1x1 with quillinx

[inactive20000009]

Asperity

Perrine padded over to stand over her companion's shoulder, reading the words on the sign. She exchanged a glance with him, and by the look in his eye she could tell he was having the same thought as she was: whatever this mysterious crossroads was, it had something to do with why the two of them were stuck here in this place, and whoever had written it... was it, in fact, a "who"? she wondered ... must have had a hand, or paw, in their current situation.

Growling a bit, Perrine whirled around to face the intimidatingly dark forest, the black trees sharply cutting off right where the sky-high cliff walls began-- unnaturally, as if it was meant to be more symbolic than natural. Disheartened and irritated by the lack of clarity of the riddle and the three pathways, she couldn't help but dig her claws frustratedly into the soft soil beneath her paws. Her one hope was her companion-- he'd been muttering about riddles earlier, perhaps he was good at solving them? Perrine better hope he was, at any rate, because from a young age she'd never had any patience with such obscure, open-ended sort of questions, and the current situation left her at as much of a loss as those times as a tiny child she'd pored over her inscrutable grandfather's enigmatic questions until her mind bent in knots.

Muttering frustratedly, she bent again over the sign. Below, across, or between... well, obviously below is the cave, and across... that must be the forest, since we're not going either underground or in the air. And between... can only mean through that cleft in the cliff wall... She looked again at the dark crack and shuddered. They all seem strangely unappealing, but... that cliff... is probably my least favorite pick out of the three...

She took a deep breath. Looking over at her companion, she could see that he was thinking about it too. One step at a time, Asperity, just like when you're completing a scientific procedure... do it logically... You must choose, which path to take? One holds danger which cannot be seen... but what on God's green earth is THAT supposed to mean? I can't SEE danger in any of them... does that mean that we have to guess?

[Lillybear]

Riddle

"Asperity?" Asperity!" Riddle said, raising his voice.
He nudged her side, trying to get her attention.

[inactive20000009]

Asperity

Wrapped up in her own thoughts, Perrine jolted in surprise as her companion nudged her.

"What?!" she snapped, whirling around to face him. "Did you figure it out?? What's the answer?!"

[Lillybear]

Riddle

"N-no. And usually I'm good with riddles. I was going to ask you."

[inactive20000009]

Asperity

Perrine growled in annoyance. If you don't know, why didn't you just shut your mouth and let me think? Forcefully, she redirected her thoughts back to the puzzle. Getting into an argument with this fool won't help either of us figure it out, it'll just waste time... and I feel like this is somehow on a time-frame. At the very least, the both of us will starve if we don't figure it out in time... or, perhaps, if we take too long, some other punishment will claim us. She shivered, fear replacing the former anger she'd felt. After all, this is no normal place, I see that now.

"Well, below means the cave, and across is the forest, and between is the cliff," she muttered, voicing her thoughts out loud to help her concentrate but also for her companion's sake. "And... all of them are dangerous... only one of them holds danger that can't be seen, and two of them aren't what they appear to be." She let out a frustrated huff. "What's that supposed to mean? How are we supposed to pick, if all three of them are dangerous anyway?"

[Lillybear]

Riddle

"Well," he began, eyeing the paths again.

"We don't know if the other two are dangerous, they're just not what they appear to be."

[inactive20000009]

Asperity

"Well... it says that all three of them have "much at stake", which rather implies danger..." Perrine said thoughtfully. "Or do you think that might mean something else?" It's hard to think of what else "a lot at stake" could mean, other than danger... "At any rate, we should try and figure out which one is the one where the danger can't be seen," she decided, looking around once again at the three paths-- the forest, cave, and cliff. "I don't know about you, but I like my danger nice and visible where I can deal with it out in the open." I prefer to be the sneakiest one around, thanks.

[Lillybear]

Riddle

"I don't know about you, but I like my danger nice and visible where I can deal with it out in the open."

Riddle couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Me too."

He took a look around. "Asperity? If there was no danger involved, which path would you take?"

[inactive20000009]

Asperity

"What kind of question is that?" said Perrine, exasperated. "If there was no danger involved, none of these paths would be what they were..." Nevertheless, she didn't have any other lead on the riddle, so she considered the question anyway. "The forest," she decided, "because there are more natural resources in a forest than either a canyon or a cave, so it would be the least risky option. But..." She looked back at the wooden sign, sitting innocently there in the grass, and felt an urge to smack it into the ground with her hind paw out of anger. "I don't know... that last line seems to be saying..." Death, she thought, but didn't even want to say it out loud. Trusting that her companion would understand what she meant, she turned on her paw, heading towards the cave. She stopped a few feet away from where the ground changed to pebbles and earth. "I'm assuming there's no penalty for observation?" she yelled up at the sky on the off-chance that some rule-maker in the sky might be calling the shots. It was only half-sarcastic; everything that had happened so far seemed to be for a purpose, so if the being behind this could see or hear them, she preferred to make perfectly sure she did everything she could to make her and her companion safe.

After an awkward several seconds passed and no punishing bolt of lightning flew from the sky to scorch out a reprimand, Perrine went ahead and stepped onto the rocky ground leading up to the cave. She tensed, waiting for some hidden tripwire to turn, but after a second passed and nothing seemed to happen, she turned to the other viscet. "I think it's safe to examine the area around them, as long as you don't actually step onto the path, that might count as choosing it," she called to him. "We should see what else we can find out about these three paths."

[Lillybear]

Riddle

"Might count as choosing it? What are you talking about?" Riddle asked.

He flicked his tail back and forth, trying to keep anger and impatience away.
He didn't understand what she was saying. "I guess that's being a pack Viscet for ya'," he mumbled sadly under his breath.