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Post by Leafy on May 19, 2019 17:35:39 GMT -6
It appeared Leafy was going to have no outside help trying to open this door. She was going to have to rely on the wits conjured up by her and Antony alone. Who knows, perhaps Kuru would show some sign of genius and figure it out all on his own. She turned back to the door for better examination. The entire seemed like a puzzle now that she’d gotten a better look. Antony watched closely as she worked, trying to see if he could figure it out on his own as well. She frowned as she tried to figure things out.
She placed her hand on the locking mechanism. The top of it could be slid around, so she decided to try out different positions. She worked until she finally heard a click. Once that happened, the lock slide open. Would the door open now? It seemed a little bit too easy to Leafy, but now all puzzles needed to be challenging. She pushed on the doors and to her surprise, they slid open with a bit of effort. With that out of the way, Leafy used one hand to hold open the doors and ushered her pets through them.
(Antony 13 1/5, 25 1/5 | Kuru 11 1/5, 16 1/5)
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Post by Renathan on May 19, 2019 21:24:48 GMT -6
 A beautiful shimmering dragonfly darts past, looking quite dream-like. Is it even real? [31-35] |
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Post by Leafy on May 20, 2019 9:08:03 GMT -6
She hoped the new room would be a little more exciting than the last one had been. Though of course she didn’t want to be in constant danger, a bit of adventure was always nice. The second they entered the new room, another small dragonfly like being flew out from nowhere and landed on her shoulder. She nearly swatted at it out of instinct, but luckily held herself back before she could harm the poor creature. Antony gave a gruff laugh as he stepped past her. Leafy stuck her tongue out in retaliation as she placed the small creature in her backpack along with the rest.
Kuru trotted into the room, eager to explore the new place. Leafy took the time to look around the new room as well. The whole thing appeared to be covered in a thick layer of fog. She glanced around quickly to see if there was a source for the fog, but she could see none. Perhaps it was simply some sort of natural effect within this room. This room was quite strange in that it actually had furniture. It seemed like a normal thing for a room to have, but its attempt at normalcy made her uneasy.
(Antony 13 2/5, 25 2/5 | Kuru 11 2/5, 16 2/5)
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Post by Leafy on May 20, 2019 11:42:21 GMT -6
The furniture in the room appeared well worn. It seemed a bit unusual for the mansion. It could have chosen to conjure up completely brand-new furniture if it wanted. There were couches along the walls that were bright pink in colour and appeared to be made out of a substance similar to leather. Kuru was immediately drawn to it. A feat that was impressive considering he couldn’t even see it. Antony shook himself before padding over towards the coffee table that was placed in front of one of the pink couches. Leafy didn’t see what was so interesting about a table and instead opted to search the opposite end of the room.
Leafy took a moment to search for the door, frowning when she saw nothing. This would be another one of those tricks. Usually there would be something of note in the room that would allow her to find where the door was hidden. In the center of the room was a bookshelf. It was in a rather odd location which meant that it was likely important. Kuru had managed to climb up onto the pink couch and was triumphantly standing on top of it. He puffed his chest out in pride.
(Antony 13 3/5, 25 3/5 | Kuru 11 3/5, 16 3/5)
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Post by Leafy on May 20, 2019 12:53:29 GMT -6
Leafy decided to examine the bookshelf closely. The titles of the book were crazy combinations of words that made no sense as titles. The first title she read was “Impurity Equillions”. Leafy had heard of Pure Equillions but the correct terminology for the opposite would be something along the lines of “Impure Equillions”. A strange title for sure. She picked up the book and flipped it open. Unexpectedly, it was a fictional book. Leafy was expecting it to be some sort of scientific research, but instead it was a simple fairy tale. It was about a baby Pure Equillion that grew up to be a monster. When it became an adult, it slaughtered an entire village.
“That wasn’t a happy story at all,” she remarked.
Antony glanced at her curiously. She knew he was immediately curious about the book.
“Listen to this. The Equillion roared with the strength of a thunderstorm. He loamed over the small village as a harbinger of death. With a look of great intensity, the Equillion reared back and let loose a breath of fire. The village was consumed in flames and it burned entirely to the ground. There were no survivors and the Equillion left for the next village.”
(Antony 13 4/5, 25 4/5 | Kuru 11 4/5, 16 4/5)
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Post by Leafy on May 20, 2019 13:12:05 GMT -6
Kuru listened to her just as intently as Antony was. When she finished reading the passage, the tiny Felusine let out a low whine. Antony nodded at her to continue reading. Leafy wasn’t sure if she wanted to.
