2018.08.16: The Owl's Test
| The Owl's Test | |
|---|---|
| First a baby deer, now an owl gives Lleu a riddle and presents a daunting challenge. | |
| IC Date | Thursday, August 16th |
| IC Time | 18:29:12 2018, PDT. |
| Players | Lleutrim, Nascha |
| Location | Deep Forest, Nascha's Great Tree |
| Spheres | Shifter, Mortal+ |
--- Continued from: The Fawn's Test ---
Lleutrim removes his arm from Nascha when she leans back and he nods, "I'm not too hungry. Shook me up some, but otherwise it didn't seem like we were gone long." He pushes himself up to his feet and puts out a hand to help Nascha up. "Any water up here to have a drink before we go? I think I was told to be cautious of things like water in the umbra."
Oh yeah, button missing from his jeans. Lleu takes a second to pull his zipper back up.
Nascha nods, taking a breath and his hand to allow herself to be pulled up to her feet. "I'll get us some water." She slips down from the observation deck and is back in a moment or two, carrying a flask on a cord in her teeth. She hands it over and gives him a little smile. She also pulled her hair back from her face with a simple little string which will probably disappear the moment they cross over, but right now, it's back, smooth and slick. "Drink it all. I've had some. I also have talens to take with us, but you'll have to carry them. I won't be able to." Because there are no convenient pockets when you're naked.
"Talens?" Lleutrim accepts the water flask, "Is that what you showed me before? Those small things you said spirits had been bound to for one use?" he uncaps the flask and if it is indeed good, clean water, he'll drink it all. "Thanks." The flask they can leave behind, "I have pockets." In his jeans so she can stuff'm right in there. Meanwhile, Donnachaidh cranes his head around to look and see what sort of spirits he might glimpse up here tonight - or any more bridges.
Nascha nods. "Yes, those are talens. One time magic use items that I've acquired over the years here." The water is just about as fresh and honest as one can get. It's like drinking from a clear stream. She takes the things and carefully tucks them into his pockets, roughly dividing them half and half, but doesn't fix his slipping zipper. He can do that.
It looks pretty normal up here tonight. He's probably been up here a time or two, and it looks just about like it did before, but... an owl comes to roost on the ledge of the lookout. Nascha immediately stops what she's doing and turns, dipping her head politely to the owl, who seems to have no fear of Lleutrim at all. "Great Owl. Have you wisdom for us?"
It's kind of nice to have Nascha sticking things into his snug jean pockets. Lleu grins and she should totally poke him in the ribs for being a bastard. Faith would! He's about to say something when the owl arrives. The empty flask is capped and set down. Donnachaidh glances to Nascha, then back to the owl, which no doubt is a handsome and possibly regal bird. Depending on what kind of owl - some of them are goofy.
It's just an old barn owl. Nothing fancy. Nascha doesn't poke Lleutrim in the ribs, but she does LOOK at him. Tsk tsk. Then she turns back to the owl. The owl flutters wings and makes a rustling sound. From out of the dense feathers, a little token drops. Nascha glances at it then at Lleutrim and she leans down to pick it up, handing it over.
Inscribed upon it is the following:
Give me food and I will live
Give me Water and I will die.
What am I?
Lleu stands there admiring and studying the owl. Until the token falls from it. He watches Nascha pick it up and when it's handed to him, he turns it over in his fingers. "Could be a couple of different answers to that riddle, but I assume the answer you want is 'Fire'?"
The moment that the word is spoken, there is that falling sensation again as they are shoved into the Umbra! They haven't moved, but suddenly, everything is on fire, all around them! Nascha gasps and scoots a little closer, away from the flames, then looks to Lleutrim to see what the fuck he plans to do.
And here they go again! Falling! "Oh shit!" There's nothing around them he can grab to try and shelter Nascha and all her thick long hair from being burned. Lleu rips off his T-shirt and drapes it over her head like a shawl, "Keep your hair and as much of your face covered as you can!" He is surely going to regret this, but he grabs her to try and shelter Nascha from the fire as he begins to push her to descend, "We need to get down /inside/ the tree. Head downwards! The fire and the smoke will climb!"
As fast as he can, Donnachaidh starts to climb down, reaching up to help Nascha if she needs a hand. And if they have to pass where the flames are close? He's got to grit his teeth and try to move with her or block the heat from the flames with his own body until she can drop down past. The heat and the smoke will quickly make their eyes burn and sting from the smoke! Burning leaves pieces are flying through the air as the heated air rises, pulling the inferno with it.
The biggest risk is if the entire area is afire, it may eat up all of their air!
