Eve was not content to finish her visit to Kroz, even though things went fairly well in Dack Principality. She's somehow managed to convince Jynx to accompany her for a bit longer before he goes gallivanting off to the Savan or wherever his adventures may take him … and presently she's chosen to head back north again, back into Naochi Principality, this time to actually pay a visit to the ruler of that humble fiefdom, rather than just cutting across its borders as a shortcut to get around some of the less friendly parts of Olympia.

The carriage rolls up into the circle drive, followed by two Sylvanian wagons – lightened of most of their loads of lumber, thanks to trade in Dack.

"What a way to spend a holiday," says Jynx to his sister. "Cooped up in a wagon, hundreds of miles away from your home." The cat sighs, and looks out the carriage window. "How much further is it?"

"This is it, silly!" Eve mews, gesturing to the castle that the carriage rolls up to. The carriage makes its way around the circle drive to come to a gentle stop at the front doors and steps of the old castle … though it looks none the worse for the wear than Jynx's own previously swamp-mired castle back in Sylvania.

A couple of Skreek guards snap to attention at either side of the front door. They wear uniforms of heavy brown cloth and boiled leather, with dark tabards bearing five diagonal slashes as the only visible emblem. Banners here and there on the castle fly the same symbol.

"Thank the Star," exclaims the black Khatta as he stoops up to exit the carriage. Opening the door, he stretches, a few pops emanating from his back and tail. "Naochi castle… who is it we're supposed to meet here?"

"Prince Naochi!" answers Eve, with a giggle. "It's really easy to tell who's in charge in Kroz. They name the Principalities after the current ruler. If there's a new ruler with a new surname … they change the name of the Principality!"

Jynx walks down the steps of the carriage, and offers a paw to help Eve down. "Seems fair enough. You did tell him we were coming, didn't you?" The Khatta looks the castle over, checking out the guards and other trappings.

As the two felines get out of the carriage, the front doors open up, and a lanky-looking Skreek – having the same thin and humanoid build evidenced in Willow, though far lighter fur coloring – steps outside. "Welcome to – Oh! Ariel! You're here! Just in time for Unity Night Celebration, Kroz-style!"

The guards evidence no notice of Jynx, standing firmly at attention, halberds held up straight and to the side.

The black Khatta blinks, looking around for any other visitors. "Ariel? Did we bring someone named Ariel?"

Eve gives Jynx a confused look, and looks even the more confused when the Skreek continues. "Oh! What'd you do with your hair? And who's this tall dark fellow with you? Why, that … uh … "

The Skreek's draw drops. "DAGH!" he shouts, clapping his hands to his cheeks, as he looks straight at Jynx.

Jynx just stares confusedly at the Skreek for a long time, trying to decide if this guy is for real. "Umm, sir? I believe you have us mistaken for someone else… "

The Skreek takes a few breaths, then seems to recover a bit. "Oh. Waitaminute. You're not Ariel… "

Eve puts her hands to her waist, looking more than a bit indignant. "I most certainly am not! I happen to be Duchess Eve Kurai, and this is my big brother, Count Feli Kurai of Blackshire."

The Skreek looks visibly relieved. "Aha! I'm … uh … sorry. Ah … strange things happen here from time to time. I'm Prince Kiri Naochi … of Naochi, naturally."

The dark Khatta smirks slightly, trying to keep from breaking out into a full blown grin. "Yes, you must have mistaken us for others." He extends a paw in greeting, "forgive my sister's outburst, we come here as friends."

Kiri extends a hand in exchange. "Ah! Well, uh, good to see you. Yeah … I was told you'd be arriving … I just didn't know it would be today. Er, tonight, that is. Hey, you're just in time for the fireworks!"

"Good! Then we're not totally unexpected!" Jynx smiles, "After the show, we'd like to talk about some possibilities with you, but for now let's enjoy!"

Kiri grins lopsidedly. "Come on in!"

The Skreek then leads the two Khattas and their entourage into his castle. It's fairly modest as castles go, and even Jynx's own castle surpasses it in terms of interior decorating. (But then, his grandmother had a great deal to do with that.)

The guards are scarce, suggesting that Kiri probably simply can't afford that much security. But then, it doesn't look like there's all that much for bandits to try stealing away, anyway.

The black Khatta allows Eve to go on ahead of him, then follows behind the rat and cat. "Do you rule here alone?"

Kiri chitters away about the castle and its features (such as they are), and some disjointed stories about monsters in Kroz and hunting for imps and a dragon in the basement. "Oh? Yeah, just me. Haven't got me a lady yet. Though I'm working on it." He winks conspiratorially.

Jynx chuckles, and nods, listening to the stories the Skreek tales about the castle. He follows along, hiding a grimace at the condition of the castle. He's not one for the finer things, but even this Khatta knows what a noble house should look like.

