<font color='#000080'>OOC: <ul type=square> <li>Day: 3 <li>Month: Mia <li>Year: 81377 </ul> IC: The jungle was just as hot and humid as Zac had anticipated it to be. He was sulking miserably along, his otherwise out-of-order scales lying limply down, wet with the humidity of the air and their owner's sweat. The pendragon was up to his chest in the long grass, complete with buzzing insects that he regarded with some anxiety. Zac tried not to remember the tales of people getting lost in the Vivali Jungle. It was rather hard, seeing that some pendragons at the village he passed through yesterday told him about a dozen, each more eerie and horrible than the rest. What a nice thing to hear, when one is intent on passing through the jungle and even meeting there with someone, though Zac limply, yawning a little. Some invertebrae crunched under the pillow of his paw, and he sprang back, horrified. When he couldn't see any large ant or anything of that sort, he walked on. Soon the grass gave way to an overgrown mossy bank, a small creek licking its sides and bubbling happily on. Zac smiled a little and waded into the relatively cool stream, splashing up and down, and then continuing in the general direction he had been walking in before. In his opinion, the water body was too shallow for some horrid pirahna-kind creature, and it didn't contain any insects either. Thus, Zac was able to occupy himself with other thoughts, for example the reason why he was here in the first place. A few months ago, he had returned from a seven-year long trip to the northern lands of snow and ice. It was rather nice there, and he did find the frozen mammoth he had been looking for. Upon coming back to the Janardan city, and reuniting with his brother and son, he decided to visit his family too. As a matter of fact, Zac hadn't heard of them for many years now, and he was ashamed of himself when he found out he didn't know if they were still alive or not. He set out to the heart of the jungle, his memories guiding him well, even though he couldn't find the old path that led from the Greedyfingers' house to the village. Sighing again, Zac looked around. he had come up to some sort of a grassy space, where the canopy of trees parted slightly and let the sunshine in. It was here that he had agreed to meet with his younger brother, Excube.</font>
<font color='#ADA96E'>"I don't recall the grass being this high. It seems it was a while since somebody mowed the lawn... Now if this really is the lawn." Excube was standing with grass up to his nose. The iron helm on his head was rather heavy, and it didn't really help against the heat. Luckily, Excube finally reached his destination. This was one of the few places in the jungle where the canopy of trees let in some sunlight. He looked around until he saw his older brother. "Zac! Over here!"</font>
<font color='#000080'>Was that someone calling his name? Zac opened lazily one eye, realising he must've fallen asleep under the patch of open, blue sky. A ray of light reflected on some metal surface, blinding him for a second. Then he recognised the helmet of his younger brother, and scrambled to him feet. "Hi Excube!" he hollered, making a large batch of parrots leave their asile in the trees and fly into the sky, twiterring annoyingly. Zac cut through the tall grass, trampling it down as he tried to reach his brother. At last, he stood beside him, squinting to see his eyes through the goggles of the helmet. "Long time no see, eh?" he grinned, thumping his younger brother's back. Then again, his face became more serious, and he shielded his eyes with one large paw to make out the faint outlines of the house, positioned against a wall of trees in the very end on the overgrown lawn, for that was exactly what it was. "They won't be playing cricket here anytime soon," he muttered anxiously, "Say, Excube, when did you last see them? I haven't been to this old manor since... geez... can it be twelve years? Or less? Can't remember now." He scratched his head. Over the years, Zac had barely given a thought to his parents, too focused on his own goals. But now, as he stood a few metres from the place he grew up in and had lived many happy aswell as sad days, he trembled slightly despite the heat. Say his parents were just... gone? But what would, what could harm them here, in the Vivaldi Jungle they knew like the back of their hand? He forced the thoughts out of his mind and grinned yet again at Excube. "I guess we should go and find out whether they're still about or not!" he said, trying desperately to sound cheerful. But some sort of gray apprehension still managed to push itself into the undetone of his voice.</font>
<font color='#ADA96E'>"Lemme ask, was it tiring in the cold north? I don't remember you as a sleepyhead, bro." Excube's vide grin turned a bit more serious. "Don't ask me. I haven't been here for nine years." He turned towards the old manor. "Hey, Zac, did there always grow a tree from the roof?"</font>
