Submission (#1083) Approved

Writing Submission:
[1027x] Word Count (per 100 words) = 10,27 Shards
[1027x] \+bonus per 500 words = 4,108 Shards
[1x] Extra Mini-JellHead Interaction = 1 Shards
Sub-Total = 15 Shards


Final Total = 15 Shards
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"No! Put him down! Proxi, he's not a shiny!" the pink bat cried out as she frantically flapped her wings and danced around the large bat jellhead. The snake mini-jellhead that he had in his claws was squirming, having been caught mid-bounce by the full jellhead.

Yorunee got her small, paw-like hands on Proxi and managed to coax him to let go, gently getting Bubbagum free and into her own much more gentle hold. She put the small green snake on her shoulder, then looked around with a sigh. "The letter I received said that there were definitely shinies around here, if we looked hard enough, but I'm not exactly sure what looking hard enough means," she muttered, looking down at the crumpled envelope that she held in her left paw. It certainly seemed like Proxi didn't know either, given how he had reacted to Bubbagum instead of actual potential shinies... And, well... The anthro bat definitely did not know the area well enough to guide her jellhead and mini to the right areas to start looking around.

"Maybe I should do a minor clairvoyance spell to give us some guidance?" she asked, looking at the ancient bat to see if he seemed to have any opinion on the matter. As always, his demeanor was almost impossible to read, his neck moving to imply looking around, even though he definitely did not see like she did. His tail swayed, jell trailing from the tip before merging back with the main collection or disappearing into the air. He appeared to be on edge, not really comfortable with this foreign land, and it had his handler sigh.

"And you, Bubbagum?" she asked, not actually expecting the mini to have any idea of what was going on. The jell of his head wobbled slightly, seemingly in confusion, and Yoru rolled her eyes. Not overly helpful, but at least it was better than nothing, she figured. They were paying attention to things around them, as much as one could, she figured.

"Okay, I'm going to give it a shot," she finally decided after not seeing any better option. She opened the letter to read over it once more. New plants, lots of places for shinies to be hidden, with some definitely already in place... Blah blah blah, research, needing more information, jellcore labs, it was all just a bunch of rambling with minimal actual information behind it. But the letter provided her with what she needed as she started to recite the low level spell from memory. She couldn't remember the last time she had used it, but it was almost as if she were back in training as she waved her hand in an arch while a soft blue and purple glow took form. When it finished casting, she tossed the magic forward and watched it spark on the ground for a moment before fading out and a thin blue trail formed for a couple of feet to guide her to their left.

"Oh, looks like the best bet is this way," she chirped, excited that the magic seemed to have worked like it was supposed to. The pink bat quickly started to jog in the direction indicated, only slowing down when she reached a jagged crack in the ground. She knelt down to try and look into the shadowy ravine, but there wasn't much she could actually make out with how dark it got so quickly. "Hm... Maybe there's-" she started to mention another way down, hoping that she wouldn't have to shift and fly down, but she didn't get to finish that thought before Proxi was already diving from the side, jell first, something having gotten his attention.

"I... What?" Yorunee screeched in confusion and annoyance, then found herself pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. As good as Proxi was, as well behaved as he has become with his time around her, he was still an unpredictable natural jellhead! Hoping that he didn't find someone to turn into a victim of his strength and often misguided rage, Yoru shifted into her much smaller bat form and made sure that the mini that had been on her shoulder would stay put on her back. She couldn't be sure he understood the instructions, so just hoped for the best as she dove over the edge and started to listen for the other bat.

Her large ears flicked and twitched, every sound echoing back at her and helping her build a map of the surroundings as she chased where she thought Proxi had gone off to. It was confirmed when she heard something crack, large stones crumbling and clamoring down the sides, and then the sound of metal claws working at chipping more stone away assaulted her ears. She swooped down and found the jellhead working on digging something out, using his tail and jell to fling the unwanted stones over the side as he kept working deeper and deeper until he finally revealed what he had been after.

Seemingly pleased with himself, the ancient bat pried the shiny from where it had been hidden behind several rocks moments before. He then turned and offered it to his handler, long tail swaying more like a puppy looking for praise at playing fetch or doing a trick right. "And some people think all of you are just mindless monsters," she muttered as she accepted the gift and reached back to tuck it in Bubbagum's bowtie until they got somewhere safe. It wasn't like it was a good pocket or anything, but the little mini seemed to enjoy coming along to help, so would most likely use its jell to help hold on to the precious find until they got somewhere that they could properly open it up.

"Come on, Proxi. There's supposed to be more in this area, and we're supposed to be taking notes on anything we find, too," the handler finally stated, flapping her wings to get up and into Proxi's neck fluff. It seemed like the ancient bat was more alert to what they were looking for and was already ready to go find another shiny nearby.