Chapter XXVIII: Discomfort
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WHILE GRIPPING TIGHTLY on the straps of her backpack, Y/n prepared herself to jump on the boulders. Lava was flowing slowly in front of her and the only way to get through was for her to jump over. Sparing Echo a glance one last time, she encouraged herself to remain calm. Putting weight and pressure on her feet, she pushed herself upwards. Y/n landed safely on one boulder but there were 2 more boulders ahead for her to jump on. The rest of her friends were waiting for her to cross since it was their turn to jump after her.
Y/n continued the same process twice and soon she managed to successfully arrive on the other side, unharmed and without a single scratch on her. She shuffled her hands out of her cloak, to hold the straps of her backpack once more. It wasn't really easy to carry a bag around when you're wearing a cloak. She also has never worn a backpack over a cloak before, she couldn't lie at the fact that it felt weird. But, all of her belongings for sleeping and food that'll sustain her for two to three days were inside that same bag.
Hearing a noise from behind her, she turned to it due to her personal curiosity. Gopal laid there with his face planted on the ground, she almost thought he wasn't breathing since he wasn't moving. Approaching him to get a closer look, Y/n turned to Yaya in confusion. The gravity manipulator was flying just above her, the girl in pink hijab smiled innocently in responce. Y/n didn't even decide to ask her anything about the 'Gopal Situation'.
The Indian boy finally sat on the ground, caressing his face with a blank look. From beside the 15 year old, Boboiboy managed to land effortlessly before dusting himself up. "You didn't have to drop me that hard!" Gopal gave the flying girl a disappointed look from his visage. "I'm sorry, you were squirming around and kept screaming so you startled me. I didn't mean to drop you," Yaya shrugged his shoulders with a sheepish look on her face. "At least you didn't have to jump over," Boboiboy spoke, turning to his best friend.
Ying have also managed to arrive on their side while Fang was the last one to jump over. "All right, where to next?" The time manipulator questioned. "Hmm, this place looks more dangerous," Boboiboy hummed, studying the environment that they were in. Trees were still present but, for some reason, it felt like it multiplied. "According to the data here, this place is where most mysterious creatures in Planet Pyro resides," Yaya spoke out after her foot had touched the ground.
On her hand was the tablet that had gathered information about the every environment that they go to. "So, is it possible that the Chimera can be found here?" Gopal worriedly asked, peaking from behind Boboiboy who was the closest to where he was standing at. "I'm not sure about that, who knows?" Yaya answered with uncertainty. "Then it's possible," Fang concluded with a laid back tone. Gopal held Boboiboy's shoulder from behind and continued hiding behind him.
"That doesn't help the situation," Boboiboy commented blankly, feeling the amount of fear from his friend behind him. Now he had to act like a human shield for the older boy. "It wasn't supposed to, I was just speaking the truth, that's all," Fang shrugged his shoulders. "So what now? Do we still have to follow Echo?" Gopal shakily asked, not wanting to go deeper into the mysterious environment that they were in. "Haiyah! Of course, you dummy! We still need to continue the mission after all," the Chinese girl facepalmed.
"I think Echo finally knows where to go now, let us commence forth once again," Y/n informed everyone. With her friends gathering their composure, they continued walking there way deeper into the creepy place. There were multiple rocks displayed around the area, with various of shapes and sizes. They looked very tough and hard, perhaps it was bedrock? But, they did see a few obsidian around too. All they knew was that they looked quite difficult to break, but they weren't planning on doing that, of course.
The ground was still composed of rocks and red soil but, unlike earlier, there were more rocks than soil now. Trees of unique appearances towered over them, it was also quite Intimidating to say the least. Everyone walked closer to each other, they felt more threatened than they were at Planet Electra and for some reason, they didn't know why this was possible. Perhaps it was the eerie atmosphere? Or was it the uncomfortable noises that filled the place?
Gopal tightened his grip on Boboiboy's shoulders which made the elemental hero jerk in surprise. "Ish! Cut it out, Gopal," Boboiboy glowered at the molecule manipulator, fixing his orange salakov hat. "But, this place is creepy," Gopal protested with his body shaking in fear. "Haiyah, we've been to places like this before. Stop being a coward," Ying waved off at the older teen. "I do understand the fact on why he is terrified. I, too, am terrified. This is a new environment after all, it is normal to feel fear," Y/n suddenly spoke.
