[Nexus] Inside 48

[Mindfreak]

[Red Zone- Sewers]

Yuki walks forward carefully, monomolecular scalpel in one hand, debilitator hypospray in the other. Upon reaching the four-way route, he halts and sighs. "Of course, it just had to branch off, didn't it..."

He turns to Kirlia. "I say we just go down one, explore it fully, then come back here and go down another. What say you?"

Red Zone - Sewers
"Yes, that sounds good. I'll take point, you watch my back. Being snuck up on down here doesn't sound like being fun."
She continues to hover, going down the right most tunnel, as that's what she expects they'd do anyways.

---

Dave's Clinic
Dave will think of names then.
After all, he has to fill out birth certificates.
"I suppose we'll come up with something."
He smiles and, after looking over the kids, feels like his heart could explode from all of the adorableness.
Roger begins to get very interested by his toes, as he's trying to fit them into his mouth now.
Amelia crawls over into Dave's lap, still having a bewildered look on her face.
What.
What is this person
What.
She begins poking Dave slightly, trying to determine what her father's feelings are!

[happyturtle]

Ice Skating Rink

A new location appears! It's an open air ice skating rink with a big Thanksmas tree nearby, a hot chocolate booth, a place to rent skates, and plenty of Thanksmas cheer!

And here, skating around proficiently, is off duty Remnant soldier Tracey Elton. Wheee!

[Lord Magtok]

Ice Skating Rink

The holiday spirit. Much has been said of this mysterious feeling of family togetherness, of goodwill towards one's fellow sapient being and freely giving gifts without the expectation of reward. It comes right around this time of year, possessing all who allow it within their hearts, indiscriminately striking the young and old, man and woman, with mirth and cheer, joy and festivity.

...Just who does this holiday spirit jackass think he is, anyways?! And why doesn't anybody except this one MagClone think it odd to allow this sort of sheer madness to happen this time of year, every year? Any other time of the year the other Magtoks would be rushing to him with demands of a swift and decisive exorcism, to eliminate and expunge the offending ethereal at once!

Dropping by one of his favorite ley lines, Needs Food Badly discovers an ice rink, a Thanksmas tree, and even the notorious hot chocolate, all congregating in one place! The influence of that abominable yuletide specter is strong here, but the MagCave's resident sorcerer does not let that stop him. He must study the Ghosts of Thanksmas Present and Past if he wishes to stop Thanksmas Future. He must investigate this dread winter curse, if he is to save the Nexus from itself. He must stop the holidays from coming, or else the world will face consequences of the gravest-

"Oh look, it's Tracey! Hi Tracey!"

Welp, there goes our last line of defense. It was nice knowing you all. Apparently Needs finds hanging out with the Remnant soldier acquaintance to be infinitely more important than saving the world. He rents a set of ice skates using coins covered in the faces of dead men and the iconography of secret societies, before promptly joining Ms. Elton on the ice.

[blackouttwo]

Warwick Works

"Or I use the research as a launching point into curing people with brain injuries," Willow says. "Chances are, it'll never get as far as a working prototype, but because I've been working on this, I'm going to ace my Neurobiology final without even trying."

"Yeah, but..." Arthur falls silent, lacking any other reasons for her to cancel her research into this device. "You're sure this is a good idea?" This is a change in Arthur's usual behavior. He's always had a very hands-off attitude in regards to how his devices are used. After all, he makes weapons, which usually end up in the hands of criminals, mercenaries, or other such unscrupulous individuals, and he's had extensive ties to the black market in the past. It's not like he's squeaky-clean when it comes to things like this. Needless to say, this kind of attitude is unusual for him.

[Zefir]

[Abandoned-Looking Factory]

And that one person would be Clarissa, wouldn't it?

"Okay, daddy."

The baby dragon nestles up under one of the wrinkles in the fireproof blanket and falls asleep within the minute, her little tail poking out from one side of the blanket endearingly. She won't notice Zefir slipping out of the room unless he stomps his feet or does something more to disturb her.

[Abandoned-Looking Factory]

That's true. Only clarissa. And that's the reason why he leaves the room, still in sight of the dragon baby. He will start to call her, hopefuly she has a mobilephone, otherwise he needs to go to her and that would be really bad.

[metakirb]

[Red zone]

A young demon girl starts wandering around, not appearing to have a destination in mind.

