Not a Creature Was Stirring...

Mage of Mist · #46

The H&H

Sapphire saw them turn to face her, amping up her temperature to resist the cold. "You! er... Get lost!" She shouted... Normally she would just attack and try to eat them, but with the cold she was very out of her element. "I am... A far more vicious predator! And you are all in MY territory!" The slimeoid says... But was still mostly in the H&H, seemingly afraid of the snow.

Thorn's Treehouse
The Floran made her escape heading towards the Temple to try and warn anyone that were there while the odd couple were busy sniffing the possible grenade, which just continued to glow innocently, having a rather pleasant leafy scent too. It was quite nice to sniff at. The Floran had no idea what was going on at the Encampment, but she knew that there was two very strange creatures at her home that attacked her which she needed to warn others about!

Fernbiter put a paw on the herrera's snout to try and tell it to shush, watching as the birds thinned out wearily, hoping that Thorn returns soon and doesn't run into anymore of those things, possibly returning with backup after warning whatever Knights were still at the Temple.

#47

The Horn and Halo

The predators distracted by Sapphire stared at her, tilting their heads at the threat she just yelled at them. They stepped forward and back, daring her to come out

Holly finds no answer to her banging, everyone has either left for the one safe haven they know or has become infected. One door however flies open when she knocks, the one to a clearly closed restaurant full of cobwebs and dust.

That one link would suddenly become incredibly difficult to follow, as the links from the dense cluster nearby became so prominent purely by their proximity the others around became white noise next to it. But Phoebe would have discovered that the entrance to the underground was through a long drop, underneath the very same closed restaurant Holly had fallen into.

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The Temple of Insanity

Temporarily blinded by pain after the oh so calm exclamation from shock, Russel found himself scooped up by his friend. The thing that infected him wriggling under his skin as it started to move to find a good place.

"Put... put me down... Tom.... Argh... " Russel breathed once they were inside the Temple, his voice stopped only by the incredibly painful feeling of the parasite burrowing through his flesh.

The linked beings all are stopped outside the Temples shield, unable to get in and threaten the survivors.

<hr />

Thorns Treehouse

The herrerasaur kept it's tiny mouth shut when Fern-Biter put a paw on his snout, although all the creatures instincts were screaming at it to, well, scream out warnings.

The birds in the house seem to lose interest as soon as Thorn leaves, and do the same.

The odd pair play about with the innocently glowing orb for much needed minutes. But, they soon realise there's no threat from the item, then turn and give chase after the escaping plant.

#48

Temple of Insanity
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Tom ignored the pained man's plea for a few seconds while he looked around the room. He took Russel to the alter and set him down on it. He then looked up at the golden dragon that was said to protect the Temple.

"You listening? Where the hell are you! This is supposed to be your night, but you betray that once again! I know you can damn well save this man. What's it gonna take? Haven't I sacrificed enough to deserve this? Isn't it enough you curse me with this thing?"

At the last question, Tom puts his hand over his chest where the pendant lies.

"Or do you need more? Is that it? Need some sort of grand sacrifice, you god damned excuse for a god? Is that it? Here have this, it's about the only thing you haven't taken from me!"

Tom takes his Bowie Knife - the only relic he had left form his past life, and slams the tip into the alter next to Russel

All is quiet as all watch Tom, Russel, and the dragon.

Then the dragon starts to move. It bends it's head down, and bathes Russel, Tom, and the alter in fire. A few panicked cries ring out from the gathered assortment, but to their surprise nothing actually burns.

That is, except the parasite (but surprisingly enough, none of tissue of Russel surrounding the parasite) and the knife.

The bought of flames suddenly stops with the parasite's death, and the Dragon resume's it's previous position before freezing yet again.

Tom sits there stunned...the bastard actually did something. He then looks over to the knife he sacrificed. In it's place is an exquisitely forged Celestial Bronze Bowie knife with a handle from some unknown wood. Under it is a note.

"I cannot do much without getting into more trouble, but your sacrifice is enough for me to do these two things. Use both of them wisely"

#49

Phoebe spun her pistols and put them up, taking out instead a strange, magical looking rifle. The witch calmly jumped down to find the source. A few grenades appeared around her waist near her pistols. She pulled her hat down and began looking around, her nature enabling her to see in the dark fine. She was confident, knowing her limits well.

