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 Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 6:22 am
 Lysium/Eydis/othersKel took a deep breath. She couldn't deny she was a little nervous; last year's Hallowe'en at the House had been.... interesting.
Althalus walking beside her started sniggering.
"You're such a worrier."
"I am not worrying," Kel retorted defensively. "And don't be cheeky."
Althalus affected a surprised look. "Me, cheeky?"
The redhead growled slightly. "Yes, you. Now behave."
Althalus' expression slid into slight sullenness as he walked alongside his guardian. Not that his expression was particularly easy to read; his eyes were dark inside the holes of a black eyemask, and his stance was easy as he walked along with his hands tucked into his pockets, pushing aside the grand red and dark gold brocade coat. A matching tricorn hat was sat snugly over his bandana, and lacy sleeves peeked out from his cuffs, though the neck of his shirt under the coat was more simple. If you looked really hard, you might have been able to distinguish the faint shape of Stealth curled around his neck, but her skin was blended almost invisibly against his. Tucked around this highwayman's waist however was a leather belt, and the coat hid the small, jewel-pomelled dagger on it. Regardless of whether Kel was nervous or not, Althalus didn't want to take any chances. He still wasn't sure about this House.
The thief Forgotten shook himself slightly. No point in acting too much like a kid. Raising his head he practised a dashing smile, and then rolled his eyes at Stealth's silent amused jibes.
"I am not a showoff," he muttered, before looking around. More people turning up at least.
"I'm going to go speak to people, okay Kel?" He smiled, and then before she could answer started pattering up the main path towards where he could see several other people. He paused suddenly as he caught movement in the corner of his eye, and turned to observe the cat sliding amongst the shadows. He smiled a little; it looked like his pet Mau, just a little. But with different eyes.... shaking his head, he ignored it for now, bounding over to the other people around. That was Lysium! And.... he racked his brain for a moment before it pulled up a card marked 'Elias'. Oh yeah.....
------------------------------
here
-----------------------------
Althalus looked up from where he was still filling his pockets with sweets, absently flicking a piece of butter candy from a wrapper to start crunching, when he paused. April's dad was saying what?
Oh hell no.
Stealth buried herself further into his collar, hiding under the stiff red material of the highwayman's coat. The boy flicked his eyes down to her for a moment, and then smiled slowly.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, dearest.
We are not going to wander the house by ourselves!
You'd rather go find out about the Shadows with Kel/mother hanging around? This is our chance!
.......
See.
I'd raaather not go at all.
Well you wouldn't. Doesn't seem like you have much of a choice though, hmm? Because I'm going.
That's not fair!
When were you and I ever fair?
..... point....
Jamming his hat more firmly over his bandana, Althalus straightened up, and sauntered over towards the curtain, ignoring the sudden quietly anxious call behind him that was probably his guardian. The Forgotten looked across at the man with the bright hair, and tilted his head, smiling.
"Can we go in, then?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:36 am
 Althalus ducked under the curtain, smiling fearlessly as a show to the smaller Forgotten that he could hear following excitedly. Stealth curled more miserably around his throat, black eyes glittering in the dimmer, softer light in the corridor behind. There were brighter lights up ahead though, and the boy trotted down towards them, soft boots making the floorboards creak. They turned a corner, and then he stopped, roundeyed. Even the lizard-daemon raised her head, looking startled.
Mirrors?
They decorated most of the walls, looking as though they led almost into a maze. Some were tall and thin, some were square, some were round; the surface looked warped on some of them, the reflection of the floor curving weirdly away.
Althalus wasn't sure what he thought about mirrors. They didn't leave much space to hide, and reflected brightness into even the darkest of corner. Mazes however, that was different. They were a challenge!
Stealth slowly uncurled, skittering across to perch on his shoulder, skin still reflecting the red brocade of the highwayman's coat.
This is weird.
It's the House. Of course it is.
Like April's dad...
!
*giggle* Bad you.
Let's go explore.
If we get out the other end...
..we might be free to go find some answers?
How?
I dunno....
The boy and the daemon looked at each other, and then Althalus shrugged, flicking the brim of his hat upwards and pattering into the corridors lined with mirrors.
---
A few twists and turns later, and Althalus had almost forgotten how creepy mirrors could be. In fact, he was laughing, giggling as pulled faces at Stealth in the mirrors. This one made them all go stretchy thin, this one made his feet go huuuuge. Stealth scampered along the floor by his feet, rearing up to put her foreclaws on the surface of the next mirror, her face elongating and widening, and she opened her mouth in an imitation roar.
Tyrannosaurus Stealth!
"Oh no, save me!" The boy feigned terror, and then collapsed laughing to the floor beside his daemon, waggling his fingers behind her head, fat sausages fanned out around the lizard face. "Now you're a flower!"
