Day 2: Trapped with the enemy (Moira & James)

[jamesthorn]

Eventually, Moira and he had grown too tired to continue their trek through what appeared to be a neverending series of passageways and rooms and stairs. Luckily, nothing else had tried to attack them so the night ended eerily quiet. They had camped in a well lit room and attempted to rest. James barely slept, feeling wind and bugs crawling over his skin, only to jolt him wake. He finally managed a couple hours of sleep after essentially just passing out from exhaust.

He wakes up grouchy and disoriented.  It is finally sinking in how fucked they are. They have no means of communication or guide. They are essentially just guessing their way through here. Even if someone came here wherever it was, they would never find them. Not to mention they have no food or water. This is probably why they have been snapping at each other ever since they woke up. 

"We have already been this way," James says, gritting his teeth in frustration. The rooms were just going in circles. "Twice."

Comments

[chasingtwisters]

Moira is even crankier than when she wakes up in the morning on a good day. She's hungry, thirsty, her neck hurts from where she was bitten, and she's tired, both physically and in the sense that they've been stuck in this hell for two days now. She hates her life as she grumbles, irritable from lack of food and energy.

"What do you suggest, Sherlock?" She grumbles, moving to shrug a piece of hair away from her face.

[jamesthorn]

"I don't see why I should have the answer," James fires back. "Isn't weird and fucked up your area of expertise? " Seriously, this entire thing had witch written all over it, and James certainly wasn't one of those. It was probably her fault they were in this mess.

[chasingtwisters]

"Oh, well, of course this is all my idea," she snaps, kicking at a rock to vent her frustration. "I just love meandering through killer labyrinths with killer insects and assholes who seem to blame all their problems on witches. This is definitely my idea of a good time."

She has to resist the urge to send sparks flying at him.

[jamesthorn]

James is a few feet ahead of her, and he is not beyond just rolling his eyes at the sound of her voice, the frustration inside of him slowly building. In his mind, he knows someone else is behind this, but in his heart, it's just hard to distinguish being mad at Moira and mad at the witches in their town that cause these types of ludicrous things to happen.

"You know maybe we shouldn't talk anymore," James suggests angrily.

[chasingtwisters]

"For once, a sensible idea," she scoffs before settling into silence, rolling her eyes as she does so. She knows she ought to let up on James some, considering he's now lost both his cousin and his mother, and considering the circumstances he lost them in, she can understand why he'd blame witches for the events. Still, she is tired and grouchy, and wants little more than to crawl into the comfort of her own bed with a cool glass of water and something substantial to eat. Hell, she'd settle for a pb & j right about now.

[jamesthorn]

James would have been happy to carry on with the silent charade forever, since it made his headache subside the few minutes they ignore each other, but he doesn't really get a say in the matter. Because as they pass through the next opening, it isn't just another series of identical stone rooms. Instead, it's a beautiful underground garden, and there's running water in a small pond. He looks at Moira because who knows if that water isn't dangerous. Everything else has been.

[chasingtwisters]

"Fuck, I'm so thirsty," she wants to cry at the sight of the water, which her gut is screaming at her is a bad idea. The garden is fragrant, beautiful, lovely, and such a relief from the previous rooms of darkness, insects, and mayhem. Still, she knows better, walking behind James into the garden and trying not to touch anything. "Probably everything here is poison and/or wants to eat us."

Still, she keeps glancing at the water.

[jamesthorn]

James steps up the pond as she groans about being thirsty. He is concerned that this is the first signs of any type of life they've seen since being here, and it's hard to just walk by it without taking a drink. Who knows when they'll see more water. "What if it's not?" he asks her. "What if it's fine..."

[chasingtwisters]

When he asks her if its fine, she finally decides to hell with the consequences. She steps up beside him, almost brushing him aside as she reaches down and scoops up some water in her hands, taking a long, deep gulp and consuming it all in a matter of seconds. She breathes a sigh of relief before reaching down for some more, but before she can do that, she feels a strange, unsettling numbness cover her, and before she can even blink, she is suddenly in her cat form, pawing confusedly at the air around her.

