(no subject)

[deterrence]

[passersby on the fifth floor may notice Shizuru standing outside a room that is, according to the nameplate at 524, very obviously not her own. She's been here for some time now, it would seem, not knowing that the room's owner hardly comes by.

After the fruitless wait has gone on for quite enough, she fetches a chair from her room, and settles down to pen a filtered message...]

[Prince Charming]

Hello. This is your next-door neighbour.

I apologize for the suddenness of this, [a momentary pause. Okay, she's going to delay the bad news] but I would like to meet at your nearest convenience.

Comments

[deterrence]

Of course. As it stands, much of this world remains unknown to us. Making exploration plans would be easier when you have some idea what to expect.

[...says the one who hasn't gone on a group expedition in all her time here. Anyway! They can go off and be pioneers, she has her own stuff to deal with here]

[soccerwhisperer]

Some people seemed to know. I saw them packing boats last time, and someone said they got to a canal!

[deterrence]

I think there was quite some preparation behind this expedition. They made use of what was discovered about the terrain previously, too.

[soccerwhisperer]

How did they find out before they left?

[deterrence]

I remember seeing some mention of expecting water... [trailing off briefly to page through her journal. About a month's worth of entries goes by until she finds what she was looking for, extending Raine's entry for him to see] This, for instance.

[soccerwhisperer]

Ooh, they found a painting of it...!

[deterrence]

The Insolitus seems to have its own share of mysteries hidden within. [...] That's the whole point to a maze, I suppose.

[soccerwhisperer]

Hope we don't find a minotaur down there!

[deterrence]

The smell would probably carry before it'd be seen. [because cow er, bull]

Have you gone inside there before?

[soccerwhisperer]

Smell? [city boy has never seen a real cow bull man]

Once, but I lost a soccer ball there.

[deterrence]

[she has! ...in zoos, surely that counts for something] Of an animal.

Maybe it'd show up again, or be found by somebody making their way through.

[soccerwhisperer]

Oh, like wet dog.

You think so?

[deterrence]

Will you recognize the ball if you see it again?

[soccerwhisperer]

Probably not. I didn't put a special marking on it.

[deterrence]

[will curb the urge to ask "why were you playing with it in the Insolitus anyway"]

Ah. That's a shame.

[soccerwhisperer]

There's always more. Maybe that's where the castle gets them in the first place.