OF WISPS AND WHISPERS

FORNAX — Storm Warning

Thunder crashed.

Fornax was dark--not pitch-black, yet the lights had dimmed so far that the vast cave seemed steeped in deepest night. Only the faintest glimmers reflected over its churning waters.

It would be difficult to hear. A heavy rain was pouring, and deafening thunder echoed over the sea and stone now and again. Beneath this sound came the rhythmic chaos of roaring waves breaking over the stony beaches.

The tides were high, the islands hidden; the waves were violent and vast. It was as fierce a storm as Fornax had seen, yet storms alone were not so very strange. What was strange was the ghostly blue-green light far out over the water, seeming to hover in the distance.

Stranger still was the tunnel leading to Fornax. Tunnel M was flooded with seawater, trickling down over the ice. Strewn over the tunnel's mouth, as if having exploded from Fornax itself, were hundreds of fish--some writhing, some deadly still, but all distorted... torn apart, inside-out, or ripped into pieces. To try to weather Fornax's storm to begin with, one would need to first pass this chaos.

OF WISPS AND WHISPERS

THE DOOR TO FORNAX

They wrung their multiple hands and groaned, a stray hand picking at the remains of a fish (or maybe it was a few fish?) that lined Tunnel M. Totum had never seen anything like this before. Not only did it smell awful, but also wrong. The light dimmed again and they braced, turning away from the entryway to Fornax—when the lights failed and all went dark, the storm inside the Great Furnace hurled another wave of death out into the tunnel. Gory, strange, weird corrupted death. Totum was buffeted by bloody storm waters and more pieces of fish. Poor writhing creatures, some inside-out, all distorted in some way.

When the lights flickered back on, they were picking themselves clean of fish.

"We need to go in and see what is causing this," the female voice said strongly and matter-of-factly. "That's a crazy idea, that's dangerous!" countered the beast's voice. "We need to close the door!" he argued. Their head shook and she disagreed, and the hastily and angry way they picked fish and guts clean from their fur was evident that they were at war with themselves.

As Fornax was where the Peterbald cat had hatched just a mere two cycles ago, it was there that he ended up spending most of his time. It was reasonable, therefore, that Fornax was where Ejder found himself when the strange icy storm began. As the main tunnel leading out was quickly flooded, the kitten found himself rightly stuck.

And in what a miserable place he was. He had discovered earlier that swimming was a less than pleasant experience. Adding on rain and thunder apparently made it less so. He didn’t despise it, as Ejder didn’t really feel such an extreme emotion, but he found that it was more irksome than some other locations had been. Small dens dug into the denser packed sand gave some refuge from the storms when it too wasn’t flooded.

It was not an entirely disagreeable circumstance, though. It was soon found that a multitude of fish in various disarray had been beached. This was a dream come true for a young growing kitten. The fact that he didn’t have to hunt for such a delicacy made the situation much more bearable. It was a strange phenomenon but it was impossible to tell just how much so as this was the first time he had experienced such a storm.

It’s newness, as well as small desire for a bit of a snack and the rising water levels of his newest den, coaxed the kitten out and about. It wasn’t long before quite a variety was stumbled upon. The fish that were inside out were particularly helpful in both eating and studying the creatures. However, this time he stumbled onto more than just fish.

Lavender eyes blinked slowly as he looked the strange creature up and down. They were quite different than the creature known as Mosaic was or the lesser gembounds that sometimes came by; thin and dark and additional appendages. He stood still for a moment but it was not out of fear. Fear was another emotion he didn’t really have. He simply looked the creature over, taking mental notes.

“Hmmm….” He spoke after a moment of reflection. “I don’t think I’ve seen such a strange being before. Do you talk?”

Tact. Tact was another thing that Ejder did not understand.


____________________
"Speech"

Tags: -tagging GM now-
Notes:

Now that the pup was closing in on her second cycle, she had taken it upon herself to explore further. Well, that and Eridanus had filled with smoke. Unable to call for help in that moment she had simply fled. The hybrid was sure that one day she would go home, but for now she had to escape that place. Pollux had been travelling for a while, at least that's what it felt like to the young gembound. Especially when she had come across the flooded tunnel.

