Post by Joliette Thorne on Aug 7, 2008 22:10:04 GMT -5
--Mangrove Beach--
Tenebrae had stared after Leo a good long moment after he'd given up and wandered off to gods-knew-where. She stayed, like a dark bird roosting among mangrove leaves, until the chill sea wind brought her clambering to the sand again. What thoughts flew lazy circles around the sundry troubles of her mind, who could say, but she'd find a spot to sit and ponder the ocean's endless swell until they'd gone, or picked bones clean. So that was where she was, making sport of little crabs she 'raced' between flotsam twigs, heedless and uncaring of what might stalk or walk behind.
Myrall saunters out, quite relaxed from between two large bushes holding a strange fruit up to her nose, sniffing suspiciously. Spotting Tenebrae up on her perch she calls. "I don't suppose you know if I can eat this? Last thing I need is gut ache atop of everything else, but I'm famished and there seems to be little else about that looks edible.”
Tenebrae turned to the sound of the dwarfess' voice, peering at the fruit with a worried look that might have told Myrall of the dangers of eating the produce of the forest. Recognising the species as one that Gomrak collected regularly, she nodded. "It's fine. You should talk to Gom about the plants here. For one, he'll save you a sore gut or early grave, and he also has some interesting herbs.. ouch!" She scowled, lifted a finger to which was appended one of those crabs, shaking it hard to dislodge to creature. Then she stood, brushing sand from herself. "S’pose we'd better take you home, soon." Slightly abashed, she hurried to continue, "Need to fetch water first."
Myrall sits down on the soft sand and proceeds to pick at the fruit, her grumbling stomach demanding satisfaction but her natural caution staying her hand. The word home slowly filters through her own thoughts and her head snaps up. "I take it there is another way off this Sven-forsaken hell hole? As I'll not be man handled on to that death trap again." she shakes her head violently from side to side. "I'd rather risk the terrors of Valkor's wings than that fate, and no amount of ale or opiates is going to change my mind."
Tenebrae only chewed her lip, edging toward the tall grasses that commenced the swampland, after fossicking in her pack for a couple of empty animal-skin water bags. One of these, she'd toss to Myrall. "Find a long stick. The way to the spring is full of bog-holes." Change of topic, hasty-like, and she wended her way into the marsh.
Myrall lets the water skin land on the ground beside her, making no effort to catch it. As the vampiress heads off into the swap she reluctantly reaches for the bag and stands brushing the sand from her breeks. Looking towards the dense tangle of shrubbery and bushes, the woman stops a moment to take the proffered advice and grubbing about on the boundaries of the greenery, finds a stout branch and hacks the excess foliage from it before trudging after Tenebrae.
Tenebrae could hear Myrall behind her, the necromancer with her own ground-tester prodding at suspiciously flat patches of ground. "Look for where there's lots of grass, like this.." She bent, tugged up a handful of yellowish blades and turned to the Queen. "It can't grow unless there's something solid to root itself in." This advice dispensed, she offered the woman a little smile, and turned back to the path. With a bit of luck, Myrall wouldn't push her in.
Myrall grunts her acknowledgement, and peers at the scrubby grass, momentarily studying it so that she might easily recognise it again in the half light, before continuing after Tenebrae.
--Quicksand Pools--
Terra cocked a brow but continued to smile. She’d eventually rise, stretching and glancing towards the east. “They stayed too?” Excitement lingered in her voice. While Leoxander was great and all, it’d be great to see . . . actual faces. As if it were an afterthought, she’d look back to Leo. “But I do know.” As was her usual, she’d nod, physically confirming this to be a fact. Falling quiet, she’d await Leo’s next move – to proceed or to stay? It was up to him, quite frankly. She wasn’t risking being left alone yet again.
Tenebrae seemed to have a habit of leading poor Myrall from frying pan to fire, though the only such element found here would be the luminous flit of will'o'wisps floating like the ghosts of butterflies over the mire's various sink-holes. She checked back, now and then, to make sure the royal dwarf was still following and not up to her neck in sandy bogwaters. The spring, which she had never yet herself visited, lay across the treacherous stretch, knowledge of it gleaned from Adair's travels into this unknown part of the island on the last journey. The cloudlike swarms of gnats and mosquitoes that pervaded such places had no use for a vampire, but might just enjoy the taste of dwarf. "Y'alright there, Myrall? Not far now." A voice sounded, faint through the insect's burzing hum had her risk a hastened pace. Who'd be out here, in such a place? The answer was soon discovered, the pair of figures glimpsed ahead greeted with something of a flat look. With lips of string, she trudged onward toward them, somehow forgetting to wave and shout a greeting, and such.
Leoxander wasn't going to leave her entirely alone, yet. Though he was aware of the scents, the signs, the sounds of an approach, and despite Tenebrae's past assumptions, he didn't know whether or not she would be safe in the center of quicksand pools, wallowing in whatever sorrow a woman was left to face. He dropped down to four legs and shook off roughly, sandy fur dusting the air and drifting to the ground. "You only think you do..." he muttered in response, waiting for the sight of Tenebrae, or Myrall. He could smell them both, and when Tenebrae's expression came into view, the wolf could only lay his ears back in a silent response. His shoulders moved as he stalked forward toward the two, a huge lupine beast with fur tipping his ears and spiked along his spine. Would the dwarf recognize him? Even his tattoos were distorted as dark markings in his coarse, pale coat. Still, he closed the distance without a word or a growl, leaving the Necromancer's thoughts to stew until they were sour again. He had no reason to defend himself, as stated before. A sidelong glance spared to Myrall, in passing, and he'd circle the two like prey, silently.
