A second bout of freezing had caused the ice around the hole to harden even further, sealing any small openings for good. The water stopped leaking from the hole in the ceiling; every so often, a loud groan would suggest that the weight of the water above was putting weight on the blockage, but the ice would hold. The Gembounds have successfully blocked the hole!

The Strangeness of Cetus: Part 2 has been completed!

Remaining in the cave is still several feet of murky, cold water. The buzzing had persisted, but begins to peter off into silence. Somewhere nearby, the sound of movement may be heard - but it is sudden, scrambling, as if something is escaping the tunnel.

Characters are now free to exit this thread.

Fisher's ears perked as he watched Fallah successfully block the hole with ice-- he didn't even need to use his rock. Dropping the stone in his mouth, his tail started to go a million miles an hour.

"You did it!" He barked, grinning. "Alright, Barkfriend, Fallah, I gotta check on Furball--" He knew that the kitten shouldn't be left alone in the cold, slippery up and down tunnel, but his thoughts were cut short as he heard the humming grow distant and the scrabbling, scrambling noise caught his ears.

... The thing that had come from Cetus. It was leaving. And where else could it go but Cetus once more? He thought about it, for just a moment, and a low growl entered his throat. He had to know what the humming was about. It was his whole quest, his whole reason for doing any of this. Nothing else in the cave perked his interest-- at least, nothing else that hadn't tried to kill him for being curious.

"Meet again, in Cetus!" He instructed firmly, "in the fog. We blocked it, it has to go back home, yes? I'm gonna find it."

That was all he had to offer except for a bit more furious wagging, and then he was off like a bullet to go get the kitten and make sure she didn't freeze to death in the tunnel of ice.

;; fisher exit!

________________

The Black Dog listened as the ice cracked and groaned, solidifying under the water's weight. Then came something else--and he whipped his head to listen, his own claws briefly scrabbling on the rock as he turned.

Something flees.

His instant, primal instinct, that of a canine and a guardian, was to give chase--to see it off once and for all. But then the brown-long-fuzzy-thing was speaking to him, and he peered down, listening.

Cetus. Fog. Home. What are these sound-symbols? I do not know them.

But Fisher seemed intent on his task, and scurried away, leaving Black staring blankly after him. Where had Majesty gone, anyway? He'd thought the wolf right behind him when he'd run in to investigate the voices and the buzz--the buzz which, he now noticed, was nearly faded away. No, the wolf must have meant this to be his task--to look after these few and stave off whatever threat this was.

The big young dog stepped forward, starting after Fisher--and then paused, turning broad-skulled head to glance at Fallah. Was the lynx coming with? He pondered, and then with some difficulty, repeated the words that Fisher had said in a deep and rumbling voice.


"Cetus? Fog? Home?"

Black then paused, thinking. The sound-symbols, the words, began to make more sense to him, as if his mind had found a cipher to unlock their meaning. Slowly, and with the irresistible force of an avalanche, language fell into place within his mind.

"The Dog will find it. Does the fur-creature come?" He turned, taking several steps after Fisher, lowering his head to sniff along the ground--then looked back at Fallah, waiting to see if it would follow.

________________

((--exit Black--))

It worked! It really worked! The water stopped as Fallah splashed below once more. The water had soaked the cat’s coat and it was really, really cold. The buzzing pretty much subsided, thought it was mostly unnoticed by the freezing gembound. In a hurry to get out of the water, Fallah swam to shore immediately. Water dripped over the floor as the lynx climbed out of the icy coldness. It shook its pelt again vigorously, feeling quite tired from using magic in quick succession and then swimming. Panting, Fallah turned to listen to Fisher when a scrambling noise rushed out of the cave. Blue eyes opened wide, bouncing from the cave entrance to Fisher, then the dog, then back. Stunned, Fallah stood there as Fisher took off. Of course they should follow it, but the cat was still trying to think of what that thing was. Fisher had said to meet in Cetus, which was easy enough if Fallah’s paws would move. Finally, the big black spoke, asking if the fur creature would come. Was the fur creature Fallah? Looking at the big black, the lynx slowly nodded, taking a few steps forward, “Right behind you… big guy.” It stated breathlessly. Back to Cetus, huh? "speak"

Mau was simply too wet, and too scared, to form any coherent thoughts. Wet. Cold. Miserable. Scared. So many noises, all different pitches. Some rumbled in short bursts, others hissed a constant high pitched note in her ears. She barely noticed when Fisher placed her on the ground, but she noticed it when he wasn't by her side anymore. After a few short moments, the tiny cat regained some sense and stood on wobbly legs. This place wasn't safe. Too many big things. Too many wiggle beasts. Too much mess and chaos. The kitten turned towards the tunnel exit while the others celebrated something. She wasn't concerned. No, the kitten wanted out of this place. When Fisher would return for her, the kitten would be gone, headed off towards the Western tunnels with little more than a trail of wet stone and paw prints in her wake.

[ Exit Mau, Stage Left ]