mogget_cat | To the Old Kingdom

(From here.)

The door he gallantly opened for her opened out into gently lapping waters, lit from overhead by a multitude of stars uncountable. So many together, they give off a glow stronger than the light of the full moon, singing softly of promised rest for those below. The insubstantial spirits of the dead rise from the waters, some quickly, eager for their eternal rest, and some slowly, fighting the pull even as they rise, foot by foot.

The two of them step down slightly into the water that only rises to their ankles, and Yrael closes the door behind them.

"As you can see," Yrael smiles. "I have been practicing even when not at the Milliways lake."

Despite the fact that the waters of Death aren't exactly the same as other water.

Current Mood: amused

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He is quietly thankful for the care she takes, smiling lopsidedly. "Careful through here. There are holes," he says as they make their way against the deeper, stronger current.

There is something dark in the water off to their left. It splashes once and is gone from sight.

Hopefully it will be smart enough to stay away.

Considering how unkind the two of them together could be to something that intended harm...well, yes. It's best bet is to stay away. Far away. Because...there were certainly far worse things than death.

Then she looked own at the waters and obligingly started walking on top of them before slipping an arm around Yrael's waist again.

He leans his head against hers as they walk, chuckling.

"Show off," he says softly, affection in his voice.

"Coming from you? I think I can live with that" she chuckled "After all...I can always claim I learned to show off from you, hence the best, and I can be proud of it?" she teased.

It wasn't showing off in her book really, it was just as normal to walk on water as below it...but teasing was still good.

He grins, sticking his tongue out at her, briefly. "Be proud. You are just lucky that Milliways does not have rules beyond the three. I would catch you for copyright infringement, otherwise."

Not that he'd ever really do that. Showing off is a natural reaction to being able to do something that others can't, in Yrael's opinion. It means that he can cite it as out of his control when he shows off, being oh so snarky and smug. It also means that he forgives others when they show off. But still, teasing is good.

"Copyright infringement would never hold up in court, after all, we're very different types of bright and shiny" she pointed out helpfully.

Then she turned her head slightly, flame colored hair rasping quietly against white as she glanced around "Hmmm, company." the shadow it seemed had gone off t inform other, larger ones...

"Using what you have learned from me about showing off, however, would mean-" He looks up.

And sighs, smile fading into a look of vague irritation. "Uninvited guests are always so rude."

His brightness flares slightly, only slightly, against the darkness: a small warning. Dead of the Second Precinct should be able to tell what he is, if not specifically what he is.

The two of them keep walking towards the nearing sound of rushing water that marks the First Gate.

"Well, you can't quite help the fan club" she noted easily, her own flames flickering out under the water in great wings. No doubt it confused the hell out of the dead, but that didn't matter to her in the least.

"After all, it's what showing off is for, having people come stare at you..." the sound of roaring water was near deafening but they could always hear one another. It worked like that.

"Showing off is to make people stare at you, but it is just annoying to be stared at when you do not wish for them to stare at you."

Incandescent green gaze still resting upon the Dead creatures, Yrael reaches out a hand and says the Words that will stop the rush of water so they may pass into the First Precinct.

"Well, you're worth staring at in most cases" she pointed out. And it was true, he was an interest catching person...

The waters stopped and something screamed, bubbly and water logged as a shadow attempted to dart past the pair and through the opened gate. It never surfaced, just floated painfully away as the rest of the shadows checked their forward movement.

The others get to watch their peer be carried off by the swift current, into the Third Precinct where it is sure to be caught by the wave and thrown far, far into Death if not to the Ninth Precinct, itself.

He takes on an air of mock-belligerent surprise. "What? Only most cases?" he says as they step through the Gate and away from the now-considerably more wary Dead creatures. The First Precinct is lighter, its waters shallower and its current no more than moderately treacherous.

"Well, I wouldn't suggest the staring for most one you're in a bad mood" she pointed out "Or shining enough to melt eyeballs or something"

As for the shadow? It wouldn't certainly hit the ninth...perhaps even seek it...for there were worse things than Stars.

She let her feet sink back into teh water once past the gate and looked around "Well, this seems almost tame compare dto most of the precincts. I guess we're almost out huh?"

"Well, perhaps. Death says I look best when I am in my true form."

And Yrael concurs.

"Yes, this is the last one. I am not exactly sure where we will come out, but..." he shrugs, "we shall find out."

"You do" she agreed as well, more than content to admit that fact "But you'd lose fan club members at a phenomenal rate" she teased, poking him in the ribs.

"We don't know where we're coming out? That could be interesting..." just in case she swallowed her flame away. No need to scare the natives.

"That would be sad, but the true shame would be if my fan club's loyalty were so weak as to be overcome by minor setbacks such as blindness or third degree burns." He grins over his shoulder at her as they walk, the wash of warmth that is their passing into Life flowing over them.

They seem to be in some sort of a well-kept and landscaped garden, with stone walls enclosing it and giving brown vines something to cling to. All the vegetation is bare of leaves or dead, in the late fall day. The air is chill, though a welcome warmth after the deep chill of Death. The sky is mostly full of clouds spotted with the forms of seagulls. Everywhere there is the smell of the sea. Yrael looks around, smiling.

"Ahh. Not too far off the mark. This is one of the castle gardens."

The sea...she knew that smell. She'd breathed it for a few years, living in a Lighthouse...and she'd loved it then as well. She just drew in deep, hungry lungfuls for a few moments.

She she'd finally had enough of savory the crisp air she looked around. She'd...never understood gardens. Decorative gardens anyway. Parks were at least closer to reality...but she smiled anyway "Well, true, they could follow the sounds of your voice anywhere..." she teased, nodding to the garden gate.

"Shall we be sneaky?"

"I believe we shall," he starts over towards it, his bare feet silent even on the dry grass. "We'll head down to the treasury, which, if I recall correctly, can be reached by way of a windy path from the gardens."

He glances up as he walks. "It is..." The day is overcast, so it's hard to tell. "...noonish, so most would be at lunch, right about now."

She follows, her own feet bare because, among other things, shoes she tended to forget...she may not be able to approach his level of silent, but she can certainly be quiet.

"Will we have to crawl through a dungeon?" she asked curiously. Treasury evoked those kinds of images in her head. Long stone corridors, gold in piles...

The paths certainly were winding, and it seemed that the gardens had their own spots of wilderness where gardeners seemed to forget...thorny branches of a wildly dormant rose bush caught in her hair a moment, but that didn't stop her for long.

"Not crawl, probably. Walk, more likely. Walk quietly. And the dungeons themselves are on the other side of the castle from the treasury, I think."

They reach the gate and Yrael peers out. "Clear. That door over there goes to one of the servant passages. They're mostly separate from the passages used by the royal family, so we have less to worry about from guards and the like."

"And if we do come across someone we act loike servan's sor?" she chuckled, eying the door. Servants wearing sapphire silk and white...

But hey, it took all types.

She didn't run, no, she sauntered easily to the door and rattled the handle. A moment longer and the door clicked open easily on well oiled hinges. After all, servants didn't like to be caught sneaking into the royal gardens eh?

He laughs, quietly. "Not with that accent, we don't. We mostly hope we are not found."

He peers into the corridor, softly lit by glowing Charter Marks set into the walls and floors.

"Aha. I know where we are. The servant quarters should be down to the left. We could find some livery there so we at least would be dressed like servants, and may fool any who we might meet, or we could go straight to the treasury and just hope not to run into anyone."

He knows which he'd rather do. He had to be a servant long enough that now, the idea of dressing like one doesn't sit well with him.

And she's...attuned to him. Not as she was others, not linked, no, but she could read body language and tone of voice when she cared to. And this was an adventure anyway.

"Bet we could fool anyone we meet without the clothes" she noted "Heck, you could talk them in circles..." she teased lightly, closing the door behind them with a soft click.

"Besides, you never know where they've been, servants..."

She makes him laugh again. "True enough, on all points. The treasury is down this way."

"We shall be unannounced dignitaries from Ancellstierre, perhaps, or from the far north, west of the Clayr Glacier, who seem to have lost their way in the many corridors of the castle?" He turns to grin at her as he steps past, looking around the first corner to make sure the hall is clear before they proceed.

She followed readily enough, hand trustingly in his "Ah, we're going to have to give them a better story than that. Something that gets whispered about long after we're gone..."

"Hmmm, you're a Prince from Andage or someplace, and I'm a body guard? You're in danger, and we had to flee the country. It's so dire that our communications with the royalty here thought it best we not be seen entering?"

"Our country is overrun by barbarians, I the only remaining heir of the royal family. Assassins sent against me, and we come to plea for sanctuary and aid. In secret."

"How very dramatic, it all sounds. Let us hope that those we meet are not Charter Mages, as they would be able, eventually, to tell what I am. The only Mages around would be the royal family and the palace guards, though. There may be some nearer the treasury, but there are rarely any in the castle corridors themselves."

Usually, he'd just kill any Charter Mage he came across, right around the time they realized what he is. But the royal guards are under the King's protection, and that means it would be more than some small trouble to kill them.

He peers around a corner, waiting for a couple of servants to pass out of sight before they continue on.