Terra wouldn't involve herself in this. As soon as she witnessed Tene's expression, the vampiress immediately started off the way she came. Only a wave would be spared for Myrall. "I'm not fighting. And I'm not going to be alongside those that I fear would just as soon kill me as smile at me." Carefully, she'd tread back over the weeds and vanish.
Leoxander risked a glance back in Terra's direction when she spoke.
Myrall 's reply to her erstwhile friend's concern is muffled by the cloak she has pulled round her face to prevent herself swallowing any of the various small flying insects that seem to be buzzing around her face and head, but the mere tone is an indication that it wasn't a polite answer. As the stout shillelagh she hastily fashioned on the beach sinks yet again into the quagmire that seems to surround her she stumbles forward almost knocking into Tenebrae's back, a stream of muffled dwarven filling the night air. Pulling the cloak from her mouth she hisses "I bloody well hope we are, as this is no place for a dwarf."
"No place for a vampire, either..." Tene spoke aside to Myrall, who'd nearly get a faceful of Tene's arm when that limb was thrust out to the side, a signal for the dwarf to halt. For Leo was approaching with his ears set at that angle she was becoming familiar with, and whatever she thought of that response was kept to herself while she spoke softly to Myrall. "Don't make any sudden moves. It's Leo. But he's..." No need to go to lengthy explanation.
She paused there, let the situation settle as it would, though Terra's skulking off produced a raise of voice, "Do be careful, on the path." Then her voice lowered an octave. "Wouldn't want you to fall in."
Myrall comes to an abrupt halt, and digs her staff into the soft ground, heeding Tene's warning she waits to see how the lycan will react to their presence.
Leoxander was as Tenebrae failed to describe. Over seven feet tall on two legs, but currently he was dropped down to four in order to be at level range of the dwarf. All the easier to see her, smell her, maybe take a bite..? She couldn't have suspected the ship captain, the shady criminal who took offers from drunk husbands, to turn into this, could she? A thick coat bristled at the nape of his neck like the flare of a reptile's venom glands as he tilted his head in to sniff in her direction, snorting his exhale heavily. Vicious claws dug into the earth to display that ability to rip skin, so easily, in a swipe. Though he was clearly built for two legs, judging by his slender waist and the set of narrow hips, he managed to move as stealthily as he might on his best thieving nights. Maybe better. Eyes locked on the dwarf, he observed her... intently. Somehow, he knew her.
Tenebrae was wary enough to keep that pointy stick at hand, watching the Captain prowl about the Queen as if stalking some jungle-bred tidbit. Not that a stick'd do much good against.. what he was, now. Were she in a better mood, she might have done something soothing, to ensure safe passage, whether he'd follow them on their quest for water or not. But her stint of being left in the tree and irritation of sundry bugs that clogged her vision, and guilt, on top of whatever else had just been added to the mix had indeed produced a lack of willingness to coddle anyone. "Don't eat the Queen, if you can help it. We need to get water. Time you took the poor woman home." The words were spoken politely enough.
Myrall 's grip tightens on the stick, her ever active mind calculating the odds of success for both flight and fight, but being as she was an ornery little madam she merely emits a low warning growl as the fearsome beast prowls about her.
Leoxander snapped back readily, prepared to face Tenebrae's mood and counter with one of his own. He'd witnessed the expression, and felt the tension in her body, now. "No." The growl rumbled on, passed the sound of his voice, and a claw was dragged along the dirt, tearing the plants as though they could feel no pain. "Not yet..." Leo wasn't polite in the least, and from the Necromancer, he looked toward the dwarf once more, a poisonous look in feral eyes. He knew, beyond wild, bestial thoughts, he had a job to do. "We need her..."
Tenebrae offered the lycan a sere look before beckoning Myrall onward. "Careful now, the ground gets worse before it gets better." As though to illustrate this, her bare leg'd sink halfway into a pool of muck that'd camouflaged itself as a bit of solid ground. Losing balance, she leant hard to drag herself aright, preventing a fall to one of those untidy heaps she wasn't so fond of. Of course, her frown was well improved by that. "Remember, keep to the grasses." To Leo, she half-turned, half-shrugged. "You coming?" She'd rather have him where she could see him, even if it did only add to his animosity.
Myrall inches forward carefully, one eye on Leo and a weather eye on the difficult terrain, the normally sure footed dwarf finding this whole situation rather difficult to traverse both mentally and physical lets out another string of dwarven expletives before adding in common. "Couldn't just take me for a nice trip to the Xalious mountains now could you?"
Leoxander offered a low grunt in his chest in response before he started after the pair, ears swiveling forward again when Tenebrae's leg was nearly caught by the swallowing sand. "No..." He spoke gruffly behind Myrall and kept right behind her, in order to encourage her to keep moving. "We couldn't..." Humanity somehow shined through this feral exterior. Even a careful look to his eyes would show his pupils shifting, wider, then shrinking back into an unpredictable state, torn between thief and beast. "Consider this your opportunity..." Referring back to a speech he'd made on the boat, Leo would reveal, right then, that the two minds linked... somehow.
Tenebrae was some ways ahead, familiarity with the place offering her a surer footing than the dwarf, though she'd look behind ever few feet until Leo took the rear guard. She relaxed a little then, whether because Myrall was safer, or just because he was there. She didn't spare a thought to wonder what they were talking about, intent on getting the trio clear of the swamps. Soon, the ground rose beyond the low lines of the mire, sand then rock underfoot. Were she further than a little way ahead by then, she'd stop and wait for the pair to catch up.
