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]

"Circle." Crystal shrugs, and writes this down.

[follow_the_leader]

Emma giggles. "My world-" she gestures to encompass the whole map, to explain the world. "not not not your world, I think, yes?"

[inourhead]

"Not," agrees Crystal. "Not not not not."

[follow_the_leader]

This particular discrepancy is at least abstract enough not to bother Emma. For all she knows, Holly's world just thinks the world is flat still. Welce did for centuries, after all. It has not turned to silver in front of her. She is allowed to giggle.

But also- she feels bad. It really is a very different world. She wants to be welcoming, on behalf of her world, or something?

"Sorry," she says. "I know you sad, want your world. I just- I know, your world good, but I want you think my world good also."

They hadn't actually gotten to 'also', yet, but hopefully it's reasonably obvious in context. Maybe.

[inourhead]

"Um -" Crystal taps the books. "Book. Person Book. Crystal's and Holly's -" She's missing the word.

[follow_the_leader]

"Person Book?" Emma says, confused. She offers a quasi-medical textbook.

[inourhead]

"Person Crystal, person Holly. Person Book - Praip. And person - Fwaysyee. With Book."

[follow_the_leader]

Oh! "Name," Emma supplies. "Emma my name, Crystal and Holly your names. Book person's name?" She recalls vaguely that she was missing a word. "Friend?" she tries. "Alli, Jenny, my friends."

[inourhead]

"...Book with Crystal and Holly," tries Crystal. "Book go with Fwaysyee... Fwaysyee friend. Book..."

[follow_the_leader]

Book with Holly and Crystal? "Crystal and Holly, two person," Emma says slowly, thinking aloud. "Book with Crystal and Holly, three person in one," she gestures indicatively, "body?"

If they shared a body, that narrows down relationship choices. Hmm. She digs a family tree out of somewhere or another and starts naming various relationship types.

[inourhead]

"Book brother," says Crystal decisively, when supplied with the words. "Holly and Crystal sister sister, Book brother."

[follow_the_leader]

Awwww. That's just sad, they left their brother behind and they don't know what happened to him. "Sorry," she says helplessly. "I hope- um, think/want?- him good."

[inourhead]

"Book asleep, Fwaysyee awake, tlaa eat Crystal and Holly," sighs Crystal. "Tlaa eat Holly and Crystal go here. Tlaa eat Fwaysyee and Book - go -?"

[follow_the_leader]

"Fwaysyee and Book run, tlaa not eat?" Emma suggests. "Go here, not here, Chialto? Welce?"

Looking on the bright side! She's not sure what else to do, here, really.

[inourhead]

"Not eat, not - no tlaa eat Crystal and Holly here, not go Kuigao. Not see. Eat, go - here, not here -"

[follow_the_leader]

"Um..." Emma attempts to parse this. "We go- not now, more day go- search Chialto, see Book, no Book?"

[inourhead]

"Yes."

[follow_the_leader]

Emma has a note sent over to Alli's mother's store to ask her to come by later. The store closes about when Emma's done with tutoring, and Alli will bring Jenny, and then Emma can sell this to her mother as a "shopping expedition, just us girls," and get approval to go out in the city. Her parents don't like her going out alone, and in their defense it isn't terribly safe for a young noblewoman to just- wander the city. But she'll bring her friends, who Emma will happily admit are much more city-wise than she is, and they'll bring the stable hand as an escort / bodyguard / chaperone.

(Who will then trail behind them lazily, chatting up his many lady friends in the markets. He doesn't ever fall far enough behind Emma to make her feel unsafe, and she enjoys the safety-without-strictness feeling, so she doesn't bother him about it, and he appreciates the time off, and really everyone wins. Emma's never understood why a male stable hand counts as a chaperone, but she supposes she usually has a friend or a maid with her as well.)

But unfortunately, this all takes time. Time for her mother to come home, for her to finish her language lessons for the day, for her friends to get off work and get her note and come over, to get permission from her mother and the company of the 'bodyguard' and to go out into Chialto.

So in the meantime- would Holly like to learn some new words? Because Emma is a language nerd with very few bright ideas for activities, when they can't leave the house and are actively hiding from the other residents.

[inourhead]

Both sisters would like to learn new words.

Though Crystal is the one with the tolerance to make their notes about them.

[follow_the_leader]

Well, then Emma is going to try to get slightly fancier with words. There might even be verb tenses.

[inourhead]

Crystal is extremely confused by verb tenses.

[follow_the_leader]

Well, fortunately Emma is not covering anything too complicated. Past, present and future. Things like 'imperfect subjunctive participles' are for people who share a common language.

While she's at it, she tries to throw in related time words. Things like "tomorrow", "today", "now", that sort of thing. So she doesn't have to just... hand wave how long they have to wait before they can go into the city.

[inourhead]

"Now" and "later" come easily; "day" takes a while for the girls to get used to, even after they seem clear on the general concept of a routinely scheduled visit by the same sun over and over.

[follow_the_leader]

Well, even if they don't have a day, they must have some form of time system? Surely? Emma breaks down days into smaller pieces, hours and minutes and so forth, and explains those instead.

She will, if pressed, have no reasonable explanation why they come in weird groupings, other than, "three, five, eight, good numbers."

[inourhead]

Holly and Crystal figure out how to say "sand", and draw a recognizable hourglass, and say that at home they keep time by "sands". (Plurals are not as confusing as verb tenses.) They seem to conclude after prolonged observation that a sand is about one and a half hours, maybe, probably.