The trees that line the road from the village proper to the castle lean and arch over to create a green tunnel. There are many signs as well, warning not to go into the woods, not to eat any fallen nuts or fruit, and not to complain loudly about anything and to treat ones parents with respect. Unlike with the Stonebarrow castle, the ominous warnings are not followed by invitations to visit the gift shop. There is also a large patch of disturbed earth that the trio pass, which may have been where the Duchess's tunneling machine emerged.
After a curve, the bulk of the castle can be seen. From the top of the high tower, a cable descends to a post at the side of the road.
Aviri tilts his head at the castle. "Not as ..." he makes a vague upward gesture with his hands "... as I was expecting."
"It's only got the one tower too," Trilup notes. "Ours has four! Well, one and a half, since the other fell over and stuff. But this one looks bigger and meaner."
As they approach the castle, Lin notices the machines and dodads scattered about and simply must investigate each and every one of them. She runs off towards one of the ones that looks like it's for digging. "Hey, d'ya think the dutchess used one of these to make the tunnel into the Sherrif's office?" She calls back to Aviri and Trilup.
"That looks too big," Trilup claims. "And it's got a bucket. A digging machine should have.. like.. mole paws or something."
"Looks like she's using 'em to extract her castle," Aviri notes. He looks away from the castle and starts. "Lin, don't just ... it could be ....!" He huffs and starts to follow her.
The machine is like a crane, in that has a long arm and a pivot and lots of ropes. It doesn't look like it's meant to move though.. or else the wheels were just taken off. Instead, the neck of the crane can telescope in and out.
"Could be what?" Lin chirps as she scoots off to investigate one with a large tank and a hose coming out of it.
"I bet that's a pump," Trilup says of the next one. "Hoses are for pumps."
"Dangerous!" Aviri says, trying to catch her. "Remember we've got a mission? And ..." He gets distracted by something near the base of the exposed outer wall and pulls himself to a stop. "Just be careful!" he calls.
Lin raps a knuckle against the tank, eliciting a dull bong. "Sure," She calls back, "But they're not turned on. Whoever made these would prolly get along great with the Wingnuts! Find anything shiny?"
"Here!" Trilup says, and holds up something in one mud-caked hand. It's a tooth. A very big one. "Monster stuff! I bet this place was just crammed with them! Like that forest."
Aviri bites his lip and turns back, resuming his trek after Linyala. "Some exposed ... fungus, I guess," he says. At Trilup's call he picks up his pace. "Monsters?"
Lin goes over to look at the tooth as well. "Looks like whatever this belonged to isn't around anymore though." She says with a trace of disapointment.
"Well.. I guess it could be from a Titanian," Trilup concedes. "A big one. We should ask. We have to get inside before dark, or we won't get fed."
Aviri winces as he sees the tooth. "Glad it's dead," he says. "We can ask the Duchess how these machines work, Lin, once we're inside."
"Sounds good!" Lin chirps, "Let's go." She leads the way towards the front gate.
The doors are tall and ominous. There is a knocker though.. an iron one.. in the shape of a smiling Khatta face.
Trilup steps back from the door, and looks to Aviri. "I don't see a trap door," she says. "And nothing hanging over it ready to drop.."
Aviri nods to Trilup, gulps, and then takes the knocker and knocks, a bit timidly at first, but the last few are pretty loud.
The sound of bolt sliding greets the Lapi's ears a moment later. Then a few more bolts. And something that goes 'thunk' and something rattles. Then one of doors creaks inwards on the squeakiest hinges imaginable. It's like they attached a chalkboard and claws to them.
Lin cheers quietly to herself as though she just won some private bet.
The Lapi shivers and tenses at the grinding sound, looking a bit like he's coiling around himself.
There's a curtain of cobwebs that billows outward from the gap, and big yellow eye peeks through. "Yeth?" it asks with a familiar lisp. "We're all thet for cookieth.."
"Good job on the hinges!.. Igor?" Lin asks. She's seen the Igor at Dontgointhe Castle several times when she finds a really weird fish. "How did you? But... What?"