Something cold and wet and suspiciously like a krenn's nose bumps into Jynx's left hand.

"So- ack!!" The feline's fur stands on end as he jumps into the air and yells in alarm, spinning to see what it is that he's encountered.

There's … nothing there. Eve gives Jynx a perplexed look, while Kiri seems to not even notice, leading the two felines past several empty alcoves that may have once held statues, and darkened spots on the walls that may have once held tapestries … but which are now barren. "Ah! Here we are." He gestures expansively, as the corridor opens up to a balcony at the back side of the castle … which overlooks a steep slope. A few rats and cats linger about, most of them no older than being in their twenties, and most of the rats looking to be of the plantigrade and skinny variety.

Jynx looks around, bewildered, his fur still frazzled as Kiri takes them the last few feet to the balcony. His heart still thumping, The Khatta decides that it must have just been his imagination, and smoothes out his fur. "Th-this is lovely, mister Naochi," the cat pauses, giving a few cautious glances around for good measure, "when does the show start?"

Kiri spins around to look at a water-stained wooden-cased grandfather clock. "Eh … whenever I feel like it, I guess. I was gonna chow down a bit more on the horsey-durveys, but I figure no sense waiting too long, eh?"

As Kiri speaks, Jynx catches an odd silhouette out of the corner of his eye … it looks vaguely feline, but of the Sylvanian quadruped variety, not the Khattan or Katthan variety.

Jynx blinks, following the silhouette with a curious look. "Yeah … not waiting too long… ," the Khatta says idly. "Excuse me for a moment." Slipping away, Jynx makes his way cautiously over to the shadow, trying to see what's making it.

As Jynx scrutinizes the shadow … it slowly resolves itself into a large wildcat feline of the non-anthropomorphic variety, with large tufted ears, fluffy cheekruffs, and an especially fluffy tail, with tawny fur and very faint smoky markings on its back, and especially large paws.

"Mrowp?" says the creature to Jynx.

The black Khatta does a double take, rubbing his eyes to make sure he just saw that. "Oh, uh… h-hello." He looks around to see where everyone else is, then looks back to the Cat. "What… what are you?"

One of the rats near the edge of the balcony shouts, "Hey, Kiri! Stop stalling! The dragon is starting to look mighty bored!"

The large feline looks back at Jynx for a moment … then quickly loses interest, sitting down on its haunches and proceeding to groom its paw with a raspy tongue.

Eve's giggle betrays her location, as she's over near a buffet table, and seems to be spending more time getting acquainted with the locals than actually filling her plate.

Jynx rubs his forehead in confusion, then shakes his head. "Weird stuff everywhere I guess." Turning back around, the cat begins to make his way to the buffet table for some food, his stomach growling for good measure.

There's a loud roar from somewhere down in a ravine, out of sight from the balcony. A couple of rats peer over the edge, hanging precariously over the railing. A female rat calls back, "Hey, Kiri! Looks like the dragon's started without – " Just then, there's a shrill whistle, followed by several more, as a barrage of little rockets shoots up from somewhere below the balcony!

As the Khatta begins to fill up his plate with food, he gives a small start at the roar, and turns around just in time to watch the first pyrotechnic volley sail into thesky, shoving an hors d'oeuvres into his mouth.

Eve squeals in delight, setting down her plate and clapping her hands. Several balls of red light shoot up from below … followed by a gout of flame that jets up from the ground, and then several crackling sparks.

The rats near the balcony take a few steps back from the railing. One of them rushes off, calling behind her, "I'm headed for the kitchen!"

Still holding his plate, Jynx makes his way closer to the balcony railing, smiling in spite of himself. "It's not too bad, not too bad at all." He sneaks a peek downwards, trying to see the source of the fireworks.

It looks like there is a large, non-anthropomorphic, forest green dragon, shooting gouts of flame left and right, occasionally focusing them on clusters of fireworks set up in pipes. There is also a large stone-walled grill nearby with some hefty hunks of meat on it. The dragon claws up the ground … then helps itself to one of the hunks of meat … which, upon second consideration, is probably half of a Dromodon. Was. The dragon makes short order of it.

Jynx wrinkles his nose in both alarm and surprise, and backs up a few paces, deciding to watch the display away from the balcony. He looks back over his shoulder at Eve, seeing what she's up too.

More rockets and fireballs and sparklers shoot up into the sky, accompanied by the occasional pure gout of flame from the dragon itself. The rats and cats cheer at the display, clapping, some of them singing an unfamiliar melody in a chittering language that sounds like that of the Skreeks.

Eve seems to have made some friends among some of the lady cats and rats, and tries to sing along – or at least fake it with a "la la la" to the appropriate melody.

