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Post by Felypsa on Oct 20, 2006 20:21:28 GMT -6
The spirits were somewhat shocked the minute they saw blood. They paused, staring at the bright crimson fluid, which was so vivid in the world of colorlessness. It had been perhaps eons since they had last seen the blood, the sign of life. One spirit approached a spot on the Land where drops of Shrideth’s blood had landed. It bent down over it, then touched it with a translucent paw. There was a hissing sound, and the ghost watched, amazed, as just a little color was returned to his countenance. No longer pale and grey, his eyes cleared and became a more distinct yellow color. He stood a little straighter, and appeared a little more solid. He looked at Shrideth and Age, suddenly aware that they were the source of his sudden strength. Inspired, he began to charge towards them, wanting their life.
The hoards of spirits, with nothing better to do, followed him. A few phantoms brushed the blood, and underwent the same subtle transformation as the yellow-eyed ghost. Invigorated, these menacing spirits headed for the living beings, intent on drawing strength from them.
If Shrideth and Age were to look more closely, they might see a hole, just like the one that took Stone, in the ground a little ahead of them. It was small and perhaps unnoticeable. Only a sharp eye would catch it. And even then, it was so insignificant-looking—why should it matter, this one tiny feature in an otherwise featureless landscape?
Those spirits that had touched the blood now wanted more. They wanted the brightness now. The dead wanted life.
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Post by Wyndbain on Oct 20, 2006 21:29:34 GMT -6
Damnit... Her mind worked, trying to find a way out of this situation. From Age's provocations, it was obvious to her that fighting these things head on was a bad idea, and for her direct battle was the only way to engage anything.
While Shrideth ran on, keeping the two living beings ahead of those of this underworld, Age was glaring behind them, keeping an eye on the army of dead. Their reaction to Shrideth's blood only made his feathers stiff, for something that was dead with new living essence was only going to be more trouble than before. Keeping his talons firmly caught on Shrideth's fur, though stepping gingerly over the wound he had opened, Age turned his gaze ahead, calculating their options as Shrideth began concentrating solely on running. As Age litterally was the brains of the two.
He could see nothing of importance, nothing that gave off a hint of being useful in their escape, just an endless terrain of... There was something. His far-seeing eyes zoomed in like binoculars. The small hole reminded him of the moment Stone had disappeared. It was so insignifigant...it had to be important. It was a good thing that Shrideth was already running in that direction, not because she had seen it herself, but just mainly due to her dumb luck.
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Post by Felypsa on Oct 21, 2006 15:19:40 GMT -6
The mob of ghosts were gaining, their eyes seeking the brightness, wanting it, needing it. The yellow-eyed wolf-spirit reached out to try to bite Shrideth’s tail, he was so close. A few moments later, and they’d take the lives for themselves. It was almost over…
If Shrideth and Age did in fact reach the hole in time, the instant Shrideth would put her paw in the hole, the same phenomenon that happened to Stone would happen to them. A massive whirlwind would appear, taking them both into the tiny hole, which would then close up and affect the surface.
Things might be disorienting for a while as the whirlwind completed its course underground. Eventually, it would leave them alone, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. The world they would now find themselves in was drastically different from the surface they had just left. There were plains of blue-green grass as far as the eye could see; trees of every shape, size, and color, bearing fruit of every shape, size, and color; rivers so full of fish that one could see them bursting through the surface of the water and diving back in.
It was clearly a paradise of some sort. The sky was an interesting color; it was orange-yellow-white-blue, the color of first dawn. It turned out that the sky was perpetually this color, forever a rising dawn, never high noon or midnight. It seemed impossible that this place was “underground.”
The place was also teeming with life—or, since this was the world of the dead, perhaps it was some kind of pseudo-life. Animals of all varieties (except humans, it seemed) roamed the flawless countryside. Wolves, squirrels, oddly-shaped creatures—every species ranging from very familiar to completely unfamiliar. There was, however, no sign of Stone or Amata.
