Night 60: Underground Lake

[razing_phoenix]

[From here.]Just like the last time, Guy's feet hit the uneven sand as he took in that unmistakable smell of dampness. This area was almost dead quiet when compared to the hallway that they'd just come from, but he still could make out the lapping of water and the creaking of the dock. All of those sensations just reminded him of the fact that they

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[razing_phoenix]

As it turned out, Anise had possessed the foresight to bring some sheets of paper and a pen along with her. Guy watched as she handed those over to Claude, smiling at the sight. That was bound to come in handy at some point, though he also realized that they should probably rely on it as little as possible, seeing how they were going to probably be forced into situations where they wouldn't have the time to wait for Claude to write things out.

It was a relief nonetheless. Before long the boat had set off across the murky waters, and by now Guy knew better than to peer into it too closely. He thought that the remark that the ferryman made about their previous reaction to the waterlogged corpses was rather exaggerated, though he realized that there was no point in arguing about it.

Besides, it would feel strange to argue with someone who was speaking with Claude's voice.

"Don't worry, we aren't planning to rock the boat around or anything." In fact, Guy was staying pretty still. It wasn't like the boat was that large, after all, and he didn't need to brush against Anise by accident. That might end up with one of them falling into the water, and who knew what that would mean for them.

[gald_digger]

Aside from the short exchange between the skeleton and Guy, the ride across began quietly. Knowing what sort of things could await them on the other side, it was almost like the calm before a storm... though with Claude unable to speak, it was possible that the whole night was going to be much quieter than what Anise was used to.

Despite being reminded of the bodies in the water, Anise found herself gazing outward at the faces bobbing along near the surface. It was hard not to look, when that was really all she could see beyond the boat itself. If nothing else, they served as a somber reminder to stay on guard. Anise still didn't know what could have happened for them to end up like that, but what she did know was that she didn't want to find out the hard way.

When she'd had enough, the girl looked back to the inside of the boat and let out a small, barely audible sigh. She didn't enjoy sitting quietly for such a long time, and the skeleton's reminder that they were no longer guaranteed safe passage left an uncomfortable bit of tension in the air. Inwardly, she was just praying that the ride would be uneventful to the end.

[full_score]

Claude wanted to come out with a grumpy retort, especially with how annoyed he was getting from hearing that skeleton use his voice, but he clenched his jaw and kept quiet. It wasn't like speaking would do any good, anyway, thanks to the toll he'd paid. But when he thought of how much better off they'd be if he had his sense of touch, his frustration ebbed a bit.

Instead, he silently listened to the sounds of the ferryman's paddle breaking into the water and pushing them along. The stillness of the caverns unnerved him. Claude could practically feel the nameless faces peering at them from the dark lake, their gazes burning into him, but he did his best to ignore it.

If they were lucky, they wouldn't have to find out firsthand what had happened to them to wind up like that.

[trolltaker]

"A wise decision," Charon quietly said to Guy with a small chuckle. "Very wise indeed." They didn't want to wind up in the water, after all. And as dull as it could get with only short-tempered spiders and silent faces to keep him company, it was better that they not test his patience with a bunch of unnecessary flailing.

With little else to add, the ferryman was content with paddling them across the lake. Of course, it was hard to keep from humming a mindless tune just so he could keep listening to his spiffy new voice. If there was one thing he was better at than playing cards or rowing boats, it was entertaining himself.

Thankfully, they didn't have to endure his noise for too long. The other shore soon came into sight, its torches flickering and casting unsteady, fitful shadows around then. Charon brought the boat to a halt and linked it to the dock. When that was finished, it didn't take long for the three of them to move onto the shore.

"No presents from me this time, kiddies," he said as he climbed back into the boat and idly checked over it. "But if you don't die, maybe we'll run into each other again soon, huh?" With one final bark of a laugh, he waved and pushed away from the dock with his paddle.

[razing_phoenix]

Despite all the grief that had come before it about the toll, the actual boat ride turned out to be very quiet and very short. That was fine by Guy; he wasn't exactly interested in chatting with the ferryman, and his whistling had been oddly eerie in the way it had echoed off the cave walls.

When the boat docked Guy waited for the others to disembark in front of him, following them off as he stretched and looked around. It was the same as he remembered it. Before he could even respond to what the skeleton said (and he kept having to stop himself from looking over at Claude when he heard that voice), the boat had disappeared from view.

That was probably for the best.

"So..." He drew forward, glancing at Anise because he realized that he'd been mainly relying on her for input, seeing how Claude was temporarily mute. "Last time we went through that door," he said, pointing out to the one that was directly to the left from the dock. It looked like there were three more. Did they have to go through all of them? "Any preferences for where we go next?" It wasn't like they had any criteria to choose, so they might just have to make a random decision.

[gald_digger]

Anise followed Guy's gesture with her eyes, noting the door they'd already passed through. After a moment of consideration, she looked back up at him to answer. "Well... It doesn't really matter, does it? So let's just go through this one," she suggested, waving her hand in the direction of the rightmost door. No particular reason; it was just the one that caught her eye at that moment. All the doors were equally mysterious, so it was probably best if they didn't spend too much time deliberating which to take.

With that, she started on her way to the door, stopping once she was close to allow time for last minute objections or for simply gathering their courage. If the next trials were going to be anything like the last ones, they had to be prepared for anything.

"Let's just, um, watch our feet this time," she advised the others with a light, sheepish grin, remembering that terrifying first step beyond the other door.

[full_score]

Although Anise had given him some paper and a pen, it wouldn't have been practical to go fishing for all that just to give his opinion about something none of them knew much about. Thankfully, neither Guy nor Anise seemed particularly inclined to think too hard about it. At the end of the day, they were all just making a bunch of guesses down here, weren't they?

Upon hearing Anise's warning, Claude gave a silent nod in agreement. Since they had no idea of what to expect, they needed to be careful. Tightening his grip on his sword, he reached out to push the door open. He led the way inside, but moved slow and deliberate enough that it would be easy for them to stick close together.

((To here.))