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The Mystery of Three Beheaded Gentlepersons; For Alix!
Topic Started: Aug 2 2015, 06:09 PM (250 Views)
CloakAndDagger
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It was a small squall. The battering wind was, in irony, itself broken to pieces as it wailed and bowed against the far off treeline somewhere east of here. The clouds too, even as they obscured the afternoon sun to a faded, tarnished globe, was obscured and confounded by the brilliant masses of emerald leaves that sheltered and shielded the forest floor. Only the rain, in gentle footsteps, walked down those great green leaves to break though. This was the second such storm in so many days, and the end result would be that much more of a humid walk onward, but, for now, the rainforest storm was a blessing of both need and beauty.

Van, bent legged and head back, gently messaged an old growth ache in their left knee as they enjoyed the sanctuary of a crowded overhang. The rain drizzled onward in a steady, meditative sound, but all around them, the jungle residents had their own noisy ways of enjoying the weather. In particular, there was a black bird with an enormous, vibrant beak that kept calling out into the foliage. It sounded like dry laughter, but the poor thing was probably just a horny guy looking to meet a new set of feathers. Van, not unwise to that particular need, curled a lopsided smile. It had probably been a dry spell for both of them.

The great, soothing, overwhelming wash of rain rolled on and the smells of the earth and jungle were raised up in it’s passing. Soil, decay, tree sap, fungus and the and unnamed, indescribable visage of an old world mingled as one magnificent flood that hung over the ground and the branches. No matter how much man or beast traveled in this domain, there would always be something untouched and primordial about it. This was a place that would die before it was ever tamed.

The rain began to fade slowly. The trinkets and trickles of water slipped down in finality and then, when the storm had finally passed, the sounds of the water faded into the chorus of the rest of the jungle again. Vanguard pushed themselves up with a hand and, knocking the loose vegetation away from their worn clothes, stepped over to lift up the downturned shield that had doubled as a water catcher. After flicking a few insects out of the puddle, they quenched their thirst with a quaff and attempted to slide the rest of the clean water into a skin pouch. “Damn. Ha ha…” The liquid sloshed from the inside of the concave metal and threw a tide to wet unprotected pants. It was mostly unsuccessful, but, after patiently working with the two ill-fitting tools, enough was gathered to keep Van from drying out too terribly.

With the respite over, Vanguard rolled the dripping shield over their back and clipped it solidly in place askew on their right shoulder. The off-center weight was enough to give balance to their unbalanced form. Van’s left hand, their only hand, positioned the rest of their minimal packs and, with a foot forward into the softened ground, the wanderer wandered forward again. As they went, their fingers reached out to gently trace the lines of bark and branch in passing.

Some ways ahead, a small clearing opened like a fairy circle, a tease of dampened sunlight in the brown and emerald city. The temptation was too much to pass by and, probably against better judgement, Van stepped out of the trees to take advantage of the open air. They breathed deeply and the remnants of the rain came back to them in the smell of wetlands. As Van stepped away, however, they noticed that the roots of neighboring plants wandered in toward the clearing, but thinned and grew sparse among the tufts of grass. It suddenly seemed awfully odd that there was such a demarcation between the different types of plants, but, the suspicious caution came much too late to be useful. Van’s foot, as it stepped toward the opposite edge of the light, sank down deeply into the soil. It was puzzling. Then, all of a sudden, it was much less puzzling.

The wanderer’s leg broke through the retaining root and their leg sank into the contorting level of upper ground. The grassy area broke. It fell downward and the light began to fade as the edges of the hole fell upward. Brown, muddy walls rose like an engulfing fortress, an unwelcoming maw and the world turned backwards. No large rooted plants could take home here, for their legs could only go so far, so they had paced at the borders instead. Vanguard’s yelling body was swallowed in a tide of rock and rubble into the deep, dark, wrenching pit below.

Something far into the darkness splashed.

