Naga and Halley's Story
Happening at the same time as Umbalt's story, Naga and Halley are sent to the outer ring of the kingdom to investigate the condition of the villagers and Sindy/Toemeyo's whereabouts.
The villagers looked at them with curiosity, some wit distaste, because they dressed like upper ring citizens, which didn't frequent these areas often. The people all had eyes like dead fish, and kept to themselves.
Halley encounters a merchant who has wares with some paint that is usually used only for the upper ring buildings and takes note of that. They go to a teashop and overhear two drunk men talking, who mention that they are going to be rich. Naga approaches them and tries to weasel some information out of them and the men reveal that they saw Sindy and Toemeyo, as well as the knowledge of the Magical Balls and their wish-granting abilities.
Naga pushes them a bit more but they get defensive, so Naga smacks them with an empty mug and makes a run for it and escapes with Halley on a cart. Halley suggests talking to the merchant man again because the fact that he has paint means he has a wide connection, so they bribe him and know that the two have been sighted at an abandoned village covered in a green mist. Naga and Halley go and Naga employs her pet snake uYu to investigate which she can communicate with using snakejutsu.
uYu slithers into the village and finds no people, only animals. It encounters a snake colony who tell it that they've been hearing sounds ever since two strangers came in, and the mist intensified with their presence. uYu declines shelter from them and go towards the centre of the village by the waterfall where it sees Toemeyo giving Sindy the heimlich maneuver in an attempt to get the latter to spit out the Ball they swallowed.
Sindy isn't coughing it up to Toemeyo ends up trapping Sindy with giant toes and forcing her to drink the murky liquid from the ponds which is so disgusting it could make even a God purge everything out. With some effort, coughing and screaming Sindy successfully vomits out the Ball and they celebrate like they just gave birth.
uYu takes this information and reports back to Naga who reports back to Empress Rachel. We find out that Taz has found a Ball after the last wish and is now under the Kingdom's safekeeping. Mina who has been watching everything finds everything amusing, and we meet Mitsuhide, who says that its time for him to take action.
The villagers looked at them with curiosity, some wit distaste, because they dressed like upper ring citizens, which didn't frequent these areas often. The people all had eyes like dead fish, and kept to themselves.
Halley encounters a merchant who has wares with some paint that is usually used only for the upper ring buildings and takes note of that. They go to a teashop and overhear two drunk men talking, who mention that they are going to be rich. Naga approaches them and tries to weasel some information out of them and the men reveal that they saw Sindy and Toemeyo, as well as the knowledge of the Magical Balls and their wish-granting abilities.
Naga pushes them a bit more but they get defensive, so Naga smacks them with an empty mug and makes a run for it and escapes with Halley on a cart. Halley suggests talking to the merchant man again because the fact that he has paint means he has a wide connection, so they bribe him and know that the two have been sighted at an abandoned village covered in a green mist. Naga and Halley go and Naga employs her pet snake uYu to investigate which she can communicate with using snakejutsu.
uYu slithers into the village and finds no people, only animals. It encounters a snake colony who tell it that they've been hearing sounds ever since two strangers came in, and the mist intensified with their presence. uYu declines shelter from them and go towards the centre of the village by the waterfall where it sees Toemeyo giving Sindy the heimlich maneuver in an attempt to get the latter to spit out the Ball they swallowed.
Sindy isn't coughing it up to Toemeyo ends up trapping Sindy with giant toes and forcing her to drink the murky liquid from the ponds which is so disgusting it could make even a God purge everything out. With some effort, coughing and screaming Sindy successfully vomits out the Ball and they celebrate like they just gave birth.
uYu takes this information and reports back to Naga who reports back to Empress Rachel. We find out that Taz has found a Ball after the last wish and is now under the Kingdom's safekeeping. Mina who has been watching everything finds everything amusing, and we meet Mitsuhide, who says that its time for him to take action.
