what in the longdark spitting-pit is that

[inourhead]

This was a bad idea this was a bad idea this was a bad idea.

Holly runs as fast as she can but the demon's faster. She has no idea where Lightning's gotten to; maybe he found a tree to climb. She on the other hand has been diverted into a treeless hill and she's careening down a slope, trying very hard not to trip.

And the demon's gaining on her.

She's never seen anything like it and neither has Crystal; maybe Book knows what it is but Book's asleep. It's mostly mouth - it looks like a cross between a floorlength mirror of a mouth and a snake to propel the mouth along.

And Holly's not fast enough.

The mouth catches her.





But it doesn't hurt.

Where are we?

----


with Minus (kappa)

with Mark (kappa)

with Max (Benedict)

in Terraria (kappa)

with Emma (Marri)

with Erin (Rockeye)

Comments

[inourhead]

Crystal-and-Pyay - looks quizzically at her.

Then she goes and stands slightly to the left of her original position and holds her arms up and says, "Crystal! One person." Then she steps to the right and makes a different gesture, hands by her sides and palms out. "Pyay! One person." She stands where she was standing. "Two people. Crystal. And. Pyay."

[follow_the_leader]

Emma- stares. She cannot possibly mean what she thinks she means.

"Emma, one person. Alli, one person." She points at Crystal-and-Pyay. "Two people?!"

[inourhead]

"Two people! Crystal and Pyay. Crystal not-sleep, Pyay -" Wobbly uncertain gesture. "...sleep. Pyay not-sleep, Crystal sleep. People two two two not sleep."

[follow_the_leader]

"But- but- but-" Emma splutters. She gestures at- she doesn't even know what to call her now. Crystal? Pyay? Is... one of them... sleeping? "One person, not two."

[inourhead]

"...Mmmmm. Not Crystal and Pyay - people two two two - one child," gesture over here, "one child," gesture over there, bundling-up-combining gesture, "two children - child and child. Not Crystal and Pyay, Crystal and Pyay..." She lacks the vocabulary. "People two two two two. People, people, not Crystal and Pyay." Pause. "Crystal and Pyay and Praip. Praip -" A gesture removes "Praip" from her body and puts them somewhere else. "Crystal and Pyay, Praip and Fwaysyee."

Now she looks sad.

[follow_the_leader]

Well, Emma thinks she understood half of that if she was lucky, but she can at least respond with the obvious thing.

Map wave. "People one." She imitates the bundle-up gesture. "People not know. People not know... mice sleep, people not sleep. People not know cup crystal, cup silver, cup crystal." They haven't gone over silver, but hopefully it's obvious in context. "People not know. People one."

She doesn't know what to do about the sad part. Someone she left behind, from the sound of it? She's been good about not using her own language, for the most part, those were probably names? "Crystal and Pyay good...?" she asks tentatively. "Sad-" she mimes it, "no good?" She'd offer help, if she had any kind of vocabulary for it, but basic vocabulary is the rule of the day.

[inourhead]

"Crystal and Pyay and Praip and Fwaysyee walk, walk, walk. Tlaaaa - not klaon - tlaaaaa - mmm - walk walk walk -" She jogs in place. "Eat Crystal and Pyay. Not know - Praip and Fwaysyee."

[follow_the_leader]

Emma supplies the word "run" sort of automatically, then attempts to process. So- the thing that keeps people from sleeping caught Crystal and Pyay, and- ate them? "Eat Crystal and Pyay, and- Praip and Fwaysyee- run?" she suggests. "Run good, Praip and Fwaysyee good?"

[inourhead]

Crystal - or Pyay - shrugs. "Tlaa eat Praip and Fwaysyee, not know."

[follow_the_leader]

Emma pats her awkwardly on the shoulder. "Run good," she repeats. "Not know, but... eat bad, run good. So, run, good."

This is as close as she can to "as long as you don't know, might as well assume the best."

[inourhead]

If Crystal-or-Pyay got that, it's not clear. She shrugs again. "Eat Crystal and Pyay. Crystal and Pyay -" She gestures. She - they - don't look very eaten.

[follow_the_leader]

Emma looks at her. "Emma see Crystal and Pyay. Crystal and Pyay not eat," she points out with a grin.

[inourhead]

"Crystal and Pyay not sleep. Crystal and Pyay eat."

[follow_the_leader]

Oops. "No, no, um. Crystal and Pyay say, tlaa eat Crystal and Pyay. But. Emma see Crystal and Pyay. Tlaa eat? Tlaa not eat?"

[inourhead]

Crystal-or-Pyay giggles.

[follow_the_leader]

Well, that's unhelpful. Emma makes her best mock-haughty face. "Crystal and Pyay here, tlaa eat bad," she declares, trying to suppress her smirk.

[inourhead]

Crystal-or-Pyay laughs harder.

[follow_the_leader]

Everything Emma might normally follow this line of teasing with seems to trail uncomfortably into "remind you of your friend being chased by demons," so she abandons it while she's ahead. She got a smile! Good enough for now.

So, now what? She doesn't know want, or now, hopefully sounding questioning is close enough. "Um. Crystal and Pyay- read more book? Go, Emma go, see Chialto? Sleep? Eat?"

[inourhead]

"More book," says Crystal-or-Pyay, calming down.

[follow_the_leader]

That is easily arranged. There is no shortage of books here; it may not be the main Lalindar estate, but the Lalindar properties are all very well stocked as a matter of course. Something about keeping up appearances for visitors, if Emma remembers her mother correctly.

Exploring time! Perhaps Crystal and/or Pyay will find a particular book interesting.

[inourhead]

Crystal or Pyay wants to learn more words and put them in her little glossary. (It comes up over the course of this that Emma is talking to Crystal and not Pyay. And, when Crystal finds a botanical field guide, that Pyay means "holly".)

[follow_the_leader]

Then Emma can oblige her. Normally she'd just be sleeping, after all, and this is far more interesting than anything else she could be doing in the middle of the night.

(Well, for all that Crystal and Holly appeared a fair bit after dinner, it is fast approaching 'not night any more'.)

They go through books. Emma mostly goes for reference books and children's stories; things like maps and history books don't seem like the best use of their time.

When they mention that Emma is talking to Crystal, she inquires, "Emma know see Holly, Emma know see Crystal?"

[inourhead]

"Holly eat pie," Crystal says. "Holly front - one-ly?" She might mean 'first'. They haven't covered ordinals.

[follow_the_leader]

Well, Emma is happy to detour to cover the word "number" and then the ordinals, to see if that clarifies things.

[inourhead]

"Holly front first. Crystal now."