The black cat smiles at all the goings on, and hums the tune to himself as best he can, oblivious to the words. "Well, at least Eve is having a good time," he says to himself, and after popping another bite of finger food into his mouth, finds a place to settle in and enjoy the show.

The singing and munching goes on well into the night, and at last things die down. Several of the guests head out to ride off to their respective homes, while several others retire to rooms in the castle – What is a castle, after all, if it can't house a small army of friends and family on the holidays? Kiri comes up to Eve and Jynx. "Hey, wasn't that great? Well, gotta go put the dragon away. You know, I've got my own underground forest right under the castle, too? Biggest mushrooms you ever seen!"

Eve mews, "Underground forest?"

Jynx smiles at the rat, stifling a yawn from the day's activities. "Is that so? You might have to show that to us before we leave. Um, just for the record," the Khatta chuckles, "how does one put away a dragon?"

"Oh, that's easy," says Kiri, with a "pshaw" expression. "You see, the dragon, he likes nothing better than Daphne's secret special recipe for roast bogieboar. And Blynx is pretty fond of it, too. So all I have to do is wave a hunk of bogieboar in front of the dragon, toss it to Blynx … then run like crazy out of the way! Blynx'll run off with the meat to his lair – underground, you see – and the dragon'll go charging after him. I follow after to watch the fun."

The black Khatta grins lopsidedly, "Ahh, that's… interesting." He shoots a quick grin to Eve. "Who's Blynx, by the way? Some other dragon?"

Kiri snaps his fingers. "Oh! Blynx is a … well, he's a blynx. I just haven't seen any other blynxes, so I haven't seen fit to give him a better name than just 'Blynx'. Though little Nene likes calling him 'Blynxie'. Most peculiar thing you'll ever see: a little kitten bobbing along, playing Drokar, riding on the back of an invisible beastie. Ah … you see, he turns invisible. When he feels like it."

"Invisible?" Jynx looks curious, "he isn't feline by any chance, is he?"

Kiri nods. "Of course! He's a blynx," he says, as if every schooled child on Sinai should know perfectly well what a blynx is.

Eve giggles. "I hope I don't step on his tail!"

Jynx mouths an "oh" in response to the rat. "Seems I had a little run-in with him then. Was wondering what he was." The feline grins sheepishly. "Well, would you like us to accompany you, or wait here until you get back?"

"Oh, come right along!" Kiri says, heading off toward a stairway. "Just be sure and stand back, okay? Don't get between the dragon and his meal, in other words."

The black Khatta nods, and heads down the stairs with the rat. "Remember,Eve, stand back." He tries to glimpse down the well, to get a look at his destination.

The stairs go on down to a landing a couple of floors down, probably down to the ground level in back. Kiri ducks into the kitchen, grabbing a hunk of spiced meat, then leads the way down the stairwell, a lantern in one hand and the meat in the other. At last, the group gets out to the back … and Jynx briefly catches a glimpse of something blynx-shaped out of the corner of his eye … and then there's the sight of a very large and bored-looking green dragon lounging in the heavily scorched back stone porch overlooking a ravine. "Hey! Dragon!" squeaks Kiri, whistling to get the dragon's attention. "Here boy! FETCH!" And then he tosses the hunk of meat, which sails through the air, the dragon's eyes following it … and then the meat, instead of hitting the ground … pauses in midair about the height of a blynx's head … then shoots off!

Eve squeals, and backs away, hiding behind Jynx!

Although he was warned beforehand, Jynx still does a double take as the meat sails off, and he begins to chuckle a bit, play-shielding Eve. "Does he always go for the meat?"

Kiri dives for the ground, as the dragon bowls past, roaring, in hot pursuit of the floating hunk of meat. Kiri then gets up, dusting himself off. "Always, thank Daphne! Whew! Well … " He picks up his lantern, verifying that it's still lit. "Off we go!" He strides after the dragon, though he obviously has no hope of catching up just yet. It looks like the floating piece of meat is heading toward a nearby cavern opening not far from the castle, accessed by a winding cobbled road carved into the side of the steep slope over the ravine.

Grabbing Eve's paw, Jynx takes off after the Prince, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Where are we going?" he calls out after the rat.

"Underground!" Kiri calls back. "Long before there was Kroz, there was Moltpaa – the Underground Kingdom. And my castle is built right on top of it! And it just so happens that's where my blynx and my dragon have their lairs."

Eve clutches Jynx's paw in return. "I'm not sure if I'm dressed for this," she frets quietly, but continues onward nonetheless.

The black Khatta sprints off to catch up with the Skreek, following him inside the cavern. "You'll be fine, Eve!C'mon, it's just like the old days!"

"That's what I'm worried about, Feli!" Eve mews.