"Y-you totally get me! F/n, thank you─" before Gopal could continue his words of gratitude, the Lluminarian managed to cut him off first. "But, that does not give an excuse to cling on Boboiboy for the whole dauna and use him as a shield," Y/n turned to Gopal with a disappointed look from behind her mask. Everyone could feel her disappointment from where they were standing, although what she said was indeed true.
Gopal felt like he was being slapped on the face, although indeed he was. He was slapped by reality.
"I thought you were going to defend me! But, fine, I'll get off of Boboiboy," Gopal sighed in defeat, taking off his hand from the elemental hero's shoulders. Boboiboy felt relieved at this and his shoulders felt light once again, he turned to the elf. "Thanks, F/n. My shoulders felt heavy and it was hurting," The boy in orange hat thanked the elf in brown cloak. "You are welcome, I noticed how it was bothering you so I did what I could," Y/n politely responded.
"You're a good kid, F/n. A very good role model," Yaya complimented her with a grin. Y/n turned to Yaya, feeling herself blink a couple of times. She absolutely doubted her words, she was not a good role model at all. If only they knew what she would usually do back in Lluminaria, before she left to Planet Aero. 'I would disagree with that statement, I am not a good role model. I am a troublemaker at heart but, I will not say that to them,' Y/n thought to herself, preventing a snicker from escaping her mouth.
"Hey, did you guys hear that?" Fang stopped from his tracks, hearing a weird noise erupt out of nowhere. The rest of the group except Y/n, looked at each other in confusion before shrugging their shoulders at Fang. "I didn't hear anything, though," Boboiboy shook his hands in the air. "Me neither," Yaya tilted her head in confusion. "How about you, F/n? Did you hear something?" Fang turned to the elf, hoping for her to confirm it.
"I did actually hear a faint noise, although I do not know where it came from," Y/n confirmed Fang's statement with a single nod. "ACK! It's the Chimera!" Gopal cried out, lunging himself to hold Y/n this time instead of Boboiboy. Y/n didn't scold Gopal, she was too preoccupied with the topic that they were talking about. "Sheesh, you're overreacting," Boboiboy blankly told his best friend off. "Ignore him," Ying spoke, slight irritation visible from her face. "What a scaredy-cat," Fang rolled his eyes.
"But, what was that?" Yaya questioned worriedly. "Hm, let's check it out then," Boboiboy nodded his head, his expression turning serious out of a sudden. Slowly and carefully, Boboiboy led as the rest of his friends followed him from behind. Fang had informed the elemental hero that he thought the noise came from behind the huge rock in front of them. Boboiboy was quite fearless, well, except for Yaya's biscuits but we don't talk about that. As fearless as ever, he walked towards the rock which caused for the rest of his friends to protest.
He heard them, but he didn't listen.
His eyes slowly darted behind the big boulder only for it to widen in shock. Before his friends could follow him, he pushed all of them away with all of his strength. "MOVE AWAY FROM HERE!" He yelled loudly to them as a warning. "Huh? What's the big ide─" Ying paused on her words once she heard a loud growl emit out of nowhere. Everyone slowly backed away while tensing on their spots. That noise doesn't sound good obviously. Even Gopal could feel his soul trying to leave his body.
Boboiboy backed away, gritting his teeth whilst putting an arm in front of his friends as a reflex. "What is that thing?" Fang gave Boboiboy a bewildered expression. The latter didn't answer, continuing to glare further at the unknown creature. From behind the huge boulder, out came a huge dog-like creature. They've seen Glamouran dogs before and none of those could ever compete with the horrifying visuals of the creature infront of them. Its fur was all black and dark, it was also rather tall for a normal dog.
Its face showed no mercy as the dog's fiery eyes glared daggers at them as if they've done something wrong. The creature's sharp claws were sticking out, getting itself ready for an attack. "What's with Glamoura and dogs?" Gopal blankly commented, complete forgetting his fear which was oddly out of character for him. This earned confused looks from everyone. "Eh? You're not afraid?" Yaya asked the molecular hero in curiosity. "What? Of course I am, but someone had to complain about battling dogs in almost every single time in our mission," Gopal casually placed his hands on his hips.
