Creeping Shadows (Gran-chan/Invite)

"Mary had a little lamb. Little lamb. Little lamp. Little lamb.
Mary had a little lamb and she was red as blood."

The soft humming of the twisted song continued as the young child dressed in her old fashion clothing moved along the old streets of an island now tainted with the twinge of darkness. It was delicious even if said darkness did not belong to her father. It did not matter. Someone here knew what they were doing and it looked like no one was foolish enough to stop it. Good. It made this walk delightful instead of mundane like it would’ve been had the air lacked that bitter taste she loved so much.

She continued down the street, doll-less this time as she paused here and there to take in the broken flower pots or observe a dead batch of shrubs. These ugly things in human eyes were so beautiful to her and made the girl smile as she drifted on, the eyes of the scared and overly cautious prey that lived here watching her from their windows.

Arianna did not mind this. She had not come here to hunt, but rather to see what she could find to amuse herself today. She did not feel like getting another friend or tinkering with her toys back home. She wanted something new. Something fresh and so she headed to the most run down of the islands to find her treasure.

Already she was not regretting her choice. This place was indeed perfect to find what she sought, but where to find this treasure was the question. The child paused as she found an open hole and approached it. A horrible smell came from below perhaps hinting at the sewage system underneath or other waste. While the scent was repulsive to the humans, for Arianna it was intriguing as she examined the strange hole with her strange eyes.

"What do think, Ace?"

The girl said out loud, but the response back was a mental one.

Let’s find a way closer to it, the male voice that mimicked her own chuckled back.

Finding what her mental twin said to be an excellent idea, Arianna straightened up as she went around the hole, taking note she could hear water below. Strutting forward, she would move through the streets until she came to a run down building not far from the hole she had found.

Not understanding the strange lettering upon the building that was telling people to stay out, the shadow in human skin moved to the rusted door and after a few tugs of no success, she went around back and searched around that old building until finally she found a hole in the wall big enough for the brave her size to fit through. Looking around to make sure no one was following her, Arianna would eventually crouch down and wiggle her way over rocks and other objects until she was finally inside the interior of the building. It was lit with naked light bulbs that flickered here and there. The smell of mildew and something else lingered on the air as Arianna looked around the concrete area.

Pipes jutted out, hissing and leaking, but the girl did not mind as she shifted her weight and began to head from the room she was in and to the hall way beyond. She traveled the down the hallway that slowly led into the deep coolness of the building and underground. The further she traveled the more the horrible scent grew.

Yes. This had to be a waste management area or something. And what was this?

Splish. Splish.

The girl came to a stop in shallow water, her eyes looking down at the liquid below before looking ahead in the gloom. The pathway went further down, but it seemed like the water also got higher. Hmm…what was under that muck of water anyway and how did this section get flooded? Was it an accident or something else?

Arianna would continue to observe the slop that went into deeper water below with curiosity before she blinked and looked around the area a bit more before taking note of the sound of dripping water close by and then the small pipe with the grate upon it.

Tilting her head she went closer to it with the light splish of water following her. The pipe was small and there appeared to be a door on the other side of the grate. There was water leaking out of the door and it was bolted. Was it perhaps holding back water then? Or was that another way to get deeper into this strange system? While the pipe was somewhat small, she could in a way get in there, but then she’d have to deal with the bolted door. Hmmm…

Odd colored eyes looked at the grate around the pipe before small hands were wrapping around the slick and solid material. She gave it tug, but as she expected the grate did not budge at all. It was well placed, but that did not deter her. Leaning down, she would eye the rust upon it as she thought.

Hmm…Well, if she couldn’t tug it, then a kick probably wouldn’t work either. She wasn’t the strongest of people and her height and weight certainly did not work for her in this situation. So that left Plan B. What was around here that could help her open said grate and maybe even the door beyond?

Odd eyes would turn from the grate as she began to search around for perhaps a broken pipe or crow bar or something else to work with to continue forward.

Pipes of uselessness. Go figure. Luck never played on the dark one side so it was always left to them to make their own way in life. Hmmm….odd eyes would look at few small pieces of pole as her free hand dug in her pocket pulling out a handful of random items. A few screws, a broken mechanical eye, a nice strand of metal wire. Hmmm….

She would place the items back in her pocket and dig in her other pocket. Oh? Her screw driver? She pulled the small pink handled item out and looked at it. It was flat head and definitely not useful for whatever held the grate in place; however, if she could find a weak spot in the grate she could chisel her way in.

Hmmm…that was probably unlikely. Still, she had the item if she needed it. She placed it back in her pocket and moved over to one of the broken pipes. Hmm…there was nothing that could take down the barricade with force, but maybe they weren’t as useless as they seemed. She picked up a nice size pipe small enough for her to pick up, but long and sturdy enough to perhaps handle what she was going to attempt next.

