The Curse of Oak Island [open to all!]
Sept 21, 2023 0:40:48 GMT 11
❤ Aphrodite ❤ and Goni like this
Post by Professor Oak on Sept 21, 2023 0:40:48 GMT 11
ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ …ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ
Padding quietly through a labyrinth of moonlit streets and towering buildings, Pod and Homily found themselves in a realm unlike any they had ever known. Having hitched a ride with a traveling caravan of merchants the pair had left behind their familiar countryside home to start a new life together as Tandemaus often do following their nuptials. Their elongated shadows stretched like gangling giants across the cobblestone alleys as they passed between the halos of lamplight searching for small morsels of food to assuage their hunger.
"Isn't it amazing Pod?" whispered Homily, her minute nose twitching with excitement as she gazed up at the shimmering city lights. Pod nodded, his beady eyes wide with wonder. "It's a whole new world Homily. I can hardly believe we're here."
Tantalising scents of discarded food scraps enticed them through the maze of passageways and stirred their rumbling stomachs. Eyes darting to and fro in complete synchronisation and senses attuned to every subtle movement and distant sound, they navigated the cityscape with an unspoken understanding and a shared vigilance that spoke of their instinctual bond.
However, they were in a foreign land and vulnerable in their unfamiliar surrounds. On a rickety fire escape above them, a lithe and ravenous Meowth stalked their every move. As the mice skittered towards a pool of pale lamplight, the alley cat coiled his sinewy body in anticipation, every muscle tightened like steel springs, ready to unleash their predatory power.
In a breathless moment, a feral yowl pierced the night as the Meowth pounced from his towering perch onto the unsuspecting victims. Razor-sharp claws fell like a guillotine and ensnared one of the mouse-like creatures by the tail. Pod rolled out from under the feline’s wiry frame before looking back in horror to see Homily pinned beneath the assailant’s claws, helplessly shrieking in sheer terror.
"No please! Don’t hurt her!" he pleaded desperately.
The Meowth reared up and rose onto his hind legs clutching the squirming and squeaking Homily tightly in his grasp. "What’s this? The little pipsqueak speaks!" he hissed. "Count yourself lucky little mouse and run away before I decide to help myself to a second serving. You both look tender and juicy unlike those nasty purple rats.”
"Pod, go! Save yourself!" Homily wept in anguish realising that doom was upon her. But Pod could not abandon his soulmate. "Please, I’ll do anything! Take me instead! Please let her go!"
The wily tomcat stroked his whiskers beguilingly. "Do anything you say? Pah, what have you to offer me? Hmm. Oh, but there is only one thing I covet more than a delicious meal and that’s the iron coin of the Perrserker they call Blackheart. But he will make short work of you!"
"I’ll do it! Tell me where I can find Blackheart and I will bring you back his coin."
The alley cat laughed sadistically but decided to indulge in the mouse’s supplication. "You’ll find Blackheart easily enough. He pillages and ransacks the city by night. Just listen for the jangling of coins as he wanders the streets looking for a Payday."
"And once I have it, what then? Where will I find you?"
"Call my name in these streets and I will find you for I am Caterousse!" With this final exchange, the Machiavellian Meowth produced a length of gossamer spider’s silk and wrapped Homily up into a tight bundle before agilely scaling a dangling ladder and disappearing with his quarry into the night.^=∩=^
ฅ( ⓛⱉ ⓛ )ฅ
Pod sunk into a deep despair as he wandered hopelessly through the streets alone. Without Homily, his life was bereft of meaning, a person without a shadow, a garden without a single bloom. What was he now even? Maus, Solomaus, Mausingle, Ratalone, Allbymauself…? Faced with this existential crisis, how was he to retrieve this coin the Meowth wanted in exchange for Homily? Where would he even find Blackheart?
As he trudged forward purposelessly, a faint jingling pricked his ears; the unmistakable tinkle of coins scattering over cobblestone. He hurried toward the sound and as he rounded the corner, he saw the giant feline behemoth he was no doubt searching for. Its monstrous form was cloaked in thick matted fur that bristled like iron filings and rattled like chain mail with each lumbering step. Atop its head were the curved horns of a Viking helm while callous orange eyes glowered from a bearded visage. Set in its forehead was the prized sable-coloured koban coin that Caterousse had foretold.
The cries of a struggling pink creature drew Pod’s attention. The Perrserker had clasped in its dagger-like claws the puffed-out tail of a Skitty who was being violently shaken down as coins and dollar notes rained onto the street.
"Let me go you boor!" protested the Skitty. "My husband is an admiral in the navy, wait until he hears about this!"
The barbarian cat guffawed contemptuously, "Bob Marlin and the Wailmers can’t help you now Skitty cat! It’s high tide you paid your debts!”
After shaking out every last dime from the pink kitten he let go of her tail and began to rake all the fallen currency into a heaving sack filled with loot. The Skitty was left to lick her wounds as Blackheart slung the leaden burlap bag across his shoulders and plodded away. Pod followed surreptitiously at a distance to avoid being seen.
The Perrserker crossed the city’s outer boundary and traversed endless fields of ryegrass bathed in the silver slivers of moonlight. All the while his bloated bounty clinked in muffled satiety masking any sound made by the trailing Pod. After what seemed like hours trudging through the darkness they finally arrived at the shores of a tranquil lake, its inky surface like polished glass reflecting the moon and stars like a giant pearl suspended in a void speckled with diamonds.
