Around the Folf

[Nick22]

long story kojurro' marita said as she got up off the bed " a very long story. " you dont happen to know of a clothes store where we could find some new clothes, do you?" She asked. " just asking out of curiousity, you see."

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

“Most buildings I saw were leveled, your best bet would be the underground floor of the shopping mall. The mall itself was demolished when I passed it last night, but I know it had clothes stores in the subterranean level. Can’t tell you much more than that I’m afraid, I was a bit pre-occupied surviving the storm,” he apologized. “However, we have something far more important to sort out!” He swiveled an accusatory finger at Flora, who peeped in surprise and fell back on the floor. “My sensors indicate you have my tontine box! Hand it over!”

Flora shakily grabbed her sack of valuables she’d looted from the deposit boxes. “Um...would it hold up in court if I claimed I just found this bag on the floor and was totally going to return it?”

“I have no interest in what you do with the rest,” Kojurro assured, withdrawing the black box. His name remained the only one with a green light next to it. He pressed his thumbprint against the same button Flora had before, and the box whirred and opened up. Flora gasped as the box projected a 3d hologram.

“During the Scorched Earth war, I served in the Vulture Scavenger Corps,” Kojurro explained. “I was part of Lt. Raleigh’s squad, we usually competed with the Kibagamis to be the most successful scouting unit in the corps. And we’d probably have beaten them more often if we hadn’t all been backstabbing scumbags. But one day, my squad discovered this map in a ruined museum.” He skipped around the map by flicking his finger. “It showed the route to a fabulous treasure, here in the Middle East. Of course, we were in the middle of a war, and nobody had time to go chasing treasure. Plus, we weren’t in a line of work with great life expectancy.”

He closed the box down. “So we formed a tontine. We would all keep a digital copy of the map, only usable when a single one of us remained alive. It’s been so many years...but I am finally the last one.” Tears stained his eyes.

“Is that why you came to this region?” Flora asked.

Kojurro nodded. “And it appears I wasn’t the only one; it’s highly unusual for this many members of the tontine to die so quickly. Apparently this storm hit much more than just Sartonic.” He regarded the collected girls. “But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you all. I’ll need assistants on this expedition. If you will come with me, we can follow this map and all become rich. A fabulous treasure awaits us!”

[Nick22]

Treasure?' Count us in " marie said " only .. well we'll need clothes and supplies.. and someoine who is good at geograhpy, landmarks and all that.." Marita started to laugh. " We have just the gal for that. or should i say, professor?' She grinned ' Kora is an expert in this field, although I dont think she's been on too many "treasure hunts" she knows a LOT about ruins and artifacts. . I'm sure she'll help us out. we'll need to get some stuff for her while shopping, and well, a general idea of when and where to meet up with her..' She pulled out her phone.. " ok, we are currently in North Kush.. theres an airfield in the north of the city.. hopefully its not completely and utterly trashed. ..'
 "Lets go shopping.. or more accurately, looting ' Emma said ' because much as I have gotten used over the past day or so to seeing your bare forms , ladies, we do need to cover up..not just for modesty's sake, but from protection from the heats sake. This is a city in the desert after all."
 Lead the way, Kojurro" rose said " I'm in the mind for a purple drress and umbrella combo. not quite southern belle, but one with ample coverage of most of my body." The group began heading down the stairs toewawards the bank enterance. Opening the door, however, bropught a quick remindfer that it was about 30 degrees warmer outside than it was inside the bank.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Yeah, I'm all for nudism but this is getting ridiculous." Flora scarfed down a bag of stale chips as they descended the stairs for the back door. "There've been other times I spent a whole day without clothes, but never when this much shit was going down around me."

"To be fair, many wartime infections come from dirty cloth getting in wounds. You might be doing yourself a favor considering how many minor cuts and bruises you've suffered," Kojurro pointed out optimistically. "And as for your suggestion Marita, an expert in local archaeology would be a welcome addition to the expedition. This map takes us through several ancient sites, some populated and some not, and I'd love to have an experienced academic telling us what to do."

Flora staggered back when the door opened and a blast of hot air hit them like a truck. "Holy cow! The storm turned into a heat wave overnight!"

"Indeed." Kojurrro held out his hand. "At least the rain stopped. And we all have fur, so nobody will get sunburned."

Flora marveled at how badly the town was destroyed as they hiked towards the mall. At times she spotted a few other people, but everybody was evacuating the commercial district for the residential neighborhoods. Nobody paid the group any heed.

Thirty minutes later Flora was drenched in sweat and her legs felt like pudding. "Can I please drink some groundwater?" she panted, climbing over a collapsed highway fence and shaking her fur like a dog to get soaked hair out of her eyes. "Just a bit. I'm gonna pass out."

