Lost.....

[Patrick]

Patham had been just outside the house when the fog had descended. It had come so suddenly, that in his confusion he had no time to check which way the others were. He moved a few paces about but couldn't find the house, which had been only a few meters away from him.

 

"Mynx! Tanny! Stephen! Anyone! Where are you?" - he asked. He did not want to get lost in the fog.

 

"We're here." - drifted a voice from the fog. Patham moved several minutes in the direction he had heard the voice from, but still could not find the house. Was someone trying to trick him? He called out again to the others. He got a reply from the right hand side and went in that direction. Again, several minutes passed and he still could not find the house. He called out, and got no reply this time. Panic started seizing him and he shouted louder and louder, to no avail.

[Katzaniel]

Sweetcherrie loped along the tunnel, sword drawn, looking this way and that for any sign of danger. Gryphon walked almost backward, keeping a sharp eye out for anything following them. Both looked very nervous.

 

Calm down, thought Inbi-the-rock, who by now was convinced that this was some sort of dream/reality combination, where the actual plane was influenced by the inhabitant's imagination. Don't you see that every time you think you hear something, something actually makes a sound?! She had seen it multiple times: One of them would cock their head, stop, and then gesture to the other. Both would listen for a moment, and as if on cue, a footstep or rumble would echo down the corridor. Twice, a troll had actually appeared before escape was made good.

 

Then Gryphon faced abruptly forward. "I think there's something there," he murmured. Sweetcherrie glanced that way, and then backward, opening her mouth to respond. A rumble was heard immediately in front of them and then footsteps behind. Oh no, what have you gotten yourselves into now? Inbi fairly wailed with frustration.

 

They hadn't seen any side tunnels for some time, so the only real chance was to keep going and hope for escape that way. Neither needed to say a word; they dashed forward.

 

Inbi followed, praying for a split in the path. If it came down to a battle, they might win, but neither was at their best and she hadn't figured out how to alter anything yet. She knew, or hoped so much that she felt it must be true, that it was possible. She hadn't really stopped trying, though her efforts now included attempts at forgetting that a given cave wall existed, for example. But that was harder than simply travelling around, for the walls looked very solid.

 

Then the troll was before them. Sweetcherrie didn't hesitate; she went right forward, slashing at it, but one tired movement of its arm and she was on the floor, thrown back almost to where Gryphon stood. "Are you all right?" he called, judging the distance to the troll and obviously planning a spell of some sort. When she didn't answer, he moved forward, crouching at her side and ready to fling something at the troll if it made a move. He looked at her worriedly; Sweetcherrie had no obvious bleeding, but was out cold.

 

That's when the second troll appeared.

 

Thank goodness for our heroes, that's also when Appy made the first complete connection with the button. Everything went white, and mist once again filled the area. Inbi felt herself without a tethering point for a moment, but the plane began to reinhabit itself. She seized this moment and concentrated very hard on the piece of paper that she absolutely knew had been lying there but a moment before. Oh yes - she'd written on it herself. How could the paper not be there any more? They had been in a huge cavern with a single sheet of lined paper on the floor.

 

The plane took ideas from the minds of Gryphon and the others, to the most extent, since they were actually on the plane. But the force of Inbi's thoughts on the mostly empty world did in fact cause the paper to appear. They were still in the tunnels, but both trolls were gone, and there were five exits off this particular section of the tunnel.

[Vlad]

Vlad shifted his focus to behind the figure leaning over him. There were clouds, clouds of all colors. Strong blues and deep purples fought against the barbaric reds in the sky, wounds bleeding together, hues blending and joining - watercolors in the lich's mind. Vlad focused on a bright yellow speck, and slowly his vision settled back, sweeping across and settling the feuds so violent only moments ago.

 

Looking back at the face in front of him, he saw a woman. A woman he does not recognize, but a spark went off in the back of the lich's mind. This woman, her smile, that gentle look... all so familiar, yet forgotten for so long. Closing his eyes in disbelief, Vlad reached up toward the contours of the martonly face. His hand traced a U about the woman's cheeks and chin, but when he opened his eyes once more, the woman was gone. Mother...?

 

Steeling himself against what he guessed to be the plane's effects, Vlad slowly rose to his feet. His vision did not extend far through the air, thick with magic, but it went far enough to see what could be those he arrived with. Beyond the horizon, there was a flaming castle, a raging battle not unlike what he had just seen in the sky above. Turning to his left, Vlad picked out greenery, maybe a forest or some hills trapped inside this world.

 

Settling on the castle, it had a greater chance of people in his mind, Vlad started off toward it with a trot. A swift tail-wind picked up and the lich slowly felt himself rising above the ground. Trying to combat the wind, but to no avail, Vlad resigned himself to being carried across the plane. Watching the rapidly approaching castle, nay, rapidly approaching city, he felt confident in meeting his companions, or maybe even Gryphon or Sweetcherrie.

 

As he let his mind wander, Vlad felt the wind drop off and fell to the ground. Wondering if the destination had been reached so quickly, the lich struggled up and looked around for any sign of the fortress he had been approaching. A denser fog than before settled around him, and panic accompanied the blank new world.

 

Vlad tried to remember which direction he was travelling, the flames burning vividly in his memory. The castle stayed hidden from view and no more appeared than a candle's tongue on the tip of the lich's finger. Mentally putting it out, Vlad turned to where he remembered the greenery, and instead saw a new castle, slightly crumbling but mostly intact. Guessing at the distance, the lich instead chose to explore his surroundings for signs of life.

 

Peering through the fog, almost cutting it open with his eyes, Vlad searched for movement. His surroundings quickly grew darker, before the lich finally spotted a complex of buildings. Slowly nearing, a pain rose up in between his temples. Gathering the willpower to keep going, the pain suddenly seared and Vlad felt himself hurled backwards by an unknown force.

 

Moments later, or maybe hours, he awoke once more to find the world a clean slate.