[happyturtle]

Ice Rink

Tracey hears someone call her name, and spins on the ice, bumping into another skater, and causing a cascade effect leaving a pile of skaters in her wake. Tracey keeps her feet, though, and skates over to where Needs is just getting laced up. "Hi, Needs."

Warwick Works

"What are you worried about, Arthur?"

[blackouttwo]

[Warwick Works]

"I did some thinking while I was gone." Arthur frowns and looks over at his own workbench. It's still littered with parts and components for another weapon. Like usual, Arthur hasn't laid out any schematics for it. He either draws them and commits them to memory before hiding them and working on the device, or his stuff all just comes from tinkering. Either way, its gathered a bit of dust in the time he's been gone.

"I was considering getting out of weapons design. It's...a cutthroat, shady business with a lot of risks, and I've been having second thoughts about my decision. I know, it's been bringing your dad some good money, but I don't think I'm comfortable with the idea of working on stuff that kills people any more." He looks at Willow, a bit of regret clear and apparent behind his eyes.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Institute of Humanist Studies

"Go ahead, Doctor. I'll stay out here. I don't know why you couldn't have explained things to start with," Professor Bauer says in that 'you young kids can't do anything right' voice that she so often uses.

"As I said, these things are valuable. I was hoping to avoid revealing what exactly they were at all. As it is, I suppose I'm just going to have to hope you are reasonable enough not to mention them to the rest of our colleagues. I dare say Mr Starling is going to end up hearing of this somehow, anyway."

Roberts shrugs. And then he turns and nods to the drones.

And the drones get to work...

Stage 1: Remove all the old stuff. They swarm into the lab and get to work doing just that, quickly and efficiently.

"I suppose considering our work, a little paranoia is healthy anyway."

[Morcleon]

Red Zone - Sewers
"Yes, that sounds good. I'll take point, you watch my back. Being snuck up on down here doesn't sound like being fun."
She continues to hover, going down the right most tunnel, as that's what she expects they'd do anyways.

[Red Zone- Sewers]

"Hai. Lead on, Kirlia-san." Nodding in acceptance, Yuki follows Kirlia, his light shining around them. As an afterthought, he protrudes two electric blue immaterial tentacles from his back, next to his wings, and they hover in place, vigilant.

[Hyozo]

[Red zone]

A young demon girl starts wandering around, not appearing to have a destination in mind.

A greenish-yellow humanoid is also wandering in the same general area, apparently looking for something. When he sees the demon girl he cheerfully says "Hello."

[metakirb]

[red zone]

The girl looks over as she hears.

Hello.

[Devixer]

Not Many Books in the Red Zone

The hood breathes hard, staring at Wrath's machete warily. A thinking look passes over his face, and an awful silence follows. Then, inexplicably, he lowers his sword. Perhaps some god is with Wrath after all.

The weapon's sheathed in a second. "This isn't worth five grand." It's just not. Not worth the burden on his mind that would come afterward, provided he wins. And certainly not worth the neighborhood losing someone like Wrath.

"Your leg's gonna need a hospital," he says. "Don't stand on it for a few days."

Mr. Hunter draws his hood back up, and hides his sword inside his coat. Bam, just like that. Another red zone nobody. Kailee breaths a sigh of relief as she watches the scene come to a close.

Not Much Paper in the Red Zone

Ashley lets out a breath as well. Her invisibility phases a little, so the Wrath knows she's there. "This the guy you said wanted to help?"

Ice Skating Rink

Another person lacing up his skates is Aiden Kester, a rare example of a completely mundane and normal human. He's pretty quick in getting on the skates and on the rink, and is a pretty good skater, even though it seems like he hasn't done any skating in a while.

[The Alexandrian]

[Dave's Clinic]

Dave had best guarantee that his heart exploding feeling is just a feeling and definitely nothing more serious 'cause I'm pretty sure that most of his offspring are more than capable of exploding someone's heart for real with the power they've inherited from Clarissa.

Gah! Amelia is already crawling! Already! Crawling! A minute ago, she hadn't even been born yet and now she's mobile and trying to stab people with her fingers! Wow! If all of their children have that epic level of aptitude for everything the Nexus will be destroyed sooooo much faster than I initially calculated! Flee, mortals! Flee from the seven crawlers of the apocalypse!

Clarissa would attempt to recapture the escaping Amelia, but it looks like Dave has that situation under control! Clarissa has to nurse all of her babies now and then fall asleep in a little while because those are the rules of giving birth! Clarissa doesn't want her babies to feel hungry and unloved! Baby feeding attempt go!

"Yeah... Y'know, I never for a second believed that feeling so sick for a few months would actually be worth it until now. I didn't believe that I could do this. It is kinda funny looking back on it now, huh?"

"We should probably feed them now, so I think we should pull a baby feeding curtain in a minute here."

I didn't even believe that Clarissa would go through with this until she went through with it. >.<

-------

[Alyca and Miriah's Car - 16 Years of Soybeans = Right to Eat What You Want]

He eats the four food groups: Sugar, Caffeine, Salt, and Fat. What a growing boy needs.

"Hmm..." That sort of left some room for doubt. The Applehills advice on cooking for his girlfriend might be useful. This is good motivation to learn if nothing else.

"Alright," Justin says as he leaves the car. Walking around the front he pulls on the handle and opens the door. "Madam." He says in a dignified manner, probably the first dignified thing he's done all evening, and offers his hand for the young lady to take

[Alyca and Miriah's Car - At Least He's Not the Cookie Monster]

Then again, the Cookie Monster isn't even the Cookie Monster anymore. He is the Vegetable Monster and my childhood is crying in a corner because of it.

But 16 years of soybeans! That's crazy!

Alyca takes Justin's offerred hand, shoots him a more than friendly smile, and steps out of the car. She will attempt to continue holding his hand as she tosses her keys at a waiting valet and begins walking up the long, moving, silver sidewalk-treadmill toward the front door. Miriah is lagging far behind them, giving them a little bit of short-lived privacy for once tonight.

"Justin, do you play cards? Miriah just told me that there'll be a friendly poker game taking place here tonight and then my boss texted me saying he'd pay me to play for our company since he can't make it tonight. Problem is, I'm no good at card games, so I was thinking that maybe I could convince you to play the game for me if you knew how to play because I don't know how to play. You can keep whatever chips you have at the end of the night and I'll even split my bonus with you! If you don't want to, that's fine with me, but I'll probably lose all of the chips and embarrass myself."

-------
[Abandoned-Looking Factory]

Going to Clarissa would be really bad? Why?

Clarissa does have cellular phone! While her phone number isn't common knowledge, Zefir should be one of the few people in the Nexus who knows it.

Brrring! Brrring!

"Hello?"

[ThirdEmperor]

There Ain't Much of Anything in the Red Zone

Wrath could well be a statue for all he moves in that dreadful stretch of silence. Not a whisper, barely a breath, every shudder suppressed in crushing fear of showing even the slightest sign of weakness. It takes him a moment to even register what the hood just said, another to find his words.

... Yeah. Good advice. Not without hesitation, Wrath lowers his own blade. Thanks. His eyes, however, don't leave the hood for a moment, following him until he's well out of sight. And only then does Wrath's breath catch up with him, returning in shuddering, shaky gasps.

And it's not even over yet. Shifting his grip from the stacking palletes to the wall, Wrath limps back down the alley, wincing a little each time he ignores sound advice and puts weight on his bad leg. Her. Is she a friend? He nods towards Ashley, although the fact Kailee doesn't look like she's hurt already given him the answer, more or less.

[Zefir]

[Abandoned-Looking Factory]

Going to Clarissa would be really bad? Why?

Clarissa does have cellular phone! While her phone number isn't common knowledge, Zefir should be one of the few people in the Nexus who knows it.

Brrring! Brrring!

"Hello?"

[Abandoned-Looking Factory]

Why? He would need to leave the baby alone. We all saw 'Kevin alone at home' and noone wants: 'Babydragon alone in a firework factory!'

"Hey Zefir here. The Hatching is over, but I wonder if you could tell me how I can make out the gender of the dragon?"

Straith to the point.

[Mindfreak]

Dave's Clinic
Dave nods in response, handing over Amelia.
"Feeding them would probably be a good idea."
Especially underneath a curtain! The mortal mind shudders to the think what sort of process Clarissa is going to use to feed their children!
Which could end up being the normal way in the end
Dave will allow Clarissa to pull down a curtain to feed the kids!

[OrchestraHc]

[Alyca and Miriah's Car - At Least He's Not the Cookie Monster]

Then again, the Cookie Monster isn't even the Cookie Monster anymore. He is the Vegetable Monster and my childhood is crying in a corner because of it.

