The Shadow Carnevale (RP)

"Explain!" Lille demands. "What is it that keeps you trapped here? How are you prevented from leaving? Though the young woman stands over her prey as fiercely as she started, her aggression seems on hold while they are speaking.

With Roald's urging, Ezme distractedly hauls Daryl toward the exit. As she does so, she turns her attention toward Roald, trying to observe if there is a similar shadowy cord attached to him and -- if so -- what direction that cord is leading....

A tear runs down Albeart's cheek. Then another, and another. Every drop hitting the ground with the sound of a hammer, at least in Albeart's mind. Is this what happened to Asha? He thinks. Locked inside an invisible cage. How long has it been? Weeks since we left that temple. He growls in anger at the thought. How could this have been happening right under their noses? A ferocious roar escapes his mouth. Loud enough to be heard far and wide. "I won't stand idly by while she suffers." He says out loud and gets ready to put all of his strength into breaking out of this glass prison.

Lille narrows her eyes at the hapless worker but shifts her staff away from their throat. She points her other hand towards Albeart. "Who has the keys to that... cage.." By the end of the sentence she sees that the bars are gone. Ignoring the worker, she rushes over. "Where is the cage? No, that doesn’t matter. We must find your body that has the.. bear in it." Lille seems uncertain about how the whole body swapping concept might work, but her whole body radiates determination to set things right.

Roald looks at Daryl's peaceful face.
'' Let's give him a minute before we wake him up. I'm sure he can use it after what he's seen''

As Lille catches sight of Albeart’s tears, her purposeful energy stills. Before she can ask about them, his roar rings out through the air. Lille is slightly taken aback, but shows no fear. Rather, she looks up at him with some wonderment and a solemn respect.

"Do you mean Ezme?" she asks when he finishes speaking. "I’m sure we can find her and Roald now that you’re out of there." Her enthusiasm for action returns a bit as she looks in the direction that their companions were last seen.

Ezme internally heaves a sigh of relief as Daryl quiets. Huffing a little to catch her breath, she rubs the back of her own neck with a slight frown, then turns to Roald. She nods her head in agreement.

"Roald... This will sound weird, but can I...?" The trapper works hard to mask her internal squirming as she reaches out, sliding her fingers around his neck to the back. Her eyes meet his as she registered the numbing coldness there, as well, a look of blushing consternation growing on her face. She swallows, then says softly:

"Remember how with shadow bees, you could not look straight at them? I noticed something out of corner of my eye -- a shadow cord -- attached to back of Daryl's neck... It is leading somewhere I do not know... And I think... I think you have one, too... Just feel there, on your neck...." She removes her hand, gesturing for Roald to feel for himself.

"I'm still stuck in this damned cage!" Albeart tells Lille, his voice filled with a mixture of anger and anguish. He stands up on his hind legs and paws at the glass box as if he's a boxer to no avail. "The bars might be gone, but the cage is not."

"I was talking about Asha." He continues. "A friend of ours. I now realize what she had been going through and how helpless it makes you feel. Perhaps she is also to be found in this circus."

Roald feels the back of his neck. It doesn't feel like something physical, more like a sensation of coldness.
"Cant't we just cut it?
Roald takes his dagger and starts making cutting motions behind his back, it looks very clumsy.
"This doesn't seem to work. Let's try to wake up Daryl and get back to the cages. We've been gone quite some time already"
Roald starts shaking Daryl and calling out his name, hoping for him to wake up.

"Asha.." Lille murmurs to herself as she runs a hand over the previously unseen glass. She frowns at his continued confinement. "I don’t like this place," she says darkly. Glancing down at her staff she raises it up to strike the glass. "Move back if you can," she warns, and then slams the butt of her staff near the corner furthest from Albeart.

Lille lowers the staff, but the breath she draws for a shout of victory turns into a long sigh as she surveys the broken glass. The few bits in her clothes are concerning, but far more so is the sea of sharp pieces surrounding her bare feet. She sets the staff carefully on the ground and resignedly gets to work, oblivious of any audience around her.

First, she slowly strips off her shirt and then the long strip of cloth that’s wrapped around her chest. She methodically shakes them free of glass, remembering to also shake out her short hair. Seeing the long cloth gives her an idea, and she puts her shirt back on without it. "It’s just a dream.." she says to herself as she cuts the cloth in half with her knife. Then she removes her skirt and underwear, putting the latter back on when it’s been cleared of shards. Using her knife again, she cuts the side panels from the skirt, so it becomes more of a loincloth.

With her remaining garments back on, she squats down and sets to work on her feet. She carefully raises one from its original spot and brushes it clean. Next she sets down a cloth strip and leather skirt panel, before setting her foot on top. Then she wraps the cloth around, securing the leather to her sole. She repeats the process on her other foot. The result is a soft sort of sandal that is at least secure enough to her her out of the glass without injury, and possibly further if her movement continues to be slowed.

Lille then picks up her staff and looks to Albeart, acknowledging his presence with a nod. "I am ready now. If you move slowly, the bear’s paws should do ok to get you out of here.

Ezme drops Daryl and reaches for her hunting blade, only to find it gone--!?!

Oh, right. Upon entering the dream, she had been forced to trade the dagger for the staff, she rationalizes, her mind constructing a false memory to explain the mysterious absence of something she never travels without.

As Ezme stands there trying to make sense of this scene, the glass shatters under Lille's blow. The trapper steps back, instinctively shielding her face from cascade of glass, though it comes nowhere near her. As the pieces settle, Ezme steps back forward and roars at the bear to intimidate it. She stands poised, ready to try to ward it off should it approach one of her crew.

The creature displays no signs of aggression, but -- to her dismay -- the druid girl starts removing her clothes in front of them. Ezme's face burns red with shock and a spark of outrage as she glances at Roald. ... Whatever.... She had larger concerns.

"Where is Albert??" Ezme barks, still eying the bear suspiciously as she addresses both Roald and Lille.

Albeart shakes his thick fur, dropping shards of glass to the ground all around him. When thoroughly shaken, het looks up to see Lille pretty much naked in front of him. Somehow, being a bear, it doesn't faze him at all. After all, he's naked right now too. He steps forward slowly, relying on his bear paws to shield him from the glass. "Thanks, Lille." He says and puts his snout between her ankles. With a swift head motion he lifts her up onto his shoulders and carries her away from the dangerous shards.

"Ezme, it's me. Albert." He says as he gets closer to his friends.