[Episode] The Bizarre Discovery of Dr. Mira

Quest Request:

This evening the waves of the West Blue glimmered beneath the horizon’s last licks of sunlight; periwinkle clouds faded to a dull navy as the ESP Pirates approached their haunt’s destination. The massive and illustrious castle of Thriller Bark loomed above the nearby seas like a monolithic fossil of a bygone era.

A red thread of fate unwound from the sail of the graverobber’s rickety old ship, fluttering gently in the summer night’s breeze. The ship’s captain had dropped anchor on the Northeast shore sometime in the afternoon, and had been gone exploring the island since. Old Sutured Sail bobbed upon the lapping waves, dutifully awaiting the return of its master.

Amongst the gnarled hollows and labyrinthine graveyards of Thriller Bark the average person would be enveloped, likely feeling a sense of apprehension and claustrophobia as they tread further down narrowly beaten paths. For a giant however? Well even a small one could just break a path down for himself!

Doji was having the time of his life amongst the countless headstones that dotted the island, if there was a place to look for a grave this was it. Still, the ghoul had no luck finding Nobunaga’s resting place. Having started his search earlier in the afternoon the giant oni had now made his way towards the island’s Southern shores, though the he tread the island barefoot this was the only respect the lumbering creature had shown to his surroundings; branches ripped from trees and strewn about the trails, graves blatantly trampled over, and in the center of it all a pair of oversized footprints impressed upon the earth.

Further up the hill leading towards the castle, Doji had inadvertently gotten himself off course, and was no longer properly circling the island. Still, tracing each of the path's headstones' inscription with his forefinger, Doji was unable to find his “master”; however, the pesky yōkai had stumbled upon something…

Meanwhile, in the depths of the castle’s dungeons

Experiment after experiment, each a grotesque piece of the greater puzzle, her “test-subjects” suffering had not been in vain. He can survive like this. I can finally have him back. Mira smiled, a tear falling from the corner of her eye at the thought of her love’s return.

The soft hum of electrical whirring echoed throughout the halls and stairways leading down to Thriller Bark’s “basements.” The castle’s haunted halls felt almost nostalgic with the presence of a new mad scientist. Mira was on the verge of grand discovery.

Within Mira’s operating room a sinister snail smiled, bearing its sharp teeth and bulging the yellowy-white of its maddened eyes. Just another living thing driven to the edge in the scientist’s unnatural pursuit.

Back on the Hill

… what was this horrific thing? The mechanical mockery of life twitched and jerked its decaying body upwards, appearing to stand and limp towards Doji. No person moves like that. The long-haired oni sensed the creature’s terrifying manner of ambulation before taking an exaggerated leap backwards.

From the island’s Southern shore, where the ESP pirates had begun docking, a strange silhouette could be seen at the top of a nearby hill:

A large and hairy creature, its arms swung out in either direction, and its head turned back towards the onlookers.

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Most of the time hitching a ride with random crews proved to be a fairly uneventful undertaking for an invisible wallflower. She'd seen her share of interesting interactions while hidden from view... but nothing like what she had witnessed on this leg of her journey. While she usually tucked herself away to nap in the quiet of storerooms or empty cabins, Aya had found herself perched just far enough away from the ESP pirates to listen in on the curious ramblings.

Her father was a superstitious and... eccentric man, but the stories she grew up with were nothing compared to what this small crew had been going on about for hours.

When she first set sight on the crew she had been wholly underwhelmed. If anything she was expecting to catch a cat nap during the travels, not spend that time utterly bewildered both by the lesser minks and the seemingly random collection of bizarre items aboard the ship. Odd taxidermy, creepy dolls, dusty cases of 'artifacts' labeled with tiny scrawled paper tags, and castings of curiously shaped footprints littered the store rooms haphazardly like some sort of disheveled abandoned museum below deck.

Up above in a cabin that seemed to have been a mapping room at one point but now was all askew with coffee and red ink ringed papers and log books of frenzied scrawlings and confusing sketches. Pikasso spent a good chunk of the end of the journey watching the small crew led by a man who frequently referred to himself aloud as 'Captain Mak Braggans' in tones that seemed more appropriate for addressing a crowd than the few men around him.

They spent an incomprehensible amount of time chatting about how excited they were to be going to "The real deal!" and readying supplies that seemed more the kind of thing you'd see at a séance than a pirate ship. What Aya had just blown off as a group of eccentric explorers had revealed itself to be something much more confusing...

'Paranormal Investigators.'

The only thing Pikasso could find worth snagging from the ship as the crew worked to dock it on the shores of Thriller Bark was a small shelled creature. The mink had seen snails like this before, but the little peek she got of it made it clear the creature was in some way unwell. Its sunken eyes peered up at her from where its faded blue body was shaking in its cracked shell.

She didn't know what these men were doing with such a sick creature, but she ushered it up into the safety of her backpack hoping it wouldn't be too uncomfortable amongst her supplies.

The least she could do was try to get it somewhere a little nicer than this creepy place. Though, she'd have to get it away from Thriller Bark, too. Who knew what could be lurking with ill intent?

As the ESP pirates argued about who'd be staying aboard the ship during their investigations of the island Pikasso took the chance to break away from her unknowing chauffeurs.

Her tiny hitchhiker seemed to be upset by the jostling, as evidenced by the strange garbled noises coming from behind her. It was abrupt enough a sound to earn a shriek out of the once clear but now all-too-visible for her own comfort mink, her eyes wide as she glanced over her shoulder expecting to see some sort of terrible monster.

Instead, distorted echoes of what nearly sounded like voices pitched up and down unnaturally from the dazed mollusk's mouth as it peered out from under the flap of her backpack.

"...N-no good deed goes unpunished, h-huh?" Aya groaned to herself quietly, sharp eyes keenly peering through the dark of falling night to the large figure far ahead of her.

"....A-a little help here, if you're not too busy?! Please?" A soft, slightly raspy voice called out hopefully into the forward path she was blazing towards the large stranger.

The snail coughed and produced a noise that made Aya's ears fold down and her hands desperately move to cover them, then it quieted down completely.

The strange, short, furry creature disappeared completely right before the eyes of the ESP pirates. Confused, they looked at one another before starting to chase after.

[npc=pirt]"That tanuki took our spirit snail!"[/npc]

The fleshy automaton lurched towards the oni as he spoke casually to the creature that had called for his help. “Can’t you see I’m occupied over here?!” As he shouted Doji realized he was freaking out about something much smaller than himself, and with a swipe of his arm, brushed the animate away into a heap of gravestones.

“Huh? Wait was that you?” Doji loudly whispered down towards what seemed to him like a talking red panda, an animal native to his homeland of Kano Kuni. The uproarious shouting of the little lady’s pursuers clued Doji into the situation, in a swift motion, the giant scooped up the Mink and sat her upon his head, “So you’re a tanuki? Are the stories true? Shapechanging and sorcery and all that?”

The oni stood and situated his balance to accommodate his little passenger. “What about the uh…” Doji recalled that odd specific of the legends “... the guys, can they really fly like that?” With the giant’s crude insinuation sitting pungently in the air, the rude teenager’s face went flush, and feeling a need to break the awkward silence he began running up the hill towards the castle, throwing a tree down in front of the pair’s pursuers.

[npc=pirt]“I can’t believe it guys! A tanuki and a squatch? Ahh!”[/npc] The shaking of the earth beneath the fallen log sent shivers throughout the spines of the pirates. [npc=pirt]“Grrah! There’s something really weird going on here! We can’t let them get away, we have to get to the bottom of why these two demons are working together!” [/npc]Braggan’s boisterous hyperactivity persisted, even in the face of mortal danger.

“He sure seems like fun company.” The giant spoke up to Aya with a raised eyebrow and a condescending tone pointed towards Mak, though Doji himself was a bit long-winded he rarely felt a need to speak purely expositorily.

“I wonder what kind of squatch he is!” Braggan’s dweebish sycophant of a first mate cried out, thumbing through a shoddily bound journal of “squatch” sightings and diagrams.

“You guys gotta stop using that word! I’ll give you one more, don’t fuckin’ test me,” Doji shouted down towards the gaggle of overly-excitable lunatics.

“Oh! If it talks he could be a Hazardian Yeti! But what would that kind of squatch be doing out here?” The nerd furrowed his brow and thumbed further through his journal.

“Alright. There’s your one. We’re gonna stop saying squatch now eh?” The veins in the giant’s foreheads bulged with irritation. Much to his rider’s chagrin, the angry oni slowed his pace, seemingly fighting the urge to turn around and fight the little investigators.