Heading back to the grate she carefully searched around it until she found what looked like a potential spot to try. With all her strength she’d attempt to wedge the pipe between the slightly dented concrete and the metal. If she was able to wiggle the pipe in, she’d then began to pull on it trying to use it and her own strength to pry the grate open….

She tried and naturally failed after a few tugs on the pipe she had wedged between the grate and concrete. As she removed the pipe from the small hole she would glance at the bend that had been created before discarding the thing by tossing it to the ground with disinterest. Hmph. Stubborn gate, but it had to open somehow. Mismatched eyes would narrow as she leaned forward and began to examine the grate carefully for clues and if she found none there she would reexamine the room. What had she missed?

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Note: Examining room and grate for clues.

What a strange grate this was. It looked fragile and yet it held against all that she had tried. No prying or shaking could budge it, so that left one other options since the grate did not appear mechanical. She would step up to the grate and get on her tippy toes as her small hands wrapped around the somewhat slick and rough metal. She would examine the holes where the screws that held the thing was in place should be. Maybe by figuring out the screws and what held the gate up could help her figure out to how to take the grate down or open it. Maybe this was more simple than she was making it out to be.

What a peculiar and yet fascinating problem this was. On the one hand, the sane would be completely frustrated with such a thing and would probably leave the grate alone, but for this particular shadow that was not the case. The hunter, like most of its kin was a curious creature and very dedicated to whatever task it was given. Even with a simple self made task like this, a drifter never gave up until it completed what it had come to do.

"Hrmm..." Arianna let out the small sound as she took a close look at the metal caps that covered the screws. Well, it looked like these caps were welded on pretty nicely meaning that the only thing that could really help her her was maybe a hammer and chisel. She was pretty sure with some force she could pop the suckers off and maybe even do something about the screws hidden underneath. The point was, she needed very particular tools for this job, but where to find some? There didn't seem to be anything outside of pipes here, but maybe one more careful look around the area could help her.

If she found something of interest within the building, she would examine it, but if her search came up with nothing, she would return to the hole and begin to search the area for the tools she needed for the grate.
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Note: I am assuming this is a cast iron grate and as such am using my research on how to get these things down for this situation. Correct me if I am wrong.

(Fair enough.)

Additional Information: She searches inside of the building at a slow pace her eyes gazing across the damp ground looking, but not expecting to find left over tools such as hammers, chisels, or any other weighty item that could help her knock the welded covers off. Even a pair of sturdy pliers could be useful here not only for the grate, but also for the bolted door beyond; however, with so much water around,  she wondered if anything found here would be useful or not. Would the water not rust any tool out? And speaking of water. Was there anything in that murky water that followed the slopping floor deeper into the building? Strange eyes examined the building for such clues. A glimmer or something that was different than the poles and pipes all around. If she was lucky maybe she would not have to leave the building to continue on with this venture.

She moved aside, debris and looked around the pipes. Her search becoming more and more fruitless the harder she looked. That was until she caught a glint from the corner of her eye and turned to look at it. Oh...what a strange shape at the edge of the water almost completely hidden by the shadows of the building.

She moved over to it and kneeled down. Hm? It was a box.

She pulled it towards her and after examining it, opened it to find it was box random old tools most of them looking like they were of no use, but there a few that seemed to have survived time and dampness. Hmm...let's see. She looked at the items in the box moving them about carefully until she found a pair of hefty looking pliers at the bottom of all the junk.

Huh! How lucky.

With the hefty pliers in hand, she went back to the grate and focused on the screw caps. She would hit one a few times with a few heavy blows to see if that could loosen it before grabbing that cap with the pliers and attempting to twist the thing off...

A bit of struggling later and the grate still stood. Arianna looked at the grate with one eyed narrowed before looking back at the pliers. Hrmm…useless for now, but maybe useful for something later. She’d secured the old things in her belt and went back to tool box. Let’s see. Hammer, but no chisel…a wrench…and oho! What be this thing?

At the bottom of the tool box was a strange black item that looked like some form a drill, but lacking the necessary build to place a drill bit in it or even the weight that came along with such things. Examining the thing further, Arianna shook the thing noticing the light sound of something rattling inside. Curious, she examined the thing until she found a way to open it. Inside, she found a container that resembled a lighter and after carefully examining said container found it was still full of liquid. Hmph. Interesting...

She put the thing back together and examined it for a moment more before, she found herself smiling as she finally figured out what this thing was. This was a hand torch…A small one, but a torch nonetheless. And if it was a torch….

Mismatched eyes drifted back over to the grate as she hopped back over to the spot and the cap she was working on before. Being careful, she would get the thing to light before carefully working on trying to melt the cap off. If one came off then she could defeat this grate and perhaps the water door beyond.

Item Used - Mini Torch: