When it gets so close, his thin black legs dance him backwards a single step. Yes, it sounds mostly like a fawn. And now that it is so close, its shape is very similar. He drops a raised forehoof into the ground-fluff and the little red dot on his tail flutters wildly before he cleanly leaps over the little cloud-fawn in a single fluid motion, turning his head to watch its reaction.
—
I don't strive to be the best, but instead I strive to do my best, and always give it my all every time.
-faunet
"Uh...all right," the girl mumbles, lifting a brow in suspicion yet also smiling nervously. "Fun? I hope so!" She needs some fun for once....
She tilts her head, putting her other hand on the mirror, lifting the first for only a second just to see if there is a print or a dent where she had put it.
@Kaoori: The stag smiled widely.
"Much obliged, missus~" He said, stepping next to her, his long, thin, spider-like legs raising him way above her subtle frame.
"I'll get you out of this place..." He purred, beginning a walk that seemed like slow-motion due to his long, slow strides.
@faunet: Derick smiled back, the crowd going restless. Grabbing two torches, one for her and one for himself he gave a high-pitched whistle.
"The time has come! It's time to burn that witch!" And off they were with a roar, moving into the dark forest Tazanna had just emerged from, flames illuminating the deep, engulfing darkness among the trees.
@bluejay17: Not at all, step right ahead! >w< I enjoy doing these, after all ^w^
@Quad: A deep rumble came from the hollow skull, shaking the house with it, light flickering and tiny fires burning in its deep, dark pits of eye sockets.
"...Find her!..." It shrieked simply, a deep, dark, raw voice full of resent and hate, even desperation.
As it quieted, the house was silent yet again.
A tiny part of the wall seemed strange dust-less, as if some unseen draft was blowing through it...
@Bayleen: She walked for minutes, maybe even hours, it was difficult to tell in the dark of the night. But as the moon reached its very peak, crescent and glowing on the velvet background of the pitch-black sky, there... Right behind those trees, there was a tiny light...
Had those trees been there just before?...
@eyestrain: The fawn flinches, nearly falls over as it presses itself against the ground, eyes following the intruding stag carefully, a tiny gasp caught in its throat. It turns a frightened and curious gaze at him, now standing behind it.
It trembles softly, but stays perfectly still.
@010: No mark is left as she removes her hand, but the mirror's surface sways softly, like a silk curtain in a warm summer-breeze.
There is a crack straight down the middle and behind it, the sound of a tiny creek echoes between trees and rocks.
The smell of a warm summer-evening...
And the giggle from before.
The samurai notices the strange dustless area of the wall. He puts his hand on the wall, yet it is solid. He does, however, feel a strange breeze blowing gently past his hand.
Taking the camera, he looks through the viewfinder again, expecting only to see the wall that his eyes see...
Waiting for the large stag to take a few steps, Kaoori followed him, slowly at first, but then attempting to match his stride. He was much larger than she, so she'd have to walk faster to keep up with him. "Tell me the truth, sir. Will I make it out of here?"
@Matthieu: Oh, you sneaky thing~
@Quad: And for once, the camera does not disappoint. Just a plain, old wall. But what he DOES see through the enhanced shadows of the old camera, is the faint outline of something round just below the wallpaper...
Something that looks almost like... a doorknob?...
@Kaoori: The tall stag gave a deep, booming chuckle.
"Don't worry, little lady, you'll definitely find your way out. But she's gonna try and prevent it..." He said melodiously, slowing down slightly so the petite doe could keep up.
A tiny light flickered just at the edge of Kaoori's view and for a second the wind through the leaves sounded like a quiet gasp...
He notes the doorknob, and looking with his own eyes, it seems to be just a solid wall. He puts his hand where the doorknob would be, but doesn't feel anything. He doesn't find anything to grasp there.
Then he gets smart. He puts the camera back up to his eyes, and looking through, he sees the knob again. Reaching out, he doesn't seem to feel it, his hand even passes through, but when he tries to 'grip' the invisible knob, it reacts accordingly. The wall moves and reveals a secret passage.
She stayed light on her feet as she ran beside derick while enfusing some of her magic in the weapon.
She leaped over the bush so know she was fully in the forest
@Quad: A cold, dead wind blows up in the samurai's face as he opens the door. the passage goes downwards into a pit of jet-black darkness, so dark it seems as if any light brought into it would be consumed and eaten up by this deep, ominous darkness.
On the floor the skull glows faintly, silent yet again, simply laying there like a cruel imitation of a child's fluorescent toy.
There is a faint whimpering at the end of the stairs...
@faunet: The group ran and rushed, banging pans and pitchforks, enraged voices stirring the deep silence and darkness in the forest, making several eerie shadows flee from the humans as they travelled deep into the woods... When eventually, they came upon a huge, gaping grotto...
Derick steppe forward.
"This is it..."
@Kaoori: The stag furrowed his pitch-black brow.
"That was probably her... Don't be fooled little miss, she's gonna try and trick you away from me..." He said, glaring into the darkness protectively, standing above the tiny doe, his legs like trees.
The wind howled sadly and softly, and there was the sound of a quiet sob...
((I forgot he was carrying a lantern, haha! Oh well))
The man holds his pagoda lantern forward, trying to brighten the new way. Yet it remained dark...very oddly dark.
He takes a deep breath and then steps into the pathway. A few more steps in, his lantern snuffs out. He reaches for his striking stones to relight it, but they seem to be misplaced.
Frustrated, he throws the lantern behind him, a loud metallic *thud* sounds as it crashes to the ground. He wraps the cord of the camera to his belt, since he believes it will come in handy for later, and then continues on, one hand on his katana, ready to cut through anything that gets in his way. No longer was he afraid or worried. He was fueled by frustration and impatience now.
