RP:A Faceful of Dust

From HollowWiki

Part of the A Skull by Any Other Name Arc


Swamp Flowers

Chapter Two


Skylei is no longer in an enforced slumber at the foot of a tree. Instead she is, somehow being moved through the air by pixies. The tiny beasts, though lacking in physical strength make up for it in their magical prowess. They are somehow manipulating the air beneath the two sleeping women and moving them across it as though it is a tangible surface, somewhat like a conveyor belt. They are not carrying her high enough above the water to prevent her hair from dangling into the swamp below and the half-elf's long ebon locks are now covered in a layer of green and brown algae from the surface. It is disgusting. They fly alongside their two prisoner's whose hands and feet have been bound with swamp reeds and enchanted by the pixies to make them incredibly difficult to break free of. Eventually Skylei would come round with an almighty sneeze. It doesn't take long for her to realise that she is moving, and not moving across land or water but through air. "What in Sven's name!" She would twist and turn and attempt to break free of the vortex of air that has her captive and yet she keeps travelling onwards to wherever the creatures who have captured them are taking them. Her eyes are still to blurry to make out the pixies that surround the pair and she is in a frenzied panic, trying to work out what is going on, in spite of her hazy mind and incessant sneezing.


Senka is one of those creatures that look sweet only when they're napping. Still caught in peaceful slumber, the albino has no idea that she, and her companion, are slowly but steadily led into more trouble. Paws the size of dinner plates are bound together, leaving the wolf looking like something a hunter caught: a trophy, rather than worthy predator. "What in Sven's name!" A familiar voice comes through the haze that is her drug addled mind. Her limbs feel heavy, her mind feels slow, and even curling her lip takes far too much effort. Yet sneezing, somehow, comes naturally. Violently the wolf sneezes awake, only to sneeze again and again and again. A little taken aback by the sudden violent twitching she had to endure, oh the torture of allergies, the lycan blearily opens black lids only to find the world is a fuzzy place. Fuzzy and heavy and…strangely warm. In fact, it seems far more comfortable to simply close her eyes and sink back into the blissful ignorance that is sleep. There is something in the air, as tangible as the surface she's sleeping on, and the wolf can sense it. It's too mild for it to disturb her, and unconcerned the beast forgets to shield her mind and allows herself to sink into the darkness that is sleep. It spreads out, like ink in clear water, tainting the air round her until her white form is only vaguely seen through it, rippling as if she were a fish in a pond. The wolf knows no peaceful dreams, at least not the kind that two-walker would consider peaceful and it soon becomes obvious as a tormented face screams through that darkness. "Just get it over with already!" His voice is odd and echoing, as if trapped in a distant well, but the torture in his voice is genuine. In the midst of all this chaos, leaking free from her mind, Senka only utters a happy snore.


Skylei is as panicked as Senka appears peaceful. She is still squirming desperately, blinking her eyes rapidly and in horrendous panic to clear the haziness that has fallen across her senses. She still cannot ascertain what is going on and her worst nightmare, the loss of all control, seems to be playing out before her eyes. They are travelling deeper in the swap and it doesn't matter what she does, she cannot stop it. That combined with the constant source of insanity that is Senka's mind seemingly manifesting itself into reality has filled her with a fear that is so powerful that she is afraid she will forget how to breathe. She feels as though she is drowning and cannot be saved; eyes are shut tight and she tries to block out the nightmare. "Bloody wake up! I -need- you!" the half-elf bellows as loud as she can. That's not as loud at all. The lump in her throat feels huge and her voice is little more than a whisper to her ears. Still, she receives a reply, "She's a noisy one, ain't she?" Skylei, suddenly jolted from paralyzing fear at the sound of a voice, opens her eyes to spy where the voice is coming from. Only now does Sky realise what they have walked into, why they have fallen under sleep's spell and why they are travelling through the air as though they are weightless. Pixies. Her thoughts turn back to the former alpha; the undisputed alpha of their hunting 'pack' "Uhmmm… you really need to wake up now." This exchange is made ever more awkward by the fact that Sky still hasn't asked for Senka's name. There had been little time for pleasantries in their friendship.


