T - Kari, Uny, Vyn, -----

[Unyko]

Kama, a little impressed that Nico had had something to mark their path with, decided that she would offer to mark the path, next time, to save his poor taste buds from the chalky.. er.. chalk. She decided to stay at his side, content to let Viola lead, peering up at him through her concealing bangs as he spoke. It wasn't a bad plan, and she said so. But then he continued. And the scenario in her head just kept getting worse and worse.

At first, she had decided that she'd been accidentally hit by someone's errant ability, had fallen down and slipped into a crack somewhere, getting washed downstream or something. (Even though there wasn't that much water down here, and she wasn't actually that wet). Still, it was the best reason she could come up with that didn't involve someone purposefully attacking her and transporting her to the sewers. For some unknown (and probably sinister) reason. But now, there they were. Sewer mutants popping up in her mind's eye, dragging innocent victims to their evil underground labyrinth, hunting them for sport and picking off individuals one by one until the last survivor went mad from the constant paranoia.

Was that the flickering of the torch playing on the walls ahead of them, or did she just see something move? Her ears pricked at an imagined slithering on the cold, damp stone floor behind them, and Kama let her glance flicker to the rear of their party.

"Um.. yeah. I sure hope you're right. About the exit being close by. Not about the sewer mutants," she managed, attempting a laugh. It came out short, nervous, and somewhat choked.

Darnit. If Viola hadn't brought the torch, she might have been able to see better, as backwards as that sounded. But then again... what if she was better off not seeing? She wasn't afraid of the unknown, per se, just... alert. Very alert.

[Vyn]

As time passed and his fur became considerably less damp, Nico found himself relaxing. It was dark, and smelly, and all sorts of foul things but, ultimately, he was in good company and there were no immediate threats. He even joined Kama in a cheerful little laugh at the thought of Sewer Mutants. He was glad someone indulged him, at least a little.

Occasionally his eyes threatened to play tricks on him, movements that weren't quite movements, or maybe they were rats? Thankfully for him he couldn't imagine he heard anything, because his eyes filled his head with a melodic sort of noise that never truly stopped. Kama was a lovely two-tone duet of blue and white and actually harmonized rather well with their Highland-mix companion.

He wanted to ask if she was mixed with Avington (few other females had horns like that) but she was preoccupied with the torch. Instead he brought his attention back to the previous topic of plans and escaping. "Do you have any ideas, Kama?" She'd asked, maybe she had a few of her own? That would be helpful. Nico was just going with basic exploration strategy, but he was severely lacking in actual experience.

As they continued something new caught his attention, a sound above the usual cacophony of sounds. Red? But not quite? Maybe orange or pink... His face was an open book and his preoccupation would certainly be clear to Kama as he began to cast about for the source of the new color. It was faint and singular so he didn't assume it was a Someone or even a Something. Maybe it was a fixture on the wall? He certainly hoped so. It could even be an exit sign!

...But when they walked a few steps further and the lightly gently emblazoned their small section of tunnel, Nico was disappointed to only find graffiti scrawled on the tunnel wall. "Never give up." was an odd thing to find in a very dark tunnel smelling faintly of cheese. Especially in off-orange.

"Maybe a very hopeful Cheese Monster lives down here?" He frowned and shook his head before stating in a very matter-of-fact way: "He must be very moldy by now."

[Kari Muffin]

Was there variation in this tunnel or did it just seem to go on forever? She kept swearing she heard scurrying, but ever since "Sewer Mutants" were mentioned she was feeling a bit more paranoid. Honestly someone must have dragged them down here. Or someones would probably be more accurate. What would have made her feel like she had an impossibly tight almost rib breaking bear hug?

No, she wasn't going to think about that. She would listen to the plans that the other to could potentially come up with. That would be reassuring, probably. They hadn't been walking for very long, and the darkness was always a deception. She hadn't counted that many steps before her thoughts had wandered.

Though if there was no variation in the tunnel soon they could turn back.

Viola's ears flicked at the cheese monster comment. She really hoped nothing made of cheese was going to pop up in the sewers. Anything popping up in the sewers was horrible.... what if real cards lived down here? What if mythical creatures were real and lived down here?

The deer slower her pace a little bit. No need to hurry into doom.

[Nathalia]

The tunnel they are traveling in seems to be getting slightly colder, in addition to becoming wider and more hollow-sounding as they move along.
An odd sound can be heard, almost a dripping, though slightly more viscous than that...
Not the best noise, hopefully it's just sewer nonsense and nastiness.
The tunnel splits up ahead, directly in the center of the split, is a thin, shabby-looking door.
There are bars set in the upper center where one might have put a window and it looks suspiciously like a...prison cell.

Why would that be in the sewers?
No idea, still, maybe it'll give you answers...maybe ones you don't want to know, though.
Go on (right or left) or investigate the door?
Up to you.

[Unyko]

Kama was somewhat startled by his sudden (to her) question, and snapped her attention back from peering into the shadows for what may or may not actually be anything at all. "Er, no. No plans at this point, but your thought seemed like a good idea. So I suppose, until and unless something else comes up..." she shrugged lamely, trailing off. "I guess we'll swim that river when we get to it?" She was equally inexperienced in being lost down sewer tunnels, and they'd already passed up on her one idea (which had been to take the lighter tunnel), so exploring seemed like a sound choice. Until they ran into sewer mutants.