Kaoori suddenly felt like a frightened little fawn, and she cringed into the grass. The little shika was frightened and torn, she didn't know what to do. She wanted to believe the kind stag, but the child's cries were instinctively pulling her towards her. Her ears pinned to her little skull as she whispered, "I don't know what to do.."
Mariposa was weary by that time of night. The doe let out a big yawn and suddenly spotted the tiny light. Mariposa felt suddenly awake again. She quickly ran over to the mirror, eager to see her friend again.
Pressed flat against the ground, the little creature seems part of the landscape, a stone or tiny hill, the edge between it and the clouds hard to pick out.
brd turns and quietly approaches it, sniffing out of habit, though the lack of smell only reminds him of the alien quality of this world.
It trembles as he brings his face close and gently lips at its ears, though it takes him a moment to find them by touch.
—
I don't strive to be the best, but instead I strive to do my best, and always give it my all every time.
-faunet
@faunet: At her side, Derick looked determinedly ahead.
"Her den is a labyrinth of ways to get lost... It's best if we split up. I'll go with Tazanna. The rest of you, pair up in at least two. Now, let's go!" He said, stepping forward to quickly be engulfed by the darkness of the cave, his torch not even being able to penetrate the deep shadows fully.
@Quad: ((You and me both XD;;))
The way down was steep, dark and cold, the pitch blackness swallowing all light and even sounds, creeping into the man's ears, numbing his senses and leaving him blind and deaf.
But suddenly, there was a dull thud behind him...
And another!
The thuds continued, rapidly getting closer and closer until!...
The skull rolled down and hit the samurai's leg with a dull bump, glowing and chasing the darkness away around it.
Empty eyes stared menacingly at nothing.
A slight wind moaning through the pathway...
@Kaoori: Bending down, the stag nuzzled her softly, feeling cold and smooth to the touch like the mirror itself.
"Stay with me... She can't hurt you unless you're alone..." He said...
Yet the sobbing in the distance continued and only became more heart wrenching as it grew closer...
A tiny light flickered among the trees, moving...
Encircling the two...
@Bayleen: As she stepped through it, it was almost as if the glass quivered in anticipation. And once again, she was in the reflected world.
But the beach and its stop-motion waves had gone.
Instead, she was in a small thicket with some strange, abandoned contraptions overgrown with vines and other plants of the forest. An old, abandoned human playground...
And over by the swings was the fawn, lying in the grass by herself, apparently asleep.
@eyestrain: But as the gentle caress reaches the fawn, it gradually calms down. It sniffs back, slowly standing up, moving closer for a nuzzle, its body tiny and warm, star-eyes shining brilliantly in its small face.
It smiles, tail wagging slightly, movements hungry for affection.
It is alone up here.
Who knows how long it has been since it last had company...
@faunet: they walked in darkness and silence for a while, the one cave soon branching out into several, the tricky nature of the witch's den showing its true face.
At a crossroads, Derick stopped...
"...Left or right?..." His voice sounded strangely melancholic and toneless...
The whole thing made Tazanna's skin crawl with goosbumps.
When they came to a cross road she tried to feel the energy around her to lead them in the right direction."Right"she said feeling a pull in that direction
Mariposa was in awe of the new place she was in. Once she spotted the fawn, she was about to call out to it, but then stopped herself as she found it was sleeping. Mariposa silently walked past the moss-covered contraptions and lied down next to the fawn.
The fawn's warm face slides against his cheek eagerly and he can't help but nudge it softly back, moving to lip at the nape of its neck where its withers are downy and soft. Despite running his nose across it, inspecting it all over, he picks up no trace of even the slightest fawn smell. In whichever way he moves, it moves to continue their contact. He stands over the little creature and raises his head to listen carefully for any distant sound on the broad, flat horizon.
—
I don't strive to be the best, but instead I strive to do my best, and always give it my all every time.
-faunet
His mind is rattled, but he takes another calming breath. Picking up the skull, he holds it in his hands much like you would hold a ball, and he notes that it seems to radiate and glow, making the area a little more visible.
"I suppose we're carrying on then...", he speaks to the skull, not expecting an answer. He walks deeper in, unsure where he was being led, and keeping his mind focused on the task at hand - find the little girl.
[I will follow your advice, and not be a shy bunny. 8D]
Nayu surveilled anxiously the dimly lit area, tendrils of light swaying on the stone covered ground.
The pattern in his left eye started spinning at an impressive speed, and a low humming pulsated into his very core. Nayu’s already altered vision was becoming a blur of dancing shades.
" Be careful child" Yeulh whisper was like silk in his mind.
A shiver racked his frail limbs and he tried closing his eyes in hope to clear his sight a little.
" Gyah!"
A large mirror had appeared right in front of his face making him start and almost fall over.
Shaking his head hard, both to regain his bearings and in anger at his own tremulousness, he took a deep breath before yelling in a high pitched voice.
“ Bah! I’m not even scared!!”
Though his shacking body was betraying him.
Yeulh would have laughed if not a bit unnerved herself by the situation.
Nayu let out a small sigh forming a puff of white smoke before him and approached the mirror, alert.
" Eh? “ He tilted his head to the side, puzzled.
“There is no...reflection."
As if reacting to his words, the smooth surface rippled into small waves.
Suddenly, another version of himself, a gruesome sight of decaying flesh, red and black and blue, sparsely covered in fur, with empty sockets where his eyes should have been, was staring right back at him.
Yeulh growled in his head, a sound like breaking glass.
Before he knew it, Nayu's body stepped right through the wavering surface, now face to face with his rottening self.
@faunet: Derick gave a smile... It was almost unsettling with a dark glow behind it... But it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, making it look like a simple trick of the eyes.
"Alright..." He said, stepping out in that direction.
"This way, then..."
