The two of them lay behind a bush, observing the gibbon on the other side. A mushroom was in its hands. It hadn’t noticed them yet.

“Is that da monstah?”

“I don’t think so.”

When the gibbon took a bite out of the mushroom, blue spores escaped the cap. They flew around with dim blue light and died as soon as they met the bright sunlight.

The gibbon’s eyes shone with blue light as it ate the mushroom. The air around it turned dense as its fur grew thicker until the monkey’s body looked like an oversized popcorn.

Tanuki stood up from the bush. The gibbon didn’t seem scared of him.

“Alright, this is a waste of time. Let’s go Maduka!”

“But da monkey is funny!”

“It is, but we’re on a mission, remember?”

He glanced over to the gibbon. Its popcorn body was quite a strange sight, especially given the animal’s blue color.

The gibbon stood up and began approaching Tanuki with its armed raised high. Even like this, it wasn’t taller than Maduka.

“Look, Nuki! Da monkey wants to hug you!”

True, it had a smile on its face and not the kind of grin that animals make when signaling their frustration. It showed no teeth, so Tanuki was sure it didn’t mean a fight.

“Well, I can’t just refuse a hug.” He crouched down and accepted the monkey’s embrace.

“You two are so cute!”

“It’s so fluffy! I feel like I’m in heaven!”

Suddenly, the gibbon tightened its hug around Tanuki. Using the built-up energy in its fur, the gibbon struck Tanuki with a powerful lightning strike.

“Nuki!” Maduka jumped to save her friend, only to get electrocuted too.

The monkey laughed as it ran back up a tree and disappeared behind the leaves. More laughter could be heard from around them. Other gibbons were on the trees, ridiculing the duo for falling for such an obvious prank.

Thankfully, that’s all it was. Just a monkey prank. They got staggered a bit, but no real harm was done to them.

“Nuki! Is ya alright?” Maduka jumped to inspect the boy.

“Hehe, yeah!” He chuckled lightheadedly, while his hair looked like a large piece of popcorn.

– – –

Deeper down into the forest, they fell into a bush of common nettle and were attacked by a flock of blue horned swallows.

“There!” Maduka pointed forward while running from the birds.

Behind him came Tanuki, who upon raising his head saw the entrance of a cave. Without any second thoughts, he changed his course and sprinted towards the large black opening.

“Hey! Do not leave me!” Maduka ran after him.

As they ran into the dark shadow, the flock of birds followed them too, only to get ambushed by a group of larger bats. The chaser quickly became chased and they had to escape with the bats on their tail.

Inside the dark shadows, on the ground, Tanuki let go of Maduka’s mouth. He shut her up, just in case she didn’t know what he was planning.

“Bats…” Maduka whispered.

“Yeah. I guess we stumbled upon a cave.”

The path forward was rocky and dark. Only a few meters away from the entrance and there was already no sunlight.

A noise echoed from the deep. It was the sound of water dripping from the ceiling.

Tanuki’s mind immediately connected the dots and realized this must be a dripstone cave. He used to learn about them in geography class, though he never really listened, as most of the time the teacher would just ramble on about personal issues instead of teaching anything.

“I heard they are pretty.” Tanuki told Maduka, while he began to craft something.

“What is dat you making?” She pointed towards the vines in Tanuki’s hand.

Tanuki walked to a nearby blue mushroom, crushed its cap, and gathered the spores that came out from within. They shone with dim blue light.

“I hid some materials in my pocket, just in case any problems would arise. And look how handy they’ve come! I trapped these shiny spores between the transparent curls of grass and now I’ve got myself a balloon that also works as a lantern!”

As he let go of the ball, it flew above his head, emitting blue light around them. It was strong enough to light the way forward.

He crafted one for Maduka, in case his ball would accidentally pop. The little goblin admired her new toy with eyes sparkling with joy.

“Uwaa! Your balls are so cool, Nuki!”

“Yes, they–– What did you just say?!”

“Come! Let’s explore da cave!” The little goblin went forward with her balloon.

Tanuki took one last glance at the outside world. A small squirrel ran before the cave entrance. It had antlers that were the same size as its head.

“Hehe, cute.” Tanuki chuckled.

The little squirrel raised its head, before a blue horned swallow crushed down upon it, blowing up the rodent’s heart. Blood burst forth from its mouth, and upon seeing this, Tanuki turned and quickly went after Maduka.

“Fuck this!” He exclaimed, understandably.