Plot points/Scenes
While Umbalt worked with Sindy's former soldiers in the middle ring, Empress Dowager Rachel sent Naga and Halley to the outer ring, the most damaged part of the kingdom but also the most informed. With the whereabouts of sin and toe unknown after earth-splitting, Naga and Halley needed to find out what was happening to both the villagers and the kingdom's now mortal enemies.
She approached random villages and would ask them if they've seen anyone suspicious, either asking about 'two shady people' or 'have you seen any glowing oranges'. Much to their dismay most of the villagers would shake their head, but they did hear about something interesting.
Not just in the middle ring, but the influence of sin and toe was also present in the outer ring. The people spoke of other villages who would momentarily lash out, turn into strange creatures and attack others, only to turn back as if nothing had happened and it was all a dream. And anyone who would ask them about it would only be met with confusion and denial, "but you turned into a frog", "was I kissed", "what are you talking about i have normal legs and stubby little toes".
It seemed that the people in areas that had been more destroyed than others was experiencing this strange phenomena, or at least more than other villages.
Everywhere they went, Naga and Halley were met by curious – some distasteful – glances, for they had never seen the robes they wore nor the gazes they held. People from the palace did not often frequent the outskirts, due to it's mostly uninhabitable terrain that was not fit for a King's (or, formerly King) steps, and they all, Naga realized, had eyes of a dead fish.
Even though they shot the two of them curious glances, none of them had approached. They kept to themselves and casted their attention onto whatever work they did. Naga felt.... pity for these people - pity that they had looked her that way, as if her clean face and the way she walked flat footedly was of some regal note and not simply the standards of a hardworking peasant like the ones she'd seen in the middle ring. Halley, however, chose to interest herself in the craft of a vendor's. She had noticed that it was glistened with light touches of gold and a silver paint had outlines the palace walls.
How, then, did a mere street vendor of the outermost ring get his hands on such a valuable and high quality material? And so Halley tucked that information into the back of her head and merely offer a slight smile, along with a "this is beautiful work," for courtesy.
For now, Naga and Halley situated themselves at a hole in the wall teashop – Naga knew this was where rumours would circulate quickly. Naga sat at the bar, eavesdropping on a conversation between two drunk men. truth always come out when alcohol – or a very sharp knife – was involved, "we'll be kings, you know! kings!". Naga's ears perked at that. talk of treachery and spite for royalty and rich was not uncommon when you lived in the outermost ring. But kings, they said?
"if you find the balls, we'll be filthy rich! never wear another rag in my life!"
Curiosity and concerned piqued, Naga stumbled over, pretending to be drunk and ran into the shoulder of the man. "Watch it," he slurred. "Sorry, sorry." she gave them a tipsy, carefree smile. "Heard y'all were talking about gettin rich? not to brag, but I'm kind of a hired gun myself. care to share?"
One of the two men smiled grimly, and the sight of it was enough for Naga to feel her heart recoil. "we don't share.". "with people you don't trust," she said and offered a cheeky curtsy. "and the only thing I trust might be myself, so we can get along together, yeah?". "if you're so good, how come we've never heard of ya?". She winked. "just means I'm that good, ya dolt."
The men seemed to appreciate her antics, if anything. That was good. a rough start, but she's getting there. "so how about you tell your distrustful, lying, thieving little misfit here about your plan, yeah? plus, you could just kill me if I ever spilled the beans on ya.". The two men spared a glance, and she saw understanding and they relented with a grunt, "'eve been hearing this story, about some legendary magical balls. its said that it'll grant your wish if you find all seven of em.".
Naga rolled her eyes, feigning disinterest. "Yes, yes, and if you don't eat all ya rice it cries. how dull. and here I thought I could put myself to good use, apply myself to the world." she stood up, pretending to leave. "that ain't all of it, ya know. it's more real than you think!" now there we go, she thought. When met with disinterest, people always did had a tendency to blurt out more information. Reverse psychology really worked wonders in this job.