@Bayleen: The tiny thing shivered and rose its head, blinking invisible, black eyes and giving a huge yawn before turning its face to Mariposa. And then immediately smothering her with nuzzles, tail wagging happily.
@eyestrain: All the while the warm, little thing just smiles and showers the stag with affection, the tiny tail wagging now and again in little trembles as it rubs up against Brd's legs. While he was busy inspecting it, though, strange, tall shapes had risen out of the "ground", like trees and hills, a perfect if white and fluffy mimicry of the forest he had just come from.
The stars twinkle brilliantly over the cloudy canopy.
The fawn giggles.
@Quad: True to his expectations, the skull remains quiet as the winding staircase leads the two down, down and further down, into the darkness...
Soon, tiny, little sobs can be heard and with them blows a bitter, cold wind, almost unbearable.
@Nayu: [Good little bunny! : D Don't be a shy bunny, be a killer rabbit XD]
But as he stepped through the mirror, he was alone...
He was standing in the middle of a great bog covered in deep mist, twisted, moss-grown trees barely alive reaching for the sky above and the water below.
There was a foul smell in the stale air, something like a distant, rotting corpse, though not quite as gagging...
And there, just at the edge of Nayu's sight, a shambling, disfigured shape disappearing into the ominous fog, hoofsteps giving a wet, shloshing sound as the creature lifted and put down its legs.
@faunet: Derick gave a gloomy frown.
"Forever... I don't remember a single point in time in which she hasn't been controlling this place..." He gave a deep, raw sigh.
"She needs to be stopped..."
Mariposa laughed and nuzzled the gleeful fawn back. The doe stood up and then walked over to the abandoned playground. She examined the things with curiousity, for she knew not what they were for. But from looking at the contraptions, she could tell that it was probably something from a different world.
@Bayleen: All the while the fawn was skipping about happily from object to object, obviously exhilarated.
It went over to the seesaw and put a hoof on it, making it shift position briefly.
It giggled gleefully and want to the carousel, pushing at one of the iron bars to make the thing move a few inches.
Obviously, it knew what these things were...
Mariposa watched the fawn play with the odd things. She looked at the seesaw, but did nothing much with it. Then she went to the carousel and shakily stood upon it, the motion casuing it to turn and rotate. A wave of fear went over Mariposa as she kept turning and turning. Suddenly a burst of light flashed on her eyes, and her front legs collapsed to her knees as a pain began to course through her veins.
Mariposa was panting and grunting as she was trying to move, but the pain was paralyzing her. The carousel seemed to spin faster and faster, blurring her vision and all sense of where she was. Her black hair was sailing in the air with the speed of the rotation.
Mariposa watched a memory unfold before her. She was held by a large hand and abruptly thrown into the air, spinning and whirling with the wind pushing all around her. But she wasn't a deer, she was a human. Mariposa shook her head. "I refuse to remember!!!" she called out to nothingness, angrily.
The flashback stopped as Mariposa collapsed on her side, panting from the frustration and exhaustion. The carousel stopped spinning.
Nayu slipped on the tall vegetation and moss covered ground ,damp beneath his hooves, as he tried to follow the moving shape.
“ Wai-wait!”
He felt grateful to be standing on a small patch of solid ground. The water looking thick as oil, terribly dark. His mind flashed images of corpses and bones hidden within, and he had to close his eyes once again to suppress the thought.
Nayu noticed almost immediately the absence of wind or the sound of birds singing.
“ Where has he gone…?”
Silence.
Everything would have seemed frozen if not for the fog spiraling into strange patterns.
It moved with a life of its own, caressing trees and water without stirring it.
He frowned slightly at the smell lingering in the air.
“ Like flowers. Like death.”
“ What is this place?”
Yeulh cursed.
“ It seems familiar…somehow” She spoke.
Feeling a bone chilling sensation coursing through his spine, Nayu turned around sharpely, his ears pointed up as he heard movement once again.
“ There you are... I...I should be afraid…”
“ But I’m not.”
Taking a deep breath, he let his body sink into the water and struggled to follow after the creature.
@faunet: Derick smiled as the words left her lips, though his smile seemed strangely faint and far-off, as if it wasn't his at all but one he'd stolen from someone else.
"Indeed... One way or another, it ends tonight..." He said, deep, raspy voice back into those booming baritones as he led the way, fire flickering on his torch.
@Bayleen: And immediately the fawn was at her side, nudging her and making small, worried, keening noises, its tiny body warm against the trembling form of the other.
The world around them had changed. Some of the old contraptions had gone and the sky seemed somehow darker... A slight rain fell gently onto the moist ground.
The fawn nudged and keened.
Crawled close to her and put its head against her chest, looking up at her with what would have been big, wet eyes, had it had any.
@Nayu: But the creature didn't even stop to look at him. It only moved jerkingly on its way, the water soon reaching its chest, ears hanging as if they were nothing but trinkets, rotten leaves fastened to the shape's head.
Where-ever it went that putrid smell of rot went with it, leaving its bitter, rancid taste in the windless air.
The bog was deep and treacherous and old roots and round stones kept slowing Nayu down as he struggled to keep up with this stranger, who seemed to have no trouble getting through the rough terrain what so ever. But eventually, as they travelled deeper into the thick, grey fog, the ground became more steady, the trees taller and the fog dispersed ever so slightly to reveal their destination; An island of roots and stones, raised just enough over the water to not sink in. The trees here were all dead, but taller and much stronger none the less, speaking of some inner malice which kept them growing against all the odds.
The shambling shape in front of Nayu was slowly making its way to the middle... but now nothing slowed the mirror-visitor down.
@faunet: Eventually the road got more and more narrow, the rock-walls growing black and colder than ever. It was like moving through a sea of frozen tar and the torches didn't even provide light any more. The fire didn't warm them and the darkness seemed to swallow the illumination whole.
A cold wind blew from the bowels of the cave... and in it, a heavy breath...
Tazanna shivered slightly from the cold wind.She unconsciously moved closer to Derick seeking warmth,but it wasn't out of fear."I think were getting close"she whispered
@faunet: But Derick seemed oddly cold... Cold and smooth, like glass...
"Yeah..." He said deeply.
"We are..." And just then, a strong wind blew and they stepped into a gigantic, dark chamber with stalagmites and stalactites, water dripping off of them... and in the middle...
A small, pale light.
@Bayleen: The fawn looked back at her, worry in its dark face. "You passed out..." the words said, appearing, yet again, in front of the fawn's featureless face.
It whimpered and pressed itself up against her, shivering lightly.
It smelled scared and worried...
All for her.
"Oh," Mariposa choked. Mariposa pressed close to the fawn and took in a deep breath. "It's okay...It'll all be fine..."
Her voice was small, faint, and weak. She kept murmuring the words to the fawn, but also trying to calm herself. She was scared and knew not what to do or say. She hadn't had a flashback in months, or years. Was it good? Bad? Mariposa prayed that she wouldn't be going mental...
(I've been devising a plan that Mariposa will slip under a coma, soon...In the coma she'd be kind of discovering her memories that's she's been fighting off. Would it be possible if she was to enter/remain here?)
The samurai raises one hand over his eyes, shielding them from the strange wind that continues to blow. With the skull in his other hand, he struggles on, and at one point he calls out, "Little girl! Please do not cry! I am here for you!"
He has no idea whether his words would reach her or not, and he starts to feel as if he is blindly walking through the darkness, even with the dim light the skull produces. His fear starts to kick in, and he is terrified that he will walk into a trap or plunge into an unseen pit.
Still very frustrated, he unsheaths his katana and holds it before him, pointing into the darkness.
"Enough! ENOUGH!!", he cries out, and with one motion he slices through the darkness.
Tail raised in alarm, he tucks his head and focuses on his own skin and hair scent, moves his cheek along his own bony, jet-black legs. Real. Yes. He's real. The little fawn rubs against his lowered neck, warm and smooth. The red eyes of his mask stare at its beaming, marbled face. "Who?"
—
I don't strive to be the best, but instead I strive to do my best, and always give it my all every time.
-faunet
It was just there. Cold and smooth, yet somewhat... inviting.
Her black and purple pelt blended perfectly with the night colours. But, when she looked into the silvery surfaces it was the exact opposite, a yellow on white. She leaned towards it, expecting the surface to be hard and icy but instead her head went straight through.
She leapt back, ears flat, eyes scanning the area. What was going on?
Zera steeled her nerves and stepped through slowly, shivers running the length of her body as she emerged in a different world.
@Bayleen: Giving her a worried nudge, the fawn didn't seem convinced.
It gave a small, quiet whimper as it snuggled into her, its small, soft cheeks rubbing up against hers, a sigh in its throat.
It seemed so worried, so loving... Like a child would be towards its mother if she ever fell ill.
It gently nudged her cheek, snuggling into a warm and close deerhug, tiny heart beating powerfully in its thin chest.
(Oh, sure! >w< I think that sounds exciting! >w< Heh, and a funny twist in this fawns story~ You'll see why >w<)
@Quad: In the wake of his powerful slice, a brilliant light briefly shone, pale blue and enveloping his katana. It was almost as if he had sliced clean through the ominous wind, for just as the steel reached the top of its arch, the wind suddenly disappeared, leaving everything deadly silent... The skull provided little light now, as the stairs had suddenly ended and the samurai was now standing in a grand anti chamber.
The silence was thunderous.
It was almost like a living, breathing thing, a beast having been tamed by the samurai's blade and now lay dormant but ready to reawaken at any moment... It even had a light breath...
Wait, that wasn't the silence...
It was a much more tiny breath... And one coming from a small light starting to shine in the middle of the great, spherical room...
@faunet: The light flickered soundlessly in response, as if it had no voice at all.
Derick frowned deeply.
"Witch..." He growled at the light, stepping closer determinedly but slowly...
It was almost as if everything happened in slow-motion in this cave...
@eyestrain: The fawn stops, star-eyes staring at him in question.
It looks down, as if concentrating... Then sighs in frustration.
It does this several times, after the fourth time even becoming frustrated enough to spin around once, tiny hooves stomping the ground in annoyance.
It... Can't talk.
@bluejay17: And what she saw was a world completely in black and white. Tall, black trees on a background of snow, huge, soft snowflakes gently falling from the sky, which was grey with clouds. No moon was needed to provide light, the snow managed that perfectly well on its own.
Everything looked so silent, so natural, so serene... Yet something was off. The snow was cold, alright, but not as cold as real snow... Rather, it felt like...
Glass. The surface of a mirror. Cool and smooth.
@EVERYBODY: Sorry I'm taking such a while answering, it's a little hard for me to find the time to write these replies when I forget to chop them up into manageable bits XD;;
He laughs, nudges its chin with his cheek, and leaps away gracefully, effortless, high jumps that circle him around the fawn. He is silver and spots of red against the white and black world.
—
I don't strive to be the best, but instead I strive to do my best, and always give it my all every time.
-faunet
Kaoori took a deep breath, strenghthening herself. "Alright. I will follow you, and try to block out her cries. Just please.. take me home." She thought of her mate and children, and her family. She wondered if they knew she was missing.
((Hey let me know if you need to take a break on mine. I'm more than happy to since I'm going to try to spend less time on here in lieu of obligations and things I need to do irl.))
The samurai noted the strange, faint glow. He wondered if this had anything to do with the skull he was carrying. He approached the center of the room, cautious as always, making sure every step was solid and listening for any signs of decay or weakness in the ground underfoot. His steps seemed to echo oddly in the strange silence.