Blackheart approached the water’s edge where a longboat had been moored among a braid of cattails. He slung his swag into the vessel, clambered in after it and with practised ease gripped the oars and began to row rhythmically into the brackish water. Without a means of transportation himself, Pod could only watch on as the ship glided out into the middle of the lake heading towards what appeared to be an island crested with a copse of pine trees.
With the adrenaline of the pursuit draining from his body, Pod felt fatigue wash over him. In a dry patch of straw, he lay down and drifted into a sorrowful sleep.^ ^
⋛⋋(◉Θ◉)⋌⋚
Pod awoke blinking against the rays of the midday sun. The emptiness of the nest without Homily beside him brought a flood of grief and just as he began to recollect last night’s fateful events, he felt an inexplicable sensation of being watched. His small heart raced as he turned to stare into the immense luminous eyes of a Noctowl.
Fear gripped him as he resigned himself to the idea that this was how he’d meet his end, without a chance to save his beloved. But to his astonishment, the goggle-eyed sentinel rotated its head 180 degrees so that its eyebrows pointed down like a horseshoe moustache while the beak now positioned at the top of its head began to speak. "G-Pa is here to warn you not to visit that island in the middle of the lake, you hear? Don’t even think it. No, no, not a good idea."
Pod was flabbergasted that this owl appeared to have anticipated his ambition but he wasn’t sure if it was through wisdom of observing his quest in the night or some other preternatural force. "But… I must save her."
Cocking his head to another angle, the Noctowl hooted “Who? Save who? No, no, islands are bad news. Especially that one. Them wormholes opened in the sky, rifts in time space. Out pop Viking cats and smoke clouds wearing hats. Someone’s been messing with time travel, they have."
"My wife. A Meowth is holding her hostage and unless I bring back… oh, never mind. I need to get to that island!"
They both glanced towards the solitary islet framed by snow-capped mountains mirrored across the crystalline waters of the lake. How innocuous and serene it looked with its grove of pines swaying against the wind and defiant against the encroaching water.
“Alright. G-Pa will take you there. But don’t say I didn’t warn you."
Once again surprised at the sudden acquiescence and foresight of his wishes, Pod could barely express his gratitude. "Oh, thank you! I… err… don’t know how to repay you." As the Noctowl clutched him carefully in his talons he felt vulnerable but had nothing to lose in trusting his only means of transportation. Besides the nocturnal bird’s behaviour was more eccentric than threatening.
The flight was turbulent to say the least. The Noctowl seemed to easily fly off course and they experienced random drops in altitude despite the lack of a breeze. But they did manage to arrive safely at the island which was larger than it had appeared at a distance. “I’ll wait for you here. The one you seek lives in a cleft in the trunk of the tallest pine. He takes his gold deep underground."
Pod daringly entered the grove of pine trees and it was not long before he identified the grizzled conifer with a gaping hollow embedded within its gnarled trunk. The cavity was large enough for a human to squeeze inside and made for a grand entrance for his pint-sized frame. An ancient earthen smell wafted from within but the intrepid mouse ventured inside the yawning maw without hesitation.
As he delved deeper into the gnarled cavity it descended further and further into the subterranean depths. At first the path was veiled in darkness but a little way in torches lining the tunnel walls cast a flickering radiance to light the way. Finally the tunnel opened up into a grand cavern and a lump caught in the back of Pod’s throat as an unimaginable sight revealed itself.
Towering mountains of gleaming gold coins rose to meet the cavern's vaulted ceiling and sparkled with lustrous resplendence in the light of burning braziers. He had entered a vast treasure trove in the heart of the earth. Pod’s paws trembled and his heart thumped in his chest as he surveyed the boundless wealth before him. Yet, his wonderment was eclipsed by an ominous presence at the far end of the cavern. There, sat upon an imposing throne wrought from interwoven swords was the formidable Blackheart, his eyes closed in sleep and the coin on his head almost mockingly close.
Could he pry it away without waking the Perrserker? Did it even come away easily like that? He carefully tiptoed forward but his tiny paws brushed a pile of shimmering metal. Coin tumbled onto coin setting off a chain reaction that cascaded downhill triggering an avalanche of clinking riches. As the torrent of gold coins pulsated downward, Pod tried to steady himself, his whiskers quivering with fear.
But it was too late. Blackheart’s ears perked at the sound and his eyes flickered open in rage. A low growl reverberated through the chamber before intensifying into a hair-raising screech! "YEOWWW! Who dares steal from me?!”
Overwhelmed by the dreadful noise, Pod scrambled back up the tunnel. He was clearly outmatched and would need another plan. G-Pa was awaiting him back on the surface as though expecting this outcome. They quickly took to the sky to escape the accursed island.
But as they soared high into the boundless blue, the wind picked up and the Noctowl struggled to maintain their course. His wings beat feebly against the gust as they begun to spiral out of control through the air. They had crossed over the water but their direction was unknown. Pod felt dizziness envelope him as the horizon spun around him. The next thing he knew, he slipped through G-Pa’s grip and was plummeting towards the ground.