"oh? how so?", "just passing by a few days ago, there was this odd balls – the other wore a frog mask, one of em had chalk white hair like you've never seen before.". Naga felt her heart stop. "I doubt it. but go on.". "Anyways, they were talking about, about some legend and finding balls. they headed off somewhere, but I'll bet we can find em faster if we worked together."
"which direction did they go?". "....I don't know.". "you do. which direction?" One of the men had a look of displeasure scar his already hideous face, and took slammed his beer bottle on the bar counter. "Friend of yours, missy? maybe you're not a hired gun after all."
Naga looked to where Halley was supposed to be and panicked when she wasn't there. She readied her feet, heels high to sprint. The two men approached her now, slow and leisurely like a tiger might it's prey. One hairy, big hand tipped her chin upwards and she was uncomfortably aware that his hand could easily crush her skull."I should've known. you're too pretty to be a hired gun.". Naga backed into the countertop until she felt the edge pressing on her back. "I might be pretty," she said and reached for an empty beer mug. "But I'm not weak." And he swung the mug at his jaw, sending a satisfying clack and the would indulge later.
"you...! cheeky bitch! I'll get ya!". " 'fraid not," she said, and gave the door a good slam before exiting. "just means I'm that good, ya dolt."
Halley was already outside with their getaway, one of those old wooden carts that the farmers would use to carry away their goods and hay. "Took you a while" she laughed as Naga leapt on. Cracking the horse once the cart sped off down the path, rounding the corner before the men could even think about chasing them after taking several smaller paths and looping around the village until they were sure they lost them, the two climbed off, untied the horse, and contemplated their next plan of action. They had no leads as to where Sindy and Toemeyo were, after all.
When Halley raised an idea, "how about we go back to see that street vendor?". "What about him?" Naga asked. But halley just took Naga by the hand and led her back towards the man, still at his stall, looking weary and tired. "excuse me," Halley caught the man's attention. "We're looking for some of our... companions, but we lost track of them. have you seen-" she waved her hands to indicate height, "someone wearing a frog mask, possibly wearing religious clothing, with another who has white hair?"
The man stared at them with narrowed eyes. "nope, but they sound ridiculous. probably rich snobs from the upper ring, why would they be out here?". Halley rummaged through their travelling purses and fished out a gold coin, tapping the counter with it "are you sure?". The man's eyes lit up momentarily, but he turned them away from their gazes. "yup, don't know. why would I? i'm here all day.". Halley pointed at his wares, "isn't this paint from the upper ring? i can tell- if you have these then it means you definitely have a wide network to get this from up there to down here.".
Naga rapped it with a knuckle, "if you got this stuff illegally, we could report you to the army, y'know.". The two stared at him silently. and he stared back, like a standoff. But ultimately he sighed, yanked the coin and slipped it into his pockets, pointing outside the village. "heard the two of them were stopping by the village way out there. you know, that one, the one no one goes to. place has been contaminated since forever. only animals live there now."
Despite the attitude Halley thanked the man and they spun around, heading towards the village with newfound vigour.
When the village was in sight, they could see the condition of the place - it was not too nice. Covered in an eerie green mist, it was clear there would barely be anyone living in it. In fact the mist could have come from Sin and Toe, if they were there somewhere. They hid themselves in the tall grass, and spotted that some houses had been moved outside the village's perimeters. "those must be the former villages," Halley pointed out.
Naga nudged the inside of her robes, and from her collar poked out the head of a very adorable but ferocious snake. Because it was time for her to utilise her powers at last - the power of snakejutsu - for the snake was an extension of all her senses, its eyes were her eyes, and she could feel the world thru this majestic being. The snake unwrapped itself from her waist where it had been sleeping, and Naga pulled out a flute from her sleeve. She tooted a little tune at the snake, who looked up at her like a child would to a mother, and nodding once as if it understood what Naga wanted it to do, slithered off from the grass towards the village as her trusty scout.
uYu the snake slipped past the mist into the village. It was desolate, with abandoned houses and murky ponds, but that did not scare the brave uYu, who went off searching for this mysterious frog-masked toe and the white haired sin. As it slithered into the undergrowth of the plants, it suddenly came upon a group of snakes and the like, huddled together in a small pocket between the soil and the trees like a small cave. Naga pushed uYu to talk to them, so it did.