[npc=pirt]“I don’t think it’s a Yeti Ricky! And based on its attitude it can’t be a sunksquatch either, hmm…” [/npc]Mak pondered to himself for a moment as his crew stumbled after him. [npc=pirt]“... listen fellas I think we might have a whole new kind of squatch on our hands--”[/npc] already speaking with dramatic pauses, Mak was interrupted as the monster shouted down from above.

“I warned ya!” Doji planted his feet on the ground, no longer fleeing the pursuers. “I tried to warn ya, but you just had to keep saying that stupid word. You know what you’re dealing with?...” Doji set Aya down for a moment before hauling a spindly tree over his shoulders. “...A pissed off oni!” In an instant, the giant violently hurled the withered willow down towards the crackpots.

Mak and the gang were immediately swept up in the wreckage, flying down the hill in a mass of broken wood, tumbling gravestones, and sprays of grave dirt. [npc=pirt]An oni?[/npc] The man struggled to remain conscious, his eyes going white from the strong impact. [npc=pirt]There’s no way. I don’t care what he says he is… [/npc] The pirate captain tumbled to the ground, falling with a thud into one of the graves unearthed by a pesky graverobber. [npc=pirt]... when I get my hands on him he’s gonna be the Maksquatch![/npc]

The skeleton that Mak had fallen in with seemed to reach her bony fingers to grasp at his neck. With the last of his consciousness, the obnoxious man let out a girlish scream before fainting.

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"Wha-... of course it was me! Do you see anyone-"

The red panda stopped herself as she was lifted into the air, scrambling for a moment to try to decipher whether she had hopped herself out of the frying pan and into the flames. With a wide-eyed glance, she was brought face-to-face with the giant pretty man for mere seconds before being plopped atop his head.

Still, those seconds were enough for the keen-eyed mink to make an important observation as she peered through the darkness at the giant man's face.

"...W-wait, tanuki? No, no, I'm not a..." Aya's gaze shifted from the bed of crimson she was trying to find stability upon, out towards the pursuing crew. She grimaced as she tried to suss out whether it would be worth it to lie to a blind man to further convince him to help her.

Something about it didn't sit right with her.

"I'm just a red panda... A mink! No shape change, no flying, no sorcery...! ...Nothing that'd really be impressive to youteia in particular, anyway. Just a painter in a little trouble! ..Sorry to disappoint!"

Suddenly she found herself jostled by the movement of her new vantage point as Doji began his run. The little mink threw her arms around the stability of the pillar of the nearest horn to her, clinging to it like a squirrel to the trunk of a young tree.

The distant sound of exposition made Aya grimace.

"... Now try being stuck on a ship with him for hours." The cringe she was wearing was more than evident in her voice. A dull ache had set into the back of her skull at the constant lack of volume control from the strange lesser minks she had hitched a ride from. In her bag, she could still hear the rustling of her gastropod hitchhiker.

It seemed the oni was picking his own battles. Aya braced herself as she was picked up and sat back down again. At her size and with her apparent uncanny proclivity to befriend those larger than her, she was used to being handled like this.

As long as she wasn't getting squished or turned into some sort of freak show attraction, she supposed she couldn't complain too much.

And as the tree's trunk soared down towards the humans below, Aya was suddenly very thankful she had ended up on the winning side of this transgression. Her paws dusted off the velvet fabric of her shorts, and she idly squinted up at the towering figure above.

"... Oh! I'm Aya, by the way. Nice to meet you. And thank youteia! ...What was that thing, anyways? It didn't seem like it put up much of a fight, but... I didn't get a good look at it."

During a glance in the direction she had seen the oni sweep the strange creature that he had been in some sort of standoff with, Pikasso swore she could hear movement among the headstones. A chill rolled through her and she shook her head to herself as she tried to dissipate the eerie feeling.

"...Y-you know, m-m-maybe I don't actually want to know.." The mumble was followed by the sounds of the anxious shuffling of little feet.

"...Instead, uh, what... are you doing out here?"

“Oh me? I’m here sortin’ through the graves, I’ve got one I’m looking for in particular.” As the oni spoke one of the animate dead lept towards him from a nearby tombstone, with ease Doji slammed the android down in front of Aya. Its mechanical features crumpled into a broken pile of screws, wire, and plating; its bones and body were likewise sundered with the impact.

Another unusual snail dislodged itself from the back of the monstrosity’s neck, tumbling from the force of the swing towards Aya and her own “misused” denden. This snail appeared more than neglected, it’s wide yellow eyes looked like they had seen some shit; these were the eyes of a tortured little soul. The shell of the snail had was not fitted as a transponder; but as some sort of nightmarish medical apparatus. What had this poor creature been subjected to?

“As for these things, they’re not all that threatening.” Doji stretched and rolled his shoulders as he spoke before politely turning back to Aya, “What I really can’t sense of is why they’re here. I didn’t run into any on the other side of the island…” the blind oni remained oblivious of the massive castle doors looming further up the road like the gates of the underworld , “...hmm.” Doji rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger, all the pieces were there, but the sheltered giant couldn’t quite solve the puzzle.

The giant took a friendly tone as he made his introduction, temporarily setting aside the matter of the shambling dead. “Apologies for not introducing myself sooner, you can call me Doji!” A cheshire grin stretched across his face, he could hardly contain his giddiness.

“Earlier you siad I wouldn’t be impressed with you, but if you’re a red panda that can walk and talk that’s pretty impressive! My ma always said that real tanuki were just nasty little dog things anyways. No need to compare yourself to some old wive’s tail! Yo-ka-ka-ka-iii!” Judging by his impulsivity, overly excited demeanor, and the bitter scent on his breath it seemed excessive drinking was a common trait amongst oni.

As yet another of the augmented humanoids appeared from the roadside lurching towards Aya, Doji picked up the little rattlebones before throwing it down the hill. The friendly giant seemed eager to pal around with the peculiar little talking animal that had crossed his path, and would defend the growth of his underdeveloped social life no matter the cost.

“What are you doing around here Aya? What’s living life as a little red panda like? I can’t imagine being so tiny.”

Down the hill, amongst the wrecked willows

“Mak! Mak wake up!” Braggan’s first mate, Larry Durwin called down to his captain, pulling the decrepit skeleton from his “fearless” leader’s chest. “Mak please! The squatch and tanuki are getting away!”

From the depths of his blackout Mak faintly heard his crewmate’s calls. He envisioned himself as a badass, intimidating the monsters and roughing them up into submission, and presenting the “Maksquatch” to the public.

In his dreams.

Just this moment another monster came hurtling down the hill, crashing through the wreck of branches and brambles, the creature ignored the injuries of the branches that had skewered it through its chest, arms and neck. The navigator and cook of the pirates stared on in silent horror at the gruesome sight.

Durwin’s eyes widened as he looked over to see the cause of the crashing branches. Somehow, by some violation natural law, this dead man was still moving, “Mak there’s a zombie! These guys are scarier than we thought! One of them must be raising the dead!”

The ESP pirates faithful captain rose from his grave raising his arms for dramatic flare, like a madwoman’s monster rising from its operating table.[npc=pirt] “Did somebody say raise the dead? Gahuhu!”[/npc] Mak laughed and smiled up at his first mate as he stood to his feet. [npc=pirt]“Now you said there was a zombie, where might such an entity be Larry? I think we better investigate!”[/npc]

The oblivious men cheered together for their survival, none the wiser to the monster that had crept up behind them. As the “zombie” shambled its way up behind the men, it sat its chin upon Larry’s shoulder, rolling its eye around in its socket to face both of them.

The two men shrieked in terror. Did these bumbling goons have the wherewithal  to pull themselves together for even a moment?

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"Oh. Checking... graves? Huh."

"...Cool."

Aya grimaced sharply as the patchwork monster was smashed to smithereens before her. Her eyes were wide as dinner plates and she silently thanked her lucky stars she was friendly with the giant. And that he seemed to know where she was enough to not take her out alongside that thing. That only raised further questions.

The snail that had been dislodged from the creature seemed even worse off than her new and still disjointedly warbling gastropod companion. That first glance sent a chill up Aya's spine. Something was seriously wrong with that thing. Was it even still alive? And how did something like that come to get stuck to-...

Was that... a body? It seemed like it used to be, at least. Now it was sewn and patched together, with some sort of wiring and plates tangled across its form. Aya loomed over a few bits of the corpse that had fallen loose, a hand clasped over her sensitive nose.

It was an odd mix of the scent of decay and the burn of what she could only imagine was the smell of some sort of chemicals. It made her stomach churn.

