FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Port Innsmouth, Lakeside. Chance and Carta had been traveling towards Mew York City to find themselves some new stock and maybe explore a little, and Lakeside would be their checkpoint before heading deeper into the territories. Already they had been frisked and checked for any illegal items at least three different times, but that didn't matter, Chance knew that the officials in Lakeside were fairly strict when it came to contraband so he was happy to comply; especially since rumors weren't exactly the best here and he wanted to be out as soon as possible. Actually, Chance would have preferred to stop in Port Lemin since it was closer to Dewclaw but Carta had insisted on taking the long way and coming to Innsmouth just to see if they could spot any of the weird oddities that were rumored to go on here, or discover any interesting cursed objects, but that was also part of the problem; Chance wasn't heading to Mew York for shady business, he was heading there to do some perfectly legal buying and selling, nothing strange, nothing that could land him with huge fines, but Carta had other ideas. Carta always had other ideas that landed him in trouble.

The day was fairly gloomy, with clouds blotting out the sun in a mess of gray that threatened to crack any moment with rain. A thick fog rolled down from the mountains and crashed through the streets of the port town creating a steady mist over their ankles at all times as they walked. Chance could deal with rainy weather just fine, even if he hated getting his coat of dark sandy fur wet; however, he was more concerned about his beige furred flowercat companion Carta. The red flower on her head wasn't used to too much rainfall and it could mean an emotional meltdown for her if the flower wilted, well, he supposed that was the reason he had gotten her that hooded poncho to go along with her dress. She seemed happy enough even in the overcast weather and she had told him not to worry, so on they went without a problem. They hopefully wouldn't be staying in Innsmouth for too long anyway.

While walking through Lakeside they came across a shady figure in the darkness of an alley approaching them wearing a flowing cloak and hood. They couldn't see his face and he hailed them with a raspy voice, "Flower cat and fox from the north huh? Y'must be looking for some good stuff right?"

Immediately Chance wanted to vacate the area and head on out to their destination, but before he could say his goodbyes to the stranger, Carta answered with a happy chirp, "We sure are! We're always on the lookout for any objects...Of interest; magical or otherwise."

Beneath the hood the man chuckled and from beneath his cloak, he pulled out a small idol made of some glossy material held in his gloved hand, "Here, take a look at this then. As magic as can be, Innsmouth made, Innsmouth born. Good material too, have a feel."

The idol was something strange and indescribable, with shapes shifting and changing right before their very eyes. If Chance stared at it too long, he could feel himself growing dizzy, or maybe the better word for it was sick. Never had he seen an object that just oozed cursed, and typically he would buy it on sight, but they weren't here for that and he certainly hoped Carta would realize that as well.

Carta's blue eyes shimmered as she reached towards the object to touch it. Chance was far too late in reacting as he grabbed her shoulder to try and keep her from touching it. He had figured Carta would have at the very least used her magic to see whether or not the object was cursed; he had been wrong, and the last thing he remembered seeing, was of white and a voice echoing in their heads, "Play with me. I'm the only one down here."

A drop of water splashing on his nose woke Chance up, his back and head protesting as he sat upon the rocky ground, a groan sounding off as he rubbed at the back of his head. His eyes cracked open slowly to see that he was in a cave of sorts, water dripping from the ceiling, blue fire torches on the walls nearby of the cave illuminating the area. His eyes adjusted to the dim lighting soon enough and he tried to recall what had just happened. What he thought had been a dream, had been reality. Carta had touched something interesting enough, unfortunately, it seemed that weird idol had been cursed. Where the thing had sent them, Chance had no clue and he wouldn't figure it out by just sitting there letting the water droplets wet his face. With a grunt, he got up to his feet with a bit of a wobble and looked around to pick a direction. First things first, find Carta.

Of course, that object would have transported him and Carta in different places, of course, it would have. The sound of the torches crackling on the wall along with the noise of water hitting the ground was enough to unnerve Chance. He couldn't seem to steady himself as he walked about, the air before him shifting in strange ways and the shadows of the fire playing tricks on his eyes. He was being far too skittish for someone who had been adjusted to traveling alone for so long, perhaps, though, it was the absence of Carta's voice that was bothering him most. Ever since they had partnered up recently, she was always chattering, always saying something in his presence, and now that she wasn't there it was more than just quiet, more than a little concerning. At the same time, he had to remember that in many ways she was better than him at surviving. She was a stronger user of magic, that was one thing, and she definitely had a quick wit when she wanted to, he just needed to trust that she'd be fine. Besides, there wasn't any sort of danger here, just eerie torches and a lot of water dripping from the ceiling; along with perhaps, some strange tricks of the fire that were playing in his vision.

There was something odd about the way the fire danced and crackled along the wall. The shadows seemed to reach out towards him and the water droplets touching the fire seemed to cease existing rather than producing any steam; no fizzle, no noise, just the water droplets falling from the ceiling and disappearing or creating small taps upon the floor of the cave, or his head.

