|
Post by Vapovile on Oct 13, 2018 3:12:56 GMT
Elyssa stared for a second when Ariana entered the room, tipping her hat slightly in recognition before she started explaining how the mechanics worked. Once she was done, Elyssa skipped forward and grabbed one of the staffs, holding it toward the ground. "So it's decided! Ariana and Cosmina can search down below, and Lovely and I can search up here! Be careful though..." Elyssa watched as the ice melted below her feet, making a small circular hole in the floor. "...there are carnivorous fish in there. So if things get too dangerous, I want you two to get back out here. Ok?" She asked, then smiled once more. "Now, good luck!" She said, tossing the staff toward Cosmina and grabbing the other staff for herself.
Motioning toward Loveline, Elyssa began to melt the ice directly in front of her. "So, you want to know what we're looking for, huuuuuh?" Elyssa asked, flashing Loveline a confident smile. "Well, what's the fun in me revealing the secrets of this place? Doesn't that ruin...heh...the sense of discovery?" She asked, stepping forward into the little archway she made. "Oh, and I should mention. There is probably stuff frozen in these walls. So you should probably stay behind m-ah!" Elyssa turned back to see a strange black-clawed hand burst out of the ice reaching for Loveline, but stopping only 4 inches past the ice's boundary. The owner of said clawed hand appeared to still be frozen in the ice, the grab only a reflex from the sudden defrost Elyssa had done. A few chuckles escaped Elyssa's mouth when she turned back to see Loveline's reaction.
---
Once Ariana and Cosmina jumped into the water, they'd find it was the same temperature as the water in the main room. A faint light shone through the hole in the ice above them, and fainter radiant light shone through solid block of ice above. Several meters of water stretched before them, the two able to see various creatures frozen in the ice above. Strangely, Ariana would notice a small pricking sensation on their feet, no more painful than a shot. Looking at it would reveal a strange purple tube-like fish attached to her right leg, looking up at her with one strange green eye along its body. A small puff of blue smoke escaped out the back of the slimy creature, dissipating into the water around them. At that moment, 12 more of the creatures began to swim toward both Cosmina and Ariana, their circular mouths open to reveal 2 large hook-like teeth meant to grab onto flesh. The creature attached to Ariana began to inflate with water, condensing it to make it more difficult for Ariana to move.
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Oct 13, 2018 6:59:01 GMT
"I can handle some fish." Ariana tried to look tough, slamming her fist into her palm. She was under the ice in an instant, Cosmina following more hesitantly. The shock she expected didn't quite come when she submerged herself. It was plenty cold, but not as icy as it should have been. She shuddered anyway as they sank. Nobody told her there would be ice! She wondered if she could make a heated swimsuit that wasn't bulky and at risk of shocking her.
Ariana peered around at their surroundings, fixating on the ice floe above when she saw dark shapes trapped inside of it. There were monsters in the ice! That was amazing! "Cosmina, look at them!" Ariana ignored the prickling in her feet until Cosmina screamed. "Huh? What are you- woah!" Ariana looked down to see the tubular creature attached to her heel. After a moment of awe at the cool creature, she realized what it was doing and kicked at it with her other foot. Her legs vanished in ink, but she could still see the shapes of more creatures coming up. More nips stung her legs and she began to feel their weight. "Cosmina, sonar!" She called. Cosmina nodded and began clicking, first finding the creatures, then making a larger pulse to smash them with sound waves. Ariana shoved downwards, pushing the ink away with a strong current, hopefully keeping the other eels at bay.
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Oct 13, 2018 14:54:11 GMT
In the end, it was probably best that Cosmina went underwater with Ariana. She couldn't use her sonar through the ice, but maybe she could see if there's anything in the water while under it. But that meant Love was stuck here listening to Elyssa lecturing her about impatience, when suddenly... Loveline backed up, startled by the hand shooting out of the ice, her own hand growing sharp claws for defense. But the hand barely reached through the ice before it couldn't move anymore.
"You planned that! You totally knew that would happen, didn't you!?" With her now-normal-again hand on her chest, Loveline stilled her rapidly beating heart somewhat more literally than most. "Phew. I guess I deserved it for the serpent, huh?"
Loveline pressed her the fingers on one hand together and they merged, turning into a bone-like blade which she swung to cut off the hand.
