< Further Talks With Sixth | Ex Pulplogs | Something Humming This Way Comes >
ST Having separated from the rest of the Circle upon entering the Maze Garden, Carmine was left to wander the green expanses by herself, sorting out feelings and otherwise enjoying a nice time alone without the constant attention of Corve, Xar and Myrrh.
Carmine takes turns as she comes to them, not really caring as she thinks and tries to sort herself out
Woman walks around the next turn Carmine was about to take, nearly avoiding a collision with the distracted Dawn Caste. Taking a step back, the woman smiles at Carmine. "I'm sorry dear, I should have looked before walking."
Carmine blinks at the woman, eyeing her with surprise more than anything "...who are you?"
Woman "Why, I'm one of the gardeners. Who are you?"
Carmine "...Gardeners?" Carmine asks incredulously
Woman "Yes, I garden here."
Carmine "But ... no-one ... this place is so... overgrown!"
Woman "Well, dear, I didn't say I had a lot of help. This is a big maze after all and I can't be expected to do everything."
Carmine blinks. She supposes it is a big maze. Not that she has many to compare it too. "..I'm Carmine."
Woman "That's a lovely name. Will you sit with me, you look troubled."
Carmine "..Okay."
Woman seats herself on a mossy log and waits patiently, clearly expecting Carmine to tell her why she's troubled.
Carmine waits for a while, first before she realises thats what the woman wants ... then as she tries to think of how to explain it.
Carmine "I'm ... not sure...I'm...just...not good enough."
Woman "At what?"
Carmine "...I can't heal people well enough! I can't stop corve getting hurt! I don't know anything, except for madding little scraps I know so well! I can't do anything for Xar... I just can't do enough."
Woman "Well dear, you can't do everything. Your friends can take care of themselves, can't they?"
Carmine "I should be able to help them though ... I know so many things about medicine but I can't even get him to wake up from a flower!"
Woman "You can't know everything either." The woman pats Carmine's back comfortingly. "I'm sure you do your best, dearie. That's all anyone can do."
Carmine "But my best isn't good enough! That's the problem!2
Woman "It's a rough world out there, you can't possibly protect your friends from everything or fix all their problems. No one can do that. You want too much of yourself."
Carmine "I know I can't protect them from everything...I can't even protect them from little things!"
Woman "Little things like a magical flower you've never seen or heard of before?"
Carmine "...yes!"
Woman "Does that make sense, dearie? Think about it."
Carmine stands up
Woman looks up at Carmine, still patient and unthreatening.
Carmine "...I'm goign to carry on walking. Thank you." And then she walks off.
Woman watches Carmine go.
ST After leaving the gardener's company, Carmine wanders aimlessly for a time before she finds herself facing a green wall that she can see no way around.
ST Elsewhere, beyond the Green Wall, Corve, Myrrh and Xar are gathering their thoughts as they have passed the Challenge of the Wall. Each having sacrificed something of value to pass, they now stand within the courtyard at the base of the vast white stone spire in the center of the maze.
Xar`Rex looks to make sure he is still in one piece, as it were
Myrrh "Such a shame too...I was planning on giving it to Sun too. She keeps begging me for a gun. Might as well get her something loud and flashy that doesn't do anything...maybe I should just get her a puppy."
Myrrh looks up at the spires, amazed at the scale of the place...to think there might be others inside Brume.
Corve "No more pets- I'm going to lose a finger one of these days," says the assesor. His hair has gotten longer as of late, and he needs to push it back to glare down the back of his rifle's barrel to load it.
Xar`Rex "I am surprised you still have your fingers, it is true."
Myrrh "Oh i'm sure Carmine can fix that..."
Myrrh "Well I don't think the penguin is going to get his fingers much...although he does peck viciously...as far as i've seen. I swear I think Corve has some sort of scent trigger..."
Corve "It's all I can do to keep from having Jaks snarf him down."
Xar`Rex snickers
ST The large lizard looks up hopefully, uttering an inquisitive grunt
Corve "Don't get your hopes up buddy- if I let you do that, Sun would be upset, and neither of us want that, do we?"
Xar`Rex "Hmm. I too am hungry. We should continue on."
Corve "Yeah, alright. Still worried about Carmine- she should've found us by now- or at least gotten into some flashy fight."
ST Jaks' response is postponed by the arrival of a new presence in the over-grown courtyard. From one of the white stone walls of the spire, a short, stocky man steps forth. His white armor glints in the false sunlight of the cavern-city, just like the razor's edge of the heavy white axes on his back. Despite being shorter then any of the three facing him, he is as broad as Xar. His bushy grey-white beard reaches to his chest.
Short Man "Why have you come to the Spire?"
Corve turns to the short man, raising a brow. "Who's asking?"
Xar`Rex cocks his head to one side, crest rising, as he inspects this new man
Myrrh stares at the suddenly ariving giant.
Myrrh "Are you another construct?
Short Man "Every time I ask that question, someone asks that one back. Really, what does it matter if I tell you my name? It could be "Reaving Wife-Killer" or "Stone Flower" or "Forg Carter" for all you know."
Corve "Well, I ask that question because you asked a question first. An introduction and at least a 'hello' would be nice before you start demanding things. Courtesy's important, you know?"
Short Man "Not really."
Corve "Well, now you know."
Myrrh "We've come to the tower to search for something. Something a cult has dropped this entire island into the sea to conceal."
Myrrh "And we're also very hungry...well atleast Xar is."
Short Man "Well, best look elsewhere. If I were to let you in, you'd just be rent into bloody bits and I'd have to clean them up. So I'm not letting you in."
Xar`Rex "By who?"
Corve "Rent into bloody bits by whom?
Myrrh "Rent to bits by WHAT? We're chosen of the sun!"
Corve looks at Jaks. "You wanna ask too? Just to make it an even four?"
Xar`Rex points at Corve, "His... sort of his sister built Brume."
Short Man looks at the Dragon-King with a patronizing expression. "His sister is a dead woman from before the Contagion. He doesn't look a day over 40."
Short Man "Can't imagine how sad his father must be, having to wait that long."
Xar`Rex "Yes, well, he is a Solar, and he is reincarnated." he replies, equally patronizing
Corve "What? She wasn't... I don't think... ah, whatever. Looks- uh- well, 'you'- my name is Corve. I'm the reincarnation of Sixth Hour Fading, Night Caste Chosen of the Unconquered Sun, and circlemate of she who constructed Brume. If there's anyone with a right to be here, it's me."
Short Man "Well, that's a nice theory. Except you're assuming this was built to honor her. And really, it wasn't."
Corve "Honor? It was built BY her."
Short Man "Nope."
Corve "Not the tomb, Brume." He rolls his eyes. Dense people.
Short Man "Well now I wasn't talking about Brume, was I? Didn't ask why you were here on Brume. Asked why you were here, at the Spire."
Corve "Because we're trying to save Brume, and the answer is probably in there. Thus, nobody has more of a reason to be here. Now, are you going to move?"
Short Man "Like I said, if I let you in, you'll just be rent into bloody bits. You got a hankerin to be a bunch of bloody bits, boy?"
Xar`Rex "You still haven't said by what or who."
Short Man "Oh, various things."
Corve narrows his eyes. "You got a hankerin to clean us up after we're supposedly rent?"
Short Man "No, and that's why I ain't lettin you inside."
Corve "Then just tell us what we're up again, and we'll be ready- less chance of getting rent."
Xar`Rex sighs
Corve against**
Xar`Rex "Then tell them not to rend us to bloody bits, and we'll be on our way."
Short Man "Can't do either, I'm afraid."
Corve "Why not?"
Short Man "Why can't you jump up into the air and start flying by flapping your feet?"
Corve smirks. "Because I haven't put my mind to it yet. Give me a few years."
Xar`Rex "You are irritating."
Corve wishes Carmine where here, so they could take this guy down with utmost efficiency.
Short Man "I got nothin but time here, so you all just feel free to stand there if you like."
Myrrh sighs and tries to move past the short man, clearly he's not THAT imposing. He's a bearded midget!
Corve attempts the same, along the other side. Fuck this crap.
Short Man A boulder heaves itself upwards from the ground, blocking Myrrh's path quite effectively. A second rears before Corve, as massive and path-blocking as the first.
Myrrh "Oh come ON!"
Myrrh "What if we promise not to be rent into bloody bits?"
Short Man "Now I told you, I'm not lettin you inside!"
Xar`Rex "Why is it that everyone on Brume does not want Brume to be saved?"
Myrrh "Because he's a stubborn old construct, that's why.
Corve lets Essence pour through him, filling him with the nimbleness legendary of his Caste. His mvoements become lithe and acrobatic as he leaps into the air and grips the top of the boulder, spinning over it in a flicker-movement as the Essence trails his limbs, his action an attempt to take him across the boulder and to the other before it has righted itself completely.
Short Man "I have nothin against your quest and all, Dragon-King. But you can't go inside here. That's the rules."
Xar`Rex "What exactly are the rules?"
Short Man "That you can't go inside."
Xar`Rex huffs and pounds on the boulder peevishly
Carmine "Why not?!" Carmine demands. Evidently still not entirely together, and very annoyed at further impeedances.
Corve doesn't make it, falling back down along the front of the boulder, his feet landing on the floor with a thud as he stares at the runt that's prvented him passage. "... fucker..." and then he turns, looking at Carmine. "...Carmine!" He sprints to her.
