FSE

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Chapter 2

A Trio

The following morning Alice wakes up late but well rested. The young fox stretches, looking forward to the new day and her first expedition in weeks. She has a simple breakfast of bread and water while gathering all she needs for the trip, draping all four of her water skins over her neck. The forest has water sources she knows but they were a popular spot for monsters and ferals, making them sometimes difficult to reach. Along with all her bread, she also takes her rag pants and blouse, a bit of rope, and of course, her sword. Emerging from her tent, she judges by the sun that it's nearly noon, a little later than she'd planned but the day is bright and perfect for exploring.

Crossing the fields to the forest's edge, Alice sees no jelly activity, a good sign. She often spent her days just on the edge where the forest and field meet, keeping any jellies from crossing over. It was rare that they did, especially when it hadn't rained. Jellies dry out if left in the sun too long. Several times she'd come across cracked and broken cores from those that have, the goo housing them having evaporated, leaving the stones frail, brittle, and worthless. The jellies fascinated Alice greatly, not only because they were a source of income but because she believed they were magical in origin.

As she steps into the shade of the thick forest canopy, the intrepid hunter finds the small path she'd taken before and heads in. After trekking for only a few minutes, it feels like she's entered another world. The forest is a place of wild things, complete with new sights, sounds, and smells. It's also cooler here, the moist air adding to the mystique. Thick undergrowth limits vision in all directions and the cries her pointed fox ears pick up are proof that there are more than jellies among the trees, plenty more. Still, she presses on with determination and purpose.

After near an hour's march through the dense forest, she reaches the site of her previous camp. From here she had led short ventures out deeper in but would always come back to this spot. This time though, the small clearing was taken over by local flora. The various shrubs and even trees of the forest seemed to grow faster than those outside it. She cuts through a few large leafed plants with her sword to find that the small pool, the primary reason for choosing this spot, has dried up. The recent rain had moved too fast to leave even a puddle. A little disappointed but not deterred, Alice takes a break to down some water and then sets off in search of a new camp site.

Keeping her heading as best she can by tracking the sun in the few places she can see it, Alice travels in what she is fairly sure is a western direction. She avoids the few jellies she sees in an effort to save her strength for after the establishment of her camp. Other creatures are about as well, lizards, frogs, squirrels, spiders, and other things that flee at the sound of her steps, going unseen. She had often been told that ferals, animals that can't walk on two legs or talk, can be dangerous, but in Alice's experience, the smaller ones at least are of little threat. Still, she avoids any spider webs she sees and is constantly scanning the ground for anything she would rather not step on.

By late afternoon, she comes across a small brook falling down in steps over some rocks. Nothing immediately dangerous present, Alice settles on the ground, lying down her gear to snacks on some of her bread. She drinks her fill from her skins and as she tops them off, her eyes catch sight of something rather unusual. Climbing over a fallen tree's trunk, some feet away, is an extraordinarily large caterpillar. Its body is as thick as her fist and about twice as long as her finger. But what really makes it stand out is its bright green color. She decides to rest and watch the fat bug make its slow undulating way across the dead tree.

This was hardly the first caterpillar Alice had seen, but it was the first to be so large. She glances around to see if there are more but this is the only one that stands out. She watches for a while, catching her breath and giving her legs a break. It has a series of black dots along its side and pink spots surrounding each. She continues to watch when its hind legs hold its front up as it decides to climb up a tree and then in a flash of movement, disappears.

Alice jumps, looking ahead of where the bug vanished to find at first what appears to be a very large lizard. Its body is greatly obstructed by a leafy branch but the lizard's mouth opening a few times as it swallows the unfortunate caterpillar is unmistakable. Then it looks at Alice. After a brief pause, she scoots back on her rump to get in reaching distance of her sword before the lizard speaks.

"Hope you weren't planning to eat that," it says in a non-threatening female voice. The lizard then crawls down the tree's trunk to the forest floor and stands on its hind legs.

"You... you're not a feral?" Alice asks in surprise.

"Do I look like one?" the lizard girl asks, waving her hands over herself and giving a little spin.