"Better to be safe if the rest of it pops out." She poked at the hand with her blade. "I wonder if this belonged to one of the ruin's makers. Or one of its destroyers."
|
|
|
Post by Vapovile on Oct 14, 2018 3:30:12 GMT
A goofy grin spread across Elyssa's face when Loveline backed against the wall, accusing her of planning the jumpscare. "Heh...who knows? Come on, I gotta make this fun!" Elyssa joked, reaching her arm out to pull Loveline into a brief hug, before letting go and walking further into the path she made, glancing back when Loveline asked about the hand she had cut off. "From what I know...each of these Ruins were a part of some civilization, but had been taken apart and rearranged into what we see now. I've already documented this Ruin before you all got here, so we don't need to stop and take pictures for my sake!" She said, turning her attention toward the ice in front of herself, pointing to the ray of light shining above their heads.
"So there is something you should know. That ray of light is pointed directly at what we want, and is burning a hole straight for it. If it reaches the end, it'll melt the floor under it and send the item down into the water. So, what do you want to do? Go around to avoid the creatures in the way, or make a beeline and face whatever we encounter?" Elyssa asked, still having the staff melting the ice in front of them to continue making progress while Loveline thought about what she wanted to do. The faint outline of a biped, white-furred creature began to become visible, its image akin to an arctic werewolf.
---
The strange creature on Ariana's heel was largely unphased by the kicking, her foot slipping harmlessly off its slimy body. Cosmina's sound wave attack was more effective at repelling them, several squirming away with ruptured eyes. However...several more of the creatures on Ariana's legs released even more ink into the water, and seconds later even more began to swim at the two. The few that were on Ariana continued to make themselves heavier with water, hoping to bring the fighter down to the water's sandy floor. Up on the ice shelf, the two would see something shiny at the far corner, toward the right.
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Oct 14, 2018 4:38:41 GMT
"What does it take to get these things offffff!?" Ariana landed more useless kicks. "I don't know, I'm making sure they don't bite you in the first place!" Cosmina took special care to attack those lurking in the ink cloud where Ariana couldn't see them. The super sailor was having difficulty keeping herself level with muscular strength alone, losing buoyancy to the parasites. "Cosmina, they're not interested in you! Go get that shiny thing, I'll handle this!" Ariana put her hands together and concentrated.
"But-" A wave of cold coming from Ariana compelled her to move. "Alright, but don't die!" She darted away from the slowly sinking Ariana. The temperature continued to drop, hopefully freezing the eel-leeches. "Sorry critters, but I have to survive!" Ariana unleashed as much cold as she could. Cosmina looked back, dawning look of comprehension. Would this kind of cold do anything to animals that lived under an ice sheet?
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Oct 14, 2018 17:04:37 GMT
"So it's like a puzzle solved by someone terrible at solving puzzles?" Love said while her hand returned to normal. The idea of a location that was a collection of places brought up memories of Hellscraper. It was a static collection, unlike the reverse tower, but it still made Loveline wonder who made this place and why.
"I guess that explains why there are clearly ground creatures in a ruin who's entrance was decorated with sea creatures," she said. When Elyssa asked her whether they should take the short or the long way to the item, Love gave the obvious answer.
"We're heading straight through anything in our way, of course!" Her hands turned into draconic paws with claws sharper than diamonds. Two more Lovelines appeared on either side of her, looking, smelling and sounding exactly like her, her illusory abilities being capable of tricking all the senses.
|
|
|
Post by Vapovile on Oct 19, 2018 5:14:27 GMT
"Hey, you're getting the hang of it!" Elyssa flashed a smile and thumbs up, letting the staff melt more of the wall of ice in front of her. Elyssa waited until the body of the arctic werewolf was almost 1cm out of the wall before leaping up, pressing her shoes against the walls to keep herself as far up as possible. "Hope you're ready, it's going to wake up!" She called down, the werewolf letting out a slow growl that increased in volume as it woke up. The werewolf then opened its eyes, red and bloodshot as it ripped its arms out of the ice, followed by its legs. The werewolf let out a deep growl, scanning the area feverishly until it saw the three Lovelines. Without thinking, the creature leaped forward and tried to slash across all 3 Loveline's throats, its claws scraping loudly against the ice and tearing 3 deep gashes into the area around the Lovelines.
---
The wave of cold was largely ineffective against the strange leeches, though it did slow them down a little. Several more would try to cling onto Ariana, while a few others swam toward Cosmina. The ones that did manage to bite the doll stayed still for a second, then detached and swam away. The lack of blood and preservative taste made them lose interest in Cosmina. If she didn't try to retrieve the shining item soon, Ariana would be swarmed by even more creatures.
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Oct 20, 2018 0:12:43 GMT
Ariana slapped her palm to her forehead. She had tried to freeze animals that lived under ice! She was beginning to get a little dizzy. How much blood had they taken? Like her own anchors, she sank, drug down by their weight. She thrashed her limbs, but it didn't break them loose or bring her nearer the surface. She stared in despair at the hole in the ice, growing more and more distant. Fueled by desperation, she squeezed her eyes shut again and reached out into the water. The water responded, ripples tickling her. She made a massive push, as big as she could manage. The water under her pushed up with volcanic force, shoving her and anything around her straight upwards. She felt incredible and increasing pressure when the water she pushed shot through the ice hole like a geyser, carrying her far too high off the ground. She waved her arms as she fell, finding the air was not suitable for swimming. Down she crashed, cracking ice under her back. "I can fly... right..." She mumbled.
Cosmina kicked at the creatures that nipped her and swam. They only tingled, but they left horrible little tooth marks all over her legs. It was the slight pull of the current that made her look back. "Ariana!?" She spat in shock as the water whirled out of the hole they entered the water through. The current stopped when the water stopped shooting upwards, and Cosmina fixed her slack jaw to turn and get the shining object.
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Oct 20, 2018 10:38:49 GMT
The real Loveline ducked and stepped back, one of the fakes jumped to the side, and the other jumped into the air with a somersault and started spinning like a helicopter with sharp claws in a display of agility Loveline would never be capable of, although the beast had no way of knowing that.
While its view was obstructed and its life was "threatened" by spinning Loveline of death that would harmlessly pass right through it, the real Loveline came from underneath. With a newly-made spike replacing one of her forearms, she tried stabbing upwards from under its ribs, hitting both a lung and its heart while avoiding the natural protection of a ribcage.
If she hit, all would be fine when Ariana leaped out of the water in a geyser and Love yelled out: "Ariana! Is everything okay down there?". If she missed or if the werewolf survived, she would be left completely open to its response.
|
|
|
Post by Vapovile on Oct 25, 2018 0:25:26 GMT
The werewolf let out another deep growl when the Lovelines dodged its slash, using its momentum to slash upward with his right claw to knock the spinning Loveline out of the air...but the claw passed right through. The subsequent spike stabbed into the creature's chest, puncturing a lung but the thick fur and muscle able to protect the heart. Blood escaped the werewolf's mouth as it glared down at the one who attacked it. However, Elyssa managed to jump down from her position and land directly on the beast's shoulders, using her gravity and weight to pull the creature backwards and send the back of its head crashing into the ground. "Keep it down for a second!" Elyssa called over, pointing her staff directly at the ground beneath the werewolf and beginning to melt it. She had faith Ariana could survive until this thing was dealt with.
---
Beneath the water, Cosmina would find a strange glass-like orb sitting on top of the thin sheet of ice above her, inside having what appeared to be a collection of the creatures inside the water and a layer of white powder above them. The beam was quickly approaching the spot where the orb sat, meaning Cosmina would need to act quickly if she wanted to get it in time.
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Oct 26, 2018 19:13:11 GMT
Loveline took Elyssa's place and knelt down on the werewolf's shoulders. Each of her hands turned into a double hook made of what appeared to be bone. She stuck them into the ice on either side like ice picks, partially so she could push down with more than just her body weight to keep the werewolf down, and partially so she could stop herself from falling all the way into the water.
It was then that it occurred to her that not taking the adventurer's place would've given her a nice dunk in cold water, but asking to trade places again just seemed wrong. Besides, such pettiness is below her, or so Loveline told herself.
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Oct 27, 2018 7:47:06 GMT
The leeches on Ariana’s body had all gone limp with the impact she put them through. Unfortunately, they still suckered tight to her. She began the painful process of removing them. They snapped off with sharp pops, leaving behind bleeding bite marks. Ariana dizzied, not with blood loss, but with regret. Poor bitey things. At least they died quick. She flopped back onto her back. It was a little tricky to stand right now. Maybe it was blood loss that made her woozy after all.
