New Submission by ObsidianTheTortoise < Submission | Inkbunny, the Furry Art Community

Keywords male 1133221, female 1022030, fox 236363, fantasy 25032, story 12941, adventure 5520

“What if we’re not strong enough, Ember?” the fox girl asked her twin brother. The warm summer breeze ruffled her black robes, and nearly blew off her matching pointed hat. Her long, wavy orange hair fluttered like a lazy flame.

      “Oh, we’re strong enough, Autumn,” her brother remarked, “I know we are.” A makeshift plank shield is strapped to his left arm, and an old dagger is holstered around his waist. He wore no armor, just a blue tunic.

      Autumn wanted to believe, but she couldn’t find it in herself to share her brother’s confidence. Ever since mystery dungeons started appearing across Theria a year ago, she and Ember planned to join the Exploration Guild. But now that she was face-to-face with its front doors, something urged her to stay.

      Ember sensed his sister’s distress. She scrounged around in her item bag, double checking—triple checking—that she had everything. But he knew exactly what was in the bag. It was the same thing in his item bag: just three healing potions. It was all they could afford before coming here. This was one of her nervous ticks, a compulsive need to fidget with her things.

      He patted her on the shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay to be nervous. I’m nervous, too.” If anything, he couldn’t wait to start exploring the dungeons. But if saying it would help her feel better, that’s all that mattered. “But as long as we stick together, we’ll make it through this.”

      Autumn stopped her obsessive ritual and looked at Ember with deep emerald eyes. “You really think so?” she asked, her sheepish tone nearly blending with the whistling wind.

      “Yeah! With your magic and my strength, we’ll blow right through those dungeons, no problem.”

      Autumn stood silently, gripping her staff even tighter. Am I truly ready for this? The thought paralyzed her. It tugged from the back of her mind, wanting to lead her back home. The guild is dangerous, it told her. At least back home it was safe. At least back home she had all the time to prepare. But she knew that was just an excuse. If she went home now, she would never be ready. She prepared for this moment. She trained in magic for the last year, and studied all she could about the mystery dungeons. But above all, she promised to join with Ember. If she turned back now, he would be disappointed. “You’re right, Ember,” she told him. “Let’s go.”

      A big, stupid grin stretched across Ember’s nuzzle, and he patted her on the shoulder. “Glad to hear it! Let’s show them what we’re made of.”


      The lobby chirped with talks of monster hunting and treasure finding. Mostly foxes occupied the dome-like space, with the occasional rabbit and cat thrown in the mix.

      “Hey, you must be new here.” As they walked in, the twins caught the attention of the guild receptionist.

      “Yeah, I’m Ember, and this is Autumn,” Ember told her. “We’re here to join the guild.

      The desk fox grinned. “Right on. Name’s Pepper,” she introduced herself in a lazy drawl. The sleepy-eyed fox wore a white dress shirt, and black vest. Her fur was mostly white, with specks of black and brown peppered about. “But just so you know, we don’t take anyone who just walks through our door. You gotta take our little initiation first.”

      “Initiation?” Ember sounded curious. “What kind of initiation?”

      “How hard is it?” Autumn sounded worried.

      “I’d tell you all about it, but where’s the fun in that? Here, check it out.” Pepper slid them a piece of parchment which detailed the mission. It was written eloquently.

Initiation

Client: Guildmaster Naranja

Welcome, initiate. To the north of Foxhole Village is a mystery dungeon which we call “Foxhole Woods.” There, I’ve asked the guards to hide three wooden idols deep within. All I ask of you is to find them and bring them back to the guild. Do so, and you will be granted membership into my guild. I wish you luck.

Reward(s): guild membership; 200 Shells

[/i]

      “Foxhole Woods?” Ember was familiar with that area. He and his friends used to play there all the time. But ever since it turned into a mystery dungeon, guards have been posted to keep everyone out. “Sounds easy enough.”