But 16 years of soybeans! That's crazy!

Alyca takes Justin's offerred hand, shoots him a more than friendly smile, and steps out of the car. She will attempt to continue holding his hand as she tosses her keys at a waiting valet and begins walking up the long, moving, silver sidewalk-treadmill toward the front door. Miriah is lagging far behind them, giving them a little bit of short-lived privacy for once tonight.

"Justin, do you play cards? Miriah just told me that there'll be a friendly poker game taking place here tonight and then my boss texted me saying he'd pay me to play for our company since he can't make it tonight. Problem is, I'm no good at card games, so I was thinking that maybe I could convince you to play the game for me if you knew how to play because I don't know how to play. You can keep whatever chips you have at the end of the night and I'll even split my bonus with you! If you don't want to, that's fine with me, but I'll probably lose all of the chips and embarrass myself."

[To The Party - Soybeans are at least a complete protein.]

"It's fine, you don't have to split you bonus. And yes, I'm great at poker." What Justin means to say is that he's great at cheating in poker. He cheats in almost every card game he plays almost pathologically. He can also play the straight game fairly well. "I'd be happy to play for you. I don't suppose I count as a ringer, do I?" He smiles with confidence.

[happyturtle]

Warwick Works

Spoiler

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[Warwick Works]

"I did some thinking while I was gone." Arthur frowns and looks over at his own workbench. It's still littered with parts and components for another weapon. Like usual, Arthur hasn't laid out any schematics for it. He either draws them and commits them to memory before hiding them and working on the device, or his stuff all just comes from tinkering. Either way, its gathered a bit of dust in the time he's been gone.

"I was considering getting out of weapons design. It's...a cutthroat, shady business with a lot of risks, and I've been having second thoughts about my decision. I know, it's been bringing your dad some good money, but I don't think I'm comfortable with the idea of working on stuff that kills people any more." He looks at Willow, a bit of regret clear and apparent behind his eyes.

"You don't have to work for my dad forever, you know," Willow says. "He'll understand."

---

1

Institute of Humanist Studies

Spoiler

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"As I said, these things are valuable. I was hoping to avoid revealing what exactly they were at all. As it is, I suppose I'm just going to have to hope you are reasonable enough not to mention them to the rest of our colleagues. I dare say Mr Starling is going to end up hearing of this somehow, anyway."

Roberts shrugs. And then he turns and nods to the drones.

And the drones get to work...

Stage 1: Remove all the old stuff. They swarm into the lab and get to work doing just that, quickly and efficiently.

"I suppose considering our work, a little paranoia is healthy anyway."

"Indeed. If you'll recall, I barely know you, Roberts." Professor Bauer says drily.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Blacklight Street]

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[Blacklight Street]

Well good! Shoed the critter away.

"If we run into anything unfriendly here the Daylight should encourage it to keep its distance," Sigil replies. Because he just loves giving explanations for things right? "It's hard to say where Twilight would have gone from here. Though the two obvious choices would be the Philip Memorial Library or Trog's Tavern. The library since... well..."

It's a library.

And Twilight is Twilight even if her brain is all twisted about.

"And Trog's is something of a hub for the whole Nexus. If someone has seen her we could probably find them there."

Army men continue to drift down from the heavens. Though more of a light sprinkle than a downpour. Sigil brushes one of them out of his mane.

Silly army men rain. So weeeeeird.
Reminds the girls of that time Discord wrecked the weather in Equestria.

Maybe that has to do with the reason Pinkie Pie is smiling so much?
Probably doesn't have anything to do with that shadow-child down the street she's waving at, just beyond the light radius.

The others are mostly leerily trying to avoid getting too covered with the things, gingerly shooing them away when they land on the ground.
"Tacky" may escape Rarity's lips at some point, when one is brushed out of her hair.

Luna, meanwhile, is trying to stay on task. Unlike everyone else apparently.
"So we have a choice between the library and the tavern. The former does seem to be more Twilight Sparkle's...'style', I believe the term is. If she hasn't begun any of the obvious stages of her plan, I suspect research would still be underway."

[Red Zone - Sewers]

Spoiler

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[Red Zone- Sewers]

Yuki walks forward carefully, monomolecular scalpel in one hand, debilitator hypospray in the other. Upon reaching the four-way route, he halts and sighs. "Of course, it just had to branch off, didn't it..."

