Where is it? This was the first portal to appear and as such, everyone wants inside! It is located just outside the cave that leads into the hot springs, and it's very crowded. Several gnomes have been stationed here to keep students, horsemen, and citizens in line, but they have to be swapped out regularly in the face all of the pure, unadulterated love pouring out of the portal. It makes their skin melt off a little bit.
What's Inside? You emerge from this portal in a hedge maze, its walls so high that even the strongest fliers, climbers, and teleporters doubt they can scale them. The sky far above is a pale pink and every so often a wispy heart-shaped cloud drifts into view between the branches and leaves. Despite the height of the walls, the maze's interior is lit with a pinkish glow.
What Do I Do? Try to fly/climb/teleport out:
You can't. The hedges go on for, like, ever.
Attempt to find your way out of the maze some other way:
Whether you're having a leisurely stroll or a shaky, claustrophobia-induced jog through the maze, eventually you notice the stone kushi-kushis. They peek out of the foliage at random intervals, mostly when you're not looking for them, their vacant little faces staring up at the sky.
People are talking. They say the only way to get out is to kiss the kushis.
Quote:
Roll 2d12 per post and match your results with the image/numbers below. Each dot or pair of numbers is a kushi-kushi that you may kiss if you roll its location.
How Do I Leave? Each person must locate and kiss five kushi-kushis in order for the portal to appear at the end of the maze. It will take you back to the hot springs.
What Do I Get? +2 RP points x2 Heart Boxes an IC 5 pound bag of red hots
Terra walked through the portal, full of excitement. This was going to be wonderful! She looked around curiously, taking in the hedge that surrounded her, a strange feeling trying to overwhelm her. This was... different. She could hear other people talking, but she couldn't see them. they were saying something about kushi-kushis?
She looked around, seeing one of the rodent like creatures staring up at her with huge eyes. "Hola, Senor Kushi!" she said, breaking into a smile. "Might I kiss you? Will you change into a prince?" she asked as she walked over, scooping him up.
She paused, frowning slightly. "I do not wish for a prince," she told him, "so please do not change." With that hope, she closed her eyes and kissed the fuzzy little thing on the head.
Verusha also got sucked into the crazy heart portal. She'd been on her way to the nice spring, a place she liked to hang out at often, when she'd seen that darn thing taking up the place. Figuring the only way to her favorite spot was going through, she had stepped through it without much care, Cannon alongside her.
Once in, she was surprised by what she saw, slowly looking around her at the vegetation that jutted this way and that, forming straight paths and makeshift hallways. The whispers didn't go unnoticed either. Kiss... the Kushi? looking around her, she saw the little fuzzy guys peeking out from the hedges, Cannon growling at them as he took his defensive stance against his reaper. They were pretty cute... hey she could get behind that. Shrugging, the ghoul casually sauntered on to the nearest rodent and plucked it up, placing a kiss right on its little furry cheek. Unfortunately, the little thing wriggled right out of her grasp and ran off before she could! darn.
She heard growling, so she headed for it. She pulled to a stop, though, as she saw a flaming dog. "Hola!" she said, waving at the ghoul. "Oh! You are Verusha, no? It is good to see you again!" she said happily, less worried about the fire dog now that she knew who it "belonged to."
"Do you know how to get out of here?" she asked, looking around curiously. "I have heard people I do not see saying to kiss the little rodents, but thankfully the rodents do not turn into princes. That would be troublesome."
Dang these little guys were fast. Each time she got close to one, it dashed just out of range, or wriggled out of her hands. Cannon wasn't helping the situation, really... growling and snapping at most that got to close. With a sigh, the ghoul stood upright and smoothed back her bangs, turning as she heard a somewhat familiar voice.
Spotting the other ghoul, she gave a casual upnod in response, "Sup." Cannon easily took his place standing between the two ghouls, glaring at Terra as per usual to make sure she didn't get too close. Smirking, Verusha gave a small shrug, "I did hear some voices mention something about kissing these little guys." she gestured to the fuzzy critters scurrying about, "Never heard anything about princes, though."
"It is an old tale that they told in my village," Terra says, looking at the growling dog with an inward sigh. "That if you were to kiss certain minipets they will turn into a prince or a princess and you would have to deal with it. I do not know what one does with a prince, but I am certain it is not very nice."
Strange folk tales were strange. But all the while she was saying this, she was silently sneaking up on a kushi. She scooped it up, kissing it on the head. "There! That is two kisses and no princes. I am on a roll!"
Except just as she was about to offer it to Verusha the little bugger jumped out of her grasp and raced away.
She tried to scoop up a Kushi that was zipping past them, but it slipped right through her fingers, what with that soft pelt of its. Straightening again, she was just in time to see Terra expertly pluck one up and give it an old smooch. "Man, these little guys sure do like you." she chuckled.