      “I have a question, Miss Pepper,” Autumn asked. “Why do you call it a ‘mystery dungeon’?”

      “From what I hear, the inside of a mystery dungeon always changes,” she said. “The environment shifts each time you enter.”

      “What? How does it do that?”

      “Beats me, I don’t understand it myself. But it’s weird, right? Whole environments shifting around on their own? How does that even happen?”

      “We’ll take the mission,” Ember told her.

       “Great to hear. Oh, and before you go, I need to give you a lil’ something.” She stopped the twins before they left, and scrounged around at the bottom of her desk. Then she produced two manuals for each of them. Their leather covers still looked fairly new, with only a few scratches and blemishes. a piece of folded up paper was wedged between their pages.

      “What’re these?” Ember asked.

      “The manual tells you all about the dungeons,” Pepper briefly explained, “like how many floors it has, the kinds of monsters and materials you’ll find, stuff like that. The paper is your dungeon map. Wanna know something cool about these maps? They update themselves as you explore the dungeon.”

      “How does it do that?” Autumn asked. She sounded perplexed. A map that writes itself? “Is it enchanted?”

      But Pepper answered her question with a shrug. “Beats me, I don’t actually use this stuff. But anyways, take the mission paper with you and show it to the guards when you get there. It’ll show you’re with us. Good luck with your initiation! Tell me all about it when you get back.”

      “Got it. See ya later!” The twins waved goodbye to Pepper and left the guild.


      “Aren’t you excited, Autumn? Our first mission!”

      “Y-yeah,” she said in response. She was focused less on her brother, and more on the manual she had just been given. As they walked past the earth-mound homes of Foxhole Village, she flipped through its pages to see if it had any insights she hadn’t already learned about. She groaned. “I can’t read a thing. Hey, Ember, can you take a look at this?”

      “Sure.” Ember received the manual and quickly flipped through it. Its wrinkled pages creaked stiffly as they turned. Some lines were written in thick lines that easily bled through the page as it dried. Others looked thin and scratchy, as if whoever wrote this manual either did so quickly, or ran out of ink. “Wow, you’re right,” he said, his snout wrinkled, “This thing is utter crap.” He pulled his own manual from his bag. “Wanna use mine?” he asked, handing it to Autumn. “I haven’t touched it yet, but it should be better.”

      Autumn quietly took it from his hand. “Oh, this is much better. Thank you.”

      “Why do you wanna read it now?” Ember asked. “We’re almost there.”

      “I just wanted to know what we’ll be up against,” she answered.

      Ember snorted. “I mean, you could’ve just asked me. I know the place like the back of my paw.”

      “But what if it’s changed?” Autumn asked. “You heard what Pepper said, right? Mystery dungeons are always changing. What if we get lost? What if monsters attack us? I want to be prepared.”

      “Yeah, it’s changed, but it’s still Foxhole Woods,” Jonas told her. “I know the monsters there. They’re nothing to be worried about. Trust me, Autumn, as long as we’re together, I won’t let you get hurt.”


      “Stop where you are.” A guard called out to the approaching Ember and Autumn. Two foxes in dirty, dented up armor stood guard of the entrance to Foxhole Woods, their spears crossed to block the twins off. The guard that stopped them was the skinnier one of the two, with brown eyes and a similar fur pattern as the twins. “We can’t allow anyone entry into the area. It’s too dangerous.”

      “It’s okay,” Ember assured them while producing the mission paper, “we’re from the guild. We were told to show you this when we get here.”

      The guard took the folded-up paper, and inspected it. His partner peeked over his shoulder to read it, too.
      “Hey, that looks like Naranja’s writing,” the white fox told his friend. He was the fatter one of the two. One of his eyes was brown, and the other blue.

      “I can read,” the guard hissed. He handed the paper back to Ember. “Fine, you can enter. But just remember what I said: this place is dangerous. The monsters here have become very agitated as of late. Don’t take them lightly, no matter how weak or pathetic they appear.”