"He has a point though," Y/n suddenly agreed out of nowhere, earning looks that states 'Are you serious?' from her friends except Gopal. "But this dog clearly isn't normal, Gopal," Ying stated, backing away from her spot earlier. "Dey! There's no normal dog that we've battled against," Gopal sassed the Chinese girl. "Why are you even talking nonsense at a situation like this?" Fang pointed out in utter annoyance. Y/n used her enhanced vision to further study the huge dog that was surely itching to kill them right on spot.
Her eyes widened once she saw a spiky collar around it. She recognised this creature. Before she could inform them anything, the said dog lunged itself towards them in a sudden. The dog was attempting to claw them with its sharp nails. "Everyone dodge!" Boboiboy commanded the whole group. The adventurers jumped away with almost everyone stumbling down on the ground due to jumping in a rushed way. Mutters of pain were heard from them. Y/n used all of her strength to stand up back on her feet, her face turning sour.
"That must be a hellhound, that means it is tasked to guard this place. I heard it is also quite strong," Y/n suddenly informed them, the glow of her scroll suddenly gathered the attention. "A what?" Gopal turned to her in confusion. "Whatever, if it guards this whole place then let's just make sure to get through it for us to arrive at our destination!" Fang snapped before standing and raising his hands to conjure a shadow.
"And so that we wouldn't get eaten alive," Ying mockingly added in responce to Fang. The shadow manipulator glared at the time manipulator, getting ignored soon after by the Chinese girl. "Right! Let's go!" Boboiboy nodded his head in agreement, standing up as well to prepare himself.
"Shadow hands!" Fang shouted out, conjuring a shadow made of hands. The shadow hands managed to grab the hellhounds' feet, causing for it to struggle from the tight grip. As if playing a tug of war, Fang used all of his strength to pull it forward once the creature began moving backwards for it to escape. "Now, Boboiboy!" Fang gave the elemental hero a signal, receiving a nod of determination from the latter. "Lightning sword!" The boy in orange hat yelled, conjuring a lightning sword.
Boboiboy ran towards the enemy, in attempt to slash it. But, out of nowhere the creature managed to escape from the grip inserted from its legs which caused for Fang to stumble down due to the impact. Boboiboy stopped dead on his tracks and felt his tongue click in annoyance. He had no choice but to use his elemental powers against the Pyrolander creature. "Elemental power!" The said elemental hero yelled out, raising his power watch up. It gathered light particles as always, garnering the energy for him to transform successfully.
"Boboiboy Thunderstorm!" He added, transforming to an element who's strong in terms of combat.
After the hellhound managed to escape from Fang's shadow hands, it got lost deeper into the mysterious place. They wouldn't be safe completely if no one chases the creature out. "Lightning speed," Boboiboy Thunderstorm stated before dashing in with an incredible speed, creating sparks of red light everywhere from his area. The others were too busy worrying about Fang to see where the elemental hero dashed off to.
"Ish, it managed to slip away," Fang stated in disappointment while groaning in pain slightly. "Don't worry, Fang. We'll get it together," Yaya smiled nicely at the alien boy as Ying gave him a thumbs up in confirmation. Fang nodded his head at the two before standing back from the ground and began dusting himself off. Y/n was too occupied on checking if the shadow manipulator had injuries to notice the disappearance of a certain teenager. "Uh... do you guys have any idea on where Boboiboy went off to?" Gopal trailed off.
"Eh? Didn't he transform to Boboiboy Thunderstorm just now?" Ying perked her head up. "The hellhound is not here too," Yaya pursed her lips. "Boboiboy must have followed it in a flash," Y/n nodded her head after finishing checking Fang if he's okay. Luckily, he wasn't really injured, just a few scratches here and there but nothing was fatal. "Does that mean we have to search for Boboiboy who's using his Thunderstorm element?" Gopal questioned in exhaustion.
"Well, we just have to find any signs of red flash of light around the area, he's probably not that far, right?"
