Eridanus was a whole different world from the rest of the caves. What with the burbling streams, the towering ferns, the hum of insects, and the constant screeches and hoots coming from who-knew-where in the canopy, there were probably more stimuli here than five other rooms combined. Being surrounded by all of this somehow made Faceless feel calmer. When there was so much going on, there wasn't time to worry and stress over any particular thing.

It dipped its head-mouth into the lukewarm water of the Eyes and drank deeply, then decided to wade right in and start drinking with all three mouths, so none of them would feel dry. Triple the feeling of refreshment! Dehydration was a terrible thing, and Eridanus was quite warm. It would not do to forget to drink water.

When it lifted its head, water dripping from its mask and spines, it spotted something it found quite unusual. It expected all kinds of wildlife and greenery from Eridanus, but this? A shimmering rift in the rock wall, glimpses of landscapes flashing by so quickly it could barely remember them, apart from the fact that it'd definitely seen something?

Captivated by the images it did not have the brain capacity to recall and immensely frustrated with the shimmery area of rock for being so mysterious, Faceless took two bold steps forward, bringing it right up to the wall, and moved to press its mantis-like forearms against the anomalous patch, as if it could hold its passing imagery still.

Sometimes you can just tell that something has no natural predators. And that it's confident in knowing that if it 'dies', its stone will bring it back right as rain.

Was it foolish? Having touched the edges of untold dimensions, it continued to press itself further into the riftstorm...? So be it. In the blink of an eye, Faceless is spit away from the riftstorm almost as soon as its arms push against it with enough force to throw the creature hard against the opposite wall of the alcove.

But for Faceless, there was a moment where its mind was transported through the rift to experience a different, strange land; while its physical body was snapped into a brief stasis, its mind was free to travel space and time:

Unmolested by curious minds for so long, the riftstorm yawned at the presence of something new: and true, it had been idle, and at the same time, too busy. Faceless experiences a flash of light, and then the cold wind against its body—and it feels like it is flying. But no! It is not flying! It is using its legs and propelling itself forward, one push at a time against the slick, smooth surface of ice. It is nighttime because it is dark, but the sky is undiscernible; aside from the ice before it, shadows of the riftstorm enclose on the edges of its vision.

Ouch! Faceless is suddenly thrust forward onto its knees after twisting its right ankle inward, breaking the bone that connects it, and the vision is violently stripped away.

As Faceless is thrown away from the rift, a hooded figure is seen slamming what appears to be a door and the riftstorm's images shimmer back into their myriad dimensions... Lingering in Faceless's thoughts is the idea of a cast and walking boot.

@Faceless has broken their right ankle. You may choose if it chrysalizes from this or not, or if it chooses to pursue the knowledge of a temporary cast and/or walking boot.

While its Siberian tiger-sized body was thrown against the cave wall with an alarming thump that would leave it with several tender, bruised ribs and a bitten abdomen-tongue when it woke, for its consciousness, the feeling was one of exhilarating freedom. It had never moved this fast before in its life! It imagined splitting its face open sideways and letting its tongues loll out against the battering cold wind that stung its face and imbued in it a feeling of awakeness it craved more than the juiciest rabbit. Its heart sang with the thrill.

A moment of clumsiness, and it was all over. It did not know what it had done wrong. Slipped? On the ice? Maybe it had been too distracted by the thrill of racing headfirst into the wind. Whatever it was, it was violently ejected from its vision with a flash of blinding pain, the hooded figure cruelly slamming the door shut from the electrifying fun it had just had.

"No!" Faceless gasped, scrambling to collect itself back up from the crumpled heap it had been at the base of the stone wall. Burning knives stabbed up its right ankle when it tried to stand, so it hobble-crawled on one awkward foot and two mantis-arms desperately back toward the rift. It didn't want to be shut outside like this! It wanted to keep having fun!

Desperately, it tried to recreate the secret handshake it'd learned after the Deathmatch in front of the riftstorm. "Let me in," it burbled. "I know the secret handshake! Don't close the dooooor!" Its right ankle was so useless and annoying! It could not put weight on it, nor lift it to a good angle when the secret handshake required it, without unbearable pain. Green-grey tears streamed from its pitch-black eyes as it crumpled into a spiny pile beneath the riftstorm and reached out a mantis-arm in a pleading gesture. "I want to do it againnnnnnn," it sobbed, like a child taken out of a game for an injury who desperately wants to keep playing. "Pleasssssssse."

The shimmering Rift offered no response. With what might have been cold indifference or simply the reality of an inanimate object, it flashed and churned, but in response to Faceless's cries, nothing changed.

Up above, in the branches, a few Carollers had paused their songs, peering down at this display.

@Faceless

After a while of sobbing with no results, Faceless slowly realized that it wasn't getting anywhere. And that it was being stared at.

With a cry of rage (what RIGHT did those Carollers have?!), it pulled the shadows around it, shrouding its form in darkness. How DARE those birds look at it like this in such a humiliating moment! It wouldn't let them look anymore. Sniffling, it tried to draw itself to its feet and leave--only to screech as it put too much weight on its broken foot and trip, tumbling right into the water of the Eyes.

An instinctive gasp brought only lukewarm water flooding into its lungs, and as its windpipe and ankle burned with pain, its moldavite gemstone grew around it, soothing it into blissful sleep.

exit