Porcelain Child/SessionFifteen

On the road through the mountains, at a camp...
<onine> It is morning, Magpie is trying to catch crow up a tree, the sounds of 'very angry kid' and 'terrified bird' are rampant in the cool morning air. Yengo has been speaking with the Magistrate for some time, and Anona and Epheri are *finally* stirring from sleep.
<onine> Vana is being Vana off to the side, leaving Ujiro coaching Magpie on which direction to chase crow in the tree.
<onine> Yengo and the Magistrate are trying to decide what to do about the situation you are in, they both seem rather concerned.
* Yengo continues to look down at the parchment in the magistrate's hands, scratching his beard absently.
* Anona yawns, still half-asleep.
<onine> Diamandus measures the distance from your location to Tuchara. "Around 900 miles of land, any part of which could be suffering the same as the village further up. And the monastery here..."
<Yengo> "I guess there's little to be done. Maybe the monastery can be notified, mobilized... that is, if your hunch isn't right." He would still prefer not to consider that option, crazy as it is. If even the Order was preying on the Isle, what hope could there be?
<onine> "If the hunch is more than just a hunch we are in far greater trouble than we originally thought... I think in this situation we need the imperial bureaucracy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
<Magpie> As Yengo and Diamandus talk, Magpie leaps for crow- and out of the tree- and snatches the scalpel from his beak as she tumbles through the air. She manages a victory yell before crashing to the earth- landing right on Anona's bedroll. The crow lands back on the tree, and struts in a dignified fashion.
<Anona> "OOOOF!"
* Yengo shrugs. He can count the number of Dragon-Blooded he trusts on one hand, and they're all in the immediate vicinity. The ones that pull strings in the bureaucracy... "I don't know... the politics of the Realm was never something I imagined being involved in... maybe Anona or Epheri could-" He turns just in time to see Magpie plummet. Maybe not.
<Anona> "I'm up, I'm up! What is it... oh. What the hell are you doing, Magpie?"
* Magpie is surprised and vaguely pleased to have landed so gently. She blinks, and looks at the Dragonblooded underneath her. "Uh...rescuing something from Crow. Thank you. You're very squishy."
<onine> The Magistrate claps slowly with an amused smile. "Superior to a rooster's crow any day."
* Magpie clambers off Anona hastily- hiding her scalpel, which miraculously did not impale her during her fall, behind her back as per usual.
<onine> Ujiro runs over. "Hahhhh! Splendid accuracy little warrior!"
* Anona gets up and begins putting away her bedroll, attempting to salvage what's left of her dignity.
<Magpie> "Thank you!" Magpie puts in again a bit anxiously. She wouldn't want Anona to be _mad_ at her, after all.
<onine> Epheri rises as well. "What was all that racket? she mumbles wiping the sleep sand from her eyes.
* Yengo chuckles despite recent events. "Well, I guess we've figured out how to wake you up."
<onine> There was a time that you would punish such rudeness Anona. Maybe you have lost your edge?
<onine> "Well then, now that we are all at least partially awake..." The Magistrate chuckles. "Yengo, go fetch Vana will you?"
* Magpie looks from one sleepy Archon to the other, and beats a strategic retreat to the nearest center of authority and protection. I.e., she runs and hides behind Vana, Yengo, and the Magistrate.
* Yengo nods shortly, straightening and beginning to walk away in search of Vana right about the time Magpie decides to hide behind him.
<Yengo> "Sorry, Magpie. It was an order, after all." He grins.
<Magpie> "An order?"
* Vana is sitting in her sleeping bag, off to the side, for the record. Smiling faintly at Magpie's antics.
* Yengo 's search is, therefore, rather short.
<Vana> Logically.
<Magpie> Even better. Yengo had the moral authority, and Vana had the wicked daiklaive. And Vana had to protect her no matter _what_ she did. Magpie was almost sure it would be enough to stave off any forthcoming wrath.
<onine> When everyone is gathered around, Diamandus rolls out the map for everyone to see.
<onine> "Alright then... Here we are." He points to a spot on the map on the opposite side of the mountain range to Noble. "Tuchara as most of you know is here. That is about two to three weeks on foot if we make good time, but is still a long time."
* Anona has finally gained enough awareness to shoot a few dark looks in Magpie's direction, with the implicit promise of "later". "Although we have no idea if the territory is going to be as bad as where we are now."
