[Undead] Merope's Cavern

[Marushii]

Onward // Words: 1,548

The last fieldtrip Merope went on was nearly a year ago. That particular trip was funded by Amityville and included a ride on a train to a place that was covered in snow and frost. But as it was, Merope didn't need to pack or bring anything on that trip except for (at the time) himself. And even then once the school crashed there, he was pretty much left to his own devices in his natural form.

This time would be different. The school was not funding this trip, and this particular trip was just for Merope (now) herself. Did she need a bag? She thought she did, but she wasn't sure herself. It was one thing to have a school-funded trip, yet what was one supposed to do when it was your Leader who is sending you on the trip? Merope had scanned the letter her Leader had sent again and again, chewing her half-lip in frustration as she tried to puzzle it out.

It was a small thing, and it bothered her immensely. The interweb wasn't helpful, and Merope didn't have anyone to ask. Cyrilla spent most of her time in her room, and Aymet spent his entire unlife in front of Merope's TV playing the hexbox. Merope wasn't familiar with anyone else, and didn't feel comfortable consulting them about it. Besides, it seemed like a good portion of the school was already busy with the school-funded fieldtrip that Red was holding. She didn't want to be a bother, especially to those who she barely knew.

In the end she settled for a backpack complete with a couple pairs of clothes, a hairbrush, and a bottle of salt water. Hopefully nobody would mistake it for fresh water; Merope would need it just in case anything should happen to her. Salt water was a requirement for her to function. If her arm fell off, she couldn't just pop it back into place or stitch the skin together with needle and thread. She needed the salt water to activate her species' natural ability, to force the skin and sinew to fuse together naturally as it nothing had ever happened.

Merope glanced over towards her chair and at the wyvern minipet that sat upon the top of it. Wrathalos was going to go with her. It didn't matter that it could spit fire and disliked the water. Wrathalos was a close companion, the closest thing she currently had to a friend. Nevermind that he was a pet and didn't seem inclined to chase after a ball or cuddle. Wrathalos was the sort that was more keen on swooping down unexpectedly, startling the undead from her thoughts. Merope was thankful for that.

It probably didn't hurt that the minipet was keen on battling either. It didn't matter that Wrathalos wasn't the best out there, and that other pet owners actively sought him out in order to achieve in their eyes an easy victory. Wrathalos was the sort of minipet that took each defeat personally and continued to throw its all into each and every battle again and again. Its tenacity was what Merope was proud of. It was a lesson that Merope was still struggled to understand.

Packing complete, Merope straightened up and slowly looked around her room. Everything was in order; the half-completed projects of decorating her room and building that racetrack of her's were both stacked neatly against a wall. Her treasure chests were sealed shut and organized neatly; empty of anything and everything. Merope had spent every last silver seed she had owned preparing for this journey, from new body parts to accessories. And the ticket -- just getting there cost her a lot. It was a lesson in punctuality, to order ahead of time rather than last minute.

Even what treasure Merope had obtained was lost, leaving the room devoid of any sort of valuable. With luck Merope's computer would still be there. She glanced at the room's other occupant, her eyes shifting to the skellyvision screen. Merope highly doubted anyone could get away with stealing away Aymet's hexbox and the skellyvision he had dragged in and set up in Merope's room. Not with the dracolich's narrow fascination with it.

Merope shook her head, glancing at her bed. Her bed was nothing more than a pool, one that was deep enough to accommodate her natural form. It was filled with salt water, the bottom lined with sand and any bits of treasure Merope had thrown in. Sometimes it was an aquarium for Merope's minipets to swim around in, too. Now? Now it was nothing more than a pool of salt water. With the temperatures in the Undead dorms and with Merope's room underground, it wouldn't be any surprise to find a thick layer of ice on top of it when Merope returned. That was, providing that the Soul Eaters that forced Aymet to evacuate his room didn't take over Merope's room as well.

A delicate hand raised itself to her throat and gently massaged it. Her Leader had told her where to go and what to do; Merope had taken the extra step and disguised herself for the journey, collecting and using enough body parts to change from a him into a her. So far the reactions from her classmates was puzzling. Some had asked her why, others complimented the appearance change. Merope didn't know them well enough to justify her answer, nor did she feel comfortable doing so. All in all she was pleased with the effect. Of course they would recognize that it was her: a lost-fathom leviathan's markings rarely changed, and to Merope's knowledge she was the only one of her kind currently attending Amityville.

