Chapter 32- an uneasy and risky quest
Rei, Akari and the others including Malachite and her small group continued through the vent until they came to the end of it. Once they did, the Orang Pandek at the front, Roux, dislodged the grate and put it aside, opening the vent's end. Her other hand grasped the makeshift torch, the flame licking at the air as it burned on the paper ball and pushed back the darkness of the vent with its orange glow. Roux grasped the makeshift torch tightly and carefully and kept it well away from her fur and the fur and feathers of the other members of the group, the other torch holders doing the same. If those flames came into contact with the fur or feathers of ANY of the members, the results would be disastrous, so to avoid this hazard, the other members gave the torch members plenty of space. Then Rei and Akari squeezed through the line to the front, saying excuse me to the creatures as they went. Though the vent was fairly wide, it was too narrow to allow the line to expand much so only as many as double or triple file can be achieved. The vent height was also too low to allow the larger members to stand fully unless they were of Talking Beast and Magical Creature species that was small, such as Talking Rats, the Slugcats, the Viscacha such as Nanachi, and Songbirds; the former three examples able to go down on all fours to walk for they were both natural bipeds and quadrupeds. The other members had to either crawl or walk with their heads lowered to avoid hitting the roof. Rei and Akari continued until finally, they reached the ones at the front including Roux as she shone the torch out into the room. However, the Red Pandas commanded the young Oran Pandek to withdraw the torch into the vent, which the blood red-furred bipedal mini-Sasquatch did. Then Rei and Akari entered the room and began to examine it, commanding Roux to carefully move the torch back into the room to provide the light. Then after taking in the room, the two Red Pandas commanded the Oran Pandek and some of the other creatures including Tulio and Nanachi to rush from the vent exit to one of the large objects in the room. The line continued to exit the vent, few at a time until finally, Rei and Akari halted the line at Roux's signal. Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Yardang, Rainbow Quartz, Lymphocyte and Sisu arrived. The first three, the Nekomata, were stooping to avoid hitting their heads on the vent's top while Yardang had little trouble from the vent's space. He did not need to stand erect for he was a young Cheetah and a natural quadruped or four-footed Talking Beast. Rainbow Quartz and Sisu, however, HAD to stoop low and almost crawl while Lymphocyte had to shuffle along with his head ahead of his body. The young Terror Bird grumbled under his breath about the height of the vent and how it made movement awkward and uncomfortable, not to mention the clutter caused by the other creatures present.
Malachite was about to step out into the room but Akari stopped her.
"Don't move yet, Green Tiger Stripes," the female Red Panda commanded in a hushed voice.
"Why?" asked Malachite, before she realised what Akari had called her. "My name's Malachite..."
"SHUSH!" hushed Akari before she began to examine the room while Rei went over to the first hiding spot, a large pillar stretching from the room's floor to the ceiling. Malachite peered in to examine the room. The room was quite foggy but there was light. Then Akari commanded Malachite to retract into the vent while she climbed in. Malachite did so and bumped into Lymphocyte and Seishan to their annoyance.
"What's going on!?" hissed the latter irritably. Akari did not answer and continued peering out into the room. Then Lymphocyte managed to push his head past Malachite and peer out. The Terror Bird followed the Red Panda's gaze and spotted an object. It was a floating object and its shape was spherical, much like the Camera Eye was back in the room the group had just left, and they had red 'eyes'. However, a stream of red light shone from these eyes and cast a sort of spotlight or searchlight onto the floor. This 'searchlight' moved with the eyes as they rotated and floated along. Their shells were stony, unlike the Camera Eye back in the first room which had a metallic shell.
"What are those things, Akari?" asked Lymphocyte in a hushed voice, "More Camera Eyes?"
Akari turned to him irritably to answer his question. "Not just Cameras Eyes or Searchlight Eyes. They're Medusa Camera Eyes, or Medusa Eyes."
"Medusa Eyes?" repeated Malachite in confusion. Then Kovu, one of the Slugcats, squeezed in.
"Those Medusa Eyes don't just catch potential escapees," he whispered, "They petrify anyone caught in their rays."
Dread flowed through Malachite's group and Rainbow Quartz shivered.
