Though she mainly kicked in a random direction in an attempt to get to any form of dry ground, Miru's path would be kind to her this time. Stone appeared beneath paw and the flurry of cursed insects attacked her with even greater ferocity than before in the curse's attempt to get her to stay in the water, to dive below. Just like the curse of nothingness that came before, this too would pass she knew. As the fox walked farther away from the water's edge she invoked the light within to shine out with such fury that it changed nature into heat. Black spots seared into her paw prints as bit by bit the insects faded from existence- though whether that was due to the heat or due to the proximity to the water it was anyone's guess.

"The path continues." She called back loudly as the last of the curse faded form her perception and she stood before a narrow entryway. "The lake of shelter is a lake of death. My light has dimmed, but as promised I have seen to it that the way is clear."

She would wait until everyone passed by, lest the narrow nature of the route threaten the group's unity once more. Even if two curses had passed there was no telling when a third would appear or what form it would take. If the beast of dreams had taught her anything it was that they needed to stay together to survive.

---

Though my thoughts are my own
"This is my greatest tool to hone"
Tags:

Pride staggered out, his limbs trembling, onto the stone. For a moment he simply collapsed there, exhausted, his mouth hanging open and ragged pants sending his flanks into wet, heaving gasps.

It took him two attempts to stand, again.

On the first, he scrabbled up, half-blocking the stairs, and then collapsed back down when his hooves slicked out over the wet stone and left him splayed. He hadn't the energy to try to move again for several long minutes; a stag could swim, certainly, but he had been swimming for fifteen or so long minutes and he was, for all his self-proclaimed prowess, not one who had ever truly exerted himself, physically. He was--in terms of endurance--weak.

Eventually, and not wasting energy on speaking, the stag looked around. His pale grey eyes were glazed, the whites still quite visible, his ears hanging dripping behind his head at two different angles.

Everyone, at least, seemed accounted for.

He gave it his best shot to stand again, hooves scrabbling at the floor. His muscles ached with a pain he'd never known, and he let out a soft cry as he pushed up and stood. For a moment he did not move, his neck hanging, entire body quaking with the effort of his muscles keeping him standing. He stood there, dripping, gathering himself to move ahead.

As Pride peered forward, he abruptly realized that he had no idea which way to go. The end of the narrow tunnel appeared to end in blackness.

"I heard you call out about a map--the stone is a map? Which way from here?" he managed past his gasps, glancing back at Thothaga. It was not lost on him how terribly creepy she looked, all bunched-up like that, but that wasn't her fault.

Shango barely noticed the others. His mind was all in the storm he'd created, in the room of water they were leaving behind, and in the darkness ahead of them. He leapt up, flitting neatly through the air to glide down at the lead of the group.

He had no wisp-light--and couldn't really remember if he'd had one before. He concentrated for a moment, and with some effort (this stuff wasn't his regular magic; it didn't come so easily to him) a new ball of phosphorescent plasma flickered coolly into existence ahead.

The hybrid shook himself, a little, and then--having landed--he started ahead, his feet clicking on the rock like hooves. He, unlike Pride, spent most of his time running and gliding--in Eridanus, or in Fornax--and he'd not fallen off the first ledges to begin with. Having swum only half the distance, and being capable of far more, he was much more fresh than the stag.

At Pride's question he paused, looking back at the group. Did Thothaga, then, know which way to go?

NOTHING LIES AHEAD

Give Up

Ahead, the narrow tunnel extended off into the darkness. The Gembound would find, at its end, a large and seemingly endless black space. Ahead of them and slightly to the right lay another massive drop. Left and farther right held planes of darkness; it was impossible to tell where they would lead without following them, for a time.

The glowing line on Thothaga's stone has extended.

@Yoosung @Miru @Wilder @Thothaga

Wilder felt her paw slip and she cried out in fear as she stumbled back from the edge of yet another drop. Panting, heart racing, she stood still, feeling the walls on either side of her brush her tail as it lashed behind her. Carefully, slowly, she leaned over, but there was nothing but darkness.