After all, who else smelled like dead fish and glowed a bright blue?

"Aymet," she called, trying to catch her roomate's attention. Her kind's natural ability enabled them to use any new body part they came across, providing they were able to fuse it to themselves with sea water. Merope was pleased to find that the vocal chords she had spent a large portion of her hoard on were pleasant, and slid right into place after swallowing them underwater in her bed earlier. "Ayyymet," Merope sang, testing out her vocal chords. She could still detect something about her voice that still came off as 'Merope' though. But that was fine; it would still take getting used to.

Aymet didn't turn around or gave any indication that he had heard her. Merope shook her head and grabbed her backpack, swinging it on and adjusting the straps into place. She then padded over to Wrathalos and picked him up, pausing on her way out the door to grab a slip of paper she had written earlier.

Merope shifted her minipet onto the top of her backpack, waiting for his claws to grip the reinforced fabric before she stepped outside her dorm room and turned, locking it shut. She then slipped her dormroom key into the note, holding it until she arrived at a door a little ways down the hallway. Here the note was slid under the door.

Yinesa

Cyr, (the name was written in gold marker)

I am going away on a journey to someplace called Tanok. It's a ways away from here, so I don't know when I'll be back. I have Wrathalos with me, and I brought my skellyphone and a portable charger so I'll be in touch that way.

Here's the key to my room. I've put all my minipets in the closet, so you don't need to worry about them unless you let any out. Can you please check in on Aymet from time to time? He's still glued to the TV as always.

I'd appreciate it. Oh! Can you look after what remains of my horde for me? I... kind of had to pawn most of it in order to go on this journey in the first place. It's a bit complicated. But I might have left some in my bed, which may or may not be frozen over at some point.

Anyway, I'll see you later!

- Merope

Hopefully the gold marker was gold enough to trigger Cyrilla's gold-sense. And hopefully she would read the note before disregarding it as 'not-gold', or at least she would read it before filing it away into her treasure hoard. It was hard to tell with Cyrilla sometimes. After all, she kept a weregerbil in her hoard as part of it!

Merope couldn't help but to grin as she shook her head, turning as she began to walk. It would be a ways to get to the train station on foot. Merope didn't own a bike or car, nor could she fly or swim there. Her large back-fins for this trip were left in her dorm, removed as per her Leader's request. It would be awhile before she made it to the train station, and awhile longer yet before she could board the train.

But time was meaningless to the undead, especially one that did not have a beating heart to count the seconds away with. Merope boarded the train as soon as it arrived, disappearing over the horizon with it as it chugged on.  

[Marushii]

On the Road // Words: 918

Merope had to check and doublecheck the map to make sure. She even went so far as to several people to confirm that, yes, she wasn't in Amityville's area anymore. She was now in the Tanok region, a place known for using minipets and familiars to battle instead of the owner going hand to hand themselves. Everyone had at least some sort of minipet, and there were people dedicated to them. Merope had even passed a laboratory with a professor who studied them. She considered going in, then decided against it. For all she knew, the professor would have been keen to give her some sort of task or quest to complete that would have eaten up all her time.

The only path out of the town she arrived at was covered in tall, waist-high grass. People didn't seem to mind it, and in fact were more than happy to wade through it. Here, minipets weren't caught in the Scarefari with traps. Instead they caught them like they catch them in the Adventure Dome back in Amityville; would Merope like to try?

Merope didn't have much success.

It was difficult to catch something that your current minipet kept eating.

After the third rat-like creature was devoured in front of her eyes, Merope decided it was a good time to move on. Quickly. Especially after Wrathalos ate a creature that belonged to someone -- she didn't want to stick around and find out what they did to people like her. She didn't make it very far, and to her surprise the owner pushed some silver seeds onto her and insisted that she took it. She did, after all, beat him "fair and square."

And the battle was damn cool. Really!

