[PQ] underground, the stars are legend

THE LEFT PATH "Hnncckkk nnnnnnnnoRPp—" The nearly incoherent rumblings of the creature echo through the chamber. "Gggggg—" Whatever might have been said next was cut off abruptly by a loud and clearly wet-sounding sneeze. Though you can't see it, you can clearly picture a wall thickly coated in mucus now. Silence fell as Lily's ball of seeds and butter rolled into the darkness. After a weight pause, something seemed to lurch forward, sounding like gum being pulled off of a wet surface. There was a loud snort, the sound of lips smacking open, and then disgustingly moist chewing. Meanwhile, the stars have carried on farther down the tunnel. THE RIGHT PATH The star begins to speed up. Faster and faster it begins to travel, and soon you'll have to pick up a bit of a jog to keep up. It seems positively enthusiastic now as it leads you down winding path after winding path. Hopefully Amalia is sure that these indeed are what Safrin intended you to follow and not a clever trick, for the pathways have grown so haphazard that finding you way back might prove...impossible if you are wrong..

There may have been some wisdom in pausing, taking stock and reevaluating the path the pair has chosen. The winding paths grow steadily stranger, flowing in and out from one another with all the dizzying inconsistency of the Labyrinth. Were Amalia to stop and consider their actions, she might have found herself to be quite lost and all hope of finding her way out without assistance growing dimmer and dimmer by the moment- But Amalia does not stop to consider this fact. No, the young loreseeker is entirely embroidered in her pursuit of the star. Her face awash with reverent excitement, she follows their guide on hastening feet, eager and enthused by the promise of purpose. Usually curious, she does not question: how can she, when this is her first ever mission, the fulfilment of her aspirations, a task from the vassal of Vi? No part of the girl questions Safrin, so no part of the girl questions the star. She pauses only long enough to look back at Jigano, make sure the man is by her side, a vibrant smile on her angular face. Perhaps she is a youth, a fool. But at least she is a fool with friends. a m a l i a You were young and you'd stare With a reverence unimpaired Searching in your dark eyes to find the stars already there

The star's growing speed did nothing to reassure the bard, especially when his steady walk had to speed up to more of a jouncing trot that had Isuma waking up and Reep!ing protest from her nest in his hood and atop his pack. "Why is it rushing?" he asked, hitching his pack higher as he shamelessly used his longer legs to keep up with Amalia. "It waited this long for us to gather and descend... Why all the hurry now?"

He would have liked to take his journal out and record their twists and turns, mapping the way much as he had the Labyrinth - though hopefully with more success, since moving stone walls would be a very unpleasant and dangerous surprise. The lantern he held in one hand and their faster pace didn't allow for it, however, so he did the only thing he could think of in the moment - he scuffed his feet through the dust and dirt as they went along, creating a trail of footprints for Amalia to follow back, and a scent trail for his vulpine nose to trace, if the star ended up leading them to a dead end.

Amalia was excited, enthusiastic - young and in the throes of a quest from a god dear to her. Jigano didn't have the heart to reprimand his pious friend for her blind trust in Safrin's star, but he did what he could to assure their path of retreat, even as he smiled at her and followed her lead - though with significantly more wariness and sharp, foxy eyes peering into the darkness beyond their light, watching the path ahead for obstacles or pitfalls that a star might float over that could cause trouble to two land-bound mortals.

Well. Mostly land bound.

Lily sing me a song of a lass that is gone Welp. Those are some disgusting sounds. BUT. They’re better than the sounds of weapons being thrown at them. “Ummm… it doesn’t seem… dangerous?” she starts, with a weird kind of shrug and ‘wtf?’ face to Seiji. Of course it still could be… But the stars are moving on and there’s no time to think! And she doesn’t want to be left behind! They have to forge ahead, meet whatever mucus-filled-or-covered thing is ahead. Good news is that whatever it is seems to like the snacks Lily’s brought. Bad news is she doesn’t have an infinite supply of them. Hoping that her companion is in agreement about going forward, Lily tries to move on to keep pace with the stars, no matter what gross kind of creature may lie ahead of them. Her mind begins to run rampant, and all that it can conjure is something like a slug or... a frog of some sort. merry of soul, she sailed on a day over the sea to Skye

