open A Darker Fate: Beyond these Walls Chapter Two.

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@@Commander Tangent,

 

"I...  I can see it..."  As a matter of fact, she was going cross eyed at the moment because she couldn't quit looking up at it.  "It hurts...  It and the area around it...  Not like its on fire like it was a little bit ago, but kind of a constant throb...  Other than the pain I don't really feel it though."  As she speaks she reaches up with a hoof to touch her newly acquired and unwanted horn, trying to wipe some of her blood off of it.  She blinks as she gets a look at what she thinks to be the appearance of the horn under the blood.  It doesn't look anything like mother's...  It almost looks metalic...  Maybe I should get it washed off...

[Commander Tangent 861]

@,

 

"Yes, it surfaced, or more it seems like it ripped through your skin. Maybe we should clean and disinfect the area were it came out of" He said, offering her a hoof up.

 

"And try to stay focused on the here and now, I'd rather not have you accidentally fire off a random spell while we are in a confined, not to mention, highly flammable space" Icarus said to her.  

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@@Commander Tangent,

 

She'd started to get up to follow Icarus, sparing a look back at her friends as though loathe to leave, but she skids to a stop at the doctor's words.  "W-Wait, you don't think that could happen, do you?"  She suddenly wished she'd paid attention when she was little and her mother had taught her brothers how to use magic.  Regardless, her legs seemed to stop working as she starts to cringe down towards the floor.  

 

"M...  Maybe I should just go, if that's the case...  I don't want to put everypony in danger!"  She glances back to her friends again, the panic becoming more evident on the mare's face.  Pavisa didn't like this in the slightest - she could protect her friends from other things that came after them...  How was she supposed to keep them safe from herself if she started using spells by accident!?  She didn't even know how to use spells!

[Commander Tangent 861]

@,

 

"Don't worry to much about it, just don't let your mind wander to far, It's extremely unlikely you will use a spell, but there is always the chance" Icarus explained to her, "It's partially the reason I wear a mask" His voice got a dark tone for a second before he motioned to her to sit in a spot in front of him.

 

"Besides, you are to important to this team" He said, hopefully comforting her. 

[Nomadic 210]

@@Midnight Scribbler, @@SilverHeart, @, @, @

 

"Eh, you clearly have experience in despoiling any utterance of me trying to lighten a gloomy atmosphere. Bravo Scribbler", Denarius rubbed his hoof against his left temple in minor frustration, clearly displeased with Scribbler's answer. "If I'm to be with everypony and your all so intent on ruining any modicum of entertainment I get from such endeavours, I might as well be frank with you all, for once". Shifting his weight around, he moved in closer towards the group. "If any of you are currently worried about obtaining this Litany before anypony else than each of you should stop focusing on such minor trivial aspects of it. You seem so sure that you're close to obtaining it, yet become paralysed on what has already occurred. Much of your questions can be answered later, but your current focus should be to continue on", he told each of the ponies with a slightly agitated groan and a roll of the eyes.

[Icy Void 19]

Midnight Sky

 

Midnight had kept a close eye on Pavisa's new horn throughout the duration of Icarus's examination, making sure she didn't accidentally release any magical energy. With how new the horn was, any magic it contains is likely to be unstable until Pavisa gets used to it, and Midnight would rather not see this lodge get blown up with everypony still inside. While he really wanted to look over those papers that Pavi had found with Blast and Crimson, Midnight figured that could wait until after Pavisa was taken care of. That and this whole mess was actually really interesting, an occurrence as rare as this was exactly the sort of thing Midnight endeavored to research and the possible Litany connection also made it relevant to their current mission. "The doc is right, Pavi. Even in the off chance that you do cast a spell, I should be able to confine it with a force field so that nopony got hurt. And not only are you important to this group, you're almost like Fisher's second in command. If you weren't here we'd all feel it." Midnight said. He had no idea if his words would be helpful in making Pavisa feel better, this kind of pep talk wasn't really his thing, but he felt he should try. Pavisa gave up her job for this little quest and her friends, just like he had given up his home and family to try and find his own path, so he wouldn't let her waste that sacrifice out of self pity. Besides, seeing Pavisa like this bothered Midnight, and he had a feeling that it bothered the others as well, especially Kingfisher.