<onine> "This here is the town of Vhen." He indicates a town south of you. "It is a coastal town that exports fish frequently to Arjuf - where we want to go. Getting passage on a fishing boat or a freight float would be easy, making our journey a lot shorter... until this mess in the hills cropped up..."
* Magpie prudently keeps Vana between her and Anona at all times.
* Vana hardly notices, which is probably good.
<onine> "Now... what I have discussed with Yengo is that the Order is involved somehow... Somehow negative. Difficult to believe. This is the monastery here, the only immaculate presence in the region."
<onine> He taps a spot nestled in the mountains to the north.
<Magpie> "Not so difficult," Magpie mutters feelingly. They were a pack of kidnappers, after all.
<onine> Diamandus ignores Magpie and continues
* Yengo looks at her quizzically for a moment, but lets it go. "The Immaculates have always been the defender of the Realm's people, even against other Dragon-Blooded. For them to do something like this..."
<onine> "Indeed, that makes this whole situation very difficult to digest. This river here separates us from the rest of the western Isle. Most of the bridges are south in the inhabited regions, but there is one north that will serve our purpose. The problem however *is* that we are still unsure of how to investigate the Immaculate Order, especially a monastery."
<Anona> "Yes. And I recall an Immaculate was dead in the village... for the *Order* to kill their own is... unthinkable!"
<Magpie> "He did get up and walk away after," Magpie reminds her.
<onine> "We don't know who killed the Immaculate, he had no marks on his body, no wounds or evidence of trauma."
* Yengo shivers. "Yes. He did."
<Yengo> "I don't know how best to go forward. Obviously if something bad is going on, I want to stop it... but..."
<Yengo> "Going up against the Order isn't something I relish."
<Magpie> "You think it's _all_ the monks? Or just that monastery?"
<onine> "Nor I, Yengo." He says. "And we still don't know that it IS the monks for certain."
<Anona> "So what do we DO about it?"
<onine> "I would say... find out if there are any other villages like the one we just visited. And question the people in villages that are still standing. At the moment I think it's the only thing we can do."
* Magpie realizes, with a dismal sigh, that after this morning she might have difficulty persuading Anona that "burn the monastery to ashes" was a reasonable alternative plan.
<Yengo> "Could be more trouble in it for us... but I guess that's what we're here for, after all." He pats the pommel of his sword.
<onine> "Hmm." The Magistrate smiles. "What say the rest of you?"
<Anona> "I think it's a good idea. And after we find out who did it, we go right to them and have a frank and open exchange of ideas. With a side of burning!"
* Vana nods a little. "Sounds like a plan."
* Magpie nods approval at Anona.
<onine> "Alright. Get your equipment packed. We leave within the hour."
<onine> Within the hour later...

A river. A rickety bridge.
<onine> You are trekking for most of the day until you reach the river, a deep cut in the earth with water at the bottom and sheer rock sides. In the distant north you can see a bridge, your destination.
<onine> You reach it by late afternoon, and the light is already starting to turn a ruddy yellow from the setting sun. The bridge is a fairly sturdy rope and plank affair just wide enough to admit the 'widest' characters (Diamandus and Yengo) to go through single file.
<onine> The thing is lined with vines and growths and some of the planks have seen better days. To most of you it looks dangerous, but to Magpie it looks freakin fun.
* Yengo tentatively probes the closest planks of the bridge with his foot, looking a little doubtful. "At least it looks better than the last bridge I had to cross."
<Anona> "The last bridge we had to cross was out, wasn't it?"
<onine> *Thock* Doesn't sound to good.
<Magpie> "This will be great. Can I go first?"
<onine> "Well.." Epheri says. "We did fix it..."
<onine> This river is *wide*. Not a mountain stream, this thing is a fully fledged river. With a diploma to prove it!
<Yengo> "Yeah, well..." He scratches the back of his head. "I can't think of any others I've seen that were worse." He looks at Magpie. "I'm not exactly eager to go first."
* Magpie takes her first few dancing steps along the bridge. "It's not slippery at all," she reports to those behind chained by adult sobriety.
<onine> Though the adults don’t hear it, one of the planks cracks a little under your foot as you dance. Best leave that one alone...
* Vana looks _especially_ concerned.
