First thing's first; I need to make sure that Wuyi's sound asleep and then profusely apologize for doubting her concerning Joshua... no, better call him by his real name now -- Epimethus' intentions concerning our time at the village, the escape across the river, the freeing of his brother: Prometheus. Every thing he had said had been correct and truthful (I have a knack for these things) but the reasons behind them... I hate being duped.
Regardless, we fought the harpies, and while I'll never be as quick or deadly in a fight as Tal and Wuyi, I have my own tricks. So long as I concentrate before-hand, any person or creature that I'm opposed in battle will lose a bit of their own grace and agility. Like the oceans, I can control the ebb and flow of those around me. Father's gift.
Tal, being stupid... careless... foolish... whatever you want to call the snapped part of her mind that thinks suicidal actions are all right ... dived after a Harpy and if it wasn't for Ben being just as insane diving after her, she'd be dead and I'd be without a best buddy.
Damn it, it's hard to be relieved about your friend's survival and not lose the reputation of being shallow and indifferent. I tried to throw it back onto those two falling for each other, but, heh, they only had eyes for the other.
It's sickening sweet, like saturated sugar left in one's tea far too long.
In the midst of all of this, I finally, -finally- remembered one of the other tricks my father showed me about how to read people's true natures. It was how I learned that all three of our companions that weren't the core six weren't who they said they were.
Even Kathy. I'm most wary about her because I think that Tal is correct: she -is- the evil we sealed away. And what's keeping her from going evil again is that she's as memoryless as we are. We need to make sure that when we head through the twin gods at the mouth of the river Lethe, that we collect our memories while preventing her from gathering her own. That way, at the least, she won't be as dangerous.
Oh? Didn't I mention? We're apparently working with Prometheus now to escape Hades and I know that won't go well with Zeus, Head Honcho of the Greek Gang o' Gods (from now on, I'll call them the Triple G's!).
But that's inconsequential to actual escape, memory restoration, and figuring out what the hell is going on.
Oh! And I hate this swamp and this Underworld. And Harpies. I hate Harpies.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Over the River and Through the Woods ... of Dead People and Harpies
So. Right. First note: the group's not in agreement about Kathy, the naked Azteca beauty who Wuyi's carrying around via caludron. It came up on the boat, Tal and Wuyi got into it ... Tal called Wuyi a thief, Wuyi called Tal a princess... and I'm torn between siding with the buddy and the booty call. I mean, I know who I should side with libido-wise, but friend-wise, I can't pick.
Still... I try to keep them from re-murdering each other on the boat while we're pushed through the mist and to the other side. When we get to the other side, it's as if the entire population of the earth was crammed on the shore. They did not bother me, but I know the ghosts bothered everyone else, especially Wuyi. Poor girl.
I started to push us through when Tal picked up tracks and Rupper was being assaulted (in vain) by one of the ghosts. We came to a cliff and there ... well, I single-handedly held off forty angry ghosts while Tal and Ben picked a fight with two harpies. One thing lead to another and they're both diving off the cliff like crazy people.
I follow. Of course.
At the bottom, we run into Joshua again (I knew he was alive!) and Tal starts snarking at me about Wuyi ... and then KATHY joins in on it! She's not my firlfriend people! She's just... Wuyi and it's complicated and so not anyone's business, geez. I mean, I'm not like Ben or Tal... being touchy about feelings, but c'mon! Respect!
So I left the bickering while Tal and Wuyi helped out the elder and clambered up to share a smoke with Ben and Rupper. Next thing I know, the chains were snapping and the harpies were zooming in again.
Damn it all!
Still... I try to keep them from re-murdering each other on the boat while we're pushed through the mist and to the other side. When we get to the other side, it's as if the entire population of the earth was crammed on the shore. They did not bother me, but I know the ghosts bothered everyone else, especially Wuyi. Poor girl.
I started to push us through when Tal picked up tracks and Rupper was being assaulted (in vain) by one of the ghosts. We came to a cliff and there ... well, I single-handedly held off forty angry ghosts while Tal and Ben picked a fight with two harpies. One thing lead to another and they're both diving off the cliff like crazy people.
I follow. Of course.
