Ch.23 IvyWood Village - part.2

Sapphire and Mora walked down the path towards the tree house. Sapphire looked around the ancient forest, remembering the pass.

Sapphire: It's strange. The forest seems to be the same. Still cold and dark, yet comforting...

Mora kept quiet and continued walking beside Sapphire.

Sapphire: I remember running along this path with Ruby and our other cousins... playing games, fighting... all seems like it happened yesterday.

Mora's ears pricked up and she started to sniff the air.

Sapphire: ... What's wrong, Mora?

Mora followed an invisible scent towards the tree house. She circled around the ladder and looked up in confusion.

Sapphire: If only you could talk like Fang, you could tell me what's up!

Mora scratched at the ladder and whined.

Sapphire: Ok, ok... I'll climb the ladder, if it makes you happy!

Sapphire climbed the ladder and went inside the tree house. Hex and Silver looked up surprised.

Silver: Didn't expect to see you back this quickly!

Sapphire: Yes, well... where's Boo?

Hex: He said he was out exploring the forest. Our Village is in a field without a tree in sight! It's cool to have a natural roof over our heads for once.

Sapphire: Mora just picked up a strange scent and it followed to here... I was wondering if you saw anything strange or not.

Silver: Not that I know of. Unless UnMythics raiding your house is strange, nothing exciting has happened.

Sapphire: UnMythics... raided the tree house?

Hex: Yes! Isn't that normal for other Villages?

Sapphire: No... it's just your Village that gets attacked on a daily schedule.

Silver: Right... Hex, make a note of that.

Sapphire: Did they take anything?

Hex: Nope. They just asked where they could find IvyWoods Village.

Sapphire: IvyWoods Village... I've heard of it before, but I can't remember where...

Silver: They don't teach us navigation in Darkriver Village. How to scare UnMythics, on the other hand...

Sapphire: ... I'll remember later. Right now, I need to alert Ruby and Midnight.

Hex: Can I help?

Sapphire: Well... I'm not sure...

Silver: Hex, you're not trained for this. Unless you suddenly become the Scarlet Star, you'll be more useful if you stay here and wait for Boo to return.

Hex: But... the Scarlet Star is just a myth!

Silver: You're forgetting WE'RE a myth!

Sapphire: But before we head off, how can I be sure you're any more help than you claim Hex to be?

Silver: I could be a distraction for you to sneak inside the Vampire Lord's training grounds so you can let Ruby and Midnight know what just happened, AND not get caught.

Sapphire: Sounds like you know what you're doing.

Silver: I'm a Pebble Creeper. It's what I do best.

Sapphire: Maybe next time, Hex.

Hex: That's what they all say...

Sapphire and Silver climb down the ladder to Mora, who was now bouncing around with excitement. They dashed off to the Vampire Lord's mansion to Ruby and Midnight.

Sapphire and Silver hid behind a wall near the entrance to the huge mansion.

Sapphire: (whispering) Ok... stick to the plan, don't hurt anyone, and don't get caught!

Silver: (whispering) Don't worry... just do your part and nothing will go wrong.

Silver casually walked out of the shadows and to the guard at the gate A few moments later, Vampire alarms were being sounded and Silver dashed into the busy streets with guards after her at top speeds. 

Sapphire: (thinking) Good... now to sneak in!

Sapphire entered the Vampire Lord's mansion and sneaked into the training grounds.

Sapphire: (thinking) Wow. The Vampire Lord has a really big back yard!

Sapphire explored the training grounds until she found Ruby and Midnight with a blue eagle, showing them some defense movements. Ruby turned around and gave Sapphire a surprised look.

Ruby: Sapphire! What are you doing here?

Sapphire: Sorry to interrupt your training, but I got some interesting news. UnMythics broke into our tree house and asked Hex and Silver where they could find the IvyWood Village!

Ruby: They did WHAT?!

Sapphire: Exactly what I thought! But thankfully Hex and Silver didn't know where IvyWood Village is.

Ruby: First Darkriver, now IvyWood? What are they planning...?

Midnight: ... What now? We're meant to train until moon rise, but... we CAN'T ignore it... what can we do? We're already in enough trouble as it is!

Sapphire: I say you skip the training and let's do another mission!

Ruby stayed silent for a minute before answering.

Ruby: ... Sapphire, ask Grandma for some potions and bombs. Midnight, I suggest you start gathering some gold and silver. I'll let the Vampire Lord know what's going on. We leave in half an hour for IvyWood Village!

Ruby dashed towards the Vampire Lord's mansion, while Midnight and Sapphire sprinted towards Grandma's house.