"..Yuck."

She was suddenly very glad she had put the 'spirit snail' or whatever the crew had been calling it was tucked away. Seeing his brethren in such a sorry state certainly didn't seem the sort of thing that would help his condition. Hell, even with her normal lackadaisical attitude this place was starting to give her the creeps.

Maybe it was easier not to think about it. This pretty giant man didn't seem to be that worried. If anything, he seemed excited. If someone that size wasn't bothered, why should she be? Aya curled two clawed thumbs around the straps of her backpack.

The towering building looming above seemed to catch the Mink's wandering attention.

"Doji, huh?"

The raspy words trailed off as she lit a smoke with a spark of electro.

"...I don't suppose youteia live in that big chateau up there, hm?"

The little red panda's paws shot up defensively as she heard a lurching groan. Without prompt, it seemed Doji was more than happy to take care of the aggressive force. Aya still didn't seem content being in the range of the strangely shambling attackers.

" Pardon me."

With a bit of quick scrambling and careful climbing, Pikasso darted up to sit upon the giant's shoulder.

"..There, that's better. You don't mind, do you? It's safer up here." The little mink felt homesick from the treetops of Zou, but this view wasn't half bad! Though, the oddity of interacting with someone this much larger than her was certainly not lost on the woman.

"As for me.." Pikasso shrugged a bit, shuffling her backpack a bit for emphasis. "...I'm a traveling artist. I came here to get some paintings done. That... was the plan, at least."

She stifled a laugh as she took a deep inhale from her cigarette.

"Something tells me those things aren't going to be the most willing to let me work or sit still long enough for me to get a good sketch done... Not that I'd be able to stomach looking at them for that long, anyways. Speaking of..."

With a small jolt the runty mink leaned over to rub one fluffy little cheek against his own for a brief apprehensive moment. It was always hard to tell how non-minks would take the show of appreciation, but it was only polite. Not that she was sure he could even feel the gesture, considering how small she was and how soft her fur felt.

It was the thought that counted, right?

"...Garchuu.~ Thank youteia for your help with those, uh... Pirates? I think?... And whatever those other things are.." With a little sigh of relief she tried to waft the spiced smell of her smoke away from Doji's face.

As the wind stubbornly blew the Mink’s smog into Doji’s face he was taken aback and overwhelmed by her soft, snuggly, staticy “Garchu.” Though his senses had been assaulted, he bore the little critter’s affection with an awkward grin. “You’re welcome! Those guys seemed annoying…” he responded, excited at being appreciated, “... I’m more concerned about these freaky things. They’re an affront to nature, an insult against what it means to be alive.”

“Also what’s a chateau? Is there actually a castle here?”

The structure stood above Aya and Doji, seeming to glare down at the boy who could not appreciate its majesty.

The boy had been haphazardly wandering, mostly searching through headstone engravings, but certainly hoping that he would stumble upon the purported castle. This wasn’t the first time his navigation skills had failed him, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

“Have I managed to miss a giant castle standing right in front of us?” What a poor oblivious guy.

Indeed, the heights of the stronghold stretched upwards like the hand of a man reaching to the heavens, cradling the moon between its towering stone fingers. The heights of its thick central tower extended high like the leg of a massive elephant. The top of the tower, the perfect vantage point for this island and nearby seas; but to gain access to this pillar one would have to brave the surrounding donjon.

If somebody were to abandon all common sense and ignore the ravenous burial ground that surrounded the chateau they might almost think it was inviting; its cobbled walls were pristine and its massive doors seemed as though anything could lie behind them. Surely this macabre wonderland was host to countless unique and mystifying oddities.

“So you’re an artist?” The merits of visual art were lost on Doji, but he had a vague notion of the concept, “The beauty that drives you to dance your brush acrost parchment…” the boy spoke with a gentle curiosity to his voice, “...is it like a song?”

From amongst the trees a pair of ravens chattered a pleasant little diddy to one another.

“I can only imagine what that must be like. To see a song…” he smiled excitedly before speaking again with an exuberant tone, “...let alone to paint one! Yoka-ka-ka-ka-iii!” He seemed genuinely excited about Aya’s art as he cackled heartily.

Meanwhile in the Chateau’s Halls

The cutting click of heels filled the stagnant air of the castle’s halls; Mira never felt alone here, as though she was always being watched from just beyond the shadows. She stopped, fixing her gaze on a dusty old painting hung at the base of the tower’s stairwell.

The painting depicted a magenta haired fellow with a sharp and toothy grin spread across his pallid white face, posing in front of an elaborately decorated coffin. The visage of the legendary graverobber projected bottomless vanity.

Have I too reveled in death? No… Mira thought to herself, I wish only for the splendor of my love to return.

As she stormed up the staircase her doubts nipped at her heels, beckoning her to return back to the basement and continue her work. Her eyes felt heavy as she stumbled towards her room, no matter her duty, living things needed to sleep and eat; if only she had the same mechanical endurance as her creations.

Throwing herself upon her bed the red-haired woman slipped instantly into a deep slumber. From the formless void of her subconscious memories of her past life passed her by like jumping sheep.

As a child she was happy and carefree. The world hadn’t burdened her yet. Education was still a fun and simply matter for the gifted girl, and her parents rewarded her with ceaseless praise.

In her adolescence her “weirdness” became apparent to the other children of the academy. The pleasant social life of her youth was replaced by feelings of distance and otherness. As the problems of her education grew more complex she began to face a real challenge, but still took pride in her work .

As a young woman the cracks in her world were beginning to show, she was struggling to obtain her doctorate, she could hardly take care of herself, and she lived a life of exhausting squalor. The difficulty of her education and daily life had reached an untenable point, and her parents seemed less and less satisfied with her as a daughter.

Until he came along to fill the cracks.

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" 'Freaky' is a bit of an understatement..." Aya grimaced distastefully as she looked towards the shambling frame of another creature stumbling towards some unknown goal.  "Count yourself lucky that you don't have to look at them. Kii-pi-pi..."

"...O-oh, uh.. yeah, a chateau is a castle. It's... a pretty big one, too. More youteia-sized than me-sized." She tilted her head a little, wondering whether there were giants or oni around a place like this. Well, more oni.

"...You navigate remarkably well for someone who can't see, you know. Don't let one little castle get you down." Aya's tone bordered on reassurance as she patted his shoulder beside her.

A little glance around what she could see of the outside of the castle marked a few interesting pieces of architecture, but that tower was singing promises of perfect views of the landscape that she couldn't ignore.

Doji's approximation of visual arts was more than satisfactory for the little red panda. Judging by the way her fur fluffed against his shoulder, she was rather excited about it.

"...I suppose I hadn't thought of it that way." She snickered softly, nodding her approval. " It speaks to the heart all the same, yes."

Still, she couldn't help but find the sentiment slightly bittersweet.

"...There are paintings I think you could still appreciate, though." Pikasso assured, mulling the thought over, "...A lot of art, actually! I think youteia would be pleasantly surprised."

As her gaze rested back on the castle, a bright idea hit her.

"...Actually, that huge castle seems like a place that might have some sizable art... Maybe there's something in there I can show-" She stopped herself, head cocked to one side as she tried to find the words. "...er, take youteia to touch? Big paintings mean more paint, and more paint means more to feel." She explained.

"...Maybe there are even sculptures or carvings... It's not exactly the same, but it might be fun. Plus.."

Aya glanced back over her shoulder as something rustled in the scraggly underbrush. Another monstrosity seemed to be struggling with the thorned vines that had wrapped around its leg.

"... I don't think those things are smart enough to open doors."

It may have been an assumption, but somehow Aya was pretty certain on this one. She wasn't even really sure how they had managed to sneak up on her in the first place. Then again, it wasn't like being chased by a mob of pirates allowed for much time to take in the scenery.

"What do you say, Doji? If you keep heading forward, I can lead you to the entrance."

Aya let her figure turn clear, assuming that her new sightless companion wouldn't mind or even notice. With another puff of smoke, she craned her neck to attempt to map out the best way to get to the better scenic views of the castle before the two ventured into the monstrous building.

"It's a big castle, so even if someone does live there... I'm sure they won't even notice if we take a little peek around."

“Yeeheehee! Do you really mean that? A castle for people my size?! Hell I don’t care if somebody does live here, we gotta check it out!” The boy chattered giddily, obviously excited at the prospect of a place large enough for him to feel at home.

With Aya’s assistance, the wanderlusty devil managed to stay on the right path to the castle’s entrance, and with Doji’s raw strength the two were able to breach the iron gates that surrounded the castle courtyard.  As they made their way up to the manor’s door the two were seemingly swallowed by the tangling black willows that curtained the island.

