Nathaniel counted ninety-seven shot quails lined in the foliage.
He raised his arms slowly and stepped in front of the noko. "We need to leave, now."
Chrissy sneered. "It's poultry!"
"Poultry that fired at Vae", said Ava.
Nathaniel turned to see Travlack bracing for more shots. Jay began striding towards the shot quails, calm as could be.
"Hey now, let's not provoke the birds. I'll talk to them and see what's got them in such a sour mood!"
Nathaniel adjusted his glasses. "I thought you couldn't speak to other animals?"
"My cousin's a shatter crane Therian. I know a few words."
Nathaniel took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. This could only go one way.
"Hello bird friends! What brings you out-"
Six shots pierced through Jay's afro. He put a finger through one of the holes and sighed. Nathaniel slowly raised a barrier, prepared for what was coming next.
The shot quails began to fire volleys of resonance beams from their position. Nathaniel's barrier had successfully defended the noko. He looked around him to assess how the rest of the team was faring. On one side he saw Travlack pull Ava down and shield her. On his other side, Jay and JJ shielded the other capastra with their hardened backs. A shot scorched the dirt behind Nathaniel's heel. He turned around expecting a flank but saw Chrissy a distance behind him, deflecting shots with her hooks.
Nathaniel's eyes widened in realization.
Another shot nearly hit his foot.
One zipped by the noko's ear.
"Chrissy!", shouted Nathaniel, "Either move up or take cover! If you keep deflecting shots from behind me you'll-erk!"
He was cut short by the noko, panicking from Chrissy's deflection shots. Its massive, slobbering head hit the entirety of Nathan's side as he went flying. The acid foaming from its mouth pressed against his clothes and burned straight through his skin. Nathaniel reeled in pain as he furiously swiped the globules from his torso, the smell of burnt cloth and flesh stung his nose as he ripped his gloves off and threw them aside.
A trail of acidic slobber formed from the rampage of the noko, kicking dust from the speed of the charge. The panic spread onto the shot quails, which quickly dispersed upon seeing the dissolving ground.
"Sound off", demanded Travlack.
"My side…my back…" muttered Nathaniel.
"JJ and I are doing okay", chimed Jay. "My hair on the other hand…"
"I'm quite alright, thank you Travlack", said Ava. She arose with Vae in her hands.
"Just a little bruised", groaned Chrissy. "I was trying to deflect with my hooks. These shots are faster than they look."
Nathaniel turned to observe Chrissy. Blood was running down her left arm while visible bruising adorned the right. As Nathaniel rose and brushed his acid burns, he could see the scorch marks on her hooks. It looked like she was successful in deflecting some of them.
"I'll be alright - the arms are gonna be a little sore", she said, sheathing her weapons. "What happened to the noko?"
"What happened is you", said Nathaniel. He stretched his back as he stood up. "The noko ran off because of a poorly placed deflection by YOU."
"Poorly placed?", she rebuffed. "YOU try deflecting shots with something that are basically oversized fish hooks!"
"The point is I wouldn't have tried! Much less BEHIND where we are holding the line!"
A squeak was heard from Neville.
"Yeah!", said Chrissy. "Neville's right. It was an accident and therefore not my fault. I tried to defend myself and failed-"
"Clearly", Nathaniel said, gesturing to her bleeding arm. "Well we're not going any further today. Open wounds, chemical burns, and an entire camp supply running off with the noko means we need to sit down. Travlack, we're making camp here for the night-secure the area."
Travlack nodded and walked off. Nathaniel started rummaging through the bag on his capastra and took out a vial. He turned to Jay as he applied the contents to his torso.
"How versed are you in healing magic?"
"Not at all, dude."
Nathaniel rolled his eyes and turned to Chrissy, who was rinsing blood off her arm with a canteen.
"Chrissy? What about you?"
"Nothing. I can't even cast. All I learned to do was physical enhancements."
"Why do I even bother?", sighed Nathaniel. "Alright, next plan. Chrissy, stop your bleeding immediately. Rapid skewers are the last thing we need. Chrissy, stay with Travlack and secure camp to the best of your ability. Miss Sinclair, if you would like, you should join Jay and I."
