In the lair of a hideous rat...Niklas, not one to back down from a fight with a tasty rodent such as this (at least not when treasure like the kind it is sitting on is involved), pulls out his trusty war shank, stands in the customary war stance of his people, then begins to utter a slightly disappointing war mumble. The rat, while not sufficiently alarmed to try and run, does seem to have been put in to an aggressive mood by the terrible manners of its guest.
[Rat vs. Niklas: 3 vs. 6]
It leaps forward at Niklas, but the sheer volume of experience that the chef possesses in the capture and preparation of foul rodents for public consumption quickly makes itself known - Niklas simply deflects the rat with a well-timed kick, and attempts to follow through with a powerful thrust of his knife.
[Counterattack: Niklas vs. Rat: 2 vs. 6]
[Niklas vs. Rat: 3 vs. 3]
He nearly manages to land a good stab on the squatting pest, but its squirming ways prove to be a greater source of befuddlement than expected - the rat, angered by its terrible treatment at the hands of this anonymous lady, tries to get its revenge.
[Rat vs. Niklas: 5 vs. 4]
It sinks its teeth into Niklas' calf, causing a small amount of bleeding - its teeth feel rather blunt. Must be a very busy rodent in its spare time, Niklas concludes.
[Niklas vs. Rat: 4 vs. 3]
Before the rat can let go of its enemy's leg, the knife whizzes past its ear, as well as slightly through it. A very unpleasant trickle of blood begins to run down the side of its head.
On a rather nice terrace...Morton has grown to appreciate offers of freedom, nebulous, vague and unrealistic as they may often be, and informs the gub that he would probably be interested in the concept they have presented at the very least.
~I must admit my curiosity is piqued, but if I could have one quick moment? It would be terribly rude of me to leave good tailor Craig unanswered.~~naturally!~Morton looks at Tailor Craig - he seems to be a little confused at Morton's absentminded behavior and hesitant answers.
"An offer I may take you up on at a later date, but I'm afraid something appears to be going on that requires my presence. And I must admit with a bit of shame that I've rather missed having a heart beat, its presence is quite calming. If you wouldn't mind, I'd quite like fine clothing again.""I do probably have something that's your size. Perhaps nothing too fancy, but at least you will not be walking around in a set of pajamas," Tailor Craig says, preparing to glide away in his particular way, but Morton interrupts him with a query.
"I must ask though, 'left mysteriously that day?' I'm afraid I've only regained consciousness earlier today. All I remember back then was being about to share my tea with the others in celebration of having gotten to Mothdale, then hearing the Gub mentally welcome us into his city and nothing more. At least until I 'awoke' later in a stone building. You speak of it as if it was a while ago, how long ago was this?"Tailor Craig thinks for a moment, then shrugs.
"Three, perhaps four days ago? It's been quite a dull experience the past few days. I had considered moving on, but it did seem like a dishonest move to me, leaving all of you behind like that, even if almost all of you did walk away with no explanation whatsoever while refusing to acknowledge my presence. Also, I have gotten the feeling that there is something strange about this town, to be honest. The people here are a bit... vacant, as I'm sure you noticed. And I haven't even spoken to anyone in days. Both the people and the creatures on the streets seem to be avoiding me, unfortunately."Just then, a terrible lump of flesh descends from the heavens, beginning to speak in a fell, yet unpleasantly familiar,
Scott-like voice.
"Tailor man! Your cooperation is required to save all of our souls! We must gather! Gather and cluster together!""I do seem to be becoming popular again, however," Tailor Craig observes half to himself.
In the streets of Mothdale..."Sure, I'll go have a chat with him, but when can I get my stuff back?" asks
Mark of the air, hoping that it'll be sometime soon. His fingers are itching. This is not a good thing.
~you cannot! your stuff belongs to us now! part of the deal!~Well, that's depressing. He kind of liked his stuff. Ah well. Mark tries to stop Art in his tracks by waving, running at him and yelling out his friendly intentions - Art is fortunately confused enough to stop and take a look at him before he can decide upon more important ideas like whether to backpedal rapidly away or not.
"Who are you?" Art asks, perplexed and slightly frustrated.
"Do I know you?"As he asks this, however, two menacing figures arrive on the scene - one of the dolphins, plus some kind of bag of jelly, organs and jellied organs descending from the heavens - Mark wonders if this could possibly count as a dangerous situation.
At a forming stalactite...Darren opts to follow his new friend - after all, what else would be a reasonable reaction in this situation? Slightly disconcertingly, the creature offers him a slightly more than friendly arm, insisting that it is necessary for purposes of entry - Darren is not convinced at first, but caves when the insects begin humming and their eyes flash when he approaches - with the creature in its current shape holding his arm, the insects seem to recognize him somehow.
They move through the perimeter of the mausoleum without so much as a single hitch, then head inside - the doors are locked, but that's not really something that could stop a ghost, obviously. Once inside, Darren notices that the two of them seem to be in a fairly darkened room, the artificial lighting seemingly turned low. Furthermore, a rather strange ghost shaped like a three-pointed starfish seemed to be tinkering with a knob on the wall, adjusting the lights every few moments or so. The rest of the room, peculiarly enough, seems completely empty, not to mention entirely doorless. Though, once again, that's hardly a problem at all, Darren guesses.
"I... don't know who that starfish guy is. Probably one of the weird ones. We should probably move on before it takes notice," his friend says, pulling him slowly out of the room.
Man, I sure got sidetracked these past few days. Let's hope such delays don't happen again.
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Topic: Life Begins At Death - Epilogue: We Live And Live Again (Read 564625 times)