Short Man has been ignoring Corve's attempt to vault the boulder with apparently good cause as Corve's leap carries him onto the front of the boulder which, slick and smooth, drops him right back off and onto the ground. Even his Essence-enhanced grip isn't quite enough to allow him to get over. He almost made it, though!
Short Man Xar's attack against the boulder shatters the stone, sending fist-sized chunks in all directions. None of them strike the short man in white, though. He shakes his head at the Dragon-King.
Xar`Rex "I am sick of this place. Let us go in so we can leave." he sulks
Corve ducks a flying stone and reaches Carmine. "Love... are you alright?"
Myrrh "Hi Carmine! Find anything interesting?"
Xar`Rex turns, and sees Carmine, and looks down, mildly embarassed at his show of pique
Carmine "A gardener." She says to Myrrh, ignoring Corve for the moment. "Now why can't we get inside?" She demands of the short man.
Corve raises a brow slowly, and then looks away, closing his eyes and biting his ego as he looks at the short man. "Because he won't let us. We haven't tried breaking him yet."
Short Man "Now you're the one being rude, boy."
Corve "You still haven't introduced yourself, short stuff, so don't try to give me an etiquette lesson."
Carmine strides past him, and through the space in the shattered rocks.
Short Man doesn't even bother to raise a boulder to block Carmine. He simply lets the fact that the Spire itself is a massive stone building with no visible entrance or exit provide its own barrier.
Xar`Rex follows Carmine through the ex boulder, casting the short man an annoyed look
Myrrh follows Xar and Carmine, finaly some headway!
Corve takes the rear, walking carefully. Something about all this doesn't strike him as... right. He clenches his jaw.
Short Man simply watches as the four Solars walk past the broken boulder and toward the Spire, shaking his head.
Short Man "Now, you might be able to batter your way inside, but it'll take a good long time. Better you all just go away."
Xar`Rex "Shut up."
Xar`Rex leaps into the air, inspecting every inch of the spire in a spiraling pattern
Short Man It takes Xar quite a considerable time to inspect every inch of the spire, considering its height and breadth. He finds himself unable to approach its highest pinnacle, each attempt to do so results in a blinding flash of golden light that drives him backwards, stunned.
Xar`Rex tries circling away from the pinnacle
Corve leans on a part of the lower wall Xar's inspected, waiting.
Xar`Rex circles up until the people waiting below them are but little toys, then abruptly turns around, and arrows towards the ground, his wings adding yet more speed to gravity. He aims for a spot away from the others, and cannonballs into the tower, turning into a ball of spiked dragon at the last moment.
Corve watches Xar, and then widens his eyes. "Ah, fuck," and dives away from the wall. No clue what sort of colateral effect his dive-bombing might have on the rest of the wall.
Myrrh "That's nice Xar why don't you come do-OH GOD!" Runs for cover! Hoping poor Xar doesn't have to be scraped off the side of the spire...
Xar`Rex picks himself up from the giant crater he's managed to create, shakes his head, and eyes the wall. "Stupid thing." he kicks it.'
Short Man Xar's impact sends an impossibly loud BOOM out to deafen everyone, even the white-armored man. He sticks a finger in one ear to clear the ringing as he watches Xar sulk after his impact only managed to harm the ground. Well, there are some flakes of white stone amongst the debris.
Corve gets up, waving dust from his coat and sighing. "Nice try, buddy."
Xar`Rex "It worked, a little." he points at the little cracks
Corve "Yeah..."
Myrrh "Now if you could do that a few hundred more times..."
Corve shrugs. "Might as well give it a try, back up," he says, and unholsters his rifle, bringing it to aim at the crask Xar's created. "I just hope it can't take much more of this," he says, disheartened.
Xar`Rex "I could..." He backs away from the place Corve is aiming at
Xar`Rex "I wonder what would happen if we pushed it over."
Xar`Rex gestures to the crater. "I could make that deeper. Or we could all hit it at once."
Corve cocks the rifle slowly, taking aim. His marksman eye slowly comes into focus as he concentrates, every inch of him perfectyl still as he takes a deep breath, only his chest heaving slowly, the back of his rifle gripped onto his shouldfer, his trigger finger itching madly. The Essence slowly pours out from him, his eyes, caste mark, and- as he exhales- caste mark bathing his weapon in golden sunlight that begins
Corve * to glow fiercely, each moment summoning more power into the bullet that will decide the outcome of this one action. With some luck, he might scratch it. As Judging Thunder becomes a radiant lantern of golden essence, Corve looks over to his friends, and smiles. When the bullet comes out, it's as silent as a dove's flight, the essence burning the air behind it.