Now standing before the odd glowing place, he took the skull and placed it there, where it seemed to be enveloped by the glowing.
Taking a step back, he untied the camera attached to his belt and looked through it, curious if he would see anything strange as he had before. He did speak to the skull while doing this, "My friend, if this is where you are to belong, please tell me. I need to know what to do next."
(Haha yay! Alrighty then XD /is curious) Mariposa held the fawn tighter and gave it a kiss on the cheek. Mariposa has always loved this little fawn oh-so much. She was the child that she never had.
@eyestrain: The fawn sighs and pouts, only to stare in amazement at the graceful leap, soon giggling and following the stag, tail wagging and gait bounding and light. It brushes up against him, only to jump a step backward giddily, giggling with a playful shine in its star-eyes.
Its body is tense, ready to jump and play at any moment, waiting for Brd to make a move.
@Kaoori: The stag nodded. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you get home..." He said with a smile, leading the tiny doe deeper into the forest... Yet the cries of the child continued, the tiny light following them as they went...
They drew closer... the sobs and the crying only growing more heart rendering... It was like hearing a fawn calling for the mother it never had...
@Quad: (No, it's okay, it'll be nearing its end soon anyway... At least according to my plan XD;)
And what he saw through the camera was both shocking, unsettling and deeply melancholic...
The little girl, now sitting with the skull in her lap, still as the grave, chained up between two large, faintly glowing mirrors. She looked just like she had as he saw her in the hallway, the many arms and hands sprouting from her back as well as the tiny wing. It looked as if it had been plucked, as its feathers, white and faintly glowing, lay spread out at her knees.
She didn't move a single muscle. She just sat there, her feathers faintly glowing between the two great mirrors, chains going in and out of the smooth glass, criss-crossing her body, keeping her down...
@Bayleen: The fawn trembled slightly and gave a sigh, nuzzling into Mariposa's body softly. It was still worried about her, but it was calming down...
Gently, it reached out with its face and placed a soft-as-silk kiss on the doe's cheek, a tiny light glowing for a second where the caress had been placed.
It really loved her... like a child loves its mother.
When it gets so close, his
I don't strive to be the best, but instead I strive to do my best, and always give it my all every time.
-faunet
"Uh...all right," the girl
"Uh...all right," the girl mumbles, lifting a brow in suspicion yet also smiling nervously. "Fun? I hope so!" She needs some fun for once....
She tilts her head, putting her other hand on the mirror, lifting the first for only a second just to see if there is a print or a dent where she had put it.
@Kaoori: The stag smiled
"Much obliged, missus~" He said, stepping next to her, his long, thin, spider-like legs raising him way above her subtle frame.
"I'll get you out of this place..." He purred, beginning a walk that seemed like slow-motion due to his long, slow strides.
@faunet: Derick smiled back, the crowd going restless. Grabbing two torches, one for her and one for himself he gave a high-pitched whistle.
"The time has come! It's time to burn that witch!" And off they were with a roar, moving into the dark forest Tazanna had just emerged from, flames illuminating the deep, engulfing darkness among the trees.
@bluejay17: Not at all, step right ahead! >w< I enjoy doing these, after all ^w^
@Quad: A deep rumble came from the hollow skull, shaking the house with it, light flickering and tiny fires burning in its deep, dark pits of eye sockets.
"...Find her!..." It shrieked simply, a deep, dark, raw voice full of resent and hate, even desperation.
As it quieted, the house was silent yet again.
A tiny part of the wall seemed strange dust-less, as if some unseen draft was blowing through it...
@Bayleen: She walked for minutes, maybe even hours, it was difficult to tell in the dark of the night. But as the moon reached its very peak, crescent and glowing on the velvet background of the pitch-black sky, there... Right behind those trees, there was a tiny light...
Had those trees been there just before?...
@eyestrain: The fawn flinches, nearly falls over as it presses itself against the ground, eyes following the intruding stag carefully, a tiny gasp caught in its throat. It turns a frightened and curious gaze at him, now standing behind it.
It trembles softly, but stays perfectly still.
@010: No mark is left as she removes her hand, but the mirror's surface sways softly, like a silk curtain in a warm summer-breeze.
There is a crack straight down the middle and behind it, the sound of a tiny creek echoes between trees and rocks.
The smell of a warm summer-evening...
And the giggle from before.
trackety track
The samurai notices the
Taking the camera, he looks through the viewfinder again, expecting only to see the wall that his eyes see...
Waiting for the large stag to
@Matthieu: Oh, you sneaky
@Quad: And for once, the camera does not disappoint. Just a plain, old wall. But what he DOES see through the enhanced shadows of the old camera, is the faint outline of something round just below the wallpaper...
Something that looks almost like... a doorknob?...
@Kaoori: The tall stag gave a deep, booming chuckle.
"Don't worry, little lady, you'll definitely find your way out. But she's gonna try and prevent it..." He said melodiously, slowing down slightly so the petite doe could keep up.
A tiny light flickered just at the edge of Kaoori's view and for a second the wind through the leaves sounded like a quiet gasp...
He notes the doorknob, and
Then he gets smart. He puts the camera back up to his eyes, and looking through, he sees the knob again. Reaching out, he doesn't seem to feel it, his hand even passes through, but when he tries to 'grip' the invisible knob, it reacts accordingly. The wall moves and reveals a secret passage.
She stayed light on her feet
She leaped over the bush so know she was fully in the forest
"D-did you hear that?
Kaoori stopped, looking behind. "I could have sworn someone was around us.."
@Quad: A cold, dead wind
On the floor the skull glows faintly, silent yet again, simply laying there like a cruel imitation of a child's fluorescent toy.
There is a faint whimpering at the end of the stairs...