Alice takes a moment to look over the unusual stranger. Even slouching, she is taller than Alice but not by much. Her skin is patterned in browns that blend in well with the surrounding trees, though her eyes, by contrast, are a vibrant green. She has no fur anywhere and wears what looks like animal hides for clothing, though they're rather dirty and in need of repair. The torn leather reveals that her lighter brown countershading starting on her lower jaw reaches from her neck, over her belly, and down her inner thighs, stopping above her knees. The lizard girl has a tapering rounded muzzle with two small nostril slits near the end. Her limbs are long and lean with dark gray to nearly black claws on her fingers and large curved talons on her three toed feet. Behind her drags a tail at least twice as long as her legs. It starts very thick at her rump and tapers to a rounded point no wider than Alice's pinkie.

"Enjoying yourself?" the strange girl asks, tilting her head slightly to one side and drawing Alice's gaze back to her face.

"Wha-What? Who are you?" the Tokala stammers, having never seen such a being before.

The lizard girl smirks, "I'm Danahlia, but most just call me Danny," then with a nod she says, "Your turn."

Not wanting to seem weak or frightened, Alice stands up, "I'm Alice, Alice Dippleblack."

"Dippleblack?" Danahlia grins, "That's kinda cute. I get it, with the hands and the feet, and your ears," she says sticking up clawed fingers on either side of her head to mimic Alice's ears. The lizard girl has none, only two small holes low on the sides of her head. Alice gawks at her uncertainly, prompting the stranger to continue, "And what are you doing in these dangerous woods all alone, Alice Dippleblack?"

For some reason, Alice did not care for the way the girl had said her name. This makes her reach down and place her sword sling over her shoulder, not to threaten but to show it was there before replying, "I'm a monster hunter."

Danahlia places a considering finger to the side of her mouth, "Is that right?"

Alice doesn't reply and begins loading up her water skins and shoulder bag full of bread while keeping an eye on the strange girl.

Once she has her things she finds Danahlia looking at her, smiling pleasantly with her hands behind her back, "Well, monster hunter, Alice Dippleblack, it is very nice to meet you. I like your tail."

Alice raises a brow, a bit put off by her candor, "Thanks."

The lizard girl takes a few steps closer and leans forward as if to peek around the fox, "Can I, touch it?"

Just to keep on even terms, and not at all because she's curious herself, Alice answers, "Only if I can touch yours."

Danahlia's smile brightens and she steps closer, her lengthy tail curling around and rising to Alice's side. As Alice reaches out and touches the long appendage, Danahlia steps around her other side to do the same with hers. A Tokala's tail is rather sensitive but Danahlia's touch is very gentle and reassuringly slow. Alice finds the contact to be rather nice though she had no intention of admitting it. Alice, in turn, runs her fingers down the lizard girl's tapered tail to find it very smooth and surprisingly firm.

Danahlia takes hold of Alice's tail loosely but close enough to the base to make her twitch before running her fingers in a loop down to the tip. As she fiddles with the white fur there, she gushes, "I love your tail, it's so..." she searches for a word, "...poofy!"

Alice gives a half grin, "Thanks, yours is really nice too, it's, so long."

Danahlia makes a pleased, "Mmm," and her tail drifts away from Alice's reach as she stands before her, "Well, now that we're friends, there's someone else I'd like you to meet."

The words alert the young fox and she scans the surrounding area, taking a step back.

The lizard girl laughs, "Calm down. Ticks, you're a jumpy one. Don't worry, she's a Warm Blood like you."

Danahlia starts off deeper into the forest as Alice looks on. Alice had never met anyone in the forest before nor had she ever encountered one of Danahlia's lizard kin. She found this all very suspicious but also immensely fascinating.

Torn between caution and curiosity, she ends up simply standing still until Danahlia comes back and waves a hand for her to follow, "Come on, Alice Dippleblack, she's just over here." Tipping the scales over to curiosity, the fox girl follows.

Passing by a tree, the larger girl picks up a stick that looks like she may have been trying to fashion it into a spear.

She uses it now as a walking aid. "So, Alice Dippleblack," she chortles, "I like your name," and then more conversationally continues, "What monsters do you hunt out here with that sword o' yours?"

Alice, still scanning her surroundings as if to spot an ambush, replies, "Jellies mostly."

"Jellies? You mean those roundish clearish blobbish things that eat everything they touch?" Danahlia asks in surprise, turning to her.

Alice stops, instinctively putting a hand on the handle of her sword, "Yeah."

Danahlia cocks her head to one side, "You can kill them?"