Senka can hear something. Ear twitching in answer to Skylei's cry but still black lids do not part. She's too deep, too caught up in a dream of hands held out in defence, eyes wide in panic. "This one seems damaged, Poppa," One of the pixies comments, poking curiously at the black cloud that surrounds the wolf. It parts easily even under the touch of that tiny spear only to seal itself seamlessly when the spear is removed. "You sure we should keep it?" The albino takes that moment to swing her tail, flopping it back onto the aerial surface and its movement causes several pixies to stumble back. They utter their cries of protest but even that the lycan seems unable to hear. "Then lycan bones be good for your health, they are," another pixie answers, smiling a smile that only holds two teeth and amicably patting the first pixie's shoulder, "An' the juju's from the eyes revitalizes them legs. Keep ya goin' for miles they do." Unaware that her eyeballs are being disgusted, Senka only utters another rumbling snore that would do a man with too much liquor in his system proud. Large ears are made to catch the subtlest of sounds, however, and it's the note of panic in Sky's voice that finally rouses her. Leave it to the beast to only respond to things like panic… "Sky?" Her husky voice is confused and echoes like that earlier voice did. The black cloud that formed around the wolf slowly slips away, although not before the halfling is treated on several of her own faces staring back at her. Most of them are dirty from the hunt they had, but a few of her expressions are from when they first met. Her bound paws is the first thing the lycan sees and they're reflected in the air surrounding her before it finally collapses. It seems her gift won't mix with the pixies' magic as long as she's awake. For now at least. "I told you there were pixies." The husky voice, which is annoyed and yet somewhat smug, still echoes however. Senka no longer needs to access Sky's mind in order to communicate. The wolf growls, opening her maw to begin tugging at her bonds only to find that the strong material that's around her paws is also around her maw. "They muzzled me!" Her exclaim is wild with anger, the following words enough to make even the Rynvale sailors blush as, finally, the albino trashes. Paws, although bound, can still knock pixies from the sky when she rolls onto her back and it's no surprise that the cloud of pixies around her decide now would be a good time to give her some space. "Cowards," Her voice rumbles as if it is one of her snarls, "Snacks. The moment I'm free I'm going to take my time tearing you apart…"


Skylei shudders as she hears the pixies plans for Senka. They want to eat her bones and eyes? Skylei nearly vomits at the idea of a creature actually eating an eyeball. Then again, her albino company had been perfectly happy to chow down on a giant disgusting spider, so maybe Sky should avoid passing judgement so quickly. Still, the lycan is yet to awake and Skylei fears that they have drugged her with something far more potent than what she had been plagued with. She is snoring. How can Senka snore when there are creatures discussing eating her!? Gods, what is wrong with the wolf!? The black haze that surrounds the lycan is just one indication that she is more than a little damaged and, as she comes round and the images of her own face come to the fore, Sky realises that she is staring into a physical manifestation of Senka's consciousness. She almost feels as though she is intruding and she is grateful for the dissipation of the black cloud. It scares her nearly as much as the pixies. It's always nice to be reminded of the severely damaged mental state of your only ally when being carried into enemy camp, right? "I know they're pixies. I'm just… I mean… what the hell is going on!?" As she speaks one of the pixies begins to examine Sky, "An' this one here. Looks like some kinda elfy thing. Do you think it tastes like elf!?" She seems to get overly excited about the prospect of the scholar potentially tasting like elf, causing the aforementioned 'elfy thing' to curse like a Rynvalian sailor. "They want to bloody eat us. And…" the half-elf struggles with her binds for a few seconds longer, "I cannot get these things off my hands!" And Senka cannot get the binds from hers either it would seem. Sky had hoped that the strength of the lycan would work in their favour. Either way, they seemed to be drawing to a halt.