Myrall, feeling rather like the uncomfortable meat in the middle of the sandwich sighs and plods after Tenebrae, careful to try and stay far enough in front of Leo and his canines.
-- Mountain Spring--
Leoxander paused at the base of a steep incline, head tilting back and tall, fur tipped ears laying back against a shag of blonde mane, as it were. Very careful and thorough inspection of this beast, if one could settle themselves to look for so long, would reveal traces of the pirate. The red No-quarter armband wound round a furry biceps with traces of dark fur matted in a design beneath, the spines of blonde hanging over his eyes and the shadow of dark whiskers on his face. Beneath the fearsome appearance the rogue remained, and he now judged this mountain as an obstacle waiting to be conquered. Careless of the concerns of those around him, the lycanthrope leapt upon water-sculpted stone and downstream of a shallow, glittering pool, he would bow his head to drink like any wolf might do, only.... he used the palm of a clawed hand to scoop it up to his mouth. This spring was his only alternative to a ship stocked with barrels of fresh water.
Tenebrae waited a few minutes for the Cap'n -- she always thought of him that way, no matter the shape he took -- to finish drinking, and dipped her waterskin deep into the spring's natural bowl, squeezing air out which rose in a silver glub of bubbles. While waiting for the skin to fill, she glanced around at the apparent oasis in the midst of hostile terrain. It wasn't too unpleasant, and when her chore was done she too would cup a handful of water, splashing spatters of mud and grime from her features, careful not to let any of the runoff fall back into the small pool. It was a relief to wash with something that wasn't brine. Her eyes drifted toward the mountain. Though she'd seen the other, this side was a mystery. A dark splotch in the stone ahead caught her interest. "Wonder what's up there..?" It was only a mutter, spoken through another faceful of the refreshing liquid, stepping back to allow Myrall her turn.
Myrall follows Tenebrae's lead and clambers forward, but lays flat on the ground so that she can dip her skin into the crystal clear water. Satisfied that the flask is full she scrambles away from the pools edge muttering to herself. "Couldn't find me a pool of ale now could they?"
"The thought crossed my mind..." Was the grumbled sound to come from deep within the lycan's chest, as he sat back on his calves and crossed his thickly furred arms over his knees. His attention was still skybound, though the canopy above would block his view from the stars, or sun, depending on the time of day. From below, at the island's sea level, it was almost constantly dark once one ventured from the bright beach. He remarked with an idle swish of his tail. "The view'd be a helluva lot better."
Leoxander took the time to wonder how difficult it would be for Myrall to follow them. As stated, they needed her...
Tenebrae found it in her to grin at the dwarfess' grumbled wish, and slung the waterskin over shoulders that were cleaner than they'd been in a week. She vowed to sneak back for a proper bath before they left. And with that grin, her sour mood lifted like dark clouds from the face of a mountain's peak. There was a sense of adventure, a thrill that would not be denied and was somewhat needed to help the woman keep even keel in what had, on the whole, been a troublesome trip. "I'm going up..." And her steps held less trudge than spring as she took to that cracked and ancient road that rose upward, half-grown over with grasses and roots.
--Yawning Mouth--
Tenebrae shouted, "Hurry up! I found something!"
Myrall stands wearily, still not happy with the whole situation, but still glad to be on dry land and heading upwards. Mountains, no matter where they were, were her home territory after all, and craggy rocks and out crops her preferred foothold. Looking after the vampire she feigns a sigh as she slings the water skin over her shoulder and follows after her.
Rock and plants would meet their demise at the base of that steep hill, and the lycan clawed his way into the soil for traction as he should climb. A step behind Myrall, motivation enough, for every time she'd look back she'd see the glowering face of a werewolf. Eventually, they would catch up.
Leoxander paused at the opening of this tunnel, his low voice a bass pitch and trembling through the twisted path in a vibrating growl. "I can't fit through this..." Could he? Well, this would be another challenge to overcome, that was for certain.
-- Twisted Tunnel--
Darkness was her home, and so the dimness of the caverns would prove little barrier to the vampiress' progress, though the sharp shards of stalactite or shale that proved hard going in places slowed her down enough to ensure the others would find her, when the tunnel narrowed hard. They might hear her voice, echoing back even in that tight place. "Looks like a path here, too..." A rustle from the unseeable roof of the tunnel, gods knew how many feet overhead at this point, had memories of bats flit through her mind, and she instinctively ducked her head. No spiders, at least... She’d even offer Leo a hand to help him squish through, if he needed it.
Leoxander was not pleased by this scenario. How could she expect him to fit through there in the state he was in? Or maybe, he couldn't go on in this state, and that was her plan. The lycan could only assume this went along with her sudden instinct to climb trees, now she was squirming into small spaces that a dwarf, a human, or a vampire could explore. But a werewolf? Claws scraped on stone as he struggled to keep his hold, pulling himself onto the ledge at the opening of the twisted tunnel. "Tenebrae." The name was barked angrily, echoing through the caverns, but there was only one thing to do. Settling into a seat and hugging himself into a ball, he started to think about triggering memories that might change him. But as Leo had such little control, it could take awhile to resort back to the pirate he'd been. A deep breath didn't quite calm him... what if there were spiders in there?
Leoxander glanced at her hand, and took a harmless snap at it.
Tenebrae's hand groped whitely through that gap-- maybe it found Myrall instead? "Leo?" She damned well wasn't leaving him to the tender care of Miss-Damned-Mercy. "You there?"
Leoxander viciously replied. "How do you expect me to bloody fit through there?" Oh yes, the pirate was in that mass of fur, somewhere. A rough shake would dust the air with loose, wheat colored fur once again. Hopefully the dwarf wasn't allergic.
Tenebrae made a face he wouldn't see, but might offer proof of itself in her voice: "Be my Captain. Your skinny carcass'll fit through just fine, then." She'd add, in case the humour in her tone didn't carry through stone, "I don't want to go without you."
Myrall blinks a few times as her eyes adjust to the gloom of the cave, beginning to feel more at home by the minute, she slips her pack from her shoulders, and pushing it along in front of her she starts the perilous crawl through the unfamiliar cave system, seemingly oblivious to the foul stench and porous mould that line the walls and fill the air.
Leoxander erupted with a string of foul words, which would echo through the caverns to hit vampire and dwarven ears alike. Myrall would be exposed to a bout of colorful language and then, for a while, all was silent. Finally a deep yell of agony would signify the Captain's attempts, and the sickening click and pop of bones created a chorus of painful bass to this symphony. Panting, weakened, and momentarily dazed, the rogue would place his bared palms against the ground, and his defined, inked shoulders would stiffen in that push-up position, as he crawled from the floor of the cave's entrance. Sweat drenched his features and because most of his armor and clothing had torn in his lycan form, both women, married and hopeful, would get a glance at the pirate's form dressed in just some ragged pants and that blood red armband. Not that either of them had requested it. "You..... wanted this..." He panted, as he finally made his way through the narrow opening of the cave. He all but collapsed on the floor beyond, still trying to regain his strength and composure.
Tenebrae gave Myrall a pat on the back-- or backpack- when the woman surfaced through the narrow lip of the tunnel, and squeezed back into the tight space, trying to see what Leo was doing. Moments later, she backed up hastily, and in the dark the dwarfess might still see the wisps of blond fur that'd drifted to stick in ebon hair. Leo spilled out of that gap, reborn to his original state, one that Tene had an easier time connecting with. "Careful! It's sharp." Relief would ring as well as concern in her tone, at his heavy landing on the other side.
Leoxander placed his calloused hand flat just in time to find this out the hard way. A grumble of response, and he'd push to his feet, unaware that he was barely dressed and barely geared for an adventure on the top of a mountain, in an unknown cave. A shake of his body much like he would do in his wolfen state, and blonde hair fell over his eyes before he looked toward the two.
Tenebrae said to Leoxander, "Y'alright?" Her tone would be softer than any his wolf's ears might hear.
Myrall looks at the ragged half naked form of the Captain and wonders how human women could possibly like such skinny specimens, but shrugs the thought to the back of her mind as she edges towards the side of the tunnel to give them all as much space as possible. Turning to Tenebrae she grins for the first time in days, some of the frigidity gone from her tone. "Now if you'd told me we were going caving, I might not have put up such a fight."
Leoxander said to Tenebrae, "If you'd told me, I'd have pushed you in the quicksand..." He muttered this under his breath as he dusted himself of fur.
Tenebrae shot Myrall a grin that probably showed as a white flash in the dark. "If I'd known, I might have worn some damned shoes.." Her feet were bleeding in several places, minute amounts from the slivered cuts she'd gained on those sharp rocks. But this was exciting, and her threshold for pain was always high when adrenaline kicked in. She went to step toward her Cap'n, his retort producing a low grumble of words best not spoken aloud anyway, and was, in her irritation at his manner, too hasty, treading instead on some blind species of cricket that was promptly eviscerated beneath bare toes. "Ugh!"
And the long step back she took became abruptly longer. Much, much longer. Were it not for the ancient chain fastened stoutly to the edge of the hole she'd just fallen into, the drop into that abyss would have proven deadly, even for vampiric flesh. Desperately clutching rusted links with the fingers of one hand, the necromancer let out a thin shriek, "Help!"
“Tenebrae!" Leoxander hardly knew what was occurring, as it happened. One minute he was ready to curse the necromancer out, the next he was scrambling toward a ledge she'd revealed by falling passed it. Fingertips dug into the earth as he brought himself over that hang, immediately groping down with hopes of catching onto something, her hand, her clothing... anything. He could only encourage her with one hope as his stomach pressed into jagged stone, unprotected by any clothing or armor. "Hold on!
Myrall immediately drops to the ground and slithers over towards Tene holding out a hand. "Here, grab hold of my hand, and I'll yank you up."
Tenebrae's hand was groping upward like a pale starfish floating in a sea of gloom, and was happy to grab hold of anything that'd get her the heck out of that hole, which smelled bad on top of being so dark even she could not conquer it to see who or what she was grasping. The roughness of the hand she held at last would tell her little -- Cap'n and dwarf alike shared that trait -- but the length of his fingers gave her 'saviour' away as Leoxander. "Oh thank gods..." The vampiress clutched him hard, letting go of her hold on the chain.
Which probably wasn't a good idea.
Leoxander felt even the slight weight of her body drag his to the edge. Great idea, making him skinny! Now he didn't have the strength to support her on the slick stone. "Wait.... wait!" This abrupt yell would come too late. Whether it was the weight of weapons or the sleek bedding of fur under his body, he didn't have any secure grasp on the stone and she was slipping from his sweat slick hands. "Joliette!" He reached down even farther to grasp hold of her wrist in his second hand, and by then his stomach was hanging over the side of this mysterious hole. Myrall would have few choices at that point. She could either grab hold of the pirate and risk plummeting to her end with them, or she could escape that cave, return to the Calico queen as it arrived to tote new passengers, and find her way home. Either way, Leoxander and Tenebrae would appear... doomed.
Myrall cups her hands to her mouth and calls into the abyss, “Hello! Tenebrae, Leo? Can you hear me?"
