|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:23 pm
The lullaby helped to fill the empty spaces that seemed to fill the cave, the sound echoing off the walls and coming back to her ears much like a feedback loop. Here, it was likely she would hear a pin drop -- and perhaps a spider crawling across the ground, as well.
Another rock fell.
The darkness was overwhelming, and it was near impossible to see anything.
She could hear something, though.
From further into the cave, it sounded like a rumbling, one that shook the ground.
Another rock fell.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 7:29 am
In spite of her humming, Yukiko could hear every rock that fell. The skittering of possible spiders, she tried her best to ignore, but the rocks... A little further into the cave and she started to feel it. A rumbling that made her blood run cold. "Oh no," she murmured and picked up her pace. "Please don't cave in, please don't cave in..." Over and over she pleaded with the cave, with every rock that fell, and with each step she took.
Her heart raced as she began to run, carefully; she didn't want her steps to speed the coming of a cave in if indeed that's what that rumbling was. She wasn't sure what she was hoping for more: a cave in that she knew was coming, or the possibility of something unknown that was large enough to make a rumbling noise that shook an entire cave.
Still, she drove forward. She wouldn't let herself turn back. For good, bad, or worse, she had chosen this cave in her attempt to help Anteros and she would see it through to the end. Even if it also meant her end.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 5:32 pm
It had gotten much warmer in the cave, as deep in as she was. She likely did not need her poncho anymore.
The heat seemed to be radiating the most from where she was headed, and as she got close, she would notice a subtle glow, against the walls, that seemed to grow brighter and brighter. She could see again, and she could see that the ground was littered with more rocks, bottles, stones, and even ... feathers.
More of the blue feathers she saw earlier in the cave appeared to be present here.
If Yukiko's heart was not slamming in her ears, she might be able to hear a faint rumbling noise in the direction she was headed in...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 7:39 pm
Yukiko tugged at the collar of her poncho before pulling it off. It was getting quite warm in here for some reason. Tucking the material back in her bag, she realized that it was also getting brighter. Carefully, she snuffed out her torch to use on the way back. That is, if she came out this way again. Or at all. With that heartening thought, she wrapped and tucked the torch in her pack as well.
The further she went, the brighter and warmer it became. That was when she noticed the feathers. She paled. "No....no no no no no...." she said and moved faster still, deeper into the cave. She had to find Anteros. Had to help him! "Anteros!" she called as she ran. Somewhere past the pounding of her heart she could hear the rumbling, but it didn't matter to her. The only thing she cared about was finding Anteros, because who else would those feathers belong to?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 7:49 pm
Her steps led her into a large opening.
It was like she was no longer in a cave, but rather in a large ... occupied ... room.
The roar was deafening, the creature pulling and lashing at the chains that it was kept within. It's body was large, hunched over, and monstrous. Muscles budged as joints and bones creaked, teeth were sharp, and drool and spit lashed out in her direction.
Its eyes were sunken, it's hair and covering was thin at best, falling haphazardly around its face. Its skin was sickly, at best, molted at worst, and its hair was a matching shade of mud.
On its back were small feathers, bursting and bulging out of strange locations.
And it was angry.
It attempted to rip and tear towards Yukiko, pulling at its chains, which slowly began to lift from the ground. It dove at her, and screamed, unsuccessfully pulling for its release.
Strawberri Stardust Yukiko must find some way to deal with this monster. Good luck.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 9:32 pm
Yukiko skidded to a halt as the creature came into view. "Oh...oh my...." she said and the blood completely drained from her face as she took in the monster. And what that thing meant. Her knees went weak as she stared, numb until the first tears slid from her eyes. "No..." Her voice wavered as her first thought was the worst one: Anteros was gone. Killed, eaten, something, by this monster in front of her. Her numbness didn't last long as the monster lurched at her. She screamed and scrambled backward until she was back in mostly darkness, but she knew the monster was still there. She could still hear it, still see it behind her eyelids.
