A black and white Tail (Ethereal-Star) Niahi Woods

[SilmeriaElemred]

Sicillica giggled. ''Don't worry I know you are brave.'' She assured.

The way down was a bit tricker and there was a lot to fix before it was safe for them to pass through. Vines cleared the hallways from stones and returned them to their original place. She needed a break after that though. The castle started to look like a castle again even though kept together by vines.

After the break she lead the way down. There were dungeons and even cells. With their torture devices. Even mummyfied corpses. But that was not the way they went. Their way ended in front of a closed rusty vault like door.

[Ethereal-Star]

"You got that right!" Chestnut lifted his head up high, while trotting along in style. Unicorn style mind you. He waited patiently as they took a break, making idle chat about this and that.

Continuing on, making their way into the dungeons below, Chestnut eyed all the torture devices with a disturbed look on his face. "A dreary place, mind you." he commented, uneasy. "Definitely not a place to stop at and have a cup of relaxing tea."

He said this as he eyed some kind of spiky enclosed contraption, in which the victim would be placed inside, the door then closed therefore impaling them on the spikes inside of it. The door was partially ajar, a skeleton of a long dead person still inside, its bony jaw opened in horror even now. Eye sockets seemed to stare at the unicorn, begging him to save him from this fate even though Chestnut the valiant unicorn had arrived many centuries too late to do such.

Chestnut shuddered and moved on, but not before he told the skeleton that he was sorry even though there would be no response. "Poor chap." the unicorn muttered, eyes sad before lighting up again as they moved on from the dreadful scene.

"Ah, this must be the treasure room!" Chestnut said excitedly, as he glanced at the metal vault door. "Let's see what's inside, yes?" Pushing on the heavy door with a hoof, it creaked loudly before giving way, dust mites and dust balls aplenty going up his nose, Chestnut sneezing several times as a result.

What they saw inside would take both their breaths away, the sight nearly overwhelming in its ages old grandeur.

[SilmeriaElemred]

Sicillica coughed as the dust got into her nose. She could not see much in the darknes of the vault though, the light sources having been long died. Which was why the black unicorn made luminescent flowers grow and a broad smile came across her lips. ''Say... how far away is that archdruid.'' she asked as she entered the place. Despite under a bit of rubble and a lot of dust, it seemed many riches were still here. ''Chestnut... this place was not that difficult to reach of people had plenty of ropes with them. So... why is there still so much of this left... and how come there are indeed so many remains...''

Carefully she walked inside. Something she basicly regretted right away as she walked right into a spiderweb and released a bit bit of a shriek.

[Ethereal-Star]

Letting his horn glow with white light so they could see better, Chestnut saw there were indeed tons of riches and treasures here. But also many bodies and piles of bones.

At Sicillica's shriek, he whirled around in alarm, saying "Don't worry, Chestnut shall protect the beautiful black unicorn from all harm!" Then he saw it was just a spider web, albeit a very large one at that. The male unicorn couldn't help it. He burst out laughing, but his laughter quickly died down when there was the sound of something huge scurrying above them.

"Is it just me or did I hear something scuttle overhead?" And that was when a gigantic spider of mammoth proportions made itself known, clacking its overly large mandibles at them threateningly. And all too late, Chestnut noticed all the egg sacs in the corners as well. They were spider eggs. And the valiant unicorn let out his own shriek of terror then. "Spideeeeer!"

[SilmeriaElemred]

If there was something in life Sicillica hated, it were spiders. And this one being an actual giant spider queen did not make it better. ''At least we know why there are so many dead bodies.... run!''

Her initial fear of spiders making her forget completely she was capable of using magic.

[Ethereal-Star]

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Chestnut immediately started running, but made sure not to get too far ahead of Sicillica either so they wouldn't lose each other. His hooves flew across the vine-covered floors as he galloped for dear life.

The spider queen in the meantime let out a loud screech and with another clack of mandibles it too dashed after them, climbing the walls and skittering along at a very disturbing pace. It tried to swipe at them a couple times with a pointed hairy spider leg, but missed. It was safe to say its poison would be deadly if either of them were to get pierced with its appendage. Even Chestnut's superior resistance to harm wouldn't be enough here.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''Gross gross gross gross gross gross gross!'' Sicillica called out with every step she took. That until she fell after one of her feet got stuck behind a rock and by rolling to a side she avoided the spider's poisonous bite making her screech in anger. Well anger. It wanted a meal right?