"Mew?" She tilts her head to glance up at James.

[jamesthorn]

Wow, I did not see this coming, James thinks blinking back at the white furry cat standing where Moira once stood. Seeing someone transform into a cat was about the weirdest thing he'd ever seen. Yet still...

"This is not the weirdest thing about you," he tells Moira, or the cat, or is it cat-Moira? There had always been rumors about the cats in town, but he never had solid proof until today. He sighs to himself looking around, aside from the cat issue there was no other pressing danger. He picks up the clothes scattered on the ground, using the shirt she had on to make a sling. He stuffs the rest of the clothing inside and hangs it over his arm.

"I get your propensity for public nudity now," he says, mainly to himself because he isn't actually talking to a cat.

[chasingtwisters]

She looks as offended as a cat can look when he picks up her clothes and tosses them together over his arm. She swats at him for the public nudity comment. She hates the idea of transforming against her will, and doing so in front of James is even worse. Still, there's no further harm in drinking more water now, she supposes, so she quickly makes back for the edge of the water and drinks her fill, tail wobbling behind her.

[jamesthorn]

Not even minding when the cat swats at him since the thing is about a foot tall, James sits on the edge of the pond beside Moira and watches her (it?) take a longer drink of water, tail swishing happily behind her from side to side. My life is so weird, he thinks, shaking his head to himself. "I like you better this way," he tells her, petting her head, with a slightly superior grin. "You can't talk."

[chasingtwisters]

Moira stiffens at his hand on her head, entire body tensing. She's tempted to give him fair warning of her displeasure, like any normal cat would, but she's not a cat to begin with and she is still tired and cranky from this hell's hole labyrinth they currently find themselves in. She waits a few moments, lets the tension surround them before turning and pouncing on James' hand, sinking her claws into his skin with a loud hissing noise.

Certainly, it's childish, but she feels a lot better.

[jamesthorn]

When Moira attacks him, hissing, unleashing claws, pouncing, the whole nine yards, James is caught off guard even though he should have expected cat-Moira to be just as evil. He wrenches his hand away, probably leaving skin and blood beneath her claws. He clutches his scratched and bloodied hand to his chest, glaring down at her.

"What the hell was that for?" James yells, checking over his skin for big wounds. But he is fine. "Fuck." He bends down to retrieve the clothes he dropped even though he should toss them in the water for that stunt. He looks around, deciding on the stairs on the opposite side of the garden.

"Let's go this way," he says scowling.

[chasingtwisters]

"Rowr," she purrs, taking distinct pleasure in causing him discomfort. She waits for him to check himself over before following him to the stairs at the end of the garden. Cautiously, she peers over the edge, wondering what other mishaps await before bounding down them.

[jamesthorn]

James lets Moira head down the steps before him which is the first mistake. His second is thinking she sees what appears from the darkness the moment she enters, but she pauses at the bottom step, licking her paw. "Moira..." he says, but he is still several steps behind her, way too far away to reach. "Come back up here..." There are twenty pairs of yellow eyes looking at her from around the room.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira freezes when she realizes that they are surrounded by twenty pairs of yellow eyes. She can't make out what said eyes are attached to, but she's certain they can't be anything good. So when James calls her back, she listens, bolting up the steps to hide behind his legs. She hates feeling helpless, but she also wants to live, and hey, maybe using James as a human shield will help prolong her own life.

[jamesthorn]

James expects the creatures in the room to chase them, but once Moira races back to him, he realizes the yellow eyes don't look ready to attack but instead look slightly disinterested in their presence. Slowly one by one they all close their eyes again. James checks below him, at Moira pacing back and forth behind his feet. Maybe it is safe to continue. "Just stay behind me," he suggests, inching down the next step.

