The town of Ligmis was a tight little town; the streets were cramped with small stores the group of six could at most walk in a two-by-two formation throughout the streets.
The spears on their back didn't help with navigating through the streets either.
The captain always had the map attempting to guide the group to the Basilisk, but like Apple had said, the range where the Basilisk could possibly be large, so they had a difficult time figuring out where it could be.
"Excuse me, have you heard anything about a Basilisk?" Grape asked a vendor.
"Basilisk, what kind of meat is that?" the vender replied, sharpening her knife.
"Nothing ma'am, have a good day," the captain said, grabbing Grape by the shoulder and pulling them forward.
"You as well," the vendor replied.
The captain continued to drag Grape through the stores, despite the Grape attempting to talk to each and every vender that they passed.
"If you want what their selling, just buy it," Apple told Grape.
"I am trying to get information about the Basilisk," Grape replied.
"We have all the information we need," the captain said while keeping their eyes on the map.
"What do they look like, what do they talk like," Grape said giving examples.
"It is a shapeshifter, what it looks like doesn't matter," the captain replied.
"Talking could point out Basilisk," Lettuce said.
"See!" Grape exclaimed, happy to have someone taking their side
"No, it couldn't point it out," the captain replied, "The Basilisk will be talking as the person it has transformed into, and when we find it, we can tell who it is by its scales, tail, and it's need to eat magic," the captain explained.
"Interesting beasts," Axel commented.
"Right?" Artichoke replied, "Basilisks are meant to eat witches, though the Emperor has kept the numbers down so we can live," they said.
"Yes, and it now it is our job to make sure that the Basilisk's number stay low," the captain explained.
Apple then took a look at the map in the captain's hands.
"I know that area, it's that big old abandoned house," Apple commented.
"You lived here?" Axel asked.
"Yeah, I used to hang out in that old building actually," Apple boasted, "The Great Pomme is underneath the building," they said with a bit of flair.
"Pomme? What's a Pomme?" Artichoke asked.
"A local legend," Apple answered, "Something about wild witches and worshiping a beast," they shrugged.
"Right now, that is none of our concern," the captain said turning to Apple, "And remember to not bring up wild magic in the Emperor's coven," the captain reminded putting a hand on Apple shoulders.
"Yes captain!" Apple said in mock salute.
"Wait," Axel interrupted, "If your hand is on Apple's shoulder, and your other hand is holding the map, then,"
"Excuse me," Grape asked a vendor, "Have you heard of a Basilisk about?" they asked a toy vendor.
"Grape, man, come on," Axel said grabbing Grape.
"We need more information on the Basilisk!" Grape complained.
"You're going to give the Basilisk information on us!" Axel replied.
———————————————————————
The old place that that Apple was talking about was a tall wooden building with several squiggles drawn onto the sign.
A large shadow made by the building casted itself onto the six scouts.
"Come on," the captain led on.
"Stop right there!" a voice of a kid rang out.
"We can't allow you to disturb the rest of the Great Pomme!" another said.
"..."
"Ian that's your cue," the first voice reminded.
"Oh," Ian stumbled, "And so we will stop you!" the third one said.
'Kids are brave for being witches'
There were definitely three kids standing in front of the scouts, though the shade of the building made it difficult to tell anything specific about them.
"Please do not disturb," the captain began to say.
"Hold on a minute," Apple interrupted, "I know those crappy voices," they said taking a few steps forward.
"Is that?" the second kid said stepping forward as well.
"Alki!" Ian said jumping forward.
Axel then heard something odd, looking over to the captain, he saw that they had put out their finger and pointed at the kid, however Lettuce had stopped them before anything could happen.
"How are you three little scamps," Apple asked the three kids.
"Good, but why are you here, I thought you were in the Emperor's Coven?" the first kid asked.
"I'm on a mission! Why do you think I'm wearing this mask?" Apple asked the boy.
Widening their eyes, the three kids realized they were standing in the way of the Emperor's Coven.
"Sorry, sorry!" the three kids apologized, taking a few steps back.
"Oh, it's fine," Grape said waving, "It always nice to see people you know," they said.
"Time may be limited," Lettuce commented.
"They're right, we need to move" the captain replied.
"Fine, now you three don't get into trouble, ok?" Apple replied, shooing them away.
"We won't!" the second kid said.
"By Alki!" the third one waved.
"We're moving," the captain ordered.
Silently, the six walked into the old building, their shoes creaking across the floor as they went deeper in.
As they got to the main room, the captain took a look at the map, before shaking his head. It was hard to see anything in the room they were in due to the lack of windows.
"The Basilisk could be anywhere inside of this building," the captain said, rolling up the map and putting it in their coat, "Split up, if you see anyone else in the building, be ready to fight," they ordered, taking their spear out.
"We could stay together," Grape suggested, "Splitting up would make us weaker to a Basilisk attack considering they could pick us off," they pointed out.
"Spear out, we're splitting up, are we clear?" the captain ordered.
"Understood," Grape replied taking their spear out as well.
The others also took their spears out and held in their hands, ready for the Basilisk.
"You two go to the left side," the captain said pointing at Axel and Grape, "I and them," the captain said pointing at themselves and Lettuce, "Will take center, and you two take the right," the captain ordered.
"Stuck with you again?" Apple whined.
"You could show some enthusiasm," Artichoke responded.
"We're going," the captain reminded.
Listening to the captain, all the scouts went to their preassigned regions and began to look about.
Axel and Grape's section took them up some stairs, and into another large room.
"Who owned this place?" Axel asked looking around.
The upstairs room they were in was larger than Axel own room, and was fully stocked with several pieces of furniture, furniture that the two scouts had to take the time to look through.
"Not sure, but according to Apple it was a bit of a spiritual place," Grape replied, checking under a chair.
'A place of devotion for something other than God? Maybe I should burn this place down'
"Clear here, you?" Axel said after checking the left side of the room.
"Clear, let's see if we can head up more," Grape replied.
With the first room cleared, the two scouts continued their way into the house, before stopping upon a split in the path.
Above them was a ladder that led to the attic, and in front of them the hall continued into another room, though it was too dark to see the size of the attic or the room.
"Welp good luck in the attic," Axel said patting Grape on the back before carrying on ahead.
With a sigh, Grape accepted his fate and began the climb up to the room.
By himself Axel began to check each nook and cranny of the room he was in. It took a few minutes, but he found nothing but some dust, and an old raddle that had broken.
'Witches use raddles too, huh'
Suddenly the house shook, immediately alerting Axel causing him to tighten his grip on his spear.
Wanting to group up with the other scouts, Axel ran out of the room and towards the main room that they originally met in.
As he ran, he met no other scouts on the way, not even Grape.
After rushing down the stairs, he came into the room and saw, the other five scouts, just standing there.
"Does anyone know what happened?" the captain asked.
"No, I heard a strange noise then came down here, after a while the house started to shake," Artichoke reported.
The other scouts had similar story's, some with a noise and the others without.
"Basilisk must have fled," Grape sadly said.
"Dang it," Artichoke replied.
'Hold on a moment'
"Captain?" Axel said getting everyone's attention, "Where's the Basilisk on the map?" he asked.
The captain then unrolled the map and took a look at it, with Apple peaking in as well.
"They're still here," the captain replied.
Everyone's grip tightened on their spears, looking at each other through the darkness of the room.
'That could mean the Basilisk is still in hiding, but after that noise, and with no body knowing where it came from, it's too suspicious'
Each scout knew, that one of them was not the same thing that they walked in with.