Strange noises echo back at them, moist but hardly threatening. Seiji's pace slows a fraction, surprise and curiosity written in equal parts on his features. In answer to Lily's statement, he nods. "We'll be careful,", he says anyway, his voice low. But then he lifts his head and calls out to whatever awaits them down the tunnel. "Hello, we ask permission to pass through here, please." There is no time to wait. The goddess leads them onward. If whatever it is wishes to deny them...

Well, it is little more than formality, to be perfectly honest.

Something like muscle memory, maybe. Training etched so deeply into the grooves of his skull Seiji acts on it without recalling the fundamentals of why. The knife Kiada gave him is within reach, the spark bird feather illuminates the cavern bravely, and he and Lily with continue forward until doing so becomes impossible.

THE LEFT PATH "GGggggo-hickUP-ooO!" comes the strained and garbled reply. It sounds as though it might be speaking half underwater, or like a child blowing bubbles who doesn't bother to surface before responding. The squelching sound of its movements seem to increase, and vaguely you think it is receding. Though the strange texture of whatever it is made up of and the abnormal acoustics down here make it impossible to tell. The tunnel continues, though there is a large broken opening just to the left. It is from here that Lily's ball was taken. As the pair pass, should they look to the left, they will see The Prince behind a small wall apparently of its own construction for the materials are seemingly random and poorly cobbled together. It is a strangely and vaguely amphibian thing, but with a body far too gelatinous and in places semi-opaque. Warty, covered in boils with too many eyes (the majority of which appear blind), it shrinks away from the light and normalcy of the two before it. "NnnnaarPPPPPP" It .. burps? .. cowering away and hiding its eyes behind webbed hands.  On its head it wears a crown made of paper, but the moisture from the ceiling has made it worn and wilted. "Puullleeee-huurrrBBRAAPPP-se donnnnn-brrrraAAP looookitme-hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" Spewing vomit, The Prince nearly choked on its own tears and bile as it continued to try and hide. The stars continue onward. What do you do? THE RIGHT PATH The star seemed to positively shine with encouragement, and both Jigano and Amalia will find their feet rushing them onward with a speed that neither of them possess. At least not with the amount of energy they are putting into it. Jigano's eyes are much better in this dim light than Amalia's and it is only because of this that he is able to see the difference in the quality of the stone beneath them. It appeared crumbled and weather. A trap to be sure, but a naturally occurring one? Or intentional? And if intentional, why did the star not give any indication? The bard's dexterity allows him to easily clear the strange yielding stone in one large leap, but Amalia will not have been so lucky. Beneath her relatively light weight, the stone crumbles and gives way. Amalia is quick, but not quick enough. The ground breaks away, but she has enough time to grab onto the edge with one hand, her lantern in the other. What do you do?

They were going far too fast, being rushed along at a dangerous pace out of proportion with their strides. Worry twisted through the bard's excitement at their adventure and he tried to slow down - to no avail. Grimly he turned his attention to watching their road and staying ready to duck, dodge or jump any obstacles or traps that might hinder them, but even so he almost didn't see the crumbled stone until it was too late. "Amalia, watch out!" he cried, using his momentum to push himself over the chancy-looking stone, and coming to a deft halt on the other side, relieved to find the unsettlingly unnatural speed had left him.

The first thing he noticed was that Amalia had not landed beside him, and he spun as Isuma dug her talons into his pack, squeaking frightened protest at his sudden spike of fear. The glow from her lantern and antler, reflecting up from the hole, let him see her hand on its edge and he quickly dropped to his knees, setting his lantern down and reaching out to steady her wrist with both hands. "Toss the staff up and grab on," he urged her. "I'll steady you and pull you up, if you can get a foothold!" It would have been nice to be a fairy tale hero, lifting the lady easily in his muscular arms and setting her daintily upon the ground, safe and sound - but Jigano had never had strength like that, even now when his lack of magical equipment had forced him to train his body the old fashioned way. At best, he could brace his slightly greater weight as an anchor and provide, he hoped, enough extra pull for Amalia to get herself out.

