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Post by Lethalia on Jan 23, 2021 14:58:40 GMT -6
Well. Even if Ardith didn't mind the darkness, Lethalia hoped the hen to be territorial enough she would give a warning if there were anything out there. Going batshit like she did with the vulti and it's owner would actually work just fine in this situation. Might as well make the best out of what she did have, and something that could see in the dark was pretty great all things considered. Nothing at this place would come easily. It's recent shows of kindness had likely been just that - a show. Now the mansion settled into it's more normal patterns now that it'd gotten her at ease. Lethalia turned around, feeling with her hooves to follow the snow they'd disturbed walking in. Reaching out, she couldn't quite find the iron gate in the pitch black; there weren't any guiding lights facing away from the mansion. Pursing her lips, Lethalia reached again. The gate should've been right here. January|21
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 23, 2021 14:59:28 GMT -6
Taking the barest step forward she could, the fact that she stepped into a mount of unblemished snow instead of kicking the fence was... concerning. "Well," she mused aloud to Ardith, fairly sure the hen was looking at her with the jingling of the chain, but she couldn't be too sure. "Th'only way ou' is through, huh?" Not that the option was a favorable one, but she wasn't about to keep stumbling forward in the dark. If she managed to play games with the mansion long enough, it'd always let her go in the past. Once it had it's due fun. As much as Lethalia hoped there wasn't much of anything harmful out there, she still couldn't forget about the much smaller things that could throw the 'night' just as awry. Ardith probably wasn't stronger than her owner just yet, but the satyr wrapped the chain around her hand once more just in case. January|22
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 23, 2021 15:02:50 GMT -6
Folks joked about how houluh were the ones who would be gone with the wind if they scented a lerrel in a tree; nothing of the sort had happened with her pups, at least not yet. Fingers crossed she wouldn't get that particular personality in her kennel. But if Ardith spotted a moving creature in this unnatural darkness... she'd never be seen again, Leth was sure of it. Hatchlings were 'made' to be so competitive, even domestic babies tended to go a little nuts over potential food. For now the chain was holding and the hen hadn't considered chewing it yet, so the satyr might as well count the blessings she did have. Though. Of all things she made sure to of packed in her bag, of course she couldn't have managed to just bring a fucking flashlight. There'd been no plans to stay out until dark, and the satyr had been so confident night couldn't just sneak up on them like this. January|23
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 23, 2021 15:03:05 GMT -6
"C'mon then. Lessgo do wha' the creepy magic's sayin'." Though delivered much more brightly for Ardith's sake, Leth felt a lump form in her throat at the idea of it. Yeah, let's just follow wherever this random influx of power is leading them. Not like that was how several scary bonfire stories got their start. Nevertheless, the mansion was 'safe' (ish) and not about to let them go by merely waiting it out. Ardith was only too happy to take off the moment the satyr started walking, tugging her owner along in the dark. Enough of that sitting still while the woman stared at the ground, and then the sky, and then the nothing where the gate had been. The hen knew herself too important to be tasked with waiting on another living creature. Unless it was for eating, she didn't really care what other critters did unless they were in her way. January|24
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 23, 2021 15:03:19 GMT -6
Lethalia wouldn't be all too pleased to know that she was included in that category. As far as Ardith was concerned, the satyr was quite good at placing herself in her way and making her do things that she didn't want to do. All of those places she was trekked when she'd been fresher out of the shell, all of the codding she'd had to endure when she was too small to escape from grabbing hands. But now look at her! Stuck in the dark, the woman wasn't about to be leading the hen anywhere she didn't care to go, and it was glorious. While the hen was no guide dog, the sayr let her shoulders relax and droop as she trailed behind. Ardith would be happier anyway, if she was the one leading the charge ahead. If she had any idea where they were going, that would've been better. Ardith lv|9 ly|9 January|25
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Post by Silver on Jan 24, 2021 20:41:43 GMT -6
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 27, 2021 12:45:35 GMT -6
As they moved Lethalia lost sight of the darkened mansion, shrouded behind more inky black figures as the hen pulled her through what seemed to be a forest. Not like she could tell when all she could see were silhouettes of trunks and flowers as they passed, illuminated by a pale blue light coming from somewhere indecipherable. Their path glowed with those tiny mushrooms flourishing between the cobbles, cleared off from snow so that they might lend more of their light. Still, their eerie blue path and the hen plodding against it were all the satyr could make out of the darkness. Off to her side something rattled leaves or made some kind of hiss, startling the woman to skip a step and spin to face the noise as if she could have seen anything at all. Ardith grunted with her sudden stop, but didn't take the time herself to give the sounds a second thought. January|26
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 27, 2021 12:45:52 GMT -6
Lethalia could ignore Ardith's unhappy grunting and straining against the leash, squinting into the 'forest' around them, as if sheer force of will would manifest more than the inky black of it all. Apparently, Ardith was a lot bigger than she'd been giving the hen credit for. Another particularly strained noise off to the side where she could only sort of see the hen against the glow, and that was all the warning she got. Lethalia let a yelp slip out of her lips as the leash gave another jerk, pulling more demandingly at the chain wrapped around her wrist. "Hey-" she tried, but it was all she got out once the hen realized she was in control once again. Not that the hen was too smart for her own good - she knew better than to accuse Vidarr's children of such - but she definitely was learning how to use her body effectively. January|27
