MUG

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Inadi had followed the rest of the group and decided to keep a look out behind them while the others took care of their business. Ace was showing her frustration with not finding the sword and Inadi was also beginning to get a little more than agitated at the lack of success they were having. “At this point we should just take the Midnight Man out ourselves and force him to help us. Give me a few minutes with him and my spear and I might be able to get what we need out of him.” Inadi growled as he continued to keep pace with Ace as they kept searching, all the while he tried to look for some kind of shadow figure to keep the group up to date.

Then Ace made the comment that they might have lost Riley and Songbird. A terrific thing to learn. The guide and the other fire mage gone in a situation that they may need emergency light and someone with more experience than any of them. And for whatever reason Inadi could feel a change in the air. Something was coming up....and it was getting closer for whatever reason. Perhaps it was his imagination, but then again his imagination was becoming more of a nightmare than anything these days. Ace began looking for a lever as well as Leila, the second one finally finding what they needed.

Riley came out and began panicking and making a scene in the room. Yeah the whole event was probably traumatizing and she wanted to blame somebody for it but there was no reason to draw that much attention. He walked up to girl and grabbed her on the shoulder to try and get her to get back to reality. “Riley, we don't need this from you or other people in the group. It's just going to create problems for us as we continue the job we have. Get yourself calm and do it quick.” He told her as he suddenly began getting shook by Riley as she began saying something about there being something in the room she and Songbird were just in. She was definitely way too scared to handle the moment right now.

Then suddenly the bugs stopped glowing and everything began making sense. Rather than simply wait for the fire mages to light their candles Inadi created a lightening ball in his hand and tried recreating the flash he had made a little bit earlier but with a more wide effect. He decided against it and kept the bolt lit in his hands and began looking at the others as they started to light the candles they had. Inadi let the bolt go and refused the candle that was handed to him. He needed both hands for his spear and didn't want to waste time by dropping it to fight off the Midnight Man if he showed up. Following Ace again, at this point she had become the defacto leader of the group in his eyes, he gave her a nod and tried following her to the door they needed to go. The sword wasn't going to find itself and this whole thing needed to end quickly. And that chill Inadi felt going down his spine, it was still there. And no amount of candle light and fire was going to make it go away. If he could, Inadi would like to burn this whole building to the ground, just so that they never had to walk into this place ever again.

Once they got to the door it was clear that it wasn't going to move. The two guides rammed into the door and suddenly a black silhouette filled the room and it seemed like the chill finally had a reason to be there. Inadi knew that this whole thing just spelled out the classic horror story stuff. He would rip them all apart one by one and those who were scared of him the most would be first, those who struggled would be given the most painful deaths of the group. While others seemed to shake in fear, Inadi couldn't help but chuckle. He really wanted to be one of those guys who got it the worst. Cause in those horror movies those jocks were tough, but they weren't mortal embodiments of Zeus.

Collecting his energy in his hand he waited until it was clear where the son of a bitch was going to stand and pushed the guides to the side. “Don't you know it's rude to keep guests that have to LEAVE!” Inadi yelled out as he shot out a large bolt at the figure and blasted the door behind him. The shadows disappeared for the moment and Inadi decided it was best to start running now. Turning his head towards the rest he began waving his arm at them. The door was now half way down the hall and Inadi could see shadowy black clouds floating in the air as he stood by the doorway. “Let's go! We still got a sword to collect now don't we?” He said as he stood at the door waiting for the group to all run out so he could cover their escape.

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Hey guys. Sorry for disappearing so often here. In Tennessee I don't have a really good place to set up my laptop and leave it out since there's so little space with the family. So I can't be on and past as often as I used to but should be able to stay within the three day rule and post at least every two days to keep Inadi in the situation. My apologies folks.

