ArchivedLogs:Vignette - Rockbiter

Vignette - Rockbiter
Dramatis Personae Ash
In Absentia	2014-02-25 Part of the morpheus TP
Location
The sky is full of stars. The cosmos explodes across the velvety darkness with pinpricks of light far too numerous for a person to distinguish where one begins and the next ends, let alone count. It's like a dust suspended in the air, vast distances overhead. One can see the shape of them, but can't quite shift point of view to see the other side. Just staring at them brings them into crystal clear clarity, showing even more in the stardust behind. Tearing the attention away the magnificence above, the landscape around stretches out in all directions in reddish orange of sandstone sculptures and shadows, hills rising underfoot, valleys falling away into darkness, and arches and spires reaching up into the galaxy around. If possible, the rock around looks comfortable, smoothed with fine powdery sand in the nooks and crannies, almost silky between the fingers. The temperature is inconsequential - warm enough that no one would notice, not cold enough to feel the chill. Ash stands alone, for the most part, gazing out across the landscape before he thinks he hears a voice calling his name. He turns to look behind him, finding a cave opening, the heavens blending seamlessly into a dark dome, the stars speckling the ceiling as well, luminescent crystals taking the place of the miasmas of plasma. The trail trickles inward and out of sight, lighting a carpet of moss on the ground. Further in, the sound of water trickles against the stone walls, reverberating to be heard even though it's completely out of sight. Drawn in, Ash starts walking into the cave system, toes scrunching pleasantly against the moss. Deeper into the cave, the trail grows brighter; the stars flow overhead until they start to run together, a river of light that streams through twists and turns to wend further and deeper into the glowing crystalline rocks. The sound of water grows louder, here, too, a trickle to a steady flow, a steady flow to a rush -- though it stays out of sight even as it seems to grow closer and stronger. The rushing tumbling sound of water-over-rock is joined by a -- crunching. Crunch-cronch-crunch. A crystal falls from overhead, dislodged to clatter-crash down by Ash's feet. There's a man perched on a large outcropping of stone just overhead -- sort of a man, anyway. Enormous, he towers over Ash, though even at his size he's almost hard to see until he starts moving -- whole body seemingly chiseled out of the selfsame rock he sits against. "-- Apologies," rumbles a deep grating voice, crackling like stones scraping against each other. "But could you hand that back up? It's one of my favourite flavours." Ash stops when the crystal clatters at his feet, bending down to pick it up and look it over quietly. When the voice calls his attention, he looks up, his head tilting a little to the side as well. "Oh. Sorry? Wait, here. Here is the better answer." He smiles and stretches upward, handing over the crystal. "So, what does that one taste like?" He turns his attention toward the rest of the crystalline river. "Sure have a lot of crystals down here." The rock-giant reaches down, scooping up Ash into one enormous palm and lifting him /and/ the crystal up to deposit them both on the ledge. The sound of rushing water is stronger still, here, pouring as though just on the other side of the rock wall the man leans against. "Take a nibble," he suggests to Ash in a warm rumble. "See for yourself." He stretches an arm up overhead, snapping off a different coloured crystal from its place in the rocky ceiling. "Of course there are." He sounds proud, at that. "I farm them." Ash grins brightly when he's suddenly lifted off his feet, letting out a small laugh as he finds himself getting closer to the source of light. "You farm shining crystals? I… you have the best job. I didn't even know that was possible." Once settled on the ledge, Ash glances between the crystal in his hand and the giant before frowning at the crystal again. "You sure you don't mind sharing? I'd hate to get germs on it. It is your favorite flavor after all." "Oh, I farm all of this." The giant sweeps a hand out towards the cave at large, curling his enormous legs almost primly beneath himself. "Here, try some of this, too." He scoops a hand to the side, digging out a chunk of hard rock from the wall by Ash as easily as though it were clay. A trickle of water seeps through from the spot he just gouged. The man offers the lump handful towards Ash as well -- a chunk of rock as big as Ash's entire head. "It's got more of a kick to it." Ash turns his attention to nibble on the crystal in his hand to start, as the giant starts to describe his work. It's a very small nibble, just the tips of his front teeth to test the density. But then there is a large chunk of rock being presented to him and his eyes go wide. He reaches out, crystal trapped between two of his fingers, and holds the new almost boulder in his hands. "Huh. This is exactly what I figure an octorok would shoot at people." That thought aside, he leans in and