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 Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 3:37 pm
Maybe it was friendly?
Oh, we are so spider chow.
He would never openly scoff at another Pae's attempts to remain positive, however...that creature? Friendly? He was having a hard time entertaining the possibility. The most he could force was a soft, "Riiight," as he looked for other exits. None, besides the one they'd come from. Great.
"Err, Princess? Even if those things are friendly, I'm not sure they're going to stay that way for long. I'm thinking it best we try a different route out of here and leave these creatures be." He was struggling to keep his tone calm, between the shining, multiple eyes of the giant arachnid staring them both down, and the little ones scuttling about, on the walls, the ceiling, the floor, over his hooves...
He was still taking care not to step on them if he could, lest he anger them. Was he afraid of a spider? No. Thousands of spiders? Maybe. Besides, who knew if these things were poisonous or not? He didn't.
"Princess, perhaps you'd like to take the lead again?" he asked deceptively calmly in an even tone. If they didn't understand speech, the creatures might still react to any drastic changes in tone or volume. They needed to get out of here, the sooner the better...geez, hopefully they could return without incident. Certainly the other paths couldn't prove as bad as this one had.
He'd probably just doomed them by thinking that.
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Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 3:53 pm
The movement of thousands, darkening the wall, had seemed to catch her attention fully and she only barely caught Faroth's words. What...? Oh... Right... There were other paths... Yes... That was probably, no certainly, a better idea. At this rate, they were likely to become quite the meal. Not particularly the best thing to happen.
Not at all.
Celestia turned, stopping herself before she instinctively looked to him to respond. The last thing they needed was for her to panic and set everything into a rage: a death-sentence most likely.
Instead, she simply nodded and replied in a tone not unlike his, "Yes... Yes, I shall do just that." How silly she felt now at even entertaining the idea of anything less than hostility from these. Even know, it felt as if they were watching, stalking, waiting for the two of them to make one wrong move.
Without hesitation, she crawled back into the tunnel, moving much more quickly out than they had moving it. There was no light for her as she went, not wanting to know if they were being followed by the horde or not. It would be better off that way.
Hopefully, the other paths would be free from threat, however unlikely that felt at the moment.
As the reach the end, she stumbled slightly before pulling herself out and to the side. A sigh escaped her lips, followed by a shudder caused by the memory of the room. "Are we to be met with such horror at each path?" she mused to her companion, rubbing her forearms. "Surely the spirits laugh at us right now..."
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Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 4:17 pm
Gulping softly, Faroth shuffled his hooves carefully to the side to allow the Princess past. He might have irritated a few spiders, shoving them about like that, but it was better than being squished, he thought. As soon as Celestia was on her way, Faroth knelt slowly, suppressing a shiver as he nearly put his hand into a squirming pile of spiders on the floor. Ugh...nightmares for weeks from this, he could just imagine...
...though, likely nothing as bad as the Princess had been experiencing.
The thought was sobering, allowing him to focus on the task at hand, following Celestia's retreat to the central chamber once more. When he emerged, however, he was quick to stand and brush the stray spiders away that clung to his hair and fur, muttering, "Go on, get off. Go back to mommy, you horrid little things..."
He was going to feel them crawling through his fur long after they were all gone.
In order to distract himself from the creepy-crawly sensation on his skin, he focused on what Celestia was saying. "Well, that's not very nice of them, if they do. Maybe we just picked the wrong path to start. This does seem to be a pretty old place...not strange for there to be some spiders." Understatement of the year. "Besides, we got in here somehow. There's got to be a way back out again."
Thankful he'd had the presence of mind to keep the lantern with him and not leave it behind in the rush to get back, he held it up to look at the room. Their stuff still sat on top of the smooth stone table, and the other two possible exits lay before them. "Well, we did say we'd move to the next one if that didn't work," he muttered, softly clip-clopping over towards the middle opening, a doorway large enough to walk through upright this time. Least they could take a break from the crawling and enclosed spaces. He paused, glancing back towards Celestia. "Are you ready, or do you need a minute?" he asked patiently.