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 27, 2021 12:46:55 GMT -6
As Ardith hauled her along, Lethalia's halting hooves trailing behind the hen's surefooted venture, the satyr flinched and put a hand up to her ear. Something akin to tinnitus rang out in one side, nothing like the faraway sounds of a creature she'd been stopped by. A palm pressed to her ear did little to help, instead seeming to cause a dull roar in the other side. Thinking to call out to Ardith, her voice stuck in her throat and the rush in her ears grew deafening, killing the impulse as soon as it came. There was something - what was - going on? Every step felt as though it took tremendous effort to make, though she was rather sure she'd been following the same pace the hen kept this entire time. While she could still see Ardith's bobbing form ahead of her, the image grew blurry and distorted, strange writhing shadows against glowing sky blue. January|28
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 27, 2021 12:47:12 GMT -6
She wasn't like... tripping balls from the mushrooms, was she? It was a surprisingly coherent thought when it felt like the rest of the world was bending around her. Easy enough to dismiss the thought - it felt nothing like the drugs she'd tried before anyway. It got close; the stream of blue beneath her feet looked to be flowing so fast beneath her hooves, as if it really had turned into a glowing creek not even deep enough to submerge them. Spots played in front of her eyes to serve as a reminder against staring at something so radiant for such a long time, but she still squinted against it in vain. Ardith still ambled in front of her, but reduced to little more than an amorphous black shape bobbing along the river. Lethalia tried to pull back against the chain, testing to feel Ardith at the end of it - needing that tether to reality. January|29
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 27, 2021 12:47:28 GMT -6
Simply moving her own arm was an insurmountable effort, battling against unseen forces that seemed to urge her fist back down. Like she was fighting against currents of water; even a breath felt like it took an age to draw. So slow she didn't even realize it, the chain finally pulled taut, bouncing against the force with the glint of blue... but still wrong. The chain vibrated so slowly she could see every undulation it made from being abruptly pulled tight, but the form in front of her had yet to seem as if it had been effected by a tug at it's leash at all. The glow that once lit only their narrow path widened, a river pushing past it's banks as the light yawned and devoured the deep darkness seeped into the ground. If it were actually a river, the satyr's realization of needing to get away from rising waters would have come much too late. Ardith lv|10 ly|10 January|30
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 27, 2021 12:47:40 GMT -6
Right about when her brain caught up to the necessity of getting out of this, 'this' just - stopped. Ardith had 'come out' moments before the satyr, sitting there in a lump right in front of her. Leth stumbled at the sudden change, her actions suddenly her own as the leaden weights on her limbs dropped away in an instant. She might've tripped over the hen, but she wasn't really sure. All she knew was now she'd tripped ass over teakettle, now laid out in the (not) grass, staring up at the sky with bewildered wide eyes. The clearing's gap in the canopy revealed the sky, not terribly bright but with a dusty smoldering pink, orange clouds smattered across one side of the sky to turn purple on the opposite. It was still only barely dusk out, nowhere near what the seeming void of the forest wanted one to believe. Or - was it dawn, now? January|31
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 27, 2021 12:47:54 GMT -6
Lethalia put a hand on her temple in an attempt to calm the spinning world; she could hardly tell what way was up, let alone north. If she'd been clear minded enough to observe the unusual starry sky, the constellations might've been a guide. All her murky mind could conjure up was how strange they were; she'd never seen so many stars out even in the dead of night in middle of nowhere. And yet here it was, bright as daybreak with the cosmos shining all the same, somehow visible in spite of the glow just visible in her periperal. "Fuck." Swearing ruefully with the rememberance she wasn't alone in this, the satyr's upset growl as she rolled onto an elbow was echoed by the hen at her feet. At least she could move and didn't seem any worse for wear, aside from letting the place scramble her brains for a bit. January|32
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 27, 2021 12:48:13 GMT -6
Placing a hand on Ardith's shoulder to check the hen out, the satyr retreated in quick order when the hen hissed at her and rounded on the movement with the gaping threat of teeth. "It's jus' me, jackass," Lethalia hissed, refusing to acknowledge the way her throat constricted on the words. She didn't need to be intimidated by one of her own creatures. Maybe she just needed some anti-venom around... anti-acid? Still, she didn't really get the idea Ardith meant it as much as she was still shaken by whatever they'd just experienced. Not that it made it better, but the hen's ears flattened at the admonishment in her voice, which was the next best thing. After all, she couldn't blame her too much for being spooked as much as her owner had been. "Y'okay now?" she asked, patting the hen's neck once she sighed and slumped back to rest. January|33
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 27, 2021 12:48:26 GMT -6
While she would never hope the critters got terrorized along with her, it did help to know that the experience seem to have been shared between them. Ardith wouldn't be the first creature to think her mad, but that didn't need to start too early on. Staring up at the mansion with it's prim ivory and onyx facade, the place still looked so far away. The entire point of bringing a smaller creature was to explore inside, but now it seemed like the mansion was going to keep it's front door just one step away. Who knew how long it would play that game? She didn't always have that kind of patience, especially when it just wrung her through some strange time slow, which she wasn't keen on finding again. Lethalia gathered her wits about her enough to loudly point out to it, "Tha's bein' right rude t' a guest." January|34
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