Senka is wild with anger. Her eyes are huge, showing even the whites of her eyes, her maw is wrinkled and her lips are pulled back but still the muzzle prevails. It groans, yes, even strains against her maw as the wolf struggles against her bonds but still it holds. The wolf is in no mood to converse with Skylei but as frequently swipes of bound paws fail in digging into pixie hide, the psychopath is forced to change tactics. "Can't you do your two-walker magic thing?" The wolf turns her snout towards her friend, forced to roll over on her back but the moment she does so her maw yet again wrinkles. "You stink." Great words, coming from a wolf usually covered in blood and gore. However, it's those words that introduce them as they enter a new world. Strange purple flowers climb beams that are carved out of stone, surprisingly large and rising amazingly high considering that they're build by such tiny hands. Moss combats with the flowers in a rivalry for a spot on those poles as they come together to form a path towards huge steps leading up to one single seat. The seat isn't stone like the rest of the pixie-crafted-place but rather it's made out of vines carefully woven and guided into forming a throne. Upon it lies a skull with the vibrant purple flowers in its eye sockets, grinning at them as only skulls can. "You're up, Poppa," One of the pixies offers again, nudging the toothless pixie and it sighs in answer. "It always puts the crackin' back in me bones," He complains only to have his son roll his eyes. "Come on, pa…" Sure enough, the pixie digs in his pockets until it finds a different kind of dust to mess up their worlds. Yet this one is less about Sky and Senka and more about a place to offer them. As he tosses the dust it glitters, shimmering only for a brief moment before landing on waiting plants. They grow, with a speed no plant should ever grow, rising all the way up to the top of those steps. It's there that they bloom, so that their petals form one big soft platform for the pixies to deposit their catch-of-the-day. Right in front of the waiting skull, joined on each side by decidedly more wrinkly little pixies, sitting on smaller thrones of their own. Senks doesn't go quietly, squirming and snapping all the way down until her furry form is resting on the bright yellow petals belonging to the huge flowers. Even there she tries to snap and squirms, wriggling her way over the petals.


Skylei knew that she was right to put her faith in Senka. At the mention of two-walker magic, Sky realises that she has a rather useful skill that might be able to help them out of their predicament. As she begins focusing her mind so that she can take control of her limited mana, Senka oh-so-kindly informs her that she stinks. This distraction is enough to cause her to glare to the lycan and offer a thinly veiled insult back as the pixies perform their pretty little tricks with their magical dust, "We'd have little time to do anything else if I told you every time you smelled bad!" Her irritation causes a few feral sparks to rise from her fingers and the half-elf realises what she is meant to be doing. She refocuses herself as the two are deposited close together on the petals of the flower that feel surprisingly solid. She struggles less than Senka, as her mind is in other places; namely in places that involve getting them the hell away from creepy pixies, giant flowers and a skull that the pixies seem to be worshipping…? As Skylei attempts to wiggle closer to Senka, one of the wrinkled pixies gets up from the throne aside the skull and begins proclaiming, "We are gathered on this feast day to make our sacrifice to the great skull whom has brought our people wisdom and plenty!" As he makes this announcement the pixies split into two groups. The first fall to the ground and begin worshipping the skull in what might be deemed a traditional fashion. The others begin a strange tribal folk dance with appropriate lyrics about 'the flesh of the sacrifice' 'the unrivalled wisdom of the skull' and the 'bountiful joys that rain down on the tribe blessed by the almighty fleshless one'. It's weird to say the least. As they perform this strange ritual Sky would wiggle close enough to the lycan that they could touch. She needs to get close as her hands are bound and physical contact is needed to light the bindings around Senka's maw. Fire bursts forth and the bindings light. If Senka could get it away from her face fast enough, she might avoid burns. Sky proceeds to light her own bindings and remove them and, should she be able to reach them, Senka's too.