As Chance continued padding through the strange cave, he just couldn't shake the feeling of something eyeing him, though, wherever he looked there was nothing there. He had learned to trust his gut whenever traveling in strange locations, but there just wasn't anything he could see ready to pounce, unfortunately, he didn't look up. Something slick and slimy wrapped around his neck from above, gripping tight and threatening to crush his windpipe, an eye closing as he brought his paws up to grip at the thing holding onto his neck and tug desperately. He found himself being yanked up and pulled off of his feet. In that moment, everything went white before his eyes, a figure of black flickering out of and into existence, inky lines forming before him as it reached out to touch his face and impart a pure agony unlike any other to his form, an agony that slowly began sapping his will to live, his will to escape, but before he could be taken from this world, he brought a paw away from the thing wrapped around his neck to summon a sword made of ice and swipe above himself despite only seeing that strange world of white. A hiss sounded off and he was suddenly allowed to choke in air, the world returning to normal.

With his free paw, he grabbed at the remains of what was on his neck and threw it to the ground. As he grasped at his neck and breathed he stared at what appeared to be some sort of mass of green and red flesh coiled together into one single tendril, a strange and unnerving thing that made his head split when he thought too much about where or what could have made such a thing, of course, more importantly, what had he just seen? He noticed then that he was shaking, tears coming from his eyes and as he came to wipe them away he felt the blood trickling down his nose. Whatever had just happened, he needed to leave now before more of those things attacked.

As he looked up to make sure nothing else would surprise him, another tendril lashed from the shadows of the ceiling above. He moved aside and hopped away as another tendril came down on him, his heart beating quickly as those undulating things twisting and writhed, rising towards him and lashing out. Just two? Perhaps he could handle them, but if a third or more joined, or whatever above was attached to those things dropped down then he would be in trouble, so as he cut aside the first tendril that came towards him, he turned tail and ran deeper into the caves never wanting to ever be touched by one of those things again. Chance was now desperate to find Carta.

Carta awoke with her head feeling as if she had been underwater for a good hour or so, and as she sat up she felt smooth stone underneath her paw. With her eyes open, she looked around to see she was in some sort of weird temple, walls covered in statues shaped in twisting ways that her mind could not comprehend and lit by blue crystals just above them. In fact, the closer she looked at the ink colored statues, the more her head seemed to reject the idea that they existed. Shaking herself from the sight of the strange figures, she stood and dusted her dress off with a huff, but her ears drooped and her head turned as she noticed; Chance was gone.

"Chance?" She called out to the dimly lit room hoping for some sort of quick reply...There was no answer.

Perhaps he had simply gone to look without her, or perhaps they were truly separated and it was, in the end, her fault for allowing curiosity to grip her and touching that weird idol. She'd never be able to make it up to Chance even if they got out, and worse yet, this strange temple could be dangerous. With a misty breath to calm herself, she began to trot along with a determined look. There was no point in waiting around, she was going to save Chance if he was in trouble and get the hell out of there; perhaps then, she'd treat him to something spicy.

Carta wandered the halls of the strange temple, her eyes averting the odd statue here and there that made her head ache. The entire place made her fur rise on end, the quiet certainly not helping. Wherever she traveled, the walls seemed to shift and the corridors seemed to turn in ways that led her to specific doors. She swore the walls were closing in on her, and occasionally she heard scuttling about as if there was something in the walls themselves, but she had to focus. She wanted to see Chance again and so on she continued, even if it was down steps and deeper into the strange place she really wanted to make things right.

Down and deeper into the darkness of the steps she went, until she hit flat ground and her eyes widened to see that she was in the same room she woke up in. Turning quickly she noticed that the walls had closed around her again, but rather than collapse in her fright, she brought up her paw and with a whisper of an incantation brought the stone up from the ground to crash and crack into the wall, "Hah! Your walls can't keep me in here creep palace!"

When the dust settled, the wall had given way to a cave illuminated by blue torches, and no creepy statues, but everything had gone deathly silent. Where once she had heard strange scuttling, there was only quiet as she took a breath to steady herself and head into that wide cave. Her ears then twitched as she swore she heard steps echoing from deeper within the cave. She kept her steps quick, her eyes focused on where she heard the steps coming from. They were soft, but they were quick as well, desperate. What if Chance was hurt?

In the dim light of the cave, she saw Chance running towards her, his eyes wide as he saw her, her own eyes growing wide as she smiled and then frowned upon seeing strange writhing tentacles chasing him. Chance ducked just in time for one to miss, but another grabbed his ankle and pulled him to the ground. He yelled and clawed at the ground, his eyes growing hazy as he shuddered in the grasp of the creature. Carta gasped out and rushed and with an angered incantation called the earth up to slice apart the tendril that had grabbed at Chance. She then grabbed his shoulders and pulled him onto his feet, but he was stumbling as if he was drunk. Perhaps he hit his head, or something worse, either way, Carta took him by the arm and led him away and back into the temple. Soon the tendrils followed, but as they reached the collapsed wall of the temple, they stopped. They shook for a moment and shivered, twisting as if staring at Chance and Carta before withdrawing into the darkness. Carta sitting there on the smooth stone with Chance, panting.

