The Legend of the Labyrinth

[Booklover]

The shrew heard the conversation, yet was still wary. But she judged that it would be safer to reveal herself. So she stepped out of the shadows, and walked forward, her paw still close to her bow. "It is true that I go by no name, though I've heard some interesting nicknames in my time. Good to meet you, Waiata, Algirdas." Her gaze lingered on the squirrel, still having that odd feeling that she knew him. But she'd met many squirrels on her travels, and known none long enough to have a truly good memory of them.

[MathLuk]

"It is nice to meet you." Algirdas forced a smile. A bat. A shrew with no name. Chycer. All three in the same room as himself. All that could have went wrong did indeed go wrong. "Why would you happen to be here?"

[shisteer of nothing much]

Waiata smiled and withdrew back into the shadows, judging that the other beasts had long enough to look at her.
"It is nice for me to meet you, meet you, but I think you would rather not have met me, met me. In answer to your question, question, I have lived here all my life, my life. Why are you here, you here?"
Waiata flew back to Dantin and whispered in his ear.
"Perhaps you should introduce yourself, yourself. They seem to be peaceful creatures, creatures."

[Kade Rivok]

Dantin looked incredulously in the direction Waiata seemed to be.  Introduce himself?  He didn't want to introduce himself!  He wanted to curl up in a ball and hide until everybeast was gone.  Still... he knew that he wanted to overcome his fear of talking to creatures, and the only way to do that was to, well, do it.  Trying to work up his courage, he attempted to move forward into the light, but his legs wouldn't budge; his body stood rigid and refused to go forward even an inch.  In the end, he was only able to talk, and so his small voice drifted out of the darkness, cracking with nervousness. 

"He- he- hello.  I'm, uh... I'm here too.  Name's D- Dantin...." 

His utterance faltered and came to a stop.  If he'd had anywhere he could have escaped to in that moment, he would have out of embarrassment.   

[Sebias of Redwall]

Brink let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes. Great! Just great! More creatures that'll probably want a share of my gold... Setting the tip of his club on the stony ground, the hedgehog gave a brief nod. "The name is Brink Ironspikes. And just what are you all doing down here?" He said, raising a suspicious eyebrow at the strange beasts.

[Verdauga]

Ara had remained silent, watching the reactions of his employees to his old colleague. The mouse and the..... bat were not brought here by him. That was obvious. He turned toward the room Waiata flew into and replied, "We would rather have met you, Waiata! Rather you than an enemy! And you Dantin," he said to the dark room," You seem to enjoy that room, but you will be better served coming out where we can see you....." Ara grimaced here. "We know the way out, and this labyrinth isn't much for mice."
Ara turned to his followers.
"This squirrel here is an old...friend..of mine, named Algirdas Torunis."Here he turned back to Algirdas . "I know exactly why you are here; our reasons are the same, aren't they? You don't have a map do you, so you must have gotten to the deranged squirrel before I did. Ha! No matter. We'll need to stick together anyway. Dantin? Why don't you join us? There will be treasure at the end for you! And I won't leave you out, Waiata! Some treasures to bring to your family."
He grimaced once more before leaning in close to Algirdas. "Call me unfair any other time. But if you help me reach this treasure, you'll get your own share. If I were you, I'd accept before your employer changes his mind."

OOC: Ara is going to be less subtle with Algirdas

[MathLuk]

"I come on my own accord." Algirdas scowled. "But I accept your offer." The squirrel rolled his eyes. This enterprise was going to prove to be as interesting as anything related to Chycer can get.

[Kade Rivok]

Dantin wasn't sure if he believed the hare.  He constantly hesitated when referring to those with him as 'companions' or 'friends', and he had an air of subdued haughtiness about him.  Also, though he'd originally said that he knew the way out, he'd then tried to lure Dantin and Waiata in with promises of treasure.  Treasure was the least of concerns for the scared mouse.  Still, he couldn't be sure that the hare was lying either.  Unsure of himself, he whispered to Waiata in a voice low enough only she could hear. 