.
Tenebrae had stared after Leo a good long moment after he'd given up and wandered off to gods-knew-where. She stayed, like a dark bird roosting among mangrove leaves, until the chill sea wind brought her clambering to the sand again. What thoughts flew lazy circles around the sundry troubles of her mind, who could say, but she'd find a spot to sit and ponder the ocean's endless swell until they'd gone, or picked bones clean. So that was where she was, making sport of little crabs she 'raced' between flotsam twigs, heedless and uncaring of what might stalk or walk behind.
Myrall saunters out, quite relaxed from between two large bushes holding a strange fruit up to her nose, sniffing suspiciously. Spotting Tenebrae up on her perch she calls. "I don't suppose you know if I can eat this? Last thing I need is gut ache atop of everything else, but I'm famished and there seems to be little else about that looks edible.”
Tenebrae turned to the sound of the dwarfess' voice, peering at the fruit with a worried look that might have told Myrall of the dangers of eating the produce of the forest. Recognising the species as one that Gomrak collected regularly, she nodded. "It's fine. You should talk to Gom about the plants here. For one, he'll save you a sore gut or early grave, and he also has some interesting herbs.. ouch!" She scowled, lifted a finger to which was appended one of those crabs, shaking it hard to dislodge to creature. Then she stood, brushing sand from herself. "S’pose we'd better take you home, soon." Slightly abashed, she hurried to continue, "Need to fetch water first."
Myrall sits down on the soft sand and proceeds to pick at the fruit, her grumbling stomach demanding satisfaction but her natural caution staying her hand. The word home slowly filters through her own thoughts and her head snaps up. "I take it there is another way off this Sven-forsaken hell hole? As I'll not be man handled on to that death trap again." she shakes her head violently from side to side. "I'd rather risk the terrors of Valkor's wings than that fate, and no amount of ale or opiates is going to change my mind."
Tenebrae only chewed her lip, edging toward the tall grasses that commenced the swampland, after fossicking in her pack for a couple of empty animal-skin water bags. One of these, she'd toss to Myrall. "Find a long stick. The way to the spring is full of bog-holes." Change of topic, hasty-like, and she wended her way into the marsh.
Myrall lets the water skin land on the ground beside her, making no effort to catch it. As the vampiress heads off into the swap she reluctantly reaches for the bag and stands brushing the sand from her breeks. Looking towards the dense tangle of shrubbery and bushes, the woman stops a moment to take the proffered advice and grubbing about on the boundaries of the greenery, finds a stout branch and hacks the excess foliage from it before trudging after Tenebrae.
Tenebrae could hear Myrall behind her, the necromancer with her own ground-tester prodding at suspiciously flat patches of ground. "Look for where there's lots of grass, like this.." She bent, tugged up a handful of yellowish blades and turned to the Queen. "It can't grow unless there's something solid to root itself in." This advice dispensed, she offered the woman a little smile, and turned back to the path. With a bit of luck, Myrall wouldn't push her in.
Myrall grunts her acknowledgement, and peers at the scrubby grass, momentarily studying it so that she might easily recognise it again in the half light, before continuing after Tenebrae.
--Quicksand Pools--
Terra cocked a brow but continued to smile. She’d eventually rise, stretching and glancing towards the east. “They stayed too?” Excitement lingered in her voice. While Leoxander was great and all, it’d be great to see . . . actual faces. As if it were an afterthought, she’d look back to Leo. “But I do know.” As was her usual, she’d nod, physically confirming this to be a fact. Falling quiet, she’d await Leo’s next move – to proceed or to stay? It was up to him, quite frankly. She wasn’t risking being left alone yet again.
Tenebrae seemed to have a habit of leading poor Myrall from frying pan to fire, though the only such element found here would be the luminous flit of will'o'wisps floating like the ghosts of butterflies over the mire's various sink-holes. She checked back, now and then, to make sure the royal dwarf was still following and not up to her neck in sandy bogwaters. The spring, which she had never yet herself visited, lay across the treacherous stretch, knowledge of it gleaned from Adair's travels into this unknown part of the island on the last journey. The cloudlike swarms of gnats and mosquitoes that pervaded such places had no use for a vampire, but might just enjoy the taste of dwarf. "Y'alright there, Myrall? Not far now." A voice sounded, faint through the insect's burzing hum had her risk a hastened pace. Who'd be out here, in such a place? The answer was soon discovered, the pair of figures glimpsed ahead greeted with something of a flat look. With lips of string, she trudged onward toward them, somehow forgetting to wave and shout a greeting, and such.
Leoxander wasn't going to leave her entirely alone, yet. Though he was aware of the scents, the signs, the sounds of an approach, and despite Tenebrae's past assumptions, he didn't know whether or not she would be safe in the center of quicksand pools, wallowing in whatever sorrow a woman was left to face. He dropped down to four legs and shook off roughly, sandy fur dusting the air and drifting to the ground. "You only think you do..." he muttered in response, waiting for the sight of Tenebrae, or Myrall. He could smell them both, and when Tenebrae's expression came into view, the wolf could only lay his ears back in a silent response. His shoulders moved as he stalked forward toward the two, a huge lupine beast with fur tipping his ears and spiked along his spine. Would the dwarf recognize him? Even his tattoos were distorted as dark markings in his coarse, pale coat. Still, he closed the distance without a word or a growl, leaving the Necromancer's thoughts to stew until they were sour again. He had no reason to defend himself, as stated before. A sidelong glance spared to Myrall, in passing, and he'd circle the two like prey, silently.
