NOVEL NEXT Chapter 21: Touch the Grass
You know, it's a really nice day today.
The wind isn't too bad, the sunlight is nice and warm, and I can almost taste something in the air. It tastes like...purple? Nah, that can't be it. I'd say it's closer to orange or something.
Anyways, like I was saying, it's a really nice day and it would be a total shame if something were to ruin it. What kind of something? Oh, I don't know, maybe like being forced to talk to people when all you wanna do is stay home and read?!!
I'll even go outside if you want, just don't make me talk to people! People are too spooky!! Huh? What about Mama and Mira and them? They're not people, they're family!
Haah, I don't even know what's going on anymore. All I know is that Mama's been walking for a realllly long time now and she hasn't stopped yet. Aren't we supposed to be going around and meeting people? Where's the people?
Wait no, don't answer that. If there's no people, then that means I don't have to talk to them and I'll finally be free!
"We should be getting close now." [Corinna]
"Yes, Your Majesty. The cave is up ahead." [Mira]
Uh oh, I jinxed it didn't I? Also why are we going to a cave? I thought people lived in houses.
"Ah, we're here. You can walk on your own now, sweetie." [Corinna]
"Ehhh?" [Lucillia]
"Don't complain about that. It's not good if you don't stretch your legs every now and then. Plus, it would make it easier for you to explore around the place, wouldn't it?" [Corinna]
Hm, that's true. If I can walk myself, that means I can find a spot to hide and I won't have to do anything! Genius! Okay, I accept these conditions!
"Hup!" [Lucillia]
"Oh, now you're excited, huh? I bet you're going to try and hide or run away again, aren't you?" [Corinna]
"...No..." [Lucillia]
"That's what I thought. Now follow me and try not to get lost, it's a bit dark in here." [Corinna]
Blehhh, it's not fun if I get busted before it even begins, you know! Bad Mama, bad! You're supposed to let me win!
"You know what, why don't you hold my hand instead? That might be the best choice here." [Corinna]
"Huu, huuuu~" [Lucillia]
Mama...so...tall...can't..reeeach. Stop...moving..your..hand!!
Haah, haah, fine! If that's how you wanna play, two can play that game!
"Hey, why are you going over to Mira? I asked you to hold my hand first." [Corinna]
"Hmph." [Lucillia]
"Hehe, oh my~." [Mira]
"Oh fine, be that way. Just don't fall behind." [Corinna]
Hah! That's right! Feel the pain of being ignored! Mwahahaha, doesn't it feel-wait, hold up, don't just walk away! Come back here right now! I'm not done with you!!!
"Be careful dear. If you do not watch your step, you may trip and fall." [Mira]
"But, Mama, too fast!" [Lucillia]
"Not to worry, dear. I know the way as well. While Her Majesty goes on ahead, we can proceed at our own pace." [Mira]
"Really?" [Lucillia]
"Really. It will be a nice, peaceful walk with just the two of us. Wouldn't you like that?" [Mira]
"Mmm!" [Lucillia]
"Then let us be off." [Mira]
Hehe~, ehehehe~, did you hear that? Mira and I are gonna go on a walk alllll by ourselves. Well, kind of. Mama's still technically here, but she's walking too fast for me to catch up, so yeah.
Anyways and ways of any! It's just me and Mira right now and that's all that matters! I mean, spending time with Mama's fun and all, but I haven't had any time with Mira! And what better way to spend time together than to explore a dark and spooky cave?
I have to say though, this cave hasn't been all that exciting so far. All I've seen so far have been a bunch of webs and some rocks. Oh, but there was this cute looking rock by the entrance. It had those fun little eyes that move around when you shake them. It wasn't one of the ones that moved around though, so we had to leave it behind.
Other than that, there hasn't been much else to look at. It doesn't help that it's so dark down here, even though Mira and Mama are holding lanterns they got from somewhere. I don't even know how they know where to go, but they seem to be confident about it, so I'll just blindly follow them. Mhm, yup, nothing could possibly go wrong.