Upon reaching the steps leading up to the castle’s doors Doji hesitated a moment, excitedly gleaming down to Aya, “You were saying that there’s art somebody like me could appreciate, what is that like? Pleasant smelling flowers, spicy foods, the flow of the passing wind…” A chilling breeze rolled through, Doji’s hairs stood on end as he continued, “...these natural things I have felt and enjoyed greatly; what is it that makes artifice beautiful Aya?”

After hearing her answer the boy quietly thought to himself for a moment before plucking her from his shoulders, setting her down, and reaching out to open the entryway, quickly fixating his hand upon the door’s knocker: a horned and toothy devil whose serpentine coiled tongue formed its handle, “This guy feels like a weirdo, I wonder how it sounds!” The oni loudly remarked on the face of the heavy iron knocker bolted to the heavy Ironwood door, the slamming of its tongue let forth a heavy ringing sound that reverberated throughout the courtyard like a gunshot.

“Whyoops! My bad,” the giant lad grinned embarrassedly he didn’t seem to know his own strength; now the blundering boy had gone and let everybody with a pair of ears know about the pair’s unwelcome intrusion. Nonetheless, there’s no way these enormous doors would give way to anything short of a battering ram.

Unless…

They weren’t locked?

With a gleeful squeak, the monolithic doors popped open, seemingly overjoyed to welcome the new guests to Thriller Bark’s illustrious castle. The interior was uncannily well kept, as though some spectral butler had tended to its halls for decades… or centuries. Large and lavish furniture loomed like wild  There at the end of the foyer stood a magnificent piece of art:

The form of a nude woman stood, her chest cloyingly turned away from the viewer’s eye; tendrils of her glistening red hair cupped her crying eyes like the hand of a lover. Her tear-stained eyes fixated upon a bead of glowering red starlight, dotting the night sky like a stud of ruby upon tarnished iron. Her bare feet are submerged in a pool of shallow water, like a pond of dew poured from her gentle brown eyes. At the border of this pool, as though separated by holy water, a monstrous creature leers toward her, its gaze burning with corrupt desire.

Like a pair of royal servitors, two sets of glossed red steel armor stood inert, almost seeming to glower as the large intruder began walking along the hallway’s luxurious blood-red carpet.

“Ah jyeez, where are my manners,” the boy kicked his tabi off before stashing them away in his belt pouch, “There, now we’re welcome into the house!”

As the now barefooted lad excitedly beckoned Aya to join him in the manor he appeared reminiscent of the woman in the painting; each of their eyes were blind to one another, how fitting that beauty should be unable to behold itself, lest narcissus lose himself to the reflection of his teardrops.

Meanwhile, down the road…

“Get this thing offa me Mak!” Durwin screamed up the road to his captain, the ESP pirate’s loyal and brave captain had started high-tailing it as soon as he and his first-mate had finished quivering in their boots at the sight of the thing.

Mak looked back, he was terrified of these things; they were more of a real threat than any “ghost” or “demon” he and his crew had come across. The thing’s face was like a macabre mirror, a model of the decay that lay just beyond the thin veneer of life; yet somehow this reflection moved without a subject to imitate, crudely mimicking the motions of “life” all on its own.

[npc=pirt]“Durwin, I…”[/npc] the captain choked down his urge to leave his crewmates for dead, [npc=pirt]“...no, we have to get away from these things!”[/npc] Mustering up great courage on his part, Mak charged for the zombie, throwing the full weight of his momentum into shoving the mechanized monstrosity off of his matey. For an ordinary man facing off against the automata was no small order, in colliding with the creature’s cold, steely, dead weight Mak shattered his shoulder letting out a cry of pain from the impact.

“Mak…” though the group often pretended at Mak’s bravery, Durwin was well aware of his leader’s cowardice, “...thank you man. Let’s get outta here!” And with this, they were off.

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Seeing this giant man get so giddy over the idea of a castle 'his size' made Pikasso snicker. It was a relatable feeling, she supposed, to living in a world that often felt much too big for someone of her slight stature.

" ... Ah, isn't that the wonder of it? They say 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'... But they don't mean that exactly. It's all in the heart! Kiiiiii-pi-pi!" Aya tittered as she nodded to her blind companion.

"...It's all about evoking feelings in people. There are lots of ways to do it, and an infinite amount of things to convey... But what matters is the experience!" Aya's voice, though still slightly hoarse, swelled with excitement as she spoke of a subject she was passionate about.

"...Just like how the niceness of flowers and spicy things isn't about the thing itself... but how you feel when you experience it."

Aya's little legs draped over Doji's shoulder as she kept a steady grip on the lithe giant.

"... Granted, this sort of thing does often lend itself to more... sight-based consumption, but that's not to say you can't enjoy that, with some help."

With a little pause, the mink realized she probably hadn't talked this much in years. Perhaps all the excitement was getting to her. She hardly even seemed to notice as she was set down, arms crossed as Doji palmed the ghoulish knocker. She was too occupied in her introspection to steel herself for what came next.

The sound of the knock might as well have been a shock through the ears for Pikasso, her paws desperately grasping at the fluffed peaks as she tried to regain her senses.

"...A-AH. QUITE A KNOCK..."

Aya struggled to hear her voice over the ringing in her ears and was trying to make up for it by raising her voice. She couldn't even hear the door as it opened, simply staring up in confusion as she watched the giant enter the castle.

"...HUH."

A few blinks of her baby blue eyes let her gaze flow over the space revealed. At least she had been right about there being art! She sighed with relief. She had half a mind to assume this place was deserted or worse; ransacked. At least now she knew they wouldn't just be wandering empty halls.

With a little hum, she caught sight of the painting. Her dark paws fell from the still-aching snowcaps of her ears to her shades as she peered over the work from afar. As she glanced back over to alert Doji, she caught the giant removing his shoes and laughed.

"Kiiiii-pi-pi! Quite polite, hmm?... My mom would adore you. Heh." She tittered as she imagined introducing anyone back home to this giant stranger. In reality, her poor sweet mother would have a heart attack at the very thought of her daughter keeping such monstrous company.

Still, she took off her boots as well and scampered after him, matching his steps with dozens of her own.

"...Do youteia like stories, Doji? " The little red panda murmured thoughtfully as she took another look up at the painting. " Storytelling is an art, too... When you paint, sometimes you're telling a story. Miracles, tragedies... anything people could think of that they feel is worthy of sharing. Though... it's not always easy to make it all out, even if you can see it."

" ...But Beauty still persists without understanding or even acknowledgment. Matters of the heart are funny like that, hm? "

For a moment Pikasso's voice and footsteps quieted as she found herself swept up in her thoughts. She was so used to only observing conversations at this point that it almost felt surreal to be going off at length like this with a stranger.

Still, this giant-horned man seemed to share a similar affinity for life, and the least she could do to pay him back for the protection he was currently offering was to be interesting company. There was certainly an air of loneliness about the boy that Aya could relate to.

"Like this painting here.."

With a speed surprising for the length of her legs, Aya moved to stand just below the painting. With quiet reverence, she described the scene in detail to him.

" ...Gives youteia a lot to think about, hm? I wonder what kind of person made this.."

The peaceful moment of admiration at this altar to the Muse was short-lived as the little red panda caught sight of something else and suddenly took off down another huge branching hallway.

" Come on. There's something else on the wall up ahead! "

Aya peered backward as she skittered along, assuring Doji was following. The keen mink had spotted a hallway with walls split down the middle by extensive lengths of inset stone that ran parallel to one another. Even from afar, the artist could tell this was just what she had been hoping to see.

As she got closer, however, it was revealed to be a bit more than she was expecting. Gouged into the stone of the massive walls were deep and jagged gashed statuettes, inlaid into two separate scenes set to forever stare into one another.

On one side, a glimmering round inlay of obsidian at what seemed like the middlemost point. It was surrounded by the grotesque visage of countless barely-human-looking figures who seemed horrified by whatever lay within, crouched and maddened by whatever lay unseen.

Directly opposite, a huge window of stained glass let the light of the night glisten across the inky-black rock. Beneath the portal to the world outside, lesser minks seemed to hold the window's frame aloft, carrying it upon their shoulders.

The colored glass was cut into the shape of two hands. One in deep purples and blues reached up towards another in red hues, which in turn attempted to grasp the other. Between them, what looked almost like a star glimmered just out of reach.

Aya was silent and still as she stood between them. Around the lesser minks on the window's side, there seemed to be dozens of rolling hills covered in headstones.

