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Post by linnaea on Dec 28, 2008 1:43:27 GMT -5
Linn glanced at him. Skeptic of his fear. “Are you afraid of it?” She asked sounding surprised. But she grew sympathetic as he grimaced at her, smiling softly; kindly. “Well, if we aren’t and it gets mad... we can always run, or we could lie to it. Tell it that we’re not there for the treasure, just for shelter. It lives in the cave and can’t possibly know much about the outside world. So it would have no knowledge of the weather.” She turned to look at him again and caught him as he was puffing out his cheeks. She giggled lightly, it was cute. Her laugh had been subtle and soft, a high soprano chuckle that caused her to wrinkled her nose slightly until she was done. “I think it’s meant to jump to that sort of conclusion. After all anyone who wants to see the special treasure must be here to take it. Maybe that’s how he decides who’s worthy. The Guardian allows everyone to see it, and if they touch it or try to take it he attacks them. You can easily tell the motives of a thief if they try to snatch and flee.” She was trying to place comforting thoughts into his mind. Poor Grell didn’t need to fear the monster inside the cave. Maybe the monster wanted friends, maybe that’s all they needed to do was play with the Guardian.
Any treasure hunter would wish to take what glorious finds they discovered. But Linnaea would be happy enough to just see it. “Well, like I said, we’re not here to steal. Just to look. I’m sure that Guardian would let us go through cause he’ll tell that’s all we want to do.” She smiled at Grell, though grinned is a more appropriate description as her pearly teeth shone from behind black lips. They were at the perspective location. “All that left is to go inside and find out just what’s waiting in there. Maybe the treasure is just a ruse. Maybe it was all made up by someone... or maybe it was already taken. I’d like to find out.”
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Grell
Cub
No night is so dark, no situation so dire, that the intervention of the gods cannot make it worse.
Posts: 60
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Post by Grell on Jan 7, 2009 21:33:16 GMT -5
"No! Maybe. Possibly. Okay, yeah, you got me. I'm a little scared." He dropped his snout and slicked his ears back. It wasn't fair that his new best friend should see him as such a weakling so soon, but he huffed and kept trailing along after her. A moment passed in which Linn outlined a possible plan of escape, and tried to reassure him. He was quiet and a little sullen during the whole way, but when they stopped and he looked up at the towering waterfall, he spoke softly as a thought occurred to him. "I am pretty good at running away." He looked to Linn and smiled back. "Maybe you're right, and maybe he won't eat us right away. And I'd like to see that treasure for myself too." He took a deep breath, as if about to take an icy plunge into oblivion. Actually, that idea might not be too far from the truth. No, Grell. You're doing this. "Alright, Linn. I'm coming along. So this treasure better not have been made by a no-good, dirty, little liar, or else I'm going to have to box his ears when I die."
Grell smiled weakly and fluffed up his tail, looking at the base of the waterfall. Coincidentally, behind the carpet of white water there did appear to be a dark stain on the rock where a deep alcove was, and though Grell felt his heart drop a few inches, he wasn't entirely disappointed. At least he had expected, more-or-less, that a cave really was behind the waterfall. Even if a cave wasn't there before, I'm pretty sure Fenris put one there while we were coming over here, just to spite me. He sighed, and stepped bravely forward.
He shivered at the cool, grainy touch of the wet rock beneath his pads. Water sprayed gently over his head and neck, and finally his back, making his fur start to stick up like he was an odd-sized porcupine. He took a few more steps, and was at once engulfed by the roar of the falls as he walked into the space between the waterfall and the gray stone wall. He shoved his ears back against his head, and glanced over his shoulder to Linn, hoping for an encouraging sign. Loud in here, he mouthed before continuing on. The cave was only a few more meters now, and he inched closer with every heartbeat. Unknowingly, he cowered as he crept, and kept stopping to master his fear. But, only after a few minutes of terror - both of seeing the monster suddenly jump at him, and of being swept away by the waterfall if he strayed a hairsbreadth closer - Grell finally made it to the opening of the cave. He gulped and looked back. Going in, he said to Linn. Then, he ducked in quickly.
The roar of the falls instantly muted into a dull snore, like a sleeping bear.
He noticed it was very dark at first, even more than it had been under the waterfall. It took a while for his eyes to adjust, but while they did, he noticed that there was really no smell at all in here. Besides himself, which admittedly wasn't very appealing, all he could smell was wet and rock, and a combination of both. Not even the stale musty smell of old life lingered here. Grell wrinkled his nose. Creepy. He shrugged, and looked at the walls. The cave itself was wide near the falls, but quickly narrowed further away. The walls were smooth for the most part, with only a few odd nooks and crannies here and there. What Grell also noticed was how incredibly dry it was in the cave. Despite it's proximity to the waterfall, it was quite nice comfortable. Even the air felt a bit warmer in here than it had outside. He shook his head in marvel, then quickly shook his body, and felt less sodden when he finished. He grinned. "Whoa," he said quietly. "This is... amazing."
// ah, feels good to be back //
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Post by linnaea on Jan 9, 2009 2:55:55 GMT -5
Linnaea chuckled and licked his forehead in a friendly manner. She was endeared by his confession, he had seemed so torn. But she didn’t look down on his just cause of that, everyone had fears. For her it was failure and disappointing her father. And everyone had their courage. “Yes, I agree! It better not be made up. It would be very sad.” Of course it most likely was made up by the two of them, so if nothing was there they would have to just deal with the sadness. But they had convinced themselves that something was in the cave, something worthy of risking danger, something that called for an adventure. The two cubs reached the opened, and she eyed it nervously.
“What if it’s slippery?” She asked, sniffing the ground that was nearby. The grass here was wet and very muddy thanks to the constant mist of water. Nervously she pawed the stone, though it was a little slippery it was also grainy and rough and her pads could cling to it with ease. Though she was still scared. After all, any wolf would be terrified of drowning. It was the Varg’s worst nightmare. But Grell went forward, and she couldn’t hear him, but she could kind of understand some of the words he mouthed. Loud and… something about going. “Wait up!” she yelped, hoping to be heard over the falls and carefully hurried on the path behind the falls to the cave’s mouth. Immediately her ears pressed to her head, it was loud, terrifyingly loud. Perhaps the waterfall was the great guardian beast, and it’s roar was the test. She was almost convinced to leave, but she saw Grell’s hind vanishing into the dark and ran forward, feeling the exuberance as the roar dulled into a hum and the darkness took over. She was relying on Grell’s scent path now as her eyes adjusted. And soon she was in the same area as him, standing beside him.
Linn had also noticed that there was an absence of scent. Just moisture and him, as well as herself. She found that she kind of liked Grell’s musty scent, it reminded her of the wanderlust that was bred into her heart. The yearning to become a real Kerl. She hoped that she could visit Grell often during her times of living on her own. It would be very nice to see her newly found - and just decided - best friend many times as opposed to just a few. She also shook herself to dry her pelt. Then she paused to look around, back to where a faint amount of light was pouring in from behind the water, and then her audits twitched, hearing Grell’s amazement. “What, what is… whoa…” Her milky eyes glimmered, there on the wall was something amazing, quite beautiful. It was a gemstone, and it glowed with the absence of light. At first it seemed green, but when she moved closer it’s color changed to blue, then red, and orange. Like the painted sky after a rain.
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Grell
Cub
No night is so dark, no situation so dire, that the intervention of the gods cannot make it worse.
Posts: 60
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Post by Grell on Jan 10, 2009 19:52:12 GMT -5
He would have blushed when she licked him, but he was too preoccupied with his fear that he all but missed the affectionate action. As it was, all he could think to do was grin back at her before they reached Dierdre Falls, and then he forgot all about the comforting gesture. Yeah, I'm gonna die. I knew it. Thanks Fenris. Thanks a lot. I know you were behind this somehow. He scowled, but about that time he was remembering how good a runner he considered himself to be, and at that moment he knew that he could outrun the big scary guardian if it wanted to eat him and Linnaea. Well, if he goes for Linn first, at least I might get a headstart. He thought a bit more cheerfully, all but sacrificing his new best friend. It didn't quite make him as sick as he perhaps should have felt, but She'll always live on in memory if it comes to that. Then he smiled and started into the waterfall.
But as he did, he heard the sensible cry of his friend behind him. Slippery? Slippery! Fenris, why didn't you tell me that?! He stopped short and shuddered a moment, trying not to let his fear get the better of him. It wasn't until his head had cleared that he realized the rocks weren't actually slippery at all, but actually kind of granular and rough - giving him perfect traction. So, needless to say, he made it into the cave without incident, and let his eyes adjust while Linn followed his perilous journey.
Soon she was standing next to him, and Grell was feeling an odd combination of relief and dread. If the waterfall was terrifying, what will the guardian be like? And he couldn't stop thinking about some giant bat creature with long, upward curving fangs and red eyes. The thought was so intense that, after he realized how magnificent the cave was, his preoccupation with the fictitious monster kept him from seeing the marvelous jewl that was embedded in one of the walls. As a matter of fact, he didn't even notice what Linn was so fascinated about until she mimicked his astounded "whoa". He shivered and looked at her, and then at the stone in the wall.
As soon as he saw it, he was captivated, and all thoughts of some giant monster instantly vanished, replaced by a kind of hungry, longing feeling. He slunk slowly a few paces ahead of Linn, his mouth gaping, his ears pressed forward. And as he took step by trembling step, he couldn't help but feel repulsed and yet attracted to this strange thing.