      The guards relaxed their weapons, and stepped aside for the would-be adventurers. Even from the outside, Ember and Autumn knew that something was wrong with the place. The trees in front of them bent and contorted in unnatural ways, forming a makeshift gateway.

      Together, they entered Foxhole Woods.

      “Wow, you feel that?” Ember expected to feel nostalgic about returning to his favorite hangout spot. Upon entering Foxhole Woods, he was immediately struck by a chilling sense of dread. That’s when he knew this was no longer the place he grew up in.

      “Y-yeah,” she replied, voice trembling. “This must be the dungeon’s influence.”

      “Let’s check the map.” He pulled out his map and unfolded it. The map showed nothing but an empty room in its bottom-right corner. “This is it? It’s just a room!”

      “Remember, Pepper said it updates itself,” Autumn reminded him. “Maybe if we go further, it’ll track our progress.”

      “Well, which way do you wanna go then?” Ember asked. “It shows a corridor to our left, and one up ahead.”

      Autumn thought for a moment. Since her brother was so confident in his familiarity with the place, she was hoping to just follow his lead. But from the sound of things, he was just as clueless. She had lived in the village all her life, yet she had never set foot in this place. She went with her gut feeling. “Let’s go left.”

      The trees and shrubs were tightly packed, making near-impenetrable walls. The canopies above cast a shadow as dark as night. Ember and Autumn trailed their chosen path, which zig-zagged a little and led them to another room.

      “You take one side, Autumn, and I’ll take the other,” Ember said. “We’ll find the idols faster if we split up.”

      “Okay.”

      Ember took the right side of the room, and Autumn the left.

      Finding the idols sounded easy on paper, but the longer Ember searched, the more he realized how difficult the task truly was. He didn’t even know what they looked like, or how big they were. After flipping through the shrubberies that formed the room’s boundaries, and tossed over every stone he came across, he came up empty-pawed. “No luck,” he groaned. “How are you doing, Autu—?”

      A yelp caught his ears. Turning around, he spotted Autumn flat on the ground, struggling to pull off a Green Slime from her head. “Autumn!” Ember dropped everything and broke into a mad sprint. He clawed at the monster, desperate to free his sister. His fingers dug straight through its gelatinous body, taking out chunks of it at a time, but it was no use. The slime seemed unaffected by his efforts.

      Autumn’s screams were muffled. She kicked and rolled about, struggling for air. Even her hands slipped through the monster’s body as she tried to force it off.

      “Calm down,” Ember shouted, not knowing if she could hear him or not, “I got you, Autumn! Just stay sti--!”

      But she couldn’t wait any longer. Igniting a flame in one hand, she slammed it right into the monster’s side. It sizzled and popped before jumping off. Autumn coughed up chunks of gelatin as she weakly crawled to her knees.

      Ember helped prop her up. “Are you all right?”

      “Y-yeah.” She coughed again. Her voice was thin and coarse. The fur covering her face was stained green, and sticky with slime.

      Ember felt relieved hearing she was okay. It all happened so suddenly. That showed the young red fox just how dangerous these monsters can really get. Turn your back for even a moment, and they would pounce without hesitation.

      He drew his dagger and approached the slime. A black scorch mark blemished its glistening, green body. Its drawn-on white eyes and mouth, normally fixed in a perpetual smile, now portrayed an angered expression.

      The slime jumped for the dagger-wielding fox, and Ember slashed at it. Rather than damaging the monster, his attack instead divided it into two more slimes. “Crap,” he hissed. Now that the monster had become two, that meant two more problems to deal with.

      “Ember, help!” Autumn cried out. One of the slimes backed her against a nearby tree. She swung the bulbous burl of her staff at it, trying to shoo it away, but it wasn’t frightened of her.