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Post by Wyndbain on Oct 21, 2006 15:35:50 GMT -6
"Keep heading this way..." Age said, remaining oddly perched on Shrideth's shoulders, for with her running it was difficult to remain stable without gutting her again. "There's a hole up ahead that's similar to the one Stone disappeared through."
Age noticed Shrideth's speed increase only slightly, but enough to keep them ahead of the group of ghouls behind them. "The same thing may happen as before." Shrideth briefly nodded, not slowing her pace as she didn't have to ask what he meant; she knew.
Shrideth didn't bother stopping, instead, she raced on towards the hole and changed her footing a little as she ran. Her paws hit the dirt in a different pattern, before one had shoved itself into the hole the moment she had reached it.
Age saw the wind, felt the sensation of being pulled somewhere and suddenly didn't know where he was. Moments of confusion passed before he realised he was standing on firm ground covered in soft grass. Hadn't they just been in the realm of spirits? He looked to his left to see Shrideth liying on the grass, her sides constantly going up and down at a quick pace to take in some badly needed air. She lifted her head a fraction to look at him, tongue lolling from her open mouth, "Are we safe?"
Age ruffled his feathers, made a quick scope of the area and turned back to his companion, "For the moment." At this, Shrideth's lips turned up in a grin, "That was great!!"
Age fluffed his chest and turned away from her, muttering, "Glad you're feeling better."
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Post by Felypsa on Oct 22, 2006 12:55:47 GMT -6
While Shrideth and Age were talking, a small group of creatures had gathered around them. But this was a curious crowd, not a hostile one like the spirits from above. A chipmunk, its head tilted sideways in some confusion, remarked, “Why, these are mortals. What are they doing here?”
A moose flared its nostrils before saying, “I haven’t seen mortals here in eons. Just a few dead spirits with a bit of life in ’em. But no living things like these. They certainly aren’t immortals, neither.”
A mosquito flew down to bite Shrideth. If she were successful, the tiny bug would fly over to perch on one of the moose’s antlers. “Real blood!” she said wonderingly. “What a marvelous taste! No offense, Antlers, but your blood is dull and tasteless.”
“None taken,” the moose replied dryly.
The chipmunk skittered up to Age, completely unafraid. In the natural world, perhaps chipmunks would be prey to wolves and falcons, but this particular chipmunk did not seem to notice. “You all just dropped from the dead spirit world,” he informed them. “But we haven’t seen anyone do that in a million lifetimes. You’re both mortal, too. What’s your story?”
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Post by Wyndbain on Oct 23, 2006 20:41:25 GMT -6
"Um..." Age gave Shrideth a look, the wolfess glaring at the spot where the mosquito had bit her so she could swat the bugger had it still been there. Realising it had left, she proceeded to turn around and yell at it for doing something like that. However, Age's voice spoke up before she could start on a rampage of words. "Shrideth, and I are looking for a friend." He said her name a tad bit louder in order to interupt the onslaught of words about to spill from her mouth.
"Apparently he's here..." Age blinked, really looking around at their surroundings as he had only briefly scanned them previously. "Where...ever here is."
"If I may ask, where are we?" Age questioned the chipmonk, thinking it only a bit odd that he was chatting with something that normally would have been a pretty decent meal...if he had been hungry; though he would rather stay away from prey that had the possibility of conversing with him.
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Post by Felypsa on Oct 24, 2006 17:14:32 GMT -6
“Lookin’ for a friend,” the chipmunk repeated, nodding. Indeed, that somehow made sense to everyone else gathered around, for they nodded to. Except for the mosquito, who couldn’t really nod. “You must all be pretty strong for makin’ it this far. Most of the time, those awful ghosty-things up top steal the lives of any living being that shows up. Well, good luck findin’ your friend.” The chipmunk, though friendly, seemed to lose interest in the conversation, and turned away.
“Hold it,” said a brown-and-green snake. “You didn’t ansswer their quesstion.” He turned to the falcon and the one called Shrideth himself. “You’ve reached the land of the immortalss,” he said proudly. “We all live in harmony here; there is no fear in this land.”