Aviri takes a moment to straighten himself back out from the hinge-grinding, though he keeps his ears firmly buried against the back of his neck in case there's another assault of noise. "We're ..." he starts to say, then stops. "Cookies?"
"You don't look like cookieth," the eyeball notes. The door opens a few more excruciating inches, until it's clear that the answerer is.. a yellow eyed (and toothed) hunchbacked Skreek. Unlike the one at Dontgointhe Castle though, this one appears to be all original parts.
Aviri shudders again at the hinges, scrunching up his face against the sound. "We're couriers," he manages to say. "Were you expecting us, or do you greet all visitors with cookies?"
"Thometimethe they are trying to thell uth cheethe," the rat notes. "Mothtly it'th cookieth though." He looks from Aviri to the otters (well, his left eye does, but it could just be lazy). "Ah.. you're fithhthth merchantths? Oh wait.. courierth. I don't know that the Duchethth liketh curry."
"Naw," Lin chirps, "We're here with a parcel for the Dutchess. No food, sorry."
"We're not selling anything," Aviri adds. "Just a delivery."
"Parthel? Parthel what?" the Skreek asks.
Aviri nods to Linyala. "Just a box," he says.
Lin pulls the box from her pack and holds it up for inspection.
"A parthial box?" the Skreek asks next. "That lookth like a whole box to me."
"Parcel," Aviri says. "Like ... a package. Not partial."
"And it'th inthide the box then?" the Skreek inquires.
"It is. We're delivering it to the Dutchess 'cause the original messenger couldn't." Lin says, trying to keep a straight face.
"She gets the whole box," Aviri says, a bit amused. "And the whole of whatever's inside it."
"Why didn't you thay tho in the firtht plathe?" the Skreek asks, and starts muttering about cheese and cookies as he opens the other door, which is perfectly silent.
Aviri winces as the door begins to move, and then looks at the Igor with a confused and bewildered face.
"Well, don't act like you've never theen a door before," the Skreek notes, gesturing for them to come inside.
Lin grumbles to herself, "A tie. It would be a tie." Then she hurries inside and looks at the door with the creak to see if it really does have some creaking mechanism or if it's all natural.
There's something on the hinges that could be a creaking mechanism.
Aviri enters, glaring at the noisy door and pressing his hands to where his ears connect to his head in preparation for its closing. "Thank you," he says to Igor.
"I am Ysnor, the cathtle thervant," the Skreek introduces himself, and pushes the other door closed - also quietly. It only seems creak in one direction. "Who may I introduthe you ath?"
"Ysnor?" Trilup whispers to herself.
Linyala looks very pleased with herself and keeps glancing back at the doors with a little grin. "I'm Linyala but ye kin call me Lin." She chirps at Ysnor.
The suddenly silent door seems to break the rabbit, who just stares at the hinges and slowly lowers his hands. "A ... viri," he says.
"I'm Trilup the Awesome," Trilup says, puffing up a bit. "You may call me Her Awesomeness however."
"This is why you don't get the sneaking jobs." Lin whispers to Trilup with a light elbow to the ribs and a grin.
"Follow me, young marthterth," the hunchback says, and waddles out of the entry room through some curtains.
Aviri finally turns from the door, a bit ruffled, and follows. "Thanks, Ysnor."
"Pleathe make yourthelveth comfortable while I inform the Duchethth of your arrival," Ysnor says, and then heads for the second level.
Aviri's eyes widen as he sees the garden, the glowing moss, and the myriad of other botanical wonders. He stands there, frozen, unable to decide what he should do first.
Linyala is very nearly awestruck by the garden. "Aviriii? Have you ever seen this many kinds of glowing plants in one place? Sure there are a couple glowey bog plants back home but..." She trails off.
"Uh.. I think that plant has teeth," Trilup notes, pointing out a large carnivorous bog plant. "And maybe that one too.."
Aviri starts walking forward slowly, eyes riveted on the glowing moss. "Incredible..." he mutters, and shakes his head sharply. "This is ... teeth?" He looks toward Trilup, with distant eyes. "Just ... don't get eaten," he says, and kneels at a luminescant flower.
