Into the Mire
« continued from Wet, Blind Hunt.
Angus, Dangeon, Amos, Frigg, Hactor, Trace
Location: Ancient Temple (Collinsel) / Collinsel Sewers
Another clap of thunder rings within the temple, pounding the cramped room with a deafening clap. At least the ceiling is solid. The rain does not trickle into this little cell as it had with the previous, nor does lightning grace the nook with its bright company; the explorers are too deep within the structure. It is pitch black, and Angus is groping at the inky air. "Lilah?" he croaks, then pivots. "Amy? Lil' old mouse ma'am?" A snort. "We ain't gonna' get nowhere without a torch."
Dangeon likes being able to see. Somewhere in her nature as a prey species that preference became well and truly stuck. Her ears are best, but still. Seeing is better. Thus she comes equipped with a torch to explore the dank, dark tomb.. temple... dungeon. Whatever it is this time. Her ears splay a little at the thunder. "Got it."
"A life saver ya are dearie, nice to see ya providing some use, " Amos quips, grinning at the hare as he approaches the light. Coming into view and straining to listen for the dragon, "Angus, ya around here somewhere too I guess?" He blinks as his eyes adjust, "Where that mouse maid go?"
Angus rummages in the gloom until his hands meet stone, a wall. They glide along the mildew, claws carving crevices in the ancient mire, as the lizard abrades his frustration--better the slime than his fellow scouts. Extending arms upward, he can just touch the juncture of the ceiling, its cobweb tulle. And then light erupts on the scene, and the dragon whirls, bearing a monster of a smile for Dangeon. "Dang!" he bellows. "Ye' found us--didje' see th' others?" He throws a glance over the newly lit chamber. "Where'd .. er. Th' weasel's gone--she give us th' slip? And the mouse?"
"Aye, I found y'. Love a... tomb..." Dangeon wrinkles her nose, looking from wall to wall then to the lizard. "Bosscat's jus' back b'hind me there. I haven't really seen anybeast else. Thought they'd be down here wi' you."
"I know where I am, and no I guess ain't see anyone else, " The wildcat admits, he grumbles, "So much for this all being easy, least we've got a bit of light and ya okay Angus?"
"M'fine, Amy." With the advent of artificial dawn, Angus nabs the chance to regroup: He pulls the sodden turban from his skull, wrings it thoroughly and speaks, "Hactor hung back with Mally and th' rat gal--thought ye'd have seen 'em, but they coulda' bailed fer better refuge from th' rain." Satisfied with the reduced water content of the cloth, the dragon works a fresh knot in the headwear, returning it to its proper perch. His freed hands slip over his face, clearing it of sooty smudges and moisture, before they coax his beard back to order. "We had Lilah and th' geezer mouse broad from Ruined Gates, but .." His eyes scrape the otherwise empty cell, bewildered and wretched. "They up an' vanished on us." With a somewhat defeated grunt, he asks, "An' of Stubb? Is th' horse keepin' watch, Dang?"
Dangeon dips her head. "Aye, he'll be watching." The haremaid holds the torch a little higher. "I think they probably did. 'S like some giant beast's playin' drunk'n' skittles up there. The spillage ain't bally booze though. 'S just rain. The others vanished from in here?"
Amos looks quiet wet and tired but moves closer towards the torch and what little warmth it provides. He grunts, "Yes, I suppose so and ya sure ya got a good handle on that torch then. I can carry it for ya if ya'd like, " He grins at the hare, "Seriously though, I guess we'll need to find them now eh?"
Off in the distance, or perhaps somewhere nearby and muted by heavy masonry, is a cry for help - Frigg? Her voice seems weak, desperate, which is why it may be closer rather than farther away. A bolt of lightning bathes the sky in searing white-hot incandescence, and thunder gives its seemingly angry answer to the mousemaid.
Angus knits his fingers behind his neck, rotating to inspect the reticent cell. "Aye," he rasps, still quite perplexed by their vaporized chums. "But a beast don't just vanish in thin air .. don't work like that," the dragon insists, still slowly revolving. "S'gotta be another chambe--" His musing halts. "What th'? Amy! Was that th' crone?" Stumbling to the nearest wall, he flattens his cheek against it. "Was it--" He beats his fist against the stone and hollers, "Ma'am? Lilah?"
Dangeon offers the torch out to the cat almost before the question is all the way out. Yes, he's welcome to take it; she's tired of holding it. Her ears perk at the voice, flapping a little due to a sudden halt in her nodding of agreement to the lizard; beasts don't just vanish- there has to be some entrance or nook they've gone into.
