[Pyris]

Hexle, the Concept Draculi
Only the moral have guilt.
Posts:19
Level: 4
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Unsure whether Qaan's expression was confusion or shock, Hexle simply nodded his head.  "Fascinating," he said coolly, watching the sprite bounce around excitedly.  Something across the lake caught his attention after a moment; a faint glowing across the wall.  Staring at it briefly, he watched the near-systematic pattern seemingly float along the rocky walls.  "Do you see that?" he asked, his curiosity struck.

Glancing at the pair of companions he had acquired, he marveled at his unusual sense of socialism.  Was he only social in peaceful places?  Maybe he wasn't really anti-social, but could only handle socializing with a few people at a time. Instead of spending a lifetimes psycho-analyzing himself, he turned his head to the strange glowing along the walls.

[Feint]

Qaan turned and looked at the wall with disinterest. So it was glowing. Fancy that. The nog, however, had a completely different perspective. With a whistle of delight, he shot forward for the glow, not minding his steps. With a startled splash, he hopped out of the water and made a beeline for Qaan's big paws, spluttering and dripping wet. Qaan swatted at him and stretched her paws out in front of her with a yawn. She kneaded the ground with her claws and took her time rising to her feet. Qaan sighed through her nose and looked over the lake disapprovingly. So dirty... "It doesn't look so deep," she said aloud, and tested the temperature with a paw. The icy water shot up her leg like zombie fire ants that had frozen to death ten times over. "Wow. Pretty cold, though." She flexed her paw in the air to keep it from numbing completely and glanced over the lake again. How to cross?

[Pyris]

Hexle, the Concept Draculi
Only the moral have guilt.
Posts:20
Level: 5
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Blinking at the exceptionally different response, Hexle could only imagine that the two had been together quite some time.  "Naturally," he murmured, vaguely remembering he'd slowly worked his way around the pond to get to the point in which they stood.  "It is in a cave."  

Frowning, he noted the distinct lack of a reflection in the waters in question.  Not mentioning it, he considered the possibilities of it being false, or an illusion.  Eventually, he decided the only way to find out would be to examine it closer himself.  Being an eccentric thinker, he'd become intrigued, much as he had with the tiny little think sprite and his hydrokuhna counterpart.

[Feint]

Qaan eyed the dark water suspiciously. Only a second ago she had seen the cave floor through the water. Now she couldn't see the bottom at all. She backed away from it and tried to edge her way around the lake, but it was too close to the wall. Swimming across would be the only option, but she wasn't too eager to dive into a lake so cold. Qaan walked back towards Hexle, nearly tripping over her excited nog in the process. She saw the interested expression on his face and asked, "What?"

[Pyris]

Hexle, the Concept Draculi
Only the moral have guilt.
Posts:21
Level: 5
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Blinking, Hexle looked at the girl blankly for a moment.  "Huh?" he mumbled intelligently, knowing he'd gotten lost upstairs again.  He was guessing by the look on her face that he'd been staring, but he wasn't certain.  "Sorry."   He often got people angry from his lack of interest or his intense gazes.  It wasn't that he was outwardly trying to be rude, but that he was mentally focused and happened to stare their way.  Looking towards the glowing lines, he wondered once more what they were.

As if someone had hit a switch, the lines ceased their glimmer, making the Draculi's eyes widen.  "They stopped," he stated, realizing just a bit too late he was stating the obvious.

[Feint]

Qaan turned to look over her shoulder. He was right; the lights were gone. She gazed at the darkness for a moment with dull, heavy-lidded eyes, and then turned and walked toward Hexle. It seemed she was going to walk right over him, but stopped abruptly in front of him and raised a watery paw. She brought it down on Urchin's head rather harshly, reducing the nog to nothing. She then turned and padded calmly away toward a flat rock without a word.

[Pyris]

Hexle, the Concept Draculi
Only the moral have guilt.
Posts:22
Level: 5
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Staring at the wall in the distance just a bit longer, Hexle turned back to the kuhna who'd seemed rather disinterested.  It wasn't that he was disappointed with her lack of interest, but that he wasn't sure what else to say.  Times like this were fairly awkward in their thick silence.  Gazing at the murky cold water, he wondered why she was so comfortable in such a place.  He could ask her, though he wasn't sure if she'd understand his wording.  He tended to say things oddly when he spoke the way he thought.

It seemed that, possibly, there was something unusual in this creature's behavior, not that he was one to talk.  Turning his eyes her way, he examined her briefly before following her lead and making his way away from the pond.  "I guess it's not that interesting," he murmured, debating on returning to his perch from before and continuing to explore the caverns.

[Feint]

Qaan settled on the flat rock with her legs stretched out in a lazy way. She looked about ready to fall asleep when a light suddenly went on in her eyes. She sat motionless for a second, pondering, then jumped up off the rock and loped toward the lake. She had no time to explain her rush to Hexle, she didn't care if he thought she was crazy. With only a moment of hesitation, she jumped headfirst into the icy water with a humongous splash. Her head popped up and she yowled with cold, but surged decidedly forward in great leaps and bounds. Her frenzied splashing could be heard all the way across the lake until she reached the shore on the other side. With chattering teeth, she turned to look back over the dark lake and pick out Hexle from the blackness, but could not. She happened to glance down and saw perfectly dry Urchin staring blankly back at her. Qaan had made it just in time. With a slight rush of triumph, Qaan hollered for Hexle out there in the darkness. "Can you hear me? Hexle, right? I'm going to find the source of the lights--see if you can cross, okay?" she yelled shakily, still numbed from the water. If he got over, she would try and explain to him. Right now, she just didn't have the energy. Qaan shivered her way over to a nice little rock bed and curled up, struggling to regain her warmth.

