Fungus Among Us
Challenge: [099] Side Quests
Title: Fungus Among Us
Word Count: 594
Spoilers: General, post KHII fic.
Notes: There is a long version of this that I'll be posting to destiny_trio after the poll closes, for the interested. It was...um...way over length for this. *cough* Thanks always to ceci for the beta.
Catherine started spinning. “Lift me, Sora! Lift me!”
“Eh, I don’t think that would work with you.” Sora smiled, lowering the little white mushroom gently to the ground. It started spinning again.
“Oh look! It wants to play some more! Do it again, Sora!”
“Alright.”
Riku sighed as Sora sent the mushroom flying again. Catherine was enjoying herself, but he was bored. At least Danny had stopped whining, that was a bonus. He dropped his eyes to see what the other little skeleton was up to -
- then swung his head around in a panicked arc. “Danny? Danny! Where are you?”
“Huh?” Sora’s attention jerked away from the mushroom and he dropped it. It wriggled unhappily, then vanished.
“Awww! It’s gone!”
“So’s Danny.”
“He can’t have gotten far. It hasn’t even been five minutes.” Sora frowned. “Although, if he was looking for truffles, I had the best luck finding them by Oogie Boogie’s old place.”
“Even Danny wouldn’t be that -”
“EEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Both boys jumped in unison, instinctively summoning their Keyblades. The scream had come from the hill in the middle of the graveyard.
Sora started running toward the sound. “I told you he couldn’t have gone far!”
“Just far enough to get himself eaten.”
“Sora! Riku! Wait!” Cathrine was running along behind them, unable to catch up with her little legs.
“I’ll stay with Catherine, you go get Danny.” Sora stopped, waiting for Catherine.
“I- wha - why me?”
“’Cause you, uh, do better with dark things.” Sora called back.
He was almost to the hill when Danny came tearing around it from the other side, still screaming. There was something chasing him.
“HELP! IT SPIT STUFF AT ME AND NOW IT’S CHASING ME AND MAKE IT STOP RIIIIIIIIKUUUUUUUU!”
As Danny reached him, Riku reached out and grabbed the little skeleton by the shoulder, thrusting himself between him and -
- a little black mushroom.
“That’s it? You’re running from a -”
The mushroom hunched down, then spat a ring of foul smelling spores. They coated the inside of Riku’s nose, making the world spin alarmingly.
So maybe the mushroom was dangerous. Giving his head a quick shake, he lashed out with the Keyblade, only to have it glance off the mushroom’s cap without so much as a scratch.
“What the - ?” Riku blinked, backing away from the fungus, holding his arm up to his face. The mushroom had turned grey and was slowly fading back to black.
Danny continued to cower behind him. “Bad truffle! Bad, bad truffle!”
Riku lunged again and the mushroom wriggled out of the way. He spun, bringing the blade around in a slash, reversing into a thrust. This time the mushroom didn’t manage to dodge. The blade went right through. Riku twisted, bringing the blade up through the cap.
The mushroom fell. To be safe side, Riku brought the flat of his blade down, mashing the remains into a smear of goo.
Behind him, Danny sniffled. “I don’t like mushrooms! I wanna go home!”
“It’s okay, Danny.” Sora walked up and patted the little skeleton. Catherine trailed behind him. “You’re safe now.”
“I wanna go home too.” Cathrine looked up at them with pleading sockets. “I’m getting hungry.”
“Okay, we’ll go. But now we’re stuck with plain old maggot frittatas.” Sora bent over and scooped up some of the mysterious looking mushroom goo. “Maybe if we add this it’ll be tasty?”
Riku couldn’t tell if Sora was joking or not. He shuddered and started herding the children out of the graveyard. “We’re never babysitting on this world again.”
Title: Fungus Among Us
Word Count: 594
Spoilers: General, post KHII fic.
Notes: There is a long version of this that I'll be posting to destiny_trio after the poll closes, for the interested. It was...um...way over length for this. *cough* Thanks always to ceci for the beta.
Catherine started spinning. “Lift me, Sora! Lift me!”
“Eh, I don’t think that would work with you.” Sora smiled, lowering the little white mushroom gently to the ground. It started spinning again.
“Oh look! It wants to play some more! Do it again, Sora!”
“Alright.”
Riku sighed as Sora sent the mushroom flying again. Catherine was enjoying herself, but he was bored. At least Danny had stopped whining, that was a bonus. He dropped his eyes to see what the other little skeleton was up to -
- then swung his head around in a panicked arc. “Danny? Danny! Where are you?”
“Huh?” Sora’s attention jerked away from the mushroom and he dropped it. It wriggled unhappily, then vanished.
“Awww! It’s gone!”
“So’s Danny.”
“He can’t have gotten far. It hasn’t even been five minutes.” Sora frowned. “Although, if he was looking for truffles, I had the best luck finding them by Oogie Boogie’s old place.”
“Even Danny wouldn’t be that -”
“EEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Both boys jumped in unison, instinctively summoning their Keyblades. The scream had come from the hill in the middle of the graveyard.
Sora started running toward the sound. “I told you he couldn’t have gone far!”
“Just far enough to get himself eaten.”
“Sora! Riku! Wait!” Cathrine was running along behind them, unable to catch up with her little legs.
“I’ll stay with Catherine, you go get Danny.” Sora stopped, waiting for Catherine.
“I- wha - why me?”
“’Cause you, uh, do better with dark things.” Sora called back.
He was almost to the hill when Danny came tearing around it from the other side, still screaming. There was something chasing him.
“HELP! IT SPIT STUFF AT ME AND NOW IT’S CHASING ME AND MAKE IT STOP RIIIIIIIIKUUUUUUUU!”
As Danny reached him, Riku reached out and grabbed the little skeleton by the shoulder, thrusting himself between him and -
- a little black mushroom.
“That’s it? You’re running from a -”
The mushroom hunched down, then spat a ring of foul smelling spores. They coated the inside of Riku’s nose, making the world spin alarmingly.
So maybe the mushroom was dangerous. Giving his head a quick shake, he lashed out with the Keyblade, only to have it glance off the mushroom’s cap without so much as a scratch.
“What the - ?” Riku blinked, backing away from the fungus, holding his arm up to his face. The mushroom had turned grey and was slowly fading back to black.
Danny continued to cower behind him. “Bad truffle! Bad, bad truffle!”
Riku lunged again and the mushroom wriggled out of the way. He spun, bringing the blade around in a slash, reversing into a thrust. This time the mushroom didn’t manage to dodge. The blade went right through. Riku twisted, bringing the blade up through the cap.
The mushroom fell. To be safe side, Riku brought the flat of his blade down, mashing the remains into a smear of goo.
Behind him, Danny sniffled. “I don’t like mushrooms! I wanna go home!”
“It’s okay, Danny.” Sora walked up and patted the little skeleton. Catherine trailed behind him. “You’re safe now.”
“I wanna go home too.” Cathrine looked up at them with pleading sockets. “I’m getting hungry.”
“Okay, we’ll go. But now we’re stuck with plain old maggot frittatas.” Sora bent over and scooped up some of the mysterious looking mushroom goo. “Maybe if we add this it’ll be tasty?”
Riku couldn’t tell if Sora was joking or not. He shuddered and started herding the children out of the graveyard. “We’re never babysitting on this world again.”