Chapter Four Hundred and Ninety - Sanity Splash Damage

Chapter Four Hundred and Ninety - Sanity Splash Damage

Chapter Four Hundred and Ninety - Sanity Splash Damage

The air was crisp below the mountain that Port Royal was perched on (whose name I still didn't know, actually) and the road was actually pretty nice. It wasn't cobbled or anything, but hard-packed gravel with wagon wheel tracks pressed into the sides to create a bit of a hump in the middle. The sides were pooled with puddles, which was perfect!

"No no, see, there's a trick to it," I explained.

"Oh? Please, do instruct me further," Desiree replied. She eyed me very carefully as I took a slight running start, then hopped up and came crashing down feet-first into the middle of the puddle.

There was a big splash, water went everywhere and I raised my arms above me in victory. "See? The trick is to keep your feet together, like this." I stepped out of the puddle and pressed my shoes together. "It makes for a bigger, flatter surface that hits the water and splashes it harder."

"Broccoli, what are you even doing?" Amaryllis asked.

"The kind captain is instructing me on how to best handle puddles and other watery disturbances on the road," Desiree explained.

"I know, I was here for the entire conversation," Amaryllis snapped.

"It doesn't hurt anyone," I said. "I can just Clean the mud away. So it's perfect! Unless...." I gasped, hands clapping over my mouth. "Oh no, I'm so sorry Amaryllis!"

Amaryllis' eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you're apologizing for, and it worries me," she said.

"Your feet aren't flat on the bottom, I didn't think about it. Did I insult you by accident? I'm sure you can still make fantastic splishes and splashes even with talons!"

Amaryllis closed her eyes while next to her Calamity cackled.

"What's the difference between a splish and a splash?" Awen asked.

"Oh, that's a fantastic question!" I said. "So, a splish is more like splish! And a splash is more like splash!" I explained with the appropriate hand gestures.

Awen nodded. "I think I see. So If I want maximum splash, I might want to make something like a plate under my boots? To have more surface area?"

"I guess so, yeah," I said as I pushed some Cleaning magic out towards Desiree, she was practising now.

Awen's eyes narrowed. "I wonder... If I put holes in these plates, then the water will be forced through the small openings allowing for a great amount of splish."

"Splish-splash science!" I declared.

"No," Amaryllis un-declared. "We are not inventing new sciences, especially not... such childish ones."

That soon devolved into a walking stick-fight, which was mostly about us aiming to hit each other's sticks rather than actually hitting each other.

"What are you even doing?" Amaryllis asked after she turned around to the sound of wood snapping against wood. "Awen, even you?"

"Awa," Awen said. She had a pair of small sticks in hand, the handle end cut off in a Y that looked very comfy to hold.

"Oh, are we sword fighting?" Calamity asked.

"We are not," Amaryllis said.

"The rules are not to hit each other, and you have to find a stick off the ground, you can't hurt the trees for it," I said with a nod.

"How about we allow people to hit you?" Amaryllis asked. There was a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "You don't have Thick Skin yet, do you?"

"Well, I mean, I don't," I allowed.

Then I got a whap across the rump and I jumped with a squeak.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Awen said. "I thought I was helping!"

"Oh, you are!" Amaryllis replied with a smug grin. "Keep it up!"

I wasn't sure if I was making good progress towards Thick Skin but I was getting a lot of dodging practice in, and I was learning how to properly parry a stick-attack while running through a thick forest, so it wasn't all wasted.

We made it to the hillsides out past the forest a few hours before noon. Amaryllis and Calamity took some time to stare at our maps before they figured out exactly where we were, then we were off again.,

When noon did roll around, we took a small break next to a stream coming down the side of the mountain. It was a pretty deep stream, but not so wide that I couldn't step past it. The water was clear as glass and cool to the touch, so it was a nice, refreshing spot to stop at.

We found a tree next to the stream and settled down for sandwiches. Calamity got a fire going after throwing together a firepit with some stream-side rocks and soon enough we had some soup to dip our sandwiches into.

Once lunch was over, the fire was out, and our waterskins were refilled for the journey, we continued on our merry way.

We didn't stick fight as much, mostly because Calamity had joined in earlier and now I was smarting all over, so instead we played walking games, chatted about stuff that really didn't matter all that much, and enjoyed the sunlight.

"Alright," Amaryllis said eventually. She had the map out, and the papers we'd gotten from the guild. "If my calculations are right, then this is where we need to leave the mountainside and head south and west. We're going to want to form a line because finding this place might not be all that easy."

"Okay!" I said. "Keep your eyes and ears open, everyone! We've got an Explorer to find, and a cave to discover!"

***