"...Huh. Part of this seems like it should be familiar to youteia. Feel the walls here, Doji. ...Mind the window, too, hm? It's in front of me." The runty mink patted the stone as high as she could reach, falling short by more than a few feet.

"...Up there."

As Doji followed after the fleet-footed creative a heavy stone tile seemed to click into place beneath the Monster’s footstep; probably nothing important.

“Hmm, this window is art?...” Doji furrowed his brow, seeming confused as to why somebody would use the viewports of a castle as their manner of self-expression; nonetheless, he felt along the stained glass’ jagged pattern curiously, “...I see what you mean Aya.” The oni spoke somberly, as though recalling an unpleasant memory.

It’s been so long, he thought to himself. It was rare that the boy’s hand was held when he was a child, but nobody had even gone so far as to touch his hand since he’d “matured” into a full-grown troll. Doji turned his face away from his little companion, beads of saline budding at the corners of his eyes.

After a long moment of silence passed between the two, Doji murmured a gentle remark, “I can’t tell what these hands are reaching for, does the wall have something to do with it?”

With his question hung in the air, the giant-oni whipped around and turned to the tortured visages surrounding the tenebrous black gateway that stood across the corridor; the boy was blind to the tinted moonlight that bathed these wailing souls and their precious abyss. To him only their ugliness could be reckoned. Doji traced his fingers along these faces as he would a headstone, pondering the details of each contorted expression.

“So is this what the little people look like? Doesn’t seem like they’re having a good time…” images began to swirl in the rōnin’s mind of the many hapless humans he had tormented throughout his budding voyage in the West Blue, “...I guess I wouldn’t be if I was that small either. But that’s probably not the point right?” Doji scoffed at his own crude interpretation of the artwork, thinking further on the meaning for a moment before opening his trap again, “So then why are these people so terrified at what those hands are grasping for? Why do those hands seem to flee from this portal. It’s set in stone, there’s no changing what they’re looking towards. Why dwell on it for eternity?”

At just this moment, like a nutcracker releasing the clench of its jaw, the mouths of one of the horrid carvings fell agape with the sound of stone sliding against stone. It was as though the deformed figure was truly wailing in agony; at the back of its gaping mouth a sparkling red gem glinted like hard-candy, “This art can’t even sit still Aya, I’m having a hard time keeping track of what’s going on.”

Without a second thought the boy shunted his forearm down the stone gullet, grabbing onto its gem-studded uvula with reckless abandon before wiggling the feature around, “Is this what art is normally like? This is more uh…” interrupting Doji, the relief spat up a spurt of red wine that splattered against the opposite wall, “...interactive than I was expecting.” The boy pulled his wine-stained sleeve from the wretch’s stone lips, wringing it out with an exasperated look on his face.

This wouldn’t be the end of this artwork’s vexing trickery, the carving let out an odd and eerie groan as the ground beneath the red-haired duo began to shift and rotate; Aya’s art lesson had gone all awry, her love for expression paired with Doji’s reckless abandon had led them straight into a booby trap!

As the revolving door ground to a halt the two sat in silence for a moment before Doji began pawing at the wall, the boy spoke his question with a haggard, bemoaning, and confused tone, “This whole room is just fucking paintings isn’t it?”

Post Word Count: 618
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Aya's icy gaze was working its way over the finer details of things. She heard Doji, but the ear closest to him twitching was the only acknowledgment for a long time as she stood with a hand on the stone.

When she finally managed to break free from her silent analysis of the work, it was because something more interesting was unfolding. Since the day she had set out on her own, she'd grown not only used to but fond of watching others. Witnessing someone experience art like this was no different.

"...Yeah. I'm not sure why they're so upset. Being small isn't that bad. These guys are bigger than me, and you don't see me complaining. Kiiii-pi-pi.."

Aya's curiosity got the better of her as she watched the giant's hands work over the features of the stone-carved figures. With a bit of clambering, the arboreal girl found a foothold in the relief and dragged her frame up higher.

She paused, glancing back and forth between Doji and the sculptures for a moment. As she clung to the wall the sculptured faded from view beneath her fingertips. She stared into the clear space, holding herself in place seemingly mid-air to anyone around who could actually see.

Quietly, Pikasso's paws worked over a transparent etched face in a way similar to how she had seen Doji do moments before.

"... Huh."

With her curiosity dispelled, the sculpture was brought back into view and the mink descended.

" A lot of times, things like this are sort of... symbolic, hm?" Pikasso piped up, "People line walls with stories of how things came to be, important events, people, warnings..." The little panda cocked a brow as she looked into the eyes of one of the statuettes, trying to parse out a feeling that she couldn't quite place.

"... Properly honoring those things tends to be really important to people. To show them exactly can underplay how people feel about them, so they replace things with symbols they know other people will recognize meaning in. You can tell they want it to have an impact."

Her mind was still churning with the images as she was startled by the movement of stone. As she turned, her eyes widened as she watched Doji thoroughly explore an eerie compartment within the carved face's open trap.

"...O-oh, uh, I don't-" Aya stammered, trying to hold back snickers as burgundy wine spilled to the ground and upon the young man's clothes. Suddenly she was all caught up in her own excitement about things again.

"...That's so cool."

The pure joy was short-lived as the world abruptly spun and darkened around the two. The mink gave a yelp, paws splayed defensively in the air in front of her. When the sensation stopped, it took her a long moment to pull from her frozen state.

"...I don't think that part was intended to be part of the art.."

She glanced back at the wall, grimacing sharply as she realized this meant they didn't have a way back to where they were. As her eyes adjusted more and more framed works appeared before her, lining the walls of this strange hall behind the wall.

Top to bottom, there seemed to be no surface that wasn't crowded with clashing frames and canvas. Portraits seemed to be the majority, eyes turned towards the viewer that made Aya's fur prickle on end.

She didn't like when people saw her, for the most part, and though she knew these were just paintings, having that many eyes on her had her hackles raised. She slipped from sight, then sighed as Doji made a similar unfortunate realization.

"...Yeah. This is too many, even for me. " The mink groaned, rubbing her paws over her upper arms to try to shake the eerie feeling.

She took a step forward, but even with her good night vision, it was difficult to see how far this hall went in the dark. Down, far off in the distance, she swore she saw a little glow of light. The distance faded into pitch black between it and them.

"...Yeesh. Well... Looks like we can only go forward from here, big guy." Aya cleared her throat, trying to soothe the soreness from speaking so much.

" I'll be honest, these paintings are giving me the creeps. It's just a lot of people. Lesser minks do this dumb thing where they force themselves to smile and look straight forward when they know someone's painting them... So fake..."

For a moment the mink sounded more annoyed than distressed.

"...B-but the point is, painted eyes don't... look right, a lot of the time. Not exactly, at least. It's like... a dead person staring at youteia, in a way." It took a while for her to properly articulate it, and from the tone, it was obvious she was wearing a sneer as she took a few steps into the hall.

"I think I can see light down the hall, but I'm not sure what it is... Guess there's only one way to find out, hm?"

Aya was trying to steel herself. This hall looked like something out of one of those terrible scary stories her brothers used to tell.

"...I kind of envy youteia for not being able to see this. It's a nightmare in here."

A sheepish laugh escaped the mink as she started off on the long walk through the hall of horror.

Somewhere Deep within the Castle

---

The dull drone of sleep had fallen over Mira as her exhaustion caught up with her. How many nights in a row had she worked tirelessly, locked away from the world's critical eye? The rest was woefully short-lived.

The young scientist snapped up from her slumber, her eyes wide and wild as she tried to train her newly-woken senses on the source of the sound.

Something was moving in the castle.

Someone was here.

“I can imagine; the little people, that’s who you mean when you say lesser minks right? Either way, they always seem to think things are best when they’re orderly, ordinary…” Doji thought back to his childhood, the red-haired boy that was too strong for his own good, “...when everything is the same.”

Making his way down through the hall of sneering photographs Doji began chuckling to himself, a cheshire grin sprawling across his face as he remarked down to Aya, “Shini-hi-hi! There’s only one place where everybody is the same, and I’d hardly say it has much artistic merit. Once something has gone and died it loses its purpose; even if there’s something left of it, its beauty, its potential, it disappears.”

As the duo drew nearer the light at the end of the tunnel the glowering eyes of the painted patrons flickered with contempt, each condemning any who would emerge from their glaring pit of emptiness; the Baroness of Llywn slaughtered as soon as her dowry was signed, Earl Balgruff of Dalry rotted away in debtors prison after his coffers were leeched dry, the faithful servant Igor was put to death by his master after giving away a substantial portion of the family fortune, each with good reason for their hatred as a noble fallen prey to this accursed manor.

