Howls emanated from the depths of the Werewolf’s Woods, but Krazdan happily skipped along.

“We get to witness the birth of a new ooze, isn’t this just positively exciting!”

---

Quest Name: The creation of Oozes

Chapter: One

Description: Where these creatures come from is still very much a mystery to us. We have yet to witness an Ooze being created. Do they give live birth, hatch from eggs or just bud off from one another. We need you to venture deep into one of the many forest in Charon, locate an Ooze and attempt to witness how new ones come into this world. However we are not the only ones after information on the creature. A group of monster hunters have set out to rid the world of these creatures and will attempt to stop new ones from being created.

Requirements:

- Requires at least two people (you and one other )

- You must make at least 5 post to complete the mission with each post being at least 200 words

- Must locate and witness an Ooze being created without disturbing the creature. (They Bud from each other)

- Must protect the Ooze from a group of 5 monster hunters trying to kill it

- Once you complete this mission you gain access to chapter two. (which needs to be a separate topic)

---

“If it’s not too rude to ask, what are the three- uhh, four of you exactly? Are you golems of some kind? Do you need to eat or drink? How are you able to sense the world around you? Do you need to breathe? Do-“ And Krazdan continues to ask a plethora of questions, not even really giving the Beanies a chance to respond to a question before Krazdan immediately asks another. As Krazdan continues to question the Beanies about their physiology, Krazdan points to the ground.

“Look! Slime trail!”

On the ground where Krazdan is pointing, there is a long line of ooze that leads off the path and deeper into the woods. Krazdan leans down and sticks his pinky finger into the viscous substance then pulls it away quickly.

“Yes, yes! Quite corrosive, just exactly what we’re looking for, hehehe.”

Krazdan dances a clumsy little jig while clapping his hands, barely containing his excitement.

“Follow me! Follow me! We’re nearly there!” And with that, Krazdan begins rushing off to where the slime trail leads, as if they weren’t in an oppressively dark forest filled with the sounds of howls in the distance.

Being bombarded by rapid-fire questions was by no means a first for the Beanies, but the degree of enthusiasm enthused by their mysterious companion Krazdan was most definitely not something the Beanies were entirely used to. Oh well. It happens, so they did their best to file the questions and answer them later, if they could even remember the questions by later that is.

Then Krazdan pointed at the slime trail, and the pesky Chili-plush was well on the way to touch it out of curiosity before they saw Krazdan do precisely that and point out its corrosive nature, causing them to stop in their tracks.

"Chili-plush!" Star glared at Chili sternly as they were wont to do whenever Chili lets their impulses take over. Why did the Beanies even take up a quest involving Oozes, gelatinous creatures oozing viscous liquids that scream guaranteed disaster for them, you ask? The Solars, of course. Moonglade was short on the types of quests suited for them, forcing them to have to resort to less conventional means to secure their livelihood. Maybe their little sizes would help keep the Oozes from being alarmed by their presence. Demony was silently relishing the subtle insecurities wafting from the Beanies that spiked whenever howls were heard as it walked along the slime trail, doing its best to resist the temptation of pushing the Beanies into it.

Soon, they would come upon a vivid, hemispherical gelatinous blob slowly inching along the foliage.
"Is that the Ooze?" Star asked, keeping their voice low. They hadn't really been outside civilization much, so they wouldn't really know even if they could make educated guesses.

As Star pointed, Krazdan’s gaze followed until he could see the vaguely humanoid form of their gloopy quarry.

“Ah! Good eye, Chili! (Krazdan still hadn’t been able to tell the beanies apart, so he sometimes called one by the wrong name.) Let’s follow it to see where they go. Oh! This is just so exciting, hehehe!”

As the ooze slowly made its way deeper into the forest, Krazdan followed behind as quiet as he could. After a slow crawl through the howl-soaked woods, the ooze stopped at a small clearing. The moonlight bathed the ooze in soft porcelain radiance as it writhed and undulated with increasing intensity before it split into two smaller oozes. Tears streamed down Krazdan’s cheeks as he watched the scene unfold before him.

