The Chair Wakes Up

Whack! Whack! Whump! Whack!

“Ow! What the hell, Ai?! Can’t you wake us up normally?” Rufus yelled, scratching the parts that Ai had hit with her vines.They looked incredibly itchy. I was glad I blocked them with a bit of wind magic.

“...” Aster was expressionless as always – her brow slightly crinkled. She seemed quite well for someone who was this close to stabbing me last night. If I hadn’t stopped the sword, she would’ve actually stabbed me. Well, the rag would’ve stopped her sword, but same difference.

“I-it does hurt a bit…” Emma eked out.

Of course, Ai snapped back. “Stop your whining! This was the quickest way to wake you lazybones up.”

“If you’re gonna wack us, at least use your hands,” Rufus complained.

“Too bad, wolf. You’re way too sweaty in the morning for me to consider touching you with my body.”

“Says the smelly ivy who lazes around on her vines.”

“Do they always fight like this…” I muttered aloud. And… they were staring at me. I spent the next few minutes trying to calm them down, increasing my ever-growing exhaustion.

Today’s breakfast was cold cereal, but food was food. Warm meals were difficult in so little time without the necessary skills. The blue sky was being engulfed by dark yellow clouds. By a quick estimate, it would probably start raining around noon.

Emma looked upwards for a second, dropping the bowl she was cleaning. “Dark yellow?!?”

Rufus, as ignorant as he was last night, didn’t understand the implications. “What are you freaking out about? Didn’t you tell us you have rain covers to deal with rainstorms?”

“Were you even listening to what I said?!? The rain covers can’t handle a yellow rainstorm. The acid is way too strong! They’ll only last an hour, maybe two at most. The clouds are dark too, so the rain will last for at least a day!” Emma’s tone was a lot more aggressive when she was panicking.

“Can we hold out in a nearby cave then?”

“Do you see a cave nearby?” Rufus turned to the other two.

“Mana sense can’t pick up on caves.”

“Not in the current area of my vines,” Ai shrugged. “Whatever. I’ll put some vines above and below us. That should be good enough.”

“It’s acid! A-C-I-D! It’ll dissolve right through!”

“Will you calm down? Obviously, I have a plan. If the vines are dissolved, I’ll just replace them with new ones. See? Simple.”

“But, but…”

Rufus put a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “No worries Emma. If Ai says she can do it, we’ll be fine.” Wow, he just believed her without verifying anything. His condescending tone was not helping. “When will the rain start?”

“A-a few hours from now, most likely.”

“Okay then, we’ll put up the vines a few minutes before then. Let’s start covering as much ground as possible.”

Everyone nodded, not understanding at all what Emma had meant.