Voices from Afar

[Nathaniel Graham]

    Under Stilia’s withering look, Nate responded with an innocently puzzled expression followed by a nearly imperceptible slight shrug of his shoulders, as if to ask “Is something wrong?” Afterwards, the young man seemed to take a profound interest in the ceiling while listening to her respond to AWOL’s bombardment of questions.

    Ms. Neither-Linette-Nor-Stilia suggested the kid watch where he was going, seeming more annoyed with his questions than the gorgon herself for some reason.

    Gram rubbed his chin, staring down each path once they came to the fork in the tunnel. Stilia drew an arrow in the rock to mark their passage he assumed, before informing them that they would be heading left. Nate followed the group, trusting in the gorgon’s guidance. She did, after all, seem to know what she was doing.

    Once Gram could no longer contain his curiosity, the young man asked.

    “What is down the right path?”

[Linette Nerissa]

Apollo's constant questioning began to give Linette a headache; his voice echoed off the walls and reverberated in her ears constantly. She couldn't blame him for being curious, but couldn't he space his questions out a bit. She was about to reach for her head phones when he asked Stilia  "Are you traveling alone? If I remember perfectly, Gorgons were grouped in nests and enclosed from the rest of the world. Will we meet some of your friends along the way?" Linette had no idea Stilia had a family or that she'd been away from them for so long. A lonely tear ran down her cheek, and her heart went out to her friend. She had to do her best to finish this quest for Stills.

Distracted by her emotions Linette barely realized they had reached a fork in their path. She trusted Stilia's judgement, but her curiosity made her wonder what was down the other paths.

[Stilia Medusa]

Stilia had made the inscription, just in case. The gorgon obviously trusted the Goddesses, but they had given her a warning. The quickest route may not be safe, and if they had to go another way, the Goddesses might not be able to help them get to their destination. They were in a large network of caves, one a careless person could die in by getting lost. However, the first thing said to the Gorgon was "Alright, I hope we are getting closer..."

“No Apollo, I’m bringing you further.” Stilia told him, slightly exasperated. It was a foolish thing to say, they were being guided by the Goddesses! Although they may not realize that, they should trust in Stilia’s judgement if they’d followed her this far.

It seemed Stilia wasn’t the only one getting their nerves fried in this desolate cave, as Pandora also snapped at Apollo. The Gorgon wondered what the Powers That Be were thinking, attaching this boy to a dragon. It seemed to spell disaster and incompetence.

“What is down the right path?” Gram chimed in, distracting Stilia from her annoyance with Apollo. As she was feeling quite irked, she almost told him to ‘go find out yourself’, but held her tongue. She herself would have been curious if it weren’t for the voice in her head.

“Hundreds of tunnels and dead ends, none of them leading to where we need to go.” She explained, walking down the left tunnel. It split much quicker this time, and she drew another arrow before going right, then straight through a three way split.

[Apollo Lion]

Apollo had no idea how, but he seemed to have managed to annoy EVERYONE while on this walk. No one wanted to talk, Apollo assumed, as Pandora yelled at him first. "Maybe you should pay more attention to where you are going," she said, followed by Linette giving off a feeling of annoyance. Next, Stilia told him off when Apollo added a comment, stating: “No Apollo, I’m bringing you further.” Lastly, Bayla gave off a wave of annoyance from the shadows she were in.

Shut up Apollo, she told him telepathically. Before I melt every bitch in this tunnel. 

"Well..." Apollo said to himself, deciding to keep his mouth shut for now. Hopefully the three Gorgons they were going to save was not as annoyed of him as these three females were. Hopefully I will not need to melt six bitches in one day, Bayla said, still a bit irritated.

“What is down the right path?” Gram asked. Apollo could see Stilia's slight anger turn large for a moment, then she calmed herself. 

“Hundreds of tunnels and dead ends," she said. "None of them leading to where we need to go.”

Well, it's a good thing we have you then, Apollo wanted to say, but kept quiet, only letting a tense sigh escape his lips.

Stilia led the group down a right tunnel the second time the path split. She then came across three paths, where she led them through the middle one. 

[Pandora]

Pandora was trying hard.. so hard to not get angry. Ok, well she was already angry but trying not to get even more angry. She had to give herself credit for holding her temper as well as she has been for this long. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down before she had to hurt someone.