Traversing it had not been easy and she quickly learned that she was not adept to swimming. Her birdlike legs could only grasp to the crevices in the walls as she inched along. The saltwater made her skin tingle in an unpleasant way, keeping it from taking on its typical camouflage. Why am I even doing this? It was an easy answer, her will to explore was more compelling than her will to get out of the water. Luckily, it seemed to only be the beginning of the Tunnel that headed towards Fornax that had the worst flooding.

The tunnel had been dark as she traversed it. There was also a strange roaring sound and the smell of something rotting. As the tunnel turned into a steady incline, Pollux found that the water that had been flowing down it seemed to stay towards the middle. The ice had warmed considerably, allowing the pup to dig her talons and claws in to push herself along. Occasionally, her tail would wrap around a rock, giving her more stability and her wings flapped. She had half the mind to try and fly, but that was a task she had not yet attempted and to do so and fall back down this slippery slope would be a shame. So she continued on until the cave leveled out.

When Pollux finally arrived, the sound of a wild storm and the smell of dead things hit her like a rock. The pup wretched, nearly losing what little meals she had gathered on her travels. Her skin flashed with colors of alarm. Her blue eyes lifted to peer into the large room. All she could see was the crashing waves and strange light in the distance. It was so dark that she did not notice the cat and the creature not far from her. It wasn't until a flash of lightning lit up the mouth of the room that she saw them.

The poor pup nearly jumped out of her skin. Not only had the two of them seemed to appear out of no where, but one looked rather scary. Once again her skin flashed in alarm, blues and reds and yellows all at once. Pollux still lacked the ability to fully control it, but she could control her mind. Just because thinks look scary doesn't mean they are scary... The pup forced herself to think of the giant blue dragon that seemed so scary but only wanted to help. And this cat... he doesn't seem scared...

In fact, this cat almost looked like her with its extremely short fur. That calmed Pollux enough for her skin to calm down too. It slowly turned a mottled, dark color, changing its texture to try and match the rocky outcropping she stood near. She crept forward and sat near this cat, looking at him and then to the other thing. Pollux did this a few times before settling her gaze on the other creature. What are you? What is happening? All she could do was sit and wait for her silent questions to be answered.

Pollux thinking.

Death.

Death was everywhere.

The tunnel reeked of it. Foul-smelling storm water sloshed below the vampire bat as she flew towards Fornax. Dead fish lay strewn about, some looked as if though they been eviscerated. There was something wrong about them. Their bodies all looked distorted, corrupted. The plague Khloros had set loose a few cycles back flashed through Valeria's mind. I thought I took care of it! Had it mutated already? The thought scared her. She was barely able to contain the colony Khloros gave her. She glanced at the fish, her stone lit up as she casted her white vision. If prokaryotes were responsible, she would know soon enough.

First Eridanus catching fire, now this! Are the caves coming to an end? Valeria coughed. She had barely escaped the smoke and ash bellowing from the Maw of Moss and fled into Fornax's tunnel to wait it out. The fire costed her a precious collection of pain-soothing herbs for Aries, but at least she made it out with her life. In hindsight, however, this turned out to be a somewhat of a bad idea, then again, she did not count on the Great Furnace being swept up in a storm.

Her echolocation picked up on a three warm bodies in the distance. Two small, one larger with spindly appendages. They were picking at something while the two others watched on. She wondered if they knew anything about this phenomenon. Valeria glided down and grappled the side of the wall nearest to the larger gembound. She peered down on the group, her ears pressed forward as she listen for conversation.


"Listen to me."
Thoughts...

TAG: // OOC:

Cecei flew towards Fornax but quickly stopped when she saw the storm. She landed and looked around slowly. There was a cat, a strange creature and a bat here already. She approached them and looked around.

"What's going on here?"

She eyed the gutted fish and slowly stepped back. Something was wrong, something was very wrong here. What the hell was happening?