Vanguard choked and gasped awake. Vomiting a well of water from their lungs, the wanderer turned onto their back to rhasp quickening breaths of life back into their body. A quick, groping search on either side of them found most of their loosened travelwear. Most importantly, their shield was not only near, but within a relieving reach. Van’s hand rolled over the beautifully wrought metalwork and pulled it up from the rocky bank with a strong and gentle grace. The strangely light, though enormous towershield clipped back to a rest on Van’s back.

After finally re-gathering their wits, the unlucky traveler looked over to the underground reservoir. A lonely beam of light gathered upon its limpid surface. That light struck out from a person-sized hole some thirty feet above. Van had stepped down on probably the only rain-weakened part of the entire clearing.

They ran a hand through their still damp hair and attempted to rework it into a useful ponytail. “Alright…” Shakily, they came to their unsteady feet and took steps to assess the situation. “It would be much easier if I could see in the dark here.” Steel grey eyes peered into the relentless darkness unperturbed by the invasive light.

“Hello? Is anybody out there?” Van called out. Though, there was a hope that an answer came from above and not below. Who knew what sort of things ran around down in the shadows here.

Vanguard shouted, but advanced slowly to what looked like a passageway from the subterranean pond. “Hello? If no one comes soon, I may have to start singing to keep myself company. And no one wants that, I’m sure. I have a terrible case of ‘OhGodMyEars’.”
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Alix
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The gentle pitter patter of rain surrounded man and dragon on all sides as they took shelter underneath the thick canopy. Ayurnamat had lifted a wing to shield his rider, propping the delicate fingers up against the nearest tree trunk. As picturesque as the scene might have looked it was no excuse for the slight rider to catch a cold. Though inwardly the Crystal wondered if that would perhaps be a good thing, considering Masaro's tendency to run himself into the ground with work. The former actor was constantly busy trying to tend to their patients, and learning the skills they would need to become healers in their own right. Perhaps a few days bed rest would convince the man that sometimes he needed to slow down. Rumbling softly, the sun-hued male turned his violet gaze to the gray clouds above.

Leaning on the dragon's shoulder, Masaro lounged peacefully next to his lifemate. Fine-boned and strong, the Crystal had come a long way from his lankiness as a hatchling. The young man had taken to marveling over his dragon, and every time he visited his family in Lihn they fawned over him, showering the male in praise of how strong he'd grown. After that Masaro had noticed several glances of envy from his elder brothers. Feeling the dragon shift next to him, the former actor followed his gaze upward towards the sky. “I think the rain's letting up Ayu, you can head out now, I'll be fine.” Masaro proposed easily. Pursing his lips, the former actor took a long drag from his pipe, the dragon's maw at the end trailing smoke in the humid air.

“Are you sure?” Came the Crytal's reply. “We can go back if you like, I can eat later.” Webbed sails twitched, sensing a shift in the air as a stray breeze blew past. It brought the thick, sweet scent of petrichor to the Crystal's nose, and in response he stretched out his forepaws like a cat, his silvered claws kneading the ground.

Smiling softly, Masaro shook his head as he reached for his impressive braid, the fingers of his left hand instinctively twirling the end over his knuckles. “No, no I'm positive. You go and eat. It's good for you to hunt wild game every now and again.” Masaro reassured. Having already made up his mind, he moved to stand to further emphasize the point. He liked taking Aurnamat out to hunt, especially in the jungle. Dragon predation not only kept the wild herds of animals in check, but it also lessened the dependence on the Academy's personal stock. And besides, the jungle itself was beautiful this time of year, if a bit temperamental in the weather department.

“Ok, if you say so.” The Crystal relented, pushing his nose up against his rider in a gesture of affection. Ayurnamat shook himself like a puppy as he rose to his full height, his half mane and other bits of fur flowing easily with the motion. He slowly stepped out from under the canopy, making sure to give himself enough room to spread his wings. He gave Masaro one last look over his shoulder before throwing himself into the sky, a single cyan paw waving goodbye as he moved to glide out over the extending valley.