"As your doctor, I could never allow that! Don't worry, it's right there," Kojurro declined, pointing at a massive pile of rubble and waterlogged concrete. "I could carry that bag of valuables you stole from the bank, if that would help."

Flora only clutched it closer to her chest. "How can you even tell?" She squinted at where he was pointing. "It looks like every other destroyed building in this town."

"It's easily thrice as large as anything around it." Once they'd passed the faultlines spidering across the parking lot, Kojurro tried to move a boulder without any luck. "I don't think we'll be able to excavate a way to the lower levels," he confessed. "Not without specialized equipment, or a bulldo--"

"Over here!" Flora called, waving. She'd found the entrance to the underground parking lot. "This is a lot more open. Dunno if it goes all the way inside, but we can at least escape the sun!"

[Nick22]

 emma sweltereed as she made her way into the parking lot enterance, or more accurately, what was left of it.  the temperature inside was roughly half that of the outside, so the sweat  dripping off of her quickly cooled and becsame sticky to the touch. ' we;; this is a lot better' Marita said as she entered ' the temperatuire, not the state of the garage. we're lucky its intact enough to hold up the lower flooors . ' we'll need to get inside the mall, and hope like heck the stores are intact enough to sell stuff. " " i dont know about you girls ' marie said , "  but i could  go for a nice stuff drink right about now.." she said wiping swat off of her chest.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Flora tiptoed her way through the rubble. "Keep your eyes peeled!" she warned. "There's broken bottles there, and I think that's shattered windshield fragments around that upturned car. Lotta crap was blown into this parking entrance and couldn't go anywhere else."

Covering her crotch for protection as she waded her way delicately through crashed I-beams, splintery tree trunks and other waist-high debris, Flora sighed in frustration when she reached the inner double-doors to find they were shut. "Ugggh..." she sighed, collapsing against them. "We're locked out!" she shouted back to her allies after trying in vain to push the door open. "The doors open outward, and all this crap is blocking it!"

"...Hello?"

Flora's fur stood on end when someone replied from the other side of the door. "Hello?" She asked, dropping to her knees and attempting to peer under the crack.

"Oh god, someone's out there!" the voice shouted deeper into the mall. "Please help us! We're trapped in the mall, there's no way out!"

"Um, I think we might be able to clear the way out..." Flora bit her lip. "Gonna take forever, though..."

"Well, no time like the present!" Kojurro dug his nails into a telephone pole and rolled it sportingly out of the way."

"I guess there are six of us..." Flora sighed. "Hang on in there!" she called under the door. "We're paving the way!"

------------------------------------

Hours later, Kojurro and the girls were covered in grime and trash from their dirty work. Flora panted with exhaustion as Kojurro held an I-beam out of the way as she forced the door open. "Come on, come on!" she growled through gritted teeth as a small party of mallgoers and employees rushed their way into the parking lot.

"Oh, thank you and thank Providence!" an armadillo raised his arm to shake the hand of their rescuer, then decided not to when he observed how filthy she was. "We took shelter from the storm, but there was nothing to eat or drink! Do you have any food or water?"

"We don't even have clothes." Flora admitted. "You're gonna want to head for the residential neighborhoods, we saw medical and rescue personnel there." She glanced back inside. "Is this all of you?"

"No, we had...a minor situation." The armadillo shifted his foot and some of the others traded guilty glances. "There was a lizard who kept somehow finding fruit and seeds to eat...but she didn't want to share. We got...desperate...and she fled into the air ducts. We searched for her all night, but she kept slipping away."

"What, were you trying to kill her?" Kojurro gasped.

"Survival brings out the worst in anyone!" a panda defended herself. "I wanted to live. On that note, I'm not spending another second in this hellhole!"

Flora wrinkled her nose as the townsfolk left without further ado. "Well, we better find that lizard girl..." she muttered, taking her first step into the dark and abandoned mall. "Though hopefully in a way that lets her know we come in peace."

[Nick22]

well offeruing her the peace sign isnt going to help. " marita said, shaking off as much grime as possible. here and there light fizzled off and on. some of the lower floors looked almost pristine, but the higher up you went the greater the damage. ' looks like this place had a food court' marita said looking at a still standing kiosk . ' Lets see if anything there still works. ' even if it is only a soda machine. "  marita had her phone out as a quasi flash light to illuminate the floor in front of them, which was uneven .

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Flora gulped as she tiptoed into the food court. “Erm, Miss Lizard…?” she called out. “Please don’t hurt us...we’re not here to kill you. You can come out!”

