A rocky start? [Open]

[Nordling]

Two hours ago, Rock was no more special than any other rock. Rock did not think, could not think even if Rock tried, and at the time trying wasn't even a concept Rock was aware of, nor was time. Thought was for the living, and Rock had been inanimate since it'd first formed, eons ago. Yet in the span of two hours plus, many things had changed. Including Rock.

First, there was a dent in the wall. The dungeon was all that Rock had ever known, even when it was unable to remember. Its walls were like that of a cave, many layers of sediment and stone keeping the cave sturdy and safe for the monsters inhabiting it. Whatever had caused a miniature crater in the wall must have hit it hard. Unfortunately, Rock hadn't witnessed the how or why of this matter, since Rock wasn't thinking when it happened. It was a change Rock included simply because it looked weird.

Second was when Rock initially started to ponder its sudden and immediate sentience, it was hard to think with all the noise. Clanging of metal, pained roars and loud chants had filled the dungeon chambers so much the floor rattled, bouncing Rock out of its normal place. Now, the fighting had dulled down to a low bellow deeper into the dungeon. But the air still sizzled with residual energy, perhaps the same kind that got Rock thinking in the first place.

Yet third was most important of all. Rock itself had changed. In the span of two hours and a gaggle of minutes, it realized suddenly it was alone.

Other rocks were not great at conversation. Right next to Rock was a lopsided pebble that seemed to be slathered in a filmy layer of mud. Rock had greeted it, then told it about the weird dent in the wall it'd been observing. Had the pebble noticed it? Wasn't it weird? Perhaps they could conspire its purpose together. The pebble said nothing.

Rock changed tactics fast. It openly admired the muddy layers on the pebble, how the dirt suited it. How it had this rather nice shade of purple-brown that matched the pebble's speckled body. Out of curiosity, Rock asked the pebble what it looked like. Did it have speckles? When the pebble declined to reply, Rock wondered if it'd said something wrong. Rock hastily apologized, but the pebble didn't even so much as budge. This began to infuriate Rock. It hurled an insult at the pebble, hurt by its stoic silence. The pebble remained stone-faced. Rock felt a pang of guilt, apologized again, and a long, awkward silence followed before Rock tried talking to somebody else.

The pebble's reactions were the same as all the rest Rock had tried. And Rock was starting to run out of topics.

At least, that was until the sound of footsteps began echoing down the dungeon corridor.

[Wrathwyrm]

((Music))

Rock DID eventually have company, and it wasn't what you might call the usual company.  Actually, any company was unusual for it, right?  Except other rocks, that is.  The pebble was a fair example...maybe.  But what was with these tall-as-hell fleshoids that moved around on two or more stalks, eh?  Totally ridiculous and indescribably weird.

But enough about him.  Let's get to Michelo.

The person heading down the corridor was a teenaged boy of about 14-15.  He was quick-looking, a bit lanky, and striking as a person.  This was ultimately due to the fact that whenever a kitsune - supernatural fox - took a human form, they tended to take on a form that turned heads.  Not to say that this would have any effect on a rock.  It was normally human-types who reacted this way.  He came in, walking in sandals, wearing traveler's clothing, and holding a sword in his belt at his side.  This white-haired, white-eared, white-tailed being didn't look like much of a dungeon-crawler...and you'd be right.

He was after something else, other than fortune and glory, and he'd failed to find it.  That's right, Michelo's lost.  He thought he could find the scent of the one he was following, but that trail had gone all over the place, and there was something else following it, something that just seemed to be...rabbit.  Why would a rabbit follow a goblin?  Better question: Why would a rabbit be following a master thief and rogue of a goblin, whom Michelo was after, as well?

Well, maybe he stole his carrots.

No idea.  So, the story goes that the boy was after a goblin, one that he was familiar with, for some reason.  And that he was lost.  It didn't help that this place smelled of old blood and decay from past adventurer types dying to some hitherto-unseen monstrosity.  Anyway, he made his way along and his foot caught Rock at the edge of his sandal, flipping him about as Michelo continued to traverse the hall.

[Nordling]

Dungeon travelers seemed pretty common here, though Rock had yet to see any. It could not smell the years of rot fermenting in the cave air, nor could it discern the odd bone from one of its lifeless cousins. Those details mattered to things with noses and fancy sensory organs. It had yet to meet another living thing. Which meant maybe it was lucky that it was about to meet somebody of the fleshy sort. Or at least, the front of their sandal.

What probably amounted to no more than the briefest feeling of contact for the kitsune was like the brunt of a sledgehammer to Rock, sending it tumbling, bouncing up sharply on its side, and then sliding sidelong into the base of the cave wall.