They hissed about how two strangers entering the village, and almost immediately the village became difficult for them to live in. Their mere presence alone striked fear into any animals' hearts, and even looking at the eyes of the frog mask was enough to scare them. Aside from this at night they would hear groaning from near the pond's source, and none of them dared to check it out, fearing it was some cruel and evil monster that the strangers had unleashed.
The giant mother snake shielding the smaller ones from harm leaned forward to examine this new possible companion. "do you also want shelter, little one?" the mother snake hissed. uYu shook its head, for it had a mission. The younger snakes' jaws fell open as they looked at uYu with admiration. Perhaps uYu will be the scaly hero that will save from the evil grasp of the two strangers? If snakes could cry the mother snake would have shed a tear at this brave warrior.
uYu left the cave behind as the snakes waved their tails at her as if to wave goodbye, yet they did not dare to say it with words in their snake language, because to them it would be like watching uYu sacrificing itself in vain. She journeyed towards the centre of the village, and there she saw it - and heard it - groaning and complaining human voices.
uYu peered out from the grass and saw two figures standing next to the small waterfall that gave life to the ponds. It was the frog-headed Toemeyo, holding the white-haired Sindy's waist. What were they doing?
Nothing sinful - it was Toemeyo doing the heimlich maneuver on Sindy over and over. "YOU NEED TO SPIT IT OUT". "I CAN'T". "Well it has to come out of your mouth because it can't come out the other end - it's too big"
Sindy started wailing, because she thought it was a good idea that she had swallowed the ball. But now it was proving difficult even for this being, with the blood of a deity, to get it back out. Toemeyo let go of Sindy's waist and picked up a makeshift bowl from the ground, scooping up the murky waters of the pond. uYu watched as the disgusting dark brown green muck dripped from the bowl, flinching at the sight. Toemeyo sighed, and uYu could feel the exasperation behind the mask, and said: "drink up then". "i am NOT drinking that". "but you have to". "that looks worse than anything i've made people think of and I'm the Goddess of Sin". "exactly, it'll be so revolting that your body will literally purge everything - including the ball"
But Sindy continued to shake her head in disgust. "even my guts?? I don't want that??". "you're a God. You'll fuckin live you wimp". "THAT'S NOT HOW GODS WORK" And so the Priestess of the Toes brought her hands in prayer and uttered unspeakable, unrepeatable words. And from the ground giant wriggling toes sprouted from the ground like trees, trapping the God where they stood. Toemeyo squished Sindy's cheeks as she approached with the bowl, "MMHPHMPHMPJHMHPMHPH". "Shh my child... it will be over soon..."
uYu did not stay to even continue watching, for it knew it was no match for these two. As she turned back to report to Naga, she heard ungodly screaming from behind her - the type of sounds you would hear at a torture chamber, or perhaps even worse, and the sound of gagging, from both people, mind you. Even as a snake incapable of relating to human beings, uYu felt sick to the stomach. There was the sound of a body falling on grass, coughing, some dry heaving, liquid splashing. And then, pop.
Something came out. uYu turned around and saw it - a Magical Ball, orange, still glowing, just... covered in things. Toemeyo cried, "it's a Ball". And Sindy cradled it like a child, "YOU HAVE RETURNED". And they celebrated like two drunk fathers after finding out their wife had just bore them a lively heir to the family.
uYu quickly slithered away before it was noticed by the two evil Gods who were not acting very godly right now.