“Isn’t it beautiful? A new malformed creature of insatiable hunger is being born. Life is truly beautiful.”

As Krazdan began to write some notes in a journal he pulled out, a voice could be heard from behind Krazdan and the Beanies.

“Who do you think you are, eyeing up our prey like that?”

Emerging from the shadows, a man approached. He had a lithe build and long black hair, but his most notable feature was the scar that covered the right side of his face. It looked as if his had almost melted right off of the bone, some of his teeth were left exposed and his brow drooped over his right eye, making it impossible to see out of.

"We've been paid a pretty penny to hunt those things down and we don't really appreciate competition..."

"Star is Star!" Star, annoyed at being misnamed, repeated their introduction before stomping along and following the Ooze, the other Beanies and Demony following along carefully.

The Beanies would observe a small, round protrusion appearing from the Ooze as its original mass decreasing accordingly, swelling exponentially before splitting away from the original and jiggling on its own accord. Where the Ooze used to stand was now occupied by two smaller, identical Oozes. The Beanies were sure there was a name for this scientific phenomenon, but biology was one of those fields that enticed little interest from the Beanies, being literal plush toys and all.

Then, the group was interrupted by someone referring to the Ooze as quarry. Oh dear. This was going to be trouble, wasn't it? The Beanies can't just leave the Ooze to be killed - that'd be too cruel and against their better nature!

"Um, maybe we could talk this out...?" Goody asked meekly and was swiftly met with a dagger thrown in front of them. "Googa!?" The Beanies and Demony would collectively look in the direction the dagger was thrown from, and find that there was another. Or more accurately, that they were already surrounded by a group of five armed fellows.

The Beanies' palpable fear and concern would have made for scrumptious delights to Demony, if not for the fact that it needed to keep its guard up. Its instincts said that these dastardly sentients were likely going to be hostile to it too.

At the epicenter of the gathering, the two Oozes seem to be wobbling unsteadily, perhaps a preparatory action to whatever they were about to do.

“Most choices in life are complicated, but I’ll make this one simple for you. Leave or die.”

Within the Beanies’ minds they hear Krazdan’s voice, “Shield your eyes for a moment.” (Message)

Krazdan pulls out a vial of clear liquid from within his cloak and throws it on the ground at the scarred hunter’s feet. The man is encased by brilliant light as he cries out in pain. (Exploding pebble)

“Ok! Run behind a tree!”

Krazdan dives behind the nearest tree as arrows start flying from seemingly every direction.

“Alright, try to lead the Oozes somewhere safe and I’ll try to buy you as much time as possible. Pretty much the only thing that motivates an ooze is food so- I dunno, try to look appetizing or something. They eat pretty much everything.”

Krazdan pulls out a soggy piece of paper and shakes it violently, his already large eye widening with panic born from the frantic situation they were in.

“Here, take this map. Find somewhere to hide the oozes.”

Krazdan hands over the soggy paper. The ink which used to sprawl across the page in the form of a beautiful map has now bled into indiscernible splotches of color, but as the Beanies hold it for a moment longer the ink reconstitutes into an accurate map of the surrounding area. (Soggy Treasure Map)
“Good luck!”

Krazdan runs out from behind the tree, then the Beanies can hear a loud BOOM, and see a flash of bright light. (Explosive cask)

The Beanies shut their little beady eyes and safely missed the bright flash that sent the scarred hunter recoiling in pain. They then frantically followed Krazdan's instructions and ran behind a tree, managing to safely avoid the flurry of random arrows going everywhere. Demony had already moved away in advance and popped up next to the Beanies a moment later, safe and sound.

At the mention of luring the Oozes, Star, Chili and even Demony would collectively look at Goody.
"Googie?" Goody had no idea why everyone was looking at them, then it clicked and they pointed at themselves. "Goody!?"

