Hyll's help, regardless of how effective, is appreciated. She'd never say it out loud out of not wanting Hyll to take it the wrong way but damn is he just a cute little guy. A cute little capable guy. She wouldn't let his efforts go to waste, so she focuses even more on trying to pry the chest open so he could get whatever shinies were stashed inside. 

This means she isn't exactly aware of the strange frog's appearance of even Hyll's interest in it after he gives up on helping her. 

The frog stares at Hyll for a moment, but when the fairy gets too close it hops over Hyll's head and lands on the ground behind him. It gives another chirping ribbit before fleeing more but only when Hyll gets just within reach almost as if it's teasing the fairy with a game of keep away. 

Slimy, who had been rolling around on the floor just covering themselves head to toe in tunnel goop, looks over when the frog hops away from Hyll. His tongue lolls out the side of his gaping mouth and he slaps his tail against the ground with a wet flop. 

"What is that annoying noise?" Tsarra huffs as she stands up and stretches her back. Her scimitar sticks out of the chest sideways even without her holding onto it. 

She looks around and spots Hyll and the strange frog. "You didn't tell me you had a glowy pet frog, Hyll! Would have been handy back in the dark tunnel you know." She shakes her head. Unbelievable. Hyll is so silly. 

Hylltywyll was getting more and more ticked off by this damn frog. It was like it was toying with him, the way it only hopped out of reach just before he would be able to grab it. He growled as the frog leapt over him, landing on his head before hopping away behind him. If he'd been able to use his magic, this frog would have been done for!

"I don't." Hyll said to Tsarra, his voice seething, barely holding back his rage. His short temper was beyond its limits already. Catching the frog wasn't even that important to him before, but now it was personal. He'd catch this frog, even without any magic!

Hyll dropped to all fours to run after the frog, leaping forward and making lunges for it that it had a more difficult time dodging now than when he'd been slightly more civilized in his approach. Hyll looked like a cat chasing its prey now, trying to pounce on it whenever he came close enough. He didn't even care about sliding across the slimy floor. His fur was already a disaster anyways. He'd need to take a bath once he got out of here, as much as he hated them.

He stopped solely trying to grab the frog in his hands and started using his teeth as well, looking more feral the more the frog annoyed him with its close escapes. Why he wanted to catch the frog in the first place didn't even matter anymore.

"That's weird," she comments before taking her foot and stomping on the grip of her sword. 

Tsarra is not the smartest. She does not make the best life choices. She also seems to be under the impression that bouncing on her sword while it's stuck in a metal-reinforced chest will have NO ILL CONSEQUENCES WHATSOEVER. The blade flexes under her weight before snapping. Tsarra loses her balance and smashes her face against the still-locked chest. 

"ASKDFJAS!" 

The frog continues to elude the increasingly feral fairy until Hyll finally manages to corner the damn thing and get his grubby little mitts on the slimy glowing croaker. The frog's throat swells and it lets out another chirping ribbit.

Hyll's hands feel tingly while holding onto the hopper which just hangs limps in his hands. The tingly sensation isn't painful, more like a subtle electrical current. However, Hyll would notice that the frog starts to change color while in contact with his hands. It starts turning the same color Hyll's magic tends to manifest as, almost as if it's synergizing with the energies...or absorbing it. 

Tsarra holds her nose which is dripping with blood now. "Gods dammit. I HATE THIS WELL!"

She kicks the lock on the chest in frustration. There's a metallic thud against the stone floor as the lock drops to the ground. 

"YOU'VE GOT TA BE KIDDIN' ME!"

Hylltywyll would have been a little concerned for Tsarra if he hadn't been entirely engrossed in catching the frog. Ignoring the weird noises from her falling and smashing her face on a chest paid off though as he leapt forward and managed to finally grab the frog in both hands. His mouth turned into a fang filled smile as he looked at his captured prey with glee. That is, until it started to change into a dull purple color the same exact hue his magic usually took. His expression rapidly shifted to confusion, and then realization, and then rage. This dumb frog actually had the audacity to steal his magic!

