So+busted!+a+plan+to+collect+poison+samples

Wren crept carefully through the ship to the gangplank to head back to the island. Most had settled down to sleep for the night. She jumped out of her skin when Kale appeared in front of her, leaning against the rope railing by the gangplank. "And where might the lovely Lady Wren be off to at such an hour... alone?" Kale raised an eyebrow at her and smiled. He could tell by her surprise that he busted her about to do something... but he wasn't sure what yet.

"Kale..." she blushed a light pink and smiled, quickly recovering from her surprise, "I thought you went to sleep?" He grinned at her, "and I thought the same of you until I noticed you sneaking down the hall." She grinned, "I guess I'll have to work on that..." "You know..." he pulled her closer to him, "I can't protect you when you wander off without me... and besides, I like having you close. So... am I interrupting a secret meeting with a pirate... or are you off to get into trouble?" Wren laughed softly, "No trouble... I was just going to see if I could find a sample of those darts to take back to Lyrabar and work with Dominic. We've been dealing with a lot of poisons lately and I'd like to try and create some kind of poison antidote potions... I thought the more samples of various poisons that I can bring back... the better we might be able to create something." Kale stared at her for a moment, "The darts... from the little goblins?" She nodded. He stared at her for another moment, and spoke calmly but firmly. "Let me get this straight... You just wanted... to go into the jungle... **alone**... at night... where there are traps and goblin pygmies... to a situation that was dangerous for the six of us... to get a sample... **alone**...?" She blinked at him, "Yes? ... Well... I just thought... it would be best if I went alone... so no one got hurt. That was a very strange mind twisting poison. I mean I seen every one of you change... Azarius grew purply tentacles and became this monster squid... and Yuki... she got all hairy and grew into a big spider... and Mali grew these big wide moosey antlers, and she hunched over all furry and looked like she was going to charge me any second! And Erevin... he grew into this strange, almost tree... with big lashing vines and… and he DID try to swing at YOU! …and you... you turned kind of green... with scales... like a lizard... no... more like a dragon... with wings and dragon-like slitted eyes. It all felt very real... I thought it was important to try and get a sample of it... I was going to be careful. I wouldn't go in too far... I just wanted to find one of the expended darts on the ground. There must be several with all of the groups that were in the jungle today... I thought it might go better if we weren't drugged to attack one another... if I just went alone... it seemed important...?"

Kale shook his head, putting his strong hands on her slender shoulders "Wren...honey...you are impossible." He laughed, squeezing her softly "I don't think you are thinking this through the whole way. Even if you were to go alone you'd still be risking everyone...because you know we'd come to save you if something happened to you and you didn't come back. And we'd....I'd be all frantic wondering what's happened to you...that's the worst thing." He pulled her into his broad chest, and she could feel his warmth as he wrapped his arms around her.

"So...please take me with you if you’re going to go on these little excursions at night...and...leave a note or tell someone just in case. Your friends worry about you too." He smiled at her, kissing her on the forehead. "Now...let's go find your poisoned darts...together ok?"

Wren blushed, actually feeling a little guilty. It was a rather endearing scolding. He was always worrying over her. "Alright... together," She nodded to him and then smiled, "and I'm sorry I would have worried you." She hugged him close to her, the tropical scents of the island still lingering on each of their skin.

She took his hand and headed quietly along the sand to the edge of the jungle. It was far different than the day... It was dark and so quiet... no shanty music... no colorful, noisy birds... just the waves of the ocean splashing against the pirate ships behind them.

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The island's tropical jungle was nothing like the woods at night back home... it was so lush here, layered in a rich earthy scent of ferns and tropical flowers mixed with the salty sea air. <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Finding the little darts was more of a challenging task than she thought about, with all of the thick growth of plants. She swept a long stick in a small arc in front of them, looking for any of the snares that tried to grab them up like before.

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">She moved quietly and tried to keep to the outer edge, but finally seen a trail left by one of the traveling groups in the competition. She moved in just a little deeper following their trail in her search. At last she seen the tracks left by the little goblins' attack and found four darts along the ground. "Kale! Over here!" She was so excited! She collected them carefully into a glass tube and sealed the top with a soft wax to keep the darts safe inside. <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Kale stood next to her, watching the area as she worked. A single goblin pygmy, drawn by her voice, leapt out and blew through 3 dart guns at once.

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"No!" Wren leapt between Kale and the goblin, but Kale grabbed her, wrapping her close to him, and turned to shield her with his own body. He released her to turn back, and slash at the goblin, killing him in one strike. He turned back to Wren and seen that she was fine. Wren quickly looked him over for darts, but he seemed to be fine. She blinked at him. Four more pygmies sprang up to blow their darts, but Wren quickly covered them in a sticky web. She turned back to Kale "We got what we came for, let's go!" He nodded to her and nudged her in front of him, following their same path back out.

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">She took a moment to breathe as they walked on the sand, and she looked him over again... but he was fine, no trace of a dart or poison effect. She nodded and then laughed softly, "Well... that was exciting." <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Kale shook his head at her, "Still wish you had gone alone?" <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">She nudged him and giggled. <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"Next time just stay behind me though, okay?" He put his arm around her as they walked. <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"Well what if next time... they come from behind us?" she grinned playfully. He just shook his head at her... impossible, simply impossible.

<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">They walked back on to the boat, hand in hand.