H-How, Rock's thoughts were scattered in that moment, How Rude! That white-haired, tailed thing with the legs had just kicked it! And what was worse, he was just walking along without even so much as a "sorry" or "excuse me, i'm walking here!" Like Rock was no more than part of the scenery...

Well, the last part wasn't wrong per-say but it hurt Rock's feelings! And so, it wanted to get back at the tailed boy somehow. Although it couldn't say anything out loud, which was quite the disadvantage as it did want to say quite a few choice things to the intruder, it could at least think really, really hard about its anger. If it concentrated enough, maybe something might happen. In any other world, Rock would never be able to do such a thing. But it just so happened that thinking actually did work, eventually.

As thoughts of justice and vengeance clouded its brain, Rock slowly grew airborne. As it aimed itself towards the back of the white-haired creature's head, Rock felt a sense of triumph, of purpose. Mentally, it gave out a victorious cry and shot forwards, launching towards its revenge!

From an outside perspective, the rock flung itself at the kitsune's head with all the impact of a little kid firing a slingshot.

[Wrathwyrm]

It's funny, because if there had been a kid with a slingshot around, Michelo would've heard it.  The pulling back of the stretchy sling, the sound of the kid's breath, and indeed the loosing of the stone towards the intended target would've all been picked up by those foxy ears.  At it happens, though, Rock was silent.  He had done no more than pick himself up - if he was indeed a him - and thrown him noiselessly at the young fox.  As a result...

SMACK!

"OW!"

The boy pitched forward, and Rock would feel something repel it that was unexpected, a bright spark of some kind.  Truth by told, it was a brief discharge of lightning, but not particularly harmful, given how short the burst had been on impact.  Rock was insulated, being rock.  Michelo  straightened up, rubbing the back of his head, turning around and finding no one there...

Who threw that?  Is that goblin following ME now?  No, he doesn't know I'm here...does he?

He groaned at the soreness in his head now, feeling a lump forming already.  Spotting the rock that must've hit him, he reached down to try and pick it up so he could pick up on the scent of whoever touched it last.  Naturally, he had no idea that the rock was self-propelled, self-aware, and rather pissed off.  Nor did he know that the only scent he might get off of it was whoever knocked Rock out of the wall, in the first place.  Michelo just wasn't wise to these sorts of things...yet.

[Nordling]

Wow, Rock noted, His head is strong! Well, Rock was probably not big enough to do any lasting damage. Not that it wanted to really harm the boy. It was simply an act of revenge! One accompanied by a brief flash of white and the crackle of energy. Rock was temporarily dazzled by the shininess of it all, enough to stop thinking about flying, enough for gravity to take it by the hand and carelessly throw it back to the ground.

The lightning would seem to absorb into the air as quickly as it had been released. An almost greedy energy took it in, one that made the air tingle and the dungeon walls loom ever more sinister. One could swear there were quiet voices in the air, pleading wordlessly in the vapor. But would the intruder notice it? it left as quickly as it came. Rock was barely even aware of it happening. Instead, it saw a hand reaching towards it, filling up its vision with dark. That seemed more pressing matter than the dungeon, its home for all of two hours.

Oh, did he want more trouble? Rock would give him trouble! Rock started shout-thinking heavily, trying to direct it all at the kitsune. Much like the act of flying, it was certain that if it concentrated hard, something would occur. In this case, an utter onslaught of angry mental yelling, barely discernable to weed through.

"RAGDTHDHONORUDEKICKPBFAIDON'TEVENR-"

The angry static of telepathy consolidated, then spread itself apart, becoming clearer phrases. Like the tuning of a radio.

"RUDE YOU'RE SO RUDE YOU KICK AND PICK-"

The mess of telepathy cut itself off, cycling through phrases amidst the wild yells.

"HAIRY FLESH THING I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE-"

"SO DISHONOR ON YOU! DISHONOR ON YOUR-"

"YOUR HEAD-"

It might be a bit overwhelming for all of those to go at once to one person. Rock felt a little woozy after doing it, the screams fading after a few minutes.

[Wrathwyrm]

The fox's ears DID twitch briefly at the faint sound of voices, which had distracted him for a moment as he looked and listened around.  However, he decided that the sounds that he thought he heard were just sounds and not actual voices, since he knew that nobody was here right now.  So, with that aside, he picked up the rock and-

"Agh!"

Suddenly, something appeared in his head!  It was definitely a voice, this time, only it was loud and incoherant, words all jumbled together as it sped through him.  Since it actually started right when he picked up Rock, Michelo straightened up suddenly with a panic, Rock going from one hand to the other in a frenzy, before it fiinally slipped out of his grip and onto the floor...because he was a fox now.