"What do you think?  He seems to be searching for treasure, but I... I just want to get out of here...."

Suddenly the dark walls seemed to begin pressing in on him again; just the thought of being able to leave had made him lower his mental defenses.  Trembling, he closed his eyes, trying to will his fear away.

[shisteer of nothing much]

Waiata listened to the conversation in the torchlight with a small frown. The hedgehog sounded a little bit grumpy and the hare leaned a little bit too much on bribery for her tastes. Still, they were unfamiliar with the territory and dangers to come so Waiata would help them.
"I have no wish for treasure, treasure, but I will come with you, with you. I was born down here, down here, and know it well, it well."
Waiata rested a wing on Dantin's shoulder, sensing his fear.
"Do not worry, worry, my friend, my friend. You will get used to the labyrinth in time, in time."
Turning her attention back to the other beasts, Waiata pursed her lips.
"I advise you extinguish your torches, torches. You will be safer if you let your eyes adjust to the dark, the dark."

Waiata pricked her ears up, or rather, down, as she heard a familiar echo coming from the tunnel she'd entered the cavern by. Grinning wryly at herself, Waiata turned back to her new found comrades.
"Please excuse me for a moment, moment. I just need to go sort something out. I'll be back soon, back soon."
Not waiting for a reply, Waiata flitted away silently, following her ears until she caught sight of the silver line in the dark.
Finding a solid rock to cling to, Waiata hung upside down in the smaller bat's path, paws on hips as she confronted her sister.
"What in the name of underground are you doing down here, Pekepeke, Pekepeke?"

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

Pekepeke hovered in front of Waiata, her wings beating rapidly.
"Looking for you, sister, sister. Because mother said to tell you that you need to, need to. And I heard voices, voices, over here and I thought it was you, was you. I was right so now you must come, must come."
Pekepeke paused for breath and fastened her claws to the tunnel roof and swung upside down before her sister, waiting for a reply.

[shisteer of nothing much]

Waiata smiled, giving her sister a pat on the head as she looked over her shoulder.
"That might be difficult, difficult. I met some beasts in the cavern and I've volunteered to help them on whatever mission they're doing, they're doing. I suppose you'll have to come too now, right, right?"
Knowing her sister and, therefore, guessing her answer, Waiata turned and led the way back into the cavern.
"Come, I'll introduce you."
Skirting the torchlight, Waiata landed just above Dantin, waiting for her younger sister to join her.

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

Pekepeke squeaked in delight and followed, landing beside her sister and swaying slightly. She blinked in the light and covered her face with one wing, shielding her eyes.
"What are these creatures, creatures?" she asked Waiata. "I have never seen beasts like them before, like them before."

[Verdauga]

Ara smiled at the other bat.
"Hello there. I presume you're related to Waiata? I'm Ara Chycer, the philosopher leading this merry little band."
The thought of beasts living in the labyrinth raised his spirits; they would know the labyrinth even better than he did. However, he entertained the nagging thought that they weren't as hospitable as they first appeared. "Only one way to deal with it, I suppose." Ara decided. "I had asked your sister to join us on your trip; do you want to come along?" he asked.

OOC: How about we try to speed this up? We've spent a couple pages just talkin' here....

[shisteer of nothing much]

Waiata smiled at her sister, chuckling at her excitement as she introduced her to the labyrinth's newest inhabitants.
"This is my little sister, Pekepeke. I think you'll need to resign yourself to the fact that she's coming with us because it'll be difficult to convince her not to."
Waiata's eyes sparkled with amusement at the other bat's enthusiasm.
"We had best get going. It's always better to keep moving in the labyrinth."

[Booklover]

The shrew forced a smile. This chatting was even worse than a shrew 'debate'. "Good to meet you, Pekepeke. Which way first?"