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@,@,  @Cinderscribe@,

 

Blasted Nova

As hard as Blast tried, he just couldn't get this writing. Throughout the time Icarus has been working on Pavisa, the stallion just read over the notes again and again, trying to figure out what it all meant. It just didn't make much sense to him.

"Here, Kingfisher, you try to make some logical sense out of this thing. I know I can't." Blast said, handing off the notes to the leader.
 

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Kingfisher.

 

@,

@,

 

Tearing her attention away from her friend while the doctor took command of the situation, Kingfisher looked over the papers with a twisted expression on her face.

 

"I can only read a few of them - it isn't much..." She said, hanging mid sentance as if unsure whether to continue. "... It kind of looks like... Bardic's writing. I might be wrong, but its foreign - I've no idea who this 'Harlequin' is... or what the writers talking about here. Most of these mean nothing to me... Ruined? Rotting? This place seems sturdy to me!"

 

She shook her head - it wasn't a perfect match, she thought. If only she hadn't lost her bags back in the cave - she could have compared the writing.

 

"Go on then Grinn, what's your theory? Hope you've got a better idea about this than me."

 

---------------

 

Orion Starsinger.

 

"Correct. Maybe a new perspective such as yours is just what we needed... " Orion nodded - proceeding to push onwards through the snow.

 

The ground shook - it was faint and far off, but distinctive. At the same time, an aura of unnatural light glimmered faintly in the sky off in the distance - piercing the faint fog of the day. A few moments later, it was gone.

 

"Odd..." He murmured before shaking his head. "That's not where we're heading though - onwards!"

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@@Icy Void,

@@Commander Tangent,

 

Pavisa swallowed the lump that she felt like was forming in her throat, forcing herself to move again as she gets up.  She starts to follow Icarus again, sparing a glance back at the others.  She'd started to blush at what they'd said, telling her that she was important to the team, which served to embarrass her even more since she was aware that she couldn't hide it behind her helmet the way she usually did.  "A-alright...  Lets get the bloody thing cleaned, then..."  

 

 

Zintiik

 

Zintiik just hovered along quietly as the others spoke of their destination, trying to keep himself distracted by keeping an eye on both Orion and Willow.  For once the changeling didn't have much to contribute to the conversation - this kind of magic wasn't anything he had an opinion about.  Though, he was distracted by what Mirror had said, asking if this tomb would be similar to the ruins at the Falls...  Chrysalis, I hope not...  All of those faces...  I don't want to go through that again...  His thoughts were part of the reason he was staying quiet - as far as the others knew, Zintiik still didn't remember the Falls...  And he was trying to keep it that way. 

[RAGESTAR 479]

@

 

"Well...this may sound crazy, but what if that ward it's talking about, is actually on this house? And what if the reason why this place is completely intact, is because the ward sees time itself as hostel? That would explain why everything in this house seems recently used, because the inside of the house itself is shielded from time...you may start laughing at me when you want..." he said, knowing how ludicrous he just sounded.

[Commander Tangent 861]

@,

 

Icarus first began to wash the horn down with some water and and some cloth he had found lying around the cabin. His first big thing was to get all of the blood off of the horn, to be sure it was a healthy  and normal unicorn horn.  He also prepared disinfectant to cleanse the area around were the horn had surfaced.