* Yengo takes a tentative step onto the bridge behind the girl, steadying himself with the side ropes. "Please... no dancing."
<Magpie> Some figment of common sense her grandmother managed to instill in Magpie rears its stunted head, and Magpie continues slowly, quelling her desire to take the rest of the way at a gallop.
<onine> "I will go first." The Magistrate says. "I am the heaviest, so if it doesn't support me, it won't support any of you.
<onine> The bridge rocks as Magpie and the HUGE earth aspect make their way across.
<onine> You are halfway across when all of you hear a bizarre noise... a wailing, high pitched echoing shrieking - not human.
* Magpie stops, turns her head quizzically. "Helloo?" she calls.
* Anona privately wonders what they'll do if the bridge DOES snap. Oh, seeing Diamandus fall would be a little amusing, and it probably wouldn't kill him... but still...
* Yengo is all too glad to let the Magistrate go first... provided he and Magpie don't go tumbling into the river. He is still preparing to follow when he hears the noise. "What?"
<onine> It seems to come from everywhere at once the way it echoes about.
<onine> "Magpie, quickly!" The Magistrate says quietly.
<Anona> "Oh, great, something ELSE to try and kill us, I bet."
* Magpie nods, and freed of all restraint, she dashes forward, leaping across a rotted plank.
<Yengo> "I only wish you were joking." He grips the hilt of his sword tightly, taking a protective step back towards Tara.
<onine> The magistrate moves quickly after you, and you both make it to the other side...
<onine> Perched on a pine branch above you is a human... not a human, it is large, dressed in torn clothing that looks like it has seen better days, it appears to be someone of high class - at least in life, the body is decaying - not too badly, you can still recognize it as a man. The creature leaps down on the pair of you.
<onine> Meanwhile on the other side of the river, you can see Magpie and Diamandus on the other side, and become quickly aware of a third person standing on a tree. He doesn't waste any time on an introduction, he immediately leaps down upon the Magistrate and Magpie.
* Magpie shrieks, dodges, and rolls out of the way. When she comes to her feet, she holds two bright scalpels, shining with deadly sharpness.
<onine> The Magistrate darts in between the beast and Magpie with startling speed, his burgundy cloak flowing behind him. He raises the Grand Goremaul and swings mightily at the creature.
<onine> The Goremaul smashes into the ground, pulping grass dirt and rock, but the bizarre creature moves with unnatural speed out of the way of Diamandus' blow.
* Magpie sends her scalpels blurring at the thing.
<Magpie> The first scalpel strikes the creature's shoulder- carving a long, shallow gash along its biceps. Fluids leak out. The second hits its target dead on, her throw burying the long, narrow blade in its murky, yellowish eye, deeply enough to pierce the brain.
<onine> The creature howls a similar shriek to the one you heard before, but strangely still moves!
* Yengo takes a step forward, casts a momentary, doubtful look back at Tara, then reassures himself and begins to press ahead across the bridge.
* Anona begins to stare across the river at the creature, intoning words in the old tongue of the Realm, flames dancing in her pupils.
* Vana sprints across the bridge as soon as she hears Magpie's first cry, feet barely touching the rotting boards beneath her.
<onine> The bridge begins to rock and shake terribly, more from Yengo's footfalls than Vana's. The young Dragonblood takes the lead easily and makes the distance impressively, nearly crossing the crevasse in mere seconds.
* Vana 's sword sprays zombie-flesh across the nearest tree, the brief whirl of flame the only indication of an attack.
<onine> The creature is thrown to the side by Vana's strike, and its head turns to an angle impossible for a human and looks right at Magpie, the scalpel still sticking out of its eye. The creature emits a keening wail and launches itself at her with startling speed - this one has survived even Vana's blows.
<Magpie> "Gah!"
<onine> It sails through the air much like the others that you have fought, its gangly arms and long emancipated fingers outstretched like a sleepwalker to try and grasp you.
* Magpie drops to the packed earth, and tries to roll under it.
<onine> It's momentum carries it over you, but its innards spill over you as it turns, hunched like a beast.
<onine> Yengo huffs in his armour across the swinging rope bridge
<onine> Hands burst upward through the boards of the bridge below Yengo spraying splintered wood everywhere and grab for his ankles.
* Yengo twists away from the grasping hands, bracing himself against one of the side ropes and drawing his sword as he does so, a bright line of steel flaring briefly.