Like, he was actually in the shape of a fox - blue eyes, white fur, and bristling with statiic energy.  Kitsune tend to look pretty damn good in their human form.  In fox form, Michelo was freakin' adorable.  Of course, none of this would have any impact on Rock.  In fact, you could say the acting of dropping him was more than enough.  Michelo gathered himself now...and the sparks coming off of him lessened. He stepped over to the stone and sat in front of it, pawing at it.

"Is this some kind of...magic stone?"

The words that had appeared in his head were strange.  He thought maybe they were directed at him, once they were somewhat understandable, but how?  And why?  And who?  This wasn't making a whole lot of sense, right now.

[Nordling]

"AND YOUR TAIL IS FRIZZY!" Rock's shout-thoughts frayed out at the end like somebody out of breath. It wanted to inhale but it had no idea what the first step to doing that even was. Instead, Rock just waited for the dizziness to pass. Eventually it did. By that point, Rock was on the floor and the boy was no longer a boy.

Fox was a new word in Rock's dictionary. Honestly, it can't even be known what language Rock's telepathy was really speaking. Fluent Common was just a part of the sentience package it seemed. Not that Rock knew the difference between languages as of yet. The word 'fox' just wormed its way into Rock's consciousness. This adorable, staticky animal was a fox.

So Rock knew what the boy had become. But the fox did not seem to know what Rock was. And well, that wasn't getting anybody anywhere.

Still a little annoyed, Rock carefully strung together its thoughts, this time trying to communicate instead of walloping angry words into the kitsune's head.

"I.. I AM sorry. DID NOT mean to startle you, well that's a LIE. But YOU did kick me." Struggling to keep its mental voice down was a real chore. Hopefully the fox would listen and appreciate its attempt at apologizing. "You INTRUDED and KICKED me."

It couldn't help but feel bad for the fox for scaring it so much. That may or may not have to do with the sudden cuteness of its adversary.

"Wait, I'm a magic stone?"

[Fitgain]

The crack in the wall suddenly widened, the sound of steel hitting hard rock ringing out in the stone room. Two more hits created a hole large enough for a single hand, in which the heavy breathing of a man was heard from.

"God! Finally, praise the lords!" Wallace shouted, dropping his pickaxe. He had decided to go searching in the Highlands before reaching Serendipity, in hopes of finding treasure, or even the resting grounds of Nicola itself. He poked his arm through the hole, pulling down the last few rocks which blocked his path, bursting into the dungeon. He was already ready to celebrate, until his eyes laid upon the white fox, which was looking at a stone. Wallace reached into his backpack for a torch, striking it alight on the rocks, holding it over his head while he tried shooing the creature away. "Begone! I have business here," he shouted, making kicking motions.

[Wrathwyrm]

There were still words appearing in his head unbidden.  They were a voice without anything attached to it, like direction and whatnot.  It just kept happening, and the only reason that Michelo thought it had anything to do with the stone was because it was when he touched it that it first seemed to happen.  And then...it started to be more than just shouting, but actual attempts at communication.  Michelo's ears perked as the rock...apologized.  Well, it was also annoyed about the kicking.

"Sorry, I guess?  Most rocks are just...rocks.  They don't usually care...or something."

This was all very new to him.  He was talking to a rock - something that's normally inert - and it seemed to be holding a conversation with him.  This wasn't a golem or anything.  It was just one stone.  It didn't even know that it was some kind of magic stone, since it asked about that!

"What else would you be?  All the other rocks I've seen don't do what you do."

Speaking of rocks, there was a sudden rumble from the wall which got him onto his feet, looking at it.  There was a crack there, but now it had widened and there was a hand poking through.  Soon enough, more of the wall had been pulled away and a man emerged into the tunnel.  After lighting a torch, he shouted at Michelo and kicked at him, telling him to leave.  The fox jumped around this and then yelled "NO!" back at him  That was likely going to surprise the man about as much as Rock had surprised Michelo himself by talking.  Probably even moreso, as sparks jumped across his fur.

"I don't have to go anywhere."

[Fitgain]

Wallace nearly dropped his torch when the fox talked. To think, that an unsuspecting animal, were to talk, without having the proper anatomy or vocal cords to enunciate words, was beyond realistic. Wallace knew that he would have to expect such things nearing the capital of magic itself, but it was still unnerving knowing that anything could be spying on you at any time. Once he recomposed himself emotionally, Wallace took a step back and did a sort of unmannerly bow, taking a glance around the room.

