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"So, can you tell me more about how this… works?" Mira asked the two of them. They had been walking in the forest now for a while, but progress was slow. The trees were hard to cut and they were only advancing when everyone was accounted for. Mira and Heather were assigned as body guards because they knew them the best. To pass the time, they started asking questions about their telepathy.
"Well, what do you want to know, exactly?" Effle asked her in turn.
"Can you, like, see everything he sees?" Heather asked Elffe curiously.
"Kind of, only when I concentrate really hard." Elffe told her.
"We can exchange memories, skills and emotions over a 'link'." Effle said picking up.
"But if we cant concentrate, no communication."
"When we're in direct contact, however," Effle started and slapped Elffe's forehead with his palm.
"We-"
"Can-"
"Finish-"
"Each other's-"
"Sentences." Elffe finished. "By the way, what were those feelings you had right before the chlaena attack?"
"I'm also able to hide stuff from him like surprises!" Effle said quickly, him and Mira looking away and blushing furiously.

"Then, why is it you seem… un-attracted to certain things like that chlaena? Most men would've been eaten voluntarily." Heather asked Elffe.
"We share a Tolerance that erases most romantic feeling with others."
"It's actually our inhibitions, the ability to obey common sense. We only have enough tolerance for one normal person, so we juggle it around between ourselves when talking to… certain people."
"-Which technically means one of us is drunk all the time. But we still love and stuff, we're just more cautious with whom because loving a giant naga isn't usually the best idea." Elffe said thoughtfully. They had never explained it to anyone before and it helped them understand it better themselves. Suddenly the forest rumbled. Everyone stopped moving and looked around frantically yet cautiously. Effle thought big, and immediately gripped the apple in his pocket and held it up to his mouth, ready to take a bite.

"Wait a minute… How'd you get an apple so fast?" Mira whispered to him in his ear.
"It recharges every fifteen minutes." Effle said quickly watching for all signs of movement.
"Then why'd I stay a giant all last night?!" She whispered angrily.
"You're cute when you're big." Effle whispered back sweetly.
"I…" She was taken aback and blushed furiously. The conversation immediately ended when another boom rocked the forest. The crew started retreating into a circle and Effle and Elffe along with Heather and Mira walked quickly to the middle.
"Steady…" The captain said to them slowly. "Nobody move! We're still within range of the sails…"

Out of no where, the forest ahead of them started moving and a human sized fairy ran out of it. Effle quickly absorbed this info with the combined help of Elffe whom he was in direct contact with. "Silver skin- white eyes- human like face?- nice body!- concentrate- torn wing- looks frantic- running from something?- Nothing behind us- above us- beside us- surprised to see us- scratches and bruises on her legs!- rumbling hasn't stopped yet- watch yourself…" Effle and Elffe thought to each other quickly, eyeing the strange silver fairy and the area around them. The fairy stumbled to a stop and looked at them all, surprised as much as they were to see her, but then she remembered where she was and sprinted off to the side. As she did, a giant naga tore through the forest behind her and stopped completely when she saw them. "Green long hair- ponytail, nice- pretty cute- dark jade colored eyes- green tail and scales- surprised to see us as well, not many visitors- huge!- empty stomach- loud growling- is she drooling?- … panic?- O yeah."

"Open fire!" The captain yelled after one long, absolutely quiet second. Effle took a bite of the apple and threw it behind him. The crew, including Elffe, took out their weapons and fired at the naga sending her back into the forest. A second later though, she attacked them at an angle and nearly grabbed hold of a purple haired neko. Effle started to grow. The green naga was stuck by two close together trees and managed to trip the neko in front of her. She lingered for a few seconds, trying to grab anything and managed to pinch her foot in between her index finger and thumb. The neko screamed and was dragged backwards towards the forest. Effle sprang into action and slapped the naga's hand with his now fully grown one, forcing her to let go of the neko whom Effle gingerly picked up and brought back to the circle. He set her down next to Elffe, Heather and Mira then turned his attention back to the forest, ignoring the stares of the crew.

The naga didn't strike again immediately, but now the entire forest was rumbling. Effle grabbed his now massive dagger and held it in front of him in his left hand, curved side facing towards the forest waiting for the next strike. "Behind." Effle turned and stabbed downward behind him as Elffe had thought it to him and the dagger sank a good three normal people sizes into the ground, just missing the arm of the naga who retreated quickly. "Your right!?" Effle pulled his dagger out of the ground and used his other hand to grab the wrist of the naga trying to grab Mira. He yanked hard, pulling her out into the open and moved his hand from her wrist to her neck and throwing her against a tree, holding her there almost suspended off the ground. It was a red haired naga with long curly hair and red eyes. She smiled ferociously even as he choked her and his eyes widened. "Behind!" Elffe thought to him.

He spun around and saw the green naga reach out of the forest with both hands to grab handfuls of people. "NO!" Effle yelled and his wings started to shrink, but it was no use; they would take time to fold completely. The red naga snapped at his wrist with her tail and he dropped her on accident. She dashed off past him, but he impaled her with his dagger in the lower back drawing blood. She jerked violently and tried to yell in pain, but no sound came out. He fell to the ground motionless and Effle ran past her to the crew. It was too late. The green naga had her mouth open and was shoving all the girls and Elffe included towards her mouth; he'd never make it in time. He threw his dagger without thinking, and though it missed vital parts of her body, it still struck the edge of her tail, causing her to flinch for a fraction of a second which was all he needed.

Effle was on top of her in a second and pulled her off the ground. He flung her back with such force he surprised even himself and rushed her disoriented arms. She landed on her back and he didn't hesitate to jump on top of her, taking all the tolerance for himself for only a minute. He put his right hand around her throat, his left knee on her right elbow, and his right foot on her left elbow restraining her completely. Effle was lucky they were the same size, or she would've flipped him easily and beaten him up. She gave a choked gasp and Effle didn't quite know why he was so angry. He was even more confused when he punched her across the face as hard as he could with his left fist nearly breaking his own finger and even more surprised when he did it again, and again, and again. She sputtered and tried to escape, but it was no use. He drew back his fist again, rage boiling in the pit of his stomach, but suddenly a picture of a distressed Mira flashed across his vision. "Effle…" He could hear Elffe think to him, "She's done, let her be."

The anger inside him evaporated in a second and his tolerance leaked out of him back to Elffe. All he saw in front of him now was a girl beat up, looking for something to eat, and close to tears. Effle checked himself and realized he was breathing as quickly as she was his fist still ready to strike. He wavered, and dropped his fist to his side. He stood up, still watching the naga to make sure she made no move to escape and picked up his dagger on the ground not far away. "Lets keep moving." He said to everyone; he couldn't bring himself to look at them directly and avoided their gazes.

"He's right!" The captain said after a moment of silence, "We're almost there. Let's get going before anyone else shows up. Effle took two steps off to the side to let the crew pass, keeping his vision lowered to his feet when he noticed the small silver figure patting his ankle. The silver fairy patted him sadly and looked up into his face. Effle noticed the full extent of her torn wing and realized it would be weeks before she completely recovered. He bent down and smiled at her asking her gently, "Do you know how to navigate this island?"
"Yes." She said to him in a more womanly voice than he expected.
"Can you help us find a certain point on our map?" He asked again.
"Yes." She said back to him with no change in tone or expression.
"Captain," Effle said, mad the entire crew turned to look at him. "She will help us through the jungle." He said, motioning to the silver fairy.