"You mean turn to stone?" asked Seishan. Kovu nodded to confirm this before nodding to some of the Talking Beasts that have managed to leave the vent hiding behind the pillar and peering out at the floating searchlight-like spheres, the Medusa Eyes.
"That's the reason the first of us have taken cover," explained the Hunter Slugpup, "It's to avoid coming into contact with those red rays cast from the eyes of the Medusa Eyes. Any creature, at ALL, that touches those Medusa Eyes' rays, even with an arm, wing or foot, they are turned to stone on the spot, but the Medusa Eyes aren't the only things in here."
Just then, a fireball across the room wavered in the mist. Akari saw it.
"That's Roux's signal that she has found another vent over there," she said, let's get moving, a few at a time," she then turned to Malachite and company, "And remember, be careful of those Medusa Eyes and also the guards present."
"Guards?" asked Malachite. Then Lymphocyte saw a shape move through the mist. It had large ears like a rabbit. Akari also saw it.
"That's one of the Lemon Rabbits," she explained, "There are several Lemon Rabbits and Raspberry Beavers present in this room and they are also armed with ray guns that have the same effect as the Medusa Eyes, so we MUST be careful not to rouse their suspicions or get spotted by them. Now no more questions; let's get to the other side of the room."
Malachite sourly folded her arms in exasperation at Akari's bossiness as the Red Panda prepared to send the next group of members to the first hiding spot, the nearest pillar. There was also something else in the room: giant black wormlike creatures crawling around. These were leeches and they were bloodsuckers like our world's leeches but FAR larger. If any of those leeches caught any member of Rei and Akari's group, it would be all over for them. Then Malachite and company got prepared to rush to the pillar, trepidation making their nerves shudder as they gazed at the leeches, the floating Medusa Eyes and the silhouettes of the Lemon Rabbits and Raspberry Beavers as they continued to scan the room intently for any movement. Though there were only half a dozen of these cute-but-savage Candy Woodland Creatures, these guards were like hawks, their eyes intently scanning the environment for ANY suspicious movements.
With their eyes on the hawk-like Candy Woodland Creature guards and the Medusa Eyes as they continued to float around the room, their searchlight-like light streams scouring the dark, misty air of the room. Then as soon as the green light came with the Eyes and the guards' backs turned, Malachite, Seishan, Elsa, Kovu and the Slugcat gang rushed from the vent to the pillar like a group of army infiltrators sneaking into the base of an enemy camp. As they hid behind the large cuboid pillar with some of them with their backs pressed against the strut, Malachite carefully peered out to better take in the room. There was something morbid about this room. The shadowy mist and the way the Medusa Eyes and the Candy Woodlands Creature guards floated and paced around and the large wormlike leeches out on the hunt made this place feel like a graveyard and it sent chills coursing down Malachite, Seishan and Elsa's spines. This was nothing, at ALL like the comfy room they stayed in before escaping and Elsa even wished she had never come on this quest. Then Seishan noticed something else present in the room. At first she thought these things were statues as they resembled figures standing stock still but when she examined them closer, she realised that they were shaped like creatures either on the run or cowering. One of them was shaped like a Slugcat and two others, Talking Cats.
"Those are some of our previous members who accompanied us on previous escape attempts but made one wrong move and were petrified by the Medusa Eyes," Kovu's voice entered Seishan's ear. It was serious, dour and chilling and Elsa's identical twin sister actually shuddered and her white fur puffed out as though she was electrically charged. "They couldn't move in time when the Medusa Eyes 'heard' their movements, turned to them and shone their petrifying light on them, turning them to the statues you now see. One of our Slugcat members, Daisy, was one of those unfortunate creatures."
"So those Medusa Eyes can hear us despite being non-living devices?" asked Seishan nervously.
"Oh, yes," said Kovu in a low voice, "That is why we must be VERY careful. The moment those Medusa Eyes see or hear us, they will float over to us and turn us to stone with their petrifying light. Once you're in that light, it's over."
"Those Candy Woodland Animal guards' ray guns also have that effect and they will not hesitate in shooting you with them if they hear or spot you," said another Slugcat, "One of the Talking Cats unfortunately was shot by one of the Raspberry Beavers when he stumbled. He couldn't get up in time to dive into hiding."