Past the trees, past the den of the snakes, out of that cursed village and back into the grass, at a speed so fast that sonic would be jealous, it instantly curled its body around Naga, who seemed a little surprised. "uYu you look so green- greener than usual, what happened?"
uYu's eyes held unspeakable horrors, but it hissed and told Naga everything, whose face slowly turned green as well. "It's good you didn't engage even though they were distracted," Naga said. She narrowed her eyes, "I had no idea Toemeyo had harnessed the power of Toe that well already... and they got their hands on a Ball...". "we have to report this to the Empress Dowager immediately," Halley said, after listening to Naga's translation. uYu was not available for use for the next week.
Naga and Halley returned to the palace with grim faces. They reported all that they found out to the Empress, whose face changed from her normal, peaceful expression to one of concern. Taz, who was recording all of this, as she always did beside the Empress, paused in her writing as well. The kingdom feared what Sindy and Toemeyo would do next but to know that they were finding the Balls as well? That was bone-chilling.
However, Empress Lune knew now that they were indeed loyal, if they could tell her such movements of their enemies, and so showed them what she had also showed Umbalt upon the completion of her quest - a Magical Ball. "After they were scattered again when I made my wish, Taz happened upon this one," she said. "Now that we know Sindy and Toemeyo are also looking for them, we will put full effort into protecting this, so it'll never fall into their hands."
Naga and Halley nodded, bowing to the ruler of the Kingdom, resolving to be by her side, and to bring an end to this conflict. Watching this chaos unfold was Mina, playing with her 8 ball, wearing an amused expression on her face. Her expression made it seem like she knew everything that had transpired, even if she wasn't there herself, because she had eyes everywhere and saw everything no matter how hard they tried to hide it. "things are starting to get interesting," she murmured to herself at the revelation of Sindy and Toemeyo's activities. And standing behind her, half submerged by the shadows, was a man. "indeed it is," said a certain foxy individual.
Mitsuhide's eyes seemed to sparkle in the darkness. it was his time for him to move.
She approached random villages and would ask them if they've seen anyone suspicious, either asking about 'two shady people' or 'have you seen any glowing oranges'. Much to their dismay most of the villagers would shake their head, but they did hear about something interesting.
Not just in the middle ring, but the influence of sin and toe was also present in the outer ring. The people spoke of other villages who would momentarily lash out, turn into strange creatures and attack others, only to turn back as if nothing had happened and it was all a dream. And anyone who would ask them about it would only be met with confusion and denial, "but you turned into a frog", "was I kissed", "what are you talking about i have normal legs and stubby little toes".
It seemed that the people in areas that had been more destroyed than others was experiencing this strange phenomena, or at least more than other villages.
Everywhere they went, Naga and Halley were met by curious – some distasteful – glances, for they had never seen the robes they wore nor the gazes they held. People from the palace did not often frequent the outskirts, due to it's mostly uninhabitable terrain that was not fit for a King's (or, formerly King) steps, and they all, Naga realized, had eyes of a dead fish.
Even though they shot the two of them curious glances, none of them had approached. They kept to themselves and casted their attention onto whatever work they did. Naga felt.... pity for these people - pity that they had looked her that way, as if her clean face and the way she walked flat footedly was of some regal note and not simply the standards of a hardworking peasant like the ones she'd seen in the middle ring. Halley, however, chose to interest herself in the craft of a vendor's. She had noticed that it was glistened with light touches of gold and a silver paint had outlines the palace walls.
How, then, did a mere street vendor of the outermost ring get his hands on such a valuable and high quality material? And so Halley tucked that information into the back of her head and merely offer a slight smile, along with a "this is beautiful work," for courtesy.
For now, Naga and Halley situated themselves at a hole in the wall teashop – Naga knew this was where rumours would circulate quickly. Naga sat at the bar, eavesdropping on a conversation between two drunk men. truth always come out when alcohol – or a very sharp knife – was involved, "we'll be kings, you know! kings!". Naga's ears perked at that. talk of treachery and spite for royalty and rich was not uncommon when you lived in the outermost ring. But kings, they said?