@faunet: The group ran and rushed, banging pans and pitchforks, enraged voices stirring the deep silence and darkness in the forest, making several eerie shadows flee from the humans as they travelled deep into the woods... When eventually, they came upon a huge, gaping grotto...
Derick steppe forward.
"This is it..."
@Kaoori: The stag furrowed his pitch-black brow.
"That was probably her... Don't be fooled little miss, she's gonna try and trick you away from me..." He said, glaring into the darkness protectively, standing above the tiny doe, his legs like trees.
The wind howled sadly and softly, and there was the sound of a quiet sob...
She looked at their
Now the real fight begins she murmered
((I forgot he was carrying a
The man holds his pagoda lantern forward, trying to brighten the new way. Yet it remained dark...very oddly dark.
He takes a deep breath and then steps into the pathway. A few more steps in, his lantern snuffs out. He reaches for his striking stones to relight it, but they seem to be misplaced.
Frustrated, he throws the lantern behind him, a loud metallic *thud* sounds as it crashes to the ground. He wraps the cord of the camera to his belt, since he believes it will come in handy for later, and then continues on, one hand on his katana, ready to cut through anything that gets in his way. No longer was he afraid or worried. He was fueled by frustration and impatience now.
Kaoori suddenly felt like a
Mariposa was weary by that
Pressed flat against the
brd turns and quietly approaches it, sniffing out of habit, though the lack of smell only reminds him of the alien quality of this world.
It trembles as he brings his face close and gently lips at its ears, though it takes him a moment to find them by touch.
I don't strive to be the best, but instead I strive to do my best, and always give it my all every time.
-faunet
@faunet: At her side, Derick
"Her den is a labyrinth of ways to get lost... It's best if we split up. I'll go with Tazanna. The rest of you, pair up in at least two. Now, let's go!" He said, stepping forward to quickly be engulfed by the darkness of the cave, his torch not even being able to penetrate the deep shadows fully.
@Quad: ((You and me both XD;;))
The way down was steep, dark and cold, the pitch blackness swallowing all light and even sounds, creeping into the man's ears, numbing his senses and leaving him blind and deaf.
But suddenly, there was a dull thud behind him...
And another!
The thuds continued, rapidly getting closer and closer until!...
The skull rolled down and hit the samurai's leg with a dull bump, glowing and chasing the darkness away around it.
Empty eyes stared menacingly at nothing.
A slight wind moaning through the pathway...
@Kaoori: Bending down, the stag nuzzled her softly, feeling cold and smooth to the touch like the mirror itself.
"Stay with me... She can't hurt you unless you're alone..." He said...
Yet the sobbing in the distance continued and only became more heart wrenching as it grew closer...
A tiny light flickered among the trees, moving...
Encircling the two...
@Bayleen: As she stepped through it, it was almost as if the glass quivered in anticipation. And once again, she was in the reflected world.
But the beach and its stop-motion waves had gone.
Instead, she was in a small thicket with some strange, abandoned contraptions overgrown with vines and other plants of the forest. An old, abandoned human playground...
And over by the swings was the fawn, lying in the grass by herself, apparently asleep.
@eyestrain: But as the gentle caress reaches the fawn, it gradually calms down. It sniffs back, slowly standing up, moving closer for a nuzzle, its body tiny and warm, star-eyes shining brilliantly in its small face.
It smiles, tail wagging slightly, movements hungry for affection.
It is alone up here.
Who knows how long it has been since it last had company...
Tazanna muttered some words
@faunet: they walked in
At a crossroads, Derick stopped...
"...Left or right?..." His voice sounded strangely melancholic and toneless...
The whole thing made
When they came to a cross road she tried to feel the energy around her to lead them in the right direction."Right"she said feeling a pull in that direction
Mariposa was in awe of the
The fawn's warm face slides
I don't strive to be the best, but instead I strive to do my best, and always give it my all every time.
-faunet
His mind is rattled, but he
"I suppose we're carrying on then...", he speaks to the skull, not expecting an answer. He walks deeper in, unsure where he was being led, and keeping his mind focused on the task at hand - find the little girl.
[I will follow your advice,
Nayu surveilled anxiously the dimly lit area, tendrils of light swaying on the stone covered ground.
The pattern in his left eye started spinning at an impressive speed, and a low humming pulsated into his very core. Nayu’s already altered vision was becoming a blur of dancing shades.
" Be careful child" Yeulh whisper was like silk in his mind.
A shiver racked his frail limbs and he tried closing his eyes in hope to clear his sight a little.
" Gyah!"
A large mirror had appeared right in front of his face making him start and almost fall over.
Shaking his head hard, both to regain his bearings and in anger at his own tremulousness, he took a deep breath before yelling in a high pitched voice.
“ Bah! I’m not even scared!!”
Though his shacking body was betraying him.
Yeulh would have laughed if not a bit unnerved herself by the situation.
Nayu let out a small sigh forming a puff of white smoke before him and approached the mirror, alert.
" Eh? “ He tilted his head to the side, puzzled.
“There is no...reflection."
As if reacting to his words, the smooth surface rippled into small waves.
Suddenly, another version of himself, a gruesome sight of decaying flesh, red and black and blue, sparsely covered in fur, with empty sockets where his eyes should have been, was staring right back at him.
Yeulh growled in his head, a sound like breaking glass.
Before he knew it, Nayu's body stepped right through the wavering surface, now face to face with his rottening self.
@faunet: Derick gave a
"Alright..." He said, stepping out in that direction.
"This way, then..."
@Bayleen: The tiny thing shivered and rose its head, blinking invisible, black eyes and giving a huge yawn before turning its face to Mariposa. And then immediately smothering her with nuzzles, tail wagging happily.
@eyestrain: All the while the warm, little thing just smiles and showers the stag with affection, the tiny tail wagging now and again in little trembles as it rubs up against Brd's legs. While he was busy inspecting it, though, strange, tall shapes had risen out of the "ground", like trees and hills, a perfect if white and fluffy mimicry of the forest he had just come from.
