ORIGIN - Quest: O Eyes, What Do You See? Part 2

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

The hyena froze as the bone tumbled past, a startled reaction of fear and instinct more than anything. This darkness had her fur all on end, her nerves taut, her heart racing. Yet it was only as the bone clattered away from their pool of dim light and back into the eerily silent darkness that she recognized it--that she cried out, short and sharp and pained.

It was Bones' bone, his favorite. The one he wouldn't leave behind.

She looked to Kerberos, frightened, wondering if he'd recognized it too--his size was reassuring, but she realized, looking at him, that he was a looming ghost, barely visible even so close. It was as if this void were dark water, swimming between them, swallowing them up.

"That was Bones's bone," she near-whispered. Abruptly, glancing at the others, she realized that they were still looking to her to lead them. To guide them.

Having seen the bone, she knew they might be walking into a trap--walking into their deaths.

"If any of you want to turn back, now's the time. I don't think--... I mean, some of us might not make it out alive," she warned, quiet. She hoped they left. Hope they all turned tail and ran, fled back out of Canis.

But what if the shadow spread...? What if it left Canis, and consumed all of the caves? ...It didn't matter. She had to find Bones.

Gritting her teeth, she looked forward once more. "Stay close to me." She then strode off with a more purposeful step, letting out a quiet, yet piercing cackle of frustration, starting toward the curving down-slope that would send them down the narrow trail of worn stone and past her bone pit.

It should be on their left very soon.

She hoped.

________________

ROLL THE BONES

@Kerberos ; @Eve ; @Delphine ; @Aleera ; @Azazel ; @Ambrus ???

She was met with the deafening silence once more. This blackness deprived her of any sense of direction. Any sense of light. It all bled together and yet this was not the wolves complete concern. Being lost in the darkness was a thing she’d done once before, perhaps not to this total degree. Still, for one who had no place to belong and no one to come looking or even miss her, there was little fear of never finding her way out. She would find her way out, of that, Aleera had no doubts. The ebony female would make her way out of this shadows fog on the strength of her own back alone and there was not a mist dark enough to contend with that sort of resolve. The glow was gone completely, not that it had helped much at all and skittering noises continued. If someone was within this darkness with her she still could not see them, and the whispers still remained, still fluttered past her ears. Her voice echoed out into the distance, if there was a distance, and for a short time the orange eyed female was greeted with only silence again.

Then it happened, the voice so alike, yet, unlike came back. It whirled around her in a hushed whisper. A breath upon her back, a chill in the air. Slowly, Aleera’s head moved from one side of her head to the other, following the sound path that came around her. ”Gone. All gone. Alone.” The young wolf glared out into the sea of shadow, her voice coming out laced with a growl but otherwise even. ”Is that supposed to be any different from any other time then?.” She asked the shadows, a vague curiosity rising up in the back of her mind as to what end this creature, or creatures was attempting to accomplish. Solitude in absolute darkness was sensory depriving, yet it had made her far more calm than she had been in days now. ”I have been alone for a long time.” There was not a note of sadness or grief to her voice. In fact, a type of pride seemed to cling to her words. The longer Aleera stood there the more curious she became about what seemed intent to plunge her entire world in darkness, this time physically rather than metaphorically. An outside to match the inside. ”Are you alone? Is that why you speak to me?” ”It waits. It watches. It hunts.”

table by Sara

he heard giggle, but then heard her again, as if she'd never spoken to begin with. he wondered, blinded by the pitch yet waited while he simply stood upon the ground, hearing what sounded like giggle - then aleera as she spoke off in the distance. he sneered, but the lingering haunt of the pitch caused the eagle to remain on his toes - err talons. but the fear was quickly replaced with anger, and he screeched a mighty, proud eagle's scream, as browned wings fluttered out by his sides - yet did not take off in flight. he summoned his magic, attempting to just have a bit of light so he could maybe see anything.

but it would seem, as his anger was too much, the bird could not conjure his magic. and from where he was, unable to see, to feel anything but the abyss, he was unsure where giggle was or had gone. so he'd stay, he'd wait. if he were to be consumed entirely, well. so be it.
"can anyone hear me?"
he asked, calling allowed, hoping he'd get some sort of response.
"it's ambrus."
he said again, a little louder this time, wondering if even aleera could hear him to react in any way she might. but of course, the freak might feel right at home here, now wouldn't she. until he had any further interactions, the eagle sat in wait, azurite lenses pried open and trying - straining - to see anything. anyone.

