Raiders of the Lost Beans
____Gleis trudged into the main cave, cape dragging behind her and empty mug dangling from her claw. A heavyset orange guardian and a dark, spindly fae glanced up at her from the card game they were playing on a splintered wooden table. "Mornin', boss," the guardian called.
____"Mmnh no talk me I'm coffee," Gleis mumbled. She set her mug, lovelingly painted with "#1 Boss," on the table while she rummaged around in a chest. The fae took advantage of the distraction by slipping a few aces into his hand.
____Eventually Gleis retrieved a large tin labeled with a smiling cartoon bean. She pried off the lid and looked inside. And kept looking. The guardian shifted nervously. "Uh, boss-"
____"Who."
____"Huh?"
____The coatl turned her icy gaze from the coffee tin to the guardian. "Who. Used all. My coffee?"
____The guardian, Prusk, sighed deeply. "You did, boss."
____"Impossible!" Gleis spat. "We just stole this last week! Where did it all go?!"
____The fae rolled his eyes. "You drink 8 cups a day. Where d'you think?"
____"Shut it, Abyss. I do not drink eight cups a day," Gleis snarled. "I drink seven, tops. There's no way I burned through this whole tin that quickly. What are we going to do about this?"
____"Could always steal some more," Prusk shrugged. Gleis glared daggers at him, then flinched and raised a hand to her head. "Rrgh, the withdrawl's already setting in," she muttered. "Gods. Fine, we have no choice. Put the cards down and grab something pointy, we're going merchant hunting."
____"And how're we gonna do that?" Prusk huffed, tossing his cards on the table. "The road doesn't exactly get much traffic this time of year. We could sit there all day without seeing a single caravan."
____Gleis growled and drummed her claws on the table. "We won't target the road, then. What are our other options?"
____Prusk scratched his beard. "Hrm... Well, there's that tiny clan to the north, and if we go east far enough we'll eventually hit a big city."
____"There's also the serthis to the south," Abyss buzzed. His voice was high-pitched and droning, like a gnat buzzing in one's ear.
____Gleis nodded. "Yeah, there's always the serthis tribe, too. Or we could camp on the road anyway and hope to get lucky." She paused, head cocked to the side. "So. What should we do?"
____The three sat in silence for a few long moments before Abyss spoke up again. "We could consult the orb."
____Prusk and Gleis both turned to look at him. "We are not asking the orb," Gleis snapped. "That thing is worse than useless."
____"Well, I don't know about that," Prusk hemmed. "It's designed to give advice, isn't it? Why not give it a try?"
____Gleis fluffed up her wings and glared at him. "It's probably cursed, that's why. Honestly, that's the last time I rob a mage..."
____The table settled back into silence, Gleis glowering at the air, Prusk looking bored, and Abyss trying to stealthily tuck the aces back up his sleeves. It was only a matter of time before the coatl caved.
____"Oh, fine," she groaned. "Get out the stupid orb. But if it gets us killed, don't say I didn't warn you."
____And this is where the interactive part comes in, assuming people actually care enough about my fanfiction to interact with it askjdhaf. You'll all have control of the "orb," an enchanted crystal sphere capable of dispensing advice to its owner(s). It will convey all of your questions and suggestions to the characters in the story, assuming they're appropriate and not plot-breaking, and the story will proceed accordingly. Whether the characters survive is in my hands, but how the story progresses is all up to you.
____And of course if nobody interacts then I'll have it give generic responses, but that's not nearly as fun!