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Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 4:34 pm
Celestia did little to suppress her amusement at Faroth's statements about the spiders, as he seemed to downplay what had been there quite a bit, as she, admittingly, had done as well. His words also served to bring an acute awareness to the feeling of legs crawling up her spine and, in an instant, she stood to flap her wings and shake herself free of any spiders.
Turning a couple of times, her head positioned to try and see behind her, the princess asked in a worried tone, "Have I been rid of them?" She continued this a few more times until she was convinced they were gone, followed by a sigh of relief.
"Oh, the spirits enjoy making other's lives difficult... I am sure of it..." She mumbled with a bitter tone. How else could she reason why the visions would not leave, why she had been shown that scene in the first place? Without such a thought, that it was simply a cruel joke that they might one day tire of, she would have likely gone mad at this point.
Her eyes looked past him and to the next path, the middle one. "Yes, that is true." How she wished this was simply all a nightmare that she could awake from already. At least they could walk this time... Shaking her head, she sighed before moving to follow after him, approaching his side, eyes ahead, before she spoke. "The faster we are rid of this tomb, the better..."
The princess's mood was slowly growing more foul, despite efforts to keep positive. She felt as if she were being treated as a child now that her condition was known, yet the frustration came from the understanding that such treatment was probably necessary.
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Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 9:51 pm
Faroth had to bite back a chuckle, watching the princess' 'dance' in an attempt to rid herself of any stray spiders. He'd been tempted to do something similar, honestly. The temptation was still there to shake any remaining arachnids away, real or phantom.
He frowned at the shift in conversation. "You really believe that? I like to think that even if we don't understand at the time, that everything they do or lead us to is for a reason. Of course, I guess I've never really been the most spiritual," he trailed off, rubbing his neck. It was true enough. Though, he always seemed to end up in crazy situations...and yet, he always seemed to come out, if not on top, then at least not too much the worse for wear. He had to assume that something out there was looking out for him.
As Celestia came to join him near the doorway, he couldn't help but notice her use of the word 'tomb'. Well, that was ominous. Though...it could be a fitting word, technically, he supposed. For all they knew, it could have been used for such a purpose. Or...well, for all kinds of purposes, now that he thought about it. All they'd found so far with any clue to the structure's purpose had been that stone table and their investigation on that hadn't gotten much further than studying the pictures of celebrating, dancing Faerie Pae'il carved around the base.
He lifted the lantern to look ahead, but a dark shape against brilliant white caught his eye. Frowning, he commented, "Err...you might have missed one. Hold on, I'll get it," he warned before reaching for Celestia's shoulder. He deftly snagged the stray spider by a leg, lifting it away. "There we go. That should be i--OW!" Reflexively, he flung the little creature away towards the darkness and the tunnel they'd left before. The sharp pain in his finger throbbed a few times, matching the beat of his pulse. Darn little...
Aw crap, that thing better not be poisonous.
Just one more thing to worry about now. Sighing, Faroth shook his head and grumbled, "Eh, nevermind what I just said about the spirits." He looked at his hand in the lantern light, but it was hard to tell anything just yet. A red mark that hurt quite a bit...not much else to say yet. He'd have to keep an eye on it. With a bit less enthusiasm, Faroth lifted the lantern a bit lower than before, some of the positive mask slipping to reveal weariness. "Well, let's try this again. Earth willing, this try works out a bit better..." He began moving forward into the doorway, the lantern light glowing softly to lead their way.
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Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 10:30 am
Celestia made a face and paced in place as he went to remove the spider, softly chanting, "Remove it, remove it, remove it...!" as she did so. Oooooh... Oh how she hated the feeling of bugs on her skin. Again she shuddered as she felt his fingers against her shoulder, both from the feeling of skin against hers and from the prospect of him taking a spider off of it.
