Fujiko’s Henchmen barrelled their way in hopes of catching the three combatants. Passersby watch as Rhea, Row, and Lucerna sprint through the main street of Miasto. During their frantic chase, they charge and hop over obstacles such as loitering denizens, leaping over tables, and chairs, and sidestepping people who often unintentionally got in the way. All the while, the henchmen are goading and yelling at their targets from behind.

“Get back here you maggots!”

“Nobody escapes Fujiko’s wra-AUGH!”

Lucerna launched a chair in his direction without looking. The furniture collides with his head and sends him tumbling down. Rhea looks back and sees how the shot silenced him and put him on his back for good. 

“Nice shot, Lu!” She exclaimed. 

“Thanks…”

Lucerna is wincing, struggling to carry herself at a fast pace. Rhea notices her labored behavior, and a concerned expression befalls her. 

“You okay?” She asks. 

“Urgh… I…” Lucerna grips her wound. “I dunno if I’m gonna make the run…” 

Rhea quickly comes up with an idea.

“Then don’t.” 

Lucerna’s soft gaze widened. 

“Wh-what do you mean?”

In one smooth motion, Rhea sweeps Lucerna off her feet and carries her in her arms. 

“Wah!” 

In shock, she easily allows herself to be carried by the woman. She looks up at the strong woman. 

“W-h-hold on a second! You can’t just carry me like that! Who knows how long we have to run before we shake these guys!” 

Rhea concentrates on running forward without eyeing the bleeding Kotka.  

“Don’t worry about me! I’ve got strength and stamina to spare! Just rest, I gotcha!” 

Lucerna is eyeing her in utter amazement. 

Woooow… this lady is amazing…! 

“Hey!”

A call from Row at their side broke Lucerna’s astonishment. The two look over at Row, sweating buckets but somehow sprinting and keeping up with Rhea. 

“H-how is it that you can run this fast while carrying her? What kinda freak of nature are you?”

“Who’re you callin’ a freak a’ nature?!” Rhea raised her voice, looking pissed off. “I’m just a normal middle-aged lady!”  

“There’s nothing normal with carrying someone and keeping up with a Kotka’s speed! Do you know the average Kotka runs at twenty kilometers an hour?! How is it that someone of your size can keep up with us while holding onto that extra weight!”

“E-extra weight?” Lucerna gasped, sounding offended. 

Woosh

One of the henchmen threw a knife in Row’s direction. The Kotka’s hairs stand on all ends. 

“Hisssssss!”

“Augh,” Rhea groans. “Never mind worrying about what I can do, and let’s just focus on getting outta here!” 

Rhea, Lucerna, and Row finally make it out of Miasto and delve further into the direction of the Loot Cavern. Although they retrace their steps well, the henchmen do not greatly lag behind. They drag their bodies as hard and fast as they can to keep their eyes on the retreating trio. 

Lucerna looks past Rhea and sees them still shouting obscenities and swinging their weapons high in the air. 

“Urk… they’re so dang persistent…” 

“We’re almost at the Loot Cavern and we still haven’t shaken them?!” Row exclaimed. “This is really bad!”

“Why don’t we just lose them in the Loot Cavern?” Lucerna asked. 

“Yeah, shake off the danger and run straight into death! Why not?!” Row yelled.  

“I-I was just making a suggestion!” Lucerna pouts. 

“At this point, we’re done with suggestions,” Rhea interjects. “We need to find a way to get out of their sight or we'll get surrounded and killed!”

Finally, Rhea, Row, and Lucerna reach the entrance of the cavern. However, a heavy conflict rots their eyes. They stare at the abyss of the cavern, then back to the small group of henchmen. 

“Oi! The scum ran outta road to run! Corner ‘em!” 

The henchmen maneuver carefully in different directions, with several fighters guarding the Loot Cavern. Now, the trio is surrounded. Row tries to look for an opportunity, an opening to perhaps run and slither their way out, but there is nothing. With one of their fighters essentially down, it looked as though the travelers could not come out of this encounter in one piece. 

Their backs face the cliffside, slowly taking steps back as the henchmen inched forward. Rhea swiftly checked behind her, stepping over her spawning point atop the small field of zephyr lilies. Behind them was the sea of lavender trees they once saw when she first arrived by the Loot Cavern. High above, the sea of overcast clouds with a partially peeking orange evening sky.

“Damn it…” Row groaned. “Is this how we die? Falling to the hands of that bastard Fujiko and her men?! No… it can’t be…!” 

Rhea is starting to sweat heavily. Her knees are weak and her muscles are aching. 

“L-let me down!” Lucerna timidly proclaims, holding her claws out. “I’m gonna fight ‘em! I don’t wanna go down doing nothing! I wanna go down swinging!” 

Rhea’s heart starts to race. 

It can’t be… are we actually gonna die here? Am I gonna die… again…?

Suddenly, the ground starts to rumble. A massive energy is leaking from the cavern entrance.

Ka-boom. Ka-boom. Ka-boom.  

The earth rattles, the vibrations coming from the darkness of the cavern. Everyone turns their attention to the entrance. 