Effle walked behind the crew with Mira on one shoulder. She insisted and said she had to defend him no matter how capable he was of protecting himself. "Oh how the tables have turned." She said cheerfully. Effle knew she was sad to see him angry and how she didn't want him to know it. She leaned against his neck as he remained silent and regretted not being able to speak his mind just yet. "Do you want to try becoming small again?" She said to him encouragingly after another silence.
"You may need me to defend you against predators." He said.
"I… miss the old you." She said timidly. Effle smiled and thought how it wouldn't be so bad if he were small for a little while…

He picked Mira up with both hands and set her down on the ground. "Small." He said out loud; it helped him concentrate. His stomach lurched and twisted inside him. "Two minutes, eight seconds." He whispered mechanically, bending over incoherently. He was suddenly starving and Effle could see Mira wasn't being protected by the sails any more. She was… perfect. His mouth began to water and he realized he had no tolerance; things couldn't get any worse.
"What's wrong?" Mira said alarmed, moving towards him. She was cute. Elffe turned to see him as well, feeling his feelings and was immediately alarmed. Just then the captain called out to everyone.
"We're here!" She was in front of an enormous cave with a shining golden hue in the back. "I can see the treasure and there is a LOT of it!"
"Effle, what is it?" Mira said walking up to him. He was doubled over so far, he was almost face first in the dirt. Mira walked closer and put her hand on his cheek; she then noticed he was salivating like a dog. "Effle…?" She said cautiously starting to back away. Elffe sprinted over and dragged Mira away as fast as he could; good move. Effle moaned openly and fell on his side, needing something to satisfy his hunger.
"What's going on?" Heather jogged over as well, seeing Elffe's expression and stopped short when she spotted Effle.

Effle lay on his side unnoticed by most of the crew. But the ones who weren't looking at him were oddly still. Then Effle saw out of the corner of his eye a dridder a little bigger than him crawl out from the cave. She was dark colored and had long black hair tied back in a pony tail. She held her hands behind her back and she quickly surrounded the crew in a menacing way with her long spider legs. "Why, hello there!" She said appearing innocent, but Effle and Elffe knew better from experience. However, Elffe hadn't yet noticed and Effle was unable to say anything. She kept walking sideways in a circle, and the captain wouldn't give the order to fire. "What are fine travelers such as yourselves doing out here in a place like this?"

It was odd that the dridder appeared so friendly; one of the crew shouted to her like they were lost children just found by a strange adult. "We're looking for treasure!" She squeaked, more excited than frightened.
"Are you?" She said bending down close in front of them, eyeing each one individually. Effle wondered if they had ever seen a dridder before and wondered when they would get it in their heads to use their guns. He was recovering, but too slowly for comfort and it could be too late by the time he was fully rested. "You don't look like you could fight all the way here!" She said in what Effle thought a cheesy exasperated tone.
"We can! We can!" Effle started to worry; this wasn't normal, they were acting like children.

"Who's the strongest one here?" She asked encouragingly and the crowd parted around the captain. "Let me take a look at you." She held out her hand for the captain to step on, and she kept her ground but the crew pushed her forward and the dridder quickly held her up to her face. Melisa glared at her from what Effle could see here and was utterly confused as to why they wouldn't do anything. Then, Effle spotted the forest floor moving around Elffe, Heather and Mira. Three spiders crawled rather slowly to their backs and Effle pieced the puzzle together. The entire crew must've been stung and hypnotized, one by one. Effle dragged himself forward and his stomach relaxed for a second, like it was expecting something.

Elffe was about to shout out to the crew when Effle picked him and Heather up in one hand. Elffe tried to communicate telepathically, but Effle's mind was a jumbled mess, and he had to worry about too many people at the same time to concentrate. His stomach growled and he could hear Heather scream from a place he wasn't completely in anymore. Effle suddenly felt as if he was watching himself like in a bad movie. He pulled his hand closer to his mouth, and his mouth opened up for them. His stomach agreed kindly and stopped harassing the rest of his body for a moment. Effle swallowed them both and he couldn't deny they tasted good.

Elffe didn't taste like anything new, like the smell of sweat to the person in question, but Heather was like chocolate on steroids. His tongue caressed her entire body and he couldn't hold back. Her screams could barely be heard, and Elffe was completely silent. Effle snapped to attention and quickly picked up Mira in his other hand. She had turned around in horror to see her best friend be eaten alive and was about to run away from him. Effle pleaded with her through his eyes that she would understand, and he managed to say "I'm sorry" before he opened his mouth wide. She screamed and he heard it this time, now completely aware and in control of himself, but plopped her in his mouth. He could feel her trying frantically to crawl back out and clung to his tongue hysterically. He tried to keep hold of his tolerance, but Elffe was taking it from him for something Effle was sure was important.

He savored her tasted for a few seconds and gently caressed her body with his tongue. He could feel her trying to climb back out but it was like trying to swim up a waterfall. He finally swallowed and could feel her hammering against his esophagus before landing in his stomach. Effle was, in his mind, 'full'. He leaned against a nearby tree and inhaled then exhaled all at once. A flash of contained light surrounded whatever part of him was touching the tree and when he pulled himself away, saw that the tree had turned gray and decayed. He felt his stomach churn one more time then harden into a solid ball inside him. "No more digestion for a while," Effle thought to himself and Elffe to let him in on the situation outside. He looked around and saw the three spiders trying to escape from him and he quickly put an end to them with his foot. He was now ready to fight a dridder and reexamined the situation.

The dridder was now playing with her food and holding the captain upside down and laughing along with the brainwashed crew. She pinched the captain's hands to her side and held her up right. She quickly held her up to her face and her tongue snaked out and probed her body from legs to chest to head. The dridder moaned and instantly started massaging her stomach. The dridder was about to put her in her mouth feet first when Effle walked over quickly pretending to walk in on the situation for the first time. He picked up one of the crew and held her up to his face.

"Hew, is that a succubus?" Effle asked in an overly interested tone. The dridder stopped immediately, checking to see if she was about to be out muscled by someone bigger, but relaxed when she saw it was only a male fairy.
"What's it to you?" She said rather coldly. Effle checked his wings; they were now the small agile size. Effle chuckled and dumped the purple haired crew member into his mouth and tasting it like a sucker. He had to stall.
"Seems to me like you only want one," He said, hinting at the crew he would soon eat if she didn't even though he knew he wouldn't be able to eat them all. His tongue felt the rigid body up and down and soon she became more relaxed. He pushed his tongue between her legs and tasted her chest before swallowing. Right before, he did, he could feel her panic and kick wildly at the insides of his mouth. "Does that mean I should take care of these?" Effle said intriguingly.

The dridder stopped and eyed the crew. "Now, I know that succubus taste great, but I also know lots of nekos taste even better." Effle said quickly seeing her longing expression. She creped toward the crew and Effle stepped between her and them. "So what's it going to be?" He said looking her straight in the face and holding his ground.
"Effle, your thoughts are confusing, but I must mention that the crew member you just ate is fine now, what ever it was, and I don't think it can last through saliva!" Elffe said to him telepathically. Effle moved closer to the dridder. He was nearly touching the captain still hanging out of her mouth and could've licked her if he wanted to.
"I think you've already made your decision…" He said quietly and slowly. She looked back at him and stared at his wings as he gazed into her eyes. He opened his mouth and slowly engulfed the top half of the captain. She was banging against him furiously and Effle hoped she would figure out his plan soon. The wings were hypnotizing her and he managed to pull the captain out of the dridder's mouth without too much trouble. He slowly stepped back away from her.

As soon as his tongue touched the captain he shuddered. She was like awesome wrapped in joy with a side of happiness poured into one little being. If Hell tasted like that, he'd gladly go there for more. He quickly felt her up and down with his tongue and should've swallowed much sooner than he did but he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Effle needed a plan; he was standing in front of a half hypnotized dridder who would eat the entire crew and he already had five people inside him. He had to save everyone and saliva was the way to do it. Then how could he do it…?

