🗣️ "What happe-"
🐺 "Shhhhhh"
The rest of the vampire clan was just above their base, in the bloodflower tree. The rain muffled their voice in the cave.
🍒 "Don't let her get away"
The human recognized that voice. It was the same vampire who discovered his last base.
Their steps resonated from above the cave. Tension was in the air.
The human started to remember how the eye-invasor managed to infect the ghost. Meanwhile the werewolf remembered how the "megacure" cloud was red, and turned his brother into a vampire.
So much new stuff was still to be learned, the human thought. They needed a way to record all the magic.
The ghost decided to phase through the cave's roof and peek into the bloodflower tree above. The vampires had gone on separate paths to the Healbloom Field, the Music Plains and the Holefull desert, and the rain stayed constant. It seems it was now safe to speak.
👻 "Well I see you made some friends, would you care to introduce me to them?"
The werewolf was still in shock from what she had witnessed. Despite her hate for him, it was still her brother, and being werewolves was something they were proud of.
🐺 "I was with my brother, but then those vampires threw a weird thing at him that turned him into a vampire. I've never seen something like it"
🗣️ "Well, it seems it wasn't just us who got a persecution. An eye-invaded infected a ghost; I thought ghosts could just phase through them. We need somewhere to investigate how things work. Could you tell me more about how he got turned into a vampire?"
She took a deep breath, as she could remember every detail.
🐺 "They threw a red object; it was round like a megacure, but much smoother. It hit my brother, and just like a megacure, it created a cloud on impact, but the cloud was red instead of orange. When the cloud went away, his skin was pale and he grew fangs, just like a vampire ... But it can't be? Only megacures create that kind of cloud, right?"
🗣️ "I've seen plants adopt the properties of the soil, maybe they did something like that to a megacure tree, but we need to dive in deeper. If only I had something to make memorizing easier"
🐺 "What about a book?"
🗣️ "I ... Don't know how to write ... Or read"
👻 "Man how have you survived so long, reading could totally save your life" the ghost said sarcastically.
🗣️ "Well you just said it yourself, reading doesn't matter for survival. But this isn't just for survival, and as such I should learn. How can I begin?"
They left their base after the ghost signaled them it was safe. They started thinking of ways to make paper and ink.
🗣️ "We'll need paper right? I think we can make some from dry leaves"
🐺 "How? Paper shouldn't dissolve easily, specially for writing"
🗣️ "If you mash the leaves, add water, and let it soak for a day, you'll strengthen the leaves. Then you shape that mix into paper and let it dry. And because of this rain, it'll be even better, as some dry leaves are alredy getting soaked in water"
🐺 "Huh, how do you know that?"
🗣️ "You must stay vigilant to others to survive on your own. The orcs discovered how to make paper from leaves, thanks to the heat of their canyon"
They agreed to collect enough leaves for 5 pages, which oddly enough was much more than they could carry easily. The ghost went looking for a potential ink source, when he saw the vampire clan reunited. He made himself invisible and heard their conversation.
🍒 "Come on, wake up alredy. It's been like 7 minutes, why are you still stunned"
The werewolf's brother answered with little breath:
🦊 "What did you even did to me ... why is my skin white?"
🍒 "Oh this?" - she said, as she got another one of the mysterious red megacures on her hand - "I call them 'Blood Cherries', pretty neat huh? They're the reason you're now a vampire, and because you're now a vampire, you shall obey me. You can't beat me without your werewolf strength. Did you really think my clan would submissively agree to anything you said? You guys are so cocky, at least we have to train to be strong, unlike you who's just given said strength"
The ghost was more intrigued than ever, but he still needed to get a potential ink source. He hovered past them, still invisible, and went for the river he met the human on. There was a squid there, and as such he possessed it, and went back to the base. The rain helped maintain the squid alive. On his way back however, he overheard a very important piece of information.
🦊 "That looks like a megacure, what did you even do to it?"
🍒 "Simple, and this will in fact be your first task: feed a megacure sapling with bloodflowers' blood for water, and you'll have yourself my Blood Cherries. Go and look for some bloodflowers now, peasant"
The ghost knew he had to hurry. The only place where bloodflowers grew was the bloodflower tree.