Senka is going to have to learn to stop letting Sky get close to her face. If it isn't her nose being broken, it's her maw being set on fire. A few wriggles brings the halfling closer, a simple touch lights up Senka's world until all she sees is fire. With a snarl the albino turns her head away, flinching away from the burning ropes that tied her maw together. There's still the smell of singed fur, blisters forming over the founds on her muzzle but before the beast can retaliate there's a pixie in her face, wearing what seems to be shards of glass as a strange sort of armour. "You two behave now," he tells them, firmly, before reaching into his pouch. The albino looks up, ready to snap and crunch on a little pixie-snack, but earns herself a face full of glittering stuff instead. Its effects are immediate, taking over her senses until the world is turning and the bright colours are blending, separating, blending…The air around the wolf shimmers, coiling like a snake ready to strike even as the woman becomes more and more trapped deeply into her own mind. Her gift won't lash out, not yet, but for Senka the horror has already begun. As the world spins and spins and spins before her red eyes, familiar voices fill her ears. "They're not used to this lifestyle. You have to be gentle." "You're not a wolf, you're a beast!" "Stop holding her down, we get the message!" The wolf can only utter a high pinched whimper of a wounded animal. No longer is she the one in control of her body that feels heavy and slow in this strange spinning world. "You're going to have to show your human form more often." "I want them to see." No longer is she the one in control of her mind as something searches and digs, rooting through her memories to find the most painful ones. "Mommy?"


Thanks for the gratitude Senka. Sky's only trying to help you. At least now you can move and surely that's worth a few blisters and a couple of burnt tufts of fur (which, incidentally, smell disgusting)? Sky knows full well that she will likely never get a word of thanks from the lycan no matter what she does. She would have dwelled on this a little longer had Senka not begin to react in a strange way to the dust that had been thrown into her face. Sky assumes, as she sees it fly through the air, that the dust is the same that ensnared them in the first place. But Senka doesn't fall asleep. She is thrust into horrors that Sky cannot see and cannot imagine. All that she sees is the lycan whine and lose control of her body. Before the same can happen to her Sky sends a hand towards the assailant pixie and swats him with her hand, crushing him under her palm. As she lifts her hand, she realises that she has literally crushed the tiny thing. She's a murderer. Guilt wracks her mind as she tries to comprehend this fact. But before she can there are more pixies all armed with dust and vengeance for their crushed brother. She too takes a face full of dust and her reaction is near enough the same as Senka's. Her body convulses and the half-elf collapses into a ball on the petal, whimpering and shuddering. Her ears ring, her eyes burn and time no longer has meaning. Whilst Senka seems to be tormented by her own memories, Sky is taunted by her own realisations. 'Skylei, Skylei. You know it's not the first time your hands have been stained with blood. How many have lost their lives because of you? You can't remember can you? You act as though you fight for goodness but you're the same as any beast is on the inside…' Sky can't move. Her own mind’s torment has rendered her paralysed.


Senka has lost her mind before. Ghosts, haunting and tormenting her, had liked to toy with her mind in the past and truthfully, the beast is barely holding onto sanity to begin with. So, it's with the skill that comes from experience that she manages to look past the memories, past the dust. The pixies are still dancing, Sky is writhing and curling into a ball, and now new pixies come with what looks like two cages, woven purely out of plant life. Plant life that looks surprisingly sturdy, that is. The wolf growls, raising her front legs to rip their bonds with her sharp fangs, only to have them cut and slide into the soft tissue between her teeth. Now with a bloodied maw she can only look up to see the army of pixies, already reaching out with their magic. Once again Sky and Senks are airborne, this time to be stuffed into a cage that's barely big enough to hold their stretched body. The wolf isn't going quietly, turning her head to murder like Sky did with none of the remorse. She manages to get three before the last gets close enough to cover her head in another cloud of dust. The second round of hallucinogenic dust has the last of her mind slipping. Her gift lashes out as it was prepared to do, reaching out for the minds around it and dragging it with it. Unfortunately that doesn't mean just pixies, but Sky as well…


Skylei has never experienced insanity. She's been tormented by her own memories, driven crazy by regret and loss and damn near felt like she was losing her mind. But this is something different. It is excruciatingly painful and relentless. Whilst Senka fights, Sky remains cowered in her little ball. She can't do much else and, it's up to the alpha to get them out of this situation, yet again. Unfortunately Senka's attempts are less helpful than one might have hoped and the two find themselves flying through the air yet again. Still Sky remains locked in her frightened ball, shaking as though she is cold and without a coat. Sky doesn't need another glitter attack to ensure than her mind remains in torture. The first hit is doing its job just fine. Senka's gift will likely only make it worse...