Most of my stuff will have to stay on AooO as it has pesterlogs in it, but this doesn't so here it is. If you want to read all the other stuff, there's a link on my profile.
Chapter One
Everything outside was white. Was the house floating? She pulled the window open, letting in a gust of chilly, damp air, and stuck her head out, trying to look down.
She couldn't see anything but more white. She wedged her tail against the wall and slid further out.
There was ground after all, with a few scrub brushes just visible against the clay wall. Within a half foot it gave way to the whiteness. From her angle, she couldn't tell if the ground ended and the white was below, or if it had flowed on top to block her view. Whatever it was, it didn't reach any higher than that. She could see the sky overhead, although it looked like a storm was lurking, just a wide expanse of darkness without stars.
She pushed against the wall and wiggled back inside. So her house had come with her and at least some ground, and she wasn't just in some empty void but somewhere with up and down and sky. How far down did the ground go? If everyone connected, would they fill this white space up?
At least the countdown had stopped. Or perhaps it was just reset. The little LED screens on each side were blank again, but the cruxtruder was still there, squatting ominously like something that could be really dead or just waiting.
The computer was lowing. She turned away from the window finally and went to hear what her friend wanted.
"What the hell were you doing? I thought you were going to fall!"
"Don't say that kind of thing," she said, shuddering. "I was just looking around outside."
"I can see outside! Next time ask me. Don't get yourself killed doing something dumb. Not after surviving the worst part."
"Okay okay. Well, what's outside?"
"Clouds. I think."
"Clouds? That's what all the white is?"
"I can see the ground drop off for a little way. You're on a plateau."
"What? I'm- How high up am I?"
"I don't know. I can't see the bottom. Or if there is one."
"There must be some way. There has to be a bottom!" she yelled.
"Calm down!"
"You don't know where I am!"
"There's a bottom, the house is sitting on ground to it must touch something. I can only see a few feet down, it might not be that bad. I don't think clay would support weight if it was that high up."
"It's bedrock."
"Oh."
"Figure it out! Zoom the screen out or something!"
"It doesn't do anything, I can't see through the clouds. Don't panic."
"I could be dozens of feet up!"
"You just stuck your head out a window!"
"I thought everything was solid! There's a difference!"
"The clouds might be mist. Maybe you're near the bottom. We can alchemize some rope..."
She shuddered. "I..."
"I don't know how else to get you down! I can't pick you up-"
"Don't pick me up!"
"It doesn't matter, I can't. We can lower just the rope first and see how far it goes."
"I'm going to go out," she said, pulling the headset off quickly, before she could think too much about what she was doing. She dropped onto her stomach and slithered down the tunnel staircase to the ground floor.
Not that ground floor really meant - she shuddered and kept going on all fours. It was a little more comforting being lower down, even if it was just an illusion. A few feet of difference wouldn't matter if she was on top of some spindly mesa.
She had to take a few breaths before she stood and opened the door. To her relief there wasn't an immediate drop. It seemed the front part of her home had included a large patch of the surrounding area. She dropped back down and made her way to the edge.
It was mist. She couldn't see anything but more white. She reached down and realized the edge wasn't sheer. It was concave.
She shuddered and scrambled backward, then twisted and shot back into the house. She had to get down.
In the spirit of interactivity, please suggest whatever you'd like to see. You can also suggest names/lands/titles/consorts - some of that's decided, but most is not.