Effle turned around and quickly walked over to the crew. He picked up another one of the pirates and checked her body for a sting of some sort. He found it on her back leg and he licked it, causing her to shudder. "Do what I do!" He whispered fearful that the dridder would overhear and move. He set down the member again and picked up another one and did the same thing. The first girl he picked up was now in complete control of herself and quickly went around doing the same thing Effle was doing to the other crew.
"What… happened?" The dridder said recovering. Effle drew a blank; he was at a loss of what to do next. "Hey…?" She said in that tone that meant she realized something. Effle felt her hands on his shoulders and he was pulled backwards onto the ground facing her. "Where's my succubus?" She said angrily, hovering not far above him.
"Uh…" He said, his eyes shifting to his own stomach.
"Why you little-!" She curled her hands into fists and pulled one back like she was going to punch through him but at the same time, the trees rumbled again.
"No!" Effle and the dridder said at the same time.

The entire crews looked to be okay again and were moving towards the cave when the forest started to dance. They all sprinted as fast as their little legs could carry them and made it safely into the mouth of the hole, then went to explore the treasure beyond. Effle thought small and the apple appeared in his pocket, but he didn't eat it yet; that would be bad for those still inside him. The dridder and Effle prepared themselves with the cave to their backs though Effle was slowly moving inside without her noticing. Just then the forest stopped and the two nagas from before slithered out. The dridder moved forward to confront them and Effle turned around and dashed inside.

What he saw was spectacular. Gold jewels, odd weapons and diamonds stacked against the walls for miles. This must've been a massive cave because it looked like it could fit 20 dridders and there still be enough space. Effle gazed at all the walls and saw a clear pool of water near one corner. The light of the room seemed to be just reflecting off the gold itself so he couldn't miss the light reflected off the water. He marched over to it when he heard his stomach growl and the hardening feeling disappear. He bent down over the water and jammed his fingers as far back into his throat as possible. His stomach convulsed and the contents came to the surface. The five people in him were dumped into the water making for an easy clean up.

Effle's mouth tasted terrible and he gagged once or twice before emptying the contents of his stomach into the pool. Effle fell backwards facing upward and breathed heavily. He was starving now, and he quickly ate the 'small' apple and began to shrink. He could hear sputtering and coughing coming from the pool and waited until he was normal sized again before standing up. "Could you PLEASE tell me when you're going to DO THAT next time?" Elffe said dragging himself out of the water and pulling Heather along with him. Effle looked back into the pool and ran over to help Mira out as well. The captain was washing up and Effle paid her no attention; Mira was his main concern. He helped her to the shore and as soon as he asked if she was all right, she slapped him harder than he had ever been slapped before. He staggered back a step and quickly dropped his feeling of anger; he deserved it.

He turned around again to ask her the same question and she hugged him tightly. Effle was confused but didn't let the feeling go to waste and held her tightly back. She whispered in his ear, "Elffe told me why you did it, I was so scared-"
Effle interrupted her, "It's ok, you don't ever have to do that again." They stood there for a while before Elffe broke their silence.
"Look at all this GOLD!" Even Effle looked up again, this time to take all of it in. The captain walked up to Effle and Mira stepped back away from him.
"Effle, I don't do this often so listen up… Elffe explained to me why you did what you did and… well, thank you." She said and marched past him. "Now where's my identifier?!" One of the girls jumped up and ran over to her.
"Come on!" Elffe said to Mira and Effle and they all went to explore the strange gadgets.

There was a line that formed to walk over to the girl who had purple eyes and hair and who told each individual what the thing in their hands could do. She had an oddly shaped wand that was about two feet long and that had a glowing red ruby on the end. She waved it over each gadget once and her eyes would either light up with excitement or stay the way they were, waiting for another good find. Something someone said caught his attention and Effle listened in. A girl was holding a small tripod about a foot tall and with a reflective silver ball on top. "Ooh!" She said excitedly, "This can cloak everyone within 10 yards… It can last up to half an hour… aw, but it looks like it only has one charge… We'll use this one to get out of here." Effle was suddenly very anxious to get his hands on some of these gadgets and searched the pile next to him.

Effle threw several things out of his way, mostly just junk; a comb that looked like it was already broken, an empty flare gun with the words 'made by Gunther' imprinted on it, and an empty but heavy box. Something caught his attention and he reached through the pile of trash and dragged it out. He took hold of what felt like a pocket watch and pulled it out. The girl was now walking around with everyone else and telling them if their find was worth keeping. She came over to him and quickly said, "That watch can rewind time 5 seconds, but has a 5 second recharge. It's up to you if you think it's useful." Effle threw it away because he figured messing with time was never a good idea. "That watch can rewind time 5 seconds, but has a 5 second recharge. It's up to you if you think it's useful." Effle heard from behind him and he turned around. The girl was walking over to him… again.
"Uh… no thanks."

Elffe jumped up and brought over what looked like a foot long piece of string to the girl. Effle could hear them in the background saying, "Well, that rope is unbreakable, but I'm not sure if you'll find any good use for one that's only a foot long." Effle turned back to his pile and pushed away a few more gold pieces to have something really catch his attention. A gold statue of a small, fat man lay in its side in the sandy ground. He was laughing from the looks of it and had his arms crossed in front of him. As soon as Effle picked it up, a tingling sensation went down his arm. He shivered and turned around to show the girl but regretted it as soon as he did. Everyone was naked, down to the bare essentials. Have you ever tried to look at about 20 different perfect babes at one time? Effle wasn't sure he could handle what he saw even with full tolerance and dropped the statue out of surprise. Everything went back to normal and Effle stood transfixed for a few more seconds before turning back to his pile trying to pretend like nothing happened.

Effle finally picked through his entire pile, but nothing that seemed of value was found. He sighed and turned to leave, but lying in front of him was a white rock like quartz. He looked at it oddly then picked it up. Nothing special happened until he looked around. The entire cave seemed to light up and he could see clearly in all directions. What's more is that traps lit up too or at least the outline of the trap in question and Effle realized they were all standing in one. Effle jumped up quickly and fit the palm sized white rock into his apple pouch. It stopped working and Effle took it out again to evaluate the traps all around them. A rolling bolder would come down and take out half the crew if, Effle traced the trap mechanism back to its beginning, someone set off the weight platform covered with sand underneath them. Effle figured the only way to set any of the traps off after examining them for a while was with a giant, dridder most likely, and therefore considered everyone safe from harm.

Effle put the rock away, counting it as a good find, and started searching another pile for something Subeta could use. It wasn't long before he found a small compass that pointed him towards the treasure all around him and figured a treasure finding compass was perfect for her. Elffe found something as well but kept it a secret from him until they could get back on the boat. "Five minutes!" Effle heard the captain yell. He picked up a pile of gold and junk and stuffed his apple pouch with it; He owed about 5 months worth of rent to his landlord in Negav. Effle regrouped with the others in the middle of the cave and they had all found something of use in one way or another. They were mostly arguing over who got to keep the sleek leather boots that could walk off of walls for a few seconds because they thought they were good looking shoes or something, Effle would never figure all that stuff out. Heather had found a bandana that increased her vision, Mira had found a wooden cup that would purify all water in it, and the captain had kept a sword that had black mist rising off it that would turn into a snake and attack its target as well.

They were all ready to leave when the cave rocked around them. "The dridder is still outside fighting the nagas from before," he filled in the select five who were in his stomach at the time. "Will it be a problem?"
"If you were bigger it might." The captain added bluntly. Effle tried to count the time in his head since he last made an apple and figured he was in the clear.
"Big." Effle said out loud; he felt it appear in his overflowing pocket and quickly caught it before it rolled to the ground. One bite and he could feel himself growing.
"Lets mobilize!" the captain shouted and everyone followed her. Effle spotted Mira out of the corner of his eye and she was trying to keep her distance but ended up near his ankle whenever she realized it. Effle's stomach growled and he punched himself hard so the sound would go away; he noticed everyone had turned to look at him when that happened.