“Should we split up?” Kojurro asked, grabbing a mop from the ground and brandishing it like a sword. “We can cover more stores that way.”

“Mrrrph.” Flora grumbled, looking at her grit-stained fur. “Honestly, I’d rather find a way to wash off first. They said there’s no running water, so I dunno how exactly we’re supposed to do that…”

"There might be pots or buckets of water in the kitchen,” Kojurro suggested, steeling himself and his improvised quarterstaff.

“I’m not sure you’re sending the right message by arming yourself…” Flora gulped and hopped the counter. But all their trepidation was for naught; she couldn’t even access the kitchen. “The ceiling straight-up collapsed!” she gasped. “And there’s water leaking from the ground!”

“That might explain why the water lines are down,” Kojurro nodded. “That means we can probably repair it, if we bypass the busted pipe...what are you doing?”

Flora was scaling the collapsed ceiling. “I don’t care where it’s leaking from, I want this crap washed off me!” she answered. Delicately, she reached the apex of the blockage and tried to begin her hike down into the kitchen...and slipped on her grease-stained paws and tumbled into the blackness.

"Flora!" Kojurro called. He darted around, but there was no other way into the kitchen. "Are you okay?"

[Nick22]

 Emma was loking around for anything to drink, or the very least wash her hands.. '  marita was aside abnd overturned tablew when she beheld the glow from a large soda machine ' ah this is one of those ala carte olones ' Rose saidv as she  came closer ' its the one where theres loads of choivces.  Lets see if it works.. ' She presed the screen and choose the ' diet option" oh boy! lots of choices. Diet Coke, diet Dr peper, Diet sprite Diet Root Beer.. " wE hit the soda jacjkjpot ' She said. grabbing a cup from a nearby dispenser and filling it to the brim with Diet Coke. ' marita filled a cup with  water and used it to clean her hands and fur as much as possible. Emma put her claws out  to get them washed by Marita

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Flora hit the ground with an “Oof!” and a heavy thud. Groaning softly, she blinked and lay still, catching her bearings.

She heard Kojurro calling for her. “I’m fine!” she replied dizzily, rubbing her head. “Just a bit of a tumble.” She staggered to her feet. “I…woah!” She’d stepped in a wire snare; before she could take another step, a makeshift pulley system flipped her upside down and dragged her into the air with a terrified shriek.

“You assholes want water that bad?” a voice snarled from the blackness. “Then take this!!!” Flora screamed in terror as a hose nozzle shot her in the chest with stinging water. She spluttered for mercy, shielding her face desperately as her assailant stepped into the light and cut the stream. “Wait...Flora?”

The folf gasped as she recognized the blue-skinned desert lizard. “Sharal’tar! What the hell are you doing here?” Sharal’tar was another test subject at Sartonic, and Yurei’s ex-girlfriend. She was one of the few test subjects with more than one psionic power; she could control plants and affect their growth rate, and she could shrink down to the size of an ant.

“Me? I’m trying not to die.” Sharal’tar glared, lowering her hose. “Why are you naked in the mall again?”

“I’ve been fighting for my life too, outside in the storm!” Flora protested, flushing red. "I didn't get the luxury of camping in a basement the whole time."

“Wait, Sharal, what exactly did you mean by ‘again’?” Kojurro asked from the other side of the blockade.

“Oh, she never told you that story? Her dress got caught and eaten by the escalator.” Sharal’tar smirked. “Is that why you came back? You hoping to maybe find what’s left of it down here?”

“Sure, yeah, laugh it up,” Flora folded her arms, trying to maintain her composure despite being bound and hung like a captured animal. “You just tried to murder me!”

“Forgive me, my last 24 hours haven’t exactly been peaches!” Sharal’tar snapped. “It was fucking Lord of the Flies in here, just because they couldn’t understand I was growing the food fast as I could, not hiding it!”

“Wow. Personally, I’m shocked that your award-winning personality couldn’t clear that up,” Flora retorted sarcastically. Then Sharal’tar shot her in the nuts. “Ow, fuck! Hey! Stop it!” she protested, trying and failing to protect herself as Sharal’tar blasted every part of her body in succession. “Jesus, that hurts!”

“What? I’m cleaning you up, just like you wanted.” Sharal’tar dropped the hose after turning Flora into a sopping chandelier of frazzled fur. “Who else is here, anyway?” She pushed the stove aside from where she’d barricaded the side entrance to the kitchen, letting anyone else enter if they wish.