Terra wouldn't involve herself in this. As soon as she witnessed Tene's expression, the vampiress immediately started off the way she came. Only a wave would be spared for Myrall. "I'm not fighting. And I'm not going to be alongside those that I fear would just as soon kill me as smile at me." Carefully, she'd tread back over the weeds and vanish.
Leoxander risked a glance back in Terra's direction when she spoke.
Myrall 's reply to her erstwhile friend's concern is muffled by the cloak she has pulled round her face to prevent herself swallowing any of the various small flying insects that seem to be buzzing around her face and head, but the mere tone is an indication that it wasn't a polite answer. As the stout shillelagh she hastily fashioned on the beach sinks yet again into the quagmire that seems to surround her she stumbles forward almost knocking into Tenebrae's back, a stream of muffled dwarven filling the night air. Pulling the cloak from her mouth she hisses "I bloody well hope we are, as this is no place for a dwarf."
"No place for a vampire, either..." Tene spoke aside to Myrall, who'd nearly get a faceful of Tene's arm when that limb was thrust out to the side, a signal for the dwarf to halt. For Leo was approaching with his ears set at that angle she was becoming familiar with, and whatever she thought of that response was kept to herself while she spoke softly to Myrall. "Don't make any sudden moves. It's Leo. But he's..." No need to go to lengthy explanation.
She paused there, let the situation settle as it would, though Terra's skulking off produced a raise of voice, "Do be careful, on the path." Then her voice lowered an octave. "Wouldn't want you to fall in."
Myrall comes to an abrupt halt, and digs her staff into the soft ground, heeding Tene's warning she waits to see how the lycan will react to their presence.
Leoxander was as Tenebrae failed to describe. Over seven feet tall on two legs, but currently he was dropped down to four in order to be at level range of the dwarf. All the easier to see her, smell her, maybe take a bite..? She couldn't have suspected the ship captain, the shady criminal who took offers from drunk husbands, to turn into this, could she? A thick coat bristled at the nape of his neck like the flare of a reptile's venom glands as he tilted his head in to sniff in her direction, snorting his exhale heavily. Vicious claws dug into the earth to display that ability to rip skin, so easily, in a swipe. Though he was clearly built for two legs, judging by his slender waist and the set of narrow hips, he managed to move as stealthily as he might on his best thieving nights. Maybe better. Eyes locked on the dwarf, he observed her... intently. Somehow, he knew her.
Tenebrae was wary enough to keep that pointy stick at hand, watching the Captain prowl about the Queen as if stalking some jungle-bred tidbit. Not that a stick'd do much good against.. what he was, now. Were she in a better mood, she might have done something soothing, to ensure safe passage, whether he'd follow them on their quest for water or not. But her stint of being left in the tree and irritation of sundry bugs that clogged her vision, and guilt, on top of whatever else had just been added to the mix had indeed produced a lack of willingness to coddle anyone. "Don't eat the Queen, if you can help it. We need to get water. Time you took the poor woman home." The words were spoken politely enough.
Myrall 's grip tightens on the stick, her ever active mind calculating the odds of success for both flight and fight, but being as she was an ornery little madam she merely emits a low warning growl as the fearsome beast prowls about her.
Leoxander snapped back readily, prepared to face Tenebrae's mood and counter with one of his own. He'd witnessed the expression, and felt the tension in her body, now. "No." The growl rumbled on, passed the sound of his voice, and a claw was dragged along the dirt, tearing the plants as though they could feel no pain. "Not yet..." Leo wasn't polite in the least, and from the Necromancer, he looked toward the dwarf once more, a poisonous look in feral eyes. He knew, beyond wild, bestial thoughts, he had a job to do. "We need her..."
Tenebrae offered the lycan a sere look before beckoning Myrall onward. "Careful now, the ground gets worse before it gets better." As though to illustrate this, her bare leg'd sink halfway into a pool of muck that'd camouflaged itself as a bit of solid ground. Losing balance, she leant hard to drag herself aright, preventing a fall to one of those untidy heaps she wasn't so fond of. Of course, her frown was well improved by that. "Remember, keep to the grasses." To Leo, she half-turned, half-shrugged. "You coming?" She'd rather have him where she could see him, even if it did only add to his animosity.
Myrall inches forward carefully, one eye on Leo and a weather eye on the difficult terrain, the normally sure footed dwarf finding this whole situation rather difficult to traverse both mentally and physical lets out another string of dwarven expletives before adding in common. "Couldn't just take me for a nice trip to the Xalious mountains now could you?"
Leoxander offered a low grunt in his chest in response before he started after the pair, ears swiveling forward again when Tenebrae's leg was nearly caught by the swallowing sand. "No..." He spoke gruffly behind Myrall and kept right behind her, in order to encourage her to keep moving. "We couldn't..." Humanity somehow shined through this feral exterior. Even a careful look to his eyes would show his pupils shifting, wider, then shrinking back into an unpredictable state, torn between thief and beast. "Consider this your opportunity..." Referring back to a speech he'd made on the boat, Leo would reveal, right then, that the two minds linked... somehow.
Tenebrae was some ways ahead, familiarity with the place offering her a surer footing than the dwarf, though she'd look behind ever few feet until Leo took the rear guard. She relaxed a little then, whether because Myrall was safer, or just because he was there. She didn't spare a thought to wonder what they were talking about, intent on getting the trio clear of the swamps. Soon, the ground rose beyond the low lines of the mire, sand then rock underfoot. Were she further than a little way ahead by then, she'd stop and wait for the pair to catch up.