"Yeah," Alice says again but then considers. In truth, she had never thought of herself as killing them. After all, jellies never really seemed alive to begin with. Without mouths, eyes, ears, or any organs they just seemed like things. Things that moved sure, but not like living things. They raised no young, did not communicate in any way, and didn't even seem to have a sense of self preservation. They just consumed things around them and multiplied.

Danahlia ignores her cautious stance and goes on asking, "How? I've stabbed 'em but they don't die, or even really bleed."

The thought of having someone to share her knowledge of the jellies relaxes the young fox girl a little and she replies, "You have to remove their core stones."

"Core stones? Those things that float around inside 'em?" Danahlia inquires curiously as she resumes walking.

"Yup, they're valuable, you know?" Alice returns, following along.

"Really? I thought those had something to do with it, but the last one I tried to reach into made my hand burn."

Alice grins at the amateur mistake, "Yeah, if you can, you want to avoid getting too much jelly on you. The best way to deal with 'em is to get rid of as much o' the main body as you can before nabbin' it."

"How do you do that? Oh, wait, Twinkie's gonna wanna hear this," Danahlia says, leading Alice to a small clearing and calling out, "Hey, Twinkie, look what I found!"

A small girl's voice groans, "I am rather sure I've already informed you that I do not like being addressed as, Twinkie."

Alice homes in on the voice to find a robed figure emerging from behind some rocks. Alice knew that she was somewhat small for her age, but if she was small, this girl is tiny. And she soon sees why. As the girl shows herself, she pulls back the hood of her robe to reveal that she is a Murin, one of the diminutive mouse people.

Danahlia gives the little mouse a negligent wave of her hand,"Oh sure you do. Anyway, this is Alice Dippleblack. She knows how to kill those goopy things. Even says there's money in it," the lizard girl explains, wrapping her tail about Alice's waist to bring her close enough to put a companionable hand on her shoulder. "Alice, this is-"

"Twinkaleni Orbear," the mouse girl interrupts, giving Alice a slight bow before looking up at her.

Alice had seen Murin before but this one was small even by their standards. She did, however, possess the largest ears she had ever seen on any of them. Twinkaleni's ears are circular in shape and both nearly as large as her head. Standing, the mouse girl could just come up to Alice's waist if her great ears were included. She has light gray fur with a lighter, near white, counter shading. Twinkaleni has inquisitive amber eyes and a tiny pink nose that sniffs the air between them. The rest of her small form is covered by a tattered but functional brown robe. Even so, little pink toes can be seen protruding from under it.

Seeing the cute little mouse girl erases all suspicion and Alice walks over to Twinkaleni, dropping to her knees, "Oh cheese! You are so adorable!"

She is on the verge of grabbing the little mouse girl up in her arms but Twinkaleni recoils uncomfortably, "Yes, well, thank you."

Danahlia chortles from behind, "She doesn't like to be touched much."

Alice's arms hang in the air and she's tempted to hug the cute mouse anyway, eager to feel what looks to be very fine fur in her fingers, but then drops them, not wanting to be rude.

The tiny mouse relaxes, "It is nice to meet you, Alice. Do you live locally?"

Alice is transfixed by the girl's expansive ears, her fingers rubbing together unconsciously, "Uh, yeah, near Toki. It's a village just east o' here." Twinkaleni watches Alice's hands cautiously as the fox asks, "What about you guys?"

Twinkaleni opens her mouth but Danahlia answers, "We just got here, place looked like a nice spot to find some grub."

"Do you live nearby? In another village?" the inquisitive fox wonders, standing back up.

Again Twinkaleni opens her mouth but Danahlia answers first, "We don't really live anywhere. We go where it's safe, or safe-ish. But we were runnin' low on supplies so we decided to check in here."

"You can trade for food and things at my village. I can take you there," Alice says helpfully, looking to the lizard girl.

"Oh, uh, we don't really have any money... or stuff," Danahlia replies her eyes dropping to the ground.

"Yes, yes, but you mentioned you can slay those gelatinous," Twinkaleni starts but sniffs the air some more before finishing, "blobs?"

Alice looks to her curiously, "The jellies? Yeah."

"And that doing so is profitable?" Twinkaleni asks, still sniffing, her cute little pink nose angling around to Alice's shoulder bag.

"Oh sure, if you collect the cores you can exchange them at the trade post."