"Interesting tale. That'd be pretty creepy if it did happen." cuddling as she did with most of her mini's, who also earned kisses on cheeks and foreheads too, it'd be pretty awkward for them to suddenly sprout an anthromorphic figure like her.
" though... I guess if one did manage to turn into a prince, he could help with catching these guys." she mused.
"Si, that is true," Terra said thoughtfully as another rodent slipped through her fingers without a kiss. "But it would be better with someone I knew--this is far more interesting with someone you can actually talk with!" she decided. "Your familiar, he is very handsome," she added, taking a moment to admire Cannon. "As well as terrifying. You must be very proud! What is his name?" she asked curiously, wondering if she'd heard it before and failed to recall.
Her white eyes were honed in on a single Kushi that'd been cautiously sniffing around the exterior of the hedge maze nearest her. Slowly, the ghoul crept closer to it, hunting it like her familiar would its prey, before snatching it up with a quickness. The creature squirmed and struggled, but she planted a kiss right on its nose, which alarmed the little thing into blinking at her with an incredulous look. Smug grin in place, Verusha let him back down, to which the rodent scurried off.
When Cannon was brought up, the canine snapped a glare over at Terra straight away, rolling his glowing eyes and pressing himself against Verusha as he walked around her. Chuckling, the reaper stroked along his sleek form, "Yeah, he really is a handsome guy. You should hear his voice." the hound gave an irritated snort at being the topic of conversation. "His name's Cannon." she replied fondly, indeed proud of him. "You should see when he hunts. No one else compares. <3 "
"I have not met many familiars," Terra admitted, "oh! But I have met a lovely butterfly familiar! Mia's familiar is quite lovely. Other than that, I do not recall... we do not have many reapers of any kind where I come from. Well, other than me, that is."
She was so distracted talking about reapers and familiars that a kushi jumped over her foot and she didn't even notice.
She laughed lightly as a kushi went scrambling away from her, standing up to smooth back the side of her head that had the heavy bangs. "A butterfly, huh?" she guessed that was ok... but nothing compared to Cannon. Though Terra's comment did make her curious...
looking to the other ghoul, she tilted her head slightly, "What about Roch? he's a reaper too." she didn't know much about their family, asides from the tid bits Roch had mentioned.
"Roch?" Terra repeated curiously. It obviously clicked when her expression changed. "Oh, I did not meet Roch until I started coming here," she said, wondering just how much she should tell. "You see, I was not raised with the rest of the family--mi madre--my mother, she was a skeleton. She raised me until I was fourteen or so, and then she... died," she said quietly.
"I came here when I found out from my neighbors that I have family here," she finished, shrugging and smiling slightly. "I did not meet Roch until he was much like he already is--well, other than..." she paused again, grabbed for a kushi, and missed.
Mainly she did that to keep from mentioning Roch's heartbreak.
She blinked curiously as Terra began. Didn't know Roch til just starting school? Interesting.. As the other reaper went on, Verusha gave a small, slow nod in understanding. A split family. And the ghoul had only learned she had other family so suddenly after her mothers death? That must have been tough...
"How have you been adjusting to it all? Ya know, suddenly having a bunch of family members."
She noticed the trail off in Terra's voice, but didn't push it, attention distracted for a moment as a Kushi ran over her own shoes too.
"It was... both good and difficult," Terra said, thinking on it. "I was very, very angry with mi padre, but I have gotten over it. The rest of the family is... different," she said, smiling slightly. "I was so mad at them, though! I meet Padre and Austin and they go 'Roch will fix the problem!' as if I were a broken motorcycle! And I was so eager to prove that Roch cannot fix anything--and then he did," she said, sounding quite irritated by that fact.
"Mi hermano, he has a very big heart," Terra said more quietly. "He adopted me without a second of hesitation. Oh, he bullies me, si, but he does it with a huge smile--he is teasing. Austin, he is quieter, but he is very loving and over-protective. I am called 'princess' in the family."
Oh wait, she just revealed that Roch's dad wasn't her dad, didn't she? Whoops.
She just listened, momentarily ignoring the Kushi running about, her expression softening slightly to one of empathy. Man... that sounded like one rough time. And... quite a mess. But her grin and smile returned when Roch was mentioned, pleased that the boil stepped up to make Terra feel welcomed. Still, she felt for the poor ghoul.
"Roch seems like a good boil. Glad he's looking out for you, Terra. Even if the rest of them aren't, he sounds like more than enough."
But wait... she recalled meeting Roch's dad... and he'd been introduced as Austin. "Austin, huh..." she murmured under her breath, trying to piece everything together. But hey, who was she to pry into their family life. Wasn't her place to. So she moved on to something else.
"Have you made any friends yet, since coming here?" that was probably a more pleasant topic for the other ghoul.
Where is it?