He turns to Kirlia. "I say we just go down one, explore it fully, then come back here and go down another. What say you?"

Red Zone - Sewers
"Yes, that sounds good. I'll take point, you watch my back. Being snuck up on down here doesn't sound like being fun."
She continues to hover, going down the right most tunnel, as that's what she expects they'd do anyways.

[Red Zone- Sewers]

"Hai. Lead on, Kirlia-san." Nodding in acceptance, Yuki follows Kirlia, his light shining around them. As an afterthought, he protrudes two electric blue immaterial tentacles from his back, next to his wings, and they hover in place, vigilant.

And so they begin their trek deeper into the sewers.

This would be a more descriptively interesting journey, if any of the aesthetics of the sewer ever changed.
Just the usual tunnels of sewage funneling, coated with that black substance. The most that can be said is the curvatures in the substance begin to become more complicated, almost artistic, as the tunnel they're in begins to slope downwards.


It is at this point that they find the first trace of their prey.
Or perhaps, it is at this point that their prey bothers to pay attention to them.

A deep breath can be heard from further down the tunnel, sitting just above a sea of sibilant, wordless voices.

Wind, acidic and rotten, wafts past them, something within it violently chewing at any active magic and light, seeking to bathe them in darkness and deny them (for the moment) any other active spells.


[Common Street]

A flicker of purple and gray, leaving the small purple-haired figure on the edge of the road.
"Right...first glyph placed. 65 feet south if I remember the map correctly."
Correct. Swiftly.
Another flicker of light and she moves onwards, already preparing the arrays in her mind.

[Rebonack]

[Toward Philip Memorial!]

Sigil gives a nod. "The Librarian will probably have seen her if she's been there. He'll defiantly help out. When it comes to sharing knowledge that guy is always willing."

What a nice if somewhat creepy guy!

And so the unipony sets off toward Arkham street! Seems like as good a place to start as any, right?

Whilst walking Sigil frowns at one of the army men. Specifically at the weird squiggly symbol on the base of them. "Yeah... This is totally Hastur's work. Last time around it was a storm that rained up into the clouds, rumbled with quiet thunder, and shot lightning that healed people."

[Lord Magtok]

Ice Rink

Tracey hears someone call her name, and spins on the ice, bumping into another skater, and causing a cascade effect leaving a pile of skaters in her wake. Tracey keeps her feet, though, and skates over to where Needs is just getting laced up. "Hi, Needs."

"We found the grave of an English teacher with no legal heirs! Two, maybe three more days until the tongue of mortals escapes my lips completely!"

Looks like whatever gods-awful thing you did to that dead professor is already starting to wear off though, Needs.

"How has traversing the time and space between the hereafter and herebefore been?"

I think he's asking her how life has been...maybe. Or it's possible he thinks Tracey went on some sort of cosmic journey recently. Or maybe any time spent in the regular Nexus is a non-euclidean sort of super-adventure to Needs? No idea.

[Morcleon]

[Red Zone - Sewers]

And so they begin their trek deeper into the sewers.

This would be a more descriptively interesting journey, if any of the aesthetics of the sewer ever changed.
Just the usual tunnels of sewage funneling, coated with that black substance. The most that can be said is the curvatures in the substance begin to become more complicated, almost artistic, as the tunnel they're in begins to slope downwards.


It is at this point that they find the first trace of their prey.
Or perhaps, it is at this point that their prey bothers to pay attention to them.

A deep breath can be heard from further down the tunnel, sitting just above a sea of sibilant, wordless voices.

Wind, acidic and rotten, wafts past them, something within it violently chewing at any active magic and light, seeking to bathe them in darkness and deny them (for the moment) any other active spells.

[Red Zone- Sewers]

As the carrion breeze washes over Yuki, he coughs, and quickly draws out two respirators, and tosses one to Kirlia. He puts the other one on himself.

The scouring wind chews away at the light significantly, but doesn't manage to completely quench it, perhaps to maybe several feet of illumination. Yuki grins, stepping closer to Kirlia as to keep her within the light. Going through the trouble of finding a high-ranking angel for this light graft was worth it. "Ah, so now we have made contact with the enemy. Care to come out, oni-san?"

[blackouttwo]

Warwick Works

"You don't have to work for my dad forever, you know," Willow says. "He'll understand."