[Knight]

As the three ran on towards the Alliance of Vagabonds and Vanguards, Knight sat analyzed everything he knew about the situation. It was unfortunately little. All he knew was that Sweetcherrie and Gryphon had somehow gotten themselves into an amount of trouble that they could not get themselves out of. This of course, was quite problematic for the rest of the Pen. Two of the more senior members unaccounted for sending out a broad mental distress call was pretty clear. They said Trolls and Spiders… That had to mean a cave of some sort, and they had gone to clean out the old AVV.

 

After some time of running silently through the grounds and the underground passages of the Pen, they came up to the barrier.

 

After a few moments of hesitation, Knight spoke up. “Umm, Gyr… I don’t think we really want to try and go through that thing.”

 

Daryl nods in distinct agreement, the fur on the back of his neck rising as he feels the magical current swirling violently around the barrier.

 

Looking from Gyrfalcon to Daryl, Knight looks back to the barrier. He knows that there has to be a better way, and he quickly discerns that he should head back to his workshop. For there, he feels is the answer to their problems. However, he knows he must talk it over with Daryl and Gyrfalcon first.

 

“Gentlemen… I particularly do not like attempting this… portal? Is that what one might call this? It feels too chaotic to me. Unstable, if you will. However, I think I have a better solution. Back at my workshop, in the tower, is a … vessel, if you will. It is capable of teleporting from point to point, within a plane, and also from plane to plane. However, we do not know where Sweetcherrie and Gryphon are at, so I think it MIGHT be possible to teleport within the AVV. Once inside, and past this barrier, we can figure out what course of action they have taken.”

 

Gyrfalcon nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a better plan then anything I can think of. I doubt we have the sheer power to batter through whatever barrier that is, and I'd rather not chance setting off some sort of reaction."

 

“So that’s settled then. Let’s get back to my tower.”

 

With that, they turned, and started back to where they had come from. On the way, they ran into Mira, who had been following after them.

 

Gyrfalcon spoke first, “Hello, Mira. We have just come from the AVV. We decided going straight through the portal probably wasn’t the best idea. Knight has another idea, and we are going to try it.”

 

Quickly following in with his cue, “I have a small… vessel, capable of fitting several people within it. It is theoretically possible to jump into the AVV from it, and we are going to attempt it. It has to be safer than trying to barge our way through the energies emanating from the AVV.”

 

Mira looked at the two of them, and at the Were-fox and chuckled. “So what you are saying is that we are swapping a dangerous route, for another, only possibly less dangerous alternative?”

 

Knight blinked, paused, and finally continued,

 

“Um… More or less. You in?”

Edited September 20, 2005 by Knight

[Wyvern]

"'Scuse me sir?"

 

Knight and Mira turn at the sound of the stilted voice. A pimpled goblin dressed in a stained brown "Pustill" shirt takes an uneasy step forward, a clipboard clutched in one hand and a time-stamped box slung in the other. The goblin's voice oscilates with the awkwardness of puberty, grating like a chalk Q-tip in a blackboard golem's ear.

 

"Package to sign, sir."

 

The goblin glances at the box for a moment, and makes sure that the "fragile" arrows are pointing towards the ground before dropping it. Gyrfalcon steps forward as the goblin sticks the clip board in front of himself, waving it like a last line of defense.

 

"Sign here, sir."

 

Gyrfalcon examines the package-delivery document and reads over its legalities, then takes out a quill and signs it. He cringes as a trail of snot leaks from the goblins nose, dripping inches away from his fingers.

 

"And here, sir."

 

The goblin flips to a new return-address/sender affiliation document, which Gyrfalcon reads over and signs.

 

"And here, sir."

 

The goblin flips to yet another page, this one detailing a check pasted in the center. The faded check is made out for the sum of "one quajillion geld," and lacks a signature. Several arrows are doodled around the check in a familiar almost dragonic scrawl, paired with the phrase "Sign here!"

 

"No thanks." Gyrfalcon frowns and tucks his quill away. "Thank you for the delivery service. Here's a silver."

 

The goblin stares in fascination and turns the silver piece in his hands like a crown jewel. He flashes Gyrfalcon an open grin of three jagged teeth, then steps over the delivered box with a crunch as he wanders back the way he came.

 

"Odd."

 

Daryl removes the envelope attached to the top of the box, raising a brow at the writing scrawled on the front.

 

To: Ultra-Super Sweetcherrie 'n' Gryphon Rescue Squadron

From: Anonymous Almost Dragonic Source

 

"No wonder Wyv had to use the 'Pustill' service." Daryl shakes his head sadly, then pauses as he pulls out a postcard from the envelope. The photo on the front of the card depicts three sultry sirens in bikinis, blowing kisses towards the camera. Attached to the sirens' backs is a large sea monster, which appears to be devouring an entire "Playboy Mansion Cruiseliner" behind them. The words "Wish you were here?" are printed in red caligrophy on the front, and the phrase "I didn't think so" is typed in small letters on the back.

 

"Geeze, can his tastes get any worse?" Mira and Knight gather around the card, huddling with Daryl and Gyrfalcon. "What does it say?"

 

Daryl clears his throat and reads:

 

Dear Ultra-Super Sweetcherrie 'n' Gryphon Rescue Squadron,

 

I recently recieved telepathic word of Sweetcherrie and Gryphon's dilemmas, but am unfortunatly detained from the Pen's quarters due to a grudge held by a certain Amulet-sporting barbarian. I still feel obliged to help out in some way, so I've sent several items that should prove most useful in your crusade. Enclosed in this package are:

 

5 Mighty Pen Street Team T-shirts, cus heroism is a powerful means of advertising.

1 Cassette Tape of 'Ultra-Super Sweetcherrie 'n' Gryphon Rescue Squadron Theme Song," recorded by the Racouolettes for such an occasion.

1 Tanker of Almost Dragonic Brand Lemonoaid Overstock™, in case you get thirsty.

1/2 of an Idiot's Flashlight for fending off shadows. Batteries not included.