Not everyone shared this sentiment, however. Merope had to flee from more than one battle before it occurred to her to try and catch something with her own two hands. After all, just because most of the people here didn't fight with their own two fists didn't mean Merope couldn't right?

It didn't work out.

The minipets who saw her coming were apt to run away as soon as she came near them, moving faster than she could run. Wrathalos would take pleasure in diving down and catching them, and it was through this method Merope was able to obtain two scrags.

And then Wrathalos ate them.

Merope gave up on catching anything that looked edible to her fire wyvern at that point. It was certainly easier to move along than stay and waste time in one place.

After passing through a sleepy town, Merope and Wrathalos entered a dark forest. It was... odd. The darkness and general hush of the forest made Merope feel homesick. The deep dark sea was so similar, and yet so different. She could barely make out the dark shapes of the trees in the distance and tell the plants from the animals that lurked within it. The gently swaying grass around her waist only made her nostalgic for the tall grasping seaweeds that made up the underwater forest.

And then something brushed her leg.

This wasn't the same sort of gentle touch as felt underwater. There was something... soothing about the way scales brushed against scales. The way the water rushed past, the resulting ripple of movement. Merope loved it, even if the others in her clan were more inclined to keep to themselves. She loved to swim in their wake and coast on their bubbles.

Here now. Here the brush was disgusting. Revolting. It set her teeth on edge, made her jump back and shriek while swiping out with her tail. All Merope could see was a small form going flying before a blast of bright fire incinerated it, turning it into nothing more than a pile of ash. Merope would later find out that it was an insect. A large, disgusting insect about as large as from her elbow to the tips of her fingers. It didn't matter that it could turn into something kickass later on. For first impressions, it just happened to make a horrid one.

Needless to say, that wasn't the last one Wrathalos ended up burning as they made their way through the massive forest. Insect after insect fell to the fire wyvern's breath, the draconic minipet declining the invitation to eat them. Merope wondered if she would still be as disgusted by them as she was now if she were a he. Weren't guys into that sort of thing? Was she taking being a girl too far?

By reaper standards, yes. But then again Merope was put off by things that were fluffy, so it was all up in the air at that point. There was just something about fluffy things that made both his and her teeth ache. How anyone could stand fluffy things was a mystery to Merope. Scales and sleek things were the best! After all, they could swim quickly. Fluffy things... now those things, when wet, were rather sad.

Merope had yet to run into anything fluffy in the forest, nor afterwards. It would be awhile until she encountered anything with fur, and even then that particular creature could be called "sleek." And as an added bonus, it was a creature Merope could actually run up to and pick up without worry.

So far, things were beginning to look up for Merope. Perhaps this journey wasn't as bad as she originally thought it would be...  

[Marushii]

Mid-Journey Break // Words: 1,181

Two weeks had passed since Merope had first arrived. During that time Merope had gained a better understanding of not only Wrathalos, but herself as well. Minipets were not like the people of Halloween, most did not dissipate into Fear and respawn elsewhere. Many simply fell where they were killed, changing themselves from opponent into a free meal for Wrathalos.

It had taken some time, but Merope had finally managed to train Wrathalos to wait. It was grisly, however a part was a part where you could get it: Merope did not shy away from examining a fallen wild opponent, searching for any aspect about it that could be useful. It didn't matter if it was a sort of claw or wing. Anything that a creature had was examined and considered, both in functionality and possible use.

Most parts were too small to be used. They were called minipets for a reason, after all. The few that were large enough however... Those were the ones that Merope took her time with, twisting and turning a prospective part over and over in her hands before deciding to take it with her or leave behind. Carrying these things in a mostly reaper society was difficult; Merope learned quickly to clean anything she found and to use the local post office to ship it back home as quickly as possible.

Besides, some of those things were heavy. Merope would pass on carrying them, thank you very much.

The only drawback to using Halloween's postal service was that it consumed most of Merope's won money. This issue was balanced by the fact that Merope didn't need to eat or sleep, or really buy anything except novelties and anything that caught her eye. But it was still painful to see the costs of some of the items she shipped. She began to take to writing short letters with these packages, as sending a letter inside a package saved her from having to buy a stamp or envelope. It was just a matter of hoping that the containers were waterproof enough to make it to her clan's home in one piece.