<onine> The hands wrap around your left leg, pulling you down onto your side, and dragging you partway through the destroyed planking. You look down to see a pair of yellow-white eyes staring at you, and it rears up and sinks its gnashing teeth into your leg.
<onine> Anona, you see this clear as day, and you can SWEAR that that creature wasn’t there before, hanging under the bridge in wait. You don’t know how it got there.
<onine> Meanwhile on the other side of the bridge, Diamandus wrenches the Goremaul out of the ground and swings it down again just past Magpie to strike the attacking creature.
<onine> Thunder sounds and the ground rumbles as the mace hits.
<onine> The Goremaul crushes the creature like an insect, its legs sprawled either side as the weapon pulps its body with a sickening crunch, spraying innards and fluids everywhere across the ground.
<Anona> "SPROUTING SHACKLES OF DOOM!" Immediately after Anona concludes her spell with that shout green, pulsing vines erupt on the skin of the creature that bit Yengo, looking to crush the life - or unlife - out of it.
<onine> The creature shrieks around its mouthful of Yengo as the vines begin to squeeze its body. Yengo can hear the popping and snapping like that of wet kindling as its decaying bones begin to give.
* Vana hears the shriek, of course, and takes off back across the bridge, the shaking her footfalls cause nothing compared to the struggle Yengo is involved in.
<Vana> She leaps up onto the ropes part-way along, before jumping down to the side and taking hold of a vine protruding from the creature's back, turning a full circle mid-leap to slice directly across its torso, then using the momentum to fling herself back up.
<onine> Out of the corner of your eye as you sail upward, you see something drop from the mass, plummeting into the water below. Those on the shore see its lower torso and legs separate from the body and become one with the river.
* Yengo grits his teeth against the pain as the thing continues to pull at him. Relaxing for just a moment, he allows the creature to pull him a short distance before drawing up his free leg and smashing his heel against its forehead as hard as he can.
<onine> The zombie falls back and drops hissing a shrieking towards the water which it hits with a deep echoing splash. Steam... steam issues upward from the impact zone.
<onine> You look over the edge of the bridge... it *looks* like it's gone.
* Yengo grasps the ropes and hauls himself to his feet, favoring his wounded leg. "Anona, Vana... thanks."
* Vana helps to pull him up, perhaps a little ineffectually. "You okay?"
* Yengo winces slightly. "More or less, once I get this bandaged up. It could've been worse."
* Magpie runs clattering over the bridge to him. "That was scary. Did it eat you? They were really gross, I think. I wonder if there's a village nearby."
* Anona is pleased at the obviously decisive effect her mighty sorceries induced. Or at least that's what she'll be telling people in the time to come.
<onine> Magpie is still covered in... in zombie.
* Vana ushers Magpie back off the bridge, helping Yengo to limp across. "Back, you. This bridge isn't any safer than it was before."
<Anona> "I'd be careful staying on the bridge much longer if I were you..."
* Yengo grimaces. "Didn't eat me, just took a bite."
<onine> Epheri, Ujiro and Tara are waiting on the other end of the bridge, waiting for the rest of you to make it across before going.
* Magpie goes docilely enough, keeping a sharp eye out for more zombie cannibals.
* Yengo takes a seat at the opposite end of the bridge, rummaging in his bag for appropriate herbs and bandages and beginning to apply them. "Those seemed... stronger than the ones we fought earlier. Everyone else okay?" He looks at Magpie. "I mean besides needing a bath."
* Magpie winces. "Oh, perfectly. And it rubs right off," she assures him, smearing zombie goo on her arm with a leaf by way of demonstration. Suddenly remembering something, she begins mucking around with the zombie corpse, pulling her scalpel from its eye, and collecting the other from the bushes nearby.
<onine> Tara starts to make her way across the bridge to you, but only gets a few meters before the entire bridge lurches, the wooden support near one of the Magistrate's craters pulling loose in a crumble of rocks and dirt
<Anona> with the mortals on by, Anona carefully makes her way across the bridge, noting the boards which cracked during the fight...
<Yengo> "Careful!"
<onine> Anona is only a short distance from the Magistrate's end, but Tara is only a short distance from Epheri who has opted to cover everyone with her bow lest the beasts return.
<onine> The bridge lurches sideways as it pulls free of one support. You can see that the other is failing fast.
