high_seas | Meep Manhunt!

Entry tags:

Meep Manhunt!

Who: Anyone who expressed interest in going after Meep and received a letter from Scurvey Dog.
Where: Anygrav Moon
When: August 9th-22nd
What: The mission begins! Dog asked for help rescuing Meep and it's you lot who've responded. Try to bring him back in one piece, eh?
Warnings: Possible violence...?
Style: Any!
Status: Closed to those involved!

The island is covered by a familiar mist that rolls across the ground. Fortunately for you, it's not going to bring nightmares to life this time, but it definitely lends to the general feeling of unease that fills the place. That isn't helped by the fact that though the population here was never very large, it certainly must be even smaller now.

It's the dead, lifeless husks along the beach that make that much obvious.

There's no sign of battle, and all the bodies appear unmarked. It's as though they suddenly dropped right where they were standing, as if something completely and abruptly drained them of energy.

Watch your step as you make your way inland. Wouldn't it be a shame if the same thing happened to you?

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[Falling up, that's a new one. Gaius flips out of reflex, and once he lands, he finds they're surrounded by shiny things.]

Whoa....

[For a moment he stares, and then picks up one of the keys by his feet for a better look. He takes up another one, brow furrowing as he nudges his mask up over his head.]

...what the heck?

[not so lucky, and flops onto the keys with a snarl and a wince. That hurts when you're not wearing a shirt]

Oww...dammit. Hey. [points to the riddle inscribed on the wall. Looks a lot like the one outside, and the ones in the cow labyrinth, and...]

What's that say?

[Yeah, he didn't see that coming. Hiccup groans, rubbing the side of his head. Tufts of auburn hair stay up after he does this, blinking at the riddle as he picks himself up off of the ground.]

Uuh...lemme see...

[He clears his throat.]

"Some keys for boxes, some keys for starts, but the one that opens this old door comes from the depth of your..."

...Fart? It says fart, right? That looks like fart.

[On the bright side, at least no one gets landed on by a dragon? Toothless however had been surprised to find Hiccup yanked out of his saddle before he began to follow suit, but unfurls his wings as he twists about, landing heavily on his feet, albeit off to the side of the others. He snorts, looking up or down or whichever way it was before glancing at the others.

Meanwhile Gaius has dropped the keys he'd picked up and stepped over to offer Gan Ning a hand up.]

....what, really?

[He looks at Hiccup, brow arching.]

[accepts that hand, and once he's on his feet he just blinks at Hiccup...

...and then busts a gut laughing]

No way! No damn way! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! What does that even mean? How can a key come from your fart?

What, it says! I-it can say fart– okay, maybe it doesn't make any sense!

[He gestures at the riddle, sighing as soon as he hears how ridiculous it sounds. His arms drop back down to his sides.]

[Gaius snickers.]

Well, riddles are riddles. Although that's still pretty bizarre if you ask me.

[He steps over towards the inscription on the wall to have a look for himself.]

...huh. Well, I guess I can see why you read it as "fart"....

[Tilting his head, he moves to run his fingers over it.]

Hmm... I think part of it just got worn out. There's a really faint line here and something in front- an 'H' I think.

...heart?

[aw but the other way was funnier.

Still, Gan Ning comes over and has a look at the unfamiliar lettering, folding his arms over his chest]

A key from your heart? That don't make any sense either. Does that mean we gotta look for a key with a heart on it or somethin?

[he looks down. At all. Those. Keys. More keys than there are coins in a treasure chest.]

We're gonna be here for years tryin' to find that! Meep's gonna be long dead before we'd ever find it.

[Hiccup shrugs.]

A little better. But yeah, still doesn't make sense.

[And when Gan looks down, he looks down.]

Oh gods. There has to be an easier way of doing this.

[Toothless snorts and looks about as he sees the others doing so. Are they supposed to find something in all these funny metal things?

Gaius picks up another handful of keys in his gloved hands, letting them filter through his fingers as he watches them fall.]

I'd hope so. Otherwise we're gonna be here a really long time. Guess having the dragon blow a hole through the door would be too easy, huh?

Thing's probably got sorcery all over it, won't be so easy to blast down. [pats Toothless on the nose as he wades through keys] You can try, though, eh, buddy? But writin' on the wall and another damn riddle means there's a trick to it.

[he bends down to pick up a few, idly looking for something heart-shaped, but he suddenly reels to the side. One of those keys was most decidedly not normal and not in the "this could be The One!" way. Ning shakes his head to try to clear it, but his vision is going a little fuzzy.]

...whoa...

[The viking does note that, glancing over a shoulder at Toothless.]

Well, it could've been worth a shot. Sorry bud – while the twins' approach to things is tempting, we can't risk it. Next time, though.

[Promise. Crouching down, Hiccup runs his hands over part of the key pile.]

Y'know, it would be great if there was some kind of label on it– Gan? What's wrong–

[Uh? Vertigo strikes, suddenly stretching the corners of his vision. This wouldn't have been a problem if his hand guards actually covered his hands.]

Yeah, I guess you're right. Which probably means that picking the lock is out of the question as well.

[He sighs, setting a hand at his hip as his eyes skim over the keys below once again. His attention snaps towards Gan Ning and Hiccup then.]

You two all right?

