The druid's grove
“Goblins, bugbears, and wargs? Oh my. What a welcoming party.”
Astarion pulls a dagger out of what seems like thin air, crouching down and locking his eyes on his preferred target.
“Is that going to be a problem?” Lae’zel asks, knocking an arrow into her bow and taking aim.
“Not at all- now, shall we dance?”
“Let’s get this over with,” Shadowheart growls, pulling her arm back as a bright white light envelops it. “Before someone gets seriously hurt.”
Orochimaru surveys the ugly creatures, pondering how best to get them out of the way.
Some are armed with crude spears, others with bows and arrows. Still others merely carry heavy rocks.
Primitive weapons, sure, but deadly all the same, if they get lucky.
But they won’t get lucky. Not if Orochimaru can do anything about it.
Nothing they can’t handle- Orochimaru has taken on more people than this with little more than his own two hands and a bit of quick thinking and still managed to make it home in time for dinner.
“Form a line!” the petrified young man at the gate howls. “Don’t let them through!”
The goblins cackle and shout in their rough, guttural language, reveling in the fear of the men at the gate. The wargs snap and snarl, frothing at the mouth, eager for violence.
Orochimaru crouches down and creeps forward, making a few hand seals before pressing them palm-down into the dirt.
A half dozen white serpents burst out of the earth, wrapping themselves around their targets and sinking their fangs into any bare flesh they can reach.
Cursing and swearing ensues, so he leaps from his cover and jumps into the middle of it.
(He has no idea what’s going on, or why this attack is happening. But he does so very much love a good brawl when he can get it.
Lae’zel shouts something in her native tongue and rushes in alongside him, striking down one, two, three of these strange monsters like it’s nothing.
(Strong girl. He’ll have to keep an eye on her.)
There’s a crashing sound, and a cloud of choking darkness that causes three of the creatures to fall over, choking and clawing at their throats in a futile attempt to get air.
With a flourish, a dark skinned man leaps from the top of the gate, landing flawlessly on his feet and pulling a rapier from its sheath.
“Provoke the blade-”
The man skewers one of the ghastly little creatures through with his rapier; it goes limp and dead, still dangling from the end of the sharp metal.
“- And suffer its sting.”
Theatrical sort. It would be funny if they weren’t in the middle of a brawl.
The new arrival shouts, and a cloud of impenetrable darkness envelops him and the goblins surrounding him
He hears Astarion howl in indignant pain when one of the wargs sinks its claws into his side, leaving torn fabric and deep, bloody gashes in its wake.
Whirling around, he sticks a dagger into the beast’s thick hide, slashing its throat (or something approximating a throat) open with a contemptuous sneer.
“Hideous beasts.” he growls, pretending he isn’t in pain. “Can’t say I’ll mourn them.”
“How many more are there, I wonder-”
“Fifteen, more or less,” Shadowheart says, bludgeoning one of the goblins with her shield.
A cacophonous cloud of cantankerous crows swarms the makeshift arena, sending the creatures scattering and screaming in an attempt to escape them.
“Oi what the bloody hell-”
The monsters yowl and swat at the birds, but it doesn’t do anything to get them away. The birds claw and peck at their eyes, faces, anything they can reach, rending flesh and destroying the fragile jelly of their eyeballs.
Orochimaru smiles, knowing that if they weren’t sure to win before, they are now.
“Kisame. Itachi. You’re a little late.”
“We had one hell of a time getting out of that godsforsaken crypt,” Gale explains. “What disaster is going on here?”
“Haven’t figured that out yet,” Shadowheart says. “But if you don’t mind helping us with the rest of these goblins-”
“Hm. I’m not much of a fighter, but I’ll do my best.”
“We are,” Kisame reassures him. “It won’t be a problem, trust me.”
They make short work of the rest of them, leaving nothing but a field of corpses, their blood slowly soaking into the ground- nothing more than sacks of bones and cooling meat.
“Get the hells in here before more of those things show up!” the horned man above them shouts.
No sense ignoring the demand.
The ivy-covered gate opens with a screech, beckoning them inside.
Kisame nudges one of the corpses with his foot, wondering what the fuck just happened here.
They don’t get much time to wonder that, however.
“Oh my fuckin’ hell- no fuckin’ way-”
He barely gets the chance to look up before he’s nearly knocked clean over.
Hidan sprints full-tilt toward them and tackles them, pulling them into a crushing embrace before either can protest.
“Holy fuck! I thought I was all alone in this weird-ass place! How the fuck are ya?!”
“All things considered, could be worse,” Kisame answers.
“Could be a lot better, too…” Itachi adds, trying to wriggle his way out of the unwanted hug.