* Magpie turns to see the bridge supports giving....she shrieks, and runs to grab hold of the other, hanging on to it ineffectually.
* Yengo lurches up and dives for the other support, throwing his arms around it and trying to hold it steady, for whatever good it will do.
<onine> It begins to pull free despite your efforts.
<onine> On the other end, Epheri and Ujiro are trying to help Tara up to safety.
* Vana steps a little closer to the bridge, ready to run and grab Tara if it breaks any more. She looks worriedly at both Magpie and Yengo.
* Anona makes a mad dash for the end of the bridge. Epheri won't have a problem crossing if it comes to it, after all.
<Yengo> "Someone DO something!" Yengo screams, sounding nearly frantic.
* Magpie redoubles her tugging efforts, moving her contribution to the save-the-bridge-effort from nil to nil times two.
<onine> The Magistrate joins in holding the bridge, but the weight of many meters of planking and rope is too much. Epheri, Tara and Ujiro are safe on the other end.
<onine> Anona is still running across to Epheri, every footstep she makes tugs the bridge a little out of your grasp.
<onine> As you run a little short of halfway across, your foot goes through a plank, and you land against the wood, slamming your nose agains the boards. Up ahead you can see the rope 'handrail' unraveling and snapping from the force.
<Anona> "OW!"
<Magpie> Circling in the sky overhead, Crow caws in sympathetic distress.
* Anona gets back up, trying to get to the other end... a bit more slowly, perhaps, making sure what feeble support remains doesn't suddenly... snap....
<onine> You pass the snapping portion of rope, and you're only about fifteen meters from the edge when the support slips out of Magpie and Diamandus' collective grip.
<onine> Yengo still has one support, but not for long.
<onine> The bridge tips to the side, throwing you nearly over into the water but you manage to maintain your hold on the ropes.
<Yengo> "I... would... hurry."
<Magpie> "Run!"
<Anona> *scramble* *scramble*
<Anona> "STUPID BRIDGES!"
* Anona is relentless in her continuing attempt to Get To The Other Side.
* Vana 's apparent inability to help finally gets to her. She grabs her sword out of her scabbard as she sprints out across the single remaining rope (to Yengo's distress), flicking it down and looping up what remains of the it and catching it as she dives for Anona.
* Vana slices the last rope, Anona's one, grabbing it hopefully in time for her to swing back as well.
* Anona makes with the grabbing and the swinging and the hopefully not plunging into a watery grave.
* Yengo can do little more than watch.
* Vana , assuming she grabs the rope, summons her fiery Essence to keep the pair of them from slamming into the cliff face too hard.
<onine> Everyone watches from the edge in awe
* Magpie 's jaw drops, as her private conviction that Vana was crazy is confirmed.
<onine> Vana and Anona swing around at breakneck speed. Vana's boots start to trail fiery essence and the pair land with their legs and essence cushioning their impact on the cliff in a cloud of flamey dust.
* Vana lets out her breath, and looks at Anona. "Sorry... it was all I could do." Holding on with one hand, she grabs her sword and stick in into the cliffside, then places a foot on it for support.
<onine> The two of you begin the climb up the ropes with the help of Yengo and Diamandus pulling the ropes.
* Magpie hovers and gets in the way, making excited comments like "Wow!" and "Cool!" and "Can I try?"
<Anona> As she climbs up, Anona complains. "Dammit, next time we get the chance we need to investigate whatever department of the bureaucracy looks after bridges. They're clearly not doing their jobs."
<Yengo> "*Huff* I don't think that's... the best idea, Magpie."
* Vana retrieves her weapon once Anona has finished climbing, quickly ascending herself.
<onine> Magpie... the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. There is a.. a familiar presence. Like you know it. You hear some scuffling behind you, and what sounds like a gurgling growl.
* Magpie turns..
<onine> The creature, its chest crushed to the point that no mortal creature could live, its organs spewing out of it, rises menacingly to its feet. Splattering splashes sound as more of its viscera plop onto the grass from its open abdomen.
<Magpie> "ZOMBIEE!" Magpie yells.
<onine> Without even crouching it launches itself at you with uncanny speed.
* Magpie tries throwing herself to the side, but...