*skitter, skitter*
Hm? What was that? Did anyone else hear that?
...
Guess not. Must be my silly imagination again.
"Alright, we're almost there. If something jumps out at you, sweetie, try not to eat it." [Corinna]
"Kay." [Lucillia]
Try not to eat it? But what if it's tasty? Can I eat it if it's tasty? I should eat it if it's tasty!
"Please heed your mother's warning, dear. I can guarantee you that whatever would fly at you would likely be filled with venom and not taste good at all." [Mira]
"But, but! What if?!" [Lucillia]
"As much as I enjoy your adventurous spirit and would love to let you test your hypotheses, I don't want to deal with an angry spider at the end of it." [Corinna]
"Spooder?" [Lucillia]
"Yes, spooders. Lots of them. And they'll be very angry if you try to eat them." [Corinna]
<Oh? The only thing I'm angry about here is that you refuse to feed your child when she's hungry. And you dare call yourself a mother.> [Spooder]
"Who?! What?! Where?! WHY?!" [Lucillia]
I'm hearing voices! I'm hearing voices in my head and I don't know where it's coming from! It's happened before, too! I was trying to sleep, but I kept hearing the voices in my head, but I was also too tired to yell at them, so I had to just deal with it.
<Ah, where have my manners gone? It wouldn't do well to show my regular form to such a small child. Hold on for a second, would you, dear?> [Spooder]
One...okay time's up! Now show me where the voice is coming from!
"Ah, ahhhh~, ahem, there we go. When was the last time I had to use this form, I wonder?" [Spooder]
"What? Losing your memory already? I always knew you were going senile." [Corinna]
"Says the one that outlived an entire galaxy. Shouldn't you be busy withering away at home? Your poor old bones may just snap one of these days~." [Spooder]
"Really? Why don't you go out and stretch your legs, hm? They must be getting so stiff when you're holed up in here all the time. At this rate, I'm concerned they might fall off with even the slightest movement." [Corinna]
"Ara? I never knew you cared so much for me. I can almost feel my heart being moved." [Spooder]
"Well of course. It is only natural for the younger one to care for her older sister, especially when she's so elderly~." [Corinna]
"Ufufu~." [Spooder]
"Hehehe~." [Corinna]
Uhh, is there an adult somewhere? I need an adult. This weird looking spooder-lady just walked in out of nowhere, and now she and Mama are just staring and laughing at each other.
It's starting to feel a little spooky over there because Mama's eyes are half-open, or closed? Whatever. And then the spooder-lady has half her eyes closed and the other half open. Yeah that's right, eyes! She has lots of them! Like, uh, one two five...eight! She has eight of them! She also has a bunch of legs, er arms?, on her back, you know, the spidey ones. There's one two...four of them!
I don't know how she got them through her really fancy looking dress, but somehow she did. They do look like they can move around a lot, so maybe that's it. Hmm, I wonder how crunchy they are...
"Ahem, that's enough of that I suppose. It wouldn't do well to keep a child waiting after all. Now then, dear, come a little closer would you?" [Spooder]
"Kay." [Lucillia]
"Hmm...ah! I remember you now! Did your dress tear another hole again? I would recommend getting some new clothes at this point, but it seems your stingy mother doesn't care enough about you. Worry not though, dear, I'm sure we have something you might like." [Spooder]
Eh wat? I don't remember meeting any spooders. I definitely would've remembered meeting a pretty lady like her! Just, uh, ignore the fact that most of the people I know are pretty ladies.
