What If They Found Max Like That?
Ruby and Mr. Wizard find a Max statue.
Running through a dark humid forest was not in Ruby's itinerary today. The air, thick and moist with an earthy musk scent, left a damp film on her and Mr. Wizard's skin. They had been in the middle of planning on how to get more money for a carriage before the caravan to Mythreach left the next day, when the shrill shrieking of bagpipes had sounded distantly from the nearby woods. They only knew one man who could play that blasted instrument, Max Blunder.
They had been with the man earlier that day, intending on making some percheses in the market. However, at some point Max had wandered off, only to later be seen dutifully fallowing a small mallard duck towards the woods. Its green head was held high as it waddled its little gray body over the cobblestone. Max, on occasion, would get close enough to attempt to pet the bird, only for it to fly a few feet away, flashing the hidden blue tones of its wings; every time this happened the blond would pout slightly. Mr. Wizard grinned in amusement, no matter how much he may act to the contrary, the shorter man did have a soft heart. Not that the magic user would ever say such things to the cleric. Too bad he had teased Max when he had attempted to pet Mrs. Cat, but no one could ever resist such a good joke.
Ruby initially wanted to follow Max, but Mr. Wizard had insisted they look at carriages. Which lead to now, with the two sprinting deep into the forest after their companion's distress call.
Now, there wasn't really any preference for the sounds of the bagpipes in their party —besides Max himself, but even the pair knew he was far more skilled with it than the recent note played would describe, something had to be wrong.
Ruby's small form leapt from tree to tree, like a swift bird fleeing from a predator, keeping herself out of reach from the lanky wizards flailing arms. Mr. Wizard himself took great strides that carried his clumsy body over most obstacles, a stilt walking performer that wobbled and stumbled awkwardly without toppling over. His cat, Mrs. Cat, whom he had summoned earlier that morning, stuck to the wizard's shadow, her opalescent fur shimmering and shifting as the group sprinted through the many different shades of plant life. Still, they all felt as though they weren't moving fast enough. The call had come from well within the woods, and there would be no way to know just how close they were getting. Already the redhead could feel her muscles start to burn, dark red eyes straining to find any hint of the golden locked man, sweat mixing with the condensation on her skin making her feel sticky and and compacted. Mr. Wizard wasn't fairing much better, his emerald robes getting caught in the surrounding foliage and tearing when they didn't slip loose, and his unsteady foot falls into the mud almost making him fly face first into trees, his shoes and pants getting soaked through with muddy water.
Perhaps it was lucky that Broghini had stayed behind. While the dwarf was an exceptional fighter, his short stature and bulky build would have only slowed him down in this environment.
Finally, the purple tieflings eyes caught something different in the never-ending rows of trees and shrubs, a spectrum of grays that were unnaturally shaped. Pivoting, she called out to the bearded man, bringing them both into a clearing with a strange dilapidated shrine in the middle, surrounded by statues. Statues that looked far to new to have been originally intended for the area. Most stood in poses that suggested combat or fear, but one stood out among the rest, positioned as though it was preparing itself. It had a familiar tied back semi-braided hairstyle and stout pointed ears, only typically seen on the ever rare half n' half. It was also accompanied by a familiar small mallard duck.
Ruby felt a haunting chill rise up her spine and settle under her skin. The tips of her fingers prickled and spasmed and her horns ached, it couldn't have been that long, right? Sure the halfling-goliath mix would often be bothersome and annoying at times, but even she didn't want the man to meet his doom —especially not like this. As she stood there, frozen like the other poor souls in the clearing, Ruby payed no mind to the taller man passing her by. Horror filled her being, she had heard of creatures that could turn their victims to stone, and while she hadn't heard of what would come after, it would only be common sense that being petrified in such a way would kill anyone. Max didn't deserve that. But here he stood, frozen in time after desperately calling for help and likely fighting for his life.
