A Daager To The Heart
Bog!
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Jynn bounded into the sea full of excitement. She was excited to see the island and also to have a traveling partner with her. She set out at her steady pace, grateful that the ocean was fairly calm. The teal waters rolled gently and as she got closer to the island she could see pale aqua waves lapping at the deep goldenbrown sands. Jynn had been expecting a beach but not the strange structures that stood on it. To her left was a square stone pool housing deep blue waters and a slight structure over it for shade.
Directly in front of her however was a rusty metallic building. Four large windows, two of which were badly broken, seemed to stretch the height of the building. A busted railing ran across it and the whole thing was overgrown with green shrubs, vines and trees. She pulled herself onto the shore, shaking the excess water from her coat as she peered at the slate sky that was slowly beginning to cloud over. They should still have plenty of time to explore this island. "Well, I can't say I was expecting this. But that's one of the fun parts of exploring I guess. "
As it turned out, Bog was not the strongest swimmer. He didn't have to be, the water in the mangrove wasn't all that deep, nor the current especially strong. Half the time he could let the water carry him wherever he needed to go, and occasionally bump into some roots along the way. Lazy days sometimes involved loosely tucking his legs into his belly and letting the air in his coat keep him buoyant while he followed the mangrove's meandering course. Paddling through the rich blue waters of the eastern sea, on the other hand, took a great deal of effort. Thankfully his broad paws made easy work of cutting through the water in clean strokes, and the endurance built up from nearly a year of hunting and roaming on a daily basis was enough to keep him going. Jynn, to her credit, was flying through the water at what appeared to be a leisurely pace for her. Perhaps he should make himself some stilts to keep up with her. As the pair emerged from the surf, it became apparent that this was a much stranger place than their last two spots. A pool of crystalline water, algae and moss accumulating around the edges, sat with only the stone walls above the lapping waves. Plodding closer to peer into the depths, he noticed a few small fish had become trapped inside- probably during high tide. Was that a starfish down at the bottom? He found himself drawn into identifying the life that had begun to take over the pool, until Jynn spoke up. "Well, I can't say I was expecting this. But that's one of the fun parts of exploring I guess." she announced, which he bobbed his head in agreement with. He peeled himself away from his investigation to join her on the beach, toes sinking into the blissfully warm sand. "I gotta say, this is the weirdest place I've ever been. " he replied, frowning at the strange stone and glass structure looming at the edge of the beach. The windows had certainly seen better days, wherever the glass still remained was littered with bird shit and sand. He could vaguely make out the shapes of whatever was inside, but it was anyone's guess what it looked like in there. "Where d'ya think this stuff came from?" he asked, gazing up at the tall fae. He hadn't bothered to shake the water out of his coat, it was thin enough that most of it slaked right off as soon as he was free of the waves. |
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Jynn padded carefully over to the glass structure, taking care not to step on an broken pieces on the ground. She glanced back at Bog. "I think it's human stuff. There's a bunch of it on the Forgotten Isle in Auster to." She slipped around to the side and found a set of concrete stairs that wend down into the structure. She gazed down into the depths for a moment before she started down the path, her nails clicking as she went.
When she reached the bottom there was more broken glass, chunks of ceiling and various other pieces of junk. It looked like the place had flooded at one point, possibly multiple times. "Boy, what a wreck. Though I wonder how they made these walls and stuff."