1 Almost Dragonic Brand Party Twister/Studded Mace™ for my disciple Anna.

1 broken rubber band

 

Use them wisely.

Taa taa,

Wyvern

[Mynx]

Mynx looked around at the fog in confusion and worry. Her senses were letting off all kinds of alarm bells but she didn't know what they were trying to tell her. Her ears pricked when she heard Patham call out, and she replied immediately...

But then...nothing.

As the fog grew thicker around Mynx, Tanny, Vincent and Stephen, the feline continued to call for Patham. After a few moments, she couldn't hear a thing, like the fog had deafened her.

She tried to look around at her companions and found that she couldn't even do that; it was like sitting in a world of grey...

 

As Mynx looked around in the world of nothing, she reached out to try and feel someone next to her. Before her arm was even half stretched, she heard that familiar voice once more in her head...

Well hello hello Kitty. My you have changed...

"Go away," Mynx closed her eyes and whispered to herself. "You are my past. Not present nor future."

You cannot ignore your past, cat. You cannot leave it behind. So why not embrace it once more? You could do so well...

 

As the black slowly crept further up Mynx's arms, she closed her eyes and began a silent chant in an effort to ignore the voice, completely unaware that the fog around her was starting to clear...

[Black9]

Anna awoke once again to find that her surroundings have changed. She no longer was in the old house or even lay upon the grassy lands. Infact...looking around...she couldn't see much of anything. On the bright side, however, she had regained the ability to walk...barely! Slowly getting to her feet, Anna heared voices coming from all around her, but was unable to locate their current positions. 'We'll, at least I'm no longer alone.' Anna thought to herself for a moment...soon after calling in as powerful a voice she could muster with such little energy.

 

Anna-"Hello? Is anyone out there?"

Edited September 20, 2005 by Black9

[Vincent Silver]

Before Vincent could recieve an answer to his question the world was a sudden swirl of gray, he spuns in place longsword griped tightly but all around him was the dence fog he had seen when he first arrived in this horrible plane. He heard voice from all around him but he stayed grounded to his spot, his hand griping his longsword untill it was numb.

 

He closed his eyes and tryed to let his other sences guide him since his eyes were all but useless in this thick fog, he heard a voice from one direction turned to it and it came from another. With a sigh, which seemed to come from all directions to his ears, he gave up trying to get any grounding in this disorienting fog. "Every stay where you are! Moving will only get you lost!"

[Venefyxatu]

As the fog got denser again, Stephen had just closed in on the small group, guided by the sounds of their voices. When Vincent shouted not to move, Stephen did notice that the sound seemed to be behaving ... oddly. Combining those two, he quickly came to a conclusion.

 

"The man is right. And if this place really shows you your memories, it might be a good idea to remember a particularly fogless day."

 

He put his hand in his pocket and clasped his fingers around the wooden Wyvern statue.

 

:: Tanny, are you okay? ::

[Sweetcherrie]

Stars, there were stars everywhere. Had she been sleeping outside? And why did her head hurt as if an army of dwarfs was hammering inside? And since when could you see stars in a…cave?

 

Sweetcherrie moaned, and tried to sit up, but somehow this shifted the dwarfs through her whole body, and someone must have given them chainsaws instead of hammers. Blinking hard against the haze behind her eyes, she tried to focus on Gryphon, and tried to keep the storm of memories flooding her under control.

 

“What…happened?…and where did those trolls go?”

 

Holding on to the rocks she managed to claw herself a way to standing up straight.

 

“Gryphon?”

[Mira]

"Throw it out."

 

"What!?" said Knight, Gyrfalcon, and Daryl simultaneously, and then Knight asked "What do you mean, throw it out?"

 

"I mean just that." Mira said with his characteristic slight grin. "Help from Wyvern is help we'd be better off without. Look, the T-Shirts are ugly, the Theme Song is lame, the Lemonaid is sour, the flashlight is dead, and the rubber band won't stretch. The only thing in the whole box that looks remotely interesting, but not particularly useful, is the Almost Dragonic Brand Party Twister/Studded Mace™, but thats for Anna anyway, so you might want to hold on to that to give to her if we happen to see her anytime in the future."

 

The other three stood for a second contemplating Mira's words. They knew he was probably right, but none of them wanted to be rude and simply throw away Wyvern's "Help". Seeing this Mira spoke up once again. "Alright, we don't have to throw it away, but we're not taking it with us, exspecially to another plane of existance." At that Knight looked to Mira and said "Does that mean you're comming with us?"

 

"Of course it does." Mira said matter of factly, "I've taken a liking to Sweet and Gryphon, and I'm not about to let them rot on some stinking plane that probably doesn't even offer basic accommodations. Besides, they've just gotten into their positions as AVV Guild Leaders and are doing a pretty good job at it. Replacing both of them at once would be more of a hassle then anyone around here would like to deal with at the moment. Now come on, lets see this vessle of yours." And with that Mira beconed for Knight to lead the way.

[Black9]

Anna heard the words being shouted from all around her, but was already preoccupied with another task for them to matter. A feeling dwelled within her...a strange one. It was as if she was becoming unstable from the inside out. The lack of energy was one thing, but this was an entirely new problem. It didn't take long for holy energy to flicker on and off at random intervals and strength. Her powers were...for the moment...very unstable and sent jolts of pain stabbing through her body. With a scream Anna fell to her knees...hoping and praying for something...anything to happen! With a soft voice the Slayer just managed to let out...

 

Anna-"Don't mind me! I'm a Slayer...were tougher then we look!" Anna, was truly Joseph daughter her inner pride wouldn't allow her to ask for aid of any kind. Perhaps a little too much of the dead Slayer's genes had rubbed off on the lass. From a child Anna was told that she held within her great potential, but would have to take care not to let it loose to soon...lest it destroy what little control she already had. Another surge of power and yet another muffled scream later...Anna fell silent...but one last phrase.

 

Anna-"Why? Why now?"

Edited September 21, 2005 by Black9

[Cyril Darkcloud]

Fragments.