Seishan, together with Malachite and Elsa, shuddered violently and their fur flared out as they gazed at the Slugcat and two Talking Cat 'statues'. Kovu and the other Slugcat's description of how the Medusa Eyes' searchlight-like rays and the rays shot from the guards' ray guns petrified any victim they bathed reminded them of how the White Witch's wand worked. Furthermore, this graveyard room was somewhat reminiscent of the White Witch's courtyard and 'statue room' Malachite and her twin cousins recalled Thundersparx, Obsidian and Rainbow Quartz's grandmother Milky Way and also some others that had been there, such as Alexandrite, Malachite's grandmother, had described to them. But what sent the most intense shivers down their spines most was the very THOUGHT of becoming a stone statue when bathed in those insidious White Witch's wand-like rays and THAT made the three Nekomata want to escape this place as soon as they could. Kovu gazed at the three Nekomata with no surprise.
"There'll be more to see as we journey through this place," the Hunter Slugcat told them seriously and dourly, "And a LOT of it will be FAR more morbid."
"That's very comforting," grumbled Seishan sarcastically while Elsa and Malachite said nothing. Then the group got prepared to move to the next hiding spot, the big pile of rubbish. Then as soon as they got the green light, they rushed over to that spot and hid. Finally, they dashed for the second pillar and then to Rei and the vent and hurried inside. On the way, Seishan narrowly escaped getting spotted by one of the Raspberry Beavers as it whipped its head around in her direction but the young Nekomata barely managed to make it behind the pile of rubbish, her partially forked tail disappearing behind it just in time. Thankfully, the Beaver moved on and during the dash from the second pillar to the vent, Elsa accidentally dropped her pink head bow half way to the goal. She stopped to pick it up but then three Slugcats rushed in and pulled her hastily into the vent as a Lemon Rabbit came walking in, its ray gun poised to fire. Thankfully, the group made it into the vent just in time and Rei closed it to conceal the escape. Taken in by this ruse, the Lemon Rabbit moved on. Once the group was in the vent, Malachite, Seishan and Elsa were on edge. Their fur was puffed out and they were hyperventilating.
"I hope to NEVER have to go through all THAT again," whispered Malachite, her paw on her chest as her heart also beat rapidly, "That sure was close..."
"Just join Roux and the few others over there," whispered Rei with a nod to a ball of firelight hovering deeper into the vent. Malachite, Seishan, Elsa and Kovu and his Slugcat gang went over to Roux and her little group to wait for the others.
The same sequence was repeated by the other escapees as they left Akari's side to go to Rei's side of the room. The next small group would leave Akari's side, hide behind the first pillar, then rush to the pile of rubbish, and then to the second d pillar and into Rei's vent. During the dashes between the hiding spots, the groups moved quickly to avoid the leeches, the Medusa Eyes and the Candy Woodland Animal Guards. Yardang and Rainbow Quartz went with Nanachi the half Moon, half-Regular Talking Viscacha, Sofanthiel the Yellow Rappy and a five other young Rappies which were two more Yellow, with one being Sofanthiel's older brother, a large White Rappy, a Blue Rappy and a Love Rappy distinguished by its pink plumage and heart-shaped marking on its front. On the way to the second pillar, Yardang had stopped to gaze at one of the other 'statues', a petrified Swallow but he was dragged along by the Love Rappy into the vent. Further, Rainbow Quartz had to be particularly careful with her hooves on the wooden floor and could not gallop. If she rushed, her hooves could hit the floor too hard and that would alert the camera eyes and the Candy Animal guards but thankfully, she made it to the other side of the room and disappeared into Rei's vent. Sisu and Lymphocyte went with Laminin and Scoville, Tektite and Cubozoa, the young Ichthyo-Centaur improvising by using a large circular shield he had found somewhere to protect himself from the petrifying rays of the Medusa Eyes. Though the Medusa Eyes' rays petrified any flesh they touched, they could be reflected or stopped like ordinary light so Cubozoa was able to sneak by the Medusa Eyes even if they did spot him. when they were behind the first pillar, Laminin had sent Scoville out to spray some hot acid she had loaded him with from the Spitfire Flowers in her belt satchel and when the pet Spitfire Bird fired a stream of burning hot acidic liquid from his nose, the sounds pulled the