An insistent quack sounded from beside the statue, as the duck flew its way up to the top of Max's head, soon accompanied by Mr. Wizard. The human leaned over the shorter man, hand positioned over the fake beard on his chin in a pondering manner. His eccentric green eyes looked deep into the glossy stone ones of his once blond friend, Max's goliath markings a dark gray that complimented his lighter gray face and his eyes becoming an almost white shade of stone. Mrs. Cat leaps to her master's shoulders sharing a look with the seated duck who let out a warbling sound at the feline and wizard only inches away. Mr. Wizard then laughed his odd hooting chortle and Ruby felt an indignant rage at the seeming mockery. Ready to release her grief and anger, she roughly points to the human prepared to scold him when he suddenly exclaims.
"Ho hoh! Well it appears our friend has had a run in with a cockatrice, dear Ruby! Why, and how lucky we are, it seems he only got nicked twice!" Mr. Wizard continues to chuckle and ramble to himself, sounding completely unbothered by the current state of their cleric.
Ruby was stunned with confusion, pausing her tirade to process what the wizard had explained.
"Wait… huh?" She said, face scrunching in pure bewilderment. "What are you talking about? He's stone! As in; dead! Status can't breath, or think, or have a heartbeat! He died! We were too late! He called for us and died!" Ruby rambled, arms gesturing wildly.
"Ho hoho, no, no, Missy! Mr. Blabber here is perfectly fine! I've seen this affliction before!" Mr. Wizard gesticulates with his lanky arms, flinging his tattered sleeves all over. "You see, Miss Ruby, our friend has been on the receiving end of cockatrice venom! While petrifying, it is not deadly. Unless, of course, you were to destroy the statue!" He spoke with whimsy, either willfully ignorant or oblivious to how dark the words he just said were. Ruby shivered, but at least she could finally relax —comforted by the fact that Max was not dead, simply petrified.
"Can it be cured?" She snapped, quickly losing patience now that the knowledge of their companion's condition was shared. It was only a matter of time before their assailant returned and they needed to get far away as soon as possible.
The human would not get the chance to answer, as a cracking sound drew their attention back to Max's frozen form, the duck standing triumphantly atop his head. His head… that was now covered in egg. Egg that was slowly oozing down the side of his face. His face, that now had a trail of the natural rosy undertone of his skin. His hair was slowly regaining its golden luster; and as the uncooked egg white reached his chin, Max's eyes cleared with awareness, and his mouth gasped roughly, taking in air that had little room in his slowly un-petrifying lungs. The duck planted itself firmly in the man's line of sight, chest puffing out in pride. It let out a series of quacks, aimed at the severely confused man.
Max, his voice straining to recover after being a silent rock before, finally found the right tones in his softening throat to speak. "WHAT?" Was his gravely shriek, his cleared eyes darting around sporadically, without actually seeing his surroundings. His head strained at his attempts to get his bearings before the duck quacked again to regain his attention. The two then appeared to have an exchange, Max's body progressively gaining more of its original colors as time went on. Meanwhile, Ruby and Mr. Wizard stood off to the side, shell shocked at what was happening before them. Mr. Wizard even seemed to drop his aloof act, as he stared with wide eyes and a slight gape in his lips. Had Max finally lost it? Or have they lost it, believing for a moment that an egg from a seemingly male duck had cured the blond of his petrification?
There was no more time to dwell as a shrill crow shook the group to their cores. All heads turned to the source, where they saw a nest with three large blue and brown eggs; and above them, a horrific combination of a chicken and lizard, making for a terrible draconic form. The cockatrice had finally come home.
The beast's feathered tail whipped back and forth, while its forked tongue tasted the air, its pupils had dilated to small round pinpricks that swam in a sea of sickly yellow. Feathers of red, green and copper cloaked the lower half and became sparse as it reached its beaked lizard-like face. It hissed as it laid it piercing gaze onto the party, seeming to glare at Max and his non-stoned form.
