Ever The Contrarian

CHAPTER SEVEN ~ THEY REALLY PILLING UP NOW HUH?! I FEEL LIKE THE LAST CHAPTER WASN'T THAT GOOD THO ~ SOB IM SORRY

In the morning, Mercury crawled out from under her tent and looked around. how did I get here? I don't even remember falling asleep. she thought woozily, rubbing her eyes. suddenly, a finger reached out and blocked off her mouth, so she couldn't scream. suspense! the author loves suspense, even if it's short-lived. "Shush." the voice said behind her, and Mercury spun around. the voice sounded very, very familiar. It was Nox, his first three shirt buttons undone. Mercury blanched. She was in a tent? with Nox? And with no memory of what was happening except falling asleep?

"Look." Nox whispered, and Mercury looked in front of her. There were 5 hooded figures moving around in the bushes. Mercury suddenly wondered if her best friend knew there were 5 shady dudes sneaking around. Maybe she was still asleep. "Does Io know?" Mercury whispered back when Nox took his fingers off her mouth. "I don't think so. Maybe we should take care of them before they cause any trouble." Nox whispered back, and Mercury nodded. "On the count of three, then." Nox whispered finally, handing her the longsword, which she gladly accepted. "One. Two. Three!" Nox said, and they both ran into the bushes at the same time. The attacker's heads whipped around, and Merucry's sword snaked out, changing shape hundreds of times every second. It grabbed the attacker by the throat and slit it, whipping around to consensus back into another blade. kinda like a belt, I guess? or a whip? anyway, this sword was hella flexible. Mercury noticed that it seemed quite easy to dodge and had a small range - but, besides that, it seemed to be moving on Merucry's every thought, without her having to say a word. Nice! if she had to say everything, it would probably give her away. A dagger whizzed past her ear and hit the hooded figure who had been creeping up behind her in the chest. "Wait! I've seen these guys before! they are the ones who attacked me originally at the shack-" Mercury said, and suddenly a scream echoed through the forest. Nox and Merucyr swiveled to each other at the same time. Iodine. It was Iodine's scream.

"Iodine." They both said at once and then dashed off back into the bushes, not even bothering to shake off the hooded figures. As soon as they reached Iodine's tent, they saw that she was tied up, and being spirited away into a wagon. "LET GO OF HER!" Mercury yelled, grabbing a dagger out of Nox's hand and throwing it at the monsters (?). She also dashed forwards, and made a clean right stroke with her sword, beheading one of the monsters. "Hold them off, Nox!" Mercury shouted behind her, running up to the wagon and cutting Iodine free. "Thanks, Mer. There were a lot more than I thought." Iodine huffed, getting up. Mercury handed her her bow, which had been right next to her. Iodine waved her hand, and 3 arrows appeared in it. She stretched them out onto the bow and fired three at once. "Alright. See you later, then! cover for me!" Mercury said, hopping off the cart. Since both she and Nox were close-range fighters, Iodine was much better off attacking from a distance - and she was perfect at covering for them. Mercury's hand was getting tired - she couldn't keep it up much longer. One of the figures held a knife at her throat from behind, only to have one arrow knock the knife out of his hand and another piece of his skull a moment later. "Thanks, Io!" Mercury squealed, and another arrow pierced the heart of the attacker behind her. Mercury ducked under an incoming sword and held her own sword backward, ending in her attacker getting stabbed with a loud "OOf". "That's a wrap! You good, Nox?" Mercury asked, planting the tip of her sword in the ground. "Barely, but, I'll live." Nox said, shaking off his hands. "Good, I would be so sad if you died." Merucury said, and Nox blushed. "Okay, enough! Let's go!" Iodine said, hopping off the wagon and grabbing the posts that held her tent to the ground, yanking them out, and disassembling the tent. "Oh... yeah... you did I end up in a tent with you, by the way?" Mercury asked awkwardly, buttoning up Nox's shirt. "No idea." He snorted, and then turned around to trudge back to their camp. Mercury dismissed the thought and followed him. After yanking out the last posts on their own tents, she shoved everything into a backpack and hopped onto Penguin. "Merucry? You said before, that similar things had attacked you before???" Nox said, brow furrowed. "Yeah, but it was only one before. I wonder how they keep popping up? no one has heard of them besides us." Mercury replied, and iodine rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe... no one else who faced them survived?" Iodine chriped, and both of them feel silent. "They almost took me away, after all." She added, and Merucry flushed. "Sorry, Io. Well be more careful." Mercury said, and Iodine chuckled. 'Its fine. Im alive, right? Also, I feel so honored! we're importan enough to be kidnapped! 30 people, too!"

"Well, thats one way to go about it..." Mercury sighed, and Nox cut through their conversation. "Dont feel honored, we almost died." "But! if we had died, we would have went down with a bang! just like I wanted!" Merucry said, teaming up with Iodine to defeat Nox. Acknowledging his defeat, Nox frowned and saddled up Sky. Outvoted! 2 against one! ding ding ding, Nox has lost! Iodine grabbed Lillypad, and Penguin trotted up to Merucry. "Are we ready? for another day of adventure!" Mercury said, and Nox sighed loudly.