Amos ears perk up at the sound, taking the offered torch to try and shead more light on there sound. Nothing but an empty cell, he takes the idea that there is another chamber to heart. Pushing up against the wall where he think he heard the noise, holding the torch up overhead, "I think I found it, " The wall begins to give as he leans and pushes opening a new passage. He slips through.
Frigg is in the dark - literally and figuratively. She sits down on the cold stone floor and coughs, keeping her knees close in to her chest, but since her robes don't completely cover her this way, she stands again. She's proper, yes; also, there seems to be a breeze coming in from a crack underneath of some hinged stone doorway, and she's curious.. she gives the wall a push, but she's far too weak to affect anything. "Oh this is so useless - /why/ did I do this? Why? Don't you want to see your son again, Frigg? Why are you following these beasts?" She puts her forehead and paws against the wall, sighing. Suddenly, there's a sound... first, the lizard's voice... then... the wall is opening up!
Angus whoops in victory, "Amy! Ye' did it, mate," and wastes no time; he hastily swoops after the wildcat. "Dang, c'mon, we gotta' get to 'em. Toads only know what could lurk deep in this heap." A last wag of his hand, and the dragon slips after the torchlight.
They sink into the darkness.
"... Probably toads." The hare responds, half joking in response to Angus- though now she'll be looking out for toads. "I heard her bu' I don't bally well see her..." She says of Frigg, straining her ears and making room for the cat with the torch.
"Curses, could of sworn I heard somethin' but there ain't anything here, " Amos makes sure to lift the torch high and sweep it along a path. Keen to keep the torch dry even if nothing is to be found. He turns back towards the hare and Angus who he assumes are behind him, "Ain't no toads or any beast as I can see, just more lost we get."
"Oh hellsteeth!" a familier voice hisses through the dark. Then the old form of Hactor comes half limping half stumbling into the group.
While the torch furnishes a winking chunk of illumination, the regions just beyond the troupe promptly plunge back to complete dark. The dragon licks the dank air, and, just prior to the shout, nips something familiar, borne on a draft from the temple above. "Heh," he grunts, as Hactor howls and graces the scene. "Yew sure them doddery bones are capable of spelunkin', fox?" There is a spark of impatience in his words, and he squints in the fluttering light to be sure the little one has not followed. "Is Mally all right--didje' stash 'im well?"
Dangeon gives a little grunt and checks her sword. No toads in this bit, sure... They might still be down here though, after all. "'Allo y'Majesty." She greets Hactor though.
"Toads ain't t'be feared, mates," the dragon quips, but, with no mind to dawdle and yap, he begins to trek the sloping tunnel. "They're right good luck, in fact: a wise race." As he nears the cat, Angus lobs an encouraging shove. "C'mon, Amy, if ye' got th' light, ye' can't be tarryin'. Get them dainty boots movin'." He does not wait for Amos to comply, but elbows past and clamors to the dark ahead. When the shadows become too dense, the monitor glances back. "Well?"
Amos turns to look behind him, still holding the torch before he moves to catch up, "I'm comin', ya lead the way Angus and I'll keep us all lit, " He suddenly curses, nearly dropping the torch as he nearly trips but closing in on the monitor, "Ah, there ya are!"
Hactor holds his hand up and replies to the monitor, "Aye aye the boy is stowed. I told him he'd be gettin a treat from his da if he behaved himself." He then looks nervously about in the darkness, and clears his throat. "Aye best get a move on." He follows the group, trying not to bump into anything and cursing under his breath the hole way about the pitch black of the cave.
A gruff chortle flares from the lizard. "Mally behave .. right," Angus grimly derides, but his back is to the others and he is marching, resolute. "Lilah?" he calls. There is no direct answer, but in the subterranean twilight ahead, beyond the nimbus of the torch, faint and unclear noises titter.
Amos strains his eyes as he looks deeper into the tunnel, grunting, "Nothing, " He seems disappointed.
Hactor looks about to. although there's not much to look at. He uncontiously scratches at a flea behind his ear commenting, "This seems hopeless gents. Were stumbling blind into a rat invested hole. I don't have a good feelin about it."
Though garbled by the tangled corridors of the temple's nether region, peculiar sounds still resonate: a hum, a murmur or a resigned cry; a watery splash, predicated on crumbling stone. All of this sidles up the tunnel, broken waves, ghoulishly whisking past the explorers. Angus cranes, looking up at Amos and Hactor. "Lilah said th' rats moved on," he flatly remarks. "An' if they ain't," stopping, the lizard permits another little whine to rumble from the path below, and then continues, ".. well. S'been an honor, mates."
They follow the tunnel.
Amos trudges after the others, still keeping close so that the others will have light of some sort, "Am sure they have, cleared out that is, " Amos grunts, "Ain't nothin' here as far as I can tell, " He snorts and hisses at the mud.
Hactor growls trying to keep from getting stuck in the muck. He then turnes slightly to pear at Amos saying, "Ye think so eh?" He coughs a chuckle before trudging on. Whilst following the sillouete og Angus he sniffs at the stale air of the tunnel. With a slight growl he places his hand on his sword hilt.
Angus tests the air with a flit of his blue tongue, a profound mistake; the lizard doubles over, hacking at the mud below him. "Aug--damn it. She led us t'the bloody filth conduit, mates. Amy, shine that torch over here. Lookit!" Still bent, the dragon flails an arm beyond the slight bend of the tunnel. He gags once more, wipes his snout with the back of a hand, and appears to hold his breath for the initial plunge.
Amos gives a groan of displeasure as the torch gives light to the substance beneath their footpaws, "What am I look'in at, ain't happy to see it anymore than smelling it, " He waves a paw at the stench.
Hactor doesn't give any reaction beside a slight grimace. After seeing the horrors of war it takes a bit more to make the old fox cringe. He does give a discusted bark before trecking on.
"You. Are. Kidding me." Why did Trace come down this way? Why... is she in a /sewer/ .. or whatever this is, to track a few vagabonds that she's been following for the past several weeks? Why-... Really, she should stop asking questions, because the answers make no sense. She just knows she's standing in some stench that she'd rather not be standing in and she's all-too-hesitant to travel forward toward where the other three are. She opens her mouth to speak, before just letting out a freaked out, "... Aaaiiiiiieeeek....!" in a horrified sound, before truding forward toward the others.
The howl that heralds the rat's entrance is far from the esoteric warbles the group has been stalking. Angus holds himself against the tunnel wall, one arm still clenched at his middle, and his face is noticeably wan in the torchlight. But despite his nausea, the dragon cracks a weak smile for Trace. "Ah, so ye' chose t'join us, m'lady. Welcome t'the mire." A shiver rocks his gangly form, but the lizard dutifully pivots, and steps for the sewers.
They enter the Collinsel sewers.
"Oh ya ain't missing out on all the fun, " Amos cheerfully greets the rat as he follows closely behind the dragon holding the torch high for all closeby, "Certainly hope there's somethin' at the end of all this, besides more filth of course, " He grins.
Hactor only greets Trace with a slight grunt, before following Angus. Her sudden outburst had caused him to grip hip his swor a little tighter though, and his ears swiffle to and fro, picking up many unpleasnat sounds in the deep. "Angus," he begins in a hushed and cautious tone, "Beleave me when I say we arn't alone down here. Keep yer wits about ye lads...and lass."
Trace is starting to think this was probably a stupid idea. But she follows, anyway, coming a bit closer to the group with her whip coiled neatly in paw. "Remind me of what you all are doing down here, anyway?" the ratmaid asks in a murmur, as she casts her eyes about the sewer. It's.. horrid in here. Completely awful. Yes, she's one of the tougher ones in the group, but.. "Ugghhhh.." she adds, her voice heavy with the shudder that wracks her. Disgusting, horrid filth!
"Yer wish has .. not been granted, Amy." Angus is ankle-deep in sludge, periodically lifting each bare foot to shake it clear of caked filth. His toes squirm in disgust. As the cat lifts the torch, the conduit glistens: algae and slime, and falls of rain run-off that pour from the city grates above. The tempest has not abated, so it once again afflicts the troupe in loud crashes and blazes of light. After dipping a somber nod to Hactor, the dragon turns to to Trace. "Lilah came this way, m'love. She's .. gotta be down here. Somewhere. An' the crone." His inky eyes fall from the rat, gazing warily to the many tunnels that split from this one. "Said th' bastards that got Stubb come this way--said, iffn' we want to help our mate, we gotta' trust her. Gotta' follow."
Amos takes Hactor's warning to heart, reaching for the hilt of his own weapon and chuckles, "Aye, so I can see but I'll just pretend its something else think ya very much, forward then and lets find that damn weasel."
