Character Lounge

[Stygian]

Stygian chuckled, a low and growling but pleasant sound. He took a puff on his cigarette, and then looked amusedly at Mel.
   "What I have seen of what is closest to your true form is twenty feet tall and weighs tons, sharp teeth and claws included, and can freeze a room in seconds. That's scary, even to someth... someone like me," he said to her. "Don't worry. You're every bit as frightening as you could like." He said that as if it were a very good thing. Then, he looked lost in thought for a second.
   "I think the fact that I feel for the first time in a long time is a bit amusing. But even more so that I actually got angry and left the party," he murred into his hand. "I'd like to go back, but that wouldn't be right. There's still something I feel like I can fix." With that, he made a jump, flipping over forward and landing silently on his feet behind Mel, straightening with a sigh.

[Aisha deCabre]

((Whoa, the 50th page...should there be some sort of party to celebrate?    ))

Aisha's ear was still turned to the walls, her other ear rotating around the room like a sattelite to pick up what the others were doing or saying.  Karl seemed to still be fiddling around with the games systems, and Sathariel seemed to still be safe.  Her eyes, after wandering the room, became narrowed in concentration.  The strange softer noises had stopped...at least as far as she could tell with the room becoming progressively louder.

There was a stolen glance down at her tail ring.  Not a flicker or a glow, except for maybe slightly from any dark energy that people had naturally radiated.  The panther smirked...just a few years ago she'd jump at anything that gave off a dark energy pulse.  Now at least she went after demons whose heads were on a bounty list, ripe for taking advantage of.

With a shrug, she turned away from the wall and walked around, thinking about those who had disappeared.  It seemed that after a large battle and one frightening disturbance, it was hard for some to get back into a festive mood.  Right then, as if on some sort of cue, the outline of her dress flickered like a tv screen, replaced by flickers of the outline of her old navy blue adventuring attire.  The few hours she was wearing it were almost up...hopefully in time for costumes to be found for the next part of the party.

Wasn't Gareeku gone to look for them?  Aisha thought suddenly, her ears lowering with concern.  The wolf hadn't been back for a while...it was a big mansion, surely it would take time to search, but still, something in her gut was telling her something else...she couldn't tell if it was just the natural worry for someone exploring a strange place...

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel stayed in the soft grass giggling a moment longer. It was indeed all a matter of perspective. She was told twenty foot of dragon was scary but to her forty feet of dragon was reassuring. To think that she had skipped work to come here today because all forty feet of overprotective big brother was too busy to drag her back to safety. Mel got to her feet chuckling. Barron would scale her when he found out about today's events. She dusted herself off and sighed. She felt a lot better but she needed to get back to the party and keep an eye on Gareeku's pet. Hatchlings had better impulse control. If she insisted that Mel be a monster there was no better person to stay near. She picked the rock she had dug up off the ground and tucked it under her arm. "If I can find the kitchen you'll make a nice salad," she addressed it as she started around the building, hunting for the doors into the lounge.

[Stygian]

Turning to Mel, Stygian made a bow.
   "Well, Shivers, if you want to find your way back, it's either to go around the house that way," he said, indicating left with his corresponding hand, "or to go back in through that door, a turn right through the first room and a left through the other, and then you'll be in the main corridor, and can take a right to get to the entrance and then to the main lounge. As for me, I've got something to do first, but I'll catch up with you." When she rushed off, he smiled, turned around, and walked off to the right, away into shadows. He seemed to dissolve into them for a moment as he walked, and then he was gone.

   As if on command, after just a few seconds Aisha heard someone from the corridor before the entrance hall.
   "Hey! Where is everyone? Can anyone hear me?!" Gareeku's familiar voice called. It was faint, but it was clearly there, coming from deeper inside the house.

   The wind rustled the leaves of the trees where Gareeku sat, a chill biting at him and making his tears feel worse. The garden lay dark around him, this part of it lit only by the moonlight, and it seemed almost dreamlike and ghastly in its distant and gloomy appearance. The tall stone structure and outcroppings on the mansion and the ornate, detailed stonework of angels and other creatures set under and beside its steeply sloping roof loomed over him, and a sort of tower that must have been the tallest part of it stretched perhaps thirty paces above him, though it seemed much more.
   Then, the wind carried a whisper to his ears, and he looked up. Before him lay one of those large garden mazes that one sometimes finds, with high, well-trimmed dark hedges, the entrance to it right before him and not more then a pair of dozen steps away. He thought he heard a voice from within, a voice he knew well...
   "Gareeku! Mel! Where are you?!" her voice came, almost muffled by the wind and hedges.