"Wonderful. By chance is that bread I smell? I'm sorry to intrude but I'm dreadfully hungry. The only thing we've had to eat since we've arrived are, bugs," Twinkaleni says distastefully.

"I like bugs," Danahlia comments merrily as Alice grabs one of the loaves of bread she had been working on and hands it to the mouse girl.

Twinkaleni accepts it graciously, "Oh, thank you. I'm afraid I don't share my companion's fondness for insects." She immediately begins eating, revealing a set of small incisors that only add to her appeal.

"Don't mention it," Alice smiles, glad to be able to help her new friends.

As Twinkaleni munches ravenously, Danahlia asks, "So how do you get to those core thingies without touchin' 'em?"

"I use my sword to cut away at 'em. The more jelly you remove, the smaller they get, until you can just reach in and grab 'em," Alice explains, swinging a phantom sword. "But it does take a bit of effort," she adds looking to the rather fragile looking Murin.

Danahlia grins, "Don't worry about Twinkie, she's a mage."

Alice lifts an brow, "What does that mean, mage?"

"Means she can use magic!" the lizard girl exclaims, gesturing grandly with both arms.

"Magic? Really?" Alice asks skeptically. She had heard of witches and wizards in stories but had never known, or even known anyone who had known, someone who could use magic.

Twinkaleni's eyes have gone wide, crumbs dropping from her mouth as Danahlia grins, "Yeah, better show her, Twinkie."

"Duhna!" Twinkaleni shouts harshly through a mouthful of bread.

"What? Oh, yeah. Uh, I think we can trust her. Right?" Danahlia directs the last to Alice.

The Tokala tilts her head curiously, "Sure, you can trust me."

The mouse girl gives her companion an irritated look and then shakes her head, swallowing. She tucks the rest of her bread somewhere into her robe with a huff, "Very well. Look closely now, Alice." She extends her loosely sleeved arms before her and upward with both tiny pink palms held as if pushing on an invisible wall. She then calls out, "Vespis flowmino!"

Alice looks to where her hands are aimed to see the leaves on a branch there begin to move as if in a light breeze, though she feels none present. Alice's eyes widen in anticipation as the breeze strengthens a little, but then dies down.

She looks around in the general area fearing she had missed it, just as Twinkaleni huffs, "There... did you see that? Got most of the leaves... to move that time."

Alice raises a brow, "Was that it? I can do that." She then draws her sword and taps the same branch with the tip, making it shake with equal if not greater force than Twinkaleni's spell.

Danahlia barks a laugh, "Ha! She's got you there, Twinkie."

The little mouse girl narrows her eyes at both of them, "Yes, well, clearly I am weary from travel and hunger. You watch. Once I have my full strength back, I will amaze even you." She then retrieves her bread to resume eating.

Fascinated, if slightly less impressed than she had planned to be, Alice asks, "Can you show me how to use magic?"

With her cheeks full, Twinkaleni extends Alice a hand and motions for the Tokala to give her hers. Alice does so, placing a few fingers on Twinkaleni's tiny pink palm.

Immediately the mouse shakes her head in the negative and then swallows, "I'm sorry, Alice. I don't believe you have the proper aptitude to use magic."

The fox girl looks at her hand up close, seeing nothing at all wrong with it, "How can you tell?"

Before she can take another bite, Twinkaleni replies, "When two magically gifted individuals touch, they can feel the energy of the other's aura. It's sort of like a slow static shock. I didn't get it from you and it didn't look like you felt mine."

Alice frowns at the news and Danahlia puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Don't pant it. Twinkie says I can't use magic either. Apparently, it's pretty rare."

Alice waves her blade a little, cheering herself up, "Well, at least I have this."

The lizard girl smiles and claps her hand on her shoulder lightly just as Twinkaleni is finishing off her bread.

"Indeed, now about those, jellies?" the mouse girl says, putting an upward inflection on the name.

"Yeah, that's what we call 'em around Toki," says Alice, sheathing her weapon.

Twinkaleni opens her mouth to say something but Danahlia beats her to it, "What are they?"

"They're monsters. They live in this forest but sometimes they come out and threaten my village. They don't really do anything but grow as they eat plants and things and then split when they get big enough," Alice explains.

Twinkaleni gives a skeptical, "Hmm."

"Well, what do you say they are?" Alice asks the Murin.