tries to take a bite. "Oh, I don't shoot these at people," the giant assures Ash solemnly. "We mostly keep them for special occasions. Are you having a party soon, by any chance? They're great to share." He scoops another handful out of the wall, widening the hole there; more water pours out of the indentation, streaming in a glistening waterfall down the side of the rock. "You have to dig," he advises Ash, with a nod towards the incipient stream of water. "To find the /very/ best morsels." "Am I having a party? Well, we're moving soon. We can have a housewarming at the new place." Ash leans in to take another bite, the rock melting into his mouth, the taste reminding him of the desert on a cool evening. He can almost taste the wind and the chill on his skin. He grins stupidly, rock smeared on his cheeks. He follows the giant's directions, and stuffs the large rock under his arm and he moves to peek his head into the hole, water rushing over his feet. He reaches a hand out and pushes his hand into the rock wall next to where the water is rushing in, trying to dig in like the giant did. "Oh, that sounds delightful. Take these. Take a /handful/. There'll be plenty to share." The rock wall comes away easily beneath Ash's fingers, soft and yielding like thick rich earth under his hands. Behind it the water gurgles and rushes, spilling sweet and cool and clear down over Ash's hands; it's clear from the sound that there's plenty more pouring down rapidly just behind the rock face. It comes out in a steadier stream as Ash digs into the rock, rushing down more heavily to splash onto the ground below, a small pool forming at the bottom where it hits and growing quickly deeper and wider. "This stuff is amazing," Ash gushes quietly, lifting the rock in his hand to sniff and chew on, loving the flavor of the outdoors. "I think my friends would flip with some amazing rocks to eat. You know, some people call me rockbiter at home. Your fine fare would really show them." He takes another bite and starts to push it into the first lump that the giant gave him, digging out more. "Can I take some crystals, too? They are pretty terrific too. No one would ever think of eating them back home." Once his hand is free, he cups it under the water and drinks that as well. "Call you rockbiter?" The rock giant looks down at Ash with this revelation, his lumpy brow creased into a puzzled frown. "Why, what do /they/ eat?" He stretches his large arms upwards, trailing fingers against the ceiling to let a glittering rain of crystal-flakes shower down around them, littering the ledge with smaller more manageable Ash-sized shards. Leaning to the side, he swipes his fingers down against the rock again; it leaves smoother grooves in its wake, carving out a long slippery path to slide down the side of the wall. The waterfall trails down over it, a long sweep of watery slide that curves down to the steadily deepening pool below. "Take what you want. Your friends might be waiting down there." He gestures to the deep blue of the pool. "Oh. Hey! Okay!" Ash grabs another handful of rock and puts it with the lump under his arm and grabs a few more crystals. With his arms somewhat full, he eyes the slide. "Ohhh. Well, they eat plants and food like items. They like hamburgers and Thai food." He moves to stand in the flow of water, letting it wash over him. "They are pretty attached to their foods." He moves to sit down, carefully, keeping his load carefully secure in his arms. "Okay, well, thank you so much for this amazing bounty. I would love to come back some time, if that's okay." He gives a little butt wiggle, getting more water underneath him than the friction his backside provides. The water starts to push him further as he wiggles, getting himself gathering a little speed before the current takes over completely. He lays back and slides, slides, slides until he's launched into the pool below with a happy yell. "My farm isn't going anywhere," the giant assures Ash. "But I think you are." And that /where/ is apparently down, right now, swooshing and sliding down the waterfall in a rush of burbling cool water that carries Ash faster and faster towards the pool below to land with a SPLOOSH! -- and sink down into the water, deep and clear, the sides of the pool dotted with softly glowing crystals as well. The pool goes down, down, down, beneath Ash's feet after he's landed in it, a deep well with familiar laughing voices of his friends sounding to him from somewhere not far below. Though as the voices grow closer they eventually start to fade out into the soft rush of -- traffic, so close to the steady rush of water. New York noise crowds back in as dream slips into waking life, the pool and the cave and the giant all fading into memory. Beside Ash's bed when he awakens is a large hunk of black stone, scooped out and left there with oddly /finger/-shaped grooves molded into its side. The stone is dotted with small paler crystals sprouting out if it -- more fragile than the black rock they grow from, they snap off fairly easily at a firm enough touch -- sticky-sweet like rock candy in the hand once they have been broken off.