"I know, but I'm not just talking about me. I want to try and see if I can get your dad to stop financing...research of dubious morality." Including Willow's project and anything else that might be considered shady. Arthur's train of thought might be going to some unpleasant places. He's not looking at Willow's device as he says it, but it's clear he's including that in his terminology. Warwick Works has gotten up to more than a few shady dealings just in the time Arthur's worked there. "I don't want to tell your dad what he can and can't do with his business, and I don't want to stop working for him. He's a great boss. I just want to be able to rest easy knowing I'm not working for someone who's willing to facilitate murder for money."

[happyturtle]

Ice Skating Rink

"I'm doing good. Just taking a break from babysitting Eileen. She's rather a handful." Tracey says to Needs.

The pileup of bruised skaters tries to detangle itself. "Do you know how to skate?"

Warwick Works

Willow twists her hair around a finger, not meeting his eyes. "Um, Arthur, I don't know if you're going to be able to do that. Dad... well, he tries to keep it from us kids, but he's not exactly one of the good guys."

[blackouttwo]

"I can...be persuasive?" He shrugs helplessly, giving Willow a look that says 'well, what else can I do?' "I know he's not exactly a good guy, but I ain't asking him to be one. I'm gonna be asking him to go straight. Just like I'm asking you to go straight. No more weapons design, no more mad science except what's a genuine, good idea. Nothing shady. There's still good money in a lot of what we could do."

[happyturtle]

Warwick Works

Willow drapes her arms over his shoulders. "And all this time, I thought you were a bad boy." she says with a smirk.

[Rebonack]

[Unassuming Beginnings]

Timmy fell down the well!

Though in this case Timmy is Rick and the well was a cave he and his sister had discovered. It only appeared as a little hole in an overgrown limestone cliff face in the forest near their home, so they never expected that it would so suddenly open up into a yawning chasm.

Tabitha hardly had time to cry out in surprise when her brother suddenly vanished into the darkness as the shelf of stone he was kneeling on gave way.

He isn't sure how long he tumbled. Mostly because he lost consciousness after smacking his head on some random hard thing pretty early on. Though when he does come too... It doesn't immediately strike him that he opened his eyes. No light. With a sudden feeling of panic he waves his hand in front of his face.

Nothing.

Pitch darkness.

"Hello! Help!" the youth calls off into the void. If he had a bit more experience he might recognize that the echo which follows means that he's in a rather expansive chamber. But as one might imagine the lad is a little too terrified to draw such conclusions right now.

He feels his throbbing head and winces. It's sticky and sore. He feels the ground nearby. Smooth, oddly shaped rocks on top of wet stone. Slowly he turns, eyes begging for some form of light. Any light at all.

And he finds it.

Hard to tell how far away it is. No way to judge distance.

But regardless of that he crawls toward it, jostling strange stones as his hands brush at the floor.

Rick is disappointed with what he finds.

Where he had hoped beyond hope that the glow was the warmth of the sun shining down through a fissure instead all he finds is another strange rock. A glowing strange rock. Glowing bright enough to illuminate the area around it in a dull light at a distance of about six feet!

"I can use it as a torch I guess..." the youth comments to no one in particular.

Upon getting close enough to the stone to examine it two things are realized instantly. The first is that those strangely shaped rocks he had felt weren't rocks at all, but rather bones. Bones that litter the floor of the cave. The second is that his hand is smudged with red.

[A Chance Meeting]

Rick bites his lip, trying his hardest not to panic. Just pick up the torch rock and-

"AAAAAAGGGHHH!" comes a cry of pain and surprise as soon as he touches the glowing stone with his bloodied hand, a burning sensation shooting through his arm along with a distinctive sizzling sound. Though the sizzling might be hard to hear over the screaming.

Rick falls on his rump and scoots away, eying the stone as if it had just bit him. Which... it sort of did. Now burned into his palm like a brand is a strange symbol, oddly present on the back of his hand as well. Weird...

Though not as weird as the voice he suddenly hears in his mind.

*Yaaaawn!* Excitement and awareness! Are you being the one I waits for?

Rick blinks. Then glances over one shoulder, expecting someone to be standing behind him. "I... ummm..."

What is the umming? Funny sounds Master!

"Wait, master? What are you talking about?" the youth replies as he scoots a bit closer to the glowing rock. "What are you? Where are you?"