“With one village destroyed, the Equillion soon arrived at the largest town in the region. The townspeople fled in fear. News of the burned down village had spread and terror struck through the heart of every villager. Now it was their turn to burn. The Equillion inhaled a deep, fiery breath and unleashed it onto the town. Immediately, the town went up in flames, burning with the intensity of a wayward sun. When the Equillion finally stopped, the town and all its people were burned to ash.”
Leafy shuddered as she reached the end of the story. It was by no means a happy story. Kuru appeared enthralled with it. He sat on the couch, his ears pricked forward and his fur bristled. However, he did not appear upset, he appeared almost excited to listen to the story. Perhaps he enjoyed being scared?
“Well that certainly was an interesting tale,” Antony remarked.
Leafy found herself nodding along. She shut the book and put it back onto the shelf.
(Antony 14, 27 | Kuru 12, 17)
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Post by Jack on May 20, 2019 13:13:50 GMT -6
Something rumbled as soon as the book was put on the shelf. The shelf moved to the side, accessing a secret passageway!
[Nothing happens]
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Post by Leafy on May 20, 2019 14:59:48 GMT -6
Leafy jumped back when a secret passage swung open. It frightened her and she almost lost her balance. Kuru jumped as well at the strange noise. Antony wasn’t as easily startled as they had been. In fact, it almost appeared as though he had expected this. Leafy shrugged and grabbed one of the more interesting looking books off of the shelf. Afterwards, she herded Kuru through the passageway with Antony following close behind.
“I figured it might be fun to read to him while we explored,” she commented.
Antony nodded and pushed in front of her. If there was something dangerous to be found, he wanted to be the first of them to face it. In the passage, it was too dark to read the book she grabbed. Kuru would have to wait for her to reach some light before he could listen to another story. He seemed alright with that. He knew they were headed to a new room and he was concentrating on doing exactly that. The passage twisted in a spiral. There was no staircase, but the floor descended all the same. If Leafy slipped she felt that she would slide down the passage as though it were some kind of ride.
(Antony 14 1/5, 27 1/5 | Kuru 12 1/5, 17 1/5)
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Post by Leafy on May 20, 2019 15:17:33 GMT -6
They walked steadily for a while, following along the passage as it twisted and turned. There were lights lining the walls, though they were too dim to reveal much. She hoped they would reach the end soon. The book in her hands was just waiting to be read. Even if the story was morbid, Leafy still wanted to know what was going to happen. Antony led them forward, acting as the protector of the group. She had recently bought an injection for him, but she hadn’t had a chance to give it to him yet. She hoped he would appreciate having access to new powers. They had talked for a while about injections and Antony had settled on a cold injection.
“You know once we get back from this trip, you’ll be ready to have your cold injection,” she commented.
Antony’s ears perked forward. She knew it was something he’d been wanting for a while. She could hardly blame him. The prospect of ice breath was intriguing and if she could give herself some interesting new powers, she would. If she wanted to have that kind of power, she’d need to find some magic crystals. Then she’d need to turn those crystals into a node.
(Antony 14 2/5, 27 2/5 | Kuru 12 2/5, 17 2/5)
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Post by Leafy on May 20, 2019 15:46:02 GMT -6
Leafy didn’t know all that much about magic. Most of her knowledge came from books she had read. She had found the occasional crystal and had even sold some for money. She liked the chaos crystals. She thought she’d like to do something with them. She’d need to find more of them first, however. The passage ended abruptly. It ended with a door that was painted entirely black. Leafy might not have seen it if the hallway wasn’t a dead end otherwise.
“Well I suppose we should check it out,” she told her pets.
Kuru was eager to enter the room. He pressed the pads of his front feet against the door and tried to push it open. Leafy had to lean over and twist the doorknob first before he was able to be let in. The door itself was easy to open and once it was, Kuru dashed in. The first thing Leafy noticed was the strange images on the wall. They appeared like a mural, though the image was distorted. She couldn’t quite make out what it was meant to represent. She leaned down and ran her fingers through Kuru’s fur, wanting to feel some sense of normalcy in the room.
