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 Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:46 pm
It was like waking up... perhaps it was waking up, literally, though the plague doctor didn't remember falling asleep. Everything felt strange, though, as if its skin had become a little too tight for its bones. Fog swirled around it in blessed silence. It was almost eerie, after the hum and hiss of voices and half-heard echoes in the Haunted House...
Wait.
The Haunted House.
Where was it?
Malodore scrambled to its feet, its wings beating at the fog in a vain attempt to clear some air. "Hello? Hello? Riley? Calder? Christof? Barth - anyone?" it cried out, expecting a chaos of voices to bounce back to it.
But the fog simply devoured the sound.
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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:55 pm
Riley felt like she'd woken up, but not completely. She was still waiting for some part of her to wake up - the part of her that she'd been carrying for so long now, she'd become accustomed to it. The whispers, the calling, they were such a part of her that they had become necessary background noise. Now that they were gone.. she just lay there and waited for them to come back.
Instead, she heard Malodore's voice, and it convinced her to jostle awake. She sat up, and saw its hooves nearby. It wasn't that far from her.
But she couldn't.. she couldn't feel..
I'm here, Malodore. She called out to it, but remained sitting in the fog, pulling her legs up. Something's wrong. I feel like I'm still asleep. It's so quiet..
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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:58 pm
If Riley had been speaking, the fog might have eaten her words too - but she wasn't, and Malodore tensed everywhere, then darted towards where it thought her 'voice' was coming from. "Mia cara-"
And then she was there, a dark shape on the ground in front of it. It very nearly collided with her, only just turning its momentum into crashing down in front of her on its knees, sweeping its arms and wings around her. "Ti ho trovato," it sighed in relief.
The question of where they were could wait just a little bit.
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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:06 pm
There was a soft, happy chuckle that left her when Malodore flung itself into her, and she returned the gesture with a great surge of affection. Potrai sempre trovarmi. She assured it, wrapping her arms around it and giving it a squeeze. Help me up, please. I feel dizzy. Malodore's presence was enough to assure her that she was indeed awake, and alive, and real. Whatever was missing from her would have to wait, because she was hyper focused on the presence of the plague doctor, and their current situation.
It didn't look good.
Do you think we've just walked into a trap? She hated to ask it - she was the one who'd led them there. I see no way in or out from here.
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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:11 pm
It obliged, giving her the hand up she requested, looking around them with quick, birdlike movements as it did so. "I feel a little strange myself - it is so quiet here," it admitted, its own words sounding beyond bizarre even to it. Not their content, but their sound. "But the fog is still here... I don't understand... it was like I was asleep, except I don't recall falling asleep." It could not frown, but its voice carried disapproval nevertheless.
The touch of its fingers smeared away flour from her skin.
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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:16 pm
I experienced the same thing. She murmured. And I don't think the fog here is Insanity. In fact, I feel oddly pressed in, as though there's nothing out there at all. We could be in a small enclosure, trapped. We should search.
As she looked at the streak of purple it's hands exposed, she gave a frustrated sigh. That idea was trivial and stupid. I'm not sure why I endorsed coating everyone in flour. Perhaps I just didn't want to be the only one. Her hands reached behind her and started rubbing the flour off of her tentacles, cleaning them thoroughly while her eyes remained fixed ahead, trying to look through the fog. The flour was itchy, and extremely uncomfortable; it felt good to get it off. Well, it's pointless now. What I wouldn't do for a single towel.
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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:20 pm
Malodore tilted its head at her first statement. It seemed a bit odd, given that they had been surrounded by fog that definitely was Insanity in origin, and now were surrounded by near-identical fog... "An interesting hypothesis," it began, then stopped, distracted by her movement.
A moment later, it lunged, taking up one of her tentacles in its hands. It was shaking. "Mia cara... no, it can't be... there's no reason..." Perhaps it was dreaming. Was it dreaming? It might still be asleep.