The distaste quickly faded, however, as she turned to look at him. "Are you al-!" her voice abruptly cut off as she quickly caught herself and turned away, thankfully before her eyes had been able to focus on his figure in the relative dark. Her eyes cast downward, embarrassed, her tone quieter now, but still reflecting her concern, "Are you injured...?" The last thing they needed were real injuries; how could she help to treat them when she could not even look at them?
If it came down to it, the princess was sure she could, assuming he could tell her which injuries were real and which were imagined.
After hearing him speak and the sound of his hooves upon the ground, she moved to follow just behind him, her eyes downcast and focused on the shadows cast by the lantern rather than ahead of her. Under her breath, the princess mused, "I hope it wills it so..."
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Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 2:43 pm
"It's fine; doesn't even hurt," he attempted to lie and shield his expression, forgetting that it didn't matter if she wasn't even looking at him in the first place. He sucked at lying anyway. The princess' concern caused him to refocus on the throbbing pain. Were spider bites supposed to hurt like that? The non-poisonous ones anyway? He couldn't recall ever having been bitten before as far as he knew, so he didn't have anything to compare to. If it felt like this, he would have known, that was for sure. After a moment, he paused, looking down at his hand and muttering, "Well...maybe it does hurt a little..."
Sighing, he hesitated. He knew they were both eager to get out of this place, however...he wasn't going to be much good if a little spider managed to take him out. He certainly didn't need to start hallucinating, or...have his hand fall off or whatever happened with poisonous, unknown spiders. Any of the above would be bad.
"Celestia? Hold up a minute." He stopped, turning back towards the room where they'd started. He crossed to the stone table and started digging through his bag. As he searched, he glanced up momentarily. "You alright? I mean...it didn't bite you too, did it?" She hadn't reacted as if it did, and judging by his own bite, he would have thought it hard to hide any reaction, but...just being safe. They had enough issues at the moment, they didn't need to be hiding injuries from each other out of pride. Yeah, he realized that now, hence why he was pausing to try and treat his.
Setting the lantern on the table, he set the first aid kit from the fairies next to it and started unpacking the supplies from inside. Wraps, poltices, some herbs he had no idea what they were...wonderful. He was no healer; how was he supposed to know what to do with this stuff? Mumbling to himself, he set the herbs aside; no idea what to do with any of those. The poltices at least implied that they had to be rubbed on...and the fairies wouldn't have given them anything they could harm themselves with...right? He sure hoped not. 'Here, have some possibly dangerous, unknown herbs that could either kill you or save you, depending on how and when they're used and in what situation. Good luck!'
He picked up one of the poltices and sniffed at it experimentally. As if he knew what he was doing. Then, with a shrug, he set it aside to use, as well as some bandage wraps. Maybe he should use one as a tournequette of sorts, in case it was poisonous. He leaned closely into the lantern, muttering once more. He could barely see what he was doing...not that he knew what he was doing anyway. The lantern was nice for general light, but not great for something like this where he wished he had a clearer light to try and tell just how bad it was. After a moment, he sighed. He didn't want to trouble her, but... "Celestia? I'm sorry, you don't have to look, but...I could use a little more light if you can spare it?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:52 am
The princess's ears flicked in the direction of his voice as she was addressed before hearing his hooves fade away to the back of her. Turning around, she moved closer, more concerned now that he was admitting he had an injury serious enough that it should be treated.
At least he was trusting her enough, though, to even tell her this.
Shaking her head, she stood to the side of Faroth and spoke softly. "I am unharmed." That would have been very unfortunate if the both of them had been the victim of that spider. In any case, even if one of them was affected, it wasn't good. Her eyes wandered and returned to the markings of the statue as she heard him messing with the pack, taking the time to study it even more. This time, her eye squinted against the dark, she could make out the forms of fey doing... something...