Stilia mentioned hundreds of tunnels and dead ends. If she wasn't so confident with where she was going, Pandora might have questioned her. They took a few quick turns and she was sure the path would continue to get more confusing from here. Pandora assumed that Stilia would need to concentrate more on where they were going. So if the others kept on bugging her like this, she might have to shut them up with violence. If they wanted to get lost and die in these caves that was fine with her but Pan had no intention of dying in here.

[Nathaniel Graham]

    The young man wasn't too particularly excited by the gorgon's answer, but he couldn't say he was surprised. Gram guessed he'd just been hoping for something a tad more exciting like a monster that would munch on the troublesome Apollo.

    Well. It would certainly seem that apple's bombardment of silly questions had worn down Stilia's patience. Nate personally found the guy to be rather annoying but he didn't think that warranted being mean to poor Gram.

    Needless to say, Nate was rather relieved that they had Stilia to guide them. Without her, it was obvious that they would very quickly become lost which would prove rather unfortunate for the ones who didn't remember the exact path they'd taken so far. Ya know, the ones who were not Gram.

    The next obstacle was a threeway split. This time, Nate just followed Stilia and didn't bother to ask what had been down the other two paths.

[Linette Nerissa]

No longer wanting to hear Apollo's continuous bombardment of questions; Linette put her other head phone in toning out all the mindless chatter. The soothing voice of Marvin Gaye began to wash away her tension and headache. Yes she was a young up and coming Dj, but Linette loved the oldies; the music was filled with soul and passion that you couldn't find today.

She only hoped that no one was saying anything of grave importance because she couldn't hear a thing; grabbing onto one of the loose straps of Grams bag she managed to follow them down the winding corridors of the mountain. Everything was starting to look the same to Linette and she knew there was no way of her finding the way back on her own.

The party had yet again stopped at another fork in the road, but this time there were three paths to choose from. It almost reminded her of the scene in lord of the rings when Gandalf couldn't remember his way through Moria. Hopefully there weren't any flaming Balrogs waiting for them bellow

[Stilia Medusa]

It seemed silence had overtaken the group again. Although the chatter had been friendly, and Stilia did not mind answering questions until they got too personal, it was foolish to continue speaking. They were in unknown territory, with unknown threats. One should always be on guard, not try to attract their enemies unless they had a plan.

It was for the best anyways, it was useful to have Apollo in one piece, and not lose a member due to the others tearing him apart.

Several hours of uneventful walking passed, and Stilia felt no different. She did, however, doubt that the group was the same. They were likely exasperated of being in this maze, the same dark walls illuminated by the same yellow flashlights. And so, she stopped.

“We will rest here tonight. But first, we must dig.” Stilia set her bag on the ground, and removed several small hand shovels. “Unfortunately, our dear Linette will have to sleep in water, or she will dehydrate tomorrow. So a hole big enough for her to lay in, and I have been told you can keep it filled with your mastery over water. I apologize if this was a secret.”

Stilia instantly got to work, but did not take a shovel. Instead, she shifted into a badger, and wiggled out of the clothing that had fallen over her little head. Readjusting herself, she dug her claws into the ground and began digging.

[Pandora]

Once the group finally got quiet, Pandora was at ease and enjoying the walk much more. Between the quiet and the darkness, it was actually pretty peaceful. Of course she didn't let her guard down for a moment. Especially since she noticed Linette put on music for herself. Who knew if the others were paying attention anymore or just playing follow the leader.

Hours went by, and Stilia stopped walking. Pandora took a look around wondering why she had stopped. Was there danger that she had not picked up on? Luckily there wasn't and Stilia explained thst they'd be staying the night in this spot, while handing out shovels so they could dig a hole for Linette. Pan took a shovel and began to help dig the hole with the new Stilia in badger form. She thought about shifting to a tiger to help, but she figured her claws were best kept for slicing through her enemies.

[Apollo Lion]

Ugh, Apollo scoffed in his head. Excuse me for trying to have a conversation while we walk down this extremely long corridor!

Don't think too much of it, Apollo, Bayla told him. Literally... I don't want to hear you think.

YOU TOO?! Apollo suddenly yelled at her. You know that I was only trying to be a good traveling companion, right?! It's not my fault that everyone has too many poles up their ass to see that! Did they even ever think, for a moment, that if they placed on a better attitude, they would not be this damn grump! The draconian folded his arms in frustration.

Apollo could feel Bayla rolling her eyes at him. Teenagers, she communicated, along with an exasperated sigh.

