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Nothing left but to go left… down the left tunnel… cause Randal said to… and Randal is scary

You take a few steps down the left tunnel, allowing for your spinning head to calm down before heading off down the path at a good clip. After about ten minutes nothing bad has happened… but then again nothing good has happened either… what’s that old saying? No news is good news? Then no happenstances are good happenstances right? I don’t really get how being bored out of your mind can be a good thing, but at least you’re getting a good deal of exercise here. Speaking of exercise, you’re walking awfully fast now that you think about it… It must be the boot because you’re almost leaping with your booted foot after a moment of thinking about it. This boot apparently has some plans, and you’re going to find out what they are sooner rather than later if you don’t try and stop the boot… You get to a place in the tunnel where it goes dark… and then you crash headlong into something hard and wooden. As you run your paws over it, you discover that It’s a crudely made ladder going up to…somewhere. It’s too dark to see. But the boot has stopped pulling.

Do you…
~ Go up the ladder. You got ground above you, but you’d prefer sun, and unless gravity has changed it’s mind since you fell asleep, up a ladder is closer to the sunshine than you got right now.
~ Screw the ladder. Haven’t you seen movies? You get to the top of the ladder and it turns out to be a manhole cover and you poke out your head and a car almost runs you over. That or someone looks up your skirt from underneath even though you told them not to!

Right is right is right… and BUG NET! Need I say more? Apparently not. Good old Tevin

You salute Tevin and his genius as you go right down the tunnel. It’s not long before it’s pitch black again and all you have to keep you going is the basic light of your torch to let you see. As you’re walking, your boot starts pulling against you… it seems to want you to walk back the way you came from… as you keep struggling against the boot you come to a ladder… the ladder goes down and down to… something. It’s too dark to tell.

Do you…
~ Kick out your boot and hobble down the ladder… bug nets are better decision makers than boots any day.
~ Let the boot take you back. Ladders can be dangerous… in fact most of them are too hard to climb with only one working foot.

Fight that boot! Pull back with a yell and if you crush his skull then it wasn’t you… right?

As you reel backwards trying to overpower the boot by actually overpowering it, Jobias seems to realize what you’re up to and musters up enough strength to grab your non-offensive foot and pull it out from underneath you. You crash to the dirt floor and the air is knocked out of you as your back comes in contact with a rock. You don’t even get a chance to breathe in before Jobias leaps on your chest and lands an elbow right on your windpipe. “Jobey sorry… so sorry… so sorry…” You hear the words getting fainter and fainter as you fade from the world, not having been allowed to take a breath after loosing all your air. Blackness sets in and you lose all consciousness. Later, when you awake, you find yourself lying in the dirt outside your own home, you seems unharmed even if your windpipe is a little sore, and you don’t have the boot anymore… was it all a dream? Sleepwalking can really be a b***h!
Gameover - ^_^ you win a “Taming the shrew” prize and a “boot’s off!” prize. Tba later.


Stab that Wyrm in the eyeball! Grandma Ruth said to!

You rear back and then reel forward, with enough punch left in you to stab that wyrm in the eye… but as it turns out, Wyrms who are stabbed in the eye don’t double over in pain and gasp for air… so they don’t let go of the poor unfortunate creatures in their mouths… in fact, Grandma Ruth’s advice to stab creatures in the eyeballs must not apply to giant cave wyrms… cause what happens to you when you do this is the wyrm becomes enraged and seems to decide that it would be easier to carry the boot with only your foot in it… so he bites down hard. The searing pain shoots through your leg and as you fall away from the boot, you have only a second to see the severed stump that used to lead to your foot… you remember a moment in your childhood when you stubbed your toe and your mom said ‘by tree! You’re hollering like you got your foot cut off!’ … how ironic… But as you slam into the ground, the world balloons outward for a split second, then snaps back in, and you find yourself lying on the floor of your home, sore back, even sorer rear, and two fully functioning bootless legs… hot damn but if it wasn’t all a dream all along! You get up to go get something to drink, and you wonder why a dream could make your leg so sore… but it was just a dream. Must just be your mind playing tricks on you.