She narrowed her eyes, a feeling of annoyance settling over her. Hadn't they been through enough already? What other dumb trials did they have to endure? She wanted this to be over and done. She wanted it to be done now. She didn't want to do this anymore.

She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself as her body started to shiver. This wasn't the time. She needed to focus. She had the most magic, she needed to use it correctly. She wanted to see what was in the depths. No more jumping without knowing what was ahead.

In front of her, instead of a little blue and pink wisp, a golden orb of light appeared, slowly at first, until it was as bright as the lights in the caves. Her eyes peeled open and she directed the orb to travel down the length of the drop, hoping to shed some kind of light of what awaited them at the bottom.

There were dogs, so many dogs. They swam, and dipped, diving beneath him. They were better than him, they were smart, they were healthy, they could cast magic of every sort. For a moment, he wanted to swim after them, prove that, even if he weren't half as smart, and couldn't cast half as much Magic, he could swim just as well as they could.

It's a trick! the kitten cried out, and the spell was broken. The dog began to swim, pushing as hard as he could, fighting to ignore the other dogs that swam around him. It began to storm, raining above him, and he agreed "Storm," tiredly. There, that was a new word! He hadn't known that one.

There was a staircase, up ahead, and he swam as hard as he could, lurching up and through the water--he had never been a particularly good swimmer. His lungs ached, and his legs were weak, it took all he had to not give up and sink to the bottom of the pool. But he managed to reach the edge, sitting and panting for a moment, before shaking himself off, trying to get rid of the wetness that weighed his fur down. "Everyone... okay?" he panted.

He trailed the others up the staircase, the path narrow, ears flat and tail tucked. He wasn't too big, but it was still tight enough to make him uncomfortable, and he couldn't imagine how the spider or the stag could manage.

The stag collapsed, and Yoosung stopped, waiting with him. He pressed his nose against Pride's shoulder, in an attempt at comfort, the stag seeming in a bad way. There wasn't enough space for him to lay down, so he simply slumped as he waited for him to stand, finally lurching to his hooves. Only then did he continue on.

The tunnel continued on, into the dark. There was a massive black space and, oh, Yoosung was growing tired of darkness, and planes of darkness. He shivered, shaking himself off, trying to figure out what they should do. Without meaning to, another Will o' the Wisp came to life not far in front of him, dancing and casting an eerie light in the darkness.

The kitten slipped, and Yoosung jolted, preparing to grab her if i was needed. But she could herself, and so he stood in place, squinting as she, too, cast some light.

I've been on a lonely tripdragging along a lonely shadow

as a maiden she tiptoes shy with her light...

The spider recast her wisp. It's blue light illuminated her eight, beady eyes as they fell on Pride. She acknowledged his question with a sense of admiration, but her cramped legs struggled against the walls. They could not reach the stone map on her side, not in these quarters.

"One moment," She grunted.

Thothaga clambered around in the narrow passage, threating to whack those too close to her with unfurled, hairy legs. That was something she could not help. The lack of leg-room was proving to be troublesome. After some experimenting, Thothaga finally positioned herself diagonally across the narrow tunnel, like a fallen log, her side starboard to Pride and finally tore the stone tablet from her drape. It fell to the ground with a plop!

Thothaga held her wisp closer to it, so that she and Pride might have a better look as she attempted to find her original position again. "It moved, we must be here." She rasped, tapping its new point with a claw. She studied the cravings the best she could with her poor eyes. "Perhaps, it is another drop off, like the one before?" She sounded unsure, which was out of character for the spider. "I must confess, my eyes aren't suited for reading little stone tablets in the dark." Thothaga hoped the deer's eyes could pick up any details she might of missed.

"Thothaga speaking."
Thothaga thinking.

@Pride @Wilder @Miru

Pride gave a slight nod, and a sigh. He looked over the stone as best he could--he'd watched Thothaga contorting herself into position, and while normally he might've been amused at the sight, now he was too tired to be anything but grateful.

"So it would seem," he murmured. "Thank you." With that--his legs tottering weakly beneath him--he pushed up again, head low as he struggled onward.

"I hope we haven't got much farther to swim. I haven't got it in me."