Danahlia answers before her, "She doesn't know."

Twinkaleni makes an irritated squeak saying, "I believe I told you that they were gelatinous semi-translucent semi-sentient beings of undefinable origin or purpose."

Danahlia hooks a thumb at her, "See?"

"Do you think they're magic? Could you feel one and check for a... ah aura?" Alice asks, eager to test her theory.

The mouse goes 'uh' and Danahlia chortles, "She's never gotten near one. She's too scared."

Twinkaleni places her pink hands on her hips, "Pardon me for being less than half your height, a forth your weight, and having only a portion of your reach."

Danahlia gets over her fit and extends placating hands to her tiny companion, "Calm down, Twinkie. With Alice here we'll finally be able to take one out. Then you can touch it all you want."

Twinkaleni narrows her eyes at the much larger girl and then remarks to the Tokala, "I am rather curious as to how you manage to vanquish these creatures. They've been a bother ever since we've arrived."

"Alright, I'll show you. I'm here to gather some cores anyway. Let's go find one," Alice suggests, and the trio sets off.

"How long have you been in the forest?" She asks as they search the underbrush for signs of jellies.

"Just a few days," Danahlia answers peeking over some bushes, "Hey, there's one."

Alice maneuvers around the bush to find a decent sized red jelly, "This is great! The red ones are rare, their cores are worth more."

"Will you be needing our assistance?" Twinkaleni asks as Alice approaches the jelly, taking a two handed grip on her sword.

"I'll be alright, just watch out for anymore."

Danahlia and Twinkaleni keep their distance as Alice dispatches the creature with a few well-placed swings. This jelly was in the open, making it an easy target. Once she's flung enough of the outer goo away, she reaches in and plucks out a nice red core. The fox wipes the orb and her fingers clean on her pants and turns to show the prize to her companions.

"Well done, most impressive," Twinkaleni congratulates.

Danahlia wipes some red ooze from her arm, "Gross, these things stink."

Alice has to agree, this one did smell a bit different than the usual swampy stench.

"Yeah, they can smell pretty bad. I think it has something to do with what they eat," the young hunter suggests.

"I think you may be right. Take a look at this," Twinkaleni waves the other two over having followed the jelly's moist trail back a few feet.

"Is that a bone?" Danahlia asks, peering at a slender pink curved shape in the dirt.

"I believe so," the mouse mage points further back, "There are several more, probably some hapless rodent or bird the creature managed to engulf."

"Jellies are usually so slow. How would it catch anything?" Alice wonders aloud looking at the trail.

Twinkaleni offers, "It may have been wounded, sleeping, or even dead already. I've noticed the jellies are silent, persistent predators."

"Yeah," Danahlia agrees, "They've snuck up on us a few times when we tried to rest or sleep."

Alice considers this and then hands Twinkaleni the eyeball sized red core stone, "Do you feel any magic in this?"

"Oh, yes," the Murin exclaims as she takes it and looks over the perfect sphere from all sides, "It's frail but surprisingly intricate, like a spider's web."

"What does that mean?" Danahlia asks, getting a closer look at the faintly glowing core.

"Mmm, I'm not entirely sure. But if I had to guess, I'd say it means these creatures are not a natural magical phenomenon, but where most likely constructed."

"Constructed?" Alice repeats, raising a brow.

Danahlia looks back at the piles of red goo, "You mean they were made? For what?"

Twinkaleni continues to look at the core stone as she explains, "This is entirely speculation mind you, but generally, constructs of magical origin are meant to serve a purpose for whoever conceived them."

"A magical servant?" the lizard girl asks.

"Perhaps, though I've read constructs have many uses such as simple labor, the carrying of messages, and sometimes have even served as soldiers."

Twinkaleni goes on looking at the puddled remains of the red jelly, "But, considering these creatures' simplistic behavior and form, I honestly can't imagine what they would be good for. It's entirely possible that they may have even been some kind of experiment or mistake on their creator's part."

As Alice tries to place the new ideas in with her preexisting experiences with the jellies, Twinkaleni holds the red core up to her, "You say we can exchange these in your village for food?"

"Yeah, there's a trade post. I've been trading in these cores for years. You can get all kinds o' things if you have enough."

"Wags!" Danahlia cheers.

The Murin smiles, "That is good news. I think I've had all the bugs I can take. If you don't mind, I'd like to find some others. I have a few theories I'd like to test."