Inside the cavern, it's soon evident that, while there may be mineral formations here and there, this was nothing formed purely by nature. There are roughly hewn stone blocks comprising the floor, and ancient buttresses along the walls. There are torch sconces set into the walls, and Kiri pauses every once in a while to open up his lantern and light a torch with the flame, leaving a trail of flickering illumination in his wake. Some of the torches are already lit, evidencing the dragon's passage.

There are a couple of side passages that branch off at a four-way intersection, some distance into the rock … but one of the passages, leading away from the castle, ends in a cave-in, and the other has been bricked up. The corridor soon gives way to steps that lead downward, deeper into the rock, and despite the passage of a dragon scant moments before, the air becomes more cool and moist. The roaring cries of the dragon can be heard echoing somewhere ahead and below.

Jynx does his best to keep up with Kiri, keeping his sister in tow. "How deep down do these catacombs go?" The cat eyes the bricked up passages with suspicion as he passes them by.

Kiri's laugh echoes down the corridor. "I hear tell they go down all the way to Dagh's own world! But we won't be going quite that far." He turns to wink at his guests. At last, the stairway reaches the bottom, and a straight corridor leads into a considerably larger chamber. Kiri prepares to take a left turn which would head back toward the castle – and through the passage in that direction, faint light can be seen, and giant mushrooms … and a giant green dragon chewing on what must be an incredibly gristly piece of meat, while the blynx sits atop one of the mushrooms, leisurely cleaning its paws.

Eve, however, stops, and looks the other way. The larger chamber the group is presently in appears to be part of a long corridor that runs on further than the eye can see, and there are several channels running deep into the floor. Nestled within one of the far channels is a box-like structure with windows on all sides, like a little building resting within the channel.

It looks, for all the world, like a passenger car on one of Eve's trains.

Kiri chitters, "Aw, they're finished already! Well, sometimes there's something worth seeing, and sometimes the blynx just gets bored and lets the dragon have his meat early on. Hard to tell with critters like that."

The black Khatta is jerked to a halt as his sister stops. "Eve! What are you looking… at… " The feline stops talking, and stares along with the white cat at the box structure. "How … how did that get down here?"

Kiri looks over at the structure. "Oh … yeah, those Whonk-whonk fellahs ride in those, going who-knows-where. They come, pause there a while, then go again. Prince Dack rode in one of those before. Went clear all the way to Diamante, he said."

Jynx turns to look at Eve silently, his brow furrowed as though she might have any clue as to how it got there.

Through one of the side corridors, there are some honking and whonking noises, like a child's horn, or someone blowing over a glass bottle partially filled with water. Then, some wobbling creatures come into sight, each of them having similar heads that look something like ceramic vases with large "O" mouths and recessed sockets that suggest eyes, but below those heads, their bodies are segmented and seemingly random assortments of rounded, ceramic-looking shapes. Some of the creatures have two legs, some four, some more than that, and one of them has a bunch of segments all set up to form a pair of wheels, with some more of the creatures riding on its elongated back. They hoot and whonk cheerfully, bobbling over to the passenger car on the channel-track.

Kiri chitters, "Ah, there are some of those Whonk-whonk fellas, like I told ya. Funny-looking, aren't they? I think they come from east of here."

Eve's ears perk up. "East of here? Just how far east of here?" Her whiskers vibrate, and her tailtip thrashes, as she tries to suppress a smile.

Jynx arches a brow at Eve, his own tail still for the moment. "I thought you said you didn't want to come in here?" He smirks. "I know what you're thinking."

Kiri chitters, "Uh … I dunno. Anyway, Lady Willow, she went exploring down here a long time ago, and she's the one who found the blynx and the dragon. She even found these nasty little blue guys called Schlumphs. But the dragon toasted 'em all, so they're not around anymore. Oh yeah, and there's this nifty view-stone thingie that lets you see different places in the Underground Kingdom, just like you were looking through a window at them. Except it's not a window. Magic or something like that."

Eve smiles sweetly to Jynx. "Now, dear brother, just what do you suppose I might be thinking?"

Eve looks only a few steps shy of going into happy-bouncy kitten mode, but she's doing a remarkable job of restraining herself.

The black Khatta keeps one ear pointed at Kiri, but keeps his eyes on his sister. He sighs, "Well, that seems interesting, Mr. Naochi, but I think my sister here wants totry out the Whonkers' contraption." He shrugs.

Kiri blinks. "Hey, you sure? I mean, that thing'll take you … well … who knows where?"

Eve mews, "Well, it will obviously come back again, or we wouldn't have 'Whonkers' here, now would we?" She traipses off after the "Whonk-whonk fellas". "Oh, Prince Kiri, could you be so kind as to tell our retainers to please wait for us in Naochi Town?"

Starting off towards the car after Eve, Jynx's own tail thrashes, but whether out of annoyance or amusement, one wouldn't be able to tell. "Trust me, we're used to this sort of thing."

