Posting this part here first so you can all verify I'm not getting ahead of the game, or correct me if I am. >.>
***
She could feel the warm tropical breeze ruffle her hair, the salty spray of the ocean make her nose tingle, and the glow of the sun radiate upon her skin. Spot was comfortably curled up in the corner despite the sounds of the other mods sparring, but the noise and the senses irritated Lycos to no end.
The black leopard opened her eyes again in the dark stale room, not well adjusting to the dim settings. Judging from what she could sense, Chelsey was having a wonderful time laying out in the sun on the vacation island with the rest of the forumers. A silent growl escaped from her throat, a sigh of annoyance at Chelsey’s pleasure and comfort when they were stuck here in this degraded pit of a forum. Lycos grew tired of sitting around, and decided she’d see if retreating to a darker corner would eliminate the sun glare that she couldn’t block out. Taking care to avoid being noticed, she slipped out of the room where everybody was.
Trailing through the rubble lined passages, Lycos quietly made her way to the tabloid shop, on the skirts of the splatterboard. She paused only a moment to enter the code on the giant lock now placed on the door, and slipped inside.
The store was still very much a mess, and would remain closed until it could be entirely fixed up. The others had helped Lycos to clean it up after the earthquake, but that primarily dealt with removing the hazardous spells and creatures that had been activated, and taking care of whatever else could pose a threat in the wake of the ‘quake. The store was by no means close to being its former glorious self.
Lycos stumbled over a binder on the floor. The inventory binder. She picked it up, flipped through it halfheartedly without actually reading it, and tossed it over her shoulder towards the counter. It was pointless to look at that now. Considering everybody had been in here at some point or another helping, the murderer could have grabbed a small weapon of his choice and smuggled it out with the discarded and broken stuff. There was no way one could even begin to sort through the remaining mess and figure out what might have disappeared. Even with the new lock now placed on the door, you could still root through the trash pile outside the shop, which might have something potentially dangerous in it. Besides, it had been discovered after the earthquake incident – Chelsey had left a backup key to the shop in mod squad for emergencies, forgetting to inform Lycos and Spot. Guess she didn’t realize that could cause an emergency as well… Anybody could have been in here before.
Lycos’ eyes were finally adjusting to the dim light, and she started picking up a few stray bottles and putting them in their proper places. She also came across the picture of the tabloid shop from when it first opened. Lycos picked the shattered glass off of the picture, and hung the image and frame back on the wall where it had been before it fell.
img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/spotthechelsey/Tabloid_01_shop.jpgLycos stared at the photo, and then glanced at the mess surrounding her. She suddenly decided she was tired of cleaning already, and exited the shop, bolting it shut again.
The black leopard treaded down the hallway, taking care not to injure her paws on the loose debris. She paused briefly, and for that moment again felt a light breeze on her face. Again, she growled at Chelsey, but …
This breeze was real and present around Lycos, not what Chelsey was sensing. It soon stopped, but it had to come from somewhere. Lycos searched around, clawing at various pieces of wallboard and pulling other blockages out of the way. She finally found what she was hoping for.
A vent. Not just a vent, but one which was channeling a natural breeze.
The cover to it had been twisted and warped due to the earthquake, and one screw was loose at the corner. Lycos extended her claws and worked at removing the screws one by one. A few were jammed too tightly, but with proper leverage, she might still be able to spring the cover off. A nearby piece of pipe wedged nicely in between the cover and the wall, and with a bit of maneuvering, Lycos could apply most of her strength in prying at the cover. She strained a bit, bracing her paws against the floor, claws digging in.
TWANG!
The metal cover flew off and ricocheted off the far wall, the sound echoing down the corridors of the forum.
“Let’s see if I’ve found an escape route,” Lycos grinned, and crawled into the vent.
***
- added the tabloid shop picture for a reason; it has incriminating evidence, meaning there was stock of things like Wanderer's hat, or foot prints should you need to create a false trail. Makes it a bit harder to find the real evidence, then.
- also provided the bit about anybody having access to shop, and inventory check being a loss at this point.
- I'm not sure how everybody else envisions our being trapped, but I get the idea that we're following the catacomb version and we're kinda stuck underground? If that's the case, I provided for a vent to the surface. I figure it could still be blocked surrounding the area where the vent exists to the surface, but it would allow for my part of the story where I drew it in an outdoor setting. >.>
- loud metal sound (vent cover hitting wall), gives you something to investigate. You also can observe that Lycos snuck off on her own, which we were all advised against doing. (I'm trying to draw suspicion towards Lycos at times)
Thanks, Leoness! ^__^