[chasingtwisters]

"Mew," she agrees, keeping herself behind James as they descend the stairs. They don't see the yellow eyes again, but the air feels heavier, thicker, as though filled with rain yet to fall. Moira feels warmer the further down the stairs they go, and she looks up at James to see how he's reactig to all of this.

[jamesthorn]

James inches down the steps, one by one, eyeing the spaces where seconds ago yellow eyes peered back at them. They don't come back, and they walk through the hallway slowly, Moira keeping close to his heels. They pass into the next room, and it is as though they enter into a completely different place altogether. It looks like a home. Not a normal home, but something out of a fantasy book. There are wood shelfs and pots and pans hung everywhere. Near the back is a small fire place built into the wall with a pot of something that looks like soup cooking. There are tons of books lining the walls and even a small bed. It's completely out of place, and James is sure none of this is good.

Until a woman walks in from an attached door. His eyes widen because it's the first human they've seen, and for a second, he is relieved because perhaps it means they can call for help. He steps further into the room trying to get a better look at the woman. "Hello?" he calls out. "Do you live here?"

[chasingtwisters]

Moira lets out a 'rowr' of bemusement as James calls out to the other woman. This is almost certainly out of something like Hansel and Gretel, and James is all but offering himself up as a meal. Moira disappears behind an extravagantly decorated vase, her witch's intuition telling her this cottage is bad news. She figures she can be of more use hiding from the woman when James inevitable does something stupid, like call out to a strange woman after an entire labyrinth of unwelcome surprises.

Being a cat proves even more useful when the women steps forward into the light. She is unearthly beautiful with her crown of honey-colored hair and eyes like the raging sea. She wears a dress colored like painted sunshine, emphasizing the more...bountiful areas of her physique as she offers James a grin Moira recognizes as the satisfaction of snakes just prior to pouncing on their prey.

"I do, sugar," she all but purrs, making the hairs on Moira's back stand up. She keeps quiet, however, even as she wonders if this woman's name is Circe. "You look a little lost and tired. Might I offer you a warm cup of tea and a nice chair by the fire?"

[jamesthorn]

James checks around his feet for Moira, but she has disappeared into the cottage. Perhaps she hoped to find food or warmth as the woman suggested. Cautiously, James enters, closer so he can see this new stranger. As he does, he sees she is devastatingly beautiful, and he can't help take in all of her appearance, the soft curves of her dress and long honey hair.

But he averts his eyes after a moment when she mentions needing rest. "No, no. I need you to tell me where we are," James says, moving further inside. It smells sweet in the room as if something warm and delicious is baking nearby. His stomach growls on its own.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira watches from her spot behind the vase, keeping an eye on both James and the woman. Surprisingly, James hasn't fallen for the women's charms yet, which slightly impresses Moira. Still, she hears his growling stomach; her own growls too, but much quieter in her cat form. She refuses to eat anything in this kitchen.

"Well, we're in a place that has no name but you haven't left home," she says, turning to withdraw a tray of the most delicious looking vanilla cake Moira's ever seen in her life from the oven, complete with creamy, wisps of frosting colored like peaches and several cherries on top. She drools, but no one can see her, so she allows it. "Would you like a piece of cake in the mean time, sugar?"

[jamesthorn]

James has to sit down at the small wooden table near her stove when she shows him the food, a scrumptious looking cake from his dreams practically. He isn't even the type to eat desserts, but this cake looks like the best thing he's ever seen. In the back of his mind, he knows something is not quite right, but he can't help his own hunger.

"So we are still in town...." he muses to himself without taking his eyes off the cake. The woman places a gigantic slice of it in front of him on a small plate. "How do we leave then?" He asks her, swallowing when she lays a fork beside his hand. He picks it up, unable to refuse. "Thank you," he says.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira watches James sit down, pulled in by the cake as though it were an ocean tide. She can't blame him for it, really. They haven't eaten in ages and James hasn't gotten the chance to drink anything. She watches, waiting for the right time when the other woman, some kind of ruse for something more sinister, almost certainly, is distracted enough not to notice her.