“Do you think any of them had much beauty in their lives to begin with? I always wonder that of the little people, what it must be like to not have any real control over your life. That’s the beauty of the spirit, the forging of the path and the honing of the art, whether its sword strokes or brush strokes mastery is what’s important.” Doji mused on the nameless, faceless figures that constituted the backdrop of he and Pikasso’s “leisurely” stroll.

The whirr of electricity coursed through the air like a flood of static, the oni's long red hair began drifting upwards along the electrical current, fanning out like the tendrils of a man-of-war. In the center of the room lay the source of the storm, a rickety old engine sourcing its power from some grinding machinery below.

"Whyoah! Yo! This feels crazy…” Doji strode jubilantly into the generator room, stretching his fingers out and feeling the static latch onto his skin, “...Aya what’s going on in here? I’ve never felt anything like this!” The boy was straying close to some dangerous looking machinery as he spoke.

This room, this generator, all appears to be in service of one facility: a sort of makeshift surgical table, too large for the average person, and presently empty; behind this table stands a worn steel door, dents that seem to originate from beyond it marr the portal’s surface. Electrical tubing runs from the generator to the operating table; there is a “head-cap” that has a wired and mechanical appearance at the table’s top end.

Lining the sides of the room are a series of tubes and vats, many of which contain a translucent orange fluid, as well as a den den mushi in stasis within; it appears that this tubing is connected to the electrical equipment. The snails within the tubes appear familiar, as though they have been tortured and corrupted for their entire lives. At the far end of the room near the operating table, there is a side table, sat upon it are a series of surgical instruments as well as an emptied den den shell; a black journal with purple foxglove filigree sits to the side of the shell.

Suddenly, pounding through the room like a hammer came the sound of some bulky mass colliding with the far door, the impact left a firm dent in the door and was followed by a disgruntled and barely coherent scream, “MEE-RUH, Where ar– WHERE ARE YOUUU!” The thing beyond the door almost seemed to stutter into lucidity, as though for a moment the tortured monstrosity had become a man.

Doji crouched down and whispered down to Aya, “You take the lead on this, if that guy busts down the door I’ll handle him, but I think you might have a better sense of what’s going on here than I do.”

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"Oh, yeah, um... They're 'lesser' like... youteia know, they don't have as much mink! N-not that there's anything wrong with that, hm? Like.. some people call me a 'lesser' panda, right? Because I'm not nearly as big of a panda as my big Bro. I guess lots of people think stuff like that matters... seems silly to me. You're right, though..."

Aya paused a moment, tilting her head as she stamped out the butt of her clove.

" Most Lesser Minks don't seem to know we exist. Suppose they don't see many... guys like youteia around either. It's not what they're used to, so they get scared, right? A lot of them do, anyway. Real shame... Not much you cant do about it, though, hm?"

The hall of hallowed horrors seemed a bit more distant as the conversation persisted through the dark walk. At least in the low light it was harder to make out the inanimate stares of the souls trapped in the frames.

" People like this are usually too wrapped up in their pride to know what beauty is, aside from a status symbol. They paint their faces all pretty on the surface... but when they don't think anyone is there to see, they're rotten to the core... Kiiiii-pi-pi!"

'That's why they're so fun to watch!'

The tiny artist mused silently, all too pleased with the peek into the daily and sometimes even private lives of lesser minks that her abilities afforded her. It was just too hard to keep her curiosity at bay with some of the gossip and drama that spread through some of the islands.

A little twinge of something strange yet familiar made Aya scrunch up her nose. With a shudder, she tried to settle the prickling feeling fluffing her silky mink. As she looked ahead, she watched with a titter of laughter as Doji's hair seemed to float around his head.

" Oh... uh, you might want to watch out, buddy. This stuff seems like it might shock you if you get too close."

Aya shivered again, trying to shake off the feeling of the latent static collecting in her fur.

" In fact, I probably wouldn't touch anything right no-"

Before she could finish her warning Aya's maw snapped closed as a thundering boom shook her small frame. Even more shocking to the red panda were the words of her crouched companion.

"...Me? Well..." Her frame shook once more as she tried to dispel the prickling electricity, gaze shifting from the door to examine the equipment... and the snails.

"...This sort of thing is not really my expertise, there's a lot of machines in here, a-IEYEEP!!" The mink had been doing her best to keep hushed even against the whiles of her hoarse throat, but suddenly her quiet tone picked up into a shrill yip.

Her gaze suddenly jerked back toward the point of contact where the bristled fluff of her tail had come too close to metal, sending a little buzz of surprise through the girl's tensed nerves. She quickly slapped her hands over her mouth, trying to muffle the noise.

"MEEEEE-RUH?! AHH YOU OH-KAYYYY?!!"

"...S-sorry. I'm no good with machines, Doji. This stuff looks kind of..." The word escaped the loudly whispering mink for a moment, her dark digits sprawled as she motioned toward the table. "...Ominous? I don't like the sound of our new friend in there, either."

Above the din of the large fists pounding upon the well-hammered door, Aya's ears twitched toward the sound of something else. A familiar sound.

The dull click of heels upon the hard marble floors.

"... Alright, this could get messy quick. I'm not one to judge much, but... whatever is going on here seems, uh... kind of... fucked up?"

Pikasso hissed as she searched for a clear path of action. She hastily scrambled over to the side table, invisible paws grabbing ahold of the bound journal in a mad dash. The book went clear in the panda's grasp.

Down an echoing hall, footsteps drew nearer.

Likewise, whatever was on the other side of the worryingly-groaning metal door seemed to be growing more and more agitated. Fists met the opposite side more frequently and the creature began bellowing furiously with each impact.

"MEE!! RUH!! MEE!!! RUHHH!!!"

"ALOY! My Darling A-"

"... You are not Aloy. Who are you, and what are you doing here? In fact, how did you even get in here? I'll have you know this is a private facility!"

As a human woman in a black dress in the doorway began questioning the intruding Oni and pulling up the dark leather of her long gloves, the invisible mink padded back over to Doji. The clamber back up to his shoulder was quick and seemed to go unnoticed by the scientist, who was now fretting over the noises from the other side of the door.

Aya leaned in with one paw cupped around her maw as she hushed towards the large boy's ear.

"... L-listen, just... uh... stall, if youteia can, okay? She can't see me right now, and I think this book will help me figure out what kind of creepy mess we wandered into..."

Without a second thought, Aya tucked her feet into the fabric of his shirt and leaned back, draping her pint-sized frame upside-down over the back of Doji's shoulder. This way, the arboreal girl was both comfy and out of the way, and the journal that was now visible in her clear paws was still out of sight as she scanned the pages over for answers.

All those years hanging from tree branches at home on Zou sure paid off in weird ways.

" What did you do to incite this sort of reaction?! My poor Darling Aloy...!" The study-weary woman's voice turned more accusatory as she stepped past the intruder, setting a hand on the pummeled door. Moments later she turned her back to it to narrow her tired eyes at the giant.

"You've upset him so! And when he's in such a volatile state..."

Mira’s explanation was cut off by the clangorous pounding of flesh against steel, followed by the buckling pops of bolts flying loose from their threading; with a final agonized groan, the heavy door gave way to its attacker, falling to the ground with a loud and solid slam, “MEE-raaaa…” a hoarse and baritone voice rasped from the darkness beyond the doorway.

The pallid and platinum haired figure stood beneath the threshold’s shadow was more like a marble sculpture than a man; his thirteen foot frame would dwarf most any human, and his hulking musculature would put many of the world’s strongmen to shame. With uncanny lucidity the corpse-like apollo locked his eyes on Doji, and spoke back to his beloved, “...have you invited this ridiculous thing into our home?”

Mira was pleasantly surprised, her love wasn’t typically this lucid, especially when he’d gotten himself worked up; perhaps her treatments were finally working, “No dearest, I have not! And your hands, are you okay A-” the woman’s moment with her love was cut off by the wretched devil that had invaded her laboratory.

“Yoyoi-oi-oi! Who are you callin’ ridiculous jackass?” Doji snarled as a wicked grin sprawled across his face, swiftly gesturing one of his swords towards the scantily clad revenant, “You’re the one who couldn’t keep his words straight a second ago!”

“You know nothing, and you fall back on weaponry like a crutch. What’s the matter? Can’t fight a naked man without your swords and armor?” In truth, Aloy was not completely naked, a tasteful loin cloth made sure of that; still, his goading words provoked the intruder just as intended.

“I can’t see that you’re naked idiot!” The oni dropped his sword to the ground before waving his hand in front of his face and angrily widening his clouded eyes, “But sure! If you want to go hand to hand I’m game!” Doji shouted, kicking off his greaves, abandoning his remaining sword, and letting fly the shirt of his kimono.

The red-haired rōnin bore his broad chest with pride, beneath his robe sat the dense but graceful frame of a body hardened through training and endowed by birthright; the lad’s pale and unmarred skin was like an art piece intended to upstage his opponent, indeed, the scar-covered Aloy glowered towards the blind beauty with envy and malice in his bright green eyes. Hardened porcelain or crumbling marble, which would break first?

“I’ll rip you apart with my bare hands,” the zombified bodybuilder cracked his bruised and bleeding knuckles; his muscles were larger than that of the giants, in his pseudo-undeath Aloy had become more than a mere man. He’d undergone his metamorphosis and emerged as a massive marvel of medical science.

“Give it your best shot little guy! Ya know Aya…” Doji spoke rather carelessly to his sneaky compatriot as he squared up against his opponent, still, he made for a decent enough distraction in himself.

Aya? Who’s Aya? The sharp witted Mira caught onto this detail, closing her eyes and tensing her fingers against her brow to mull over the tidbits' meaning. Had the foul monster brought some unseen ally?

“...there’s a lot of things that don’t matter: whether you’ve got more or less mink, whether you’re ugly or pretty, I could care less! But one thing I’ve always found working in my favor is size!” With this proclamation the oni charged in towards Aloy, swinging his long and sleek limbs as though they were swords in themselves.

Like the flange of a mace the edge of Doji’s palm chopped deep into the man’s torso, even without his swords the oni was plenty lethal; tearing mortal flesh was as easy as tearing parchment for the devil. But the corpse’s skin didn’t give way, nor his muscle, nor his bone.

“You can’t hurt me…” the hulking man spoke up with a cold and bitter tone to his voice, “...that’s how she made me. Free of suffering, free of sin,” he spoke poetically of the enhancements that Mira had installed for him; shutting off her lover’s pain responses had made the doctor’s operations all the easier, and prevented her unnatural creation from living in constant agony.

“What is she your fuckin’ mommy?” Ironic coming from the momma’s oni, but Aloy would make Doji eat these words regardless.

With a powerful and explosive motion the corpse husband slammed Doji down to the ground by his oversized arm, pinning the monster with the ferocious grappling of a practiced wrestler, “Apologize to Mira and submit yourself to her. Otherwise I’ll tear your arm off,” Aloy spoke emotionlessly to his subjugate as he tugged the monster’s limb up over his shoulder.

There’s only one thing a swordsman can do when he’s caught in a bind Doji… the giant remembered his mother’s training, and shouted the name of the family technique that he had made his own, “...無刀流: 竜巻春風脚 (Mutōryū: Tatsumaki Shunpūkyaku- No Sword Style: Spring Breeze Whirlwind Kick)!”

With the twisting movements of a breakdancer the oni wrenched himself free, striking his captor with a typhoon of cutting jabs and chops. Nonetheless, the pale opponent remained unphased despite the bruises and bleeding from his apparent injuries, “Nothing you do matters to me kid. Even if you destroy my body, with her genius no injury is incurable. Nice try though.”

“Good work Aloy darling!” Mira cheered from the sideline as she strode nonchalantly over to her worktable, My journal is missing… The astute scientist began searching the room, something was amiss here; she would find out what, her strong and unerring love would surely protect her from the ruffian.

Indeed he would, with a meaty blow to the monster’s chest Aloy sent Doji flying backwards, straight into the thrumming cage of the room’s generator; but the revenant wouldn’t let his opponent off that easily, charging in, the painless grappler pinned the giant down against the galvanized engine. This wouldn’t be the worst voltage Doji experienced in his life, but still, his first encounter with electrical current would be plenty torturous.

Something odd revealed itself as the muscleman focused his attention on restricting the oni, a little creature sat on the back of Aloy’s back; a snail, grinning happily, but wincing in pain every couple of seconds. Surrounding the mollusc was what seemed to be some sort of plug, a cybernetic augmentation to both the snail and the man that allowed the two some sort of symbiosis.

The monstrous boy writhed against both his captor and the shock surging through his nerves, rebelling against them like a demon being driven from the heavens. His red locks of hair levitated and danced against the static like the flustering cape of a matador. In this moment he knew only one person could save him, and with a desperate plea Doji shouted out to his cute fuzzy companion, “Aya! Shut this fucking thing OFF–ZZZYY!”

Post Word Count: 1,146
Total Word Count: 6,049

Everything about this situation made Aya's mink stand on end. The noise ringing through her sensitive ears, the latent charge in the air, and the encroaching beast breaking through to them were enough to jar the precariously-poised climber as she thumbed through the journal.

The fallen door nearly knocked the wind out of her. The runty Mink's sharp claws dug into the bound leather as she shot upright, the journal disappearing in her grasp.

"...W-what is tha-...?!"

As Aya's icy blue eyes washed over the huge, musclebound man, she tensed up considerably and caught her tongue to keep from revealing herself further. A glance up alerted her to the Lesser Mink woman's searching as Doji spoke his fuzzy companion's name aloud. The artist's eyes widened.

"W-wait, Doji-...!"

Her body went into action before she could even get the words out. As Doji's massive frame reeled forward, Aya tucked her limbs in around the nabbed book and let herself roll, water off the giant's shoulder. Anything was better than getting pulled into this massive muscle-headed wrestling match.

With the panic of the fall rapidly setting in, the red panda tried to reach for whatever she could. She managed to slow her descent as she grasped at Doji's shirt, righted herself in the air, and swung her feet out to catch herself on the ground below as he charged in the opposite direction.

With her eyes wide and her feet now firmly on the ground, Pikasso's trepidatious dance had only just begun. Monstrous men grappling as they towered above, the dodgy little mink immediately sought solace in the form of a good spot to hide.

Preferably, one out of the way of the impending crushing forces interlocked behind her.

For just a moment, Aya's eyes met those of the genius Lesser Mink as she searched the open air for any side of the Giant's hidden companion. The invisible girl froze up out of instinct, narrowing her gaze.

That woman did not look well in the mind. It was clear she was exhausted from the bags under her eyes, and though she was visibly suspicious of the intruding forces, she didn't seem to be able to keep herself from marveling and doting over her beloved creation.

With some quick skittering, the invisible Mink skirted around the doctor and just out of the way as the shadow of a large form cast over the area she had just stood. Doji's form flew back into the extensive machinery moments later.

Aya winced.

Her fur stood on end as she watched voltage course through her new horned friend. She was taken aback, desperately searching for some means of assisting without being flattened into a pancake amongst the chaos.

Halfway into her backward retreat, the cautious girl backed directly into the warmth of another body.

Mira's steps toward her reconstructed love had been stopped by a collision with some unseen force. Aya froze up completely, petite paws opening instinctively and sending the journal skittering across the floor out of nowhere.

Icy blue irises trailed from the woman she had just run into to the journal that now lay worryingly close to the pinned Doji, then the young man himself. As if on cue, the oni's words fizzled to her ears. The tiny girl was laden with a thousand times her weight in panic.

Aya squeaked out with surprise as she stared up at the glowering doctor.

Mira, true to her genius, was at first surprised but quick to start piecing together what was going on. Her eyes darted from the space in front of her to the book. In a flash, gloved hands grabbed blindly at the clear form before her and caught purchase on both clothing and soft fur.

The human gave an intrigued hum, feeling the strange textures the air in front of her had taken on, even through her gloves.

"What have we here?"

Another sudden flash of electricity jolted to life, though this time separate from the busy machines that littered the large room.

A dark paw drew from the aether, crackling Electro jumping from each clawed digit.

"...Lay off the fur, would youteia?"

With a swipe of her hand, Aya dispelled the charge into Mira's encroaching arm. The jolt was enough of an abrupt sensation to let the Mink dislodge from her would-be captor. As soon as she was free, Pikasso took off running.

Against all her base instincts, however, she was heading toward the pinned giant.

"...Hold on, big guy!"

It occurred to Aya that she had no idea how exactly she was going to help this situation, but she was racing into things at a breakneck speed nonetheless.

With a bit of clamor, the invisible girl reached back to rifle through her backpack as she tried to form a plan on the fly.

A piercing screech rang out through the air, warbling in tone and occasionally cracking into bits of garbled words. The troubled snail who had been resting its addled mind suddenly sprung into cacophonous turmoil as it was startled.