“You know each other?” Wyll asks, approaching them while stashing his sword back in its scabbard.
“Know each other? We fuckin’ work together!” Hidan answers, nearly giddy with relief at no longer being the only newcomer. “You wouldn’t believe the shit I’ve stirred up with these fuckfaces! Kisame is the big blue bastard here, and this scrawny, gloomy motherfucker’s Itachi.”
“Oh? What do you do together?” Gale asks, lighting up at the prospect of new friends.
That part gives all three of them pause, exchanging nervous glances as they try to agree on how to spin their background. Hidan stammers, remembering that the present company might not take kindly to them being part of what could charitably be called a terrorist organization.
“Well uh- I mean, mostly odd jobs. Getting intel for people. Hurting people that need hurting. That sort of thing,” Kisame decides, holding his hands out in a somewhat defeated gesture.
“Ah, an adventurer’s guild then!” Wyll declares, delighted. “You’ll have to share some adventuring stories sometime, then!”
Once again, the trio exchange uncomfortable glances. Itachi takes the opportunity to squirm his way out of Hidan’s vice grip.
“...I suppose it’s something like that,” Itachi says, at last.
Wyll bows a bit in greeting.
“Well met. Blade of Frontiers, at your service!”
“Ah, the legend himself!” Astarion laughs, with a flippant little curtsy. “It’s not every day you get to meet a hero, is it?”
“I’m just doing what needs to be done,” Wyll insists, with a modest wave of his hand. “Someone has to protect the innocent- and there’s a lot of innocents that need protecting.”
“Not that that isn’t terribly interesting, but I think I’m going to take my leave now,” Orochimaru says.
Astarion scoffs, muttering something under his breath as he wanders off, trailing after Orochimaru as he walks away, hoping to find something more interesting.
“It seems tense here,” Kisame remarks, glancing around at all the grim faces milling about. “What’s up?”
“The refugees,” Wyll answers, his friendly voice tinged with a note of sadness. “It’s hard to find someone willing to lend a helping hand these days- least of all for tieflings.”
“I thought druids cherished harmony,” Gale remarks. “I would think they would be the first to help someone in need. And these tieflings need it more than most.”
Wyll shakes his head, with a look of utter defeat.
“The people here aren’t the generous type it would seem. These people need help, but they don’t want to be the ones to give it.”
“Fuckin’ ridiculous right?” Hidan grumbles. “Just ‘cause they look different they’re getting blamed for shit they can’t help. Not like they’re the ones draggin’ monsters to the door- stupid fuckin’ druids. It ain’t like they’re even that different lookin’ from us, if you take the horns off.”
Gale scratches at his beard, tapping his foot as he sinks deep into thought.
“Sounds like we walked into quite a conundrum then. As if we didn’t have enough of that to go around.”
Before Wyll can respond, white-hot pain shoots through them, their parasites squirming in recognition of each other.
They see flashes of each other, through different eyes. Half-lucid glimpses of their lives before.
Wyll reels back, desperately trying to sever the connection.
“Hells- you were on the ship too?!”
“Right. I guess you’re infected too.”
“Mmhmm. It’ll turn us into mind flayers, or so the stories go. But we haven’t sprouted any tentacles yet, so that’s something.”
“I guess,” Hidan chimes in, folding his arms impatiently. “ But there’s supposed to be a lady here who can help us- Nettie, I think? Dunno what she’s up to though.”
“The sooner we can talk to her the better,” Itachi says.
“Good luck getting to her, these druids are some prickly fucks.”
Itachi makes a noncommittal sound.
“Where would I be looking if I were to find Nettie?”
“Over that way,” Wyll says, gesturing to a small group of oxen standing around chewing hay. “You won’t be able to miss it- follow the weird green glow.”
“Alright- Kisame, let’s go.”
“You do that, I’m stickin’ around here.”
Kisame doesn’t need telling twice; he follows a few steps behind his partner as they make their way.
One of the oxen looks up, watching them as they pass him by.
Itachi meets its stare as it chews its cud, lowing at him.
“What’s up?”
“I don’t know. I just-”
Itachi shakes his head violently, trying to banish the thought.
“It just- does it feel like that cow is giving you a funny look?”
Kisame snorts, but examines the ox all the same.
The more he looks, however, the more unsettled he becomes.
There’s a bizarre, knowing look in the ox’s eyes- like it’s staring straight through to his soul somehow.
“....Huh. that’s a weird ox isn’t it? You think it knows what we’re saying?”
As if in response, the ox moos at them, flicking its tail and lowering its head in what seems like a deliberate gesture.
“We can’t waste time talking to cattle. Let’s get going.”
“Right.”
They walk past the ox and down the slope, to where another group of tieflings is shouting at the druids guarding the gate
“Let our daughter go!”
“Not until Kagha has dealt with her!”
“She’s just a child-”
The taller man at the gate roars, then, with a burst of hot energy, his body warps and transforms into a formidable looking bear. He bears his teeth and snarls, poised to attack.
“What on earth is going on here?” Orochimaru asks, feeling a half dozen pairs of eyes snap over to glare at him.
“Nothing-!” a sharp-eyed woman snaps at him. “Just get out of here and mind your own business!”
“They have our daughter!” a desperate tiefling woman cries out, black-scleara-ed eyes full of fearful tears. “They won’t let her go and they won’t tell us what’s happening-”
“Go back with the other tieflings! She will be dealt with before we will even discuss this!”
“You’re holding a child captive and won’t even let her see her parents?”
“I told you to mind your own business, outsider-”
“A moment, please-” a smaller man with pointed ears says. He gestures for the woman to lean closer so he can whisper something to her.
The woman’s face softens, brow knitting and hands curling up.
“...I understand.”
She takes a breath and locks her eyes on Orochimaru, then on Kisame and Itachi as they come up behind him.
“It seems like Kagha wants to speak to you.”
None of them know for sure who Kagha is, but they nod, and they’re reluctantly allowed to pass.
In the midst of the grassy clearing is a huge stone circle, enveloped in a soft emerald light.
At one edge of the clearing is a heavy stone door, which they figure it’s where they need to go, so they do.
As soon as they step in, the tension grows so heavy it’s as if the air itself might snap.
In the middle of the room is a little girl- no older than maybe nine or ten- with bluish skin and ginger hair. A set of horns curls out of the top of her head, and her eyes dart around in wild panic, little chest heaving with desperate, frantic breaths.
Behind her, coiled up and hissing in warning, is a sharp-eyed serpent- terribly deadly, just from the look of it.
“Please I’m sorry-”
Orochimaru steps forward, regarding the woman warily.
She’s livid- understandably so. The serpent in her command is coiled tight, ready to strike and end the unfortunate child at any moment.
“Kagha, mercy, please!” a man dressed in animal skin and fur pleads fruitlessly. “We got the idol back, there’s no need-”
“Shut up! I will deal with this!”
“What did this girl do to end up in this position?” Orochimaru asks, getting her to whip around and glare at him.
“Child? You mean parasite.”
She sneers contemptuously at the terrified little girl cowering beneath her.
“She eats our food. Drinks our water. And how does she thank us? By trying to steal our most beloved idol!”
“We got the idol back!” the child’s defender insists, in vain.
Orochimaru takes in the situation. He glances behind him, where Astarion and Kisame both stand in a bored sort of uncaring silence, but Itachi watches with the quiet sort of seething anger that doesn’t portend anything good. It doesn’t show on his face, but his hands curl up and his eyes focus on Kagha while his mind formulates a course of action.
If Orochimaru doesn’t intervene, Itachi will. And it will probably be significantly more bloody. And as funny as that would be, it would probably be better not to make any enemies this early.
He steps forward, clearing his throat.
“Surely a woman of your stature has more urgent matters to attend to than a single thieving whelp?” he asks, picking his words carefully. “It seems you’re quite busy already. Let her go- she’ll stay out of trouble. I’ll see to that.”
Kagha’s scowl softens the smallest fraction. She looks down at the petrified child, then points pointedly at the door.
“Leave, you little wretch. My grace has its limits.”
The poor child whimpers and scampers toward Orochimaru, shaking and sobbing breathlessly. Orochimaru tilts his head, looking down at the poor thing.
“You ought to do as she says,” he warns. “And be careful- the next time you wind up in trouble, you may not have a kind face to save you. Now go- and make sure not to poke your nose anywhere else it doesn’t belong- it might just get snatched off.”
The girl nods, just once, then darts away and out of sight.
“Thank you, Kagha! Halsin would be-”
“-Do not speak that name in front of me!” She snaps back. “I am the one in command, Halsin is gone! Teela, come!”
The snake slithers its way off the stone table and to her mistress. Kagha offers her a doting pat on the head, cooing at the sunset orange creature.
She turns her back on the man after that, her expression turning to puzzlement as she faces Orochimaru.
“You’re an odd one. Why plead for mercy for a child you do not know?”
“Oh, don’t mistake it for mercy. Dead children can’t learn from their mistakes, that's all.”
“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”
“Oh, but I am. I was in her shoes when I was small- although I was stealing bread, not any sort of relic.”
Kagha seems genuinely interested, cocking her head and folding her arms.
“And what happened?”
Orochimaru laughs, shaking his head.
“The shopkeeper beat me half to death- and told me if he caught me again, he wouldn’t stop at half. I hope she appreciates how lightly she got off this time- my younger self wishes he was so lucky.”
Kagha narrows her eyes at him, pondering his story.
“Tell me then- what do you expect her to learn from it, then?”
“The same thing I learned. Either stop stealing because it isn’t worth the punishment when you get caught- or become a better thief so you don’t get caught.”
“And which do you think she’ll choose?”
“Judging by the terror you struck in her, I assume it would be the former. I would say you made your point quite clear.”
“And what about you? What did you decide?”
“Oh, I’m allowed to keep a few things to myself, aren’t I? Besides-”
He gestures toward her beloved serpent, bending over to admire her up close.
“-It would be a waste of that dear beauty’s venom to kill one unimportant child.”
The iridescent serpent winds her way around Kagha’s arm, slit-pupiled eyes regarding him warily.
“I don’t often meet people who appreciate Teela’s beauty. People tend to be afraid of her.”
“I’ve never been frightened of them. As a matter of fact, my dear mother named me after a particularly infamous one. But that’s not exactly an important story- now, why don’t you tell me why you wanted to see us?”
Kagha seems to remember the business she allowed them in for, and becomes more serious once more.
“I heard how you fought the goblins at the gate- you and your… companions are obviously skilled. I want you to go to Zevlor. Offer to see him and the other tieflings out of the grove. I’m sure he’ll be willing to compensate you for the trouble.”
She spits the word ‘tiefling’ out with so much disdain it makes him vaguely nauseous.
“What do you hope to gain with this?”
“To be rid of them. They get their safe passage, we get the grove back. Once the rite of thorns is complete, we never have to worry about any invaders again.”
“So we’re couriers now?” Astarion scoffs. “Do you think that will make you kicking them out any easier?”
“I don’t need your opinion on the matter.” Kagha snarls. “Will you do it or not?”
Orochimaru doesn’t like the sound of it, but he also can’t imagine another, less painful option.
“Once we undertake the rite of thorns, this grove will be safe forevermore. My people will no longer have to worry about these…things invading our peace and stealing our relics. We will never have to worry about goblins at the door, or monsters at the gate. We will be safe.”
Orochimaru doesn’t like the sound of it at all, but he doesn’t let it show.
“I’ll sort it out,” he says, calmly. “Just grant us a bit of time.”
“So long as they’re gone before the rite is complete, then I don’t care.”
“Very well. I’ll see what this Zevlor character has to think of this proposal.”
“I don’t care what he thinks about it. We just want him and his people out.”
“Mhmm. If that’s the case, give me a moment and I’ll see what we can do.”
He can feel Astarion roll his eyes, displeased but seemingly resigned to this being how things are going to shake out.
“Must we waste our time on this?”
“If you’re going to insist on following me around like some lost puppy then you’re going to have to put up with it.”
“I am not-”
Astarion cuts himself off, and falls silent once again.
Itachi approaches the tiefling child’s defender, who is slumped over with his head in his hands.
“Excuse me, uh-”
The man glances at him with tired, dark eyes.
“Rath. My name is Rath.”
“Thank you. I hate to interrupt you, since I know it’s been rough.”
“No, it’s fine. I can’t believe we let a snake replace our leader…”
Itachi doesn’t inquire about that, figuring it isn’t his place.
“I’ll make the interruption short. We were told to look for Nettie.
“Is that so? Well, from the looks of you, you need her- she’s over there,” Rath answers, gesturing to a little room a short ways off.
“Thank you.”
As Itachi walks off, Rath calls over a hulking beast of a wolf, burying his hands in its thick silver fur.
“Kisame,” he calls out, getting his attention off the magnificent wolf in front of them. “Let’s go.”
“Huh? Sure. whatever you say.”
In the cozy little alcove, a stout, dark skinned woman with short, jet black hair is attending to a small, injured blue bird.
“I see you,” she calls out, the second he steps in. “just a moment.”
A soft, greenish light envelops her hands as she mutters something that sounds like a prayer under her breath. Then, as the light fades, the bird perks up, rustling its wings and peering around the room curiously.
“There you go, little one. Now-”
She turns over to him, hands on her hips.
“What can I do for you?”
Itachi takes a moment to watch the bird tests out its wings before he speaks.
“We’re looking for someone named Nettie?”
“You found her. What can I do for you?”
“Well, we need a healer. We were told you’re about the best there is.”