"if you find the balls, we'll be filthy rich! never wear another rag in my life!"
Curiosity and concerned piqued, Naga stumbled over, pretending to be drunk and ran into the shoulder of the man. "Watch it," he slurred. "Sorry, sorry." she gave them a tipsy, carefree smile. "Heard y'all were talking about gettin rich? not to brag, but I'm kind of a hired gun myself. care to share?"
One of the two men smiled grimly, and the sight of it was enough for Naga to feel her heart recoil. "we don't share.". "with people you don't trust," she said and offered a cheeky curtsy. "and the only thing I trust might be myself, so we can get along together, yeah?". "if you're so good, how come we've never heard of ya?". She winked. "just means I'm that good, ya dolt."
The men seemed to appreciate her antics, if anything. That was good. a rough start, but she's getting there. "so how about you tell your distrustful, lying, thieving little misfit here about your plan, yeah? plus, you could just kill me if I ever spilled the beans on ya.". The two men spared a glance, and she saw understanding and they relented with a grunt, "'eve been hearing this story, about some legendary magical balls. its said that it'll grant your wish if you find all seven of em.".
Naga rolled her eyes, feigning disinterest. "Yes, yes, and if you don't eat all ya rice it cries. how dull. and here I thought I could put myself to good use, apply myself to the world." she stood up, pretending to leave. "that ain't all of it, ya know. it's more real than you think!" now there we go, she thought. When met with disinterest, people always did had a tendency to blurt out more information. Reverse psychology really worked wonders in this job.
"oh? how so?", "just passing by a few days ago, there was this odd balls – the other wore a frog mask, one of em had chalk white hair like you've never seen before.". Naga felt her heart stop. "I doubt it. but go on.". "Anyways, they were talking about, about some legend and finding balls. they headed off somewhere, but I'll bet we can find em faster if we worked together."
"which direction did they go?". "....I don't know.". "you do. which direction?" One of the men had a look of displeasure scar his already hideous face, and took slammed his beer bottle on the bar counter. "Friend of yours, missy? maybe you're not a hired gun after all."
Naga looked to where Halley was supposed to be and panicked when she wasn't there. She readied her feet, heels high to sprint. The two men approached her now, slow and leisurely like a tiger might it's prey. One hairy, big hand tipped her chin upwards and she was uncomfortably aware that his hand could easily crush her skull."I should've known. you're too pretty to be a hired gun.". Naga backed into the countertop until she felt the edge pressing on her back. "I might be pretty," she said and reached for an empty beer mug. "But I'm not weak." And he swung the mug at his jaw, sending a satisfying clack and the would indulge later.
"you...! cheeky bitch! I'll get ya!". " 'fraid not," she said, and gave the door a good slam before exiting. "just means I'm that good, ya dolt."
Halley was already outside with their getaway, one of those old wooden carts that the farmers would use to carry away their goods and hay. "Took you a while" she laughed as Naga leapt on. Cracking the horse once the cart sped off down the path, rounding the corner before the men could even think about chasing them after taking several smaller paths and looping around the village until they were sure they lost them, the two climbed off, untied the horse, and contemplated their next plan of action. They had no leads as to where Sindy and Toemeyo were, after all.
When Halley raised an idea, "how about we go back to see that street vendor?". "What about him?" Naga asked. But halley just took Naga by the hand and led her back towards the man, still at his stall, looking weary and tired. "excuse me," Halley caught the man's attention. "We're looking for some of our... companions, but we lost track of them. have you seen-" she waved her hands to indicate height, "someone wearing a frog mask, possibly wearing religious clothing, with another who has white hair?"
The man stared at them with narrowed eyes. "nope, but they sound ridiculous. probably rich snobs from the upper ring, why would they be out here?". Halley rummaged through their travelling purses and fished out a gold coin, tapping the counter with it "are you sure?". The man's eyes lit up momentarily, but he turned them away from their gazes. "yup, don't know. why would I? i'm here all day.". Halley pointed at his wares, "isn't this paint from the upper ring? i can tell- if you have these then it means you definitely have a wide network to get this from up there to down here.".