attention of two Raspberry Beavers and the other guards and also the Medusa Eyes and they went there to investigate. This was a smart move as one of the Raspberry Beavers was approaching the pillar. This done and the guards and the stone-sphere Eyes distracted, Laminin's group rushed straight for the vent entrance where Rei waited and disappeared into it. Cubozoa continued to use his circular shield all the way but as he approached the vent, a leech appeared and reared up right in front of the Ichthyo-Centaur, making the sea Horse-Humanoid with a fish's tail stop dead in horror. However, a bright yellow and red bird rushed in and sprayed the leech in the face with a jet of hot acid liquid from its nose, sending the bloodsucking wormlike creature into scurrying and squeaking in agony as the acid sprayed by Scoville burned its mouth and face. Cubozoa then finished his rush to the vent and entered it, Scoville following him. He thanked Laminin and Scoville for driving off the leech. As another group rushed for the vent, Louie the Babookari stumbled and was immediately picked up by an Ahool before a Medusa Eye could float over to him and bathe him in its petrifying rays and turn him into a Babookari statue and Misty was carried by another Ahool for the Gannetwhale cannot move fast enough to evade or outrun the Candy Woodland Animal guards, the leeches and the Medusa Eyes on her own.
As more and more members of the escape group entered the vent, Kenai the Tizheruk going on his own, Sisu was seized with worry for a certain Talking Beast.
"I fear for Kosmochlor who is my cousin," the blue Kiriness youngster whispered, "He still believes that this place is safe, innocent and secure."
"A lot of the others believe that this place is," said Nanachi with a frown, "But it is no coincidence. They have been duped into believing that lie but this place is anything but."
"What place is this?" asked Sisu. Once again, she was stonewalled from the answer as Nanachi refused to give it.
"Let's just focus on this escape," she whispered to Sisu's chagrin. However, based on Nanachi's description that this place is 'anything but secure, safe and innocent', made Sisu's worry and fear boil even more. Then once the last of the escape group was safely in the vent including Akari and the vent grate replaced, the group moved on. However, they had to move it fast as the Candy Woodland Animal guards came to investigate the entrance. However, the group managed to flee just in time and avoid petrification from their ray guns.
The escape group continued crawling through the second vent which seemed like a tunnel with no end until they came to a stream of dappled light shining through another grate on the floor. The group began to carefully crawl over this floor vent grate but Malachite took some time to take in the room from which the light shone. To her surprise, the room resembled some sort of children's area, similar to a room a Talking Beast school she had visited had. Bright colours and innocent looking drawings decorated the walls and the floors and three passages leading into what appeared to be three other large rooms. Based on the decorative drawings on the overhangs of the entrances to these rooms, they appeared to be some sort of game rooms. Malachite then made out the words on the overhangs describing the apparent games within these rooms as more escapees crawled past. Akari came up to her, a frown on her face.
"Stop'N'Start'..." whispered the green striped Nekomata, "'Memory Chain'... 'Hit the Button Lights'... the former sounds like a game Queen Lucy once described to us called Red Light Green Light..."
As she said this, a pair of Red Panda Paws appeared and seized her. Malachite drew in a sharp gasp as Akari dragged her away from the grate.
"Keep off the grate, Stripes," hissed the female Red Panda, "One, you'll fall through it and two, you'll alert those in that insidious game station room."
Malachite shot her a confused look. "Game station?" she asked. Akari's face hardened with more sternness.
"Don't be fooled by the innocent looking facade of that game station, Stripes," she whispered, "Those 'games' aren't just games for fun in testing physical endurance, reaction time and memory, among other abilities. They're used for far more serious purposes."
Chills travelled down Malachite's spine and she opened her mouth to speak when suddenly, a hiss exploded from Kenai's mouth nearby.
"Stop!" commanded the Tizheruk harshly but quietly. Mlachite and Akari backed away from the grate and stopped the line behind them. Ahead of Kenai, the others continued but the Dragonbird gazed at them.
"You continue," whispered Kenai, "We'll catch up but don't go too far."
