[OPEN]

[lonered]

Who: Anyone hoping to explore the dark ominous elevator shaft
Where: The aforementioned dark ominous elevator shaft
When: Several days in, after the shaft has been found
Rating Who the heck knows at this point. Updated as we go.
What: Jumping down a probably-not-bottomless hole. Mingle around, toss in a top level, threadjack. Whatever is clever.




[An elevator shaft with no elevator car. It's definitely a mystery. There's only one way to solve that sort of mystery, right? What could possibly go wrong?]


Pre-Exploration Planning

Down the Shaft

Aftermath

Comments

Down the Shaft

[lonered]

Closed to Morrigan

[lonered]

[All right. Keith is ready. His power is suited for this, so it should be fine. Hopefully. He has one of the flashlights that he and Shiro managed to find in one of the rooms they pried the doors open to, and he takes a moment to check it.

A glance to Morrigan.]

If this gets too narrow for your wings on the way down, I don't mind being a perch.

[He doesn't really know the general physics of flying with wings so. Who knows.]

[nogoldenmirror]

Complete and sustained vertical flight may be a slight challenge, but noted.

[She says, before sighing, kneeling down, and in light and smoke, a black crow takes her place. It's getting easier and easier to switch between forms, but she still stretches her wings slightly and her neck, growing accustomed to the new forms.]

Age before beauty. [She teases in a voice behind his ears.]

[lonered]

How old are you in bird years?

[Keith quips but nods anyway. Flashlight checked once more and he steps off the edge, dipping just slightly before his power kicks in and he hovers. Okay. Slowly he slips down taking his time, letting the beam of his flashlight lead.

This has all the makings of a terrible horror movie. Doesn't it?]

[nogoldenmirror]

Ah ah, that would be cheating. [She flies in after him, flapping her wings once in a while to slow her descent.]

Though to answer your question another way: seventeen in human years.

[If Morrigan knew what a movie was, she might agree. As it stood? ...This place is completely alien to her, and yet, in this dark, tiny elevator shaft. She feels at home. That should probably say something about her, but she's more focused on what is illuminated by the flashlight and what she can hear.]

[lonered]

[Keith laughs shortly, glancing up. Cheating? Fine fine. But seventeen. So not that much different.]

All right fine, I suppose that does make me age in this equation.

[He's talking now, trying to keep calm as they descend. They're not even sure how deep this goes, after all.]

[nogoldenmirror]

Indeed. Which does not help either of us in the slightest.

[She looks at him with one eye, and would raise an eyebrow if she could.]

Nervous? [she asks, keeping about as level with him as is possible in this confined space.]

[lonered]

[A shake of his head at that.]

Wary.

[That's about it. Whatever it is they have to handle, they'll handle. That's his usual philosophy on these matters. But he's ready to see something. Anything.]

And ready.

[nogoldenmirror]

Fair enough.

[Anyone in their right mind would be, which probably says something about herself. Ah well. She's as prepared as she can be, as well.]

[lonered]

[Keith stops his descent and shines the beam of his flashlight at the wall of the shaft.]

Hey. Check this out. I think it's a door.

[More doors that are stuck shut. Just what he always wanted.]

If we could get it open we might be able to access other parts of the ship.

[nogoldenmirror]

[Morrigan looks over, tilting her head slightly before nodding.]

Hand me that. [She means the flashlight. She opens her talons to hold onto it while he makes the attempt to pry it open.]

[lonered]

Thanks.

[That works for him. He shifts the flashing so he can offer the handle to her. Once it's firmly in her talons, he reaches for the laser sword that he and Shiro found.

It's opened a couple doors in decent time already, so. No time like the present to try again.

The sword flares to life and shines light of its own as Keith moves to try to jam it into the door.]

[nogoldenmirror]

[Morrigan holds it firmly in her talons, watching with one eye as he tries to pry the doors open.

One second, two, four... If she were capable of it in this form, she'd be frowning. Instead she caws.]

Technical difficulties?

[There's a joke there, somewhere. She doesn't pick up on it.]

[lonered]

You could call it that.

[The frustration is unmistakable in his voice.

And since this is Keith, he's just going to try harder, really lay into the door with the laser sword.]

It's not even putting a dent in it.

[What the actual hell.]

[nogoldenmirror]

[Morrigan's eyes narrow slightly as she watches, unable to do anything to help beyond holding the stupid flashlight. She lets him continue for another minute before cawing again.]

We are getting nowhere with this one. Let us try another.

[lonered]

Yeah. Good plan.

[Keith glowers at the door before glancing below.]

Next one down?

[What could possibly go wrong with that, right? He's already dropping lower, slow still, using the laser sword to add its light in addition to the beam of the flashlight Morrigan is holding.]

[nogoldenmirror]

Indeed.