It was a rather large gem, and he noticed after a moment that it changed colors too. It had many smooth faces that sort of sparkled prettily in the falselight in the cave. As he came closer, he thought he heard a slight, high-pitched ringing sound - one that could be from the echo of the waterfall in the cave, or, as Grell was starting to think, from the stone itself - ringing with some sort of magical sound. He suddenly wanted to touch it, and he brushed up against Linn's shoulder before leaving her side to pad closer to the gem. His head was low, his ears flicking constantly, and his yellow eyes were trained intently on the many smooth, innocent, cold faces of the jewel. He flicked his tail in agitation and excitement, wondering what it was, if it was more than just a stone. What if some sprite, or fey, is trapped in there? Or if Tor put some moon dust in the rock? Or... He was right next to the jewel now, and he put his nose near it, trying to smell if anything was different somehow - if there was any scent of magic. What does magic smell like? He thought it might be tangy.
But there was still nothing. He frowned, and looked at Linn in some hesitation, wondering what to do. "This is... this is the treasure," he said unnecessarily, in a reverent voice. He grinned. "We found it Linn! It's true, it's really here! This is amazing!" He looked back at the gem. Touch it. Touch it Grell, he thought, but he suddenly didn't know if he should.
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Post by linnaea on Feb 12, 2009 19:36:48 GMT -5
"It's so beautiful..." She murmured, her eyes gleaming with interest. She moved closer, following in Grell's paw-prints. She too neared, and she too heard a ringing in her ears. Like the soft tone of a ringing bell. It was the most miraculous thing she'd ever seen. Inhaling she could smell nothing miraculous, but wait, there was a faint sweet odour. Perhaps it was the stone itself, the glowing and the ringing, and the smell. Perhaps it was all the jewel. "Wow, this is beyond words." She said leaning lightly against Grell. She, too, felt the impulse to touch it. But somehow it seemed as though the gem might break, it seemed so strong, so fragile as it waited there in the rock.
Slowly her plume began to sway again; back and forth in a lazy, syncapated rhythm. Her audits twitched, the sounds of mostly silence filling her ears again, pressing agaisnt her body. It was strange, here the air should've been stagnent, yet it was clear and clean. Perhaps an effect from the undulating waterfall behind them. Perhaps there was a place where fresh air could enter, a place where the sun coul filter in. Briefly her mind drifted to the world outside this wonder, was it still shrouded in fog? Was it still eerie? When she left, would she be alone again? Of course not, she could always return to her pack. Go back to the place she was so willing to leave. But she kind of didn't want to. Sure she wanted to see her father again, but at the same time Deor was not a home, it was a place where her mother's voice lingered in the wind, where her brother's warmth was still felt. Where her father was hardly around.
Blinking the thoughts cleared away, like sun burning away cloudcover to reveal a blue sky. An epifany of sorts, she finally understood why she wanted to be a Kerl. To see the amazing wonders like the one before her, and to meet new Varg, and make friends.
To have a family of her own someday - but not now, not anywhere near now. She was far too young. "Grell, do you think that this treasure has any powres of.... maybe mind reading?" Somehow she felt that the stone had influenced her thinking, somehow she thought it had helped her.
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Grell
Cub
No night is so dark, no situation so dire, that the intervention of the gods cannot make it worse.
Posts: 60
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Post by Grell on Feb 28, 2009 16:59:02 GMT -5
Mind reading? Linnaea's voice brought him back into reality, into the wet, strange cave, into his own skin, which trembled as he remembered that there was supposed to be a guardian nearby. He blinked and looked away from the pretty gem and into the darkness of the cave. "Um," he said softly. "Uh, well, I really don't know. Why mind reading?" He forgot about the monstrous guardian, lurking in the dark, waiting to pounce on him and Linn, and looked at his friend curiously. "Why not a healing power, or a vanquishing power?" Or a power to set us safely back on solid ground? Or a power to grant me good luck for once? Or a power to bite that lazy stupid Fenris right in the-
A drop of water plinked on Grell's head, and settled his thoughts. He sucked on his bottom lip and looked back at the jewel. It seemed so strange that, of all places, such a pretty thing should be here: forgotten in a dingy old cave behind Dierdre Falls. He sighed. "Well, it might," he said reluctantly. If it has any powers, they're just as likely to be bad as good. "Maybe we should just leave any powers trapped inside alone though, huh? I mean, now that we've seen it. What if its some sort of evil power?" He glanced at Linn, and gave her a knowing look. "I mean, would you really want to find out?" His heart gave a nervous thud, and the grin he wore quavered a bit. She seemed more daring than he was, and given the chance, she might actually think it was a good idea to try and find out just what that little gem was capable of. So Grell quickly cut her off, and said, "No. I don't think so.
"If it releases some angry, pent up, well... thing, trapped in there since the time of Sita, I don't want to be around if it ever gets out and starts looking for someone to blame." Even if its nothing but dust by now. Oh Fenris, you know this type of thing. Why can't you just give me a hint: should I run away now, or is it safe to wait a while? Fenris, obviously, remained stubbornly silent. Grell wondered if the wolf god was smirking at him - whether for his fear, or because he was going to be pulverized when the magic of the gem started working, or when the guardian who was supposedly nearby finally showed up.
//eh... weird post xD //
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