Riful's Heart.

[dramatispersonae]

[everything goes away.]

[sight, sound, taste, touch, smell - you lose yourself to the nothing that waits through the doorway. do you have a body? a mind? what is such a thing? for a dizzying moment, you might not even be sure you have a "you" to identify these concepts with.]

[then, wrenching and violent, the confusion of the senses pummels itself back inside you like seasoning pounded into raw meat, and you're left, painfully sensate, on an open plain.]

Comments

[amivoringyou]

[there is more further back into the cavern, where the pool's light doesn't reach, but not in this particular "pocket", no.]

[badmedicine]

[ so, is there anything in the pool? ]

[amivoringyou]

[there is the faint marbling of the dark liquid swirling on the surface - suspiciously similar in color to the stains on the wall - and the turquoise light coming from somewhere deep down below, but other than that ... no.]

[badmedicine]

. . .

[ goes back to the previous pocket, and picks up a clean scalpel and the body of the dog. so . . . can I dump the dog in the pool? ]

[amivoringyou]

[yes]

[badmedicine]

[ does so, then heads toward those strange animal noises ]

[amivoringyou]

[you find yourself in front of another pool ... but this one doesn't reflect or glow.]

[by the water's edge a badger curls up protectively around a small white rabbit, fidgeting in its embrace.]

[the rabbit squeaks at your presence, and the badger sits up, making threatening badger noises at you.]

[badmedicine]

[ crouches down again and waits, to see if the badger does anything else ]

[amivoringyou]

[well, its threatening noises just scared the rabbit into the pool]

[and now it's panicking and badgering around the edge of the pool, wondering what to do what to doooo]

[badmedicine]

[ gets up and steps to the edge of the pool. can he reach the rabbit? ]

[amivoringyou]

[probably ... it's not a very large pool.]

[badmedicine]

[ attempts to pick up the rabbit, then ]

[amivoringyou]

[the rabbit is soaking wet and terrified]

[it shivers in your arms '-']

[... and the badger is watching you cautiously, uncertainly]

[what is going on ...]

[badmedicine]

[ well, I'm trying to dry the rabbit with the bottom of my shirt...tunic...thing. does it calm down a little? ]

[amivoringyou]

[a little '^']

[badmedicine]

[ keeps stroking the rabbit . . . and what is the badger doing? ]

[amivoringyou]

[it's just going "...what do" at you, like it can't decide whether it wants to gnaw on your leg or be grateful to you]

[badmedicine]

[ looks around to see if there is anything else to explore . . . and is still petting the rabbit ]

[amivoringyou]

[there are several more "pockets" in this cavern ... you can count six in all.]

[badmedicine]

[ taking the bunny with him to the next pocket, then ]

[amivoringyou]

[the next room has a cage covered by cloth inside; something bright glows inside it, its light muffled by the dark cloth.]

[badmedicine]

[ picks up the edge of the cloth and lifts it ]

[amivoringyou]

[there is a bird made of fire - not the Firebird - fluttering its wings at you from within the cage.]

[badmedicine]

[ is there a way to open the cage? ]

[amivoringyou]

[you'd need a key for that]

[and you don't have one '-']

[maybe if you were Goku you could bend the bars of the cage '-']