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Kerberos raced forward, nothing stopping his paws. He could hear the bird in the distance, a faint, muffled echo. To him, he thought the bird might be to the south, and so he twisted towards it. The feeling of water was not lost on him, the sensation that he had dropped into the river of Polaris-- it was cold, like that. It wasn't quite Polaris, however, for the air didn't taste of electricity but instead of a forest.

The great guardian of Canis didn't know of the Eyes, and perhaps that was alright for now. He raced onwards, never hesitating as he went, desperate to try and find the correct path in the darkness. He had to save his mother, and Bones, and the Lorekeeper...

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

The bird felt confident as he heard the bird call loudly, almost as if he could hear it. However, the darkness seemed to be gaining vicosity, growing thicker and thicker. It was almost syrupy, soon gaining a tar-like feeling. Briefly, he saw an image of what he believed were the Eyes, but they fled too fast for him to decipher them. They were quicker than even the images provided by a hindsight. Azazel continued to heave himself through the shadows in an easterly direction.

The hallowed caller's wings beat silently in the darkness as it wheels past invisible obstacles, between rocks and shifting, creaking shadows, taking the route South, leading Kerberos true. Those that had traveled in any other direction will suddenly find great tentacles of darkness stretching out across the ground, crossing distance thought impossible - they tighten and writhe, tripping those that come across them. And then, they wrap around their feet, pulling them all into the same direction - to an alcove in the far South of the room. The darkness seems to buzz or vibrate with energy, as though it is suddenly invigorated by the presence of the bumbling Gembounds. Or... amused.

Yes, it seems that the darkness takes great amusement from all these creatures stumbling blindly through the shade. As soon as one Gembound trips and falls into the grasp of the tentacles, what sounds like a hyena's laugh rings through the cave. The sound echoes from all around, but once the Gembounds reach the Southern point of the cave, it sounds obvious where the voice is coming from - straight ahead, the southern wall. But they can't see what lies beyond in the shadows. All they can do is try to communicate. One thing is for certain: whatever this beast is, it very much enjoys the chaos of the dark.

Aza'zel, Ashtoreth and Vincenzo have been grabbed by the shadow tentacles and dragged towards the Southern wall to join Kerberos. Now, the same tentacles seem to be lashing and writhing in the dark, tripping whoever they can. Characters will have to roll Other to avoid being tripped while attempting to communicate with the darkness. Perhaps you should appeal to what it already seems to enjoy...

@Ambrus @Fallah @Gertrude @Sadie @Ashtoreth @Azazel @Vincenzo @Eve @Kerberos

It was very clear in the inky blackness that Fallah was very lost. She stepped, then something else stepped. Was someone near her? Fallah's head whirled around, her ears swiveling. She took another step, her paw hitting something. It... moved. Fallah looked back down. There was nothing. Though gembounds such as fallah could see in the dark, nothing could be seen in this type of darkness. Fallah's breath hissed out of her, one of her paws hanging in the air. The thing that moved snaked around her other paws. Fallah tried to kick it off, then run a few steps. She didn't make it, however, and fell, the tendril shadows sliding against her body. She shivered, trying to kick them off to no avail. A laughter echoed from above, and Fallah mimicked it sarcastically as she tried to kick away.

VINNIE THE VOICE
The voice had fallen silent, to be replaced by a predatory cackle--and Vincenzo found something black and slimy grabbing him, tugging him across the ground by one leg so that his wings flapped and flailed uselessly behind him. Not that he could fly, yet, anyway.

Terror seized him and for a moment, as he thudded along the hard, sharp rock, he couldn't breathe. His heart battered against his ribcage like another, smaller bird trying to escape from within him--and then he began to shriek.

Seagulls are resourceful creatures, good at any number of things, but there are only a few things they are truly great at. Like the crows and ravens of Origin Cave, Vincenzo had the capability to be loud--and not just any loud. Excruciatingly, deafeningly, ear-piercingly skull-ringingly obnoxiously LOUD.

And so, he began to scream. Interspersed with the chaotic warbled shrieking, whistling and honking came words.

"HELP! HELP! WHAT--HELP HELPHELPHELP WHAT IS THIS WHAT ARE YOU HELP RAWWWWWW SKRA SKRA SKRA HELP HELP SKRA SKRA SKRA SKREEEEEAAAAAWWWW!"

The sound echoed and filled the darkness around him, though whether it actually carried through the void would be another story.

________________

Have you ever heard a seagull?

Something had grabbed Ashtoreth. She was just a babe, and already something with a resemblance of an eldritch horror had come alive and attacked her.

If only she could scream.

The child squirmed, her loose, weasel-esqe pelt perfect for trying to squirm out of a situation. She couldn't see, couldn't speak, but she could try-- oh, she could try-- to escape from this hell. She had to try, after all.

Otherwise, her poor little life might have been snuffed out before it even started.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts

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The tentacles, the laughter, the bird. Kerberos didn't know what this thing was, or where this thing was, but he was going to attack it. Somehow. First, though, he needed to make sure the thing with its hundreds of eyes couldn't see just what he was doing. It would be able to see no matter what he did, he understood, but perhaps it would be confused if he could duplicate himself.

He put all of his focus into his magic, ignoring the resemblance of tentacled horror writhing closer. He didn't have a lot of time... But he did it. A tentacle got at his hind end and his body crashed down, splitting into two cerberoses.

His voices snapped as he stared around, twelve whole eyes burning in the darkness. Six voices, screeching over one another, roared through the silencing shadows.

"WHO ARE YOU?"
"WHERE IS MY MOTHER?"
"RETURN BONES TO ME!"
"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?"
"I AM KERBEROS!"
"FACE MY TEETH, COWARD!"

He had to get through somehow. He just hoped the monster who had taken his mother would think the real cerberos was the fake-- he didn't want to meet an untimely end.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

The darkness only continues to laugh wickedly all around those in the cave, its thousands of eyes blinking and unblinking, watching the affairs of the Gembounds as though it were playing a game. It seems that whatever is here plaguing the cave seems intent on staying hidden, but perhaps there is a way to coax it out...

@Ambrus @Fallah @Gertrude @Sadie @Ashtoreth @Azazel @Vincenzo @Eve @Kerberos

Ashtoreth slipped free. She scrambled to the nearest wall, hitting it square on with her face. Blood immediately started to gush from her nose and that was it-- she was done. Done! The noodle wheezed, rasping, her voice refusing to let her scream. She just wanted help, someone, anyone, to save her.

Instead, the small child cried, pressed up against the now bloody wall, baby wings wrapped around her body as she shook and shook, paralyised with fear. There was no resemblance of a way out-- the poor child just wished she could go back to her gemstone, curl up in the safety of its walls.

Out here, it was just awful.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts

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The eyes just laughed and laughed, and laughed. They didn't attack again, though, and Kerberos got to all eight of his paws. The bond was weak, he had to stay close to his doppleganger, but for now, he had an opening.

He kept on barking, snapping out words. They were distractions while he attacked-- while he tried, blindly, to hurt the thing that had dared take away his family.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?"
"WHERE ARE YOU?"
"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!"
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"
"LEAVE US ALONE!"
"GO AWAY!"

He had bought himself enough time. He could feel the energy in his paws, a tingling, burning sensation. He didn't even care where the magic was let loose-- the southern wall, the eyes that watched, the tendrils. He wanted them all to burn. He wanted to turn Canis into a burning, blinding star that would snuff out the darkness forever.

He would bring his mother back.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces