Gambit (IC)

Subject: Re: Gambit (IC) Sat Jan 10, 2015 4:55 am

Dee looked at Whitefire, and then back at Até. Then he looked back at Whitefire, what she'd asked finally registering in his mind. "What?" he asked, utterly surprised and confused by the seeming randomness of the question. "No I do not..."

Até ignored Dee and Whitefire and turned back to Zal-Tek, as he and Nuke seemed to be the only ones paying attention. "Dangerous things," she said, smiling evilly. "Thing's that'll make you go mad... Hahah. Have fun. Stay on the path."

Posts : 204 Join date : 2014-09-28 Age : 26

Blinking her orange eyes, Whitefire twitched her whiskers and looked at Dee innocently. "Would you ever take it off for someone?" Her ears pricked and she tilted her head slightly.

Posts : 160 Join date : 2014-09-28

Zal-Tek growled under his breath. "Good, very helpful," he grumbled, "dangerous strange things that make you go mad."

He rolled his eyes, doubting Até would elaborate, but he asked anyway. "Any other extremely useful information?"

Subject: Re: Gambit (IC) Sun Jan 11, 2015 12:04 am

"Do you have any extremely useful questions?" Até countered, glaring at Zal-Tek reproachfully.

Distracted completely by Whitefire now, Dee only had a faint idea of what Até was saying.
"I do not believe I would," he said, in response to Whitefire's strange question.

Posts : 204 Join date : 2014-09-28 Age : 26

Staring intently at him for a moment, her orange eyes gave nothing away. "Okay then," she said blankly, and walked over to Zal-Tek, a falsely terrified look on her face. She gasped. "ZAL-TEK!" Her frightened yell was suspiciously happy.

Posts : 160 Join date : 2014-09-28

Zal-Tek jumped about a foot into the air, whirling around to face Whitefire. He blinked a couple times, staring at her, then sighed dramatically.

"Seriously?" he grumbled, then chuckled. "Somehow I think I should've expected that."

Posts : 204 Join date : 2014-09-28 Age : 26

Whitefire grinned up at him, her white teeth bared happily. "Of course," she said innocently, "I did have something to say." Her eyes flashed in amusement and she pulled him down to her level, whispering loudly, "Nuke has obviously fallen deeply in love with me." She tried to keep the laughter out of her voice. "Probably why he acts so strangely..."

Posts : 160 Join date : 2014-09-28

Zal-Tek feigned interest in Whitefire's theory, "yes," he whispered back, "obviously." He then remembered Até, and looked up, slightly embarassed.

"Alright then," he said, as if he had never gotten distracted, "what kind of help do we need to get through?"

Subject: Re: Gambit (IC) Sun Jan 11, 2015 2:36 am

"Not mine," Até said cheerfully. And then she was gone, vanishing in a cliché puff of smoke.

"I fail to understand that creature," Dee commented.

Posts : 141 Join date : 2014-10-01 Age : 29

"She says she comes to help and then leaves after some vague instructions. I suppose it's not too surprising." Remarked Nuke, deciding to ignore Whitefire's joking. He definitely wasn't interested in her in a romantic way. "Well I guess all there is to do is move forward." And he marched down the path.

Posts : 204 Join date : 2014-09-28 Age : 26

Whitefire laughed at Nuke quietly and nodded her head, eyes closed for a moment. Slowly following him, she walked along purring to herself.

Subject: Re: Gambit (IC) Sun Jan 11, 2015 5:29 am

As the party continued forward along the snaking path, anyone looking behind them may have noticed that the base, as well as the edge of the swamp, had vanished from view. The trees, like most of the foliage in previous encounters, pressed back opposingly to anyone trying to backtrack. The sound of insects filled the air with an unnerving hum. Occasionally an exotic bird would call out, unseen.

Not twenty minutes after Até's disappearance, the path began to grow less worn. It was overgrown now, fighting with the plant life and the encroaching water. It began to become easier to follow the torches rather than the path, as parts of it looked to have simply been erased.

Rounding a bend in the trail, the party came to a stop at a fork in the road. The path had all but vanished, a few scuffs of dirt and dry land being the only remnants of the forgotten track. It seemed to diverge into two ways, each more menacing and hard to travel than the previous. Islands, barely surfacing above the muck, offered no guidance in which direction to take. The worst part was the torches seemed to have ended. There were no more in the distance that could be seen.

Posts : 160 Join date : 2014-09-28

Zal-Tek stopped at the fork in the path, aggravated. He examined both trails, but saw nothing in particular to tell them which way to go. "Great," he grumbled, "we're supposed to need help, and this is probably why, but we don't have any."