Star quickly took the soggy map and analysed their surroundings, without regard for its damp texture. Having Goody serve as bait was going to be tricky given that they can't read maps and had zero sense of direction, but it just seemed so right somehow. Scanning around, Chili then noticed what seemed to be an underground cavern a distance away from them in the map.
"(How about here?)" Chili pointed at the winding paths.
"(Goody-plush would get impossibly lost in there!)" Star shook their head vehemently.
"(We just need to be ahead of Goody and it'll be fine! Also, flying broom!)" Chili pulled out the oversized flying broom on the bag of goodies Demony was carrying along.
"(You do know the flying broom doesn't work unless all three of us are on it, right?)" Star countered.

"(Oh, right.)" Chili hung their hand diagonally.

Time would not be in the Beanies' favour, however, as the Oozes were now engaging the hostiles and taking damage in the process. Whomever these people were, they appeared to be experts at dealing with these corrosive jellies.
"(Goody-plush! Follow the thread once you have the Ooze's attention!)" Star began unwinding the sewing thread from its spool and began running ahead alongside Chili. "(Demony! Go nuts!)" Demony detested being treated like pure muscle, though having the Beanies' blessings meant it could be as brutal as it desired, and it was much in the mood for uncensored carnage. Letting loose, it would grow to the size of an adult panther with its original house cat form mounted on its head, serving as a separate set of eyes. It quickly rammed one of the hunters engaging the Ooze, and the little Demony would hug another in the face, causing them to lose balance and fall to the ground.

And now, for the lure. Goody had on their head, an overly pungent box consisting of a mix of various leftovers - one of Chili's less-than-successful experiments. Goody ran a circle around the Ooze and perhaps it was the food, or maybe it was Goody's fear, but the Oozes appeared to have focused their attention on the hatted plush toy, and now, for the hard part - keeping distance without running too far ahead. Or at least, it should be. Goody found this entire process uncannily familiar, as though it was a regular occurrence in their life. They would have no space in their mind to ruminate on it, however, because the very prospect of being dissolved was much too scary for the little Goody-plush!

Everything seemed to be going well, all things considered. The other two hunters who were not taken down by Demony began to point their bows at them, but Krazdan didn’t let them have time to loose their arrows as three elemental orbs form in Krazdan’s outstretched hand. (tri-beam) An orb of wind and water slammed into one of the assailants, sending them sprawling onto the ground and their bow flying from their hands. As the orb of fire soared towards the other hunter, they dived out of the way and the fire orb collided with the trunk of a nearby tree. After landing on the ground, that same hunter pulled out a dagger at their side and threw it at Krazdan in one smooth motion. As the dagger spun through the air it stopped, remaining locked in its position midair. Then the dagger sped back towards its owner and struck the ground next to the hunter’s head. (Telekinesis) The hunter’s minds were filled with a conglomerate of screaming, laughing, and weeping voices as Krazdan’s psychic connection wormed its way into their minds.

“As your leader said a moment before, leave or die, the choice is quite simple, hehehe.”

The hunter who threw the dagger forced air out through their nostrils in frustration before helping the other hunter up off the ground. Then they begrudgingly stalked back into the forest.

“Well, that should take care of things. Those two hunters retreated and Demony is brutalizing the other two… wait, where is that scarred one?”

Krazdan looked to where he had last seen the scarred hunter writhing with pain, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Uh oh…”

Goody was making steady progress when a flash of instinct told them to stop immediately, and they frantically broke their momentum, causing them to slide to a halt and just barely avoid a sword swing directed at their neck from the side. Goody then quickly resumed running before the inertia from his swing ended, not wanting to deal with him in the slightest.
"Sharper than you look-hey wait!" The scarred hunter grunted in annoyance at the missed hit and turned around as Goody ran off, then both of them would hear the sound of a splat. The Ooze was now on the sword, slowly spreading out to cover its blade and consume it whole. The hunter quickly released his grip and the sword and jumped away just as it reached the handle, while Goody stopped and turned around to see what was happening a distance away.