Naga rapped it with a knuckle, "if you got this stuff illegally, we could report you to the army, y'know.". The two stared at him silently. and he stared back, like a standoff. But ultimately he sighed, yanked the coin and slipped it into his pockets, pointing outside the village. "heard the two of them were stopping by the village way out there. you know, that one, the one no one goes to. place has been contaminated since forever. only animals live there now."
Despite the attitude Halley thanked the man and they spun around, heading towards the village with newfound vigour.
When the village was in sight, they could see the condition of the place - it was not too nice. Covered in an eerie green mist, it was clear there would barely be anyone living in it. In fact the mist could have come from Sin and Toe, if they were there somewhere. They hid themselves in the tall grass, and spotted that some houses had been moved outside the village's perimeters. "those must be the former villages," Halley pointed out.
Naga nudged the inside of her robes, and from her collar poked out the head of a very adorable but ferocious snake. Because it was time for her to utilise her powers at last - the power of snakejutsu - for the snake was an extension of all her senses, its eyes were her eyes, and she could feel the world thru this majestic being. The snake unwrapped itself from her waist where it had been sleeping, and Naga pulled out a flute from her sleeve. She tooted a little tune at the snake, who looked up at her like a child would to a mother, and nodding once as if it understood what Naga wanted it to do, slithered off from the grass towards the village as her trusty scout.
uYu the snake slipped past the mist into the village. It was desolate, with abandoned houses and murky ponds, but that did not scare the brave uYu, who went off searching for this mysterious frog-masked toe and the white haired sin. As it slithered into the undergrowth of the plants, it suddenly came upon a group of snakes and the like, huddled together in a small pocket between the soil and the trees like a small cave. Naga pushed uYu to talk to them, so it did.
They hissed about how two strangers entering the village, and almost immediately the village became difficult for them to live in. Their mere presence alone striked fear into any animals' hearts, and even looking at the eyes of the frog mask was enough to scare them. Aside from this at night they would hear groaning from near the pond's source, and none of them dared to check it out, fearing it was some cruel and evil monster that the strangers had unleashed.
The giant mother snake shielding the smaller ones from harm leaned forward to examine this new possible companion. "do you also want shelter, little one?" the mother snake hissed. uYu shook its head, for it had a mission. The younger snakes' jaws fell open as they looked at uYu with admiration. Perhaps uYu will be the scaly hero that will save from the evil grasp of the two strangers? If snakes could cry the mother snake would have shed a tear at this brave warrior.
uYu left the cave behind as the snakes waved their tails at her as if to wave goodbye, yet they did not dare to say it with words in their snake language, because to them it would be like watching uYu sacrificing itself in vain. She journeyed towards the centre of the village, and there she saw it - and heard it - groaning and complaining human voices.
uYu peered out from the grass and saw two figures standing next to the small waterfall that gave life to the ponds. It was the frog-headed Toemeyo, holding the white-haired Sindy's waist. What were they doing?
Nothing sinful - it was Toemeyo doing the heimlich maneuver on Sindy over and over. "YOU NEED TO SPIT IT OUT". "I CAN'T". "Well it has to come out of your mouth because it can't come out the other end - it's too big"
Sindy started wailing, because she thought it was a good idea that she had swallowed the ball. But now it was proving difficult even for this being, with the blood of a deity, to get it back out. Toemeyo let go of Sindy's waist and picked up a makeshift bowl from the ground, scooping up the murky waters of the pond. uYu watched as the disgusting dark brown green muck dripped from the bowl, flinching at the sight. Toemeyo sighed, and uYu could feel the exasperation behind the mask, and said: "drink up then". "i am NOT drinking that". "but you have to". "that looks worse than anything i've made people think of and I'm the Goddess of Sin". "exactly, it'll be so revolting that your body will literally purge everything - including the ball"
But Sindy continued to shake her head in disgust. "even my guts?? I don't want that??". "you're a God. You'll fuckin live you wimp". "THAT'S NOT HOW GODS WORK" And so the Priestess of the Toes brought her hands in prayer and uttered unspeakable, unrepeatable words. And from the ground giant wriggling toes sprouted from the ground like trees, trapping the God where they stood. Toemeyo squished Sindy's cheeks as she approached with the bowl, "MMHPHMPHMPJHMHPMHPH". "Shh my child... it will be over soon..."