Her attention being broken as she was again addressed, the princess caught herself before glancing momentarily at Faroth's direction with a nod. "Certainly," she replied as she focused on her hands, bringing the light back to the room. "Notify me when it is enough," she continued as the brightness incrementally intensified, stopping only as he told her to.
With this, she could see the carvings even better were they... "Are these fay dancing, you suppose?" she mused out loud, fully intending to bring the subject up. "And these markings... Are they words...?" After pausing, she tried to mouth what sounds they appeared to mean, stopping fairly quickly and blushing at her silly attempt.
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 9:43 am
"Thanks, that should do it," he answered with a nod, the light making things much clearer. He could see the twin puncture holes in his skin. The spots were red and kinda' large, but...he didn't see any obvious signs of anything else wrong at the moment. He could only hope it wasn't just a delayed effect or something. Mumbling to himself, "...as if I have any idea what I'm doing here," he started rubbing a bit of one of the poultices over the bite mark. It stung at first, but after an initial wince, he noted that it seemed to start numbing the spot. That was good, right? With some difficulty, he covered the area with bandage wraps, tied another further up his finger like a tourniquet (just in case), then started cleaning up the supplies and packing them away again.
Only then did he pay attention to the princess' foreign-sounding mutterings. He half-smiled, listening, then shook his head. "They did look sort of like they were dancing," he acknowledged, at least from what he had seen of the carvings. "As for the writing though, well..." he paused, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "Your guess would probably be better than mine." He couldn't make a bit of sense of the scratchings, but...he'd wondered if another might. Suppose not. He supposed it was selfish, but it made him feel a bit better to know that the markings left others as confused as they did him.
The shapes, while not meaning anything in particular to him, seemed somewhat familiar, however. "Hmm...let me see something," he muttered, rummaging in his bag for a moment before pulling out the manuscripts that he'd picked up a day or so prior. They still made little sense to him, but when he crouched and held the parchments up towards the carvings, he noted that the shapes seemed similar. "Thought that looked familiar," he muttered. "Not that I have any more idea now what it means. I picked these up thinking someone else might be able to make something of the writing," he admitted. He hadn't realized that it was apparently some...long lost language or something.
Remembering a trick from childhood, Faroth started looking around, then in their bag again, then the basket, searching for something. It had been more an amusing game as a child, but now, perhaps it would prove useful. Course, they'd still have to get out of here afterwards. "Not much to work with..." he muttered, finally settling for taking the bandana from his bag and returning to the carving. He took one of the manuscripts and turned it over where the parchment was blank. He then pressed the parchment firmly, but carefully, down over one of the carvings. With his other hand, he wrapped the bandana around his fingers, rubbed it in the dust and dirt on the floor, then started rubbing over the parchment. As the image of dancing fae and strange symbols started to appear as clean lines amongst the darkening dust, he allowed a grin to cross his face momentarily. "Even if we can't make sense of it, maybe someone else can when we get out of here. This is a lot easier than trying to take the table with us," he chuckled softly.
When the rubbing was finished, he carefully stacked the parchments to protect the image, then rolled the documents to pack them away again. "Alright, let's get out of here, shall we?" Feeling a bit better now, he offered Celestia a hand to help her up. "You know what? Let's take these with us," he said, hefting the pack over his shoulder and picking up the basket of gathered herbs. Might as well keep optimistic; this next path was sure to lead them out, right? This would save him from coming back for their things later.
Okay, and maybe he'd feel better if they had their things with them...instead of leaving them here for the spiders to find and build nests in.
Shaking out his shoulders, he held up the lantern and lead the way through the central doorway.
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 1:22 pm
The pair of Faun were lucky the spider matriarch said to retrieve their meal alive, otherwise the spiders would have been more aggressive. And leaving the tunnel certainly wasn't going to stop them from coming for their meal. It had been years since such fresh meat had willingly wandered into their home. The matriarch believed they were crawling right into their den, but when they turned around, it seemed they grew smarter. So the order had been given: bring the meat back; dead or alive.
The spiders are now aggressive and biting.