Corve ** as he exhales, mouth
Short Man Corve's attack sends a cloud of white dust expanding outwards from its impact sight, tiny fragments of stone pulverized into nothing but motes in the air. As the dust cloud clears the results of the attack become visible, a jagged impact crater in the stone surface of the spire. Much to Corve's disappointment, the crater is not very deep and it has failed to penetrate the stone wall.
Corve "Bugger," he says, raising a brow.
Xar`Rex "Together, we have made a dent in it. We must continue."
Carmine lets out a low, and very angry roar, running at the wall, Eminence appearing in a two handed grip as she brings it down on the ancient construction again and again and again, muscles rippling as she strikes the wall, heedless of the jaring of her muscles.
Short Man "Better do it fast then!" The short man laughs.
Myrrh "What do you mean, do it fast?"
Xar`Rex jumps back as Carmine roars past, staying out of the way of a woman scorned!
Corve holds his ears as he concentrates on something else.
Short Man As Carmine takes a moment to inspect the results of her attacks, she sees what the white armored little man is talking about. In the rubble, small..things are moving. Tiny stones are assembling themselves into stone beetles and they seem to be gathering together other bits of debris, re-assembling it. Even as she watches, the now-vast crater is being healed.
Myrrh "Wow! That is impressive! Who made all of this anyway?"
Xar`Rex begins scattering the stone beetles as far away as possible, scooping them up by the handful and throwing them at the short man
Short Man Despite Xar's efforts, more and more of the beetles are appearing from inside the wounded wall and those he throws away are simply trundling back to the wall at a steady pace.
Myrrh "I think we're going to have to find a non-brute force solution Xar..."
Xar`Rex "Break it faster." he returns
Corve turns and walks away from the ruckus, heading towards the short man. he holsters his weapon and walks up to him, looking down at him and biting his lower lip. "So we didn't get off on the right foot earlier," he says. "I apologize. But you have to understand, sir- whatever we find in there might just give us a chance to save thousands, perhaps millions of lives- perhaps even Creation itself," he says in a low
Corve * voice, so that the short man is the only one that hears him. "I'm simply asking for a little help. That's all. You don't seem like a disagreeable person... just a stout fellow with a purpose. We're the same. We just need a little help."
Short Man eyes Corve. "I'm trying to protect you here too, sonny, not just do my job."
Corve nods. "I understand that, sir. But we're grown people. I've personally walked into certain death in the Underworld with the girl with the sword. I've been in danger before- and that's -my- choice. I appreciate your concern, but if you want to save lives- help us. Because if you don't, many -more- lives will be lost than just ours."
Myrrh examines the beetles doing their work, trying to pick one up and get a good look at it.
Short Man Myrrh is able to pick up one of the beetles with ease. It looks like a beetle made of white stone. It clicks unhappily, unable to reach the wall to fix it.
Corve stares at the short man, waiting for an answer.
Short Man "There are things in there that will bring no good to anyone if removed. What good is it to save people just to doom them another way? You might not even know you're taking away something that will lay waste to cities, but that won't help the cities lain waste.
Xar`Rex touches the stone of the wall, an uninjured section of it, and seeks the little spirit of the stone.
Corve "Then come with us. You seem to know your way inside there, and what is there. Help us out... sitting here and guarding an ancient tomb can't feel very fulfilling. Do something for Creation... please."
Myrrh sets the beetles down so it can do it's work.
Short Man sighs. "I'll let you go inside. But if you bring back out anything I think you oughtn't have, you have to return it without question."
Corve sighs and smiles. "As long as it's not what we're looking for." He offers the short man his hand. "Thank you."
Short Man "No, none of that "as long as it's not" stuff, boy. If I say you can't take it, you can't take it,"
Corve shakes his head. "I've made a vowe. I'll do whatever is best for Brume- and I'll hold this deal between you and I to the letter granted by my previous vowe. I can't risk the lives of millions, sir."
Short Man "If what you bring out has to stay here, you'd be better off leaving it then taking it. You and your country both."
Corve raises a brow, and then sighs, nodding. "Just get us in."
Short Man "Your word, lad, that you agree to my terms." The man looks up at Corve with steel-colored eyes, his expression stony.
Corve "Will you help us look for what we need? We'll be out of your hair faster..." he says, raising a brow.
Short Man "I can't help you inside. I'm bending the rules just letting you go in."
Corve "Could you at least tell us why we can't take whatever you tell us not to?"
Short Man considers for a moment. "I could, yeah."
Corve nods. "Then I hope I come out with what we need," he says. "I... agree, to your terms."
Myrrh glances from Corve to the midget...well maybe Corve knows something he's not telling us?
Short Man eyes Corve. "I'll hold you to it."
Corve "I wouldn't have it any other way. Lead the way."
Short Man "You have to leave your familiars out here, too. I won't let em come to harm." The short man walks towards the spire as he mentions this.
Corve narrows his eyes. "I'll hold you to that."
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