[Nick22]

the door opened and rose entered carrying a large  cop of Sprite '  she stopped as she saw the soaked and clear;ly miserable Flora hung upside down from the ceilimng and then noticed Sharaltar ' Oh.. so your the one we've been loking forward ' I'm Rose.. thios is marie ,  Marita and emma. Pleased to meet you.' Marie used her vine poewers to break up the debris  by crushing the stuff into powder. ' i think i'm kinda getting the hang of these powers '  Marie said before  nioticing that Sharal'tar was looking at her " yeah, sorry, i have these powers ' Marie said slightly embarased

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Hey Emma. And yeah, I've seen you three around Sartonic." Sharal'tar blinked in shock at everyone's state of undress. "Seriously though, where are *all* your clothes?"

"Can someone let me down...please?" Flora muttered weakly. "All the blood's rushing to my head..."

Sharal'tar ignored her. "You'll all want to follow me," she said. "There are clothing stores deeper in the mall." She glanced in surprise at Marie's vines. "Wait, you're a plantbender as well?" she gasped. "How did I not know that before? I thought I was the only one at Sartonic!"

[Nick22]

they got shredded in the storms' Marita said.  And Maries only recently come into these powers. she hasnt exactly mastered them, but they've saved pour bacon on several occasions. If you have similar powers, Sharal'tar, perhaps you could teach her to control them?  the last time she tried opening a door with them, she tore the door off the hinges>"
_
Well in the meantime, we do ned to get some clothes and suppplies. oh, and we neeed to get Flora down from there ' Marie said.  She gestured with her clwas vines wrapped around floras legs and with a pull flora was sent sprawling to the ground.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Sharal'tar winced as Marie's vines snapped Flora's snare trap and dragged Flora into the linoleum. "Yeah...you could definitely benefit from some training. It looks like you're not thinking of them as an extension of yourself; you're wielding them like a whip when they're closer to an extra arm." She waved her arm, and a pair of vines grew from the floor and dangled Flora in the air from both legs. "Like this. Treat them like limbs. I like to imagine I'm an octopus and they're my tentacles, it helps get my brain in the right mindset."

"Come on, girls, do I really have to be the guinea pig for this?" Flora begged, grasping desperately for the ground as Sharal'tar bobbed her like a hook on a fishing line.

Sharal'tar smirked as she acquiescently dropped Flora back to the ground. "Don't worry, Marie, you've completed the hard part, which is summoning and controlling the vines. Now it's a matter of perfecting your technique. Stick with me, and soon you'll be threading needles with those things."

Kojurro crossed to the refrigerator and opened it to find a collection of fruit, seeds, and other organic edibles. "Sharal'tar, I hope you don't mind, but we've had a long day, and I could do for some lunch." He threw some sunflower seeds into his mouth and swallowed them, shells and all. "All things considered, fruit and soda are far better than I expected to find," he noted through a full mouth.

[Nick22]

" I'll be happy to get the training ' Marie said ' Its still freaky, seeing vines shoot out of my claws." She said As Rose went over to the fridges ands helped herself to some watermelon slices. " at kleast theres some food here ' She said. ' thanks for the snacks."

 How close are we to the clothing department?' Marita asked Sharal'tar. " because I seriously nered some new clothes. " i need something that covers up my pregnancy" Emma chimed in. " Something that says ' warm and comforting" something in light blue or pink.' she said.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"This way," Sharal'tar lead the group delicately through the mall once everyone had eaten their fill.

The mall was wrecked around them. Flora looked in awe at the destruction as Sharal'tar led the way through the ruined buildings. "I can't believe the storm caused as much destruction as it did," she breathed aloud. "How long do you think it'll take to recover from all this?"

"Who cares?" shrugged Kojurro. "We'll be traipsing across the Sahara chasing fabulous riches!"

"You'll be doing what now?" Sharal'tar looked over.

"I said, 'We'll--'" Kojurro started, but Flora covered his mouth and pulled him aside. "We don't want her to come!" she whispered urgently.

"Why not?" Kojurro pushed her aside. "She already mentioned she's going to train Marie in plantbending. How's she supposed to do that if we're off on adventures?"

"But that means...we need to split the money another way!" Flora protested. "I don't want a seventh of my riches to go to her!"

"As the one who owns the map, I get twice as much gold as the rest of you. It's only fair. Except I'll bequeath that bonus share of the loot to Miss Sharal'tar! Now come on, no more of this." Kojurro returned to the group and explained the upcoming expedition to collect his winnings by following the treasure map.

"Whoa. I mean, of course I'm down. Better than sticking around in this hellhole while they rebuild," Sharal'tar shrugged.

"Oh please, don't act nonchalant! You once worked as a mat sprayer to make rent, this is not shrug money!" Flora spat.

Sharal'tar ignored her. "Here we are," she spread her arms in presentation at a destroyed clothing boutique. "Help yourself. Whatever you find's gonna be a bit dusty, but it's better than--literally--nothing."