It was more out of reflex then actually remembering she had magic though as strong barbed vines came from the walls and wrapped themselves around the spider which furiously did every effort to break free but at the least if gave the black unicorn time to get on her feet and resume fleeing until realising that she indeed had magic and made the vines wrap themselves around the spider queen tightly but instead of killing it she locked it in a strong box of vines.

''So... want a pet?...'' Sicillica said after a good minute and laughed a little fearfully and akwardly. Hoping that the vines would hold. Spider or not it was still a living creature. And killing was not really on her list of hobbies.

[Ethereal-Star]

Chestnut stopped running as he looked back and saw the giant spider wrapped up in tight vines. It thrashed around frantically as it tried to get loose but didn't make much leeway regarding this. But the vines wouldn't hold forever that was for sure.

"Ah, no I think I'll pass." Chestnut said, both serious and jokingly before shuddering as he looked at the creature again. "In any case, I think our tour is over now. Those vines won't hold it for long."

Even as he said this, some of the vines began to snap loose as the spider struggled, trying to free itself. "Now, now, didn't anyone ever tell you that eating others isn't very nice?" Chestnut said by way of a joke. The vines broke off more and more as the thing kept at it. "I think that's our cue to go. Run!"

Just as Chestnut started to dash off again, the giant insect got free of its prison then and off it went, letting out a loud shriek in the process.

[SilmeriaElemred]

Sicillica gladly followed and soon were outside the dark hallways. ''We may... want to... warn the... archdruid about... miss spider in there...'' she panted after realising the creature had stopped following them. She dropped herself in the moss and fallen leaves first panting and then laughing.

''That.. was the most exitement I had in my whole life!'' she felt so relieved she morphed back to her natural form still laughing.

[Ethereal-Star]

Chestnut soon joined her with laughing, since they were now safely away from the creature. "Yes, I think the arch-druid would want to know about that."

Chuckling and snickering some more, he regained his composure and looked back toward the castle ruins. "Well, since we can't go back in there anymore, what do you propose we do now?"

Chestnut wasn't sure at what point the monstrous spider had stopped following them, but he didn't dare go back in there to find out. The spider could have the castle for now, he figured.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''Trottle our way to the archdruid? Truth be told I never really give mind to where I am going. Normally I just walk and mind my own business. Until of course a unicorn stole my clothes...'' she joked. Still a little panting and actually lay very comfortable on the forest floor. ''I suppose though these are the moments humankin has tension relief related intercourse... '' she laughed once more but got on her feet.

''Do you have another plan regarding what to do?''

[Ethereal-Star]

"Hey, it was all in good fun!" Chestnut defended himself, but was also chuckling. "You should've seen the look on your face though! And with the spider too!"

Contemplating a bit, the unicorn trotted over to the river. "I don't know about you, but all that running made me wanna lounge in the stream here! So that's what I'll do."

After stepping in, he let out a shriekish whinny! "Ooh, that's cold! Brrrr...." But he soon got used to the temperature and dipped his head in, getting another drink. Then he sat down in the stream and chillaxed. A goofy grin on his white equine face.

"There's plenty of room for two here." Chestnut said, splashing some water at Sicillica in merriment.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''I hate spiders. For obvious reasons.'' Sicillca said and jumped in the water too. Gods that felt good. The castle after all was very dusty. She did not shiver though, knowing how cold it was and was kind of used not having warm baths.

''You looked kind of fearful as well though. You surely ran fast.''

[Ethereal-Star]

Chestnut chuckled, albeit a bit nervously. "What can I say, that spider was huge!"

Splashing some more water at her, he grinned. "But I ran with both grace and style at least. As per usual." Swishing his tail in the flowing water, he laid down then and sighed in bliss. "Ah, this is the life, I tell ya. Nothing like a cold stream to calm down the senses, yah?"