“What is that?” One of the henchmen spat. 

“Some sorta monster? I never felt a vibration like that in my life!” 

Rhea is staring at the cavern entrance. As her mind is racing, her eyes begin to expand in size. 

“N-No way…” She whispers. 

KA-BOOM! 

A bomb of magical energy explodes out of the cavern, sending shattered rock in all directions. Row quickly realized the familiar power.

“I-Is that the seehorse?!” Row yelled. 

“Why is that thing still a temper tantrum?!” Lucerna cried. “Has it been freaking out ever since we left the cave?!” 

KA-BOOM!

A beam of energy shoots out of the darkness and razes some of the henchmen in half.

"AAAAAH!"

Zzzzzzzrup!

The seehorse’s beam begins to eviscerate the land, taking some of the henchmen with it and eradicating the very ground. All the henchmen try to duck and cover from the attacks but find themselves killed in the crossfire. The ground begins to crackle and break over the trio as they nearly lose their footing.  

"Why is that seehorse still throwing a fit?!" Rhea gasped.

“We need to do something! Get outta here," Row shouts. "Let's move!” 

Zzzzzzrup!

Another beam of energy randomly shot out of the cavern, slicing the ground they stood on at the cliffside. 

“O-oh….”

Rhea, Row, and Lucerna start plummeting into the sea of purple trees below. 

“NOOOOOOO!” 

An ensemble of screaming and shouting drowned out the yells of the adventurers as they sank into an unknown abyss. Falling for what felt like an eternity, their plummet finally meets its end. Rhea opened her eyes and saw a small crystal blue pond of water. She holds Lucerna close to her chest and shuts her eyes, hoping to survive the long, hectic fall. 

SPLASH

All three adventurers hit the water at the same time. Their bodies are submerged in water for seconds until Rhea pulls Lucerna and Row out of the water with her own two hands. 

Lucerna and Row lay on the ground; Lucerna’s chin dug into the shimmering yellow blades of grass, while Row lay on his back, coughing like mad, occasionally seeing the sea of lavender leaves swaying above his head. 

“Urgh… cough… cough… I didn’t think we’d survive that fall…” Row forces the water out of his throat.

Lucerna’s eyes are shut, as she is drained of her energy.

“Tell me about it…” 

Rhea struggles but manages to stand on her two feet. 

“Lucky that body of water was there, or we would have easily been a stain on the floor…” 

Lucerna and Row slowly lift themselves from the ground, and the three finally get a look at their surroundings.

An out-of-the-way location from Miasto, this environment boasted brown bark trees with purple leaves, shimmering yellow blades of grass, and small patches of light brown dirt pathways. 

“Wooooow…” Rhea gasps. “What the heck is this place?” 

“I have no idea…” Row answers, still looking around. “I’ve seen this area plenty of times from above, but to see it so close, right in front of my eyes, why, it provokes another emotion entirely.” 

“What emotion is that?” Lucerna asked. 

Row takes a deep breath, taking in the natural fragrance of the land. He exhales. 

“...Wanderlust.” He answered. 

“That is not what this area is called.” 

A mysterious voice echoes from across the pond. Everyone turns their heads to see a rather tall, bunny-looking male standing beside a barrel that reached his knees. He stood with his arms crossed and a rather serious look on his face. His skin was fair, his eyes were sharp, and his hair was lavender like the trees. He was topless with a fit build, and his lower half was covered in tattered cloth that stopped at his shins.

The trio freezes in their tracks, staring at the creature.  

“A-and you are…?” Rhea asked. 

“I should be asking you that. I can’t recall a single instance where three people fell from the sky and landed in our water supply. I hope you don’t carry dirt or disease, otherwise you have tainted it.”

“Hey!” Lucerna softly raised her voice. “We’re not dirty!” 

Lucerna writhes and holds her wound. The man sees it and grows rather curious and concerned. 

“You are hurt, miss?”

“Yeah, she is,” Rhea nods. “Our friend needs some medical help. Do you know a good doctor?” 

The man nods.  

“No... but I have a remedy for that."

The man reaches into his tattered pocket and pulls out an orange leaf. He hands it to Lucerna.

"Here. Eat this."

Lucerna grabs it and begins chewing. Immediately her face starts scrunching up and contorting into a mess.

"Ish shour (It's sour)..." She complained.

"Quit your babyin' and eat the thing."

Lucerna finishes eating the orange leaf, and she soon feels her energy returning to her. She leaps out of Rhea's arms. She holds her hand on her injury.

"My wound feels better... what kinda magical leaf?"

"That's quite the interesting medicine you have," Row comments. "What do we owe the pleasure, Mister..."

"Karta," he greets calmly. "Karta Levane."

"Mr. Levane," Row continues. "Do you have a place we could rest for a moment? I'll be sure to inform you on all parts why and how we managed to fall into your water supply... i-in which we also apologize for."

"I can take you back to Fiolet, my village. Let us be quick, for nightfall is soon to arrive."

Having unintentionally, yet successfully escaped Fujiko's men, the trio now find themselves in a new location; hoping to find a safe haven in this new village Karta deems, Fiolet.