Attempted Intervention

“Oy, ain’t that the butterfly from before?”

The Loudmouthed Officer couldn’t believe her eyes for a moment. Meanwhile the Silent Officer immediately picked up a rock and chucked it at the creature.

“Let me try…”

It should go without saying that he missed, so the Loudmouthed Officer followed her friend's example.

“Dang! This is harder than it looks.”

These pot shots continued to miss, though as time wore on they became more accurate. Whether this was because the officer's aim was improving or because the butterfly was getting closer is hard to ascertain.

“Uhhh, it’s not latched onto anybody so… why is it back here? Doesn’t it need a human to help ‘refocus’ the dragon, or whatever the Chief said? I don’t think it's feeling homesick, so it probs got some sorta other reason, yeah?”

The Silent Officer nodded before grabbing another rock and throwing, she missed.

“Well we definitely can’t let it in… worst comes to worst we’re gonna have to split up.”

The Silent Officer shot the Loudmouth a dirty look.

“No no no, don’t gimme that! Last time we didn’t split up cause we- I -didn’t wanna deal with a potential trap, and cause there was no chance of catching it a hundred feet in the air. This time it’s gonna be stuck in a small space, plus as things are if it gets to the Dragon, who KNOWS what will happen ‘uh? I get that you're annoyed at the change up from earlier but this is a different situation!”

The Silent Officer looked at the butterfly and threw another rock. It only missed by a centimeter, but it still missed.

“Look, do you wanna follow it or would you want me to do it?”

The Silent Officer only spoke a single word.

“Go.”

“As in me… or…?”

The Butterfly approached the entrance, both officers attempted to smack it out of the sky with anything they had, doing all they could to stop it from entering the cave. Unfortunately this butterfly was in perfect shape, it had rested a bit before making this rush to the cave and had absolutely no damage from any sort of altercations. As such it was maneuverable and light, avoiding everything and making its way in.

We don’t know if it potentially has any other buddies outside, ones that could have left the cave before we got here… So yeah, splitting up’s the best move here.

This was in fact the only butterfly left, but the Loudmouthed Officer had no way of knowing this, pushing her towards a particular decision.

“If you ain’t gonna elaborate, I’ll just go, you stay! But stay put, you hear?!”

The Silent Officer didn’t even have a chance to nod before the Loudmouthed Officer ran into the cave.

Ahg… This is kinda hypocritical huh? Well it will be if I don’t get to it before it gets to the Dragon.

The Loudmouth considered yelling a warning to the three already in the cave but immediately thought better of it.

If I do… If I do what will happen if the Dragon hear’s me? That would sure be embarrassing huh?

She had a small chuckle as she continued chasing and attacking the butterfly.

Welp, can’t do nothing about that huh?

As the chase wore on, the Butterflies movements became more sluggish trying to avoid the relentless assault, allowing the Loudmouth Officer to get closer and closer. Until finally she landed a solid, decent hit.

Oh nice! I got it!

The butterfly could no longer fly, instead it fell to the ground and began crawling with all it had.

Sorry buddy! Can’t have ya hurting anybody!

Thus the Loudmouthed Officer wound up crushing the bug immediately… and she did do so, but not before the butterfly let out one unexpected shriek. She felt a strange headache for a few moments and saw flashes of memories which could not possibly be hers. Of a boardroom she swore she recognized, though not quite from that angle.

What the-

The shriek was also loud, far louder in the quiet atmosphere of the cave, which immediately produced countless echoes. To most this would normally be innocuous if strange, but the Loudmouthed Officer was observant enough to realize the potential consequences.

“Uh oh-”

This thought was cut off, as shaking could almost immediately be felt all throughout the cave… alongside a certain other sound.

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