A Grave Encounter
#71 of Tik Tik into the Wildlands
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Tik Tik has decided to explore an ancient tomb to find its secrets. But what lies in this unknown place, and what spirits will she awaken?
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The the tomb has been undisturbed for centuries. The quiet of the grave is a pure and holy thing, yet there are those who would break this ritual silence for their own gain.
One such individual descends from the shaft up above, sitting crossed-legged upon a floating disk. Once near the floor, the explorer dispels the magic and lands upon her pink, clawed feet.
Tik Tik brushes her hand over the hieroglyphics which warn that intruders will be punished.
But the ancient ruler was legendary, and her treasures even more so. Scholars speak of the final fate of her prized collection--her works of erotic literature, preserved forever, but never shared with the world.
Such a shame--a shame Tik Tik is here to rectify.
The main chamber is easy enough to get to, and it is as empty as she would expect. While the body is sealed within a stone sarcophagus, shaped in the nude form of its occupant in her prime, the treasure must be hidden elsewhere. That's why Tik Tik brought her old trapmaking tools, to make sure no human would ever outsmart her.
Slowly, she progresses through the room, striking the stone and looking for anything out of place, but a chill crawls up her leg and she stops, glancing over her shoulder. Did she hear something? Perhaps it's just the wind.
She shrugs and continues to check the room for traps. It wouldn't do for some ancient mechanism to trigger just as she found the actual hidden treasure hoard.
A cool wind swishes at Tik Tik's Tail, probably some shifting air pressure somewhere. But then it yanks her tail.
Are there invisible creatures here? Is she bothering herself with her paranoia? She's alone in this chamber, with only the ancient coffin as company.
Just as her heart finally starts to settle, that is when the sarcophagus slams open, a glowing, ropey tendril shooting out of it and whipping around her tail.
As she is pulled back by the tentacle, her top catches on the rocky floor, pulling it up to her chin and scratching at her scales as she desperately tries to find purchase with her claws.As she gets closer to the resting place, she notices that there is no body, but an eerie, glowing pool of translucent energy. Extending out from it is the long tendril of wispy, cold material, gripping onto her with a gnarled hand at the end. With its unliving speed, the arm pulls her in, trapping Tik Tik against the odd cold sensation inside the coffin.
The bright light all around her hurts her eyes, but the feeling, despite its life-draining cold is strange, but not unpleasant.
The coffin slams shut against her, cold, bright ectoplasm squishes against her scales, tingling her with its numbing sensation. She sighs against it, her warm breath shuddering through the ghostly immaterial.
"You dare disturb my slumber...?" The voice rings in her mind. "I, the great pharaoh, the most beautiful and-"
Tik Tik's tongue slips out of her mouth, tasting the ghostly composition.
"D... did you just...?" The voice asks, a strange warmth emanating all around Tik Tik.
The kobold responds, sloshing her hands up through the murk, wrapping her arms around the non-substance like she would if she were hugging a lover. She closes her eyes, her tongue delving deeper into that mouth she imagines.
The ghost's voice pants in her mind as tendrils hungrily wrap around the kobold's arms and legs and neck, prodding tentacles of energy crackling and stroking along her cheeks. The words fade away, only to be replaced by the imagined taste of the mouth of a deified ruler.
The ghostly arms snake up along her thighs, pressing into Tik Tik more like a tongue now than invading fingers. On her end, the taste shifts as well, as she now sups upon the nectar of the ancient queen. It is a peculiar taste, perhaps an indication of the change of humans over the centuries. Or, does it portend that the pharaoh was indeed the child of a deity? Tik may never find out.
Soon, her hands fall back, frozen once more in the embrace of the unquiet spirit. Simultaneously, kisses and pinches and licks and strokes travel throughout her body, the unliving spirit finding the living body, not as an intruder, but as something new to explore. Tilting back her head as far as she can in her immobilized state, Tik Tik cries out, filling the dead halls with the sounds of those living life and celebrating it to its fullest!
The coffin opens back up, spitting Tik Tik out. The kobold oozes with ectoplasm, the stuff clinging to her as a chilly mucus. But she doesn't retch or slide it off. Instead, she pulls out a small vial and scoops the immaterial into it, humming happily as she does.
The inside of the coffin is dark again, yet still empty. The presence that had so filled it disappeared entirely. When Tik Tik stands, one last brush of wind against her cheek tells her she is not totally alone, and the whisper confirms t. "Thank you..." comes the voice of the ancient ghost.
"No problem!" Tik Tik says, yipping happily into the darkness. "Now, can Tik Tik take your treasure? Would be very nice for study."
"Do that, " the voice says, "and I'll haunt you."
"Oh, well, Guess Tik Tik will leave, then, and-"
An invisible arm tugs at her. "W... wait! Don't you want to take some of my riches? My lore? My poetry?"
"Oh, Tik Tik doesn't know. Being haunted sounds scary."
"I just want to fuck you again!" the ghost whines.
Tik Tik snickers and says. "Okay, maybe being haunted isn't so bad."
A loud click behind the sarcophagus announces the grinding of stones as the secret door opens up to a glimmering room. In her mind, Tik Tik hears the words of her new ghostly friend. "You won't regret it."