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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:05:56 GMT -6
She sighed deeply. “Well that’s just my luck, isn’t it. C’mon Pen.” She said, tugging the leash gently. The little vespa squirmed along after her, leaving a small track in the soft earth. Fiera was lucky that it wasn’t too hot out- the light was relentless as they walked, and she was sure that if it was earlier in the summer she would have a sunburn by now. There was nowhere to get shade- the stalks were tall but not bushy, so the shade they gave was minimal, and Fiera didn’t dare step off the path anyway. She felt like she was wandering around for hours though, and even stopped to take a water break, offering Peninnah a bit as well, refilling the cap continuously for the young grub to take little sips out of with her strange mouth. Once they were both sated Fiera continued on, pushing aside the stalks.
Fiera 4 Peninnah 6.4/8.4 34
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:06:11 GMT -6
After a while however, Fiera realized that she hadn’t seen any branches on the path for a while. For a long while, actually- she looked behind her and the path she had just walked down seemed to stretch out into infinity, the curling leaves of the corn the only thing blocking her view. “That… might be a good thing?” She said to herself, not believing it for a second, but there wasn’t much else to do. She just hoped that it opened up into something else soon, or even better, it allowed her to find the exit. This was getting boring, and she wasn’t sure how long her pet would put up with it either. As she trekked along however, she finally saw something coming up in the distance- a clearing of sort as far as she could tell. “Oh, finally.” She said, and picked up the pace, walking faster.
Fiera 5 Peninnah 7.0/9.0 35
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:06:26 GMT -6
She didn’t want to pull Peninnah over, but it was hard not to get excited at such a beautiful sight- freedom! Fiera quickly plucked the vespa off the ground, making sure to keep her in her arms this time as opposed to on her shoulder- no more hair snacks for her. But Fiera couldn’t help but trot towards the exit instead of walking, as excited as she was. Even the breeze seemed to pick up a notch, pushing her further, faster than before. Finally she dashed into the clearing- and her face fell. “Oh, god damnit.” Fiera hissed to herself. It was another clearing, like the one she started in, but this time it branched into six different paths trailing off into the corn instead of just one or two. Fiera had the feeling that if she picked wrong here, she was going to be stuck for a very, very long time.
Fiera 6 Peninnah 7.1/9.1 36
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:06:41 GMT -6
Even Peninnah was twitching her little head around, looking at all the options available to them. First and foremost, Fiera drew a line in the dirt with her shoe in front of the path they had just come from, making sure it was nice and deep so she couldn’t not notice or accidentally erase it. This way she at least knew what path she came from and she wouldn’t risk doubling back on herself by accident. “Now, let’s see…” She said, looking at the other paths. There wasn’t much point though- they were all practically identical. She heaved a deep sigh and lifted Peninnah up above the corn, slowly rotating her in a circle. “See anything interesting?” Fiera said as she moved, making a slow loop. The grub didn’t react to much of anything in particular, much to Fiera’s chagrin, even as they approached the starting point of Fiera’s rotation.
Fiera 7 Peninnah 7.2/9.2 37
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:06:55 GMT -6
At the last moment though, Peninnah let out a small squeak. “What? What was that?” Fiera said, instantly bringing her pet back down. “Did you see something?” She asked. Unfortunately, Peninnah wasn’t saying anything- and it was impossible to tell if that squeak was because she saw something (whether that “something” be good or bad, for that matter) , or if that was just what it sounded like when a vespa sneezed. Realizing it was impossible to say for sure, Fiera peered down the path that Peninnah had been looking at when she made the noise. Nothing about it differentiated it from the others. There was no breeze nor sound nor smell. Fiera sighed, and set Peninnah back down. It looked like she was relying on blind faith when it came to deciding to go down this path. She hated doing that- it had always gotten her stabbed in the back before.