"THAT'S MINE! GIVE IT BACK!" Hylltywyll shouted at the frog, shaking it angrily in front of him, but it had no reaction as its legs flailed back and forth limply. It continued to turn more purple in the Fairy's grasp.

He took the frog by the legs and started swinging it at the ground repeatedly, but that had no effect either. The frog made a squelching splatting sound like a wet cloth hitting the ground each time, but was otherwise unharmed. What the hell was this frog made of!?

How could this frog think it had any right to steal even a tiny fraction of his magic? No one stole from Hylltywyll! He was the one that did the stealing! How could this slimy frog dare to steal anything from him, let alone his magic!? Hyll made incoherent noises as he did whatever he could think of to try and punish this frog for daring to steal from him. Smacking it against the ground some more, holding it and punching it, trying to claw at it and scratch it. Nothing did anything. It was like the damn thing was indestructible. Everything just bounced off its rubbery skin.

Only one last crazed idea came to Hylltywyll who had just about lost his mind in rage. If this frog was full of his magic now and he wanted that magic to be back inside himself, just one thing made sense. The frog finally let out a surprised croak as Hylltywyll shoved it into his mouth.

It was far from an enjoyable meal. His attempts to chew were in vain against the oddly impenetrable rubbery frog's skin. He almost choked a few times, but with a painful gulp, he finally swallowed the frog before going into a short coughing fit. That was definitely not something he wanted to do again. The taste was horrible and his throat hurt, but when he finished coughing, he had a smug, satisfied grin of victory on his face.

He walked back over to Tsarra and finally noticed her bleeding nose and broken scimitar.

"What are you doing?" He asked, pointing up at her face.

"Nothin'. I got the damned chest open," Tsarra grumbles as she gets up and wipes her bloody nose off on her muddy sleeve. "Let's grab whatever's inside and get outta here."

The fish woman pulls open the lid of the chest to reveal its contents to the pair of frustrated adventurers. Inside is a spotless silky cushion that looks more like it belongs in a boutique shop, and sitting upon it, glittering despite the lack of light, is a delicate, silver, bejeweled tiara.

Tsarra stares for a minute, mouth hanging agape.

"The fuck is this??"

At the very least there could have been a pile of gold and jewels at the end of all this! Sure this is a treasure, she guesses, but it hardly seems worth all the trouble, and they still have no way to get out with their magic getting canceled out.

Tsarra picks up the tiara and tries to get a better look at it. As far as she can tell, it's not magical or anything. Pretty, but also pretty underwhelming.

Wait.

Maybe this tiara is what was making their magic not work?

...

Does that mean they have to...destroy it???

Then they'd be leaving here completely empty-handed! AGH!

She sighs and hands it over to Hyll.

"I swear this is the worst hole I've ever willingly climbed into."

That statement implies there are many other holes she has willingly or unwillingly climbed into, but she hardly seems in the mood to elaborate.

Hylltywyll waited for Tsarra to open up the chest before pulling himself up over the edge to peer down inside excitedly, but his excitement turned to disappointment as he saw how little there was inside it. Just one tiara and a pillow? That's it? They did all this just for that?

He dropped back down onto his feet with a huff. He took the tiara Tsarra handed him and took a closer look at it. It was definitely pretty. The jewels and metal sparkled even in the barely lit space they were in. It'd make a nice addition to his collection of shiny things, but he still couldn't help but feel let down. He shrugged and stowed the tiara away, putting it in one of the many inner pockets of his little poncho. It might have been a disappointing amount of treasure, but he wasn't going to leave it behind after all he'd been through to get it.

"Fell into." Hylltywyll corrected Tsarra in a joking tone, a smug grin on his face. The treasure had been disappointing, but at least had been kind of fun travelling with the fishy lady. Not that he'd ever tell her that. Didn't need her thinking they were friends or anything. He didn't need friends, after all.

Suddenly, Hylltywyll clutched his stomach and collapsed to the ground, curling into a ball and groaning in pain. His stomach made strange noises and he felt a gnawing pain. The strangest part was the pain wasn't anything he'd experienced after eating poison or something rotten. It wasn't feeling as if he'd eaten too much. Even after eating a bunch of moss on the way here and a whole frog to boot, he knew what this pain felt like. It felt like he was starving worse than he'd ever felt before.

