Chasing Shadows

[Riamah]

One thing Ailuros liked was her ability to wonder the galaxy at large freely. Rumors, hints and clues sometimes lead to treasure, but most often they were false and she ended up feeling like a fool. Well, as foolish as she could which wasn't much. The cat was young and almost as innocent as a child.

Curiosity got the best of her and she was lead to Krag where there was yet another tale of treasure to be found. While some of it would be useless to the cat, the actual treasure could come in handy when she needed to purchase supplies for her travels.

Landing on Krag, she walked off her ship near to where this supposed tomb of Malkor was located. Perfectly aware of potential pitfalls, Ailuros was on full alert for them. Before she left the area of her ship, she made sure she had her belt filled with she thought she was going to need for this.

Her sword and disrupter pistol along with some rope and a light. There were a few other miscellaneous items, but those were the important ones. She struck off in the direction she thought the tomb was.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

According to lore, Malkor the Mad, was an exceptionally gifted alchemist driven mad by his experiments trying to bring inanimate to life. Fortunately, he passed even before the founding of the First Galactic Empire, rumored to have been murdered by a former lover in his sleep. All that was left of his legacy was an old tomb overrun by local vegetation on far flung forgotten world.

No sentient being trode its grounds since then, most of the wildlife avoided it entirely due to the unnatural vibrations in the air. As [member="Ailuros"] drew closer she could feel the sense of foreboding and dread grow with each step forward. At the very opening were a pair of ancient sealed blast doors, upon closer inspection she could were rust and the local weather began to chip away on the material of the doors themselves.

On the right side was an access panel but there was no connection to any obvios power sources. Should she find one and somehow coax it to life, ancient script would scroll across the screen prompting her to enter a request.

 

[Riamah]

Ailuros' ears, whiskers and tail all drooped at the feeling of foreboding and dread that filled her. However, her curiosity was stronger and she pushed on to the point where she was standing at the doors. Looking at their condition, she wondered if her disruptor blaster would finish off the job the weather had started. She wasn't a slicer so left the access panel alone.

Taking a few steps back from the door, Ailuros brought the blaster out of her belt and fired twice at the rusted and worn doors.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

(Sorry it's so short)

 

[Daxton Bane]

Whatever damage the weather already had done was insufficient to wear down those heavy blast doors, but the addition of blaster damage was enough to punch small holes in the armor plate. The only question remained was how many shots would it take.

The sound of discharging blaster spooked some of the local birds who took to the air, cawing in omnious protest the disruption of their silent abode but no other beasts dared to investigate the noise, at least none so far.

[member="Ailuros"]

 

[Riamah]

The cat put the gun away and looked at the door with her head tipped sideways. It appeared to be stronger than it looked after all these years and she wondered if there might be another way in.

Looking around at the vegetation that had taken over, Ailuros decided to take a walk around the tomb to see if there was another way in. If none appeared, she would go back to that door and shoot at it again.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

It took awhile but she eventually found a ventilation shaft whose metal grills would give way to a solid kick or two. The only question remained was she going inside using the ventilation its possible claustrophobic environs or the door in what was assumed to the entrace. A third option occured to [member="Ailuros"], she could spend another hour or two searching for possible entrances, if she had sufficient time.

 

[Riamah]

Tilting her head at the ventilation shaft, Ailuros had a bad feeling about it. She a mental note of its location though in case there was no other way in. Having as much time as she needed, no place to go or orders to follow, the cat continued on to explore the rest of the area around the tomb. If there wasn't another entry to be found, she would return to that shaft entrance.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

After nearly another two hours of searching, she was able to locate a maintenace access door that had been covered up by the creeping foliage. It was half open and with a little squeezing [member="Ailuros"] was certain she would be able to squeeze through. However she would need a light source though, from from what she could observe the interior was pitch black and surprising cool. Should she reach forward she would there was a weak shield protecting the interior from the outside atmosphere. It should pose no problem if she were to pass this way though.

Meanwhile the sun was starting to set across the sky and as the darkness creeped in, so did the sonds of wild animal activity as predators that slept through the day were slwing waking up from their slumbers.

 

[Riamah]

Taking note of the setting sun, Ailuros decided she may as well enter here. It may not be the safest entry, but it would be the easiest. Passing through the weak shield, she briefly wondered what still powered it after all these years.

She had been walking for hours so decided to try and sneak in a quick nap before continuing on.

Listening to the wild life outside, she sat down on the ground and closed her eyes.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

Dreams. Some call them the product of an overactive mind, the wistful fancies of the unconscious they are called by those blissful ignorant to the truth. Dreams were portals to other realms and times, some not meant to be viewed ever again for all eternity.

Dark cloying dreams crept into [member="Ailuros"] short sleep, insidiously working their way into the sweetest of memories and turning them into a hard pursuit through a labyrinth like corridors of half rotten corpses of various species. The restless dead wereslowly emerging from their tombs and reaching out with bony talons for the young cat woman to draw her into their abode of decay.

Her sleep would disrupt abruptly, having gained no rest from her short slumber. She will feel tired as if she had been running, ahould her species be capable of sweat, she would discover her clothes covered in light film of it. How much was dream, how much reality, she would ponder when her sharp hearing registered something echoing in the supposed empty chambers.