"Anteros," she whimpered before the floodgates broke and her sobs echoed thinly beneath the monster's roars. "I'm so sorry, Anteros...I wasn't fast enough, wasn't good enough...I let you down..." She sat amid several of the blue feathers, and as she cried she picked them up, gathering them in her hands as if she could do something with them. Carefully, she pulled her poncho back out and wrapped the feathers in it before tucking it back in her bag.
With a sniffle she got to her knees and crawled back to the edge of her relative safety to stare at the beast. "Why? Why Anteros?" she asked. Not that she really expected it to answer. "He was wonderful, and I loved him... He has a son, not that you'd care," she sniffled. "Why am I even talking to you... I must be losing my mind. Or dreaming. That would be so much better than grieving for the one I love and being terrified of some beast in a cave..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 10:14 pm
Though her words were heartfelt and heartbroken, they seemed to have little effect on the monster in front of her. While it may have paused for a moment, perhaps focusing its attention on her, it redoubled its efforts shortly afterwards, pushing against its chains and roaring again, though it made very little difference to his state.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 5:48 pm
When the creature paused, it gave her hope that he could hear her...only to have it dashed away again when it started reaching for her again. "Oh, shut up. You're not getting anywhere," she said a bit bad-naturedly. The creature still frightened her, but just now...she didn't care. She needed to think, needed to figure out what to do. Anteros had sent her to find his mother, and if he was gone then by the gods she was going to find her! But how?
Another roar from the beast scattered her thoughts again. Hanging her head in her hands, she sighed and sniffled as a few more tears squeezed from her eyes. She was so tired...she wanted this all to be a dream... A flash of light caught her eye and she looked at the vial of dream sand hanging around her neck. Maybe the beast just needed to dream. Right, and she was a goddess. Ha ha.
It was worth a try though, she supposed. If nothing else, she could say she tried. Standing up again, she inched closer to the beast, staying just out of the range of its claws. Opening the vial, she poured a little of the sand into her hand and blew it at the beast. "Sweet dreams," she said, just a little sarcastically.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 10:17 pm
The monster almost seemed a bit taken aback by her insult, shrinking back a bit when she told the monster to shut up, because it wasn't going anywhere. It was an odd reaction for something that had seemed so angry at her before --
So perhaps that was why he resumed it.
Yukiko neared him, reaching for the dust around her neck that the Sandman had told her to keep close. The monster did not seem to recognize it or care, still attempting to get closer to Yukiko, to break free of the chains that held him, thrashing and roaring once more as she grew closer, mouth opening to reveal fangs that were as big as her head.
And then she blew the dust at him.
The dust from the Sandman was more effective than she may have imagined, sarcasm littering her brain as it did. The monster thrashed for a moment, but soon his motions calmed, and calmed further, until he was nearly purring, curling up much like a puppy as he rapidly grew drowsy, eyes fluttering shut and fanged mouth closing. He was no longer a threat.
Asleep, he was no threat at all.
A few minutes went by, quiet, with nothing to interrupt the scene but the comparatively soft snoring of the previously quite loud monster. The monster that seemed to be smaller than it was before.
And smaller.
And smaller.
And soon enough, the sleeping body of the monster was replaced with the sleeping body of Anteros, wings torn in many places, and body looking weak and tired.
Strawberri Stardust Congratulations! Yukiko has freed Anteros. Now she has to figure out how to get them both back...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 11:10 pm
She frowned a bit at the strange reactions the beast seemed to have to her words, but blowing the dream dust at it seemed to calm it thankfully. She began to relax now that there weren't giant fangs in her face. She sighed softly and sat down, watching the beast sleep as she tried to figure out what she should do next.
And then it moved. She jumped a bit, ready to move away if the thing woke up again. Wait, was it smaller than before? Yes, yes it was. And getting smaller still. She watched, entranced, as the best continued to grow smaller until finally...
