Discord
You hurriedly tap the down arrow button on the panel, then the 'DOOR CLOSE' button, pulling as much focus as you can muster in your dazed state.
You keep a paw in your pocket and grip the pepper spray as you hear the aerosoul charging for the elevator.
Your vision is hazὙ, continually shifting, but you can see their silhouette growing closer and closer as the doors begin to slide shut.
Just as they're about to reach the door, you pull out the spray, turn its top, and click the nozzle.
A stinging mist bursts out, coating the aerosoul's hands just as they reach out to grip the doors.
You hear a loud yelp as the figure crumples to the floor.
The elevator door shuts, cutting off your view as you feel it shift, beginning to mov e. Y
You back up to t⁆
You back to t₶e opposite wal l It's difficult ₜo It's di↩ It's
↩
It's dif⎨icult t⌕ think␛clea▄
think It☹'s difY⟅ou it's It⨊s Th⬳nk⪹YⰨou
You can't Y怕ou
It's cleThe elearvlThinkYум? It s'
Dif l ieE vcA⸙oYr
You
YY̷̡̨͈̼͔̣̫̗̬̳̤̗̜͈̝͙̥̩̭̻̜̟̲͔̾̐̈́̇̈́̽̈́̊̇̓͊͋́́̋̓͆́̀̃̌̾͐͑̉̀̽̍́̈̆̔̕̚͘͘̕͜͜͝͝͠͝ͅǫ̵̧̡̨̡̡̧̛̛̮̘̱̭͕̗̪̦̞͖̰̲̝̠̯͓͚̜̫̰̥̞̺̗̙̥̹̝͉̳͈̻̩͇̙̫̹͗̂̎̾̊̀̅̀̆̐̓͆́́͐͗͊̕̚͝ͅͅͅͅu̵̡̢̫̻̟̭͙̳̭̠͙̟̱̰̻̝͙͇͍͕̩̱̗̺̳̒̈́͑͌̑͑̂͂̊͌̀̀͛̍̎̔̀̐͆̀̇͊̌́͗̉̚̚͘͜͝͝͠ ca'n
't tT
![[Image: AkOFdsR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/AkOFdsR.png)
"Roux! Hold on a minute!"
"I'm not sure I can make it up there!
And those arms of theirs are probably dangerous!"
"I'll lose them!
Just-
...I'll... be back!"
"Be careful."
"Yeah."
You crawl as quickly as you can through the vent.
Your knees hurt from repeatedly slamming against the metal.
But you can't lose them.
You round a corner.
Then another.
You can see them up ahead.
They somehow managed to turn around - now crawling through forwards instead of backing up.
But you're still gaining on them.
You're getting answers one way or another.
The amerveille cocks their head back briefly.
You see their eyes go wide as their pace picks up.
"Why are you still--?!
You got your little keys back!
Just take them and leave, you insufferable hound!"
You ignore them, panting as you start to catch up.
As you get close to their heels, you ready yourself to reach out and grab them.
A loud clank suddenly rings out.
The both of you slide into the wall of the vent as gravity seems to shift.
You push against the sides on instinct, trying to right yourself.
Horrible, metallic tearing pierces the air around you as the vent rips apart in front of you, reverberating through your skull.
You feel yourself drop.
The vent tumbles sideways in freefall.
Your world spins.
A blue mass crashes into your chest.
It knocks the wind out of you.
There's a splash as your head slams int-
Water douses your face.
You blearily open your eyes.
You can feel your arms gripping tight around something rough and wet.
Your head is pounding.
But you do your best to shake yourself awake, and focus on your surroundings.
You're in some kind of underground river, as best you can tell.
The water is rushing fast, and you're thankful you managed to cling onto some large rocks standing in the river, otherwise you would've been washed downstream.
The current is still testing your grip, but you're holding on solidly enough for the moment.
The only reason you can see at all is thanks to a strange, dim blue-green glow illuminating the cavern.
You look up to find the source, and find strange, bioluminescent objects hanging all along the ceiling.
You squint.
It sort of looks like fungus. Or... some kind of worms?
You can't tell. Doesn't really matter, anyways.
The section of vent you were in is visible further downriver.
It's propped up, wedged in diagonally against stalagmites jutting out of the water.
There's a large silhouette stuck against the vent.
You soon recognize it as the amerveille you'd been chasing after.
They aren't actively holding on to the vent at all, and instead seem to be slumped against it.
They aren't moving.
Further past them, way downriver, there's a massive, dark hole in the bottom of the wall at the far end of the cavern.
All the water is funneling down into it.
You can't see anything at all past the hole, just an abyss of black.
The rapids swirl into it, and disappear.
You don't like looking at it.
You glance to your left and right instead, looking for some way out of the river.
The left side is just a wall, but there's a gravelly shoreline along the right side.
The river is wide, so you'd need to swim a bit, but you think you can make it to the shore without too much difficulty.
It extends most of the way down the river, but cuts off about... fifteen feet or so past where the vent is stuck.
Beyond where the shoreline ends, it's just slick cave walls on both sides.
Which eventually lead straight into that black void.
The amerveille downriver looks to be in bad shape, and the vent is subtly shaking with the current, looking unsteady.
...You doubt they'll make it out on their own, unless they manage to miraculously wake up.
Whatever you're doing, you should do it fast.
You can't cling here forever.