Where the star guide was just then he neither knew nor cared, focusing all his efforts on getting his companion back on solid ground.

Over rock and through tunnels they run, faster and faster, too fast, perhaps, but the magical speed does nothing to quell Amalia's excitement: indeed, it fuels it further, and as they run in pursuit of the star the ardent girl laughs. It is only when Jigano cries out that she turns away from the pulsing star to look at her companion. Perhaps it is this backward glance; perhaps she was doomed from the start. Whatever the reason, Amalia does not see the pit until it is too late. In one moment she is flying; in the next, she falls, the world beneath her giving out as gravity takes its hold. Only through a miracle is she able to keep from dropping into the pit, her left hand reaching out to grasp, vice-like, at an outcropping of rock. Amalia coughs, dust settling around her nose, but does not dare to move too far. Her staff is still in her hand: another miracle, though as it dangles it feels heavy, and she can feel her hand begin to slip. "Mort!" Amalia curses instinctively, alto voice muffled by the dirt pressed against her face. Her heartbeat feels frantic, erratic, and fear bites like needles against her skin. What was she thinking? She is going to die, again, for her arrogance, her foolishness, her reckless abandon and willful ardor. The memory of last time flashes before her eyes: darkness, and terror, and flashes of red. Her black eyes close against the growing dread. She is slipping- -And then, the last miracle: there are hands around hers, and a familiar voice, and instead of being alone in the darkness she is here with Jigano, alive. A deep shuddering breath: "O-okay." Her right arm comes up swinging the staff, trying to get it over the lip of the stone, while her left clings Jigano's fingers. When she is confident the staff is successfully secured Amalia grabs onto the lip of the pit, her feet scrambling for purchase on stone. There, an outcropping- and she scrambles up, hoisting herself with the help of Jigano to collapse face up upon the solid ground, her breath coming heavy and fast. Her is only mildly injured, the right side of her face bleeding and badly bruised, but at the moment she does not notice this. She closes her eyes and trembles, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She does not want to let go of his hand, that anchor of warmth which holds her to the world, but if he pulls it away she will release it from her own. a m a l i a You were young and you'd stare With a reverence unimpaired Searching in your dark eyes to find the stars already there

He held firm while she swung the staff up first. He hadn't taken the time to see how deep the pit went, and now that he was trying to pull Amalia back and up he didn't dare shift his balance to check, but if it was too deep he understood that they didn't want to risk losing the antler. He would trade it in less than a heartbeat for her life, however, if it came to that, and his muscles tensed and strained to hold her steady until she was able to bring both her hands to bear and scramble up and over to safety.

Nor was she the only one panting as she lay upon the stone; her fellow Loreseeker was flush with the adrenaline and fear of almost losing her again, and he squeezed the hand still caught in his with a desperate sort of reassurance. He looked down at her to grin, but the expression froze at the scratches on her lovely face even as Isuma Reep!ed her unhappiness at the fright they'd all taken. "From now on, let's go more slowly," he cautioned, reaching out with his free hand to hover it over the bleeding marks with a worried frown. Only after giving her hand one last squeeze of reassurance did he release it, shrugging out of his pack to dig out his little emergency medical kit. "Stay still - this is probably going to sting," he warned as he arranged the lanterns to give him the most light. Wetting a bit of gauze with his waterskin he started to gently dab the worst of the blood and rock chips away, trying to determine the extent of the damage with worried blue fox's eyes.