#50

Holly gasped when the restaurant door swung open. She hadn't expected this on of all places to be the one that offered refuge. Quickly she entered, slamming and locking the door behind her.

She looked at it, her face twisting- Then took several steps back and put her arms out in front of her. Thick ice erupted from the ground, completely freezing over the door. Better safe than sorry.

"Okay.... Where am I?" She looked around the dusty diner, moving into the kitchen to get away from any doors or windows.

#51

The Restaurant

Holly would notice as she moved back, several footprints in the dust making their way to the same kitchen as, and then moving down into the restaurants cellar. Beasts scrabbled futilely at the iced over door as Hollys eyes skipped over abandoned menus proclaiming this derelict to have once proudly been known as 'Remy's Restaurant'. The footsteps in the cellar proceeded to all move uniformly in one direction-straight through a stone wall, sporting a slight indent to one side of the wall facing.

#52

The sounds at the door frightened Holly, and encouraged her to move deeper into the cellar. She barely noticed the footprints at all, at least until they seemed to walk right through a wall.

"A... bomb shelter in a restaurant?! You crafty devil!" She exclaimed happily, patting down the wall, eager to enter for ultimate safety. She could ride out the storm in here! She reached for the indent and tried to pull the false wall aside.

#53

The indent gets pressed back as soon as Hollys hand lands on it, causing a bunch of mechanical clicks to be heard followed by the wall sliding back and then to the side. This revealed a very metallic looking elevator with a single button in it.

#54

"Okay... That wasn't what I expected." She stepped forward, looking over the edge to see where the lift was. Not really having a ton of options, she entered the lift and pressed the button.

#55

Holly finds the doors close, and much like any other elevator, it hummed to life and dropped down, down, down. All the while atypical elevator music was playing a tune.

Once it got to the bottom, the hallway that Phoebe was currently standing in was suddenly bathed in bright lights as they flared to life in response to the lifts doors opening.

The hallway contained several metal doors on each side, and was a very sterile shiny white colour from the floor to the ceiling.

#56

'What the-" Holly said aloud as the elevator just seemed to keep falling down into darkness. Eventually it lurched and stopped, allowing her to step out into the dark hallway. She saw metal doors... sterile white walls and floors... and suddenly the light at the end of the hall flickered on, revealing the creepiest girl just standing in the middle of the hall.

Safe to say, Holly never screamed that loud in her life. Arms out in front of her, the walls covered in frost as she immediately tried to freeze the witch solid.

#57

The witch spun to look at her, not because of the scream, though it was certainly something, but the sheer fear and panic she gave off. With a slightly confused expression, the witch formed a barrier box around herself to keep her safe, blinking slowly. "What...the...Her again?" She spread the box to take up the hallway, Pulling into two Phoebes. One maintained the barrier and watched the angel, the other went to investigate the doors. "Perhaps I should have brought the Shield and Spear with me..."

#58

"S-Stay back!" Holly shouted, as Phoebe moved closer, creating a barrier. Well. One Phoebe. The other one seemed more interested in the doors. But that did absolutely nothing to calm down the snow angel's fear.

"Y-you're multiplying! AAAAGHHHH!" She intensified the cold until the barrier clone was frosted over in at least a foot of solid ice. "Unngg..."

Exhausted, she collapsed in a newly formed snowball. This hallway was going to need someone to shovel.

#59

"...I really should have brought them...This is a stressful mess." She pointed at her, pushing the snow and ice back together towards Holly before reforming into one. "You should really try to not panic. Panic makes one do things without thinking through the implications. I'm down here searching for why everything is attacking above. I fix problems." She pushed on a door without opening it, trying to feel out mentally what was inside. "I am Phoebe Phobus. I saw you in the tavern. Unless you're to blame, I have nothing against you. Just don't try to freeze me again."

#60

"Y-you... you didn't freeze?" Holly couldn't believe what she was seeing. With an unsteady hand, she touched Phoebe's clothes. Crispy... the young witch should be an icicle after that cryogenic explosion.

"I'm... I'm just down here to get away from them. This creepy restaurant led me down here." The snow angel's looked around, all the snow being forced into the elevator room and packing it shut. No way going back now. "Are you saying this place has something to do with what's above?"

Suddenly worried, the snow angel moved closer to Phoebe for protection. "Like... you think there might be monsters in these rooms?"

Curious, Holly opened a door away from the one Phoebe was looking in, ready to freeze anything inside.