Crystal Folly

Unearthing A Crystal

"You want me to what?!" Ender exclaimed, his cat ears still remaining in human form. "I almost got stuck out there with the thing, and you want me to distract it while you guys get ready to attack!? Johann, why choose the guy that's hurt!"

"Check again, I don't see anything," Johann replied. To Ender's surprise, all of the wounds had left no scars and were no longer visible. Even then, he knew he'd lost a considerable amount of blood from them, which fueled his argument.

"I can't do this, and you know that. As light-headed as I am now, I'm not sure if I can even have the tail and ears out now. You need someone else for this, Johann," he countered. Then he asked, "Aren't you faster than I am anyway?" He didn't get a response.

"Well, maybe I can help with that. I have a form I didn't tell anyone about. Here, I'll show you," Taylor said shortly before becoming a small tabby. "What? You guys looked surprised. Did you forget I was related to Ender and Johann or something?"

"Let me guess, the name of the form is also in Japanese?" Ender asked, unsurprised. "I know for a fact mine and Johann's are, but I don't know why he chose true cat instead of white cat. I'll let you tell us before I come up with an idea of what it is, Taylor."

Taylor was shocked he even knew what language all the names were in. "Thank you for your insight on the language, black cat. The name's tora neko, and I can't go into the travel and transport modes that my brothers have. Kinda sucks, but I'm pretty fast without them anyways."

"I guess we have our distraction, then," Arthur confirmed. "We should hurry, though, we don't want to be in here too long. I have a feeling these crystals and vines come from someplace we don't want to visit. Looks can be deceiving, remember that."

He has a point, Johann thought. "Alright, let's go now before we forget any ideas that might help. Stella, you know how ice dragons are, can you help us out with this?"

Stella stopped and sighed, concerned about her answer. "I can't. Just about all of the other ice dragons are either my brothers, sisters, or cousins, so fighting one always ends in me having to go back home for a while, depending on who it is. I can tell you that most of them are really cocky and think they'll win against anyone and anything, though."

Ender thought about it for a minute, but was interrupted by a scraping sound from behind him. More sounds came from the entrance of the room while he was doing this, shaking the ceiling and causing some smaller crystals and moss patches to fall to the ground from various places. Johann inched closer to the entrance while this was happening and made sure nothing outside was moving.

"Guys, we need to move. I feel something somewhere close, and it's not in this room or the dragon. If we stay here, we aren't gonna like what comes our way, judging by how slowly it's moving," Johann shouted over the noise, which was subsiding as he finished. A much quieter grinding sound was audible at that point, which was getting louder and closer by the second. "Stella, grab him after he transforms into his cat form. Taylor, Arthur, be ready to break through some rocks with me."

"Got it!" they all shouted simultaneously. The noise consistently grew louder as the source approached with no signs of slowing. Sounds of solid crystal being broken echoed around the room, making everyone jump each time it came again. Eventually, Johann, Taylor, and Arthur managed to break through enough rock to fit and get out to the surface just as a rough crystal hand grabbed the wall where Ender was resting just minutes before. Stella kicked the crystalized figure in the chest once it emerged and was bitten on the leg by what seemed to be a small crystal pup, causing her to freeze them both in such astounding speed that the room dropped in temperature for a few seconds. At that point, Ender jumped out of her hands and hissed at both of them.