songerein | Crystal Cave Exploration

Entry tags:

Crystal Cave Exploration

Who: Alastor and Madhuri
Which: Log, Closed
Where: The tunnels around Orkili
What: Alastor and Madhuri join the search to find out what happened to the crystals that were supposed to keep Orkili's reactor stable and get a bit more than they bargained for.
Warnings: Standard Alastor warning. Will update with any additional warnings as needed.

Alastor practically skipped towards the tunnel, summoning a ball of light to better light the way more for his partner's benefit than his own. His shadow friends preferred the dark, after all. However, it wouldn't do for her to trip and twist her ankle.

He looked back at her, grin a mile wide, as his ears swiveled about to catch every possible sound. "Not the way I thought I'd get a chance to explore the Wasteland but I can't say I'm disappointed! What about you, my dear?"

He suspected Madhuri had agreed to team up with him to balance out his enthusiasm. The Orkili natives looked like they didn't know how to react to him: a mix of deep gratitude for keeping the nightmare energy from exploding outward until help could arrive and disturbed fascination from the way he'd inhaled a whole carcass (still didn't know what animal since he'd been too tired to identify it much less taste it) raw before passing out on a cot once the danger had passed.

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The light was rather handy, as the tunnels were quick to swallow up any light that tried to peer in from the surface. After the strange happenings involving the subterranean folk, she found herself with an itch to figure out of there was something that could have set all this off in the first place.

Alastor needed a rock, as many others did in Reverein. To delve further into the world of dreams was an opportunity one didn't- ironically- sleep on, so she seized her chance while also vowing to wrangle the silly demon should something go awry.

She kept her voice low, cautious. "I can't deny feeling of similar sentiment. We simply don't know enough of this place and I can't sit and twiddle my thumbs sighing, 'WELL, guess we're staying penned in' into perpetuity."

Hmm. Let's see- "I think my eyes have adjusted a touch. Can you lower the light a little for me? I wouldn't wish to alert any... 'friends' down here that they're no longer alone."

"Certainly, my dear!" The orb dimmed. "And I'm afraid we'll see very few of my own particular friends here."

He twitched an ear as one of the small local shadow creatures hovered in front of him, it looking quite nervous.

"Speaking of whom..." Alastor focused on it. "I take it you want to go back to the others in the city proper?"

It nodded its head.

"By all means. Thank you again for your help at the reactor."

It flew back into the shadows, disappearing.

Alastor turned back to Madhuri. "Not many of those kinds of shadows down here. Given all the noctaere and such, I'm not surprised."

The scene was rather sweet of him. Poor little thing. "I suppose not. I've never seen them act nervously before..."

Hmm. A bit of a drop here, but nothing that wasn't doable. The auri woman hunkered down, pushed off, and managed to land and smooth down her skirts.

"Suppose something that wishes to dance meets us down here. Any particular style in mind, or will it be a full-on tango?" Probably wouldn't hurt to try and subdue rather than destroy, buuut... that all depends.

"Honestly, I'm amazed any of them were around the city at all," Alastor admitted. "I have a feeling most of the time, the little ones end up corrupted into noctaere or eaten."

There was a note of empathy for the little shadows. They were, after all, his friends. He didn't coerce them or try to bind them like his personal shadow. It made it a bit trickier to get them to do what he wanted, yes, but at least then they were willing which made things easier.

Alastor easily hopped down, pausing to make sure Madhuri was steady before walking a few paces forward.

"I wouldn't be opposed to a tango if the music isn't appropriate for something slower," Alastor said breezily, picking up on the "code" of sorts. "Let me give you a hand, Miss Madhuri. There's a bit more of a drop here."

She never considered that they'd corrupt and he would lose them like that. But in the grand scheme of things and how this world worked, she supposed she should have expected it. And yet... "...I'm so sorry."

All the more reason to get things figured out.

"Hm? A dro- oh. Ohhh, yes, that is quite the drop." Alright, so these tunnels were darker than she thought. Perhaps the nightmare energy helped deepen shadows, nibbling away at what little light there could be.

"Oh, I knew I should have packed rope. I should probably have my adventuring license revoked."

"No need to apologize. Their current situation wasn't our intentional doing, after all. We simply have yet another reason to sort this all out."

He did so love his little shadowy friends.

He chuckled at the idea. "And what does an adventuring license grant you permission to do, my dear?"

"Why, it grants you the permission to do all sorts of things, like pack grappling hooks, caltrops, maps, lug around treasure and hunt for it. ...Also hunt giant beasties without being considered the neighborhood menace. One would think that having the leftover dried blood of a great hydra under your fingernails is a sound conversation starter... alas."

Alright, let's head further down. A hand, if you would?

"Your wearing red is clever in that regard. Also I can't imagine you in any other hue, really."

"Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission for those sorts of things," Alastor said with a chuckle.

He gave Madhuri a hand down so she didn't stumble and twist her ankle.

"Oh absolutely! Though would you believe I used to dress primarily in browns with a white shirt?"

He continued their walk once he was certain she was stable. His ears swiveled about as their voices echoed off the walls of the tunnel.

Whew... perfect. She'll be alright.

"I suppose brown was sort of the style in that time period...? I've seen wonderful paintings and dreams of the era you'd mentioned. It's a neutral, warm but smooth color, comfortable and not too flashy."

She paused after a while, noticing a gleam on the floor. The auri approached it to hunker down and get a better look. She reached to smooth out some of the soil here.

"Oh... there's a rail track here!" Her hand lay against the metal, held. No vibrations.

Well, it was worth checking.

"Well, that gift-wraps things for us. We could find what we need a little quicker if we bump into a cart. ...You don't get carsick, do you?"

"It was also cheaper to make and sell. Particularly after the Stock Market crashed and inflation went through the roof. Money wasn't worth the paper it was printed on."

He thought for a moment.

"I don't think so! Then again, it's been decades since I last traveled by something other than my shadow or my own hooves."

His ears locked onto something. He snapped his head completely around, freezing in place as he listened closely.

Something in the dark was trying to move softly and not draw attention, but its claws scraping the rocks gave it away.

"...We may have that tango sooner than expected, my dear."

Well, nut-bunnies. Here wasn't the place for a joke, so she had to presume he was serious.

She followed the tracks until her fingers brushed the edge of a cart. Briefly she reached in, felt around... some dirt, some rocks... probably from things falling from the ceiling but nothing of value.

Still. Workable.

"Ah. Well, now's a good of a time as any to find out, huh? I found a cart." Besides, it could just be a lizard or something. Plenty of things enjoyed living in the dark and quiet like this.

Alastor had a fully-developed inner ear, she presumed. Even in death.

"I'll be very sore if you vomit on me, so please try not to, will you?"

"Get in the cart."

Later on, Alastor will apologize for commanding her, but right now there was no time to explain. He turned his body to face the same direction as his head, summoning his microphone and narrowing his eyes.

The creature he'd been aurally tracking picked up the pace, having realized that it'd been "spotted". Stones fell to the ground as its claws tore into the stone as it loped forward...from above.

...Goodness. Folk usually paid good money to be talked to like that. And here she gets it for free. Her nameday isn't for months.

"Not without you, Mr. Bossy Boots!" She, in kind, would have to apologize later for scooping him up like- let's be frank- he weighed nothing, and depositing him in the cart.

She grit her teeth and gave the cart a good shove before she vaulted in. It was DEFINITELY time to go!

Alastor didn't object due to how shocked he was at being tossed into the cart from behind. He sat there for a moment, stunned, as she got them moving.

As he got his bearings, his shadow leaped out of the cart to take on a stag form and start shoving the cart along faster as the creature on the ceiling started gaining ground.

"Not exactly what I expected you to do but effective!" he told Madhuri as he pulled himself up where he could see better.

Edited 2023-10-12 20:37 (UTC)

"Improvisation is another perk of adventuring!"

The shadow pushed them along and she held on tight. That was definitely something coming after them. But what would hold out, Alastor's buddy or whatever the absolute HELL this was??

She sought her Sage soul crystal and shifted. Wasn't the first time she's had to do all this in a moving vehicle. Madhuri released the nouliths from her back and set two to whirl. The remaining four formed a square grid, prepared for a barrier.

For now, she would play things defensively.

And while she was on the defensive, Alastor took offense.

He summoned a fireball in his hand before hurtling towards the ceiling just in front of the creature chasing them. It was a miss, but it gave them a vague outline of what they were dealing with.

Alastor's smile turned into a sneer of distaste. "Canine. Of course it's canine-shaped."

Just his damned luck.

He turned his focus to his shadow, infusing it with extra power so it could keep ahead of the creature...though that turned out not to be too hard as they suddenly hit a slope and his shadow had to revert to its normal self just to catch up.

Alastor held tight to one side of the cart and wrapped an arm around Madhuri to make sure she didn't go flying out.

"I will not let this dog have a go at your biscuits!"

Oh! Oh that's a slope! That's a SLOOOOPE-

Madhuri cried out, her stomach flopping with the shift in gravity, but only didn't go flying out because of that helpful arm. She held on tight. Hopefully the momentum would be enough to put some space between their pursuer and the cart.

If only they could see ahead. Zooming into sheer darkness wasn't a very heartening sight.

Alastor turned his head around to face forward even as his body and Madhuri continued facing their pursuer. His night vision was pretty decent considering he worked with shadows but this darkness was far, far too dark.

A curve emerged out of the darkness before them. Alastor leaned them into the turn, gritting his fangs as one set of wheels briefly left the tracks. They banged back onto the tracks with a barrage of sparks.

Well, any question she may have had about how carts handle turns was swiftly answered- poorly. She leaned as best as she could as well to help keep them on the tracks.

But it seems they've lost their pursuer. Good. Now to figure out where this cart leads, and give them some answers to the Orkili power crisis. She couldn't even feel the magic down here... how deep did the underfolk dig to get what they wanted?

"Who in their right mind would build a mine cart track like this?!" Alastor demanded as he leaned them into another turn, his shadow further flying alongside to help keep them on the track.

A bit of light farther ahead showed that there was some chance of escaping their pursuer for good. If this noctaere preferred to hunt in the darkest places, it might not abide light well.

Unfortunately, it also showed a hairpin turn they were going far, far too fast for.

"Slow us down!" he commanded his shadow which moved in front of them in an attempted to push back against their momentum that ultimately proved fruitless.

Alastor spun his head back around and used his long legs to wedge them as best he could inside the cart, hugging Madhuri tight to his chest. He bent his knees in preparation for what was going to be a desperate jump as soon as they got close enough to the ground that Madhuri wouldn't break every bone in her body on impact.

"Hang on tight!"

Her heart leaped into her throat. She, too, saw that turn that was not meant for folk going their current speed. They'd be thrown out into Twelve-knows-where!

She held on as bid, and focused on a command: Panhaima Protocol.

The nouliths moved swiftly, borrowing dreamotion to erect a 5-layer barrier around them. She knew it helped against magic and physical blows, but who knows how it'd hold against gravity smacking them flat into what earth lay in their trajectory.

The cart hit a bump in the tracks, sending them flying off the rails sooner than anticipated. Alastor leaped as best he could out of the cart.

If this were Hell, he'd have teleported them to safety long before this, but he still isn't sure it's safe to take living things along with him here in Reverein. Given his only available test subjects were people he'd like to not see turned inside-out or worse, he made do.

Hugging her tightly, he twisted so that his body would come in contact with the ground first. The spell she'd cast certainly helped take the edge off of it, but their momentum carried the day. Alastor gave a howl of pain as his back struck the earth with a loud CRACK! before they skidded across the rocks and other sharp debris. They finally came to a stop with Alastor's head smacking against a large glowing crystal on the edge of the lighted area they'd seen in the cart.

Alastor's grip loosened on Madhuri now that they stopped, him momentarily dazed from the blow to the head on top of the pain from their landing.

Edited 2023-10-18 15:08 (UTC)

Oh, that... sounded fantastic.

Her body complained that she kept moving, but she had to ignore that whining when someone else was in a far, far worse state. She was abundantly glad to have left her teachings as a White Mage behind for the swifter, more precise dealings in Sharlayan sagecraft.

Prognosis... significant damage, but she had plenty of dreamotion power to give, feeding her own stores to mend what of Alastor's that had been damaged in the fall. She needed to be fast and stitch the poor man together, keeping her eyes out for their pursuer.

Her glance had caught the gleaming crystal, but-

"Talk to me, dear, but be still. I think we've found what we're looking for, but it matters so little if you're dashed to pieces here..." He took a hit to the head, and she hoped he hadn't been completely scrambled.

Jumbled bits of thoughts/music stumbled through his ambient static as Alastor groaned, forcing his eyes open.

"That wuz...unpleasant."

His Transatlantic and Southern accents kept wobbling back and forth for dominance. His brains were a bit scrambled, but he at least seemed somewhat present.

"You okay, sha?"

"I'll be okay, you goose..." She stroked an ear and reached up with the other hand, gently redirecting the hovering foci. They worked in a frenzy that matched her thoughts, working to knit this closed here, soothe an inflammation there...

"But after this, even if we do get you right as rain, you'll need a good long rest. Dreamotion mimics natural bodily functions a tad too well..."

"I'll be rain az right in no time!" he said, starting to try and sit up to a loud pop from his back as something forced itself back into alignment. He gave her a goofy smile. "Made a sterner stuff den da living!"

His gaze drifted upwards, taking in crystals on the ceiling providing light from above.

"Shining like stars!" he blurted out merrily. "Makes ya look like an angel!"

Oh boy. He'd definitely gotten his bell rung by all that.

She shifted to prop him up. The short, quiet laugh was incredulous.

"Oh, an angel now, huh? Now I know your poor brains jingled around in your skull. Naughty crystal, knocking the noggin like that."

Madhuri scanned above. If they needed to move, she would move them, but ideally, he needed to remain where he was until he was in a state to get back on his feet.

Alastor's ears twitched as he looked back at the crystal that had rudely introduced itself to his skull.

"Hang on. Aren't dese...?"

He didn't complete the thought, instead reaching out with his hand and dreamotion to set it and the surrounding crystals humming, all of them glowing softly.

"I... you're right." She looked around.

"I've grown so used to feeling this energy, that I'd forgotten what it was like to be without it, only to be surrounded by them again. The air is so thick..."

"Ah believe we may have solved our prahlem wid da reactor!" Alastor said cheerfully, his accent still wobbling back and forth between its two extremes. "Looks like we don't haveta 'splode afta all!"

"It wasn't far off the path of the carts, either... it was accessible. Perhaps our little friend in the tunnel may have to take the credit for the little ones' present woes."

"It would certainly make sense. Partic'ly since da tracks come real close. They had to have seen da crystals."

His accent was starting to even out. A good thing, too, since their unwanted friend was starting to catch up.

She was mending as quickly as she was able. But sagecraft and the use of dreamotion were wildly different tracks.

"...Then it likely falls to us to figure out how to shoo the thing away. By force if we must."

"Typically these sorts of things need ta be sent out by force."

He reached out to pat her on the shoulder.

"My brains are unscrambled enough ta get the job done. No need to waste your energy on this. Though maybe we should back up into the crystals for a bit more light."

If nothing else, noctaere didn't like light. The crystals might make the mongrel hesitate.

"Alright. I'm going to keep the nouliths set in their recovery protocol, but let's get you moved... gently."

She was strong for one. Two? ...Sorry, Al, but you're a beanpole. It's not going to take much to move a bit closer to the clusters and their light.

No offense taken, Madhuri. He was well-aware of his beanpole status. He'd always been one.

He got to his feet and used her to help him balance as they moved into the crystals' glow. He kept his eyes on the noctaere as it approached the edge of the field...

...and entered it without hesitation.

In fact, the creature bent its head to snap up some loose crystal shards in its jaws, grind them between its teeth, and swallowed them. In the light, it was easy to see it seemed to have been carved out of darkened rock.

"...That is concerning."

Oh.

That.

Weren't they supposed to be repulsed by dreamotion...?

"...And now we know why the Orkili were having trouble." So dreamotion was likely not the name of the game. What if striking this creature with it only made it stronger?

"But it is made of rock. Blunt force may be the call."

"If we can crack the shell, I could use sound to further break it apart," Alastor said just loud enough for her to hear.

It reminded him of his first encounter with a noctaere two years ago with Yoshiya in the cave. It hadn't been very strong and neither of them had had any mastery of dreamotion, so Alastor had used sound to bring the roof of the cave down for them to get away.

"At the very least sound might be able to temporarily stun it into holding still long enough for a good hit from anything you have, my dear."

Alastor's ears twitched nervously. This noctaere was unhurried, completely unworried about anything they might throw at it. Perhaps it was because of his own predatory instincts, but he had the distinct impression that it wasn't confidence born of ignorance in what its sighted prey could do but that it knew it could overcome whatever they threw at it.

The prey instincts of his demonic form wanted to run far and fast.

"Right. I'll go in guns-a-blazing." She gave him a pat and tapped into the soul crystal in her pouch. With a swift change, she moved from Sage to Warrior, complete with the furs and skins adorning her body and those clawed gauntlets.

"I would only need a moment to prepare, but we can give it a solid whack and see what happens, improvise from there."

She didn't like how it seemed so aloof. But perhaps it spent enough time being an apex predator and had never gone unchallenged until today.

"Sounds like a plan. I have a few defensive spells if necessary, but I'm afraid you're a lot more versatile." His grin sharpened into his version of a grimace. "And I doubt my claws would do much against that hide."

She manifested her hammer and grinned. "I've got you, darling!"

Then, she roared, amped herself up. Berserking came naturally to her, letting her mind sink into every horrific thought, every vengeful memory, every last bit of how she was thoroughly done with the nightmares of past experiences.

Madhuri let it power her by advancing, channeling the furious dreamotion through the hammer, and swinging it solidly.

The noctaere looked between its two targets before it charged towards Madhuri. However, it was quick a nimble, swapping from a straight run to using the crystals as springboards to change direction on a dime, claws digging deep gouges into the shiny, glowing surfaces.

It was trying to get behind her, to strike where she'd be the most vulnerable.

Swing and a miss. Oh. Oho. It's a slippery one trying to pick a time and a place... but this critter missed Combat 101 from her humble woods of Etheirys-

The tank ALWAYS makes the appointment.

She grasped the hammer in both hands and was still. Let the anger build. All she needed was one hit. One solid strike, and whatever happened was up for the Beast to decide.

Madhuri hunched, turned her head, and the shift seemed to come naturally: Any refined demeanor or prancing frills was gone with the hurl of a hand axe at the creature's feet, stagger its momentum before she was up and a whirlwind of concussive force to clock their pursuer one with a Primal Rend.

Her trick worked flawlessly.

It had dodged out of the way of the hand axe, but that had left it vulnerable to being struck solidly in the side from the attack. There was a resounding CRACK from the rock-hard skin spiderwebbing where she'd hit it.

Alastor aimed and fired a concentrated blast of sound at the spot to strike the moment she prepared for another blow. However, he was too far away to see what Madhuri would see as some of the rock chipped off from both her strike and Alastor's:

More crystal. Only it hummed with pure nightmare energy.

It got back to its feet and pounced.

...It wasn't a shell? It was- it was pure-

She braced with her hammer to take the brunt of the pounce and grit her teeth, try and drive this thing away and give herself some breathing room.

"Ah-ah-ah- no kisses on the first night!" The strength was comparable. On sheer toe-to-toe, she was confident she could handle the creature. But she'd handled enough noctaere to know that this creature- on top of being comfortable being around these crystal structures- was something alien. Even to them, who had been here for so long...

"...Deer friend, I do believe it's best we cancel this date and reconvene!"

Under normal circumstances, he'd be inclined to protest. However, with his brains still a bit scrambled and this noctaere not fitting the typical pattern...

He shapeshifted into a great red stag, running over to Madhuri, stretching his neck down so she could grab hold and swing herself up onto his back. His gait wasn't like a horse's, but hopefully she'd be able to hang on well enough.

Damn it all. She never wished to flee, either, but there was no use in dying for one's pride. G'raha would be immensely upset.

She swung on and held on tight. She tapped into her Dancer crystal to draw upon a Peloton spell for greater speed. They needed to get OUT of here!

"Thank you, darling. Swift as you can make it!"

Alastor said nothing, focusing instead on racing forward. His shadow took on the shape of a stag as well, mirroring him so that he didn't need to worry about missing a board as he followed the cart tracks back to where they'd come from. He could solidify his shadow just enough to act as temporary ground where their hooves met.

He ran as if the hounds that had torn him to shreds in life were hot on his heels. He could still hear their howls in his ears. He'd been a helpless human then. He was prey once more but at least he had more of a chance.

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Crystal Cave Exploration

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