<font color='#000080'>OOC: Just wondering, what are their parents' birth names? IC: "A tree?!" he exclaimed, overtaken by a sudden and unexplainable apprehension. "Pendragons don't have trees growing out of their houses, damn!" he cried, "So something is wrong! So there is a reason why we lost contact with each other so long ago!" He battled his way through the grass, memories slowly beginning to drift into his mind with the sweet smell of grass all around him. Himself playing in the jungle with his village friends, attending his parents' party, with the great lawn stretched out around them like a grand green sea, it's edges dissapearing in the darkness, him and Excube being punished for some sort of misbehaviour... what was it again? Yeah, ruining the carpet when Excube was determining by some chemical reaction the true age of a bone Zac found in the backyard. The chemical sort of overflowed. And anyway, it was the carpet's fault, not being made of a material resistent enough to withstand the experiments of a young scientist. A wrought-iron gate loomed out infront of him, one of its wings ominously ajar. An enamelled sign next to it shouted the family name into the world that lay beyong the fence, screaming silently in flowing print to anyone who would listen. Zac pulled through the door and found himself in the front garden, fenced in by a low wall that had been so easy, oh so easy to climb. But there were signs of neglect everywhere. Weeds pushed their way out of the sun-hardened ground and covered the gardden in green tangles. The house was at the end of the path, as tall and strict-looking as always. But it emitted some sort of coldness, which had not been there before. Zac paused, feeling creepy. "Excube?" he called out, "Did they say anything to you about... about any kind of accident that had taken a place here? At the village, I mean?" They hadn't said anything to himself, but then again, Zac didn't ask, and he was sure that no one recognised the skinny young man that had gone this way many years ago.</font>
<font color='#ADA96E'>OOC: Erm... Perhaps their dad could be named Cairn or Caith or something... IC: "Hrrrm... Actually, they tried to lynch me for turning their harvest purple the last time I was here... That was... Geez... nine years ago." Although he tried to sound cheerful, the seemingly dead house forced his mood to sink a little. He knocked, well, banged, on the front door, just to realise that it weren't in the greatest shape. "Why do I get a feeling that the dust is keeping this place together?" He shuddered slightly.</font>
<font color='#000080'>OOC: Ok, so maybe Caith? And their mother's name could be Mara. IC: He stood beside his brother, hearing the door rattle emptily at the vibrations of Excube's rather violent knocks. "Maybe because it is," he replied sceptically, brushing the fine trickles of dust from the doorhandle. Taking a breath, just to steady himself, he opened the door, allowing a small sliver of sunlight force its way into the dark hall. And sure enough, dust was everywhere. The air was stale, and as Zac stepped forward, his feet made no sound on the carpet of dust that lay on the floorboards. The pendragon walked over the the other side of the hall, and examined a small object. It turned out to be a telephone. Picking up the receiver, Zac slammed it back down, frown creasing his face. "The line's dead," he exclaimed and pushed a door on his right open. He poked his head into the dimness beyond, feeling automatically for a light switch. His paw found it, and immediately the windowless room, the laundry room, flared up with bright light. "The electricity's still up and going though," he called out, his voice echoing around the hall, "Looks like the solar panels are still working." He switched the light off, and retreated into the hall. Glancing briefly at Excube, as if searching for some hint of permission, he put his paws on the lowest step of the staircase that led up to a shadowy landing. He filled his lungs with air yet again and hollered on the top of his voice: "Mum! Dad!"</font>
<font color='#ADA96E'>OOC: Yes yes. Mara and Caith it'll be. IC: Excube stared at the phone. "Hrrm... Zac? I think I know why the line's dead..." He pointed at the cable, wich happened to look like it had been chewed off. "This don't seem good..."</font>