One of the crew members set up the silver tripod from before and a white light seemed to glow out of it. The light itself didn't reach far and Effle stayed away from it; it had a harsh feel to it. As everyone stood near it, the light started to change their skin color and everything it came in contact with transparent. Effle was amazed at the odd looking shadows that they still had that weren't exposed to the light and how even those disappeared as well. As soon as everyone but himself was invisible, they moved to the side of the cave to let Effle leave without stepping on anyone. The orb on the tripod dimmed until no more light came out, then it fizzed like a dead light bulb and stopped working all together. "We'll be back at the boat in 15 minutes, you better be there." He could hear Melisa say from his ankle. "Now go! Defend us well!" And Effle marched out of the cave with his left hand raised, dagger poised ready to strike.

He walked about two feet out of the cave when a tree, completely uprooted from the ground, landed where he left his foot a second ago. Effle snapped to attention and looked around. Giant spider webs torn apart and left hanging off of everything were found all around him. There was no sign of anyone else around and he immediately wondered where the tree came from. Elffe told him they were to his right now and were going around the outside of the clearing. As soon as he thought it to him, the opposite side of the clearing was torn open and the dridder scuttled in. The red naga had her tail tied around her waist and was hanging off her neck. The green one was spiraling under her trying to tie up her legs and get her to fall over. Effle stood off to the side and wondered if he should intervene at all. He started inching away off to the side but never facing away from the fight.

He was about to turn around and leave when the dridder got one hand free and brought it to her mouth. She gave a loud whistle and the ground started to rumble. Suddenly an arm draped around his neck and pulled him backwards. Effle got a mental picture of a blue naga about two thirds his size with dark blue hair in a ponytail pulling him down. Effle was about to retaliate when a yellow one the same height as all the other nagas leaped out from the forest and grabbed hold of his hands. He fell to one knee and forced himself to stay on the other. The blue one choked him harder and the yellow one twisted his wrist, forcing him to drop the dagger. Effle saw out of the corner of his eye the ground open up in several different places and his eyes widened. Spiders of all kinds, half female, half male, normal and oddly colored spiders were crawling out from the cracks. They were all around 2-10 feet tall and the diversity itself was astounding. Effle quickly switched back to the matter at hand and saw the yellow naga was distracted; he could make it work.

He forced his hands at the yellow naga instead of away and grabbed hold of both her shoulders. She looked at him in surprise and in one second, Effle felt the neck grip loosen. He head butted the yellow naga and she let go of him, completely disoriented. Effle swung his hands behind his head and grabbed the blue naga's arms. He flung her over him and onto the ground, landing on top of the yellow naga. Effle jumped forward and grabbed the dagger on the ground then turned to leave. He didn't turn back until the cries of fighting vanished and all was quiet again. Elffe sent him more info about how they were almost there and clearing the forest now. Effle panted heavily and started jogging back towards what he thought was the boat. Suddenly, Elffe sent him extremely intense feelings of fear and Effle's heartbeat quickened. He dashed off through the forest and was on the beach before he realized it. He ran a few yards out into the water and looked around.

The boat was dragged onto the shore and there were two chlaenas trying to grab the dryad on board. The octopus things looked exactly alike and, Effle thought later, exactly like the one they just managed to escape from before out at sea. They were playing a game of whack-a-mole trying to grab the dryad as she disappeared into the wood, popping up somewhere else and were getting too close for comfort. Effle ran over as fast as he could and scratched one of the chlaenas on the arm with the dagger. Effle saw the skin tear, no blood was drawn, and she was slumped over backwards in no time writhing in pain. The second one saw what happened and attacked him violently, tentacles wrapping around all his appendages. Effle was afraid at first he would be overwhelmed in seconds, but was quickly reassured he wouldn't be when several more victims for his dagger assaulted him. A few more slashes, and they were crawling back to the water faster than they could've gotten here. Effle fell to his knees; he was completely exhausted and wanted nothing more than to leave and be done with it. Effle checked the boat and the dryad waved to him atop the tallest mast that she was ok. He shoved the boat back nearer to the water and leaned up against it taking a breather.

In a few minutes, Effle received the message that the entire crew was on board the ship. Effle thought 'small' and quickly ate the apple that appeared, becoming normal sized again. He got on the boat as well and was unsettled by how it seemed so empty yet he could hear their voices. He could feel people brushing past him and a hand was suddenly on his shoulder. Effle held it too and knew it was familiar. The sails glowed and wind pick up in the sails, pulling them back out to sea. Water slashed off the side of the boat and Effle could see people again. The invisibility wasn't water proof, and the entire crew was visible after a few minutes of splashes. Effle looked around and saw Elffe and Heather locked together in a tight embrace and was instantly surprised. "Figure out how she likes her eggs in the morning." Effle joked to him and he could feel Elffe cut him out. He turned his attention again back to the hand still on his shoulder. Mira stood opposite him smiling in that way that made him feel like cuddling with her. He smiled back and she moved away from him towards the first mast. She grabbed hold of it and pulled herself up a few feet then turned back to him. "I'll be waiting…" She climbed up the pole in a way only a cat could do.

Effle was confused at what to feel now; this had never happened to him, he didn't even find the Effle in the mirror in the morning attractive and he wondered why Mira did. Effle stood still; feet locked in place when he realized something. "What am I waiting for?!" Effle nearly shouted. His wings expanded to the long style faster than he expected and he flew up to the top mast landing gently next to Mira who was already waiting for him. Effle never took account for the time of day and noticed the sun was once again setting behind the sheet of endless glass that stretched outward in every direction. A warm breeze blew past his face and it made Effle think; if this wasn't paradise, what was? "Hey." Effle said happily, dangling his feet off the edge of the mast with her.

"Hey." She replied just as happily. They gazed at the sunset; the silence was enough for the both of them. She leaned on his shoulder and Effle leaned against her in return until the sky was black and his eyes were drooping. Even after the sun had set, the stars lit up the sky. Effle could see every constellation out there including some sort of nebulous cloud in the background, but Mira sitting next to him completed it all. Effle eventually gave her a ride on his back as he floated around the open sky, so close to the stars eh felt like he could just reach out and touch it…

* * * * *

Effle and Elffe said their goodbyes to the crew and captain who personally saw them off. They were each grateful for the experience the other gave them (but the captain wasn't fond of ending up in someone's stomach) and Effle wished he could stay longer. Effle said his longest goodbye of his life to Mira and Elffe did the same to Heather. He was disappointed they couldn't come with them, but they were still in a contract with Melisa. Effle swore to himself he would figure out a way to pay that debt and Effle would rescue them both. "That means I'd be doing the rescuing too." Elffe said to Heather, and they all laughed, not at the joke but the fact that they were among friends.

"Friends." Effle thought to himself as he waved the boat off, "It's what I came here for, and I'm leaving with a few more than before." Effle and Elffe watched the boat until it turned the corner and he couldn't see it any more.
"Hey, there's always another adventure right around the corner, right?" Elffe said to him, trying to perk him up; he saw how Effle looked and felt his grief on the inside. When it didn't do anything to lighten the mood he added, "We'll see them again, okay?" Effle and Elffe turned around at the same time and headed back to Negav.

"How will we ever find Subeta?" Effle asked himself.
"She must have the largest gold collection you've ever known, use the compass." Elffe said organizing his thoughts for him. He held up the compass from his pocket and it pointed him into the forest away from Negav.
"We have our heading…" Effle repeated, remembering how the captain would say the same thing.
"Let's go!" Elffe said moving off at a jog.

"Oh!" Effle exclaimed out loud, "What did you find in the cave that you were going to show me?" Elffe looked confusedly at him for a second, and then nodded when he realized what he was talking about. He pulled out a pistol with a funny looking telescope on the top from his pocket which, all in all, was a little bigger than his outstretched hand.
"It had 3 golden bullets in it when I found it and that girl says they come back to me when all three bullets are gone from the gun."
"Unlimited ammo…" Effle breathed in awe.
"But that's not what I'm talking about," Elffe continued. He pulled out a rolled up sheet of paper from his back pocket.

"I found another map."

