Definitely growing more concerned that your prompts are about you having found a way to move up that February moving date you mentioned. Not enough to check the obituaries yet, but....
The last night Jimmy took the first watch and I read for a while before sleeping, struggling with the weird English in those books for a bit, then giving up and reading the scholar's much better English in the document wallet. I thought I was getting the idea of what had happened here, but a lot of it still didn't make sense. The creatures came from... somewhere and it seemed like the priests and the scholar were all in agreement on where, but they never really explained it to me. They came through the gate but they never mentioned what was on the other side of the gate and I wasn't really sure where the gate was. There was a hint in the writings that it moved around, but that made no sense at all, and I'd put that down to transcription or translation errors. I sighed when I put the book down, and Jimmy looked round but said nothing, and I went to sleep. My watch was the middle one, and was mostly uneventful. At least, until about a half-hour before I'd have woken Ben, when the hooting started up and I ventured to the doorway, partly to block the dim light from our banked fire, and partly to see if another boat had turned up at the docks. I couldn't see any light from that direction, and in fact I couldn't see anything at all in the darkness. Then the pounding of feet started and I knew the creatures were running and wondered if they exercised like this, in the middle of the night when presumably they could see and the rest of us couldn't. "They sound restless," said Ben at my shoulder, making me jump. My skin tightened and my breath gasped out of my lungs, but otherwise I controlled myself. "I don't know why," I said. "Seems like I'm saying that a lot about this city, you know? I don't like that, it's a city. It shouldn't be filled with things we can't make sense of." "I know what you mean," said Ben. "Think they found the dead creature we left behind?" As he said that the hooting got louder, and the pounding of rubbery feet seemed to turn towards us. "I didn't," I said sharply. "Now I do, of course." "Sorry," said Ben. "But they're out and I can't see any lights, so I wondered what might have got them agitated like that." "Might just be that they know we're in the city somewhere," I said. "They knew enough about us to leave one of their number behind and try and herd us somewhere." Ben shivered. "So they might not have found the body, just be hunting for us anyway?" "You're just full of good ideas, tonight, aren't you?" I said, shaking my head. "I hope we're safe up here. They haven't found us in the past. And don't say that there's a first time for everything!" "Wasn't going to," said Ben, failing to look innocent.
That's an unsettling last night for the lads. I suspect the creatures did find the dead body, or at least realized one of them was missing. Pretty sure I wouldn't be getting any more sleep if I were any of them.
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Definitely growing more concerned that your prompts are about you having found a way to move up that February moving date you mentioned. Not enough to check the obituaries yet, but....
The last night
Jimmy took the first watch and I read for a while before sleeping, struggling with the weird English in those books for a bit, then giving up and reading the scholar's much better English in the document wallet. I thought I was getting the idea of what had happened here, but a lot of it still didn't make sense. The creatures came from... somewhere and it seemed like the priests and the scholar were all in agreement on where, but they never really explained it to me. They came through the gate but they never mentioned what was on the other side of the gate and I wasn't really sure where the gate was. There was a hint in the writings that it moved around, but that made no sense at all, and I'd put that down to transcription or translation errors. I sighed when I put the book down, and Jimmy looked round but said nothing, and I went to sleep.
My watch was the middle one, and was mostly uneventful. At least, until about a half-hour before I'd have woken Ben, when the hooting started up and I ventured to the doorway, partly to block the dim light from our banked fire, and partly to see if another boat had turned up at the docks. I couldn't see any light from that direction, and in fact I couldn't see anything at all in the darkness. Then the pounding of feet started and I knew the creatures were running and wondered if they exercised like this, in the middle of the night when presumably they could see and the rest of us couldn't.
"They sound restless," said Ben at my shoulder, making me jump. My skin tightened and my breath gasped out of my lungs, but otherwise I controlled myself.
"I don't know why," I said. "Seems like I'm saying that a lot about this city, you know? I don't like that, it's a city. It shouldn't be filled with things we can't make sense of."
"I know what you mean," said Ben. "Think they found the dead creature we left behind?"
As he said that the hooting got louder, and the pounding of rubbery feet seemed to turn towards us.
"I didn't," I said sharply. "Now I do, of course."
"Sorry," said Ben. "But they're out and I can't see any lights, so I wondered what might have got them agitated like that."
"Might just be that they know we're in the city somewhere," I said. "They knew enough about us to leave one of their number behind and try and herd us somewhere."
Ben shivered. "So they might not have found the body, just be hunting for us anyway?"
"You're just full of good ideas, tonight, aren't you?" I said, shaking my head. "I hope we're safe up here. They haven't found us in the past. And don't say that there's a first time for everything!"
"Wasn't going to," said Ben, failing to look innocent.
Greg - you worry too much :P
That's an unsettling last night for the lads. I suspect the creatures did find the dead body, or at least realized one of them was missing. Pretty sure I wouldn't be getting any more sleep if I were any of them.
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