Cosmina floated with her nose an inch off the ice. Her contacts had thankfully been safe for swimming, so she wasn’t utterly blind to what lay on the other side. A shiny orb, surely their prize, within arm’s reach. Cosmina glanced around, but nearly all the leeches had been dealt with. It was all down to this now. Her horns hummed and released a thundering boom. She studied the ice for cracks and did it again at the weakest point, continuing her attacks until the ice was smashed apart. She just needed to hold out her arms until the orb sank right into them.
|
|
|
Post by Vapovile on Oct 27, 2018 11:03:17 GMT
The werewolf thrashed about when Loveline took Elyssa's place, the adventurer managing to melt the ice beneath the creature fast enough for it to fall into the water below. The leeches that had tried attacking Cosmina all noticed the large displacement of water and swam to bite into the creature's flesh, inflating with water to bring the struggling beast down to the bottom of the pool. After several more seconds of thrashing, the werewolf let out one last breath and succumbed to the water filling its lungs. Up above the ice, Elyssa let out a triumphant yelp. "Yeeeeeeeah! That was great, Lovely!" She said, reaching to help Loveline back onto the ice. She then noticed the ice directly in front of them breaking apart, Elyssa watching the progress with a smile. "Looks like Cosmina beat us to the punch! But that's fine, we have other stuff to do!" She said, turning back toward Ariana.
Elyssa skated her way to Ariana's side, pulling the backpack off her back and scanning Ariana's body. "That was an awesome exit, Ariana! Here, let's get you fixed up." She stated, carefully pulling off the last of the leeches and tossing them to the side. She then pulled out a large white plastic jar with "Mobile Medic" emblazoned on the front in red lettering. "Alright, just hold still for a second..." Opening the jar, Elyssa took a small amount of the white paste inside and wiped it across Ariana's wounds, the substance quickly sinking in and rapidly speeding up the healing process of her wounds. Within 10 seconds, the bite marks would be entirely gone. The only side effect would be a brief itching sensation when the cells were healing. Elyssa stepped back slightly, bringing out a small scroll from her backpack.
"I know they might have taken some blood, so I have a few general healing scrolls with me to give you some blood back. Do you need one, Ariana?" She asked, kneeling down to hear her answer.
---
Under the water, Cosmina's efforts would prove fruitful when the small glass orb fell into the water and into her hand. If Cosmina chose to shake to orb in her hand, unfortunate events would occur in the immediate area. Down at the bottom of the pool, a small figure darted to the side and appeared to disappear into the floor, a move so fast Cosmina might not have even noticed.
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Oct 27, 2018 17:14:36 GMT
Loveline got out of the waterhole, helped up by Elyssa. She shook off the chilly water from her legs which took a dip. While she recovered, Elyssa jogged over to Ariana and helped heal her up while Loveline started daggers at the adventurer. Love could've done that! If she hadn't taken Elyssa's place, she could've gotten to Ariana first and closed up her wounds...
She thought about offering to help Ariana make more blood, but she knew she couldn't do that without sacrificing pieces of Ariana, however small, which was probably worse than what the healing scrolls would do. Instead, she took the heat staff and made a hole closer to where Cosmina was so she could help her out of the water.
"Do you have any towel in that bag?" she asked Elyssa.
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Oct 28, 2018 6:04:08 GMT
Ariana grinned brightly when Elyssa passed into her vision. "Hey. I did good, right?" She looked at the jar and wondered if something like a tiny Malcolm would come out. She was disappointed when it turned out to just be paste. "Wait, let me do that my-" Ariana's face scrunched up when Elyssa applied the paste to her arms and legs. She wiggled uncontrollably with every touch, making the process very difficult. "I'm ticklish!" She yelled, rolling away.
"I have some spots on me that got bit that... nobody come behind the ice wall!" Ariana took the jar of paste to the wall and expanded it to totally encircle herself. Cosmina clambered from the water, gratefully giving Loveline a thumbs up. "Thanks! I got the sphere!" She held it out for Elyssa to inspect. "Is Ariana alright?" She questioned, looking over at where Ariana had sealed herself off. "She better come back quick, I got nipped all over." She complained.
|
|
|
Post by Vapovile on Nov 2, 2018 6:00:12 GMT
Elyssa stared for a second when Ariana made the ice wall, then shrugged her shoulders and turned toward Loveline, giving a thumbs-up. "Of course I do! Hang on..." She pulled her left arm out of the strap and slung the backpack onto the ground, opening the top pocket and rummaging around for a second, before producing a long dark blue towel. "Here you go! I brought one for everyone, of course! Here!" Elyssa reached in and produced 3 more towels, tossing one over the ice wall for Ariana and handing one to Cosmina and Loveline, putting her own back into the bag.