Jay nodded as he gave two thumbs up. "Righteous. And where are we going?"
"The disinfectant I used won't be enough, and no one here can use healing resonance. We have to do it the old fashioned way: bloom-bellies. There should be some close by."
Nathaniel nodded in the direction opposite from where the shot quails ambushed them. From his capastra saddle he pulled out three empty jars and two pairs of gloves. He slipped on one pair before putting the other in his pocket.
"All we need to do is find a pocket of raw resonance and we'll find bloom-bellies. A simple ten minute walk. Are you with us, Miss Sinclair?"
Ava looked lost in thought for a moment before snapping back to the conversation.
"Ah- yes. Yes, I'll join you. Can Vae come along?"
She continued stroking her pet as Nathaniel mulled the options over.
"She won't jump out of your arms and start hunting wildlife, will she? An overgrown serpifeli is the last thing we need."
"No, not at all. Vae is perfectly trained, Mr. Bosh."
Nathaniel gave in and nodded. Vae would accompany this errand as well. He adjusted his hat as Travlack came back with news.
"All clear", he reported.
"Thank you, Travlack. We'll be back shortly. Miss Sinclair, Jay, follow me."
"Alright!", chimed Jay. "Time to get some BBJ for the team!"
"Sorry, BBJ? What do you mean?", asked Ava.
"He's referring to the stomach contents of bloom-belly bugs. BBJ is the non-scientific term for-"
"Bloom-belly jelly! Boshy knows his stuff", said Jay. "Trust me, Ava, you're going to love this."
The trio - and Vae - marched towards the opposite side of their encampment and started to wade through the shrubbery. Insect ambience filled the air as Nathaniel relayed where their next steps should be.
"Here."
"Now here."
"To your right you'll see a juvenile goliath beetle - don't startle it."
"Now come around here - careful. Those are wild serpifeli tracks. This one appears to be quite larger than Vae. There must be no shortage of food out here."
"See how we can now observe the physical resonance in the air? Means we're getting closer to geyser residue."
"And we stop…here."
Chromatic streaks drifted in the air above them. From the way they floated through the air, Nathaniel began to assess the direction of where they came from. He traced the air with a finger before pointing to an area just a bit further from them.
"Should be over there. A minor rupture - not enough to make a creature resonant beyond means."
"Can you enlighten me, Mr. Bosh?", said Ava. "Resonant beyond means? Means of what?"
"It's exactly how husks work", started Nathaniel, not looking back. "Animals will feed on larger geysers and breaks of resonance from the ground. Worst case scenario? What is wondrous becomes weaponized. What is dangerous becomes cataclysmic."
"Oh, I do remember reading about that in your father's book. Is it true that one time he ran into a bloom-belly as big as a pond? And then a member of the crew got eaten and vomited back out?"
"It's true", he said, scanning the ground. "The inside of a bloom-belly's stomach is nothing to be impressed with."
Jay patted Nathaniel's back as he passed him. "I knew I got a good vibe from you, Boshy. Communing with the bloomies is always a wonderful thing."
"I was bathed in the stomach bile of an overgrown ladybug", said Nathaniel.
"And it vomited you back out, just as it does all precious things. Truly a humbling experience. Speaking of - hello little guy!"
Jay picked up a bloom-belly and held it towards the other two. He gave it a light squeeze and it squirmed in response. Lime green ooze spurted onto the ground in front of Ava and Nathaniel. Vae moved to Ava's neck in an effort to increase the distance between the foreign substances. Nathaniel looked to Ava, who just stared at the bloom-belly.
"And what is the purpose of this again? It just empties the contents of its stomach as defense?", she inquired.
Nathaniel motioned to Jay to put the bloom-belly down as he gave the jars to Ava. "Just anytime, really. It just eats its own bile and throws it up again. For its entire life it repeats this process. We still have no idea why, but whatever they're making, it's potent."
Jay set the insect on the ground and watched as it began cleaning up its mess. Nathaniel used two fingers to scoop a section of the vomit. He held it up, closely inspecting it. The lime green globs slid down his fingers at the pace of a crawl.