Snatches of thought

and tatters of word,

give lie to the myth

of the closure of the book

whose dangling strands

of scene and plot

produce frayed margins

where a nimble eye

and a skillful jerking

of thematic thread

might well unweave

the not so finished whole.

 

Texts are problematic. Ever incomplete despite being declared ‘finished.’ Awaiting, begging, even demanding, interpretation that the potential of their written words might be realized in places removed from the pages upon which they have been written. Despite the romance which colors casual descriptions of the act of reading, it is often the case that the meeting of reader with text has more of violence and struggle than the pleasure of quiet conversation about it. And some readers do not seek in their reading to divine and participate in whatever spirit may have inspired the author, but rather, upon feeling the text assert the authority of its inspiration, set their faces in resistance against it, seeking after what is left unsaid by the author and exploring the gaps and spaces between his words, and tearing open narratives that at first glance one would think closed.

 

The man of stormy quiet is such a reader.

 

There is violence in the wind which gusts about him. Life moves outward from him, rushing through the fingers of his right hand and running along the handle of the axe until it can mingle with the angry bursting of the wind. Texts are problematic and the appearance of the words of his tale within that space which is demarcated by the norms and structures of a guild is a matter that must be addressed. Stone. The ponderous matter of the metaphor assets itself here – everything defined in terms of the keep. Rooms and walls multiply and claim all words within their bounds. The keep. Mighty and sure and ......

 

..... a metaphor.

 

The air about the axe dances with the silver of lightning. To find the words of one’s tale within the space of a guild is to stand under the claims of that guild. Unless one resists. His movement is swift, sudden and decisive. He swings the axe tracing out the silver lightning of his resistance to those words that would demarcate the bounds of his tale. The blade bites deeply into those spaces that mark the turning of posts and there is a shudder that rumbles inward from this isolated margin at the biting of blade and the burning of lightning. No thunder follows the burning silver. Only silence.

 

Something has been torn loose, and, stooping, he grasps hold of it – an idea no longer so complete as once it appeared. Indeed that is the trouble with metaphors, their underlying dynamic is not simply a product of how strongly the elements of the comparison resemble one another but in the magnitude of the tension produced by their differences. And many are the differences between a sturdy and imposing edifice of stone and the words of a collection of posts. And a reader who knows how to move within such tensions might very well bring such a metaphorical keep to ruins.

 

And in this high and lonely place all is silent save the howling of the wind and the falling of the rain.

[Tanuchan]

Stephen put his hand in his pocket and clasped his fingers around the wooden Wyvern statue.

 

:: Tanny, are you okay? ::

 

 

 

 

The fog had draped itself around Tanny without her quite noticing it, for that cold touch had again awakened memories.

 

 

The cool and faint touch of air mixed with water, teasing her into trying to grasp it. Droplets of water clinging to the airy threads, riding their twists while she tries to weave them back into her earth threads. Threads of cold air touching her, wrapping around her...

 

 

 

::NO!::

 

::Tanny? Don't move, we're all nearby somehow!::

 

Stephen's strong mental voice snaps her out from her memories, and she feels her own voice tremble.

 

::Stephen... gods, I'm glad to hear you... ::

 

::Where are you? What happened?::

 

::Don't ask... not now... just keep talking to me!::

 

 

Stephen's surprised by the shakiness he senses from Tanny's voice, and lets the silence drag on.

 

Tanny looks at the fog wall, the dream coming back to her.

 

 

You're strong... as strong as the last one... you can do so much more if you just follow us. Stay there, learn their secrets, learn how each one works... then cross the river and come to us. Follow the fog, and the lava.

 

 

She whimpers, denying it as she had done decades ago.

 

"No. I refuse. I'll leave sooner than later, and keep them safe. I'm Myrienne's Blood, but I'm not accursed." She makes a gesture of denial, instinctively reaching deep into earth. The energy flows into her at once, but it brings also the feel of water and air.

 

Still fighting the haunting memories, Tanny reaches with a mental finger and unwraps the threads of air without paying attention to what she's doing, usign Gryphon's jewel to control air as easily as she uses to control earth. But that also goes unnoticed to her, and she weaves a tight shield of pure earth and water around her.

 

::Stephen! Can you follow this?::

 

Saying this, Tanny throws a mental rope made of earth threads in the directioni she can dimly sense Stephen's voice is stronger.

 

Hopefully he can follow it as he follows the threads for information... maybe we can find the others then.

Edited September 25, 2005 by Tanuchan

[Mynx]

The voice continued to pester Mynx...

Why did you ever give up? You were doing so well for yourself

-That's not who I am anymore- Mynx thought to herself angrily

Oh, but it could be. So very easily. You were unbeatable! Never known to fail a task...Even that child...

"Shut up!" Mynx snarled out loud, temporarily silencing the voice.

Breathing heavily, she opened her eyes to the clearing mist around her.

Immediately in front of the feline stood a small child clutching a teddy bear.

Mynx's breath caught in her throat as she recognised the blue eyes staring at her.

"Why did you do it?" the childlike voice asked her innocently.

"It was a job," Mynx murmered, almost in a trance as something began to tick over in her mind.

"You didn't even know me. Why did you kill me?"

"I didn't kill you -"

"You didn't, but she did. And she is you."

"Not anymore," Mynx snarled.

"You're lying to yourself."

"And you don't exist!"

As if breaking a spell with those words, the child disappeared with a flash, leaving Mynx to stare at the place she had stood as a slow realisation took place...

[Quincunx]

"Oh, of course, it's an elderly duty. I'll instruct Gryphon how not to disturb you, in the instant after I learn how to manipulate time so I can go into the past, in the instant after I learn advanced planar communications, in the instant after I've finished this conversation."