"We only fell part of the way down!" Tsarra throws up her hands.

She huffs and folds her arms. Looking around the chamber it looks like a dead end.

Great.

Fantastic.

Now what do they do? Without magic, they're sitting ducks and...

Tsarra feels a drip of water hit the top of her hat. Then another. And another. Was it...raining??? She looks up and realizes that there is indeed water raining from the ceiling above them and it starts to wash away the mud.^[1]

"Hey! I think my magic is workin' again!" Her face lights up in excitement. "We can get out now! We can-" her words cut off as she spins around to face Hyll and sees the little fairy doubled over in pain. "Hyll?? Hey! Hyll! Are you okay??"

She rushes over to his side and kneels down next to him, all the glee on her face replaced with worry and maybe a bit of panic. What if he hurt himself on something? What if he's sick? She doesn't know how to heal and has no way to tell what could be wrong with her little friend. Reaching toward Hyll, she touches his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. 

---

[1] Drizzle

Hylltywyll whimpered on the floor from the pain in his stomach. Water started to rain down on him and the ground around him and wash the mud away, but he didn't even notice. His attention was entirely dominated by the inexplicable hunger he felt. It was an odd hunger he didn't fully understand. His stomach didn't actually feel empty. He just felt like there was something missing inside him and he needed to get some of it.

He flinched as he felt a hand touch his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Tsarra standing over him with concern, but it was as if she was hazy and distant. In clear view, right in front of him, he saw what looked like glowing blue energy in the shape of a person. He felt a pang in his stomach as he looked at it. That was it. That was what he was starving for right now.

Hylltywyll suddenly grabbed Tsarra by the wrist and lunged forward, biting her hand between her thumb and index finger. His teeth didn't even break the skin, but he knew that was unecessary to get what he needed. The glowing blue energy started flowing out of Tsarra and into Hylltywyll as he began to suck the magic out of her.

Tsarra yelps in surprise as Hyll sinks his sharp little teeth into her hand.

"What the fuck, Hyll!?"

She was not expecting that at all and her alarm gets Slimy to perk up and slither over to see what is going on. The eel hound doesn't seem to fully understand what is going on and it gives Hyll a fish-eyed look. Slimy then closes its jaws around the back of Hyll's cloak and starts tugging. 

The raindrops start to fall more erratically until they stop altogether. A wave of exhaustion washes over Tsarra and there's a numbness that moves up her arm from Hyll's bite. She tries to pull her hand away from Hyll.

"Hyll, let go! Let go!"

She doesn't want to hurt the little fairy, but she starts to panic as her head starts to swim. Unpleasant memories she has repressed rise to the surface and torment her. Visions of her family abandoning her, her friends, her crewmates. All of them. It always happens. Everyone always leaves her behind. Hyll will do it too. He doesn't need her to escape. She's just dead weight. An anchor dragging everyone down. No wonder they cut the line. No wonder they leave. 

Tears stream down her face whether she wants them to or not. Her shoulders tremble and she starts to audibly sob with a few hiccups slipping in between breaths.

"Hyll..." she pleads, her voice small and scared. 

Hylltywyll felt the hunger lessening as he drained magic from Tsarra, the pain fading away and replaced with a coolness as if he was drinking icy water. He could taste the power of the sea domain as he consumed Tsarra's magic. A domain of magic that he'd never had access to before. His magic had only ever been able to harness dark, space, and light. It was like the power he borrowed from Tsarra using the rings they'd exchanged, but this time it was truly his, mixing with the magic inside him. He wanted more. He was lost in an almost trance-like feeding frenzy.

He was suddenly brought out of it though as he heard his name. With wide eyes, he suddenly let go of her wrist and brought his mouth away from her hand. He looked up at her sobbing. He stared for a moment as his mind caught up with his actions. What... What was he doing? What just happened? Did he do this?