The youngest Akwavi keeps her distance from the plants, instead heading to the fountain to wash off her hand (and the tooth).
The flower isn't like anything Aviri has seen before. Either it's an exotic import - or Silv wasn't kidding about the owner (at the time) being a powerful Earth Mage. These plants could all be the products of magic.
Lin peers over Aviri's shoulder for a few seconds then asks, quite abruptly, "How kin a flower have petals underground? Don't they fight-to-sinth-size?"
"Flowers are ... pretty," Aviri says. "Some of the best flowers grow underground because there's not much light. More competition. Need to reproduce more aggressively to survive." He looks up toward the dome, and the moss again. "Wonder if I could get seeds...."
Ysnor appears again on the balcony over the fountain, and clears his throat. It sounds like he really should be spitting something out, but he doesn't. "Presenting her Cuteness, the Duchess Eve Kurai of Blackshire." The white Khatta girl appears and flounces down a stairway in the pinkest, frilliest dress possible. It must have seven layers of petticoats, even. And she wears pink slippers covered in coolect-wing glitter.
Lin squints at the "Dutchess" for a few seconds until she finally recognizes her. "What happened to yer hat?" She asks with her usual tact.
Aviri jumps at the sound, looking up, and then tilting his head at her dress. "Hello again, your Cu ... er ... high ... Dutchess."
"I have lots of hats," Eve claims, and stops in front of Aviri. She holds out her right arm, presenting the back of her hand to the Lapi.
The Lapi is a bit stunned, and at a loss for what to do. None of his books on botany handled conversing with duchesses. He looks at the hand like a deer at headlights, his own hand reaching forward but stopping. Is it okay to touch a duchess? He gulps. "This is a beautiful garden," he manages to say, giving her a bow to be on the safe side.
"It eats bugs," the duchess says with a grin, then waggles her wrist a bit. "You're supposed to kiss the back of my hand you know. I don't understand why so few people figure that out! What else are you gonna do with a hand in this position?"
Linyala is still holding the box, kind of awkwardly now, not knowing if she should deliver it yet. "Shave it? Bite it? Caresse it gently while singing?" She suggests and lowers the box to her side.
"Oh, sorry." Aviri's inner ears flush as he rises from his bow and gives her hand a quick kiss, though he still doesn't touch it with his hands. "I don't ... encounter royalty much."
"Half-hearted effort, but good enough," Eve says with a sigh. "Ysnor! Get the little one a towel so she doesn't drip on everything," she calls up to the balcony, then smiles at Lin. "You must be.. Lin-yo-yo? And the gentleman is Avery? I'm told you have a parcel for me." She apparently intends to act as if this is their first meeting.
The spy grimaces at the butchering of her name. "Just Lin is fine." She says as neutraly as possible, "All the way from Stonebarrow, with ghosts!"
"Ghosts?" Eve asks, looking curious. "Is that what's in the box?"
"We actually don't know what's in it," Aviri says. "We've not opened it." He says it as though it was merely the honorable thing to do and not their inability to open it.
"It is haunted though." Lin adds, "Or rather my hat is haunted by the ghost of the lady who was supposed to deliver it. Wasn't easy getting it all the way over here."
"Getting the ghost or the hat over here?" Eve asks, and squints at the hat. "Are you a pirate?"
"Yes, no, but she might have been!" Lin chirps.
"It wasn't easy getting over here period," Aviri says. "Even if we weren't bringing a magical box and a haunted hat. The ghost is nice, though."
"Can I see the box?" Eve asks next, holding out her hand.
"Be careful though, we're not kidding about it being magical." Lin gingerly passes the box to Eve, "It really made the trip here interesting."
The Khatta girl turns it about, shakes it and looks at the combination dials. "The last three aren't set. How's it work?" she asks.
Aviri gulps. "I ... wouldn't recommend fiddling with it, unless you know the combination."
"You play the puzzle until one of the runes shows up, the rune glows, then it does something crazy." Lin explains. "Got a table? I took notes."
Eve points to the large dining table, and carries the box over to it. "It's a puzzle too?" she asks, setting it down on the table.
