DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games OAHE: Once upon an All Hallows Eve OAHE: Darker and Deeper

The two cats in their various guises made their way up hill. The trail was likely a game trail given its uneven terrain, but easy for two cats to follow.

As they moved along Dizzy started to smell something. It reminded her of the burden she lost, something decaying. Shadow hadn't noticed the off scent as of yet.

They had not yet come in sight of the hole in the ground that the spirit had spotted, but the hillside was becoming steeper. Cool air flowed down hill and around them.

Dizzy

"Pssst"

She whispers to get Shadow's attention.

"I can smell something. Rotten. Decay. Death."

She has trouble describing it but it is not smell she welcomes.

"Careful now."

Shadow

The umbral feline scented the air.

"Which direction?"

Dizzy is pretty sure it flows with the cold air down hill towards them. Whether or not it comes from the blackness remains to be seen.

Dizzy

"Up the hill. I will try to guide you."

They move together now, Dizzy keeping pace with Shadow and using her nose as their guide. She really would prefer to be curled up on the bed at home but she also know how important this is and is determined to see it through. And she is in her element.

Shadow

Being reduced to following directions would make the fur bristle of any cat, but right now that was of lesser importance to seeing this through and protecting the Burdens. Still, at this point it would not take much for Shadow's anxiety over his Burden back at the hospital to boil over once more.

Soon Shadow could make out the faint hint of decay as well. As they neared the opening in to the earth, they could smell wet ground as well.

The smell was definitely coming from the opening. Above the hole which was burden sized, was a bit of wood with some of their squiggles on it, in read and yellow. In addition there were two metal bars that ran of into the hole about two stretched out cats apart. The hole had a cover, but it broken open, as if by great force. Near by are pieces of rock, as if it had fallen into it, though the cats might think that unlikely as it is sheltered from such a possibility by being sunken into the mountainside.

The darkness is impenetrable some ways in, even their wonderful cat eyes needed some light to see.

Shadow

Being a Shaper had its advantages. Given that he was currently a shadow, he entered the darkness to which he was presently kin.

[OOC So what might provide light? Would preternatural awareness help?]

[OOC: Sure that would help. Seeing invisible things is definitely helpful. Though it will still be more challenging than it could be. Fair enough?]

Dizzy

She doesn't like the lack of light, not used to being at a disadvantage. But she has other senses at her disposal and decides she must make use of them instead. She has no way of making light and cannot let Shadow go in there alone. She follows him in.

The pair of cats in their different forms make their way into the entrance. Stealthy foot falls allow them to hear everything going on around them. There is an odd sound of air moving, it goes in and out of the opening, like the mountain is breathing.

Two dozen steps in they find a dark hole in the ground, where the mountain tunnel has given way. Only the floor is missing and it is little more than a single leap across. But no burden could pass this way unaided.

Dizzy

Using her heightened senses she tries to determine which is the right way to go, over the hole.. or down it. If she has room she will edge forward and peer down it.

It is not a challenge for the two cats, as they can walk on either side of the hole, there is just enough of an edge. Dizzy guesses that the threat lies deeper down.

The passage does indeed continue downward becoming so dark it is beyond black. Yet both of the cats has their own talents for navigating such a hindrance.

Eventually they come to a place where they can make out light coming from up head. It doesn't not look like light that is generated by burden devices, nor by flame. It is brighter, yet more indistinct than either of those sources. They creep up to a corner where the light is brighter. They can hear movement around the corner as well. Something large being dragged as near as they can guess.

Shadow

Sticking close to the corner, Shadow tried to look around it, at one with the ambient darkness.

Dizzy

She too peers around the corner, keeping lower than Shadow so as not to get in the way. Although she is invisible, she still uses the cover because there are some things that can 'see' invisible. She also tries to be silent. Not being discovered right now would be a good thing.

The light comes from a chamber that is as big as a burden's small house. In the chamber are several lights floating in the air. They are scintillating in a rainbow of colors like a soap bubble caught in the sun. Yet they also were giving off light and that is what the cats could see immediately.

The chamber is down a long earthen tunnel. Much of it is not clear from their vantage point, but they can hear something else, something odd, like a large creature breathing.

Dizzy

Much as she is scared, she is bolstered by remembering her mother.

"Trust in your gifts Bright Eyes."

The last piece of advice her mother had given her on the morning she was given to Miss Amy. With those words in her head, she nudges the two dimensional Shadow forward and moves towards the lit area.

Shadow

The contact almost sent him hissing and hackled, but the need for silence and the likelihood that the invisible cat was trying to give a message without words kept him still and quiet. He flowed around the corner, heading through the darkness with intent to be unseen, approaching what lay ahead.

The two cats crept forward towards the odd rainbow hued lights. They smelled something new, it was a burnt kind of a smell, though not exactly that either. They had smelled that kind of a smell near the old fire spirit in the town.

The chamber was much larger than it seemed from farther away. It was almost perfectly spherical, though obviously only half showing. The walls were all smooth like they had been melted. There were dozens upon dozens of the bubbles all trapped with lines of colored light going to a central location in the chamber. Though they couldn't see what was in that spot from where they were currently located. They would have to enter the chamber and climb a bit. So far they haven't see anything moving other than the bubbles themselves.

Shadow

There was little else to do but to keep going, trusting to the darkness.

Dizzy

She too continues to move forward. What alternative has she? At least her burden is safe back near the car.. she hopes. And this is for him and all the burdens!

As they got closer, they were almost at the opening of the chamber, and they could see what was in the center. It was a large spirit. The spirit was tethered to all the little bubbles by the lines of force. It looked unhappy though it was mostly humanoid, it held a cat's head instead of a burden's.

Sitting in front of the spirit licking his claws was Sable the second from their little town. At Sable's paws was the body of a boy burden. The little burden was clearly dead.

Shadow

Well, that was a relief. If Jezzabella didn't make it, this meant, once Sable had been brought to account for the absolute monstrosities he was committing here, that the path to power would be clear. Even if she did, he would be well placed to follow her.

First, naturally, they had to deal with Sable. Sacrificing a sapient being to fuel magic was almost as bad as letting a Burden find out what the felines could do, and that was implied by the dead Burden if it had been awake at the time. Unfortunately, maiming or killing a member of their parliament was also unforgivable, except in self defence. They had to let Sable make the first aggressive move...

He continued advancing on the terrible scene, hunched over even in the darkness, pace by shadowy pace.

Dizzy

She took in the odd sight of the spirit linked to all the bubbles, wondering whether they should attack it or the bubbles. Then her gaze lights on Sable. Traitor! She cannot believe that the cat is part of this! Unthinkable. Her hackles rise and she creeps forward in hunting mode.