 

Tzimfemme spoke calmly, and took care not to tick off the points on her fingers as she spoke; even so, she braced herself (as solidly as Henrika) for the reactions to a perceived impertinence. This was old ground. Nonetheless, when the backlash came, the naked mage didn't comprehend a single word. The connection between herself and the Dreamer turned storm-purple, and Tzimfemme at first set her feet and let that riptide pour around her. Her exclusion tilted on one toe and became his inclusion, spun around in the riptide, paradox dancing. . .

 

With clinical detachment, he watched her body elongate and lighten before she tumbled into the portal wall.

 

*****

 

Sweetcherrie awoke with a start to a white world. The whiteness peeled away from her face, and her hair flew into the gap. Gryphon shouted to be heard over the whistling wind, "Sweetcherrie! Are you all right?" He spread one wing along her right side, and her hair fell back down in the sheltered air. Gryphon dipped his beak and delicately picked the strands of hair away from her face. From close range, she wondered what had caused the parallel, diagonal scratches on the long curve of his beak, and the chipped edges where the scratches ended.

 

Inbi-paper whipped around in the wind until she felt herself be wrapped around a stalactite. It stung, and she whimpered as the cloak scratched against her tenderized skin. "Hello?" she heard, echoed faintly through the limestone. "Is anyone out there?" said the voice, too faint for ears to hear, if they were not pressed to the stone. The screams might have been the sound of the storm itself, whistling through the tunnels, but the storm did not echo in the stone. "Why. . ." asked the stalactite, so soft that Inbi-paper could barely hear it, "why now?"

 

The cave trembled. Shards of stalactites, needle-pointed, rained down from the ceiling. Gryphon arced both wings over Sweetcherrie and ducked his head sideways in that safe space.

 

*****

 

Jechum floats in...

 

I'm not here.

 

"Yes, you are. I'm looking right at you."

 

I haven't appeared in this story arc yet. Therefore whatever you are seeing cannot be me.

 

Jechum floats out...

 

Mira turned to the others for confirmation. "Who was that?"

 

"It sounded like Jechum, from what you were saying," Gyrfalcon replied, without taking his eyes off of the monitors. Knight, absorbed in plotting the vessel's trajectory on a notepad, had appeared not to notice the conversation.

 

"Didn't you recognize the other voice?" pleaded Mira.

 

"What other voice?"

 

Daryl hid a grin behind the tip of his tail.

 

*****

 

Cyril watched the silvery beast, only visible when a lightning flash reflected its hide, gallop along the tops of the lower cloud bank. It cast a steady, long-winged, wrong-shaped shadow upwards to the base of the higher clouds when it leaped from the clouds and crashed into the earth. The ground quivered from the impact.

 

*****

 

The Dreamer's gust was self-contained, and Tzimfemme could not celebrate for long. She tripped and thudded forehead-first into a pile of old, orange pine needles. "Ouch," remarked the naked mage, pushing herself to her feet and feeling the welts on her forehead. Bits of fallen bark fell out of her braids as she looked around and the compulsion to race returned. "Oh, this place. . ." She breathed deeply, trying to smell the sea, but only caught the dusty scent of mouldering pine needles, desiccated bodies, and a trace of artificial bubble-gum flavor; she squinted through the haze of trunks, little more than upright twigs, looking for a gap wide enough to pass through. A branch bowed downward far overhead, then recoiled, showering down light green needles and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

 

*****

 

Vlad awoke on his back, dizzy, trying to remember why he was there and why the world was thick and monochrome. Far overhead, some disturbance showed itself in the empty air: a tiny figure, moving like a squirrel but not proportioned like one, and too purple to be a squirrel also. It bounced onto a thicker strand of colorlessness and hopped in place, shouting down to him unintelligibly and pointing towards the ground, some distance away. He groaned, lost consciousness again, and faded away moments before Tzimfemme's left foot struck through where his body had been.

 

*****

 

Patham heard distant footsteps in the fog, but as soon as he turned towards them, he had to leap out of Tzimfemme's path. As she ran past, the fog thinned and revealed the pines, but no one else. "Wait!" he yelled after the naked mage, and she halted, but didn't acknowledge him. Instead, she tipped back her head--bits of foam flew away as she gasped for breath--and blasted out an undulating, hungry howl. He stopped cold when he heard the answering yowl of a territorial cat. "Hah!" she remarked, "I knew there'd be another one on this hunt," whipped around a cluster of older trees, and loped further into the forest. Patham looked back over his shoulder at the approaching fog, then looked forward, swallowed, and followed Tzimfemme over the springy ground.

 

Between one footfall and the next, the ground changed. The slender pine trunks coalesced into a few fat, twisted trunks isolated from one another, surrounded by strips of their own light gray bark and heaps of leaves, and sounds from a dozen animals broke into the clearing. He stepped on a prickled, round seed pod and fell flat on his hands in the broad leaves; fortunately, Tzimfemme stopped also and tilted an ear towards the sky. While he scrambled to his feet and massaged his forearms, the animals' sounds almost became voices, but the naked mage howled again and they fell silent. She looked back at him and he recoiled from her glazed eyes. "Shapeshifters, hunting," burst out from her lips, along with more foam. "I hunt here. They will not," she struggled to say, and her foot pawed at the leaves and stunted grass. "Come!"

 

She sprinted now, and Patham's lungs were tight in his chest. These trees released some pollen into the air which his body did not like. He could no longer keep her in sight, but followed the path of churned leaves and disturbed, fine soil.

 

*****

 

"Ha!" shouted the naked mage, pulling Mynx up and out of her cloak by the scruff of her neck. Tanuchan ran forward to intervene, but stopped and gagged at the scent of day-old blood and gut-wounds spilling from the area. Mynx's paws were soaked and the fur stood up in stiff cowlicks. Not too far away, Vincent sank back down to his knees with the point of his longsword in the soil, and looked around blankly before resting his forehead against the hilt and beginning a melancholy prayer. "What's his name, what's his name!" Tzimfemme chanted at Mynx's face.