She turned bright green in indignation, and clawed more at the mirror, trying to catch the reflections. However much Althalus liked acting the responsible one, he was still a child, and Stealth too, and this was so much fun...
Althalus stopped waving his fingers, and looked up from his seat on the floor, the thin mirror in front of them stretching up all the way to the ceiling, surface silvery, reflecting dark overhead and glimmers from the lamps around. It looked so strange... The surface of the mirror stretched up so high, further and further suddenly, and he felt quite dizzy, as if someone had turned his sense of the world upside down. Blinking rapidly, he brought his gaze back down to his own reflection in front of him.
And scrabbled backwards in shock, paws scrabbling on the wood, dark eyes fearful in the black mask that was no longer costume, but charcoal marks in chocolate fur. Beside him, impossibly huge, Stealth clapped her hands to her mouth, and squeaked. And then realised how bizarre and strange hands were.
Althie!
She turned, looking scared, bizarrely hazel eyes seeking his desperately, and he flung himself at her, heart beating wildly, thudding against his small chest in echo with her own. They had no trouble recognising that it was each other, because the bond between them was still as strong as ever; just inverted, and strange, and now as he tried to whisper hoarse words to comfort her, mere snuffles came from his mouth.
Stealth, it's okay, I promise...
But what's happened to us???
Don't panic. Be calm.
Easy for him to say, he thought, trembling against her, thick striped tail starting to curl instinctively around himself before he became disorientated by the sensation, and stilled. Take his own advice. Deep breath....
Stealth closed her eyes, and did the same. They were still together, so it was okay. Whatever the House did, it hadn't taken them apart like she feared the Light would. So while they were still close, nothing could go wrong.
Opening her eyes slowly, she looked down at the unfamiliar arms, tanned brown and freckled, and the slender hands curled protectively around the trembling raccoon-creature in her lap. She was still on the floor, but sprawled awkwardly with her feet tucked underneath her. She too had experienced the strange vertigo, the falling and inverting feeling; she raised her eyes hesitantly to the mirror, but the distortion scared her, and she looked quickly back down again. That wouldn't help anyone, and neither would falling apart again, she scolded herself. Unwrapping a hand carefully from Althalus, she reached up to feel the contours of her face, both familiar and unfamiliar. She could trace the pattern of her Forgotten's face in her sleep, so strong and close to hers; but this felt skinner, and she could -feel- it, it wasn't just another's face. She tugged at a lock of short, sandy brown hair, almost the same colour as her skin, and cropped close to her face. That was as well; she didn't think she could cope with the long hair she'd seen some of the Forgotten girls with, or even medium length hair like Kel's. It was weird enough even having hair, and she tugged it experimentally. Althie wasn't lying when he said it hurt, then...
Althalus opened his eyes again, and looked up at Stealth. She looked so strange... but then again, he figured he would as well. He sat up carefully, paws clasping in front of himself; he was sitting in her lap, the skinny, tomboyish girl that was his daemon wearing dusty pale jeans and a olive, military-style tank top. Lucky she ended up with some clothes, he thought, and then wondered idly where his own clothes had gone. His bandana... he twitched an ear, and then wrinkled his nose. That felt so weird... he raised his paws to feel his own face, the same way Stealth had, and then peeked hesitantly across at the mirror again. However distorted, there was no question that that was a raccoon-like face staring back.
Just as well Garrick can't see me, he thought wryly. Or did the House just have a twisted sense of humour, and knew his nickname?
"Althie..."
He looked back up, his mind getting a strange disconnect from hearing the same voice he heard in his head, but out in the real world, with echoes and harmonics from the surroundings. His daemon still looked scared, and off-balance; it was a world away from her normal composed and sarcastic manner, and he stood up on his hind legs to pat her face with his paw tenderly, affection and love flowing across their mental link.
It's okay. The House is just being weird at us, okay? We'll find a way to fix ourselves. Think of this as a... an opportunity. *melodramtically* Now you can discover the pains of being me.
.... stupid Althalus.
The girl made a face at the raccoon-daemon, and then tried to get unsteadily to her feet. She managed to get to all fours, and then hesitated, before slowly standing upright. It felt all wrong... she felt huge, and conspicuous, and she backed into the wall, eyes darting around and hands pressed flat against the surface of the mirror there. Nowhere to hide...
Althalus scampered over, the weight of his tail almost making him lose balance before he righted himself, and pressed himself firmly against the girl's bare ankles.
It's alright, Stealth, come on... look, you must be shorter than I am when I'm big, and I manage to hide well enough, don't I?
The skinny girl nodded tremulously, and then steeled herself, tongue darting nervously out for a moment in a thoroughly reptilian gesture. She was supposed to be the one keeping Althalus in line, wasn't she? Wasn't she the sensible one? Taking a deep breath, she crouched and stroked Althalus's small furry head, trying to be the comforting one.