"Apologies," Wallace muttered half-heartily, imagining what kind of fox could talk. A God in disguise? Some sort of unholy eldritch abomination that could consume him in one bite? Whatever it was, he knew that he was not going to come out alive if he fought.

Yet, that itching feeling in the back of his mind, telling him, maybe, just maybe, that this fox was not to be trusted, was overbearing. Wallace fingered the crossbow strung on his hip, before stopping himself, internally struggling with what to do next.

[Nordling]

Well, maybe more rocks would care if they could think. Rock had noticed the other ones around it hadn't responded all that much. None had even thought to cheer Rock on while it bravely defended itself against the fox. So perhaps it was true, that Rock was in fact the only one here capable of thinking. What a lonely existence that would be.

"I guess I MUST be. To think, a MAGIC stone-" Rock's thoughts snapped off as its attention was grabbed by a cracking noise. An unearthly sound for a small stone, to hear its brethren being dislodged so forcibly! Right where the weird impact had been, the wall was worn down and crumbled to pieces. Rock skittered backwards as a few tinier crumbs smacked across it.

The newest intruder had dark hair and no tails to speak of. He didn't appear to be the same kind of fleshy creature that the fox was, even when the fox was not a fox! And he'd just collapsed an entire wall of stone with that steel thing.

"W-WHO ARE YOU?" Rock's tone was scared. It couldn't stop staring at the steel weapon, even as it lay on the ground. "YOU broke the WALL! DON'T BREAK ME."

As the fox's sparks continued in the air, the atmosphere seemed to darken, though whether or not that was perceptible to the three creatures in the area was unknown.

[Fitgain]

"Holy hell, who is that?" Wallace grimaced. First, talking foxes, and now words in his head. What kind of place is this? And how had he been so unfortunate to choose to find this very location, rather than any other without all of these bumbling magic creatures?

Wallace, out of answers, turned towards the fox, expecting answers, despite the very ridiculous situation at hand. "Don't break me?" What kind of thing would be scared of breaking, of all things?

[Wrathwyrm]

Well, at least he apologized.  It was kind of a rude thing, breaking through a wall and then telling him to shove off.  Yeah, he realized that he was in fox form and all, but would you really do that to a cute, fluffy animal upon bursting through a-  Nevermind...  If you busted through a wall, you just might BE that kind of guy.  Rock had momentarily confused the newcomer now by speaking, asking not to be broken into tiny bits.

Here is where Wallace's confusion would achieve new levels.  The smallish white fox suddenly crackled with lightning and reverted to the human-like form that Rock had seen him in before.  So saying, he bent over and picked up Rock, holding him up for Wallace to see in his torch light.  It must not have been a very good torch, since this tunnel didn't look that lit-up at all.

"For some reason, this rock is actually aware of us and talking.  Hit me in the head too..."

He kept a hold on the rock, but not very tightly.

"I don't suppose you saw a goblin with a highwayman mask roaming around here, did you?"

Doubtful, with all the noise he was making...

[Nordling]

"Yeah! I DON'T WANT TO BE BROKEN INTO PIECES." Rock hollered. The man seemed confused, unsure where Rock's voice had come from. That was probably a good thing. Except the boy - who was no longer a fox but on two legs again - picked it up, singling it out from all its non-speaking, non-magical friends. Rock was still grappling with that whole idea.

The only magical thinking rock in a sea of lifeless stones. Was that good luck or extremely unfortunate? Whatever these two decided to do with Rock would be the answer to that question.

One of them was looking for somebody. Rock perked up, although physically it didn't appear to do much at all. If vocals could communicate sudden alertness, it'd sound like this. "Oh? I might be able to help!" It had managed to telepath at normal speaking volume, trying to imitate the voice levels of the two around it.

"I think people came through this way, you know, before I woke up and started thinking. They might've gone deeper into the cave! Maybe the.. goblin? Went that way?" Rock had no idea what a goblin was but there had definitely been people here before.

How long before wasn't completely clear.

[Fitgain]

Wallace was still unnerved when the fox turned into a human, but considering the circumstances, he just shrugged to himself. A fox that can turn into a human? Sure, considering that there's a telepathic rock in the guy's hand now. To think that stuff like this could exist was still mind-boggling, but Wallace tried acting normal.

"Ah, no, sorry, didn't see any goblins, or anybody for that matter. The tunnel I came from was mined from the ground down, but it probably caved in at this point, since I didn't use any scaffolding," Wallace mused, before focusing back onto what the rock "thought". "Two people? Down that hallway?"

