(Earth) Chasing Shadows

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

What: Searching for Whatever Maleficent's People Are Up To
Who: Mabry, Medrau, Others
When: May 6, 2011
Where: Earth, Oregon, Gummi-Ship, Wherever the Trail Takes Us

Mabry hesitantly landed the borrowed gummi-ship at the agreed upon coordinates. She was still only an indifferent pilot, but necessity had forced her to it. She felt lonely. She had left Ashlyn at home, and while it wasn't the first time, it wasn't yet something that seemed routine. Just last week, they had celebrated Ashlyn's second birthday with cake, ice cream, presents, and her first pair of "big girl panties." Leaving her just now was especially difficult. And then there was Songbird. Mabry had just as strong an inclination to go to Twilight Town to be there for her younger sister.

But this had to come first. There was no avoiding it. So she flashed the gummi-ship's lights and settled herself to wait for Medrau.

Comments

[medrau.livejournal.com]

Medrau smiled. "Well, you know what they say; do your best and leave the rest, it will all come right some day or night. Though... I guess it's more like do your best and leave the rest, it will all come right or the world will go boom, but whatevs."

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

Mabry laughed. "I suppose. Well, we'd better go." With which words, she focused her attention on the gummi-ship's controls. "You'd better strap in. when I pilot, things get . . . pretty interesting."

[medrau.livejournal.com]

"I like interesting," but she did as told, and then fell silent while they flew.

((skip to India?))

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

(Yes.)

Some time later, Mabry again landed the craft. As promised, the landing was bumpy. "I'm not certain exactly where we'll need to go now though. I wish we had more information about Maleficent and her intentions."

[medrau.livejournal.com]

Medrau leaned forward, squinting at a viewscreen. "Well, good job avoiding those villages. I don't think too many people noticed us." She unstrapped herself and hopped up, heading for the hatch. "And thanks for letting me navigate. I know it sounds like a wild goose chase, but I've just got this feeling..."

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

Mabry nodded. "Well, we don't have much else to go on. I guess we should look around and see if we can find anything that seems to be amiss. there have to be some clues."

[medrau.livejournal.com]

The dark-haired girl was already hanging out of the gummi ship to check out their surroundings - which consisted of a lot of trees and a low cliff.

She then stepped down and reached into a pocket to pull out a blackberry phone. It had a silly little paopu fruit charm attached, which swung on its short ribbon while she did a quick check on something.

"Well... that over there is a cave temple, according to the internet." She pointed at the tan cliff which did indeed have the shadow of a wide entrance at its base, mostly hidden by the trees.
"Good hiding place, ya think?"

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

Mabry nodded. "It's a good starting place. Let's go take a look." She followed the younger girl, grabbing a small shoulder bag on her way out. She stopped briefly, when the warm air caused her glasses to fog, and polished them briefly on her shirt. "Just in case there's trouble . . . do you have a weapon?"

[medrau.livejournal.com]

Medrau paused. "I've got Thunder...and I've got this." She pulled a small hunting knife - sheath and all - out of her heavy army boot and grinned sheepishly. "I always wanted a reason to carry a knife in my boot. If I'd known we were doing jungle, I'd have grabbed a machete too."

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

Mabry herself wore a shortsword on her left hip. "I ask, because there's a trunk on board with a moderate assortment of weapons. I'm not sure if there's a machete, but you could look. I just want to be sure we're prepared."

[medrau.livejournal.com]

"If we don't find anything in the temple, I might come back for that hypothetical machete. For now I think we can do without. It's not far.." She marched on, apparently in a hurry, talking while she went.

"I've read about these temples. History major, you know. I've dabbled a bit in archeology too, since it's really the same subject. I love the East. China, India, Japan... Great history here."

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

"So what information do we have about this temple?" Mabry quickened her short strides to keep up.

[medrau.livejournal.com]

"See, that's the funny thing. I don't know which one this is. Lists of them are easy to find online, but if your ship's navigational computer is correct, none of them are in this region. Or at least... none are listed in this region."
A few more steps brought her past the thickness of the forest and presented a better view of the cave - a wide, rectangular entrance complete with carved pillars.
She flashed a grin in Mabry's direction. "Sounds like a proper mystery to me."

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

"Then how did you know there was a temple here?" Mabry seemed confused.

[medrau.livejournal.com]

"I didn't. I directed us to the forest because it felt like the right place to be and I didn't want to land in a city."
She hurried on towards the cave, resisting the urge to skip.

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

Mabry still seemed perplexed. "All we can see is that it's a cave. How do you even know that it's a temple?"

[medrau.livejournal.com]

"Because who carves pillars in front of a cave that isn't a temple? Unless it's an unfinished temple, which makes it even more interesting."
Impatiently she stopped to let Mabry catch up, and then lowered her voice to a whisper. "Look, there's probably nothing here. My imagination's tricked me before, so if that's the case, we can be quick and then move on. But this place is strange. We shouldn't just pass it by."

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

Mabry slowed her pace slightly and drew a few deep breaths. "Your imagination didn't lead us to nothing, so that's some indication. We should at least take a look. It's just that this whole thing seems so odd. I wonder if you strange feelings are something leading us here by magic. Maybe into a trap."

[medrau.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that would be why I'm talking quietly now and not charging head-first into it. Do you want to turn back?"

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

"No, Mabry said firmly. "I'm just . . . not to be cliche, but I have a bad feeling about this." She took a sip of water, then offered the bottle to Medrau. "Anyway, let's get going again. Who know what we'll find."

[medrau.livejournal.com]

Medrau took a gulp from the bottle and handed it back, then fell silent and skirted off to the side and did her best to circle towards the temple in a way that would keep her out of sight from anyone inside... hopefully. No sound came from the temple, though. No echo of footfall, breath or voice.

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

Mabry followed, trying to imitate Medrau's quiet steps, but somehow, she inevitably stepped on every fallen twig that was vaguely in her way.

[medrau.livejournal.com]

The front chamber of the temple was empty when they reached it, low-ceilinged but wide. Pillars in rows continued from front to back, and carvings of ancient deities lined the walls.

Medrau crept further inside, still holding her knife. "I think..." she murmured, "..is that another doorway to the side there? These things are built into cave systems..."

[belegwen.livejournal.com]

Mabry looked around staring at the various carvings. "Wow . . . look, there's Parvati and Sarasvati and Rama and Shiva," she pointed to each in turn. "And Kali," she added pointing to the statue nearest the side opening that Medrau indicated. "Yes, I think you're right. Let's take a look."

[medrau.livejournal.com]

"History portrays India's gods as pretty bloodthirsty gods. You think they were really like that? I mean, the local interpretations of them. The way they were worshiped back then..." she stopped rambling and stepped forward to peek into the shadowy passage, then slowly continued on.