<font color='#000080'>OOC: Cool! .:feels scared:. I wonder what way will this show up. Phew, I've just described the ground floor of the house. Looks like the Greedyfingers were quite a well to do family I use up the desperate urge to describe something when roleplaying, and this time, this thread is the target IC: "What!?" His orbs travelled to the broken line, eyeing the chewed ends. He bent his head down and sniffed, trying to identify any kind of whiff he may feel. But nothing. Only some vague nothingness seemed to fill the air all around. Zac smirked. Yeah, all old houses, especially manors have places that feel like inhabited by ghosts. He knew a few of them here and upstairs and in the attic. He stood up, glancing over the whole place, small flakes of dust glittering in shafts of sunlight that fell in through the arched window at the end of the hall. "So what do we do now?" he asked his younger brother, walking towards him. He busied himself by stepping exactly into the footprints he had made on his way to the laundry room. Standing beside Excube, the pendragon looked over the whole floor, taking in as much as he could see and stitching it up with memories he still had somewhere in the back of his mind. He was standing near the open doorway, looking into a large, but weirdly proportioned hall. It seemed too narrow at first sight, but infact wasn't. It was a noodle shape, running through the house like a paved roman road. It stopped by the back wall, which sported a large, domed and arched window with tainted glass panes. To the left of the hall were a couple of doors, the closest one was the laundry, then came the double doors to the saloon, or living room, which was connected to the dining room. You couldn't come in there from the hall unless you went through the living room or the kitchen. The kitchen was hidden behind a single door at the very end of the hall. So far so good. Zac sighed and looked to the right of them. The staircase, even though it wound up, took at least half the space provided in the hallway. In the wall, shaded by the beams and railings of the steps, were set two doors. One led to a winter garden, as far a Zac could recollect. He had always thought the idea of a winter garden was crazy since they lived in the jungle, but his mother, Mara, loved it. She kept her precious flowers safe from the pouring rain and draughts, even from her two young sons. She would spend a lot of time sitting there, working and whistling or just sitting and reading a book. The whole room was clouded by a peaceful and harmonic atmosphere and Mara Greedyfingers rejoiced in it. The second door led to a spare room, where they either had guests or used it as a relaxing room, with the TV, comfortable sofa and even a very little stage on which they could pretend to perform imaginative pieces. There used to be a library too, and the entrance to the basement, though the trapdoor was hidden by the carpet. Zac looked at his feet. Why wasn't this as it had been before? Something wrong had happened, the chewed over telephone line, dust all over the place. The pendragon bared his teeth in a silent growl and vowed to himself silently: I will solve this mystery and I will find out what happened to my parents. I swear!</font>
<font color='#ADA96E'>OCC: Sorry for the MASSIVE delay... I'm afraid that this thread will end up with some sort of mutant creature... IC: Excube moved the carpet and opened the trapdoor, just to almost get knocked of his feet by a swarm of, bizarre, bat-like insectae. "Zac? Do you think that these wierdos could be... my creations?" He stared at the memmal/insectae freaks, who where currently eating on the wallpaper under loud "Nyarg" noises.</font>
<font color='#000080'>|:| O O C |:| Probably yes, but it sounds cool. I have something else in mind, but combining the two plots together will result in a great ending .:chuckle:. Can't wait. |:| I C |:| A cry of alarm escaped Zac's throat as Excube undid the trapdoor, stale air gushing out into their faces. With it, a swarm of buzzing creatures burst out from the bowels of the house, landing on the walls of the cozy room. Zac took a step back, unconsciously, and watched with alarm as wallpaper started to dissapear in the mutated bats' mouths. "Your... your creation?" he echoed blankly, his jaw dropping as he looked at his brother. "You bred creatures? Or did you give them some vile potion to drink? Ugh!" The blue pendragon shook himself, but regained his inner equilibrium in the next instant. "Maybe," he said, scratching his ear, "But who knows? It could be just some unknown type of insect. Whatever it is, it seems to feed of wallpaper." With a look of disgust, he pointed to the far side of the room. A large portion of the wall had been freed of the paper binding it and the swarm was now hovering around the window, its 'nyarg' noises replaced with dull thumps as every so often some creature drove headfirst into the window. Zac strode over to the glass and was about to open it. But just as he was reaching out for the knob, he changed his mind. "D'you reckon it's safe to let them out?" he asked, edging a little further away from the buzzing group. He liked them less with each second. Was that the creak of a door he just heard? Zac's head swivelled to the side, his eyes going past the large bookcase, the TV set and finally coming to a rest on the door they had entered through. It was ajar and he could glimpse a section of the hall through the gap. But there was no one around.</font>