“Lighten up,” said the mosquito to Shrideth. “Even if you’re mortal, it won’t hurt.” She spoke in a high whiny kind of voice.
“Oh,” exclaimed a doe, her wide brown eyes seeming to get wider. “Can not some of us help them on their quest? They are so strong and so brave for overcoming those dreary phantoms above. Surely they deserve their friend. Who and what is your friend?” she asked, addressing Age.
The chipmunk snorted—somehow. “They don’t need help; they won’t have any trouble here. Harmony and fearlessness…” He ran around the moose’s hooves. “Watch it,” rumbled the moose. “You are inviting me to step on you.”
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Post by Wyndbain on Oct 28, 2006 19:37:00 GMT -6
"Our friend is named Stone. And he is a wolf, like my companion, Shrideth." The longest of his wing feathers acted as a pointer while he flared the one wing. Shrideth had lay her head down in an aggitated silence, allowing Age to talk to these creatures while she milled about her own thoughts.
"And I am called Age." He added simply for common curtesy. Shrideth gave an insignifigant snort which he ignored. Age gave a bow, lowering his top with wings folded slightly, to the doe. "We-" Shrideth scoffed "-appreciate your willingness to aid us in finding our friend."
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Post by Felypsa on Oct 29, 2006 12:03:45 GMT -6
“My pleasure,” the doe said happily. “Oh, I do love quests. They are so exciting. And how wonderful it will be to see the reunion between friends!” She turned to the other immortal forest creatures. “Will not the rest of you come?”
Most of them shook their heads and offered disinterest or a “waste of time” as an excuse and then wandered away. The moose and the snake both expressed sincere hope that their quest would be successful, but did not offer to join them. The mosquito merely said that she did not want to travel with an ill-tempered mortal, no matter how good her blood tasted, then flew away.
“Oh, fine,” said the chipmunk, who was the last to speak. “I suppose this will be interesting. This doesn’t happen every century.” He clambered up on the doe’s back.
“How delightful!” said the doe, whose spirits seemed to be eternally high. “Let’s go, then. Which pack does your friend Stone belong to?” she asked Age.
“Or is he a loner?” the chipmunk asked, more quietly.
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Post by Wyndbain on Oct 29, 2006 19:19:08 GMT -6
Age would have smiled, if he could, yet his amusement showed anyway by view of his eyes. "Thank you, both." Shrideth stood up and stared at the two creatures that were going to help them before turning her gaze away completely. She found it wierd to converse with animals that she had always thought of as food and so she remained silent.
Age gave a look to Shrideth before turning back to the deer and chipmunk. "Ah...he's definitely not a loner, for we were earlier searching for his pack...but..." Age searched his memory, trying to think if Stone had mentioned them by name. If he had, then Age had sadly forgotten over their journey. "...I cannot recall the name of his pack if such was said."
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Post by Felypsa on Nov 3, 2006 17:39:31 GMT -6
“Aha! A challenge!” the doe said eagerly. “Well, hopefully you will be able to jog your memory in the near future, but in the meantime…”
“In the meantime, where shall we start?” the chipmunk cut in. “Wolves are all over the place. They like to think they’re the most superior of species, and so many of them travel around and assert their authority.” He snorted. “They even eat us sometimes! And no one is hungry or needs to eat here. They just do it because they can’t let go of the fact that everyone and everything here is completely equal.” He broke off, seeming embarrassed. “Forgive me. All immortal wolves I have met I am not fond of. And I do hate being eaten…” He shuddered.
“Don’t think of such ill times,” the doe said sympathetically. “I still eat leaves just to see how they taste…they usually don’t taste at all, though. In any case, we know this Stone is a packwolf, which will make things a little easier. What kind of terrain is he used to?” she asked Age.
“As in, did he live in the desert, the mountains, on an island, etcetera,” the chipmunk supplied. “It’ll help narrow the area down a bit.”
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Post by Wyndbain on Nov 9, 2006 13:05:02 GMT -6
(If Stone's told them anything of this stuff, I can't remember a darn thing of it. XD So in turn, Age and Shrideth are clueless as well. n.n)
"Ah..." Age's gaze turned to Shrideth, about to question her when he saw her give him a glare, along with an expression that bluntly stated, 'Don't ask me.'