Alice accepts the core, delighted by the idea, "Yeah, that sounds great."

"Excellent," Twinkaleni nods and the trio head off to find more jellies, Alice's tail wagging happily.

It has been years since Alice had company while tracking jellies. The last was when her father was still around and teaching her a few basics of sword play before he was called away. Ashleigh had always wanted to accompany her but her mother would never allow it, which left Alice alone much of the time. She grew used to keeping to herself but had always secretly wished for someone to come with her. Someone to share the weight of the haul, someone to watch her back, and especially someone simply to talk to, and now she had two.

As they search the dense forest, Alice asks many questions, eager to know more about her new friends. She discovers that shortly after learning of her talent, Twinkaleni's parents sent her off to some sort of school meant to teach the magically gifted to master their powers.

"They really didn't have much choice," the robed mouse continues, "Parents who discover their children are gifted in such ways are obligated by the state to alert and hand them over to the Order of Thermathrogi to be trained."

"They had to give you up? Why?" Alice asks, thinking how terrible it must be for parents to have to surrender their young.

"We are taught that magic is a dangerous and corrupting force, and further, that we are especially dangerous for our ability to wield it. The Order of Thermathrogi was largely created to imprison and study those with the power to bend the forces of nature, but over time it became more like an institution for learning the art, if still a highly regulated one."

"Wow," Alice remarks, having never imagined such a thing could exist. The Tokala's interest peaked, she asks, "How did you get from there to here?"

Twinkaleni looks upward as if considering how to respond, "Oh, well, that is a rather long story."

"She ran away," Danahlia provides.

"Now, Danny, it's not quite as simple as that," Twinkaleni complains.

"I know, but that's the gist of it," the taller girl counters, shoving aside a protruding bush then pointing, "There's one."

Alice steps up, unsheathing her sword, but stops as Twinkaleni announces, "I'd like to try something first, if you don't mind."

The two larger girls share a look and then watch curiously as the Murin walks with purpose toward the green jelly. The creature is currently trying to envelope part of a small wide leafed plant, and from the look of the part already decaying inside of it, it had been at it for a while. Twinkaleni approaches the jelly, circling it, observing.

She then holds out both palms toward the indifferent monster and calls, "Asendiote!"

Alice and Danahlia take a few steps toward their smaller companion, not wanting to miss a chance to see her magic at work.

Twinkaleni lifts her hands slowly as if holding a ball between her fingers. To Alice's amazement, the jelly begins to change its shape from a hemisphere to more of a cone, the peak of which has the jelly encased core.

Twinkaleni calls out again, "Gravitus asendiote!" and one of her hands shifts to appear as if pushing down on something flat while the other starts to shake still looking to be gripping an invisible ball.

The jelly steadily becomes a more defined cone as the core looks like it's trying to pull free by flying straight up from the main body. Twinkaleni lets out a strained gasp but then holds her breath, her arms shaking as she tries to maintain the spell. Suddenly, with a wet pop, the core shoots up into the air and Twinkaleni's arms drop limply, her shoulder slumping.

Danahlia runs over to the jelly calling, "I got it," and manages to catch the freed core just as it nearly falls back into the creature. The jelly begins to deflate, collapsing in on itself until it forms a smelly slowly widening puddle.

"That was amazing!" Alice exclaims, taking a few steps toward Twinkaleni, who sways a bit on her feet while taking rapid exhausted breaths.

Alice offers one of her water skins and the little mouse girl accepts it with a grateful nod, taking a few swallows before returning it. Danahlia rejoins the others with the core and Twinkaleni holds out her hand for it.

"I'd like to... test something with that... if you please," she huffs.

Danahlia hands over the core and Twinkaleni takes it over to the jelly's remains. She kneels at the edge and extends the core over it.

Alice warns, "Be careful, you don't want to get that on you or your clothes."

Twinkaleni then wraps her loose robe sleeve around her arm and holds the core out to the center of the puddle. To the girls' amazement the goo starts to pull toward it, the puddle getting smaller and thicker as Twinkaleni moves the core closer. She pulls it away and the puddle widens, spreading out again. She then brings it closer once more. The drawing effect the core has on the goo gets steadily weaker until there's none at all.