Oh, shut up! Apollo turned towards his little black cat that walked a few paces behind him. Even though she was completely hidden in the shadows, he could still feel her presence. He could also feel her anxiety, and it was beginning to rub off on him. You've been awfully quiet back there as well. Did you find anything with that nose of yours, yet?!

No, Bayla said with a little anger. And its infuriating. I don't know whether we are going into heaven or hell. But she does. Bayla sneered and Stilia's back, and made a low hiss. She knows exactly where we are going, yet only describes to us a reason for going there. And even the explanation is a little vague! I'm starting to think that she knows exceptionally less than us, and that we are all doing this blindly.

Apollo watched Stilia as well. She moved with the slim grace of a snake, her tail wagging on the ground while her knees pushed her forward. Pandora, Gram, and Linette were right behind her. Linette had placed on headphones and was now listening to music. She attached to Gram's bag to keep her going in the right direction.

This is our team, Apollo thought. A snakewoman, a mean girl, a rich boy, a nice girl, and a dragonboy... Yep, we won't make it.

And on the chance that we don't, Bayla added. I am grabbing you, and we are running. I'll make the caves close in on them if I have to.

To that, Apollo rolled his eyes.

It was then that Stilia suddenly stopped. “We will rest here tonight. But first, we must dig,” she said. Apollo looked at her questioningly, though did not say anything. He made it his new goal to give the people what they want, and stay as silent as the dead of night.  “Unfortunately," Stilia continued. "Our dear Linette will have to sleep in water, or she will dehydrate tomorrow. So a hole big enough for her to lay in, and I have been told you can keep it filled with your mastery over water. I apologize if this was a secret.”

Apollo looked at Linette with a raised brow, but did not press for understanding. He wasn't talking, but even if he wanted to, pushing for something secretive would never be a good thing to do.

Stilia removed a few small handed shovels from her bag, most likely for digging, but she did not take one herself. Instead, she morphed into a badger and used her newly formed claws to make a hole. Apollo quickly moved to snatch a shovel. He then began digging.

You got this, Apollo! Bayla cheered from the side. For a small cat, she always held a large evil grin.

Don't help me and I will nag you until the morning, Apollo told his dragon. She scoffed at him, but did as he said, knowing that an entire night of Apollo speaking would be hell. She morphed into a tiger, one larger than the average size, then began using her claws to dig as well, making sure that she did not 'accidentally' swipe Stilia in the process.

[Nathaniel Graham]

    When Stilia came to a stop and informed them that they had reached the location they would be resting in for the night, Nate nearly groaned. It felt like they'd been in this silly cave forever. The young man wasn't tired at all. Nothing like that. If anything, Gram could probably keep going. From what he'd observed, the rest of the group seemed to have the endurance of a sickly child. But he was pretty bored from lack of mental stimulation.

    Then the gorgon produced shovels and ordered him to dig a hole for the girl with blue hair. Him! Dig like a common day laborer! The very thought was unthinkable. Gram was one of the most intelligent individuals in the world with technical abilities that most people couldn't even dream of. But here he was, to dig hole in the ground for someone else to sleep in.

    Without even a sigh of frustration or a look of annoyance, the young man took up a shovel and dug. He decided not to overthink the fact that he was digging a hole in a cave, a cave too poor to even afford stone floors. Like it had blown its budget on the fancy door or something. Gah! Filthy peasants.

    To keep himself busy, Gram started thinking of his favorite science fiction technologies and how such a thing would actually be made to work in real life to keep himself mentally sharp and stave off boredom while he dug.

[Linette Nerissa]

Linette was id way Through Just my Imagination by the Temptations, when Gram had stopped moving. It seemed like they were stopping to take a break. Unplugging her headphones Linette refilled her water bottle for about the thirteenth time that day. The hiking wasn't terrible, but she could feel the dehydration beginning to set in.

Stilia announced while handing out shovels “We will rest here tonight. But first, we must dig.” Linette's first thought was they were going to dig up a restroom; sadly she was mistaken. “Unfortunately, our dear Linette will have to sleep in water, or she will dehydrate tomorrow. So a hole big enough for her to lay in, and I have been told you can keep it filled with your mastery over water. I apologize if this was a secret.” Linette's face felt like it was on fire with how hard she blushing. Who had told Stilia about her being a mermaid?