Aviri follows, looking nervous at the box. He takes some solice in knowing that whatever comes out of it probably isn't worse than that creeky door.
Trilup finally catches up as well, carrying the towel she was given to dry her hands.
From Lin's pack emerges the leather bag with her writing supplies. The otter spreads out the sheets of parchment detailing the situation surrounding each activation, the symbols reveiled, the particular effects of each, and how the effect stopped. Some of them go into rather gory detail and the one labeled 'Spider Soup' would put even the strongest of constitutions to the test.
"So far it's all been monstly harmless." Lin presents, "It started by just growing some twig tentacles, then it filled a cabin with blood. After that it got weirder an' weirder until I got melted. We also got clonified an' body-swapped with our ghost. Nothin' it's done yet has actually done more than scare us but it's been getting worse as we solve more levels of the puzzle."
"And you just move these bits around to find the next symbol?" Eve asks, and pushes on a tile. It immediately reveals a pink cross.. and the room begins to get wobbly.
"Oh, it likes you." Lin deadpans.
"And none of it's ever been perman..." Aviri starts to say, but his words are cut off in a little squeak as the room starts changing.
"I'm lucky," Eve claims, before starting to look distressed. Everyone is feeling dizzy now, and distances are being distorted as well. To Aviri the floor is growing farther and farther away (which mean his feet are growing huge. For Lin, everything is tilting towards the left, so she feels like she's about to fall over. Trilup is clutching onto the table with a deathgrip and swaying.
Lin wags her tail to try to keep stable, stagers over to the table, dumps out her writing bag, and holds it out to Eve. "Sometimes stops if we aren't holding it. Might be it stops thinkin' it's in danger? Worth a shooot." She stagers a couple paces to her left then appears to climb back up an incline which isn't there until she's back next to the Duchess.
The box seems to move.. but it's just the table that seems to be stretching, so that the box appears out of reach. And the rest of the room is starting to blur together into a mushy watercolor mosaic of distorted shapes and glows and colors.
Aviri lets out a small keening sound as he tries to huddle closer to the departing ground. He tries to make a break for the central column for stability.
For Aviri, the column looks stable, but then it starts being uphill. There's a smacking sound behind him, downhill now.. from one of the carnivorous plants, which has grown huge.
The keening turns into a squeak as Aviri starts sliding away from safety. He grapples with anything that could prevent his descent, but even in his distress, he doesn't grab at easily-uprootable plants, either knowing they'd be too frail to stop him, or out of some inability to rip such marvels out of the ground.
Lin makes a desperate lunge for the box, trying to bag it in one motion.
Luckily, Trilup's tail is in reach, and Aviri can grab that to keep from becoming plant food. Lin's lunge sends her flying across the table, completely overshooting her target. The bag also starts to wiggle and squirm as if something were inside of it trying to get out.
With a single shout of "Sorry" by way of apology, Aviri reaches for Trilup's tail, mentally preparing himself for it to dance out of reach.
Linyala barks in displeasure and wrestles with the bag. "Oh so yer bein' like that now, eh?" She grumbles, "I use ya once as a magic-protector an' now yer not havin' it again? Well ye've got another thing comin ya great overqualified fishrag!" With that, she punches the bag inside out and tries for the box again.
Trilup yells of course! She thinks she's being stretched out taffy. "How long does this.. last?" Eve asks, still sitting in her chair and not moving even a little bit.
Lin's vision seems to be doubling. There are now two boxes on the table. But if she blinks.. it goes up to four. Four of everything.
Aviri holds onto Trilup's tail tightly and looks toward Eve. He's stunned as she doesn't seem to be affected. He closes his eyes and cringes, then, willing the floor to be level, lets go of his anchor, hoping that if this was all truly an illusion, as he suspected, he'd not slide anywhere.
"Did anyone wishth to clean up before dinner?" Ysnor asks, appearing out of the kaleidoscope landscape. "Or perhapth thome thedativeth?"
Lin closes one eye and very delibetately walks towards the table, she aims cleanly between the two remaining boxes and reaches out to where she thinks the box should be.