Description
* * * * *

"So, can you tell me more about how this… works?" Mira asked the two of them. They had been walking in the forest now for a while, but progress was slow. The trees were hard to cut and they were only advancing when everyone was accounted for. Mira and Heather were assigned as body guards because they knew them the best. To pass the time, they started asking questions about their telepathy.
"Well, what do you want to know, exactly?" Effle asked her in turn.
"Can you, like, see everything he sees?" Heather asked Elffe curiously.
"Kind of, only when I concentrate really hard." Elffe told her.
"We can exchange memories, skills and emotions over a 'link'." Effle said picking up.
"But if we cant concentrate, no communication."
"When we're in direct contact, however," Effle started and slapped Elffe's forehead with his palm.
"We-"
"Can-"
"Finish-"
"Each other's-"
"Sentences." Elffe finished. "By the way, what were those feelings you had right before the chlaena attack?"
"I'm also able to hide stuff from him like surprises!" Effle said quickly, him and Mira looking away and blushing furiously.

"Then, why is it you seem… un-attracted to certain things like that chlaena? Most men would've been eaten voluntarily." Heather asked Elffe.
"We share a Tolerance that erases most romantic feeling with others."
"It's actually our inhibitions, the ability to obey common sense. We only have enough tolerance for one normal person, so we juggle it around between ourselves when talking to… certain people."
"-Which technically means one of us is drunk all the time. But we still love and stuff, we're just more cautious with whom because loving a giant naga isn't usually the best idea." Elffe said thoughtfully. They had never explained it to anyone before and it helped them understand it better themselves. Suddenly the forest rumbled. Everyone stopped moving and looked around frantically yet cautiously. Effle thought big, and immediately gripped the apple in his pocket and held it up to his mouth, ready to take a bite.

"Wait a minute… How'd you get an apple so fast?" Mira whispered to him in his ear.
"It recharges every fifteen minutes." Effle said quickly watching for all signs of movement.
"Then why'd I stay a giant all last night?!" She whispered angrily.
"You're cute when you're big." Effle whispered back sweetly.
"I…" She was taken aback and blushed furiously. The conversation immediately ended when another boom rocked the forest. The crew started retreating into a circle and Effle and Elffe along with Heather and Mira walked quickly to the middle.
"Steady…" The captain said to them slowly. "Nobody move! We're still within range of the sails…"

Out of no where, the forest ahead of them started moving and a human sized fairy ran out of it. Effle quickly absorbed this info with the combined help of Elffe whom he was in direct contact with. "Silver skin- white eyes- human like face?- nice body!- concentrate- torn wing- looks frantic- running from something?- Nothing behind us- above us- beside us- surprised to see us- scratches and bruises on her legs!- rumbling hasn't stopped yet- watch yourself…" Effle and Elffe thought to each other quickly, eyeing the strange silver fairy and the area around them. The fairy stumbled to a stop and looked at them all, surprised as much as they were to see her, but then she remembered where she was and sprinted off to the side. As she did, a giant naga tore through the forest behind her and stopped completely when she saw them. "Green long hair- ponytail, nice- pretty cute- dark jade colored eyes- green tail and scales- surprised to see us as well, not many visitors- huge!- empty stomach- loud growling- is she drooling?- … panic?- O yeah."

"Open fire!" The captain yelled after one long, absolutely quiet second. Effle took a bite of the apple and threw it behind him. The crew, including Elffe, took out their weapons and fired at the naga sending her back into the forest. A second later though, she attacked them at an angle and nearly grabbed hold of a purple haired neko. Effle started to grow. The green naga was stuck by two close together trees and managed to trip the neko in front of her. She lingered for a few seconds, trying to grab anything and managed to pinch her foot in between her index finger and thumb. The neko screamed and was dragged backwards towards the forest. Effle sprang into action and slapped the naga's hand with his now fully grown one, forcing her to let go of the neko whom Effle gingerly picked up and brought back to the circle. He set her down next to Elffe, Heather and Mira then turned his attention back to the forest, ignoring the stares of the crew.

The naga didn't strike again immediately, but now the entire forest was rumbling. Effle grabbed his now massive dagger and held it in front of him in his left hand, curved side facing towards the forest waiting for the next strike. "Behind." Effle turned and stabbed downward behind him as Elffe had thought it to him and the dagger sank a good three normal people sizes into the ground, just missing the arm of the naga who retreated quickly. "Your right!?" Effle pulled his dagger out of the ground and used his other hand to grab the wrist of the naga trying to grab Mira. He yanked hard, pulling her out into the open and moved his hand from her wrist to her neck and throwing her against a tree, holding her there almost suspended off the ground. It was a red haired naga with long curly hair and red eyes. She smiled ferociously even as he choked her and his eyes widened. "Behind!" Elffe thought to him.

He spun around and saw the green naga reach out of the forest with both hands to grab handfuls of people. "NO!" Effle yelled and his wings started to shrink, but it was no use; they would take time to fold completely. The red naga snapped at his wrist with her tail and he dropped her on accident. She dashed off past him, but he impaled her with his dagger in the lower back drawing blood. She jerked violently and tried to yell in pain, but no sound came out. He fell to the ground motionless and Effle ran past her to the crew. It was too late. The green naga had her mouth open and was shoving all the girls and Elffe included towards her mouth; he'd never make it in time. He threw his dagger without thinking, and though it missed vital parts of her body, it still struck the edge of her tail, causing her to flinch for a fraction of a second which was all he needed.

Effle was on top of her in a second and pulled her off the ground. He flung her back with such force he surprised even himself and rushed her disoriented arms. She landed on her back and he didn't hesitate to jump on top of her, taking all the tolerance for himself for only a minute. He put his right hand around her throat, his left knee on her right elbow, and his right foot on her left elbow restraining her completely. Effle was lucky they were the same size, or she would've flipped him easily and beaten him up. She gave a choked gasp and Effle didn't quite know why he was so angry. He was even more confused when he punched her across the face as hard as he could with his left fist nearly breaking his own finger and even more surprised when he did it again, and again, and again. She sputtered and tried to escape, but it was no use. He drew back his fist again, rage boiling in the pit of his stomach, but suddenly a picture of a distressed Mira flashed across his vision. "Effle…" He could hear Elffe think to him, "She's done, let her be."

The anger inside him evaporated in a second and his tolerance leaked out of him back to Elffe. All he saw in front of him now was a girl beat up, looking for something to eat, and close to tears. Effle checked himself and realized he was breathing as quickly as she was his fist still ready to strike. He wavered, and dropped his fist to his side. He stood up, still watching the naga to make sure she made no move to escape and picked up his dagger on the ground not far away. "Lets keep moving." He said to everyone; he couldn't bring himself to look at them directly and avoided their gazes.

"He's right!" The captain said after a moment of silence, "We're almost there. Let's get going before anyone else shows up. Effle took two steps off to the side to let the crew pass, keeping his vision lowered to his feet when he noticed the small silver figure patting his ankle. The silver fairy patted him sadly and looked up into his face. Effle noticed the full extent of her torn wing and realized it would be weeks before she completely recovered. He bent down and smiled at her asking her gently, "Do you know how to navigate this island?"
"Yes." She said to him in a more womanly voice than he expected.
"Can you help us find a certain point on our map?" He asked again.
"Yes." She said back to him with no change in tone or expression.
"Captain," Effle said, mad the entire crew turned to look at him. "She will help us through the jungle." He said, motioning to the silver fairy.

