The Crevice of Hope!
Chapter 2 : The Curse of Aranidale

They had finally arrived at the town of YinHou, the gates where tall and rotting, they stood upon stone and timber. the guard tower was raised high above the gate with a crossbow settled onto the banister. The roof of the watcher tower was dark and dirty, shingles lined across it to protect those who stood guard from the rain and hail. The guard tower seem to lean as if it had been blown sidewards by huge gusts of find familiar to YinHou. The guard tower was connected to the main gate where a portcullis was raised to a point in which it seem it had gotten stuck by the rust that had gather on it because of the poor maintenance of the gate. behind the portcullis where dark oak doors which where sealed shut waiting to be knocked to gain entry. The walls that surround the town where large around five to six meters in height protecting the town from the wilderness outside of the walls of safety. The walls where barren and made of stone bricks that were brown with a yellow hugh that made them stand out in the sun that had only came out a moment ago. The tops of the walls where mostly wet drying from the harsh rain. The town was cold and somewhat forbidding from the outside but Pauline knew how the atmosphere was pleasant on the inside of the walls. There was only one building visible from outside the city walls, it was the cathedral. Which dazzled in the newly exposed sun, it shown like a star in the night sky, it's polished bell of gold hung from the highest central peak, beautifully intricate stained glass windows where decorated with the symbols of god and the religion which the people of YinHou mostly followed.

Pauline headed towards the door of the city with Tyler carefully avoiding the trench as if to avoid falling down a endless pit of 2 meters. All there was to cross the trench was a simple collection of planks laid carefully to avoid it collapsing when people traveled over it. Pauline approached the door with Tyler and she knocked on it. A slant bit of wood slid left to reveal a pair of brown staring eyes, which looked over the two armadillos, without a word the slant slid back to it's original position and the grinding of a mechanism could be heard, the gate keeper had began to open the gate, but only opened it enough so the two armadillos could get through. Which afterwards he quickly shut the door and locked the door again. With the strange behavior of the gate keeper Pauline muttered to Tyler, " I wonder what is up with them... they seem restless... I wonder if something happened. " " Hopefully it should not be anything worth worrying about at the moment," replied Tyler. With the discussion over, they duo headed for the Twin Snout Inn in which they would stay the day and night to refresh themselves. The paths where clean and pleasant unlike towns they had previously visited. The path had a mosaic like pattern that traveled through every main path and side path and the occasional alleyway. The paths where mostly made up of colored cobblestone bricks which where a much pleasant experience to walk other than the mud they had traveled in. The walk by house and house, bar and bar, shop and store until they had noticed a new shop that had never been there before.

The shop was covered in ivy of an unrecognized type. which snaked around every crack in the stones and around the non-refined edges of the bricks. The roof was thatched unlike the majority of the buildings around it which all had singled roofs of many different shades of black and browns. The walls themselves where crumbled and the original timber structure was visible from certain areas of the street. A single candle lamp hung on the wall next to a sign that read "Miss Satellaview's herbology emporium!" Pauline continued to read, "For all your plant and remedy needs!" read Pauline. The door that lead into the shop was almost hanging off its hinges and was covered in moss, a row of unusual plants sat upon the inside windowsill and had began to act as a natural curtain to the shop, the windows where fogged and smudged " We should check this place out later, " suggested Tyler.... " You never know what we may find in there. "

The duo continued until they reached the front door of a tavern like in which had a dark singled roof that sat upon thick beams that held the structure together. The walls where painted white but the outlines of the stone used to build the inn was still visible. The windows where narrow except one window on the bottom floor which was wide and big. Inside they could see a ramble of people around several small tables. They headed towards the door and entered. The atmosphere was much more active as they could hear people singing and a piano being played. The floor was carpeted much to the dismay of the owners wife who had to clean the stains out of light brown carpet. The walls where painted a reddish brown which seemed to bring all the lite towards the faces of the people within the inn. The room was lighted by a chandelier which hung from a higher than normal ceiling. Upon it where white candlesticks which gave off a surprising amount of light. The duo Pauline and Tyler headed towards a somewhat chubby man who wore a waistcoat and cavalier hat with a feather that was similar to a peacocks but much smaller and slightly bluer than normal. The man spoke with a raspy voice which was slightly horrible to listen to. " Look who has return... " he snarled. " I guess you'll be wanting the same as last time I presume. " "Yes we would," replied Pauline trying to avoiding snarling back at the old man. " Very well, same room as last time. " With no more words he tossed the key to Pauline and pointed to the newly relocated stairs. They headed towards the stairs which where no longer creaky or damaged but instead freshly planked and varnished.

Heading upstairs they are greeted by a wooden floor and bare white walls, the owners had yet to redecorate the upstairs but had began to decorate the majority of the rooms. Pauline and Tyler headed to B4 the room they had stayed in last time, the room was redecorated. The floor was a more polished lighter oak floor than the outside hallway. It appeared to have been white washed as a means to brighten the room up. The walls had been painted an inviting cream and the skirting of the walls had been replaced with a contrasting oak. There was only one window in the room, it had light red curtains hung from it which touched the floor. The curtains had cream tassels to somewhat imitate the style of curtains royalty would use. In the middle of the room was a brown circular rug with another mosaic inspired design which twisted and turned. The was on cupboard between the two so they just slipped there bags into the white washed oak cupboard and lay down on the two separate beds. The beds where a basic design with some curvature here and there, the main detail was the headboard in which had been removed and replaced by a more velvety feel of material on a board. It was designed with a patchwork feel to it. The bed duvets where thick and plush like feel just like the pillows however unlike the pillows they featured the same patchwork style to them that the headboard had. The left there stuff in the Inn and left locking the door behind them.

They went downstairs and left the Inn trying to avoid the gaze of the owner and his wife. They headed towards the old Steeple which was now in disrepair. Pauline still had Aranidale on her mind, as if he followed her every move as if he was her shadow, a shadow that had been stolen and replaced to hide a deadly truth. The more she though of the matter the more corrupt her thoughts became about the matter. She began to slouch, she felt her feet drag across the floor as if should wasn't able to walk in a proper manner anymore. She kept telling herself to straighten up and walk normally but her body refused as if restraint. " I .... I think we should go back ... I don't feel so good ..." said Pauline in a somewhat sickening tone. " You don't look so good ... lets get you back. " said the somewhat startled Tyler.
The walk back seemed to take forever. As if time was slowing down, the pain began to grip Pauline, like scythes cutting into her back and sides. She pushed through the pain to return back to the safety of the inn. They had reached half way when they saw the Inn. The cobblestone path below Pauline started to swirl, her sight began to ward and twist, she was disorientated and started to lose balance. For the rest of the walk home she remained relying on Tyler to support and guide her. The entered the Inn and found themselves stared upon by odd looks of dismay as if " Why you bring that kind of trash in here. " They felt it was more reason to get back into the room. They hurried upstairs and into the room. Tyler lifted Pauline onto her bed and tucked her in to it. " Good night... hope you get better in the morning. " he said deeply concerned for her well being. He continued to lock the door to avoid any intrusion through the night. With everything done, he closed the curtains and put out the candles and went to sleep. Slowly drifting into a whole other world....


End of Chapter 2.
People who saw the last one :
EvilAlu :
Mother3fan5 :
Barathemos :

It has admit-ably taken me a while to write another chapter in my story and I guess waiting was the right thing to do as you can see it has come out great this time and I didn't feel rushed to complete it. Ohh and by the way if you wish to be summoned be sure to ask and if you do not want to be summoned anymore please say so as well since I will be doing summons on my next short story / Large chapter.