At the bottom, we run into Joshua again (I knew he was alive!) and Tal starts snarking at me about Wuyi ... and then KATHY joins in on it! She's not my firlfriend people! She's just... Wuyi and it's complicated and so not anyone's business, geez. I mean, I'm not like Ben or Tal... being touchy about feelings, but c'mon! Respect!
So I left the bickering while Tal and Wuyi helped out the elder and clambered up to share a smoke with Ben and Rupper. Next thing I know, the chains were snapping and the harpies were zooming in again.
Damn it all!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Dead and Not Loving It
Looking back, telling Wuyi my fears that we were all dead and the dramatic rescue was going to amount to nothing, because --- being dead again, right -- was probably not the the best conversation to have while we were leaping down the miles like rabbits on one of the drugs Rupper pulled out of his stash box one night.
I should back up a bit.
After the ruins, we returned to the village. Poor half-eaten guy on the side of the woods got to me. I mean, yes, we’re all dead but if this is supposed to be part of the Elysian Fields then why the hell is he suffering?! But before I could try to help, Tal screamed. The Riders were attacking the village. I knew what I had to do: fight with my friends. So I went with them, noting that Tal was made up of bottled lightning and made a note to study her further, note how she was moving and why … speed seems like an interesting prospect. Digressing!
We battled the Riders - hungry corpses who had the nerve to throw teeth at me! TEETH! Well, we showed them quickly via Rupper’s rocking solo and Rex’s massive jaws crushing half of the zombies, and Tal, Kel, Wu, and I finishing off the rest. If Wuyi and I weren’t currently circling eachother with interest … Rupper would so be having me show up to his door later.
The village saved, we went after the riders that took off on horseback towards the river. Again, Tal took off like a streak of lightning, and Wuyi’s impressive leaping took me along. Then I told her about my idea and she called my ass fat. I really didn’t have time to respond, as by now she was leaping over the river and landed on the boat.
Before we could celebrate Wuyi’s amazingness, the Ferryman grabbed us and flung us into the river. Last thing I saw before I went under was Joshua’s face, then I hit the water. I remembered last second what the river bordering the Fields was and shut my mouth before the water splashed over me. I broke the surface, looking for Wuyi and panicked … only to have her groping some tentacle monster.
Kelly, the poor girl, dove in after us but forgot to not drink the water. She must have hit her head on some rocks at the shore as not only did her memory go, but her sense went as well.
As Wuyi and I exited the river, Ben picked up groupies in the form of the villagers we saved. The six of us discussed where we were, and the possible why, why we noticed that Kelly was ringing the bell. Out of the river, the boat and the ferryman reappeared. Without Joshua.
Shit.
I should back up a bit.
After the ruins, we returned to the village. Poor half-eaten guy on the side of the woods got to me. I mean, yes, we’re all dead but if this is supposed to be part of the Elysian Fields then why the hell is he suffering?! But before I could try to help, Tal screamed. The Riders were attacking the village. I knew what I had to do: fight with my friends. So I went with them, noting that Tal was made up of bottled lightning and made a note to study her further, note how she was moving and why … speed seems like an interesting prospect. Digressing!
We battled the Riders - hungry corpses who had the nerve to throw teeth at me! TEETH! Well, we showed them quickly via Rupper’s rocking solo and Rex’s massive jaws crushing half of the zombies, and Tal, Kel, Wu, and I finishing off the rest. If Wuyi and I weren’t currently circling eachother with interest … Rupper would so be having me show up to his door later.
The village saved, we went after the riders that took off on horseback towards the river. Again, Tal took off like a streak of lightning, and Wuyi’s impressive leaping took me along. Then I told her about my idea and she called my ass fat. I really didn’t have time to respond, as by now she was leaping over the river and landed on the boat.
Before we could celebrate Wuyi’s amazingness, the Ferryman grabbed us and flung us into the river. Last thing I saw before I went under was Joshua’s face, then I hit the water. I remembered last second what the river bordering the Fields was and shut my mouth before the water splashed over me. I broke the surface, looking for Wuyi and panicked … only to have her groping some tentacle monster.
Kelly, the poor girl, dove in after us but forgot to not drink the water. She must have hit her head on some rocks at the shore as not only did her memory go, but her sense went as well.
As Wuyi and I exited the river, Ben picked up groupies in the form of the villagers we saved. The six of us discussed where we were, and the possible why, why we noticed that Kelly was ringing the bell. Out of the river, the boat and the ferryman reappeared. Without Joshua.
Shit.
Awakening
It was nearing six months. Six months spent in a small village with nothing more than the basic tools and supplies to survive on. Six months banded with other survivors who, like me, knew absolutely nothing beyond the six month mark. My mind just went fuzzy whenever I tried to recall anything. A lover, a fight, my parents. Nothing. It was like the mist that curled around in the air was just an external piece of my own mental state.
Although our village numbered greatly, I didn't connect with many. Save five others, like me. They each had something strange about them. Wuyi's little pot never seemed to run out of food, and I've seen a large purple spider crawling on Kelly's shoulder and the girl doesn't react. Tal and Ben talk and chatter with their birds like it was second-nature, and Rupper, well ... the man's a god with the guitar.
The down-side to our merry misfit band was that Wuyi, lovely as she is, is prone to somehow exploding, losing, or (in this case) catapulting grain into the river. That usually knocks us up with chores. Like water-hauling. I loathe water-hauling. I decided Wuyi wouldn't get a single wink or flirt for at least the afternoon. A fitting punishment.
When we took a break on the hill that led back into the village (and that's what's worse. Lugging the water UP HILL, UGH!) the boys got into some tissy over smoke they'd spotted in the north. I wasn't looking north, I had been gazing south and nearly spilled my own water bucket lunging to my feet when something in the forest moved. Something that had the noticeable fleshless grin of a skeleton. I brought it up to the others and while the smoke was a concern... we all decided that the body in the woods was much more interesting.
Sure enough, it was a body. Gnawed on, chewed on ... I think Tal or Kelly said it was a fellow villager. Poor sod. We had to go in. If not to kill whatever did this, then to find out what did this and flee for our lives afterwards. It was a sound plan. Most exciting thing since Wuyi managed to light Joshua's beard on fire without an actual flame. Kelly was being hesitant. The girl's so timid sometimes, it's hard to muster up any sort of tease without her flashing the dark doe eyes and making you feel guilty. However, even Kelly followed us into the dark spooky woods and sure enough, it was me again who spotted the creepy, bloody skeleton-feet tracks that led even deeper in.
And I thought Tal was supposed to be a hunter. Huh.
At the clearing, my good mood dimmed for a moment. It was more than obvious what had happened there. The place reeked of rot and decay. And while Tal was trying to redeem herself by finding the next bit of the puzzle, the wind died. We were surrounded by creatures that had ghostly green eyes. They spoke to us, said we had three questions. Naturally, the three questions were used up with the summary of "what, who should, and huh?" Obviously, Kelly and Wuyi had not listened to the storyteller's fairy tales. Ah well.
The creatures admitted to being the ones that eat people coming through their forest (just lovely) and that we were to be protected because we honored the ancient treaties and were somehow different than the other villagers. We went back, determined to find out the 'why' of the cover-up. We ignored the smoke, but it became apparent what the cause was when we got back to the village. A neighboring village had been attacked and crushed. A lone boy - the survivor. Ah, well, the village lasses would take care of him. We, on the other hand (actually, for the record Wuyi) manhandled Joshua into his cabin and got the truth from him.
Or a creepy from a book of human skin (how the HELL does Tal even know that?!) leather filled with stories about ancient evil and mysterious power and lost memories locked away in a ruins in the woods sort of truth. Well, guess Tal had found the next puzzle piece. It was off to the ruins.
Once there, Wuyi (again, noticing a pattern here?) charged up and demanded entrance. Whatever stone creature that was the guardian didn't deny us entrance, but next time we're giving a test of wit ... we should be more wittier than "a hole". The stone exploded and like I was existing in slow motion, I just... side-stepped ... and it all fell around me.
