Night 60: Underground Lake

[razing_phoenix]

[From here.]Just like the last time, Guy's feet hit the uneven sand as he took in that unmistakable smell of dampness. This area was almost dead quiet when compared to the hallway that they'd just come from, but he still could make out the lapping of water and the creaking of the dock. All of those sensations just reminded him of the fact that they

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[gald_digger]

The first time they teleported to the underground beach, Anise had been thrown off her feet. This time, she was ready for the shift to more uneven ground, and managed to keep standing with only a slight wobble after the transition. She looked around with a small smile, glad to see the others made it safely too.

Guy's words were answered with a firm nod, and Anise started walking after him. So it was already time to meet the skeleton...

"It's my turn, right? I should probably go with..." Her voice trailed off. With her flashlight still tucked under her arm, she was able to bring her fingertips to her throat. It was going to be weird for someone as talkative as Anise to go a whole night without talking. But sight was out of the question, and hearing would make it hard to follow group plans or notice danger. "Well, it's just for a little while, so I guess it's okay!" she quickly added on a lighter note.

[full_score]

Claude wanted to come out with a grumpy retort, especially with how annoyed he was getting from hearing that skeleton use his voice, but he clenched his jaw and kept quiet. It wasn't like speaking would do any good, anyway, thanks to the toll he'd paid. But when he thought of how much better off they'd be if he had his sense of touch, his frustration ebbed a bit.

Instead, he silently listened to the sounds of the ferryman's paddle breaking into the water and pushing them along. The stillness of the caverns unnerved him. Claude could practically feel the nameless faces peering at them from the dark lake, their gazes burning into him, but he did his best to ignore it.

If they were lucky, they wouldn't have to find out firsthand what had happened to them to wind up like that.

[trolltaker]

"A wise decision," Charon quietly said to Guy with a small chuckle. "Very wise indeed." They didn't want to wind up in the water, after all. And as dull as it could get with only short-tempered spiders and silent faces to keep him company, it was better that they not test his patience with a bunch of unnecessary flailing

[razing_phoenix]

Despite all the grief that had come before it about the toll, the actual boat ride turned out to be very quiet and very short. That was fine by Guy; he wasn't exactly interested in chatting with the ferryman, and his whistling had been oddly eerie in the way it had echoed off the cave walls

[gald_digger]

Anise followed Guy's gesture with her eyes, noting the door they'd already passed through. After a moment of consideration, she looked back up at him to answer. "Well... It doesn't really matter, does it? So let's just go through this one," she suggested, waving her hand in the direction of the rightmost door. No particular reason; it was just the one that caught her eye at that moment. All the doors were equally mysterious, so it was probably best if they didn't spend too much time deliberating which to take.

With that, she started on her way to the door, stopping once she was close to allow time for last minute objections or for simply gathering their courage. If the next trials were going to be anything like the last ones, they had to be prepared for anything.

"Let's just, um, watch our feet this time," she advised the others with a light, sheepish grin, remembering that terrifying first step beyond the other door.

[full_score]

Although Anise had given him some paper and a pen, it wouldn't have been practical to go fishing for all that just to give his opinion about something none of them knew much about. Thankfully, neither Guy nor Anise seemed particularly inclined to think too hard about it. At the end of the day, they were all just making a bunch of guesses down here, weren't they?

Upon hearing Anise's warning, Claude gave a silent nod in agreement. Since they had no idea of what to expect, they needed to be careful. Tightening his grip on his sword, he reached out to push the door open. He led the way inside, but moved slow and deliberate enough that it would be easy for them to stick close together.

((To here.))