Sand and Oranges: Childhood

"...e great!" "...swim?" "...there! ...column...ankles wet....crawling..." "...island..." "...safe!"

Snippets of conversation drifted up to the bluff where Idir crouched, intent on the group on the beach below. He was debating the wisdom of approaching them when Konul took the decision out of his hands. "Konul, w...damn it," Idir hissed before lightly hopping down, following his companion, and landing on the damp sand in a crouch. The only sounds he made were the 'kff' of his feet and hands hitting the sand and the rattling of his makeshift wooden armor, easily mistaken for the knocking of driftwood - something the beaches had in abundance.

The cougar had jumped down to the sand without warning, dashing towards the adventurous group. She deftly threaded her way past the majority of the group, brushing quietly past Ni'ifel and Sige, to come to a stop beside Astrid. The large cat sniffed at her new acquaintance for a moment before rubbing her cheek on Astrid's thigh. Then she turned to look at Idir, made a loud 'Chrrr' of approval, and went back to greeting Astrid.

Idir, his approach more-or-less mandated by his companion, padded softly over to the group, the soft 'kff...kff...kff' of his footsteps buried under the sounds of the surf. When Konul voiced her approval, he dipped his head in a gesture of greeting.

"Hello," he said in slightly clumsy Common, tinged with a thick accent that bespoke someone far more comfortable with the Catfolk language, "You are going to explore the ruins? Konul has decided that I will join you. I call myself Idir." He paused, uncertain as to how they would take the question he was about to ask. "You are...from the village?" he finally asked, nervously tugging on a dreadlock that had flopped onto his shoulder before realizing what he was doing and flicking it back behind him where it belonged.
 
Astrid half-listened to the discussion of her party members, looking around with a blank stare. The wall carving wasn't what had given her the odd feeling, but it was certainly there, and it was a pretty bad wall carving. She guessed she just didn't understand art. She turned to look at the individual that Sedna was pointing at, shaking her head. "Nah, I could take him. He'd go down like a tree before my axe." As if to prove her point, she swings the axe at the image of the muscular being, axe forcing it's way into the weakened wall... and sticking there. Astrid blinked for a moment, yanking at the axe handle.

A brush at her leg alerted her to a new arrival. She looked down at the cougar with a blink. As the large cat deduced Astrid was not an enemy, Astrid concluded the same, axe coming loose with a mindless surge of power from the young girl as she set it down, bending her knees to look at the animal face to face, petting the cougar with a happy expression, "Aren't you adorable? You're like a four-legged me!" She chuckles, before her ears flick, hearing another voice. Her head tilts past Konul, looking at...

...Another catfolk. Her eyes brightened and she rose, striding over and inspecting the youth, "You're like me." She pressed approvingly at the man's arm, before concluding what muscle that was there acceptible. She nods, tail twitching in a happy manner. "I'm from the village, yes! My father's a fisherman." She flexes her muscles, "I'm going to be a brave warrior, though. My name's Astrid!" She nods, turning back towards the ruins... realizing there stood her adventuring companions. She stared at them blankly for just a moment, before gesturing at them - as if suddenly remembering, "These are my friends!"
 
Ni'ifel almost wasn't going to answer Sige, he had called him what the villagers had dubbed him. They thought he was a curse to the village, the source of any and all misfortune. But that was only half true, and Ni'ifel had only started sneaking around and sabotaging after their dislike became evident to him. Sedna filled the void of his brooding silence until he did speak "There are some ruins but they are buried in earth and moss. I saw no carvings or depictions, I had not been looking for any." Ni'ifel had barely finished talking, when he sensed motion.

He whirled around but what he had detected was low and already moving under his line of sight past him. Jumping aside and turning at the same time he knocked an arrow and pulled the string back. His sight looked down the arrow aligned with what now he saw was a cougar and he continued pulling the string back until he noticed it appeared friendly and that it wasn't alone. There was another person like Astrid who had been sneaking. Ni'ifel watched him in silence, lowering his bow so it was pointed at the ground. Idir, he was called, and Konul was the cougar. He watched as Astrid enthusiastically greeted this new person and seemed to have forgotten the companions she had come here with, until she gestured around to them. "The beast governs your decisions?" was the only greeting Ni'ifel offered.
 