Nascha lifts the corner of the shirt up over her face and she tucks herself close, turning around in a quick little circle, bumping and jostling ever so slightly. She nods and starts to head down, letting him take the lead. There IS fire down here, but it's just licking at things around the edges. She hurries down, more sliding along the rungs than climbing, but letting him go first. This forces her to let go of the shirt around her face and by the time they reach the ground, they're both coughing and choking. Nascha's little knitting area is up in flames and she makes a noise, but that might be just a cough. And indeed, there are burning leaves and curling wood and it's VERY hot
"I can't keep this fire from feeding and we haven't water!" Lleu coughs, "Do you know of water close by, here in the umbra? Or where we can get down under the earth? A cellar?" The fire could rob such a place of air too but it's their best chance. Oh God, a cellar though might be a /tiny/ enclosed space. Shit. "Come on, root cellar?!"
"Yes, Rocky's..." She starts to cough and pulls away from Lleutrim's side to tug on a trap door. It pops open and there is a gust of cool, slightly dank air, like from an old basement. "Down here." She holds the door open, even as the heat starts to become nearly unbearable with the new source of oxygen
Lleutrim waits for Nascha to go down first and he coughs, "We are probably going to aphixiate down here! So if you have a better idea now's the time to hear it!" He swings over and starts to drop down after her, tears streaming from his eyes and his face sooty. "I'm start'n to dislike fuck'n spirits! Assholes." Soon as his boots hit bottom, Lleu tries to wipe his face and steps back to clear away from anything that might fall down into the cave. "I don't suppose there's a way out of here besides back up through the tree?"
Nascha shaeks her head, pointing up toward the ceiling. "No, air comes through here. It's like a panic room almost," she says, sucking in deep, gasping breaths of air and falling to her knees in a corner to cough the shit out. "The spirits are ..... brutal tonight." Her hair is singed around the edges, making it frizz a little bit, but otherwise, it's still fine. "Remember, Lleutrim. This is a test and you're a Garou. This IS real, but it's just a test."
"Yeah, hell of a test ... and I ... have no idea what I'm supposed to do!" Fuck him, he's /underground/ in a smallish cave. Lleu starts to pace around. They might be stuck down here for hours, or even days, trapped! Damn, he doesn't need to be thinking about /that/. Donnachaidh breathes roughly, both from their rush to climb down, to protect Nascha, and now because he's stuck in his cellar space. He sweats and he paces and the longer the minutes drag by, the more he's realizing ... he's made a mistake. Lleu looks around, agitated. He tips his head to look up at the roots of the tree above them, and the trap door they came down through. "Shit, shit, shit."
Nascha sits quietly, trying to regain her breath. There is the odor of smoke, but the air is clean and pure.. and quite possibly fueling the fire. "Rocky," she murmurs, and the big stone man appears. "YOu have to help us." She motions to Lleutrim. "TEll him what you want him to do." This is HIS test.
Lleutrim was about to ask where Rocky was and there he is! "I ... I can't stay down here. Sooner or later I'm going to loose it. I don't know if Rocky can keep me off of you. It's safer for you if ..." He looks back up that trap door, "If I go up and take my chances. Then you'd be safe down here, without me to hurt you, Nascha." Lleu puts a hand to the ladder and grimaces. His odds are seriously not good up there.
"There's nothing up there but failure," she says, reasonable and calm. "There is a solution. YOu have to find it." Rocky positions himself pretty solidly between the two of them. "Tell Rocky what you want him to do. He is an elemental. Of the Earth. You have to figure out what that means in this situation."
Donnachaidh's programmed that way, to do whatever it takes to keep others safe. Even if it means his own life.
But maybe it's not come to that. Lleu sucks a few breathes, trying to think. "Rocky, can you dig through the earth? Can you safely make a tunnel?" The ladder is left and Lleu shifts into Hispo form. It'll be harder for him to communicate but in this form he can help dig - and Nascha can climb onto his back or Rocky's if they need to move fast.
It would appear that he can. Nascha gets the hint pretty quickly and kicks a leg over Lleutrim's hispo form and grabs a double handful of fur, leaning over to make a smaller profile. Rocky looks to Nascha for direction. "Follow his command, Rocky," she says. Rocky moves forward and touches a wall and rather than dig, it just opens before him and he walks forward, the walls of dirt parting as he comes close, leaving a tunnel behind them
Oh boy! And here Lleu thought there'd be digging and a mess of earth to move. The large direwolf stands still except to turn his head when Nascha comes to climb onto his back, his tail held out thick and bushy. Cautiously he starts to move forward, following Rocky as the tunnel begins to open up.
Rocky just keeps going, never seeming to tire, or pause. "He'll just keep going in a straight line forever if you don't guide him. And the problem still exists. There's a fire." Her voice comes soft against his big fuzzy ear. It's dark, but not totally dark, with little bits of things here and there that seem to reflect off whatever small bit of light there might be. Then, suddenly, Rocky stops and brings his hands together, then spreads them open and there in front of them is a much larger cave, complete with stalagtites, dripping water, and the smell of lime
How in the heck can Lleu guide Rocky under the ground when he doesn't even know which direction they are headed? Their tunnel suddenly opens up into a larger cave. The direwolf pushes on ahead of Rocky. He stops and raises his head to scent the air. Is it the caves of the Caern? Lleu lowers his head and starts smelling around the floor of the cave.