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Got my post up just now. Sorry about not being in the OOC for a while guys. Just got settled into Tennessee from the flight I took two days ago and didn't get in until like midnight yesterday. Hope my post works and just so you know, I did not pay eight dollors for wireless internet on a two and a half hour flight because as an economics teacher's son, I ain't that stupid. XD

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Inadi stood in the room with the whole group and maintained a somewhat stoic composure. To be honest he didn't like the idea one bit. There had to be something other than this to get the Midnight Man's attention. Maybe some kind of postcard or a telephone call. Carrier pigeon even. This whole thing just screamed out the words bad idea, and it made the spear holding individual feel like he was going to regret ever being a part of this whole debacle.

Riley began the whole speech on how the game was going to work and how everything would eventually play out in regards to the game itself. They needed to find something that the Midnight Man himself would tell them to find and that if they got caught before hand, it would be lights out for whoever picked the wrong place at the wrong time. Inadi definitely didn't want to find out how the Midnight Man took care of those who couldn't beat his game, but he knew it wasn't a pleasant way to go out. Probably the one thing he didn't like was the idea of not being able to make a new light source rather than the jars they had with them. Surely they would have a better way to light their path than those pathetic things. Inadi wanted to try something out before the whole game started and began focusing his energies that came from his crystal.

Very quickly he built up some electricity in his hand and saw that it was similar to when he first made a lightening bolt. Now it wasn't so much a wonder to him, as he had seen it now at least four times. He continued to building his energies in his palm and once he felt it was enough he decided to crush the small lightening bolts in his hand and a sudden flash of light shot from his palm, just bright enough to blind the man who was experimenting with his power. Rubbing his eyes out once the flash died out he gave a quick chuckle. “Like a power station blowing a fuse.” He muttered to himself as he got down to his part of the game and wrote his name out and dropped a small portion of his blood on the paper.

The knocking commenced and Inadi couldn't help but grip his spear just a little tighter than before. This whole thing seemed like a really bad idea and the whole thing seemed to be getting worse by the second. The knocking was speeding up in his ears, even though Riley was keeping the same pace if maybe slowing down a bit. The speeding up was actually the pounding in his heart. And once the 22nd knock hit the pounding stopped, as did the ability to see. When the lights came back on the messages began showing up. Looks like the game wasn't just gonna be smoke and mirrors like he was hoping it would be to Inadi's displeasure.

Giving a quick salute to Harper after wishing him luck he was jarring pulled along by Ace to follow the rest of his group. Inadi was almost at the right pace to follow Ace step for step until she stopped suddenly and forced him to try and put a stop to his own momentum. Looking at Ace with an eyebrow raised and a few breaths caught in his throat. Following Ace's steps she picked up at picture off the wall and began looking for some kind of hidden door, like some of the secret passages others had found throughout the mansion. Sadly this wall didn't appear to be one of them. Plus the picture wasn't all that appealing to look at either. As Ace decided the picture was not worth anything to them in regards to the game he decided to stick his spear through the spot where the eye hole was in the corpse's picture, at least that was what it was to him. The spear went through the paper like a knife through butter. Picking his head up slowly and keeping an eye out around him and Ace, he decided to break his silence to the group. “Now we know it's worthless. Come on, we got a sword to find and a maniac to keep ahead of.” Inadi told the red head as he began picking put the pace and eventually found himself side by side with Leila further along in the mansion.

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Put up a short post to continue the interaction of the two groups which have now merged. Beginning decent back down to the Library there Captain Fox! XD

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Looking to where the others had entered the small room Inadi immediately went towards the book and paper that were strew about the desk. Before Avian and Jasper could get close enough to read the newspaper clipping Inadi reached for it and quickly stuffed it into the left sleeve of his coat. He gave a quick nod of acknowledgment towards Jasper and Avian as they got closer to the room. Giving a quick stare at the jar that held the still brightly lit beetles that illuminated the room quite well, he slowly shifted the jar so that the crack was away from the two who had just entered.