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

Clockwork Green

@,

@,

@@Icy Void,

@,

@@Commander Tangent,

@,

@@Windbreaker,

 

Clockwork had heard Pavisa's scream, and as everypony else rushed past him, he remained unwavering from his place. He glanced over his shoulder as they went by. If it were that important, he would find out soon enough. For now, his mind was focused on food. He winced and his head ducked as Aegis yelled for the others, not expecting it. He wandered over and picked up a bowl, carrying it to the table. "I thank you tenfold for this, Aegis. I've been starving since we left the cavern. I owe you one."

---------------------------------------------------

 

Midnight Scribbler

@@Nomadic,

@,

@@SilverHeart,

(And the others who have already been mentioned above, but are running two OCs)

 

Scribbler was frustrated now. How could Orion be so blind as to just simply agree with this pony? He hadn't even been conscious when the Litany broke free of him in the last temple. How could either of them even know what danger they faced this time? Scribbler's surprise with Orion was now at the forefront of his mind. He, of all ponies, should know what kind of power they were up against. Why would he shrug it off so lightly? Were they in less danger than he'd thought? Scribbler glanced briefly to Mirror, looking to see what her emotion towards this might be, then back to Denarius. "Forgive me, my purpose is not to dispel any fun you're trying to have.. I just know what danger we could be in for. I didn't come along expecting this journey to be fun, I came because I knew the task we set out to do was important enough to risk everything for. I don't take it lightly, but be my guest if you wish to." He said with a slight chuckle.

[SilverHeart 741]

(OOC : I'll try to post for Autumn and Silver before work tomorrow. Also is Willow still sleeping against a tree?)

 

Mirror Image

 

Mirror Image looked at Orion, unsure of whether or not his last statement to Denarius was a joke. Ultimately it probably didn't matter. Still the new stallion was annoying her. He just seemed so...arrogant. There would be time to think of her "companions later. For now, worrying about whether or not they'd find the tomb seemed more important.

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@, @,@@Windbreaker,

 

 

Blasted Nova

"Well, I guess this just means another thing for Bradic to look at and examine..." Blast said with a small sigh, taking himself back upstairs. He had enough craziness for one day. He just wanted some stir-fry so he could warm up. "Yo, Aegis, serve me up some of that, please!" Blast requested to the author.

[Nomadic 210]

@@Midnight Scribbler, @@SilverHeart, @, @, @

 

Denarius' eyes flashed a look contentment with Orion's surprising agreement to his words. Though his words didn't seem to please Scribbler at all. It really didn't matter what the others thought as they appeared to merely follow on the coattails of Orion. While he would prefer to not be in direct contention with anypony here, but if he couldn't get the others to accept him, he could simply get Orion to accept him instead.

 

With a slow gait, he approached Scribbler. Denarius' demeanour still had a ring of openess from Scribbler's earlier comment. "Do you think I refuse to not enjoy a situation even despite the dangers it might bring. Something usually must be ready to be sacrificed to accomplish anything. If I gamble I'm willing to lose my bits for potential greater gains. I'm well aware of the consequences, yet I can still find excitement within its unknown outcome. I think you presume that I don't, or can't, grasp any of the danger or consequences currently in front of me. Shocking, but I'm not simply an insane pony seeking enjoyment".

[EcstaticWind 572]

Aegis Dare

@@Midnight Scribbler, @,

 

“No worries. Gotta give before you receive. One of the many things my dad taught me. “ He said to Clockwork as he served up stir-fry for Blast and the others. “I think I made enough for everypony. Still, at least we can take the leftovers with us, right? Anypony who’s hungry, come and get your food.”

 

“Is Pavi ok?” He asked nopony in particular, instead allowing anypony to answer.

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@@Windbreaker, 

 

Blasted Nova

"Don't worry about it, Aegis. Pavs will be fine." Blast commented, digging right into the stir-fry. "She's being worked on by Icarus and Crimson. They know she's doing with her... or, at least I think." Blast was just happy to be eating something warm, inside of a warm, large shelter. He still pondered about what the papers meant. Were they referring to the shack or somewhere else? It couldn't be the shack. It looked pretty well-organized and kept to him.