The stars twinkle brilliantly over the cloudy canopy.
The fawn giggles.
@Quad: True to his expectations, the skull remains quiet as the winding staircase leads the two down, down and further down, into the darkness...
Soon, tiny, little sobs can be heard and with them blows a bitter, cold wind, almost unbearable.
@Nayu: [Good little bunny! : D Don't be a shy bunny, be a killer rabbit XD]
But as he stepped through the mirror, he was alone...
He was standing in the middle of a great bog covered in deep mist, twisted, moss-grown trees barely alive reaching for the sky above and the water below.
There was a foul smell in the stale air, something like a distant, rotting corpse, though not quite as gagging...
And there, just at the edge of Nayu's sight, a shambling, disfigured shape disappearing into the ominous fog, hoofsteps giving a wet, shloshing sound as the creature lifted and put down its legs.
Her footsteps were silent as
@faunet: Derick gave a gloomy
"Forever... I don't remember a single point in time in which she hasn't been controlling this place..." He gave a deep, raw sigh.
"She needs to be stopped..."
Mariposa laughed and nuzzled
@Bayleen: All the while the
It went over to the seesaw and put a hoof on it, making it shift position briefly.
It giggled gleefully and want to the carousel, pushing at one of the iron bars to make the thing move a few inches.
Obviously, it knew what these things were...
"Then that is what we shall
Mariposa watched the fawn
Mariposa was panting and grunting as she was trying to move, but the pain was paralyzing her. The carousel seemed to spin faster and faster, blurring her vision and all sense of where she was. Her black hair was sailing in the air with the speed of the rotation.
Mariposa watched a memory unfold before her. She was held by a large hand and abruptly thrown into the air, spinning and whirling with the wind pushing all around her. But she wasn't a deer, she was a human. Mariposa shook her head. "I refuse to remember!!!" she called out to nothingness, angrily.
The flashback stopped as Mariposa collapsed on her side, panting from the frustration and exhaustion. The carousel stopped spinning.
Nayu slipped on the tall
“ Wai-wait!”
He felt grateful to be standing on a small patch of solid ground. The water looking thick as oil, terribly dark. His mind flashed images of corpses and bones hidden within, and he had to close his eyes once again to suppress the thought.
Nayu noticed almost immediately the absence of wind or the sound of birds singing.
“ Where has he gone…?”
Silence.
Everything would have seemed frozen if not for the fog spiraling into strange patterns.
It moved with a life of its own, caressing trees and water without stirring it.
He frowned slightly at the smell lingering in the air.
“ Like flowers. Like death.”
“ What is this place?”
Yeulh cursed.
“ It seems familiar…somehow” She spoke.
Feeling a bone chilling sensation coursing through his spine, Nayu turned around sharpely, his ears pointed up as he heard movement once again.
“ There you are... I...I should be afraid…”
“ But I’m not.”
Taking a deep breath, he let his body sink into the water and struggled to follow after the creature.
"Where are you taking me?"
@faunet: Derick smiled as the
"Indeed... One way or another, it ends tonight..." He said, deep, raspy voice back into those booming baritones as he led the way, fire flickering on his torch.
@Bayleen: And immediately the fawn was at her side, nudging her and making small, worried, keening noises, its tiny body warm against the trembling form of the other.
The world around them had changed. Some of the old contraptions had gone and the sky seemed somehow darker... A slight rain fell gently onto the moist ground.
The fawn nudged and keened.
Crawled close to her and put its head against her chest, looking up at her with what would have been big, wet eyes, had it had any.
@Nayu: But the creature didn't even stop to look at him. It only moved jerkingly on its way, the water soon reaching its chest, ears hanging as if they were nothing but trinkets, rotten leaves fastened to the shape's head.
Where-ever it went that putrid smell of rot went with it, leaving its bitter, rancid taste in the windless air.
The bog was deep and treacherous and old roots and round stones kept slowing Nayu down as he struggled to keep up with this stranger, who seemed to have no trouble getting through the rough terrain what so ever. But eventually, as they travelled deeper into the thick, grey fog, the ground became more steady, the trees taller and the fog dispersed ever so slightly to reveal their destination; An island of roots and stones, raised just enough over the water to not sink in. The trees here were all dead, but taller and much stronger none the less, speaking of some inner malice which kept them growing against all the odds.
The shambling shape in front of Nayu was slowly making its way to the middle... but now nothing slowed the mirror-visitor down.
She nodded in agreement as
@faunet: Eventually the road
A cold wind blew from the bowels of the cave... and in it, a heavy breath...
Tazanna shivered slightly
Mariposa awoke as a droplet
As Mariposa looked around, she saw that none of the playground things were there. She looked up at the darkened sky and then looked at the fawn.
@faunet: But Derick seemed
"Yeah..." He said deeply.
"We are..." And just then, a strong wind blew and they stepped into a gigantic, dark chamber with stalagmites and stalactites, water dripping off of them... and in the middle...
A small, pale light.
@Bayleen: The fawn looked back at her, worry in its dark face.
"You passed out..." the words said, appearing, yet again, in front of the fawn's featureless face.
It whimpered and pressed itself up against her, shivering lightly.
It smelled scared and worried...
All for her.
"Oh," Mariposa choked.
Her voice was small, faint, and weak. She kept murmuring the words to the fawn, but also trying to calm herself. She was scared and knew not what to do or say. She hadn't had a flashback in months, or years. Was it good? Bad? Mariposa prayed that she wouldn't be going mental...
(I've been devising a plan that Mariposa will slip under a coma, soon...In the coma she'd be kind of discovering her memories that's she's been fighting off. Would it be possible if she was to enter/remain here?)
