don't worry, just don't let go. While the Shadow Walk is occurring only those touching me are affected, if you let go, you're liable to get lost in the shadows."
"That doesn't sound fun."
"It ain't. Either way, let's get moving, if we find the end of this cave then we'll find the end of the material plane cave."
"Got it, I'll just follow you."
Zilo guides Aria further into the cave a few more steps, after a few seconds they come to a much larger opening in the cave with no other ways to go.
"Dead end, this must be it."
"Not a very big cave, that was only a stone throw away."
"Oh yeah, I should have mentioned that everything on the shadow plane is a little smaller."
"How much smaller?"
"Like around fifty times smaller."
"That's not a little smaller! So the real cave is-"
"Fifty times bigger, and those couple of steps moved us fifty times further."
"This is amazing! Why don't you use this all the time!?"
Zilo leans on the nearby wall, pulling Aria a bit closer, "I'm not the biggest fan of my homeland. I came to the material plane to get away from places like this."
"So you don't get homesick?"
"Yes, I do, all the time."
Aria makes confused face looking to where she thinks Zilo is. Zilo notices and explains, "Yeah I get home sick, every time I think about this dark, depressing place it makes me sick to my stomach."
Aria lets out a small chuckle while Zilo looks to her confused, "What's so funny?" Zilo feels her start to jerk him away from the wall. She seems to be pulling him rather hard, making him stumble forward into her.
She goes somewhat limp in his arms, then in a submissive gentle voice she whispers, "Zilo..."
"Look, I'd love to, but this place isn't really putting me in the-"
"...Help...Me." Aria whispers before she is jerked back again, letting Zilo get a better look. He spots that her waist is wrapped up by a tentacle. Zilo jukes around her and awkwardly with his left hand takes out his silver longsword and cuts the tentacle off her, making it lifelessly fall to the ground. Aria looks faint, so Zilo holds her up, dropping his blade and reaching into his pack.
He takes out a vial of something, pops the cork with his teeth and pours the liquid in Aria's mouth. Her eyes burst open and her mouth puckers closed before she jolts back up and her body stiffens. She coughs and says, "What is that stuff!?"
"Lemon Extract, picked it up while sailing. Great for scurvy, and for quick bursts of energy. Now behind me."
Aria side steps behind Zilo as best she can with her left hand in his right hand. She places her right hand onto her short sword. Zilo begins to scan the room.
"You see it?" Asks Aria.
"Nope, no idea." Says the Bard with a peppy tone. Aria hits his shoulder with her pommel and says, "Great, some creepy... Thing tries to eat me, and my boyfriend can't do anything about it."
Zilo was picking up his blade with his left hand but as she says that he freezes. He spins back around and looks at Aria, and says, "Wait, I'm your what?"
If there was light, Aria would be blushing, as she smiles and says, "My... Boyfriend." Zilo falls forward, hugging Aria.
"Oh come on Zilo, no need to be such a girl about it, we got a monster to find... Zilo?"
The bard is hoisted up and away from Aria. Zilo moans as a tentacle lifts him off the ground. Aria holds onto Zilo as he is lifted up. Aria begins to swing her legs up and she manages to clamp onto Zilo's lower back with her thighs. She hangs on with her legs as she takes her sword and with the flat of the blade she feels for Zilo's leg, followed by his boot. Then she swipes above the boot. The two of them fall to the ground.
"Ow..." Says Zilo looking to the ceiling.
"You said it guy." Says Aria also facing the ceiling.
"I see it by the way, it looks like a starving Shadow Roper on the ceiling." Says the bard as he points to a stalactite with a giant eye and maw that has some of the tentacles wiggling around in a show of desperation.
Aria smiles and says, "Whatever that is I have an idea."
Moments later Zilo looks to be holding Harmony in his left hand, and his right hand is pressed to his chest with Aria's hand in it. Aria is holding his hand over his shoulder, while she is hoisted onto his back, held there by her legs around his waist. In her right hand she holds Harmony's bowstring with an arrow knocked.
"This is an idea, I suppose." Comments the bard as he tries his best to ground himself so Aria can pull the bow steady.
"Didn't hear you coming up with anything. It look good?"
"I think so."
The arrow is loosed and with a burst of light it misses the roper, hitting a bit too high in the roof of the cave.
"We need to aim a bit lo-"
"I could see that Zilo, a bit lowEER!" Shouts Aria as Zilo has to dodge a tentacle. The two need another few seconds to readjust before they are ready to fire. As Aria lowers her aim Zilo says, "Lower, bows tend to hit higher at close range."
"But it feels-"
"Which of us has working eyes!?"
"Don't you shout at me like that!"
"A tentacle is coming, adjust now!"
"Fine! Here!" Aria shouts as she raises the bow string further, letting him lower his aim, and the arrow is fired, hitting the roper square in it's base, making it fall to the ground, dead. Zilo breaths heavy as Aria tightens her legs asking, "Why did you sigh!? Did I miss!?"
"No, that was a sigh of relief not frustration, now if you don't mind." The bard falls to the ground exhausted, and Aria also collapses on top of his back.
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