It crowed once again, before leaping into the air, talons like blades of steel heading straight towards Ruby. Despite everything, she couldn't move, stuck in place as the monster came from high above.
Faintly, she could hear Mr. Wizard gasp, clearly also caught off guard by the beast. Even more faintly, she heard a resolute "Quack" that strangely sounded a lot like Max. Faster than she could blink, a cry of "Obliterate!" preceded a powerful burst of energy fired above her, sending the cockatrice flying back in the direction of its nest. Soon after, a red and golden blur passed her and the wizard as the draconic bird attempted to snap at a now fully mobile Max Blunder, failing pitifully. Again the man moved faster than anyone had expected, getting some hearty hits on the beast before he got one last swing in with his mace, slamming it violently into the cockatrice's head leaving behind nothing but a mushy red stain with flecks of solid white; slain.
Max panted as he removed his now bloodied mace from the mess, reaching his arm up to wipe his face before pausing, seeing that his sleeves shard the same red stains. He pouted, clearly upset that his clothes had been ruined. Sighing, he looked over his shoulder to his companions, brows furrowed. "Nice of you to show up!" he remarked in exasperation, accent giving a boyish roughness to his voice, waving a hand to the nest. "Eggs! I found the eggs!" he exclaimed, a wry smile lifting his cheeks
"G-good job!" Ruby stuttered, still reeling from the events that had passed. She hadn't really been listening to Max at that point, vaguely registering something about chickens and disproportional sizes of eggs. "Do you think we could sell them? Wizard wants a carriage."
"I was hoping they were gold! They're some kind of blue, that won't fetch a handsome price…" Mr. Wizard approached one of the eggs, puffing some air on it before polishing it with his torn sleeve.
"We can sell blue!" Ruby replied with indignance.
"I'm eating these eggs." Max stated like it was a fact of life.
"Max-"
"I'm just going to put that out there right now, you are not selling these eggs. Not a chance."
"Max!"
As they argued over selling the cockatrice eggs, Mr. Wizard had been convinced to create a bowl shaped barrier, or as he called it —a hover board, large enough to carry the three eggs, cushioning them with twigs and pads of moss. With the eggs collected, the group began the trek back to the town of Nailbrook.
On their way out of the clearing, they all take a moment to glance at the other petrified people, and with shared glances, they decide to leave them be. Give it a day or, at most, a week, and they would be fine after all.
The path through the woods had been winding the first time, and even more so the second. Max stumbled slightly as they walked, muscles clearly still sore from being stone then suddenly used to fight a monster. His eyes also drooped from exhaustion. Ruby found herself falling back from the front of the pack to walk in step with the half n' half, slowly coming up to his side and pulling his arm over her shoulders to bare some of his weight. It wasn't a lot, the man was so much taller than her after all, but Max seemed to start having an easier time moving after, so she wouldn't hold it over his head.
For now…
"How do those bites feel, Bladder?" Mr. Wizard asked, also slowing his pace to stick close to his companion's.
"Blunder…" Max corrects halfheartedly. "-They're fine, could be better." His icy blue eyes refuse to look at either of them, intent on staring forward. A pale pink highlighted his cheeks, as he slowly became more and more embarrassed by the ordeal. He had a reputation to uphold, and this certainly undermined his whole persona. He wasn't weak, he couldn't be, not that he cared what the others thought, but it was the principle of the thing. At least he was able to take the beast out on his own.
Mr. Wizard hummed in response, glowing scar dimming ever so slightly, eyes squinting in contemplation. Perhaps he should have listened to Ruby when she first offered to follow the other man. But alas, the choices were made and cannot be undone. Maybe he could get something to make it up to his friend, perhaps a diving board on the carriage for the blond to backflip off of, or the like. He would have too see if he could bargain for it to avoid paying more.
The journey back had been longer than the one the human and tieflinghad taken when they had first followed Max's call; they weren't running this time, obviously, but it was clearly taking longer than what the blond had done before.