His stomach let out a low grumble. He was still hungry, but he wasn't in pain or starving anymore. He was satiated enough now to focus on what was in front of him. He could still see the energy in Tsarra, but he could shift it to the back of his mind. He could see Tsarra in front of him again instead of a meal.

Apologies weren't something Hyll had a lot of experience. He'd never seriously apologized to anyone. Anyone he'd wronged, he never saw a reason to apologize. He'd stolen from them or tricked them or insulted them on purpose. This time was the first time he actually felt regret for doing something horrible to someone, but the words caught in his throat. Ugh, this is horrible. He actually felt bad.

Silently, Hylltywyll walked forward and poked Tsarra in the leg. A dim purple glow lit up on his fingertip as her broken nose healed in an instant. Their magic was working again. He scurried over to the broken sword and grabbed both pieces. Holding them together, the same dull purple lit up the crack and faded away as it mended back together. He put the sword on the ground in front of Tsarra and stood there awkwardly, waiting for any reaction from her.

Slimy releases Hyll once he lets go of Tsarra. The eel hound doesn't seem overly concerned about the situation and just slaps its tail against the floor with its mouth agape and eyes staring off into nothingness. 

Tsarra pulls her hand back and clutches it against her chest as she doubles over. She keeps shaking and sobs for a few seconds longer as Hyll regains his own senses. Taking some slow breaths, she manages to calm down. She wipes her face on her sleeve, which just smears more mud on it rather than dry her tears. Doesn't seem like she cares much about that right now though. 

Hyll's magic does the trick, her nose is just runny now instead of gushing blood. He even fixes up her sword while she pulls herself together.

Sitting upright, she looks at the sword and then at Hyll. Her lips thin. She's not sure what to say to him as he just stares at her. She feels embarrassed for crying in front of him, for being so pathetic.

Dammit. 

She pushes herself up onto her feet. "Let's get out of here already." 

More than anything she wants to just sweep what happened under the rug. She's never been so sick of being underground before.

So awkward. It was just too awkward. Hylltywyll felt ashamed of biting Tsarra and Tsarra felt embarrassed of crying in front of him. Neither knew what to say to the other in the moment, and it all just added up to such a horrible tension. Hyll was quick to agree when Tsarra finally broke the silence and said they should get out of there.

"Yeah..." He said with a nod. "You could really use a bath." He added with a slight smirk while dripping with even more mud than Tsarra was as it had soaked into his fur. His attempt at lightening the mood a little was interrupted as another low grumble sounded from his stomach and he placed a hand on it with a wince.

His hunger wasn't nearly as bad as before, but he hadn't gotten anywhere near his fill. They should get out of here quick so he could find someone that wasn't the closest person he'd gotten to actually being able to bring himself to call a friend. He needed more magic, but he couldn't bite her again.

"Let's go." Hylltywyll offered Tsarra a hand to hold as he began to enter the shadows in the corner of the room, leading into his own personal little space in the dark. He took the tiara from his poncho and tossed it without much thought into a pile of shiny trinkets and coins in the corner.

---

Hylltywyll's Shady Shelter

"I need a bath? YOU NEED A BATH!" Tsarra laughs, seeming to have made a stupidly fast recovery, or at least pretending to. "Slimy too. He's a mess."

The eel hound is indeed a mess. 

When Hyll offers his hand to Tsarra, she hesitates. It's just for a moment, her eyes locked on it with her body reluctant to move. She still doesn't really understand why Hyll did what he did. But the little fairy had never done anything like that before. A fluke, she tells herself. Just a fluke. She takes a breath and finally wraps her webbed fingers around Hyll's little furry digits. 

"Aye. Come on, Slimy!" She calls over her shoulder for the muddy eel hound to join them as they step through the shadows into Hyll's shelter. The eel hound slides through the mud eagerly as they leave the empty chest and glowing moss behind them for good.

Probably.

Hopefully.

Maybe. 

At least with their magic returned they can easily escape back to the surface and with any luck go find a place to get cleaned up and put a warm meal in their bellies. They probably need to have a conversation about what happened, but maybe not today. Today was a lot. 

Difficult conversations can wait.

Rest first.