Money wasn't the biggest issue she faced, thankfully. Merope couldn't help but to glance to her left at the person she sat next to, meeting their gaze. Merope gave a quick half-smile as they exchanged glances, the pair of them bursting into shared laughter. It didn't matter that others surrounding them shot an irritated or confused look their way. All that mattered was that they were currently together and having the time of their life, exchanging hushed whispers of gossip.

Merope loved every second of it. This was what she was missing out on: someone to talk to, to gossip with and to share experiences with. This is what she was looking for, this was something she couldn't quite grasp at school. There was something there that prevented her, an invisible wall that Merope couldn't scale or overcome. She didn't even know such a thing existed until she was without it.

It didn't matter that their friendship began as a necessity, a forced pairing that neither of them were too thrilled with. They still weren't; at most they were passing acquaintances with each other, passing the time with idle banter and jokes. There wasn't much else to do while they waited without their minipets, or anything else at hand. Idle chatter was all they had left, aside from the matching uniforms on their backs. Even then the uniforms didn't come with pockets. They were made for intimidation and easy washing, not for comfort or smuggling.

The only part about the uniform that Merope liked was the hat. Merope had never owned one before, as wearing one underwater was impossible. She had seen others at Amityville with them and didn't think much of them. But now? This one? This particular one was hers and she was going to cherish it. Besides, she thought it looked rather striking against her four horns. Even if the insignia of the group Merope was involved in was stitched on the front of it -- that could easily be removed and replaced with something else, Merope was sure of it.

But that would be something she would explore later, once she was back at Amityville. Providing she would be able to go back there, of course. Of all the places Merope expected to go to, jail did not make the list. There was the chance, yes: especially after she learned the basics of lying, stealing, and lock-picking. Perhaps being instructed in the art of basic lock-picking should have clued her in. Or the act of having Wrathalos swoop down and pick a minipet up to carry off and bring back to her should have been a large hint.

Even then... would it be worth it? To go back and decline the offer to join this particular group? Merope considered her options as she waited in the cell with her fellow members. If she didn't, then she would still be outside.

And yet... And yet if she didn't, she would have missed out on this opportunity in the first place, wouldn't she? She had learned a lot, even if the lessons learned weren't exactly lawful or even "good" in some senses.

It didn't matter that she was sometimes used as bait, or that she had to take the fall from time to time. She was with people. Sure, they complained about her glowing aspects to the point where they insisted she don a male version of their organization's uniform instead of the skirted female version. They even made her stand downwind.

But all the pats, the high-fives, the shared grins and cries of triumph? Those were all worth it.

And now she was going to leave them all behind.

Merope stood up as the boogeyman-warden called her name, ignoring the surprised glances of her then-fellows. She was escorted out of the cells into a holding area, instructed to change out of the organization's uniform and back into her now clean former threads. She managed to keep the hat; the rest of the uniform disappeared.

It took Merope several hours to chew through the paperwork and to reclaim Wrathalos. The other minipets she had acquired throughout her journey were gone, going back into the system to reunite with their previous owners. Even the ones she caught herself were rehomed.

To be truthful, it was nothing more than a passing irritation to Merope. Minipets were a dime a dozen; if you knew where to look, you knew where to get them. Only Wrathalos was priceless -- and it was only for him that Merope had spent a majority of those several hours arguing back and forth with the boogeymen, negotiating the price her actions had brought down upon her head.

At long last she was free. She didn't spare the place a look back as she walked away, head held high. There were, after all, still places to go and things to steal.  

[Marushii]

Tenacity // Words: 1,061

Far below, the azure waves of the sea threw themselves against the tall unmoving rocks. The waves receded as they gathered themselves up again, but even then the color of the waves was lost to the bright white foam that swirled in their wake. Merope quietly watched the tenacity of the waves far below the perch on which she sat, her chin resting on her knees. Even now, weeks after it happened... it still hurt to think about it. It hurt even more to know that it was her fault.

Merope pressed her fins flat against her skin as she closed her eyes, shifting her position until her knees pressed against her eyes. For her unblinking eye, it was the closest she could come to closing it. If she could cry, she would have been fighting back tears. As it was now it was all the undead ghoul could do. There was nothing. A dull, hollow ache still remained in her chest since that day. If she raised her head and stared out across the sea, she could see the smudge on the horizon that represented land. And on that land stood the tower she left him in.