[Next one down. Clearly nothing will go wrong. It's just an elevator shaft with no sign of how deep it goes, and definitely doesn't have any foreboding shit whatsoever.

The further they go down, however, the more the small feathers on the back of her neck rise. She doesn't let go of the flashlight, however.]

[lonered]

[WHAT COULD GO WRONG MORRIGAN??

At the very least, Keith is used to spaceships? So this should be familiar, but any familiarity is just a reminder of some unsettling, unpleasant things. Oops.

He's not feeling great about this descent either.]

...does the air feel worse down here?

[Or is that chill running up and down his spine something else?]

[nogoldenmirror]

[Morrigan descends a little faster this time, but the warning bells are beginning to ring loudly in her head.]

It does. [Her feathers are all fluffed up. That's when she starts to feel strange, just before she realizes why it feels familiar.] I'm- losing con-

[She tries to fly back up, to abort and escape but it's too late. Whatever it is hits her hard and suddenly she's in human shape, clinging to the tiny ledge with her fingertips. Fingertips she wishes would turn into claws any time now as she holds the flashlight between her feet. They don't and her pupils narrow into slits.]

Ah-! [SHE STANDS CORRECTED, OKAY.]

[lonered]

[Oh, okay. That's not a good sign. Keith's eyes widen. He flicks the sword off (because he doesn't need to accidentally stab her, before racing up towards where Morrigan is hanging.]

Morrigan!

[And she caught the flashlight. What a goddamned hero, this girl. He wraps one arm around her waist in case her grip slips, reaching down to snag the flashlight from her feet.]

I've got you!

[No taking the hard way to the bottom of the elevator shaft, okay?]

Are you all right? What happened?

[nogoldenmirror]

[When he grabs hold of her, he'll notice it. She's trembling both in anger at what the sensation reminded her of and from the strain. She's never had much physical training and it's showing.]

I- felt a tug. One I've felt countless times.

[Don't mind her, still trying to turn her hands into claws to find better purchase. It's not working very well. Her voice is quiet when she continues.]

Almost as if a templar reached out for my magic and temporarily sealed it, but somehow colder. ...I can't shift my hands.

[lonered]

[Keith doesn't know much about Templars, but he sure knows he doesn't like the sound of that at all. No one should interfere with something that's part of someone else like that.

He glances down into the darkness of the elevator shaft, frowning.]

Maybe it's something down there. [Something that could mess with their powers somehow? He doesn't like that at all. But he focuses on the current problem. He can feel the trembling, and he thinks it's probably time to get out of the shaft for a while.]

It's fine. Like I said, I've got you. [Arm still securely around her waist, he shifts enough to attempt to hook his other arm behind her legs.] You can let go, I'll get us back up to solid ground.

[nogoldenmirror]

Possibly. [Listen. she may be a dragon, but her first form was that of a cat when she was little. It takes her a moment to let go and trust thanks to years of don't trust anyone being drilled into her head.]

...Hurry. [She says, letting go.] Lest it reach you as well.

[She wants to be small; to escape whatever it could possibly have been to have done this. About halfway back up, that need translates into an involuntary shift into a black cat. Her ears flatten against her tiny head as she turns and paws her way halfway over his shoulder.]

[lonered]

Hurrying sounds good to me.

[Keith is all for that right now. He doesn't want to risk both of them tumbling down with nothing to stop their fall. Once he gets Morrigan out of here, they can figure out if it's worth investigating what the hell happened with her magic further. ...maybe with a rope in case his flight cuts out too. Do they have a rope?

Doesn't matter. First up. He moves as quickly as he can, but carrying another person does slow him.

At least it does until said person is a small cat. Keith huffs a startled sound, but makes sure that he's still got a secure hold of her.]

Thanks for choosing this form and not the dragon.

[It's a thin attempt at a joke, but he's moving faster now, finally emerging through where the came in, feet on the ground and breathing a sigh of relief. Okay. That was too close to going terribly wrong.]

[nogoldenmirror]

[Morrigan can definitively say that she does not, in fact, have a rope. They'll have to ask around to see if anyone does. She's curious about it, to be honest. Wants to know what it is that's causing it.

Not nearly enough to risk her life in the process because her powers failed her, however.

Morrigan purrs, but says nothing until they're back with something solid beneath their feet. You're welcome, Keith. Enjoy the cat pets as she lightly does so with a paw. she doesn't want her half-alien friend to go squiiish- aaand now she misses Shale while simultaneously blinking in surprise over the fact that she has yet another friend.

That dragon corpse in the Blight-tainted wilds is definitely getting a workout with how much it's rolling around on its swampy grave. She doesn't want to hop down just yet.]

I would have, but I do not have enough energy to pull it off at the moment.

[She's kidding. OR IS SHE?]