"So, how was that? Everyone enjoy your first taste of what a Ruin does? Trust me; it only gets better from here!" She said, leaning against the wall confidently. "And yeah, Ariana is fine. She's just healing up in there. Awesome job with that werewolf back there, Lovely!" She says, flashing Loveline a smile. This team was actually pretty good!
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Nov 3, 2018 4:33:58 GMT
After a few more moments, the ice walls fell apart and Ariana skipped over. "Alright, I'm good now." She squirmed as the itchy lotion did its work. "Those eels were weird..." Cosmina shuddered. "They were super cool!" Ariana bounced over, picking one of the eels up and looking into its eye. Cosmina gave Ariana a disgusted look. "I don't need a towel yet, we're going right back in the water. I could use the cream though." She looked at Ariana, who was still moving the leech-creature closer and further away from her face as if she was trying to hypnotize herself with it.
She sighed and began applying the cream everywhere she was bit. She didn't bother to look for privacy, reaching under her suit to smear herself on the few bites that missed her extremities. "And I won't need a healing scroll. No blood!" She proudly declared, holding out her ankle to show off the lack of red fluid leaking from it. "No blood? That's neat!" Ariana looked close, forgetting the leech momentarily.
|
|
|
Post by TimePuppy on Nov 3, 2018 14:51:13 GMT
"We're going back in, but you still shouldn't stay covered in cold water in an icy place especially since you don't have blood to warm you up. It's not good for you. Probably." Loveline wasn't sure if the dolls could catch colds. Or hypothermia. Well, neither would probably kill them but it wouldn't be pleasant.
Loveline took the orb from Cosmina and dried it with her towel. "Here. You should hold this in your backpack, too." She handed the orb to the adventurer. "And, um, thanks. For the compliment." No, resists it, she reminded herself. Resist her likability! At least until Ariana acknowledges you as better than her! "The ruin is fine, but I thought we'd do more exploring like you do in video games. You know, dungeons you can get lost inside while looking for three magic banana peels to open that sealed door with! This was more like a deadly escape room puzzle. So far, I prefer hunting wild beasts outside!"
|
|
|
Post by Vapovile on Nov 5, 2018 7:16:13 GMT
Ariana's weird behaviour made Elyssa lower her right eyebrow slightly. "The thing is dead, by the way. It's not going to stare back at you." Elyssa said with a chuckle, turning her attention to Loveline, taking the orb and grinning at her accepting the compliment. She placed the orb inside of her backpack, looking up again when Loveline gave her opinion on the Ruin. "Hey, that was just one section! I wanted to get you guys warmed up with something easy before introducing the cooler stuff. Trust me, you'll love it." Elyssa stated, flashing another smile before motioning toward the exit.
"Well, I'd say that went pretty well! Just shove the towels back in and we'll move on!" Elyssa called over to the group. Once everyone was ready and packed up, they all made their way back into the watery hub where they came from. Elyssa swam to the middle before turning to address the group. "Ok! One down! So where would you guys want to go next; crystal room, monster room, up there..." She pointed toward the top of the cavern. "...or down there?" She motioned toward the abyss below.
|
|
|
Post by HungryHunter on Nov 6, 2018 3:13:02 GMT
"I know it's dead, I'm studying it!" Ariana blushed. She had just been enthralled with it. She felt a little bad about killing them, honestly. They were cute. She kept a grip on it as they went back into the hub room and quickly swam off back to the entrance. There she left it, packed with ice. "I'm gonna put it in a jar when we get home!" She said as she swam back into the hub. "Did you pick without me? I wanted to go in the crystal room. I want to save the monster for last, it looks awesome." Ariana pointed and Cosmina shrugged. "Seems reasonable to me." She leaned towards Loveline and whispered in her ear. "So, is she always like this? With the monster thing?" She asked.
|
|