Back Down The Rabbit Hole

[Aria Wurud]

Old very old familiar smells wafted to her nose, the air cool against her bare skin. Long slender limbs moved quietly and quickly along the old once walked path. Years has passed since she last transverse the forgotten halls of this kingdom long forgotten. Past statues frozen in place centuries ago. A smile graced soft lips; she knew this place as if she had lived here herself once upon a time. But alas it was not her feet that called this place home but a companions whose memory she fed off of to be able to navigate the forgotten halls.



Aria at the age of twenty four was returning to her old home, she had thinned out and her body was leaner and more toned then it once was. Her womanly curves had filled in, and her features more angular taking on almost an elfish cat like appearance. Even the tips of her ears had tapered off to slight points. No longer was she able to pass off as human, or even part human. A large flame like scar spread across the left side of her face, a scar which she had come to terms with and no longer hid by her wild hair. Her hair fell down in soft waves, small parts of it braided while the rest fell around her body in wild wisps. Her form was clothed in flowy white cloth, an opaque white band covered her chest along with a fitted white bottom to preserve some modesty. While a transparent material was draped over one shoulder and wrapped around the rest of her form; slowly transforming into flowing skirts. Her feet were bare besides for a vine wrapped around her ankle, and along with one on her wrist. On her right forearm a black dagger was imprinted onto her skin, a stark contrast to the pale skin it rested on. In short Aria had returned from the Glade of Hero's looking like the deity she was.



Blue green eyes took in the site of an old throne room, stopping only for a moment for nostalgia sake. Her slit like pupils opened wide to let in the little light that the soft red glow of crystals provided. She pushed on climbing her way up to an old tower. Taking the time to grab an old wooden shield from the wall.



A trap door was above her now; her nerves buzzed in excitement. If her nose did not lie the one she was looking for should be home. She missed the familiar scent, Ven called it jade something...What ever it was it was stronger as she approached the trap door. She positioned the shield on her forearm, and with a burst of speed and strength flung the trap door open.



"GAAAREEETTT I'M HOOOOME"



The shield would be brought up for the oncoming dagger she knew would come. A wicked imp like grin would fallow. It was good to be back.

[Garrett Noru]

One dagger hit the center of the shield with a loud thunk. Then Aria would hear six more thunks to follow shortly behind the first dagger. If she were to examine the shield a perfect circle of smaller daggers lined around the first center dagger. 

" Come in." 

A male voice called out from inside the brightly lit home. On the inside it looked like a regular two story cottage. The first floor had a a small kitchen that was then divided by a decorative half-wall to the rest of the house. The house was decorated in elaborate goods and decor that were gold, silver, and highly valuable. The shiny objects however glowed and reflected the large beautiful fire that was on the other side of the room. A roaring fire with bright orange-yellow and red flames.  Only to cast a shadow where Garrett stood in front of the fire place. His posture strait and his hands behind his back. For a moment he stood there in silence before turning his head where he had heard something open the latch to the trap door in his floor.. His eyes covered by a black blindfold. 

" Doesn't anyone knock any more?" he sighed, lifting up the left side of the blind fold. A bright blue eye staring out from a scarred up face. To his surprise who ever had opened the latch was still alive. A face he hadn't seen in eight years now stared back at him. His mouth slightly gaped in shock. 

" Aria?...... Is that really you?" Garrett blinked in surprise. Unsure if the woman that was standing before him was actually the little 16 year old brat that always went looking for trouble. He almost didn't believe it, but then again everything aged so why not her? It was then that Garrett's realization of her being an actual grown woman finally sets in.  His one eye slowly widening until finally he froze. It was kinda like an aneurism, He jerked for a second and then reacted. Not even hesitating he quickly pulled the blind fold back over his eye and turned his head back as if to 'stare' at a fire that he now couldn't see. 

" It...Its good to s-see you. You...You actually lived passed six-sixteen." he stuttered, trying to keep his composure. 

[Aria Wurud]

The sound of a solid thunk, shortly fallowed by six more could be heard from the shield. She felt each land deep into the old wood. As old as it was it did its duty quiet admirably. She looked at the reverse side where they had landed....six more then he normally did, was he getting jumpier as years passed? Calmly and quickly she yanked each one out of the shield....she always did wonder how he managed to get so many daggers out of so many hiding spots so quickly.