Or... "Cheese monster?" Oh waters of the Lake, she hoped there were no cheese monsters down here. Unless they were friendly, or easily outrun, or water soluble cheese monsters. What if the sewer mutants kidnapped people to feed to the cheese monster as sacrificial victims, so their own society could live in relative peace? What if... wait. Hang on. That was definitely not her ears playing tricks on her. Had the sewer mutants begun their hunt? Was the cheese monster closing in to devour its peace offering?

Oookay, less of that. Kama resolutely pulled her mind from that train of thought. Maybe it was just something dripping down the walls, somewhere. Yeah. That must be it. Just a leak in some sewage pipe. Not that bad at all. Completely normal and harmless.

The point at which you start hoping a sound was 'just sewer yuck' was a level Kama had never wanted, hoped or dreamed to reach.

After a little more walking (with Kama thinking about anything -but- mutants or monsters), they had come to a fork in the road. And a door. Curiosity kicked paranoia to the side as Kama loped forward to peer up at the barred window. She wondered if she dared climb the door, or just ask to hop up onto someone's back to peer inside. The door may be holding a potential ally (like someone who knew how to get out), or even a way out.. like a ladder, maybe? Whatever lay on the other side, she'd be able to see it; she had very good night vision.

[Vyn]

Nico grinned a little. He'd been warned repeatedly about his rampant imagination but it wasn't everyday he had someone to run away in it with him... Though Kama looked a little more unsettled by it than he was. Perhaps he should go back to containing his contemplations of Things That Lurk In Sewers. They were mostly stories after all. Or, at very least, that is what people liked to suggest.

Just as Nico was beginning to come to the conclusion that their friendly wall art had lied to them and that there was nothing of real interest further down, they came upon the fork in the road and the odd window that looked like it should not be there.

The dripping sounds were lost on him, little ears so eternally full of music that he wasn't always the first to pick up on subtle things. Not to mention that Kama scampering forward was considerably more interesting.

His little tail gave an energetic flick and he bound up beside her. "Can you see anything in there?" The topic of seeing reminded him of Viola and her torch and the fact that it would sadly limit her ability to communicate any advice or concerns. He wouldn't be able to give Kama a boost and he wasn't always the best with making plans, so the very least he could do was hold the torch while they made some decisions as to how they should proceed. "Would you like me to hold that for a bit, Viola?"

[Kari Muffin]

Viola heard dripping, something more than the typical dripping of water. Her ears flicked in mild distress at the thought of what could be dripping down here. Oh suits, what if it was some monster made out of goo that was going to eat them all?

No, none of that. She wasn't a child she could handle this like a perfectly sensible adult. As they arrived at the split path, Viola slowed her pace, and watch Kama scamper past her towards the door. Well, at least they all seemed to be thinking about the same thing.

When Nico offered the hold the torch she gave a small nod and carefully transferred it to him. She had done her best not to get spit on it but... there was only so much a person could do. "Thank you," she said as she cracked her jaw.

Now for the matter of the door. It would probably be easier if Kama used her for a boost. "Use my back," she said as she approached and hunched a bit. "You can probably get a better view of the bars without straining yourself."

If Kama accepted the offer she would be more than happy to move where the woman instructed so she could see properly.

[Unyko]

"Nothing from here," Kama murmured, glancing back as Nico offered to hold the torch. It would be so much easier to see in if she could just convince herself to ask a favor of either of them. But then she was saved from having to try by Viola offering to give her a boost.

"Thank you, that would be very helpful," she said, timidly moving toward Viola and scampering up onto her back. With the torch safely behind her, she activated her dark vision and peered in through the bars.

[Nathalia]

The torch cast enough light to still give Kama a rather unpleasant headache that will last upwards of two hours; but, she was able to see the inside of the cell, though the torchlight had it look rather foggier than it would have done normally.
She was able to make out what looked to be a mass of...something hanging from the ceiling, a long table (a bit like a workbench), and what appeared to be a thin, ragged form in the far corner.

The door appears to be made of wood, with a thick, iron padlock bolting the front shut.
The figure inside does not respond to calling and nothing else appears to be moving.

[Vyn]

Nico smiled as he took the torch and offered her a cheerful tail-wiggle in response to her thanks. He couldn't exactly say "you're welcome" but he figured it was close enough. So, as Viola propped Kama up to the window, Nico took a few moments to peek down both of the branching pipelines. Both were as dark as the one they' just come out of and neither was particularly revealing. He sighed faintly in disappointment and returned to the girls just as Kama was leaning down to reveal what she'd seen.

It sounded like a typical workroom... aside from the thing and the odd form in the corner, that is. If there was a person inside, they didn't respond, and if it was the culprit of the viscous sound, he didn't hear it. Nico furrowed his brows and pondered in silence for a moment, not that he could really say anything with the torch in his mouth.

There was a padlock on the door, but the door was wooden... They could burn it... but who knew what else might catch if they did? And what if there was a person inside?