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Post by EtherealNoire on May 7, 2019 16:28:20 GMT -8
Crouched upon the stone, where ocean and tears mingled, Talea quivered beneath the beastsinger's touch. Ice had already claimed her, sculpting crimson crystals by saline breath amidst her locks until she appeared a figurehead abandoned at lowtide, pining her shattered vessel. Yet her sorrows tasted of life. And so too did the woman's words ring with mortality.
Talea begged for solace, clutching rock and shell, but her limbs foresook her. A leaf trembling against the tempest, she could not stand. Yet of her form, the one part of her that still moved was her hand, a prayer to those who fought on beneath the water's grave.
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Post by Vanitypirate on May 7, 2019 16:37:22 GMT -8
For all it was worth, Ponytail was back home where he belonged. The troubles of this icy water, the shouting of the women at the shore, and the dark faded away.
At last, it was just the vast, blue sky, the wind-swept grass, and the people who truly loved him.
However, presently, he was still in the water. His arms flapped ineffectually at his sides, head tipped back and his blue-tinged lips parted wide open in want of air.
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Post by twostepsback on May 7, 2019 16:56:40 GMT -8
Charis does whatever she can to pull Ponytail out of the water. "What in the name of the Light are you doing, Ponytail!" She cries as she tries to haul him out of the water. "This is no time for an ice water bath!"
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Post by Machevelli on May 7, 2019 17:13:37 GMT -8
"Talea, are you cold? Hold on, let me try and warm you up." Missy changed back into a cat, sitting in Talea's lap to try and warm her up.
"Meow." Missy meowed and curled up, tail lazily flicking back and forth.
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Post by Vanitypirate on May 7, 2019 17:41:08 GMT -8
Instinctively, even when his consciousness was somewhere else, Ponytail still had a drowning man's desperation about him and he veritably hugged Charis as she pulled his bedraggled self out from the water.
Sentience returned to him as the cold air and Charis's distant words hit him.
He inhaled sharply, sucking in a wheezing breath as the air bubbled amongst the water in his lungs.
"Why would you-- why would you..." He mumbled dizzily, sounding almost distraught at being rescued. His ears were ringing as he pushed himself off of Charis once he was on land.
"Why, why, why--..."
It was unclear if he broke into a sob or if he was simply retching, as only moments after he dropped to his knees on the stone had he begun to vomit the saltwater he had swallowed.
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Post by twostepsback on May 7, 2019 17:50:24 GMT -8
"Stay with us, Ponytail..." Charis says as she retrieves her bag and lights one of the torches. "So... I'm going to guess that little mess was the doing of this 'Siren' I've been hearing about..." She surmises.
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Post by rosallora on May 7, 2019 17:59:58 GMT -8
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Post by EtherealNoire on May 7, 2019 18:48:06 GMT -8
Fringed with ice, even the fire's bitter glare enticed her and Talea leaned into its warmth. She cared little for the voice that whispered in her mind. Nor the bespoken perils lurking where their eyes saw not. None but the heat called to her, swallowing sound in hissing ire. It would not aid them all. Some might be made thralls to the sea, and so too the name may be anointed upon her. Weary, her slender figure trembled, snared by cold and afixed on fragile flame. Still in her arms she cradled the beastsinger, shielding what was from what may come to be.
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Post by twostepsback on May 7, 2019 18:54:06 GMT -8
Charis silently scans her surroundings, both with her eyes and her ears, worrying about the creatures of the cove taking advantage of the Parties current state.
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Post by Machevelli on May 7, 2019 19:03:33 GMT -8
Missy purred as Talea pet her, hugging as close to her as she could to try and warm the shivering girl up. Eventually she settled on staying still in Talea's lap, licking her hand every once in a while. Missy purred and pawed at Talea's clothes, then pointed her paw at Charis' bag, hoping Talea would get the message and change her clothes with Missy's dry ones.
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Post by Vanitypirate on May 7, 2019 19:22:39 GMT -8
Shivering on his elbows and knees, every wheezing breath for Ponytail was a struggle. His head was bowed as he choked on air, spitting water from his lungs only in painful, small amounts at a time.
The ringing in his ears drowned out Charis's voice, and his vision was reduced to mere pinpoints. Water dripped from his saturated clothing and already puddled around him.
In any other state of mind he would have acted swiftly to avoid freezing, but now he almost welcomed it. He could never undo what he had done, and he was better off in that pool with the mad vision of peace than where he was now, huddled up in a damp cave in an evil land.
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Post by rosallora on May 7, 2019 19:53:20 GMT -8
The figures huddled in the dark, searching for warmth and comfort. The caverns were turned nebulous by the lack of natural light, the shadows the torch gave off uneven and flickering. But it was a source of heat, and it was familiar. In the midst of terror, it was preferable, in this moment, to the blue shades of light that the cavern had given them.
There was a sound.
A song.
Distant, and strange, it echoed through the cavern, bathing the adventurers as the blue light once had.
Charis shrewdly avoids the sound, resisting whatever strange sounds drifted down the corridor. She hunkers into herself, neither strengthened nor weakened by its presence. The melody misses her completely, unable to find purchase in her hearing.
Ponytail is much the same - though his lack of understanding comes much more from his own circumstance. Inundated with water and weak from his ordeal, his focus on the limits of his body override any concern for strange noises. He is all but deaf to the world, the poor man shivering against the cold and wishing for the warm sun of the savanna.
Talea refuses the echoing tones, even as they swarm about her. She's filled with a sense of unease, chilling her just a bit more. If only the torch gave off more warmth than it did.
Missy hears the song, lyricless and beautiful. There is a wash of calm over her, a comfort, a strength. She's set at peace by the sound of it - and can even discern that it is coming from the tunnel on the right. Just when she thinks there are no words at all, her keen ear pricks, and a melody, slow and dark, seeps into her mind.
My eyes caught a gentleman with jewel and flair
Such intrigue and mystery were all in his air
What reason had I not to pursue and to pine?
Coral maiden, coffin mine
Despite the melancholy that the voice has to it, she feels none herself. There is no terror in these words, only truth.
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Post by twostepsback on May 7, 2019 20:08:24 GMT -8
Charis sticks her torch into a crevice in the rocks and begins removing her wet clothes, "Missy, do you mind if Talea borrows your clothes, seeing as hers are soaked?" Charis asks as she wrings out her pants. "One Meow for Talea can borrow your clothes, two meows for no, Talea cannot." She then clarifies. Once Charis has wrung out all of her wet clothes and redressed, she will likely move to assist Ponytail with his clothes.
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Post by Machevelli on May 7, 2019 20:12:46 GMT -8
Missy meows once, lifting and nodding her head in agreement as well. She hops off of Talea’s lap and starts pawing and pulling at the wet clothes she has on, trying to assist.
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Post by EtherealNoire on May 7, 2019 20:47:26 GMT -8
Though the chill still encompassed her, painting her lips the shade of stranded ice, a warmth crept beneath her skin. There was purpose to her presence. A memory, Her fingers rose from sodden prison, tangling in the leather and threads like she were swimming against a current. Each act made her limbs quiver with exertion, yet the garments tumbled to the ground, melting away with the beads that cascaded from her hair.
Pale in the torchlight, she turned unseeing eyes to Charis' voice. Clothed in naught but mortal fire, she nodded.
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