A bird in a branch above decided that was the perfect moment to dump and it did, white slimy bird poop dripping off his blue mane!  "Hey!" Chestnut looked up at the bird with a grimace and lightly scowled at it. "That wasn't very courteous!"

The bird simply hopped to another branch and tweeted as though laughing, and then flew off, shedding one of its feathers, it slowly drifting down onto Chestnut's head. And the unicorn let out a big harrumph at that.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''Let me help you with that then.'' Sicillica said as she morped to human form and took some leaves and moss. Using the leaves to wipe away most of the mess and after dipping the moss in the water she used it as a sponge, very gently.

She did not seem disgusted by it at all and truth be told it calmed her for some reason. ''I do suggest we leave before it gets dark. If that spider is nocturnal it will hunt. And she seemed rather pissed regarding being caged.''

[Ethereal-Star]

"No complaints from Sir Chestnut!" the unicorn chuckled, again nervously.

After the bird poop had been cleaned from his mane, he sighed in contentment then and dipped his head underneath the waters to further rinse. "Yes, that simply wouldn't do. Bird dung to dirty up my pristine and knightly mane of honor!" he joked.

Shaking his head, water droplets flinging everywhere, Chestnut grinned at Sicillica. "So where to, Your Highness?"

[SilmeriaElemred]

Sicillica pondered. ''How about we visit that archdruid? My king?'' the black unicorn asked.

''Maybe he knows about the giant spider queen and knows better means to get rid of her.'' Gently she squeezed the water out of his manes before stepping out of the cool waters. Morphing back into her black majestic self after finding a smooth piece of stone. Writing a warning on it using a little bit of magic from her horn. ''There we go. Hopefully the spider will starve to death. Although if it follows us again remind me I have magic strong enough to kill it... I'm not fond of taking a life but if its her or us... it is no difficult choice.''

[Ethereal-Star]

"That sounds like a grand plan my Queen, Beauty of Night's Embrace." he said, winking at her.

Following her out of the river, Chestnut gave one last shake of his head. "I wonder if the arch-druid would have the means to convince the spider queen to go elsewhere. Where exactly, I don't know. Being a druid and a leader at that, somehow I doubt he'd want to kill it. Merely send it on its way to some nice and cozy cave instead, and a secluded one at that."

Noticing what she did with the stone, the unicorn nodded his head in approval. "Another great idea, that." Motioning to the smooth flat rock with his horn. The warning scrawled on there read simply, 'Beware. Giant Spider Inside Castle Ruins.' "That'll hopefully prevent any more mishaps."

Looking towards the southwest, Chestnut started to walk there, head held high. "Let's go find that arch-druid now."

[SilmeriaElemred]

Sicillica nodded and together they walked South West. It was not particular a short walk though and she had decided to just do this in her natural form. Chestnut seemed thus far one of the very, very few to have accepted her this way.

Nightfall was eventually upon them though and it got her a little on edge. She did not fear dark but certainly did not find it pleasant what it could hold.

They did however eventually reach a clearing with a naturethemed house. ''Is this the place or are we stumbling upon an evil witch's lair now...''

[Ethereal-Star]

The 'house' was more like a dwelling carved into the trunk of a tree, its branches thick and full, with many ornaments hanging from the tree limbs. It looked rather small though, but the tree was very tall so it likely had more than one 'floor' or room inside. A wooden sign was placed above the front door, which was simply a wall of vines separating it from the outside. The sign read 'Arch-Druid Breneg's Residence', carved into the very wood itself. The Head faun definitely lived here, there was no doubt about that.

An owl hooted nearby, flapping its great wings in a flourish as it flew away but not before turning its head a full 360 degrees, bright owlish orange eyes looking straight at them. However the owl didn't go far and simply sat on another tree branch, just idly watching the duo as it blinked its eyes a couple times.

"Hello Mister Owl." Chestnut greeted the animal jovially. The owl simply blinked at the unicorn as if to say, 'why are you here?' The bird definitely had some keen intelligence in its eyes, more so than the average owl did and Chestnut wondered about that briefly. But turned to the door instead and lightly tapped on the trunk near it with a blue-tufted hoof. Now they just needed to wait for the arch-druid to answer.