Gameover - - ^_^ you win a “Wyrm” consolation prize and a “boot’s off!” prize. Tba later.


Check the wall to the right… we’ve already established that Right is right, three lefts, yaddah ya.

Your instincts were right and right was right after all… on the floor at the end of the room there is indeed a flint box, which you manage to light, casting a dim yellow haze around the room. Looking around you see that the room is perfectly square and cut from stone. There is nothing in the room except a hole in the ceiling that you fell through and a very old Fox vixen who is chained to the wall. She smiles at you and says “Oh good, company… it’s been so long. Here, undo my chain and we’ll talk.” Her chain is set with a peg further down the wall than she could reach, but should be no problem for you… the only problem here is… why was she chained to the wall in the first place? And why is she also wearing one of those wretched boots?

Do you …
~ IT’S A TRICK! No one that old could live in a dark room in a tunnel chained to a wall with an evil magic boot for any amount of time. You can talk without letting her go.
~ Unchain her. It’s obvious that she’s just like you are.

Get up … he’s gotta be telling the truth. Besides, you got no common sense.

Jobey scrambles to his little feet as soon as you’re off him, and he fends himself against any possible damage that may happen for a few seconds. Then after you’ve both stared at each other for what seems like minutes without anything happening, he seems to relax a little… “Jobey… can tell you one thing… can take you one place… out… or to the bootmaker… “

Do you…
~NEED MORE FASIONABLE FOOTWEAR!
~MUST GET OUT OF CREEPY UNDERGROUND TUNNEL!

This wasn't turning out so badly after all!

Bane hummed to himself as he sped along and... Sped? He was used to a swagger, really, and this was not at all to his tastes... The darn boot was rushing him along!

"Ho, there, boot! Be slowing down, or I reckon I might run into--" BAM.

The ferret couldn't do much beyond glare at the object before him, which was quickly revealed to be a ladder.

And you know what one did with ladders.

The young ferret began to climb it, quickly.

NEED MORE FASIONABLE FOOTWEAR!

It was another stand off, and it lasted for much longer than Toki would have liked--which didn't mean it was long, just that it was that little bit too long. At first it was exciting, dramatic, waiting for the shrew to attack or run or say something, and then....then....it took too long. Toki tapped her red-clad footpaw irritably, but managed only a beat before the young shrew finally spoke. She grinned. "To tha Bootmaker!" Toki shouted in delight, jabbing the pig light towards the ceiling. It didn't really occur to her that escape might be the better option. She didn't consider herself captured, or a prisoner, or anything--as far as she knew, she had dozed off in a cave and just happened to be gifted an amazing shoe in her sleep. There was nothing questionable about that. And she wanted that other boot!

The light briefly went out as she shifted it, then flared to life with an OINK as she tucked the pig under one arm. It was a bit too big to easily carry one-handed, but under the arm it was okay. With the other hand, she retrieved the squid stick, then turned expectantly back to the shrew. "Alright Jobey, which way?"

((catching up because I was a loser and missed a round...also, sorry I'm a pain in the butt Keppit, it seems Archie wanted an unpopular option))

Let the boot take you back
--------------

Archie struggled against the boot the whole way, swearing spectacularly beneath his breath in a way that was clearly learned from Tristan during one of his drinking binges.

Halting at the ladder, exhausted from taking one step forward for every three steps back, the journey taking five times as long as it should have, he leaned against the wall and panted. Running a paw back through his head-quills, he stared at the ladder, cursing Tevin in addition to the boot.

There was NO WAY he was going to go down a ladder /anywhere/. If the ladder were going up, that would be a different story, but he could see no way that going further underground would solve any of his problems. More than likely he was going to walk face-first into a pit full of hedgehog-eating tarantulas, or something.

Agitated, he gave in to the boot's struggling desires, and hobbled his way back the way he had came, now totally winded.