How could she miss that chair? Lin knocks it over and falls on top of it. Then its legs start to wiggle around and ensnare her!
There's a leafy tongue definitely tickling Aviri's feet as well.
"Ith thith thome new danthe popular with the young folkth?" the apparently unaffected hunchback asks. "Or thould I be thowing you all to a private room?"
The Lapi closes his eyes even tighter and presses himself as flat against the floor as he can. "Notrealnotreal," he mutters to himself.
Lin thinks fast and calls out to the only one who doesn't seem affected by the box, "Ysnor! Would you please dial the pink cross into the next spot on the box on the table? It's messing with our heads!"
The Skreek picks up the box and looks at it. "Pink crothth?" he asks. He finally figures out the dials, and starts turning it slow. "Pink.. Pink.. light pink or dark pink? Pink like the drethth?"
"I think any cross'll do," Aviri says, eyes still closed tight.
Lin chirps, "Lighter, like the dress."
There's clicking as Ysnor thumbs the dial.. a pause.. more clicking. Then a more definitive click. The room is once more level, with nothing attempting to eat anyone. Although Aviri is on the floor, clutching Trilup's tail, while the girl is holding onto the back of her chair with every limb and her mouth. Lin is just sprawled across another chair.
The box is set back onto the table. "Tho.. do I need to draw a bath for anyone? Mithth Butterlump ith making thquathhed mythtery pie with carrotth for thupper."
Aviri's eyes slowly open. "It's over?" He looks toward his feet. "How ... why are we the only ones affected?!"
"I think he was outta the room when we turned it on." Lin posits, righting herself and the chair. She pats herself down and starts adding to her notes.
"She wasn't," Aviri says, gesturing to Eve as he pulls himself up. "Unless ... it's all illusions and you can ... keep it at bay?" he asks the Duchess.
"I just froze, sorry," Eve says. "Things were getting very weird, and you all looked like mushrooms."
Lin looks up from her writing. "That'un was surprisingly normal actually." She chirps, "I'd put that next to the blood one fer it's spookyness."
Aviri tries to smooth is fur, which is still standing on-end from his encounter. "Wouldn't wanna do it again, though," he says. "Everyone alright?"
"I could use a hug," Trilup says.
Aviri bends over and gives her a hug, albeit awkwardly. "Sorry for grabbing your tail," he says. "Just didn't want to be eaten."
"It stretched out forever... and all my limbs turned into noodles.." Trilup whispers.
"So.. do we do the next bit now?" Eve asks, reaching for the box again.
"Thanks Ysnor!" Lin adds, "It was makin' us haluciniate."
"Oh, no," Aviri says quickly. "Silv says to only do one a day, or bad things happen." He blinks. "Er, worse things, I guess."
"Who is Silv?" Eve asks, withdrawing her hand. "Are you gonna stay and finish it, or just.. leave it with me?"
"She gave us the impresion it would get violent instead of just tricky." Lin rolls her papers up and tucks them away after un-inverting her bag. "Silver is the ghost of tha last person to try an' deliver this box. We'll stick around an' see it through. Been through all the other levels already, it'd be a shame ta quit now!"
"I'd also love to study these plants," Aviri says, gesturing to the garden. "They're so ... fascinating! And new!"
"The plants?" Eve asks, and looks around as if just now seeing them. "They've been here forever.. uh.." She turns in her seat to find Ysnor, and asks, "Do you take care of them or do they just live off bugs?"
"They like a bit of blood now and then, Duchethth," Ysnor says. "Given voluntarily or not."
Aviri blinks. "Hmm, might not ask for seeds, then," he says to himself. "I'd still like to study them, if you wouldn't mind?" He suddenly turns cold. "I mean, assuming we can ... er ... stay here?"
"Well.. you can't stay in the hall of course," Eve says. "Ysnor will prepare guest rooms.." and then the girl's eyes light up. "Orrr.. we could have a sleep-over! I've never had a sleep over before!"
Lin cheers, "This is the best plan! Killer psychic ghost puzzle boxes and pillow fights!"
