Chapter 15: Lemon Attack!

They woke up to crashing sounds and looked to see what was going on, from what they saw was a Llama chasing down Dinner! They quivered in laughter at the thought of it and watched as Dinner gave the old Llama a run for their money. Dodging a kick and turning to bite, a stomp and a swing from a sword.

“Get the stupid Mutt!”

“That damn Llama is in the way!” The Guardsmen argued as they tried and failed to hit Dinner’s Bell. The Llama kicked and spit towards the Guards and tried to get Dinner to go. They couldn’t control themselves anymore and laughed until an Arrow was shot towards them. Thinking quickly they took the Arrow to the side and started to devour it, more was shot at them but it soon stopped as Dinner started attacking the Guards.

They shook like jelly as they watched Dinner run from the scene and Llama was now kicking around the Guards like ping pong balls. A Bird flew down and started pecking at the lot of them and flew away.

Quivering at the scene but it wasn’t over yet.

Someone in a Pirate’s outfit ran out of the gates, lifting their legs up and holding their hands like a dainty little lady. They looked at the beat up Guards and started running frantically away when the Guards running behind them started to catch up.

They snorted as the Guardsmen started to gather themselves up and slipped a few times for unknown reasons. Maybe it was the Llama’s spit? Maybe Dinner spilled something? Or the Pirate dropped something? Who knows, it could be the Bird for all they knew.

Once the ruckus and excitement had died down the Tamer’s had started to come by, they stared up at them wondering if they too were gonna do anything funny. Sadly they didn’t, just offered and left without so much as a giggle.

“Honestly who could top that performance from earlier? Why was it so chaotic in town?” settling down they watched lazily as the town started to settle into it’s ‘Normal’ routine again. A few yelling and scurrying from inside and the occasional animal running out and shaking their fist before leaving in a huff.

Yawning and closing their eyes they listened to the world around them with the gentle fantastical music playing. It’s been quite some time since they heard the music or they turned it down enough to only hear it when they want to. That could be it, but it could also be another Bug. The clipping Armour is funny to see and they wondered what else was broken and what else was clipping through things.

They gently laughed at the thought of clipping through a tree, then wondered if it would be painful for them if they had done it. Maybe best to not get too crazy with these random thoughts that might despawn them upon trying.

Opening their eyes they seen Dinner walking up to them happily and sit beside them to look at the blinking lights of the bugs.

“You’re squishing me!” Dinner jumped at the sound and looked at the spot beside them. “Thank you.”

“There’s another one here?” Dinner sniffed the little Square Slime. “You’re strange.”

“So’s he but you don’t say that to him now do you?”

“I never met a Slime like you, are you even there? Oh-” Dinner jumped when Protect turned to them. “Sorry, so what have you been doing?”

“Learning from the best, taking damage is not that bad from an arrow and eating it afterwards regains my health. No wonder he does it without worry,” Protect went on about their habits and what they found amusing. It was mostly about them resting peacefully and kindly rejecting the Tamer’s. Dinner wasn’t buying that part and looked at them tilting their head a bit. They only shrugged and looked at the Flower Path while Protect continued to talk the ears off of Dinner.

The last of the Player’s to leave were a small group carrying shovels and pickaxes, they weren’t as clumsy as before and they looked more serious. Remembering the song they first sang they started to sing it to see if they would get a reaction from them. Not long after the small group started to sing as they continued to walk.

“I didn’t know you could sing with that Cracker of a voice.”

“Be nice! He doesn’t have a Cracker Voice!”

“I was told constantly by someone that they love my Cracker Voice. Either get used to it or get used to it.”

“Stubborn Slime, you won’t budge an inch will you?” Dinner settled on the other side so as to not constantly get hit by Protect and their attack skill they were practising.

“Meh, too much work,” and to emphasize on the amount of work it took they yawned and closed their eyes. “Laughing at you and the Llama isn’t too much work though.”

“That damn fluffy stick is always ruining my plans! I’d have everything planned out and there that stupid fluff ball stands,” Dinner growled and bit the air in a bark.

“What kind of dog are you?” they asked curious.

“I’m a Shollie, a Border Collie German Shepherd mix,” the way Dinner said it was a bit glitchy like it wasn’t meant to be in Midnight World and it wasn’t the first time they heard the glitched out voice too.