The Dragonbird hesitate but then continued after the others. Then the group stayed still and quiet but Malachite carefully peered down the floor grate. Talking then sounded and Malachite managed to pick out some forms but from her new standpoint, she had difficulty. There were more Lanky-Limbed Teddies, several more Candy Woodland Animals and a strange creature that resembled a toy locomotive bit with spider legs flaring out from the sides and a HIDEOUS face on its front present. It was one of the Spider Train workers. Lymphocyte then whispered.
"What's that place?" asked he. Kenai shot him an irritated glare.
"It's a game station, but it is not your typical 'game station' for literal fun and games," the young Seal-like Sea Serpent whispered, "It's where the selected groups back in the 'secure room' that we left come."
"Why games?" asked Sisu. The Tizheruk refused to answer and continued to carefully gaze down at the creatures in the room. Lymphocyte carefully did the same and though it was difficult to see, he did managed to pick out some sort of slabs in the hands of three of the Lanky-Limbed Teddy Bears and one of the Candy Woodland Animals, a red hedgehog or a Strawberry Hedgehog. Then Lymphocyte gazed at Kenai's face and when he saw the disgusted and disturbed look, he shuddered. He daren't think what this innocent-looking game station was used for but he didn't want to know. Then Akari began to get the line moving, carefully and one at a time. The group began to pass over the floor grate carefully, keeping close to the wall to avoid putting a limb or their body on the grate which would give way and give away their position. If that happened, it will be ALL over. As she passed by the floor grate, Malachite took one proper look at the little group as they discussed something. The toy locomotive-like creature with the hideous face and spider limbs appeared to be writing something on its slab. However, Malachite only had little time to take in some words said by the group before Akari hissed at her to get moving and she was forced into doing just that, especially at the row of other members behind her, Sofanthiel looking on impatiently as he was immediately behind the Nekomata. Then Malachite moved on. However, she managed to pick out a few words which were 'guests', 'Dolores' and 'Skvader', the species of hybrid Talking Beast that was Laminin's. However, instead of uncovering more ground of mystery, it created even more questions. 'Guests'? What did that even mean!? Then Malachite heard hyperventilating. Concenred, the green Nekomata turned and gazed at who was doing this and to her surprise, she saw that it was Arezu, the Kangaroo. The young Kangaroo looked deeply disturbed and she was trembling, a Rappy gently telling her to move on. Her eyes were weeping tears and her eyes were inflated out of their sockets. Then what she said next sent chills down Malachite's spine but once again, it was vague.
"Those... those... p-p-p-p-poor..." stammered the young Kangaroo Doe before her emotions finally erupted and she broke down, "We just wanna be out of this place..."
"Look, just stay focussed on this quest," said the Rappy gently. Malachite looked on worriedly but then a Talking Robin came in and pecked at her paw.
"Oi, get a move on, greenie," hissed the little Songbird garrulously. Malachite did so and continued crawling along. However, unease began to set in within the green Nekomata and her face became morose. Her ears fell and worry began to boil within her. This same moroseness was replicated on Seishan, Elsa, Rainbow Quartz, Yardang, Lymphocyte and Sisu and their worry was for different reasons. Elsa wished that the unease was not real and that Dolores was genuinely honest in sending the youngsters back to their families after rescuing them from their kidnappers and keeping them here, Sisu worried dearly for her cousin Kosmochlor and also for the other youngsters back in the initial room such as Hypersthene the half-Talking Zebra, Half-Unicorn, and Emori the Dog, Lymphocyte was in disbelief, and Rainbow Quartz had a horrible feeling boiling within her. It seemed that this place was indeed not as innocent as the seven thought it was and that Rei and Akari's reasons for not answering their questions about 'this place' was becoming clearer. Gripped by unease, the seven continued with the other escapees, hoping to make it out and seek rescue for the other kids back in the initial room before any more of them are taken away by Lucius and his Teddy Bear assistants.
Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Yardang, Rainbow Quartz, Lymphocyte and Sisu continued with the quest with Rei, Akari and their group including Arezu the Kangaroo, Tektite the Wampus Cat who is Obsidian's grandson, Laminin the Skvader and the granddaughter of Snowwing and her pet Spitfire Bird Scoville, Cubozoa the Ichthyo-Centaur, Eleven the Blue Windrunner, Louie the Babookari, Nanachi the hybrid Regular Talking and Moon Viscacha, Tulio the Spix macaw and a number of the other individuals determined to escape this place and seek help in getting the other youngsters out of the initial room (which Rei, Akari and their group have called the prison). The seven continued to crawl through the vent until they reached its end. They exited the vent and sneaked through the next room which appeared to be some sort of residential area. Then after entering another vent, Rei and Akari stopped the group upon arriving at another grate, this time in the sidewall of the vent tunnel. Malachite crawled up to the two Red Pandas as they began to listen.
"What is it, Rei and...?" she began but Rei threw up a paw in a 'Be Quiet' gesture. Malachite flashed a curious look at Seishan, Elsa and Yardang as they crept up behind her with Tulio the Spix macaw chick, the Pitohui, the Eclectus Parrot chicks and Friede the Cassowary.
"That's Dolores," whispered the black plumaged flightless bird lacking wings and bearing a brightly coloured head and neck and small head casque which was small due to him being young. Malachite then carefully moved her head to peer out through the grate with Rei and Akari as they watched and listened to the pink eight-legged spider-like creature, magenta hair coiled into buns with an aqua blue bow adorning the left one, hands and feet and azure eyes and pink lipstick-like mark on her mouth as she talked to someone on a slab Malachite identified as a communicator screen. Communicator screens were not transparent and the other side of them, that is the side facing away from the speaker, was black and featureless and the speaker on the other end of the screen was not visible. Because the spider-like creature and apparent mistress of the place, Dolores, was facing the wall in which Rei and the others hid, Rei, Akari and Malachite kept a careful position to avoid getting spotted. It was clear that Dolores was speaking to someone on the communicator but because Malachite and company were behind the screen, they could not see the speaker on the other end. Furthermore, Dolores' voice was low so the words that came out of her mouth to the speaker on the screen were inaudible and hard to make out. Malachite was not that good at lip-reading so she could not visually determine what Dolores was saying via the movement of her lips. Rei and Akari weren't good lip-readers either but their faces was laced with dourness, as if they knew the reason for Dolores' communication with someone via the communicator screen. Malachite then began to take in the expressions from Dolores' face and her body language. Though she could not lip-read, she could face-read and body language-read well. Then when Dolores' mouth's ends stretched the rest of the line into a smirk, her brow formed a menacing glare on her eyes and her magenta hands clasped together and rubbed each other with glee, Malachite felt her skin crawl. It was clear that Dolores was not the gentle, motherly and stern creature as she seemed to be. Then Lymphocyte peered in. Unlike the Red Pandas and the green Nekomata named after a bright green copper mineral, he could lip-read somewhat. When he saw the movement of Dolores' lips and picked out a few of the words her lips shaped, the Terror Bird shivered.
"She said, 'great, I look forward to meeting them'," he whispered, "'in the meantime, you continue your tasks... well done...' she said a name but I couldn't catch it."
Malachite shot the Terror Bird a look of dread. "Could she be..."
"Let's just move on," whispered Rei, interrupting the conversation and with that the Red Panda ushered the others to sneak past the vent. The escapees did so and quickly and carefully snuck past while Rei and Akari kept an eye on Dolores as she collapsed the communicator screen back to its portable octahedron form and packed it away, before turning to a door to another room and calling for someone. Malachite and Lymphocyte continued with the others. As they did, Lymphocyte gazed at the Nekomata and also Seishan and Elsa.
"I have a bad feeling about this," whispered the Flightless Bird, dread clearly saturating his voice, "We may have been unable to see the speaker on the other end of that communicator screen but based on Dolores' words and her body language, it seems that she, together with her minions in this place, may be part of a sinister organisation or something."
"Possibly importing something or someone into here for some... horrible purpose or something?" asked Seishan.
"Of course she is," said Eleven nearby, pulling Malachite, Seishan, Elsa and Lymphocyte's attention to her.
"Huh?" asked Elsa but Eleven commanded the four to get moving with no more questions or chitchat. Miffed, the three Nekomata and Terror Bird resumed moving along with the others. However, the Great Blue Windrunner's slip of the tongue made the dread within Lymphocyte boil all the more and Malachite, Seishan and Elsa shudder more as their worry and dread also boiled.