"Yeah! And.. uh.. do you have candy?" Trilup asks.
"We've got ice cream!" Eve proclaims. "If the machine doesn't blow up again. Sometimes it comes out a bit burnt, but still. And we can do makeovers!"
"Isn't that what you call when you do really badly at a game and want to try again for free like it didn't happen?" Lin asks, eyebrow raised and hat askew.
"No, it's where we dress up and try makeup and do each other's hair and stuff," Eve says, clapping her hands together. "I bet we can dress up Avery in some of my brother's clothes.."
Aviri looks a bit frightened at all this. "Sleepover?" he asks. It sounds social, but after sliding toward a plant maw he can't work up the reason to be nervous about it. "How do you burn ice-cream? Wait ... what?"
Lin gets a downright evil glint in her eye and she leans in close to the Dutchess and whispers, "You wouldn't have any sisters or clothes his size, wouldjya?"
"Actually, he's pretty close to my size," Eve whispers back. Not that whispers are secure from a Lapi. "Pants might not fit, but I've got some bloomers and skirts that might.."
Aviri's eyes narrow at the whispering girls. He scratches one of his ears and clears his throat. "You know I can hear you, right?"
"Yes." Lin intones, "And you will be the prettyest."
One of the hall doors bursts open, and a looming figure enters. The Titanian is seven feet tall, shaggy, and has visible fangs showing below his upper lip. It is amazing that anyone was able to make a Gallisian maid uniform to fit him like that. He's carrying a stack of plates.. "Eat soon!" he bellows. "All cleaned up? Wash faces?"
Eve and Trilup both hold up there hands to show that they're clean.
Lin looks at her inkstained hands and scoots over to the fountain to wash up.
Aviri is startled by the sudden apparition, and without even checking whether his hands are dirty darts to the fountain to wash them.
"Wash wash wash, or no pie!" the 'maid' growls, and starts setting the table. There is a giant hammer slung over his shoulder as well, instead of a broom. That is tucked into the sash of his dress.
"Our guests will be staying for a few days, Gnarr," Eve tells the man. "Please let your wife know. Also.. I'm pretty sure one only eats vegetables."
"Stewed vegetables?" Gnarr asks.
Trilup quickly collects all of Lin's notes and the box, putting them into the bag before they're covered in fine porcelain.
Aviri returns to the table with dripping but presumably clean hands. "Oh, yes please!" he says to Gnarr.
"Hokay!" the Titanian says, sets the last plate, then heads back through the door to presumably get the rest of the settings.
Lin gets back a little later, admittedly her paws are still somewhat black in places. "They're just stained." She pouts and waves the ink-spattered paws.
Aviri takes a seat and bites his lip. "Duchess ... are you particularly afriad of mushrooms?"
"Butterlump has a cleaner that gets out everything," Eve tells Lin. "But.. well, it's fine for me because my fur is already white.."
Eve looks to Aviri and blinks. "No. But it's disturbing when they look like people and move about and talk. Especially the talking. Because of the clouds of spores that come out.."
"I'll live with the stains fer the couple days it takes fer 'em ta come out." Lin grins, "White paws wouldn't go over too well back home."
"Do you not like spores, then?" Aviri asks. "I'm wondering because ... well, does the box cater its illusions to its victims?" He looks to Linyala.
"I wasn't afraid of taffy before this," Trilup notes.
More Titanians emerge, but smaller ones. They carry the glasses and flatware, and are dressed a bit more normally. They also both wag their tails at the sight of the visitors.
Lin shrugs, she looks pretty normal. "Everything just started tipping to the side. Or maybe I was tipping? It just looked like the whole world was slanted to the left. Oh, an' my writing bag was misbehavin'. That was it though. Sounds like the rest of you had a lot more fun."
"Everyone, these are Gnarr's sons, Oops and Uh-Oh," Eve says. "Boys, these are Avery, Lin-yoyo and Trifle.."
Aviri gives them a wave. "Thanks for dinner!"
After setting down their burdens, the boys bow to the two girls, take their right hands.. and lick the backs of them. They then converge on Aviri and take out what look like ice-tongs. But they use them to start measuring things, like the size of Aviri's head and length of his ears.
