Enoki had, as they had reminded themselves many times over, agreed to come here with Edric. The conversation had been awkward over the course of the journey -- at first, Enoki's bubbly excitement had been enough to keep it up, but when they'd turned into the somewhat-hidden entrance of the Hole and began their descent, Enoki had started to struggle to hold it.

This place was, in many ways, uncomfortable. Nothing lived here, and they almost felt as though they shouldn't, either. This entire tunnel felt almost... tainted. And yet, there seemed to be life here -- they trusted Edric, and they could hear the whispers as they moved further and further in the endless darkness. It had been a long time since Enoki had been able to see anything -- they were only barely aware of Edric, ears straining to hear the slightly off-rhythm beat of his hooves and marble against stone.

The koalyena's mouth was opening to ask if they were almost there when, like flipping a light switch, there was light again -- suddenly, black was white. Enoki's own colors were shifted -- the darker grays of their fur became soft and pale while their underbelly grew dark, giving them an appearance strangely like a cloud threatening to storm. Their black claws were perfectly white, like ivory -- they looked warily over at Edric, to whom the same change had happened. "This is the place?" they asked, their spinel tooth green-black in the light.

Enoki looked towards the slab at the center. It was pale and glittering in the void light, with rainbow hue dancing across it. It was... wrong, viscerally so. Like a black hole lying at the bottom of a mineshaft, or a piece of Hell on a church's altar. Whatever this was, Enoki was struggling to think that it might be good.


@edric

Click. Click. Click. Thunk. Edric's and Enoki's footsteps were not the only sound in the tunnel, now--the Whispers had returned, and grew stronger the farther they descended into the Hole. Edric listened to them with rapt attention, though he had never been able to decipher even a single word. The one thing he had understood had been YESSSSS, hissed as a shadowy hand emerged from the Altar to squeeze a rat's heart. If he continued to do well, maybe he would hear something more one day.

"This is the place," he confirmed, barely sparing a glance for the koalyena beside him. They looked awfully nervous in the eerie lighting. Edric hoped they weren't about to chicken out--he certainly wasn't. He paused beside Enoki, giving an encouraging grunt, before shuffling his way toward the pale slab of stone. In this light, it looked like his marble leg had been outside... but inside the Hole, it was the oil-dark veins in his stone that looked like the Altar. Is it fate? Edric wondered, examining the similarities between the Altar and his leg. Was I always meant to serve them?

It did not matter. He had his purpose, and he would fulfill it. Abruptly, he turned away from the Altar to face Enoki again. "Will you come closer?" he grunted. "Or will you bring it Oil first?" Are you scared? he wondered silently, fixing a stare at the koalyena.

Points until Conversion: 12-3=9

@Enoki

Enoki drew in a deep breath. They... weren't sure. They really, really weren't. But. But, they were a creature of their word, and they trusted Edric, so... "I don't feel great about bringing something alive all the way down here," they decided. "I don't, uh, hunt like that -- I end it quick. But, I'll... come closer." It felt a little more real to say it out loud, and Enoki approached the mysterious slab with visible caution.

They drew closer and hesitated before it. And then, after a moment, Enoki carefully reached out and touched it. "I heard that you... were trapped in here? Is there anything I could do to help?"



@edric
(i'm gonna gm tag, so don't reply right away probably)

The bone-white altar shimmered almost beautifully in the voidlight. What was black was white. Their colors, reversed, were unrecognizable in the pale, blinding-bright cavern.

Enoki's touch connected, as if with something waiting, lurking, something coiled to spring. And spring it did: a fire along their forelimb, lightning up the nerves, a choking paralysis burning through their body. The sensation of a great GAZE staring down at them was overpowering. THEY WERE SEEN.

THEY WERE WATCHED.

THEY WERE... RECOGNIZED.

"THIS ONE?" The voice was an earthquake. It was a storm. It shattered the world and split the rock and sent Enoki falling through horrid nothing, through twisting purple smoke and into pitch blackness. In the distance was the Mother: red and spotted, writhing in the darkness, screaming. Her voice was raw with pleading. Desperation. There was no dignity in it, only mindless, broken terror. It was wretched. It was pathetic. It was weak.

Then there was power. Chaos. Lash your magic like a whip. Spin its effects into dying fractals. An action blooming into glorious madness. Uncontained. Unconfined. No fear, here; what were consequences? What was care?

One was the screaming victim, clinging to unwelcome Order.

One was the grinning master, architect of their own Fate.

"WHICH," the voice boomed, and hissed, and whispered, "ARE YOU?"

Enoki was dropped from several feet high: the smoke shrouding them was pale, the wrong color, and as it dissipated they fell.

The smoke and vision faded. But the whispers remained: the urge to wield that whip, to invite the shadows in, to embrace them before being overwhelmed. To wield them. Not to submit to them. To embody the chaos, and not the dying prey... But was there horror, too, at what they'd seen? The whispers curled through their ears, their mind, maddening, unclear.

Listen to them.

You will not understand.

Listen to them.