"You're.... you're right. And we're not fixing ourselves by standing here, are we?"
I'm worried why the House did this... do you think the others behind us have had the same happen?
"....Let's go look for them." Stealth straightened again. She didn't even mention going back to look for the adults; last time there hadn't been a hope, and what good were they with the House anyway? If anyone could deal with it, it would be them, and the older Forgotten. Eydis was here, wasn't she? Iqbal... he'd never heard mention of again, not for a few years, and Mael was still gone, lost in the depths of the House. Exactly a year ago...
Maybe we could find snake boy again...
April seemed to care.
She's definitely not here, she can't help us.
But maybe Eydis/Frozen can?
Let's search anyway.
The unsteady daemon-girl set her expression, and started padding along the corridors of mirrors, trying not to be completely freaked by the distorted reflections that showed this strange girl with her long-tailed daemon trotting close alongside.
---End of Part One--
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Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 1:30 am
Didn't.... didn't we come this way?
I thought...
WAIT I know!
Althalus scampered across to the corner between the mirrors, rounded ears perked forward and striped tail held out behind him for balance. He was slowly getting used to the odd form; unlike Stealth, who at least had the experience of seeing and feeling what it might be like to be a human through his own normal experiences, a gecko and a raccoon were quite different. But it seemed almost instinctive, and he sat back on his hind legs, putting out a forepaw to point left.
In a maze, you always go.... left, that was it! And if you stay doing that, you'll eventually find something!
Stealth sighed, a trace of her normal sarcasm creeping into her oddly human voice.
"That's for a normal maze, Althie. This is the House."
It's worth a try, isn't it? And don't call me that out loud, her partner said, slightly sulkily.
"Yeah... I suppose it is."
So far their search had revealed that they couldn't even find their way back out to where they'd come from, let alone find any of the other Forgotten. Just old corridors, dark wooden floorboards, peeling yellowed wallpaper behind the myriad hanging sheets of silvered glass that threw reflections every which way. Sometimes two would perfectly reflect each other, and the Forgotten pair shivered and hurried between them, trying not to look at their reflections that spun away into infinity.
Stealth stopped again, Althalus bumping into her ankle where he'd retreated to walking close.
"That turning. It doesn't look as well lit. Maybe that's a different way we haven't been yet?"
Hey... maybe.
Althalus resisted the urge to trot ahead, and stayed close to Stealth instead. It was strange... because she was normally on his person, close to his skin, the pair of them were rarely very far apart, and unused to any distance. He'd already found out the hard way, not thinking; he'd run ahead down the corridor, used as he was to his daemon being with him, and then Stealth had cried out, and he'd jerked in his steps, an odd feeling tightening around his head and chest, making it hard to breathe, making it hard to think, and then Stealth had cradled him in her arms again upset, the both of them silent and breathing fast. The memory of the nightmares, where the bright harsh blazing hands tore them apart, was strong suddenly, and it took them a good few minutes to calm down enough to move onwards.
The dimmer path twisted sharply to begin with, and then resolved into one, long straight path, a long thin hallway that stretched away into the distance. It must be mirrors making it seem so long... right? The light petered out even more as they padded across the increasingly dusty floorboards.
I miss my lantern.
Althalus' words were unbidden, staying trotting close to Stealth's hesitant steps. She shook herself a little, and then looked down, tone sarcastic.
"Well I miss being my proper shape. We all have things we're just having to put up without, don't we?"
Althalus' tail fluffed up a bit in indignation.
Don't be so harsh at me. It's just because it's getting darker!
"Nothing wrong with a bit of dark, you idiot. Better to hide, isn't it?"
Not dark like this, there should be mirror reflections of the light, at least...
The pair paused, eyes wide in the darkness as they looked around. Behind them, the path stretched back, towards the bright light... it almost seemed too bright. They couldn't even see the turn where they'd entered. Just a mirrored corridor, running forever, and ahead of them, nothing but darkness. True black, the dark that leeched your heat, making you blind and fearful; not the friendly darkness of night, with its minute dashes of streetlight glow or moonbeams thrown through windows.
I... don't want to go forward. It's too dark.
Stealth bit her lip, and looked behind them, hazel eyes crinkling at the light stabbing them, and looked down.
"I don't want to go back. The light looks too much like..." She trailed off, and then wordlessly crouched to scoop up the wiry raccoon that was Althalus, holding him close.
Too bright to go back, too dark to go forward.
Choose.
The tone was warm, and Althalus flinched, looking forward into the darkness. A familiar voice.... one not lost to hissing as before, but warmer, more amused. He'd heard it before, when the House had lost him before, he knew it!