Posts : 141 Join date : 2014-10-01 Age : 29

Nuke frowned as the path forked. Both ways looked the same level of unappealing. He attempted to use his sense to see ahead, but it was obscured. He frowned a little, wishing that his senses weren't so stifled here.
"Well if anyone has any suggestions on which way to go, might as well voice them. Otherwise either way seems about the same"

Posts : 204 Join date : 2014-09-28 Age : 26

Twitching her whiskers thoughtfully, Whitefire stood quietly for a moment, before gently pointing to the right. "I say we should go that way, because you can never go the wrong way when you're going right." She pursed her lips, saying nothing after that.

Subject: Re: Gambit (IC) Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:42 am

It was then that off in the distance, an unusual noise rang out. It was unlike the murmuring of insects and the cry of birds. It was no animal... and it did not end. In fact, as the party stood questioning which direction to take, the noise became stronger. Soon it was identifiable as a long, tuneless song, sung by an unknown entity. It seemed to be coming from the direction Whitefire indicated. Upon hearing the sound, Dee's head slowly turned until he was certain he was facing the direction it came from. There was something oddly familiar about the singing.

"I too believe," Dee said tonelessly, "that we should take the rightmost path..."

Posts : 160 Join date : 2014-09-28

Zal-Tek stared down the path for a moment, listening. There was something very odd going on, he decided, more so than the rest of the place. Eventually, he nodded, still listening, and quietly said, "may as well..."

Posts : 141 Join date : 2014-10-01 Age : 29

"Very well then, the right path it is" replied Nuke, and started down the right 'path'. He kept his senses on high alert, although in this swamp he wasn't sure if it would do any good. He was getting tired of this place, wishing he was back at home. While it might be dangerous there, at least I had an idea of what to expect he thought.

Posts : 204 Join date : 2014-09-28 Age : 26

Whitefire followed them hesitantly, her fur bristling as she walked. Tail flicking in agitation, for once the white cat didn't say a word, and made sure there was someone on either side of herself.

Subject: Re: Gambit (IC) Mon Jan 12, 2015 3:37 pm

It was not long before a small island came into view, out in the middle of a shallow pond no more than six inches deep. On the island was a willow tree, its fronds softly swaying in the wind. Next to this great tree was a torch, lit, and burning dimly. Evidently this had been the correct direction. The singing seemed to be coming from the island, and as the party neared, the singer herself came into view.

The girl was sitting on the ground, facing away from the group with her left side nearest the willow tree. She wore a plain white dress, and looked to be no more than seven or eight years old. She made no indication that she had noticed the group approach, and her singing continued. It appeared that she had something in her lap that she was playing with.

Upon seeing the girl Dee was struck with something close to incredulity. It couldn't be... but it was. He questioned why he had been unable to sense her presence earlier, but admitted to himself that he hadn't exactly been looking.

Posts : 160 Join date : 2014-09-28

Zal-Tek raised an eyebrow when he saw the girl. She was young, and didn't seem to be doing anything in particular. It seemed a bit of an... Anticlimax. But then, nothing was as it seemed, there. He looked to the other three, curious about their reactions, but didn't say anything.

Posts : 141 Join date : 2014-10-01 Age : 29

Nuke was curious about this girl. She looked innocent enough, but he had learned long ago to not judge things by their outer appearance...and even if he hadn't known it before, walking through this world should've made it obvious by now.
He signed with his hands to the others, Should we say something to her?

Posts : 204 Join date : 2014-09-28 Age : 26

At the sight of the girl, Whitefire stopped immediately, her face almost horrified. "Am I cursed to always remember?" she coughed softly to herself, her words broken.

Subject: Re: Gambit (IC) Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:06 pm

The girl's name was Sarah, Dee knew. In fact he knew the girl quite well. His initial reaction to Nuke's query was of course they should talk to her. She was all by herself in a swamp, wearing no shoes and dirtying her white dress. No doubt eventually she would get bored and wander off, probably resulting in her becoming lost.

"I know this girl," Dee said quietly. "I believe we should say something to her... unless you believe she is some sort of trick or illusion." His senses told him otherwise, but perhaps he was mistaken.

Posts : 160 Join date : 2014-09-28

Zal-Tek looked back and forth between Dee, the girl, and Nuke, then frowned. The girl, as far as he could tell, was indeed real. But then, so far everything he'd seen seemed real. Still, Dee apparently knew who she was, and wanted to speak with her, so he supposed they may as well. He nodded.

"Maybe you should go, then," he said, "she seems young, we would probably scare her." Or at least he would, Whitefire and Nuke were both fluffy. He threw another sideways glance at Nuke, then looked back at the girl, aware that almost anything could happen in such a strange place.