"Oh, no, miss lady! I ain't stickin' round no more, 'n y'kin have yer stupid stinky boot, too!" A hard kick was given, every step up the ladder that Bane took. It would come off!

... Right?

Let the Boot take you back

Standing at the start of the ladder, you decide that it’s too much work to climb with a antagonistic appendage, and you start to head off back down the tunnel the way you had come from… but apparently you’re not going back to the hall with Tevin and the others, because after about half an hour of walking, you’re STILL lost and in a tunnel with no offshoots at all it seems. And then, as if you were in a movie and were about to get to the room where someone bashes you over the back of the head and takes your wallet, leaving you to be eaten alive by aphids as you sleep ((and only have a marginal chance of contracting some kind of wonderful – and yet terrible- seemingly selfless super-hero power from said bug bites instead of slow and painful death)) your torch suddenly flutters and goes out. You’re left standing in the dark, but that doesn’t stop your booted foot… it drags you yet a few more feet before you bang head first (smack bang pow ow) into a pointy wall. A pointy wall? What the heck is a pointy wall? You feel with your paws and you decide that the point that you’re feeling is actually the dividing wall between two tunnels. One left and one right. *sigh* Didn’t you just have to make a left and right decision? Well this time you’ll do it in the dark and rely on only your other senses to let you know which way is out…

Do you
~ Take the tunnel to the left. It smells like flowers and rainbows and daffodils and paprika… maybe your memories of paprika are better than some peoples… for example, Bale’s aunt Tillie used to put paprika on his ice cream, and that has pretty much been the cause of his supreme hatred for all things dairy.
~ Go right… when you start down a tunnel and the underscore music gets all dark and ominous, that’s what makes a good adventure.

Give her the boot… It’s cramping your style.

Before you even open your mouth to tell her that she can have your boot, it’s like she can hear your thoughts and she starts to smile wickedly. You get the words out and she starts to stand up in her chains… as she reaches her full height, you realize that she’s growing younger and less feeble by the second, and her elderly appearance melts away to reveal a pure black vixen with one of the most evil smiles that you’ve ever seen… she leans forward and looks right into your eyes and she laughs the faintest laugh imaginable, a tinkling childish laugh that seems completely out of place in a face so mature and… pretty. There’s something almost impressive… irresistible even about the Vixen’s appearance. Men will want to be near her, women will want to kill her for knowing that she’s prettier than they are… even the most rational brain is obsessed with this woman… “I’ll thank you for the boot” She laughs again… “Because you’ve done me a service. If you ever see Traylia in your life’s travels, tell her that you’ve done me a favor.” Then she leans forward and kisses you on the nose and your world explodes into blinding white light. When you open your eyes, you’re in your bed, safe and sound, grimacing at the light coming through the morning. No boots, no harm, just bad dreams.

Gameover… you win a “Shadow Vixen prize” and a “Boots off prize” Tba later.

Try one last time to kick off the boot, gravity ain’t gonna get the best of you!

As you flail your foot beneath you with each step, you suddenly feel as if someone has grabbed your foot with their forepaw. Looking down you can see that this is indeed the case and there is a beautiful dark fur Vixen perched gracefully on the ladder underneath you. She doesn’t seem to have gotten there with any effort and she’s smiling at you as she holds the sole of your booted foot in her hand. At first if might have caught you off guard, but before you know it all you can think of is how pretty she is… how knowing and mature and sleek and… that laugh? It’s childish and infectious… you’re infected. “Thank you for my shoe.” She smiles at you and your heart melts a little. As she blows you a kiss, you lean back to try and… try and what? Catch it? How stupid is that? But before you can tell yourself that catching blown kisses is something only done by those so madly in love that they could give diabetes to marshmallow puppies just by being sickeningly sweet, you realize that you’re clutching your hands together around thin air ( which, incidentally, is usually all blown kisses consist of. Air and hope and sometimes even a little bit of bitter-sweet-this-is-all-I-got-as-she-said-goodbye-from-the-train-window kind of sadness) and thin air is not the rungs of a ladder. Your body keels over backwards and you whiplash down so that you find yourself hanging from the Vixen’s paw. She laughs again and seems to be spending no energy holding you there. “Silly creature. “ And then she flips her paw, pulling your foot free from the boot and from her grasp. As you fall down the shaft into the darkness, you see her beautiful face fading into the darkness, and you only have a moment to wonder why the ladder shaft seems so much longer now that you’re falling. You’re about to hit the ground when the vixen suddenly appears beneath you with a laugh, and catches you in her arms. “You didn’t think I’d let you fall did you? Traylia may think I’m evil, but I could never. Can’t have people saying Aelia lets creatures fall to their deaths.” She leans forward and smile at you once more before leaning down and kissing you. Your world explodes into a blinding white light. When you open your eyes, you’re in your bed, safe and sound, grimacing at the light coming through the morning. No boots, no harm, just bad dreams.