 

"Let me go!" Mynx snarled, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

 

"Ha! Out on the wild hunt and you don't know what I'm talking about!" she echoed. "I'm out here because I ran a man to his death because I wanted to keep that sin off of a sinful man! There's my great, stinking secret! Now cough up yours!" Tzimfemme's last sentence came out in gasps as Mynx fought with all her limbs to break free. Tanuchan sniffed to clear her nostrils, a wolf's instinct in a human form, and paced around the outside of the wrestling match.

 

::What happened? The thread nearly broke!::

 

::Mynx cried out, then someone else found us. They're fighting!::

 

Leaves shot in all directions as one or the other of them lost her footing and they both fell. Tanuchan's nightmare wavered, and the pine forest flickered around the scene for a few moments, then the sycamores returned as Mynx growled, "I don't have any secrets!" and cuffed Tzimfemme on the side of her head with the last word. The naked mage fell away and leered at Mynx while rolling to all fours, the lines of her body shifting almost all the way back to the human-faced pooka. Tzimfemme howled; Mynx fought with her face, lost, and yowled. The silver color and the inhuman features drained away from Tzimfemme and wriggled into the soil, where they slipped into the line of mindspeech and solidified it. The naked mage squatted on her hams and looked around at the other three people, still with that leering smile.

 

"Well," she sniffed, "welcome to purgatory. Question becomes, why in blazes did Gryphon and Sweetcherrie decide to build one?"

[Gryphon]

Gryphon sat,watching the ebb and flow of the currents of magic around him, oblivious to Sweetcherrie nearby.

 

The mists surrounding them surged and fell in time with an unknown rhythm and with each surge came a renewal of power, washing all that had come before it clear leaving a clean slate for the power to begin it's work all over again.

 

Half seen images formed in the mist only to be washed away as the magical energy surged again and again until the images became no more than patterns half formed then gone in the blink of an eye.

 

Sweetcherrie watched as Gryphon stared with all evidence of fascination into the swirling mists obscuring the walls of the cave they were. Slowly she could feel the pain in her head and body receding until it was no more than a dull background ache. Silently she watched Gryphon as he focussed his gaze on the twisting mists and the shadows of shapes contained within them.

 

Slowly the mists around the pair twisted and swirled, each time sliding back to reveal more of the vast cavern that Sweetcherrie and Gryphon had found their way into, pressing back until they reached the walls of stone, rising up to be lost in the shadows overhead. Dark shadows flickered and danced at the edges of the cavern, giving the suggestion of creatures moving, always out of sight, just at the edge of the senses.

 

As the final bit of the mists seem to vanish into the darkest edges of the cavern Gryphon turns to Sweetcherrie and both look around to survey their surroundings, trying to determine if they're safe... at least for the moment.

[Katzaniel]

Did that stalactite just talk to me? wondered Inbi, even before she realized that she was now inhabiting the paper. What the...? She couldn't feel the pulsing of magic, but the cave was rocking, the stalactites were beginning to break off, the wind was howling and they were deep within a cavern. She thought she heard another voice somewhere, before everything went white again.

 

Inbi settled down to concentrate on the paper. This was easier, since she was inside of it now, and it definitely existed. When the mist kept reforming, Inbi began to get a little ambitious, and she attempted to form a stairway up, out into the open, too... but when in one panic-stricken moment the paper disappeared, Inbi forgot about everything but it. Paper. I'm a piece of paper. And it explains how I'm here, and that I can't really do much, but at least I'm here.

 

Finally the mist cleared, for the last time. Inbi was no longer hanging off the roof, and luckily the cave was no longer falling apart. It was a totally different cave than the first time, or the second, or at least they weren't in the same place within it. Inbi-paper wasn't quite sure how the world worked yet, but the point was that they were lost.

 

Not that they hadn't been before.

 

Gryphon and Sweetcherrie were both standing now, and surveying the area.

 

"I think maybe we had been heading that way...?"

 

"Does it matter?" Gryphon looked upset. "Everything is different. How can we know which way is the right way, if we were even going the right way before?"

 

Sweetcherrie began to shrug, before her eye caught on the piece of paper lying on the cavern floor. She bent to pick it up, and scanned it.

 

"Inbi is here now, too."

 

"What?"

 

"That's what this says..."

 

"But we didn't feel her coming?"

 

What? The young woman perked up. There are others here as well? That was a good sign. Maybe.... maybe she could somehow communicate with them, create a piece of paper there too... but unless the world emptied again, there didn't seem to be much chance of that.

 

Gryphon went to stand beside his co-guildleader and read the note as well.

 

"The Cloak of Dreams... Odd that it can reach us here."

 

"She must be right, we are in some sort of living dream."

 

"So..." Gryphon looked around. "Isn't there any way to talk with us directly, at least? Maybe we can open ourselves to it."

 

"Yeah," added Sweetcherrie. "That's a good idea. If all three of us concentrate..."

 

From Inbi's vantage in Sweetcherrie's hands, she saw them both close their eyes. Well, worth a try, she thought, and then put everything she'd learned so far into attempting to make a thought appear in their minds.

 

::Can you hear me?::

 

Gryphon opened his eyes excitedly. "Did you get that?"

 

"No... try again, Inbi..."

 

Of course. Gryphon was more practised in communication magics. But if she could talk to him, perhaps she could talk to Sweetcherrie. It wasn't necessary to speak with both, but it would make things easier.

 

::Sweetcherrie... C'mon, hear me this time, Sweetcherrie::

 

"I... There it is! I heard my name!"

 

::You can both hear me now?!::

 

"Yes," they both chorused.

 

::That's awesome!::

 

"Hmm, so, you can't do anything else?" mused Sweetcherrie.

 

::Um, not really. I can move around a bit. And maybe - you said some others were here somewhere?::

 

"Vincent Silver. Tanuchan, Mynx, Patham. Vlad, Stephen, and Anna."

 

::Any idea where?::

 

"No."

 

::Well, maybe I can try to find them... Unless you have another idea?::

 

Inbi hoped they did, for finding the others in this crazy world would be no easy task, and she was liable to lose these two if she tried.

