Company and Calamity

The echidna turns the corner and enters the booth. "Hey..." "Fellvasleep again?" "Yeah... Had a dream about a battle." "Don't we all?" "I didn't see anyone on my walk back up the stairs."

"He didn't see us?" they stop walking and Kyuubi turns to Desire, "he didn't see, nor smell us. He doesn't even know we are here." Kyuubi looks confused "was he really that tired?" Desire crosses her arms and leans back slightly.

"Being on guard is kinda boring." "You said it." "Orders are orders though." The trio chuckled before more cards were shuffled. "Alright. Deal me in."

Kyuubi stepped as close as he could to the voices and peeked around the corner to see if he could get a good look of who the Echidna was playing cards with. Desire slowly approaches and looks around the corner with him, he ears down so she is even less likely to be seen. Kyuubi crouched as he looked around the side.

"You can't do that." "What are you talking about?" "That combination doesn't work." "Of course it does." "It works, but not as well as this one." The group explodes into a sea of laughter and yelling. After a bit, they calm down and resume what ever game they're playing.

Kyuubi looked inside the room where r the voices where comeing from to see if he would recognize any of them. Desire looked behind her to make sure that no one was following them. "can you see them?" Desire asked still looking behind them...

The room was surprisingly narrow. A firplace was seen to the right. In it, a purple flame, fueled by nothing, warmed the room. By the enterence near Kyuubi, two grandfather clocks ticked away. By the fire was a table, seated at it was the Hyrax Echidna, a strange humanoid shape and nothing. The room was too dark to fully see and the fire did not appear to help. The table and chairs blocked the view to the stage. While none of the residents in the room could see Kyuubi, the feeling of being watched appeared once again.

Kyuubi hid around the corner once more, "only a little" he whispered. Kyuubi breathed deeply through his nose and exaled through his mouth, he closes his eyes and breaths again. His eyes opened, the whites of his eyes had been replaced by an emerald green color and his iris where slits. His eyes glowed the same color, Desire retracted in suprise but refused to say anything, she turns back to watch their backs again. Kyuubi turned the corner again, he could now see everything in the darkness. In his vision everything had a distinct image and emit aura, of different colors, that completely surrounded the people he could see.

The room, now easily seen, glows with many auras. The chair on the left gives off a flashy yellow aura. The Hyrax Echinda gives off a wavy purple aura and the empty chair gives off a strange olive-colored aura. The clocks also give off an aura, being a grey color. The clocks seem be be alive and sentient. On the ceiling, two olive auras glow softly. All around the room and even around the theater, a frightening purple and black aura fills the spaces between other auras.

"Its almost as if the room itself...is alive..." Kyuubi says, almost amazed, this could be one reason for why the felt like they were being watched. Desire's ears twitched and she looked worried "we should continue...or is the path through there?" she asks glancing behind them once more.

Suddenly, the clocks stopped ticking. The two olive colored spots on the ceiling seem to have shifted. The game continued to be played.

Kyuubi turned to Desire, "Try and find an exit or a path, something that will help us advance." Kyuubi turns to the door again. Desire turned and went to find a path forwards. Kyuubi kept looking in the room, also looking for a door of some kind.

The clocks simultaneously chimed loudly. The noise caused the players to jump and the sound of cards, pieces, and what ever else was on the table, fall to the floor. "What the-?" The room grew quiet and the chiming when on and on.

Kyuubi hid around the corner again, his eyes returned to normal and he covers his ears in shock, his ears twitched again and his hearing became normal again, Desire rushed back in suprise and almost knocked into something.

The chiming stops and the room is quiet. "Y-you've already alerted the sentries... Y-you might as well c-come out of hiding." The Echinda attempts to sound brave, but is still shacken from the loud and sudden chimes.

Kyuubi looks at Desire and whispers something before standing up and walking into the room, Desire stays behind the corner. Kyuubi steps into the room and raises his hand up and shakes it back and forth as a wave, he smiles.

"KYUUBI!" The echinda rushes forward and pounces the keaton. "I missed you so much!" The clocks chime, but the figure form the left chair raises its hand and they stop. "Who are you?" This figure sounds very aggressive.

Kyuubi looks at figure on the left and inspects the figure, "I am Kyuubi, the Keaton. I am a bit lost though." Desire listens in from a slight distance behind the door

"I will console the mysterious invader." The chair turns and nothing gets up. Nothing was in the chair. "I suggest you answer truthfully Kyuubi. You wouldn't want my associate here to get mad nor I to posses you." The echidna giggles. "It's been so long since we last saw one another."

"Mysterious invader?" Kyuubi looks slightly worried "yes, we haven't seen each other in a long time." he said to the Echidna "what mysterious invader?" he says worried. Desire closes her eyes and bites her knuckle. She thinks to herself And hopes that it isn't her he is talking about.

The presence circles Kyuubi before passing directly through him. "Tell me, why is it you made the climb to this booth?" The other figure begins to spark.

"We want to see Hyrax. We have a few questions to ask him." he says glancing between all of them. Syrix moves and looks at all of them as well. Desire steps closer to the door.

"Questions for Hyrax?" The figure and the voice go silent before laughing. The figure sends radiant bolts through the room in a laughing spree. The presence circles Kyuubi faster. They both calm down. "I take it you are not a sage in disguise. We find it funny because we never get visitors who simply want questions." The echinda lets go of Kyuubi and bounds for the fireplace to snuggle up to its heat.

Kyuubi forces a smile. Desire steps into the room that looks almost on accident, she glances around the room, she looks shocked and frozen and everyone stairs at her as she stands in the middle of the room "...Kyuubi...there you are. I was wondering where you ran off to." Desire smiles a nervous smile at Kyuubi.

"...Especially not that of company, I assure you." The voice drifts towards the table. In an overwhelming, cloud of gas, a sackcloth voodoo doll, not larger than five inches, slumps forward on the edge. Its body is covered in patches and many stitches. One of its button eyes droops and a pin sticks out from its head. The doll rises to its feet. "Best we see eye-to-eye in the near future or you're both going to have one nasty headache."