Speech Here
Thoughts Here

OF WISPS AND WHISPERS

THE DOOR TO FORNAX

Danger never kept Gembounds away, and like moths to a flame they came. Totum regarded the cat with piqued interest—was it looking to escape, having come from inside the Great Furnace? They felt the rising, blistering retort of their female counterpart and bit it down. Instead, the beast replied to the feline Gembound.

"Yes," he said simply before looking up to spot a more curious looking creature. They offered a small wave with one of their top hands, the opposite still picking gooey bits off; the smaller appendages shuffled in their fur anxiously.

The groaning of the storm from inside Fornax was not calming, and they took a moment to look back at it. They were not sure when another wave might come gushing through but the beast still believed in closing the door and preserving the rest of the cave from whatever turmoil was rising within. Is that why the door had been sealed before? Perhaps they were wrong to fix it before, and instead of opening it, should have found a way to seal it once more. It was too late now.

A new voice broke into their thoughts and their eyes shifted toward the avian. "Something stirs within the Great Furnace," they replied. "We are at odds with whether or not to close the door, or to go in and investigate—especially that light in the middle, it..." their voice trailed off as their head lifted to look for the ghostly luminescence.

The lights dimmed and Totum felt their chest tighten. Another surge was coming. "Hold on!" The darkness enveloped them only for a brief moment, the loud groaning of the storm and growl of thunder—the lightning did not illuminate through the darkness that swamped them—felt otherwordly, like it was alive, like it was—

"W̵̐̒͝҉̠̦̥̥̟̳͇H̲͙̺̭̺ͪĚ̡̛̩͕̪͇͔̘̼ͦ̍ͥ͟R̥̻̝̫͔͓̹̗̔̅̓ͣ͐̒̽͘̕Ẽ̡̫̟̬͓̘̺̺̿̈́̃̄̐̎͑͋̀ ̮̚͡A̢̼̻̼͕̽̅̿R̶̬̰̗̜̎̂ͣ̚E̶͍͕̗͖͗̎ͮ͡ ̙̫͙̺ͤͭͯͩ͋̋͋Y̢͙͓̰͓̘͙ͮ̐ͧ͞O̢̩̗ͥ̕͠U̥͕̩̬̠ͮ͒͗͛̐̓̚"

A violent gush of water crashed through the door, spilling out more dismembered and distorted fish with it.

post-roll
The lights slowly hummed back on and Totum was visibly shaken, but not by the stormwater. They were stuck in their braced position with wide eyes; slowly, as if their joints had all turned to rust, they turned their head to face the Gembounds. Had the gathered creatures all heard the same, distorted, echoing whisper?

"W-we need to go," they said carefully. "If you decide to investigate the storm..." they looked up and shook their head, "be careful." Totum were sure the Gembounds would have questions but they definitely would not have answers.

What... was even happening? Their eyes remained on the door for some time, hesitating to leave the children here alone; but they would need to seek out answers elsewhere.

Your characters will need to roll an Other of at least Barely Successful to avoid being swept down the tunnel with the gush of water! (Don't worry, you can come back if you go for a swim!)

*It does not reach Valeria on the wall.

@Ejder @Pollux @Valeria @Cecei

Ejder seemed content for the most part with the dark being’s simple answer. After all, he had asked a simple question and had gotten a definitive answer. His curiosity was also being distracted as a few other interesting creatures appeared. Each one that appeared was new to him, both specifically as well as generally. At this point in his life he had met Mosaic a canine and discovered a few of the lesser gembounds such as fish. One creature seemed almost similar to Mosaic, but was so drastically different they were certain not part of the same species.

Overall it was a rather curious gathering of creatures. Perhaps the situation was more concerning than he had originally realized. Now that he thought about it, the storm hadn’t occurred before in his short life span and fish didn’t typically come out mutilated as they were.

Speaking of fish, he moved over to gnaw on one such creature while thinking over the situation and listening in to the others. The first creature, the large dark one eating fish, elaborated on the current situation. Ejder did not know about the furnace but it sounded intriguing. If they decided to explore it, he’d be most interested in going along. It would also allow him a chance to watch the creature more and learn more about them, which seemed much more appealing anyways.