[Nick22]

  the bountique was , as stated, in ruins, and most of the clothes were trashed as well. pieces of fabric were strewn about,  half of the blouse here, the upper part of a dress there. " Yeah theres nothing here for us.' Marita said picking up what once was a fetching red dress,  but was now shredded into strips. '  We'll need to keep looking. i imagine theres several dress shops in the mall, hopefully between them we'll piece together some outfits..where is the next closest store?'  she asked Sharal ' tar.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Hmm, I wasn't really able to sightsee, was a bit busy trying not to die," Sharl'tar admitted. "But there are plenty of stores, we should be able to find something."

"Why don't you donate your pants to someone?" Flora challenged. "You've got underwear on, right? You gonna make a pregnant girl walk around naked when you've got an extra layer?"

"Fuck you, Flora, I don't need to do anything," Sharal'tar flipped her off. "We'll find pants for all of you soon enough...I hope." She glanced down the hallway. Even ignoring the rubble, nothing in the immediate vicinity looked like a clothing store.

"We might find something quicker if I go at my own pace," Kojurro suggested, suddenly zipping down the hall at lightning speed. "You all go left, I'll go right..." his voice echoed down the mall as he disappeared from view.

[Nick22]

Marita peaked into the clothing store and shook her head. ' nothing left of the c;othes but pieces here and theree, plus there debris everywhere." she sighed as they went further and further into the mall, as they went further in , they found tiis part of the mall was intact, even the lights still worked.  ' funny this part of the mall looks like it wasnt even toiuched ' Rose said as they entered a clotrhing store. beautiful dreeses hung on racks, in all the colkors of the rainbow, and best of all, they were untouched.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Oh, thank god, we finally found an intact store." Flora sat down without further ado. "I don't think I can take another step." Even Sharal'tar seemed relieved to take some stress off her calves, and found a nice-looking leather coat. "You aren't worried you'll bake to death in that thing?" the folf asked. "It's blazing outside."

"I'm a desert lizard, we vent heat like nobody's business," Sharal'ar reminded. "I need protection from the light, not the heat."

Kojurro returned. "Ah, this is much better than the bath supplies place I located," he remarked approvingly, shedding his fluffy pink robe and locating a dashing white suit.

Sharal'tar couldn't help staring as Kojurro changed clothes. "What happened to his...uh..." she muttered to Flora.

"They were blasted off during the Scorched Earth war," Flora whispered. "Don't ask me how I know that.
Don't ask me how I know that."

Kojurro glanced over. "Are you ladies talking about me?"

"Er, yes...about that massive scar on your abdomen!" Flora stammered quickly, and Sharal'tar flashed pale. "Did you get that from your run through the storm?"

"What, this?" He flexed his stomach proudly. "Don't make me laugh, this storm was nothing. I got this while caught in a tornado in Chancellorsville. It was so strong that a roofing tile literally embedded itself in my gall bladder like a knife!"

"Well, um, enough about that!" Sharal'tar interrupted. "Once everyone's dressed, including Flora, what should our next step be?"

"I guess continue rummaging through the mall, gather supplies for the expedition." Flora stripped a mannequin wearing an athletic jogging outfit. "Also we should call Kora, get her to arrive maybe next month. I don't get signal this deep under the ruins."

"Erm, actually, maybe she should arrive as soon as possible..." Kojurro muttered, looking in alarm at his tontine box.

"What's wrong?" Sharal'tar asked.

He showed it to her. "This box was only supposed to activate when one member of my squad remained alive. But look!"

The lizard squinted, then realized the problem. "There are two lights active."

"What?" Flora gasped. "There weren't two before!"

"I know what happened," Kojurro explained, tracing his finger across the newly-lit name. "Presley August was the team field surgeon, and he went into anagathics after the war. He's now a well-respected cryogenicist, an expert at preserving dying bodies with the hope of reviving them in the future when technology has advanced to the point their cause of death can be cured. I'm positive he's doing something to extend his lifespan as well, the guy was old even back in the war days."

Sharal'tar blinked. "So you're saying...?"

"He cheated," Kojurro explained. "When he saw we were the last two survivors, he temporarily put himself into cryogenic arrest. This flagged him as dead, and caused the tontine boxes to spit out the map to the treasure. Which means, ladies, that we are now in a race." His vision steeled. "Dr. August has always been impatient, and now he's rich and connected to boot. If he reaches the treasure before us, I guarantee he will not be interested in sharing it."  He glanced over at Marita. "How soon can Kora arrive? We're now on something of a timeframe if we want to see that money."