She felt horrible as the group began to dig a small hole for her to fill with water; she felt like such an inconvenience to the group, but she couldn't help but look at Nate. Did he think she was freak, would he still like her, would he be mad that she kept it a secret from him? Linette's worry began to eat away at her confidence; maybe it wasn't a great idea to come.

With everyone was distracted with digging the whole Linette stepped behind some boulders to Change; she removed her shorts and under wear storing them in her back pack and began to focus on her legs. Almost instantly the had merged together to form her aqua blue tail, and that's when Linette realized her mistake. She hadn't sat down before transforming her legs; unable to balance on her tail she fell to the floor with a loud thud " Ouch" she cried

[Stilia Medusa]

Linette had been listening to music, Apollo was obviously sulking? Stilia was starting to have blasphemous thoughts about those the Goddesses had chosen. Did these people not understand the danger that was present? Who knew what else had moved into these caves, what was keeping the Goddesses trapped.

Thank goodness, people at least decided to help her dig a hole. She didn’t even have to tell Bayla off for not contributing, although she picked a stupid form. There were other creatures in the world that were much better and faster at digging, that also didn’t take up too much room so the others could get in and help- like a badger. The cat who was now a tiger seemed too proud to be ever caught in the form of a badger though.

Linette, despite the fact the hole was for her, was the only one to not contribute to digging. Instead she went behind a rock, and Stilia ignored her until she heard a thump followed by a noise of pain. The little badger stopped its task, and trotted over to see if Linette was alright. Due to her badger vocal cords, she didn’t say anything, but made a small noise and tilted her head to the side, examining Linette and wondering if she’d understand that Stilia was asking if she was alright. The gorgon was not in the mood to shift back only to nurse the mermaid, before returning to her task.

[Pandora]

A tiger. Really? Pandora glared at the new cat as she looked up from digging. But at least the little cat wasn't as useless as she had originally thought. It was a shape shifter of some kind.

And where was the girl we were digging this hole for? Oh... behind a rock. The other guy must have shared a similar frustration since she heard him huffing and puffing next to her. At that moment she almost threw down the stupid shovel and told her to dig her own damn holes, but apparently she fell. Well good for her. Truthfully she wouldn't have been annoyed if she had helped dig this stupid thing in the first place.
She dug down until she hit rock, and began to dig outwards. Once the hole was finished, Pan returned the shovel back by Stilia's belongings. She didn't feel tired yet. "I can keep watch if you want to rest." If one of the others were watching out for danger, she wouldn't trust them anyway.

[Apollo Lion]

Apollo didn't mind when Linette went around the rock. In fact, he was barely paying any attention. However, when Bayla noticed, the draconian noticed.

Where the hell is she going? Bayla wondered.

i don't care, Apollo communicated to her. And neither should you. 

Apollo dug until he heard a thump come from where Linette was, then an 'ouch!' Bayla heard that as well, and snickered. Sounds like she had a terrible fall, the dragon turned tiger said. Apollo looked at the tiger with a scornful eye. He was getting very irritable as well. Bayla saw him and felt what he felt, then she growled. Wanna take your anger out on me? Go ahead, and watch me toss you all around this cave!

Bayla felt what he felt. Every pain, emotion and pleasure. If she tossed him, she would most likely feel that as well. However, that wouldn't stop her, as she tossed him before, and she would toss him again.

Just go help her... Please... Apollo asked her, giving the giant cat puppy-dog eyes. He couldn't imagine how crazy he looked, giving a giant cat odd looks, and figured that he would need to explain what he was doing later.

Fine! Just stop looking at me so weakly! Bayla sighed at him. She moved away from the hole in a graceful-cat motion, then shifted her form. Slowly, she became a younger woman, with lightly pale skin and short red hair. Her eyes turned green, and her body became smaller and more lithe. She was still as tall as Apollo, however, she was more feminine. Her breasts were made bigger though, and she flaunted it, along with other parts of her robust naked body, with pride.

She made her way to the rock, making sure not to step on Stilia along the way (even though she thought about it). She then outstretched her naked arms to Linette. If the mermaid accepted Bayla's help, Bayla would bring Linette into her arms, like a prince carrying a princess, and would casually carry the mermaid over to her hole.

This would be when the hole was nearly finished. It would be low enough for water to be created. And if Linette did use her power to fill it, she would find that her entire leg could be covered by water, but the liquid could only go up to her waist.

Bayla would gently set the mermaid in the pool, then return to her form of a small black cat.