As he moves, the wolf rumbles, << Rocky bring up water? >>
Doesn't smell like the caern. There are no familiar, or even unfamiliar wolf smells anywhere, really. Just earthy, wet smells. Not that it's lifeless, by any means - just no WOLVES. There are small creatures here, creatures of the water. Fresh water. "No," Nascha replies in English, apparently understanding what it is Lleutrim is saying. "No water. Only earth." She's still leaned over him, still hanging on tight. If they need to move, she won't have to take the time to remount. "What about suffocating the fire with dirt? Or mud? Or rock?"
Lleu-wolf stops and tries to look at Nascha, << Over trees? >> That doesn't sound doable to /him/ and wouldn't save her home. << Mud against forest fire? >>
"No," Nascha says, squirming briefly to reposition herself. "Rocky, can you bring the tree into the ground and close off the air?" Rocky just stands there, but slowly turns back to head the other way, but then pauses. ~~Yes~~ No hesitation. "Should we follow?"
The direwolf turns around to watch Rocky moving, << Bring tree down into earth? We need stay back, give room? >> No, Lleu doesn't understand what Nascha is saying. Unfortunately, Lleu may be way out of his league with this problem.
The fire rages on in the forest up above them. Lleu finds it a little difficult to communicate any complicated ideas in hispo so he sits down to make Nascha slide off and even before she does, his form shifts back into that of a man. "Your tree ... has a living spirit. We have got to quench the fires ... in case this is real enough it might destroy your tree, and who knows how much of the forest if it's allowed to spread. Test or no test, we can't risk it. We have to stop it." He's partly turned and pushes himself to his feet, "Rocky can make tunnels. California is a dry land, but there are aquifirs in the earth, underground water. One option is, we can go back under the tree and he could tunnel /downwards/ until he can strike water. Then, if it's something within his ability to do, could he /squeeze/ the earth to apply pressure? Make the water geyser up through the hollow treee and out to rain down on the forest? Do you think that could work?"
As he speaks, Donnachaidh paces, trying to think. "If not, maybe ... there are water spirits I can try to talk to. To make a deal. They help us by putting out the fire and then ... I have to pay them back somehow, don't I? Or would have to give them something first?"
Nascha slides off of course, and hangs back, her hair dirty from going through all the dirt. With Lleutrim's suggestions, she brightens visibly and nods. "We could try that. Rocky, let's go back to the tree. It isn't far, I don't think. And then can yo--" Rocky turns to lead the way back the half mile or so. Some smoke has managed to penetrate the lower reaches, but so far it isn't too bad. Nascha starts to look worried and reaches out to hook her fingers into Lleutrim's forearm. She KNOWS this is a test, but that doesn't stop the worry for her tree. Rocky finally stops and pushes both of them back a little bit as the land in front of them opens up like a sink hole
Lleutrim starts to follow along, then grabs Nascha's shoulder. "Maybe you and I better get way back into the caves. Water's going to be gushing and ... I'm not sure how we'll get out. That, or maybe we should climb back up as far as we can and when we hear and feel the water coming, we made a run for it to try and get out of the tree up there?"
Oh dear god, she didn't even think of that. Nascha goes a little pale and she nods. "Your call. I can make us a little bubble of air to get us out, I think. But that's assuming that the whole forest isn't on fire. All of my spirits are up th---" She makes a shrill little whistling coo sound, blinking. "Maybe we can fly out."
"Think fast. Can we fly out or not? Rocky's tunneling." Lleu grabs Nascha's hand and starts to run forward towards the smoke and the ladder up. When he gets there he starts up ahead of her, "Cover your hair - tie my shirt or whatever so your hands'll be free!" There's no telling how long it'll take for the water to start gushing up.
Nascha nods. "If the owl will meet us." She makes that same sound, moving when Lleutrim pulls her. She pauses at the bottom of the stairs and ties the shirt over her hair and then starts up behind him. As they reach the top, there is that same old owl, looking.. how can an owl look smug. It manages to do it, though. AS they hurry out, Nascha gropes out for Lleutrim's hand, because there's a LOT of smoke and then Nascha sprouts a pair of huge, dark raven's wings and Lleutrim gets.. okay, the owl is an asshole, okay? They're fairy wings, because he's a fucking Fianna.