"Aye!" Lin's ears turn a little pink when they lick her hand. "What're they doin' t'Aviri?" She asks Eve.
Aviri sits as still as a statue, petrified. "Uh ... Duchess?"
"They like to make things," Eve explains. "They're great inventors! We've even got a monster-free swimming hole now thanks to them, and the spike-hammer-monster-remover. They probably just want to make something special for you. And we can finally have a dance now! A proper one, with strangers dancing together."
"Could they make me invisible?" Lin asks, "I could win every game of hide and seek ever!" She bounces in her seat.
"..." Aviri says nervously as he's measured. "Th-thanks? I guess?" He turns his head every so slightly toward Eve. "Aren't dances ... dressy? I didn't bring any nice cloths, and even if I did I'm sure they'd not be nice any more."
The measurements conclude with Aviri's chair being lifted up to gauge his weight, then set back down again. The two wolves then hurry to finish setting the places, throwing the forks and knives and spoons so that they land in the middle of the plates, the rolling the glasses down the center of the table while one of them runs around catches them to set next to each place.
"I'm sure we can find something formal," Eve says. "We've got two whole days after all!" She then catches her glass before it can roll off into her lap.
"Sorry if this seems a bit odd," Eve said. "The old table would set itself, but then it escaped and had to be hunted down in the woods.."
"You'd do that for me?" Aviri asks a bit bashfully. "Thanks!" He adjusts his own glass on the table, as it apparently wasn't quite in the right position. "I hope the rest of our trip is as lovely as this!"
"We can take your measurements tonight during the sleepover!" Eve says cheerfully. "Unless you'd rather stay with the twins? Their beds scare me though.."
Lin raises a paw slowly. "I don't have any fancy clothes either. Actually, these are all my clothes. Well, I had another pair of shorts back home but somebody prolly wandered off with 'em. This is as fancy as I get right now." She chirps, almost proud of owning two whole pairs of shorts.
"I think I'll join the sleepover," Aviri says tentatively. "I ... 've had enough of creepy furniture." He pats the table. "One that doesn't have to be hunted is better."
"Ooo, new clothes for everyone then! This'll be great!" Eve says. "Jynx never lets me make him clothes when he's home.."
"What colour should mine be? Will they be fluffy or sleek? I like sleek. Will there be pockets? Do you think I'd look better with a dress or a skirt? Or pants? Pantaloons! That's a fun word, pantaloons. They're like pant balloons." Lin chatters manically, who knew she'd get this excited over something that isn't sneaking?
The door opens again, the entire Titanian family emerges carrying the food. Everyone plate but Aviri's gets a rather lumpy pie and some carrots, while the Lapi gets carrots and stewed vegetables.. still with meat broth on them, but that's probably just for flavor and shouldn't give him issues.
"You need a poofy dress," Eve suggests. "Or else something more.. native? I don't know a lot about Akwavi dance styles. Do you wear shell-tops and grass skirts normally?"
Aviri snorts at Eve's description, nodding to the Titanians in thanks as he starts sipping the soup.
Once the food is doled out, everyone sits down, even Ysnor (who sits next to Aviri). Butterlump sets next to Trilup, towering over the girl.
Lin thanks the Titanians as well and digs in. "We really don't wear all that much. This is about as dressed up as any 'Quavi gets. I think we had somethin' like that a while back. It went over alright but the grass skirts sure didn't last long. Swamp an' all."
"Can you do underwater tricks?" Eve asks between nibbling on the Mystery Stew Pie. "We can go swimming!"
"There aren't any frogs or swamp-monsters, right?" Aviri asys, eyes a bit wild at the thought.
Lin finishes her huge mouthful of pie then says, "Oh yeah! Bubble rings, catchin' fish with my eyes closed, navigatin' pitch dark underwater caverns! All kindsa stuff like that."
"Nah, the big spiky hammer thing smashes the water first, and any monsters get stuck to the spikes," Eve says, waving her fork.