Effle walked behind the crew with Mira on one shoulder. She insisted and said she had to defend him no matter how capable he was of protecting himself. "Oh how the tables have turned." She said cheerfully. Effle knew she was sad to see him angry and how she didn't want him to know it. She leaned against his neck as he remained silent and regretted not being able to speak his mind just yet. "Do you want to try becoming small again?" She said to him encouragingly after another silence.
"You may need me to defend you against predators." He said.
"I… miss the old you." She said timidly. Effle smiled and thought how it wouldn't be so bad if he were small for a little while…

He picked Mira up with both hands and set her down on the ground. "Small." He said out loud; it helped him concentrate. His stomach lurched and twisted inside him. "Two minutes, eight seconds." He whispered mechanically, bending over incoherently. He was suddenly starving and Effle could see Mira wasn't being protected by the sails any more. She was… perfect. His mouth began to water and he realized he had no tolerance; things couldn't get any worse.
"What's wrong?" Mira said alarmed, moving towards him. She was cute. Elffe turned to see him as well, feeling his feelings and was immediately alarmed. Just then the captain called out to everyone.
"We're here!" She was in front of an enormous cave with a shining golden hue in the back. "I can see the treasure and there is a LOT of it!"
"Effle, what is it?" Mira said walking up to him. He was doubled over so far, he was almost face first in the dirt. Mira walked closer and put her hand on his cheek; she then noticed he was salivating like a dog. "Effle…?" She said cautiously starting to back away. Elffe sprinted over and dragged Mira away as fast as he could; good move. Effle moaned openly and fell on his side, needing something to satisfy his hunger.
"What's going on?" Heather jogged over as well, seeing Elffe's expression and stopped short when she spotted Effle.

Effle lay on his side unnoticed by most of the crew. But the ones who weren't looking at him were oddly still. Then Effle saw out of the corner of his eye a dridder a little bigger than him crawl out from the cave. She was dark colored and had long black hair tied back in a pony tail. She held her hands behind her back and she quickly surrounded the crew in a menacing way with her long spider legs. "Why, hello there!" She said appearing innocent, but Effle and Elffe knew better from experience. However, Elffe hadn't yet noticed and Effle was unable to say anything. She kept walking sideways in a circle, and the captain wouldn't give the order to fire. "What are fine travelers such as yourselves doing out here in a place like this?"

It was odd that the dridder appeared so friendly; one of the crew shouted to her like they were lost children just found by a strange adult. "We're looking for treasure!" She squeaked, more excited than frightened.
"Are you?" She said bending down close in front of them, eyeing each one individually. Effle wondered if they had ever seen a dridder before and wondered when they would get it in their heads to use their guns. He was recovering, but too slowly for comfort and it could be too late by the time he was fully rested. "You don't look like you could fight all the way here!" She said in what Effle thought a cheesy exasperated tone.
"We can! We can!" Effle started to worry; this wasn't normal, they were acting like children.

"Who's the strongest one here?" She asked encouragingly and the crowd parted around the captain. "Let me take a look at you." She held out her hand for the captain to step on, and she kept her ground but the crew pushed her forward and the dridder quickly held her up to her face. Melisa glared at her from what Effle could see here and was utterly confused as to why they wouldn't do anything. Then, Effle spotted the forest floor moving around Elffe, Heather and Mira. Three spiders crawled rather slowly to their backs and Effle pieced the puzzle together. The entire crew must've been stung and hypnotized, one by one. Effle dragged himself forward and his stomach relaxed for a second, like it was expecting something.

Elffe was about to shout out to the crew when Effle picked him and Heather up in one hand. Elffe tried to communicate telepathically, but Effle's mind was a jumbled mess, and he had to worry about too many people at the same time to concentrate. His stomach growled and he could hear Heather scream from a place he wasn't completely in anymore. Effle suddenly felt as if he was watching himself like in a bad movie. He pulled his hand closer to his mouth, and his mouth opened up for them. His stomach agreed kindly and stopped harassing the rest of his body for a moment. Effle swallowed them both and he couldn't deny they tasted good.

Elffe didn't taste like anything new, like the smell of sweat to the person in question, but Heather was like chocolate on steroids. His tongue caressed her entire body and he couldn't hold back. Her screams could barely be heard, and Elffe was completely silent. Effle snapped to attention and quickly picked up Mira in his other hand. She had turned around in horror to see her best friend be eaten alive and was about to run away from him. Effle pleaded with her through his eyes that she would understand, and he managed to say "I'm sorry" before he opened his mouth wide. She screamed and he heard it this time, now completely aware and in control of himself, but plopped her in his mouth. He could feel her trying frantically to crawl back out and clung to his tongue hysterically. He tried to keep hold of his tolerance, but Elffe was taking it from him for something Effle was sure was important.

He savored her tasted for a few seconds and gently caressed her body with his tongue. He could feel her trying to climb back out but it was like trying to swim up a waterfall. He finally swallowed and could feel her hammering against his esophagus before landing in his stomach. Effle was, in his mind, 'full'. He leaned against a nearby tree and inhaled then exhaled all at once. A flash of contained light surrounded whatever part of him was touching the tree and when he pulled himself away, saw that the tree had turned gray and decayed. He felt his stomach churn one more time then harden into a solid ball inside him. "No more digestion for a while," Effle thought to himself and Elffe to let him in on the situation outside. He looked around and saw the three spiders trying to escape from him and he quickly put an end to them with his foot. He was now ready to fight a dridder and reexamined the situation.

The dridder was now playing with her food and holding the captain upside down and laughing along with the brainwashed crew. She pinched the captain's hands to her side and held her up right. She quickly held her up to her face and her tongue snaked out and probed her body from legs to chest to head. The dridder moaned and instantly started massaging her stomach. The dridder was about to put her in her mouth feet first when Effle walked over quickly pretending to walk in on the situation for the first time. He picked up one of the crew and held her up to his face.

"Hew, is that a succubus?" Effle asked in an overly interested tone. The dridder stopped immediately, checking to see if she was about to be out muscled by someone bigger, but relaxed when she saw it was only a male fairy.
"What's it to you?" She said rather coldly. Effle checked his wings; they were now the small agile size. Effle chuckled and dumped the purple haired crew member into his mouth and tasting it like a sucker. He had to stall.
"Seems to me like you only want one," He said, hinting at the crew he would soon eat if she didn't even though he knew he wouldn't be able to eat them all. His tongue felt the rigid body up and down and soon she became more relaxed. He pushed his tongue between her legs and tasted her chest before swallowing. Right before, he did, he could feel her panic and kick wildly at the insides of his mouth. "Does that mean I should take care of these?" Effle said intriguingly.

The dridder stopped and eyed the crew. "Now, I know that succubus taste great, but I also know lots of nekos taste even better." Effle said quickly seeing her longing expression. She creped toward the crew and Effle stepped between her and them. "So what's it going to be?" He said looking her straight in the face and holding his ground.
"Effle, your thoughts are confusing, but I must mention that the crew member you just ate is fine now, what ever it was, and I don't think it can last through saliva!" Elffe said to him telepathically. Effle moved closer to the dridder. He was nearly touching the captain still hanging out of her mouth and could've licked her if he wanted to.
"I think you've already made your decision…" He said quietly and slowly. She looked back at him and stared at his wings as he gazed into her eyes. He opened his mouth and slowly engulfed the top half of the captain. She was banging against him furiously and Effle hoped she would figure out his plan soon. The wings were hypnotizing her and he managed to pull the captain out of the dridder's mouth without too much trouble. He slowly stepped back away from her.

As soon as his tongue touched the captain he shuddered. She was like awesome wrapped in joy with a side of happiness poured into one little being. If Hell tasted like that, he'd gladly go there for more. He quickly felt her up and down with his tongue and should've swallowed much sooner than he did but he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Effle needed a plan; he was standing in front of a half hypnotized dridder who would eat the entire crew and he already had five people inside him. He had to save everyone and saliva was the way to do it. Then how could he do it…?