"Ratty never knocked, I never knocked, and I don't imagine Creo ever did either so I don't know where this anymore is coming from"

She rose up from the trap door, closing it behind her a large grin on her face as he peeked out of the random blindfold. Her hand rested on her hip as he stood shocked to see her.

"Who else would know how to come up out of the basement of doom you got down there?"

Arias smart ass humor certainly hadn't changed in the eight years she had been gone, if anything it was a bit worse then it use to be....aaannnddd there was the bugged eyed look; the one she got whenever she greeted him though this one was accompanied with a twitch. She bit her lip to keep from bursting out with laughter, a small giggle broke through as she shook her head.

"Garrett I haven't even hugged you yet and you're going all twitchy."

She skipped across the room before giving the blind folded man a tight hug.

"It's good to see you to, though you're not doing much seeing, what's up with this thing anyways?"

She pulled back the left part of the blind fold and looked up at him with a curious expression. The random blind fold while standing in front of the fire was odd....and she had just spent living eight years with Grandpa Lee Lee and the others....not many things were odd to her anymore.

[Garrett Noru]

" I believe Ratty is incapable of knocking....As for Creo.." Garrett went silent, before taking in a deep breath. When he exhaled, his head lowered in a concerned fashion. " I haven't seen Creo since Ambrosia started the war. I don't believe she is among us anymore, Aria." He spoke in a low almost mournful tone.

He lifted his head once Aria asked if anyone else knew about the trap door coming up through the middle of his house. He gave a long pause before unclasping his hands to point at a medium size chest located next to the stairs that lead up to the loft space above.

" Feyerlun has become a dangerous place in the past couple of years... In your absence, things have changed if you haven't noticed. "

He sighed, his body tensing when he could hear Aria approach him and proceeded to hug him. You would think by now he could deal with being touched by a woman. Not that he never liked woman, it was that he didn't know how to deal, approach, or even talk to one. Before hand Aria was a child. He could deal with that form of the girl because she hadn't filled out fully then. Now..Now she was an adult and bared the beauty of her divinity. 

When she released him he let out a breath of air and stepped back. Only to have Aria lift the left side of the blindfold up to where he was now face to face with her. 

" I am training... To be able to react in a situation where If I could not see. I would not be helpless." Garrett answered with a scoff, pulling off the blindfold completely. A brow raised as he turned his head to no look at Aria directly. On the right side of his face a large scar could be seen reaching from his forehead down to his collar bone. A battle scar from the recent war. " I see they didn't teach you much on manners where ever your father kept you. " Garrett joked, moving closer to the fire place to stir the coals. 

[Aria Wurud]

Her joy filled features turned somber for a moment; she had been with Creo these past years...until recent events. She averted her gaze towards the fire, biting her lip a bit....she hadn't planned that remark well. Her head tilted to the side when the subject changed and her attention was directed towards a chest. Her brows scrunched up in slight confusion.

"I don't understand...What's in the chest....I would go poke it but considering what I hid in flower pots I don't think I want to.... "

She eyed it like it would come to life and bite her... why was it whenever she and Garrett got together there was always some serious conversation like this...only time when things didn't fallow this pattern was when Ratty involved himself...She actually missed that crazy bastard. His reaction towards her hugging him was one she expected; at least that hadn't changed. Though the refusing to look at her was right back where they started the first time they met in the sewers. A frown couldn't help but creep onto her features when she accounted the new scars; a pang of guilt sharp in her stomach. She had lived such an easy life the past eight years, it seemed unfair. She let out a small chuckle as he joked about her manners; she scratched the back of her head with a dopey grin.

"Sorry, Granny Ai and Ven don't really fallow this worlds dictation on manners perhaps I've picked up some odd habits....plus I was excited to see you again I missed you"

She had a hard time imagining Garrett being helpless....ever....but she could understand the feeling of panic when one does not have sight. Thorne had helped her past that stage long ago.

"I am back for a while; would you trust me enough to help with that? It will be good for me also; reacting to illusions placed in my head isn't quite the same as in person."

Seeing how eye contact was not necessary during this conversation with him she did gaze around the room, noting the small differences...and odd strange smells....

"My father kept me in the glade with the others, srewop dna egdelwonk thob ni ylhguoroht detacude saw I."

She switched to the ancient language mid way; knowing he probably knew the tongue.