Red eyes studied the taller man, as Ruby's horns clattered against Max's earrings. It was curious, really; how he had freed himself so quickly from petrification. It made no sense that an egg, which had slowly congealed in his hair and crusted on his skin, seemed to have done the deed. The rouge just couldn't believe it. Ultimately, the purple lady could not let a question go unanswered, and so she leaned in closer to her companion's head.
"How did you cure yourself so quickly?" She asked sincerely, willing to put behind her the annoyance she often felt with the other two men.
Max's mouth sucks in to create a thin line as he thinks over his answer, then stops. He steps back a few feet from the group.
And does a backflip.
He lands it flawlessly, and shrugs in a way that says 'I have absolutely no idea' while also implying that he was fully aware and lying to them. Then promptly topples over face first into the mud, overexerting himself to the point of fainting.
Scratch everything, Ruby was going to kill this man.
It was about mid-afternoon when the group arrived at the Cattail's Inn, Broghini looked over to them in a drunken glee. His arms swanned out, spilling Ale from his current mug, as he greeted them boisterously. Only to pause at the state of the ensemble, tattered clothes, bloodstains, dirt and egg following them indoors. The inn keeper, Howl, sputtered as he approached, wafting them back out the door and rambling about how they should at least dust themselves off before entering his establishment. The dwarf swayed, inebriated and confused, then simply went back to his ale while eyeing the still-open door.
Another bout of time had passed when they reentered the inn, slightly more put together, carrying three large blue and brown eggs and a much jingly-er wallet, seemed they found that bird nest then. Man, those eggs sure looked tasty, but that might also be the alcohol in his bloodstream. Max approached him with a uncharacteristically blinding grin, draping himself over the bearded man —again, very unlike the half n' half. However, in his drunken stupor, encouraged by the taller man's attitude, the fiery-haired dwarf abandoned his spot at the bar to display some of the tricks he had learned from sparing earlier. Stumbling across the lounge area, he clumsily imitated the moves he was taught by Sir Alwyn; rather poorly due to the dulling of his senses. Max, at some point, had gone out to sell the cracked fire opal he had obtained the day prior, returning disappointed in how much it turned out to sell for.
As the afternoon turned to nightfall, one of the cockatrice eggs was prepared as a specialty dish for the establishment, the adventurers getting the first servings for finding and selling the eggs to the inn. The boys practically licked their plates clean while Ruby slickly slipped her portion to Mrs. Cat, mugs of ale, beer and wine clattered together as the group celebrated their payout.
Ruby, Broghini and Mr. Wizard eventually turned in for the night, and most of the Cattail inn's patrons had either also retired to their rooms or left for home. Max sat in a plush armchair off to the side, nursing his final wine in solitude. Tapping on glass pulled his attention to the little window beside him, where he saw that damned small mallard duck. Groaning quietly, he subtly pushed the window ajar, letting Blaine in.
"What?" Max grunted, exhausted and wanting to finish his wine in peace.
"Good on ya for not saying anything of me, Kid." Blaine said, settling into the windowsill like it were a nest. "Thought those lips would be loose to gloat about your new patronage and the power you got from it." He chuckled, attempting a smile in spite of his beak.
"Ah- I think it's best for all of us if I say nothing for now, yeah?" Max tested, loosening his posture to something deceptively open. Truthfully, Max didn't fully trust Blaine, despite the fallen god's help. A god with the aspect of tricksters? Who's to say he wouldn't get tricked too; best to stay on his toes. The duck seemed to accept this at face value, thankfully.
"Good, good." He nodded in feign interest "Just remember our deal, Lad; I help you, you help me. Right?"
"Right."
"Good"
With that, Blaine leaps from the sill and flies off into the starry night sky, quickly disappearing into the dark. Max re-latches the window shut, lets out a hearty sigh and finishes his wine.