Lleutrim's heart is beating a bit hard as he climbs up, and then coughs in the acrid smoke. Man, he doesn't even see the owl because they have to rush and beat the water that's about to come! Nascha's beautiful wings open up, black as her hair and she's grabbed his hand. Thinking she's going to grab him like Iris grabbed Faith and lift him up, Donnachaidh clamps his other hand on her arm to try and hold on - only fuck him! Something weird happens at his back too! He turns his head in the smokey root chamber, the wind and the fire roaring above them and he sees /fairy/ wings, "Oh come on! I'm not a fuck'n fairy! Jesus!"
The damn Jarhead can rant about it once they are in the air! First they need to get their asses OUT. He can climb, but fly?
Nascha will laugh LATER. When she can breathe. Rather than waste any time or oxygen on it, she holds on tight to Lleutrim's hand and flaps those wings just once. "Go up. Straight up, above the fire, then I'll lead from there." She lets him take the lead on movement, to make sure that he is even going to be able to do this. She sizes him up quickly. She could PROBABLY hold onto him if she needed to carry him up.. but not for long.
OK, here goes! Lleu holds tight to Nascha and looking up through the thick smoke. Stupid fairy wings at least can beat like hummingbird wings so he suddenly shoots upwards! Zzzzip! "GO ROCKY GO!" But not too fast because he's got to navigate out without cracking his head when he can't see through the smoke well!
Coughing, Lleu can feel the heat and it takes a few seconds but he and Nascha find the way out from under the tree. The heat is INTENSE, terrible burning! Flames everywhere! Lleu can't hardly see for the smoke and eyes watering and the incredible heat. He doesn't even try to breathe, just fly straight up! Up and up!
Gaia's tits! It's like tear gas in Boot camp! Unbearable, with the added pain of his own skin and hair getting burned. Up he flies as fast as he can!
And just when it's absolutely unbearable, as they're still surging upward, there is a brief, but intense pocket of fresh air and the smoke and flames billow off to the side around it. It's coming up shortly. "Breathable.." she coughs, aiming for that, subtly steering them in that direction, but still letting him lead.
As soon as he's able, Lleu sucks in a breath. His eyes sting so much he can't see, but he keeps flying up and up until Nascha says otherwise. Or until he can /see/ anything, clear of the fire and smoke.
There is enough time for a full breath before they zip through the area of breathable air. Nascha is losing steam and flags behind just a little bit, but she's still pushing herself upward. Up, up, up. That's the hard part. With those wings, climbing is hard. Gliding is an option later on, but not for this.
And there are stars up above.. almost there..
Lleu can feel Nascha starting to lag so he slows his wing beats long enough to adjust his grip more firmly on her, "Come on!" He gasps, "Almost out!" Smoke burns his lungs, searing and he coughs, struggling for breath. Those damn fairy ass wings just keep beating hard as he can push them. They get clear of the smoke and they can look down and see the fire below, glowing omenous in the night landscape.
Nascha wraps her arms around him, just holding on for now, though still pumping her wings so as not to be total dead weight. FInally, there is air and there is a rumbling beneath them that offsets the sounds of the crackling roaring fire. Water is on its way, for sure.
He's got hold of her, and she's got hold of him. Lleu's breathing hard, trying to get clean air and soon he'll tire also. Not yet! His eyes rimmed with soot and ash, gritty and sore Lleu aims for a space away from the fire. A controlled descent.
Finally branches brush them, leaves, and moments later their feet touch the earth. They made it but know nothing of her tree, the fire, of Rocky.
Finally, they land and Nascha untwines herself from Lleutrim, all but collapsing to the ground, coughing, drawing it huge gasps of air. There is an eruption over THERE, back where they came from and it doesn't take long for the water to surge up through the tree, higher even, and then come back down, even where they are, soaking them, even under the shelter of a tree. Nascha tucks her wings, which are still there, over her head and half-rolls to the side, creating a sort of makeshift shelter that still leaks, but can keep them mostly dry.
Lleutrim wants the water and welcomes it. It may also have clods of earth, twigs, leaves, rocks, all manner of debris. He puts out his hands to catch some of it and washes his face, trying to get the awful sting out of his eyes. "Bless you, Rocky. Good job!" Lleu lies back against the ground coughs and coughs until he feels like he's going to spit up chunks of lung. Then he lies there, sucking air.
After a minute or two he says, "Is it over? Can we go home now?" Lleu puts an arm up over his face to shield his eyes. Watch. Now they'll probably have to get up and run for their lives for some reason or another, just because some spirit thinks it's funny!
Probably! But not tonight. The 'rain' stops and the wings disappear and the horrible smell of smoke fades and the earth is dry and Nascha still has his shirt over her head, but now she's sound asleep. She's just plum tuckered out. Rocky wanders up, bland and stony as ever and plops down to wait for Nascha to wake up
You know what? That's just fine. Lleu doesn't get up. He'll just lie there too without a shirt on and play dead for a while and rest. They'll probably be covered in chiggers by morning. Damn owl.