Fallah was not shocked nor scared, for she was used to peering eyes in the cave. She stayed close to her cow, making sure her hip was touching the cow's upper leg. She did not speak, nor cry out. She stood to observe. She wondered if this darkness could be hidden from, or how this darkness would react to more cover, "Sadie, stay close.," the cat murmured before summoning her magic. She was able to summon her magic, and though she could not see it, she could feel it. How would the shadow react to her watery shroud?

A tiny, fragment of life was lost in the darkness. There were two others, nearby, if the shadow was watching, three small chrysalis in total. So easy to miss, so well protected. The nest her father had built, walls to protect her and her siblings. There was no way for her to know any of this, of course, the only thing she was aware of was that...

Well, she wasn't comfortable.

So quite simply, the creature inside squirmed and wriggled, trying to slip into a crack that didn't exist in her perfect, delicate shell. No noise came from her, though as she strained there was movement. The round chrysalis-- nearly black in color aside from a single, slivering line of yellow, like a slit pupil-- slipped free from the earth and began to roll around. There wasn't much room to roll in, as she quickly bumped into one of the other gems, but she had moved.

Perhaps, the baby gembound would not be alone for her hatching. She struggled, her magic surging from deep in her voice-less throat. The wind swirled and her shell rolled the other way, smacking hard into a wall. A gasp, she tumbled out through the crack. Immediately, she was aware of the fact that the air was stale, and that being free from her shell was not much different at all from being inside of her shell. She still couldn't see, but with some careful pawing around, she managed to stretch out, to move.

By instinct, she went to call out-- but no sound escaped her throat. Even if she wanted to call for her parent that she didn't know she had, even if the shadow hadn't taken over Canis and made the silence come, she abruptly found that although she knew how to make noise with her lungs and tongue, she couldn't get her throat to agree with the idea. She was silent, lost in the blackness. Alone.

( welcome to the world, ash )

Darkness... he was lost. He hadn't found Kerberos after all, but gotten lost in the lichens that grew randomly around the caves. Slowly, Azazel withdrew from the slightly moist growth, stepping backwards until he hit a wall. Then he turned a little and stepped forth until he met wall. Somehow, the Bone King had gotten so lost in the darkness that he ended up within the Chambers. The patchwork quilt of the cave was where he had hidden his three children's stones. Speaking of which, wasn't it about time for them to emerge?

Oh god.

It was time for them to be born, wasn't it.

In those few moments of thought, The Bone King messily took flight, easily crashing into rock after rock until he was sure he had found the fortress he planted the stones within. With one final crash, Azazel collapsed in the room that he felt was most familiar to touch, and he could feel strong magicka here. Please don't let... whatever caused this darkness... be watching and steal his child from him, if one had even emerged yet. Clicking his beak, he looked around, feathers ruffled in panic. He focused his magicka and would send a transmission to the hyena once again, but with more concern. 'Giggle... This is the worst time for this, I know... but uh. I think one of my kids emerged. I can't find it.' He hopped around and around, but couldn't find it. He probably hopped over the small critter that was skittering against the walls as hard as she could. He faintly heard claws on stone and slowly approached the sound. Azazel figured it would be best if he focused on perhaps trying to find his damn children, if they had hatched yet... or maybe figure out a way to turn the lights back on in the cavern.

@Ashtoreth @Giggle

VINNIE THE VOICE
He'd been in his labradorite egg for some time, joyfully gazing into the shimmering colors wrought by the orb-lights outside. The chrysalis shimmered sky blue, and sea green, shifting at times from dark and stormy to bright and airy.

This seemed to him to be the natural order of things, and he would lay within his egg, murmuring words (for he knew speech even before his hatching) as he watched. He thought and spoke of grey air like mist, and rushing water that hissed and churned. He thought of rain, pattering on his stone roof, though he'd never heard anything like it before.

He'd started to feel a little squished, these last few days, barely able to shift his body about to be more comfortable--or even to turn his head. Claustrophobia had threatened to seize him once or twice, but had--luckily--faded, and he'd gone back to gazing at the beautiful stone-colors all around him.

Then, one day, and rather abruptly, the lights went out.

The sea gull froze within his stone, unsure of whether he should be comforted or afraid--but the sounds from outside... whispers, scratching, a giggle now and again... well, the question was answered quickly. He lay silent, frozen and still, his heart racing as he stared out into the blackness.

At least here, he'd be safe. At least here--

Craaack.