      “Autu—Agh—!” Before he had the chance to recover, the second slime coated him in a thick, gooey net which bound him to the forest floor. “I…can’t…move…!” Whatever this stuff was made of, it was strong. The more he struggled, the more it tightened until he eventually couldn’t even wiggle. Just like what happened to his sister, the slime jumped on his head.

      “Ember!” She stopped waving her staff to see her brother being bound and suffocated. Her fur stood on end, and her eyes began to pool. The moment she let her guard down, the green slime slammed itself in the center of her chest, knocking her into the tree.

      Keep calm. I gotta keep calm. Ember’s world was enveloped entirely in green jelly. His sister’s cries were nearly silent to his blocked ears. Remembering what happened to her earlier, Ember held his breath. I can’t…hold on much longer. A searing pain welled up in his chest. His heart raced faster and faster.

      His gooey restraints began to harden. Just the thing he hoped for. The net, once fully hardened, became weak and brittle, and Ember managed to break free with ease. Get—he reared his head back—off me! With all his strength, Ember threw his head forward, and launched the slime off.

      “Blegh!” While taking in his first breaths of freedom, he also spat out bits of slime that found its way in his mouth. It strongly tasted of green apple. “Disgusting!”

      He looked over his shoulder, and noticed Autumn passed out under a tree. “No!” He dashed over, and punted the slime that defeated her, splattering it across the floor. “Autumn, are you okay?”

      “Y-yeah…” Ember guided her as she tried propping herself up with her staff. “Are you?”

      “I’m fine, don’t worry. These guys are stronger than they look, but I got a plan to beat them.” Ember went on to hastily explain, “I’m gonna use my Provoke skill on them, then when I got them distracted and gathered in one spot, I need you to cast Fire. Got it?”

      “Y-yeah, got it.” The plan sounded so simple: get the monsters to turn their backs, then kill them in one shot. Autumn contributed to the plan by pointing to the other end of the room and saying, “try to lead them over there. I need space to cast my spell.”

      “Got it!” Eager to get the plan in motion, Ember dashed over to where she pointed. By this time, the slime he kicked all over the ground reassembled itself. Its friend that tried to drown him had also reformed.

      “Provoke!” Ember’ voice thrummed with power, and echoed throughout the forest. An orange fire-like aura surrounded him. Provoke is a skill that costs no mana. Once activated, it increased the odds of its user being targeted by all enemies in their immediate vicinity. The sight of his aura angered the slimes, and drove them towards him.

      From the other side of the room, Autumn started to chant. A flame bellowed around the bulbous point of her staff. Aiming for the two monsters corralling around her brother, she shouted, “Fire!” a large fireball flew from her staff, and bathed the opposite side of the room in flame. Ember remained unaffected by the attack, but the slimes were consumed by the inferno. When the blaze disappeared, so did the monsters.

      Autumn slumped down, exhausted. Unlike her brother’s Provoke skill, Fire needed mana to be cast. Mana is the spiritual energy all living things possess. When used to pay for one’s skills or spells, it left the user feeling spiritually drained.

      “Good work, Autumn,” her brother came to congratulate her. “Without you, we wouldn’t have beaten those monsters.”

      “No problem,” she replied nearly out of breath, “no problem at all.”

      “What’s wrong?” Ember asked. “You look a little pale.”

      “It’s nothing. Just haven’t gotten used to spellcasting yet.” She let out a soft chuckle.

      “Well, anyways, I couldn’t find the idol. Any luck with you?”

      “N-no. In fact, that slime attacked me as I was searching for it.”

      “You didn’t find it either, huh? Then it’s not here. Huh?” Ember was about to sit down when he noticed a strange item in the middle of the black scorch mark Autumn’s spell left on the forest floor. A potion vial of some kind? No, not a potion. Inspecting it, the green liquid inside the round bottle seemed much too viscous. “Hey, a Green Liquid,” he said to himself. “I should sell this later.” The liquid clanked as he stashed it in his bag. It won’t sell for much, that much he was aware of, but a little bit of money was better than no money.