---------------
In the hallway a few meters from the entrance, just sitting quietly in the dark is a lighter and a can of hairspray. Clean, obviously new and not part of the old temple.
Once the pair deal with the encroaching spiders, the room on the other side of the hallway would be equally as dark, but prove that it once was very posh. Velvet and silken fabrics draped around a circular room, large plush pillows scattered about with an enormous one in the center of the room. All of the fabrics however have decayed, been eaten by the local wildlife, or used as bedding. There was shattered glass all over among golden ornaments that would indicate that perhaps they were once hookahs. A few broken down tables added to the debris.
On one side of the entry way, the pair would see a large door-sized window. On the other side would be millions of spiders. Mostly the ones retreating back to safety. The matriarch spots the pair, and if spiders had expressions, she'd be furious.
On the other side of the door was an identical window, but on the other side were many snakes, dozing and unphased by the commotion.
On the other side of the room, directly opposite where the pair would enter is a closed door. A locked, closed door.
((They need to find a way to get through the locked door, however; feel free to explore the room for relevant items.))
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 2:12 pm
The princess had been silent as she observed, indirectly, Faroth's trick for making a copy of the markings. It was useful, something she would not have thought of to do, but if he did know someone whom might know the meaning of these markings, there was no reason not to make note of them. Perhaps, when they were able to escape from this place, she could ask him how he came to learn such a thing. If it were not for the feeling, this intense feeling, that something bad was going to happen to them, and soon, she might have asked then.
Something wasn't right.
Her answer came as a barely audible, "Yes... let's..." as she noticed the shadow of his hand offered to her. Celestia took it, her eyes looking at the area around them. Letting her grip soften, yet not quite yet dropping her hand, her attention became more distracted as she searched for the source of discomfort. There had to be a reason for it; there always was.
It was then she saw one spider. Then two... four... sixteen... thirty-two speckles of increasing numbers of black. Taking a step away, her voice grew louder as she motioned to them, "So they really meant to make a meal of us."
As they came closer and closer, biting at the princesses hooves, she did what any respectable royalty would do in a similar situation: stomped on them. Over, and over, and over again her hooves went up and down, as if she were dancing about the floor to some far-off melody. Despite the motions, there was a certain beauty in the way that her rainbow-hued hair flowed behind her turning movements. The only thing ruining the sereneness of the moment was her audible cursing of the "bloody eight-legged bastards that need return to the deepest fires of the earth with that wretched mother of theirs." Who knew the princess had such colorful language?
There was also the obvious fact that there were a lot of spiders with the intent to kill.
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 3:50 pm
As if he hadn't already been eager to get moving, now there was added incentive. It only took so much strength to squish a spider, so Faroth's stomps were no more effective than Celestia's, as his enhanced strength wasn't exactly beneficial for this type of kicking. And there were far too many spiders flooding the room. No longer hesitating at the entrance to the short hallway, he reached for Celestia's wrist, no time for hesitation or even to be amused at the flood of curses coming from the regal princess.
"Time to move! Let's go!"
He tugged her wrist lightly, a prompt that they should retreat from the invading horde. He had no idea where they were going, but hey, chances were that it was better than here. He pulled back into the hallway, stomping the front runners of the skittering horde that got too close, but continuing to move back all the while. As they moved, they'd only gone a few feet when something reflected the light of the lantern and caught his eye. A...can? And a small object...a lighter? He'd only seen such an object used once, but he understood it was an easier method for lighting fires. He'd been visiting Takeko who was making cookies when he was but a teenager. He'd watched her grab the small device instead of matches to light the fire to bake the cookies and had been told that it was a 'magic device' she got from the HQ once. The can looked something like the bug spray they'd been given by the fairies, so it couldn't hurt to have more. Though...both objects looked far too new to have been down here long. It hadn't been in either of their packs...right?
