Stairs are the enemy

[shoutitloud]

[ WHO ]: Whisper (shoutitloud) and Tian-shenim Bailong (nurturing)
[ WHERE ]: The apartments!
[ WHEN ]: Today!
[ OPEN/CLOSED? ]: Open <3
[ RATING ]: PG for Whisper's mouth?
[ WARNINGS ]: N/A
[ NOTES ]: Whisper is going to do some exploring on her own. This involves hoofing it (see what I did there) down some stairs!


Stairs.

Stairs were a Centaur's mortal enemy. Whisper had decided that until she could find a way home she would have to explore, because exploring was typically how one found the answers to their problems. Well, that and treasure, glory and battle. All good things, considered! Still, Whisper was not sure of this place and its magic. Water that came from metal knobs and changed temperature on its own, and strange boxes that made pictures and noise! It would have been fascinating if it weren't for the feeling of dread at the very lack of life around her. What little nature she could sense was faint and wrong, leaving her with a vaguely slimy feeling that she hated. Thankfully the flowers in her hair had yet to fade or die - and she would try and keep it that way.

But for now there were only stairs. This door at least was wider, easily enabling her to slip onto the landing, though what met here there was far more unpleasant than a dingy hallway. The lights here were flickering off and on almost regularly, bathing the room in sickly light before plunging into darkness and returning to light. Water dripped from somewhere unseen, echoing through the concrete stairwell, and Whisper felt like bolting - but there was nowhere else to go except back into the strange hallway with all of the little doors. Each step was unsteady, her hooves clicking loudly on the hard steps as she slowly eased the bulk of her body downwards. She felt cold, and almost wished that she had more covering her than a suggestion of a shirt. Each step seemed to take forever, and after a momentary pause she began to sing softly to herself in a desperate attempt at warding off the negative emotions.

"A-a lusty young smith at his vice stood a-filing... His hammer laid by but his forge still aglow..." she began in a quavery voice - melodic enough on its own though by no means trained.

"When to him a buxom young damsel came smiling... a-and asked if to work in her forge he would go..."

She could do this, she could. She was nearly halfway down, clinging to the cold metal bannister for dear life.

Comments

[nurturing]

Tian was not too fond of stairs, either. Well, not new stairs at least, because he never knew just how steady they were, how many steps he should count or if they were broken anywhere. He had stood on his nose more than once when he was a child, and even though he still seemed young thanks to the gift of Life, he didn't feel like breaking his hip.

It was such a pain to set.

The mage also shared the centaur's feelings about this place. It was just... wrong. Unnatural and twisted in a way that made Tian's skin crawl. The vines and leaves in his hair was also something he wanted to keep alive, but the nature here - the life - was corrupted like he had never before seen.

It seemed like a good thing for these two to meet, and when Tian hears the singing down the stairs that he too was braving, the mage finds himself smiling slightly in warm amusement at the words. "Can I offer help in any way?"