      “Is there a stream or something nearby?” Autumn asked, her voice riddled with disgust. “I want to wash this stuff out.” The slime in her fur had hardened. Her fur gave a sickening crinkle every time she pushed down on it.

      “Oh, uh, yeah,” Ember said, “I think I saw one just over there.” He pointed towards a slow-running stream passing by the edge of the room. Autumn wasted no time dashing for it. She dunked her head in its warm waters, and meticulously scrubbed the goop from her hair. The stream soon ran with thin streaks of green. Watching her wash up while prodding at his own sticky fur spikes, Ember mumbled, “Maybe I should rinse up, too.”

      After cleaning up, Ember and Autumn continued up the path in front of them. To find the idols, they needed to keep moving forward and search areas they haven’t been to yet. It was possible that the idol could be hidden in the room they entered from, but it was also just as likely that it could be stashed deeper in the level. After all, what was the point of a scavenger hunt if the item you’re trying to find was right in front of you?

      New room, same routine. The foxes split up, picking a side to search through.

      It wasn’t long before Autumn called out, “Hey, I think I found it!” She noticed an odd figure poking out from the hollow of a tree.

      “Nice going, Autumn,” Ember shouted back. “Grab it, and let’s make our way to—!”

      An explosion of fine, light bluish dust suddenly filled the air. Ember was far enough away to have covered his mouth and nose in time, but Autumn was caught directly in the blast.

      “Ember, what is—?” Before she had the chance to finish her question, Autumn crumpled limply to the ground.

      “Autumn!”  Ember rushed to aid his sister. He rolled her over. No serious injuries or complications from the looks of her; she just fell asleep.

      A pale, bulky figure appeared from the boundaries of the room. The Gloomshroom shook its large, blue cap, veiling itself in a thin fog of spores.

      Ember hunched over his passed-out sister, readying his shield. “You think it’s funny to pick on girls?” Gloomshrooms were often mischievous, yet cowardly creatures. They loved to spew sleep-inducing spores to prank their victims or escape confrontations they’ve caused. But this one was different. This one was looking for a fight. “If you want her, you’re gonna have to go through me!”

      The Gloomshroom eagerly obliged, and sprinted toward the fox in a mad waddle.

      It slammed into Ember’s shield, and he easily pushed it off. Seeing that it possessed stubby arms and legs, Ember knew the only other move it could make was a body slam.

      Ember drew his dagger in a diagonal slash. Its dull edge clawed into the mushroom’s spongy torso, leaving a deep gash. There was no bone to cut through, no blood to spill. After achieving nothing against the Green Slime earlier, it felt nice to land an attack.

      It fell flat on its back, squirming. If it had a face, it would be contorted into a look of shock. If it had a mouth, it would be screaming how much that hurt. A black haze seeped from its gaping wound.

      “You want more?” Ember taunted the mushroom as it awkwardly crawled back up. Go ahead, use your spore attack, he thought, eagerly anticipating the monster’s next move. I’m ready for it.

      Its attack had failed. It failed to break its prey’s resistance. Realizing the fight was lost, there was only one option left for the Gloomshroom. It began waving its arms and wiggling its body in a strange dance. Each movement kicked up clouds of spores from its cap. By putting the dagger-wielding fox to sleep, it would make a clean getaway.

      And that’s exactly what Ember was hoping for. As soon as he saw the fog of spores, he covered his snout, and closed the distance. His dagger sliced clean through the cap, severing it from the rest of the monster. With that attack, the Gloomshroom turned to smoke and dissipated before it ever hit the ground.

      As soon as the monster was defeated, Ember felt something “click” in his mind. Subtle, hard to describe, yet for some reason he felt just a little stronger. “Stats.” Calling out the command summoned a mental representation of his status sheet. Just as he suspected, he had grown stronger.