“A Walonwatur, wow! That’s so rare and your color is so unique who is your owner?” Dinner remained quiet after Protect’s question. The sound of the name sounded so familiar, ‘Walk on Water?’

“I am.” Dinner looked at them shocked then quickly agreed.

“Yeah right! You can’t be his owner.”

“He is, he lets me do what I want as long as I don’t get caught and see him often,” Dinner said, they turned a bit to look at the dog they could feel that Dinner was relieved to have avoided the difficult question.

“If you don’t want to tell me then that’s fine, but won’t your real owner worry?”

“I do worry, but knowing Dinner he can do anything on his own. He trades with the Slime’s in Slime Hope after raiding the town.” They said hoping to steer the conversation in that direction instead.

“You know I haven’t seen that Knight that gives you food in awhile,” Dinner changed the subject so Protect won’t linger on it anymore. Well that steered the topic to them instead, they weren’t sure how to feel about the sudden change to them, but it wasn’t pleasant.

“Yeah, that is worrying. I was just starting to like them too,” looking towards the gates wondering if Food Giver would walk through them tonight.

“Do you think they’ll come back?” Dinner asked looking to them. They turned their gaze to Dinner and answered, knowing the real meaning behind that question.

“Who knows, a lot of people have come and gone without returning. This one is no different than the rest.”

“You seem more happier with that Knight around, he was also around you the most and even sat with you a few times during the night. Are they really nothing more than someone that just passes by?” Dinner asked worry in their voice.

“We’ll see, I’m not quite convinced if they’ll be a friend or not. After all his kind has slaughtered many of my kind with no mercy in them.” Protect imitated Dinner’s growl from earlier and only sounded cute, especially with the little squish noise.

“One tried to poison you as well and yet you don’t hate all of them completely.”

“No, there are a few good ones out there its just a matter of finding them. I also wonder if I can not be tamed by them and just walk beside them.”

“Now that’s against the rules,” Protect chimed in, “You have to be Tamed to move from this spot. If not then how will Tamer’s know who to tame?” It was strange hearing the rules of the game from Protect, was this the Game Systems doing? Not to mention the same Glitching voice when certain words were spoken. ‘Is there something wrong with Protect? She shouldn’t be Glitching out like this.’

“That’s a messed up rule and it should change. If everyone can be tamed then there’s a fair chance of everyone going to places where they wouldn’t go before.” Their voice remained the same when talking about the topic.

“That’s Dangerous! How could you even think of putting everyone else in harms way like that?” Protect jabbed them on the side with a weak attack that took nearly all of their health.

“Why did you hit me?” They asked sounding hurt and ready to cry, they made it more believable by making big quivers.

“I’m sorry! I won’t do it anymore!” Protect continued to apologize until they figured to put a stop to it.

“You promise?”

“I promise! Please forgive me!”

“Sniffle, ok,” Protect stopped for a moment before bouncing in front of them and looking at them sternly. They softly sighed, “What gave it away?”

“The word Sniffle! How dare you play with my emotions!” Before Protect could use her attack again they used Evade. They disappeared for a second before reappearing in the same spot, successfully dodging Protect’s attack.

“If you attack me again I will attack back, this is your last warning,” Protect stared up at them for a moment shocked at the hostile tone before backing down and sitting beside them again. “You also broke your promise.”

“Sorry...” Protect said quietly and stayed silent.

“I don’t care, you broke it.” If they’re not firm in their boundaries then there was a high chance that they won’t respect them in the future. Also, there was a probability that once Protect gets bigger they’ll hurt more. Loosing that much HP with one attack was scary and not worth the risk right now.

“Shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep,” Dinner growled and leaned on them and looked to where the Slime’s were starting to spawn. They continued to watch the Flower Path closest to the Gates. A poof sounded and they shrunk a few inches and they felt more round again, it was a strange feeling to have. But more importantly why didn’t Dinner move from his spot? Shouldn’t he have fallen over or something or was he expecting it?

“Sleep.”

please someone... any... save... us. save... us... save... save...

Jolting awake from the loud noise and the scare of something rushing towards them they tried to slow their breathing. A familiar blurred shape walked out of the gates and they couldn’t help but quiver in fear as the shape reached out towards them. They weren’t sure if the shape was moving fast or if everything had slowed down.

Poison.

Poison.

Poison!