Fiera 8 Peninnah 7.3/9.3 38
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:07:09 GMT -6
But, it wasn’t like any of the other choices stood out either, so away they went. Fiera gave the clearing one last passing glance and before she began walking down the trail Peninnah picked out. She wasn’t one for sentimentality, but she wasn’t happy having to make quite so many leaps into the unknown in one day on the mansion’s grounds, but it wasn’t exactly giving her many options here- it just seemed to enjoy toying with her. “Well, at least you’re having fun, because I’m pretty damn bored.” Fiera said, glaring up at the sky again. She wasn’t able to find even a single cloud marring its surface for her to give a withering glare. Perhaps other people had withered them all away already. To her surprise though, she heard Peninnah let out a squeak alongside her, and the humanish almost jumped in surprise. “What? Did I step on you?” She asked hastily.
Fiera 9 Peninnah 7.4/9.4 39
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:07:22 GMT -6
Peninnah didn’t respond to the humanish however, and instead started wriggling even faster down the trail, looking intently at something off in the distance. Fiera didn’t see anything herself, but she trusted Peninnah’s judgment here- her pets frequently seemed to know things that Fiera did not, and apparently this was no different. For once, Fiera actually had to hustle to keep up, as her moonstone vespa seemed to be getting her second wind. Soon Fiera realized that there WAS an end to the trail- a line of corn stood in front of her. For a moment, Fiera’s heart sank before she realized that there was something behind the corn too- she could see light, empty spaces instead of more stalks of greenery. It was simply a very thin wall in front of another clearing as opposed to a dead end, and whatever was behind it had her pet very excited.
Fiera 10 Peninnah 8.0/10.0 40
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:07:37 GMT -6
Fiera picked up Peninnah again, tucking her protectively in the crook of her right arm before rushing towards that line of corn in the distance, sprinting this time instead of trotting. She hoped to find anything other than more damn corn behind it. When the barrier drew close the humanish didn’t even slow down and instead simply covered Peninnah’s eyes to protect her from slashing leaves before bursting through. To Fiera’s relief, she instantly recognized the sound coming from the ground as her feet touched down- crunching leaves. She looked up, gauging her surroundings. Somehow she was back outside the mansion again! To her right was the same cozy looking building, no worse for wear and only a couple dozen feet away, like she had gone in a big circle before popping right back out next to it again. Except… she looked back towards the corn field she had just emerged from.
Fiera 11 Peninnah 8.1/10.1 41
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:07:50 GMT -6
When she entered the mansion, there hadn’t been any corn here. Just trees. Fiera took a few more steps away from it, just to be sure it wouldn’t encroach any further. There didn’t seem to be anything anomalous about it now, though- it was just regular corn. She pushed aside the stalks, looking back at the path she came from. It was gone- instead it was just a regular field of corn now, stretching far and away. “God, that’s weird.” Fiera hissed to herself, her ears flattening back despite herself. She turned around again, pointedly ignoring the mansion itself now- she’d be damned if she was going inside again on this venture. She had learned her lesson the first time. She finally slowly turned away from it again, as if scared it was going to jump at her. Realizing she had to relax though, Fiera finally released her death grip on Peninnah.
Fiera 12 Peninnah 8.2/10.2 42
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:08:06 GMT -6
She set the vespa down, letting the little creature get her bearings, and immediately the grub went to snuffle around in the drift of fallen leaves that had piled up against the corn stalks. “Fine by me.” Fiera said, still looking at their surroundings. They had stepped out into another gourd patch, though this time it seemed to be unusually large squash instead of pumpkins. Fiera knocked on one hesitantly, and received a hollow thump in return. Seemed normal enough. Across the squash patch, she could see the gravel pathway again, and just a dozen feet or so down the path to her left- the gate! Fiera’s shoulders sagged with relief. Their freedom was just a few feet away, within eyesight. She knew that it wasn’t necessarily safe to let her guard down now, even though they were so close to the finish line, but… perhaps a bit of a cooldown wouldn’t be so bad.