Big cat, big cat and big cat person. He looked bigger than Astrid, maybe because Sige was used to Astrid but.. At least Astrid was next to him it trouble started but what about his cat? He stepped half in front or Sedna and gripped his spear. Maybe this was the man from the carving.. the carving that was breaking? Maybe there was something on the other side of it.. Maybe something bad.

Its was with caution but not suspicion that Sige looked at Idir and Konul. "Yes we're still here." he said to Astrid's absentmindedness. She was looking at this newcomer's muscles and forgetting them? EWWW! "You're not him are you?" Sige said pointing at the carving. "More importantly are you going to tell on us?"
 
Sedna only rolled her eyes at Astrid's reply, though as she glanced away she caught sight of movement from behind the group - from the way they'd just traveled. Even in the darkness of the night, her vision was pristine, a gift from the mother she'd never known. If she'd had ears like Astrid's they would have been flattened in defense the moment she realized the little party had company. Shuffling backwards a few steps, Sedna narrowed her eyes at the big cat, even though it seemed nice enough toward Astrid. And when a new voice reached her ears, she whipped her head in the appropriate direction, hand quickly moving to her side for the dagger.

However, this boy seemed just as docile as the large cat was, even introducing the both of them to the group. Sedna repeated the names quietly to herself to help her remember them. No, it wasn't so that she knew what to call her new friends. Did she even really have friends? Truthfully, it was so that if Idir decided to double-cross them, she would know what to call the first victim of her poison.

Both Vile's and her brother's comments cracked her normal neutral expression into a bit of a smirk. Sure, Idir was a big, strong boy but he wasn't anywhere near the size of that creepy musclehead carving. But the idea of Idir tattling on them was far more realistic. Before the boy had a chance to defend himself, Sedna added, "If you tattle, I'll shove a tindertwig somewhere very uncomfortable for you," with her different colored eyes locked with Idir's. But then she turned away to inspect the wall with the carving. "You broke it, Astrid. What if you just set off some kind of trap?"
 
"I am glad I meet your standards. And you have such welcoming friends," Idir deadpanned to Astrid in the Catfolk tongue, before switching back to common. "What would I gain," he asked Sige and Sedna, "by telling on you? I don't even know who any of you – except Astrid – are, much less who I would tell." He ignored Sige's first question entirely, not having gotten so much as a glimpse of the carving before Astrid embedded an axe in it and therefore having no idea what Sige was talking about.

"We should probably start soon if we want to be out by false-dawn."

Konul, meanwhile, kept rubbing up against Astrid the whole time Idir was talking, and had begun purring loudly.

"Traitor."
 
Astrid's affection towards Konul was interrupted by the new catfolk speaking in... well, catfolk. She turned up to him, her broken words responding: "Maybe get stronger sometime. Like big cat." She gestures towards the mountain lion, before rising to stand. She flexes her muscles at the newcomer for a moment, before turning. She lacked her friend's distrust in the man - a good thing, because Astrid normally took swings at things she distrusted. Such was the fate of a young boy in town who tricked her out of a spear she had crafted. When Astrid had realized the ruse, she pounded the brash youth into unconsciousness.

"I agree! We should head in already! Enough standing around..." She turned, fearlessly leading the way into untold dangers, slipping onto her rump within three steps in. "Ow!" Uneasily, she gets to her feet.

Location: Watery Ruins

Water drips from the roof of the building onto it's marble floors - waves rush in like an opposing army only to be pulled back by their own movements. The slick floors cause even the most sure-footed to rethink their steps or fall to the ground in a heap. What were once beautiful seats lay in two rows - carved from the very marble itself.

