Episode 74 - Holy Crow

## Synopsis

Virgil moved to the centre of the bridge, and began to emanate a glimmering multicoloured light that energised and healed the pets. As Ida began to come back to consciousness, her friends rushed over to check if she was ok. She simply groaned and asked for food, taking some snacks out of her tail.

While they recovered from their fight, they discussed who created the Pest, and why they would want it to destroy the world. As they talked, Virgil went to the edge of the bridge, and began to dig for worms.

“*So, are we done fighting it, did we win?*” asked Ida.

Crowrigami was doubtful. “*I can’t hope but to think no. It is still quite active, it did not appear particularly injured, and it made some degree of statement of wanting to fight us again.*”

Mr Wiggles said, “*In other words he chickened out.*”

“*Yes*.”

Ida looked at her friends. “*I’m beginning to think that we’re not strong enough to fight it.*”

“*I’m loathe to agree, but you are correct. Do you propose we follow this creature, or perhaps learn more about it? Speak to those who encountered it or attempt to discover from whence it came.*”

“*As long as I don’t get my paws wet,*” Wiggles replied, “*then I’m good for anything.*”

Virgil stopped digging and looked back at his friends. “*I can’t swim.*” He resumed digging.

Ida suggested, “*Maybe we need to find its weak spot, mine is right here*”—She showed them the bottom of her paw—“*It’s so ticklish, and anyone can defeat me with that*.”

Virgil ran over to tickle her paw, Ida immediately started giggling.

The pets walked along the riverbank, following the path the Pest down the river. They found that it had out of the river further down, and take off running into the forest. Looking at the map, it seemed to be heading towards the lumber yard. Crowrigami tried to remember what she had learned about constructs while in class with Mira, and told her friends that she didn’t think constructs could heal on their own, so the Pest might be heading to its creator.

They followed its tracks further into the forest, eventually coming to a large circular clearing, with tents, piles of logs, and a broken down log cabin. The tracks stopped at the edge of the clearing, where a pile of steel was lying on the ground, inanimate.

As they stood in the open clearing, they heard a strong wind suddenly start blowing. Mr Wiggles clawed at the pile of metal until a plate of it fell to the group with a loud clatter, the inside of the metal was etched with symbols. Crowrigami flew to the cabin, seeing a single room building, half collapsed. There was a hearth inside with wooden chairs around it. Above the hearth was hung a picture frame, though the actual picture was smeared with ash. There was also a stone staircase that descended into a basement.

“*Perhaps the cellar contains devastating secrets*.”

As they decided to check out the basement, Crowrigami suggested having a group name, and agreed with Ida’s suggestion of Ragtags.

And so the Ragtags entered the cabin. They went down the stairs, finding an unlocked, rabbit-sized door that they could swing open to enter the basement. They carefully walked through, and found several sacks of potatoes, and a small chest.

When deciding who should try to open the chest, Crowrigami tried to touch their nose with their wing, but couldn’t reach, and Virgil wobbled and fell over when he tried. Mr Wiggles helped them back on their feet, while Ida opened the chest with her tails.

The chest opened with a squeak, and inside they saw written, “*In the middle of the fig, is the key.*” There were no figs anywhere in the cabin.

Crowrigami inspected the chest, trying to find any ‘*I*’ motifs. Virgil hugged Ida, thinking the key was their friendship. Mr Wiggles jumped on a  table and started knocking things over. After a moment, Ida ran around ripping all the eyes off the potatoes, as they were poisonous.

Crowrigami went back to the main cabin, trying to find any other clues. They went over to the painting, and flapped their wings to blow away the ash covering it. Underneath was a painting of a fig tree.

“*Everyone, everyone! I have discovered something! This painting, contains a fig!*”

The others rushed upstairs to see the painting.

“*That must be the key!*” Mr Wiggles attempted to knock the painting over. The frame wobbled, and fell off the mantelpiece. The glass shattered, and the picture lay underneath the frame and broken glass.

Crowrigami looked outside to find a tree outside that resembled the one in the painting, finding one on the edge of the clearing. “*The real fig tree!*”

“*I can’t knock that over.*”

“*I bet I can,*” said Ida.

They walked over to the tree, Ida striking poses and making karate noises the whole time. They found dozens of figs lying on the ground, and Crowrigami flew to the top of the tree to look for a key. They didn’t find anything, but when Virgil suggested to look for fresh patches of dirt, they were able to point out a patch fairly close to the tree.

Virgil waddled over and began to dig, and after some time, unearthed a smaller chest. Inside were four keys, connected to a central ring. They took the key back to the chest in the basement, thinking there might be a secret keyhole. As Ida put the key in the chest, the message started to glow, and then vanished. A new message in its place read, “*Put an I in me.*”

They put several hundred of the potato eyes into the chest, and the lid slammed shut. The chest began to hum and vibrate. When it stopped, the lid opened and the potato eyes and writing had disappeared. Several of the potatoes rolled across the floor, and assembled into a doorway on one of the earthen walls. Through the doorway, they saw the glint of gold and candlelight.

The Ragtags found themselves in a perfectly square room. Around the room were four golden statues: a cat, a crow, a squirrel, and a hedgehog. In front of them sat a very large inkwell, full of a dark black ink with specks of gold. On the wall behind the statues was another mural, similar to the one in the Duke’s manor. In it the four heroes had white, glowing hearts, and were entering a dark cavern in the mountains. Looking at the statues again, each had a gem in the centre of their chests, and the one on the crow was glowing a brilliant white.

Ida whispered, “*You’re the crow-sen one.*”

Crowrigami flew up to their statue, finding the gem immovable. He gently dipped one of his claws into the inkwell, and when they pulled it out, found the paper had turned jet-black, and the writing on them had turned gold. Winsler walked over and tried to put his tail in the ink, but was stopped by an invisible barrier.

Crowrigami was apprehensive, but slowly submerged himself in the ink. After a couple of seconds, the ink drained away, and the walls dissolved. Standing in front of the Ragtags was a jet-black Crowrigami with gold lettering. He also felt much stronger, as though he gained more power.

“*I don’t understand entirely the purpose of this, but I feel much more powerful, more… myself*.”

Mr Wiggles suggested there was nothing else they could do there, and that they should try to find clues elsewhere. Crowrigami thought they should check out the cave on the map, as the mural depicted them entering a dark cavern. Virgil voiced their unease with this plan, as they were not particularly fond of dark, creepy caverns. Ida persuaded them that once they all had lighter hearts, the darkness wouldn’t be that bad.

The Ragtags left the cabin, and Winsler walked over to the pile of scrap metal, riding it much more rusted than before. He scratched off as much rust as he could, and attempted to follow the scent of the Pest. He smelled rust coming from both the north and southeast directions.

“*I say we go north, does anyone object?*”

“*Not at all*” Crowrigami replied.

“*North it is*.”

The road north was clear and well-travelled, a small wooden bridge crossed the river, which widened into the Great Green Lake. Mr Wiggles smelled rust emanating from a large tower jutting up from the middle of the lake.