Fiera 13 Peninnah 8.3/10.3 43
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:08:21 GMT -6
“What do you think, Pen?” Fiera asked, looking back at her pet. “Want to stick around a little while longer?” Sure enough, Peninnah was currently engaged in battle with a leaf, having rolled over onto her back to do battle with the fearsome amputated tree appendage, turning it over and over in her sharp little limbs and stabbing at it, letting it flutter up a bit only to grab it back down and stab at it some more. With her pet occupied, Fiera decided to sit down for a bit. Why not- the exit didn’t seem to be going anywhere… this time. For now. She took the opportunity to set her bag down, looking through the contents for a moment. Then she was struck by a sudden thought- the rope! That had been pretty expensive, and she had just left it behind like it was nothing back in the corn maze.
FIera 14 Peninnah 8.4/10.4 44
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:08:39 GMT -6
She glanced back over her shoulder at the corn field again. Well, she wasn’t getting it back NOW- it had been well and truly swallowed now that the paths of the maze themselves didn’t even exist anymore. Except, maybe… Fiera quickly looped Peninnah’s leash through one of the straps of her backpack, tying it tight. There was no way a vespa this young could drag along a bag that heavy, so she was safe to leave unattended for now. Besides, the moonstone vespa was still playing with leaves. Then, Fiera clambered on top of one of the large gourds, an attractive green and yellow striped variant, her tail lashing back and forth for balance as the vegetable wobbled precariously. “...Just so long as I don’t fall on Pen, it’s fine.” She muttered to herself. Finally she managed to straighten herself upright, her footing as steady as it was going to get.
Fiera 15 Peninnah 9.0/11.0 45
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:08:54 GMT -6
With a much higher vantage point to look from, Fiera was able to peer out over the sea of corn in a way she was never able to while trapped within it. It really did look just like a normal corn field- she couldn’t see a single gap that would betray the presence of a path, let alone a complex maze like the one that she and Peninnah had been trapped in. She couldn’t even see the tripod structure that she had made with her (expensive) rope to act as a marker- it was as if everything she had done in there had just vanished. It was disquieting of course, to see the mansion grounds change form so obviously, but also disappointing in a way that surprised her. It was as if all of her hard work had just been deleted like it was nothing. She had spent (what felt like) hours navigating that maze, and now it was just gone.
Fiera 16 Peninnah 9.1/11.1 46
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:09:07 GMT -6
Along with her rope, she noted with a downward quirk of her mouth. Well, there was nothing to be done about it now. She wasn’t getting her rope back, that was for sure, so there was no point in crying over spilt milk. She hopped down from the gourd, sending up a puff of leaves around her feet that Peninnah was happy to pounce on, rolling around on the ground with her catch to better “kill” it. “Oh, you’re going to be so fearsome when you get big, aren’t you!” Fiera said, tickling her belly a bit and feeling her stabby little limbs on her skin. She’d be a fearsome dragon slayer someday, but for now she was still Fiera’s cute little grubby. At that moment though, Fiera heard a crashing sound ahead of her, and she looked up in surprise, taking her hand off of Peninnah’s belly for the moment.
Fiera 17 Peninnah 9.2/11.2 47
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Sept 14, 2023 21:09:24 GMT -6
She looked down the edge of the corn field, and saw- the tripod she had made! “Oh, no way.” She said, before turning to Peninnah. “Stay there, ok?” She said. The vespa was still tied to the backpack and couldn’t move in theory (or at least, not very far), but Fiera figured it never hurt to cover all her bases. Peninnah was still plenty occupied with playing with leaves for the time being however, so Fiera felt safe to go investigate. As she approached, she realized it really was the tripod she had built- her rope included! She leaned down to untie and reclaim it, and a light breeze ruffled her hair. “Alright, fine.” Fiera said begrudgingly. “Sorry I yelled at you or whatever- thanks for giving my rope back.” She said, turning her head vaguely in the direction of the mansion as she untied the final coils of the rope.
Fiera 18 Peninnah 9.3/11.3 48
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