Written by BHart
June 18, 2008

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Act LXXXVII
Jungle Activism

They reached the air travel agency in Kazham. "Any kind of checkpoint security we should be aware of before entering?" asked Vasteel.

"The council has had very little if any influence here at all. There is nothing to worry about," answered Rykel.

There was a paper posted near the village gate, catching Vasteel's eye. She stopped to read it.

Everyone else followed Rykel and Maybel towards the residential area in Kazham.

Rykel and Maybel went into Mihgo's residence by themselves.

"The homeland of the mithra; haven't been here for a long time," remarked Omatase.

"The climate here reminds me of Durst," commented Rie.

"Aren't we missing someone?" asked Kousagi.

"Vasteel isn't here," noticed Tokamo.

"I'm sure we'll find her soon enough. Probably wandering around town," assured Omatase.

Rykel and Maybel walked out of Mihgo's house.

"Ready to go?"

"Yes, we have what we need," replied Maybel.

They went to the village gate. Vasteel was there, reading a paper.

"So there's where you've been," said Kousagi.

"I just found something very interesting," replied Vasteel.

"Our business here is done. We need to get moving," ordered Rykel. They entered the Yuhtunga Jungle.

Vasteel ran over to a group of people sitting at a kiosk.

"We need to go. What are you doing here?" asked Omatase.

There was a sign on the kiosk reading, "Save the rain forests of Vana'diel."

"I've found my life's calling."

"What? Being an environmentalist nut?" teased Tokamo.

"We must do all we can to protect this planet. But, I'll help you until we're finished."

"We'll manage. There are plenty of us," assured Rykel.

"Are you sure? I'll miss you all. I know this is what I was meant to do." Vasteel hugged everyone before parting ways.

On their way to Sea Serpent Grotto, they noticed some people chained to tropical trees. "I wonder if we'll see Vasteel out here doing that?" asked Rie.

"Probably; I hope no monsters attack them while they're chained up and defenseless. The wild can be harsh," replied Omatase.

They entered the Sea Serpent Grotto. They splashed around in the dark, damp, muddy grotto.

Rakuah was trailing far behind. She was walking slowly, keeping her eyes on the ground, being careful not to splash any dirty water from the puddles onto her clothes.

"You're lagging behind. Hurry up. We don't want you getting lost," said Omatase.

"She doesn't like getting dirty. She's always been like that. I'll stay behind with her. We're going to Norg, aren't we? I know the way," said Kousagi.

"Meet us there," replied Rykel.

They heard footsteps other than their own, walking along the wet floor. A group of swamp, spring and shore sahagin approached them from behind.

The sahagin were attacking using their hydro-sludge water gun attack. Rakuah was upset she got some on her. More sahagin arrived.

"It's going to be difficult to fight them in these narrow cave halls," said Kousagi.

"We'll get rid of them with a little help," said Maybel.

She and Rykel tamed a colony of undead bats that were nearby. The undead bats came to their aid, using jet stream against the sahagin repeatedly, causing them to hastily retreat.

"I'm impressed you could tame those. They're usually quite aggressive," said Tokamo.

"We used to have pet bats. They're so cute," said Maybel.

Rykel pulled out a woodwind from Mihgo. It was made of live bamboo with leaves growing on it. He played the instrument, but no sound came from it.

"I think it's broken. I can't hear a thing," said Rie.

"It's not broken. It plays a high pitch only mithra can hear," explained Maybel.

"Aren't there a lot of mithra around here?" asked Kousagi.

"Yes, but only one will know what it means. You see, we don't know where our next contact is exactly. This flute will have her come to us," explained Maybel.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to get as much of this gunk off as I can," said Rakuah. She walked over to the Quay stream to get clean.

"She really hates being dirty, doesn't she?" said Rykel.

"Yes, mainly her clothing; stains drive her nuts," added Tokamo.

"How do you even know you're contact is here?" asked Kousagi.

"We don't. There are a few places she could be. We'll try those out if she isn't here," replied Maybel.

"How long will we have to wait for her?" asked Rie.

"Wait for who?" Behind them was a mithra ninja with short blond hair and blue eyes.

"Mittens! You got here quickly," said Rykel, surprised.

"You're always startling us like that," said Maybel.

"Let's be on our way," said Mittens.

"Rakuah's still cleaning her clothes," pointed out Kousagi.

