EXTINTERIOR – Nameless hill in the wilderness outside Triangle Valley, now with a big hole in the top.

  PRESENT- THE GIRL (armored and ughing maniacally at the top of the hole), THE BOY (unarmored and falling rapidly down the hole)

  TIME – ehhhh like 3:31 probly

  The boy plummeted down the pit. Though this hardly seemed like the most opportune turn of events, it did provide a good opportunity to easily see what was down the hole.

  From the looks of things, the hole lead to some kind of storage room. It was slightly more well-lit than most of the cavern, and notably more spacious, though the volume of things in there ensured that the space still felt cramped.

  The bulk of the objects were empty, rotted lockboxes of varying sizes and racks full of rusted and decrepit pickaxes.

  Most strikingly, though, was the trio of slouching, twitching Bandits, cd in their dry bloodied furs, clinging to shoddy metal weaponry, their arms swingingly listlessly as they pointlessly patrolled the perimeter of the room, looking at nothing.

  One of the Bandits, a rge and burly man-shaped one, had forgone traditional weaponry and was holding instead two slightly-less-rusted pickaxes, one in each hand.

  “A-At least try to catch your fall a bit, you idiot!” The girl barely managed to get out something coherent amidst her bought of hyena ughter.

  The boy blinked twice. He didn’t have much time to think, nor any particur skills or tools to rely on.

  But he did have an arm that was already broken beyond repair.

  In the seconds he had left, he did what he could to reorient himself such that his useless noodle arm would hopefully take the brunt of the fall.

  A few blinks ter, and the boy had crashed through the top of a lockbox, and found himself stuffed inside what remained of the small box.

  The bandits, of course, noticed. Although the boy could hardly see what was going on, he could feel them nearing him. Their sloppy steps, their heavy breath and mild ughter as they lifted their weapons and slowly stepped up to inspect the suddenly-appearing boy were all noted.

  “S-Stand up and fight, stupid!!” The girl’s cackling had been steadily calming down, but she seemed to find his current position hirious, causing it to spike. “Th-they’re gonna try to kill you!”

  The hole was deep, but the girl’s voice travelled very well. Her commands were easily heard by the boy.

  The boy blinked.

  He squirmed in an attempt to do as he was told, but it was very difficult to maneuver his body in this state. The parts that were usually on the ground were not. In addition, he found that even his good arm was having a difficult time doing much of anything.

  Ultimately, he did little more than roll along the floor while he filed around in the box. Still, a definite improvement to just sitting in the box.

  As hirious as she found it, the girl soon came to the realization that this trip would be a complete waste of time if he spent the entire fight squirming around like an idiot.

  Begrudgingly, she dropped into the hole, her fall quick yet controlled, as she clung to the dirt walls around her.

  Meanwhile, a curious axe-wielding bandit attempted a slow and perhaps intentionally clumsy swing in the boy’s direction, tearing his clothes and grazing his flesh.

  “…ow.”

  The Bandits paused. They stared oddly, even giddily at the unnatural blood seeping from the boy’s body.

  “Hah! Even BANDITS think you’re a weird little Bug!” The girl was only a few feet above the ceiling now, sticking to the dirt wall with one hand. “I’ve literally never seen Bandits get stuck like that! Speaking of…”

  She reached her off hand out towards the ground beneath the boy. At her command, pilrs of earth shot up from beneath him, pushing the boy up to his feet, and perhaps more importantly, out of the box.

  Mostly out of the box. Part of the box remained around his head, almost like an open-faced helmet.

  Yminnod

  “HAH! You look even more ridiculous than usual! Alright, no more help! Go! Do fighting! Magic! Feel it, do it! Logically! Go!” The girl remained on the wall, watching with great interest.

  The bandits surrounded him on all sides with their weapons drawn.

  “Why’re they standing like that?” The girl commented between chuckles. “Normally they just kill anything they see!”

  The boy had heard enough about bandits to know that the girl spoke true. To his knowledge, this was unheard of. This phenomenon was surely worth stud-

  “PERFECT TIME FOR A COOL OPENING ATTACK! GO NOW!” Her enthusiasm was utterly infectious.

  Come to think of it, they were still actively ready to attack him. Perhaps the knowledge could wait, just for the time being.

  The boy assumes a combat stance.

  “Whaahahahaht the heck is that!?” Cackled the girl.

  The Bandits looked on with smiles and wide eyes, inching closer and closer.

  Though the boy had never fought anything before, he stared at his approaching assaints with the same poise and enthusiasm he'd always had. Fear was not a factor.

  It was time for a practical exam.