Everything was going so well. For the first time in a long while, it felt like she was actually doing something. It didn't matter that it was stealing or breaking in. Or even examining the remains of a former opponent and harvesting them for parts. She had become quite good at that, even if all she had to do that was her own hands and talons. Messy, yes, but that was part of the fun of it. She had become good enough with it to the point where she could successfully avoid creating a mess on her clothes.

Her confidence was her undoing. All it took was one error, one mistake, and Wrathalos was no longer with her. She couldn't bring herself to examine him like the others, to take his flame sac for herself. The only thing she took from him was a small ruby the size of a pumpkin seed, and even that she did not keep. That small gem was now embedded on the brick that bore his and her own name, set within that far-off tower. It was the only thing she could leave behind, and even that was hard to do.

Merope had nearly returned home after the incident. To her, there wasn't a point in lingering in this land. Even if she wasn't done with the task Leader had asked of her, it just wasn't worth it without Wrathalos. It didn't matter that he was nothing more than a minipet. It didn't matter that he had initially set her on fire more than once when they had first met. Wrathalos was her minipet.

Just thinking about the offhanded way she had treated them before made her fidget guiltily still. Before, they were things to use and discard. But now. Now after going through so much... was it really the same?

Merope didn't have an answer to it. And she didn't need to have one. Nobody demanded an answer from her. She had all the time she wanted in the world; no one was pushing her for any sort of answer. Action was what was demanded of her, and it came from an unlikely source.

Of all the things, Merope wasn't expecting it. She had thought she had left him behind in Amityville, preferably lost or owned by someone else. Even after having it returned to her by Professor Malcolm she didn't want it, and yet. And yet there it was, a red bush pushing itself against her legs and peering up at her.

As soon as their eyes met it scuttled back, to watch her warily.

She stood up and faced it, staring down at it. Why was it here? What was it doing? Why... why did she even care? There was only one thing to do in this sort of situation.

Merope pushed her sorrow away from her mind as she focused on her Fear, summoning every little bit of it that she could. She lifted her arms up, then lowered them. What was there to do with them? She didn't have her back-fins. Merope settled for flexing her hands, concentrating. The nails on the tips of her fingers shuddered, sliding back into her and down her arms. In a minute they were replaced by longer claws: trophies recovered from another battle.

With that accomplished, Merope took a step towards the minipet and stared down at it. She could feel her Fear rippling, flowing through her like a current of water. She relished the sensation, throwing herself into it as she began to glow. She could feel her hair lifting, drifting as if underwater.

The sheer power, the strength and confidence that came with it was what Merope loved. She was unstoppable, she was strong, she was a Leviathan. Anything that she couldn't tear limb from limb would be burned --

-- burned.

Burned.

The Fear swept out and away from her suddenly, her hair falling down as realization set in. No. Things couldn't be burned now. Wrathalos was dead. He was gone; burning was no longer an option.

The bush minipet had won that day. And the next, and the next after that. It seemed that no matter which way Merope turned after that point, that minipet would be there to challenge her. And she would challenge it each and every time.

She had left that minipet on the shore before she caught a boat out to sea, using it to cross the ocean only hours before. There was something she felt that she needed to do here on this island, something that she probably wouldn't receive another chance to do.

Slowly, Merope stood up from where she had sat down to think, taking a moment to brush off her skirt. There was no time in waiting any longer.

A slow, unneeded deep breath was taken before Merope turned to face the system of caves that laid before her, considering. She took one step, then another, and another. Like the waves she too would be tenacious with the upcoming challenge. She would rise and pick herself up again and again to throw herself at her next opponent.

Just like her Wrathalos.  

[Marushii]

Home Again // Words: 899

It had been two months since Merope left Amityville. Two entire months spent in another region in Halloween doing a task for her clan Leader. Two months spent learning life lessons by hand in an unfamiliar place. Merope had taken five steps into her dorm room before she realized what she had done. Didn't she leave her key with Cyrilla? The lost-fathoms leviathan looked down guiltily at her hand and the lockpicks clasped within it. She shook her head dismissively and closed the door behind her. She'll just retrieve her key later; there was no sense in bothering Cyrilla at this time of night.