No time. Faroth paused only briefly to scoop up the objects. It was long enough for some of the front-runners to catch up to him though. A sharp pain just above his hoof, he could feel more of them crawling up his leg. He whirled around in response to shake them off and stomp them, swinging the lantern with the movement. He hadn't noticed the flame beginning to burn low and the motion was all that was needed for the flame within to sputter out. "Dammit!" he snarled, not in the mindset to watch his own language. There was still some light from Celestia, he wasn't completely in the dark, but he didn't have time to get matches and fool with the lantern right now. He shoved the useless lantern in the basket and took up the lighter instead. It took some fumbling (and continued stomping to keep the attackers from getting a hold of his hooves again), but after a few clicks, a flame flickered up from the device. "Finally!" He looked around, checking where Celestia was. "Keep going!"
The can looked like the bug spray. Maybe it'd at least slow them down. Lighter in one hand, can in the other, he started to spray towards the creatures, sneering, "Back, back you little bastards!" He swept the spray from one side to the other, not noting how closely he got to the flame...until the spray ignited.
Flames shot forward into the seething black mass at the other end of the hallway, lighting up the corridor like daylight for a second. In shock, Faroth had released the trigger on the can, wide-eyed. Briefly, he glanced between the can and the small flame, then down at the burning arachnids, scrambling and falling still. He could have sworn he heard high-pitched squealing for a moment, then silence. The rest seemed to pause, then begin surging forwards again, if a bit slower this time. An uncharacteristically devious grin crossed the Faun's face before he glanced over his shoulder at the princess. "Celestia, go! I'll cover our exit!" Then, he turned back, lighting up the path behind them with brilliant flames.
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 4:38 pm
The adrenaline was starting to go to Celestia's head as her pulse increased in pace with her movements, panic starting to set in with the realization that they weren't ending. They were starting to gain ground with crawling on her hooves, attaching to her tail with each momentary pause. She about shrieked and nearly lost her balance as Faroth caught her wrist unexpectedly, pulling her forward and away. There was no time to think, only to react, as she ran with him. The only thing occupying her mind was the feeling of her heart against her chest, the sound of his and her breath echoing alongside the shrill pattering of hooves on stone, and what lay immediately ahead of her.
She hadn't noticed his hand release it's grip on her wrist for some moments, her stride continuing on to what looked to be a door without a falter, at least until his voice caught her attention. Quickly turning around, she opened her mouth to call out to him, the sound instead catching in her throat. All she could do was turn at his order.
And run.
Run forward, run away, run to the door coming into vision at the opposite side of the room. Her nearly body slammed against it, hands forward, as she desperately tried to turn the knobs and open it. All that proved to do was rattle the framework. "The way is locked," she called back, her voice cracking under the pressure as she continued to try against the resistance of the metal.
Her hands remained on the knob as she turned, frantically looking to either side of her. "Perhaps there is a key hidden here?" she, again, yelled to him, releasing her grip to head to another side of the room in a mad sprint. The princess could only think of how she needed to find the key, now, before they reached Faroth. She had an immense desire to protect him, strong as she had ever felt towards her people.
Perhaps this was a confirmation that she truly had accepted these new brethren as her own.
Time seemed to pause as the room lit up. Turning to look at him, Celestia's eyes became momentarily entranced by the figure standing there, dark shadows grotesquely depicting his features by massive flames catching fire to the hundreds of spiders littering the ground and setting them temporarily ablaze.
Her amethyst eyes caught his, the golden tones surely dancing across them as she made eye contact with him, her breath stopped and everything silent for the longest of moments.
With a blink, it was over.
Nodding to him, she turned away and again moved to look about the room. It was now lit with the changing tones of light of fire. Fire, all around her. Coming at her from the sky, upon arrows. Fire, burning the flesh of her comrades, filling the air with a sickening stench. Immediately, panic like none other surged through the princess, bringing tears with the memories of the pae being left to burn, slowly, painfully, their agonized screams piercing the air. Her knees shook with her body as she willed herself to move, her breath coming in raggedy gasps now and her vision coming in and out of focus.