"This will do", he said, smearing the residue onto his open hand. "The spew of a bloom-belly can work as an accelerant, but it burns incredibly fast. This sample is quite viscous, however, so if I do this…"
Nathaniel placed the palm with the bile onto his exposed skin. After a deep inhale and exhale, he flooded his resonance into his palm. A bright green light shone for a second before it was gone. When Nathaniel lifted his hand he could see a section of his acid burns had gone.
Ava clapped as she inspected where the burn once was. Vae dropped down from her neck as she lost her spot due to Ava leaning forward.
"Nice one, Boshy", chimed Jay. "Just like we capridae always say: BBJ, all the way!"
"It's - never mind", sighed Nathaniel. "Let's find another bloom-belly and have it throw up into one of the jars."
Nathaniel began to survey the nearby area before pointing to Ava, his tone was mildly concerning.
"Miss Sinclair - your serpifeli, where is she?"
Ava felt around her neck as she swiveled her head in the immediate area. Nathaniel started to scan his surroundings fervently as he caught a glimpse of an amber scaled tail disappearing into a bush.
"Over there!", he said, pointing to her location.
Jay jogged over and did not hesitate to dive into the bushes with a grunt of effort. He raised the enlarged Vae over his head like a trophy.
"I got a big one!", joked Jay. "You have excellent tastes, Vae. BBJ is very nutritious."
"Too nutritious", Nathaniel said, shaking his head. "Serpifeli can't burn off the energy present in bloom-belly spew like we can. She just ate a week's worth of dinner in an unsupervised minute."
Ava folded her arms as she scowled at Vae.
"Vae Saxa Sinclair. I just said you were properly trained. You're in trouble when we get back to the encampment."
Vae's mewing had become two octaves lower as she responded to Ava's tone.
Ava sighed as she swept a hair from her face and turned to Jay.
"Do you mind holding her, Jay? I won't be able to walk with her at that size."
"I don't mind at all, Ava! Besides," Jay hoisted Vae around his neck, wearing her as a scarf. "I think orange is a great color for pink skin. What do you think? Can I be a part of Zenith's finest?"
Jay struck a pose, flopping Vae's enlarged tail in front of him. Ava laughed and clapped at the spectacle. Nathaniel all the while had been studying just how big Vae had gotten. Two times, maybe three times her size in such a short time of unsupervised feeding.
"Let's find the bloom-belly that she ate from", said Nathaniel. "If she was able to grow that large that fast, that bloom-belly spew would prove more potent than the one we found. Miss Sinclair, you may have to assist in the collection."
The gloves he stowed in his pocket earlier were now on Ava's hands as they treaded. Jay followed up the rear, sauntering along with Vae draped around his neck like a scarf. From where Vae was recovered, Nathaniel could see the wide dragging marks forming a trail.
"No wonder", Nathaniel muttered. "This one could easily be triple the size of the previous one."
It was not long until he spotted it skittering on the forest floor. Nathaniel jogged up next to it and blocked its path by standing in front of it. He motioned to Ava to hand him a jar, and she obliged.
"I stand corrected - four times the size", he said. "No wonder Vae grew so intensely. You will be the most useful. Miss Sinclair, will you give it a push on its back?"
"Uh, sure. Like this?"
She gently pressed on the back of the bug. Nathaniel crouched in front of the bug's mouth expectantly before looking up. Ava had only placed her fingers onto the red and black back of the bloom-belly.
Jay chuckled as he skipped to the side of Ava.
"No, Ava. Give it a little push! If you want that BBJ, you gotta do it the right way!"
Nathaniel adjusted his posture in front of the bloom-belly.
"He's right. Just add a little more force, it should come right out."
Nathaniel could see Ava's breathing increase as she placed her palms onto its back and pushed. The green ooze fountained from the bloom-belly and quickly filled the jar. Nathaniel sealed it and set it beside him before motioning for another empty jar. Ava handed it over and once again pushed on the back of the bug.