It took him a long moment, but when he reached the end he paused, peering down. He could see nothing... only darkness. He didn't hesitate, then; he plunged off the side, into the darkness below... trusting the map blindly.

What other choice did they have?

Shango cheerfully looked to Yoosung at the word, repeating it loudly."Storm!" he agreed. The hybrid had a few benefits, here; first, he could glide. That, all in all, was saving him plenty of energy--none of that falling, swimming or struggling for him. Or, at least, not as much as the others had to tolerate. And second, he wasn't really smart enough to grasp the amount of danger that they were in. While those like Thothaga, Pride and even Wilder might comprehend that one of the Elders, and this one somewhat malicious-seeming, perhaps, had orchestrated this trial, Shango just knew they were in a dark place, and had to get out. He hadn't the imagination to worry about being trapped eternally, or being lost facing horrors forever.

He'd seen things, and he didn't like them, but that didn't mean they wouldn't end soon. Or, at least, he hoped as much.

That wasn't to say he wasn't tired. He was. And as Pride went over the edge, he grumbled and hissed, and followed suit; he could glide, the stag could not, and he wanted to see what was down there. If they said this was the right way, well--they'd been right so far.

THE TREASURE BELOW

Your Greatest Desires. Your Reward. Take it. Take it. Take it.

The darkness below the drop was wholly unnatural; no light would pierce it. It seemed to be a sea of not-light, of void, of nothing.

Those plunging (or gliding, climbing, etc) down would find themselves landing gently on a large, flat, dark plane walled on all sides, sheer. A jagged gap lay across the center, one hard (but not impossible) to jump. From this gap, however, shone a soft light--and what lay below appeared different for any who might gaze down into the pit. Too, a strong desire--an unnatural desire--to leap into the pit would seize any peering down. Perhaps their common sense, willpower or their experience in this place would suggest that they do otherwise... or perhaps not.

Thothaga would see it as the soft blue light of the Spire--yet gazing down, she would sense power immeasurable, power beyond imagination, all hers for the taking. She would see, too, the Collector below: the Collector awaiting her, her test passed.

Pride would see something somewhat similar: a pale glow, and within, power and knowledge, with various Gembound carrying crystals to and fro. Instinctively he would know that these crystals held memories, knowledge, stored there by prior generations. His reward would be the knowledge of aeons, the wisdom of the caves, his to take and to put to use for whatever goal he saw fit.

Wilder's vision would be a soft, flaming shimmer. Deep at the bottom of the pit she would see a gathering of Gembound around it, lying there with food, and drink, sharing stores and friendship. They looked up, welcoming her, calling her down by name--she had succeeded, they reassured her warmly, and she could join them now, at last. As one of them.

Yoosung would see something quite similar, though those welcoming him did so in his native tongue, and many shared his form: dogs, happy, their tails wagging and their tongues lolling, their eyes filled with joy just to catch sight of him. He would be home at last, no longer an outsider, but finally among friends, among family, among those who understood him completely.

Shango would see a quiet rainforest, not unlike Eridanus but even more of a jungle, pouring with rain. This was lit only by intermittent lightning, and creatures scurried to and fro below--but the storm was his, his to control, and those creatures and that world now belonged to him. All he had to do was leap down, and claim it.

Miru would see a soft golden glow, and far below, at the pit's bottom, a gathering of Gembound. Hers was like that of Yoosung, and Wilder, but again just a little different... an esoteric gathering, though friendly, of seers and magicians, practicing their craft in a sort of game that she would instinctively understand. Around them lay stone dishes of various foods, foods that smelled delightfully delicious and wholesome even from here. Joy was promised, a sense of home and peace and contentment.

Their rewards lay below.

All they had to do was jump.

_____________

Gembound should roll to resist the effects of the Pit's final pull. Those who roll a Barely Successful may recognize things not quite right about their visions... those with a Successful or higher may see through it completely, and will instead see a deep pit studded with vicious, pointed black spikes.

Those who fail might approach the pit, but should wait one round before leaping, so that any Gembound who see through it have ample time to attempt to stop them.

@Yoosung @Miru @Wilder @Thothaga