[Pyris]

Hexle, the Concept Draculi
Only the moral have guilt.
Posts:23
Level: 5
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Frowning to himself, Hexle watched Qaan hurtle across the lake.  Hydrokuhnas most definately lived up to their names, it seemed.  She'd simply leapt up and ran into the water, just like that.  She was a weird one; he'd give her that much.  Not sure if the water would have exactly the same effect on him as it did her, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to enter it.

Throwing caution to the wind, he eased his way into the frigid waters, finding he had little to worry about.  Aside from the glacial temperature, he managed to make his way across in considerably more time.  Shivering, he tried to use his nose, smelling only the lake water surrounding them.  "I-I'm  across," he stuttered slightly, padding his way towards the wall.

[Feint]

Qaan stretched her toes tentatively, then flexed a paw. The shivering and numbness had gone, even though her overall body temperature had dropped by much more than a few degrees. Worried about shock, she crushed Urchin and tried to stand. Well, her paws seemed to be fine. Walking? She moved a couple steps. Yeah, that was good too, even though she felt as cold as ice. Weird. Qaan glanced over Hexle, who had just arrived, and cleared her throat softly. Once she was sure she had his attention, she tried to explain her erratic behavior. "Umm, sorry I just up and jumped in--whenever my emotion changes, Urchin is summoned, and I lose it. I had that sudden idea to cross the lake by jumping through the water so it wasn't as cold, and I didn't want to lose interest, so I had to hurry before Urchin appeared. Does... that make any sense to you?" she asked, a little embarrassed. Lo and behold, the little nog popped up by her feet, looking utterly humiliated. Qaan's eyes dulled, and her shyness quickly faded, leaving her face blank and bored.

[Pyris]

Hexle, the Concept Draculi
Only the moral have guilt.
Posts:24
Level: 5
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Hexle could feel his muscles locking up as he moved closer to Qaan.  Even though he knew getting closer to her wouldn't make him any warmer, it made his body feel like hers offered some form of heat.  Ignoring his instinct and stopping a few feet from her, he absorbed everything she said.  "I won't say it's not confusing to hear, but I understand," he chattered slowly, shaking his body to remove any wetness he could.  Being Concept, he tended to dry much faster than the normal Evelon creature.  The coldness, however, he knew would cling to his bones for quite some time.  Watching her expression go from embarassed and shy to blank.  Even this girl stuck to his theory that everyone wore a mask.  All creatures, no matter shape or size, seemed to don one.  After he thought about it for a moment, her statement really sunk in.

His eyes widened, and he examined her a bit more closely.  "So  Urchin steals your emotions from you?"  He was both rather fascinated and inexplicibly sad for her.

[Feint]

Qaan shrugged. Yeah, it does that. She watched Hexle shiver for a moment longer, then rose stiffly and padded away from the lake. That part of the cave thinned suddenly and sloped downwards in a dark tunnel, one with no apparent end. Qaan craned her neck to try and see further while Urchin whistled and chirped loudly, then paused to hear the echo with childish delight. Qaan stomped on him and examined the tunnel with a clear mind. She looked back at Hexle, adventure glowing in her eyes. "Let's find that glow," she said excitedly, "Adrenaline will warm you up, won't it?" Without pausing for an asnwer, she jumped into the mouth of the tube and vanished into the darkness, paws sliding noisily down the slick rock.

((yay, a slide! ))

[Pyris]

Hexle, the Concept Draculi
Only the moral have guilt.
Posts:25
Level: 6
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Pacing at the top of the slope before trying to ease his way in, Hexle slid down head-first through the tunnel/slide/unknown entrance.  Clawing at the surface to catch himself and failing, the Draculi simply accepted what was coming and tried to enjoy it.  He'd have to check his paws to make sure he didn't injure anything from his frantic attempts at staying in one place.

The pitch darkness only allowed him to see protruding rocks and rough patches ahead of him, barely giving him time to dodge the dangerous obstacles.  "Qaan?" he hollered out, hoping she hadn't run into anything ahead.

[Feint]

Qaan whooped, free of Urchin. Her paws wet the stone, quickening her descent and easing her path around the stones and other obstacles. She had a grin from ear to ear, and cheered at intervals, but for some reason laughter was hard to find. Her sliding began to gradually slow, and she was aware that her adventure was near its end. Just as she thought the fun slide would stop, a fork in the tunnels caught her eye and she aimed for the left one, well aware that it headed deeper into the earth. "LEFT!" she managed to holler before the ground dropped away below her and she fell, backwards and screaming, down a tube much, much steeper than the first. Urchin paused at the mouth of the tube, newly summoned and whistling away, nervously peering into the darkness Qaan had just vanished into.

[Pyris]

b]Hexle, the Concept Draculi[/b]
Only the moral have guilt.
Posts:26
Level: 6
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For a few brief moments after hearing the Hydrokuhna yell, he wondered what she meant.  It wasn't until he saw the fork that he it dawned on him, barely giving him time to grasp onto the fork's split and dangle before jumping over into the left side instead.  His relief was short lived, it seemed, as the little grounding he'd had only seconds behind vanished.  "Yah!"  Although he was honestly petrified that he would die here, Hexle couldn't help the small rise of giddy excitement in his stomach.  Or maybe that was just the excessive movement speaking.

It was hard to tell sometimes.

((Sorry it too so long.  Work SUCKS.  >.<))