If there was one thing she could do, one thing she must do, it was to protect this one, precious pae. Perhaps that was the true cause of her visions: the guilt and the powerlessness and the horror she had felt as everyone beside her fell. Celestia could do nothing then, but spirits help her she would not fail this time.
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Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:51 pm
He hadn't expected her to meet his gaze. She hadn't yet before, and he knew now why she hadn't. So when blue eyes met amethyst, they both seemed to freeze if only for a split-second. Faroth cursed internally, then before he could say anything, she nodded and broke away to begin searching, presumably. He didn't have time to be concerned right now. Spiders first, then deal with potentially traumatized princess afterwards when they weren't in danger of being eaten.
Simple. Right. Didn't stop the stream of curses running through his head as he turned back to burning the eight-legged devils.
...shitshitshitshitshit...
Said devils were growing wary of the fire-wielding Faun. Their advance was slower now, pausing, sometimes they'd move from two directions, but he'd just sweep the flame across the hallway again to halt their advance. He needed something more permanent, more imposing; he wasn't sure how long this might last.
Spying some throw pillows on the floor that seemed to have been made into matted nesting for some creature ages ago, he kept his weapon aimed at the hallway, but sidestepped until he could kick a few of the destroyed cushions into the hall. He lined them up across the entrance, then stepped back to set them ablaze.
Their attackers didn't like that.
Leaving the wall of fire for a moment, he found more dry, rotted goods that would be of no other use for them and added them to the fuel for the 'wall', even draping an old ratted throw across the length. Hissing sounds...was that the fire, or the spiders?...filled the air for a moment as the attackers pulled back from the intense heat and flames. Then, as if of one mind, or following orders, they began to withdraw, returning to the previous room and perhaps their 'mother' beyond...Faroth could only hope.
Only now did he dare take a breath...though that breath was more like adrenaline-fueled panting...as he let the lighter go out and slumped over, hands on his knees. The fire wall had given the creatures something to think about, it seemed. He wasn't sure how long they had, but perhaps he'd bought them some time.
Finally, his limbs began to still their shaking, and he turned to check on his companion. "Celestia?" he called cautiously, searching for her. Had she had an attack when she looked at him? Was she alright? He was somewhat surprised to see her on the other side of the room, still searching. Perhaps...he'd misunderstood. Quickly covering his earlier concerns, he asked breathlessly, "Any sign of that key yet?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 2:15 am
Standing stably with the shaking of her legs had proven too much for the princess, so she had moved to crouching down, her hands patting and dusting off the ground in front of her as she crawled around. Her knees and palms had become black from the film of dust that seemed to cling to everything, even to the starchy fabric (which, by it's design, was once a much higher quality). Her hand moving through it, it came to feel a wooden surface, polished smooth and cold, which she pulled out from its hidden location.
It was a small box, decorated with fading carvings and once clasped shut by the rusted remains of a lock. Her fingers fumbled clumsily to open it despite their shaking, and it was all she could do to keep her breathing from growing even more erratic and her mind from caving in to the primal fear that the intensifying waves heat and orange hues brought forth.
The princess was so intensely focused on her one task that she could not even recognize her companions approach, nor his words. It was as if she was trapped in the world of her mind, straining to block out everything to keep it stable.
With a creak, she opened the container, an earnest smile of pure relief and joy spreading across her lips, for within it was a brass key, tarnished, but intact none the less. She had done it; she had found it; they were would not die.
They were saved!
"I have found it!" she called out loudly, much louder than needed considering his proximity to her, her voice still cracking despite the cheerful tone. As she did this, she looked up from her hands to where he had been, her eyes widening at the flames dancing in his place, embers soaring into the air and coals of burning ants piling at its base. "Faroth?!" the princess called out, the pitch sharpening as adrenaline returned. She stumbled as she moved to return to her feet, nearly tripping over herself.
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