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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 3:20:35 GMT -6
While Santiago busied himself, and the other menagerie of animals chilled out and did their thing, Ashe went back to the closet space. If there was no door leading onward, then maybe there really was something else in here that he needed to see first. Maybe that's what would trigger a door to appear, or the mystery would be solved in another way. He gazed around again, noting the computers (turned off or closed) and all the sheets of paper everywhere... He started to sift through some, rifling through the research. Mostly about the movement of the stars... And how it was faster here than outside of the mansion grounds? He paused to read some of this, suddenly interested. That's what he'd thought, too! So he had been on to something.
Outside, Santiago was peering through the window to the outside. He was seeing footprints everywhere, and was trying to figure out if those were from himself and Ashe playing around earlier, or if they weren't alone.
[Santiago: 11 4/5 Ashe: 2 19/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 39 TBB 14/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 3:41:56 GMT -6
Ashe found a chair inside the closet and sat down to read some of these papers. He was getting more and more interested the deeper he went. He found charts, and dates. It seemed this person had been here for a whole year or more... Which, considering how much faster time seemed to happen here (as far as the stars went), could be a short time... Or a really long time. Ashe wasn't sure. Could you get trapped in the Mansion when the time changed? He couldn't remember if he'd ever tried that or not. And would he want to? If he was to get stuck... And could only come out a year from then, when the season lined back up...
Shit, now he was super curious about it. And what would happen if he was inside, and Inyala was out?
It had been a good few minutes, and Santiago peeked his head in to see what Ashe was up to. "Find anything?"
[Santiago: 12 0/5 Ashe: 3 0/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 40 TBB 15/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 4:39:33 GMT -6
"Just looking," Ashe said, dismissively. He was busy reading and wasn't quite ready yet to give up and finish. He felt like just five more minutes would be enough. And then just five more... Five more... He could probably have been there for a long time. But he found something about locating a specific constellation, and when it appears... Some sort of treasure appears as well. The previous person was unable to find the treasure, but had been piecing together details and signs! Ashe felt his heart thumping as he realized he might be able to find something in his stead. He had this head start, after all! He gathered up the papers and headed back into the room, then through the room back the way they'd come.
Santiago looked a little confused at Ashe's sudden departure and he followed him, curious to see where they were going next. Retreating toward the outside, rather than going deeper into the mansion?
[Santiago: 0 1/5 Ashe: 0 1/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 41 TBB 16/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 4:58:37 GMT -6
Santiago caught up with him as he emerged into the snowy room. Ashe gazed above them into the abyss - the ceiling, if it existed, was so high it was darkness, and the magic of the place made the stars dance around there as well. Santiago saw some of the constellations he and Ashe were picking out earlier, back again, perhaps after a full rotation. Ashe was gazing at the stars above, then he took off like a rocket to the door that led outside. He opened the door, stepped out, and looked at the sky outside. After a few moments, he ducked back inside and checked that sky as well.
He seemed to be satisfied that the skies matched. The room inside must be a reflection of the world outside, Santiago assumed, because whatever Ashe was fixing to do surely involved finding a constellation - and if the room inside was fake or slow, he would use outside, despite the chill. He knew Ashe's determination.
[Santiago: 0 2/5 Ashe: 0 2/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 42 TBB 17/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 5:01:44 GMT -6
Ashe was indeed looking at the stars. To him, they seemed to match, inside and outside. Whatever magic was in this room seemed to reflect what the world looked like outside, but without the melting snow making a damp chill for him, and the bitter wind cutting him to the bone. He would much rather stay in here and figure out this puzzle!
Ashe sat down in the middle of the room on one of the plush white carpets. He could almost believe he was outside in the snow, about to make a snow angel. But he was so much warmer inside here... Santiago hunkered down by his human, craning his neck to look up above at the stars as well.
"Are you going to fill me in on the plan?" Santiago asked, curious. He was with Ashe either way, trusting his mind and his instincts. They weren't that different, the pair of them, and he assumed the outcome would benefit them both.
[Santiago: 0 3/5 Ashe: 0 3/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 43 TBB 18/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 5:05:44 GMT -6
Fill him in? Didn't Santiago know- oh, that's right, Ashe hadn't said a word since he had found mention of a possible treasure room since he'd found the constellation diagrams. "Oh, sorry, Santi," Ashe said. He didn't take his eyes off the ceiling, though, except to check his notes to make sure they were on the right track. So far, so good, it seemed. He couldn't guarantee anything - the star pattern he was looking for, he had never heard of outside of here, so maybe it didn't actually show up in the sky. It was certainly worth trying, though! And so, Ashe watched, waiting for the pattern to show up.
"I found these papers," He said, holding them up to let the dragon observe them. However, Santiago's reading ability wasn't the best when it came to Common, not yet. So he just glanced at the drawings, and nodded. "And supposedly, if things line up... A treasure room should open! A hidden door."
[Santiago: 0 4/5 Ashe: 0 4/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 44 TBB 19/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 5:14:30 GMT -6
"A hidden door?" Santiago asked, surprised. "This place can make secret doors that only unlock at certain times?" The magic of this place must be incredible, if that was the case. So far, they'd only been able to explore two rooms. It didn't even seem like the inside was as big as it looked on the outside! Santiago was kind of disappointed so far, not much to do in here. But if there really would be a secret door unlocking, who knew what could be on the other side...!
"Yeah. I don't know the details... The guy before me never found it. But maybe I will..."