Vincenzo froze inside his chrysalis, fear driving his heart into a pounding frenzy.
What the hell is that?

CRACK!

With a shudder, his stone split, tumbling the juvenile bird out and onto the ground below--and into the swallowing void. Fear drove him to scurry back, to cram himself into a crevice and cower down, pressing himself against the stone and simply hiding.

"Shit."

________________

((ooc -- I did a roll off-site to see where he'd be hatched, RIP.))

'Twas disorienting, walking through the darkness: unable to see her own hooves, Sadie was forced to take small steps, lest she trip over a stray rock or bone and crash to the floor. Faint voices, all unfamiliar, floated up to her disk-shaped ears, but they only added to the whole creepy atmosphere which she was keenly aware of. Indeed, the cow's breaths were coming faster and faster, and the pause between her heartbeats was practically nonexistent. Perhaps it hadn't been wise to come in here, to plunge into the void, but what else could she have done? Fallah was in here, and now that Sadie was here too, she refused to leave without her--assuming that she could leave now.

Something brushed against her leg, and the tense Sadie startled, unable to see the little wolf pup that had bumped into her. "Who's there?! The unusually high pitch of her voice betrayed her fear and caused her some embarrassment when she heard Asurai's voice-- unfamiliar but young and scared sounding. Most likely its owner was just another lost Gembound.

"Don't be afraid. My name's Sadie." She spoke towards the direction the disembodied voice had come from, in what she hoped was a comforting tone. It wasn't Fallah, but that didn't mean Sadie didn't want to help if she could.

Speaking of Fallah...the cow swung her head towards the familiar sound of the lynx saying her name. Of course she could only see an endless amount of nothing, but the feeling of something nuzzling her reassured Sadie that the lynx really was there. "Fallah! Are you alright?" Now that her best friend was close, the darkness didn't seem quite as choking, and Sadie relaxed minutely.

As it turned out, letting herself feel somewhat safe was a mistake. When the green eyes opened all around them, the cow gasped and stumbled backwards, before checking herself and stepping back to Fallah's side.

The monster from Eridanus. Of course. She'd nearly forgotten about it.

An ear flicked towards Fallah in acknowledgement that she'd heard the lynx's reminder to stay close, though of course it couldn't be seen. Mostly unaware that Fallah was casting a spell, Sadie's gaze flicked from green eye to green eye for a few long moments before hesitantly speaking. "Who...what are you?"

table and code © chelsea of ORIGIN

________________

Had no one heard her? She could barely hear herself think. What was going on and why was everything terrible in Canis?

Eve knew exactly what she had to do - she had shook the walls before, bellowing like she had heard her so-called father do so many times before and although she was afraid of doing such a thing so close to Giggle's ears she felt no choice by now.

She breathed in and prepared to bellow but something caught her short - as if she were choking on a fishbone. She hacked and she coked and and wheezed as no sound came out of her mouth and the crow found herself trying to bite down on Giggle's ear to desperately hold onto the hyena.

________________

all you have is your fire

and the place it need to reach

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Kerberos heard Giggle's almost silent whisper, his eyes fixed on the shadows that had consumed Bones' bone. Though he hadn't seen what had taken the bone, he knew something had stolen it. He heard his mother speaking to him, his fur bristling all the way down his spine, but he was distracted by his own thoughts.

Something had kidnapped Bones and his bone, and that something, had just gone by. Perhaps it was invisible, or black, like the darkness, but he wasn't going to give a rat's tail about that now. He had seen which way they had gone, and he hadn't seen hide or hair of his brother-- perhaps it was a bit risky, but his instinct drove him to do something rather... Well. Rash.

His ears caught Giggle suggesting that the threat was dangerous. That it would kill them. That it could eat them. He bared his free teeth, holding on close to Giggle's tail with his center mouth, and began to focus. No one would hurt his friends if he had anything to say about it. He would eat the danger before it could.

He would destroy the thing.

A single pair of Kerberos' jaws parted, and he did not breathe but a word as his paw began to glow pink under the warm firelight-glow of his body. The pink energy seemed to flow to his chest, and then it built in his throat, the hot orange flame under his skin mixing with the pale, warm colors of diluted crimson. The air grew tense, like electricity was surging nearby. A snarling started in his other two throats, low and dangerous.

The pressure in the air seemed to pop, the taste of tinfoil between his teeth, and his throat burned as a violent laser blasted straight from his mouth, off into the void where he had last seen the bone roll off to.

"GIVE ME MY BROTHER BACK!"

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9