Effle turned around and quickly walked over to the crew. He picked up another one of the pirates and checked her body for a sting of some sort. He found it on her back leg and he licked it, causing her to shudder. "Do what I do!" He whispered fearful that the dridder would overhear and move. He set down the member again and picked up another one and did the same thing. The first girl he picked up was now in complete control of herself and quickly went around doing the same thing Effle was doing to the other crew.
"What… happened?" The dridder said recovering. Effle drew a blank; he was at a loss of what to do next. "Hey…?" She said in that tone that meant she realized something. Effle felt her hands on his shoulders and he was pulled backwards onto the ground facing her. "Where's my succubus?" She said angrily, hovering not far above him.
"Uh…" He said, his eyes shifting to his own stomach.
"Why you little-!" She curled her hands into fists and pulled one back like she was going to punch through him but at the same time, the trees rumbled again.
"No!" Effle and the dridder said at the same time.

The entire crews looked to be okay again and were moving towards the cave when the forest started to dance. They all sprinted as fast as their little legs could carry them and made it safely into the mouth of the hole, then went to explore the treasure beyond. Effle thought small and the apple appeared in his pocket, but he didn't eat it yet; that would be bad for those still inside him. The dridder and Effle prepared themselves with the cave to their backs though Effle was slowly moving inside without her noticing. Just then the forest stopped and the two nagas from before slithered out. The dridder moved forward to confront them and Effle turned around and dashed inside.

What he saw was spectacular. Gold jewels, odd weapons and diamonds stacked against the walls for miles. This must've been a massive cave because it looked like it could fit 20 dridders and there still be enough space. Effle gazed at all the walls and saw a clear pool of water near one corner. The light of the room seemed to be just reflecting off the gold itself so he couldn't miss the light reflected off the water. He marched over to it when he heard his stomach growl and the hardening feeling disappear. He bent down over the water and jammed his fingers as far back into his throat as possible. His stomach convulsed and the contents came to the surface. The five people in him were dumped into the water making for an easy clean up.

Effle's mouth tasted terrible and he gagged once or twice before emptying the contents of his stomach into the pool. Effle fell backwards facing upward and breathed heavily. He was starving now, and he quickly ate the 'small' apple and began to shrink. He could hear sputtering and coughing coming from the pool and waited until he was normal sized again before standing up. "Could you PLEASE tell me when you're going to DO THAT next time?" Elffe said dragging himself out of the water and pulling Heather along with him. Effle looked back into the pool and ran over to help Mira out as well. The captain was washing up and Effle paid her no attention; Mira was his main concern. He helped her to the shore and as soon as he asked if she was all right, she slapped him harder than he had ever been slapped before. He staggered back a step and quickly dropped his feeling of anger; he deserved it.

He turned around again to ask her the same question and she hugged him tightly. Effle was confused but didn't let the feeling go to waste and held her tightly back. She whispered in his ear, "Elffe told me why you did it, I was so scared-"
Effle interrupted her, "It's ok, you don't ever have to do that again." They stood there for a while before Elffe broke their silence.
"Look at all this GOLD!" Even Effle looked up again, this time to take all of it in. The captain walked up to Effle and Mira stepped back away from him.
"Effle, I don't do this often so listen up… Elffe explained to me why you did what you did and… well, thank you." She said and marched past him. "Now where's my identifier?!" One of the girls jumped up and ran over to her.
"Come on!" Elffe said to Mira and Effle and they all went to explore the strange gadgets.

There was a line that formed to walk over to the girl who had purple eyes and hair and who told each individual what the thing in their hands could do. She had an oddly shaped wand that was about two feet long and that had a glowing red ruby on the end. She waved it over each gadget once and her eyes would either light up with excitement or stay the way they were, waiting for another good find. Something someone said caught his attention and Effle listened in. A girl was holding a small tripod about a foot tall and with a reflective silver ball on top. "Ooh!" She said excitedly, "This can cloak everyone within 10 yards… It can last up to half an hour… aw, but it looks like it only has one charge… We'll use this one to get out of here." Effle was suddenly very anxious to get his hands on some of these gadgets and searched the pile next to him.

Effle threw several things out of his way, mostly just junk; a comb that looked like it was already broken, an empty flare gun with the words 'made by Gunther' imprinted on it, and an empty but heavy box. Something caught his attention and he reached through the pile of trash and dragged it out. He took hold of what felt like a pocket watch and pulled it out. The girl was now walking around with everyone else and telling them if their find was worth keeping. She came over to him and quickly said, "That watch can rewind time 5 seconds, but has a 5 second recharge. It's up to you if you think it's useful." Effle threw it away because he figured messing with time was never a good idea. "That watch can rewind time 5 seconds, but has a 5 second recharge. It's up to you if you think it's useful." Effle heard from behind him and he turned around. The girl was walking over to him… again.
"Uh… no thanks."

Elffe jumped up and brought over what looked like a foot long piece of string to the girl. Effle could hear them in the background saying, "Well, that rope is unbreakable, but I'm not sure if you'll find any good use for one that's only a foot long." Effle turned back to his pile and pushed away a few more gold pieces to have something really catch his attention. A gold statue of a small, fat man lay in its side in the sandy ground. He was laughing from the looks of it and had his arms crossed in front of him. As soon as Effle picked it up, a tingling sensation went down his arm. He shivered and turned around to show the girl but regretted it as soon as he did. Everyone was naked, down to the bare essentials. Have you ever tried to look at about 20 different perfect babes at one time? Effle wasn't sure he could handle what he saw even with full tolerance and dropped the statue out of surprise. Everything went back to normal and Effle stood transfixed for a few more seconds before turning back to his pile trying to pretend like nothing happened.

Effle finally picked through his entire pile, but nothing that seemed of value was found. He sighed and turned to leave, but lying in front of him was a white rock like quartz. He looked at it oddly then picked it up. Nothing special happened until he looked around. The entire cave seemed to light up and he could see clearly in all directions. What's more is that traps lit up too or at least the outline of the trap in question and Effle realized they were all standing in one. Effle jumped up quickly and fit the palm sized white rock into his apple pouch. It stopped working and Effle took it out again to evaluate the traps all around them. A rolling bolder would come down and take out half the crew if, Effle traced the trap mechanism back to its beginning, someone set off the weight platform covered with sand underneath them. Effle figured the only way to set any of the traps off after examining them for a while was with a giant, dridder most likely, and therefore considered everyone safe from harm.

Effle put the rock away, counting it as a good find, and started searching another pile for something Subeta could use. It wasn't long before he found a small compass that pointed him towards the treasure all around him and figured a treasure finding compass was perfect for her. Elffe found something as well but kept it a secret from him until they could get back on the boat. "Five minutes!" Effle heard the captain yell. He picked up a pile of gold and junk and stuffed his apple pouch with it; He owed about 5 months worth of rent to his landlord in Negav. Effle regrouped with the others in the middle of the cave and they had all found something of use in one way or another. They were mostly arguing over who got to keep the sleek leather boots that could walk off of walls for a few seconds because they thought they were good looking shoes or something, Effle would never figure all that stuff out. Heather had found a bandana that increased her vision, Mira had found a wooden cup that would purify all water in it, and the captain had kept a sword that had black mist rising off it that would turn into a snake and attack its target as well.

They were all ready to leave when the cave rocked around them. "The dridder is still outside fighting the nagas from before," he filled in the select five who were in his stomach at the time. "Will it be a problem?"
"If you were bigger it might." The captain added bluntly. Effle tried to count the time in his head since he last made an apple and figured he was in the clear.
"Big." Effle said out loud; he felt it appear in his overflowing pocket and quickly caught it before it rolled to the ground. One bite and he could feel himself growing.
"Lets mobilize!" the captain shouted and everyone followed her. Effle spotted Mira out of the corner of his eye and she was trying to keep her distance but ended up near his ankle whenever she realized it. Effle's stomach growled and he punched himself hard so the sound would go away; he noticed everyone had turned to look at him when that happened.