You being Master, Master! For touching my egg with blood! That for am making Pact! I am being in egg but now awake! And I am Myrrh! Pleased to be meeting you!

"Ummm..." Rick replies uncertainly. This is a lot of weird to take in at once... He cautiously picks up the 'rock' once more. Like a perfectly smooth piece of obsidian possessed of an internal golden glow. That same strange symbol burns on its surface. "This is really unusual..."

I am not Unusual! I am Myrrh! Happy to be meeting you!

"Right... well... You're glowing a lot and it's dark down here. Can you glow more because it's hard to-GAH!" the lad inquires tentatively before shielding his eyes from the brilliant golden radiance that erupts from the egg, lighting up everything to near daylight conditions within twenty feet.

I am good at making the glowings! What is being Master's name?

The lad blinks away the spots before replying, "Rick. My name is Rick."

Rick is a funny name Master Rick! Now that you have more light for seeing let us go and make adventures! Soon I will make with hatching and being helpful!

"Adventures? I just want to get home. We need to find a way out of this cave..."

Then Master needs to make more move! Hard to go when sitting.

"I guess..."

[Danger and Excitement]

You must be making of the many runnings Master!

Rick is generally in agreement with this. Now that he has a light source it seems like every single awful thing in this awful cave has decided to start following him. He isn't even sure what they are aside from decidedly creepy looking. And so far he's managed to either evade them by running as fast as his legs can carry him or coaxing Myrrh into dousing his light and hiding in some nook until they go away.

The lad has no idea where he's going. Aside from a general trend toward 'up' Rick hasn't the faintest idea how to get out of the cave. Nor does he have the faintest idea whether or not he'll survive.

"I thought you said you were going to hatch and be helpful!" the lad hisses under his breath as he ducks behind a rock outcrop and the light from Myrrh's egg winks out.

That is a thing which I shall do, Master!

"Well do it faster!" Rick retorts.

I will make the hardest of tryings Master! But hatching is like the making of songs and dreams and must be done with the most of carefuls!

"...I have no idea what you're talking about..." the lad sighs. He strains to listen for the... whatever they are... and is quite happy when he only hears the steady drip of water rather than the padding of flabby feet.

The lad strains his eyes in the darkness and, what's this? Light? Glorious light! Hopefully actual sunlight rather than another manic talking egg. Just crawl up through that hole and

YES!

Rick scrambles through a limestone crevice and finds himself in-

[A Park of Adventure]

The lad clambers out of the hole, his body covered in scratches, mud, and sweat. His hair matted with blood from the nasty clobbering he received on his way down into the depths. He looks pretty darn unassuming. No great hero, that's for sure. Though not quite a peasant, either. The child of a small land owner now desperately lost. He takes one deep breath and rises to his feet, egg still clutched under his arm.

Trees.

Not the small scrubby trees back home. But huge, moss covered monoliths whose tops vanish into the verdant canopy far above. Light filters down through the branches and plays upon the forest floor in a melody of shadowed green. A thick carpet of clover and fern dominates the forest floor interrupted only by the occasional shrub or wild flower.

Behind the lad stands a limestone monument, crumbled and worn. So choked with foliage that one can scarcely guess what color it started as. A flight of stairs descend into the darkness below, obscured by fallen debris and detritus.

Out of a cave and into a forest. This is better, right? At least there are no monsters up here. That ominous rustling from nearby suggests otherwise.

[Lost_Deep]

A Park of Adventure

Another person enters the clearing. She looks confused, dazed, lost... and similarly surprised by the very tall trees. She has somewhat wavy, blonde hair and is wearing casual clothes. She hasn't noticed Rick or his egg yet, rather being completely flabbergasted by the trees.

[Rebonack]

[A Park of Adventure]

Flabbergasted is a pretty reasonable reaction to the trees in question if someone hasn't ever seen a tree that's roughly three hundred feet tall.

And the clearing... isn't really much of a clearing. The trees are just spaced quite widely with the smaller plants growing between. It makes for a very wide open forest and easy walking. Aside from the odd log to climb over or the current bush to skirt around there aren't many obstacles.

Rick breaths a sigh of relief when the ominous rustling turns out to be another human instead of one of those things from the cave.

"Ah, hello there?" he calls out.

Mee mar! Who are you making sounds with Master? Tell them Myrrh makes the greetings as well!