Please Don't...., never mind.

[Renna]

The phrase 'like a bull in a china shop' didn't apply here. Somehow, the huge wiurn managed to pick his way between the graves with an unnatural ease for a creature of his size, not even brushing his hide against the stones. 'Like a kid in a candy store' didn't seem to fit either, although his movements looked to be driven with an urgent glee as he went from grave to grave, lightly sniffing the soil above the deceased before moving on. Perhaps something along the lines of 'like Dr. Frankenstein in a mortuary' would suit his fervor more aptly.

It was all Renna could do to keep up with him as he headed deeper into the graveyard, her progress hindered by the fact that she couldn't simply step over the headstones like he could. She was also doing her best to avoid walking on the graves, while he simply left muddy claw-prints over some stranger's face.

Perhaps that shortcut had been a bad idea.

They had left the lights of the city behind a few minutes ago. Or perhaps it was only a few seconds. Renna had never really had a good grasp on time. In either case, she hadn't realized how huge the cemetery was, it seemed to go on forever... figuratively speaking, of course. Although, if Haggus had his way, they'd find out exactly how far this lot stretched before they got even an inch more in the direction of the kennel.

Yes, this shortcut had been a bad idea.

{15.1}
[H: 10.4]

[Renna]

On the bright side, at least the fog seemed to be letting up. The clouds had come down to walk the streets somewhere around noon, making the air damp and restricting visibility. Renna hated wet. It made her feel heavy and cold, the chill clinging to her feathers and creeping under her skin. She also hated not being able to see where she was going. After all, what better place to die than a bone-yard? There are plenty of empty graves for you to fall into, get lost in... and was it just her imagination, or was Haggus starting to pick up speed?

"Haggus! Slow down, you overgrown reptile!" She spoke in Marhoo, the words feeling much more at home on her tongue than the gibberish most people spoke around town.

At the sound of his name, the wiurn paused mid-step and looked back at Renna, fixing a green eye on the feathered girl as if weighing his options. Naturally, he chose the more appealing of the two and with a snort, continued onward, ducking behind a mausoleum in the hopes of throwing her off of his trail. If only for a moment. Favorite toy or no, the avian was simply a lot less interesting than the new place he had found. There were so many possibilities in this section of the game-board, opportunities beneath the earth. It reeked of death, decay, time lost and things cut short, it was a place any sane creature should avoid. And it was his new playground.

{15.2}
[H: 11.0]

[Renna]

"Haggus!" Renna called his name once more, uselessly, breaking into a lazy jog in order to keep pace with the wiurn's considerably larger stride. It was almost as if he was trying to be difficult. Knowing him, he most likely thought this was some sort of game. She picked her way over a mat of protruding tree roots and stumbled the last few inches to the mausoleum.

The structure was, oddly enough, not too ornate. Didn't humans usually embellish the things a bit, considering the effort it took to build them? She'd seen one near the gate with fancy swirls and leaves and worn figures and stuff carved around the top. This one, in contrast, was a plain stone block. Just a few steps up from a plain tombstone. Only taking up a lot more space. In her opinion, funeral pyres were more efficient. Not only did they take up less land than the human tradition of... burying one's dead as one would bury a potato, but how was the spirit to move on if the body was allowed to remain? The thought of being put in a box underground gave her chills.

The entire scene reminded her of something out of one of those old horror movies humans liked so much. The black and white ones from before computers didn't run on doss. This impression only grew stronger when she spotted Haggus' current activity: excavation.

{15.3}
[H: 11.1]

[Renna]

Frankly, she couldn't decide whether to be fascinated or disgusted. Haggus had already taken the top few inches of soil off of the grave, and for a creature with only two appendages suitable for digging, he was making fast progress. After all, he wasn't a Vulticus, he only had two feet. The wiurn compensated by balancing on his wings, bat-style, one foot firmly planted on the ground to take some of the weight off of his front limbs, while he used the other and his nose to frantically move the earth. It was sort of acrobatic.

Renna watched for a few moments, leaning against the cold stone of the mausoleum. Certainly Haggus wasn't after... She squinted, trying to read the date on the stone. Sure enough, whatever corpse lay below was only a few days dead. Still fresh. Sort of.

As he dug, Haggus kept an eye on the avian. She wore what he had come to recognize as her 'not happy' look, although if his toy was in a bad mood, it was no concern of his. Not unless she was going to break. Broken toys were no fun to play with. Perhaps that's why someone had discarded this one, it was a broken as a toy could get, but still in one piece, which was more than could be said for some of the ones he had thrown away in the past. The aroma of rotting flesh drifted up to him from the soil, getting stronger as he dug deeper. It was making his stomach growl.

{15.4}
[H: 11.2]

[Renna]

With a sigh, Renna pushed away from the wall and made her way toward Haggus, who seemed oblivious, completely absorbed in his work. If one paid close attention however, they'd see that Haggus' gaze would every so often stray from his carefully constructed little world, resting on Renna for a few seconds before flicking back to focus on the dirt. The avian was used to this sort of behavior. Last time she had failed to keep a careful eye on him, it had taken a month for her feathers to grow back. Of course, Haggus had been a lot smaller then. And his tricks had grown along with him.

She stood at the edge of the grave, peering down into the slowly expanding pit with the demeanor of an interested young child. It was now about three feet deep, halfway to the hidden cadaver. Of course, Renna's nose wasn't as sensitive as the wiurn's, so even standing this close, she only caught hints of the perfume that so enticed her companion. She narrowed her eyes.

"I'm sure we could find you something better to eat, Rhan'kai." The title was an old one, and loosely translated to 'wise one,' reserved for elders and gods. In this case, the sarcasm was obvious. But it fell on deaf ears. The only reaction she got was a coincidental twitch of Haggus' head. Some day she'd really have to figure out what was causing that.

{15.5}
[H: 11.3]

[Ashe]

A savage, blood curdling howl erupts from...somewhere that was hopefully far away. It sounds so close, bouncing off each of the stones and seeming to surround everything on all sides. It was enough to make hair stand on end, make the faint of heart feint.

And then it was over... Nothing moved, no other sounds accompanied it. Slowly, everything went back to normal.


(nothing of significance happens)