Roleplay

The dragon disappeared suddenly. Blinking through the rain I tried find where it had gone. I scanned my eyes over the trees in panic. Where was the gate? I thought. If I carried on like this, I would go crashing into what appeared to be thick greenery, wartoad behind me.

It took a few painful seconds to find the gate again. As I got closer, I found it was misshapen and covered in a thick layer of rust, a sign it had been there a long time. Stretching out to the sides was a tall, solid brick wall that seemed to go on endlessly. The croak behind me pushed me even faster and I skidded through the gate.

[center][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/340813/34081236p.png[/img][/center] I turned around without looking at the interior of the castle. The other dragon - I could now see it was a male pearlcatcher - had just made it through the gate. The molten wartoad behind them slid through gate too. And then something weird happened. The second the wartoad was through the rickety old iron gate, it slammed shut. There was a loud [b]clang[/b] as the bolt slid home and [i]the gate [b]locked itself[/b].[/i] Momentarily distracted, the toad turned, giving the pearlcatcher a chance. "Quickly! In here!" I shouted to the pearlcatcher. As I did so, I noticed something odd about the left side of the grounds (my left). There appeared to be something hidden in the overgrown grass, but there was no time to contemplate that now.

I quickly gathered my legs up from under me, following the direction the words came from. Squinting through the mist that lay upon the castle grounds, I spied the dragon. Racing towards her, I struggled to keep myself from slipping.

I skidded towards her, into the shadows of the castle entrance way. Inside it was dark and cold, this made it almost impossible to see anything around me. I spun to face the dragon, my chest heaving.

[center][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/340813/34081236p.png[/img][/center] A breeze ruffled my fur as the pearlcatcher shot past me. As I turned to look at him, the large doors behind me slammed shut with a [b][i]bang,[/i][/b] and all light was cut off from the outside, and I could see no more.

[center][color=red][font=Gabriola][u][i][size=7]S[/size][size=5]hed a little [/size][size=7]L[/size][size=5]ight over here[/i][/u][/font] [/color][/center] [color=red] In the darkness, both dragons turned to look at the now locked door behind them. They soon realized that the when the door slammed shut, it was not only the light that was shut off. A thick silence had swallowed them, blocking out the sound of the storm and the wartoad outside, leaving them with only the sound of their panting breath in the pitch black. As the looked at the last place they saw the door, they noticed that now they [i]could[/i] see the door. It was lit by flickering torchlight, and they heard a small soft noise behind them. They turned as one, and saw a guardian standing at the end of the small entrance hallway. [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/ZOY0oJh.png[/img][/center] [color=red]"Quickly! Away from the door! If Erebus smells you through it, he will likely break it down and you will have no chance of surviving tonight." He whispered fiercely. The two pearlcatchers scampered to the the end of the hall, and stopped in front of the guardian. He was holding some items in his claws, among them the flickering oil lamp. He looked at the two dragons in front of him. "Do you-" He broke off, studying the faces in front of him. "No, you don't know each other. Well, you'll soon have too, if you want to escape the castle. Listen - don't speak. I can't stay here long, and you need to hear what I have to say." He looked nervously from side to side, and lowered his whisper even further, so the dragons almost had to lean in to hear him. Pointless, as everyone paying attention still heard him. "You are not the first to be trapped in these ruins, but hopefully you will be the first to survive. There is a twisted spirit living in this castle, and it will kill you if you don't escape." He paused. "Take these." [center][item=Antique Oil Lamp][item=snowcoil ice pick][item=ornate darksteel necklace][/center] [color=red]He shoved the items at the dragons; one got the lamp; the other got the pick and the necklace. He pointed to each of the items and rapidly explained a bit about them. "The lamp to shed light on the secrets of the past and to light the way; The pick and the rope to constrain the ghost; and this," He paused, eyes on the necklace,"Was once mine, and... have it as a token. It probably won't be much help but... take it for luck." He sighed, the then looked directly into the eyes of the two pearlcatchers in front of him. "[b]Knowledge is power.[/b] Remember this as you search these ruins. The only hope for you is to discover exactly what happened here, all those years ago. The more you know, the more power you have over the ghost. Find out who they are and what happened those weeks and months before their death that led them to become the dangerous terror that haunts these ruins, trapping and killing travelers." He turned as if to leave. "Wait! Who are you?" One of the pearlcatchers called out, as their eyes flicked down to the object in their claws. When they looked up, the guardian was gone, as if they had never been, apart from two words drifting on the still air of the ruins. [center][color=red][i][b]"Rannu Arsar...."[/b][/i] ---------------------- [color=red] The two pearlcatchers were left alone at the end of the entrance hall, the flickering oil lamp revealing the corridor stretching from the right to the left, and the large double doors straight ahead. [/center] [/color]

I looked down at the lamp in my claws. Hundreds of questions filled my brain. I looked around, my eyes scanning the dark walls around me. There was no sign of the guardian. "What just happened?" I thought aloud.

[center][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/340813/34081236p.png[/img][/center] I glanced studiously sidelong at the pearlcatcher, the firelight no doubt making my fur glow.[i] Light dragon. I wonder how long he's been living in the Labyrinth?[/i] I thought. [i]Doesn't matter. Apparently we're both stuck here now.[/i] Another thought occurred to me.[i] He's probably the first non-kitsune dragon I've met since my parents.[/i] "I don't know." I looked at the items in my claws, and after a moment put on the necklace. "So... what's your name?" Almost unconsciously, I stepped away slightly from the unfamiliar dragon.

"Uh.. Lumen" I stuttered, willing myself to stay where I was. Do I know this dragon? I thought in panic. We sat there in silence for a few more painful seconds before I blurted "Whats yours?"

My claws are cold, wet and dewy, sparkling with drops of clean rainwater. My claws are plastered with grass and tiny daisies, but I couldn't care less.
I smile and say, "I'll never get enough of you."
Skry is smiling too, his claws wet too. "That must be the cringiest line in history."
I scowl. "It's not like you could do any better."
Skry opens his mouth to reply, but I interrupt him. "Don't answer that."
I double over as a burst of pain erupts in my skull, like I was hit with a boulder. everything goes blurry, and I am forced to close my eyes. When I open them again, I instantly regret it. I don't recognise anything. I'm not in the forest. I am... I don't even know.
I hear dragons. I see two of them, talking to each other. I think I just landed in the middle of a conversation, as one says, "What's yours?"
I blink, confused. "Skry?" I say, rubbing my eyes. "What just happened?'

[center][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/340813/34081236p.png[/img][/center] I open my mouth to reply to Lumen, then pauses. [i]Did I just hear someone say something. Maybe Rannu come back?[/i]. I listen intently, and survey the surrounding darkness. [i]Could that be a dragon standing just out of the lamplight?[/i] I shook my head, dismissing these silly notions. "Foxstar," I replied, eyes back on Lumen. "My name is Foxstar."