Inside the passenger car, the "whonker" heads line up, each peering out a different window, and hooting and honking cheerily. Eve steps into the door, and waves to the nearest creatures. "Hellllloooo! I hope you don't mind if we come along for a little ride, do you?" She looks about at the stone pews – no cushions, alas – and heads over to one that hasn't yet been occupied.

Jynx enters the car next, looking to find a seat for himself. "We'll be back soon," he calls out to Kiri, taking a seat near to Eve.

Kiri, looking a bit perplexed by the whole thing, waves after Jynx and Eve. "Don't take any wooden Krozmids!" he calls out … as the passenger car starts rolling.

The Whonkers honk and hoot all the more delightedly, bobbing up and down as the car starts gliding along the channel.

The brother Khatta flattens his ears to the side of his head, wincing at all of the sudden loud noise right next to him. "I hope you know what you're doing Eve. For all we know, this thing is taking us to some giant stewpot or another dragon or something."

"Well, the Whonkers seem to be perfectly fine with wherever we're going," Eve insists, putting out her lower lip in a slight pout. "I'm good at following my instincts!"

"If they even know where they're going," responds Jynx. "I hope your instincts are right. I mean, we came here to sell wood, for crying out loud."

The car shoots southward, the chamber giving way to a stone tunnel, as the vehicle accelerates. It seems to be slowly turning as it goes, and while most of the time things are fairly dark, there are occasional flashes of light as the car passes into larger cavern chambers, some of which are illuminated by bluish crystal growths, and others by patches of luminescent moss.

Eve ignores Jynx for the time being, looking out the window and going "oooo" or "ahhh" at the caverns as they whisk past. The car goes into another tunnel, then comes out into another large cavern, this time riding on an elevated stone bridge. The floor far below seems to be comprised wholly of molten lava, and flows of red liquid rock ooze out of the walls and run in fiery cascades down to the floor. Eve fans herself, as the heat rises. "Whew!"

There's a snuffling noise behind Jynx.

Jynx's temperature rises as well, and the Khatta tugs at his collar nervously. He looks out the window at the lava below, and his fur stands on end. At the sound of the snuffling noise, he nearly leaps from his seat. Turning back, he looks to see its source.

The source appears to be one of the Whonkers, seated behind Jynx. Its bottle-ish head peers curiously over the back of Jynx's seat, and it seems to be snuffling at Jynx's fluffy black tail.

Suddenly, things get dark again, as the car shoots into another tunnel … though there's enough ambient light and heat for Jynx's night-vision to still let him see his way around the interior of the car.

"Hey!" Jynx calls out, grabbing his tail and hugging it to his chest, "That's mine! Keep your nose to yourself!" He scoots slightly away from the strange being.

The Whonker lets out a plaintive "honk?" noise at Jynx, and retreats back to his seat, hiding behind the seat-back. Meanwhile, what with getting away from the lava flows, the air cools back down again to a comfortable temperature.

Eve shifts about in her seat, adjusting the folds of her skirt to get a more comfortable position. "Well. It's an awfully smooth ride. And fairly quiet, too! Hmm. I wonder if the Whonkers would be interested in selling their interest in this line?"

Jynx puts his tail into his lap, trying to keep it from thrashing too nervously. As the air cools, he looks out the window to see the ambience of the caverns now, and of how they've changed. "You can ask them, but I don't know if they'd be interested."

Occasionally, Jynx sees flashes of light dart past – colorful crystal formations glowing with a light all their own, it seems. But for the most part, it seems like the scenery isn't nearly so exciting as those lava flows back there. Eve just nods, and seems content to settle down and wait out the ride. So it goes for a good long time, the car racing along who-knows-where … and the passage of time being uncertain.

Perhaps hours have passed … and then, there's a light up ahead.

Plus, a scent reaches Jynx's nose. It smells like … the ocean? But different. And there's no way this car could have reached the ocean at this pace.

In the faint light, Eve can be seen curled up on her part of the pew, smiling and quite apparently snoozing, no doubt having another one of her sickeningly cute little dreams.

The black cat rises up in his seat, trying to look out the front windows and the source of the smell. He glances back at Eve, and ponders whether to wake her or not.

The whonkers have all quieted down as well, perhaps in whatever passes for sleep with these strange creatures. They don't react to the scent or the dim light. But to Jynx, it's definitely real, not just a trick of his senses or boredom from the ride. The tunnel is widening up again … and he hears snippets of noise as the car rushes past … waterfalls? Rivers? A quick glimpse from a cluster of glowing blue crystals shows him a larger chamber with a river running through it and a forest of strangely twisted trees and oversized mushrooms … and then the car is back in the tunnel again.

A rumbling noise begins to rise in volume, coming from somewhere up ahead.

Jynx looks back at the strange clearing as it passes, clear confusion on his face. Reflexively, his ears cock backwards at the new noise, and he turns forward to investigate.