Both Mira and Aya sprung to cover their ears, the scarlet mink flickered into sight as if the universe was still unsure of her place there.

But through her wincing, Aya witnessed what had to be some sort of miracle. In the din, she could see the reaction the mollusk had just catalyzed taking effect.

Still looming above like great mountains, quakes set into the massive medical 'masterpiece'. The face of the snail so curiously attached to Aloy contorted into agonized sneers. Eyestalks twitching, for a moment the man's body lurched and hunched.

Though unfeeling, the glory of the biological spark seemed to be flickering like the flame of a candle.

Mira's breath became doting gasps as the man's body froze up.

Aya felt all air expel from her lungs and with ears still ringing she propelled herself forward and up the heaving back of the questionably living monster as he tried to regain control of disrupted frequencies allowing him autonomy over his limbs.

Even on shaky ground, the little mink managed to scramble up the creature's back, swiftly delivering an Electro-charged slap to the struggling snail.

For a moment the light in Doji's attacker's eyes threatened to slip from this world. Aloy seized, toppling over onto his side and effectively freeing the other man and sending Aya stumbling in a downward stair-climb along the oddly rigid structure of his spine.

"...I told youteia, I don't understand machines!"

“Yowchi-chi-chi-chi! Well that makes two of us! I thought shocks were supposed to tingle…” the oni pulled himself free from the coil’s borders, patting out the flames raging on his back and straining against the burns now marring his shoulders, “...either way, thanks Aya!” As he called to his ally he swung his fist firmly into Aloy’s chest, sending the dead-eyed hunk toppling ass over tea-kettle.

“You sneaky little rat! How dare you do that to my precious Aloy!...” Mira called out blindly towards her unseen assailant, “...I’m not going to let you get away and harm my beloved ever again! I don’t care what I have to do to kill you!” With her emboldened proclamation, the woman began pulling levers, and stripping wires out of her machinery; with a bit of jury-rigging the electrical coil was converted into a radiator.

“Filthy vermin, boil alive in the inferno of my devotion, come now Aloy,” satisfied with her handiwork the woman darted for her partner, grabbing the seizing revenant by his hand and tugging him towards his holding chambers. If the two could escape and seal off the entryway then eventually the radiator would exhaust its power supply; though it would come at the expense of her laboratory, literature, and a menagerie of ugly paintings, in the end her enemies would be cooked to death.

“I’ve never loved like…” Aloy blurted out in a tinny, mechanical fashion, “...tonight, the winds are quiet, should be smooth sailing– BZZT– and we are proud to be at your service! –BZZT– but now we must bid you adieu!…” The statuesque figure jabbered nonsensically, changing the cadence of his voice as he spoke as though assembling an idea with words that were not his.

“Aloy? What are you saying? Come quickly, I must ensure that your vitals haven’t been damaged,” the vitals she was referring to of course being the genetically engineered snail that she had made to make the pain of unlife bearable for her beloved.

The temperature of the room rose precipitously, quickly going from a cold cobblestone room to a burning hot brick oven. The barefooted oni immediately caught on to what was happening, his callouses singing against the floor’s heat, “Damn, I hate this machine! What do we do now?!” Doji shouted questioningly over toward Aya.

Acting before he heard an answer, the boy swooped up his hooks and charged straight for the radiator; as he approached the burning thing it was as though his mind was melting, any normal man would have suffered heat stroke and died on the spot. The son of dragons however, could survive for some time in boiling hot heat; even under the pressure of a boiling pot, the indomitable will of some swordsmen cannot be broken.

With a pair of slashes the giant oni cut the machine’s head from its neck, jets of white hot steam poured from the contraption’s veins, barely missing its attacker’s face with the clutches of its scalding grasp. The room had turned from an oven to a sauna, or perhaps more aptly into a steam-cooker; it was out of the pot and into the skillet, out of the skillet and into the fryer, the red-haired duo’s sisyphean turmoil would never cease!

“Yookh, Khyough!...” The oni sputtered up as much of the scalding hot steam as he could avoid inhaling, each breath was like swallowing hot coal, “...it’s no good! We have to get out of here! Are they headed for an exit? I thought that guy was locked up behind closed doors!” The oni punched into the stone of the far wall, though he shattered a crater into its surface, the giant castle’s stonework was too thick to give way even to a giant; to break through stone like this would require mastery of a skill wholly unfamiliar to the budding swordsman.

“Gyah-chi-chi!...” The boy pulled his hand away from the wall, his knuckles had suffered a red-hot burn from contact alone; tears began to well in the boy’s eyes, without his usual tricks he was little more than a frustrated boy in the face of impending doom “...Aya! What do we do-hyoo-hyoo?!” He sobbed over to the world-wise mink.

Meanwhile, Mak and the Gang Bumble through the Castle Halls…

“Man do you really think we should still be chasing these guys? At this point I feel like we’re kind testing fate–” Durwin was cut off by the interruption of his fearless leader.

[npc=pirt]“Woah dude! Did you see that? Some manner of specter or ghoul just skittered around the corner!”[/npc] The captain pointed excitedly down the hallway, ignoring all of the castle’s artwork and symbolism as he and his group proceeded down its corridors.


“I don’t think I see anything Mak…” the First Mate squinted, hoping that this time his boss’ tall tales would amount to something. It wouldn’t be the first time something genuinely strange happened, but for the most part the group’s fearless leader was just a bag of hot air; at least he was usually fun to be around, “...wait, maybe there’s something?”

A wisp of smoke? No, it dissipated too quickly; where was steam coming from in a place like this? “Yeah, I think you might be onto something, cap’n! Let’s go!” With a surge of excitement Durwin intrepidly charged towards the source of the leak, Mak following just on his heels.

[npc=pirt]“This is perfect! Even if we can’t track down the oni or tanuki, I knew this place had to be full of unsolved mysteries! Can you even imagine how many orbs are in a place like this?”[/npc] The leader of the conspiracy theorists chattered to his buddy, unduly proud of himself as though the discovery was solely his handiwork.

No, in truth it would be the dorkish Durwin who discovered the secret to resetting the revolving wall. But once the pressure was broken the nerd wasn’t all too pleased with what he’d uncovered, as it immediately manifested as an enormous plume of near-boiling hot steam that filled the entire hallway, “Ack! Nevermind Mak! I told you this was a bad idea! Our luck’s run out, we’re gonna boil alive!”

[npc=pirt]“Dude, have you ever seen this many orbs? And they’ve got this crazy burning hot demonic aura!”[/npc] The idiot spoke incredulously of the natural phenomena.

“It’s fucking steam Mak! Not everything is a fucking orb okay?! Sometimes it’s just a speck of dust! Or a dandelion seed! We’ve seen swamp gas, that was cool, but you just called it a fucking orb! We’re looking for conclusive proof of the existence of ghosts, goblins, ghouls! Give up on the orb shit jackass!”

As the more rational of the paranormalists chastised his wide-eyed boss, steam continued to vent from the secret chamber…

Post Word Count: 1,125
Total Word Count: 7,174

Round 1

Doji activates (Toggle) Swaying Breeze
Doji uses AoE Heavenly Song: Melody of Zephyr's Guidance to buff self
Doji uses UT against Aloy

Aloy uses LT against Doji
Aloy uses LT against Doji
Aloy uses LT against Doji
Aloy uses UT against Doji

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Doji' has done the following action : Dice Roll

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#1 'Reflex Check' : 14

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 1, 2, 16, 10

Round 2

Doji uses HT Sunlight's Sixteenth Ray against Aloy
Doji uses LT Monastery Slash against Aloy
Doji uses UT against Aloy

Aloy uses LT against Doji
Aloy uses LT against Doji
Aloy uses LT against Doji
Aloy uses UT against Doji

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Doji' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 14, 5, 2

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 6, 12, 13, 20

Round 3

Doji uses AoE Earthly Song: Dance of Dying Sunlight to buff self
Doji uses UT against Aloy

Aloy uses MT against Doji
Aloy uses LT against Doji
Aloy uses LT against Doji
Aloy uses UT against Doji

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Doji' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 4

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 18, 17, 16, 19

Round 4

Doji uses MT Jinketsukei to buff self
Doji uses LT Monastery Slash against Aloy
Doji uses LT Horrid Hook against Aloy
Doji uses UT against Aloy

Aloy uses LT against Doji
Aloy uses LT against Doji
Aloy uses LT against Doji
Aloy uses UT against Doji

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Doji' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 9, 5, 17

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#2 'Reflex Check' : 12, 4, 17, 17