Wallace shuffled around his backpack, before pulling out a beautiful, fancily-engraved bell, though still fairly sturdy. It emanated a sort of pleasant aura, though very hard to describe. "You reckon that they might be grave-robbers?" Wallace asked, ignoring that he was going to grave-rob the place himself earlier.

[Wrathwyrm]

What followed was a bit jumbled, as both the priest and the rock were essentially talking over each other, one verbally and one in one's head.  Michelo paid more attention to Rock's assertions that he saw two people come through here.  People?  Umm...he wasn't looking for people in the traditional sense.  Did the rock even know what people really were?  Good question.  He decided to describe what he was looking for to Rock.

"Umm, the goblin's this dark-skinned guy with black clothes and his eyes covered with a mask, and the thing I smelled following him was actually...a rabbit, an animal.  No idea why."

However, the rock had given him a direction - same one he'd been going - and that was somewhat helpful.  Now, why were they here?  Grave robbing?

"The goblin, sure.  He's a thief that showed up in Hylop.  It's a long story, but it basically boils down to me tracing him to get him back for robbing my hometown."

[Nordling]

Rock was imagining somebody with skin the same color as the one man's hair. Clothing was a bit trickier for it to picture, seeing as it didn't need clothing by itself and well, it'd been self-aware for all of two or three hours now. It took references from what the two were wearing and sort of.. combined their wardrobes together. A very bizarre image formed in result. But it was the closest idea to an imaginary person Rock could offer itself.

"Oh.. that person might have come through here then. I don't think there's really any other way forward than deep." Rock said, "A-and I heard sounds before! Rumbly noises. I bet it was him. He sounds like a rude person, and I don't like rude people! Can, can I come too?"

It was a question Rock just sort of blurted out. Currently, all Rock knew was that these two people could think just like it. And well, Rock didn't want to be alone again. Those couple of hours had crept by so slowly. What would happen if it was left for days, months, years even? How long before it'd be discovered again?

"I can help catch him and the rabbit, if you want to catch the rabbit too! If I'm a magical stone, I could do it." Rock had no idea what a rabbit was, but if it was following the goblin, it had to be an accomplice!

[Fitgain]

Wallace shrugged, putting his torch away. He crouched on the ground, uttering a silent prayer, before chiming the bell thrice. The noise wafted over the other two like a wave of sunlight, filling them with some sort of invigorating aura. An orb of light spontaneously appeared next to Wallace, creating a soft white light.

"Well, considering that the rock has been here longer than us, lead the way," Wallace suggested. The light would follow him around, allowing for illumination without a torch.

Still, yet, again, Wallace had no idea why he was being so kind. The possibility of being backstabbed was too great to ignore, but the chance of treasure was overbearingly persuasive. He reckoned that if they became too suspicious, he'd leg it out of this place, instead of fighting, but he might not have the chance to run. The kitsune seemed well-trained enough in fighting, but the rock scared Wallace the most. He had no idea what it could do.

He involuntarily twitched at the thought of dying down here, but he said nothing about his suspicions.

[Nordling]

Ooh, Rock was stunned for a moment by the light that emanated from the man's bell. It was similar to the light it'd seen sparking off the fox before, but this one lasted longer. And it radiated a sort of niceness that got Rock excited to start moving. Well, why wouldn't it be? It was going on an adventure!

Not many rocks could claim to be able to do this. Not unless they got launched from a slingshot, or packaged as some sort of children's toy.

However, the light would seem to be slowly getting sucked away into the aether, although it persisted in illuminating more of the place, and probably seemed normal for now. The cave's darkness seemed to be actively fighting the glow.

Rock couldn't point which way to go, but thankfully there was a pretty linear path going deeper into the dungeon. A downwards, curving slope, narrow and yet a way forwards.

[Wrathwyrm]

The rock seemed to want to help them, now that they weren't being rude or harmful to him.  And since it seemed like he had seen or heard someone, plus had more knowledge about these tunnels than they did.  Could it really hurt to bring him along?  Michelo didn't see anything wrong with it.

"Sure, you can come along."

In fact, the other guy figure that Rock should be leading the way, even though he is...well...a rock.  Well, he could move under his own power, if he needed to, right?  He did, after all, fling himself.  For now, the human fellow lit up a nnew light that somehow felr refreshing as it bathed over them all.  Strange, no?  Funny, though...  It didn't seem to fare much better than the torch he had.  Was something wrong with it, or was he just not that powerful.  They would be able to proceed, though.  Well, HE would.  Michelo could see in the dark.

"So, what're your names?  I'm Michelo."

And while we delve onto that subject, we take a gradual turn to to find an area of the floor which has been worked upon by what appear to be small teeth.