We can't go that way, and there was an edge of fear in his voice.
Choose.
Stealth froze. She'd never heard the voice before, but it spoke to her deep, the creatures made of white fire, that spoke like rustling pages and were smiling and cruel.
"N...not that way either!"
The uncertainty of their situation, their bodies thrown into the other form, had easily concentrated their basic feelings, whilst simultaneously throwing them off balance. And it was now that they were asking to make a decision?
Althalus struggled, dropping free of Stealth's arms, angry suddenly. He stood foursquare, tail straight out behind him, between the light and Stealth.
I refuse to choose! How can you even ask that?! And stop scaring Stealth!
His partner stared a little down at the fierce little raccoon, and then shrank back a little. She wanted to be small again, to disappear, to hide... Althie was always the one that stood up for the two of them, and she'd been happy for him to take that stance, but now, even when she was the larger and more able, he was still protecting her.
"Althie..."
So I'm not going to listen to you, spat Althalus at the light end of the corridor, before rounding to glare into the darkness. But don't think that means I'm going to listen to you either! You're something to do with this damn House, aren't you? Change us back! Do it NOW!
Still, mocking silence greeted his words.
Stealth sank to the floor, hugging her knees to herself, trying to curl up small.
"It's no use, Althie... there's only two ways. It's got to be one or the other." She sounded defeated, channelling the thoughts for the both of them. But the raccoon-daemon that was Althalus for the moment merely remained angry.
Damn this House, damn those creatures, damn having to choose! I'm never going to choose. I'll do whatever I want, take the gamble! It's more fun that way, don't you see? No way am I gonna tie my life to one choice or the other!
He threw himself at the nearest mirror on the side, scrabbling at the thin slivers of wood visible between the frames, claws scoring into the wood. When nothing happened he bounded across to the other side, flinging himself at the wall in an angry ball of striped fur.
"Althalus..." Stealth half raised her hand, to tell him it was futile again, when she suddenly realised that his frantic scrabblings had managed to show a thin line by the side of a frame. Was that.... a hinge? She pulled herself to her feet, almost falling over again as she forgot how to walk properly, but went over to tug at the mirror.
Althalus looked up at her, with a sudden glint of determination in her eyes, and then he grinned.
That's my girl.
"Don't you say that to me," replied Stealth snippily, but she tugged again, a creak sounding through the wall panels.
There really is another way! Hah! Screw you, suckers, crowed Althalus, before coughing on the dust that the secret passage had opened. Let's go, Stealth!
-------------
The corridor was suddenly empty of reflections and echoes, the mirror-door closing behind them with a hollow thump. For a while, silence reigned.
So they chose not to choose, hmm? Interesting. Shame it'll all be useless in the end.
-------------
Althalus and Stealth stumbled through the thin, dusty corridor, vaguely lit from who knows where. It didn't matter where it ended up, as long as it wasn't where those voices where. They'd get back to the others, and screw the House and its stupid messed up rules.
Bounding slightly ahead of the skinny, panting girl that was Stealth, Althalus was so caught up in his own thoughts and unused to seeing perspective from such a low height, that he didn't notice the downward staircase. Stairs?
Ack!
"Althie!"
Stealth lunged forward to try and catch the raccoon-daemon as he tumbled over down the wooden stairs, but merely succeeded in tripping herself. She whimpered a little, managing to grab Althalus and curl up smally, trying to reduce the impact as they rolled down the staircase.
Everything went black.
Althalus slowy came to his senses, and wished he hadn't. He felt battered and bruised, and he groaned slightly, holding onto Stealth a little tighter. She shivered, curling closer to his neck, small feet vibrating with his heartbeat and tail latched tightly around him.
He blinked slowly, and then sat up, freeing one hand to peer at it cautiously. Fingers! He had fingers again! Althalus grinned suddenly, and then coughed, throat full of dust as he felt around for his hat, jamming it carefully over his bandana and checking the pommel of the dagger at his belt. Hah, some use that had been. How could you fight when turned into an animal??
Althie? We're.... back to normal?
"Of course, silly. And that's Althalus. Didn't I tell you we could always beat this dumb House's tricks?" The boy sounded confident, standing carefully and with one hand still up against his shoulder, stroking Stealth affectionately.
No, you didn't, actually, she retorted grumpily, but she latched her tail tighter.
Althalus laughed, and looked around. Wait, hadn't they come down some stairs? He looked behind them, but no, they really were just a few yards from the curtain that Pippin had lifted to let them come in. The ground floor... and there were no stairs behind them, that was for certain.
"Ah well. I bet there's some food left. Come on."
Limping slightly, Althalus trotted back towards the curtain, and the room full of bemused guardians. Who knows, there might even be some spare candy to steal.....
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