“Is that so? Alright, you first then- let’s get a look at ya-”
The woman motions for him to crouch down to be closer to eye level. He flinches when she touches his face, but allows it. Her hand gets a soft bluish glow about it, and her brow creases with concern- the crease deepening the longer she looks him over.
“Well. you’re kind of a mess, aren’t you? Where do you want me to start?”
“Um-”
He glances at Kisame, who gives him a nod that says to be honest.
“There’s not really a good way to say this but- we’ve all got mind flayer parasites.”
“You’ve got-”
The woman’s concern changes to panic.
“Are you serious?”
“I am.”
The woman’s brown eyes go wide, like she doesn’t want to believe it.
She hesitates for a moment, but then steels her resolve.
“...I’ll do what I can. Follow me.”
Grabbing Kisame’s hand for reassurance, Itachi does what he’s told.
She leads them to another room, where a dead man with purple skin lays there, chest cut clean open.
(Fearing one of them could be next, Itachi and Kisame don’t comment on that.)
“It’s unfortunate you got me and not Halsin. He’d have those little monsters out of your head like that,” Nettie says, snapping her fingers as she does. “Anyway- talk to me. Are you having any symptoms? Any changes?”
“Well, uh- besides being able to connect our minds with other people who have a parasite, not really.”
Nettie lights up, curiosity animating her tiny body.
“The infected can identify each other? Not that they’d know they were infected… but how did this happen?”
“Not entirely sure. We were on a mind flayer ship, I think?” Kisame offers, wanting to give her any information that might help fix them.
“A mind flayer shi- that shouldn’t be possible. You shouldn’t be possible-”
She sighs, worry creasing her brow.
“You aren’t the first. That man over there had one of them crawl out of his ear after he died…”
Nettie hangs her head and runs her fingers through her hair.
“Look. You’ve been straight with me, so I’ll be straight with you. You’re dangerous.”
Her hands curl up into fists, and she heaves a great sigh of defeat.
“If you transform here, we’re all dead. Do you understand that?”
“...So we’ve heard.”
“If Halsin were here…”
“Where did he go, exactly?”
“He was looking into something about these tadpoles. About the infected. But he never came back.”
“Alright. It sounds like we’ll need to hunt him down then,” Kisame says, matter-of-factly. “If you really think he can help.”
“Could you? It would certainly help things here, as well…”
The woman gives them a pitying look, then starts rifling through the things on her table.
“I’m sorry I tricked you- but you’re different. You seem like good people- you deserve a chance to save yourselves.”
She holds out a vial of some unidentifiable greenish fluid.
“Here. It’s wyvern toxin. If you feel yourselves changing, swear to me you’ll use it. There’s enough here to kill a dozen men and then some.”
Itachi looks to his partner for a moment, looking for his approval. Kisame looks wary, but gives him a look that says to do what he thinks is best.
“You have my word.”
Nettie relinquishes the bottle, relief in her eyes.
“I wish there was more I could do. I’m sorry.”
“It isn’t your fault. Thank you for doing what you could.”
“Just… keep this between us, alright? If the others find out, Kagha will feed you to Teela for sure.”
“We’ll keep that in mind.”
Nettie gives them a pitying glance, before she can’t bear to look at them any longer.
“Good luck. You’re gonna need it.”
This conversation hasn’t exactly been reassuring, but they don’t have the time to feel sorry for themselves.
As they reemerge, they find Orochimaru and Astarion standing rigid, not daring to move a muscle.
The silver wolf stares them down, hackles raised and teeth bared.
It approaches them and sniffs at them warily, a low growl rumbling in its deep chest.
The growl grows louder, threatening, until Rath puts a hand on the wolf’s flank.
“Silver, that’s enough. They’re friends.”
The wolf snaps out of it as if nothing happened, swishing its tail and turning away from the others, posture still tense.
“My apologies- he usually isn’t like this.”
“Oh, it’s quite alright,” Astarion says, with another of those nervous, high-pitched giggles of his as he backs away. “I’m sure his bark is worse than his bite.”
Rath smiles, scratching his companion behind the ears to comfort him.
“That’s true. Apologies, again.”
Kisame chimes in, realizing they're missing an important piece of information.
"If we were looking for someone named Halsin, who are we lookin' for?"
Rath lights up- obviously this man means a lot to him.
"well, he's an elf. Larger than life one at that. He's got claw marks across his face- you'll know him when you see him."
"Alright, thanks. We'll find him and hopefully be back before too long."
"Thank you- may the Oakfather guide your path."
They take their leave before anything else decides to bare their teeth at them.
(None of them think to ask who the hell the "Oakfather" is.)