You keep a paw in your pocket and grip the pepper spray as you hear the aerosoul charging for the elevator.
Your vision is hazὙ, continually shifting, but you can see their silhouette growing closer and closer as the doors begin to slide shut.
Just as they're about to reach the door, you pull out the spray, turn its top, and click the nozzle.
A stinging mist bursts out, coating the aerosoul's hands just as they reach out to grip the doors.
You hear a loud yelp as the figure crumples to the floor.
The elevator door shuts, cutting off your view as you feel it shift, beginning to mov e. Y
You back up to t⁆
You back to t₶e opposite wal l It's difficult ₜo It's di↩ It's
↩
It's dif⎨icult t⌕ think␛clea▄
think It☹'s difY⟅ou it's It⨊s Th⬳nk⪹YⰨou
You can't Y怕ou
It's cleThe elearvlThinkYум? It s'
Dif l ieE vcA⸙oYr
You
YY̷̡̨͈̼͔̣̫̗̬̳̤̗̜͈̝͙̥̩̭̻̜̟̲͔̾̐̈́̇̈́̽̈́̊̇̓͊͋́́̋̓͆́̀̃̌̾͐͑̉̀̽̍́̈̆̔̕̚͘͘̕͜͜͝͝͠͝ͅǫ̵̧̡̨̡̡̧̛̛̮̘̱̭͕̗̪̦̞͖̰̲̝̠̯͓͚̜̫̰̥̞̺̗̙̥̹̝͉̳͈̻̩͇̙̫̹͗̂̎̾̊̀̅̀̆̐̓͆́́͐͗͊̕̚͝ͅͅͅͅu̵̡̢̫̻̟̭͙̳̭̠͙̟̱̰̻̝͙͇͍͕̩̱̗̺̳̒̈́͑͌̑͑̂͂̊͌̀̀͛̍̎̔̀̐͆̀̇͊̌́͗̉̚̚͘͜͝͝͠ ca'n
't tT
"Roux! Hold on a minute!"
"I'm not sure I can make it up there!
And those arms of theirs are probably dangerous!"
"I'll lose them!
Just-
...I'll... be back!"
"Be careful."
"Yeah."
You crawl as quickly as you can through the vent.
Your knees hurt from repeatedly slamming against the metal.
But you can't lose them.
You round a corner.
Then another.
You can see them up ahead.
They somehow managed to turn around - now crawling through forwards instead of backing up.
But you're still gaining on them.
You're getting answers one way or another.
The amerveille cocks their head back briefly.
You see their eyes go wide as their pace picks up.
"Why are you still--?!
You got your little keys back!
Just take them and leave, you insufferable hound!"
You ignore them, panting as you start to catch up.
As you get close to their heels, you ready yourself to reach out and grab them.
A loud clank suddenly rings out.
The both of you slide into the wall of the vent as gravity seems to shift.
You push against the sides on instinct, trying to right yourself.
Horrible, metallic tearing pierces the air around you as the vent rips apart in front of you, reverberating through your skull.
You feel yourself drop.
The vent tumbles sideways in freefall.
Your world spins.
A blue mass crashes into your chest.
It knocks the wind out of you.
There's a splash as your head slams int-
Water douses your face.
You blearily open your eyes.
You can feel your arms gripping tight around something rough and wet.
Your head is pounding.
But you do your best to shake yourself awake, and focus on your surroundings.
You're in some kind of underground river, as best you can tell.
The water is rushing fast, and you're thankful you managed to cling onto some large rocks standing in the river, otherwise you would've been washed downstream.
The current is still testing your grip, but you're holding on solidly enough for the moment.
The only reason you can see at all is thanks to a strange, dim blue-green glow illuminating the cavern.
You look up to find the source, and find strange, bioluminescent objects hanging all along the ceiling.
You squint.
It sort of looks like fungus. Or... some kind of worms?
You can't tell. Doesn't really matter, anyways.
The section of vent you were in is visible further downriver.
It's propped up, wedged in diagonally against stalagmites jutting out of the water.
There's a large silhouette stuck against the vent.
You soon recognize it as the amerveille you'd been chasing after.
They aren't actively holding on to the vent at all, and instead seem to be slumped against it.
They aren't moving.
Further past them, way downriver, there's a massive, dark hole in the bottom of the wall at the far end of the cavern.
All the water is funneling down into it.
You can't see anything at all past the hole, just an abyss of black.
The rapids swirl into it, and disappear.
You don't like looking at it.
You glance to your left and right instead, looking for some way out of the river.
The left side is just a wall, but there's a gravelly shoreline along the right side.
The river is wide, so you'd need to swim a bit, but you think you can make it to the shore without too much difficulty.
It extends most of the way down the river, but cuts off about... fifteen feet or so past where the vent is stuck.
Beyond where the shoreline ends, it's just slick cave walls on both sides.
Which eventually lead straight into that black void.
The amerveille downriver looks to be in bad shape, and the vent is subtly shaking with the current, looking unsteady.
...You doubt they'll make it out on their own, unless they manage to miraculously wake up.
Whatever you're doing, you should do it fast.
You can't cling here forever.
STATUS:
![[Image: jz39PEG.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/jz39PEG.gif)
![[Image: DLt3CJT.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/DLt3CJT.gif)
![[Image: 6lKygw3.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/6lKygw3.gif)