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"Boboiboy!" Ying called out, hoping for their friend to respond to them. "We've been searching for a while now," Gopal placed his hands on his hips in irritation. "You've jinxed us, Yaya!" Gopal suddenly accused the girl in pink hijab. "Excuse me?" Yaya clenched her fist while turning to the Indian boy with an unhappy look on her face. She looked very furious which Ying didn't want to continue happening. Facing an angry Yaya was equivalent to hell and inferno itself. "Uh... let's just continue finding Boboiboy! That's more important," Ying waved off her hands.
Yaya seemed to forget Gopal's statement, continuing to fly above the trees─in search for a certain elemental hero. Ying gave Gopal a menacing glare which made him flinch in result. "Don't look at me like that," Gopal complained at her which was soon ignored. "Any luck?" Fang approached Yaya with a serious look on his face. Yaya frowned and shook her head while apologising quietly. "Where could that stupid boy be?" Fang scratched his head in annoyance.
"Good grief, a dead end," Gopal sighed heavily, an annoyed look on his face. Everyone was facing a rocky wall, preventing them from moving forward any further. "Why would there be a random wall of rock here?" Yaya flew down, her eyebrow raising in wonder. "I have no idea, but it's quite random," Fang turned to the gravity manipulator with a hand on his chin. "Hey, have you guys seen, F/n?" Gopal nervously asked his friends, noticing the sudden disappearance of the Lluminarian.
Fang and Yaya's eyes widened in horror due to this. "But, didn't he go with us? He was following right behind us," Fang questioned the molecule manipulator who seemed tensed because of this. "Well... he was following us, but I almost forgot about him since he was so quiet, so I didn't notice when he got lost," Gopal truthfully answered with a tone of worry laced upon his voice. "First it was Boboiboy and now It's F/n? Can this day get any worse?" Fang facepalmed to himself.
"I'm worried for them, maybe they found each other? But what if they didn't?" Yaya frowned. "Then we just have to search harder," Fang placed his right fist on his other palm in determination. "I guess it's the only thing that we can do for now," Gopal reluctantly spoke.
"Uh... guys?" Ying suddenly called out.
"What? Do you have any plan?" Fang questioned the time manipulator who was oddly quiet the whole time. Ying gulped and pointed from behind her as a response. This piqued their curiosity and soon followed the direction of her finger. Once their eyes landed on the mysterious figure, they felt theirselves freeze on their spots. All they saw were dark red scales on what it seems to be a tail. It was huge and the end of the tail was burning with fire. It was laid on the ground from right before them. What they didn't understand is the fact that they didn't notice that.
"Perhaps now we have an acceptable reason why there's a rock mountain here," Yaya nervously laughed. Gopal was about to let out a scream when Fang covered his mouth with a venomous glare. "Don't you even try," he threatened the older teenager who began waving his hands and shaking his head. Fang let go of his mouth and Gopal just stood frozen. His eyes wandered its way back to the tail and he could help but feel delirious, he can't be contented without letting out his fear.
Gopal accident let out a small squeak, earning glares from everyone else. The tail in front of them moved due to the noise which made everyone's heart fall. Before they could scold Gopal, the ground around them grumbled suddenly. The mysterious owner of the tail suddenly began standing on its feet. Everyone could see what the figure was due to its height that almost towered the tall trees that surrounded them. It was rather huge with a red shade coating its body.
Its scleras were yellow instead of white, it also had dark orbs. It had maroon spikes decorating its back. The creature had huge wings with a colour of red and yellow. Everyone knew what the figure was since it was too obvious.
It was a dragon.
"Uh... is it time for our last words?" Gopal questioned out of nowhere.
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Y/n was supposed to follow her other friends but for some reason, Echo had other plans. She didn't want to lose the bird and immediately trailed from behind the summoned creature. She knew she was just making her friends worry about her but, she had to follow Echo since it was the only thing that knew about this whole place thanks to the magic aura the Fire Gem possesses. What everyone didn't know is the fact that Y/n was quite stubborn, so of course, she'll get herself in trouble because of that.
The elf stopped dead on her tracks once she felt an uncomfortable feeling rush from her body out in a sudden. It was as if something had loosen itself up out of nowhere. Echo also stopped flying and soon landed on the ground in front of her, waiting for her to finish her own business. "Why do I feel uncomfortable?" Y/n whispered to herself in discomfort. Y/n's hand which was underneath her cloak, reached from behind her which was also underneath her backpack to see if something was wrong.
