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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 13:02:59 GMT -6
Fanged stepped into the next room, her instincts suddenly screaming at her to back away. Before she could even think to react, the ground beneath her feet split open as though someone had pried the wooden boards apart with their bare hands. She clutched at Rusty, her instincts screaming at her to protect him. Hands burst through the floorboards, scratching and grasping at her ankles. The ground turned to dust all around her. Disintegrating as though someone had pushed the fast forward button on the natural cycle of decay.
“Hold steady, Rusty! I’ll protect you!” she promised the kitten.
Rusty was alarmed, but his terror could be linked to the loud screaming that had filled the room. Fanged suddenly remembered the razor blade she had carefully gripped in her palm. Certainly that could do some damage! She slashed at the hands, angling the razor blade to prevent herself from being cut.
(Rusty 5 1/5, 5 1/5)
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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 13:08:45 GMT -6
The screaming intensified when she managed to slash one of the hands. Fanged half expected it to start spurting blood and found herself unnerved when black goop oozed out. It didn’t look to be the right colour for old blood, even if that blood had decayed. It appeared the hands weren’t human even if they were meant to mimic them. After a few moments, the hand she had slashed shuddered and went still. Was it dead? She hoped it was dead.
“Alright, I think I can get us out of here, but it’ll take me a while,” she told Rusty.
The kitten squirmed in her grasp. He was a bit large for her to comfortably carry, but she could haul him along with a bit of effort. If she could get him to the corner, she would be in a position where she could easily guard him. But she would need to slash some hands first.
(Rusty 5 2/5, 5 2/5)
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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 13:14:34 GMT -6
She braced herself as another hand leaped at her. She held the razorblade steady, allowing the hand to damage itself against the object. This one immediately burst into dust as it was defeated. Fanged covered her mouth to prevent herself from breathing in anything harmful. She sprinted for the corner, stomping on top of another hand as she moved. This one simply crumbled underneath her weight. The dirt smeared across her already filthy shoes.
“I need you to stay still,” she warned Rusty.
He listened, though it was mostly due to him being paralyzed by fear than actually listening to her orders. This wasn’t going to be helpful for his overall mental health. There was little she could do about that. For now, she needed to defeat all of the hands. Another one leaped at her. It was attached to a long, rotten arm. She slashed at the arm, shuddering as it too leaked black goo.
(Rusty 5 3/5, 5 3/5)
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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 13:21:55 GMT -6
At least it didn’t seem like more hands were appearing. This hoard had an end to it. She kept one eye on Rusty as she moved forward, advancing on the next hand before it could get the jump on her. She pounced on it, moving swift like a cat. She drove the blade down, driving it into the appendage. This one screeched in pain before bursting into flames. Fanged stomped on the fire, terrified that it would spread. Thankfully, it was easy enough for her to put out and soon all that remained of the hand was a pile of ash.
“That’s another one down,” she muttered.
There were only a few left now. They seemed afraid of her. One tried to bury itself back into the ground. It was having difficulty maneuvering itself back into the dirt, however. She advanced on that one. Stomping it with her shoes before it could escape.
(Rusty 5 4/5, 5 4/5)
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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 13:32:46 GMT -6
There were only three hands left now. With a little skill, they should be able to be taken care of with ease. She moved to the closest one, kicking it before it could scuttle away. It burst into dust upon impact, giving Fanged a tiny spark of excitement. Rusty glanced at her, as though warning her against such emotions. She moved to the next one, this time using the razorblade to cut through its skin. It shuddered and collapsed, slowly melting into a pile a black goo.
“These things don’t have very many tricks up their sleeves, do they?” she teased.
Feeling more confident, she moved towards the last one. This one shuddered in fear and tried to back away from her. Fanged pressed down any feelings of guilt before ending its existence. The screaming stopped and Rusty relaxed now that the noise was gone.
“I hope there aren’t more of those,” she said.
(Rusty 6, 6)
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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 13:41:49 GMT -6
Fanged took a moment to rest. She was filthier than ever and she yearned to take a shower. She stepped over to Rusty, leaning in the pet him. The halfbreed stiffened for a moment before relaxing. He leaned into her touch before long. After a few minutes like that, Rusty seemed to calm down. Fanged felt guilty for bringing him into such a scary place, but the situation couldn’t be helped. He was a lot safer here with her than he had been in the other place.
“I suppose we can’t exactly avoid danger entirely. It doesn’t matter where you go.”
Fanged had no desire to stay in the current room. She gripped Rusty’s leash and the two of them navigated their way across the room. The door was heavy, but she managed to open it with a little bit of effort. She led Rusty through, not even taking the time to glance back.
(Rusty 6 1/5, 6 1/5)
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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 14:04:06 GMT -6
The next room was eerily quiet in comparison to the last. Rusty didn’t seem to mind. He trotted around happily, as though the dangers of the last room were far from his mind. Fanged found herself forgetting her troubles as well. Dwelling on the past wouldn’t change the present. If anything, she had learned how to fight strange hand monsters. That had to count for something.
“I guess I’ll be learning my whole life,” she commented.
The room was rather dull compared to the last, but she wasn’t about to complain. She could take a breather and utilize her skills of investigation. The room was filled with an assortment of objects. It reminded her of the cardboard box room, but without the boxes. Decorations were spread with little care for how they were placed. These decorations were of a higher quality, they looked almost realistic. Their unnatural stillness tipped them off as fake, however.