[Gareeku]

Looking into the dark maze, Gareeku felt confused about the whole situation.
"Aisha...? You there?" He called out, stepping inside the dark maze. Normally he would have been much more cautious, but he wasn't exactly thinking straight.

[Aisha deCabre]

Back in the mansion, Aisha suddenly twitched upon hearing the voice that seemed to echo from down the hall.  Her head turned towards the corridor of the mansion, a hallway which still surprised her with its medieval design.

She stood in the door frame, looking around in the shadows.  It was his voice, she knew it...but did he need help?  "Gareeku?" she called.  "Gareeku!"

The panther didn't stay to find out.  With another quick glance around, she curiously wandered out of the room, following the voice.

[Stygian]

Aisha's voice came from somwhere inside the maze. Gareeku couldn't be sure of the direction, but it seemed closer to his left.
   "Hey! Gareeku? Where are you? Is Mel there?"

   The voice came down the hall towards her, from somwhere further down its dark length than Aisha had been before. It loomed, the dark parts in between odd lights from a room or a wall-lamp dark and gloomy, and the decorative objects and statues, wall-hangings and paintings that stood along it seemed just as stygian in their appearance.
   "Aisha! I'm over here! Where are you? I can't find my way in this bloody place!"

[Gareeku]

Further into the maze Gareeku went, twisting and turning down and around seemingly endless corridors and corners as he tried to search for Aisha.
"I don't know where Mel is! I'm on my own!" the wolf called out in reply to Aisha's voice.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha continued to follow the voice, gazing with awe and even feeling somewhat intimidated at the large gothic structure, with the eyes of the portraits and statues bearing down upon her.  But she kept her attention to the darkness and the shadows ahead, following Gareeku's voice, which seemed to only move further away from her as she advanced.

"I'm here!  Keep speaking!" the panther called out, wondering if she was following mere shadows.  But it sounded real enough...she broke into a faster walk, thinking that she might catch him sooner.

Please don't get lost, she thought, both to herself and about Gareeku, considering the labyrinthine mansion.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel found her way around the house and back through the french doors into the lounge. She was humming in her horrible off-key way. While she still didn't feel particularly safe or sane she had at least recognized that she shouldn't look for problems before they arrived. She smiled at everyone in the room, including Gareeku's pet since she didn't seem to be up to too much mischief at the moment. She passed through and this time turned in the opposite direction, finding the kitchen with no problem. She began looking for the ingredients for a fruit salad.

[Stygian]

The portraits did indeed glare at her, and the statues. But she quickly got her bearing on the voice, as she turned down to her left into what appeared to be a long dining room before a glassed atrium. The voice was clearly coming from ahead.
   "Bloody... Aisha! I'm going back into the garden! I think I can find my way around the house from there."

   For a moment, Gareeku thought he heard footsteps. He rushed forward and rounded two corners, and thought he caught sight of a blue sleeve dissapearing behind a corner up ahead. Then her voice came again, from that direction.
   "Damnit, Gareeku! Why'd you run off? I was waiting for you," she said, sounding a bit hurt and angry.

   Mel was left in peace for a minute or two. Then, she heard the door to the large kitchen creak behind her.

[Gareeku]

By now Gareeku had broken into a run, continuing to try and make his way through the maze as he attempted to follow Aisha's voice. However, hearing the hurt and angry tone of the voice, the wolf suddenly stopped.
"Aisha...please don't be angry with me! I just...had to clear my head a bit..." Gareeku called out with a mix of worry and guilt on his face, before resuming his running. The sides of the maze was tall and menacing, bearing down on him as if they were to collapse on him and bury him alive. However, the wolf was not concerned with that; the only thin he cared about was reaching Aisha.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha looked around the large and formal dining hall, looking around the space for Gareeku.  She could have sworn that his voice was echoing from inside the room...but, in the rush, she was just a little confused.  Shouldn't he be running towards her if he was looking for her?

Then her eyes were set on the entrance to the atrium, and possibly the outside.  She strained to hear what Gareeku's voice had shouted.  "Oh, no you don't!  Just wait, I'm coming!"  With a grunt her feet sprang into a faster trot across the room.

Why is it I'm feeling like I'm on a wild goose...I mean, wolf chase...?

[Boog]

After a couple minutes watching Karl and company set up the games, two things occured to Boogey. One, that this was going to take a bit, and two, that Gareeku and Aisha were nowhere to be seen. Having noticed Mel heading toward the kitchen, he started down that hallway.
"Hey Mel, have you seen Aisha or Gareeku?"