Broad paws traipsed carefully along after his larger companion, sidestepping smaller shards of glass and carefully placing his paws on the larger, flat ones that were less likely to cut him. "I think it's human stuff. There's a bunch of it on the Forgotten Isle in Auster to." Jynn offered as she skirted the outside of the structure on nimble paws. Casting verdant eyes upon his surroundings, the swamp dweller supposed that was as good an explanation as any. The mud hued healer peered through the gap between her long legs when they reached the top of a stairwell, squinting into the awaiting darkness. "I've never been there before, might have to go take a look at some point." he drawled quietly, uneasy at the prospect of wandering down into the unknown darkness. However, he'd come to trust Jynn enough that if she went, he would follow. She'd mentioned her skills in combat, so he hoped he would be safe from any potential threats that might be lurking down there. Two sets of claws clicking against the stone stairs as they descended into the dimly lit basement, only to be met with the sounds of cavern ambiance. A subtle drip from somewhere within, and echoes from every movement. Surveying the ground, it seemed to be littered with more broken glass and fallen stones. Looking up, the stones seemed to have come from the ceiling. Was it safe down here? He hoped so. "Boy, what a wreck. Though I wonder how they made these walls and stuff." the russet fae mused aloud. With a heavy shrug, Bog took a few steps deeper into the basement. A strange not-leaf crinkled under his paw in a very non-leaf-y manner, and the poor healer found himself vaulting straight up in a panic. A yelp of concern escaped his maw, and he landed with a soft oof on his paws a half foot away. Hackles bristling, he dropped his head between his shoulders and cautiously crept closer. Whatever it was, it was slightly reflective, but moved like a leaf or a sheet of paper. Nostrils flaring, he pulled in a few deep breaths as he tried to catch a scent from the strange non-leaf to determine its origin. All he could detect was damp stone and dust. "Great Tree, what the fuck is this? I just about pissed myself- damnit." he muttered in Fennish, scowling at the strange piece of litter that had offended him. It used to be a bag of chips, but he had no way of knowing this. |
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Jynn danced to the side as a crab scuttled away over a small dune of sand that had blown into the structure over the years. In some ways she was surprised a hurricane or something hadn't decimated the structure completely. She nodded as Bog spoke. "Yea, its a pretty interesting place to hunt for unique items." There were several places like that if one could get over the eeriness of seeing such unnatural structures.
Jynn jumped straight into the air when Bog yelped. Her fur stood straight on end as she whirled to face him. "What?! Are you ok?" He muttered something in a foreign language and she padded carefully forward, eyeing the strange thing he'd stepped on. "Is it alive?"
In hindsight, scaring the shit out of his new travel companion might have been a bad idea. He dared not take his eyes off the strange non-leaf and its weird reflective surface, though the image of Jynn fluffed up in a panic would likely have stirred him to a fit of giggles. "What?! Are you ok?" she asked warily, joining him in creeping up on the strange litter on the floor. He hesitated in his response, for some reason. Was he okay? He lifted his paw to see if the pad was being eaten away by mysterious acid, or had been cut by something on the non-leaf. Nope, his paw was okay, and he had only strained his joints a bit with the awkward landing. He bobbed his head mutely. "Is it alive?" she asked next, drawing up alongside him to scrutinize the odd non-leaf. "Uhhh.." he began, but the stirring from his breath in close proximity sent the odd litter aflutter on the ground, though it didn't move away from them. He stilled, hackles rising and tail nub twitching anxiously. He huffed a short breath out, and it rustled again without skittering away. "I think it's a weird leaf. It looks like metal, but it isn't." he whispered, glancing over at Jynn. She was a warrior, maybe she knew something about crinkly metal leaves that he didn't. Perhaps it was a piece of some old human armour that he was unfamiliar with. |
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Jynn bent down and sniffed it, her nose wrinkling. It didn't smell like anything organic that she could name but Bog was right it didn't quite smell like metal either. She reached out a paw and poked at it, jumping a little at the crinkling sound. "Hmmm… maybe. Wonder why it hasn't decayed like the other leaves, and I don't see what tree it could've fallen from." She glanced about the strange cave but there wasn't much she could conclude. "I think I'm ready to go back out into the sun, what about you?" She wasn't sure how deep into this cave she wanted to go.
There was somethin reassuring about the seasoned warrior he'd befriended being equally unnerved by the strange crinkly leaf. Surely he wasn't being a drama queen then. He glanced her way when she offered up a response to his question. "Hmmm… maybe. Wonder why it hasn't decayed like the other leaves, and I don't see what tree it could've fallen from." she said, and glanced around warily. The anxiety that had been building under his skin was like an itch that he couldn't reach, and he frowned up at Jynn. "I think I'm ready to go back out into the sun, what about you?" she asked, and that was all Bog needed to begin making his way back towards the light that flowed in from the stairwell. This time around, he was far more careful about where he put his paws, emerald eyes scanning the stone floor in search of more strange metal leaves. "Yeah, let's go." he concurred with a decisive nod, and set about picking his way up the concrete stairs. "Where did ya wanna go next?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder to make sure she was still following. -exit- |