At this point the mystery of the symbol and the Midnight Man's existence had been the only major clue that the two groups were able to piece together. Inadi watched as Lesley led Jasper and Avian to the desk, something Inadi was already hoping would happen so they could get their whole conference out of the way. The faster they got out of this room the better. Once the man joined him at the desk Inadi began pointing out certain things he had begun to deduce about the study and the seemingly vast collection of papers dedicated to the mysterious witch hunter of the woods.

Spreading out a few pieces of paper and flipping through certain pages of the book, Inadi began explaining what he believed was the purpose of the study itself. “Avian, while I cannot say I knew the Midnight Man in his prime, I doubt he would be so lost in his own glory as to create a whole room and collection of crude art dedicated to himself. Plus, most of this seems like it was created in a hurry. Almost as if someone was trying to write it all down before they forgot something,” Inadi explained as he gave a quick look towards Jasper and Lesley, who were now standing relatively close to each other opposite of them. He was beginning to think back to the time they were staring at him back when the dragons were around, but decided it was better to focus on the task at hand.

“At the end of the day I would only assume this was some kind of deranged fan of his dedicated to documenting his work. Some kind of scholar who had become so infatuated with the Midnight Man that he lost all control of what he was thinking or saying. Half of these things are so poorly drawn or scribbled up it is hard to even imagine what he saw, let alone what he is trying to write down,” Inadi said to Avian as he picked himself off the desk and used his spear to point towards the symbol on a specific piece of paper that had it dead center and filling up the entire page it seemed. “Regardless of that though, there is a chance this guy could have known the Midnight Man personally. No other way to explain how he was able to draw what he saw or what the Midnight Man may have described to him after one of his so-called hunts. And if he knew him, he might have a way for us to find him.”

Inadi set the spear down to his side as he gave Avian a quick look to see what he was thinking. It was hard to tell to be honest. The guide never really seemed to give a sign as to what he was thinking or what he was going to do. Granted Inadi didn't know him too well so that might have also played into it. But he felt his explanation was sound and it seemed to make sense considering what all the papers looked like.

Leaning against his weapon he gave a quick nod of the head towards the door that would get the group out of the study. “More than likely someone else in the group may have already found a way to get this witch hunter to come out of hiding. I doubt he's actually dead to be honest. Nothing is ever that simple in this backwards place of Nowhere. So I plan on going downstairs and seeing if Harper has found anything useful,” He said matter-of-factly as he began stepping towards the doorway. Each step Inadi would flex his left hand, the numbness still trying to take effect after the punch a few minutes ago. Turning back to the person he had entered with and the girl standing next to him, Inadi shrugged at them both. “Are either of you coming? I'd hate to get dragged down the hall alone like some bad horror flick.” He joked as he continued to walk out of the room. He was done with that study anyway. Just standing in it was making his mind race and blood boil.

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

And let the worrywart development continue! I always keep forgetting that was my whole planned shtick with this guy. Gotta keep that train rolling. Hopefully you give me more opportunities like this to show just how panicked four-eyes there can get Fox. XD

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Inadi looked at up at Lesley as the pink haired man began going after him for being so pessimistic and concerned over something he read in a piece of paper. While every word had good reasoning behind them, Inadi could barely register them in his mind as he continued to wonder about things that were impossible for him to know. All the unknowns, all the chances, even the contradictions to things he believed in now seemed to swim in his mind faster than anything he could think of. He tried to erase them but they seemed to float and pile up in his mind. It took him a bit to recognize that Lesley had even picked him up off the ground he slid to due to his near panic attack he had.

Suddenly hearing the realization to the meaning of the two conjoined M's, it was just the distraction Inadi needed to take his mind off of his worry for the moment. He waved off the jitters he had previously and decided to look through some of the drawings again to try and find something else that would connect the drawings to the Midnight Man himself. Searching through many different sketches he began growing more than a little frustrated at what he found on each.