Age closed his eyes in a polite smile, "This certainly will be a challenge."
"It's not an island..." Shrideth said softly, supplying a bit of a helpful hint to get them started.
Age nodded a bit enthusiastically, taking a moment to think before speaking, "I suppose forests or fields would be more appropriate. Maybe mountains as well, but Stone doesn't seem to be a wolf suited for desert terrain.
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Post by Felypsa on Nov 11, 2006 22:02:57 GMT -6
oOc| haha, he probably did, but it was like...three years ago real time, lol. I barely remember all the details myself.
The chipmunk rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. The doe, on the other hand, chirped, “Fabulous! We shall have quite an exciting trip. We shall explore many different terrains…I have not been to the mountains in millenia, shall we go, Mip?”
“The name,” corrected the chipmunk, “is Mipestopheles. I’d prefer you use the whole thing, but if you must shorten it, at least give me the dignity of ‘Mipesto.’”
“I like ‘Mip,’ myself,” said the doe, unruffled. “My full name is Arilanistas, but you don’t hear me forcing that on people. Arilan or Ari is fine with me. Lighten up, Mip.” Then she turned back to the two wolves, beaming. “Let’s go to the mountains for starters, unless there’s an objection?” Without waiting for one, however, she began to prance across the grasslands in some direction. There were no mountains to be seen, not even in the distance. How she knew that she was headed in the right direction was a mystery.
“Arilan the Airhead,” the self-dubbed Mipesto muttered. But in the next instant he, too, was running across the grasslands, somehow matching Ari’s pace, even though he was just a small chipmunk and she a full-grown deer. It was clear Shrideth and Age would have to be quick in order to keep up with them. |
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Post by Wyndbain on Nov 17, 2006 21:22:56 GMT -6
"This place is...strange..." Shrideth said softly, getting up and passing Age slowly as the bird made a quick hop onto her shoulders where he could easily ride without having to try and wait up for them while flying. Air travel normally was faster than moving by foot.
"Mip and Ari..." Age mused. Shrideth could have sworn the falcon was giving a big grin. Despite the serious situation that they were looking for Stone, the attitude of the two creatures had lifted his mood just a bit. Although one look down at his companion took him down a notch when she glared at him. He sighed and turned to look at the deer and chipmunk as they were catching up. Shrideth took everything for a competition and would thus refuse to 'loose' at such a simple task even of walking.
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Post by Felypsa on Nov 18, 2006 18:21:15 GMT -6
“Oh, jolly good!” said Ari when she looked back to see that Shrideth and Age were just about caught up with her and the chipmunk. “You are such a good runner, darling! It has been a while since I’d ever seen a mortal run so well!”
“It has been a while,” the tiny Mip pointed out, “since you have seen a mortal at all.” Though they were running at a fast pace, neither of them seemed out of breath in the slightest. Immortals.
“I suppose that’s true, too,” said the doe thoughtfully, and then she laughed. It was a cute little laugh, like tinkling bells.
“Oh, great,” said Mip dryly, looking behind him quickly. “There’s a bison stampede behind us.”
“Not again!” said Ari, not seeming too upset. “Are they heading in the same direction?”
“Of course. Don’t they always?”
“Well, we can’t get trampled,” the doe said matter-of-factly. “Who knows where we’d end up after we’re recreated!”
“Plus, mortals die permanently,” Mipesto pointed out.
“Oh, that’s right! How terrible for you!” Ari sympathized to Shrideth and Age. “Well, we’ll just run faster to the mountains. Hurry, those bison pick up speed as they go along!” Then, effortlessly, she ran faster. She was now speeding along, more quickly than any earthly deer could. And just as effortlessly, Mip ran alongside her. A chipmunk, running as fast as a cheetah! It was a ridiculous sight, but a sobering one. Shrideth and Age would be hard-pressed to match their speeds to avoid getting trampled by the upcoming bison behind them.
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