Marble tiles in multiple colors across the floor invoke a feeling of movement - the lurch of a stomach after a jump, the swirl of night air. It seems extremely cold in the ex-temple, the water within freezing cold to the touch - very different than the warm water outside. At the opposite end of the temple's entrance lies a stone-cold altar. Behind it lies a statue: a beautiful woman, the same one that was being sacrificed in the earlier imagery, stands with her arms wide and welcoming - her expression mournful and cold as the place where she lies. The statue's chest has been carved to appear torn open, ribcage splayed open - nothing within but a hole to the outside of the temple. A trickle of water drips from the hole, though the hole's main resident is the wind: creating the mournful keening as before.

Directly to the right of the entrance, dry to the ravages of the water, are a flight of stairs down into darkness. Observation reveals that the stairway should be perfectly safe to explore. Salty sea air escapes from it like a sailor's breath - cold as the grave.
 
They finally made their way into the temple, the slimy floor being more difficult to maneuver, even Ni'iefel thought it a bit ungainly to walk on. To Ni'ifel's displeasure it seemed the new comer and his animal would be joining them after all into the hazardous depths they had come to explore. His displeasure showed in his silence, or just being more silent than usual.

Looking around at the place it certainly held a sense of forboding, the statue especially. Why would her arms appear be inviting while she herself had a gaping wound through her torso? Despite this scary figure the building had a dark elegance to it that appealed to some part of Ni'ifel.

The stairs going downward were easily noticed and the obvious way for them to venture down into. With a final glance around at his party members, with a curt glance over Idir, before stepping toward the opening embrace of the darkness that lead bellow.
 
The statue was worrying to say the least but less frighting than the sudden appearance of a large man and a large cat. "Maybe the sacrifice was a one time deal." he thought aloud doubting it even as he said it. Still Vile was already heading downwards and Sige didn't want to leave him to go alone no matter how badly he wanted to examine the statue. Before heading down however he touched the top of his spear and concentrated making the spear tip shine like a torch. It wasn't a difficult trick to pull off but it was useful.

He headed downwards after a glance back to the others signalling them to follow. No one should be left behind due to Vile's impatience.

Sige casts Light on his spear and follows Vile.
 
When Astrid slipped, Sedna simply stepped over the girl as if she were nothing but a piece of rubble in the way. The floor truly was hazardous to walk upon, even for Sedna whom, out of the three party members she knew, probably had the most experience with the sea. She nearly slipped twice as she moved toward the statue of the woman, perhaps just a little awestricken by how depressing the sight was.

Sedna's expression twisted into the result of disgust and curiosity. Who was this woman to receive such a painful end? If she was hated, then what for? For being different maybe? The young Changeling curled her pointed fingertips inward, as if hiding them would hide the fact that she was not fully Human.

Surely the villagers had figured it out by now.

Tearing her gaze away, she turned her head and watched Vile head off for the staircase and she quickly picked her way back across the floor to follow.

The sudden glow from her brother's spear forced a little disgruntled sound from her throat and she squeezed past him on the staircase to put the light behind her instead of in her eyes. Her Darkvision took care of the rest, allowing her to childishly hop from step to step with ease and without the worry of stumbling over something unseen. And with each step she descended, both nerves and excitement built.

Tomes! Rare items! Gimme!
 
Idir followed Astrid's lead - albeit a bit more carefully - and took to the front of the party. He wasn't wearing boots, so he fared better than she did. His feet still slipped frequently, but he managed to quickly recover almost every time. It's a skill born of long practice on tricky footing. His pupils flared, adjusting to the darkness, and the sudden light from Sige's spear makde him flinch, but it was thankfully behind him, so he wasn't blinded. He nodded in response to the half-elf's observation, a disconcerted 'mrr' sound escaping his throat as he stared at the statue and altar in morbid fascination.

Konul bounded ahead, howling in surprise when the floor proved to provide insufficient traction for such speeds, sending her skidding into the nearest of the marble seats. She promptly sat on her haunches and proceeded to shake her head as if she was dazed.

After a moment he shuddered and turned - the change in lighting alerted him to Sige moving down the stairs. He turned and, nervously wiggling his hatchet in its loop to make sure it was loose enough to quickly pull, started downward. "Konul!" he called after him in a harsh whisper, and she cautiously followed, her tail starting to bottlebrush.
 
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