"Yes, just...lurking beneath the surface, so to speak," the woman offers him a charming smile, the kind of smile that promises much more than cake and comfort. "Well, that's the tricky part. It's actually not far from here, but you have to walk through a nest of bees to reach it. Eat your cake and gather your strength, sweetheart. You're gonna need it."

[jamesthorn]

Taking in her words with a confused smile, James wonders how this woman came to be here. Because the longer he's in her presence, the more beautiful she becomes, and after a few seconds he doesn't understand why she lives here all alone, in a cave practically, surrounded by all these dangerous things. When the woman smiles at him, James feels it inside of him, feels something tugging him into her space, and he wants to know more about her.

"So are you in charge down here..." James asks her, finally using his fork to pick up a small bite of cake. He eats it, and he tries to hold back a small sound of delight. Her cake hits his tongue with full flavor, and suddenly it is the exact thing he's been craving for what seems like forever. He wonders how she found all the ingredients to cake it; does she go into town to shop? Who is she? He frowns for a second, but then he feels a gentle hand on his face, sliding her fingers down his cheek as she smiles at him. He peers back at her, unsure, but also intrigued. "I don't know how I got here," he confesses to her.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira actually swats her own head with her paw when James takes a bite out of the cake. Are all Thornton men this bloody stupid? she thinks to herself. She expects this woman to lead him to a human-sized oven at any moment.

"Something like that, sugar," she grins at him, bringing one hand to trail over his shoulders, to soothe and stir the warmth prompted by the cake and the atmosphere. From Moira's perspective, she appears to be weaving a web around him, and she knows she has to find a way to act soon before he becomes completely ensnared.

"No, no one ever does," she purrs at him. "Why don't you come take some rest now? Take a load off your weary feet?"

[jamesthorn]

As she rubs at his shoulders, James struggles to keep focused as he is overcome by the need to touch. A drink of water for a parched plant, considering the dry spell his love life has been in lately. He wouldn't say romance for him is necessarily a lost cause, but it's been a good while since someone touched him in this manner, with intention and care, mainly because he isn't the best at catering to things like this, often too busy with work and family. After the initial shock of the woman's forwardness, James calms the voice prickling in the back of his mind, reminding him to leave, reminding him he needs to find an exit from this place. Why not take a rest? He is tired.

"Okay. Yeah, that--that'd be great," he says, standing up, rubbing his hands on his pants to smooth out the wrinkles, and relieve them of the sweat on his palms. He sits on the bed where she directs him, and he smiles, feeling soothed by the softness of the cushion. "I can do that."

[chasingtwisters]

Moira keeps herself still as they go into a bedroom, ears alert for any sudden movements or signs of struggle. She thinks she's found the source of the woman's powers, fluttering beneath a glass mason jar like a trapped butterfly, a wisp of blue that sparkles like starlight. She knows she doesn't have much time, so she quickly scampers towards the counter on which its set.

"Good," the woman says, bending to whisper in his ear, soothing a damp strand of hair away from his face. "Why don't you lean back and close your eyes, sugar? Let me soothe your troubles."

Moira stalks towards the light, wondering how a sorceress could be so careless as to leave her source of power just laying around like that. But then, as she glances closer at the light, she realizes it's not a light at all, but rather, a snake. A single snake, as though it had been plucked off a head of other snakes. She curses internally, wondering who the hell could've summoned Medusa to a lair beneath Siren Cove, of all places.

[jamesthorn]

The woman moves quickly, faster than he expects, once he joins her on the bed. She touches his face, gently, soothingly, brushing the tips of her fingers through his hair, and he likes the feeling. But somewhere a warning calls out to him, his police instincts perhaps, for signs of danger, and he knows he should get up now. That this situation isn't right, but he is mesmerized by the blue of the woman's eyes. They are so different from anything he's seen, almost alien like, bright blue, rimmed in black, and he can't help being drawn further into her touch.