[Toothless grunts as Hiccup begins to sway, moving closer to the Viking.]

[Gan Ning drops the keys, not that he can tell that the feeling came from touching one but just out of sheer wibbly-ness.]

All of a sudden I feel kinda drunk. [hence the stupid grin rather than any look of concern] Is is the room? Maybe it's the room. Gotta get out of it, get some fresh air.

Hehehehe fart...

[yep, trippin' a bit]

I'm– I'm great! Thanks for asking, Gaius.

[As he gives a thumbs up, he accidentally crashes into Toothless, knocking some of the wind out of him. Somehow this is hilarious because he's grinning while going through some more keys.]

Maybe...maybe it is, maybe it's just you? Being drunk like a skunk...

[He then snorts, laughing.]

Fart!

[Yeah, so mature. Laughing harder, he then looks up at Toothless.]

Ooh, hey bud! How'd you get upside down again??

....yeah, you guys are definitely not okay.

[He exchanges a glance with Toothless, the latter almost seeming to shrug before looking away from the drunken humans disinterestedly. Maybe he doesn't see anything too unusual about their behavior.]

[Gaius sniffs the air, but aside from the scent of metal and that general ancient room smell, he's not catching anything weird. He stoops down to sift through the keys again, frowning as he looks between the two loopier members of the group.]

Maybe you two should get on Toothless for now.

[He lets the keys drop, not finding any bearing any heart shapes like Gan Ning had suggested earlier. Looking through all of them is going to take forever at this rate.]

...there's got to be some trick to it...

Hell yeah! [I mean sure, Toothless is now purple and has a tiara on, in his vision, but it's still his favorite dragon. Gan Ning trots over and gives him a hug before sprawling over the saddle] Hiccup you gotta gimme a ride. Gimme a boost!

[only, you know, for now he'll hang there, letting Gaius have a nice shot of his ass. At least the butt-cape with embroidered flames covers it]

Trick, huh? Yeah, 's a riddle so. Always tricky. Uh.

'zzat mean none o' these keys are the key and the key is us?

Will do, mildew!

[After the thief receives a sloppy salute, Hiccup staggers. He then gives Toothless a hug. Aw.]

My buddy~

[Oh. Right. Helping Gan jump up on the Night Fury's back. HE CAN HELP. Hiccup pushes himself up onto his feet, barely keeping his own balance as he tries to push the captain up. Instead, he's pushing Gan into the poor dragon's side.]

Huh. Wonder why this isn't working. Oh well. HEY GAN, you're gonna have to hold on tight!

[It's go time!

...Except Hiccup puts his helmet on backward.]

Hey! Where'd everybody go!?

Edited 2015-08-15 02:34 (UTC)

.....

[Gaius sighs as he looks at the two, slightly sorry for inflicting them upon the dragon, but if it'll keep them from possibly getting worse-

Oh yeah, that's a nice view there, Gan Ning. Just don't fart, okay?

The thief snorts in a bit of a laugh as he watches the two fumbling about.]

Hm. You might be onto something, Jingles. I mean, it seems ridiculous to try and search all of these keys just for one. But did the riddle mean our hearts specifically, or like...the heart of something else?

[He absently reaches over to twist Hiccup's helmet about the right way.]

Where's Sweets when you need her?

Holdin' on...

[mostly. but then he looks up at Hiccup and dissolves into subtle giggles at his helmet problems]

Better not be one've our hearts. We need those. Hey, hey, Gaius - hey. Your heart's in your chest, right? You should rip your shirt off and press your chest to the door.

Or wait wait wait...I already got no shirt! Lemme do it!

[sliding back off Toothless, however, is apparently not as easy as simply letting himself go boneless. He gets tangled in the harness.]

[What's so funny why is Gan Ning laughing oh HE CAN SEE]

–Oh! I knew that!

He scrambles up into the saddle, sitting a little higher than he normally would...just as Gan slips off to try something genius.]

...Oh. My. Gan! That's it! Try that first!

And then if that doesn't work, try FARTing on the door!

Ugh, I hope not. Although I'm sure the place would have some sort of bloodstains if that were the case.

....what.

[At this point he's not sure whether he should laugh or cry, but apparently Gan Ning is serious about this suggestion. It's just too bad he looks ridiculous being all tangled up there.

Gaius steps over to help get him loose, Toothless having decided the humans are being dumb enough that they aren't going anywhere very soon, so he settles down.]

...pff. There's a great idea, Twigs.

[he can't stop giggling. For real, he's stuck in an endless laugh loop, low chuckles under his breath. It's Hiccup's fault, he said fart.

Once free, he reels back into Gaius's arms and gives himself a second to find his legs.]

What like you got any better ideas?

[okay so where's the door now? Everything is sort of haloed at the edges of his vision, particularly the torches and any light glinting off the keys. But Gan Ning does his best goddammit, and finds his way over to hug the door. That's right, c'mere door, let me love you. Arms spread, chest flat against the door.]

[Hiccup's giggling too much now because he's a dumb baby.

He pauses to breathe. Then he starts giggling more when Gan Ning presses himself up against the door.]

Yeah, you show that door who's boss!

Well no...

[He watches Gan Ning stumble over towards where the door is and then smoosh himself against it. What is this even anymore...]

....

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