The source of the light becomes more evident, as the tunnel opens up into … the open air! The passenger car is racing along an elevated stone runway that cuts along a steep cliff, overlooking a vast expanse of water. Waves can be seen crashing against the shores below, and numerous waterfalls can be seen all along the cliffs, cascading downward and contributing to the waters. The ocean is obscured in a thick rolling mist … and for some considerable distance, other waterfalls can be seen contributing to the ocean, here and there, for quite some distance.

Jynx reaches over and shakes Eve, trying to wake her up. "Hey lazy, get up! You gotta see this!"

There's something odd about the light, though. It may well be that enough time has passed for it to be morning … but if so … Well, further investigation reveals another facet to this oddity. Outside the window, the sky is not visible. Instead … there is an expanse of water floating overhead at the top of the rocky cliffs. In fact, unless it's Jynx's imagination, he can see the shadows of the undersides of … fishing trolleys … floating in the water floating above.

Eve rubs at her eyes, mewing, "Wha? Oh!" She goes over to the window. "Oh, it's beautiful!" She takes a deep breath of the brisk air.

The black Khatta's eyes wide, and he looks up out of the window in disbelief. "Do… do you see that too? Tell me I'm not crazy… "

Eve looks out the window … and up. "My," she mews. "That's terribly curious. Why do you suppose the water does that, Feli?"

"I have no idea whatsoever," mews Jynx, still looking up in awe at the sight. He twitches his whiskers forward, trying to peer where the tracks lead next. "We've been on here for a pretty long time now, I wonder where it is we're going… "

Eve mews, "Well … I've really no idea, but I like it so far!" She smiles all the more broadly, then yawns. "Although I could really go for some breakfast about now!"

The tracks, meanwhile, work their way along the cliffs, occasionally disappearing into tunnels through extensions in the rock, and then reappearing again further down.

There's a snuffling noise behind Jynx … and then a *PHOOMPH* and a tugging sensation on his tail!

"MEOWCH!" screams Jynx as he turns back, pulling on his tail in surprise. "Leggo! Leave my tail alone!!"

There's a *POP*, as Jynx's tail shoots out of the nose-mouth of one of the Whonkers. His fur sticks straight out. The Whonker looks at Jynx curiously. "Whonk?"

"Look," the Khatta says to the Whonker, while trying tosmooth out his now bottle-brushed tail, "This is mine, understand? Me!" He gestures to himself with the tail. "You can look, but don't touch!"

The Whonker honks, "Wook! Wuff!"

The light gets darker for a moment, as the car shoots intoanother tunnel … then back out again, still running along the cliff side.

"Ooo!" calls out Eve, pointing out across the waters. "I see a giant sea-serpent in the fog!"

Tucking his tail into his pants leg, the Khatta turns back to the front, then looks out to where Eve points. "A sea serpent? Where?" He peers out the window, searching for what his mind says a sea monster thingy should look like.

Some serpentine coils can vaguely be seen cutting through the fog, then disappearing into the mists. From a quick estimate of just how far away that thing was, and how large it looked … if it really was a sea serpent, it was large enough to easily crush any of those fishing trolleys that Jynx can barely see on the "upper" ocean … but so far as he can tell, there are no boats visible on this "underground ocean".

Frowning, Jynx backs away from the window, not wanting to chance getting the attention of the serpent, no matter how unlikely. He tries to make it out in the mists, but failing that, looks back out at the other sights, and up to the ocean above. "I wonder how far we've gone."

The car shoots through a few more tunnels and back out again … but up ahead, it looks like the car is heading toward a tunnel that curves into the cliff faces, with no indication of popping back out again further along the shore.

Eve ponders this. "Well … uhm … maybe we're … uhm … " She shrugs, then says, "I've no idea whatsoever!"

Jynx sits back, his trapped tail trying in vain to twitch,but thwarted by the pants leg. "Well, here comes another tunnel, maybe we're almost there."

The passenger car starts to slow down as it approaches the tunnel mouth. Some more of the Whonkers start to stir from their sleep, and those that don't, get poked by their comrades until they do.

Eve mouths an "oh", and scrambles back to her seat.

The black Khatta peers over the seat in front of him, and towards the tunnel. "I guess we're here … wherever here is."

The passenger car slows down, sliding into the tunnel, and then shifting to one side momentarily, as it goes onto a side-track. The passenger car glides past a second passenger car, this one with a couple of Whonkers in it as well, and the two parties exchange honks and hoots at each other as they pass.

The chamber the car rolls into is much like the first one that Jynx and Eve encountered, with several channels in the floor, except that there are several more tunnels radiating off in different directions, and a few more cars parked on side tracks. The interior is lit by glowing crystal formations on the ceiling and walls, and there are also some windows that look out on the curious "double ocean" outside.

The car glides to a stop … and the door opens up to a stone platform. The Whonkers get up, happily honking to each other, and begin to file out.

Jynx stands from his seat, and pulls his tail out of his pants leg, wincing at the pinch of pulled fur. "Well, we're here. Let's have a look around." Following the whonkers, he paces out of the car and onto the platform, waiting for Eve.

Eve steps out of the car after Jynx. "Mmmm. Must be morning. Feels like it." She stretches, then looks around.

There are a few walkways leading to other platforms, and a few other passenger cars. Corridors lead off in various directions, though they seem to be mostly just accessible by the cars, not by foot (not without the risk of getting run over, anyway). Some stairs lead down and outside, going down the face of the cliff and down to the shore far below. Another passage leads out to a balcony that overlooks a cascading waterfall. And a stone staircase spirals upward, disappearing into the stone ceiling.

"Were we in there that long?" Jynx asks, looking around the strange platform as he follows the Whonkers off. "I hope they haven't started worrying about us back at the castle; this was kinda unexpected." He turns to his sister, and crosses his arms. "Welp, you're the one who wanted to go here, so you're leader. Where to?"

Eve ponders. "All right … hmm … " She drums her fingers on her chin. "Up, I suppose! That should give us the best vantage point from which to decide where to go next!"

Jynx sweeps his arms in an exaggerated gesture. "After you, then!"

"Okay!" mews Eve, and she starts ascending the stairs.

She seems to be going up faster than would be reasonable for the rate she is likely to be climbing the stairs.

The black Khatta follows right behind his sister, climbing the stairs to the space above. He furrows his brow as he notices the speed of Eve's ascent, trying to figure it out in his head.

Once Jynx gets onto the staircase, he seems to be matching pace with Eve, though she's got quite a head start on him. But it becomes evident enough that the stairs seem to be going up of their own accord, and his own climbing of them just makes his ascent all the faster.

Jynx boggles at the stairs, slowing his own pace down to watch them move. "Hey Eve, look at this!" He grins as he walks over, marveling at the stairs. What a clever idea!

Eve, still going at full pace, disappears around a few turns of the spiral moving staircase. "What is it, Fel-IIIIIIIIII!" she ends in a squeal.

"Eve? EVE!" The Khatta breaks from his pace, and frantically sprints up the staircase after the white Khatta, slowing down as he nears the top. "Eve! What happened?!"

The stairs, by now, have gone into the stone ceiling, and there are now stone walls on each side of the spiraling staircase, as it corkscrews through a vertical shaft. As Jynx gets up to the top, however, it's soon evident that the top of this shaft is blocked off by some broken slabs of stone that lay across the hole at the top. The stairs, however, continue to rush upward toward this obstacle, despite the blockage. Eve can be seen frantically trying to run down the stairs, though the upward movement nearly matches her own running pace. She pants, doing her best to keep from being rushed up against the obstacle.

The thickness of the slabs of stone is not evident, though a quick glance suggests that they might be fairly heavy. Each one of them appears to be about four feet long, maybe two feet wide, and of unknown thickness, partially blocking the top of the shaft enough to prevent easy passage through.

"IknewitIknewitIknewit!" Eve mews, on the verge of tears, "Your bad luck just had to catch up with us! Oh, I just had to go up!"

The black Khatta gasps as he looks up at his sister's predicament, and for the moment he ignores her comment. Rushing upwards, he stops a few steps down from Eve, and turns direction to start running downwards. "Give me your paw! Try and grab onto the column and hold on!"

Jynx is more fleet of foot than his sister, and has a much easier time meeting the pace of the upward-moving stairs. Eve reaches out for Jynx … and grabs hold with one hand, fumbling about for the column with the other.

Once Jynx gets hold of his sister, he tugs as hard as he can, trying to fling her further down the stairs and towards the column. "Try and grab onto the column!"

Eve lets out a yowl as she's flung down the stairs, claws popping out and tail bottle-brushing … but she manages to grab onto the central column running down the corkscrew formed by the stairs, and clings for dear life. As she hangs onto it, though, she lets go of her folded parasol, which falls onto the steps, and rides back up toward Jynx.

Still running downwards, and panting from fatigue, Jynx eyes the parasol as it comes closer to his. Stooping down, the Khatta tries to grasp the umbrella as it passes by.

Not being hindered by a dress, and possessing far better skill at running and being generally more dexterous than Eve, the black Khatta is easily able to snatch up the parasol.

Parasol in paw, Jynx edges towards the column, and watches the stairs, trying to find an edge or anything between the stairs and the column.

The stairs are approximately four feet wide, no more than five, between the central stone column that runs up through the spiraling stairs, and the outer stone wall. Both the outer wall of the shaft and the inner column are stationary, and more roughly cut from stone than the moving stairs themselves. The stairs are evidently blocks separate from the column or outer wall, each one a separate piece, moving up the spiral by processes unknown and probably magical.