(Rusty 6 2/5, 6 2/5)
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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 14:08:17 GMT -6
There were cobwebs in this room, but they were most definitely real. They were dotted with tiny house spiders that would scuttle around without prompting from her.
“Their size leaves something to be desired. I don’t find myself frightened by an ordinary house spider. Perhaps I would be if there were some black widows in here.”
Rusty stared at the spiders. He appeared conflicted, as though he were uncertain if he should bat at the spider webs or not. It seemed to be a dilemma for him and Fanged wanted to know what the conflict was.
“I won’t get mad if you break the webs, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she told him.
Rusty shook himself, stepping away from the webs and closer to the woman. It seemed he had decided not to destroy the spider homes. Fanged supposed that the spiders would be pleased with this new development.
(Rusty 6 3/5, 6 3/5)
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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 14:14:34 GMT -6
“I suppose the mansion wants me to sort through more junk. Maybe there’s something here that I can use to clean myself up with,” she said.
The Vai Min Mur decorations had nothing on the hands from the last room. Those had been unsettling. She might have been truly frightened if she hadn’t experienced worse things.
“I’ll see if I can find you something to play with. Maybe it’ll take your mind off things.”
What she needed right now would be something to clean herself off with and something for Rusty to play with. She didn’t feel like she was asking for a whole lot here, but it’d take a sharp eye to find what she was looking for.
“What sort of toys do you like? You seem sort of like the type to be easily amused. I hope that proves true. It’s nice to see creatures that still have a playful innocence to them.”
(Rusty 6 4/5, 6 4/5)
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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 14:20:44 GMT -6
There were standing shelves full of decorations throughout the entirety of the room. For some reason, the mansion seemed to be under the impression that she needed a Vai Min Mur decoration warehouse. She wouldn’t complain as long as the hands stayed away. She scanned the shelves closest to her, trying to figure out what Rusty might be entertained by. Her eyes lay on a rubber rat. She was aware that Rusty had some sort of cat-like creature as a DNA parent, maybe he would respond well to the rat. She grabbed it and placed it on the ground next to him. Rusty responded by sniffing at the rubber rat and then yawning. It seemed he wasn’t in the mood for rat.
“Maybe some string then. Cats are supposed to like string.”
She’d need to find some first. It didn’t have to be string. She would make due with some streamers or a similar item.
(Rusty 7, 7)
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Post by Jack on Oct 4, 2019 14:22:54 GMT -6
 It sat on a shelf, staring at the halfbreed with a twitch of it's tail, ignoring the woman for now at least. There was a ball of string at it's paws, it had been playing with it for a little while now. |
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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 14:36:03 GMT -6
Fanged could feel a presence in the room. It was sudden, as though she were being watched. She was perceptive enough to know when she was. She scanned the room, trying to narrow in on the location of the beast that was watching them. Her eyes on the top of a shelf to her right. There was a fox like creature perched on a shelf. Its eyes were narrowed in on Rusty and at its paws was a ball of string.
“I hope you’re good at making friends. We don’t have the means to fight it off. Not that it looks mean. Perhaps it would appreciate a companion to play with? You’ll have to take the lead on this one,” she explained to Rusty.
Her words went straight over the halfbreed’s head. She caught his attention though. Rusty looked up and met the creature’s gaze. What did it have? It looked fun! Rusty crouched into a hunter’s pose. The instinct was reminiscent of his cat parent, but the execution left something to be desired. It was clumsy and when he pounced forward, he moved in a zigzag pattern. When it became apparent to the Lazaru that the string was not on the ground, he sat back on his hindquarters and began to bat his tiny paws into the air. When nothing happened, he let out a tiny meep.
(Rusty 7 1/5, 7 1/5)
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Post by Jack on Oct 4, 2019 14:47:46 GMT -6
The creature tilted it's head at the antics of the other animal, and then slowly lowered some of the string to it. Unfortunately it was like the animal itself, ethereal, but the gesture could be nice right now.
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Post by Fanged on Oct 4, 2019 15:04:08 GMT -6
The creature seemed to take pity on Rusty. It lowered its string enough so that Rusty would be able to reach it. To Fanged’s surprise, when Rusty’s paw met with the string, it went straight through the object. Rusty didn’t seem to mind that the string had essentially become uncatchable. He continued to bat away at it, meeping in delight every time his paws touched where the string was meant to be.
“Does that make this creature a ghost? Most people would be frightened by the prospect of playing with ghosts, but it is a common enough trait among lab created beings. I suppose the correct terminology would be ethereal, but for all intents and purposes, they are identical to ghosts.”
The creature was rather fascinating. Fanged had experience with ethereal creatures, but that was mostly from investigating ghost sightings and coming face to face with an ethereal beast. She hadn’t seen an ethereal being manipulate ethereal objects before. She hadn’t even known such a thing to exist, but it made sense. Most ghost sightings came from ethereal creatures that had some form of telekinetic or illusionary ability. Finding out the capabilities of this creature would be interesting.
(Rusty 7 2/5, 7 2/5)
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Post by Jack on Oct 4, 2019 16:19:24 GMT -6
It stared at the little halfbreed as it tried to bat at the string, making an odd noise whenever it did so. It didn't quite understand things, but that was fine it figured, it didn't necessarily have to. Throwing back it's head, it let loose a long, drawn out howl in amusement.
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