 

 

@@Midnight Scribbler, @Anypony upstairs

 

White Eclipse

The middle aged stallion just sat in his chair and drank his vodka, while maybe taking a bite out of the stir-fry here and there. It's not that he didn't want food. He just had a lot on his mind at the moment. Before he took another slug of the drink, a few sparks of magic came from his horn, and it wasn't under his control. 

 

"What the-" Before he could finish his sentence, a telekinetic beam came out of his horn that seemed rather similar to the one earlier. The beam then shot to the ceiling and broke a small dent into it. "Well... that's new."

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Kingfisher.

 

 

I'll get posts for Orion and Canterlot up as soon as I can motivate myself folks - bear with me here please!

 

Oh, and I know it's 'Arabic' and not 'Arabian'... but this isn't the real world so I'm taking some artistic licence.

 

 

@,

@@Commander Tangent,

@,

 

"Could be, I guess..." Kingfisher mused - raising a hoof to her muzzle as she glanced back towards Pavisa and the doctor with more concern that she would care to admit, before looking back at the papers. "I just wish we had more to go on: I can read Equestria and Arabian... I think there's even some Archaic too but I only know a few words..." She shook her head. "I'm most concerned about this."

 

Tapping her hoof on the scraps of paper, she twisted her face in thought.

 

"This place is... well it's pretty pristine. More than we could have hoped to find out here - so what's all this about it being ruined? It just doesn't make sense..."

 

"Ruined... Rotten... Quite a state... that doesn't say 'well preserved' to me - so what happened? Did they rebuild the place or something? Don't see any tools or anything."

[Midnight Scribbler 1,705]

Midnight Scribbler

@@Nomadic,

@@SilverHeart,

@,

@,

@,

 

Scribbler's brow raised at this response. He was still caught in frustration by the loss of his argument, but was now reconsidering Denarius. "Perhaps you're not as careless as I had thought." He mused, looking to Denarius as a smile crept up the side of his mouth. "It seems I have underestimated you Denarius.. Perhaps you will be a valuable asset to our group. My apologies for being a damper on your enjoyment. I merely have a more careful approach to things myself. I don't like to take chances when I have the option not to. Given this situation though, your background could prove useful." He still didn't trust this pony, not by a long shot. But he was beginning to get a feel for his character now. He continued walking along next to Mirror. Looking back to her, he began to get the vibe that she didn't particularly like this newcomer. He couldn't blame her in the slightest, nor was he about to defend him in that regard, at least not yet. For now, his priority was to see that his companions were safe, the ones who he'd already known for some time. Scribbler smiled at Mirror, and quietly spoke, so nopony else would hear him. "Don't worry, it'll take more than that to gain my trust. I can tell you don't like him, and I'm inclined to agree, he isn't the type of pony I would normally hang around with. Best not to trust a gambler.. But we'll see. He may be trustworthy yet. Not all ponies are the same."

-------------------------------------------------------

 

Clockwork Green

@@Commander Tangent,

@@Windbreaker,

@,

@,

@@Icy Void,

 

Clockwork wandered with his bowl over to where Eclipse was, and sat down across from him. He set down his bowl and began to eat ravenously. Food was more than good, despite Aegis' superb cooking, he could have eaten half of a heavily bruised apple and it would have been heaven. His eyes shot to Eclipse as he suddenly fired a spell into the ceiling, he ducked for cover, not certain if he was under attack or weather it was merely an accident. Either way, he was fast to get out of the way. "Great Luna! what are you doing?? Are you mad?" He got back up, realizing it hadn't been intentional. His eyes narrowed, looking at the residual magic around the unicorn's horn. "Would you allow me to take a reading on your magical power, Eclipse?" He reached into his pack, pulling out the wired cone he'd used on Icarus before. "I believe we might be in more trouble than I had anticipated." He looked at his battery gauge, his eyes widening. All of the cells were dead. "th.. This can't be!.. What could do thi.. How??" He looked back to Eclipse, worried. "Here, place this on your horn. I must know what sort of power we're dealing with here. I can perhaps sample that spell, and test it's properties." In all the commotion, he had yet to notice the most prevalent change. Pavisa's new horn.