Why would her tentacles be free of anything other than lingering traces of flour, unblemished by the grey patches it had become so used to?
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Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:27 pm
It is. She murmured. I feel as though I recognize the fog, when I'm in it. And this doesn't feel like - MALODORE!
She sucked in a sharp breath when its hands were on her tentacles, tugging them towards it. She couldn't imagine what would spurn the sudden touch, and the flour hid the dark color rising from her cheeks well. I know we're alone, but-
Her words, and breathing, all stopped when she followed its gaze. She looked at her tentacle, and took it out of its hands. As she brushed the flour off, the grey that she expected to be waiting underneath seemed to have come off with it.
Magical flour?! No, that was preposterous. This place, then..
She started cleaning her tentacles wildly. Then came her face, and her arms - every new stretch of skin uncovered made her heart stutter wildly in surprise.
The infection was gone.
As soon as her mind thought those words, she realized why she thought she was asleep. She realized what she was missing - it was the same thing inside, as it was out.
She was scared to admit it, but the words whispered out hesitantly anyway.
It's gone.
Her eyes flickered up to Malodore, widened in shock.
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:18 pm
Malodore didn't even notice Riley's shock at its touch - it was too busy being shocked itself, picking up tentacle after tentacle as if there had to be a touch of grey somewhere, hiding from it. Eluding it. Every tentacle she flicked away it took up again...
"... Non è possibile..." it said, in a strangled tone. "It can't just... infections don't just..." And then it stopped talking, though its beak kept working for a moment, reduced to speechlessness.
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:20 pm
But it did. She insisted. It isn't just the skin.
She stepped forward, into the fog, and held her hands out. Then she turned around, and waited for the voices, but heard nothing but silence.
She turned, and turned, and let out a laugh. It's out of my head, as well. They're all out of my head. Whatever was doing this.. it's just gone.
Her eyes closed, and she reveled in the silence.
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:39 pm
It stared a moment longer, then ran to her, gathering her hands up first and then the rest, wings sweeping around to encircle every inch. It had no words, just a sense of confusion and wonder and gratitude...
... and the very, very tiniest grumpy inner voice insisting THIS IS NOT HOW SCIENCE WORKS.
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:47 pm
Riley opened her eyes when she felt its claws take her hands, and she sucked in a small breath when it gathered her up. As it emcompassed her, she let the air out in a soft, breathy chuckle. Her head fell into the crook of Malodore's neck, and she wrapped her arms around it.
A wordless moment. And yet, in each touch, and each breath, it said everything she needed to hear.
Even if they were trapped forever in the enclosure, Riley thought, just for a moment, that she would be content to live her existence standing there, buried in Malodore's arms.
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:51 pm
After a moment, it ducked its head, neck curving as it buried its mask against her pristine shoulder. "... I don't know what happened, but... if it's true..." It lifted its head and ran one claw gently down the line of her cheek, almost as if it was afraid a wrong touch might make the grey return. "Then it isn't forever.... why? Why isn't it forever?"
It turned again, scanning the featureless surroundings. "Where are we, mia cara?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:06 pm
The moment of peace passed.
Riley wasn't as certain that the change was temporary, but hearing it from Malodore made it the rational decision, and it laid heavy on her heart. She lifted her head, and her eyes darkened with acceptance.
She just couldn't win.
I'm not sure where we are. But now that I realize it, this could be Insanity we're wading in. I simply thought.. She sighed sharply. I thought because I couldn't feel it-
She reached out and tried to run her fingers through the fog, but felt nothing.
I fear we are very, very much lost.
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Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:09 pm
"Insanity..." It reached out another hand and combed at the fog as Riley was doing, instinctively seeking her free hand with its own. "But this doesn't feel like the Haunted House... it feels so..." Its beak closed with a click as it thought over its words carefully.
"... It feels like an utterly sterile operating theater," it continued, after a moment, nonplussed.
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