"Heh, now I know you're really going senile." [Corinna]
"And why is that?" [Spooder]
"Because this one is a child you haven't met yet. Go on sweeitie, tell the old spider your name. And you might have to speak up, her hearing isn't what it used to be, amongst other things." [Corinna]
"Oh hush. I can function just fine. Go ahead dear. You may take your time unlike what your mother says." [Spooder]
"Lucillia!" [Lucillia]
"Well done. My name is Arak'sha and contrary to what you may have heard, your mother relies on me for many things, and we care for each other quite a bit." [Spooder]
"Nope, not at all. Don't listen to her." [Corinna]
"See? Can't you just feel the love in her words~?" [Arak'sha]
"Uhh..." [Lucillia]
I dunno about that chief. You'd have to look reallllll hard to find any love in those kinds of words. Oh, but now Mama's getting a bunch of headpats from the spooder lady. I wonder what that feels like from those spidey arms. Only one way to find out!
"Me next, me next!" [Lucillia]
"Hm? Ah, you mean this? Very well then, come a biiit closer first." [Arak'sha]
You mean like this? How much is 'closer' supposed to meee-wahhh?!
"Hm, you are quite small. But, still adorable nonetheless." [Arak'sha]
"Well that goes without saying." [Corinna]
"Oh? Did I hear that correctly? Did you finally agree with me for once?" [Arak'sha]
"Maybe. Maybe not." [Corinna]
"Hm...well anyways, why don't we sit down and have a little chat dear? I'd love to know more about you." [Arak'sha]
"Kay." [Lucillia]
Blehhh, that means more talking. But the spooder lady is pretty nice and her headpats feel nice too, so I guess it won't be so bad.
Some amount of chatting later
I can see it! I can see the light! It's...GYAAA, IT'S TOO BRIGHT, RUN AWAY!!
"Hey, if you keep struggling so much, you're going to fall." [Corinna]
"Hai." [Lucillia]
"Do feel free to visit any time, dear. And let me know whenever you need some new clothes. I'll even give you a discount~." [Arak'sha]
"Alright, the day won't last forever. Time to go." [Corinna]
"Until next time, dear~." [Arak'sha]
"Bye." [Lucillia]
Well that was interesting. Even though Mama wanted me to talk about myself, you know, things I like and stuff, the spooder lady was really nice about it and even gave me cookies every time I finished a sentence!
Hmm, I talked about a bunch of stuff so I can't really remember it all, but I started by talking about some of the books I liked. But then I got bored, so I talked about how much I like tails and all the different tails I've touched.
Oh, and there were these other spooder ladies that brought the cookies over. They looked a little different from the spooder lady though. Their top halves were all humany and stuff, but the bottom bits were all spidey bits. Oh, they did have the same eyes though. They were also wearing fancy-looking dresses!
I would say I want one, but if anything, I just wanna look at someone else wearing them! Like Mira, or Mama, or Big Sis'. It's not as fun to wear pretty looking clothes if you aren't the one seeing them, you know?
Anyways, eventually Mama said we had to go. so we did. I still have no idea what's going on, but at least now, I can hold Mama's and mira's hands at the same time. Uh, I mean I'm holding Mama's hand with one hand and Mira's hand with the other.
"Haah, that took longer than expected. Do you think we still have time to visit the Wind Dragons?" [Corinna]
"Hm, given our pace so far in dealing with the ones fond of children, I have my doubts, Your Majesty. I imagine we would not exit their settlement until dusk." [Mira]
"Meh. It's not like they'll go anywhere anyways. Plus, it's just past noon, so maybe we could...alright then, change of plans. Come here sweetie. Make sure you really hold on this time." [Corinna]
"?" [Lucillia]
"Mira, you can go back and tell the girls we won't be home for lunch...and probably dinner." [Corinna]
"Understood, Your Majesty." [Mira]
"Ehhh?" [Lucillia]
Whaddaya mean Mira's staying home? Where are we even going?!
"Calm down, Mira's just staying back because she won't be able to keep up. Besides, you should be glad about our next destination." [Corinna]
"Why dat?" [Lucillia]
"Because, we're going to visit your sister." [Corinna]