[Tricksters Pride 100]

Strings

@@Windbreaker, 

 

The guards follow Noble when he accompanies Strings, just far enough away to give him his privacy but close enough to rush to his aid should he need them.

 

Strings contemplates your words for a moment before responding, and when he does he sounds fairly understanding but firm in his decision. "Oh i am quite aware that you are better with funds than i am and i plan to give you the finished paperwork to ensure that we get our bits out of it... But i'm sure you understand that i cannot allow myself to place undue stress on my employer, that would be very bad form wouldn't you agree?"

[SilverHeart 741]

@@Midnight Scribbler, 

 

Mirror did her best to visibly shrug. "It's not that I don't find him trustworthy....I just don't like him. I don't know him enough to say whether or not he's worth welcoming. I've listened to him talk enough to know that I don't care for what I've seen." Mirror said quietly. Doing her best to not focus on her stomach, whether it was from the water or hunger, it was beginning to hurt.

[Commander Tangent 861]

@Lhee,

 

After washing the blood off of the horn he got out a swab of disinfectant.

 

"Now this is going to sting, and I need you to hold as still as possible" Icarus said as he applied the pad to the base of the horn and began to swab the area well. He knew it would hurt so he tried to be quick about it.

[EcstaticWind 572]

Noble Persona & Gwyn

@@Tricksters Pride, 

 

‘He’s good. His way of thinking is quite similar to my own.’ Noble had to agree. After all, he was worried about what exactly the Litany could do to him and how he could protect Gwyn from the nastier effects. Most of all, he wanted to make sure that Gwyn wouldn’t disappear if he ever gave up the Litany. “Very true. And I have to bring my power under control before it gets the better of me.”

 

Gwyn trotted up beside Strings and stared closely at his face, her movements hinting at her original wolf-like nature. “I like your eyes. They’re really pretty.” She said innocently.

 

 

Aegis Dare

@@Midnight Scribbler, @,

 

“What happened? Is everypony ok?” He called as he entered the area where the others were. It didn’t look like anypony was hurt, but in a time like this, it didn’t hurt to exercise caution. Given how often things had decided that they wanted to remove this little group from existence, could anypony blame them for being a little paranoid?

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

@@Windbreaker,@@Midnight Scribbler,  

 

Blasted Nova

Blast used whatever quickness he had to duck for cover just before the beam went through his hairline.

"What in the world?" It's all the stallion could say when Aegis walked into the room. "Whoa. Eclipse, are you going to be fine?"

 

White Eclipse

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I will. I'll just let Clockwork run a few tests on me and then I should be fine." Eclipse responded to his younger friend, not even giving a nod of reassurance. He strapped the cone-like object onto his horn the moment the inventor told him to do so. "How exactly will this run a test, Clockwork?"

[Umbreon 569]

Pavisa

 

@@Commander Tangent,

 

The ex-guardsmare winces slightly as Icarus touches the disinfectant to her horn, though that was about the extent of her reaction.  Compared to the pain of the horn erupting out of her head the way it had, the cleaning wasn't too bad.  Trying to distract herself from the cleaning process, she glances out of the corner of her eye to a mirror hanging on the wall in order to look at her horn now that the blood was gone.

 

"...Whady'a think, Doc?  It doesn't look like any of my family's..."  That much was true enough - for the most part it appeared to be a standard unicorn's horn, but the way it caught the light reminded her of the way sunlight would reflect off of a suit of armour.  She was still concerned about everything that had happened...  Though the fact that she hadn't shot off a spell by accident yet was helping her calm down a little bit.