"Do you have fish?" Trilup asks. She keeps glancing at the Titanian woman next to her, clearly wanting to sit in her lap for some reason.
The Lapi stops eating and looks at the Duchess, spoon half-way to his open mouth. "There are monsters?"
"We have stuff that looks like fish, but sometimes they walk or fly too," Eve says. "They're easier to catch out of the water. Oh.. well, not big monsters like before. Smaller ones. Like hydra-creens and the lobspiders and The Thing In The Branches."
Lin looks rather skeptical about this form of monster controll. "Couldn' the spike hammer thing go off while we're in the pool?" She asks, "I don't wanna get stuck to spikes. Not nearly monsterous enough. Now Emmett on the other paw. There's sommun ya might want outta the water."
"You have to really crank it, so I don't think it goes off on accident," Eve says. "There was the time it swung back really hard sent Oops up into a tree."
Aviri nods and resumes eating. "Probably not going to go swimming," he says, eyes still wide, and his ears still very much in-tune with the conversation, trying to glean even more evidnece for not entering the water. Or even leaving the castle ever again.
"I'll." Lin stops to think. "Yeah, sure. Swimming sounds good. But I wanna see this spiky thing before I go in. It's the third rule of Scout Dungeoneering!" She proclaims, "Never stan' in the path of a spike trap unless you've disabled it yourself. Words ta live by."
"Wow, you've got scout rules?" Eve asks. She pushes her carrots around, and when she thinks none of the 'grown ups' are looking, she flicks them over onto Aviri's plate.
"Ooo, thank you!" Aviri says brightly, eagerly munching on the carrots. "Before this trip, I'd have doubted the usefulness of such a rule," he says.
"I wanna see it smack stuff," Trilup says. "The Wingnuts never let us watch stuff explode and smash stuff.."
Lin nods, her mouth is full, she has some water to help swallow. "After this, you might be able to be made an honorrary Scout. We let Gunther in so you should be able ta make a good case fer it. There are a lot of old ruins an' ancient dungeons around the swamp. If you'll take the time ta do some actual explorin' next time instead of focussin' on escapin' so much, ya might even have fun at it."
Aviri shudders. "I'd rather not explore the home of a swamp-monster," he says. "Though ... on the bright side Dontgointhe doesn't seem so weird anymore!" He laughs, a bit more than is probably warranted.
"Hey!" Lin accuses, "You said we could come back an' explore later. It'll be later when we get back to the swamp. You might find some cool cave plants that haven't been seen in centuries!"
"It still seems creepy to me, with all those stuff monsters and critters in cages," Trilup notes.
"There are some lower-level rooms here that are locked up," Eve notes. "There was a magical harp in one of them. Wanna see it after dinner? It plays lullabies."
"I said that so you'd agree that getting out, to where there's food and beds and not undead monsters hanging around," Aviri admits into his soup bowl. "You can certainly go back and explore, but I'll ... go into the mountains and look at some heather. Nice, peaceful, not-undead heather." He looks up at Eve. "A magical harp that plays lullabies? Why does that give me a bad feeling?"
"Scout Rule of Dungeoneering number thirty seven." Lin quotes, "Beware magical instruments, you might have to be kissed if it puts you to sleep." She sips her water then adds, "Yeah, let's check it out!"
"Will there be dessert first?" Trilup asks.
Just then, there's a noise from the kitchen (presumably) that sounds a bit like the rattle of a pot falling over and some squelchy noises. "Dessert trying to escape!" Butterlump declares, and produces a cleaver from somewhere in her cleavage. "Grab knives! Custard go bad.."
Aviri eeps and spills a bit of soup at the commotion. "Escape?! Why must everything try to escape?" He chomps a carrot before it could attempt to flee and begins cleaning up the spilled broth.
Linyala leaps up and draws her dive knife. It's hardly a weapon but it's better than claws against rampaging confections. "Never trust a custard!" She grabs her fork for good measure and runs to assist the cook. "Come on! If we want dessert here, sounds like we'll have to fight it."
Trilup has.. a spoon! "Maybe we can stun it with berry sauce!" And thus, the battle is engaged..