[Zadown]

The purple hues faded from his eyes as fast as they had appeared, the storm clearing in one short instant, the glow of leylines doused as soon as he quit draining on the ambient magic. Something shook the Dreamer - remorse, exhaustion or the feeling of raw power he sometimes got after performing a work of Art. His gaze turned leaden and transparent, worn.

 

That was pointless. That ... and this, all.

 

He leaned on the friendly wall of the Pen Keep, looking more like a mortal man after a hard day of work than he had ever done, his dirty grey hair and creamy white robes obscuring most of the disfiguring scars. Slowly, tiredly he pried himself away from the wall and stood very still, a hollow feeling growing inside. He shrugged, eyes downcast, before sidestepping into the Astral and vanishing.

[Mynx]

Mynx began rapidly trying to wipe the blood off her fur...until she realised it had disappeared. She wondered briefly if it had all been in her head, but the stench of it still remained.

Pulling her cloak about herself as she tried not to stare at the growing black on her body, Mynx glared at Tzimfemme as the naked mage leered back.

"I have no idea where we are," Mynx stated slowly, "but I am getting sick to death of the mind games."

 

Looking around at the circle of faces with various expressions, Mynx went on.

"I don't know if it's just me, but this place is calling up a lot of past memories -" Mynx held out her now utterly black forearm for others to see as her own grey eyes pondered it before she pulled it back in. Tanny nodded.

"This place is definitely reacting to something...I just wish I knew exactly what..."

"Well I know for me it's reacting to my fears...so I'm going to see if it will react to my desires."

Mynx was met with shocked expressions.

"You're going to try and open another gate?" Patham queried. "After the last time -"

"I'm not going to open a gate. I'm...going to wish for one. I don't expect any of you to help me, this was my idea so I will take the fall."

 

Standing up, Mynx moved to one side and sat back down again, her back to the Pennites.

"I don't know what to expect...so maybe you should be ready to run in case this goes badly..."

Before anyone could say anything, Mynx turned her back and hunched down into a meditation position.

Closing her eyes, the feline focused on a mental image of her partner and made a silent plea...

Take me to him...

 

She felt a...rip...in front of her. She opened her eyes to something that looked like a gate, but didn't feel like one...and it was failing. Without giving herself time to think about what she was doing, Mynx leapt forward into the dark hole, leaving the remaining Pennites to stare at the rip as it flickered unstabily, threatening to close...

 

...Gryphon felt a draft of new air above his head and looked up just in time to see a...rip in the cavern ceiling. Before he could react, a very familiar feline figure fell through the hole and landed with a yelp on top of the winged guild leader...

[Black9]

Anna...emotionally distraught form all that had taken place. Felt her body start to regenerate itself as she lay kneeling upon the ground in once great pain, but now beheld a blissful hue as a white glow caressed her aura once more. It was at this moment that most of her lost energy returned to her with the passing of a few seconds and all at once faded into the nothingness from which it came. Quickly getting to her feet, the Slayer could see her friends staring at...some sort of tear and wondered just what she'd missed. Anna gave a laugh as most the Pennites turned her way with an odd look upon their faces.

 

Anna-"Life...death...what's the point of it all and who even gives a care anymore? My father once spoke of the difference between valor and sheer stupidity. To this day I don't truly understand his words. I may be an irrational girl, but as the man once said...give me freedom, or give me death!" With these words Anna strode toward the tear and without even a glance backward...vanished into it!

Edited September 27, 2005 by Black9

[Patrick]

Patham tried following the naked mage even after he lost her from sight, but eventually had to stop, because even his hearing could not detect her anymore. If he had been lost before, then now he was even more lost. He had absolutely no idea where he was.

 

Luckily the fog was starting to lift. He shifted to his owl form and flew above the trees, in an attempt to scout the area around him. All around he could see only trees. He flew back in the direction he had come from, but was unable to find the place where he had entered the forest.

 

It took him ten minutes of straight flying until he reached the edge of the forest. Here a small spring splashed water over the rocks before forming a small flow of water over the grasslands. He bent down to have a drink, when he heard the voice from behind him.

 

"You left me!"

 

Patham whirled around to see a ghostly form, which resembled his uncle.

 

"I took you in after your parents died, and then you ungratefully left! I had plans for you, you young prat."

 

By now Patham had managed to recover his senses.

 

"That was the only reason you had taken me in. To be able to use me, wasn't it?"

 

The ghostly shape did not reply, and Patham realised that it only existed in his mind. This was not really his uncle, but his own guilt at leaving him come to assail him. What he had said was the way he had always tried to force away his guilt, but he knew that one day he would have to face it. Now was not the time though. He wished the ghostly form to disappear and it did.

 

He still had to somehow get himself unlost though.

[Gyrfalcon]

Daryl followed after Mira, Gyrfalcon and Knight, glancing back at the package, then at his three companions. Finally, he darted back and picked up the t-shirts, figuring that they might make decent bandages, despite the poor quality of the cloth. He started away, then stopped and thought and went back for the lemonade. A few more steps and he picked up the cassette tape, then sighed, dumped everything back into the box, and hefted it into his arms, trotting quickly to catch up with his friends.

 

Mira glanced back as they entered Knight’s quarters and frowned at the sight of Daryl with the box in his arms. “Didn’t I say to leave that behind?” he asked in annoyance.

 

“You did, but I think some of the items might be useful.” Daryl replied, flashing a grin as his tail wagged back and forth behind him.

 

“Look, the lemonade is probably bad-“

 

“Might be a decent poison, or depending on how acidic it is, a mild acid.”

 

“The shirts are horrible-“

 

“Could be turned into bandages in a pinch.”

 

“The music is dreadful-“

 

“Turn it up to full blast and aim it away from yourself – it’ll probably stun or kill anyone in an arc in front of it.”

 

Mira was growing annoyed, especially with the growing laughter behind him.

 

“What about that flashlight? What possible use would it have without batteries?”