The samurai raises one hand
He has no idea whether his words would reach her or not, and he starts to feel as if he is blindly walking through the darkness, even with the dim light the skull produces. His fear starts to kick in, and he is terrified that he will walk into a trap or plunge into an unseen pit.
Still very frustrated, he unsheaths his katana and holds it before him, pointing into the darkness.
"Enough! ENOUGH!!", he cries out, and with one motion he slices through the darkness.
Little light she said
Tail raised in alarm, he
"Who?"
I don't strive to be the best, but instead I strive to do my best, and always give it my all every time.
-faunet
((Great! Thanks
It was just there. Cold and smooth, yet somewhat... inviting.
Her black and purple pelt blended perfectly with the night colours. But, when she looked into the silvery surfaces it was the exact opposite, a yellow on white. She leaned towards it, expecting the surface to be hard and icy but instead her head went straight through.
She leapt back, ears flat, eyes scanning the area. What was going on?
Zera steeled her nerves and stepped through slowly, shivers running the length of her body as she emerged in a different world.
@Bayleen: Giving her a
It gave a small, quiet whimper as it snuggled into her, its small, soft cheeks rubbing up against hers, a sigh in its throat.
It seemed so worried, so loving... Like a child would be towards its mother if she ever fell ill.
It gently nudged her cheek, snuggling into a warm and close deerhug, tiny heart beating powerfully in its thin chest.
(Oh, sure! >w< I think that sounds exciting! >w< Heh, and a funny twist in this fawns story~ You'll see why >w<)
@Quad: In the wake of his powerful slice, a brilliant light briefly shone, pale blue and enveloping his katana. It was almost as if he had sliced clean through the ominous wind, for just as the steel reached the top of its arch, the wind suddenly disappeared, leaving everything deadly silent... The skull provided little light now, as the stairs had suddenly ended and the samurai was now standing in a grand anti chamber.
The silence was thunderous.
It was almost like a living, breathing thing, a beast having been tamed by the samurai's blade and now lay dormant but ready to reawaken at any moment... It even had a light breath...
Wait, that wasn't the silence...
It was a much more tiny breath... And one coming from a small light starting to shine in the middle of the great, spherical room...
@faunet: The light flickered soundlessly in response, as if it had no voice at all.
Derick frowned deeply.
"Witch..." He growled at the light, stepping closer determinedly but slowly...
It was almost as if everything happened in slow-motion in this cave...
@eyestrain: The fawn stops, star-eyes staring at him in question.
It looks down, as if concentrating... Then sighs in frustration.
It does this several times, after the fourth time even becoming frustrated enough to spin around once, tiny hooves stomping the ground in annoyance.
It... Can't talk.
@bluejay17: And what she saw was a world completely in black and white. Tall, black trees on a background of snow, huge, soft snowflakes gently falling from the sky, which was grey with clouds. No moon was needed to provide light, the snow managed that perfectly well on its own.
Everything looked so silent, so natural, so serene... Yet something was off. The snow was cold, alright, but not as cold as real snow... Rather, it felt like...
Glass. The surface of a mirror. Cool and smooth.
@EVERYBODY: Sorry I'm taking such a while answering, it's a little hard for me to find the time to write these replies when I forget to chop them up into manageable bits XD;;
Is it too late to start one?
He laughs, nudges its chin
I don't strive to be the best, but instead I strive to do my best, and always give it my all every time.
-faunet
Kaoori took a deep breath,
((Hey let me know if you need
The samurai noted the strange, faint glow. He wondered if this had anything to do with the skull he was carrying. He approached the center of the room, cautious as always, making sure every step was solid and listening for any signs of decay or weakness in the ground underfoot. His steps seemed to echo oddly in the strange silence.
Now standing before the odd glowing place, he took the skull and placed it there, where it seemed to be enveloped by the glowing.
Taking a step back, he untied the camera attached to his belt and looked through it, curious if he would see anything strange as he had before. He did speak to the skull while doing this, "My friend, if this is where you are to belong, please tell me. I need to know what to do next."
(Haha yay! Alrighty then XD
Mariposa held the fawn tighter and gave it a kiss on the cheek. Mariposa has always loved this little fawn oh-so much. She was the child that she never had.
@Dinamo: Not at all, go right
@eyestrain: The fawn sighs and pouts, only to stare in amazement at the graceful leap, soon giggling and following the stag, tail wagging and gait bounding and light. It brushes up against him, only to jump a step backward giddily, giggling with a playful shine in its star-eyes.
Its body is tense, ready to jump and play at any moment, waiting for Brd to make a move.
@Kaoori: The stag nodded. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you get home..." He said with a smile, leading the tiny doe deeper into the forest... Yet the cries of the child continued, the tiny light following them as they went...
They drew closer... the sobs and the crying only growing more heart rendering... It was like hearing a fawn calling for the mother it never had...
@Quad: (No, it's okay, it'll be nearing its end soon anyway... At least according to my plan XD;)
And what he saw through the camera was both shocking, unsettling and deeply melancholic...
The little girl, now sitting with the skull in her lap, still as the grave, chained up between two large, faintly glowing mirrors. She looked just like she had as he saw her in the hallway, the many arms and hands sprouting from her back as well as the tiny wing. It looked as if it had been plucked, as its feathers, white and faintly glowing, lay spread out at her knees.
She didn't move a single muscle. She just sat there, her feathers faintly glowing between the two great mirrors, chains going in and out of the smooth glass, criss-crossing her body, keeping her down...
@Bayleen: The fawn trembled slightly and gave a sigh, nuzzling into Mariposa's body softly. It was still worried about her, but it was calming down...
Gently, it reached out with its face and placed a soft-as-silk kiss on the doe's cheek, a tiny light glowing for a second where the caress had been placed.
It really loved her... like a child loves its mother.