The group continued through the vent until they came to a fork. Rei and Akari led them down the left branch and they went down that tunnel. The group passed two more floor and sidewall grates and they got a glimpse of more rooms. As they passed by one room, oink and bray sounds filled the ears of the group. Sisu peered through the great and to her surprise; she saw what appeared to be some sort of stall. Before returning to Narnia for the Winter Revolution from their temporary home in the Archenland/Narnia Border Mountains, the young Kiriness had once visited a pig farm where dumb pigs were bred and harvested for pork by some human farmers with her parents, extended family including her cousin Kosmochlor, and grandmother Azula as part of a learning trip about livestock and farming. Sisu never forgot the rather unpleasant smell of the pig farm or their oinks and grunts, and this room strongly reminded her of that farm, both in its smell and its sounds. However, the presence of donkeys caused confusion for the Kiriness and she saw a number of them interspersed within the crowd of pigs in the room. All of them were oinking and braying but Sisu sensed something not right in those sounds. The azure blue and white Unicorn Dragon's face formed a saddened look and she felt disturbed. Suddenly, a Seal-like Sea Serpent appeared and butted her in the side with his head.
"Hey, keep it moving, reptile horse," hissed Kenai the Tizheruk harshly. Sisu immediately obeyed and continued. However, befuddlement at why there was a donkey and pig farm-type room in this place gripped the Kiriness, but she was also disturbed and uneasy. Putting aside this, she moved on.
The group continued through the vent, the torch carriers such as Roux the Oran Pandek carrying the makeshift torches made from the sticks and paper balls to provide light for it was dark. This vent journey was long and tiring and the group was becoming exhausted. Some, such as Yardang, also complained and demanded the group to stop and rest. However, Rei and Akari insisted they move on for it was not safe to rest here. Reluctantly, the tiring group members pressed on. The group eventually came to another grate exit and as they did, Rei and Akari dislodged the grate and put it aside and the group crawled out, a few at a time, into a room. Yardang crawled out tiredly and irritably.
"We should SERIOUSLY get some rest," grumbled the young Cheetah, "My head feels like it's full of insects."
Some of the other members, including Malachite, Seishan and Elsa, grumbled in agreement.
"Well, we can't rest here," said Rei, "This room is too unsafe as well. We must keep moving as Dolores will have been alerted of our disappearance by now."
"We'll find a safe place to spend the rest of the night," added Akari, "But not here."
Groans emanated from the other members and they reluctantly continued. As the group carried on, some began to examine the room which was enormous and divided into smaller compartments.
"This room looks like some kind of residential area," said Rainbow Quartz as she took in the surroundings.
"Look how decorated those walls and furniture are," said Elsa. Malachite, Seishan, Yardang, Lymphocyte and Sisu examined the smaller rooms and saw a variety of furniture, tables and chairs set up throughout the spaces. The walls were decorated with pictures and there was a large mirror in one small room. A few more rooms also contained some sort of beds including one large bed in its own space. All the furniture, tables, chairs, beds and pictures were brightly coloured, the table cloths being made of a shiny material, like silk. Their common colours were violet, gold, silver, scarlet and blue and Malachite assumed these cloths to be made from a rare material and dyed with rare colour sources. The beds had brightly coloured quilts and pillows and the largest bed, which was circular, was bright pink with magenta and aqua blue bedding, pillows and quilts. Sisu gazed at the room and assumed it to be Dolores' bed but then she noticed that the round bed had curtains draping from the ceiling above it. These curtains were purple and appeared to be crisscrossed with silvery lines. The arrangement of these lines brought to Sisu's mind spider webs. This seemed fitting considering the fact that Dolores was a spider-like creature. The types of furniture present included cupboards, ottomans and drawers and many of them appeared to be made of elaborate wood material. Some were decorated with silver and gold edges and layers. The carpets on which the group members walked were also colourful and they appeared to be made from some sort of rare fabrics. Rainbow Quartz took in the beauty of these rooms.
"A King or Queen could live in these compartments," the colourful Pegasus Mare whispered in awe, the richness of these rooms reminding her of the Four Monarchs' royal castle rooms including their bedrooms.