"The grotto is very dirty. Why don't you all get washed up, get something in your bellies and then get some rest. We can leave tomorrow," suggested Mittens.

"It was nice of that captain to let us stay in one of his rooms," said Maybel.

"I've known him for a long time. He owed me one," remarked Mittens.

They went to Yhoator Jungle. There were flyers posted on the trees reading, "Save the endangered Opo-opo."

"What's this all about?" asked Rie.

"That was put here by some animal rights activists. It's become popular to preserve the jungles," answered Mittens.

Mittens pulled out a small bottle filled with blue liquid. She sprayed it on herself.

Two women approached them and spoke to Mittens. "Is that blue rafflesia scent you're spraying on yourself? That brings the Opo-opo out from hiding into the open where poachers kill them for their fur."

"I need their help for a little while. They'll be okay."

"I hope so. Or you'll have poor little Opo-opo blood on your hands. Those leaping lizzies are already extinct because too many people want those stupid boots. And for what? Increasing their agility by one more point? We don't want to see the same thing happen to the Opo-opos." The two women left, promoting their cause.

"Friends of yours?" asked Rie.

"More like acquaintances. Christine Saechao and her sister Michelle have good intentions, but are a little whacky."

"That stuff you sprayed on yourself really stinks," noticed Kousagi.

An Opo-opo ran up to Mittens, attracted by the scent of the blue rafflesia. It was holding out its hands for the bottle of stinky flower.

"I'll give it to you after you get me those berries from Mount Yuhtunga."

The Opo-opo ran north, towards the mountains.

"How does it know what you're saying?" asked Tokamo.

"We've been working with them for many years in exchange for goods and services. I guess you could say we've trained them a little."

"While we're waiting for the Opo-opo to return, help me pick some pamamas." They walked around the jungle getting pamamas.

"What will these be for?" asked Rie.

"Follow me and you'll find out."

They arrived at the Teardrop Spring. There was a small, stone tablet on the ground. They placed the pamamas on it. They heard something running through the jungle foliage.

"What's coming this way?"

"It's coming for the food we left for it."

"I thought the edacious Opo-opo was aggressive," mentioned Omatase.

"It usually is, but it respects me. I've kicked its ass one to many times for it to forget."

The edacious Opo-opo appeared, gorging itself on the pamamas.

It ran away from Mittens.

"Oh, no you don't!" Mittens caught up to it, grabbing it by the tail.

"I need a favor from you." Mittens pointed to the Temple of Uggalepih.

The Opo-opo followed them to the entrance. The Opo-opo walked inside by itself.

"What's it doing?" asked Rakuah.

"It's retrieving an important weapon for me. I had the Opo-opos hide it in a small area where only they are small enough to reach," replied Mittens.

The other Opo-opo came back with the berries. The berries were long and rod shaped. She gave it the bottle of blue raflessia perfume in return.

"What kind of berries are those? They really stink," said Rakuah.

"These berries only grow near volcanoes, or really hot places. They're hard to reach, and Opo-opos seem to have the easiest time getting them." She put the berries in a bag to cover their stench.

"The edacious one should've been back by now. I'm going in," said Mittens. The rest followed.

They saw a Tonberry Stalker in a hallway just west of the paintbrush room. The edacious Opo-opo was lying on the ground in a puddle of blood, with a ninja sword at its side.

"There it is! That tonberry stabbed its throat before it could bring it back."

The tonberry charged at them with its cleaver. The tonberry's slow pace made it easy to avoid and attack.

The tonberry readied its light of penance ability. Sailor Miranda blew out the lantern's light with strong gusts of wind.

The tonberry slashed with its large knife vertically. They avoided its attacks while fighting back.

The tonberry got frustrated and began readying everyone's grudge. "Head down the hall to the right. There's a place to reset the hate for everyone's grudge," instructed Mittens.

They ran down the hall with the tonberry chasing after them. Mittens frantically searched for the place in the room to reset the hate. "Ah, here it is."

By the time the tonberry caught up to them, its "everyone's grudge" attack was severely weakened.

It was slow, but could take a beating.

"That was close. They usually kill or fatally wound people with that attack," remarked Mittens. She grabbed her ninja sword on the ground.

"What's so special about that? It looks like any other sword," asked Maybel.

"That's part of its disguise. You'll see what it can do," said Mittens.

..to be continued..