None of the drawings showed any distinctive markings. Nothing that would point out which one of them would be the Midnight Man himself. Everything seemed to be stick figures drawn in such a dark ink that even the shadows would be in awe at how dark these things were. Inadi began showing some frustration on his face, and the dimly lit beetles showed some of it in the dark room. As the light began to dissipate, Inadi quickly slammed his fist on the jar, causing the beetles to shine brighter than they were previously when Lesley first found the creatures. Realizing he may have let his aggravation get the better of him, Inadi let the drawings slip out of his hands and onto the desk.

Looking up at his searching partner, he let out a sigh. “Lesley I'm sorry I'm not being the most hospitable person I could be right now. I admit that I'm letting all this stuff get to my head and it probably isn't the prettiest sight. But one thing you have to understand about me is that, as you put it, I am a worrywart,” Inadi explained as he sat down in the chair he was at previously when he looked through the book and he sighed lightly to himself. “I've been that way growing up and it'll probably stay that way for a while.” Inadi explained as he looked at the jar that the beetles were swarming in now it seemed.

The jar actually looked like it had cracked somewhat from the punch he had thrown down. Deciding to look at his left hand, the fist he had thrown down on the lid, he noticed that it seemed a bit bigger than it was prior. Slowly removing the glove from it he felt a sudden twinge of pain as it shot up his wrist. The hand was visible now and it was not a normal color. It was starting to purple in some spots, but the majority of it was red from the flare up of skin that had thundered down on the jar. Letting out a hiss as he stretched it out to decide what was wrong with it, Inadi was happy to see that it clearly wasn't broken. More than likely just a minor bruise that would wear off over time.

He looked back up at Lesley as he slowly tried to slide the glove back onto his hand. “For me, life has to follow a certain pattern. I'm getting better at it, but I like to be comfortable in what I do and when I do it. When random things that I'm not prepared happen, I panic and begin running like a scared child. I don't know why I'm like that but it's the way things have been for me since I can remember,” He told Lesley as he stood up and began stretching his hand out again, trying to get the blood flowing through it so the numbness wouldn't affect it. “So when I hear that someone I thought I could trust turns out to not be that trustworthy in the end, I naturally.....or unnaturally maybe in this case....panic quite a bit more than the normal person. And it's worse when I end up doing favors for someone that I don't know if I ever could trust, in this case; The Queen.” He said as he began walking towards Lesley as his look of pain subsided and a very focused look appeared on his face. His speech was beginning to lower to almost a whisper now, as to avoid others from hearing him in case his words could be viewed as somewhat negative towards certain people, like Jasper of Avian in the room next door.

“I figure the only people I can trust are people in the same situation as me. You want to get home just as badly as I do Lesley. At least I would think that you do,” Inadi whispered as he pointed his finger towards Lesley's chest. “Same thing with Harper and Jasper and the rest. We have the same motive, therefore the same beliefs for the most part. That's why I'm doing all this dangerous and insane crap,” He said as he walked towards where he dropped his spear off and took it from its leaning position. “It will get me back to where I feel comfortable.” The framed man said as he turned back towards Lesley. Looking down at the floor he saw a piece of paper with the conjoined M's on it again. He quickly slammed his spear head into the paper and brought it back up to him. More than likely this Midnight Man was their ticket to beating the witches. They needed him, and Inadi was sure that there had to be something to bring him here. The only problem was, he had no idea what it was. He began wondering if any other groups had made better head way than he and Lesley had in the study.

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

You mean to tell me.......I was two people off......



and one of those people.....was my OWN character!



Oh well. It was better than I expected to be. Haha! I only thought the one next to Ace was Inadi cause it looked like Ace was wearing glasses, like she took Inadi's pair just to see how blind he was (something I'm legitimately surprised she hasn't tried yet considering). Anyway, I love the way the banner looks and I should have a post up in an hour or so. :)

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Okay, let's see if I can get this right. From left to right, it's Martini, Leon, Riley, Leila, Ace, Inadi, Jasper, Harper and Lesley. If course like Fox said the two up to is Scarf x Scarf. So......was I close? *fingers crossed*