It was the sound of something sharp skitting over a smooth surface, somewhat to the sound of nails across a fresh slate board. The echoes made it hard to determine just how far or how many were making sound, but it indicated she was not alone in this dank forsaken tomb.

Perhaps it was time to consider the possibility of that perhaps she had bitten more than she could chew. On glance out the weakly shielded doorway, she could see that night had settled in. Whether she would settle down and explore or retreat to her ship, she would soon need amsource of illumination, unless there was someway she could see in the gloom.

 

[Riamah]

The dreams Ailuros were odd and tasted of fear. She had seen battle and the dead wanted her to join them. As the dreams ended, she woke up not feeling at all rested. Letting out a clear grow, she tilted her head and her ears in the direction of the noise that reached her.

It sounded like nails across a chalkboard that would both almost any race with that sound. Taking out the light she had brought, Ailuros turned it on to shine into the path in front of her. She still sat on the ground and was only looking in that direction.

The desire to try to sleep again was strong, but Ailuros felt that would just be opening herself to be attacked by whatever was down there. If nothing appeared in her beam of light, she would get up and go deeper into the tomb.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

Seconds ticked into minutes but nothing entered the field of [member="Ailuros"] light, the smooth stone walls gave no clue what was making the sound. The clicking sounds echoed for several more times, but it neither grew closer or farther. Whatever was making the sound was leaving her alone for now. Perhaps it was not hungry or perhaps it was hunting for something more to its taste, however, it might be a good sugggestion to move more quickly least she draw its or any other tomb inhabitants attention.

 

[Riamah]

Seeing that nothing appeared in her light or line of sight, Ailuros stood up. Holding the light in one paw and keeping her other on the butt of her gun, she continued on. Wiping at her eyes and trying to shake the sleepiness that she had, Ailuros wondered what was down here making that noise. Being a feline, she would be able to walk almost silently.

She kept her ears at attention for any sounds and her eyes open for any new sights.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

The first thing [member="Ailuros"] noticed was the faint sweet smell of decay, either the tomb filters had failed or something broke in and the the tomb its home. As she went deeper into the structure, she noticed moisture leaking slowly down the walls. Coming across what appeared to be a hub of sorts, she could see there were two paths down the center. Either passage seemed to leader deeper into the earth.

Alternately, if she possessed some skill she might be able to coax the machine to life since there seemed to some residual power. Perhaps pull some sort of schematic?

 

[Riamah]

The scent of something decaying reached her and she wrinkled her nose at it. Whatever it was had been dead for a while and Ailuros had no fear it was going to attack her, so she continued on. Upon reaching the hub, she shined her light down the two paths that led deeper and at the console in front of her. She may have been mechanically inclined but it was for ships, not computers so the cat left it alone.

Tilting her head in the directions of the paths, she picked the one that appeared to have fresher air which was the right path of the two.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

As [member="Ailuros"] went deeper, she saw evidence of nature winning against the stronghold structure as giant tree roots pierced through the walls and roof, further restricting already tight corridors and passageways. The ground was covered with small fragile Dark brown shell husks, that crunched softly underfoot no matter how light a tread she attemted to make. Unless she marked fhe path she took as she descended, it would be quite easy to loose one’s self in th labyrinth of identical looking corridors.

 

[Riamah]

The forest the grew outside was slowly taking over the interior of the tomb. The cat saw this and was glad she had picked this path. In a way, she was one with nature and liked the fact this wasn't a lifeless location.

In her belt, she had not included anything to mark her path, but she could attempt to sweep aside some of the hallow shells that her paws were crunching underfoot. Not taking much time, what she did was more or less shuffle her feet as she walked. It marked the path she been on well enough, in her opinion that she wouldn't get lost.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

The hollow shells, brown and withered, resembled seed pods under closer inspection. Unfortunately, they covered the entire floor, half an inch deep, there was no way, short of the Force or a power gust of wind that one could move without stepping on any. [member="Ailuros"] could hear the soft pattern of drops of moisture falling down down from the ceiling, and she could smell the faint sweet aroma of vegetation filled the air as her ear picked off a faint clicking sound coming from the direction she came in.

Ahead of her would be increasingly narrow corridors possibly choked with plant life, behind her was whatever made that omnius clicking sound.....

 

[Riamah]

Letting out a growl under her breath, Ailuros gave up on trying to move about quietly. Hearing the noise coming from behind her, she turned to shine her light back in the direction she had come from. If nothing was within sight, then she would continue along the route she had picked. If whatever was making that noise showed itself, then her paw would drift down to the holster that held her blaster. Not drawing it out yet, she would wait to what the noisemaker did.

Taking in the air around her, she was still confident of the direction she had picked.

[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Daxton Bane]

Checking over shoulder she saw no sign of whatever was making the noise, but that did nothing tp decrease the sense of dread she was feeling.

Before [member="Ailuros"] the hallway beckoned when she noticed something different, circular portals dotted the walls on eithe side every five to ten feet. The holes were roughly humanoid sized but gave no indication for their purpose. Should she check the nearest one, she would it was a slick slimy shaft with no handholds that disappeared into darkness beyond the threshold of her meager light. What possible use could it have she wondered....