It was Anteros. A pang of guilt washed over her at her earlier words. Now she understood the beast's reactions. It wasn't a beast at all, but her beloved Anteros under some spell. Seeing him alive and...mostly well made her smile softly, as well as incredibly and suddenly grateful for her experiences last Valentine's Day. Without that, she wouldn't have had the dream sand that broke the spell over Anteros, and who knows what would have happened then?
Right. They needed to get out of this cave. It couldn't possibly be healthy for him here! Digging in her pack, she was so glad she'd thought to bring rope. Unrolling her poncho once more, she instead tucked the feathers she'd gathered in the bottom of her bag. It took some doing for her to get her poncho over Anteros' head and his poor wings tucked underneath carefully. It was a bit short for him, but it covered most of his wings and that would just have to do now.
Tying the rope around his waist and under his arms left her enough that she could drag him out of the cave with. She hated the idea, really, but she wasn't sure how else she could get him out of here. Outside, she'd have to figure out how to get him down the mountain side without killing them both. Well, at least she had a little time to do that as she began to carefully pull him toward the entrance of the cave.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 11:47 pm
Getting herself into the cave had been a hurdle in and of itself. Getting herself and a completely knocked out Anteros was going to be at least three hurdles. At least. She did her best to be careful and yet speedy at the same time. Not the easiest of tasks. Every time a rock fell, she was afraid that more would follow and block the exit. Or worse, crush them both.
The darkness seemed to be everywhere as she pulled Anteros through the cave much the same way she'd gone into it. Except this time she couldn't keep her hand on the wall. Instead she pulled Anteros a few feet and paused to touch the wall just to double check. Pull, pause, check. Pull, pause, check. Getting into the rhythm of this helped her stay calm instead of freaking out every time a rock fell, or a spider skittered.
Before she realized they'd come so far, the light at the end of the tunnel began to shine through and she sighed a bit. "Almost outside, Anteros...then we'll get down the mountain...somehow," she murmured mostly to herself since he was still out cold.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 1:02 am
To say it was easy to get her deity love out of the cave would be an understatement. He was a heavy dead weight, already damaged, and the cave was fragile as well as long and partially uphill.
Of course, the light at the tunnel was almost there, and it was time for Yukiko to enter the cold again ... this time with an extra dead weight attachment. There were some murmured noises from Anteros, but he clearly wasn't stirring yet. Those dream sands seemed fairly effective...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 1:54 pm
Yukiko was sure it had taken her at least twice as long to get out of the cave as it had for her to get down there. By the time she'd made it to the mouth of the cave with Anteros, she was trembling from exertion and panting for breath. How was she ever going to get him down the mountainside? A cold wind blew as she stepped out of the relative warmth of the cave and she shivered.
Peeking down the mountainside, she bit her lip and wondered how she would get a sleeping Anteros down without killing them both. Maybe she should try waking him up... Who knows how powerful that dream sand stuff was, though. Still, worth a try.
She moved back to Anteros and knelt next to him. "Anteros...wake up," she said and tapped his cheek. She really didn't want to hit him too hard, but him awake would be so much easier to travel with...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 3:32 pm
Well, that didn't work. Not that she'd really expected it to. She sighed softly and chewed her lip as she thought. Just then one of her favorite fairy tales popped into her head. The one with the sleeping princess and true love's kiss. It was silly, she supposed, things like that didn't actually work in the real world, right? But today was turning into a very strange night... She wouldn't have thought pae could be turned into monsters, let alone gods.
Not that Anteros was a princess or anything. But as with the dream sand, it didn't hurt to try. Leaning over Anteros' sleeping form, Yukiko cupped his cheek and kissed him softly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Codebreaking Conversationalist
|
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 4:01 pm
"Mm, warm..."
Wait, was it actually working?
"... You're not my giraffe..."
Okay, maybe sleeptalking. Still, he seemed to have been stirred, at least. Perhaps she could wake him up properly now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