Then suddenly the cavern was plunged into darkness. Ejder lifted his head up from the fish, trying to look around as best as his lilac eyes could. He heard the warning, trying to piece together what was going on. What had happened to the light. What was coming? What was that sound he almost heard? More importantly, hold onto what?

In his confusion, the small kitten was suddenly swept up by a freezing wave. A shrill cry of surprise sounded as he was moved further away from the group. He had found water in general to be most unpleasant. This, however … this was far worse. He had no control on where his body went. Paws spread, padding, trying to keep his head above water. It was disconcerting to say the least.

One benefit of not having strong emotions, though, was that he wasn’t really as terrified as he should have been. More frustrated and discombobulated more than anything. The water was cold, chilling him to the bone without the protective fur that other felines had. He was also getting hit with fish bones and entrails which made the species overall less appealing to them. Towards the icy tunnel he was dragged.

Oh, this was not good. Not good at all.


____________________
"Speech"
"Thought"

Tags: @Pollux I think is next.
Notes:

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

Mosaic had been PERFECTLY FINE, minding her own business and everything, enjoying the warm water and resting on the rock islands, AND THEN THIS STORM HAD TO COME ALONG AND RUIN EVERYTHING! Also there was this weird green light here, and while at least she could see a little bit thanks to that, THAT DIDN'T MAKE UP FOR ALL THE OTHER LIGHTS GOING OUT!!! And then as if the light read her mind and wanted to spite her, IT BECAME PITCH BLACK!!! And were those VOICES near the entrance of the cave? WHY THE HELL WERE THEY JUST TALKING THERE?! DID THEY PLAN TO SPEND THE ENTIRE STORM CHATTING?! "HELP!" she hollered, paddling furiously to keep her head above the water. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR - I'M GETTING TIRED OUT HERE!" Already her muscles were burning with the effort to keep her afloat. How long did they expect her to wait to be rescued?!

Abruptly, she decided that it wasn't worth the effort to just wait for help anymore. She attempted to turn herself and swim towards the sound of the voices, only to be caught in a huge wave that swept her under the water but out of the cave. She gasped involuntarily and her lungs burned with a pain she hadn't thought possible as she was deposited, coughing, completely soaked, and shivering because of the ice, into the tunnel. She remained where the water had thrown her, coughing and shivering.

The little hybrid was soon distracted by the appearance of a bird and another flying creature. Her long slid side to side along the slick, fish covered ground. She had not yet been at a gathering with so many gembounds. In fact, now she has seen more Gembounds now than she has in her entire life. It was all very curious, but that also meant that something strange was happening. Why else would so many other show up? Of course, it was obvious that there was something wrong... Pollux just didn't expect so many to be drawn to it.

Her attention was turned back to the skinny thing as it spoke. Her ears angled themselves forward as she listened, seeking an answer to her unspoken question. Are they going to close the door? Her head tilted to the side, I haven't gotten to explore it yet! Pollux turned her pale gaze to the door they all sat before. The room seemed almost angry with the way it's waves crashed and thunder rumbled. With each wave that lapped at the door, it left a few of the mutilated fish. All in all, she did suddenly did not see the appeal in this particular room. ...Maybe I don't want to explore that place...

Suddenly, all of the lights went out and the whole group was plunged into darkness. There was something wrong about this darkness. Pollux found herself crouching low to the ground. She could hear thunder, but it was muffled. Why is it muffled? Only moments ago the thunder was bellowing angrily. The skinny things voice rang out in the darkness and Pollux had only a moment to wrap her talons and tail around the nearby rocks, hopefully grounding herself.

For a moment, she swore she heard the sound of another voice. Just above a whisper. But, the pup had no time to dwell on it for a sudden surge of water pushed through the door. It was so powerful that the rocks she had clung to were broken and she was thrown back down the tunnel. Pollux let out a fearful cry that was quickly cut off as water slid down her throat. She kicked hard, struggling to keep her head above the water. Before she knew it she would be back where she started at the end of the tunnel.

@Cecei youre up Pollux thinking.