I have to admit, I was feeling a little smug when the others all jump up covered in dust and with more or less injured from the rock. They must have forgotten the meaning of the word 'duck!'. I digress. I stepped first into the stairwell (and thinking back on that, maybe should invest in more than a tiny jaged coral knife if I'm to do that often.) and the light unleashed some sort of sleeping puff spores onto us. Ben, Rup, myself, and Wuyi all managed to ignore the drowsiness, but as I'm covering my face, I hear two 'thumps!' behind me.
Kelly and Tal had no tolerance it seems. The others dragged Tal out to the fresh air, but I uncapped my water canteen, figuring to splash the girl to get her up. Worked when she drifted off on chores... only when it was chores, the water didn't explode on her face in pain and explosions. I couldn't feel more terrible. Kelly was a trooper, though, and pressed on down the stairwell with us, running as fast as she could with that pain.
It was pitch-black, but Ben had a night-vision scope and relayed the room. Well, we weren't getting through the hole in the ceiling. It was the dark pit of water for us! I had us all grab the rope I'd brought, it was dark water and we didn't need to lose one below the surface. With a breath, I plunged into the cold water ... and stumbled out the other side of a wall.
What the hell? I'd ended up in some bizarre room, with six glowing orifices around a pool of water with a very, very lovely woman floating beneath it. If she was evil, then evil was hot. Just saying. Behind me, I heard the others coming across ... and then the sound of more exploding water! What. The. Hell?! I'm grateful that I don't explode with pain but I'm really curious as to the why I get to miss out on the agony.
Well! That passed and we all grabbed a crystal. I chose green. As soon as my hand touched, I just knew I'd never experience anything more intense in my life again. It's ... like the world grew to a tiny pinprick of sensation and then just exploded inside me.
The churning surface above me, the rope getting snagged on the rock. The tunneling dark as air leaked out of my tank. Radio crackle fading out. The flash of fish scale and sharp teeth. The neigh of a horse and the rough snag that hauls me onto dry land. He ... my father ... cradles me as I come back from that dark tunnel and I know that one day, I'll be able to hold that staying power of death myself.
The boys shout as the temple fals around us. It's pitch dark but I can see everything perfectly. I look at them, than myself and for a split second, I want to scream. I don't though. It's not the time and as we rush back out of the crumbling temple, we drag Tal and Ben out the last couple of yards. Out in the light, now that danger has passed, they question the woman and I get ogled by Wuyi. Excellent.
I let the others take charge of the questioning. I need to think how I'm going to tell them that we all registered as quite-possibly dead to my senses. Or even if I should. Should I?
Although our village numbered greatly, I didn't connect with many. Save five others, like me. They each had something strange about them. Wuyi's little pot never seemed to run out of food, and I've seen a large purple spider crawling on Kelly's shoulder and the girl doesn't react. Tal and Ben talk and chatter with their birds like it was second-nature, and Rupper, well ... the man's a god with the guitar.
The down-side to our merry misfit band was that Wuyi, lovely as she is, is prone to somehow exploding, losing, or (in this case) catapulting grain into the river. That usually knocks us up with chores. Like water-hauling. I loathe water-hauling. I decided Wuyi wouldn't get a single wink or flirt for at least the afternoon. A fitting punishment.
When we took a break on the hill that led back into the village (and that's what's worse. Lugging the water UP HILL, UGH!) the boys got into some tissy over smoke they'd spotted in the north. I wasn't looking north, I had been gazing south and nearly spilled my own water bucket lunging to my feet when something in the forest moved. Something that had the noticeable fleshless grin of a skeleton. I brought it up to the others and while the smoke was a concern... we all decided that the body in the woods was much more interesting.
Sure enough, it was a body. Gnawed on, chewed on ... I think Tal or Kelly said it was a fellow villager. Poor sod. We had to go in. If not to kill whatever did this, then to find out what did this and flee for our lives afterwards. It was a sound plan. Most exciting thing since Wuyi managed to light Joshua's beard on fire without an actual flame. Kelly was being hesitant. The girl's so timid sometimes, it's hard to muster up any sort of tease without her flashing the dark doe eyes and making you feel guilty. However, even Kelly followed us into the dark spooky woods and sure enough, it was me again who spotted the creepy, bloody skeleton-feet tracks that led even deeper in.