"It's the reason why I lived past sixteen; it's also the reason why I don't know what these changes you speak of are.... I've only just come back and immediately took to the underway; which really hasn't changed at all in the past thousand years...you're the first person other than the gods that I've had contact with in eight years."

[Garrett Noru]

A thump came from inside the chest next to fire place. What ever it was, the chest held something alive inside. A screech followed by sounds of claws scrapping against the chests sides soon broke the silence in the room.

Garrett didn't seemed phased by the noise. Instead he seemed to act as if it didn't even exist. One minute he was poking the fire, the next he reached over and whacked at the top of the chest with a bit of an aggressive strike.

" A corruptor. "

Garrett sighed, his expression almost annoyed as he looked back at Aria.

" It's a nasty beast that has been terrorizing all three kingdoms. Now it has found the 'basement of doom', or what ever you call it. They are a bitch to kill an normally seen in packs of four or more… About a week ago, one decided to come alone and into my house, uninvited might I add." He smirked, looking over to the shield he had planted his daggers into.

" Thank goodness it wasn't creative enough to pick up a shield to protect itself… I've kept it alive so far, but I had to cut off its legs, arms, and sucker to contain it."

Garrett seemed so relaxed talking about the creature. He scooted a few feet back to place himself on the floor. His legs out stretched in front of him while his arms were propping his upper body up in a obtuse angle. His eye fixed on the fire when Aria started talking. He remained silent the entire time. Only to finally react when she started speaking in the old language.

" I've figured thats what happened. " He smirked reaching into his pocket to pull out a gold coin. He twirled it around his fingers when he let out a small chuckle.

" Is that so? Well Ratty will be surprised when he finds out you are still alive. If I recall he and I placed a bet several years back on your survival. It's good to know my faith in one's character still holds strong, which is why I can say I'm glad to see you are alive.… Also, you didn't run into anything down there while you were coming up here?" He asked his tone some what curious.

[Aria Wurud]

Judging by that noise her decision not to poke it had been a wise one....what ever was in there didn't sound happy.

"It's not one of Rattys chickens is it..."

She cautiously lifted her nose trying to catch the strange things scent. Her answer came when Garrett told her it was something called a corrupter. Her facial features becoming alarmed when he said it came up through the trap door she had just arisen from.

"I'm glad you're alright; and even more glad I had thought to grab the shield before popping up. Course I've surprised you enough times to know if I scare you something's getting thrown at me and its usually sharp and pointy. However if those things are coming up from the basement of doom that is problematic...But what exactly is a corrupter....and why does it have a sucker?"

She walked over to the trap door looking down...she wondered if she could enchant it so the trap door no longer seemed to be there...then again she wasn't about to do it until she knew more about how this 'corrupter' worked. At the very least they should put some noise traps or something down there to alert if any more came up. For the mean time she closed the door; kinda surprised he hadn't barricaded it yet.

"I would be lying if I didn't say I'm glad this door is in your room and not in mine upstairs.....speaking of that I wonder how my plants are doing....."

They probably had died off without anyone to care for them; she only could hope someone who knew about them took care of them for her. Her attention was brought back from her little mind vacation when he announced that he and Ratty bet on her survival. The expression she gave him was a deadpan look, slowly fallowed by a small eye twitch. Until finally letting out a small chuckle and shaking her head.

"I thank you for your faith, or at least faith in the ability of my father to keep me alive. However I am insulted he didn't think I would live; I think I've proven I have a knack for escaping by the skin of my neck."

She came over and plopped down next to him; a wicked grin spreading across her face.

"Me and you can have fun breaking the unfortunate news to him? We never did repay him for the whole kidnapping incident. I think the past should come back and haunt him"

A giggle escaped her lips; if he thought her dead the surprise could be fun. She turned her head and looked at him with a raised eyebrow when he asked if she had run into anything down there.

"I hope I can say I have become better at avoiding things in the past eight years. So no I took care to NOT mind slap or run into anything while I was down there. After the first time I was down there getting attacked by mana corrupted gorge hounds was more than enough of a reason to avoid any living being down there at all costs."

Aria absently minded spun one of the daggers she had plucked from the shield in her hand, careful to avoid the blade.

"You know I have a new rule if something is thrown at me I keep it?"

She gave him a teasing smile; in the past years when boredom had set in she had gotten plenty of things thrown at her when one of her more annoying traits took over.