"Fascinating," the little mage says, her breathing approaching normal. Alice had never tried such an experiment. Getting the cores was hard enough. She never considered trying to give them back.

"What'd you do that for?" Danahlia asks, coming up behind the Murin.

Twinkaleni moves the core over the non-responsive goo puddle as she answers, "I wanted to see if this corrosive gelatinous substance had any magical properties without touching it."

Alice approaches the pair, "Does it?"

"It appears to hold only a minute charge after the core is extracted. A charge that quickly dissipates, indicating the gelatinous mass of the jelly is not inherently magical but only the core. I'd like to run some more tests if you two are up for it."

"Yeah, sure!" Alice answers enthusiastically.

Danahlia nods, "Nothin' else to do."

It's getting late in the afternoon as the trio walk along in search for more jellies.

"How much can we get for the red and green cores we already have?" Danahlia asks looking around the forest.

Alice considers, "Split three ways, mmm, maybe three or four decent meals worth."

Danahlia looks at Alice, a little surprised, "That's all? I thought the red ones were worth a lot."

"It would be worth more to one, but divided by three, everything is smaller," says Twinkaleni.

"Oh ticks, we're gonna have to get a lot of 'em then," Danahlia groans as she grabs some kind of blue beetle from a downed tree trunk and pops it into her mouth.

She crunches on it audibly and Alice wonders, "Are those, good?"

"No," Twinkaleni assures her.

Though Danahlia goes on to say, "Some are better than others. Oh, like that big caterpillar guy where we met, those are the best. I love how they just burst in your mouth."

Twinkaleni makes a disgusted noise but Alice purses her lips, thinking she might want to try one at some point.

The girls find another green jelly, this one wandering aimlessly over some grass. "Twinkaleni, do you think you could use your magic to push the core off to the side?" Alice asks.

The mouse mage's eyebrows rise, "Oh, I think I know what you plan. I'll give it a try." Twinkaleni steps up and extends both her palms forward as if pushing a small ball away from her, calling out, "Telefuss."

In Alice's extensive experience, anytime a jelly is disturbed, its core often floats directly to its center, forcing anyone who wishes to get at it to go through much of its corrosive gelatin. But as Alice circles around this jelly, its core seems to be fighting some invisible force while trying to reach its middle. Unable to overcome the little mage's magic, it ends up being pushed to the far edge. The core wobbles indecisively as Alice prepares to make a heavy vertical strike.

She manages to slice off the edge with the core, separating it from the main body and then flicks her blade to send that bit a few inches away so as not to let it rejoin the main mass. The piece with the core stone takes the usual upside down bowl shape of the jelly almost immediately, though far smaller. Working quickly Alice slices away more of the jelly until she can safety reach in and claim the reward.

"Well struck. That took considerably less energy for the both of us," Twinkaleni congratulates, making the young fox smile.

"Great! We have a strategy to get these things," Danahlia cheers.

Twinkaleni nods, "Indeed, now we just have to find them."

"We should check near water, they like moist areas best," Alice suggests, and the girls continue their hunt.

As they walk, Alice passes around some bread and water, which the girls thank her for.

Searching and eating, Twinkaleni affirms, "We will repay you for this, Alice." She then nudges her larger friend in the thigh with an elbow, "Right, Danny?"

"Vo yeah," Danahlia adds with her mouth full.

Alice grins, "Don't worry about it," happy just to have them around, but then she wonders, "How have you managed without any supplies?"

"We did have a few things with us," Twinkaleni starts.

Then Danahlia finishes, "But those jelly creatures got to 'em when we were sleeping just after we got here. First time we saw 'em was when they were already digesting our water and what little was left of our food, sacks and all."

"Yes. I'm afraid we were starting to get rather desperate before your timely arrival, Alice. Honestly, I don't know what we would have done without your aid."

"That's alright, I'm usually, out here alone, so I'm... really, glad I met you two," Alice says, her eyes dropping to the ground as the last words come out a bit shaky for some reason.

Danahlia's arms wrap around Alice's torso and the lizard girl hugs her close, letting her actions speak for her. Alice is taken aback by the abruptness of the contact but then gives into it, putting her arms around Danahlia, feeling the taller girl's bread filled cheek on her forehead and her hands on her back. Twinkaleni smiles and a feeling of joy blooms in the young fox's heart. It radiates outward to warm her entire being and tells her that this is the beginning of something grand.