Expletives escaped the hunter's mouth as he pulled out yet another sword that lit on fire. Oh, what was Goody going to do? They were just a little teddy bear who was very much flammable!
"Heeeeeeeelp!" It was really the only thing Goody could think of.

Those words grated Demony's ears so. It was sorely tempted to just ignore it and continue the carnage it was inflicting on these two fools, but it felt a strange compulsion to go to that accursed Goody-two-shoeless. So the larger Demony summarily chucked its hapless victim at its other victim while the little Demony pounced onto its other head and the two dashed along the wilderness at max speed, letting its instincts find that perpetual troublemaker.

"Oh, shut up! As though three little bears and a kitty could-" Demony bit into the hunter's metal collar and hurled him aside as his sword hit the Ooze, disrupting the attack and allowing Goody an opportunity to lure the gelatinous cretin away once more with the leftovers. It glared hard at the hunter with a murderous malevolence that did not belong in a wholesome compilation of stories in the slightest.
"Tch. Fine. This isn't worth it." The hunter got up and pretended to walk away before attempting a last ditch sword throw at the shadowy beast, which ended up caught at the handle by its teeth and it was all but ready to slash its attacker's neck when three voices rang from behind them.
"""Demony, no!""" The Wholesome Trio cried out in unison, causing Demony to drop the sword right by the hunter's legs, who promptly grabbed it and ran with his tail between his legs.

As the scarred hunter disappears within the depths of the forest, the Beanies could hear more rustling coming from the direction Demony ran from, however, instead of being another enemy it was the familiar moss-green form of Krazdan huffing and puffing at the exertion of chasing Demony.

“For a being with no discernible musculature to actuate your limbs, you sure are quick on your feet.”

Krazdan looked towards the oozes that were slowly approaching the party. Doubtless trying to acquire another meal.

“I believe our mission is complete. It would be wise for us to move away from this spot, otherwise we might start to resemble that hunter from earlier.”

Krazdan began to jog away from the oozes, fast enough to create sufficient distance from the oozes, but not fast enough to lose track of the Beanies. After going far enough away to lose sight of the oozes and then jogging for a few more paces after that, Krazdan stopped and put his hands on his knees while panting again.

“I’m getting too old for all of this running around.”

After spending a few moments to recover, Krazdan stood up to his full height, well, stood up to his usual hunched over position at least.

“Well, all that’s left now is to report back that the oozes reproduce through the process of budding. What a fantastic evening it's been! Moonglade isn’t so bad after all. Sure, it doesn't hold forgotten and half devoured civilizations like in the Marshes, but the forests here seem to hold their own secrets just waiting to be uncovered!”

Krazdan looks towards the Beanies.

“Were any of you hurt during that exchange? Once we get back to town, I could probably patch you guys up if need be. I’m sure I have something in my medical kit that would work.”

It was a curious phenomenon indeed. Demony had noticed that the forms it could assume had structure, despite the lack of actual bones, nerves or muscles. The Beanies too had some form of anatomy, that much it was certain even if it could not imagine how their body could possibly function regardless of whatever laws governed this world.

The Beanies and Demony could certainly agree they ought to get away from the Ooze, fast and would pace ahead of Krazdan, careful not to run too far ahead lest they end up losing the latter given that they were most definitely better sprinters than their fellow companion.

"We're okay!" Star checked on Goody, Chili and Demony, making sure they weren't injured before replying with a cheery voice.
"""Aye aye!""" The Beanies then followed with a salute as they began their march back to civilization. A lot of things happened, but at least they were all safe and sound. Though Star couldn't help wondering about Demony as they walked along, their mind nagging their conscience with the thought that it very much intended to kill the hunter until they stopped it. Was it always so murderously violent? Demony certainly wasn't as malicious in the book, so why?

The questions would remain unanswered even as they arrived in the confines of collective society.