Her eyes widened in realisation. "Faex, out of all the time that this had to happen, it had to be right now?" Y/n muttered in annoyance. Echo watched Y/n in confusion, tilting its head to the side. The girl stressfully sighed at this in response. "I know, I know. It is just that for some reason my bind loosened up and it is quite uncomfortable," Y/n reasoned with a scoff on her face. "I have moved a lot in the past missions but why did it loosen up now?" She mentally complained to herself.
"It is quite hard to fix it on a place like this, should I use my invisibility spell once again? But, that takes a lot of my energy," Y/n frowned, making Echo shake its little bird head in displeasure. "What should I do then?" Y/n let out an aggravated sigh, although she was relieved at the fact that this incident didn't happen in front of her friends. It was a good decision to follow Echo after all and she was thankful for that.
As if she just managed to jinx herself, a sound of electricity flashing surprised the elf girl and her heart was beating faster than ever due to this.
'Oh Eros,' she worriedly thought to herself. Out of the blue, the flashing red lights suddenly appeared in front of her. She froze on her spot as her eyes lingered on a familiar figure. "F/n?! You're alone? Where are the others?" Boboiboy Thunderstorm questioned out, his hands tightening on the spear that he held. "I got separated from them," Y/n answered non-verbally, stepping away from the boy. Y/n didn't want to be anywhere near anyone with her weird situation.
She felt so uncomfortable that she absentmindedly stepped away from the teenager in front of her. Boboiboy Thunderstorm raised an eyebrow on her alarmed form and the weird action as he began to wonder what had happened to make the elf so cautious suddenly. 'Did something happened while I was gone?' The thunder element asked internally. "No matter, let's just make sure to defeat the hellhound, it was just around here somewhere," his eyes searched for the dog-like creature.
"Got any ideas?" He questioned her once again.
Y/n awkwardly stood from behind the teenager, almost forgetting about their situation due to her personal problem and worries. "Well..." Y/n couldn't continue what she had in her thoughts once the hellhound jumped in front of them from out of nowhere. 'Where did that came from?' The elf mentally asked. "Tch, no time. We need to try everything that we can," Thunderstorm said in annoyance before twirling his speed from around his body. "We need to at least tire the hellhound first then we can deliver our final blow," the red eyed boy spoke before moving.
He let out a battle cry and used his immense speed to attack the hellhound in front of them. 'How stupid of me, try to find a solution and not just stand here,' Y/n scolded herself as she analysed the fight in front of her. Her eyes squinted, in attempt to see what's the weakness of the opponent. "I do not sense any signs of dark magic from it but, it does seem like it is blinded by rage but why?" Y/n whispered to herself lightly, taking notes of everything that she has noticed inside her head.
'It is possible that the gem is not affected by dark magic, perhaps if I could try and see if Boboiboy can use his fire element then maybe─' she stopped thinking once she was told by Boboiboy Thunderstorm to take a step back. It seems like the thunder element was going to try and attempt a risky attack like he always does. Like her, he was also quite stubborn. Fire suddenly came out of the hellhound's mouth which was soon being dodged by Thunderstorm who soon clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"This creature can even breathe fire? Seriously?" He commented blankly.
It was completely different from other Glamouran dogs indeed.
The element didn't manage to use his powerful attack due to that unexpected move but, no matter, he shall once again try. He needed to do everything that he can so that he could tire the creature out, that was his main goal for the moment. He turned to Y/n who was too occupied with what's inside her mind. 'It seems like he's still thinking of a way to defeat this opponent, then I'll give him time,' he thought with furrowed eyebrows before sparks of red began surrounding him once more.
Y/n was too focused on finding a way for both of her and Boboiboy Thunderstorm to win against the hellhound that she almost forgot about her own problem.
'This stupid bind of mine can wait for a while.'
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A/n: I have no words and my mouth is sealed, I promise that :)
I just had to show you guys this meme- Duri is just a masterpiece character.
Disclaimer: The illustrations and pictures above don't belong to me. They belong to their original artists.