uYu did not stay to even continue watching, for it knew it was no match for these two. As she turned back to report to Naga, she heard ungodly screaming from behind her - the type of sounds you would hear at a torture chamber, or perhaps even worse, and the sound of gagging, from both people, mind you. Even as a snake incapable of relating to human beings, uYu felt sick to the stomach. There was the sound of a body falling on grass, coughing, some dry heaving, liquid splashing. And then, pop.
Something came out. uYu turned around and saw it - a Magical Ball, orange, still glowing, just... covered in things. Toemeyo cried, "it's a Ball". And Sindy cradled it like a child, "YOU HAVE RETURNED". And they celebrated like two drunk fathers after finding out their wife had just bore them a lively heir to the family.
uYu quickly slithered away before it was noticed by the two evil Gods who were not acting very godly right now.
Past the trees, past the den of the snakes, out of that cursed village and back into the grass, at a speed so fast that sonic would be jealous, it instantly curled its body around Naga, who seemed a little surprised. "uYu you look so green- greener than usual, what happened?"
uYu's eyes held unspeakable horrors, but it hissed and told Naga everything, whose face slowly turned green as well. "It's good you didn't engage even though they were distracted," Naga said. She narrowed her eyes, "I had no idea Toemeyo had harnessed the power of Toe that well already... and they got their hands on a Ball...". "we have to report this to the Empress Dowager immediately," Halley said, after listening to Naga's translation. uYu was not available for use for the next week.
Naga and Halley returned to the palace with grim faces. They reported all that they found out to the Empress, whose face changed from her normal, peaceful expression to one of concern. Taz, who was recording all of this, as she always did beside the Empress, paused in her writing as well. The kingdom feared what Sindy and Toemeyo would do next but to know that they were finding the Balls as well? That was bone-chilling.
However, Empress Lune knew now that they were indeed loyal, if they could tell her such movements of their enemies, and so showed them what she had also showed Umbalt upon the completion of her quest - a Magical Ball. "After they were scattered again when I made my wish, Taz happened upon this one," she said. "Now that we know Sindy and Toemeyo are also looking for them, we will put full effort into protecting this, so it'll never fall into their hands."
Naga and Halley nodded, bowing to the ruler of the Kingdom, resolving to be by her side, and to bring an end to this conflict. Watching this chaos unfold was Mina, playing with her 8 ball, wearing an amused expression on her face. Her expression made it seem like she knew everything that had transpired, even if she wasn't there herself, because she had eyes everywhere and saw everything no matter how hard they tried to hide it. "things are starting to get interesting," she murmured to herself at the revelation of Sindy and Toemeyo's activities. And standing behind her, half submerged by the shadows, was a man. "indeed it is," said a certain foxy individual.
Mitsuhide's eyes seemed to sparkle in the darkness. it was his time for him to move.
Relations
Protagonists
Archivist Naga
Halley
Halley
Allies
Empress Dowager Rachel
Scholar Umbalt
Recordkeeper Taz
Info Broker Mina
Mitsuhide
uYu the snake
Scholar Umbalt
Recordkeeper Taz
Info Broker Mina
Mitsuhide
uYu the snake
Competitors
Sindy
Toemeyo
Toemeyo
Plot type
Character arc
Related Characters
Related Organizations
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