And I thought Tal was supposed to be a hunter. Huh.
At the clearing, my good mood dimmed for a moment. It was more than obvious what had happened there. The place reeked of rot and decay. And while Tal was trying to redeem herself by finding the next bit of the puzzle, the wind died. We were surrounded by creatures that had ghostly green eyes. They spoke to us, said we had three questions. Naturally, the three questions were used up with the summary of "what, who should, and huh?" Obviously, Kelly and Wuyi had not listened to the storyteller's fairy tales. Ah well.
The creatures admitted to being the ones that eat people coming through their forest (just lovely) and that we were to be protected because we honored the ancient treaties and were somehow different than the other villagers. We went back, determined to find out the 'why' of the cover-up. We ignored the smoke, but it became apparent what the cause was when we got back to the village. A neighboring village had been attacked and crushed. A lone boy - the survivor. Ah, well, the village lasses would take care of him. We, on the other hand (actually, for the record Wuyi) manhandled Joshua into his cabin and got the truth from him.
Or a creepy from a book of human skin (how the HELL does Tal even know that?!) leather filled with stories about ancient evil and mysterious power and lost memories locked away in a ruins in the woods sort of truth. Well, guess Tal had found the next puzzle piece. It was off to the ruins.
Once there, Wuyi (again, noticing a pattern here?) charged up and demanded entrance. Whatever stone creature that was the guardian didn't deny us entrance, but next time we're giving a test of wit ... we should be more wittier than "a hole". The stone exploded and like I was existing in slow motion, I just... side-stepped ... and it all fell around me.
I have to admit, I was feeling a little smug when the others all jump up covered in dust and with more or less injured from the rock. They must have forgotten the meaning of the word 'duck!'. I digress. I stepped first into the stairwell (and thinking back on that, maybe should invest in more than a tiny jaged coral knife if I'm to do that often.) and the light unleashed some sort of sleeping puff spores onto us. Ben, Rup, myself, and Wuyi all managed to ignore the drowsiness, but as I'm covering my face, I hear two 'thumps!' behind me.
Kelly and Tal had no tolerance it seems. The others dragged Tal out to the fresh air, but I uncapped my water canteen, figuring to splash the girl to get her up. Worked when she drifted off on chores... only when it was chores, the water didn't explode on her face in pain and explosions. I couldn't feel more terrible. Kelly was a trooper, though, and pressed on down the stairwell with us, running as fast as she could with that pain.
It was pitch-black, but Ben had a night-vision scope and relayed the room. Well, we weren't getting through the hole in the ceiling. It was the dark pit of water for us! I had us all grab the rope I'd brought, it was dark water and we didn't need to lose one below the surface. With a breath, I plunged into the cold water ... and stumbled out the other side of a wall.
What the hell? I'd ended up in some bizarre room, with six glowing orifices around a pool of water with a very, very lovely woman floating beneath it. If she was evil, then evil was hot. Just saying. Behind me, I heard the others coming across ... and then the sound of more exploding water! What. The. Hell?! I'm grateful that I don't explode with pain but I'm really curious as to the why I get to miss out on the agony.
Well! That passed and we all grabbed a crystal. I chose green. As soon as my hand touched, I just knew I'd never experience anything more intense in my life again. It's ... like the world grew to a tiny pinprick of sensation and then just exploded inside me.
The churning surface above me, the rope getting snagged on the rock. The tunneling dark as air leaked out of my tank. Radio crackle fading out. The flash of fish scale and sharp teeth. The neigh of a horse and the rough snag that hauls me onto dry land. He ... my father ... cradles me as I come back from that dark tunnel and I know that one day, I'll be able to hold that staying power of death myself.
The boys shout as the temple fals around us. It's pitch dark but I can see everything perfectly. I look at them, than myself and for a split second, I want to scream. I don't though. It's not the time and as we rush back out of the crumbling temple, we drag Tal and Ben out the last couple of yards. Out in the light, now that danger has passed, they question the woman and I get ogled by Wuyi. Excellent.
I let the others take charge of the questioning. I need to think how I'm going to tell them that we all registered as quite-possibly dead to my senses. Or even if I should. Should I?
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