<font color='#ADA96E'>"Actually, I never did such sic things on purpose... Hmm... I remember that a pair of bats fell down into a bowl containing dried Ebi and... was it mashed Mayneh leaves? I never thought that those plants could muta... Uh oh... The cockroach..." He closed the trapdoor with a loud slam. "Hope that the cockroach died... And if it didn't..." He shuddered, and the buzzing creatures decided that it was better to feed on each other than eating wallpaper.</font>
<font color='#000080'>"No wonder we can't find our parents," said Zac, making an attempt to joke. He was too conscious of his brother's experiments - well, quite a lot of them anyway - to ask questions about the cockroach. After all, he preferred not to know. The swarm had started attacking itself, bat-creatures lunging at each other, fighting for their lives. It lasted less than five minutes... and then there was just one giant insect left, slowly gliding to the windowsill, its middle-part heaving. It rolled over on the sill with a thump, its wings fluttering uselely at its sides. Zac judged the distance and raised his fist. He brought it down and squashed the last mutant. A small puddle of green goop lay where his paw had touched the insect, the remains of its chinin outside skeleton and wings protruding from the middle. The blue pendragon sighed and looked away. "Come on," he said to Excube, "Let's look upstairs. They're certainly not here, and I'd like a closed door between myself and the basement. I don't want to find out about the cockroach." He shuffled outside, kicking at the dust-coated floor with his paw. A cloud of the grey powder rose up and he broke into a coughing fit, emitting another sigh and moving carefully out of harm's way. His eyes flew up to the staircase... and he froze. A pendragon was standing at the foot of the stairs, silver coat gleaming in the feeble light. It was clearly a female, through she seemed somewhat unearthly. For one thing, her white hair was streaming behind in an unfeelable gust of wind. And then - and Zac shuddered when he realised this - she was partly invisible. He could see the faint outlines of the stairs behind her through her silvery body. His eyes looked into her face, but there was no comprehension in those white eyes of hers. She just stood there, staring forwards, shaking slightly in the wind that only she could feel. "Mum?" Zac whispered, though he knew that this creature couldn't be Mara Greedyfingers. Even though from a big distance she could have passed for their mother, from close up one could see no resemblance. The silver female continued to stand there, at the foot of the stairs, not a sound escaping her lips. "I don't like this," Zac said softly, kneeling on the ground. His knees were shaking, not really from fear, but from the queerness of the situation.</font>
OOC: Sorry for my major absence... abcence... abcense... d'oh. I'll never get the spelling right on that word. IC: Excube's eyes widened with awe. He kept staring at the semi-tranparent female, completely stunned. "Eh... Who are you?"
|:| O O C |:| Absence. :) J/K |:| I C |:| The creature didn't reply, though her eyes seemed to turn towards Excube, giving him a blank stare. Then, very slowly and carefully, it turned around and walked up the staircase again, dissapearing from sight at the top. The landing was bare and deserted once again. Zac felt sweat glisten on his forehead, and he wiped away with a paw, daring to release the breath he had been holding. "What in the Ramath-lehi was that?" he exclaimed, "I hope I won't offend you Ex, but I doubt that this was one of your experiments. You don't look like you recognise it, anyway. D'you think it was a ghost?" Zac moved to the staircase, examining the steel-gray floor. It was intact, the pearly color spilling over every step and up. "Hey, it didn't leave any footprints!" he called and looked upwards. There was no one there. "Let's go up and see where it went to. There's nothing interesting around down here anyway, and maybe upstairs there will be some clue to what's happening around here."
OOC: Two things. 1: See my last reply. 2: Is it okay if I create another Greedyfingers char? Y'know, Excube's unknown twin bro or something like that. IC: "Ehehehe... Are you sure it's safe to go up there? I mean, there could be rotten floorboards and..." He scratched his head. Well, not his head, but his helmet. "Eh, what am I talking about? I meet more dangers than rotten floorboards when I pour acid in the gunpowder. And I do that daily. Heh."