[Stygian]

Sathariel looked back at the Boogeyman, making a small jump.
   "Oh! I... I think they're in the house somewhere. The panther lady ran off earlier. She seemed like she was in a hurry," she said, eyeing him curiously. Then, from behind him, the Boogeyman heard another voice.
   "I wouldn't worry about them. They seem allright for now," Stygian said, standing in the entrance to the hallway to the kitchen.

   "Yeah, we all do! I thought I was important to you! And then you just go running away," Aisha said. She didn't sound so much angry as hurt now. It seemed to Gareeku that he couldn't catch up with her voice, no matter how he tried. "Where are you?! Stand still so I can find you!"

   "Aisha? I think I've found... Please, come outside. I... I need to talk to you about something," Gareeku called. He sounded sad, in that same kind of way she'd seen him so many times. Like he was suffering. If he was about to say that he couldn't risk hurting her again...!

[Gareeku]

"Aisha! Please! It wasn't like that!" the wolf cried out, his voice now filled with desparation, a tear beginning to trickle down his cheek as he came to a stop. "I'm behind you!"

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha rushed through the doors and into the outside, continuing to follow the voice which no longer had walls to accentuate and echo from, but sounded more like a muffled and faraway shout.  Leaving the house behind and stepping out into the cool night air, the panther shivered a little...dress wasn't meant for running across the hard stone and grass courtyard.  But then, right on cue, the thing rematerialized back into her slightly warmer and more loose-fitting navy blue pants and shirt.  Barely noticing, the panther made her way around.

She started to break into a run, her heart growing sorrowful at the sound of Gareeku's hurt voice.  She was compelled to reach him at all costs, her lungs breathing the air heavily.  "Gareeku, wait!  Stop!  What is it?"  She couldn't bear to hear him hurting again...she had seen him in a state of depression too many times for her liking.

"Where are you?!" the panther called with some desperation.  "Please don't sound like that!"

[Stygian]

Looking around, Aisha could see the darkness of the garden hanging over her. In front of her was the entrance to one of those mazes one would sometimes find outside mansions and palaces, one of those things that overly rich people paid their gardeners just for fun, it seemed. But this one was... larger. The hedges were thicker, and so tall that few would be able to jump up and look over them. They seemed to have thorns in them as well, and some trees spread their branches above their looming, rectangular shapes.
   "I'm in here. Listen, Aisha... what I did earlier... I can't live up to that. I know how you feel now, but however much I want to, I can't let myself... respond to those emotions..." she heard Gareeku saying from somwhere within that maze. He sounded in pain. "I... don't want to hurt you. So I..."

   Gareeku could hear footsteps now, faint but clear. However they just seemed to trail around, not getting closer. For a second he felt like someone was watching him, like a tingle in the back of his neck. Then, he heard Aisha's voice again.
   "I don't get it! Why did you even bother doing what you did if you were just going to leave?!" she said. A few moments passed, and Gareeku thought he heard something else too, just on the edge of hearing. "I can't keep this up, Gareeku..."

[Joat]

*OOC: Meanwhile, you might be wondering where IC Joat is in all this. Well, he kinda has a habit of, well, you’ll see…*

As soon as Stygian left the gym, I entered and began to lift weights. After a small while of that, I sit down on a bench. “Well, I think I should head back to the others. They’re probably wondering where I am. But maybe I should take a rest first.” I lie down on the bench. “I’ll rest for a sec, then I’ll head back there… Zzz…”

[Gareeku]

"Aisha...please...no..." Gareeku said weakly, before sprinting off in the direction the voice came from. "I'm not going to leave!!"
Stopping again, the wolf then fell to his knees. "I care about you Aisha...I'd never want to hurt you...please..."

[Joat]

“Wonder if we should go look for the Joat and the others,” May says.

“Safe bet,” Valencia says, “Come to think of it, you go for it. I’ll be here prepa…”

“Oh no, you don’t. You’re coming with me.”

“Oh, fine.”

[Aisha deCabre]

Wonderingly, she wandered into the large maze, following Gareeku's voice around the tight and tall corners.  She felt bunched up, the walls looming like barriers and the corners often seeming to melt into one another in the night, giving the illusion of more dead ends.  That was the panther's worst fear now, getting lost.  She just kept her eyes forward, looking for the wolf.

Tears started forming in Aisha's eyes as she called back after him, rushing as far as she could before stopping at a confusing crossroads.  "No, please, don't think like that!  I don't care about what you are or what you did!  You're not a threat!  You're not!  I care about you!"