One of the crew members set up the silver tripod from before and a white light seemed to glow out of it. The light itself didn't reach far and Effle stayed away from it; it had a harsh feel to it. As everyone stood near it, the light started to change their skin color and everything it came in contact with transparent. Effle was amazed at the odd looking shadows that they still had that weren't exposed to the light and how even those disappeared as well. As soon as everyone but himself was invisible, they moved to the side of the cave to let Effle leave without stepping on anyone. The orb on the tripod dimmed until no more light came out, then it fizzed like a dead light bulb and stopped working all together. "We'll be back at the boat in 15 minutes, you better be there." He could hear Melisa say from his ankle. "Now go! Defend us well!" And Effle marched out of the cave with his left hand raised, dagger poised ready to strike.

He walked about two feet out of the cave when a tree, completely uprooted from the ground, landed where he left his foot a second ago. Effle snapped to attention and looked around. Giant spider webs torn apart and left hanging off of everything were found all around him. There was no sign of anyone else around and he immediately wondered where the tree came from. Elffe told him they were to his right now and were going around the outside of the clearing. As soon as he thought it to him, the opposite side of the clearing was torn open and the dridder scuttled in. The red naga had her tail tied around her waist and was hanging off her neck. The green one was spiraling under her trying to tie up her legs and get her to fall over. Effle stood off to the side and wondered if he should intervene at all. He started inching away off to the side but never facing away from the fight.

He was about to turn around and leave when the dridder got one hand free and brought it to her mouth. She gave a loud whistle and the ground started to rumble. Suddenly an arm draped around his neck and pulled him backwards. Effle got a mental picture of a blue naga about two thirds his size with dark blue hair in a ponytail pulling him down. Effle was about to retaliate when a yellow one the same height as all the other nagas leaped out from the forest and grabbed hold of his hands. He fell to one knee and forced himself to stay on the other. The blue one choked him harder and the yellow one twisted his wrist, forcing him to drop the dagger. Effle saw out of the corner of his eye the ground open up in several different places and his eyes widened. Spiders of all kinds, half female, half male, normal and oddly colored spiders were crawling out from the cracks. They were all around 2-10 feet tall and the diversity itself was astounding. Effle quickly switched back to the matter at hand and saw the yellow naga was distracted; he could make it work.

He forced his hands at the yellow naga instead of away and grabbed hold of both her shoulders. She looked at him in surprise and in one second, Effle felt the neck grip loosen. He head butted the yellow naga and she let go of him, completely disoriented. Effle swung his hands behind his head and grabbed the blue naga's arms. He flung her over him and onto the ground, landing on top of the yellow naga. Effle jumped forward and grabbed the dagger on the ground then turned to leave. He didn't turn back until the cries of fighting vanished and all was quiet again. Elffe sent him more info about how they were almost there and clearing the forest now. Effle panted heavily and started jogging back towards what he thought was the boat. Suddenly, Elffe sent him extremely intense feelings of fear and Effle's heartbeat quickened. He dashed off through the forest and was on the beach before he realized it. He ran a few yards out into the water and looked around.

The boat was dragged onto the shore and there were two chlaenas trying to grab the dryad on board. The octopus things looked exactly alike and, Effle thought later, exactly like the one they just managed to escape from before out at sea. They were playing a game of whack-a-mole trying to grab the dryad as she disappeared into the wood, popping up somewhere else and were getting too close for comfort. Effle ran over as fast as he could and scratched one of the chlaenas on the arm with the dagger. Effle saw the skin tear, no blood was drawn, and she was slumped over backwards in no time writhing in pain. The second one saw what happened and attacked him violently, tentacles wrapping around all his appendages. Effle was afraid at first he would be overwhelmed in seconds, but was quickly reassured he wouldn't be when several more victims for his dagger assaulted him. A few more slashes, and they were crawling back to the water faster than they could've gotten here. Effle fell to his knees; he was completely exhausted and wanted nothing more than to leave and be done with it. Effle checked the boat and the dryad waved to him atop the tallest mast that she was ok. He shoved the boat back nearer to the water and leaned up against it taking a breather.

In a few minutes, Effle received the message that the entire crew was on board the ship. Effle thought 'small' and quickly ate the apple that appeared, becoming normal sized again. He got on the boat as well and was unsettled by how it seemed so empty yet he could hear their voices. He could feel people brushing past him and a hand was suddenly on his shoulder. Effle held it too and knew it was familiar. The sails glowed and wind pick up in the sails, pulling them back out to sea. Water slashed off the side of the boat and Effle could see people again. The invisibility wasn't water proof, and the entire crew was visible after a few minutes of splashes. Effle looked around and saw Elffe and Heather locked together in a tight embrace and was instantly surprised. "Figure out how she likes her eggs in the morning." Effle joked to him and he could feel Elffe cut him out. He turned his attention again back to the hand still on his shoulder. Mira stood opposite him smiling in that way that made him feel like cuddling with her. He smiled back and she moved away from him towards the first mast. She grabbed hold of it and pulled herself up a few feet then turned back to him. "I'll be waiting…" She climbed up the pole in a way only a cat could do.

Effle was confused at what to feel now; this had never happened to him, he didn't even find the Effle in the mirror in the morning attractive and he wondered why Mira did. Effle stood still; feet locked in place when he realized something. "What am I waiting for?!" Effle nearly shouted. His wings expanded to the long style faster than he expected and he flew up to the top mast landing gently next to Mira who was already waiting for him. Effle never took account for the time of day and noticed the sun was once again setting behind the sheet of endless glass that stretched outward in every direction. A warm breeze blew past his face and it made Effle think; if this wasn't paradise, what was? "Hey." Effle said happily, dangling his feet off the edge of the mast with her.

"Hey." She replied just as happily. They gazed at the sunset; the silence was enough for the both of them. She leaned on his shoulder and Effle leaned against her in return until the sky was black and his eyes were drooping. Even after the sun had set, the stars lit up the sky. Effle could see every constellation out there including some sort of nebulous cloud in the background, but Mira sitting next to him completed it all. Effle eventually gave her a ride on his back as he floated around the open sky, so close to the stars eh felt like he could just reach out and touch it…

* * * * *

Effle and Elffe said their goodbyes to the crew and captain who personally saw them off. They were each grateful for the experience the other gave them (but the captain wasn't fond of ending up in someone's stomach) and Effle wished he could stay longer. Effle said his longest goodbye of his life to Mira and Elffe did the same to Heather. He was disappointed they couldn't come with them, but they were still in a contract with Melisa. Effle swore to himself he would figure out a way to pay that debt and Effle would rescue them both. "That means I'd be doing the rescuing too." Elffe said to Heather, and they all laughed, not at the joke but the fact that they were among friends.

"Friends." Effle thought to himself as he waved the boat off, "It's what I came here for, and I'm leaving with a few more than before." Effle and Elffe watched the boat until it turned the corner and he couldn't see it any more.
"Hey, there's always another adventure right around the corner, right?" Elffe said to him, trying to perk him up; he saw how Effle looked and felt his grief on the inside. When it didn't do anything to lighten the mood he added, "We'll see them again, okay?" Effle and Elffe turned around at the same time and headed back to Negav.

"How will we ever find Subeta?" Effle asked himself.
"She must have the largest gold collection you've ever known, use the compass." Elffe said organizing his thoughts for him. He held up the compass from his pocket and it pointed him into the forest away from Negav.
"We have our heading…" Effle repeated, remembering how the captain would say the same thing.
"Let's go!" Elffe said moving off at a jog.

"Oh!" Effle exclaimed out loud, "What did you find in the cave that you were going to show me?" Elffe looked confusedly at him for a second, and then nodded when he realized what he was talking about. He pulled out a pistol with a funny looking telescope on the top from his pocket which, all in all, was a little bigger than his outstretched hand.
"It had 3 golden bullets in it when I found it and that girl says they come back to me when all three bullets are gone from the gun."
"Unlimited ammo…" Effle breathed in awe.
"But that's not what I'm talking about," Elffe continued. He pulled out a rolled up sheet of paper from his back pocket.

"I found another map."