Enoki has gained 3 points of Corruption, and is now Touched.

@Enoki

strong language

at the very end

Enoki's first sensation upon touching the altar was pain, and then panic as they realized that they could not withdraw their arm. Their nerves howled and their muscles locked tight, like lightning in their veins and fire burning them into nothing. It saw them, and the predator felt like prey.

It was like their legs had been kicked out from under them -- suddenly, they were falling. The pain was gone, but next came the feeling of weightlessness and terror. How long would they fall? Where was the floor, the ceiling? It was walking through the tunnel, without the sound of Edric beside them -- it was fear incarnate.

And then. And then.

SCREAMING.

Enoki's eyes were locked on, watching -- watching her? Her? Their throat felt tight, their heart -- was their heart beating? There was a feeling behind their teeth like-- like--




B̸̡̨̧̛̫̲̫̤̹͚̖̙̬̘͇̬͙̊͛͑͐̌̃̉̌̃̚̕͠͠͝͝Ļ̴̗̩̙̩̩̺̰̍̒̆́͐Ơ̶̬̗̫̤̬̟̊̾̉̑̌̊̃Õ̷̥̻̬̭̠̱̤̰͎̫̜̦̙͚̲͇̯͑̀̑̃͌́͊͘̚͘͝͝D̵̞̜͓̲̹̯̥̾̌̅̒͋͐̍̄͑̚̚͜T̵̡̡̧̛̪̝̠̻̤͕̩͖͍̪̜̱̃̓̒͌͑̓̎̇̀͜͠H̷̡̧͎̮̱̗̹̪̝̻͍͛̾̒̓̈́́̃̔͑̏̋͘͘͠͠͠͝I̵͕̲͓͉̦̜̞͛̍́͒̆̑́̽̀̕͝Ŗ̶̛͙̰̹͎̯̈́̀̒͒̌̕S̶̩͉̼̋́͋̀͐̿̇̍̽̽́̕T̴̢̡̜̙̟̻̳̯̬̹̜̘̫̣͎̯̎̓̓̐̌͊́͗̇̍͑̓̓̑͠



"Mama?" Enoki whispered, a choked and desperate sound, and then. And then, they saw the weakness. She was weak, writhing and begging when she could take what she wanted, when she could bite and tear and rip and CONSUME


Something seemed to howl -- not the Voice, not the Altar, no. Them. This was all them, wasn't it?



Y̴̳̋̈́͆̏͆͋̑͑̿̚͘Ǫ̵̞̭͎̖̎͒́̏͌̊̾̎̎́̑́͠Ư̷̧̢̡̧̢̺̬͖̩̣̠̤̇́̽̈̈́̈́́͘ ̶̢̫̰̼̭͕̤̺̯̱̳̅̈̅̂̐̈̿̏̐̀̇̾̕͝͝͝͝Ã̵̡̗̤̝̻͍͎̐̔́ͅͅR̴̨̡̤̺͇̫̹̺̻̮̪͋̓́̏͝Ë̴̢̫͍̤͔͉͈̯̇̍ ̶̡͍̞͖̦̙̯̥͓̜̹̗͉̣̳̼͇͛̎̊͂́̊̂̐̌̋̅P̷̨̤̙͈̥̲͕̰̿̃̉͆̂͗̆̀̈́̍̚ͅÖ̴̳́̓̈̀͑́̐̓̕W̴̧̨̟̠̺̼͔̠̮͙͉̽̂̔̽̈́̈̂̓̿͂̆̕͠E̵̢̢̛̪̙͕̰̬̝̹̪̬̤̲͒͂̄͗͜͠R̸̘̖̟̬̜̟̣̿͜,
Enoki Enoki Enoki
Enoki LISTEN TO ME
ENOKI
Y̸̛̮̑͐̓̃̔̉͋̋̏̿̅͛͐͋͘͝Ơ̵̖̞̤̹̱̜͓͍̰͎̞̬̇͌̍̃̂̅̀͆͆̈́͝͠ͅƯ̵̡̢͈̫̬̣͖͍̖̻̙̼̘̗͌͗̀̈́́̄̊̈́̽̿̈́́͒ ̴̛̛̫̲̳̠̤̭͓̫͎̥̖̥̱̪̣̾͐̉́̄͑̓̋̇̍͗̉͂̚A̷̛͈̿͐̿́̃̅͗͒̈̚͘͘̚R̴̡̛̳͎͙̪͉̰̯̟͎̅͛̊̓̊̀̈̎̓͑͋̚͝͠͝͠E̷̡͕̰̩̪̤͂̿̈̍͌̏̔͠ ̷̗̼̗̦̟̳͑̊̕̕C̷̡̧̛͕̩̖̘̺̳͕̝̞̮͑̃̉͆̔̉̽̓̋̏̔̕͜͜͝͝H̷̢̺̤͕̠̞̚À̴̢̡̛͉̰̫̹̉͒̌O̷̩̪͙̹͓̱͙͈̼͋̋̐̿́̊ͅS̶̨̠̻̪̯̲͚̼͆́͂͐̽͂͊̿̄̃͐̈̏͊̏̈́̚!̸̧̡̮̰͕̭͖͔̖̟̀̎̆͆́̐̈̚̚͜͝



And abruptly, it was gone. They were falling. The ground rushed up to meet them, and they tried to twist in mid-air -- straining their body, catlike and agile, and they severely misjudged the distance to the ground. Enoki hit, hard. Harder than they would have otherwise, to be honest, and a smidge of annoyance hit them -- that would've been cool, damnit! -- but they hauled themselves to their claws.