She wanted to collapse from exhaustion, but all she did was slow down.  Following the voice, she picked another path and started running, despite her aching lungs.  "Don't...leave...!" she stammered, gasping in air between words, ready to just tear through one of the thorny hedge walls if she had to.

[Stygian]

There were definitely voices in the background now, but Gareeku had his mind on one thing. He raced forward.
   "I can't take this anymore...! I thought you loved me, Gareeku!" Aisha called from ahead, crying.

   She could hear other voices up ahead, strangely familiar, but Aisha was too desperate and too filled with sadness to mind. He could not go! Gareeku!
   "Aisha... I don't even know how I'm supposed to... Please, just... forget about me... don't say you..."

[Joat]

Valencia go off to search for me. After a bit, they find me.

“He went to investigate a noise and he fell asleep?” Veronica says.

“He must have been hit by a sleep spell. We must wake him,” May says. She chants a spell, which does nothing. “Oh no, my dispel didn’t work! What’re we gonna do now?”

“You know, we could always try waking him up,” Veronica says. She walks over to me and shakes me gently.

I wake up. Still half-asleep, I say, “Valencia, get out of my lab.”

Valencia just rolls her eyes as May looks a bit embarassed by her mistake.

[Gareeku]

He was now sprinting once again, tears now flowing freely down his face. He couldn't bear it any longer, the pain was too much for him.
"I do! I love you! You hear me?! I LOVE YOU!!" the wolf yelled out at the top of his voice, once again stopping and falling to his knees.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel picked up a knife and began cubing the fruit, at the same time staring suspiciously at the girl. Had she arrived at the same time as Boogey or before? It was disquieting to think that someone who had so recently assaulted her might be sneaking up on her. If Gareeku was going to fall down on his job as leash-holder Mel would have to stay more aware of her surroundings. The fruit was quickly finished and tossed in the bowl. She set down the knife and moved to the rock, still damp from being washed. She was looking at the girl and not the rock as she pulled four claws through it like it was a block of cheese and not silica. Four slices toppled off to shine in streaks of yellow and lavender on the counter. The rest of the stone quickly followed until it was cubed similarly to the fruit and tossed on top. Next she went looking for items to make the dressing.

[Joat]

I then wake up fully, blush at my own comment, and say, “Anything new going on?”

“Not a thing,” Valencia says.

“So, where are Gareeku and Mel?”

[Aisha deCabre]

"I'm not going to forget about you!  I can't!" she yelled back, her voice cracking, tears rolling down her eyes.  She ran through the maze, swerving around corners and following the voice that was ever closer and dwindling all at the same time, like there were two of them.  She stopped, staggering while holding onto the branches, the tears flowing freely down across her dampened fur.

It was then that she heard a louder shout from nearby...it was muffled but definitely familiar.  She ran towards it, taking leaping strides and using the last ounces of power that the muscles in her legs had.  "Don't give up!  I'll help you!  I want to!  I want to because I love you!"

When she could finally take no more, the panther tripped on the ground near another passageway, similar to all of the others...a seemingly endless trail of false exits and misleading corridors.  She was breathing heavily, sobbing loudly as she rested on the hard soil, listening desperately for him as her hair tumbled over her eyes.  The panther could've sworn she heard him crying too.  "Te amo, you hear me?!" she coughed.  "I love you..."

[Stygian]

Something moved behind her, Aisha thought. There was no sound, yet she was certain that was the case. And she could feel... something gently stroking her neck, reassuringly it seemed. Whispers. All around there were whispers in the slow, cold wind. It moved past, and was gone as quickly as it had come.
   He will find you. He will.

   Gareeku felt as if watched. A chilly wind passed him, and he could hear someone crying, whispering a response. This time he knew where the voice was coming from. It was just ahead...
   Go to her...

   And inside the mansion, Sathariel took a step back and looked nervous at the look from Mel. She opened her mouth, but it took her some time to actually say something.
   "I... I wanted to apologize. For earlier..." she said, blushing a beet red through the whiteness of her fur, and twisting her hands behind her back. "I... was wondering if you could... teach me..."

[Gareeku]

Hearing the whispers, Gareeku looked up ahead. He could hear the crying; he could hear her.
"...Aisha..." he whispered as he stared off in the direction where the voice had come from. Getting back onto his feet, he wiped the tears from his face and sprinted off down the pathway. Come hell or high water, he would find her.

After what seemed like an eternity for him, the wolf rounded a corned into another corridor, when he finally found her.
"Aisha!" he exclaimed, not wasting any time in running to her.