Ember gained a new level!
Level: 1 > 2
Class Level: 1
Vitality: 22 > 24
Mana: 8 > 10
Strength: 12 > 13
Endurance: 23 > 24
Magic: 8 > 10
Agility: 5 > 6

[/b][/i]

      Clouds of blue dust fogged around Ember as he brushed himself off. With the monster dead, they’ve lost their narcotic effects. The spores had a strange damp texture to them, like he was touching pulpy sawdust. The odd sensation made his snout furl. “Why are mushrooms so disgusting?”

      “Ngh…” With the sleep spores wearing off, Autumn began to stir. She gazed at her brother with sleepy, heavy eyes. “E-Ember? What happened?”

      “Oh, Autumn, you’re awake,” he excitedly exclaimed, “I just defeated a Gloomshroom and leveled up.” From there, he told her the short chain of events that occurred while she was out cold. She nodded, but it was clear to Ember she still wasn’t awake enough to follow along. “Anyways, you should check your status sheet. Maybe you leveled up, too.”

      She did so hesitantly, putting a finger to her right temple and uttered the command word, “Stats.” In that moment, her green eyes glowed a brilliant blue. Status sheets only manifest for their user, so to the outside observer they see nothing. Then the glow faded, and Autumn perked up a little. “You’re right, I did level up! Why didn’t I learn a new skill, though?”

      “Oh, that’ll happen when you level your Class,” explained Ember casually, “that’ll take a few more battles.”

      Classes leveled independently from their users. Whereas one’s level represented their personal growth and improvement, Class level represented their proficiency with the job itself. And when that level is raised, a new skill is learned.

      He extended his paw to Autumn. “Had a nice nap?”

      “Yeah,” she softly answered as she was lifted to her feet in one heave. “It was, actually.” She said this with no hint of sarcasm or irony.

      “That’s good.” His voice grew soft. Guilt welled up, watching her brush herself off. As the Vanguard of their little group, it was his job to protect her from harm. In such a short span of time, she was attacked not once, but twice behind his back. All because of his plan to find the idol. Part of it was just a coincidence, he realized, but the other part was on him. The mystery dungeon demanded vigilance, so that’s just what he’ll give it.

      “A-anyway, I got the idol.” She flipped over the leather flap of her bag and showed Ember the idol. The figure was carved in the shape of a fox-woman. Her large bust and wide hips still seemed rough and blocky in some parts, as if the carver didn’t have enough time to finish.

      “Good work, Autumn,” Ember told her. “That’s one down, and two more to go!”


      “Stairs?” Walking to the fourth and final room of the first floor, Ember and Autumn came across a set of stairs in the top-right corner. Immediately Ember knew these must be the dungeon’s doing. In all his time playing in this area as a kid, he never came across an underground stairway.

      “Where does it go, Ember?” Autumn asked, knowing about his experience with the forest. All he had to say for it was—

      “The next floor.” That was the obvious answer. But where it actually went, he didn’t know. He stared intensely at the pitch-black darkness enshrouding the stairway. Its stone interior made him think it led to some kind of underground tomb, but that didn’t seem right. There were no burial grounds of any kind in this area that he was aware of. “I’ll take the lead. No doubt the monsters down there’ll try to ambush us.”

      “Wait, what about torches?” Autumn questioned. Before they entered the guild, they thought of buying torches at the general store, but decided against it. They weren’t important at the time, but this was before learning that mystery dungeons were storied.

      “We have your fire spells, don’t we?”

      Autumn shook her head. “No, they don’t work like that. If I try using Fire like that, it’ll only be cast as an attack. It’ll be a waste of mana.”

      “In that case, just stick behind me and watch your step. We’ll need to go down if we wanna pass the test, and we’ll pass with or without torches.”

      “O-okay.” Autumn gripped her staff tightly, and shakenly held it close to her chest.

“All right. Here we go.” Together, they descended the stone steps.

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