"Mr. Bosh", Ava started. "A question for you, if you will. If BBJ is so nutritious, why don't more people eat it? Why aren't we?"
"Common misconception", he said, focused on filling the jar. "The resonant particles in bloom-belly ooze have to break down when ingested. And since we have no way of controlling when it kicks in, it would be like waiting for a bomb to go off inside your own body."
"But the after effects are crazy!", smiled Jay. "The feeling of your system being cleaned out is cathartic."
"Cathartic is the last word I'd use", remarked Nathaniel. He was sealing off the second jar, moving on to the third. "I ingested too much during that bloom-belly incident as a child. Imagine pointing at a wall and the wall no longer exists. Add on that you pass out due to the strain on your body."
"Oh wow", Ava gasped. "That part wasn't in your father's book."
"Most parts aren't in my father's books, Miss Sinclair. Makes for poor sales."
Nathaniel sealed off the third and final jar and moved from the path of the helpful bloom-belly. Chittering all the way, it crawled into nearby bushes and disappeared. The trio began to walk back where they had come from.
Swinging Vae around, Jay cheered.
"Alright! BBJ! All the way! We should save a jar for recreational use."
Nathaniel shot Jay with a glare from the corner of his eyes.
"No we will not. Chrissy and I need-"
There was a screech.
Then a sickening crunch.
Everyone froze.
Nathaniel turned to see a massive emerald serpifeli licking bloom-belly ooze from its paw. He turned to Jay, who was still holding Vae. She hissed in fear, causing the giant serpifeli to lock onto the party.
"Do not look away."
It was Nathaniel. He exhaled before relaying more instructions.
"Miss Sinclair, it is imperative you listen to me. I'm going to pass you two of my three jars. Hold onto them very tightly."
The first jar was transferred without a hitch. The second jar slipped mid transfer.
But an extended foot caught the jar just before it fell to the floor. It was Jay's.
"Oop- gotcha! Here you go, Ava", he whispered. He raised the jar with his leg, allowing Ava to collect it.
With the transfer complete Nathaniel unscrewed the jar. He slowly put his hand into the jar as he kept backing up. The jade serpifeli had crept into full view now, the massive paws tensed with every nudge forward.
"Miss Sinclair, I have to apologize for what comes next.", sighed Nathaniel. "I do not condone wounding animals unless I have to do so."
"It's alright, given the circumstances Mr. Bosh, I assure you", shied Ava. "I just hope it won't kill us."
"Don't worry about it, Ava." Jay was still swinging Vae like a stole, casually walking backwards. "Its pupils aren't fully dilated. The moment we can't see the yellow parts of its eyes-"
"The iris", Nathaniel corrected.
"Right, the iris - as soon as that disappears it'll pounce! So we have about three seconds."
"Three seconds-?!"
Nathaniel saw the yellow of the iris completely disappear. Its massive paws contracted as the forward lunge began. Nathaniel's palm lit up and ignited the bloom-belly jar.
A torrent of lime green resonance exploded from Nathaniel, shattering the jar and engulfing the giant serpifeli completely. When the stream of resonance died down, Nathaniel saw the serpifeli on its back. Its four legs flailed in the air before it rolled over and fled into the forest.
"Goodbye, scaled friend!", waved Jay. "Sorry Boshy had to blast you into next week!"
Nathaniel's blasting hand shook violently, the residue of the bloom-belly still dribbling down his hand. He clenched the trembling fist and used the last of the bloom-belly extract to steady his hand.
"Two jars will have to do", Nathaniel sighed. "Let's get back before any more distractions make themselves known."
"Distractions? No, Boshy. Nature only presents opportunities. I don't know about you, Ava, but I learned a lot. Very informative, Bosh man."
Nathaniel rolled his eyes as he walked back towards the direction of camp. Ava vocalized her opinion shortly after.
"Informative indeed, Jay. Nathaniel, you're proving every bit of competence. Just like your father."
"Thank you, Miss Sinclair." Nathaniel had not turned around to meet her eyes. He opted to march, muttering under his breath. "How lovely that my every action reminds you of someone else."