(Antony 14 3/5, 27 3/5 | Kuru 12 3/5, 17 3/5)
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Post by Leafy on May 20, 2019 16:13:11 GMT -6
Leafy wished she could get a better look at the images. They seemed like they would be really impressive if they weren’t completely blurred out. Leafy looked down at the book in her hands. It was light enough in this room that she could make out the title.
“A Scary Night,” she read aloud. “Sounds like it’s going to be scary. But you don’t mind, do you Kuru?” she cooed at the baby Felusine.
So far, he hadn’t shown much fright at being told scary stories. Leafy felt like he was probably able to understand most of the words she spoke. Even though he was just a baby, he was a fast learner. Leafy hoped he’d been learning words as she spoke them. She’d tried to have him spend time with her and Antony so that he’d pick up on language. He was still a baby and ever silent. He liked to yip and growl and she had yet to hear any other noise from him. Antony pricked his ears as the girl read the title. Like her, he was interested in how scary a simple book could possibly be.
“I take it less seriously since it had scary in the title,” she commented.
(Antony 14 4/5, 27 4/5 | Kuru 12 4/5, 17 4/5)
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Post by Leafy on May 20, 2019 16:41:10 GMT -6
“Once upon a time, in a land far away there lived a princess,” Leafy began to read. “Sounds scary so far. Anyways, that princess was locked in a tower, without any contact from the outside world.”
“It sounds very scary so far,” Antony chimed in.
Leafy laughed and continued reading. “That princess had a dark and terrible secret. Once when she was little, she was bitten by a strange wolf. She fell very ill and began to have the strangest dreams. Late at night when the moon was at its brightest, she started to transform. Underneath the bright moonlight, she’d turn into a monster.”
Leafy rolled her eyes. It seemed like a pretty stereotypical story to her. The Equillion story had been a lot scarier. As she read, the images on the walls grew brighter and sharper. She wasn’t quite able to make out what they were, but the colours were more defined. They were slowly starting to take shape with every word she read. Kuru let out a low growl when she paused for a moment. It seemed as though he never wanted her to stop reading. Leafy felt a bit bad that she hadn’t grabbed more books. This one didn’t seem that long.
(Antony 15, 29 | Kuru 13, 18)
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Post by Leafy on May 20, 2019 16:57:31 GMT -6
“When the princess was transformed, she had the strangest urges. When her parents locked her up in her bedroom at night, she would sneak out. Once outside she would wander around the town searching for something to eat. When she spotted her prey, she would let out a great and terrible howl. She would charge forward, her teeth barred and her monstrous body tensed. She would leap higher than the trees and land on her prey with her teeth sunk into their throat. She would eat the flesh off of the body and leave the bones behind. Then she would sneak back into her room and pretend to be asleep.”
As Leafy read, the shapes on the wall became even clearer. She could make out the shape of a wolf-like creature with a hairy body and large fangs. Even though Kuru couldn’t see the images, he was still enthralled with the story. Antony watched in bemusement. A wolf-like creature wouldn’t bother him. After all, Vulticus were very much like wolves themselves. In fact, it was rumoured that Vulticus hunted wolves to the brink of extinction. Leafy didn’t know for sure. She hadn’t ever seen much in the way of natural born creatures.
(Antony 15 1/5, 29 1/5 | Kuru 13 1/5, 18 1/5)
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Post by Leafy on May 20, 2019 17:17:30 GMT -6
“Before long, people began to realize that villagers were disappearing at night. The king and queen implemented a curfew to ensure that there would be no more disappearances. This was not ideal for the princess. She still needed to eat and without easy access to the villagers, she needed a new plan. She knew that if she didn’t eat, she might lose even more control than she had. She would need a meal before long, one that consisted of human meat and blood. Without that, there was no telling who she’d turn on.”
The story was growing more and more morbid which intrigued Leafy. Kuru listened with his ears pricked forward and his tongue lazily flopped out of his mouth. Antony appeared intrigued for the same reasons that Leafy was. She glanced at the pictures on the walls once more. She could see a village with dark colours. A night sky had emerged on the ceiling, depicting the town as it appeared at night. Red eyes were painted within a dark forest, representing the princess as she prowled about on her nightly hunt. The image was eerie and it served to make the story appear almost as though it was real.
(Antony 15 2/5, 29 2/5 | Kuru 13 2/5, 18 2/5)
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Post by Renathan on May 20, 2019 17:26:43 GMT -6
 What a pretty dream catcher! Is it actually... attached to anything? [41-45] |
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