Her glowing yellow-green eyes swept across the room, searching. Nothing was out of the ordinary, save for the lack of a glow from a certain winged minipet. Merope still felt a pang of loss when she thought of her Wrathalos. It didn't matter that she had a new companion with her: a certain red bush with gray fur. Merope shook her head as the minipet peered warily at Aymet, coming up behind it and scooping it up. She ignored its yowls of protest as she opened her closet and tossed it inside, quickly closing the door behind it.

There was no love shared between the two. To her, the minipet did nothing but harass and push her. And yet... There was something about it doing that which brought a grin to Merope's face. She owed it. Tossing it into the closet so quickly would possibly upset it further, but hey. She felt they both needed a break from each other.

Merope glanced over to Aymet. He was still there, and it looked like there weren't any Soul Eaters in the room. She was thankful for that. It also looked like Aymet had a new game. Was there dust? No? Merope looked around, puzzled. Her bed also gave her pause. Was there...? She drew closer to it and stuck her arm in, surprised to find a drastic lack of ice. There were also a few things glittering in the sand.

With a jolt, Merope recognized some of them. They were her gems -- how did they get in there? Cyrilla? She made a note to ask her later. But wait. No. Without a care for the clothes she was wearing, Merope jumped over the side of her bed-pool and dived in, wading over to a box that was sunken down into the middle of it.

A small current of water gushed around her neck as her gills opened up underwater, enabling her to take unneeded breaths as she submerged herself. It wasn't just a box. It was a small treasure chest complete with a glowing rune. There were no locks that Merope could see. Only one person could have left this: Leader. Her Leader was here?

Merope hesitated, then reached out to touch the box. At her touch, there was a soft tingling sensation as the rune checked her Fear before opening the box. There was a letter; Merope grabbed that first and read it. Then reread it.

She set it down and looked in the box, unsure of what to make of its contents. At a loss, Merope stood up and turned, then paused. She turned around again and made for the box again, staring.

The contents hadn't changed. And yet Merope wasn't sure that she wanted to touch them. She bit her half-lip as she considered her options before shaking her head. First things first.

Merope made for the far end of her bed-pool to the sunken treasure chests there. These she fought with to unlock and open, succeeding only after several minutes of struggling.

The next several hours were spent carefully re-selecting her limbs once again and putting them on, one by one until Merope was back to being himself again. Just the basics, however.

Merope carefully inched over towards the box in the middle of his bed, scooping out some of the contents and setting them aside:

He would examine those later. For now, what caught his attention were the other things inside the box. Initially, he viewed the box as small. But it contained far more then that. The bubbles caught in his throat as he saw what lie beneath the three minipets. It couldn't be. Did Leader really...?

Merope reached into the box and pulled them out. Initially they were small enough to fit in his hand. But now out of the box, the fins that caught his attention expanded in size and length, growing to become large enough to wear. This... this was what he always wanted: fins like these.

Now it was only a matter of figuring out how to put them on so he could use them. For now, though, Merope was back home at his home away from home. His journey was done, and all that was left now was to quite literally pick up the pieces and put them back into place.  

[Marushii]

August 6th - Miasma Village MH Event!

Intro

Intro Thread

Intro Post - In which Merope arrives and discovers that he's missing an eye.

Second post! Sorcha picked up his eye. And then put it in her pocket.

Questing

Q1 - Have you seen my eye? - In which Merope attempts to ask villagers if they've seen his eye. He finds out that they fish, and that they're rude. No answers in regards to whether or not anyone has seen his eye sadly.
+2 RP points, +2 raffle tickets.

[Q4] Eggstraction: The Beginning (Merope) - In which Merope obtains a herbivore egg.


[Q8] Eggstraction: It Returns (Merope) - In which Merope attempts to get a wyvern egg, but fails at the very end. +2 RP points, +2 raffle tickets.

[Q15] EGGSTRATION: THE FINALE (Alette & Merope) - In which Merope and Alette steal snek eggs. +2 RP points, +2 raffle tickets.