Myrall, feeling rather like the uncomfortable meat in the middle of the sandwich sighs and plods after Tenebrae, careful to try and stay far enough in front of Leo and his canines.
-- Mountain Spring--
Leoxander paused at the base of a steep incline, head tilting back and tall, fur tipped ears laying back against a shag of blonde mane, as it were. Very careful and thorough inspection of this beast, if one could settle themselves to look for so long, would reveal traces of the pirate. The red No-quarter armband wound round a furry biceps with traces of dark fur matted in a design beneath, the spines of blonde hanging over his eyes and the shadow of dark whiskers on his face. Beneath the fearsome appearance the rogue remained, and he now judged this mountain as an obstacle waiting to be conquered. Careless of the concerns of those around him, the lycanthrope leapt upon water-sculpted stone and downstream of a shallow, glittering pool, he would bow his head to drink like any wolf might do, only.... he used the palm of a clawed hand to scoop it up to his mouth. This spring was his only alternative to a ship stocked with barrels of fresh water.
Tenebrae waited a few minutes for the Cap'n -- she always thought of him that way, no matter the shape he took -- to finish drinking, and dipped her waterskin deep into the spring's natural bowl, squeezing air out which rose in a silver glub of bubbles. While waiting for the skin to fill, she glanced around at the apparent oasis in the midst of hostile terrain. It wasn't too unpleasant, and when her chore was done she too would cup a handful of water, splashing spatters of mud and grime from her features, careful not to let any of the runoff fall back into the small pool. It was a relief to wash with something that wasn't brine. Her eyes drifted toward the mountain. Though she'd seen the other, this side was a mystery. A dark splotch in the stone ahead caught her interest. "Wonder what's up there..?" It was only a mutter, spoken through another faceful of the refreshing liquid, stepping back to allow Myrall her turn.
Myrall follows Tenebrae's lead and clambers forward, but lays flat on the ground so that she can dip her skin into the crystal clear water. Satisfied that the flask is full she scrambles away from the pools edge muttering to herself. "Couldn't find me a pool of ale now could they?"
"The thought crossed my mind..." Was the grumbled sound to come from deep within the lycan's chest, as he sat back on his calves and crossed his thickly furred arms over his knees. His attention was still skybound, though the canopy above would block his view from the stars, or sun, depending on the time of day. From below, at the island's sea level, it was almost constantly dark once one ventured from the bright beach. He remarked with an idle swish of his tail. "The view'd be a helluva lot better."
Leoxander took the time to wonder how difficult it would be for Myrall to follow them. As stated, they needed her...
Tenebrae found it in her to grin at the dwarfess' grumbled wish, and slung the waterskin over shoulders that were cleaner than they'd been in a week. She vowed to sneak back for a proper bath before they left. And with that grin, her sour mood lifted like dark clouds from the face of a mountain's peak. There was a sense of adventure, a thrill that would not be denied and was somewhat needed to help the woman keep even keel in what had, on the whole, been a troublesome trip. "I'm going up..." And her steps held less trudge than spring as she took to that cracked and ancient road that rose upward, half-grown over with grasses and roots.
--Yawning Mouth--
Tenebrae shouted, "Hurry up! I found something!"
Myrall stands wearily, still not happy with the whole situation, but still glad to be on dry land and heading upwards. Mountains, no matter where they were, were her home territory after all, and craggy rocks and out crops her preferred foothold. Looking after the vampire she feigns a sigh as she slings the water skin over her shoulder and follows after her.
Rock and plants would meet their demise at the base of that steep hill, and the lycan clawed his way into the soil for traction as he should climb. A step behind Myrall, motivation enough, for every time she'd look back she'd see the glowering face of a werewolf. Eventually, they would catch up.
Leoxander paused at the opening of this tunnel, his low voice a bass pitch and trembling through the twisted path in a vibrating growl. "I can't fit through this..." Could he? Well, this would be another challenge to overcome, that was for certain.
-- Twisted Tunnel--
Darkness was her home, and so the dimness of the caverns would prove little barrier to the vampiress' progress, though the sharp shards of stalactite or shale that proved hard going in places slowed her down enough to ensure the others would find her, when the tunnel narrowed hard. They might hear her voice, echoing back even in that tight place. "Looks like a path here, too..." A rustle from the unseeable roof of the tunnel, gods knew how many feet overhead at this point, had memories of bats flit through her mind, and she instinctively ducked her head. No spiders, at least... She’d even offer Leo a hand to help him squish through, if he needed it.
Leoxander was not pleased by this scenario. How could she expect him to fit through there in the state he was in? Or maybe, he couldn't go on in this state, and that was her plan. The lycan could only assume this went along with her sudden instinct to climb trees, now she was squirming into small spaces that a dwarf, a human, or a vampire could explore. But a werewolf? Claws scraped on stone as he struggled to keep his hold, pulling himself onto the ledge at the opening of the twisted tunnel. "Tenebrae." The name was barked angrily, echoing through the caverns, but there was only one thing to do. Settling into a seat and hugging himself into a ball, he started to think about triggering memories that might change him. But as Leo had such little control, it could take awhile to resort back to the pirate he'd been. A deep breath didn't quite calm him... what if there were spiders in there?
Leoxander glanced at her hand, and took a harmless snap at it.
Tenebrae's hand groped whitely through that gap-- maybe it found Myrall instead? "Leo?" She damned well wasn't leaving him to the tender care of Miss-Damned-Mercy. "You there?"
Leoxander viciously replied. "How do you expect me to bloody fit through there?" Oh yes, the pirate was in that mass of fur, somewhere. A rough shake would dust the air with loose, wheat colored fur once again. Hopefully the dwarf wasn't allergic.
