Steve Equinox || Co-hosted with Ranger!

noun
a whirling mass of fluid or air, especially a whirlpool or whirlwind

AU: selkie sabre

World/Series: Rainbow Quest

Warnings: swearing, mentions of drowning, drowned darkness, death

Word count: 1004

○°○°○

There were figures, bodies, in the water.

It was hard to see exactly what they were, especially as colourless guards had blocked off the immediate surrounding area.

"Investigatory Orange. I am so glad to see you here."

I bowed my head at my leader and the others. Standing steps back from their congregation to show my respect for them. And to keep my personal space.

"Leader."

"I understand this isn't your usual work, however... we are stuck wondering how this has occurred."

During one of the leaders' brief pauses, he gestures towards the water and the unregocnisable bodies in it. The voice wasn't that of my own. Nor was it the voice of the Violet leader. However, I can not see who has just spoken. Curse having this long hair.

"I shall get to work then."

...
Maybe i can ask who is in the water. Being the leaders surely they will know if any of their subjects have drowned.

Just keep professional.

"Can it ask who is in the water. I fear I can't recognise anything of them from this angle and distance."

"It's darkness."

EXCUSE ME-

--

Okay.

This is fine.

Absolutely fine.

Just got to investigate and (hopefully) find out just who or what has managed to kill the darkness. And from what I have been informed. Who managed to fucking drown it-

Hey just think. At least this is more interesting than looking through all those Origin damned files!

But at least the offices had bloody wooden floors. This is why I don't go into the forest! If I keep falling i all going to look less like an ageamge steve and more like those forest steves from myth.

Thwack

Ow!
All these annoying branches. I swear they grow out just to target steves like me! At least they aren't the most annoying thing here. These sticks that get stuck on the lip of my trainers have been tickling and sratching me for minutes now. At least the flowers look pretty. Florist would have loved seeing the variety here.

But if i get stuck in this mud one more time, or Origin forbid I slip, I am going to kill someone.

Ok. Nearly at the end of this. Just a couple more places, and then there's the water.

--

Water glistened. Light reflected off of it and those inside of it.

Strangely, it seemed like the surface of the water didn't break. Set on keeping the bodies of those whispy shadow masses encased in water.

Perhaps whatever brought the darkness into the water has power over it. Investigatory Orange hoped not. That would pose a larger threat than what he was going to be paid for doing.

Walking closer to the water back, he looked for signs of a struggle and counted the visible footprints and claw marks in the water. It was interesting, intriguing even. No steve he could think of had claws like that, nor did any darkness entity. And everyone knew Sabre didn't have anything that could cause markings like that.

Investigatory Orange stopped walking,pulled out the notepad, and pen. He clicked the pen and jotted down his initial observations.

'Thin markings present in clay near the water.
Footsteps that match the darknesses are also present'

'No sign of a struggle. Suggesting that the darkness went in willingly.'

He put away his notepad and pen before walking around. Maybe there were more clues on the surface.

More...

More...

More...

More of something...

More species?

Maybe there was another out here that had pitched the sarkness as its enemy. Like clockwork, he paused before pulling out the notepad and pen again.

'Find out if anything followed the player through the portal'

More allies against these fowl entities attacks would be greatly appreciated.

But more information would be needed. Especially if it came from Sabres past world. As interesting as it is, the scars Sabre had showed the hostility of it.

And if this thing was hostile, then...

"What in the Origins name is that."

In the water, there were ripples forming from the middle.

Running to it (and jumping over a majority of the 'evidence in the clay), Investigatory Orange made his way closer to the water to see something forming in the water.

Within minutes, it grew.

The waters seemed to circle a focal point in the centre, which was dragged down, creating a cone-like shape. It reminded the steve of the diagrams Sabre had once drawn to describe shapes in his world.

However, the waters movement was also dragging the darkness away from where it was and towards the centre. Those that were initially close had been dragged under already.

Within the next hour, nearly all signs of darkness in the water had been dragged further under.

All apart from one torn open body that Investigatory Orange managed to grab just in time.

Thankfully, he had remembered to wear gloves this morning.

The body had similar claw marks. However, the ones that were present on the legs suggested something held it under the water.

Who knew the darkness had to breathe to survive?

Next to the working Orange, his notepad was open with notes scrawled atop one another in places. It was messy, but it was his.

It took all night, but questions, theories, and notes from his investigation weighed in his mind and his notepad.

A couple of colourless guards had arrived as the sun was setting to contain and potentially further investigate the darknesses form. Maybe they could find a better way to combat these beings.

However, the idea that the being originated from Sabres' world didn't leave his mind. Sabre may know who or what would have caused such things.

Maybe he could even explain that whirlpool from earlier. Those were such rare occurrences now.

However, Investigatory Orange now had more work to do and file away. It was likely to need a new file, or ten. He paused before looking at the sky as if it would hold all the answers for him.