Their eyes were wild in the voidlight. There was something feral behind them -- something powerful. The vision had touched Enoki deeply, and they were half-crazed with it. Desperate, and aching to sink their teeth into something. To take the whip. To rend the unworthy and win.

And, distantly, there was distress. A low, pulsing anxiety -- to hear their mother screaming so desperately, it set them in a foul mood. And the urge to KILL was stronger, with it -- stronger now.

Enoki made a high-pitched noise, somewhere between a caterwaul, a howl, and a scream before dissolving into an eerie sound not unlike laughter. It could have sounded humorous, or even frightened or nervous -- but Enoki was a hyena, at least in part. That sound was a threat. It was a battle cry, a furious noise of dominance and destruction -- claws gouged uselessly at the ground and bounced off without doing much harm.

The creature was breathing heavily. Pain from the fall, pain from scratching stone, whispers and anxiety and malcontent -- but exhilaration. Enoki screamed, a rough and piercing and energized sound that filled the chamber. It was not a scream of terror, or of fear, but of glee.

Finally, they turned to Edric, wild-eyed and grinning. "Let's go fucking kill something."

Caterwaul, scream (tw for animals fighting but no blood), and laughter!

@edric

Edric snorted softly. Any means of killing something was fine by him—the result, either way, was Oil. And if Enoki was a bit more gentle, more ethical about their hunting; well, at least they weren't some herbivorous milquetoast.

Though, Edric reflected, taking a quick step back as shadowy tendrils lifted the koalyena into the air, that might be about to change. His new companion choked out a word Edric didn't catch, before their voice quickly devolved into an awful keening. The boar watched, a safe distance away, with a sort of fascinated horror. Were they being—hurt? Had the Altar taken them as some sort of sacrifice, instead of a new recruit to bow before it?

But there was no blood, and yet the awful noise continued. Enoki fell to the ground, thrashing and clawing with a war-like scream. Edric took another step back, just in case, but Enoki didn't seem to bear any ill will toward him. No, it seemed they were… hunting partners, now. He was rather impressed, actually—the Altar had taken a peaceful, nervous creature, and turned them into this.

"Yes," he agreed with a delighted grin. "In Canis or Orion? Your choice, my friend." The word slipped from his mouth without Edric meaning it to, but he supposed it didn't really matter. They were hardly enemies, and what else did you call this sort of comrade? Ah, comrade worked too, now that he thought about it. Which rolled off the tongue better…?

The boar shook his head to himself, almost imperceptibly. He was overthinking this.

@Enoki

There was a flicker of reason in Enoki's chest at the question as they paced in a tight circle, still on the verge of lunging for Edric. They needed to sink their claws into something fast, even as the chaos started to thrum a little lower in their veins. A flicker of rationale -- if they went to Canis, then Mama (WEAK) or Bayo or Chitin or Damask or anyone could see and then-- then-- their claws gouged into the stone again, a growl deep in their throat.

"Orion." They gave a shudder and looked back at Edric, blinking for a moment -- they'd almost forgotten that his colors would be inverse, down here. That this darkness had become light. "Race you?" they grinned, well aware that they'd probably beat him by a long shot, before Enoki lunged for the exit. Unfortunately, they scrabbled at the slope and slipped back down to the entrance with a frown.

"Hrm. Maybe we do need to go a little slow."

@edric

Edric watched the koalyena try, and fail, to scramble up the slope with no small amount of amusement. Energetic as always--but now, it would be put to good use. It was a shame the tunnel that housed the Altar was so derelict, and that they would have to travel to find something to kill. The delay between that thrilling rush of chaos and the opportunity to exercise the violence it demanded was far too long.

"Slow for you, maybe," Edric grunted with a grin as he limped his way back up the Hole. "I've been walking like this my entire life." A thought struck him. If he was useful enough, faithful enough, could the Altar grant him something for speed? It was awfully frustrating not to be able to outrun potential murder victims. Edric was sure the Altar Being would approve of his motives. There could be no harm in adding it to a prayer.

The boar hauled himself the final few steps out of the Hole with a grunt, hooves clattering clumsily on the Tunnel K floor. "Never liked the climb," he complained. "Well? You ready?"

Barely waiting for an answer, he lurched off toward the Orion entrance--and promptly tripped over a raised ridge of stone, crashing face-first onto the floor. Stunned, Edric blinked--then glanced at Enoki as he pulled his aching self to his feet again. "I meant to do that," he blurted. "Lucky you--get a head start."

@Enoki