Gameover… you win a “boots off prize” and an “Alice” Prize, tba later.

Nay to Traylia. You ain’t a plaything!

So it seems that the door was really just a formality, because behind you a Vixen appears without warning. You’re not sure if she was there all along, or if she just walked up, or if she just ‘poofed’ in with magic or what, but when she speaks you spin around to look at her. “You actually want it? You want both of them?” Aside from the fact that her voice is accompanied by the tinkling of far off brass bells pealing in pretty harmonies and chords, her face is absolutely beautiful. Her fur is a soft grey, sleek and soft looking, and her [removed](while confused) is all knowing, all telling. You can’t help but stare at her as she stands behind you. “Most people don’t want to have anything to do with a shoe so… temperamental.” She smiles an easy smile at you and seems to be thinking about something for a moment and then she *almost* shrugs and says “Why not.” Her paw points to the boot already on your foot. “That is mine. I want it. But…” She whips her paw around in a quick circle and suddenly she’s holding a boot much like your own, only for the other foot. “This one is not mine and I don’t want Aelia to get it.” She leans forward conspiratorially. “That’s the whole point you see. I can’t have mine so she can’t have hers either. If you have them both… I don’t know what will happen. “ She stares at you and seems to come to yet another decision. “And, honestly, I don’t really care what happens to you. But it might be interesting to see what does happen.” She drops the boot on the floor of the tunnel in front of you and stares at you with a smile that you could swear would be completely evil in a face less pretty…. But she is really really really pretty.

Do you
~ Grab up that boot. She don’t know what she’s talking about… and put it on.
~ Don’t touch it…. Take off your own boot and give it to her. Her smile seems to make you think that there’s a 67.3 percent chance that you might spontaeneously combust… how good are you with statistics? Do you even care?

You put on the other boot

Traylia seems to watch with unparalleled excitement for a moment, and then.... as nothing happens and you sit there with both boots on your feet, he expression slowly changes through a few modes (including but not limited to: excitement, irritation, anger, disappointment, hungry, and of course, complete and utter boredom.) ... as she stares and nothing continues to happen in all it's wonderful nothing glory, she suddenly waves her paw at you dismissively. "Well that was anticlimactic." She smiles and holds her paws out in front of her as if she's cupping something in them. "I'll be watching little mouse. " Then before you can respond, she blows in her hands and a tornado of glittery sand jumps out of her paws, getting bigger by the split second! You're caught up in the tornado, helplessly dragged down into the tunnel with the little door, and even running your paws against the walls of the little cave doesn't seem to slow your descent. Suddenly, and without warning, the cave system opens up... and or course, when I say opens up, I mean disappears. You find yourself flying through the air, on a downward collision course with a river... apparently that was the top of a waterfall that you can bursting out of. You have a couple of seconds to wonder if hitting the water will hurt before you actually hit the water... but when you do, it's only the proper stinging of a good belly flop, but not enough to actually hurt you at all.

As you crawl from the river, dripping, you find that you are still wearing both boots.... nice. This will be interesting at the very least.

Gameover... you win the boots. ^_^