And so the pair continued to sit and watch the stars as they slowly spun around and around. Ashe seemed so entranced here that Santiago tried his best to keep up, to be a part of this even though he didn't know much about what was going on. The stars mostly looked the same to him, save for a few pictures...
[Santiago: 1 0/5 Ashe: 0 5/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 45 TBB 20/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 5:19:20 GMT -6
However, about twenty minutes later, Santiago was realizing that he was not cut out for this. Ashe might know what he was doing - or at least think he knew what he was doing, to the point of over confidence in the activity - but Santiago sure didn't. He rolled over onto his side, and then his back, his paws tucked close to his chest and his legs relaxed in a half folded kind of way. He gazed at the stars this way, and found that he was a little more comfy. The carpet beneath him was plush and enticed him to rub his back in a very feline manor. He resisted for a while, and watched the stars some more, but he was indeed getting restless.
Ashe noted that the stars were continuing to turn, and a pattern was starting to form. He was counting the stars, matching the patterns that should show up together and comparing them to the charts he had written down on the papers.
[Santiago: 1 1/5 Ashe: 0 6/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 46 TBB 21/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 5:25:00 GMT -6
The papers were, of course, hard to read in this darker room. The light from the stars and the moon that made an appearance sometimes made it bright enough to see the whole room with ease, to see that they were still alone and the other creatures had stayed in the other room, but Ashe couldn't read the pencil and pen scribbles on the paper in this light. He had brought his flashlight with him, thankfully, and he was able to illuminate the scratchings that way. It shouldn't be too much longer, he thought. He was distracted momentarily when Santiago started to get restless, but he forced his gaze back to the sky.
Santiago rolled and rubbed a bit. Once he started, he knew there was no going back, no meditating or whatever Ashe was doing. He was bored, dang it! He wanted to get up and do something. So he gave it up and rolled over to his feet, stretching his back.
[Santiago: 1 2/5 Ashe: 0 7/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 47 TBB 22/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 5:30:00 GMT -6
He stretched like a cat, arching his back and even lifting one of his hind legs and tail to get that full stretch. He yawned widely, his jaws splitting apart as far as they could reach. He took one last look at Ashe, seeing him content to just continue watching, and he decided that he would go exploring a bit on his own! He prowled around the room, taking one last look at everything here. It was a basic room, truth be told, and not much going on besides the atmosphere. So he prowled back to the other room where they had found these things. When he arrived, he spotted the bird cats curled up together in a corner, and the bear had taken up residence in the closet. Then something pounced on him, seeming to swoop out of nowhere - and it was the tiny chick creature, the puff ball. Santiago snorted, caught off guard and embarrassed to show it at all.
[Santiago: 1 3/5 Ashe: 0 8/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 48 TBB 23/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 5:42:13 GMT -6
Santiago decided to do some snooping around of his own. He would find another room and continue the search on his own! He didn't need Ashe to be by his side. He was still close, of course, and he could call out for him if he needed the human's help in any way. But it almost felt a little liberating, to be able to wander about on his own and do some personal exploring! He walked around, looking for more buttons that would open up more doors. He found nothing. He even crept into the closet, careful to not disturb the sleeping bear constellation that was snoozing in there. He checked the walls there for anything that might open a contraption, or a door itself - anything! So far nothing. He retreated back into the room, then it dawned on him - duh, there might be a door button on the wall of the room Ashe was in! That was one thing he hadn't looked for!
[Santiago: 1 4/5 Ashe: 0 9/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 49 TBB 24/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 5:54:57 GMT -6
Santiago walked back into that room, where he expected to see Ashe still sitting there motionless. But instead, the human was standing in a corner of the room... and there was a door that had opened! The door had a bright white light shining out of it. Santiago could tell Ashe had just found the door because he hadn't gone inside just yet. The dragon caught up with his human and peered into the room. It was indeed a white room - but though the light that came into the night sky room was white, the light in here was actually a mixture of blues and greens... Like the lights that danced across the sky to the north every once in a while.
Ashe let out a low whistle, impressed by this room. He and Santiago walked inside. It was large, spacious, with some furniture and a fireplace. There were windows lining one wall, looking outside at the sparkling snow in the moonlight. It was gorgeous.
[Santiago: 2 0/5 Ashe: 0 10/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 50 TBB 25/25]
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Yang
Flea Market Artist
Posts: 1,001
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Post by Yang on Jan 30, 2022 19:21:33 GMT -6
A dozing mammoth rests by the crackling light by the fireplace; its eyes closed and head high, the lull of its sleep remains unperturbed by anyone opening the door, or the entering of others into the space. This big creature has little to fear, and has long since made up its mind to never arise from the cozy, warm spot..!
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Feb 4, 2022 9:49:17 GMT -6
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Post by Ashe on May 13, 2022 2:04:21 GMT -6
It had been a few months. A few months of quiet busy work and Ashe doing Ashe things. But the weather was starting to really warm up and that brought Ashe out of his cave - so to speak. He was with his bonded partner in crime, Santiago. And while Inyala was with him as well, she took her share of turns wandering around, or riding on one of the males and keeping quiet. Today was all about exploring this magical place, during the Day of Dreaming celebration. It was a specific day, Ashe was sure, though he didn't know which day. He just knew that the celebration was grand enough that the whole month observed it with eagerness. It was getting close to evening when Ashe and Santiago made it onto the Mansion grounds. As soon as Ashe stepped foot inside, he felt the familiar magic wash over him, welcoming him home like an old friend. Ashe was thrilled to be in the presence of magic! [Ashe: 0 1/20 Santiago: 0 1/5 May: 1]
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