"Don't be fooled by the royalty-looking rooms, Rainbow Wings," said Cubozoa nearby, disgust lacing his face, "This is where Dolores and many of her minions live and sleep. We MUST be out of this room ASAP, now come along."
Rainbow Quartz did so and pulled her gaze from the decorations and furniture of the rooms. The group continued through what appeared to be the residence, Rei and Akari scanning for an entrance to another vent. The two Red Pandas wanted to get themselves and their group out of here quickly for they knew that this place was dangerous. After all, the biggest bed belonged to Dolores as the colour scheme of the bed matched her colours. As the group continued, some of them scanning the surroundings like hawks to watch out for any of Dolores' minions or Camera Eyes that may be present here, they passed by several large pictures. Then Lymphocyte spotted a large picture of a strange person.
"Hey, guys, look at this," the Terror Bird called. Malachite, Elsa, Seishan, Yardang, Rainbow Quartz and Sisu and several others including Tulio the Spix macaw and the Eclectus Parrot chicks came over to him.
"What is it, Lymphocyte?" asked Malachite. Lymphocyte nodded to the large picture which resembled a framed picture stuck on the wall. The picture which was bordered by frames of gold spanned the entire height of the room from floor to ceiling. In the picture was a person, apparently a woman. The woman resembled a Human woman or Daughter of Eve as most Narnians called them and she wore some kind of outfit. This outfit resembled a type of dress Malachite had seen called a kimono. The kimono-like dress was red, violet, magenta, gold and silver and the sleeves covered the woman's hands. The woman's hair was long and cascaded down the sides of her head and back and reached the floor. This hair was a beautiful shade of silver and it shone in the lights of the room. The woman's face was golden and had what two black eyes and a simple nose and mouth. At first, the group felt unsettled by this strange face but then Sisu assumed the face to actually be a mask. Rei and Akari came in, annoyed looks on their faces.
"What are you folks doing staring at that picture like art admirers?" the male Red Panda grumbled, "Come along with the rest of us will ya!?"
"Yes, and there are Camera Eyes floating around here and we wanna be out of this room FAST," put in the other one, the female.
"This picture is of a strange woman-like figure," said Lymphocyte and he gestured a short clawed wing to the image. Rei and Akari gazed at the kimono-like dress-wearing woman and then back at the Terror Bird.
"We don't know of any of Dolores' minions who are a Daughter of Eve who dresses like that," said Rei, "I think it's just a decoration of some person that Dolores likes but enough of that, let's move on."
Lymphocyte and the others obeyed and followed the Red Pandas back to the others. The group continued on, keeping an eye out for the floating Camera Eyes as they scoured the room for any intruders or escaped prisoners and soon, the group came across some sort of mural on another wall. However, Rei, Akari and the others passed it by, one goal in mind but Elsa and Seishan took some time to examine it. The mural seemed to depict a figure, again that figure resembling a woman like the kimono dress-like wearing woman in the frame from earlier. However, this woman had shining white skin, as white as snow. Her clothes were depicted as shining silver and white garments and silvery spikes rose from the woman's head. One of the woman's hands was raised and around the woman's head was a silvery ring, like a halo. Surrounding the roman's neck was silvery fur; that fur stylised after the fur around the neck of a certain creature. At first Seishan and Elsa thought this mural was beautiful until recognition came in and bit them with the conviction on who this woman was in the mural. Written under the mural was a set of words but they were written in a language unfamiliar to Seishan and Elsa. However, the twin Nekomata sisters did not need to read the description of the woman in the mural. As recognition of the person tool hold, Seishan and Elsa shuddered with RAGE. Suddenly, Friede the Cassowary came in and nudged them with his head to get them moving, which they did. The group continued but Seishan and Elsa kept quiet about the mural, not wanting to cause a disturbance, but they still felt the hot anger burn within them. Then after avoiding more Camera Eyes, the group finally found a vent entrance. After removing the grate, the group quickly entered the vent and closed the grate once the last of the members were in. Then the group searched for a place to rest, a place that was safely away from the reach of Dolores and her minions. After they had finally managed to find a place, the group settled down for a short sleep. They will resume their quest straight after waking up.