Amalia winces in pain as Jigano begins ministering to her wound. "Ow." She cannot see it, but as it is cleaned a cut is revealed on her left cheek, slicing the angle of her face and leaving it sharper, somehow. There are smaller injuries, of course, and the area of her eye is already blooming a lovely blue, but only this will leave a mark- and besides, she has had worse. Still, she bites her lip against the pain, stubbornly refusing to cry out again. Seeing the worry in Jigano's face a stab of guilt shoots through the girl; without thinking she extends a hand to squeeze his again, reassuringly, an abashed smile and apologetic blush causing her face to sting even more. "I'm sorry. I'll slow down." Once her heart slows down to something approaching normal, Amalia pulls herself into a seated position and smiles guiltily at Jigano, saying, "Thank you." Her face still hurts, and her shoulder, too, the old wound from the gargoyles irritated once more. Wincing, she inches towards the edge of the pit and peers down below. "What do you think is down there?" She grabs the staff, still equipped with antler and lantern, and extends it over the entrance to get some light. "I saw the ground, but not much more. Do you think the star could show us?" If it has not left them long behind- but despite her injuries, Amalia still has faith that Safrin will continue to guide them. a m a l i a You were young and you'd stare With a reverence unimpaired Searching in your dark eyes to find the stars already there

THE RIGHT PATH The star has not stopped. The pathway they are on goes farther ahead for about 20 meters or so. There it will deadend and the star will disappear from view. As the reddish light illuminates the pit, Amalia will see footprints? How could there be footprints there? The edges of the pit are remarkably flat, removing any inclination any might have to believe that this occurred naturally. It is hard to tell if there are carvings on the sides or if they are pictures, but certainly this pit was once created for some sort of purpose.

"Sorry," he murmured, trying to make his touch lighter still until he had cleaned the wound enough to ascertain that she hadn't damaged her eye. "Here, hold this in place until the bleeding slows." He smiled, letting his hand be squeezed and wondering a little as he felt no desire to flinch away from the touch. It was something his friend needed, and something so small to give that not even his ever-present burden of memory and guilt could quite justify denying himself the pleasure of being appreciated. "You did nothing wrong," he reassured her gently, though his smile was a little lopsided. "But this is a good warning to be careful, moving forward. We don't know what those stars are... servants of Safrin, perhaps, but that doesn't mean they think or do anything but show the way. Or that they recognize the difficulties of those who have to travel by foot rather than floating," he added ruefully, nodding at the pit.

He sat back as she looked down, his own gaze finally seeking out the star - just as it disappeared ahead into what looked like solid stone. Eyes narrowing, he didn't look back to see Amalia leaning over the pit until she spoke, and he sighed a negative to her second question. "The star disappeared. I can't tell from here for sure but... I think the path ends ahead. I'll go double check, though, and be back in a minute." He grimaced as he stood, dusting himself off. "If it is a dead end we've got a long walk back... unless the tunnels continue down there." He gave the pit a thoughtful nod, thinking of a trap they'd come across in the Smoking Tower that had a similar layout.

But for the moment he collected Seiji's lantern and advanced towards where he last saw the star, running his hands over the stone wall that blocked their forward progress and studying it with a critical eye to try and find a switch or key to indicate a door to a hidden passage beyond.

The noises continue: wet, gelatinous, vile. Disgust creeps up the back of Seiji's neck on damp fingers. He cannot help but wince as they continue on, his eyes scanning the tunnel ahead. The stars and torch together cast enough light to cut a wide swath from the darkness. Enough to illuminate the opening off to the left as they begin to pass. Seiji slows, lifting the torch, but hesitates as the creature half-hidden from view seems to shrink away. He glances at Lily, dark eyes questioning.

"Hello?" he tries again, his voice gentle. "Are you hurt?" It sounds ill, whatever it is. Seiji doesn't think he has much experience playing nurse in any capacity, but cannot in good faith waltz right past the thing. His gaze shifts down the tunnel, after the stars, and carefully he lowers the torch. How long do they have until Safrin's light abandons them? Will it wait? Will he have failed Amalia if it does not?

Is failing Amalia worse than failing this... thing?

Seiji knows it is, and knows he will not press on just yet, anyway. He stands still, head cocked, as he addresses the creature hidden in the shadows once more. "I will not look," he says, and politely casts his eyes askance. "But we will not hurt you. We are looking for something."

what is posting order THE RIGHT PATH Jigano feels/sees the following: (click for larger)