Shielding his face from the dust that was kicked up, the rider stayed and watched his brightly hued companion until he was nothing more than an orange dot in the sky. Once Ayurnamat was out of view the former actor decide to venture forward, curious as to what lay ahead of his position. Despite the relative humidity, the jungle was a stunning vision of mother nature's abilities. Beautiful flowers blossomed along the trees and hanging vines, and several birds nearly as colorful as Ayu easily caught the young man's eye. Moments later Masaro plucked the brass pipe from his mouth, breathing the last bit of smoke from his lungs. Tapping the bowl against the bottom of his boot, he made sure to stamp out the ashes before replacing the instrument and stuffing a hand in his jacket pocket. As usual, he never ventured anywhere without his pipe and a box of high quality tobacco.

As the rider continued to fumble for the elusive package he neglected to keep track of his surroundings. Turning his gaze away for a few seconds resulted in him missing a dip in the ground that told of the hole that had opened there. A keen kinesthetic sense detected that something was amiss, but in the process of trying to correct his motion Masaro ended up slipping on the wet undergrowth. He tumbled forward, a surprised shout sounding from his lips as he felt open air beneath him. The bottom of the pit soon came to meet the young man, and he winced painfully as the air was forced from his lungs on impact. He lay there for a few moments, stunned by the fall. As Masaro's breath returned in sputtering coughs he was vaguely aware of a voice farther ahead of him. He caught the last edges of the person's speech, and found himself smiling despite the circumstances. “No need to worry about that. Looks like I'll be keeping you company for a bit.” He groaned.
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CloakAndDagger
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Despite the strong possibilities of tone deaf singing, the darkness ahead seemed very welcoming of strange voices. As the reverberations brushed into the tunnel ahead, the shadows lapped and licked until naught but a whisper was left behind. To this, Van pulled their mouth into a long line and hummed, as if to say ‘Well, that wasn’t creepy at all.’ Was there something down there? This was a place so untouched by human hand, Van would not have been surprised at all if something bound out of the darkness of the tunnel to gobble them up without a second thought to danger, but perhaps they should have been looking behind instead of ahead.

As the shield bearing traveler bent to peer mightily into the musty gloom, a muffled noise stepped overhead. And then a wet sliding. And then what sounded like a surprised yell of a quickly approaching object.

And then a painfully forceful landing.

Van turned sharply, as if bitten right in the ass, but a split second of recalling a similar predicament translated the noises not as a hungry basilisk scraping knife and fork together, but of a very unlucky traveler. The slide of their heel against the hard, wet rock turned into a thudding of feet as Van braked around the side of the pool. They had been lucky enough to land in water, but it sounded like this other wanderer had not. With any luck, however, the initial binding of roots that had played tricks on both of them had also slowed this other person’s fall. Otherwise, circumstances had the potential of being dire. Van did not envy falling such a height onto hard rock. They did, however, get a little taste of it as their boots went right out from under them. Wet soles on water polished rock had a tendency to pull the rug right out from under you.

A well placed arm had the good fortune of controlling the descent, but Van slid like a fish shot from a cannon and nearly face planted right into their guest. With a groan and a spill of damp champagne hair flopped over their face, Van attempted a second recovery in just so many minutes. “Be careful, this ground is… rather slippery,” they joked lightly and pushed up. Their feet finally found good traction against the cavern floor. “That last step is always a long one. Are you alright? Anything feel broken?”

Finally pushing their hair back into containment, Van offered a strong hand. It was a selfish thought, but they were more than glad for the company. Hopefully it meant a better chance to evade being dinner.

They smiled acknowledging. “You are very prompt in your rescue.”

That being joked, though, Van paused to wonder. This jungle didn’t seem particularly densely inhabited and this person didn’t seem particularly jungle-bound in attire. Had they come from somewhere else?

Light continued to stream downward as the sun broke fully through the storm’s aftermath. The pool beyond them glistened with beguiling laughter, but beyond that, the dark tunnel on the far side began to open to the light where a subtle shape seemed to unearth itself against the shadow.
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