There is a thin seam at each end of each step, and between the steps, though no grooves or mechanical features can be seen in the workings of this stone contraption.

Alas, there does not seem to be an edge on either side of the steps that is immobile, save for the vertical surfaces of the column and the outer wall themselves.

Since the column is in direct contact with the spiral stairs, it is impossible to wrap one's arms fully around the column. Still, the column is maybe three feet thick in diameter, which still affords some purchase for a very desperate Eve to cling onto, though her dangling feet bump against the upward-rushing steps now and then.

Jynx frowns at the situation, nervously looking the stairs over time and time again. Finally, energy winding down, he says a silent prayer to the Star, and tries to jam the parasol in between the seams on the step, making a leaping grab for the column after he does so.

The parasol's tip snaps as Jynx crams it into the seam, and wooden splinters shoot out as the umbrella is carried upward, grinding between step and column. Jynx finds a spot on the column to cling to for dear life, while Eve just mews pitifully, and the umbrella disappears upward. Shortly after the umbrella disappears around a turn of the spiral staircase, there's an audible *CRACK – WHUMP-THUMP* … like the sound of Eve's parasol being broken apart, followed by something heavy being knocked up … then falling back down again.

Fortunately, Jynx's claws are able to help him keep a good grip on the column, as it seems that this was not cut out of one huge solid piece of rock, but rather that the column is built of multiple cylindrical blocks fitting one atop the other and mortared together. The outer wall of the shaft is similarly composed of roughly hewn blocks, fitted together with seams filled with mortar.

Jynx blinks, listening to the sound with strained ears. Gulping, and taking a deep breath, he leaps back onto the staircase, and lets it carry him upwards, bracing himself as he nears the stones.

Eve cries, "Feliiii!"

The Khatta raises up his arms, wincing as he nears the stones closing in on him.

The staircase rushes Feli upwards. The two stone slabs can be seen, stretching across the top of the shaft…

*WHAM* *CRASH* *BONK* *CRACK* *TUMBLE*

The cat smashes against the two stone slabs … and through them! When he finally comes to, he's lying on the ground, staring up at a stone ceiling, amidst a pile of rubble.

"Feli! Feli, wake up! Oh! Please don't die on me! Feli!" sobs Eve, who is leaning over the black Khatta and shaking him about.

Jynx slowly opens one eye, then the other, letting his guard down as he realizes that he's not a kitty pancake. "Wha… what happened?"

Eve mews, "Feli! You're ALIVE!" She grabs him up in as tight a hug as she can manage … which, alas, sends reports of pain through the black cat's poor battered and bruised head.

Jynx OOFS! The black Khatta winces as his sister grabs him up, but he feels too bad to fight back. "Okay! Okay! I'm glad that you're glad I'm okay!" He manages a weak chuckle, which only makes his head hurt worse. "Where are we?"

Eve says, "Oops! Sorry … Uhm … Well … I thought you were dead, and then I couldn't hold on any longer, so when I fell, I came up here, and there you were and … I don't know, exactly. We're in some sort of ruin. There's sunlight off that way, and I hear rushing water." Jynx can hear it, too, once he's able to separate it from the throbbing headache he's got.

Painfully, the black Khatta rises to his feet, wobbling as he rises up. "Well, while we're here, we might as well check it out." He starts to limp off towards the sunlight, pointing his ears towards the source of the noise.

Eve tries to support Jynx, letting him lean on her, as they both work their way across broken bits of stone, under a ceiling that is collapsed in several places … until at last, they come out on a shelf that overlooks a cliff … which in turn overlooks … an ocean? It seems for a moment that they're right back where they started, except that the blue sky is overhead, complete with the faintest glimpse of the Procession.

Eve takes a moment to take it all in, then mews, "We're in Parthos! This is the Lake of Languor!" Sure enough, the broken columns and statuary of Parthos can be seen here and there, signs of the ancient city … turned vacation spot and tourist trap.

Eve takes a moment to look at Jynx, then explains, "Parthos is the capitol of Olympia. Olympia is east of Kroz. Do you know what this means? … We have our way through the mountains now!"

Jynx stares at the sky above, then down at the sea below in utter confusion. "We came that far?" He looks to Eve for a bit, rolling her words around in his mind. "I suppose we do! But will we be allowed to use it?"

Eve looks to Jynx hopefully. "Maybe if we ask really nicely? I mean … Gallis thinks Kroz is beneath them. But Kroz has so many wonderful things here! If we could open trade with Kroz … maybe we can get one more friend for Sylvania!"

The black Khatta scratches his chin, and nods. "It would be perfect! There's only one problem that I can see." He turns to look at Eve, "Who in Dagh's name do we ask?"