Tenebrae made a face he wouldn't see, but might offer proof of itself in her voice: "Be my Captain. Your skinny carcass'll fit through just fine, then." She'd add, in case the humour in her tone didn't carry through stone, "I don't want to go without you."
Myrall blinks a few times as her eyes adjust to the gloom of the cave, beginning to feel more at home by the minute, she slips her pack from her shoulders, and pushing it along in front of her she starts the perilous crawl through the unfamiliar cave system, seemingly oblivious to the foul stench and porous mould that line the walls and fill the air.
Leoxander erupted with a string of foul words, which would echo through the caverns to hit vampire and dwarven ears alike. Myrall would be exposed to a bout of colorful language and then, for a while, all was silent. Finally a deep yell of agony would signify the Captain's attempts, and the sickening click and pop of bones created a chorus of painful bass to this symphony. Panting, weakened, and momentarily dazed, the rogue would place his bared palms against the ground, and his defined, inked shoulders would stiffen in that push-up position, as he crawled from the floor of the cave's entrance. Sweat drenched his features and because most of his armor and clothing had torn in his lycan form, both women, married and hopeful, would get a glance at the pirate's form dressed in just some ragged pants and that blood red armband. Not that either of them had requested it. "You..... wanted this..." He panted, as he finally made his way through the narrow opening of the cave. He all but collapsed on the floor beyond, still trying to regain his strength and composure.
Tenebrae gave Myrall a pat on the back-- or backpack- when the woman surfaced through the narrow lip of the tunnel, and squeezed back into the tight space, trying to see what Leo was doing. Moments later, she backed up hastily, and in the dark the dwarfess might still see the wisps of blond fur that'd drifted to stick in ebon hair. Leo spilled out of that gap, reborn to his original state, one that Tene had an easier time connecting with. "Careful! It's sharp." Relief would ring as well as concern in her tone, at his heavy landing on the other side.
Leoxander placed his calloused hand flat just in time to find this out the hard way. A grumble of response, and he'd push to his feet, unaware that he was barely dressed and barely geared for an adventure on the top of a mountain, in an unknown cave. A shake of his body much like he would do in his wolfen state, and blonde hair fell over his eyes before he looked toward the two.
Tenebrae said to Leoxander, "Y'alright?" Her tone would be softer than any his wolf's ears might hear.
Myrall looks at the ragged half naked form of the Captain and wonders how human women could possibly like such skinny specimens, but shrugs the thought to the back of her mind as she edges towards the side of the tunnel to give them all as much space as possible. Turning to Tenebrae she grins for the first time in days, some of the frigidity gone from her tone. "Now if you'd told me we were going caving, I might not have put up such a fight."
Leoxander said to Tenebrae, "If you'd told me, I'd have pushed you in the quicksand..." He muttered this under his breath as he dusted himself of fur.
Tenebrae shot Myrall a grin that probably showed as a white flash in the dark. "If I'd known, I might have worn some damned shoes.." Her feet were bleeding in several places, minute amounts from the slivered cuts she'd gained on those sharp rocks. But this was exciting, and her threshold for pain was always high when adrenaline kicked in. She went to step toward her Cap'n, his retort producing a low grumble of words best not spoken aloud anyway, and was, in her irritation at his manner, too hasty, treading instead on some blind species of cricket that was promptly eviscerated beneath bare toes. "Ugh!"
And the long step back she took became abruptly longer. Much, much longer. Were it not for the ancient chain fastened stoutly to the edge of the hole she'd just fallen into, the drop into that abyss would have proven deadly, even for vampiric flesh. Desperately clutching rusted links with the fingers of one hand, the necromancer let out a thin shriek, "Help!"
“Tenebrae!" Leoxander hardly knew what was occurring, as it happened. One minute he was ready to curse the necromancer out, the next he was scrambling toward a ledge she'd revealed by falling passed it. Fingertips dug into the earth as he brought himself over that hang, immediately groping down with hopes of catching onto something, her hand, her clothing... anything. He could only encourage her with one hope as his stomach pressed into jagged stone, unprotected by any clothing or armor. "Hold on!
Myrall immediately drops to the ground and slithers over towards Tene holding out a hand. "Here, grab hold of my hand, and I'll yank you up."
Tenebrae's hand was groping upward like a pale starfish floating in a sea of gloom, and was happy to grab hold of anything that'd get her the heck out of that hole, which smelled bad on top of being so dark even she could not conquer it to see who or what she was grasping. The roughness of the hand she held at last would tell her little -- Cap'n and dwarf alike shared that trait -- but the length of his fingers gave her 'saviour' away as Leoxander. "Oh thank gods..." The vampiress clutched him hard, letting go of her hold on the chain.
Which probably wasn't a good idea.
Leoxander felt even the slight weight of her body drag his to the edge. Great idea, making him skinny! Now he didn't have the strength to support her on the slick stone. "Wait.... wait!" This abrupt yell would come too late. Whether it was the weight of weapons or the sleek bedding of fur under his body, he didn't have any secure grasp on the stone and she was slipping from his sweat slick hands. "Joliette!" He reached down even farther to grasp hold of her wrist in his second hand, and by then his stomach was hanging over the side of this mysterious hole. Myrall would have few choices at that point. She could either grab hold of the pirate and risk plummeting to her end with them, or she could escape that cave, return to the Calico queen as it arrived to tote new passengers, and find her way home. Either way, Leoxander and Tenebrae would appear... doomed.
Myrall cups her hands to her mouth and calls into the abyss, “Hello! Tenebrae, Leo? Can you hear me?"
.