<onine> It splatters into you, covering you with vile fluids and wet pieces. The momentum carries both you and zombie over the clifface, and plummeting towards the water below. The air whistles in your ears and the river looks like a green-blue wall rushing to meet you. You can feel the momentum slowing however.
<onine> The creature is trying to carry you away with it, but it isnt slowing fast enough.
<Yengo> "Magpie!"
* Magpie , perhaps unwisely, yells and tries to batter at it with her fists.
<onine> The creature seems to realize this, and actually drops you, as if not wanting to enter the water. You continue to fall, crow flaps down, grabbing your shirt in his talons and flaps madly, trying to save you.
<Magpie> Because the certainty of immersion in a river hundreds of feet below is _nothing_ to the grossness of zombie fluid.
* Magpie flaps madly too, as if she could fly if she just flapped hard enough.
* Yengo is stunned. It all happened so fast, and he can't let go of the rope or the others will fall... but...
<onine> You drop flailing, but comparatively lightly into the water, the sound hollow and strange through the water in your ears. You sink for a bit, with red droplets raining down on the water.
<onine> You can see the shadow of the creature above you, above the surface of the water.
* Anona looks down. "Damn."
* Magpie opens her mouth to shout at it, and chokes as the water rushes into her mouth.
<onine> The creature flies above the water searching for the girl, but not going near the surface. It seems... maddened? Maddened by losing its catch.
<onine> You can no longer see Magpie, the current takes hold of her small body and takes her down river, under the water.
<onine> The creature shrieks loudly, its call echoing throughout the evening air. It looks angrily up at the rest of you, then takes to the sky, flying upwards, and then to the west through the tree tops.
<Anona> "Hey, ugly! Come and try that on somebody who bites back!"
<Yengo> "Damn you!" Yengo curses the creature as it flies away.
<onine> It bounds over branches, hopping from foot to foot, half flying, half leaping.
* Yengo looks down at the surface of the water, eyes searching uselessly. "Is she...?"
* Vana kneels at the edge of the cliff, trying frantically to locate her.
<onine> You cant see her anywhere. Even crow is out of sight now.
<onine> Epheri, Tara and Ujiro likewise search on the other end of the river.
<onine> The Magistrate curse. "Dammit...where's a water aspect when you need one?"
<Yengo> "That's a fast river... and a long fall..." He grows silent, not wanting to think it.
<onine> "I... I don't think there is anything we can do."
<Anona> "On the other hand, Magpie is a young kid, resilient. I'd give her even odds, at the least!"
<Yengo> "Plenty of things we could've done. She shouldn't have been here. We shouldn't have made her play the odds, I should have..." he trails off and steps away from the edge of the cliff, hands balled into fists, busying himself with his pack.
<onine> "Perhaps, yes. This river is hugged by cliffs for many many miles yet, I hope she is able to swim..."
<onine> "It was my fault. I should not have taken a child on an adult's mission."
<Yengo> "We went along. I even armed her, for Dragons' sake..." He shakes his head.
<onine> The Magistrate sighs. "There is little we can do for her now. Vana. I have heard that all those trained in Lookshy can use a charm identical to or similar to Wind Carried Words, am I correct?"
<Anona> "Well, be honest. With Magpie, trouble isn't 'if', it's 'when'. The best you can do is try and prepare for the when."
* Vana takes a moment to realize that she's being spoken to, still kneeling at the cliff. "W-What? Oh, yes..."
<onine> "I need you to tell Epheri that we will continue towards the villages west. They should try to make for one of the bridges south. And tell them to check if any of them see Magpie." Diamandus pauses. "Hopefully... Magpie has the common sense to stay in one place untill she is found."
* Vana nods shakily, and relays the message on a gust of warm air.
<onine> Across the river Epheri waves and nods, setting off with Ujiro and Tara.
* Yengo watches them go, hoping they'll be careful. Hard to believe only a few minutes ago they were all together and Magpie was... "But we don't know anything yet," He reassures himself.
<onine> "Mmm..." He clears his throat. "Shall we?"
<Yengo> "Yeah." He checks his bandages mechanically one more time, shoulders his pack. "I think we should... get going."
<Anona> "We don't seem to have much of a choice," Anona agrees.
<onine> Night falls and you head into the woods...well most of you.
<onine> Vana is only interested in the river, and slips away...
<onine> Meanwhile further down in the cold, icy water, Magpie notices something else in the water with her... something big...