 

Daryl set the box down and lifted out the Idiot’s “Flashlight”, inspecting it carefully. “Looks like it’s just missing the lens and the clip that holds that on, besides the batteries. If Knight has a few batteries I can use, it should work again with a little work. It might be useful for you if we end up in a dark area, so you don’t have to rely on a light spell.”

 

Mira growled, turning to flash a glare at Gyrfalcon, who was laughing helplessly now.

 

“What about the rubber band, huh?” he demanded, dreading what off the wall idea Daryl would come up with for the broken rubber band.

 

“That? I just picked up the box, and it was in there. I can’t think of anything practical to do with a broken rubber band.” Daryl said, flicking the sad piece of rubber into a trashcan.

 

Mira sighed and threw his hands up. “I give up. You want to carry these things along, you carry them.”

 

Daryl just grinned and bowed graciously before they trooped into Knight’s vessel.

 

A few minutes later, Daryl was bent over the remains of the flashlight, expressive ears twitching as he carefully inserted a piece of glass into the front of the flashlight, trying not to jostle the jury-rigged clips on the flashlight.

 

Mira started talking, but Daryl didn’t look up to see to who, carefully adjusting the clips before working to secure the new assembly with some duct tape.

 

“Yes, you are. I'm looking right at you where you float!”

 

He turned around suddenly “Who was that?”

“It sounded like Jechum, from what you were saying,” Gyrfalcon replied absently, entranced by the complexity of the technology being displayed on the monitors. Knight, absorbed in plotting the vessel's trajectory on a notepad, had appeared not to notice the conversation.

 

“Didn't you recognize the other voice?” pleaded Mira.

 

“What other voice?” Gyrfalcon said, even more absently.

 

Daryl hid a grin behind the tip of his tail before flicking on the flashlight, causing Mira to squint as the bright light illuminated his face. “Hey, stop that!” he said.

 

Daryl chuckled and turned the flashlight off before securing it to his belt.

 

“Alright, calculations look good... ready to go everyone?” Knight said, laying down his notepad.

 

“Of course.” Gyrfalcon said determinedly

 

Daryl flashed a cock-sure grin “Ready to roll!”

 

Mira sighed “As ready as I’ll ever be.” he said.

 

Knight nodded and strapped himself into the pilot’s seat, the rest likewise making sure they’re strapped in properly.

 

“Alright, we should just appear on the other side of that barrier, in the AVV. From there, we can find out what happened and where Sweet and Gryphon are.” Knight said, carefully inputting coordinates into the navigation console.

 

“Sounds like a plan.” Gyrfalcon agreed, tightening his shoulder straps.

 

Knight nodded “Alright, here we go!” he said, pulling back on a lever.

 

The world fragmented.

[Black9]

With a high pitched scream Anna emerged from the tear and smacked face first upon the rocky ground below her. A spine tinggling pain ripped through her body...causing the Slayer to tense up and groan in agony. Anna had really gotten sick and tired of all this...it was almost as if her very body was going through some kind of change, but change into what she'd hadn't a clue. The fact that she fell face planted upon the hard ground didn't help matters either. 'Why do I always do this? I rush into the unknown as if death means nothing to me! Do I truly wish to perish?' The thought had occurred to the Slayer that she knew not the difference between valor and stupidity, but shrugged it aside as it was no longer important.

 

Anna-"A Slayers path is a lonely one. We walk a destiny of peril and valor and in the end...die alone...remembered by only our friends and family. Who am I kidding? Did they really care about me, or was it all a lie?" It was at this moment that Anna realized that she'd been talking to herself, but seeing as there was no one around to poke fun...the Slayer didn't much care.

 

Anna-"I don't need them anyway! I don't need anyone! I am Anna...last of the Slayers...and I will find my own destiny!" Taking a good look around...Anna noticed that she could barely make out what had been two feet in front of her and this above all else worred the Slayer. The thought came to mind that she may not be good enough to take on such a task...that this quest was too much for her and that she'd worse of all...fail her fathers last surviving memories. A tear came to Anna's eye as she spoke her last phrase and slowly drifted down her cheek...finally splashing onto the cave floor.

 

Anna-"Father, I am sorry!"

[Knight]

….The World Fragmented…

 

Quite Literally.

 

As the physics involved in warping and rending space around the spherical jump ship tore it asunder, and transplanted it towards another point, a curious occurrence happened. As the ship was making a point to point jump, it should have simply arrived at the designated three dimensional coordinate corresponding to the location of the AVV.

 

But the AVV was not on the same three dimensional ‘plane’.

 

As it began to reassemble where it should have, the magical energies of the barrier and the planes flung its purely energetic form into a chaotic tangle. When it reassembled in the other ‘plane’, it picked up some of the magical energies that had been present at the other side of the jump. Having never been designed to handle magic, the fusion would result in a variety of interesting properties; however, the occupants had no way of knowing what had happened. They were too preoccupied with… other matters.

 

For inside of the pod, what should have been a very simple and very quick process resulted in quite a bumpy ride for those inside. Even strapped in, they were tossed and thrown about, bashing into objects, as showers of sparks and other things flew through the jump ship. Arcs of electrical, and magical energies crackled through the field of vision, and a phenomenon very reminiscent of an aurora appeared to haze its way through the ship. For what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was actually negative time, they were subjected to the extra stresses and forces of being slingshot across an additional few dimensions. Finally arriving on the alternate plane of being, the Jump pod came to a shuddering, thudding, tumultuous stop. The pod seemingly rolled over twice, and finally the landing feet locked down, clamping it into place against the ground. The lights inside had cut out, as had the electrical systems. A sudden whirring noise filled the pod as the emergency power system kicked in, feeling the pod with a rather cliché, eerie red glow.

 

After several minutes, Knight spoke up, his hand still rubbing his forehead, where it had very obviously bashed against the control console. Fortunately, it had caused no damage.

 

“Well…. That was not expected. Something has happened, it should not have been like that. Are you all alright then? I have to admit, that was… quite a ride.”