"Are you--?" He begins to asks, but he does as she says, leaning against the cushion. He needs to get up, he thinks again, as she moves on top of him. "Uh---"

[chasingtwisters]

The woman presses a finger to his lips, urging him to shh. "Let me take care of you, darling. You've got a long, lonely road ahead of you. You need all the rest you can get."

She pins him to the bed, her weight upon him like a stone. She soothes her hands down his shoulders and arms, pushing him further into the mattress. She leans back up to let down her hair, uncoiling the tie holding it together as a feint hissing noise grows louder by the second. Her eyes flash to a dangerous shade of grey, pinning him in place and daring him to look away.

"ROWR!" Moira yelps as she leaps onto the woman's face, sinking her claws into her skin and biting down as hard as she can.

[jamesthorn]

When Moira leaps onto the woman's shoulder, the action jolts James back into reality. He sits for a second, glancing around him, barely remembering walking into the bedroom now. He sees Moira, or rather cat-Moira, tearing her claws and teeth into woman's face, viciously attacking her. James stands there for a second stunned by the scene, until the woman regroups, flailing her arms and knocking Moira against the wall and to the ground.

He immediately grabs the nearest thing, a wooden tray set up on the nightstand, used to serve breakfast in bed. He uses every ounce of his strength to hit the woman in the face, feeling and hearing a crunch when he does. He hits her again even though she screams bloody murder. Of course, it is then that he sees the woman is no longer as she appeared. Instead, of her beautiful face, he sees a deformed creature, wrinkled skin and black eyes, and hair--her hair--it's alive.

"What the fuck--" James freaks out, backing away, stumbling over the chair behind him. He turns frantic searching for Moira. Once he spots her, he snatches her up from the ground and runs, not caring that she's liable to bite him too. He races back down the hall where they came, knowing the woman is on his heels. He comes to the hallway. It is no longer dark which is a good thing. But now he can fully see what those yellow eyes belonged to, giant snakes.

James turns back, but he sees the woman closing in on them. "Oh did I mention my pets..." she says in an evil voice.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira doesn't even mew in protest when James snatches her from the floor, still sore from hitting the wall. Damn, she thinks, what a bitch. She's going to fell that ache for days, probably, and it annoys her more than being carried by James as they run down another hallway. Moira hears the hissing of the snakes and really hopes James is up to date on his Greek mythology, seeing as she can't actually remind him not make the dumb ass move of looking the other woman in the eyes.

"Well, if you want to run, help yourselves. I always did like a good chase," she drawls, like some kind of villain out of Buffy. Moira digs her claws into James, not maliciously, but to hold on as they round another corner, trying to keep ahead of the snakes.

[jamesthorn]

"Shit, shit, shit," James mutters to himself, glancing around him as he makes a break for it down the hallway. He figures if her pet snakes are going to attack them, they might as well. It's better than dying at the hands of an evil bitch. He dashes down the hallway as fast as he can, feeling Moira squirming in his arms, he squeezes as tight of a grip as he can, hearing the snakes around them snapping at them as they go by. He doesn't know what to do, or how to kill this woman, but he just runs as far and as fast as he can.

He gives one good glance over his shoulder, and he sees her still, chasing them. As they come back into what he now recognizes as the woman's garden, he dashes behind one of the trees, hiding in the shrubs, hoping they are concealed. He looks down at Moira. "If you have any bright ideas, now would be the time," he tells her even though she can't talk back.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira rolls her eyes, unable to help herself, even in cat form. Of course it's up to her to save the day, even without access to her usual powers and currently trapped in cat form. She quickly glances around the garden, trying to think of what she can use. She needs to behead this gorgon to kill her, ultimately, and she can't actually do that as a cat. Finally, her gaze lands on a hoe, recently sharpened and leaning against the side of the fence surrounding the garden.