"You were right. You are useful in a fight." He groaned, recounting what she had tried to say to convince him to take her along in Dewclaw when they first met.

Carta smiled a bit, "Guess so, but you still ended up in danger, 'cuse of me."

Chance waved her off as he tried to regain his balance and get up, "Bygones, bygones, you owe me a bit of coin, blah blah. We can do this later. I'd rather get out now."

Carta blinked, "Are you okay?"

Chance shivered at that, staring into the darkness of the cave for a moment before nodding remembering the sight of that strange figure nearly grabbing him again as he was held on the ground by those writhing tendrils, "Yeah, just fine. We should keep moving, though. Find a way out."

Carta's ears lowered, "I don't think there is a way out deeper in this place. The walls just keep on closing in around me and leading me here..."

Chance blinked, "Then how did you get out into the cave?"

Carta sighed, "I blasted a hole in the wall."

"Then do it again."

"Huh?"

Chance smiled and simply repeated, "Then do it again."

For a moment, the flowercat thought of those words before a smile slowly crept onto her face. Paw in paw, she cracked her digits and took her place by a wall to begin their escape. Wall after wall began to fall as Carta and Chance to make their way through the halls of the strange temple. They climbed upstairs and crashed through walls with Carta's magic whenever they seemed to be trapped, Carta enjoying the opportunity to ruin the strange place; they would not be trapped here for long, or so they hoped.

At one point, the walls that closed around them were covered with those strange statues, both Chance and Carta averting their gaze as they felt apathy and sickness touch their forms. Carta decided to face the statues head on and bring her earth magic against them, stone raising to crash into the statues, but as the statues cracked and crumbled, a terrible wailing sounded that brought the fur of both Carta and Chance to a frizz.

Chance felt his heart begin to race, his eyes darting from side to side as he searched for the source of the awful noise. Carta was doing the same, except her eyes were focused on the darkness that awaited them past the destroyed wall. Both of them were so busy that they didn't notice the room changing before them, the shadows creeping out from behind the destroyed wall that seemed to surround them. When the darkness was fully open them, Chance called out, "What's happening."

Carta moved closer to her partner, ready to fight if need be, but for some reason, she felt her energy begin to drain in the darkness. Chance felt himself weakening as well, his shoulders sagging, his mind beginning to drift as he suddenly desired to sit down and just not move. Both Chance and Carta leaned shoulder to shoulder in the darkness and in that little touch there was a reminder that they needed to move on, so despite the weakness that gripped their hearts, they began to shuffle through the darkness, ignoring the sounds of hissing and static that plagued their ears.

The darkness began to flash between white and black, their bodies stumbling as they continued on through before suddenly they crashed through a door and were back in reality, both of them panting, wide-eyed, looking around desperately for something, anything to help them out. They saw then a figure, a familiar shape; the idol that had taken them there.

Carta, in her desperation to leave, rushed to the idol held atop a pedestal, her paws gripping the thing just as Chance stepped by her to do the same, both of them desperate to leave, unsure of what would help them leave, but as they touched the idol, their world disappeared and everything went white again. A figure stood before them in the bright world, sharp lines with a circle for a head and two dotted eyes. Its eyes trembled before they heard the softest voice in the world speak to them, a voice that shook them to the very core at the very same time, "Come play again please...I'm so lonely down here...And you two are so lovely together..."

Raindrops touched both Carta and Chance's faces. Chance was the first to wake, his eyes heavy as he brought himself up from the cobbled stone ground. As he got up he nearly felt himself dry heave, his body protesting his waking, but he held it in and took a deep shaky suck of breath. Looking around, he noticed that he was back in Lakeside where they had found the idol, his head pounding, "Ugh...Carta? You all right?"

Silence and rain drops hitting the ground were all he heard. Turning he saw Carta lying there groaning. Moving to her side he knelt and felt over her cheeks, moving his body to block the raindrops touching her flower, "Carta...Carta c'mon wake up."

Carta's eyes broke open slowly and again she groaned as she sat up slowly, Chance drawing up her hood as she spoke, "Oh...Oh Chance what happened?"

"I have no idea...Let's leave and never come back, though."

Carta rose to her feet slowly, securing the hood on her poncho to make sure her flower was safe from too much rain and she shivered, "...I guess it was exciting, but yeah, no, let's never come back."

Chance took Carta by the paw and the two went on their way, heading out of the alley and through the rain. They could perhaps stay for the night, but after what happened, they weren't even sure if they would ever dare try the Lakeside checkpoint ever again. Certainly they had more to add to the rumors surrounding the place, and certainly, they hoped they would never see those strange things ever again. From the shadows of the alley and on a crate, the idol watched atop of it, waiting for another guest to come.