With a determined mew, she squirms out of James' tight grip and bounds away from him, hoping he'll catch on to her plan. She bolts out right in front of the woman, instantly catching her attention and holding it. She runs as fast as her form allows her to, dodging in and out of plants and weeds, keeping ahead of the hissing snakes.

As she runs past the hoe, she makes a significant gesture at James, hoping he'll get the hint.

[jamesthorn]

When Moira leaps out of his arms, James literally has a heart attack. All he can picture is the snake-haired woman capturing Moira and feeding her to the giant pets they saw back inside, and okay, he isn't Moira's biggest fan but he doesn't want to see that happen. He knows for certain he needs Moira with him if he expects to make it out of here alive, so this is purely a survival instinct. Nothing more than that.

"Moira..." he hisses in the direction she ran. Knowing she isn't coming back, he slowly creeps out of the bushes. Just in time to see Moira darting in and out of the women's legs, spinning her around and around. He realizes what is happening, as Moira darts by the garden hoe, the blade sharp, glinting off the water from the pond. He slowly reaches down for it, hoping he isn't obvious enough that he will redirect attention to himself. But she only has eyes for Moira, as she screams giant screeches attempting to grab Moira by the tail. Eventually she does, holding her up, the snake hairs snapping at Moira in anticipation of a treat.

He clutches the hoe in his hands, running close enough, and then he just swings for the fences.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira hisses when she's grabbed, thoroughly displeased. If she's going to bite it being fed to snakes, she sure is hell is coming back from beyond the grave and punching the responsible party right in the face. She growls and claws at the snakes snapping up at her; if they're going to attempt to eat her, they're still going to have to try and swallow her razor-sharp claws.

Thankfully, moments later, there's a wooshing sound of a blade cutting through air before finding it's target: Meduda's head flies across the garden yard like a golf ball, snakes and all. Moira lands gracefully on her feet on the ground, looking up at James and actually smiling at him as much as she can as a cat. She's actually impressed, for once, so much so that she goes and nuzzles his ankle, an action she will thoroughly deny ever happened once they get out of this place.

[jamesthorn]

Relief floods through James when it's all over, and he stumbles just a little, breathing hard and heavy as he drops the hoe to the ground. He actually didn't think they were going to make it out of there for a minute. Apparently neither did Moira because she threads happily through his feet, rubbing against his leg, tail squishing. He smiles to himself after a second because that was absolutely insane now that he thinks about it. Crazy evil lady with snakes for hair just tried to kill them. He shakes his head, ready to move on, but then he pauses, frowning, but slowly smirking to himself.

He scoops Moira up from the ground before she has a chance to get away again and then he charges back up the steps, back to the hallway that lead them into the woman's lair in the first place. He has a suspicion they might have just caught their first break. When he rounds the corner, he is proven correct. "Cut off the head of a snake..." he says, looking around at the piles of dust, where the woman's pets once stood. "Guess we have somewhere to sleep tonight."

[chasingtwisters]

Moira purrs, nodding happily as James brings them into the house. Here, they have food, shelter, and warmth, almost as though this whole experience was a vacation and not a batshit detour into utter chaos and killer insects. She lets James carry her over to the counter, where he sets her down before fetching her a bowl of water and a bowl of cream. It's an extremely thoughtful gesture, and she mews her pleasure before indulging in both of them, licking them until they're spotlessly clean.

When she finishes, she follows James to where he passes out on one of the couches in the living room area, half-curled under a raggedy blanket. She plops on top of him, nudging the blanket forward until it covers him more fully. She doesn't know why she does it, but he deserves to be comfortable after the last two days.

That task complete, Moira settles down by James' head, turning around until, satisfied, she settles down and shuts her own eyes to the world.